by
Michael C. Ruppert
April 29, 2009, 7:00 PM PDT -- It is pretty clear now that we're going for the full ride with swine flu. This is not like SARS (see FTW). It is bigger and much more ominous. There are good reasons to separate the ice cream from the bs right now -- the things that should be focused on from the things that distract, lead into blind alleys or induce panic. I had an epiphany today about why the W.H.O. and all governments are so concerned... It is not just the "unknown" nature of the bug but the fact that this is just more evidence that there are too many humans on this planet. It's so simple. With almost seven billion people, more of us are coming into contact with more of us... at a faster rate than ever; thanks to oil-powered transportation and population growth. It couldn't be more obvious. We're popcorn. We're also running out of energy, water, minerals, seafood and arable land... you name it.-- Now compound that with the fact that the Spanish Flu of 1918-1919 -- which killed between 20 and 40 million people -- was/is a variant of H1N1 Swine Flu and there's reason for one's ears to pick up. If it killed that many, that fast, in 1918 how many could it kill now and how fast with airplanes, cars, trucks and ships? And this epidemic/nascent pandemic is behaving more like Spanish flu that swine flu. It likes to kill young adults with healthy immune systems. Plus we have an H5N1 Avian flu genetic component thrown in. The W.H.O.'s reaction in escalating to a Level Five warning today was appropriate... and very welcome for me.
I was very impressed by by the statement of W.H.O.'s Director General Dr. Margaret Chan as she sounded the alarm. In part she said... "Above all, this is an opportunity for global solidarity as we look for responses and solutions that benefit all countries, all of humanity. After all, it really is all of humanity that is under threat during a pandemic." -- All of humanity is under threat anyway. We have known that for a while now. Are her sentiments not what we believe here in Peak Oil/Sustainability? I can promise you that this is what I call for at the end of "A Presidential Energy Policy": a true species-wide dialogue. -- This is what must happen if our species is to survive the dieoff... a dieoff which few can still argue can't possibly happen.
To be fair, I do not know if this Swine/Spanish flu is going to kill billions or not. We all hope not. But it would be maladaptive and dumb to just rule out the possibility wouldn't it?
Now I must choose my words very carefully. -- I also cannot ignore the brilliant work done by many at FTW into the very mysterious cluster of murders, suicides and accidental deaths of 14 world-class microbiologists in a very short period right after 9-11. All of them were working on viral disease projects which FTW firmly established were consistent with the pursuit of a gene-specific bioweapon (e.g. race-specific). Our stories were "picked up" by the The Toronto Star (although the editor had to write me an apology email for not citing FTW) and The New York Times wrote a 7,500-word monstrosity trying explain that all these dead scientists were really an accident. Perhaps the most famous of these bizarre deaths was that of Dr. Don Wiley in Memphis. Wiley was la creme de la creme of microbiologists and I have saved an academic abstract showing that he was specializing in swine flu and DNA recombination. Same with the very famous "suicide" (murder) of Dr. David Kelly in the UK that happened around the time the British government dug up victims of the 1918 Spanish flu to get the DNA so that an extinct disease could be brought back to life.
I must emphasize that all this proves nothing except for the fact that the current outbreak bears watching closely. Personally, I believe that it is our job to do everything possible to prove that there is no possible biowarfare involvement here; not to mention a gene-specific one. The fastest way to rule that out is to see Caucasians falling right along with people of color. No one has yet explained why the U.S. cases have resulted in only one fatality (a 23 month-old Mexican boy) although I have heard the question asked many times on the air. "How come no one's dying in America? They have Tamiflu in Mexico."
There's yet another distinct reason why this is catastrophic. I have been pretty clear that protectionism was both an inevitable and imminent stage of collapse. This outbreak has opened the door for a protectionist panic. If the pandemic takes center stage then all bets are off. Russia has already banned all American meat products. China is pondering similar restrictions. Forget the science... this kind of reaction (logical or otherwise) has been a part of human nature since we became human. Fear is the most-powerful control mechanism this unevolved species has ever discovered. NAFTA is dead, just like globalization. And my message to Americans who want to ban food imports from Mexico... be careful what you pray for.
There can be no jumping to conclusions and I caution against it. There are only some very very good questions. Having written and edited many stories on biowarfare and pandemics at FTW -- as well as putting a chapter on the subject in "Crossing the Rubicon" -- I can tell you that this is serious.
Dr. Chan was quite right. All of humanity is threatened... and so I add is all of the humanity inside us.
'A PRESIDENTIAL ENERGY POLICY" -- LAUNCH UPDATE AND GOOD NEWS!
Look, this hasn't been easy for any of the great people involved in making this book happen with the quality we have achieved. Some very serious money, talent and work was put in by some high-performers who had to learn a lot of new skills and play out-of-position. We believe we will break the old publishing paradigm and blaze some new trails. On May 1 "A Presidential Energy Policy" will go on sale at Amazon around the world, all at once. This is the first time Amazon has ever taken a brand-new book from inception for a launch. Amazon will also be the exclusive distributor for Kindle and all electronic versions of the book. I think I can safely say that there are many out there who "get it" and who are praying for this book to rocket. A revised book announcement with new details is up at rubiconworks.com and all of the cover buttons at FTW and here on the blog will go hot to rubiconworks on May 1; and from there straight to Amazon. Our pre-sale helped us shake out a lot of bugs and I again express thanks to New World Digital for their responsiveness.
I'll be doing my first radio interview in almost three years with KBOO in Portland between 9:30 and 10:00 AM (PDT) tomorrow (Thursday, April 30th) with my old comrade Per Fagereng to talk about the book. You can listen online by going to http://kboo.fm/listen.
Oh yeah... and I have to laugh at myself. I remember when it took my father ten years to break down and get an answering machine. I now have a FACEBOOK FAN PAGE which you can see at http://www.facebook.com/. Search for Michael C. Ruppert. Or you can go directly (if a member) to: http://www.facebook.com/business/dashboard/#/pages/Michael-C-Ruppert/196190570444?ref=ts. Cara Tompkins, my incredible assistant, did it for me and I have to admit it gives me the warm fuzzies to see pics of fans and friends. We had twenty in less than 48 hours with no announcements. I don't know how these dagblasted youngsters found it... It's a conspiracy! -- Sign up! I'd love to see what some of you brothers and sisters look like.
OK, this is it -- May 1. Day after tomorrow we find out if the world is listening and how hard. With every passing day, breaking the NY Times list becomes more and more important. I'm relieved because all the prep work is done and I think -- on our end -- we all did a great job in bringing the book to life. Thanks to everyone, for the effort, the great reviews and the dedication you showed. It's up to the movement now to give this book legs and life.
MCR
**********************************************************************************
Jenna Orkin adds:
Mexico Shuts Down Economy as Flu Pandemic Imminent
US Economy Tumbles in First Quarter
Head of US Bank Rescue Program Prepares to Exit
Mexican Toddler First US Swine Flu Death
An ambiguous case. What was the relevant factor here? That he was a toddler or that he was Mexican?
Flu Outbreak Hits Travel Industry
Arctic CO2 Levles Rising at 'Unprecedented' Rate, Scientists Say
UK
Drug Tests for the Unemployed May Only Be the Beginning
Wind Farm Out, Nuclear Power Station In
Green Companies Facing Cash Crisis
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
From Jenna Orkin:
Call me the scummiest hypocrite but right now with infinite relief (which feels a whole lot like gratitude) I greet you from the heart of Corporate America, Burger King, which is my sole access to the internet at the moment.
So while it's a thrill to have access to the blog after 36 hours, I can't check video links and am leery of posting them; hence the disappointment some of you may experience.
Before me is a photo of a workman sitting atop a steel girder which is attached to exactly nothing, - like a forty-storey flagpole - having not yet met its horizontal mate in the construction of what is probably the Empire State Building; it's hard to recognize the New York of seventy years ago although given a couple of minutes one could figure it out from the ever- mercurial orientation of Broadway.
The workman is waving triumphantly with his left hand while holding a half-smoked celebratory cigarette (as well as the top of the girder) in the other. His right leg is also wrapped around the back of the girder. Or perhaps he only has one leg; it's all a little dizzying.
Then again, that may be in the eye of the beholder. Life is a Rorschach, as a shrink friend of mine says. And we are feeling a little dizzy these days as the global economic crisis gets forgotten faster than a one night stand (I'm trying to write like a guy for one sentence) in favor of the potential global pandemic.
But back to the matter(s) at hand:
In response to the eyebrow-raising about links from Pravda: Links are sometimes posted on this blog for reasons other than their content. It can be useful to see who's saying what, where; whether on Fox or CBS, in US DOD announcements or Russian propaganda. As you read any links posted here, bear in mind who the messenger is and make appropriate adjustments.
Economic/Flu Crisis
World Bank: Economic Crisis Turning Into Calamity
Has Globalization Made Us More Catastrophe Prone?
Gold Hits Four Week High as Swine Flu Fears Grow and China Builds Reserves
Cryptome on Smallpox
note the mention of David Kelly in this article
From the FTW archives on pandemics:
FDA Warns of Salmonella in Sprouts
Flu Pandemic Timeline - Homeland Security
Obama's Host Dies From Flu-Like Symptoms
Obama Admin. Releases Stockpile of Anti-Flu Viral Drug
Swine Flu Fears Prompt Global Quarantine Plans
Sanofi Aventis Invests 100 Million Euros in New Facility in Mexico to Produce Seasonal and Pandemic Flu Vaccine
Napolitano Says US Should Prepare for New Flu Outbreak Soon Even If This One Fizzles Out Pentagon Prepared for Flu Outbreak
Drug Companies Prepare for Swine Flu Epidemic
Pharmaceutical stocks are expected to rise on Monday morning, after Roche and GlaxoSmithKline said they may need to supply millions of vaccine doses to help protect against the swine flu that has killed up to 81 people in Mexico.
Toxic Asset Plan Stirs Fears
UK
British Economy Shrinks at Fastest Pace For Thirty Years
Revealed: The Titan Prison Sites the Government Kept Secret
G20 Protesters 'Offered Cash' by Police to Spy on Environmental Groups
Plan to Monitor All Internet Use
Russia/Central Asia
Russia Sets New World Record in Conquest of North Pole
Russia Has Five Uneasy Questions to (sic) Finland
All Moscow Police To Be Tested For Sanity After Officer Shoots 9
Russian Bomb Found Near Chancellor Merkel's Apartment
Russian Troops Based Just 40 km. from Georgian Capital
Russia to Move More Warplanes to Kyrgyz Military Base
India to Become Russia's Main Customer for Warplanes
Russia to Sell 6 Submarines to Vietnam, Not Venezuela: Paper
Russia May Fail Foreign Arms Supplies Contracts: Expert
Russian Army is Short of Men: Medvedev
South Caucasus Emerging as Crossroads of Energy Exports
Kazakhstan Expects to Join EU
Turkmenistan Defends Right to Diversify Export Routes
Tajik Border Guards Open Fire on Kyrgyz Bus
Kyrgyz Police Detain 80 After Interethnic Tensions
Unrest in Georgia, Moldova? Blame Kosovo
Russia's Lavrov Calls NATO Drills in Georgia "Dangerous"
Moody's Expects Turkish Economy to Shrink By At Least 4%
Asia
Saudi Arabia Considers Giving Women the Vote
One small step for woman, one giant step off the treadmill. "...the move comes as Saudi women learned they could be forced out of their female-only sports clubs and gyms because the government seems likely to agree licensing of the clubs for men only, the Guardian reports."
Private Banks in Asia Suffer Hangover After Party
Japan Facing Worst Economic Outlook on Record
Bin Laden Could Be Dead; Whereabouts Unknown: Zardari
Surveillance Vehicles Take Flight Using Alternative Energy
Call me the scummiest hypocrite but right now with infinite relief (which feels a whole lot like gratitude) I greet you from the heart of Corporate America, Burger King, which is my sole access to the internet at the moment.
So while it's a thrill to have access to the blog after 36 hours, I can't check video links and am leery of posting them; hence the disappointment some of you may experience.
Before me is a photo of a workman sitting atop a steel girder which is attached to exactly nothing, - like a forty-storey flagpole - having not yet met its horizontal mate in the construction of what is probably the Empire State Building; it's hard to recognize the New York of seventy years ago although given a couple of minutes one could figure it out from the ever- mercurial orientation of Broadway.
The workman is waving triumphantly with his left hand while holding a half-smoked celebratory cigarette (as well as the top of the girder) in the other. His right leg is also wrapped around the back of the girder. Or perhaps he only has one leg; it's all a little dizzying.
Then again, that may be in the eye of the beholder. Life is a Rorschach, as a shrink friend of mine says. And we are feeling a little dizzy these days as the global economic crisis gets forgotten faster than a one night stand (I'm trying to write like a guy for one sentence) in favor of the potential global pandemic.
But back to the matter(s) at hand:
In response to the eyebrow-raising about links from Pravda: Links are sometimes posted on this blog for reasons other than their content. It can be useful to see who's saying what, where; whether on Fox or CBS, in US DOD announcements or Russian propaganda. As you read any links posted here, bear in mind who the messenger is and make appropriate adjustments.
Economic/Flu Crisis
World Bank: Economic Crisis Turning Into Calamity
Has Globalization Made Us More Catastrophe Prone?
