Monkeyfister

Seems like just an Administrative re-organization.

via Houston Chronicle

MIAMI — The Navy is considering restoring the 4th Fleet in the Atlantic Ocean, a bureaucratic change that would raise the prominence of Pentagon maritime activities in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, made the disclosure during a visit to the Southern Command last week — calling it "a great idea" that "as far as I know is moving forward."

The move would bring no new vessels to the region but would put Southcom on par administratively with other Pentagon outposts that have large budgets and bigger muscle. For example, the Central Command operates the Fifth Fleet in the Middle East.

It would also restore an institution that sent U.S. Navy ships into southern waters in search of Nazi U-boats. The Navy created the 4th Fleet in 1943 to hunt submarines in the South Atlantic during World War II.

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Labels: Power Projection, US Navy

And that was in 2005. What's happened since then?




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Labels: Global Warming

Right on.


via Guardian UK Feed Article

By Ben Hirschler
DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Climate campaigner Al Gore challenged policymakers on Thursday to step up action against the "planetary emergency" of global warming by making new laws, saying action by individuals could help only at the margins.
In a swipe at the Bush administration's environmental record, the former U.S. Vice President also said any new government in Washington after elections in November could only be an improvement.
"In addition to changing the light bulbs, it is far more important to change the laws and to change the treaty obligations that nations have," Gore told delegates at the World Economic Forum annual meeting,
"One simple thing that will solve the climate crisis is to put a price on carbon ... It needs to be effective globally," he said at the forum of business and political leaders in Davos, where economic fears have overshadowed climate problems.
Gore, who narrowly lost to President George Bush in the 2000 presidential election, looked forward to a better U.S. climate policy after this year's poll, although be believes none of the candidates go far enough in their climate pledges.
"Whoever is elected is going to have a different position and a better position. But let's be clear: whoever the leaders are, this issue is going to be dealt with responsibly and effectively only when there is a sufficient degree of urgency on the part of the people themselves."
This year, there are a record number of sessions and workshops about global warming in the Swiss resort. But campaigners fear the issue may be slipping off the radar screen of the world's movers and shakers, and conversations in the corridors are dominated by the economy and turbulent financial markets.
"If we get distracted by the aberrations that you see in the financial market right now it would clearly be very unfortunate," Rajendra Pachauri, head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, told reporters. Rock star and anti-poverty campaigner Bono shared a platform with Gore for a joint session on climate and poverty -- two issues which the two men said must be tackled together, since the brunt of the climate crisis would be felt in the developing world.

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Labels: Al Gore, Bono, Global Warming, Poverty

Stiglitz AND Shedlock are saying that we're heading for the Big Ugly. I know I sound like a harping Banshee, but, I really want you good folks to fully understand that America is standing on very, very shifty sands, and there is very little hope that George's BIG PLAN is going to work. For context, Stiglitz is saying this at the Davos, Switzerland Economic Forum. There's nothing lightweight about anything discussed at this annual meeting. Yes. I am reading through all of those links, and much more related to this Forum. The Al Gore presentation is very much worth reading. I'll post it up in a bit.

via Telegraph UK

The United States is sliding towards a dangerous 1930s-style "liquidity trap" that cannot easily be stopped by drastic cuts in interest rates, Nobel economist Joseph Stiglitz has warned.

"The biggest fear is that long-term bond rates won't come down in line with short-term rates. We'll have the reverse of what we've seen in recent years, and that is what is frightening the markets," he told the Daily Telegraph, while trudging through ice and snow in Davos.

Stiglitz is worried about the level of long-term interest rates.

"The mechanism of monetary policy is ineffective in these circumstances. I'm not saying it won't work at all: it will help the banking system but the credit squeeze is going to go on because nobody trusts anybody else. The Fed is pushing on a string," he said.

The grim comments came as markets continued to suffer wild gyrations, reacting to every sign of contagion spreading to Europe, Asia, and emerging markets.

Wall Street has begun to stabilize on talk of a rescue for the embattled bond insurers, MBIA and Ambac.

The Fed's 75 basis point rate cut allows the banks to replenish their balance sheet by borrowing at short-term rates and lending longer term, playing the credit 'carry trade', hence the 9pc rise in the US financials index yesterday. But confidence remains fragile.

Professor Stiglitz, former chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, said it takes far too long for monetary policy to work its magic. This will not gain much traction in the midst of a housing crash.

"People have been drawing home equity out of the houses at a rate of $700bn or $800bn a year. It's been a huge boost to consumption, but that game is now up. House prices are going to continue falling, and lower rates won't stop that this point," he said.

"As a Keynesian, I'd say the biggest back for the buck in terms of immediate stimulus would be unemployment assistance and tax rebates for the poor. That will feed through quickly, but set against the magnitude of the problem, even a fiscal stimulus package of $150bn is not going to be enough," he said

"The distress is going to be very severe. Around 2m people have lost all their savings," he did.

Here's the deal. If the major Bond Insurers go tits-up, America stands to lose upwards of US$45 TRILLION in "wealth" in an instant. The US GDP (the total wealth of the Nation) is US$13 Trillion. I wrote about this several months ago, and back then, the figures weren't as clear. Ummmmm. America cannot stand to lose more than three times its actual Product wealth.

If AMBAC or MBIA or any of the others declare bankruptcy, investors will start pulling out of ALL of the Insurers' "Insured" Funds, and the run for the exits will overwhelm the US Treasury. Every single Fund that those Insurers insure will go belly-up, and the Insurer's are already saying that they've got a lot of moths in their wallets. The Fed simply doesn't have the kind of money needed to backstop them all. Collapse of one or more seems inevitable.

There is a lot to very real fear, and it is clear that this is what Mish, and Stiglitz, and other real experts are referring to, as we approach March, when we hit the PEAK of ARM resets. Come June/July/August, the dominoes WILL start falling, as homeowners default, and stop paying their reset mortgages. Between Credit Card Debt, Mortgage Debt, and the banks' own Credit problems, the dominoes are set to fall, taking everything with them. It really is that simple.

Those people on TV, saying that everything is going to be OK, and keep putting your money into the markets, are fools, and trying to dupe the stupid. You, good reader, are not stupid.

You're already paying down all of your debts, budgeting severely, and planning your gardens.



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Labels: Collapse, Global Economy, US Economy

Plenty of reason to continue to worry...


via Crain's New York

Last week, Citigroup Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. raised $21 billion between them to fill the craters left by their latest rounds of mind-boggling losses.

Both firms paid dearly for those transfusions at a time when they can least afford to do so. With the economy weakening, odds are increasing that a hapless gaggle of financial institutions, including some of New York's best-known names, will face further massive losses.

That will force them to borrow still more at terms that will likely only get stiffer, dragging down their earnings for years to come.

"As bad as things are for the banks, it's only going to get worse," says Michael Shedlock, an analyst at Sitka Pacific Capital Management. "The next shoes to drop are commercial real estate and credit card loans."

In the past three months, Citi, Merrill, Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns and others have tapped investors for more than $60 billion in cash to help cover their mortgage-related losses. Most firms have turned to Asia and the Middle East, far from the frozen credit markets of the United States and Europe.

"The scale is unprecedented," says Manhattan College finance professor Charles Geisst, author of Wall Street: A History.

Furthermore, the banks' troubles show no signs of receding anytime soon. For openers, the subprime fiasco that has already cost Wall Street $100 billion in losses has not finished playing out. Matters took a grave turn late on Friday when Ambac, the second-largest insurer of bonds in the country, had its credit rating cut. The company had guaranteed billions of dollars of subprime-backed debts.

Meanwhile, Citi still has more than $37 billion in subprime mortgage-related holdings on its books.

In addition, new problems are emerging. Corporate bond defaults are doomed to more than triple this year, according to Standard & Poor's. A similar fate is forecast for the $750 billion commercial mortgage market; delinquencies could triple in 2008, a report from a Merrill Lynch strategist says.

In fact, bond-rater Moody's Investors Service cited Merrill's $18 billion commercial mortgage exposure as one reason it is maintaining its negative outlook on the Wall Street titan's creditworthiness even though Merrill has raised billions in fresh capital. Big additional losses could hit not just Merrill but also Citi, which has $20 billion in commercial real estate loans on its books, and J.P. Morgan Chase, which has $16 billion in commercial mortgage-backed securities.

And this article from Crain's is only getting warmed up. Crain's is not the New York Post, it is a very methodical and conservative financial publication geared toward insiders. It's very much worth listening to what they are telling their readers. "Mish" Shedlock is one of the most respected analysts in the trade.



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Labels: Collapse, Global Economy, US Economy

I apologize for my outbursts, below, and elsewhere. Temporal Lobe Epilepsy truly sucks. These episodes are just ugly, and even though I'm embarrassed by them, I'm not going to remove the posts. They are good for documenting cycles and symptoms for my Neurologist.

My outbursts were, and are, the result of a Temporal Lobe Seizure-- I am "profoundly" epileptic.You often see my references to myself as a Disabled Veteran. I was made epileptic by long-term exposure to Toluene while I was in the Navy, working as a Printer. I made photographic metal plates, called "Metalphoto," similar to a tintype photo. I was extraordinarily good at my job. In the Navy, the plates needed to be sealed against corrosive, salty air by boiling them in a big, fifty-gallon vat for several hours. Our darkroom was 9'x12', and there was no MOP suit, or other safety protocol. I absorbed and breathed the Toluene for 9 hours a day, plus 36 hours straight every third day, when I was "On Duty" for over a year. It burned holes in my Occipital Lobes and Temporal Lobes. The result is Grand Mal Seizures, when my Occipital Lobes get uppity, and these vicious emotional outbursts when the Temporal Lobes go whacked. I'm all but unconscious when it happens, and horribly embarrassed when I realize what I've done.

I made my points, but, I didn't need to go as far as I did in demeaning, and vulgarly attacking them so personally. That is the seizure talking. There is a reason that I live alone, and have taken myself out of the Dating Pool. The very thought of blanking out and subjecting some that I love to THAT just horrifies me. Tegretol, which I take daily, controls, but doesn't stop the seizures.

I guess after posting all that, I wandered around Blogtopia (y,sctp!), and pissed off several other people in similar ways.

There's Blog Incivility, and then there is this very, very ugly and dark place that my brain takes me when I'm under a seizure. It really, really is a horrible disability. Thursday morning, I woke up on the floor, next to my desk in a lot of pain. I had obviously had a full bore Grand Mal seizure. When I wake up next to my desk, I know that I'm going to have a lot of apology letters to write.

To Glenn, Jane, and all of you who read those screeds, all I can say is I am truly, truly sorry. The past two days, all I've done is sleep, and have seizures in my bed, with occasional moments of lucidity. But, of course, in the Blogosphere, no one sees you seize.

I'm better now, and it's time to start writing the "I'm sorry" letters, and hope for forgiveness.


Toluene and similarly unstable substances need to be outlawed.

UPDATE: skippy, you are one of the most beautiful people that I know. I wish for the day that I can meet you face to face, and thank you for simply being your wonderful self. There is no one else like you in the world, and Blogtopia is a much better place for you playing such a part in it. Thank you my good friend. Thank you. You made me weep and weep and weep. And it was good.


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Labels: Epilepsy, My Life As It Is

Lovely song.




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I'm in the process of putting this into practice...


via Energy Bulletin

Without some miraculous new energy source, muscle power could soon again be a cheaper alternative to fossil fuels for growing food. Blunt economic pragmatism seems set to out-shout nostalgia in the call to put more farmers on the land.

Just how many more farmers would it take to cure farming’s fossil fuel habit? Lots, according to farmer and writer Sharon Astyk and “Oil Depletion Protocol” author Richard Heinberg, both leading activists for facing up to life after world oil production peaks. They estimate that without cheap fossil fuels, we would need 50 million new farmers. That’s one farmer for every two households in the United States, 25 times more than there are now.

This isn’t a move-to-the-boonies-or-starve ultimatum. In fact, many people are ideally positioned to become farmers right where they are — it’s the silver lining to suburban sprawl.

Suburbia occupies vast swaths of former prime U.S. farmland. NASA’s ecological forecasting research group reports that the people living there already water about 30 million acres of lawn, three times the land planted in irrigated corn.

Those lawns average somewhere between one-fifth and one-third of an acre. Authorities like gardening guru John Jeavons and “The Contrary Farmer” author Gene Logsdon say that’s ample land for growing a substantial portion of a family’s food.

This isn’t to say that the 50 million farmers-to-be should grow all their own food, nor that the entire country’s food supply can come from former lawns, parks and golf courses.

Rather, it’s to point out that growing as much of one’s own food as possible can be a cornerstone of sound household finance, and that the necessary land and water are already in the same places as many of the people who now participate only in the demand side of agriculture.

The most effective tactics for making farmers out of more of us are local: convincing homeowner associations that vegetable gardens look as nice as lawns, zoning boards that chickens belong in back yards, and state health agencies that bread baked in home kitchens for sale to neighbors isn’t any likelier to hurt anybody than Wonder Bread.

More at the link.


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Labels: Suburban Permaculture, Urban Farmer

Change, Indeed.

via NYT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Whatever their ideological differences this election year, Americans seem able to agree on one thing: the political landscape being crisscrossed by the 2008 candidates is barely recognizable as the one traveled by George W. Bush and Al Gore a mere eight years ago.

Obviously, Sept. 11 and its aftermath have changed the country in countless and irretrievable ways. But even beyond the emergence of war and national security as pre-eminent concerns, there has been a profound reordering of domestic priorities, a darkening of the country’s mood and, in the eyes of many, a fraying of America’s very sense of itself.

While not universal, that tone pervaded dozens of interviews conducted over the last week with Americans of all political stripes in 8 of the 24 states that hold primaries or caucuses on Feb. 5, as well as with historians, elected officials, political strategists and poll takers. As the candidates fan out to New York and California and here to the heartland, they are confronting an electorate that is deeply unsettled about the United States’ place in the world and its ability to control its own destiny.

Since World War II, the assumption of American hegemony has never been much in doubt. That it now is, at least for some people, has given this campaign a sense of urgency that was not always felt in 2000, despite the dramatic outcome of that race.

Several writers and historians remarked on the psychological impact of such a jarring end to the Pax Americana, just as it seemed that victory in the cold war might usher in prolonged prosperity and relative peace (save the occasional mop-up operation). Its confluence with an era of unparalleled technological innovation had only heightened the nation’s sense of post-millennial possibility.

Now, Americans feel a loss of autonomy, in their own lives and in the nation. Their politics are driven by the powerlessness they feel to control their financial well-being, their safety, their environment, their health and the country’s borders. They question whether each generation will continue to ascend the economic ladder. That the political system seems so impotent only deepens their frustration and their insistence on results.

As she considers this campaign, Susan C. Powell, a 47-year-old training consultant who lives in a Kansas City suburb, said that what she feels is not so much hopelessness as doom.

“I know plenty of people who are doing worse than they were,” Ms. Powell said, “and nobody’s helping them out. People’s incomes are not keeping pace with inflation. People can’t afford their homes. People in their 30s and 40s, middle-income, and they don’t have jobs they can count on or access to health care. How can we say that we’re the greatest country on earth and essentially have the walking wounded?”

More at the link.

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Labels: US Economy, US Politics

A fine article by Richard Heinberg.


via LATOC

It's becoming increasingly clear that 2008 will be a catastrophic year for the US economy, and therefore probably for that of the world as a whole. The reasons boil down to two: continuing and snowballing fallout from the subprime mortgage fiasco (exacerbated by an orgy of debt-leveraging), and record-high, continuously advancing oil prices

But will the impact be inflationary or deflationary? This matters, because the diagnosis determines how governments and financial institutions should respond, and what private citizens should do to protect themselves.

Part of the answer depends on how one defines the terms.

Some economists are in the habit of defining inflation simply as rising wages and prices. From this standpoint, high oil prices (caused by depletion and scarcity) are inflationary.

Others define inflation as an increase in the money supply. Some would take that a step further by defining inflation as growth in the money supply that outpaces growth in the productive economy.

In the current instance, Peak Oil is occurring at the same time as the bursting of the real estate bubble, in which a rapid decline in the value of property is effectively causing money and credit to evaporate from the economy. This is being called a liquidity crisis, but for financial institutions it actually amounts to a solvency crisis, and will likely result in the collapse of several major banks. From a monetarist point of view, that's deflationary.

The remedy? The Federal Reserve is lowering interest rates (to expand credit) and the government itself is considering an "economic stimulus" package, which will evidently consist at least partly of a direct tax rebate - checks in the mail to tens of millions of citizens. Some have likened this to dropping new money out of helicopters, and are calling Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke "Helicopter Ben." Helicoptering in new money is inflationary. It will cause a decline in the value of the dollar (in deflationary times - like the 1930s in the US - currencies typically hold or even gain in value because there is not much money to go around).

The US dollar is in fact losing value - a sure sign of inflation.

So here again is the dilemma: given these factors in play, how does one know what's in store for the economy? What does one call the emerging condition?

It may be enough just to call it a "depression." Even mainstream publications are now using the "D" word, at least conditionally. But most depressions are deflationary, and there is the nagging problem of high energy prices that are now beginning to filter down through the economy, skewing food prices up as well; and there's that declining currency value as well. Aren't those symptoms of inflation?

As oil becomes more costly, a greater and greater percentage of societal resources will be going to energy and food production, draining other sectors. This is in fact inherently deflationary (even though the price hikes may be interpreted as inflation), because the proportion of societal resources going to support consumption (infrastructure, wages, and credit) will inevitably have to decrease. Jobs in most sectors will vanish.

Yet as the crisis unfolds, there is every reason to think there could be periods of hyperinflation - though only in certain sectors of the economy. We are seeing evidence of every desire, on the part of the Fed and the government, to increase the money supply and thereby forestall the credit crunch ensuing from the subprime mortgage disaster. But where, exactly, should they inject that money? There really aren't many options. Through more government debt? That's a foregone conclusion. By propping up banks - that will nevertheless be in no position to pass on that money by making new loans? There may be other ways as well, but they will all show up as symptoms of inflation or hyperinflation. They will all also result in the destruction of the efficacy of the currency itself.

In other words, as this mess unfolds we may see extreme symptoms of inflation alongside those of deflation.

For an economy, this is the worst of all possible worlds. We have never seen anything quite like it. Maybe it's a "Perfect Storm" economy.

Fortunately, there is at least one upside to all these downers: the collapse of the current debt-and-growth based economy may finally force a redesign of the money system and the "science" of economics. But this will take a while, and it will help if there are good ideas out there being widely discussed and promoted, such as the notions of a steady-state economy or an energy-backed currency.

Meanwhile, if you're interested in finding shelter during the storm, get thee to the productive side of the economy. Grow something, or learn to make or repair something useful.

Word.


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Glenn Greenwald (Lawyer) and Jane Hamsher (Hollywood Producer-- hey, aren't the Writers Striking Against the Producers?) are both For-Profit blogs ONLY.

They do not give a shit about any blog that does not give them money directly, or via links/trackbacks.

