This Week in History, Dec 2 - Dec 8

Dec 02, 2001

With all the talk about the proverbial fiscal cliff, we may have forgotten that the Mayan Calendar predicts a major date is quickly approaching.

But hurry, because doomsday prophecies are around us as Dec. 21 quickly comes closer. The Mayans and Hopi Indians recognize that we are approaching the end of a World Age. Hopi and Mayan elders do not prophesy that everything will come to an end. Rather, this is a time of transition from one World Age into another. The message they give concerns our making a choice of how we enter the future ahead, not how we party on our final days.

BIG PENTAGON PLANS. Expanding Espionage Operations.
An ambitious overseas push will develop an espionage network that rivals the CIA in size.

GAZA EGYPT TUNNELS. Back in Business Following Cease-fire
Smuggling practices have resumed, while Israel watches to see if Hamas begins rearming during a cease-fire.

PRESIDENT MORSI'S POLITICS. Charter Referendum.
Egypt’s president decides on December 15 as the date for vote for Islamist charter, while his supporters flood the streets.

SOUTH OF THE BORDER CHANGES. Mexico’s New President.

According to recent surveys, approximately 14% of US citizens are confident they will have enough funds to afford retirement at age 65.

As more baby boomers elect to stay in the workplace, as opposed to going into full retirement mode, one decision to make is what do do with your 401K, which in many cases has replaced the traditional pension enjoyed by folks who entered the workplace in the mid 1900's.

Similar studies indicate that that delaying retirement by just one year can your ability to of successfully retiring by 18%, two years by 37% and three 55%.

With only 38% of the vote, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto today assumed control of the armed forces and took responsibility doe national security in a symbolic ceremony held at midnight at the presidential palace, just before his official swearing in by Congress.

FISCAL CLIFF TALKS. More Of The Same.
Negotiations continue on both sides, but no progress appears to be in sight with barely a month left before the fiscal cliff, Republicans and Democrats remain far apart.

US CYBER-WAR. Cutting Edge With Plan X‎‏.
US Pentagon brings warfare into the future by creating a detailed map outlining a new battlefield of cyberspace.

NORTH KOREAN VOW. To Launch Long Range Rocket‎‏.
North Korea plans to launch a long-range rocket, just eight months after it failed and was condemned as a violation of a U.N. ban against developing a missile program.

Forget house calls, unfortunately many hospital administrators are now making too many calls on our health care treatment.

There was a time when doctors would visit patients at home, but those days are not only gone. Nowadays many doctors are affiliated with large hospitals and it is their administrators who are exerting their bottom line pressure.

More and more doctors complain that hospitals have too much power over each and every aspect of the health care pipeline, dictating which tests, which procedures need to be performed, how much to charge and which patients to admit.

WHITE HOUSE CONTINUES FISCAL CLIFF FIGHT. Outside The Capitol.
President Obama applies campaign-style tactics near Philadelphia, hoping to mobilize public support as the year-end deadline for reaching a deal with Congress over taxes and spending cuts looms.

UN RECOGNIZES PALESTINE. May Not Be A Solution.
Independence remains a dream until the Palestinians and the Israelis sign a peace treaty.

ISLAMIST CONSTITUTION. More Clashes in Egypt.

US Representative Joe Crowley (D-Queens, the Bronx) was unanimously elected by his colleagues to serve as Vice Chair of the House Democratic Caucus for the 113th Congress, the fifth-ranking position in House Democratic leadership. After the election, Rep. Crowley released the following statement: