Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Saving Miguel - Life After Global Economic Armageddon!!

Saving Miguel - Click for Adventure!   

          The U.S. Government avoided a default last year by the skin of OUR teeth. But, when you look at the way the default was avoided and the partisan politics leading up to it, it was downright embarrassing. What was more disgusting was that the U.S. Government resolved nothing, as far as the debt and the budget deficits, the Congress 'kicked the can down the road'. In a few short months they did the exact same thing all over again! With all of the bandstanding and rhetoric from these politicians, they resolved nothing! An upcoming fatality for a U.S. budget crisis is still lurking out there, like a monster from a cheap sci fi movie. The ultimate joke is on the American people and those creditors who buy U.S. Treasury bills! This joke will not stay within the boundaries of the United States, sooner or later it will spread like a fatal virus around the globe.



Figure One - Barack Obama, President of the United States,
having a laugh at the country's expense.    
 
             In my novel, Saving Miguel, I describe the 'end of the end' or life after the global economy collapses. It becomes a time when a few powerful Oligarchs rule the world. But, before global economic disaster, the 'beginning of the end' came when politicians allowed the United States government to spend itself into default and ultimately bankruptcy. The bankruptcy of the United States started the dominoes falling when other major economies of the world also collapsed. The world ended up in the economic equivalent of nuclear holocaust - a global economic Armageddon that plunged the majority of people in the world into poverty! 
 
 
 
       Figure Two - John Boehner, House Speaker,
                               clown number two.
 
           In my novel Saving Miguel, there are a few politicians who have survived the global economic Armageddon. One of these politicians was named Senator Hallstein and he played a critical role in the book. I won't tell you whether Senator Hallstein is a good or bad guy, you will have to read Saving Miguel to find that out.
 
         In the below passage from Saving Miguel, Senator Hallstein is meeting for the first time with a criminal named Volk. He is the President of the Skulls, an outlaw motorcycle gang that has benefited from the economic chaos. See if you can tell from this passage from Saving Miguel whether Senator Hallstein is a good guy or a bad guy. 
 
               
                                          Figure three - Harry Reid, Now, out of the picture! 
                                                     

Senator Hallstein walked into the former restaurant on the south side of the city. Two humongous bodyguards from the Monarchy flanked him, one on either side. Hallstein stood in the doorway, allowing his eye pupils the time to adjust to the deep darkness of the restaurant before attempting to take a step. His nose was overwhelmed with the rancid smell of the cooking grease that had accumulated on the walls and floors of this greasy spoon restaurant over decades. Once Hallstein’s eyes could see shapes and objects, he spotted a ghost-like outline of a person’s long silver hair sitting in a booth at the back of the restaurant. Hallstein cautiously walked towards the booth, surveying the floor in front of him for trip hazards while his bodyguards mirrored his movements. Before the trio could reach the booth, two gigantic bikers with long hair and scraggly beards stepped in front of the bodyguards. The bikers stood toe to toe with the bodyguards, waiting for the bodyguards to make a move. The five people stood in the middle of the restaurant at a stalemate.  
           “Let the old fella through,” Volk ordered the bikers from the booth. “Search him first.”
A bearded biker patted Hallstein down and then let him pass to the booth. The bikers stood in front of the bodyguards, preventing them from going any further. A round stubby candle burned in the middle of the table, casting an eerie light on the bearded man sitting in the booth. Hallstein recognized this man from old mug shots he had seen in meetings in the Monarch’s office.    
            “May I sit down?” Hallstein asked Volk when he reached the dirty red booth.
“Yeah,” Volk replied, nodding his head at the seat across from him.
            Volk recognized Hallstein as well. During the height of Hallstein’s political career, a person could not open a newspaper or turn on a television without seeing Hallstein’s face. He was a bit older now, but his overall features were the same. Volk had no idea why Hallstein had requested this meeting, but he assumed it had something to do with the boy. Hallstein slid across the simulated leather bench seat of the booth when he sat down. He looked across the table at the dangerous man sitting across from him and took a deep breath into his tight lungs. Hallstein was on a mission into the lion’s den and now found himself within an arm’s length of the alpha lion.
“My name is Henrik Hallstein.” 
            “I know who you were,” Volk replied.
“I am going to get right to the point.”
            “I would appreciate that.”  
“I am here to present an extraordinary opportunity for you.”
            “I’m listening.”  
“Everything I am going to tell you should be considered confidential.”
            “Then don’t tell me,” Volk replied with a smirk. “I am not good at keeping secrets.”
Hallstein was stunned. He looked at Volk with apprehension. This discussion needed to remain confidential.
            “Just kiddin’,” Volk said with a smile. “Wild hogs couldn’t drag it outta me.” 
Hallstein peered down at his own folded hands, resting on the table in front of him. Volk was an intimidating character and Hallstein carefully thought through what he would say next. Hallstein had to be careful not to tell Volk too much information related to the future of the Monarchy, but he still needed Volk’s help.
         What is Senator Hallstein up to? Why is he negotiating with a murderous outlaw biker? what do they have in common? 
 