Gold Hits Four Week High as Swine Flu Fears Grow and China Builds Reserves
Cryptome on Smallpox
note the mention of David Kelly in this article
From the FTW archives on pandemics:
FDA Warns of Salmonella in Sprouts
Flu Pandemic Timeline - Homeland Security
Obama's Host Dies From Flu-Like Symptoms
Obama Admin. Releases Stockpile of Anti-Flu Viral Drug
Swine Flu Fears Prompt Global Quarantine Plans
Sanofi Aventis Invests 100 Million Euros in New Facility in Mexico to Produce Seasonal and Pandemic Flu Vaccine
Napolitano Says US Should Prepare for New Flu Outbreak Soon Even If This One Fizzles Out Pentagon Prepared for Flu Outbreak
Drug Companies Prepare for Swine Flu Epidemic
Pharmaceutical stocks are expected to rise on Monday morning, after Roche and GlaxoSmithKline said they may need to supply millions of vaccine doses to help protect against the swine flu that has killed up to 81 people in Mexico.
Toxic Asset Plan Stirs Fears
UK
British Economy Shrinks at Fastest Pace For Thirty Years
Revealed: The Titan Prison Sites the Government Kept Secret
G20 Protesters 'Offered Cash' by Police to Spy on Environmental Groups
Plan to Monitor All Internet Use
Russia/Central Asia
Russia Sets New World Record in Conquest of North Pole
Russia Has Five Uneasy Questions to (sic) Finland
All Moscow Police To Be Tested For Sanity After Officer Shoots 9
Russian Bomb Found Near Chancellor Merkel's Apartment
Russian Troops Based Just 40 km. from Georgian Capital
Russia to Move More Warplanes to Kyrgyz Military Base
India to Become Russia's Main Customer for Warplanes
Russia to Sell 6 Submarines to Vietnam, Not Venezuela: Paper
Russia May Fail Foreign Arms Supplies Contracts: Expert
Russian Army is Short of Men: Medvedev
South Caucasus Emerging as Crossroads of Energy Exports
Kazakhstan Expects to Join EU
Turkmenistan Defends Right to Diversify Export Routes
Tajik Border Guards Open Fire on Kyrgyz Bus
Kyrgyz Police Detain 80 After Interethnic Tensions
Unrest in Georgia, Moldova? Blame Kosovo
Russia's Lavrov Calls NATO Drills in Georgia "Dangerous"
Moody's Expects Turkish Economy to Shrink By At Least 4%
Asia
Saudi Arabia Considers Giving Women the Vote
One small step for woman, one giant step off the treadmill. "...the move comes as Saudi women learned they could be forced out of their female-only sports clubs and gyms because the government seems likely to agree licensing of the clubs for men only, the Guardian reports."
Private Banks in Asia Suffer Hangover After Party
Japan Facing Worst Economic Outlook on Record
Bin Laden Could Be Dead; Whereabouts Unknown: Zardari
Surveillance Vehicles Take Flight Using Alternative Energy
Monday, April 27, 2009
From Jenna Orkin:
Flu
US Declares Public Health Emergency Over Swine Flu
Spain Confirms First Case in Europe
New Possible Case of Swine Flu Identified in Texas
Two Swine Flu Cases Found in US State of Kansas
...and reported in the Chinese press. Tit for tat for our targetting SARS years ago. Speaking of which... Train Carrying Deadly Virus Arrives in Moscow (SARS)
Quarantine Plans, Pork Testing and Travel Warnings Issued
10 NZ Students Likely Have Bird Flu
Avian Flu Among Turkey Workers
Study denigrates organic farmers.
Economic Crisis
US Banks Face $70 Billion Shortage
25 Banks Fail in 2009
Suit Claims JP Morgan Aided Madoff's Fraud
As Economic Turmoil Mounts, So Do Attacks on Hungary's Gypsies
The 1930's return, in more ways than one.
Russia
Klepach Says GDP Plunged 9.5%
Russia's Nuclear Attack on US May Start With Major Banks - Pravda
Russia to Take Measures in Response If NATO Rattles Weapons Near Russia's Borders
Al Qaeda Prepares Terrorist Attacks in Russia
Unemployment in Russia Reaches Alarming Level
US Retargets Missiles to Russian Economic Facilities
Is Serbia On the Chopping Block Again?
Asia/Africa
India Upset With China Over Sri Lanka Crisis
Pakistani Linked Terrorists Plots (sic) Terror in UK: Brown
ISI Links With Baitullah Mehsud
North Korea Says Has Started Extracting Plutonium
Cruise Ship Opens Fire on Pirates
Environment
Imagine a World Without Seafood For Supper: It's Nearer Than You Think Oceans Acidifying More Than Ten Times Faster Than Predicted
Water People of Andes Face Extinction
Greenland Tunnels That Could Accelerate Ice Melt
Women Bear Brunt of Food Crisis in Africa, World
Plus...
Death Squad Leader was Top CIA Agent
Secret Wars: 100 Years of UK Intelligence Inside MI5 and MI6
Flu
US Declares Public Health Emergency Over Swine Flu
Spain Confirms First Case in Europe
New Possible Case of Swine Flu Identified in Texas
Two Swine Flu Cases Found in US State of Kansas
...and reported in the Chinese press. Tit for tat for our targetting SARS years ago. Speaking of which... Train Carrying Deadly Virus Arrives in Moscow (SARS)
Quarantine Plans, Pork Testing and Travel Warnings Issued
10 NZ Students Likely Have Bird Flu
Avian Flu Among Turkey Workers
Study denigrates organic farmers.
Economic Crisis
US Banks Face $70 Billion Shortage
25 Banks Fail in 2009
Suit Claims JP Morgan Aided Madoff's Fraud
As Economic Turmoil Mounts, So Do Attacks on Hungary's Gypsies
The 1930's return, in more ways than one.
Russia
Klepach Says GDP Plunged 9.5%
Russia's Nuclear Attack on US May Start With Major Banks - Pravda
Russia to Take Measures in Response If NATO Rattles Weapons Near Russia's Borders
Al Qaeda Prepares Terrorist Attacks in Russia
Unemployment in Russia Reaches Alarming Level
US Retargets Missiles to Russian Economic Facilities
Is Serbia On the Chopping Block Again?
Asia/Africa
India Upset With China Over Sri Lanka Crisis
Pakistani Linked Terrorists Plots (sic) Terror in UK: Brown
ISI Links With Baitullah Mehsud
North Korea Says Has Started Extracting Plutonium
Cruise Ship Opens Fire on Pirates
Environment
Imagine a World Without Seafood For Supper: It's Nearer Than You Think Oceans Acidifying More Than Ten Times Faster Than Predicted
Water People of Andes Face Extinction
Greenland Tunnels That Could Accelerate Ice Melt
Women Bear Brunt of Food Crisis in Africa, World
Plus...
Death Squad Leader was Top CIA Agent
Secret Wars: 100 Years of UK Intelligence Inside MI5 and MI6
Saturday, April 25, 2009
THE SAUDI CAT IS OUT OF THE BAG -- AL NAIMI SAYS PRODUCTION TO FALL
by
Michael C. Ruppert
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBL_62gRgvrE&refer=home
April 25, 2009, 9 PM PDT -- Here it is, buried deep inside Bloomberg and not as the "stop-everything" headline it should be. This is a virtual admission that Saudi has passed Peak. Thanks to Matt Simmons, a few ASPO-International conventions, and a close reading of the news for six years I can say that this too has happened exactly as so many of us in the movement predicted. Chris Skrebowski at ODAC in Britain was just a genius on this, along with Simmons. I discuss it thoroughly in PREZPOL. Now, with the swine flu outbreak just developing, it is clear that the dieoff has begun and the energy-confidence bubble is about to explode. -- I'm happy to be a little pinprick in that... LOL. Go ahead, play with that one any way you want to. Laughter is a good thing.
With regards to the swine flu I'm looking back deeper into my tons of research on biowarfare and pandemics but here are my first impressions. It is way too early to call this a pandemic. There could be a plane flight that connected passengers somewhere who were headed for San Diego, Texas, New York and Kansas.That's actually a good use for some of that nasty software we got after 9-11. I'm sure CDC is all over that. There has been a tremendous amount of "Wag the Dog" going on lately with respect to piracy, drug violence, and now the swine flu. -- CoLLapse is hitting afterburner in the spring as I predicted last summer when I was finishing the book. I'm seeing stories saying that the swine flu could "seriously hurt a global economy already in severe distress". That would be a pretty lame attempt at a cover-up though. Industrial civlization didn't collapse as a result of declining energy and overpopulation! Huh uh. No!... That would mean that we did it to ourselves. We must have something to blame... many things to blame... ANYTHING to blame.
Swine flu has my attention though, if for no other reason than when I went to Ralph's for groceries today, the assistant manager behind the register was telling me and other customers that swine flu could be caught from eating pork... Huh??? -- She was saying she wouldn't buy any more pork while managing a store that sold pork. The woman was in panic. -- Panic makes people do very strange things... I'm an ex-cop, I know. That's the part of collapse that gets really "sporty" and there isn't much of a map for.
Swine flu is a virus which -- like AIDS -- can only be transmitted from living organism to living organism. I stopped to talk to her loudly enough for the others to hear and calmly explained that there was absolutely no reason to stop buying pork. What's interesting about this little swine-flu critter is that it has human, avian and pig DNA. We who have a good map that covered this ground a long time ago don't need to panic. This is expected territory. We have had (hopefully) years to prepare mentally, spiritually and physically so this should not come as a huge surprise at all. That's why I wrote about pandemics and biowarfare so thoroughly in Rubicon and at FTW back in 2002-2003. There's a reason why Rubicon is 600 pages with a thousand footnotes. That was my reference guide for you guys and it seems to be working pretty well. -- And there's a good reason why "A Presidential Energy Policy" is a completely different kind of book from Rubicon.
This is a time for us to stay very alert and focused. The importance of breaking the NY Times list grows with each passing second. Either we get the Peak Oil/Sustainability message through right now or we'll never have another chance... not like this... And, as for the book, I have zero idea how sales are going. (Rags is my psychiatrist.) We have received maybe four complaints that are all technical glitches and may have been resolved by the time this goes up. New World is very much on their toes like we are.
I am reminded of a t-shirt I once saw being worn by a legendary member of LAPD's bomb squad at a training day. (He made bombs as well as he disarmed them and routinely took trips for the CIA in the 60s and 70s). On the back of the t-shirt were the words, "IF YOU SEE ME RUNNING -- FOLLOW ME".
As for me, I'm watching Rags and he doesn't seem too concerned.
This is one helluva "movie" we're in, ain't it?
Oh yeah, and watch for another great modified, limited hangout on the Bush-Cheney torture prosecutions. That oughta keep Amy Goodman tying up the progressive left and the Pacifica network for a year or more. As one clear-headed activist once quipped, "They should rename her show 'Democracy Too Late!'" -- I mean after all, she is paid nicely by the Hearst Corporation... I never say anything I can't back up. I have never been sued for precisely that reason. It's time to take the gloves off everybody. Our war has begun.
Pacifica listeners, be advised now that I will not do any interviews on any Pacifica station at any time. I have had blatantly libelous things written about me on internal memos. I have been ambushed. I have been blacklisted and I have been ignored by those with larger shows who often patronized me with smaller, less- credible shows. I got this in spite of the fact that I was a hugely successful fundraiser for WBAI, KPFK, and KPFA. This is in no way directed at the many friends and supporters who did put me on and who saw what was happening and fought battles on behalf of the truth. No, this is directed at the network. Pacifica Radio, you are free to die like the dinosaur you are. I have seen how much energy can be used in trying to swim your waters... for so little result. What you need is a good civil war to decide which side you're really on. The way it is, you're going to die a slow painful death as Pacifca becomes increasingly irrelevant. But don't ask me to get involved. I'm actually doing something.
MCR
*********************************************************************************
Jenna Orkin adds:
Today's headlines might be best summarized by the word Yikes:
Swine Flu
Swine Flu Could Become Pandemic, Health Officials Say
WHO Declares International Concern Over Swine Flu
Students Fall Ill in New York and Swine Flu is Likely Cause
Venezuela's Dead Polo Ponies
Another road leading to Fort Detrick
The cashier at MCR's grocery store isn't the only one leery of pork:
Swine Flu Sparks Concern Regarding Pork Imports
The CDC maintains pork is safe but then says, "People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose."
Food etc.
Could Food Shortage Bring Down Civilization?
Lester Brown article in Scientific American
Africa to Feed EU's Appetite for Biofuels as its People Starve
Today, a Garden at the White House. Tomorrow at 50 State Houses? (from Rice Farmer)
Pitfalls of an Animal ID Program
Yellow is the New Green
Common Myths of the Population Debate (from Rice Farmer)
Financial Crisis
The Coming Dollar Collapse
...in Forbes. Duck and cover.
Schlumberger Profit Falls 28%
Kazakhstan Bank Stops Repaying Foreign Debt
How the Locals are Trying to Save Small Businesses
Ten People Who Predicted the Financial Meltdown
Ridiculed as Dr. Doom, Peter Schiff's Book Flying Off Shelves Now
China: Financial Crisis Dampens Zeal to Go Global
Japan Pays Foreign Workers To Go Home - Forever
Stop Stoking Racial Unrest
Plus...