Period. Seems like the Producers versus the Writers, as a matter of fact. I'm a Pro-Writers IATSE Union Member.

They'll attack me and cluck their asses off against me here soon enough for revealing their money motives. They'll fuck with me for fucking with their Nobility. Fuck their Legalese and Bullshit. I don't give a shit if the Producer and the Lawyer have 20 times more loot than I do, we're after the same thing-- but BOTH OF THEM ARE MAKING A KILLING EVERY TIME YOU CLICK ON THEIR SITE, OR A LINK TO THEIR SITE.

I honestly hate to call their motives into question, but, they are asking us bloggers to make a drama, and link to their sites to garner a bigger drama to garner more hits to their sites--get it?-- it's GREED. MOTHERFUCKINGGREEDYASSEDGREEDHEADEDMOTHERFUCKINGGREED.

That's what I am going on about right now.

The Lawyer and the Producer have a lot of cash, but not so much that they don't need to bother with us little folks for MORE CASH, AND MORE HITS, AND MORE CASH. Such is the BlogNobility.

They'll fuck with me for fucking with their Nobility.

Fuck the BlogNobility, and the empire of the wealthy.


I'm here for you and me. Not the Rich.

I'm beginning to realize that most of the Blogosphere's readers and lower bloggers understand that they are being used for the BlogNobiities' money gains. I think, they resent it. As I resent it.

Fuck the BlogNobility.



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Labels: Blog Incivility, BlogicalThought, Why I Blog

I am very glad that you both are so excited about the FISA cause, but, I really don't like being on your mass-mailing lists, where you expect me to link to your for-profit sites. Where the hell did you find me, beside a **bing** with my Awards to excellent small bloggers? Neither of you care about us small bloggers. You don't link to us, you don't Blogroll us. Who the hell are you to suddenly appeal to the likes of me, whom you've never recognized, to link to your sites, and help you make money at your sites, while appealing for a most worthy cause? You're pathetically capitalistically awful.

I am very glad that you both are so concerned about the FISA cause, It is definitely an extremely important issue. But, I really don't like being on your mass-mailing lists, and won't link, or post this. I'm not going to be a part of your money-making, link-generating scheme.

Please remove me from your lists. I want no attachment to either of your money-making blogs or money-making, link-generating schemes like this-- no matter what the cause. I am staunchly not for profit, and do not want any attachment to Salon or FDL. I am part of no one's empire. I go out of my way to support the "Consonant-Level" Blogs-- those that don't make money from their blogs and don't want it, but, rather, do there work out of real concern for the State of this Nation of ours. The blogs that neither you, nor Glenn ever read, or link to. You don't support us, I want nothing to do with either of you. I don't care what the cause might be.

You both bought your way into the blogosphere, and have ignored all of those who were here from the early days-- those who laid the foundations, language and framework, which you usurped. Save, of course, those from whom you could profit. You only linked to Atrios and Digby because, well, they were IT before you showed up with your Lawyer and Hollywood cash. I've known them since 1996, when the Bartcop Forum was born, and they both were regulars, and it was little people like me who pushed both of them to start their own sites. Neither of you were even there. You did a Sitemeter search, and focused in. You both just copped them for your own success. good for them, shame on you. Both of you jumped in when there was money to be made in "Liberal" blogging, and KAZAM! Money you made!

Bully, bully, bully for all you've accomplished. I want nothing of it. Both of you are nothing more than monied exploiters. Money buys good research resources. But, you both built your fame on the backs of other very good people-- whom you've shunned and ignored-- and the silver spoons you were born with in your mouths.

Give Arianna a big hug for me, and remove me from your lists.


Signed,

--mf


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Labels: Blog Incivility, Meta, MetaMetatude

Timebombs for the next President.


via Bloomberg

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush is poised to leave the federal government in worse financial shape than he found it, making it harder for whoever succeeds him to deliver on the promises of this year's election campaign.

Bush may end his eight years in office with a larger-than- forecast budget deficit approaching 2004's record $413 billion, as an increasingly likely recession slashes tax receipts and raises spending. He'll also leave behind a host of thorny, longer-term problems -- from the expiration of his big tax cuts in 2010 to spiraling spending on senior citizens -- that will dog his successor's budgets for years.

That means Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama would find it harder to finance their promised expansion of health-care benefits. Republicans Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney would have a tougher time carrying out their pledges to cut taxes.

``We have a big hole to crawl out of,'' says Robert Bixby, head of the Washington-based Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group that advocates balanced budgets. ``Any sort of major initiative by the next president is going to be very difficult to do.''

The situation is, in some respects, the mirror image of 2001. Bush, 61, was the first president since John F. Kennedy to take office with a budget surplus, to the tune of $236 billion, giving him considerable latitude in formulating policy. He cut taxes by more than $1.5 trillion over 10 years, increased defense spending and created a new Medicare prescription-drug-benefit program.

Squandered Opportunity

Critics say Bush squandered a chance to put the Social Security retirement program and Medicare health plan for the elderly on a sounder financial footing. Government accountants calculate Social Security will begin paying more in benefits than it collects through taxes by 2017, while Medicare will exceed its spending limits by 2013.

``History will treat him very harshly,'' says Robert Reischauer, former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and now president of the Urban Institute, a Washington-based research group.

Bush ``came in with an unprecedented opportunity to address the long-run challenges faced by this nation and completely blew it, in part because of events and in part because of policy,'' Reischauer says.

`Rebuild'

The administration defends its record, saying the tax cuts helped revitalize the economy after it fell into recession in March 2001 while much of the additional spending was needed either to ``rebuild'' the military or wage the war on terrorism in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Yeah. some revitalization, and how's that rebuilt military holding up?

Gah!

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Labels: Bush Admistration, Bush Economic Policies

Ouch!


via Bloomberg

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures tumbled, signaling the worst decline for the Standard & Poor's 500 Index since 2001, on concern the economy is shrinking and the biggest Federal Reserve interest rate cut in 23 years won't revive it.

Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest oil company, and Barrick Gold Corp., the biggest gold producer, fell as crude and metal prices decreased. Bank of America Corp. declined after the second-largest U.S. bank said earnings dropped 95 percent.

S&P; 500 Index futures expiring in March retreated 58.7, or 4.4 percent, to 1,266.6 at 8:58 a.m. in New York after earlier slumping as much as 5.3 percent. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures decreased 466 to 11,640. Nasdaq 100 futures lost 80.75 to 1,768.75.

