Monday, December 29, 2008

As if Things Weren't Bad Enough, Russian Professor Predicts End of U.S.


"...He based the forecast on classified data supplied to him by FAPSI analysts, he says... When the going gets tough, he says, wealthier states will withhold funds from the federal government and effectively secede from the union. Social unrest up to and including a civil war will follow. The U.S. will then split along ethnic lines, and foreign powers will move in.

California will form the nucleus of what he calls "The Californian Republic," and will be part of China or under Chinese influence. Texas will be the heart of "The Texas Republic," a cluster of states that will go to Mexico or fall under Mexican influence. Washington, D.C., and New York will be part of an "Atlantic America" that may join the European Union. Canada will grab a group of Northern states Prof. Panarin calls "The Central North American Republic." Hawaii, he suggests, will be a protectorate of Japan or China, and Alaska will be subsumed into Russia."

Reported in that bastion of wack-o conspiracy theories, the Wall Street Journal.

--JO

40 comments:

Daniel G. McGrath said...

I don't care if it is in the WSJ, this is just corny...

Jeff said...

Given the situation we are facing,this is a real scenario if you think about it,with mexicos biggest oilfield collapsing,mass immigration is going to become a factor,as mexico becomes a net importer.
The economy falling apart.
Systems failing.
Empire falling
I have heard that in the us this year there were more guns and ammo sold than in any time in our history."public in quiet panic mode"("MCR")
If you want to watch a pretty good movie on you tube,"what a way to go-life at the end of empire"

Bhakta said...

Small is beautiful and there is no harm if the USA is broken apart into smaller, locally managed kingdoms.

Rice Farmer said...

The US as we know it will eventually disintegrate simply because huge countries and empires always disintegrate when they can no longer secure enough energy and resources to hold themselves together (so that part is easy to predict). It would be better if it happens along bioregional lines, but I guess that's too much to hope for. The professor's 2010 date and lines of division are his guesses; it could happen in any one of many ways. One influence that would aggravate a tendency toward breakup is the existence of many secessionist movements throughout the US. Certainly they would avail themselves of any opportunity to split off. And one Native American nation has already declared its independence.

One thing that Panarin has perhaps not considered is that China, Canada, and Mexico likewise could break up. While Canada perhaps has a more secure immediate future due to its energy resources (which would likely hold off the split along cultural lines), China and Mexico are seething with internal tensions that could well tear them apart, so any hold they might secure in the US would probably not last long. Mexico in particular is in a precarious position already due to its fast-declining oil resources.

That's my off-the-cuff take.

PeakedOut said...

I like the predictions of John Titor better. He is an acclaimed time traveler. You can Google his name and visit the website dedicated to him for some very interesting and thought provoking reading.

Since the Govenator opted to give me a 10% pay cut, I've already begun my secessionist plans. Only I plan to align with Mexico and develop the worlds largest Marijuana cartel. Hopefully we can ally with the mid-western states who will make us baked goods from their farming harvests. :-)

On a serious note, several contributors indicated an interest in an alternate way of continuing communications should the Internet go down. I'm a network security geek and I thought I'd chime in.

With a great deal of the worlds communication taking place on the internet, including financial and government business, shutting down the Internet outright would be a very extreme measure. Sort of cutting off the nose to spite the face as it were. What is much more likely is to use content filtering and DNS poisoning to "hide" problematic sites from public view. Many countries do this already. Many ISPs in the U.S do it too, but so far it is for purely economic reasons. I don't see networks going away, but much of the blog-o-sphere and some really good websites could fade away quite easily. Email filters can be effective at tracking or blocking certain conversation strings, but as your Inbox is probably full of offers to “en larg u p nus”, you know those things can be circumvented fairly easily. And with the countless new ways to sneak data across the Internet, it will be very expensive and complicated to filter out “dissenters”. I'm not saying there won't be efforts to to do so, but it will be fairly easy to get around them. Besides, if I'm big brother, I'd rather track you than block you. And you can be tracked. It is much easier than blocking you. Unless you are a roaming nomad with a laptop, it is very easy to know who you are and where you are at. If the time comes and we do start finding limitations on our browsing activities, CDs, thumb drives, DVDs, YouTube, Facebook and many other sites can be used to pass along info or updates. Communication is very difficult to control. When things are bad enough that such measures are put into place, I suspect that the chaos just outside my door will be far more important to me than getting updates here.