Bloomberg Interviews GATA's Bill Murphy
Backdrop for a 1907 Bailout
The Curious Tale of Martin Armstrong
Book Review: IOUSA
Tiny Space Engine to Push Back Against Sunshine
Armageddon Waltz
CIA Awkwardly Debriefs (sic) Obama on Origins of Crack Cocaine (The Onion)
Michael C. Ruppert
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aBL_62gRgvrE&refer=home
April 25, 2009, 9 PM PDT -- Here it is, buried deep inside Bloomberg and not as the "stop-everything" headline it should be. This is a virtual admission that Saudi has passed Peak. Thanks to Matt Simmons, a few ASPO-International conventions, and a close reading of the news for six years I can say that this too has happened exactly as so many of us in the movement predicted. Chris Skrebowski at ODAC in Britain was just a genius on this, along with Simmons. I discuss it thoroughly in PREZPOL. Now, with the swine flu outbreak just developing, it is clear that the dieoff has begun and the energy-confidence bubble is about to explode. -- I'm happy to be a little pinprick in that... LOL. Go ahead, play with that one any way you want to. Laughter is a good thing.
With regards to the swine flu I'm looking back deeper into my tons of research on biowarfare and pandemics but here are my first impressions. It is way too early to call this a pandemic. There could be a plane flight that connected passengers somewhere who were headed for San Diego, Texas, New York and Kansas.That's actually a good use for some of that nasty software we got after 9-11. I'm sure CDC is all over that. There has been a tremendous amount of "Wag the Dog" going on lately with respect to piracy, drug violence, and now the swine flu. -- CoLLapse is hitting afterburner in the spring as I predicted last summer when I was finishing the book. I'm seeing stories saying that the swine flu could "seriously hurt a global economy already in severe distress". That would be a pretty lame attempt at a cover-up though. Industrial civlization didn't collapse as a result of declining energy and overpopulation! Huh uh. No!... That would mean that we did it to ourselves. We must have something to blame... many things to blame... ANYTHING to blame.
Swine flu has my attention though, if for no other reason than when I went to Ralph's for groceries today, the assistant manager behind the register was telling me and other customers that swine flu could be caught from eating pork... Huh??? -- She was saying she wouldn't buy any more pork while managing a store that sold pork. The woman was in panic. -- Panic makes people do very strange things... I'm an ex-cop, I know. That's the part of collapse that gets really "sporty" and there isn't much of a map for.
Swine flu is a virus which -- like AIDS -- can only be transmitted from living organism to living organism. I stopped to talk to her loudly enough for the others to hear and calmly explained that there was absolutely no reason to stop buying pork. What's interesting about this little swine-flu critter is that it has human, avian and pig DNA. We who have a good map that covered this ground a long time ago don't need to panic. This is expected territory. We have had (hopefully) years to prepare mentally, spiritually and physically so this should not come as a huge surprise at all. That's why I wrote about pandemics and biowarfare so thoroughly in Rubicon and at FTW back in 2002-2003. There's a reason why Rubicon is 600 pages with a thousand footnotes. That was my reference guide for you guys and it seems to be working pretty well. -- And there's a good reason why "A Presidential Energy Policy" is a completely different kind of book from Rubicon.
This is a time for us to stay very alert and focused. The importance of breaking the NY Times list grows with each passing second. Either we get the Peak Oil/Sustainability message through right now or we'll never have another chance... not like this... And, as for the book, I have zero idea how sales are going. (Rags is my psychiatrist.) We have received maybe four complaints that are all technical glitches and may have been resolved by the time this goes up. New World is very much on their toes like we are.
I am reminded of a t-shirt I once saw being worn by a legendary member of LAPD's bomb squad at a training day. (He made bombs as well as he disarmed them and routinely took trips for the CIA in the 60s and 70s). On the back of the t-shirt were the words, "IF YOU SEE ME RUNNING -- FOLLOW ME".
As for me, I'm watching Rags and he doesn't seem too concerned.
This is one helluva "movie" we're in, ain't it?
Oh yeah, and watch for another great modified, limited hangout on the Bush-Cheney torture prosecutions. That oughta keep Amy Goodman tying up the progressive left and the Pacifica network for a year or more. As one clear-headed activist once quipped, "They should rename her show 'Democracy Too Late!'" -- I mean after all, she is paid nicely by the Hearst Corporation... I never say anything I can't back up. I have never been sued for precisely that reason. It's time to take the gloves off everybody. Our war has begun.
Pacifica listeners, be advised now that I will not do any interviews on any Pacifica station at any time. I have had blatantly libelous things written about me on internal memos. I have been ambushed. I have been blacklisted and I have been ignored by those with larger shows who often patronized me with smaller, less- credible shows. I got this in spite of the fact that I was a hugely successful fundraiser for WBAI, KPFK, and KPFA. This is in no way directed at the many friends and supporters who did put me on and who saw what was happening and fought battles on behalf of the truth. No, this is directed at the network. Pacifica Radio, you are free to die like the dinosaur you are. I have seen how much energy can be used in trying to swim your waters... for so little result. What you need is a good civil war to decide which side you're really on. The way it is, you're going to die a slow painful death as Pacifca becomes increasingly irrelevant. But don't ask me to get involved. I'm actually doing something.
MCR
*********************************************************************************
Jenna Orkin adds:
Today's headlines might be best summarized by the word Yikes:
Swine Flu
Swine Flu Could Become Pandemic, Health Officials Say
WHO Declares International Concern Over Swine Flu
Students Fall Ill in New York and Swine Flu is Likely Cause
Venezuela's Dead Polo Ponies
Another road leading to Fort Detrick
The cashier at MCR's grocery store isn't the only one leery of pork:
Swine Flu Sparks Concern Regarding Pork Imports
The CDC maintains pork is safe but then says, "People may become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose."
Food etc.
Could Food Shortage Bring Down Civilization?
Lester Brown article in Scientific American
Africa to Feed EU's Appetite for Biofuels as its People Starve
Today, a Garden at the White House. Tomorrow at 50 State Houses? (from Rice Farmer)
Pitfalls of an Animal ID Program
Yellow is the New Green
Common Myths of the Population Debate (from Rice Farmer)
Financial Crisis
The Coming Dollar Collapse
...in Forbes. Duck and cover.
Schlumberger Profit Falls 28%
Kazakhstan Bank Stops Repaying Foreign Debt
How the Locals are Trying to Save Small Businesses
Ten People Who Predicted the Financial Meltdown
Ridiculed as Dr. Doom, Peter Schiff's Book Flying Off Shelves Now
China: Financial Crisis Dampens Zeal to Go Global
Japan Pays Foreign Workers To Go Home - Forever
Stop Stoking Racial Unrest
Plus...
Bloomberg Interviews GATA's Bill Murphy
Backdrop for a 1907 Bailout
The Curious Tale of Martin Armstrong
Book Review: IOUSA
Tiny Space Engine to Push Back Against Sunshine
Armageddon Waltz
CIA Awkwardly Debriefs (sic) Obama on Origins of Crack Cocaine (The Onion)
Friday, April 24, 2009
A BIG APOLOGY
A BIG APOLOGY
Oops! In all the painstaking effort to get the book into pre-sale, someone forgot to check that the automatic software was set to limit purchase quantities to five. It turns out that I'm the one who discovered it. (It's the German in me.) Well, some dinners are getting interrupted because New World didn't know either. I don't think you've ever seen a team swing into action more quickly. That problem will be resolved shortly. To all of you who were prepared to buy large quantities I can assure you the problem will be fixed in very short order. God bless you if you've been making multiple orders. All I know now is that we sold 16 copies in the first twenty minutes and that was even before our announcement for pre-sale went out!
It looks like we have a hit on our hands and -- God willing -- a voice in this madness.
MCR
*********************************************************************************
JO adds:
Also Blogger ate my homework: three days worth of links, lost in cyberspace. (The software occasionally freezes.) Here is a skeleton reconstruction of some stories focussed on viruses of one kind or another:
Scientists Fear People Spread New Swine Flu
Swine Flue Cases Mount in Mexico, US
Seven People in US Hit By Strange New Swine Flu
Egyptian Woman Dies of Bird Flu, Third Fatality in a Week
Investigation of Missing Virus From Fort Detrick (lead on this story from Rice Farmer)
Conficker Virus Begins to Attack PCs
Conficker Infected Critical Hospital Equipment
Jamaican Army Deployed Ahead of Tax Increase
Medvedev Sacks Military Spy Chief
Need Household Cash? Try Some Wartime Economies
Oops! In all the painstaking effort to get the book into pre-sale, someone forgot to check that the automatic software was set to limit purchase quantities to five. It turns out that I'm the one who discovered it. (It's the German in me.) Well, some dinners are getting interrupted because New World didn't know either. I don't think you've ever seen a team swing into action more quickly. That problem will be resolved shortly. To all of you who were prepared to buy large quantities I can assure you the problem will be fixed in very short order. God bless you if you've been making multiple orders. All I know now is that we sold 16 copies in the first twenty minutes and that was even before our announcement for pre-sale went out!
It looks like we have a hit on our hands and -- God willing -- a voice in this madness.
MCR
*********************************************************************************
JO adds:
Also Blogger ate my homework: three days worth of links, lost in cyberspace. (The software occasionally freezes.) Here is a skeleton reconstruction of some stories focussed on viruses of one kind or another:
Scientists Fear People Spread New Swine Flu
Swine Flue Cases Mount in Mexico, US
Seven People in US Hit By Strange New Swine Flu
Egyptian Woman Dies of Bird Flu, Third Fatality in a Week
Investigation of Missing Virus From Fort Detrick (lead on this story from Rice Farmer)
Conficker Virus Begins to Attack PCs
Conficker Infected Critical Hospital Equipment
Jamaican Army Deployed Ahead of Tax Increase
Medvedev Sacks Military Spy Chief
Need Household Cash? Try Some Wartime Economies
A PRESIDENTIAL ENERGY POLICY NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-SALE
A PRESIDENTIAL ENERGY POLICY NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-SALE AT RUBICONWORKS.COM
April 24, 2009 3:00 PDT -- Due to the incredible response received to our book announcement, New World Digital has decided to make the book available for pre-sale starting today through Rubiconworks.com! Orders placed now will be the first to ship.
This is all excellent news! Now is the time to make our voice heard, and strong sales are the only way to do that. Trust me, the world is listening.
MCR
April 24, 2009 3:00 PDT -- Due to the incredible response received to our book announcement, New World Digital has decided to make the book available for pre-sale starting today through Rubiconworks.com! Orders placed now will be the first to ship.
This is all excellent news! Now is the time to make our voice heard, and strong sales are the only way to do that. Trust me, the world is listening.
MCR
Thursday, April 23, 2009
IN THE NICK OF TIME OR TOO LATE?
by
Michael C. Ruppert
April 22, 2009, 7:30 PM PDT --
Even as the great corporate citizen Ali Velshi of CNN spews nonsense about a possible, imminent recovery; a new wave of foreclosures -- which FORBES attributes to a crumbling economy (No shit!) -- is about to make the first one look like a picnic. Nissan, Toyota and Honda are about to report losses. Japan is contemplating revising its GDP estimate downward to a negative 3%. Deflation is erupting in Europe... And poor Britain -- which is getting hammered at every turn -- has just reported the first drop in retail prices on High Street since 1960. (The death of snobbery. They actually had to lower the prices!)... Next year each Brit will pay an additional five thousand pounds in taxes while the government is about to begin en masse layoffs of civil servants. I am no fan of kings and princes. It's not the Royals I care about. There is too much Tom Paine in me. But I have this huge soft spot for the UK in my heart. In WWII my father was stationed in Bassingbourne with the 324th Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group (Heavy). He was a gunner and gunnery instructor in B17s. He was a hero. After emailing ahead I visited Bassingbourne in early May of 2005 and half the town turned out in authentic WWII U.S. and British regalia to welcome me. They had Tommy guns and heavy trucks, all spit shined and totally authentic. We occupied a pub where I had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
The WSJ is making a deal saying that China might actually be able to achieve 8% growth this year. Yeah right... The whole world is counting on China to grow and the dinos on Wall Street believe that China will then be able to buy more of our our debt.... Excuse me but if China were to achieve 8% growth in the face of Peak Oil the effects will be absolutely brutal here. With an aggregate global decline rate I estimate at between 7-9%, China's going to get all the oil it needs so it can grow and buy and lend to the rest of the world which is going to drop America like a hot rock. Oil prices will spike madly if the Chinese growth engine hits afterburner. A bad sign is that Chinese demand for new cars is up. But I'm not counting on China holding it together much longer. Maybe China and Ali Velshi are talking to each other... In either scenario we still have certain collapse.
Things are catching up here at home. As I predicted, GM is going under. A Chapter 11 filing will probably wipe out all of GMs dealers. According to U.S.A. Today the filing will instantly freeze GMs payments/reimbursements to dealers for already performed warranty repairs. By now that means shut-down time because there won't be any money to make payroll. And there's no money to lend to dealers while the FDIC is nearly insolvent as the list of "problem institutions" mushrooms. Chrysler looks to be pretty close behind.
No time to be shy now... Here's what's coming over -- I would estimate -- the next two years: FDIC insolvency; Treasury default, the dumping of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency (I started predicting that in maybe 2002); hyperinflation; bankruptcy of the Federal Reserve; and collapse of the United States government as we know it. Federal Reserve notes are legal tender for all debts public and private. What does it mean if the privately-owned Fed goes bankrupt? Our map doesn't see that territory yet. -- Oh yes, and a new strain of swine flu has been discovered in humans in San Diego... And farmers are committing mass suicide in India and Africa because they can't pay the loans they used to grow their crops or they are being undercut by large corporations. I suspect that inflation is much more contagious than deflation. I don;t know how hard that stage will hit here. But deflation in any industrialized nation is like blood in the water. CoLLapse will looking like a feeding frenzy as the carcasses get stripped.
The good news: Las Vegas is decaying like the corpse it is. Last night I watched a Dan Rather special on how bad things are there. Ugly! And yet the Mayor was insisting that the answer was to build more and bigger hotels to bring the people back... I call that the Easter Island syndrome. If anything symbolizes the worst of the old paradigm it's Las Vegas. It has to die so that others around the country will start to grasp that what is happening here is not just a bump in the road.
I wrote a pretty good book and was the subject of what I suspect is going to be a pretty good movie: CoLLapse that can soften the end result of all this. I haven't seen any of the movie yet. But was all this work by so many people in the nick of time or too late? I am beginning to think we'll look back and say the former.
We'll start to find out on May 1st. The sales numbers will tell us everything as we watch them build over time. If we're strong out of the gate we have a huge advantage.
Hang tough and find something to hug.
MCR
********************************************************************************
The Earth in Eight Verses (archive)
Jenna Orkin
"This is your garden," God told Man,
"To cultivate." (Was that Voltaire?)
Man looked and said, "In my opinion
it is good, this, my dominion."
But Paradise soon lost its charm
as Man grew restless and ambitious.
Striking out, exploratory,
he sought ever greater glory.
And it was also good as he
plumbed sea, tamed forest, so he thought
they partook of Infinity
and having been, must always be.
His cities grew and towers rose.
Man was fruitful, multiplied.
He said, "In order to stay Master,
I must build more, higher, faster."
The prophets railed, those wild-eyed fools,
"What about the Pygmy Owl?
Arroyo Toad? Bluecrested tit?"
Man shrugged, said, "Never heard of it.
Eat, drink, be merry. Seize the day
for it is yours. The time is Now.
Can't you see the only thing
that matters is that I am king?"
While far away, beneath the seas
the fish were gone. In desert, wood,
without a sound, a word or tear
ten thousand species died each year.
The earth grew warm and oceans rose.
Birds and plants died off til as
in tales of Midas told of yore
there was no kingdom anymore.
**********************************************************************
From Jenna Orkin:
US
Bernanke Says Crisis Damage Likely to Be Long Lasting
but neglects to say how long... or how damaging.
Oil Prices Resist World's Recession Trend
Not a peep about Peak Oil when you can blame it on the Middle East.
"Stabilization of the oil price is also a victory for the OPEC cartel, which has succeeded in cutting output sharply to match lower demand."
Next Wave of Foreclosures (from Rice Farmer)
Morgan Stanley Revenues fall 62%
Obama Assures No Prosecution for CIA Interrogators
Walmart to Boost Rooftop Solar at its California Stores
California Sets All Time Unemployment Record
Recession Slams Georgia Agriculture
Desperate Measures (From Rice Farmer)
Beware Green Jobs, the New Sub-Prime
Anguish of Story Can Haunt Journalists
World Should Look to Chaos to Solve Problems (from Rice Farmer)
Works for us. - JO
China/Asia
There's a pronounced disconnect between the projected booming growth of China's production and military power, and on the other hand, its desperate measures to secure basic resources.
IMF Projects China 2009 Growth at 6.5%
China to Increase Naval Power
Cash Rich Chinese Are Looking for American Homes!
China's Power Output May Deepen to 4% in April
China Goes to Latin America for Oil, Minerals and Water
Obama Afghan Plan May Founder as Local Clashes Weaken Strategy
Pakistan a Mortal Threat to the World
Japan Records Worst Trade Deficit for Thirty Years
Japan Adopts BNP Policy: Pays Foreigners to Go Home
Europe
Energy Alarm Sounding for EU
Oil Baron Warns of Trouble in the North Sea
UK: Forget Big Projects and Start Sharing Desks, Civil Servants Told
Jobless Hits 2.1Million Pounds as Public Debt Soars
A Fig Leaf to Cover the Real Crisis
World's Oldest Profession Hit by Recession
Shunned Belarus Handed Invitation from EU (from Rice Farmer)
Middle East
Saudi Khurais Field: Looks Like Easy Oil May Be Gone From Arabia Too
Africa
Entire Country of Ghana in Blackout for Seven Hours
Antarctic
Antarctic Ice Growing, Not Shrinking
Does anyone else get the feeling that Fox News, the main purveyor of this latest "good news" on global warming, is leaving something out? A brief visit to the website of The Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, which did the study making this announcement, reveals that among others, its missions are to:
Enhance Australian leadership in Antarctic affairs and advance Australia's objectives for its Antarctic Territory and Exclusive Economic Zones
Produce expertly-trained scientists with international experience, skills in research, its broad application and its role in enterprise and policy.
Encourage the realisation of policy and commercial opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
Quite an agenda for an allegedly independent scientific body.
Michael C. Ruppert
April 22, 2009, 7:30 PM PDT --
Even as the great corporate citizen Ali Velshi of CNN spews nonsense about a possible, imminent recovery; a new wave of foreclosures -- which FORBES attributes to a crumbling economy (No shit!) -- is about to make the first one look like a picnic. Nissan, Toyota and Honda are about to report losses. Japan is contemplating revising its GDP estimate downward to a negative 3%. Deflation is erupting in Europe... And poor Britain -- which is getting hammered at every turn -- has just reported the first drop in retail prices on High Street since 1960. (The death of snobbery. They actually had to lower the prices!)... Next year each Brit will pay an additional five thousand pounds in taxes while the government is about to begin en masse layoffs of civil servants. I am no fan of kings and princes. It's not the Royals I care about. There is too much Tom Paine in me. But I have this huge soft spot for the UK in my heart. In WWII my father was stationed in Bassingbourne with the 324th Squadron of the 91st Bomb Group (Heavy). He was a gunner and gunnery instructor in B17s. He was a hero. After emailing ahead I visited Bassingbourne in early May of 2005 and half the town turned out in authentic WWII U.S. and British regalia to welcome me. They had Tommy guns and heavy trucks, all spit shined and totally authentic. We occupied a pub where I had roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
The WSJ is making a deal saying that China might actually be able to achieve 8% growth this year. Yeah right... The whole world is counting on China to grow and the dinos on Wall Street believe that China will then be able to buy more of our our debt.... Excuse me but if China were to achieve 8% growth in the face of Peak Oil the effects will be absolutely brutal here. With an aggregate global decline rate I estimate at between 7-9%, China's going to get all the oil it needs so it can grow and buy and lend to the rest of the world which is going to drop America like a hot rock. Oil prices will spike madly if the Chinese growth engine hits afterburner. A bad sign is that Chinese demand for new cars is up. But I'm not counting on China holding it together much longer. Maybe China and Ali Velshi are talking to each other... In either scenario we still have certain collapse.
Things are catching up here at home. As I predicted, GM is going under. A Chapter 11 filing will probably wipe out all of GMs dealers. According to U.S.A. Today the filing will instantly freeze GMs payments/reimbursements to dealers for already performed warranty repairs. By now that means shut-down time because there won't be any money to make payroll. And there's no money to lend to dealers while the FDIC is nearly insolvent as the list of "problem institutions" mushrooms. Chrysler looks to be pretty close behind.
No time to be shy now... Here's what's coming over -- I would estimate -- the next two years: FDIC insolvency; Treasury default, the dumping of the U.S. dollar as the world's reserve currency (I started predicting that in maybe 2002); hyperinflation; bankruptcy of the Federal Reserve; and collapse of the United States government as we know it. Federal Reserve notes are legal tender for all debts public and private. What does it mean if the privately-owned Fed goes bankrupt? Our map doesn't see that territory yet. -- Oh yes, and a new strain of swine flu has been discovered in humans in San Diego... And farmers are committing mass suicide in India and Africa because they can't pay the loans they used to grow their crops or they are being undercut by large corporations. I suspect that inflation is much more contagious than deflation. I don;t know how hard that stage will hit here. But deflation in any industrialized nation is like blood in the water. CoLLapse will looking like a feeding frenzy as the carcasses get stripped.
The good news: Las Vegas is decaying like the corpse it is. Last night I watched a Dan Rather special on how bad things are there. Ugly! And yet the Mayor was insisting that the answer was to build more and bigger hotels to bring the people back... I call that the Easter Island syndrome. If anything symbolizes the worst of the old paradigm it's Las Vegas. It has to die so that others around the country will start to grasp that what is happening here is not just a bump in the road.
I wrote a pretty good book and was the subject of what I suspect is going to be a pretty good movie: CoLLapse that can soften the end result of all this. I haven't seen any of the movie yet. But was all this work by so many people in the nick of time or too late? I am beginning to think we'll look back and say the former.
We'll start to find out on May 1st. The sales numbers will tell us everything as we watch them build over time. If we're strong out of the gate we have a huge advantage.
Hang tough and find something to hug.
MCR
********************************************************************************
The Earth in Eight Verses (archive)
Jenna Orkin
"This is your garden," God told Man,
"To cultivate." (Was that Voltaire?)
Man looked and said, "In my opinion
it is good, this, my dominion."
But Paradise soon lost its charm
as Man grew restless and ambitious.
Striking out, exploratory,
he sought ever greater glory.
And it was also good as he
plumbed sea, tamed forest, so he thought
they partook of Infinity
and having been, must always be.
His cities grew and towers rose.
Man was fruitful, multiplied.
He said, "In order to stay Master,
I must build more, higher, faster."
The prophets railed, those wild-eyed fools,
"What about the Pygmy Owl?
Arroyo Toad? Bluecrested tit?"
Man shrugged, said, "Never heard of it.
Eat, drink, be merry. Seize the day
for it is yours. The time is Now.
Can't you see the only thing
that matters is that I am king?"
While far away, beneath the seas
the fish were gone. In desert, wood,
without a sound, a word or tear
ten thousand species died each year.
The earth grew warm and oceans rose.
Birds and plants died off til as
in tales of Midas told of yore
there was no kingdom anymore.
**********************************************************************
From Jenna Orkin:
US
Bernanke Says Crisis Damage Likely to Be Long Lasting
but neglects to say how long... or how damaging.
Oil Prices Resist World's Recession Trend
Not a peep about Peak Oil when you can blame it on the Middle East.
"Stabilization of the oil price is also a victory for the OPEC cartel, which has succeeded in cutting output sharply to match lower demand."
Next Wave of Foreclosures (from Rice Farmer)
Morgan Stanley Revenues fall 62%
Obama Assures No Prosecution for CIA Interrogators
Walmart to Boost Rooftop Solar at its California Stores
California Sets All Time Unemployment Record
Recession Slams Georgia Agriculture
Desperate Measures (From Rice Farmer)
Beware Green Jobs, the New Sub-Prime
Anguish of Story Can Haunt Journalists
World Should Look to Chaos to Solve Problems (from Rice Farmer)
Works for us. - JO
China/Asia
There's a pronounced disconnect between the projected booming growth of China's production and military power, and on the other hand, its desperate measures to secure basic resources.
IMF Projects China 2009 Growth at 6.5%
China to Increase Naval Power
Cash Rich Chinese Are Looking for American Homes!
China's Power Output May Deepen to 4% in April
China Goes to Latin America for Oil, Minerals and Water
Obama Afghan Plan May Founder as Local Clashes Weaken Strategy
Pakistan a Mortal Threat to the World
Japan Records Worst Trade Deficit for Thirty Years
Japan Adopts BNP Policy: Pays Foreigners to Go Home
Europe
Energy Alarm Sounding for EU
Oil Baron Warns of Trouble in the North Sea
UK: Forget Big Projects and Start Sharing Desks, Civil Servants Told
Jobless Hits 2.1Million Pounds as Public Debt Soars
A Fig Leaf to Cover the Real Crisis
World's Oldest Profession Hit by Recession
Shunned Belarus Handed Invitation from EU (from Rice Farmer)
Middle East
Saudi Khurais Field: Looks Like Easy Oil May Be Gone From Arabia Too
Africa
Entire Country of Ghana in Blackout for Seven Hours
Antarctic
Antarctic Ice Growing, Not Shrinking
Does anyone else get the feeling that Fox News, the main purveyor of this latest "good news" on global warming, is leaving something out? A brief visit to the website of The Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Centre, which did the study making this announcement, reveals that among others, its missions are to:
Enhance Australian leadership in Antarctic affairs and advance Australia's objectives for its Antarctic Territory and Exclusive Economic Zones
Produce expertly-trained scientists with international experience, skills in research, its broad application and its role in enterprise and policy.
Encourage the realisation of policy and commercial opportunities in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.
Quite an agenda for an allegedly independent scientific body.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
A PRESIDENTIAL POLICY (Updates)
Well, there's a rumble growing.