      You will just have to read Saving Miguel to find these answers! 
 
   
Saving Miguel!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Monday, October 14, 2013

Saving Miguel - The Aftermath of Global Economic Armageddon


Saving Miguel - the novel that tells
it like it is, what happens to the world
when the U.S. Government takes the
world into global economic Armageddon.
 
Prologue (outtake from the Novel Saving Miguel) 

        No one can pinpoint the exact year or series of events that started the world’s economy into its steep death spiral, but in 2006, the U.S. housing market began what was considered the largest decline in recorded history, dragging down with it large portions of the world’s financial systems. The collateral damage from the housing market crash was felt everywhere in the world with millions of people losing their jobs and home equity while the banks that had financed these risky mortgages fought to remain in business.  
        While the world’s economy teetered on the brink of financial destruction, another economic crisis of catastrophic proportions occurred in 2008. Widespread fraud and manipulation swept through the world’s financial institutions, walloped the markets and bankrupting well-known and respected companies. Banks around the world collapsed, resulting in the single largest money transfer in recorded history when governments took on insurmountable debt to bail out their respective financial institutions.

        While all of these catastrophic economic events were occurring, a shaky economy threatened to collapse the European countries of Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, Cyprus, and Italy. With the financial future of these countries in jeopardy, one of the bellwether currencies in the world, the Euro, fought for survival in the midst of a possible collapse of the European Economic Community.   

        In the 2008 presidential election, the majority of citizens in the United States liked the message of hope and change from one of the candidates. No one knew for sure where this candidate had come from or how he rose so quickly up the political food chain. Part of the nation believed he was the messiah who would unite a divided country while the rest of the nation believed he would drive the wedge even further into a divided country.

       The majority of the people elected this candidate to the presidency of the United States and with Congress’s approval, the U.S. government embarked on a spending spree never before equaled in the history of the world. The government, through its entitlements and social welfare programs, supplied food, housing, medical care, and even cell phones for all most citizens who asked. The government passed economic stimulus programs designed to prop up the weak economy and provided bailouts for failing companies and industries. The President promised affordable health care for every citizen in the country and Congress passed massive health care reform, adding billions of dollars of cost to the health care of citizens of the United States. Under this charismatic president, the United States migrated towards both socialism and bankruptcy.

       In 2012, the people of the country spoke again, reelected the President for another four years. The unprecedented spending spree by him and the Congress continued. The government spent far more money than they collected in tax revenues, spending money on wars, economic stimulus, international assistance, health care and domestic social programs.

       The U.S. remained on the verge of bankruptcy during the President’s second term and Congress remained ineffective, divided between two very distinct ideologies. Congress debated whether to raise taxes on the rich or to cut government spending. In the end, the President and Congress could not find common ground with their differences and the country’s debt continued to rise. Unable to even propose a budget that could deal with the ballooning debt, the government took the path of least resistance and printed more money, the equivalent of an individual citizen paying his mortgage with an already overloaded credit card.  

       It took nine more years of reckless spending, state-supported social programs, and failed fiscal policies to take the U.S. economy into a bottomless abyss, bankrupting the country and setting off a catastrophic domino effect that brought other major economies of the world to their knees. The value of the world’s major currencies plummeted and governments were unable to pay their bills. The payment systems between countries no longer worked and with the resultant drop in consumer demand, companies could no longer pay their employees, causing massive layoffs and unemployment. With high employment and no consumer spending, the downward spiral continued with even more layoffs, plant closures, bankruptcies and entire governments collapsing. The social welfare programs that had once supplied the basic living needs of millions of people around the globe went bankrupt, leaving the vast majority of the world’s population impoverished and homeless.
I wrote the above portion of the Prologue for my novel Saving Miguel in early 2013. Unfortunately, much of what I wrote appears to be coming true as far as the U.S. Government's extraordinary high debt coming to roost. The U.S. Government has spent itself into bankruptcy and the only reason it has not already been an issue is because the U.S. Government can hold nearly infinite debt and makes up the difference by printing its own money. It would not be any different than you or I printing money in our basements to pay for our high credit card bills. Just like what is happening to the U.S. Government, sooner or later our outlandish spending comes to roost and there is a day of reckoning. That day of reckoning appears sooner for the U.S. Government, rather than later. 