In the interim, that is, between now and when all hell breaks loose, I'd love to set up a knowledge share relating to each of you and your efforts to prepare. Along with tangible efforts I've been making, I've also collected info on drilling wells without motorized tools, water purification, humanure, advanced first aid, farming techniques etc etc. I hit the University websites and anywhere else I can find for useful skills for the times ahead. I'm trying to build a Peak oil library of useful information. Anyone with electronic copies of “How to” books or any other relevant topics would be great additions. Eventually, I hope to have a fairly comprehensive DVD put together. As more and more people come to realize the mess we are in, these will make good teaching aids. After all, what good is knowing how to dispose of my poop if my neighbor upstream doesn't take the same care I do?
Sigh. Well, if this sounds ridiculous, blame it on my cough medicine. If not, please feel free to offer up your ideas. All of you have already provided me with a wealth of knowledge and a sense of community. Thanks.

To my new overlords of The Californian Republic -Gung hay fat choy!!

For the rest of you, have a Happy New year. Life can still be wondrous, refuse to live in fear!!

martypantsROK said...

I saw the same thing, but from an equally reliable source :) - Press TV out of Iran. Sometimes, they get things right, but usually not.

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=79878&sectionid=3510203

I don't doubt the civil war part - that's totally plausible. Splitting into the 6 regions is total horse-doo.

Unless you're just providing comic relief, that is...

Unknown said...

I highly doubt that is going to happen - at least not within his timeframe. No one knows what will happen 10,000 years from now.

If anything that article will probably have the opposite effect and bring Americans closer together.

And then it will be forgotten.

fleetfox said...

JO, MCR - have you heard anything about this? According to the following blog the Israeli Navy is attacking a civilian ship and Cynthia McKinney is supposedly on board. Madness...
http://a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/

Sebastian Ernst Ronin said...

The implosion of NAmerica is part-and-parcel of a Post-Peak Oil world. Energy flow through created the industrial nation state, lack of same will translate into its demise. To kick-start one's secessionist investigation, the Middlebury Institute is a great site: http://middleburyinstitute.org/. To view a position paper delivered at the Third North American Secessionist Conference in New Hampshire, "Post-Oil and NAmerican Regional Secession" one is welcome to go to my site.

BTW, Mike, thank you for Rubicon. I can honestly say that it is one of the half dozen or so books that has shifted/altered my life. It's always important to do what one must do, as opposed to what one would like to do, yes? Without half measures, of course.

Chris XVX said...

Gerald Celente has been pretty accurate when it comes to his predictions and he gets peak oil:

http://www.trendsresearch.com

Anonymous said...

PeakedOut:

There is a website/blog on do-it-yourself well digging at:

fdungan.com

Am seriously thinking of doing this myself. Have been "preparing" now for about 10 years without really knowing the full scope of things until about a year ago. Have had a lot of trouble connecting to MCR's blog. Wouldn't mind sharing my preparedness information as long as it wasn't all deleted after all the time it took to enter it. Having a contact address/link would be helpful.

akoola11 said...

Why do all of you think its out of the question for united stated to break up? It happened to every large empire in the history of the world. In recent history look at ussr. I'm sure people were saying the same thing around 1980's. No way ussr breaks apart and look what happened. I think civil war is definitely coming here as for the breakup I say its 50/50 chance this country breaks apart.

kiki said...