``People may see it as an extreme step and feel that it's a sign the situation is worse than they had anticipated,'' said John Carey, who helps oversee about $13 billion at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston. ``This will definitely wake people up who were thinking the economy was just fine.''

The Fed lowered its benchmark rate by 0.75 percentage point to 3.5 percent in its first emergency move since 2001. Policy makers weren't scheduled to gather on rates until Jan. 29-30.

It's going to be a very bad day.


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Labels: Collapse, Global Economy, US Economy

It looks like I'm getting a snow day. Provided the intertubes don't freeze and break, I'll be with you all day.


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I've been advocating stocking up on food for a while now-- especially wheat and corn products. I myself, have been looking for a store of staples for camping and "just in case."

You all know that I am no whore for any product. But, I am thrifty, and look for the best deal around. I've spent the past month comparing prices and values, and when it comes to emergency and camping food, Survival Acres is the best deal around. John cares about your survival and needs, not, necessarily, a huge profit margin, as I found at plenty of other places for the same stuff.

Look folks, we're heading for a doozy of a long Depression, and when it comes to assets in hand, emergency food is a pretty good thing to have, along with some silver, if you've got nothing else. When the repo man shows up at your door, your food is not on his menu of things to seize. Neither are the silver coins in your pockets.

Before the shit hits the fan, and WalMart's everyday low prices hit the fucking roof, and you need to feed your family-- hell, even if you're an avid and regular camper-- I recommend that you write an email to our good friend John, at Survival Acres. I'm pretty set up, as a single guy, but still felt it a good idea to buy up a few months of long-storeable food stuffs for the potential really hard times, or storms that just might hit me. I've lived through 18 months of absolutely no work after Guilliani Day. I understand stretching everything. It's when I perfected my gardening techniques, and when I raised my own chickens and goats. Fortunately, I camp enough where I will use the food regardless of what happens.

I sent off an email stating what I might be interested in, and my needs as a camper, and received a wonderfully personalized email in return. John suggested items more fitting to my needs at an equal or better price. It is rare to get this kind of personal service on-line. We have a very caring friend At Survival Acres, and I do recommend him to each and every one of you interested in emergency and camping food supplies.

I don't take any money from him or his company, I just recognize goodness and quality when I see it, and when I see it, I like to pass it on to you. I put his banner in my Sidebar a year ago.

If you're looking for emergency or camping food or reliable water purification equipment, I recommend Survival Acres. Best service, attention and quality of product amongst a mind-boggling, expansive and expensive array of retailers. John's honesty, integrity and knowledge garnered him an Award this year for his inspirational and vital blogging, these types of qualities are things I hold in high esteem.

I will attest that you could do worse shopping for food elsewhere. I think that you will have a good experience with Survival Acres.


Tell him Monkeyfister sent you. It might grease the skids for you.



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Labels: Food

And Look! It's a whole new day of Market misery!

I'm declaring Fair Use of this article as a non-profit blog.

Folks, Monday was very, very bad for Global Markets.Today is already shaping up to be every bit as bad. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures contract are off 520 points at 11,586. Nasdaq futures were at 1773.25, down 76.25. Standard & Poor's 500 futures recently were at 1265, down 60.3.

It is morning in Japan, and as I type, the Nikkei is down 705 points. But, read on for a review of yesterday's horror for a glimpse of the shit storm that is to come in the days ahead. If you have ANY money in stocks, at all... you'd best get it out of there and into something more sound TODAY. NOW. I suspect the DOW might be down another 1000 points by Friday close.

Get your money out of stocks. I've warned you that this was coming for over a year. Here it is. Last fucking call for the sane. Don't say you weren't warned.


via Bloomberg

Jan. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Almost half of the world's biggest stock indexes fell into a bear market as mounting concern about a U.S. recession dragged down banking and retail shares across Asia, Europe and Latin America.

The MSCI World Index's 3 percent decline yesterday, the steepest since 2002, left benchmarks in France, Mexico, Italy and 35 other countries at least 20 percent below their highs in the last year. The Standard & Poor's 500 Index may post its biggest decline since 2001 when the U.S. market resumes trading today after the Martin Luther King Day holiday, futures showed.

UBS AG and Bank of China Ltd. led financial companies lower after banks lost more than $100 billion on credit investments. Bang & Olufsen A/S and Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB were among consumer stocks that tumbled amid signs the world's biggest economy is shrinking. Even with MSCI World valuations at the cheapest since at least 1995, some of the biggest investors say stocks may fall further.

``I'm struggling to find a catalyst that will turn this market around,'' Bob Parker, who helps oversee more than $600 billion at Credit Suisse Asset Management in London, said in a Bloomberg Television interview. ``What we need is evidence that the write-offs in the financial-services sector are behind us, and we are probably only going to get that in the second quarter. Clearly the market situation is fairly ugly at the moment.''

Sept. 11

Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index yesterday tumbled the most since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, sending it into a bear market, commonly defined as a drop of more than 20 percent in a 12-month period. Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slumped the most in six years.

The MSCI World Index of 23 developed markets is down 17 percent from its Oct. 31 record. The MSCI gauge of developing nations also reached a bear market yesterday. Declines in Lima- based Cia. Minera Milpo SA and Tainan, Taiwan-based Catcher Technology Co. led this year's 14 percent retreat.

Japan became the first of the world's 10 biggest stock markets in November to enter a bear market since the summer's U.S. subprime mortgage collapse. China followed later that month before the benchmark CSI 300 Index recovered and rose 162 percent for the year.

Among 80 equity national equity benchmarks tracked by Bloomberg, indexes in Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Colombia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Mexico, Namibia, the Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Sri Lanka, Turkey, Venezuela and Vietnam also have dropped at least 20 percent from recent highs.

S&P; 500's Drop

The S&P; 500 has fallen 9.8 percent so far this year, while declines in the U.K. and Germany yesterday left those countries' benchmark indexes down 14 percent and 16 percent respectively. Futures on the S&P; 500, the benchmark for American equities, dropped 4.5 percent yesterday.

``We've seen panic selling,'' said Matthias Jasper, head of equities at WGZ Bank in Dusseldorf, Germany. ``Particularly small investors lost their nerve. These people are selling with conviction.''

The slump has made stocks cheap by historical standards. The 1,953-member MSCI World is now valued at 14.1 times its companies' profits, the lowest since at least 1995, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Europe's Stoxx 600 has a price-to- earnings ratio of 10.7, the smallest since at least 2002.

