Peak Oil in Time Magazine
...and Moneyweek
Peak Oil is now officially mainstream. Congratulations and condolences, all.
UN Warns of Climate Related Setbacks
"Some economists and development experts criticized the report yesterday, saying that a quick, costly shift away from fossil fuels, the main source of emissions, could actually backfire, blunting the climb toward prosperity that they say is a prerequisite for action to improve environmental quality.
Another reason for focusing on economic growth and increased ability to withstand climate shocks, this camp says, is that risks are rising not only because of warming but also because population growth in poor places is greatly increasing how many people are exposed to today’s climate-related hazards."
So you see, we have to increase the population to create economic growth to take care of our overpopulation problem.
Backyard Gardens Shelter Europe's Orphan Seeds
Kennedy Assassination Anniversary
Cogent argument with scholarly links from oilempire.us
Will Europe Impose Exchange Controls to Head Off Disaster?
Bet Your Bottom Dollar Tensions Will Follow
Digital Gold as Replacement for Dollar
Never Enough Gold Jewelry
Attack on Liberty Dollar Also Seized Metal Dies in Idaho
Our Diseased Monetary Bloodstream
Drums of War with Iran: Nuclear Weapons or Compound Interest?
With the arrival of Peak Oil, the curtain has closed on Act 1 of the drama Petroleum Man. What will happen in Act 2? Chekhov said, "If there's a gun on the wall at the beginning of the play, by the end it must go off." In the world's nuclear arsenal are many guns on the wall. If life copies art, will there be an Act 3 in which the players, having learned their lesson the hard way, live sustainably? To explore these and other questions... FTW's Act 2 Blog. Read, comment, take heart! Orkin
Book - Collapse
Book Release
Movie - Collapse
The critically acclaimed new film featuring Michael Ruppert.
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27 comments:
The legacy of the Opium Wars on Afghanistan
Corruption, bribes and trafficking: a cancer that is engulfing Afghanistan
“The British public would be up in arms if they knew that the district appointments in the south for which British soldiers are dying are there just to protect drug routes,” said one analyst.
American-backed killer militias strut across Iraq
"Exotically named groups such as the Knights of Ameriya and the Guardians of Ghazaliya strut the streets in camouflage uniforms, brandishing new AK47s," The Sunday Times reports. Some of the militants were "members of groups aligned with Al-Qaeda eight weeks ago."
Source of water for West at risk
"Drums of war with Iran" -- An interesting thesis, worthy of serious consideration. One statement at the beginning bothers me, however: "We don't need to go to war for [oil]. We can just buy it." This is a claim made by those who argue the Iraq war is purely for Israel and has nothing to do with oil. The flaw in this reasoning is that although oil can be purchased today (and it's not cheap), there is no guarantee we can just buy it tomorrow. "War for Israel only" advocates have severe tunnel vision that prevents them from seeing that events in the Middle East are part of the worldwide Hydrocarbon Grabfest.
Today I listened to this radio program: "Oil Production Forecasts"
http://wamu.org/programs/dr/07/11/26.php#18055
One of the participants was Matt Simmons, who minces no words. There seemed to be a conscious effort among the others to sound upbeat, but overall it presents a pretty gloomy outlook. In conclusion I have to agree with Simmons: no really serious efforts at change will be made until people really feel the pain.
More on the Chinese gas crunch, and how it may affect the US, from Tom Whipple:
http://www.fcnp.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2153&Itemid=35
So you see, we have to increase the population to create economic growth to take care of our overpopulation problem.
Well said! There is a short blip in the development of a population where they do develop the wealth to make wiser choices and sacrifices about the environment, but unfortunately the consumptive behavior that comes with increasing wealth eventually takes over, and that developing population ends up with a huge ecological footprint. We should be careful what we wish for!
Dave Gardner
Producer/Director
Hooked on Growth: Our Misguided Quest for Prosperity
www.growthbusters.com
I don't think I can continue finding out all this information anymore.
ecc 1:18 For in much wisdom [is] much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.
I have a major Cassandra complex going on and its killing me. What good is it to know when no one listens to you?
I don't think I have the fortitude, or sanity to, continue keeping up with this. Ignorance is bliss sometimes.
jwfearman:
If I didn't speak spanish and couldn't understand Hugo Chavez, I'd be pretty depressed too.
Limited biofuel feedstock supply?
http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/26110
There you have it. This is exactly what I have been saying. Farmers will want to keep agricultural residue on their fields. What's more, in the near future they will be looking for more organic inputs. So large-scale biofuel producers can kiss their feedstocks goodbye.
Increasing population for economic growth -- Yea, there is a mindset like that here in Japan, too. The fertility rate is very low and the population is beginning to decline. This is cause for celebration, but politicians and bureaucrats see nothing but falling tax revenues. That they'll be able to feed all these people is just an article of faith.