This seems plausible especially when there is more than a good chance civil unrest will provoke a declaration of a national emergency at which time the country will be divided into regions; each governed under military law. The fact that this is already dictated by the ‘rules’ upon declaration of same, suggest the government knows (better than its population) it will be tough to keep peace amidst a large uprising of the populace. It’s painful to see this coming and many in my area are still praying for a miracle instead of looking at what’s coming square in the eye and preparing. The fewer people prepared for the hardships, physically and emotionally, the more likely a civil emergency. If this happens, it isn’t hard, through extrapolation to see a breaking apart of USA, in my opinion. Other nations are already eyeing up the weaknesses growing here and awaiting opportunity. Keep reading MCR/team articles and books.

djmagic said...

I just don't see a fragmentation of the U.S. into foreign-dominated states. We're in debt up to our ears with little to no chance of paying it back. But does that mean California becomes, in essence, a Chinese province? That's a pretty large leap...
Break up, perhaps...but not becoming foreign subjugates.

RanD said...

After having read Prof. Panarin's take on what he perceives is the USA's looming (geo-)political reconfiguration, I would not too blithely discount as altogether incredible or undesirable much of what his words tell us. At this moment it is perfectly evident to many of us that the near absolute state of flux in which planet Earth and its every interacting species bio-geo-eco-ideo-physio-psycho-politically find themselves these days is quite amenable to changes that even hard core science fiction aficionados might be challenged to imagine. Despite how fervently hyperbole regularly begs for freedom from careless and over use, "these are headier times than our fair planet and its inhabitants have ever known" is an observation that's really not altogether off the mark.

I've never liked not knowing what the future holds. That at one time primarily (small "s") self-focused concern soon evolved to include the environment within which I routinely experienced my life, then the environment within which "we all" experience "our lives". From there "my/our environment" progressively grew to include literally everything my mind was caused by the circumstances of my life to know does -- in fact -- exist. This is why I think and write like I do. This is the person my life caused me to be.

*******
Every thing that occurs throughout the entire field of existence is both inevitable and natural; everything that has ever existed and ever will exist -- whether in the form of an action, an object, a condition, a thought, a feeling, a vision, a memory, a theory, or whatever else that can be imagined, touched, seen, or measured -- is or has been or will be something in service to the concept of "purpose", which includes the concept of something which is in fact actually "nothing" at all. Even those things which we lament, abhor, dislike, fear, hate etc. serve their purpose.

At the same time, human beings also have it in their power to change anything they want to -- as long as it is done in full accordance with the means by which existence itself makes it possible for human beings to do so.

These are the sorts of things that I'm here to tell you about, for however long it is possible and necessary for me to do so; thus, more of such commentary as this will periodically come to this site.

Sebastian Ernst Ronin said...

kiki, re "The fact that this is already dictated by the ‘rules’ upon declaration of same, suggest the government knows (better than its population) it will be tough to keep peace amidst a large uprising of the populace."

You've hit on a very good point, i.e. the FEMA regional designation of the lower 48 to deal with civil unrest, etc. A very rough regional template being kicked around by NAmerican secessionists is the Nine Nations of North America model. To get the legal ball rolling, I would suggest you keep your eye on Vermont, i.e. the state most likely to secede. I would venture the guess at this time that Texas and South Carolina are right up there also. As a region, the Southern States are way ahead in organization. If they could ever get their political shit together, then Cascadia (west coast) and Novacadia (east coast) are also strong regional contenders. The most interesting thing about the latter two is that a national border gets jumped with a shared political mandate.

We may yet have to go through the last gasp, i.e. North American Union, before things really start to collapse. NAU is, of course, an energy grab and, as such, is part and parcel of the Post-Peak Oil meltdown.

Anonymous said...

We're no longer foreign subjugates? Has anyone read the Treaty of Paris? It starts like this. Read carefully:

"It having pleased the Divine Providence to dispose the hearts of the most serene and most potent Prince George the Third, by the grace of God, king of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, defender of the faith, duke of Brunswick and Lunebourg, arch- treasurer and prince elector of the Holy Roman Empire etc., and of the United States of America,..."

Is that clear enough? Welcome to the grand illusion, people. Rubicon and FTW deals with only a small part of it as applied to recent modern history. When the US ended hostilities with the Brits in 1783, Prince George was declared to be the arch-treasurer and prince elector of the United States of America.