Since last Friday the Rubiconworks website has received more than 45,000 visitors and close to 8,000 clicks through multiple pages. We have received well over twenty bona fide requests for review copies. A few examples are The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, the BBC, two members of congress and one large-city mayor's office. We're all still waiting to hear from the great folks at Bluemark Films as to when we'll see a trailer for CoLLapse but it should be soon. I have not seen a single clip yet but I was there for all of the filming... Trust me on that. The Director, Chris Smith, is a genius, as his two prior wins at Sundance testify. I don't want to spoil the movie for you guys but the filming was one of the most intense things I've ever experienced. It turns out now that I was in this dark, dank, cold basement for four days instead of three. We just shot a few last scenes last week. I do know this -- CoLLapse is a serious, serious motion picture. So I'm eagerly waiting to see something just like the rest of you...
What's before us now is the challenge of proving to the world on May 1 that there are a lot of people around the world who understand what we're facing. Breaking the NY Times list means that cartelized mainstream media will have to finally acknowledge all of us. That will mean that so many who have never had the chance to hear the message of Peak Oil/Sustainability will finally hear it. Who knows how many lives that might save. That's what I would like the blog that bears my name to focus on now. The more people read the book, the more will step out of the Old Paradigm, giving all of us a better shot. We can save lives by figuring out the best-possible viral marketing campaign for the book. Think global and local.
The Bear Market-sucker's-manipulated-pumpanddump rally ends shortly -- right on time. The only thing I missed in recent predictions was $2,000 gold, but I think I know why. I've noticed two huge gold sales recently. One for 140 metric tons and another for (I think) 30 metric tons. There can only be so many tranches of that size. That's around six million ounces. No wonder the price has taken a hit as fools sold their gold and threw money back in the markets. I smell the end of the gold cabal. They've had to dip into their reserves... the real thing.
I have seriously missed communing with the loyalists, giants and friends who frequent here. But I'm back now until the real action starts. Then I suspect I'm going to be busy again. After I saw the responses to the book release earlier today I've been like way out of tune; cranky, ill-at-ease. I needed to write to you. I told you that I had to check out a while to finish a couple of jobs... I guess you'll forgive me. But it's great to be back. Let's start feeding each other on how we get as many copies sold in the shortest period possible.
Do we really want to change the world -- or just play with it a little?
MCR
*********************************************************************************
From Jenna Orkin:
A few days ago, Businessman sent in the following comment:
Great article, Jenna! Since you brought up the subject of 9/11 and scientific panels, here's a 10-minute video from Denmark featuring an interview with scientist Niels Harrit, stating they've now determined through scientific testing of the WTC dust, that there were more than 10 tons of thermite explosives in the World Trade Center: Click Here for the Video ********************************************************************************
JO's response:
Businessman, if you were not the wonderful loyal helpful guy you are, I would have just rejected your comment. But you're Businessman, so I clicked on the video and was impressed to see that the nanothermite boondoggle has been awarded over ten minutes on a Danish news channel.
Not a prominent channel, it seems, for its hits on google are unimpressive, as are the other outlets that lend time, space and credence to the highly speculative nanothermite venture. But at least the interview was slickly produced.
So a highly engaging ten minutes ensued, reminiscent of those puzzles in which you have to spot what's wrong with the picture.
Without devoting too much time to the shortcomings of this bit of junk science, ask yourselves these questions (if you entertain the matter at all, which we are not recommending:)
How does the scientist concerned, Niels Harrit (Is he a Ph.D? There's little sign of it) know that there was ten to a hundred tons of nanothermite in the World Trade Center debris? Who found it? Where is it now? The debris was removed to Fresh Kills in Staten Island as well as to Third World countries ASAP. Is Harrit just assuming there was ten to a hundred tons (give or take an order of magnitude) because that's what he thinks it would take to demolish the buildings?
He says the nanothermite was discovered "by chance" a short while ago. What kind of chance is it when scientists beg for dust samples for years so they can test it for said nanothermite? Every couple of months I used to get their emails. I never complied because the science would not have been valid; the chain of custody was broken. And mind you, the requests were for a few measly samples, not ten to a hundred tons. All of this, by the way, ignores the myriad scientists (Millette, Lioy, Yiin....) who, whether well-intentioned or not, were studying the dust for pollutants.
So Harrit didn't know any of this? Does he know the other scientists working on this wild goose chase? But the best part was the dead silence when the politely incredulous journalist didn't know what to say next because the only reasonable response was, "Huh?"
While only cursory, this response is intended to quash speculation about issues which at this point can never be proved. It is not intended to open up the floodgates to further questions. Harrit is either a loony patsy or pure disinfo. But it's enlightening to see what's getting into the European media so thank you for the link.
List of Bank Failures
Bank Profits Appear Out of Thin Air
Profits Mask Bank Problems: Analysts
Bank of America Credit Losses Spiral
Recession Sing-a-long
Gorbachev, the Model for the Obama Doctrine
Blackwater Out of Iraq? No, Not Yet
GM "Likely" to Build in China as US Factories Close
Record Number of State Businesses Close in First Quarter
Tons of Released Drugs Taint US Water
Home Invasions Increase as Thugs Seek Mexico Drug Cash
The World's Most Unhappy People (Moldova)
China, Russia, Make Breakthrough in Energy Cooperation
Petrobras' Gabrieli Says China Loans Won't Be Backed By Oil
China Mulls Law on Military Mobilization (from Rice Farmer)
Global Crisis Wipes Out 1.5T Yuan of China Investor Wealth
Taleban Boasts of Its Own AfPak Alliance
Ghana: Plummeting Profits Drive Tomato Farmers to Suicide (from Rice Farmer)
New Zealand: The Upcoming Corporate Debt Default
Well, there's a rumble growing.
Since last Friday the Rubiconworks website has received more than 45,000 visitors and close to 8,000 clicks through multiple pages. We have received well over twenty bona fide requests for review copies. A few examples are The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, the BBC, two members of congress and one large-city mayor's office. We're all still waiting to hear from the great folks at Bluemark Films as to when we'll see a trailer for CoLLapse but it should be soon. I have not seen a single clip yet but I was there for all of the filming... Trust me on that. The Director, Chris Smith, is a genius, as his two prior wins at Sundance testify. I don't want to spoil the movie for you guys but the filming was one of the most intense things I've ever experienced. It turns out now that I was in this dark, dank, cold basement for four days instead of three. We just shot a few last scenes last week. I do know this -- CoLLapse is a serious, serious motion picture. So I'm eagerly waiting to see something just like the rest of you...
What's before us now is the challenge of proving to the world on May 1 that there are a lot of people around the world who understand what we're facing. Breaking the NY Times list means that cartelized mainstream media will have to finally acknowledge all of us. That will mean that so many who have never had the chance to hear the message of Peak Oil/Sustainability will finally hear it. Who knows how many lives that might save. That's what I would like the blog that bears my name to focus on now. The more people read the book, the more will step out of the Old Paradigm, giving all of us a better shot. We can save lives by figuring out the best-possible viral marketing campaign for the book. Think global and local.
The Bear Market-sucker's-manipulated-pumpanddump rally ends shortly -- right on time. The only thing I missed in recent predictions was $2,000 gold, but I think I know why. I've noticed two huge gold sales recently. One for 140 metric tons and another for (I think) 30 metric tons. There can only be so many tranches of that size. That's around six million ounces. No wonder the price has taken a hit as fools sold their gold and threw money back in the markets. I smell the end of the gold cabal. They've had to dip into their reserves... the real thing.
I have seriously missed communing with the loyalists, giants and friends who frequent here. But I'm back now until the real action starts. Then I suspect I'm going to be busy again. After I saw the responses to the book release earlier today I've been like way out of tune; cranky, ill-at-ease. I needed to write to you. I told you that I had to check out a while to finish a couple of jobs... I guess you'll forgive me. But it's great to be back. Let's start feeding each other on how we get as many copies sold in the shortest period possible.
Do we really want to change the world -- or just play with it a little?
MCR
*********************************************************************************
From Jenna Orkin:
A few days ago, Businessman sent in the following comment:
Great article, Jenna! Since you brought up the subject of 9/11 and scientific panels, here's a 10-minute video from Denmark featuring an interview with scientist Niels Harrit, stating they've now determined through scientific testing of the WTC dust, that there were more than 10 tons of thermite explosives in the World Trade Center: Click Here for the Video ********************************************************************************
JO's response:
Businessman, if you were not the wonderful loyal helpful guy you are, I would have just rejected your comment. But you're Businessman, so I clicked on the video and was impressed to see that the nanothermite boondoggle has been awarded over ten minutes on a Danish news channel.
Not a prominent channel, it seems, for its hits on google are unimpressive, as are the other outlets that lend time, space and credence to the highly speculative nanothermite venture. But at least the interview was slickly produced.
So a highly engaging ten minutes ensued, reminiscent of those puzzles in which you have to spot what's wrong with the picture.
Without devoting too much time to the shortcomings of this bit of junk science, ask yourselves these questions (if you entertain the matter at all, which we are not recommending:)
How does the scientist concerned, Niels Harrit (Is he a Ph.D? There's little sign of it) know that there was ten to a hundred tons of nanothermite in the World Trade Center debris? Who found it? Where is it now? The debris was removed to Fresh Kills in Staten Island as well as to Third World countries ASAP. Is Harrit just assuming there was ten to a hundred tons (give or take an order of magnitude) because that's what he thinks it would take to demolish the buildings?
He says the nanothermite was discovered "by chance" a short while ago. What kind of chance is it when scientists beg for dust samples for years so they can test it for said nanothermite? Every couple of months I used to get their emails. I never complied because the science would not have been valid; the chain of custody was broken. And mind you, the requests were for a few measly samples, not ten to a hundred tons. All of this, by the way, ignores the myriad scientists (Millette, Lioy, Yiin....) who, whether well-intentioned or not, were studying the dust for pollutants.
So Harrit didn't know any of this? Does he know the other scientists working on this wild goose chase? But the best part was the dead silence when the politely incredulous journalist didn't know what to say next because the only reasonable response was, "Huh?"
While only cursory, this response is intended to quash speculation about issues which at this point can never be proved. It is not intended to open up the floodgates to further questions. Harrit is either a loony patsy or pure disinfo. But it's enlightening to see what's getting into the European media so thank you for the link.
List of Bank Failures
Bank Profits Appear Out of Thin Air
Profits Mask Bank Problems: Analysts
Bank of America Credit Losses Spiral
Recession Sing-a-long
Gorbachev, the Model for the Obama Doctrine
Blackwater Out of Iraq? No, Not Yet
GM "Likely" to Build in China as US Factories Close
Record Number of State Businesses Close in First Quarter
Tons of Released Drugs Taint US Water
Home Invasions Increase as Thugs Seek Mexico Drug Cash
The World's Most Unhappy People (Moldova)
China, Russia, Make Breakthrough in Energy Cooperation
Petrobras' Gabrieli Says China Loans Won't Be Backed By Oil
China Mulls Law on Military Mobilization (from Rice Farmer)
Global Crisis Wipes Out 1.5T Yuan of China Investor Wealth
Taleban Boasts of Its Own AfPak Alliance
Ghana: Plummeting Profits Drive Tomato Farmers to Suicide (from Rice Farmer)
New Zealand: The Upcoming Corporate Debt Default
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Media outlets requesting a review .pdf file of the book should write to media@rubiconworks.com.
BOOK PUBLICATION AND MOTION PICTURE ANNOUNCEMENT
A Presidential Energy Policy: Twenty-five Points Addressing the Siamese Twins of Energy and Money
by
Michael C. Ruppert
ON SALE MAY 1, 2009 at http://www.rubiconworks.com/ and at Amazon.com.
"COLLAPSE" – A Feature Documentary by Bluemark Films. (Winner: Special Dramatic Jury Prize, 2007 Sundance Film Festival, for "The Pool", and Grand Jury Prize, 1999 Sundance Film Festival for "American Movie").
For a full press release on the book, film and important additional information including a complete list of off-the-chart reviews, please visit: http://www.rubiconworks.com/.
Mike Ruppert has been at the forefront of speaking and writing about the grim reality that the world's crude oil output is peaking or has already peaked and will soon begin what could be swift declines over the next decade or two.The world needs to pay careful attention to the multiple risks this event will usher in. Thanks to Ruppert's new book, readers around the world will have access to his well written work.
Matthew R, Simmons
Chairman
Simmons & Company
Author, Twilight in the Desert
----------
Mike Ruppert has an unblemished track record for saying things that are incendiary, outrageous, shocking—and true. Our new president needs desperately to hear the uncomfortable message of this book about energy and the economy, and so do the rest of us.
Richard Heinberg, Ph.D.Ecologist
Author, "The Party’s Over", "Peak Everything", "The Oil Depletion Protocol"
Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute
----------
All I can say about A Presidential Energy Policy is, "Yikes!" This is a book everyone should read.
Mike Ruppert is my friend. And, sometimes I remind him, in a way that only a friend can, that my perspective is colored by my own distinct experiences as an informed woman of color in the United States. And frankly, that means that some of what is between these covers makes me cringe; but it is exactly this substance, actively suppressed in proposed national and international gatherings, that we human beings must debate and resolve, or else, we will find Dr. King's admonition, once again, to be true: "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
We know Mike Ruppert because he became a whistleblower and told us some inconvenient truths. About crack cocaine, 9/11/01, and now this -- how to step back from the brink of human disaster.
It is clear that Mike and I are headed toward the same destination, despite our differences. "A Presidential Energy Policy" lands Mike exactly where I am -- outside of the box of political orthodoxy, but well within the space of policy advocacy that is representative of critical thinking, rational analysis, and authentic leadership. Mike Ruppert dares to go where our elected leaders seem afraid to take us. In the end, however, if we are to salvage our own human dignity, either our "leadership" must catch up with us or we must become and nurture a new generation of leaders.
