Once upon a time, we worried about oil and other energy. Now, a song from 1930 seems to be appropriate:
Today, we have a surplus of oil, which we are trying to use up. That never happened before, or did it? Well, actually, it did, back around 1930. As most of us remember, that was not a pleasant time. It was during the Great Depression.
Figure 1. US ending stocks of crude oil, excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. Amounts will include crude oil in pipelines and in “tank farms,” awaiting processing. Businesses normally do not hold more crude oil than they need in the immediate future, because holding this excess inventory has a cost involved. Figure produced by EIA. Amounts through early 2016.
A surplus of a major energy commodity is a sign of economic illness; the economy is not balancing itself correctly. Energy supplies are available for use, but the economy is not adequately utilizing them. It is a sign that something is seriously wrong in the economy–perhaps too much income disparity.
Figure 2. U. S. Income Shares of Top 1% and Top 0.1%, Wikipedia exhibit by Piketty and Saez.
If incomes are relatively equal, it is possible for even the poorest citizens of the economy to be able to buy necessary goods and services. Things like food, homes, and transportation become affordable by all. It is easy for “Demand” and “Supply” to balance out, because a very large share of the population has incomes that are adequate to buy the goods and services created by the economy.
It is when we have too much income and wage disparity that we have gluts of oil and food supplies. Food gluts happened in the 1930s and are happening again now. We lose sight of the extent to which the economy can actually absorb rising quantities of commodities of many types, if they are inexpensive, compared to wages. The word “Demand” might better be replaced by the term “Quantity Affordable.” Top wage earners can always afford goods and services for their families; the question is whether earners lower in the wage hierarchy can. In today’s world, some of these low-wage earners are in India and Africa, or have no employment at all.
What is Going Right, As We Enter 2018?
[1] The stock market keeps rising.
The stock market keeps rising, month after month. Volatility is very low. In fact, the growth in the stock market looks rigged. A recent Seeking Alpha article notes that in 2017, the S&P 500 showed positive returns for all 12 months of the year, something that has never happened before in the last 90 years.
Very long runs of rising stock prices are not necessarily a good sign. According to the same article, the S&P 500 rose in 22 of 23 months between April 1935 and February 1937, in response to government spending aimed at jumpstarting the economy. By late 1937, the economy was again back in recession. The market experienced a severe correction that it would not fully recover from until after World War II.
The year 2006 was another notable year for stock market rise, with increases in 11 out of 12 months. According to the article,
Equity markets rallied amidst a volatility void in the lead-up to the Great Recession. Markets would make new all-time highs in late 2007 before collapsing in 2008, marking the worst annual returns (-37%) since the aforementioned infamous 1937 correction.
So while the stock market consistently rising looks like a good sign, it is not necessarily a good sign for market performance 6 to 24 months later. It could simply represent a bubble forming, which will later pop.
[2] Oil and other commodity prices are recently somewhat higher.
Recently, oil prices have been too low for most producers. Now, things are looking up. While prices still aren’t at an adequate level, they are somewhat higher. This gives producers (and lenders) hope that prices will eventually rise sufficiently that oil companies can make an adequate profit, and governments of oil exporters can collect adequate taxes to keep their economies operating.
Figure 3. Monthly average spot Brent oil prices, through December 2017, based on EIA data.
A major reason for the recent upward trend in commodity prices seems to be a shift in currency relativities for Emerging Markets.
Figure 4. Figure from Financial Times showing currency relativities based on the MSCI Emerging Market currency index.
While the currency relativities for emerging markets had fallen quite low when commodity prices first dropped, they have now made up most of their lost ground. This makes commodities more affordable in Emerging Market countries, and allows them to do more manufacturing, thus stimulating the world economy.
Of course, if China runs into debt problems, or if India runs into problems of some sort, or if oil prices rise further than they have to date, the run-up in currency relativities might run right back down again.
[3] US tax cuts create a bubble of wealth for corporations and the 1%.
