A Very Frightening Video of an event that is perhaps nearing reality.

In the early 16th century, a priest by the name of Fray Francisco de Ugalde remarked to his king that Spain was "el imperio en el que nunca se pone el sol".   In other words, the sun never set on the Spanish Empire.

And by the 1500s, Spain had become the first truly global superpower, with vast lands across the Americas, Africa, Europe, Asia, and even the South Pacific. The Empire's status was so great that its silver coin (the real de ocho or piece of 8) was used around the world as a global reserve standard... including in the US colonies.

However, it didn't last.

Like so many great empires that came before, Spain was beset by unsustainable spending, constant warfare, debilitating debt, and an inflated money supply.

By the mid 1500s, the Spanish government was spending 2/3 of its total tax revenue just to pay interest. Spain defaulted on its debt six times in the next century.  It finally came to an end on today's date in 1643, exactly 371 years ago.

Historians can literally circle the date on a calendar that Spain ceased being Europe's dominant superpower; it was the day that Spain lost the Battle of Rocroi, and effectively the Thirty Years War against France.

Just days before, a four-year old Louis XIV had ascended to the throne to become the King of France after the death of his father.

And during his whopping 72-year reign, France replaced Spain as the global superpower.

(To put this reign in context, the longest serving monarch alive today is King Bhumibol of Thailand, who at age 86 has served for 67 years. At age 88, Queen Elizabeth has served for 62 years.)

For more than a century, commerce, art, and technology flourished in France. And some of the greatest intellectual minds in history published their works during this period.

I remember being told as a West Point cadet that in the early days of the Academy in the 1800s, the only two classes were French and Mathematics, primarily because all of the great textbooks were written by French mathematicians.

France had public healthcare and free hospitals. Great monuments to their grandeur. Colonies around the world. An awe-inspiring military.

And their influence was so great that foreign governments from Russia to Prussia spoke French internally.

Needless to say, this didn't last either.

And like the Spanish before them, France overspent, overexpanded, and overregulated. They waged excessive warfare, and they managed their affairs as if the good times would last forever.

By the 1780s, the French debt had grown so much that they were rapidly devaluing the currency and borrowing money just to pay interest on what they had already borrowed.

Sound familiar?   The US is in a similar position right now, along with most of the West (including... France and Spain again!)

Like an aging prize fighter, there is no nation that can permanently maintain its status as the dominant superpower. And certainly no nation that can defy universal economic truths.

Powerful nations believe they can borrow indefinitely and dilute their currencies without consequence.   This simply isn't true. Wealth and power shift. The world's reserve currency changes. It's been happening for centuries, and this time is no different.

We are all witnessing this change unfold again. And this isn't some wild assertion.   Objective data from the Bank for International Settlements and the International Monetary Fund all show a clear decline in the dollar's share of global reserves.

The US government's own data shows a net worth of minus $16.9 trillion, over 100% of GDP in the red.   And even in their most optimistic projections, the government tells us that growth in debt will outpace growth in tax revenue.

Day to day, it's easy to ignore these trends. But from a big picture perspective, it couldn't be more obvious.

Just like the Battle of Rocroi in 1643, or the storming of the Bastille in 1789, there will come a time when future historians circle a date on a calendar and say, "That was the day the United States ceased being the dominant superpower."

Perhaps it's happened already. Or perhaps it will occur in a war yet to be fought.

But if history, common sense, and truth are any guides, that reckoning is quickly approaching.

Are You Ready for Nuclear War?  Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/06/03/ready-nuclear-war-paul-craig-roberts/

A very good article! Sober, intelligent, and important to read.

Are You Ready For Nuclear War? — Paul Craig Roberts
June 3, 2014 | Categories: Articles & Columns | Tags: ABM, ICBM, nuclear war, Steven Starr, | Print This Article Print This Article
Are You Ready For Nuclear War?

Paul Craig Roberts

Pay close attention to Steven Starr’s guest column, “The Lethality of Nuclear Weapons.” http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/05/30/lethality-nuclear-weapons/ Washington thinks nuclear war can be won and is planning for a first strike on Russia, and perhaps China, in order to prevent any challenge to Washington’s world hegemony.