Plunge Protection Team documents: "177 pages of crap."
http://www.nypost.com/seven/11292007/business/the_treasurys_missing_minutes_mystery_378734.htm?page=0
More on the Absurdity of Localization
http://cafehayek.typepad.com/hayek/2007/11/more-on-the-abs.html
From the article:
"It leads to starvation. It is hard for us to imagine famine in the wealthy nations of the world. Crop failures in one part of the world are replaced with crops from other parts of the world. But as recently as the 19th century, France, then the wealthiest nation on earth but reliant on local agriculture, experienced frequent crop failures and outright starvation."
jwfearman - a few blogs ago I posted an idea of support groups for people like you and me. some of the best advice regarding our dilemma was given to us by Ruppert himself when he told the analogy of the Titanic sinking. If you can't keep up anymore, I don't blame you - I will be going offline here shortly myself. I have a small yet incredibly strong support team all willing and working towards a comfortable and moderately self-sufficient home. My advice to you is to work hard for the support of the people you care most about, and bring along whoever is willing to make "that step." You cant help or save everybody, nor do I believe now that it was ever intended that way. I wish you the best.
Scott Ritter on Iranian Nuclear Program
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XctgkYj5aVk
I appreciate the advice. I remember the quote. It was from one of his movies... Denial stops here I think.
Its just increasingly hard to live a "normal" life, whatever that is. I, being a Christian, know that you cannot save everyone... It's a sad thing but a fact. The same applies here.
How do you manage to balance the horrendous stuff that goes on and then turn around and live a day to day life. The dichotomy of the whole thing gives me whiplash.
I am a humble man of meager means. I fear for my family. I fear for what is to come. There is so much to learn that you can loose yourself in it. Knowing causes pain as I feel helpless to do anything about it. I just started to take the Patriot Act apart and try and make it English and then I find out about the 2005 revision that is even worse. Then I hear that Bush wants to make it illegal to even have access to the Patriot Act.
Talk about fighting a war you can't win... You can't win a war that's was already lost. There are no rights left in America. Only the facade of rights. We are essentially bracing for the crash now. But I don't how to do that making $12/hr trying to support my family.
All I ever hear is bad with no hope. Even if I manage to prepare some. Will it truly matter when/if the curtain drops and this country becomes an Orwellian society?
Heads up! I predicted that there would be problems getting chemical fertilizers in the future, and the future is here:
Fertiliser at a price – if you can get it
http://www.farmersguardian.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=14704
Also:
Diesel Shortage Sends Farmers Scrambling
http://www.keloland.com/News/NewsDetail6371.cfm?Id=0,63362
If you live in the northern hemisphere, get ready for spring gardening now by buying tools, seeds, and organic fertilizer. Learn how to compost (it's easy).
jwfearman:
long time lurker here. I read this blog because I like the news links and smart people here. However, doom-o-vision is only one perspective. No one knows what may happen and I for one am hopeful. This is not ostrich-like hope, but I do think there is a surge in awareness forming around the Ron Paul movement that could bring many issues to a wide audience... I prefer this hope - because we actually can influence what happens, something many doomers have now given up on. It is happening now... people ARE waking up. As evidenced in the RP campaign surge. Watch RonPaulGraphs daily for proof. I abandon the calculations of how much food and water are needed in a disaster in favor of doing something, anything to get Ron Paul elected. Sometimes I have to say "Fck the doomers!" just to stay sane. Ron Paul didn't drop out to live in a bunker and I thank god for that. Let's focus on what we can do.
I don't know if I'd call us "doomers." You'll also find comments and links on what we can and should do.
But we also have to be realistic. If someone like Ron Paul, Ralph Nader, or Dennis Kucinich were to ever present a real threat to the Republicrat system, they would be dispatched. Their campaigns are valuable because they succeed in waking up a few more people, but don't count on them being able to stop the headlong rush toward a police state and world oil wars.
Read the H.R. 1955 today in my searching for the Patriot Act II. I know there was a link a few weeks back to the info wars sit covering it... Scary stuff. It opens the door to vague interpretations and more anti-truther laws.
I appreciate all the advice. I agree thumbto and wish I could be optimistic. At this point I think it would literally take a revolution… That would require a lot of people waking up. (That kind of talk though is what H.R. 1955 is going against.) Are we reaching enough people to do that? I honestly have no idea. But, is anybody really doing anything about it? I have to give credit to Alex Jones even though his ideas can be a little… far-fetched. At least he’s out there being an activist. I like Ron Paul as well and I hope he is sincere about what he says he would do if elected. I don’t trust politicians however. I remember Bush saying very similar things to get elected.
Regardless, any journey no matter how big requires that first step. My trouble is getting started on that journey. What steps do we take? What can your typical lower to mid middle class person do to really make a difference? Talking about what is happening is all well and good but without a game plan that’s all it is… talk.
http://www.energybulletin.net/37958.html
http://www.energybulletin.net/37958.html
China’s national government sets fuel prices, and with the Olympics approaching they want no civil disorder like that which Myanmar experienced after their fuel prices climbed. The illusion of a harmonious society needs to be maintained through the Olympics to generate more foreign investment. Another rise of fuel prices of 20-30 per cent will bring the refiners to the break even point when selling refined fuel in China, but will also cause transport drivers to strike and the gentle old lady on the street corner selling roasted chestnuts to become a fire breathing dragon asking for change.