With low commodity prices, returns have been far too low for many corporations involved with commodity production. “Fixing” the tax law will help these corporations continue to operate, even if commodity prices remain low, because taxes will be lower. These lower tax rates are important in helping commodity producers to avoid collapsing as a result of low commodity prices.
The problem that occurs is that the change in tax law opens up all kinds of opportunities for companies to improve their tax situation, either by changing the form of the corporation, or by merging with another company with a suitable tax situation, allowing the combined taxes to be minimized. See this recent Michael Hudson video for a discussion of some of the issues involved. This link is to a related Hudson video.
Groups evaluating the expected impact of the proposed tax law did their evaluations as if corporate structure would remain unchanged. We know that tax accountants will help companies quickly make changes to maximize the benefit of the new tax law. This is likely to mean that US governmental debt will need to rise much more than most forecasts have predicted.
In a way, this is a “good” impact, because more debt helps keep commodity prices and production to rise, and thus helps keep the economy from collapsing. But it does raise the question of how long, and by how much, governmental debt can rise. Will the addition of all of this new debt raise interest rates even above other planned interest rate increases?
[4] We have been experiencing artificially low oil prices since 2013. This helps the economic growth to be higher than it otherwise would be.
In February 2014, I published an article documenting that back in 2013, oil prices were too low for oil producers. If a person looks at Figure 3, oil prices were over $100 per barrel that year. Clearly, oil prices have been much too low for producers since that time.
Unfortunately, it looks like these artificially low oil prices may be coming to an end, simply because the “glut” of oil that developed is gradually being reduced. Figure 5 shows the timing of the recent glut of oil. It seems to have started early in 2014.
Figure 5. US Stocks of crude oil and petroleum products (including Strategic Petroleum Reserve), based on EIA data.
If we look at the combination of oil prices and amount of oil in storage, a person can make a rough estimate of how this glut of oil might disappear. Quite a bit of it may be gone by the end of 2018 (Figure 6).
Figure 6. Figure showing US oil stocks (crude plus oil products) together with the corresponding oil prices. Rough guess of how balance might disappear and future prices by author.
Of course, one of the big issues is that consumers cannot really afford high-priced oil products. If consumers could not afford $100+ prices back in 2013, how would it be possible for oil prices to rise to something like $97 per barrel by the end of 2018?
I am not certain that oil prices can really rise this high, or that they can stay at this level very long. Certainly, we cannot expect oil prices to rise to the level they did in July 2008, without recession causing oil prices to crash back down.
What the Economy Needs Is Rising Energy Per Capita
I have published energy per capita graphs in the past. Flat spots tend to represent problem periods.
Figure 7. World per Capita Energy Consumption with two circles relating to flat consumption. World Energy Consumption by Source, based on Vaclav Smil estimates from Energy Transitions: History, Requirements and Prospects (Appendix) together with BP Statistical Data for 1965 and subsequent, divided by population estimates by Angus Maddison.
The 1920-1940 flat period came shortly after the United Kingdom reached Peak Coal in 1913.
Figure 8. United Kingdom coal production since 1855, in figure by David Strahan. First published in New Scientist, 17 January 2008.
In fact, the UK invaded Mesopotamia (Iraq) in 1914, to protect its oil interests. The UK wasn’t stupid; it knew that if it didn’t have sufficient coal, it would need oil, instead.
There were many other disturbing events during this period, including World War I, the 1918 flu pandemic, the Great Depression, and World War II. If there are not enough energy resources to go around, many things tend to go wrong: countries tend to fight for available resources; jobs that pay well become less available; deflation becomes more likely; population becomes weakened, and epidemics become more likely. I wrote about the 1920 to 1940 period in a recent post, The Depression of the 1930s Was an Energy Crisis.
The 1980-2000 flat period included the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1991. The Soviet Union was an oil producer. The Soviet Union collapsed after prices had been low for a long time.
Figure 9. Former Soviet Union oil consumption, production, and inflation-adjusted price, all from BP Statistical Review of World Energy, 2015.
Even many years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, population growth in former Soviet Union countries and its affiliates was much lower than in the rest of the world.
