­by the El Reportero’s news services

General Omar Torrijos

The 31 anniversary of the death of General Omar Torrijos in a supposed plane crash whose causes have not yet been fully clarified, was commemorated by the Democratic Revolutionary Party (PRD) which he founded.

Torrijismo is not something that is said, you acts as Torrijista or not, said his son and president of the Republic Martin Torrijos Espino in the acts of remembrance made the day before.

Torrijos Espino regretted that a country like Panama, which walked along a path of progress, is taking today through an unnecessary confrontation.

Adolfo Ahumada, keynote speaker at events organized by the Omar Foundation and implemented in the mausoleum of Calzada de Amador, said that given the complicated political situation in the country it is in Torrijismo where lies the lifeline for Panama.

At the events were representatives of all the trends and the Torrijismo presidential candidates, as well as the candidates to lead the National Executive Council of the PRD.

General Omar Torrijos died 31 years ago when the aircraft he was traveling in crashed into the hill Marta, in Cocle. A youth contingent of the party went there this week to lay flowers at the bust erected in the scene.

Chávez fulfils ‘Bolívar’s dream’ with entry to Mercosur

Latin News reports: Venezuela has become the first full member to be admitted to the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) since its formation in 1991. “Mercosur is Bolívar’s machinery”, President Hugo Chávez proclaimed while celebrating the formal incorporation of Venezuela at a summit in Brasília (31 July) attended by the heads of state of the other full members, Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff, Argentina’s Cristina Fernández and Uruguay’s José Mujica, but not Paraguay’s Federico Franco.

The post-haste inclusion of Venezuela into Mercosur was only rendered possible by the suspension of Paraguay last June in the wake of the impeachment of Fernando Lugo (2008-2012).

Global network of infantile pornography splashes Mexico

National newspapers emphasize today here the report of American authorities on the identification of at least 140 victims of a network of infantile pornography in seven countries, between them Mexico.

According to the reports the victim of more age, located in Holland, was four years old and of less, only 19 days, whereas 43 subjects were stopped in the last two years associated with this crime, says the diary The Universal.

The band had between his members to a manager of hotel in Massachusetts, a technician of medical emergencies in Kansas and an assistant of day-care center in Holland.

The arrests began after it was detecting the exchange of explicit photographies of aggressions across Internet and even for conversations on line of the pederasts it brings over of “ kidnapping, children cook and to eat “.

It is investigated if the men who spoke about homicides and cannibalism incurred such violations or only they were exchanging perverse fantasies.

The inquiry, which continues being extended, it received Holitna’s codified name, for a river in Alaska that has many tributaries.

Another article of the newspaper about the same topic emphasized that the infantile pornography is an increasing problem in Central America, one of the centers of the industry of production, distribution and sale of this material, affirmed the Costa Rican Rocío Rodríguez, executive director of Alliance for Your Laws.

­Rodríguez explained to The Universal one that, after Mexico, Brazil and Holland, Central America is an emergent market in infantile pornography, with “ a black number of production.”

According to the specialists, the use of minors in pornographic material and the submission and affront that this implies, is one of the most alarming and serious forms that reduce the dignity of girls, children and teenagers. (Prensa Latina contributed to this report).

by Susanne Posel
Infowars.com

Informants and military personnel are coming forth anonymously to confirm that martial law “is right around the corner.” However, right now we are under a silent martial law and citizens are reporting strange and unexplainable activity from the U.S. armed forces and multiple federal agencies that point to a covert preparatory operation to completely lock down America in the very near future.

Sources from multiple locations across the nation have independently confirmed that the U.S. military are repositioning soldiers in conjunction with allied foreign troops in the initial stages of martial law.

The U.S. military are secretly moving massive amounts of “equipment” across the country consistently for more than a year. In Phoenix, Arizona, tractor-trailers transporting tanks on public highways have been spotted. One witness stated that he saw these flatbeds multiple times in the month of June. Eye witness reports are coming primarily from the northern and southern Border States.

Peter Santilli, an ex-marine informant who was a specialist in aviation deployed weapons, explains that a refrigerated truck, allocated by the administration department on base, was directed to the commissary, where the unsuspecting driver believed that he was transporting food.

The weapon was placed at the head of the trailer, and covered up with either food stores (like cans of soup) or body bags. In the event that the truck is stopped en route, the weapon would be well hidden and go undetected by inspectors on the public highways.