Who Paid off General Motors $300 Billion Debt ?
they lose money & their Long Term debt falls $243 Billion ?
[L=http://quote.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=GM&annual]http://quote.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=GM&annual[/L]
GM ended 2004 with $300 Billion in long-term debt.
GM ended 2005 with $286 Billion in long-term debt.
GM ended 2006 with $43 Billion in long-term debt.
how did a company that makes no money pay off $243 Billion ?
Who Paid off General Motors $300 Billion Debt ?
they lose money & their Long Term debt falls $243 Billion ?
http://quote.yahoo.com/q/bs?s=GM&annual
GM ended 2004 with $300 Billion in long-term debt.
GM ended 2005 with $286 Billion in long-term debt.
GM ended 2006 with $43 Billion in long-term debt.
how did a company that makes no money pay off $243 Billion ?
My definition of 'doomers' is those who focus more (or exclusively) on inevitability of destruction than on creative influence.
There are preventative solutions for the dispatch problem once we reach a level of mass solidarity and education.
But that you mention this 'dispatching' as inevitibility is exactly my point.
Hope is more conducive to solutions than no-hope or fear. That's why I like hope.
Plus it's a much, much, more livable.
"valuable because they succeed in waking up a few more people, but don't count on them being able to stop the headlong rush toward a police state and world oil wars."
This is more of what I'm talking about. Currently there is a high probability that you will be correct. However... police state and world wars are not a certainty. The right leadership can provide a more graceful transition given peak. People must resist falling into a fearful stupor.
I'm just saying... the doomers have a negative orientation and they tend to look at people with a positive orientation as naive.
Mine is not a campy optimism, but an assessment of the facts while searching for and engaging solutions. This is the middle road and more difficult to percieve.
TeaParty07 com - will approach $10 Million in one day! Let's do it!
Reliance on voting? Oh boy! Sorry but that's a pipe dream, brother. Holding on to the last vestiges of "what this country stood for" seems quite antiquated and far too optimistic. The reason (I suspect) that most people have been drawn here is the realization that we cannot rely on the system and must be personally proactive in circumventing the affects of a crumbling superpower.
Furthermore, does Ron Paul even address issues like Peak Oil? As much as I hate to say it, at least Cheney did. He actually helped us all by buying us all more time via the annexation of Iraqi oil fields. One of Pauls' biggest supporters (whom I will refuse to mention here out of respect for Mike) claims in his new "movie" that Peak Oil is a myth perpetuated by "global elitists" to "enslave the people and reduce them to serfdom." Sorry, but nothing I have heard from Paul seems to be that convincing. He's an idealist primarily because of the reality that even if elected (how that will happen I don't know - ideas anyone? Usurp the regime how?) he will have absolutely no support within the government he inherits. There are two little branches called "the House" and "the supreme court."
I truly believe that Paul is a red herring.
thanks, jwfearman, for all your comments. a caveat that this blog and ftw do not in any way endorse many of the theories espoused by alex jones.
understanded... nor do I... Just saying he is out there espousing his beliefs... rallying people. Which can be used by the regime but any attempt to stand will be attacked and called fanatical. Even whe we do it in a logical and calm way. Bottom line, we make the state our enemy when we say that they are in the wrong no matter how we do it.
We should all rally together. Alex is fanatical and downright crazy on some things but... its our freedoms he is screaming about. Whether it hurts or helps the cause in the publics eye is another thing. I want to know what we can do sensibly and logically what we can do to awaken peole and at least attempt to thwart the onslaught.
I stand with thumto in the idea that we cannot give up total hope even when the odds are in favor of the bad.
We have to do something... otherwise we lay down and die.
The police state and war for oil are not only inevitable, but already here. So it's too late to "prevent" them. The first order of business is to figure out how to survive and thrive under these conditions. That alone is going to consume all the time and energy of most people. Increasingly, we will be challenged just to find something to eat and fuel for heating. Those of us lucky enough to have some spare capacity can then start working on turning back the tide.
Japan news: Cold weather is here and kerosene stocks are down.
http://www.rttnews.com/forex/economicnews.asp?date=11/27/2007&item=35
Yesterday the price at a local dealer was 90 yen/liter. The government has announced that it will subsidize kerosene for low-income people and small businesses.
The Dollar's Perfect Storm Worsens
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Investing/JubaksJournal/TheDollarsPerfectStormWorsens.aspx
With U.S. interest rates on hold or headed lower, the result would be another big boost to the euro, another hit to the dollar, a continued move away from the U.S. dollar by central banks in Asia, Russia and the Middle East, and higher prices for gold and, more importantly, oil.
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