Cynthia McKinney
6-term Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Green Party Presidential Candidate, 2008
This notice is going to stay front and center for a while. For blog updates please see below:
************************************************************************************
The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is the Fear Of Being Uncool
Jenna Orkin
From revelers at a rock concert in Colombia to European farmers to Indian engineering students; from the redundant 'unrest' at prisons to the oxymoronic 'patient riots' at a hospital in South Africa, the natives are restless. Some, like 1500 farmers in India, have turned that unrest on themselves by committing suicide.
Whether it's over the economic crisis, water, food, jobs, bonuses, Bernie Madoff, octuplets or weirdos keeping young girls - offspring or otherwise - in a dungeon for years on end, people are outraged.
We may all be Madoffs as Nouriel Roubini maintains, but some are a deeper shade than others. Even Madoff himself pales in comparison to the economic system in which most of us have colluded, with whatever degree of understanding or willful ignorance. And those who have not at least benefited, like some of my eager students from the most far-reaching corners of the earth, are Madoff wannabes, pursuing the American dream of sipping the Kool-Aid at the last banquet of civilization-as-we-have-known-it.
What makes Madoff so mesmerizing is the way in which he resembles us, like a grotesque reflection in a funhouse mirror. In his recent isolation he has even managed to twist his self-image into a heroic one. God help us if he's justified for that will mean he's taking the fall for some even worse monsters who remain at large.
The SEC, for instance. Like the idiot in the old saw which maintains that intelligent people talk about ideas; average folk, about events and idiots about people, the public fixates on Madoff because he's human. The SEC is a deliberately lowkey, boring institution. Not the stuff on which the tabloid mentality thrives.
"But how could this have happened?"
We the people cling to our fairytales, those black and white formulas in which a bad guy gets away with it for so long because, "Who could have expected...?"
"Anyone who looked," shoots back the retort.
That is, anyone who did more than go through the motions of looking. Real looking means asking the basic questions.
Like Bethany McClean who started the unravelling of Enron by asking, "What does Enron actually do to make money?" Like Richard Feinberg whose wife prodded him to join the team investigating the Challenger disaster by saying, "There will be lots of intelligent people asking intelligent questions. You will be the one to ask the stupid questions."
Rather than becoming more suspect over time, the scenario of bumbling, Keystone Cop-like agencies gets reinforced. If it could happen on 9/11, it could happen in the EPA afterwards and later, with foreclosures. If it could happen in those three cases, well that just proves how susceptible oversight agencies can be. So why should we be surprised it happened at the SEC? But rather than focus on the sorry past, let us learn from our mistakes and pass legislation to ensure that it Never Happens Again.
The one thing people seem unwilling to do is probe. To do so is to strike out on your own, estrange yourself from your fellow man. To question the status quo is by definition uncool. In the minds of your friends, you find yourself keeping company with that band of kootie-afflicted kids, the conspiracy theorists.
People who consider themselves cosmopolitan, open-minded liberals, accepting of every color, creed and sexual proclivity, get the heeby jeebies when it comes to questioning the major media whose genius is that it gives the illusion of choice, a smorgasbord of ideas. You can have the red candidate or the blue. They argue so they can't be two sides of the same coin.
Anyway, if it's all a big conspiracy, how come no one's blown the whistle?
I will answer from the issue of which I have the most detailed, first-hand experience as it is as good an example as any of how TPTB get away with it.
After 9/11, three scientific panels were held to investigate the extent of the contamination resulting from the disaster and to come up with solutions. The first two panels each took a couple of days. The last one, which was literally the panel to end all panels, met once a month for nearly two years.
The EPA were present at all three panels, to answer the questions of the visiting scientists. None of those scientists, I believe by the way, was paid for his or her services.
Also present were members of The Community whose function was to point out to those same scientists where the EPA were...uh, leaving out crucial pertinent facts.
"You underestimate the capacity of people to be stupid," I was told by friends concerning the government's actions leading up to and following 9/11.
Not one of these friends was at the panels; nor had they read From the Wilderness or other reputable 9/11 websites.
But having attended (and testified at) every meeting of every scientific panel, I can assure you that whistles were blown, loudly. And that not only the government agency being assailed but also some professors at august universities and some scientists whose hallmark is supposedly objectivity, persistently responded to the whistles by putting metaphorical cotton in their ears or by blowing an even louder, if equally metaphorical, tuba.
As with certain jokes, you had to be there. Every weapon in the arsenal of skullduggery was on view: Lies, damn lies and most of all, statistics.
They lied by testing for the wrong substance or, if the right one, doing the wrong test, using the wrong equipment, putting it in the wrong place, not turning it on or facing it in the wrong direction.
The message was: How can I screw you? Let me count the ways.
The vast majority of people roll over for this because, outraged though they be, they do not feel up to the task of educating themselves.
This, in the age of the internet when knowledge is more equitably available than ever before.
Rather, they opt for what E.M. Forster called the most satisfying of human emotions, moral indignation. And for that, you need 'friends.'
Here, too, the internet, that most adaptable and obliging of creatures, provides. You can confide every banal detail of your life to the universe and have a more concrete expectation than religion offers that a real person might hear you.
Life copies high school. The football hero and the prom queen are the Jungian archetypes of our time. (All right, my time. Amend accordingly.) People still haven't figured out that the football hero and the prom queen may not remain on top of the heap and that what seems geeky and goofy today is the ultracool of tomorrow.
To question Madoff two years ago was weird. Now it's cliche. To be truly cool, you can't be a member of the crowd; you have to lead it.
Northern Emirates to Tackle FNC Over Electricity Crisis
Baghdad Looking Over Prewar Contracts
Japan Looks to Manga Comics To Assist Ailing Economy
Superbailout man.
Libraries Step Into the Age of I-Pod
Recession Credited for Record Drop in Road Deaths
Current Power Crisis in West Africa Presents Lucrative Business Opportunity
In every crisis is opportunity.... for business.
Dow Theory Letters
Bailout Nation
Harvard Course: Dealing with an Angry Public (from Rice Farmer)
Is White the New Green?
Kiss of Death (ASPO paper)
Kids Give Up Wheels For Their Own Two Feet
Drollerdrome
Sustainability blog
Smuggled Seahorses (Chinese Viagra) Seized in Elizabeth
Knights Templar Hid Shroud of Turin
Or: Five Hundred Years Later, Chain of Custody Ceases to Be Issue
BOOK PUBLICATION AND MOTION PICTURE ANNOUNCEMENT
A Presidential Energy Policy: Twenty-five Points Addressing the Siamese Twins of Energy and Money
by
Michael C. Ruppert
ON SALE MAY 1, 2009 at http://www.rubiconworks.com/ and at Amazon.com.
"COLLAPSE" – A Feature Documentary by Bluemark Films. (Winner: Special Dramatic Jury Prize, 2007 Sundance Film Festival, for "The Pool", and Grand Jury Prize, 1999 Sundance Film Festival for "American Movie").
For a full press release on the book, film and important additional information including a complete list of off-the-chart reviews, please visit: http://www.rubiconworks.com/.
Mike Ruppert has been at the forefront of speaking and writing about the grim reality that the world's crude oil output is peaking or has already peaked and will soon begin what could be swift declines over the next decade or two.The world needs to pay careful attention to the multiple risks this event will usher in. Thanks to Ruppert's new book, readers around the world will have access to his well written work.
Matthew R, Simmons
Chairman
Simmons & Company
Author, Twilight in the Desert
----------
Mike Ruppert has an unblemished track record for saying things that are incendiary, outrageous, shocking—and true. Our new president needs desperately to hear the uncomfortable message of this book about energy and the economy, and so do the rest of us.
Richard Heinberg, Ph.D.Ecologist
Author, "The Party’s Over", "Peak Everything", "The Oil Depletion Protocol"
Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute
----------
All I can say about A Presidential Energy Policy is, "Yikes!" This is a book everyone should read.
Mike Ruppert is my friend. And, sometimes I remind him, in a way that only a friend can, that my perspective is colored by my own distinct experiences as an informed woman of color in the United States. And frankly, that means that some of what is between these covers makes me cringe; but it is exactly this substance, actively suppressed in proposed national and international gatherings, that we human beings must debate and resolve, or else, we will find Dr. King's admonition, once again, to be true: "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
We know Mike Ruppert because he became a whistleblower and told us some inconvenient truths. About crack cocaine, 9/11/01, and now this -- how to step back from the brink of human disaster.
It is clear that Mike and I are headed toward the same destination, despite our differences. "A Presidential Energy Policy" lands Mike exactly where I am -- outside of the box of political orthodoxy, but well within the space of policy advocacy that is representative of critical thinking, rational analysis, and authentic leadership. Mike Ruppert dares to go where our elected leaders seem afraid to take us. In the end, however, if we are to salvage our own human dignity, either our "leadership" must catch up with us or we must become and nurture a new generation of leaders.
Cynthia McKinney
6-term Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Green Party Presidential Candidate, 2008
This notice is going to stay front and center for a while. For blog updates please see below:
************************************************************************************
The Only Thing We Have To Fear Is the Fear Of Being Uncool
Jenna Orkin
From revelers at a rock concert in Colombia to European farmers to Indian engineering students; from the redundant 'unrest' at prisons to the oxymoronic 'patient riots' at a hospital in South Africa, the natives are restless. Some, like 1500 farmers in India, have turned that unrest on themselves by committing suicide.
Whether it's over the economic crisis, water, food, jobs, bonuses, Bernie Madoff, octuplets or weirdos keeping young girls - offspring or otherwise - in a dungeon for years on end, people are outraged.
We may all be Madoffs as Nouriel Roubini maintains, but some are a deeper shade than others. Even Madoff himself pales in comparison to the economic system in which most of us have colluded, with whatever degree of understanding or willful ignorance. And those who have not at least benefited, like some of my eager students from the most far-reaching corners of the earth, are Madoff wannabes, pursuing the American dream of sipping the Kool-Aid at the last banquet of civilization-as-we-have-known-it.
What makes Madoff so mesmerizing is the way in which he resembles us, like a grotesque reflection in a funhouse mirror. In his recent isolation he has even managed to twist his self-image into a heroic one. God help us if he's justified for that will mean he's taking the fall for some even worse monsters who remain at large.
The SEC, for instance. Like the idiot in the old saw which maintains that intelligent people talk about ideas; average folk, about events and idiots about people, the public fixates on Madoff because he's human. The SEC is a deliberately lowkey, boring institution. Not the stuff on which the tabloid mentality thrives.
"But how could this have happened?"
We the people cling to our fairytales, those black and white formulas in which a bad guy gets away with it for so long because, "Who could have expected...?"
"Anyone who looked," shoots back the retort.
That is, anyone who did more than go through the motions of looking. Real looking means asking the basic questions.
Like Bethany McClean who started the unravelling of Enron by asking, "What does Enron actually do to make money?" Like Richard Feinberg whose wife prodded him to join the team investigating the Challenger disaster by saying, "There will be lots of intelligent people asking intelligent questions. You will be the one to ask the stupid questions."
Rather than becoming more suspect over time, the scenario of bumbling, Keystone Cop-like agencies gets reinforced. If it could happen on 9/11, it could happen in the EPA afterwards and later, with foreclosures. If it could happen in those three cases, well that just proves how susceptible oversight agencies can be. So why should we be surprised it happened at the SEC? But rather than focus on the sorry past, let us learn from our mistakes and pass legislation to ensure that it Never Happens Again.
The one thing people seem unwilling to do is probe. To do so is to strike out on your own, estrange yourself from your fellow man. To question the status quo is by definition uncool. In the minds of your friends, you find yourself keeping company with that band of kootie-afflicted kids, the conspiracy theorists.
People who consider themselves cosmopolitan, open-minded liberals, accepting of every color, creed and sexual proclivity, get the heeby jeebies when it comes to questioning the major media whose genius is that it gives the illusion of choice, a smorgasbord of ideas. You can have the red candidate or the blue. They argue so they can't be two sides of the same coin.
Anyway, if it's all a big conspiracy, how come no one's blown the whistle?
I will answer from the issue of which I have the most detailed, first-hand experience as it is as good an example as any of how TPTB get away with it.
After 9/11, three scientific panels were held to investigate the extent of the contamination resulting from the disaster and to come up with solutions. The first two panels each took a couple of days. The last one, which was literally the panel to end all panels, met once a month for nearly two years.
The EPA were present at all three panels, to answer the questions of the visiting scientists. None of those scientists, I believe by the way, was paid for his or her services.
Also present were members of The Community whose function was to point out to those same scientists where the EPA were...uh, leaving out crucial pertinent facts.
"You underestimate the capacity of people to be stupid," I was told by friends concerning the government's actions leading up to and following 9/11.
Not one of these friends was at the panels; nor had they read From the Wilderness or other reputable 9/11 websites.
But having attended (and testified at) every meeting of every scientific panel, I can assure you that whistles were blown, loudly. And that not only the government agency being assailed but also some professors at august universities and some scientists whose hallmark is supposedly objectivity, persistently responded to the whistles by putting metaphorical cotton in their ears or by blowing an even louder, if equally metaphorical, tuba.