Figure 10. World population growth rates between 2005 and 2010. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population_growth_rate
Lower population (through falling birth rates, rising death rates, or rising emigration) are a major way that economies self-adjust because of falling energy per capita. Economies tend to fix the low-energy per capita problem by adjusting the population downward.
Recently, we have again been hitting flat periods in energy consumption per capita.
Figure 11. World per capita consumption of oil and of total energy, based on BP Statistical Review of World Energy data and UN 2017 population data.
The slowdown in world energy consumption per capita in 2008-2009 was clearly a major problem. Oil, coal and natural gas consumption fell simultaneously. Oil consumption per capita fell more than the overall mix, especially affecting countries heavily dependent on oil (Greece with its tourism, but also the US, Japan, and Europe).
The recent shift in political strategy to more isolationist stances also seems to be the result of flat energy consumption per capita. It is doubtful that Donald Trump would have been elected in the US, if world energy consumption per capita had been growing robustly, and if wage disparity had been less of a problem.
The primary cause of the 2013 to 2016 flat trend in world energy consumption per capita (Figure 11) is falling coal consumption (Figure 12). Many people think coal is unimportant, but it is the world’s second largest source of energy, after oil. We don’t have a good way of getting natural gas production to rise enough, to make up for loss of coal production.
Figure 12
Wind and solar simply do not work for solving our problem of flat or shrinking energy consumption per capita. After spending trillions of dollars on them, they make up only a tiny (1%) share of world energy supply, according to the International Energy Agency. They are part of the little gray “Other” sliver on Figure 13.
Figure 13. Figure prepared by IEA showing Total Primary Energy Supply by type from this IEA document.
Something Has to “Give” When There Is Not Enough Energy Consumption per Capita
The predicament we are facing is that energy consumption per capita seems to be reaching a maximum. This happens because of affordability issues. Over time, the price of energy products needs to rise to keep up with the rising cost of creating these energy products. But if energy prices do rise, workers earning low wages cannot afford to buy goods and services made with high-priced energy products, plus honor all of their other commitments (such as mortgages, auto loans, and student loans). This leads to debt defaults, as it did in the 2008-2009 recession.
At some point, the affordability problem can be expected to hold down energy consumption. This could happen in many ways. Spiking prices and affordability issues could lead to a worse rerun of the 2008-2009 recession. Or if oil prices stay fairly low, oil-exporting countries (such as Venezuela) may collapse because of low prices. Even if oil prices do rise, we may find that higher prices do not lead to sufficient additional supply because investment in new oil fields has been low for many years, because of past low prices.
As long as the world economy is expanding (Figure 14), individual citizens can expect to benefit. Jobs that pay well are likely to be available, and citizens can afford to buy goods with their growing wages. People who sell shares of stock and people who get pension benefits can all receive part of this growing economic output.
Figure 14. Author’s image of an expanding economy.
Once the economy starts to shrink (Figure 15), we start having problems with dividing up the goods and services that are available. How much should retirees get? Governments? Today’s workers? Holders of shares of stocks and bonds? Not all commitments can be honored, simultaneously.
Figure 15. Author’s image of declining economy.
One obvious problem in a shrinking economy is that loans become harder to repay. The problem is that there is less left over for other goods and services, after debt plus interest is subtracted, in a shrinking economy.
Figure 16. Figure by author.
Changing interest rates can to some extent help offset problems related to higher energy prices and shrinking supply. The danger is that interest rates can move in the wrong direction and make our problems worse. In the lead-up to the Great Recession of 2008-2009, the US raised short-term interest rates, helping to puncture the sub-prime mortgage debt bubble.
Figure 17. Figure comparing Case-Shiller Seasonally Adjusted Home Price Index and Federal Reserve End of Quarter Target Interest Rates. See Oil Supply Limits and the Continuing Financial Crisis for details.
We now hear a lot of talk about raising interest rates and selling QE securities (which would also tend to raise interest rates). If growth in energy consumption per capita is already flat, these changes could make the problems that the economy is facing even worse.