Here's some more detail:

"As rulers of States of the Empire, the electors enjoyed all the privileges of the other princes, including the right to enter into alliances, autonomy in relation to dynastic affairs and precedence over other subjects. The Golden Bull recognised certain additional rights belonging to the electors. For instance, electors were granted a monopoly over all mines of gold, silver, and other metals within their territories, to tax Jews, to collect tolls, and to mint money; these powers belonged to the Emperor in the other territories, and princes who wrongly assumed them could be deprived of their status. Thus, the electors were among the most powerful princes in the Empire. Electors also enjoyed several judicial powers within their territories. Their subjects could be not be tried in the imperial courts, and appeal from their courts lay only in cases where denial of justice was claimed."

So ask yourself this - when John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and John Jay signed the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and they signed using the nobility title of "esquire" (which is a subservient role within royalty) were they signing a peace agreement, or were they signing a negotiated surrender? I honestly don't know the answer.

But I do know how to perform a validateable research effort. The language of the Treaty of Paris left all US citizens under the control of the Arch Treasurer and elector of the Holy Roman Empire. And all this time you thought that the Empire was the neo-cons? Don't be fooled. They're a very small part of it, chosen because they were ready and willing at the right time and place.

sunrnr said...

There is some hint that the pending collapse of the United States was discussed in a closed door session of the House of Representatives in March of 2008.

"Theorists wrote "Not only did members discuss new surveillance provisions as was the publicly stated reason for the closed door session, they also discussed: The imminent collapse of the U.S. economy to occur by September 2008, the imminent collapse of US federal government finances by February 2009, the possibility of Civil War inside the USA as a result of the collapse and advance round-ups of "insurgent U.S. citizens" likely to move against the government."

This comes from Australia's national website. http://www.australia.to/story/0,25197,23040466-922,00,00.html

Where is Jack Ryan when you need him?

namaste

Unknown said...

A very silly analysis especially the part about Texans bowing to Mexico. LOL.

Grimus said...

Regarding the comprehension of complexity, entropy and chaos check out this video of Zbig, his daughter Mika and Joe Scarborough aka perhaps the biggest asshole of tv.

There's nothing particularly shocking content wise to the folks here, but what is fascinating is to watch the social disintegration between the three on screen as they 'discuss' Gaza.

Consider of course, Zbig is preeminent in foreign affairs--a legend even my MCR's standards. His daughter is no retard, yet it's astonishing that she (a modern woman admired by millions I'd suppose) hands the mic to Joe the douchebag. He proceeds to put his mediocre mind on the exam table for Zbig to dissect and insult...which he does. A thing to which the former congressman Scarborough reacts as might a child.

The whole thing smacks a a strange and uncomfortable family dinner drama, yet its instructive insofar as you can see it as a kind of controlled experiment/example of social entropy on an albeit mild scale.

Cormac McCarthy says, paraphrasing: "That it starts with people not saying sir and maam." By which he refers to a loss of respect prefiguring some chaos.

The modern woman rolls over and says nothing in the face of her father, the young and arrogant turk blindly tackles the veteran who responds with insults. On national tv.

To my sights, what this depicts is the fact that a perfect conspiracy is not required for disaster. All that's needed are for the existing ingredients to act through their natures.

In no way am I suggesting that this little nugget is a perfect reflection or test crucible for the larger issues, however unless I've got my chaos theory wrong then the micro does indeed mirror the macro at certain points.

View the ridiculous here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/12/30/zbigniew-brzezinski-calls_n_154211.html

Patrick said...

Why aren't we talking about the war crimes Israel is committing right now??

Hikikomori said...

Greek king Philip II sent a message to Sparta, stating something like: “If I enter Laconia, I will level Sparta to the ground.” Spartans sent back a one word replay:

“If”...

Sparta would fall, if no one would defend it. Were Spartans a 100% sure that they would be able to defeat Greek army? I doubt. But I'm pretty sure they were almost a 100% ready to die in a highly skilful defence of their freedom.