Fed funds futures show that 72 percent of traders expect the Federal Reserve to cut its benchmark rate to 3.5 percent from 4.25 percent on Jan. 30. Banks and consumer stocks have failed to recover even after policy makers lowered the target rate for overnight loans between banks three times since September from 5.25 percent.

Changing Tide

``The U.S. rate cut expected at the end of the month should be a support for stocks,'' said Kilian de Kertanguy, a fund manager at Cholet-Dupont Gestion in Paris, which oversees $2.3 billion. ``I'm not sure that it's a bear market. It's more like the tide is changing.''

Shares of Zurich-based UBS, Europe's biggest bank by assets, have dropped by almost half since the Stoxx 600 reached a six- and-a-half-year high on June 1. Beijing-based Bank of China, which has the largest subprime-related holdings among Asian banks, has plunged 33 percent since the end of October.

Bang & Olufsen, whose luxury consumer electronics are used in Audi sports cars, fell the most ever in Copenhagen trading on Jan. 9 after reducing its forecast for annual earnings. The Struer, Denmark-based company's shares have lost 38 percent this year. Mexico City-based Wal-Mart de Mexico, Latin America's largest retailer, fell the most since February 2007 yesterday, for a decline of 7.4 percent this year.

``It's kind of a panic attack,'' said Franz Wenzel, deputy director of investment strategy at Axa Investment Managers in Paris, which oversees $647 billion worldwide. ``We remain cautious.''

Panic. Yeah. That's pretty accurate. An US$8Trillion Panic Sale of unknown real asset value into a Hell of vultures who will not pay anywhere near 1/2 face value for your worthless, defaulted, foreclosed, gear adrift bullshit. That is exactly right.

Game over. Everyone loses. There is unemployment compensation for 26 weeks at the door on the way out. Buh Bye.

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Labels: Collapse, Global Economy, US Economy, Wall Street Motherfucking Criminals

I'm in a James Taylor sort of mood. This is one of his most interesting songs.



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My beers are coming out in the 7-8% range, but these folks are making some very strong beers! Hey, LOOK! It's my friend, Patti Merano-- The Garden Girl!



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Labels: Beer Making

Whenever I see your grouchy face... AWESOME!!!




The NWS is telling me that there is a wicked ice storm developing for the West Tennessee are, and I am right in the middle of its path. I'm sort of excited about it, as since we don't have plows or sand-spreaders, it usually means everything shuts down. I just came in from putting up the poly-tunnel (mini-greenhouse over the herbs, greens and cabbages that have been wintering over pretty well. The ice really would kill them. After doing that, I took a little stroll around the back yard. The Robins have returned-- I just saw a small flock of them bob-bbob-bob-stopping around the back acre, and the clover which I seeded the back yard with is growing gangbusters. With any luck, one more seeding in another month with effectively crowd out the Bermuda grass before it starts really warming. On my way back to the house, I put my hand up under the poly-tunnel, and it was already quite warm in there. The winter garden will do just fine.

The clouds are starting to roll in from the West. Time to make sure the oil lamps are ready to go, make some stew, bake a loaf bread, and finish getting the seedling grow room ready to go for the spring garden. It's most of the way there, but, I still need to hang and wire the lights, and actually get the seed flats ready.

I really am looking forward to a snow day tomorrow. Here's to hoping!

Farmers' Almanac for the rest of January:

20-22 First 2 days best for planting aboveground crops. Third day most fruitful time for planting beets, carrots, onions and other hardy root crops in the deep south. All days good for starting seed beds and flowers.

23-27 A barren time. Best for killing weeds, briars, poison ivy and other plant pests. Clear woodlots and fencerows.

28-29 Favorable days for planting root crops. Fine for sowing grains, hay and forage crops. Plant flowers.

30-31 Plant carrots, turnips, onions, beets, Irish potatoes and other root crops in the south. Lettuce, cabbage, collards and other leafy vegetables will do well. Start seed beds.

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Labels: My Life As It Is

If you live in New York City, you might want to wear your kevlar helmet if you plan on strolling Wall Street tomorrow. Beware of falling investors. I'd consider wearing the spiked cleats to ensure traction on the sidewalks while the blood pours out of the NYSE.


via Reuters

"We're going for some tough slugging here," said Paul J. Nolte, director of investments at Hinsdale Associates in Hinsdale Illinois.

"The breadth and the depth of subprime and housing market and its impact on the economy has everybody concerned. Most of the indications are we are in a recession."

S&P; 500 futures were down 52 points, far below fair value, a mathematical formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial average futures dropped 403 points, and Nasdaq 100 futures slid 63.75 points.

Hmmmm... How to spend that magical $800 sop from George and Ben...



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Labels: Collapse, Global Economy, US Economy

A little Fair Use on this one. Cramer has, for years, declared the blessings of Milton Friedman's Free Markets, and Adam Smith's Invisible Hand... Except when things go terribly wrong. Now, he's throwing all that out the window, and declaring that the Government needs to buy up the failing Banks and Insurers, so that the Government takes the hit, instead of the All-Holy Market.

Personally, I say that they need to fail, crash and burn. Crooks must pay. Perhaps the demise of our Mega-Corporate Financial Overlords will bring about honesty, transparency, and integrity in those that survive the bloodbath. The smart investors have been out for a while now. It's going to be a shitty mess, and painful for all of us, but the Government bailing out the Failboat through purchasing them is not an option. Our deficits are bad enough without that Yap Stone around our collective neck as well.

The point is well taken that when the likes of Jim Cramer throw Adam Smith and Milton Friedman over the rails, things are very, very dire.


via Mad Money

U.S. banks are taking a beating in the market because of the billions of dollars in subprime mortgages they have on their books. And with the insurers who backed the loans in danger of going belly up, there doesn’t seem to be a bottom for these stocks. If that ever happened, Cramer said, the entire system would collapse dominoes style.

It’s his ultimate doomsday scenario, and he fully believes it could happen if the government doesn’t act quickly. But instead President Bush announced plans for a stimulus package that would put a small chunk of change into the pockets of American taxpayers. Washington seems to think that consumer spending might be the jumpstart this economy needs.

But Cramer thinks different. And that’s why he laid out his Game Plan for saving the U.S. economy Friday.

The government needs to buy these mortgage insurers – MBIA , PGI Group , MGIC and Ambak – he said. The insurance covering municipal bonds could be sold to Warren Buffett or the highest bidder. Then Washington could guarantee the loans at 50 cents on the dollar. That way, even if all of the whole $500 billion worth defaulted, it would only cost $250 billion to lift the economy out of this rut.