For several years, knowledgeable economists have been preaching about the deadly effects of the U.S. Government's debt. These knowledgeable people have also prophesized that a day of reckoning was coming. It is hard to believe that with all of the attention and recognition of a potential  Armageddon-sized problem (U.S. debt), why there was not more done to circumvent this catastrophic disaster. All it seems the President and the Congress of the United States are doing is pointing fingers at each other.
I am attaching a link to an interesting article on how the world is already bracing for this upcoming  global economic Armageddon. The exploding debt of the United States is not just a United States problem, it is a problem of gigantic proportions for the entire world.   
Read Saving Miguel  and find out my fictional version of what the world looks like after this Global economic Armageddon occurs. I am optimistic that the resilience of ordinary people will overcome what governments have done to unravel the global economy.          

 

Thursday, October 10, 2013

The World Looks On As the U.S. Deals With Debt Ceiling

Saving Miguel - read it today.


Sometimes we forget how intertwined the various economies of the world are. They used to say, when the U.S. economy caught a cold, the rest of the world sneezed. It is not much different now. Since the U.S. borrows money from absolutely everyone and gives financially aid to numerous governments around the globe, it is easy to see why the rest of the world is concerned and the various stock markets around the globe are looking at the U.S. with frightened eyes.

Well, it appears today (October 10, 2013) that the U.S. Congress may agree to raise the debt ceiling, at least temporarily, quelling some of the short term concerns in the stock markets. However, it will not resolve the issue of the U.S. government continuously spending more than they receive in taxes. If a private citizen did that they would be bankrupt before you know it, well, shouldn't the government be held to the same standards??

What is more of a concern to me is that this U.S. President and Congress have piled on more debt in the last five years than all the other U.S. Presidents and Congresses combined in U.S. history. The U.S. government is truly a train off the tracks.


I am glad that it appears that Congress has agreed to increase the debt ceiling temporarily until they can come up with a better solution on the debt and this mega monster called Obamacare.

I am also glad that if Congress and the President can find a solution, my novel Saving Miguel will remain just good old fashion terrifying fiction and not prophetic fiction that became reality.       

The link below gives Europe's perspective on the U.S. Government's debt ceiling shenanigans.



Europe looks on as the U.S. Faces economic Armageddon



Wednesday, October 9, 2013

U.S. President and Congress Playing Russian Roulette with Our Lives...

Saving Miguel - available at
better booksellers.
Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress are playing Russian Roulette with the upcoming debt ceiling increase. When does the rhetoric stop and the work begins?

The attached editorial explains the implications to the U.S. and its citizens.

If you want to know what the world looks like if Barack Obama and the U.S. Congress can't get their acts together, read my novel Saving Miguel  and find out. Saving Miguel is available at better booksellers.  


Russian Roulette with U.S. Citizens Retirements

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

In This Game of Chicken We All Lose!

I am not sure what you think about the rhetoric and game of chicken the Democrats and Republicans are playing with our country and economy, but enough is enough. It is the average people who are going to suffer from the consequences of thei...r posturing. Interesting link to an article on the subject is below.

Read Saving Miguel if you want to find out what can happen to the world if these politicians do not get their act together. I, for one, want Saving Miguel to remain fiction and fantasy, not become reality!


In This Game of Chicken We All Lose

Saturday, October 5, 2013

Saving Miguel - Paints a Picture of Life After Global Economic Armageddon!

Saving Miguel - the only hope left
is an eight year old boy! Available
from better booksellers.
When I wrote Saving Miguel I never imagined it could possibly come true, but here we are in the eighth day of  the U.S. government's shutdown and two weeks away from the U.S. government debt ceiling crisis.

I wrote Saving Miguel under the premise of what the world would like after global economic Armageddon. In my scenario in Saving Miguel, economic Armageddon began when the U.S. government could no longer pay its obligations and defaulted on its massive debt. From that point in time, it was only a matter of time before other global economies unraveled and defaulted. In Saving Miguel, I wrote my version of what the world would look like after global economic Armageddon.  

On October 17, 2013 of this year, the U.S. Congress must raise the country's debt ceiling or the U.S. government will not be able to borrow additional money. If Congress raises the debt ceiling, the U.S. government will continue to pile on even more debt, but at least global economic Armageddon will be averted for the time being. If Congress does not raise the country's debt ceiling, the horror begins when the U.S. government is unable to pay its bills or borrow money. For all practical purposes, the U.S. will be bankrupt. This will start the dominoes falling towards a global economic Armageddon.

I have attached a link from a Far East newspaper that explains the implications. 

Global Economic Armageddon



Read Saving Miguel and find out where the world finds hope!