Yes, USA would fall by 2010, if... Chinese would rule a part of it, if... But there are too many ifs to be sure. I believe that US empire will eventually fall, coz all empires eventually fall. I've learned that from history. Will that happen in 2010? I don't know. Any attempt to specify an exact date, even a year – rises an experienced wave of scepticism in me.

To be able to predict exact future one should be either extremely lucky or a true prophet of the living omniscient God, or have some other access to the transcendental information, if such exist at all.

There are some brilliant minds with sources of secret information, who are able to connect dots, draw maps. Mike is one of them. But I always remind myself that all of them are only humans. They are analysts. They predict future to the best of their abilities, but none of them is perfect. Their human abilities are limited.

That's my sceptical part is speaking.

They may be right. But they may be wrong as well. Coz there are too many variables, conditions and circumstances at work. And no one of them knows them all.

Will Americans start fighting each other or will they unite in face of grave danger to their so cherished country? I guess – it depends... I guess they would fight under Bush, but I think they would unite under Obama. Everything happens first of all in our heads, in our hearts. One may manipulate you into war, another – into unity. The same situation, the same problems, the same fall, but different approach, different reaction.

People always have a choice, even in the face of death. Naturally they would fight for their lives by any means, but sometimes they're inspired to die with honour, as they understand it.

So, you never know... You do your best to know, to analyse, to predict, but – you never know... IMHO... You just do your best.

P.S. I believe that in my life-time I'll see the fall of this civilization (I know I'm crazy enough). But I also believe that it's not going to be so simple and easy... If you push a rat into corner – it fights back, no matter who you are and how well you're equipped. Imagine what would do the most powerful dragon in the the whole history of the world... It would not give up so easily...

USSR didn't collapse. It never existed. It always had been Russia/Kremlin and eventually it shrank/transformed back into Russia plus some other reasonably easily controlled ingredients. USA is a different story, IMHO, with some common imperialistic similarities.

The point is that USA is the tip of the global iceberg. So I think that if it disintegrates, it disintegrates the last. Peak Oil is not American only, Peak Oil is global.

That's simply ridiculous, IMHO... OK, make a poll. What would mainstream American chose? Separate and join China/Russia/Mexico/Canada/EU or proudly unite and see others disintegrating? Is there a choice at all? And what would happen to the present PTB? Do you think they would risk their safety? If the empire falls – they fall. Where would they flee – to Mexico? I don't believe this. That doesn't fit into imperialistic thinking. To them Empire is their ideal, their dream, their passion, their love, their addiction... They may sacrifice it for the one thing only – a more powerful Empire with themselves at its helm.

The ultimate dream of any emperor has always been a world-wide, global domination. USA has come closest to it. If after Peak Oil we're supposed to go down and never rise to the present technological level again – now is the last chance to achieve that dream and keep it as long as possible. IMHO...

Nice post, Rice Farmer. PeakedOut, too. I guess advanced P2P networks with various encryption and obfuscation features would help.

P.P.S. Thanks for your kind words, Mike. I'm honoured and I'm glad that I've been able to give you something you appreciated in return of what I appreciated from you all these years. But I've got one more late “christmas present” for you... You may kill me, but I'm more used to be hated rather than loved ;) Its a story about Constantine: ”Hell wants him. Heaven won't take him. Earth needs him...” Nothing special, cheap toy, a game of metaphors, but somehow I like it :) I'm almost sure you'd find a few pearls in it. Best served with loneliness and a reasonable amount of tranquillizer – have fun! ;)

A happy New Year to everyone! Whatever it means...

MCR said...

Great stuff PeakedOut.

I have no doubt the U.S. will brek up. No one has yet mentioned about FEMA and the contigency plan which privdes that the US be broken up into ten semi-autonomous regions. It's part of the Continuity of Gov't plan.

I think our Russian friend is very presumptuous about how exactly it's going to happen and end up. He does everything but tell us what colors the flags will be. In principle he's right. In detail he's way off. All of this assumes no chaos. All of this assumes stable entities. He assumes way too much.