As with certain jokes, you had to be there. Every weapon in the arsenal of skullduggery was on view: Lies, damn lies and most of all, statistics.
They lied by testing for the wrong substance or, if the right one, doing the wrong test, using the wrong equipment, putting it in the wrong place, not turning it on or facing it in the wrong direction.
The message was: How can I screw you? Let me count the ways.
The vast majority of people roll over for this because, outraged though they be, they do not feel up to the task of educating themselves.
This, in the age of the internet when knowledge is more equitably available than ever before.
Rather, they opt for what E.M. Forster called the most satisfying of human emotions, moral indignation. And for that, you need 'friends.'
Here, too, the internet, that most adaptable and obliging of creatures, provides. You can confide every banal detail of your life to the universe and have a more concrete expectation than religion offers that a real person might hear you.
Life copies high school. The football hero and the prom queen are the Jungian archetypes of our time. (All right, my time. Amend accordingly.) People still haven't figured out that the football hero and the prom queen may not remain on top of the heap and that what seems geeky and goofy today is the ultracool of tomorrow.
To question Madoff two years ago was weird. Now it's cliche. To be truly cool, you can't be a member of the crowd; you have to lead it.
Northern Emirates to Tackle FNC Over Electricity Crisis
Baghdad Looking Over Prewar Contracts
Japan Looks to Manga Comics To Assist Ailing Economy
Superbailout man.
Libraries Step Into the Age of I-Pod
Recession Credited for Record Drop in Road Deaths
Current Power Crisis in West Africa Presents Lucrative Business Opportunity
In every crisis is opportunity.... for business.
Dow Theory Letters
Bailout Nation
Harvard Course: Dealing with an Angry Public (from Rice Farmer)
Is White the New Green?
Kiss of Death (ASPO paper)
Kids Give Up Wheels For Their Own Two Feet
Drollerdrome
Sustainability blog
Smuggled Seahorses (Chinese Viagra) Seized in Elizabeth
Knights Templar Hid Shroud of Turin
Or: Five Hundred Years Later, Chain of Custody Ceases to Be Issue
Friday, April 17, 2009
Media outlets requesting a review .pdf file of the book should write to media@rubiconworks.com.
BOOK PUBLICATION AND MOTION PICTURE ANNOUNCEMENT
A Presidential Energy Policy: Twenty-five Points Addressing the Siamese Twins of Energy and Money
by
Michael C. Ruppert
ON SALE MAY 1, 2009 at http://www.rubiconworks.com/ and at Amazon.com.
"COLLAPSE" – A Feature Documentary by Bluemark Films. (Winner: Special Dramatic Jury Prize, 2007 Sundance Film Festival, for "The Pool", and Grand Jury Prize, 1999 Sundance Film Festival for "American Movie").
For a full press release on the book, film and important additional information including a complete list of off-the-chart reviews, please visit: http://www.rubiconworks.com/.
Mike Ruppert has been at the forefront of speaking and writing about the grim reality that the world's crude oil output is peaking or has already peaked and will soon begin what could be swift declines over the next decade or two.
The world needs to pay careful attention to the multiple risks this event will usher in. Thanks to Ruppert's new book, readers around the world will have access to his well written work.
Matthew R, Simmons
Chairman
Simmons & Company
Author, Twilight in the Desert
----------
Mike Ruppert has an unblemished track record for saying things that are incendiary, outrageous, shocking—and true. Our new president needs desperately to hear the uncomfortable message of this book about energy and the economy, and so do the rest of us.
Richard Heinberg, Ph.D.
Ecologist
Author, "The Party’s Over", "Peak Everything", "The Oil Depletion Protocol"
Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute
----------
All I can say about A Presidential Energy Policy is, "Yikes!" This is a book everyone should read.
Mike Ruppert is my friend. And, sometimes I remind him, in a way that only a friend can, that my perspective is colored by my own distinct experiences as an informed woman of color in the United States. And frankly, that means that some of what is between these covers makes me cringe; but it is exactly this substance, actively suppressed in proposed national and international gatherings, that we human beings must debate and resolve, or else, we will find Dr. King's admonition, once again, to be true: "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
We know Mike Ruppert because he became a whistleblower and told us some inconvenient truths. About crack cocaine, 9/11/01, and now this -- how to step back from the brink of human disaster.
It is clear that Mike and I are headed toward the same destination, despite our differences. "A Presidential Energy Policy" lands Mike exactly where I am -- outside of the box of political orthodoxy, but well within the space of policy advocacy that is representative of critical thinking, rational analysis, and authentic leadership. Mike Ruppert dares to go where our elected leaders seem afraid to take us. In the end, however, if we are to salvage our own human dignity, either our "leadership" must catch up with us or we must become and nurture a new generation of leaders.
Cynthia McKinney
6-term Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Green Party Presidential Candidate, 2008
This notice is going to stay front and center for a while. For blog updates please see below:
BOOK PUBLICATION AND MOTION PICTURE ANNOUNCEMENT
A Presidential Energy Policy: Twenty-five Points Addressing the Siamese Twins of Energy and Money
by
Michael C. Ruppert
ON SALE MAY 1, 2009 at http://www.rubiconworks.com/ and at Amazon.com.
"COLLAPSE" – A Feature Documentary by Bluemark Films. (Winner: Special Dramatic Jury Prize, 2007 Sundance Film Festival, for "The Pool", and Grand Jury Prize, 1999 Sundance Film Festival for "American Movie").
For a full press release on the book, film and important additional information including a complete list of off-the-chart reviews, please visit: http://www.rubiconworks.com/.
Mike Ruppert has been at the forefront of speaking and writing about the grim reality that the world's crude oil output is peaking or has already peaked and will soon begin what could be swift declines over the next decade or two.
The world needs to pay careful attention to the multiple risks this event will usher in. Thanks to Ruppert's new book, readers around the world will have access to his well written work.
Matthew R, Simmons
Chairman
Simmons & Company
Author, Twilight in the Desert
----------
Mike Ruppert has an unblemished track record for saying things that are incendiary, outrageous, shocking—and true. Our new president needs desperately to hear the uncomfortable message of this book about energy and the economy, and so do the rest of us.
Richard Heinberg, Ph.D.
Ecologist
Author, "The Party’s Over", "Peak Everything", "The Oil Depletion Protocol"
Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute
----------
All I can say about A Presidential Energy Policy is, "Yikes!" This is a book everyone should read.
Mike Ruppert is my friend. And, sometimes I remind him, in a way that only a friend can, that my perspective is colored by my own distinct experiences as an informed woman of color in the United States. And frankly, that means that some of what is between these covers makes me cringe; but it is exactly this substance, actively suppressed in proposed national and international gatherings, that we human beings must debate and resolve, or else, we will find Dr. King's admonition, once again, to be true: "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."
We know Mike Ruppert because he became a whistleblower and told us some inconvenient truths. About crack cocaine, 9/11/01, and now this -- how to step back from the brink of human disaster.
It is clear that Mike and I are headed toward the same destination, despite our differences. "A Presidential Energy Policy" lands Mike exactly where I am -- outside of the box of political orthodoxy, but well within the space of policy advocacy that is representative of critical thinking, rational analysis, and authentic leadership. Mike Ruppert dares to go where our elected leaders seem afraid to take us. In the end, however, if we are to salvage our own human dignity, either our "leadership" must catch up with us or we must become and nurture a new generation of leaders.
Cynthia McKinney
6-term Member, U.S. House of Representatives
Green Party Presidential Candidate, 2008
This notice is going to stay front and center for a while. For blog updates please see below:
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Watching the Dominoes
From Jenna Orkin:
Americas
US Plans for Colonial Warfare
Some 500 Tea-time Tax Revolt Protests Planned Nationwide (from Rice Farmer)
Defaults to Surge Record 15% on Leveraged Buyouts, S&P Says
Volcker Assumes Smaller Than Expected Role with Obama
Hitler's Specter Inspires Bill White to Do Battle With Greenspan
Report: GM Must Prepare for Bankruptcy
Credit Suisse Starts Shutting US Offshore Accounts
UBS To Announce More Job Cuts Soon
Incredibly Shrinking Market Liquidity or Black Swan of Black Swans
The Shortage Economy
Economic Crisis Imperils Dairy Farms
Credit Crunch Takes Toll on Casinos
SC Governor Runs Ad to Explain Rejection of Stimulus Cash
Cities Turn to Fees to Fill Budget Gaps (from Rice Farmer)
Worsening Drought Sparks Lake Okeechobee Water Fights
Revive Lincoln's Monetary Policy: An Open Letter to President Obama
Believe it or not, someone actually has a rational suggestion for a way out of this quagmire.
Hunger Strike of Bolivia's President Enters Third Day
Asia
China Finds Support in Bid to Dump Dollar
China Slows Purchase of US and Other Foreign Bonds
China's Bank Credit Hits Record High in First Quarter
China Properties Fall by Record; New Construction Tumbles
Survey Finds Chinese Manufacturing Worsening
And Beijing Said: Let There Be Loans
China Promoting Trade with South Asia
US/China Deal Blocks Japan's Action on N. Korea Rocket Launch
Confidence at Japanese Companies at All Time Low
Singapore Economy Shrinks More Than Expected
Singapore: Record GDP Fall
Pakistan to Construct Two Nuclear Power Plants with Chinese Help
Islamist Terrorists Pushing Pakistan Towards Collapse
Punjab Suicides Cast Shadow on Polls
India Outsources - to the US (from Rice Farmer)
Europe/Russia
ECB Sells 35.5 Tonnes of Gold: Bank
Darling Will Offer 2000 Pounds to Scrap Old Cars
Damn the environment, full speed ahead.
Ireland's Economy in Freefall Collapse
Germany Warns of Crisis After Crisis
Slovakia Headed for its First Recession
Countries that Import Gas Via Moldova
Blast Reduces Russian Gas Supply to Balkans
Middle East
US Shipped 989 Munitions Containers to Israel Week Before Gaza Invasion (from Rice Farmer)
Northern Emirates to Tackle FNC Over Electricity Crisis
Baghdad Looking Over Prewar Contracts
Africa
Pirates Hijack Tugboat
Courtesy Michael Mitrosky at Le Metropole Cafe:
The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.
Money, Banking, and the Federal Reserve
42 minute video. Complete history of money and banking. The first 7 minutes or so is reminscient of a high school educational video, but after that it gets very interesting.
Austrian Economics
Freedom Watch
Ron Paul Forums
Americas
US Plans for Colonial Warfare
Some 500 Tea-time Tax Revolt Protests Planned Nationwide (from Rice Farmer)
Defaults to Surge Record 15% on Leveraged Buyouts, S&P Says
Volcker Assumes Smaller Than Expected Role with Obama
Hitler's Specter Inspires Bill White to Do Battle With Greenspan
Report: GM Must Prepare for Bankruptcy
Credit Suisse Starts Shutting US Offshore Accounts
UBS To Announce More Job Cuts Soon
Incredibly Shrinking Market Liquidity or Black Swan of Black Swans
The Shortage Economy
Economic Crisis Imperils Dairy Farms
Credit Crunch Takes Toll on Casinos
SC Governor Runs Ad to Explain Rejection of Stimulus Cash
Cities Turn to Fees to Fill Budget Gaps (from Rice Farmer)
Worsening Drought Sparks Lake Okeechobee Water Fights
Revive Lincoln's Monetary Policy: An Open Letter to President Obama
Believe it or not, someone actually has a rational suggestion for a way out of this quagmire.
Hunger Strike of Bolivia's President Enters Third Day
Asia
China Finds Support in Bid to Dump Dollar
China Slows Purchase of US and Other Foreign Bonds
China's Bank Credit Hits Record High in First Quarter
China Properties Fall by Record; New Construction Tumbles
Survey Finds Chinese Manufacturing Worsening
And Beijing Said: Let There Be Loans
China Promoting Trade with South Asia
US/China Deal Blocks Japan's Action on N. Korea Rocket Launch
Confidence at Japanese Companies at All Time Low
Singapore Economy Shrinks More Than Expected
Singapore: Record GDP Fall
Pakistan to Construct Two Nuclear Power Plants with Chinese Help
Islamist Terrorists Pushing Pakistan Towards Collapse
Punjab Suicides Cast Shadow on Polls
India Outsources - to the US (from Rice Farmer)
Europe/Russia
ECB Sells 35.5 Tonnes of Gold: Bank
Darling Will Offer 2000 Pounds to Scrap Old Cars
Damn the environment, full speed ahead.
Ireland's Economy in Freefall Collapse
Germany Warns of Crisis After Crisis
Slovakia Headed for its First Recession
Countries that Import Gas Via Moldova
Blast Reduces Russian Gas Supply to Balkans
Middle East
US Shipped 989 Munitions Containers to Israel Week Before Gaza Invasion (from Rice Farmer)
Northern Emirates to Tackle FNC Over Electricity Crisis
Baghdad Looking Over Prewar Contracts
Africa
Pirates Hijack Tugboat
Courtesy Michael Mitrosky at Le Metropole Cafe:
The Creature From Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin.
Money, Banking, and the Federal Reserve
42 minute video. Complete history of money and banking. The first 7 minutes or so is reminscient of a high school educational video, but after that it gets very interesting.
Austrian Economics
Freedom Watch
Ron Paul Forums
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Believing in Resurrection
Jenna Orkin
The belief in spiritual Resurrection and related phenomena has done wonders for a whole lot of people. Who knows if they're right? One day, we'll all find out but then it'll be too late.