Our Economy Works Like a Bicycle
Have you ever wondered why a two-wheeled bicycle is able to stay upright? Research shows that a bicycle will stay upright, as long as its speed is greater than 2.3 meters (7.5 feet) per second. This is the result of the physics of the situation. A related academic article states, “This stability typically can occur at forward speeds v near to the square root of (gL), where g is gravity and L is a characteristic length (about 1 m for a modern bicycle).”
Thus, a bicycle will be able to continue in an upright manner, as long as it goes fast enough. If it slows down too much, it will fall down. Our economy is similar.
Gravity plays an important role in determining the speed of a bicycle. If the bicycle is going downhill, gravity gives an important boost to the speed of the bicycle. If the bicycle is going uphill, gravity very much pulls back on the bicycle.
I think of the situation of an economy having rising energy consumption per capita as being very much like riding on a bicycle, speeding down a hill. The person operating the bicycle would not need to provide much extra energy to keep the bicycle going.
If energy consumption per capita is flat, the person riding the bicycle must provide the energy to make it go fast enough, so it doesn’t fall over. This is somewhat of a problem. If energy consumption per capita actually falls, it is a true disaster. The bicyclist himself must provide the energy necessary to push the bicycle and rider uphill.
In fact, there are other ways that a speeding bicycle is analogous to the world economy.
Figure 18. Author’s view of analogies of speeding upright bicycle to speeding economy.
The economy needs a constant flow of outside energy. In the case of the bicycle, the human rider can provide the energy flow. In the case of the economy, the energy flow comes from a mixture of various fuel types, typically dominated by fossil fuels.
Growing debt (front wheel) is important as well. It tends to pull the economy along, because this debt can be used to pay wages and to buy materials to make additional goods and services. Thus, the effect of this increase in debt is indirect; it ultimately works through the bicyclist, the gears, and the back wheel.
In fact, the financial system as a whole is important for the “steering” of the economy. It tells investors which investments are likely to be profitable.
The gearing system of the bicycle plays a modest role in the system. Changing gears allows greater efficiency in the use of the energy that is available, under certain circumstances. But energy efficiency, by itself, cannot operate the system.
If the human rider does not provide sufficient energy for the bicycle to go rapidly enough, the bicycle glides for a while, and then falls over. The world economy seems to be similar. If the world economy does not obtain enough energy per capita, economic growth tends to slow and eventually collapses. The collapse can relate to the whole world economy, or to parts of the economy.
The Problem of Parts of the Economy Not Getting Enough Energy
We can think of the economy as being made up of many bicycles, operated by bicycle riders. At the beginning of the post, I talked about the problem of wage disparity. This issue occurred at the time of the 1930’s Great Depression and is occurring again now.
We might call wage disparity “too low a return on the labor of some workers.” In groups of animals in ecosystems, too low a return on the effort of these animals is what causes ecosystems to collapse. For example, if fish have to swim too far to obtain additional food, their population will collapse. It should not be surprising that economies tend to collapse, when the return on the efforts of part of their workers falls too low.
Wage disparity has to do with how well the operators of bicycles are doing. Are the operators of these bicycles receiving enough calories, so that they can keep pumping their bicycles fast enough so that the speed is high enough to remain upright?
If energy consumption per capita is growing, this greatly helps the operation of the economic system. If there is growing availability of inexpensive energy, machines of various types, including trucks, can be used to increasingly leverage the labor of workers. This increased leveraging helps each worker to become more “productive.” This growing productivity, thanks to growing energy consumption, allows more goods and services to be produced in total. It also allows the wages of the workers to stay high enough that they can afford to buy a reasonable share of the output of the economy. When this happens, “gluts” of unaffordable goods are less of a problem.
If energy consumption per capita is flat (or worse yet, falling), greater “complexity” is needed, to keep output of goods and services rising. Greater complexity involves more specialization and more training of individual members of the economy. Greater complexity leads to larger companies, more government services, and more wage disparity. Unfortunately, there are diminishing returns to complexity, according to Joseph Tainter in “The Collapse of Complex Societies.” Ultimately, increased complexity fails to provide an adequate number of high-paying jobs. Wage disparity becomes a problem that can cause an economy to collapse.