Santilli, who was assigned to ride in the cab of the truck with the driver, says that his orders were to make sure the truck arrived at its destination. If there were problems concerning potential civil unrest, he was to radio into his superiors for aid by either air or ground support. Should the situation warrant serious attention; crowd control methods would be implemented.

One possible scenario was the use of cluster bomb units (CBUs) that will emit upon detonation, a “sleep and kill” chemical weapon that will not disturb infrastructure, but is lethal to all living things within the effected zone. Santilli describes these particular 3 unit CBUs as shaped like water-heaters with a coned top and plunger-like device.

Once deployed in the air, a parachute assists these CBUs to the targeted area. And when detonated, a deadly chemical gas will kill every human and animal in the specified cordoned area.

The acquisition of armory by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and contracts for bullet-proof glass for check-point booths to be positioned strategically throughout the nation on public highways have heightened awareness that the U.S. government is preparing for a well-planned domestic military action. DHS armored vehicles have been sighted on highways in Kentucky.

When citizens attempt to capture the activity on film, some have their cameras confiscated; sometimes after a physical altercation.

On Google Maps, where known military bases were once visible, some strategic areas are now blurred out.

John (a pseudonym) was contracted by DHS to “fill in caves, mines and block trails”. Now these measures are being stepped up, as independent contractors are being brought to mountainous regions and told to block all entrances into the mountains, by way of caves and other areas where people could possibly “hide out in the hills” during a riot situation under declaration of martial law.

Residents in Pine Mountain, Georgia and Spruce Mountain, Nevada have had confrontations with U.S. armed forces. When travelling in public national forested areas, military police with “automatic weapons” say that locals cannot gather wood in surrounding forested spaces (as they have traditionally done for decades). One man in particular had his rifle forcibly confiscated by unidentified armed men.

On dirt roads leading to the Lassen National Forest reserve, paving is being laid over the gravel roads. The locals know that secret underground drilling or tunneling is being conducted. Whenever they enter the park, they are quickly escorted out by heavily armed and quite menacing persons. Even once abandoned logging roads are beginning to see activity again.

Information coming out of reserve units in Arizona is that they are being put on official alert. Military personnel are being told by superiors not to schedule vacations and prepare to be on-call and on-duty indefinitely. According to one informant, these new assignments are not providing for deployment overseas, but rather for domestic service with the intimation that these deployments may have relation to civil unrest expectations.

In Lake Havasu, Arizona, and Colorado Springs as well as Fort Collins, Colorado, locals are coming forth to report that local fires may have been lit by foreign troops; specifically Russian forces that have been spotted in the area. These Russian troops are believed to be stationed at Fort Carson, Colorado.

Military drills, a.k.a. urban warfare, have been played out in many states by the Pentagon and other branches of the U.S. armed forces.

Just this month, foreign troops were caught at a Wal-Mart . They were travelling in what were described as “large government vans”.

Law-enforcement battalions have been created out of Camp Pendleton, California, consisting of specialized military police (SMPs) that would be deployed to assist in any event of civil disturbance, handling of detainees, use biometrics to identify suspects and conduct forensic work. Their assistance is not limited to conducting DUIs and writing speeding tickets in an effort to re-brand the Marine Corps as being more involved with average work now allocated to local law enforcement.

Moving around in white, unmarked vans, strange troops have been seen purchasing food and water at another Wal-Mart in Franklin, Indiana. Parading in military personnel fatigues where drone activity has been reported in Oklahoma City and black helicopters were spotted hovering over a construction site.

According to documents from the RAND Corporation, a planned event concerning a Police Stabilization Force within the U.S. will be “a mix of military and police forces to deal with a range of threats.” ­The study explains:

• What the response should be

• The creation of a high-end police force

• Costs for this military/police collaborative force

Estimates are $637.3 million annually and including many federal agencies including: the U.S. Marshals Service, the U.S. Secret Service, the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) in the Department of State, and the U.S. Army’s Military Police.

There is a media blackout concerning the “state of emergency” (code for martial law) that Anaheim, California residents have been under since the murder of a man by local police.

While protests have been conducted, residents say that “outsiders” are infiltrating peaceful demonstrations to stir up violence and ensure local and military police action against them.

While city officials are gearing up for “another large incident” and “another riot” protesters are coming forth to voice their distain at the “infiltrators” that attended a protest that ended with the fatal shooting of two Latino men.

During protest marches in Anaheim, the white, unmarked vans have resurfaced. This time unidentified “police” detained protesters and placed them into these vans.

The increased activity across the nation in conjunction with the mounting citizen reports of seeing military on their streets, conducting urban warfare drills, and spotting foreign troops have prompted public interest in the U.S. government’s plans to enact a full-scale martial law in America – expected by the end of this year.

The more attention that is brought to these sightings and the more people come forward with information, the safer the American public will be. The U.S. military have orders to shoot and kill all dissenters.

They are being trained to confiscate guns and detain people in “internment” or FEMA camps. For the sake of continuity of government, they are being told to turn on their own fellow Americans.

Susanne Posel’s blog is Occupy Corporatism

by the El Reportero’s staff

Jerry García

San Francisco’s Mclaren Park will once again host the annual Jerry Day event Sunday August 5. Celebrating its 10th year, the event will be held at the Jerry Garcia Amphitheater, named after the late Grateful Dead guitarist, who grew up in the Excelsior District.

As has become tradition in recent years, the daytime music festival will be headlined by Melvin Seals and JGB. Seals, longtime keyboardist for Garcia’s solo band will be joined by an eclectic group of musicians who always gives the event a Garcia ‘feel,’ covering the guitarist’s songs both with a little funk and flair thrown in.

Jerry Day was founded in 2002, holding its first event at the McLaren Park Amphitheater in 2003. Soon after renamed the ‘Jerry Garcia Amphitheater,’ the venue continues to host the annual free event, which raises awareness for neighborhood art and culture and honors the late leader of the Grateful Dead.

Jerry day 2012, Sunday, Aug. 5, 2012, at Jerry Garcia Amphitheater / McLaren Park

45 John F. Shelley Drive – Excelsior District – San Francisco. Info: http://www.jerryday.org/.

Puerto Rican music lecture series: The Museum of the African Diaspora www.moadsf.org and SF JAZZ www.sfjazz.org present: Criolla y Sabrosa: La Música Puertorriqueña. an 8-week lecture series by John Santos at MOAD, The Museum of the African Diaspora, Wednesdays 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m., Aug. 1 through Sept. 19, 2012. 685 Mission St. at Third Street, San Francisco. To register and for more info: http://www.ybgf.org/programs/specialprojects.php.

Afro-Latin Percussion Clinic/Workshop with John Santos

For more information email: info@opcmusic.org. The first part (1:00 to 1:45) is family-oriented and will consist of the demonstration and historical perspective of several percussive instruments including tumbadoras, bongos, timbales, maracas, claves, chekere and bell, as well as some basic ensemble rhythms to be played by all.

In the second part (2:00 to 3:30 p.m.) which is directed to more advanced students, Mr. Santos will conduct ensemble rhythms from Cuba and Puerto Rico and dig deeper into the technical aspects of playing the respective instruments. Bandleader, composer, percussionist and educator, John Santos is a five-time Grammy nominee with a career that spans 40 years. www.johnsantos.com.

Saturday, July 28, 2012, 1:00 p.m., Oakland Public Conservatory. 1616 Franklin Street at 17th Street, Oakland.

Nicaraguan celebrate Santo Domingo de Guzmán

You’re invited to meet us with religiousness and joy to celebrate the Patron of Managua on Sunday, July 29, at St Finn Barr Church. The Campesino mass is unique and very Nicaraguan, it will take place at 11:30 am, after the end of the mass, followed by the traditional procession toward the church dance salon to celebrate to the Patron of  the Poor, and of Managua, Santo Domingo de Guzman!

With nostalgia but with faith, we will carry, dance and sing together.

Let’s go all Managuans, the nicoyas, to dance and to fight bull the cow and celebrate the traditional festival brought to San Francisco.

­Celebrating 20th anniversary of La Peña del Sur

Singer and songwriter Natalia Contesse is in the United States showcasing her outstanding CD Puñado de Tierra.

Natalia mixes Chilean traditions such as the Cueca, Tonada and the guitarra campesina (folk guitar). Her singing and composing is inspired in the South American folkloric tradition. Rafael Manríquez has been one of the leading exponents of Latin American music in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Both singers are inspired by Victor Jara, Atahualpa Yupanqui, VioletaParra–as well as the struggles for social justice, peace, and respect for La Pachamama/ Mother Earth.

Friday July 27, 8 p.m. A.N.S.W.E.R., 2969 Mission St., between 25th and 26th Street,,San Francisco.

Political opportunists seize upon tragedy to attack Second Amendment

­by Paul Joseph Watson

Infowars.com­

Citizens protest the banks-imposed debts.

Within hours of the tragic ‘Batman’ shooting in Aurora, Colorado, political opportunists have seized upon the incident to push for gun control, with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg demanding that both Mitt Romney and Barack Obama “stand up and tell us what they’re going to do about” mass shootings.

Exactly as we predicted in our earlier article, leftists have wasted no time in exploiting the actions of a lone lunatic for political grist, with Bloomberg calling on the two presidential candidates to crack down on gun rights.

We knew ghouls like Bloomberg would rush to exploit this tragedy to try and crush the right to self defense.

Quite how either Romney or Obama have the power to reverse a Hollywood- inspired culture that serves up lashings of violence to young people like turkey at Thanksgiving is anyone’s guess.

In addition, the notion that either of the presidential candidates can put a halt to a juggernaut pharmaceutical industry that doles out violence-causing SSRI drugs to youngsters like penny candy is clearly asinine.

“I mean, there’s so many murders with guns every day,” said Bloomberg. “It’s just gotta stop. And instead of these two people, President [Barack] Obama and Governor [Mitt] Romney talking in broad things about, they want to make the world a better place. OK. Tell us how. And this is a problem. No matter where you stand on the Second Amendment, no matter where you stand on guns, we have a right to hear from both of them, concretely, not just in generalities, specifically, what are they going to do about guns?”

Bloomberg told WOR News Talk Radio 710. Bloomberg was followedin his idiocy by CNN host and all-round smarm-merchant Piers Morgan, who in a series of tweets hastily seized upon the tragedy to promote his lust for disarming the general public.

“America has got to do something about its gun laws. Now is the time,” said Morgan.

“Lunatics like this will always try and get guns. It should be 100,000 times harder than it is for them to do so. That’s my point,” he added.

Perhaps the more fundamental question that needs to be asked as to why America keeps experiencing mass shootings, when as recently as twenty years ago they were few and far between, is to what extent our sick culture and entertainment industry is contributing to the general malaise and unfeeling psychosis that seems to have gripped the younger generations?

Why were there so few mass shootings just two decades ago compared to now? Has the number and availability of guns increased substantially?

No. Is the sewer pipe we call Hollywood and the entertainment industry pumping out sicker, more nihilistic and more violence-strewn films than ever before? Yes.

As numerous observers ­have noted, the recent Batman films have contained unnerving amounts of violence that seem to serve little purpose other than to appease a bloodthirsty craving for gore and brutality amongst young people, who have had such sickness foisted upon them through movies, entertainment, video games and popular music.

As Jenny McCartney notes in the Telegraph, we have been turned into a society seduced by sadism.

This sadism is also more accessible to children and young people than ever before. Many people today are asking what a 6-year-old child was doing at a midnight screening of a movie?

In addition, the fact that these kind of movies are able to generate such a level of suspended disbelief that victims thought the shooting was initially part of the movie, is a shocking example of how much power the big screen has to warp minds.

It’s also now come to light that Warner Bros paired the Batman movie with a trailer for a film which shows “a gangster with a machine gun shooting up people in a movie theater from behind the big screen.”

Once again, before we even know anything about the 24-year-old shooter James Holmes, the establishment media and leftist political operatives are rushing to denounce gun rights as the culprit behind the tragedy, once again failing to address the underlying root cause – a sadistic, death obsessed culture that allows young men to be drawn into bizarre fantasy worlds where violence is seen as an alluring adventure.

by Ethan A. Huff, staff writer

(NaturalNews) As fast food giant McDonald’s gets ready to open its largest restaurant in the world at Olympic Park in London (http://www.huffingtonpost.com), the London Assembly, an elected government body that holds the London Mayor accountable to his promises, has voted in favor of calling for an official ban on both McDonald’s and Coca-Cola from the 2012 Olympic Games.

Because many of the products offered by both McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are filled with processed sugar, artificial chemicals, and unhealthy fats, and are linked to causing childhood obesity and other illnesses, the London Assembly believes the International Olympic Committee has a responsibility to nix these companies from sponsoring the Games. Hosting a lineup of the world’s most talented athletes while peddling junk food to the masses, in other words, is a hypocritical position to take, according to the Assembly.

“London won the right to host the 2012 Games with the promise to deliver a legacy of more active, healthier children across the world,” said Jenny Jones, the London Assembly member who initially proposed the motion to ban the two food giants from participating in the Games. “Yet the same International Olympic Committee (IOC) that awarded the Games to London persists in maintaining sponsorship deals with the purveyors of high calorie junk that contribute to the threat of an obesity epidemic.”