But... something on that magnitude will happen. There's been acive planning in the northwest for a "nation" of Cascadia for a while.

Geography will trump everything. Then will come the "flows" of people, refugees, climate change, civil unrest, etc. etc.

I'm well aware of what's going on with Cynthia McKinney. We've been in touch right before she left. She hit a grand slam with this one. God bless her.

I'm working on a big piece so I won't be posting for a few days.

I hope everyine has noticed that my videos "Truth and Lies of 9-11" and "Denial Sops Here" are both availale for sale again. I highly recommend both. They have well stood the test of time.

MCR

newport jones said...

Expansionist activity in the Western Hemisphere on the part of Russia seems much more likely than Mexico, Canada or the EU....Player Piano anyone?

Anonymous said...

Just one question: Is the collapse merely the result of massive greed, mismanagement and debt out of control, or is this how the Project for the New American Century/New World Order plans things to be? I don't see how anyone could plan chaos on such a grand scale without at least once envisioning themselves swallowed up in it. What exactly do they expect to benefit from this? They will all be long dead before any recovery occurs, if any. Where will the filet mignon come from?

Jenna Orkin said...

cj
read mike's article, globalcorp

v said...

2009 PREDICTIONS: Riots in US within two to three months?



2009 PREDICTIONS: US unemployment to reach 30 - 40%?


V(incent)

anton v said...

All - Wayne Madsen reported about this, as well. In April of 2008 he spoke about a document circulating in D.C. - the "C & R" ("Conflict & Revolution") document (the link is more current than the original post I saw - this was merely the first link I found when searching):

http://www.dailynewscaster.com/2008/10/08/fema-sources-confirm-coming-martial-law-says-wayne-madsen/

There are definitely contingency plans in place... But there are at least 6.5 billion variables, and one of those could very easily destroy the best laid plans. So thinking that the TPTB can "control" and "manage" the chaos that is to come is somewhat humorous... of course that doesn't mean they won't try.

Narender Netha said...

I think in case of a civil war, it might very different from earlier one. Earlier it was because of slavery. This time it should be because of economic and political failure.

Hence any fight must be between ordinary citizens and employers of private corporations as they have been cutting jobs massively and recklessly. Otherwise there is no reason for it as Americans are democratic.

Things may change from bad to worse when there is no work to do. At that time it may become even more convincing or whatever effect is going to manifest may manifest altogether in a different way than presently expect civil war. Controlling masses from riots and securing major political, commercial installations may give new jobs like that happened in the great depression (1.0) times.

The timer will start and curtains rise from January 20.

Happy new year to everyone sharing their valuable insights here.

businessman said...

Narender...If you think the Civil War here in the U.S. was about slavery, I have two books to recommend:

1) "When in the Course of Human Events: Arguing the Case for Southern Secession" by Charles Adams

2) "The Real Lincoln" by Thomas DiLorenzo

The sad truth of the matter is that even today parents wouldn't rise up and insist on sending their children into battle to protect the rights of black people here in the United States. And if they wouldn't do it today they definitely wouldn't have done it back in 1861. The Northerners at the time were told of the importance of preserving the Union, and the North would have been devastated economically if the Southern states had been allowed to secede. The South had some very valuable shipping ports, and 80% of all U.S. tariffs were paid for by the people from the South. And the Morrill Tariff, which had been recently passed before the War began, called for the tariffs to be increased immediately from 15% to 35% of the value of all dutiable items entering the United States, and to later on have the tariff then be increased even higher up to 45%.

The War began in the Spring of 1861, and the press from around the world condemned Lincoln for not allowing the Southern states to form their own independent Union, much like the United States had fought for their own independence years earlier when they felt they were being economically oppressed by the British. And the international press looked upon our Civil War as being one about economics, not about slavery.