If there is not enough economic output, the physics of the economy tries to “freeze out” workers at the bottom of the hierarchy. Workers with low wages cannot afford homes and families. The incidence of depression rises. Debt levels of disadvantaged groups (such as young people in the US) may rise.
So the situation may not be that the whole world economy fails; it may be that parts of the economy collapse. In fact, we are already seeing evidence that this is taking place. For example, life expectancies for US men have been falling for two years, because of growing problems with drug overdoses.
Conclusions
In 2017, the world economy seemed to be gliding smoothly along because the economy has been able to get the benefit of artificially low energy prices and artificially low interest rates. These artificially low prices and interest rates have given a temporary boost to the world economy. Countries using large amounts of energy products, including the US, especially benefitted.
We cannot expect this temporary condition to continue, however. Low oil prices have already started to disappear, with Brent oil prices at nearly $69 per barrel at this writing. The trends in oil prices and oil stocks in Figure 6 are disturbing. If oil prices begin to rise toward the price needed by oil producers, they are likely to trigger a recession and a drop in world energy consumption, just as spiking prices did in 2008-2009. There is a significant chance of collapse in the next 12 to 24 months. It is hard to know how widespread such a collapse may be; it may primarily affect particular countries and population groups.
To make matters worse, our leaders do not seem to understand the situation. The world economy badly needs rising energy consumption per capita. Plans to raise interest rates and sell QE securities, when the economy is already “at the edge,” are playing with fire. If we are to keep the world economy operating, large quantities of additional energy supplies need to be found at very low cost. It is hard to be optimistic about this happening. High-cost energy supplies are worthless when it comes to operating the economy because they are unaffordable.
Many followers of the oil situation have had great faith in Energy Returned on Energy Invested (EROI) analysis telling us which kinds of energy supplies we should increase. Unfortunately, EROI doesn’t tell us enough. It doesn’t tell us if a particular product is scalable at reasonable cost. Wind and solar are great disappointments, when total costs, including the cost of mitigating intermittency on the grid, are considered. They do not appear to be solutions on any major scale.
Other researchers looking at the energy situation have not understood how “baked into the cake” the need for economic growth, rising per capita energy consumption, and rising debt levels really are. Rising debt is not an error in how the financial system is put together; a bicycle needs a front wheel, or it cannot operate at all (Figure 18). I have written other articles regarding why debt is needed to pull the economic system forward.
This economic growth cannot be “fake growth” either, where a debt Ponzi Scheme seems to allow purchases that real-life consumers cannot afford. Quite a bit of what is reported as world GDP today is of a very “iffy” nature. If China builds a huge number of apartments that citizens cannot afford without subsidies, should these be counted as true GDP growth? How about unneeded roads, built using the rising debt of the Japanese government? Or recycling performed around the world, because it makes people “feel good,” but really requires substantial subsidies?
At this point, it is hard for us to know where we really are, because every government wants to make GDP results look as favorable as possible. It is clear, however, that 2018 and 2019 can be expected to have more challenges than 2017. We have interesting times ahead!
China’s birthrate dropped despite allowing 2-child families
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/chinas-birthrate-dropped-allowing-child-families-52455113
Oops! Too many families can’t really afford a second child in China.
As discussed at the Econimica blog for ages, especially we should watch for projected deep knees in their demography graphs come ~2025-2035, serious challenges to world order to be expected.
2025-2035? I don’t think too many of us will be worried about China’s demographics by then. Survival at home is likely to be of far higher concern for most.
Gail, in China’s case of having a one child policy for so long, it might also just be a social norm to only have one child these days. Those that might consider a second child would be unique compared to peers, parents etc so stop at one. Much poorer people throughout the world are still having high numbers of children, so it must be more than lack of affordability in China.
There are different kinds of “lack of affordability.”