Jones’ proposal makes plenty of logical sense. But the biggest problem with it; however, is that McDonald’s and Coca-Cola happen to be two of the largest sponsors of the Olympic Games — and they have been involved with the Olympic Games for quite some time. Without McDonald’s and Coca-Cola, the Olympic Games would be in some serious financial trouble, which says a lot about the absurd amount of influence these corporations and many others have over the world’s institutions.

McDonald’s, Coca-Cola have long been top-tier Olympic Games sponsors

According to the Huffington Post, Coca-Cola is the Olympic Games’ longest-running sponsor, having contributed to its perpetuity since 1928. McDonald’s has a long legacy with the Olympic Games as well, having contributed large sums of sponsorship dollars since the mid-1970s.

As contradictory as this truly is, two of the world’s largest junk food purveyors play a major role in maintaining the existence of the world’s largest demonstration of athleticism and vibrant physical health.

The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AMRC) seems to agree that the partnership between the Olympic Games and both McDonald’s and Coca-Cola is disconcerting, as this particular group continues to be one of the most outspoken critics of IOC’s conflicting alliance with McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. According to AMRC, allowing these two fast food companies to be the official face of food at the Olympic Games “sends out the wrong message (to children).”

In defense of their presence at the Games, both Coca-Cola and McDonald’s have tried to highlight their many “healthy” food and drink offerings while reiterating the importance of individuals making their own food choices without resorting to censorship. But the latter recommendation will be somewhat difficult for attendees of the Games to follow; however, both McDonald’s and Coca- Cola have reportedly been given exclusive rights to sell their food and beverage offerings at the Games.

As far as Olympic athletes are concerned, many will not be partaking in the junk food fest, according to Marco Cardinale, Head of Sports Science and Research of the British Olympic Association. During a recent interview with Telegraph Sport, Cardinale said he would be “very surprised” if any Olympic athletes decided to feast on a McDonald’s hamburger and a Coke during the Games, despite both companies’ insinuations in advertising campaigns that they would be “feeding” the Games, including its athletes. (­http://www.telegraph.co.uk)

Meanwhile, the IOC seems unfazed by all the controversy, and has no immediate or apparent plans to ditch either McDonald’s or Coca-Cola. So you can expect to see plenty of tantalizing images filled with “refreshing” Coca-Cola sodas and McDonald’s Big Macs featured on your television screens during the Games. And as intended, this propaganda campaign will give millions, if not billions, of children the false impression that eating these foods will help them one day become strong Olympic athletes.

by The American Dream

When most people think about America’s debt problem, they think of the debt of the federal government. But that is only part of the story. The sad truth is that debt slavery has become a way of life for tens of millions of American families. Over the past several decades, most Americans have willingly allowed themselves to become enslaved to debt. These days, most of us are busy either going into even more debt or paying off the debt that we have accumulated in the past.

When your finances are dominated by debt, it makes it really hard to ever get ahead. Incredibly, 43 percent of all American families spend more than they earn each year. Even while median household income continues to decline (now less than $50,000 a year), median household debt continues to go up. According to the Federal Reserve, median household debt in America has risen to $75,600.

Many Americans spend decades caught in the trap of debt slavery. Large numbers of them never even escape at all and die in debt. It can be a lot of fun to spend lots of money and go into lots of debt, but it can be absolutely soul crushing to toil and labor for years paying off those debts while making others wealthy in the process.

Hopefully this article will inspire many people to try to escape the chains of debt slavery once and for all.

Because the truth is that the American people need a wake up call. Consumer borrowing rose by another $19.3 billion in December.

Right now it is sitting at a grand total of $2.5 trillion according to the Federal Reserve.

Overall, consumer debt in America has increased by a whopping 1700% since 1971.

We always criticize the federal government for going into so much debt, but we rarely criticize ourselves for our own addiction to debt.

Debt slavery is destroying millions of lives all across this country, and it is imperative that we educate the American people about the dangers of all this debt.

The following are 30 facts about debt in America that will absolutely blow your mind….

Credit Card Debt

#1 Today, 46% of all Americans carry a credit card balance from month to month.

#2 Overall, Americans are carrying a grand total of $798 billion in credit card debt.

#3 If you were alive when Jesus was born and you spent a million dollars every single day since then, you still would not have spent $798 billion by now.