The plan is far advanced, and the implementation of the plan is underway. As I have reported previously, US strategic doctrine was changed and the role of nuclear missiles was elevated from a retaliatory role to an offensive first strike role. US anti-ballistic missile (ABM) bases have been established in Poland on Russia’s frontier, and other bases are planned. When completed Russia will be ringed with US missile bases.

Anti-ballistic missiles, known as “star wars,” are weapons designed to intercept and destroy ICBMs. In Washington’s war doctrine, the US hits Russia with a first strike, and whatever retaliatory force Russia might have remaining is prevented from reaching the US by the shield of ABMs.

The reason Washington gave for the change in war doctrine is the possibility that terrorists might obtain a nuclear weapon with which to destroy an American city. This explanation is nonsensical. Terrorists are individuals or a group of individuals, not a country with a threatening military. To use nuclear weapons against terrorists would destroy far more than the terrorists and be pointless as a drone with a conventional missile would suffice.

The reason Washington gave for the ABM base in Poland is to protect Europe from Iranian ICBMs. Washington and every European government knows that Iran has no ICBMs and that Iran has not indicated any intent to attack Europe.

No government believes Washington’s reasons. Every government realizes that Washington’s reasons are feeble attempts to hide the fact that it is creating the capability on the ground to win a nuclear war.

The Russian government understands that the change in US war doctrine and the US ABM bases on its borders are directed at Russia and are indications that Washington plans a first strike with nuclear weapons on Russia.

China has also understood that Washington has similar intentions toward China. As I reported several months ago, in response to Washington’s threat China called the world’s attention to China’s ability to destroy the US should Washington initiate such a conflict.

However, Washington believes that it can win a nuclear war with little or no damage to the US. This belief makes nuclear war likely.

As Steven Starr makes clear, this belief is based in ignorance. Nuclear war has no winner. Even if US cities were saved from retaliation by ABMs, the radiation and nuclear winter effects of the weapons that hit Russia and China would destroy the US as well.

The media, conveniently concentrated into a few hands during the corrupt Clinton regime, is complicit by ignoring the issue. The governments of Washington’s vassal states in Western and Eastern Europe, Canada, Australia, and Japan are also complicit, because they accept Washington’s plan and provide the bases for implementing it. The demented Polish government has probably signed the death warrant for humanity. The US Congress is complicit, because no hearings are held about the executive branch’s plans for initiating nuclear war.

Washington has created a dangerous situation. As Russia and China are clearly threatened with a first strike, they might decide to strike first themselves. Why should Russia and China sit and await the inevitable while their adversary creates the ability to protect itself by developing its ABM shield? Once Washington completes the shield, Russia and China are certain to be attacked, unless they surrender in advance.

The 10 minute report below from Russia Today makes it clear that Washington’s secret plan for a first strike on Russia is not secret. The report also makes it clear that Washington is prepared to eliminate any European leaders who do not align with Washington. http://rt.com/shows/the-truthseeker/162864-us-plans-strike-russia/
A transcript is provided by Global Research: http://www.globalresearch.ca/us-plans-first-strike-attack-on-russia-or-china/5384799

Readers will ask me, “What can we do?” This is what you can do. You can shut down the Ministry of Propaganda by turning off Fox News, CNN, the BBC, ABC, NBC, CBS, by ceasing to read the New York Times, the Washington Post, the LA Times. Simply exit the official media. Do not believe one word that the government says. Do not vote. Realize that evil is concentrated in Washington. In the 21st century Washington has destroyed in whole or part seven countries. Millions of peoples murdered, maimed, displaced, and Washington has shown no remorse whatsoever. Neither have the “christian” churches. The devastation that Washington has inflicted is portrayed as a great success. Washington prevailed.

Washington is determined to prevail, and the evil that Washington represents is leading the world to destruction.

What seems to ignored in the planned U.S. first strike on Russian, are
all the Russian Nuclear Submarines just miles off our coast. Equipped
with the newest nuclear tip missiles can hit the American Homeland
in minutes with no warning. These submarines cannot be detected by
our latest sonar.
So any U.S. and NATO collateral damage on Russian. America and
Europe will not escape.
Only a psychopath dreams of nuclear war, thinking that he is
beyond reproached. Has no feelings and empathy. Just his
imagined preservation, and imagined self-righteousness.