Occupy Everything! and Other Random Thoughts

Been really swamped with grading lately but today I am home with a flu bug, thus find myself with enough time to post a few links. In no particular order, these are some of the news headlines for the past few days. Of course, the conspiracy theorist in me wonders if there's rhyme or reason to some of them, or are they all just disconnected threads pulling our world in a coincidental direction?

1) President Obama announces that some U.S. troops will now begin rotation at a base in Australia, so as to shore up the U.S. presence in the Asia Pacific theater. Even as soldiers are leaving Iraq, they don't really get to come on home. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-17/obama-says-u-s-troops-in-australia-will-keep-asia-pacific-region-secure.html

2) The Congressional Super Committee, which is charged with cutting the deficit by $1.2 trillion dollars, announces that it's deadlocked over the issue of revenues. http://www.cnn.com/2011/11/21/politics/super-committee/index.html

3) UC Davis students are pepper sprayed while seated during a peaceful protest against high tuition costs. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/world-wide-mind/201111/the-turning-point-the-moral-example-uc-davis-students

4) A bill was introduced into Congress to stop those same members of Congress from trading in the stock market on information they gained from their position in government. http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews/politics/9864-stock-act-banning-congress-from-insider-trading-is-revived

5) Newt Gingrich is rising in the polls in an effort to beat Mitt Romney for the GOP nomination for president of the United States. http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/story/2011-11-20/newt-gingrich-tops-republican-field/51324928/1?csp=ip

6) Cairo's streets look more like a war zone than ever before and youth unemployment hovers around 25%. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45383062/ns/world_news-mideast_n_africa/

7) Spain becomes the third country in two weeks to replace its head of state in response to the Euro crisis and still the debt problem is not resolved. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/22/business/global/signs-mount-that-european-debt-crisis-is-spreading.html

8) Iran continues to develop nuclear capability. http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2011-11-21/iran-sanctions-nuclear-program/51337204/1

9) The Japanese yen is beginning to be viewed as a currency safe haven against the euro, which is something I predicted back on 6 August 2011 http://pinnaclesandthepedestrian.blogspot.com/2011/08/fighting-decline.html . http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-21/japan-s-exports-fall-more-than-estimated-as-yen-gains-europe-curb-demand.html#

10) A young man from Hawaii makes a videosong about Occupy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xq3BYw4xjxE&feature=player_embedded