#4 Right now, there are more than 600 million active credit cards in the United States.

#5 For households that have credit card debt, the average amount of credit card debt is an astounding $15,799.

#6 If you can believe it, one out of every seven Americans has at least 10 credit cards.

#7 The average interest rate on a credit card that is carrying a balance is now up to 13.10 percent.

#8 According to the credit card calculator on the Federal Reserve website, if you have a $10,000 credit card balance and you are being charged a rate of 13.10 percent and you only make the minimum payment each time, it will take you 27 years to pay it off and you will end up paying back a total of $21,271.

#9 There is one credit card company out there, First Premier, that charges interest rates of up to 49.9 percent. Amazingly, First Premier has 2.6 million customers.

Auto Loan Debt

#10 The length of auto loans in America just keeps getting longer and longer. If you can believe it, 45 percent of all new car loans being made today are for more than 6 years.

#11 Approximately 70 percent of all car purchases in the United States involve an auto loan.

#12 A subprime auto loan bubble is steadily building. Today, 45 percent of all auto loans are made to subprime borrowers. At some point that is going to be a massive problem.

Mortgage Debt

#13 Total home mortgage debt in the United States is now about 5 times larger than it was just 20 years ago.

#14 Mortgage debt as a percentage of GDP has more than tripled since 1955.

#15 According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, approximately 8 million Americans are at least one month behind on their mortgage payments.

#16 Historically, the percentage of residential mortgages in foreclosure in the United States has tended to hover between 1 and 1.5 percent. Today, it is up around 4.5 percent.

#17 According to Dylan Ratigan, 46 percent of all mortgaged properties in Florida are underwater, 50 percent of all mortgaged properties in Arizona are underwater and 63 percent of all mortgaged properties in Nevada are underwater.

#18 Overall, nearly 29 percent of all homes with a mortgage in the United States are underwater.

#19 If you can believe it, the mortgage lenders now have more equity in U.S. homes than the American people do.

Medical Debt

#20 Medical debt is a major problem for a growing number of Americans. One study discovered that approximately 41 percent of all working age Americans either have medical bill problems or are currently paying off medical debt.

#21 Sadly, the number of Americans that are protected by health insurance continues to decline. An all-time record 49.9 million Americans do not have any health insurance at all right now, and the percentage of Americans covered by employer-based health plans has fallen for 11 years in a row.

#22 But even if you do have health insurance, there is still a good chance that you could end up with huge medical debt problems.

According to a report published in The American Journal of Medicine, medical bills are a major factor in more than 60 percent of the personal bankruptcies in the United States. Of those bankruptcies that were caused by medical bills, approximately 75 percent of them involved individuals that actually did have health insurance.

Student Loan Debt

#23 Total student loan debt in the United States is rapidly approaching 1 trillion dollars.

#24 If you went out right now and starting spending one dollar every single second, it would take you more than 31,000 years to spend one trillion dollars.

#25 In America today, approximately two-thirds of all college students graduate with student loan debt.

#26 The average student loan debt load is now approximately $25,000.

#27 After adjusting for inflation, U.S. college students are borrowing about twice as much money as they did a decade ago.

#28 One survey found that 23 percent of all college students actually use credit cards to pay for tuition or fees.

#29 The student loan default rate has nearly doubled since 2005.

­#30 Student loans made to directly to parents have increased by 75 percentsince the 2005-2006 academic year.

At this point, most Americans are up to their eyeballs in debt.

According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment Institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the United States is now 154 percent.

Our entire economy has become based on credit.

Do you need a car?

Just get an auto loan.

Do you need a house?

Just get a mortgage.

Do you need to fill up your house with stuff?

Just get a credit card.

Do you need an education?

Just get a student loan.

In fact, if you are anything like a typical American, you probably have a mortgage you can barely afford, you probably have at least one auto loan, you probably have several credit card balances and you probably have a student loan that you deeply regret.

So what should you do if you are drowning in debt?

First, make a firm decision that you are going to break the chains of debt slavery once and for all.

Secondly, come up with a plan to reduce your debt. Paying off debt that carries a high rate of interest first (such as credit card debt) is usually a good idea.

The big financial institutions want to get us into as much debt as possible, because all of this debt makes them incredibly wealthy.

Don’t play their game.

Yes, that may mean that you may have to put off certain purchases until you can come up with the money, but in the long run you will be much better off.

So do any of you have any debt slavery stories to share? Please feel free to leave a comment with your thoughts below….