But most likely no more than half of that $500 billion would need to be covered, Cramer said. More important than just the money, though, is that Wall Street would then have the certainty it so desperately needs. Banks likes Citigroup , Washington Mutual , Merrill Lynch , Wachovia , Bank of America , Wells Fargo and Countrywide Financial could assess their losses, build reserves and start lending money again, he said.

Add a 100 basis-point rate cut to Cramer’s plan, and he figures the Dow would add 2,000 points in two weeks. Should Washington choose to accept his mission, it might prevent what he called “the end of the world – or at least another 2,000-point decline in the market, which in my view is about the same thing,” he said.

Jim's charitable trust owns Citigroup.

I recommend that you stock up on lots of staple and canned foods. Enough to last until your garden starts producing.


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Labels: Collapse, Global Economy, US Economy

It's Monday, and time for the Weekly Kunstler.


via Clusterfuck Nation

Knees knocked last week from sea to shining sea as the shape-shifting monster of economic reality cut a swathe of destruction through the markets and financial ranks. The exact nature of this giant beast still remained largely concealed in a fog of accounting gambits, policy blusters, and reporting dodges, but a few intrepid scouts who glimpsed the behemoth up close said it looked like Godzilla with Herbert Hoover's face.

George W. Bush, tried to appease the beast by offering each American adult the dollar equivalent of half a month's mortgage payment -- with the exhortation to drive forthwith to the nearest WalMart and blow it on salad shooters and plasma TV's -- but Hooverzilla just laughed at the offering and pounded the equity markets further into the dust of loss, while the "bank-like" guardians of wealth lay in the drainage ditches bleeding from their ears and eyes.

My favorite moment was seeing Treasury Secretary Paulson and one of his fellow shaved-head deputies at a press conference rostrum frantically trying to calm the news media rabble like a couple of extraplanetary high priests from a Star Trek episode -- the batteries having run down in their laser wands, and their incantations ("liquidity! liquidity!) veering into mystifying glossolalia.

I resort to such admitted extreme hyperbole because it may be the only language that an infotainment-drunk society can still process in the face of an epochal calamity that will transform the lush terms of everyday life as we've known it into something like a bleak surrealist landscape in the manner of Tanguy. That crashing sound out there is the armature of confidence needed to support an economy based on faith that borrowed money will be paid back. It's as simple as that. (Doesn't seem so exciting now, does it?)

More at the link.


Worldwide, today, there is nothing but a sea of red across the financial boards. DOW Futures are set to plunge 350 points straight down when the Wall Street Casino opens again tomorrow.


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Labels: Collapse, Global Economy, US Economy, Wall Street Fairy

Mike Huckabee's Populist Stretch SUV, pet sasquatch, and three dogs on the campaign trail.















H/T to Watertiger



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Labels: Christian Values, Republican Values

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It is long past time for this fine documentary series to be released into the Public Domain. Since it is not, I took the liberty, under "Fair Use," as a not for profit blog, to direct-link to the 25 short video segments provided by PBS in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King, and the continuing Civil Rights Movement.

While assembling this post, I was forced to think about the state of this nation. I cannot say that I like what it has become, and fear the direction in which it is moving.

What have we come to in the nigh-on 40 years since Dr. King's death? He was killed four months before I was born, but I honestly think that he'd be more than aghast at how far we've let things move away from that Dream About Which He Was So Happy And Proud To Tell America, And The World.

What we are right now is a far cry from "the land of the free, and the home of the brave."

It's past due for the Civil Rights Movement to evolve beyond just issues of race equality, and into the 21st Century issues of Government Spying on the Domestic Populace, The American Police State, The Security/Prison Complex, The Death Penalty, Habeas Corpus, Torture, Gender and Homosexual Rights, Class Mobility and Compensation, and Health Care, which all Americans must face. Together. Freedom is for EVERYONE, and there are no "limits to Freedom," as George would like us to accept. Fuck that. There is NO Authority to which any American, any Free Person must needs bow, or secede Rights in this United States, whether it is to a Government a Corporation, or a Religion.

Freedom means Freedom. Any Laws, Executive Orders, Signing Statements or Policies declaring differently must be refused by any and all means. Any and ALL means.

We stand at a precarious point in our Democracy-- at a fork in the road, and we are being pushed in one foul direction away from the stated Constitutional direction of our Democracy into a very dark place, where Freedom is a "privilege," Life is uncertain, Liberty is fenced, and the Pursuit of Happiness is suspect.

Above and beyond anything else-- anything else-- we must push back and reverse this pressure away from Freedom. Now is the time to stand united, together, against those agents of oppression-- both Corporate and Theocratic, and against their Right-Wing enablers (whether they call themselves "Democratic" or Republican), and bring back Truth, Justice and the American Way of Honor, Integrity, Liberty, Equality, and Peace.

They have gone too long unopposed to impose their ways-- oppressive and mean-spirited. They have imprisoned us, robbed us, demeaned us, limited us, slandered and libeled us. They have sent their minions down to threaten and render physical, and property damage upon us and our people. They have declared us, without due course, Unpatriotic, Fascist, Communist, Treasonous, and Anti-American, and ventured to reduce our very existence as Human Beings. Together, we must stand, and say, "NO MORE." I declare today the day that we unite and stand up for America. The America that we hold in our hearts. The America of Lady Liberty. The America that the rest of the world wants desperately to believe in, and throw off the shackles of our fell overlords and fight for real Freedom once again.

The Declaration Of Independence Of The United States Of America:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. — Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government.

...it is their right, it is their duty...

OK. On with the show:

via PBS' American Experience

The landmark Eyes on the Prize television series spans 14 hours, over three decades of history, and dozens of events across the country.

This feature presents 25 of the major events, from Emmett Till's murder in 1955 to the election of Harold Washington as Chicago's first black mayor in 1983. A final section provides an update on civil rights in America today.

Screen historic footage of these events, listen to freedom songs, read newspaper headlines, see photo galleries, and more as you follow the story of America's Civil Rights Movement.