As a result of feeling this international pressure, Lincoln then issued his official Emancipation Proclamation in January of 1863, approximately 21 full months after the War began. And with this Lincoln now made the War about morality and getting rid of slavery, and this then led to riots in the North, as whites did not want to lose their lives and the lives of their children just to protect the rights of the slaves. Before Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, Northerners here in the United States had felt they were fighting to preserve the Union, not to free the slaves.

sunrnr said...

Well, the ground is still shaking in Yellowstone Park.

http://www.seis.utah.edu/req2webdir/recenteqs/Maps/Yellowstone_full.html

The epicenters appear to be under the dome found to be building under Yellowstone lake in 2003.Is it the supervolcano dragon awakening?

http://www.unmuseum.org/supervol.htm

If it indeed erupted it would make the coming mushroom clouds in Pakistan/India/Israel little more than irritating dust storms.

With a good portion of northwestern Wyoming thrown into the air, it seems this would cure that "global warming" thing and accomplish the needed human die-off issue in one fell swoop. Unfortuately, every other living thing would suffer drastically also.

Wouldn't be much of a problem with this Peak Oil thing either because the few survivors will be too busy looking for wood and coal to keep warm.

This scenario seems to fit the prophesis in the Book of Revalations quite nicely also. Don't know that it would fit with that Rapture thing though. I don't know how rapturous being vaporized by thermoclastic waves would be for those of use within the projected 3000 sq mile range of the eruption.

Kinda makes the perspectives change drastically doesn't it. No need to worry about banks, money, politics, civil wars, etc. There won't be enough people left to get in each other's way.

Bottomline, we humans are no match for Gaia and Mother Nature. The bugs will win in the end.

namaste

Sebastian Ernst Ronin said...

Re "Kinda makes the perspectives change drastically doesn't it. No need to worry about banks, money, politics, civil wars, etc."

Thanks for your little slap up the side of the head. There's a simple physical exercise that I am fond of: find a bucket, fill it with water; make a fist; stick your arm into the water up to elbow; remove arm from bucket. Stare into the bucket: that's the mark I leave on this world.

It's best to fight as if already dead. Mike has an equivalent in Rubicon: If you're taking fire from the treeline, the best way to avoid it is to run straight into it.

Such a life!

DC said...

Every time I go back to the map to refresh my piss-poor memory it is like a 2x4' to the forehead...this time it knocked enough sense to buy Rubicon into me! My girlfriend and I can't wait...I sent her Mike's interview with Janaia, and she replied "This man speaks to me...I need to read his book." After which, I directed her to Truth and Lies of 9/11, which hopefully I'll watch again with my father in the next couple of days. I don't have anything to contribute other than Thanks for everything you do Mike and Jenna.

newport jones said...

Player Piano...anyone?

DC said...

A line from the song I just listened to seems so appropriate to describe the US-Canada-Mexico;

"Withered in denial..."

On another note, natural gas prices trending to parity with heavy oil, perhaps even beyond light sweet eventually given knee-jerk reactions to natural gas globally. Can't recall the source, but I believe global natural gas liquefying capacity is half global LNG receiving capacity, meaning there are a lot of nations optimistic that they will be among the high bidders. For example, the province of Ontario plans to increase its NG generating capacity by 10x between 2008 and 2010 last time I checked...and prices follow the marginal kWh, and Canadian conventional natural gas' EROI is trending towards zero by 2014, and unconventional NG is running into limits in available drilling rigs due to greater rig intensity per unit production.

DC said...

Anyone else think nat gas may cripple heavy oil production in Canada? Ontario has 1/3rd Canada's population and is increasing its NG generating capacity hugely. Some nasty feedback loops and receding horizons appear to be out there.

Unknown said...

Note to editor: if possible, kindly edit the typo in my post:

But you apparently regard this theory as unchallageable dogma

"unchallageable" should of course read "unchallengeable"

Thank you.

kiki said...

Russia's Gazprom cuts all gas supplies to Ukraine

http://www.abc3340.com/news/stories/0109/581801.html

Anonymous said...

mike, squishy from the dog park checking in...reach me at my email...go rags!

Unknown said...

Dear Mr. Ex-KGB:

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2009/01/dear-mr-ex-kgb/