The belief in more mundane resurrections, such as for the economy and Life As We Know It, has also done wonders for a whole lot of people. But these days, some are questioning that faith. In fact, they seem to be falling away from it like the old skin of a snake.
We are living in a crucial transition when the illusions that have kept us going for centuries are about to disintegrate and the truth, in all its hideousness, be revealed. (In Latin, a "crux," from which "crucial" derives, is a cross.)
The snake cannot simply grow a new skin. (To follow the metaphor, that would consist of simply transferring one's faith to some new idea.) The snake is dying. And it's not leaving any progeny because the earth is no longer hospitable to snakes.
Whatever comes next, it's not going to be rooted in the same blind faith in Authority, Power and supposed Expertise which has gotten us into this mess. It's not going to have much to do with blind faith in anything. Like the old guy at the end of The Magnificent Ambersons, people are going to stare into the fire and ask themselves the real questions they've spent their whole lives running away from. And that's the beginning of real knowledge.
US/Global
Water Crises: Who's Next?
Goldman Sachs an 'Empty Creditor' of AIG
Would China Dump the Dollar?
Fed Budget Deficit Sets March Record: $192 Billion
What Happens to Stimulus Money to Which States Say No Thanks?
Bomb Scare at Bank of America
Study Confirms Firing Fixes America's Big Businesses
Buzz on job openings: Bee Counter
Obama Flexible on Climate Legislation
As an example of said flexibility on climate change: Government to Buy 17,600 Cars
The Decline and Fall of Time Inc.
Open House, Anyone? 1 in 9 Homes Sits Empty
Why This Will Not Be a Normal Cyclical Recovery
CIA Says Shuttering Detention "Black Sites"
Spy Satellite Agency Boss Resigns
Smoke and Mirrors
Banks Told Not to Mention Stress Tests
Seized Credit Union Planned to Understate Loss
Motorola ex-CFO Says Fired for Doubting Forecasts
Europe/Central Asia/Middle East
Europe and Global Food Security
One Million Bank Customers in Limbo
Ireland is ECB's Sacrificial Lamb to Satisfy Germany's Inflation Demands
Spending is the Key to Avoid Ireland's Plight
Fearing Uprising, Russia Backs Moldova's Communists
Turkmenistan Accuses Gazprom of Causing Pipeline Explosion
The Nabucco Conspiracy (from Rice Farmer)
Surviving in a Post-American World (Jerusalem Post)
The king is dead.
Long live the king: Israel Selling Reconnaissance Drones to Russia
Soldier is Accused of Stealing Iraq War Cash
Africa/Pirates
Pirates Recapture Hostage After Escape Attempt
Somali Pirates in German Ship Fail to Find Comrades
What About the Filipinos? Piracy Focus Seen as Hypocritical
Asia
China, Kazakhstan Sign $10 Billion Accord
Thai Protests Prevent Asian Summit
Protesters at Asia Summit in Thailand
Protests as Japan Approves Nationalist Textbook
Korea, Japan, China to Strengthen Financial Ties
Unusual Chinese Cargo Ship
The belief in spiritual Resurrection and related phenomena has done wonders for a whole lot of people. Who knows if they're right? One day, we'll all find out but then it'll be too late.
The belief in more mundane resurrections, such as for the economy and Life As We Know It, has also done wonders for a whole lot of people. But these days, some are questioning that faith. In fact, they seem to be falling away from it like the old skin of a snake.
We are living in a crucial transition when the illusions that have kept us going for centuries are about to disintegrate and the truth, in all its hideousness, be revealed. (In Latin, a "crux," from which "crucial" derives, is a cross.)
The snake cannot simply grow a new skin. (To follow the metaphor, that would consist of simply transferring one's faith to some new idea.) The snake is dying. And it's not leaving any progeny because the earth is no longer hospitable to snakes.
Whatever comes next, it's not going to be rooted in the same blind faith in Authority, Power and supposed Expertise which has gotten us into this mess. It's not going to have much to do with blind faith in anything. Like the old guy at the end of The Magnificent Ambersons, people are going to stare into the fire and ask themselves the real questions they've spent their whole lives running away from. And that's the beginning of real knowledge.
US/Global
Water Crises: Who's Next?
Goldman Sachs an 'Empty Creditor' of AIG
Would China Dump the Dollar?
Fed Budget Deficit Sets March Record: $192 Billion
What Happens to Stimulus Money to Which States Say No Thanks?
Bomb Scare at Bank of America
Study Confirms Firing Fixes America's Big Businesses
Buzz on job openings: Bee Counter
Obama Flexible on Climate Legislation
As an example of said flexibility on climate change: Government to Buy 17,600 Cars
The Decline and Fall of Time Inc.
Open House, Anyone? 1 in 9 Homes Sits Empty
Why This Will Not Be a Normal Cyclical Recovery
CIA Says Shuttering Detention "Black Sites"
Spy Satellite Agency Boss Resigns
Smoke and Mirrors
Banks Told Not to Mention Stress Tests
Seized Credit Union Planned to Understate Loss
Motorola ex-CFO Says Fired for Doubting Forecasts
Europe/Central Asia/Middle East
Europe and Global Food Security
One Million Bank Customers in Limbo
Ireland is ECB's Sacrificial Lamb to Satisfy Germany's Inflation Demands
Spending is the Key to Avoid Ireland's Plight
Fearing Uprising, Russia Backs Moldova's Communists
Turkmenistan Accuses Gazprom of Causing Pipeline Explosion
The Nabucco Conspiracy (from Rice Farmer)
Surviving in a Post-American World (Jerusalem Post)
The king is dead.
Long live the king: Israel Selling Reconnaissance Drones to Russia
Soldier is Accused of Stealing Iraq War Cash
Africa/Pirates
Pirates Recapture Hostage After Escape Attempt
Somali Pirates in German Ship Fail to Find Comrades
What About the Filipinos? Piracy Focus Seen as Hypocritical
Asia
China, Kazakhstan Sign $10 Billion Accord
Thai Protests Prevent Asian Summit
Protesters at Asia Summit in Thailand
Protests as Japan Approves Nationalist Textbook
Korea, Japan, China to Strengthen Financial Ties
Unusual Chinese Cargo Ship
Friday, April 10, 2009
Financial Warfare, Economic Porn and Other Frippery
From Jenna Orkin:
Global/US
G-20's Global Cash Splash Infuriates ECB
Pentagon, Bankers, Prepare for Financial Warfare
Largest US Banks at Risk of Failure
Danger Lurks Behind US Banks' Results
Go ahead; reconcile the above headlines with the following:
US Markets Surge on News of Wells Fargo Projected Profit
Seeking Alpha agrees:
Data Not Supportive of Higher Stock Prices
Bank of America Needs $36 Billion More: Analyst
Bank of America Chief Ken Lewis Hints He Could Step Down
Ex-Citibank Staff Fined $40K
Is the Bailout Plan Breeding a Greater Crisis?
US Is Pushing Whole World Into Crisis By Printing Excessive Currency
From the Regional Times in Karachi. Pakistan's asking for trouble again.
IMF Special Drawing Right "Paper Gold" as Opposed to a Real Gold Standard
ECB Gold Reserves Rise 24.1 Billion Euros After Revaluation
Fuelling a New World Money Supply
...with carbon.
Half of Global Labour Force Works With No Contract: OECD
Study: Informal Employment at Record Levels
Salary Increases Hit New Low of 2%
Pessimism Porn - Economic Forecasts Get Lurid
Gloomier US Fed Provides Economic Reality Check
You know things are bad when the Fed is the go-to place for a reality check.
Chavez Says China Part of "New World Order"
Toward New Global Currency, New Financial World Order
ASEAN Seeks to Create One Global Village
Meltdown 101 - What the Fed Said and Meant
Why No One Listened to the Harbingers of Doom
The expansion of the world economy depends on human resilience to recession and a short memory of financial distress.
JO: Exactly. Those who do not know history etc.
For the global economy to recover, we must shed our money worries. We must step up to the plate one more time, borrow more money and spend.
JO: So do your Godgiven duty to the economy and Go for, uh, broke.
Fleet Owners Face Bankruptcy From Plunging Shipping Rates
Wholesale Inventories Fall by Record as Sales Rise
Ship on the Move... FBI Involved... Retail Sales Still Weak
Atlantic City Casinos Post Record 19.4% Revenues Decline
Trade Gap Narrows to $26 Billion as Imports Plunge
Husbands, Wives and Hard Times
Europe/Central Asia
Record Slump in Factory Output Leaves Britain Facing Another Fall in Production
German Export Market in Freefall - Down 23% From Same Time Last Year
German Manufacturing Orders Extend Record Decline
Greece on Verge of Bankruptcy (from Rice Farmer)
Russian Uranium Headed for US
Thousands Rally Against Georgia President
A Possible Revolution Simmering in Georgia
Russia Blames Foreign Influence for Moldova Unrest
Russian Gas Supply Cut by Turkmen Blast
Ukraine's Dangerous Game
Asia
26/11 Attackers Got "Significant" Help from India: Zardari
Air India Received Email Threat; Police Trace it to Pakistan
Gasp.
China Signs Deal with NWFP to Track Down Rebels
Deal With Pak[sic] Radicals a First For China
Chinese Gov't Concerns Safety of Hijacked Taiwanese Ship
China Sells Comsats with Military Potential to Oil Producing Nations
Detroit's Auto Pain Hits Japan
Japan Finalising $150 Billion Stimulus Plan
Japan Data Show Record Export, Import Drop
Africa
Somali Pirates Seize Maersk Alabama with 20 Americans
Water
Localized Water Shortages Could Add Up to Global Problem
LA Water Rationing Plan Dealt Surprise Setback
UK: Millions Face Water Bill Rises Up To 29%
Sierra Leone: Water Supply in Kenema Dropped 25%
Global/US
G-20's Global Cash Splash Infuriates ECB
Pentagon, Bankers, Prepare for Financial Warfare
Largest US Banks at Risk of Failure
Danger Lurks Behind US Banks' Results
Go ahead; reconcile the above headlines with the following:
US Markets Surge on News of Wells Fargo Projected Profit
Seeking Alpha agrees:
Data Not Supportive of Higher Stock Prices
Bank of America Needs $36 Billion More: Analyst
Bank of America Chief Ken Lewis Hints He Could Step Down
Ex-Citibank Staff Fined $40K
Is the Bailout Plan Breeding a Greater Crisis?
US Is Pushing Whole World Into Crisis By Printing Excessive Currency
From the Regional Times in Karachi. Pakistan's asking for trouble again.
IMF Special Drawing Right "Paper Gold" as Opposed to a Real Gold Standard
ECB Gold Reserves Rise 24.1 Billion Euros After Revaluation
Fuelling a New World Money Supply
...with carbon.
Half of Global Labour Force Works With No Contract: OECD
Study: Informal Employment at Record Levels
Salary Increases Hit New Low of 2%
Pessimism Porn - Economic Forecasts Get Lurid
Gloomier US Fed Provides Economic Reality Check
You know things are bad when the Fed is the go-to place for a reality check.
Chavez Says China Part of "New World Order"
Toward New Global Currency, New Financial World Order
ASEAN Seeks to Create One Global Village
Meltdown 101 - What the Fed Said and Meant
Why No One Listened to the Harbingers of Doom
The expansion of the world economy depends on human resilience to recession and a short memory of financial distress.
JO: Exactly. Those who do not know history etc.
For the global economy to recover, we must shed our money worries. We must step up to the plate one more time, borrow more money and spend.
JO: So do your Godgiven duty to the economy and Go for, uh, broke.
Fleet Owners Face Bankruptcy From Plunging Shipping Rates
Wholesale Inventories Fall by Record as Sales Rise
Ship on the Move... FBI Involved... Retail Sales Still Weak
Atlantic City Casinos Post Record 19.4% Revenues Decline
Trade Gap Narrows to $26 Billion as Imports Plunge
Husbands, Wives and Hard Times
Europe/Central Asia
Record Slump in Factory Output Leaves Britain Facing Another Fall in Production
German Export Market in Freefall - Down 23% From Same Time Last Year
German Manufacturing Orders Extend Record Decline
Greece on Verge of Bankruptcy (from Rice Farmer)
Russian Uranium Headed for US
Thousands Rally Against Georgia President
A Possible Revolution Simmering in Georgia
Russia Blames Foreign Influence for Moldova Unrest
Russian Gas Supply Cut by Turkmen Blast
Ukraine's Dangerous Game
Asia
26/11 Attackers Got "Significant" Help from India: Zardari
Air India Received Email Threat; Police Trace it to Pakistan
Gasp.
China Signs Deal with NWFP to Track Down Rebels
Deal With Pak[sic] Radicals a First For China
Chinese Gov't Concerns Safety of Hijacked Taiwanese Ship
China Sells Comsats with Military Potential to Oil Producing Nations
Detroit's Auto Pain Hits Japan
Japan Finalising $150 Billion Stimulus Plan
Japan Data Show Record Export, Import Drop
Africa
Somali Pirates Seize Maersk Alabama with 20 Americans
Water
Localized Water Shortages Could Add Up to Global Problem
LA Water Rationing Plan Dealt Surprise Setback
UK: Millions Face Water Bill Rises Up To 29%
Sierra Leone: Water Supply in Kenema Dropped 25%
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