Each link leads to a video segment:

1 Emmett Till's Murder
2 The Montgomery Bus Boycott
3 Southern School Desegregation
4 Non-Violent Protests, Part 2
5 The Freedom Rides
6 The Limits of Non-Violence
7 Project "C" in Birmingham
8 The March on Washington, The March on Washington>Part 2
9 Freedom Summer
10 The Freedom March from Selma to Montgomery, AL
11 The Nation of Islam and Malcolm X
12 Chicago Freedom Movement
13 Riots in Detroit
14 "Power to the People"
15 Poor People's Campaign
16 Vietnam and the Civil Rights Movement
17 The Black Panther Party
18 The Attica Prison Riot
19 Blacks Define Themselves
20 The First Black Southern Mayor
21 School Desegregation in Boston
22 The Bakke Case and Affirmative Action
23 Riots in Florida
24 Conflict in Chicago
25 Operation PUSH
26 Civil Rights Today

Freedom-- No compromise.-- Steve VanZandt



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Labels: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, Freedom

Worthwhile viewing, Monday Night.


via History Channel

What would happen to planet earth if the human race were to suddenly disappear forever? Would ecosystems thrive? What remnants of our industrialized world would survive? What would crumble fastest? From the ruins of ancient civilizations to present day cities devastated by natural disasters, history gives us clues to these questions and many more in the visually stunning and thought-provoking new special LIFE AFTER PEOPLE, premiering Monday, January 21st, 2008 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT on The History Channel®.

Abandoned skyscrapers would, after hundreds of years, become "vertical ecosystems" complete with birds, rodents and even plant life. One small animal might be responsible for bringing down the Hoover Dam hydroelectric plant. Swelled rivers, crumbling bridges and buildings, grizzly bears in California and herds of buffalo returning to the Great Western Plains: In a world without humans, these would be the visual hallmarks. Our cars would shrivel to piles of dust, our house pets would be overtaken by flourishing wildlife and most of the records of our human story�books, photos, records�would fade quickly, leaving little evidence that we ever existed.
Eiffel Tower Decomposing

Using feature film quality visual effects and top experts in the fields of engineering, botany, ecology, biology, geology, climatology and archeology, Life After People provides an amazing visual journey through the ultimately hypothetical.

The 1986 nuclear power plant accident at Chernobyl and its aftermath provides a riveting and emotional case study of what can happen after humans have moved on. Life After People goes to remote islands off the coast of Maine to search for traces of abandoned towns, beneath the streets of New York to see how subway tunnels may become watery canals, to the Montana wilderness to divine the destiny of the bears and wolves.

Humans won't be around forever, and now we can see in detail, for the very first time, the world that will be left behind in Life After People.

It looks like it might be available for free streaming after Monday night's premiere.


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Well, Jonah Loadpants has yet another person to whom he needs to explain his very serious book.

via WGBH Forum Network

Chris Hedges, reporter, 2002 Pulitzer Prize

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges explores the rise of the Christian right in America, drawing parallels with the rise of fascism in Europe prior to the Second World War. How does the vision of the United States as a Christian nation relate to our Bill of Rights? Why does Hedges identify the increasing political power of Christian fundamentalism as a war against America?

This program is supported in part by a grant from the Massachusetts Foundation for the Humanities.

Well said, Mr. Hedges.

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Labels: American Fascism, American Theocracy, Fascism, Roots Of Fascism, Theocracy Rising

Damn, it's cold.





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Oh, look! China has hit the wall.

via Peal Oil.com

(South China Morning Post)Guangdong manufacturers should expect to suffer shortages of electricity, diesel and coal this year as energy supplies fail to keep pace with the province's surging economic growth.

Economic and Trade Commission deputy director-general Yang Jianchu said supply had fallen short of demand since January 1 and the shortfall was set to continue. Guangdong is considered the factory floor of the mainland, with its economy accelerating 13 per cent last year, faster than the forecast 10 per cent.

But rising fuel and other costs threaten earnings at thousands of factories that produce everything from toys to cars. Record oil prices and robust demand for other fossil fuels had left too many users chasing limited supplies of diesel, petroleum products and coal, Mr Yang said.

That has increased the burden on tens of thousands of Hong Kong-owned manufacturers across the border, already facing a government edict to move up the value chain or migrate to underdeveloped areas in the west of the country.

"Shortages of electricity and petroleum products will continue this year," Mr Yang said on the sidelines of the 11th Guangdong Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference yesterday. "We have measures in place to avoid massive electricity blackouts and ensure stable supplies of petroleum products."

If Chinese factories run out of energy, if shipping costs slow down the fleets, if China needs to start getting aggressive to keep their growth on track, then something will have to give. It will start with price explosions, and goods shortages here-- just when we don't need that. It's already happening, and we all know that.

Energy and resource conflicts between China and the West seem pretty-much inevitable. The collapse of our economy, and world-wide demand destruction just might be the best cure for the World's ailments. It won't be pretty.


Dr. Frankenstein Regretted Creating His Monster.



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Labels: China, Demand Destruction, Peak Energy, Peak Oil

Something tells me that WalMart's "everyday low prices" are on the way up, and their "just in time" inventory system is being put to the test. I found this article interesting, because it is telling us that the return to sailing ships is nigh upon us.

via Boston Globe

BERLIN (Reuters) - Oil at more than $90 a barrel is concentrating minds in the shipping industry. Higher fuel costs and mounting pressure to curb emissions are leading modern merchant fleets to rediscover the ancient power of the sail.

The world's first commercial ship powered partly by a giant kite sets off on a maiden voyage from Bremen to Venezuela on Tuesday, in an experiment which inventor Stephan Wrage hopes can wipe 20 percent, or $1,600, from the ship's daily fuel bill.

"We aim to prove it pays to protect the environment," Wrage told Reuters. "Showing that ecology and economics are not contradictions motivates us all."

The 10,000-tonne 'MS Beluga SkySails' -- which will use a computer-guided kite to harness powerful ocean winds far above the surface and support the engine -- combines modern technology with know-how that has been in use for millennia.

But if Skysails is a relatively elaborate solution, another development shows the march of progress is not always linear: shipping companies seeking immediate answers to soaring fuel prices and the need to cut emissions are, simply, slowing down.

The world's 50,000 merchant ships, which carry 90 percent of traded goods from oil, gas, coal, and grains to electronic goods, emit 800 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year. That's about 5 percent of the world's total.

Also, their fuel costs rose by as much as 70 percent last year.

That dramatic increase has ship owners clambering onto a bandwagon to reduce speed as a way to save fuel and cut the greenhouse gases blamed for global warming, said Hermann Klein, an executive at Germanischer Lloyd classification society.

That second picture is a view of shipping pollution from NOVA's "Dimming The Sun" website.


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Labels: Collapse, Peak Oil, Pollution, Shipping and Transportation