In China, many people live in large cities and owe large monthly payments on small apartments. In Africa, people get together with neighbors and put up a simple house, with no monthly payments.
When it comes to having children, the people in China are handicapped, because both parents must work to have sufficient funds for the apartment (really condominium).
The people in Africa count their wealth in cows, not in apartments. I would expect the big concern would be enough food for all of the children. It is easy to pile another child into the house.
I was reading recently that polygamy is widely practiced in Africa, and helps drive up birth rates. As it works out, wealthy men can have multiple wives, and poor men are mostly left out. This approach is optimal for producing lots of children. A related issue is a common practice of families of sons being required to pay the parents of a prospective wife a fee (perhaps 30 cows), in order for the son to marry. Parents can use timing to their advantage, in obtaining the necessary cows for trade. They sell off the daughters when they are quite young, and use their earnings to be able to afford to buy wives for their sons. With this system, wealthy families often obtain multiple wives for their sons. Poor families often cannot afford wives for their sons. With polygamy and early marriage for women, it is possible to grow the population very rapidly.
China, of course, does not use polygamy. I met some men who married one wife, had a child by the first wife, then divorced and married again, and had another child. But I expect this is uncommon, and limited to the fairly well-to-do.
I agree with Gail. Once a country is developed enough many become to poor to have children. I don’t know the minimum cost to have a child in southern/eastern europe, but it will definitely cut down on discretionary spending.
Do you prefer one child in a two bedroomapartment or two childs (and no car) in a one bedroom?
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42752298
In an apparent reference to Russia, he warned against “threaten[ing] America’s experiment in democracy”.
“If you challenge us, it will be your longest and worst day,” he warned.
Wow, finally some actual tough talk regarding Russia’s interference in US elections. My personal opinion is the US should engage in a limited military action against Russia to drive home the point that our elections are none of their business.
Hmm… interfering with elections.
Of course US should bomb a few more countries.
Ha! The Russians are bush league compared to the hegemon.
“Dov Levin, a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Politics and Strategy at Carnegie-Mellon University, found that the U.S. attempted to influence the elections of foreign countries as many as 81 times between 1946 and 2000.
Comment: That’s just till 2000! The US has gone nuts since then.
Often covert in their execution, these efforts included everything from CIA operatives running successful presidential campaigns in the Philippines during the 1950s to leaking damaging information on Marxist Sandanistas in order to sway Nicaraguan voters in 1990. All told, the U.S. allegedly targeted the elections of 45 nations across the globe during this period, Levin’s research shows. In the case of some countries, such as Italy and Japan, the U.S. attempted to intervene in four or more separate elections.
Levin’s figures do not include military coups or regime change attempts following the election of a candidate the U.S. opposed, such as when the CIA helped overthrow Mohammad Mosaddeq, Iran’s democratically elected prime minister, in 1953.
Comment: If we add those in, we’re looking at the entire Earth having suffered from US meddling.”
https://www.globalresearch.ca/us-interfered-in-elections-of-at-least-85-countries-worldwide-since-1945/5601481
Good, so there’s some well funded govt. agencies that can cause some havoc with the Russians. Maybe even some cyber-warfare. Let’s teach those ruskies a lesson they’ll never forget. Stay out of our elections or suffer the consequences.
You do realise that this whole Russia election hacking thing was cooked up by bad loser Hillary and her crooked men over at the FBI? I do hope so…
http://thefederalistpapers.integratedmarket.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/HillaryCall.jpg
A year old, but, sadly, still relevant because some d*mb bunnies just don’t get it, James Corbett looks behind the screaming headlines at the bizarre reality of the “Russia hacking” narrative.
https://youtu.be/0ecxu7EStgs
Our US political system is so riddled with idiocy and corruption that a Russian hack might even improve the integrity of our electoral system. Haha.
Our esteemed Congressional representatives spend 75% of their working time lobbying for money from powerful interests. When it comes time for a vote, they have no time to research the issues and then just vote how their moneyed interests tell them.
The Republic has been purchased by private interests who are now running the country for their own interests & profit.
We are well and truly f@cked.
https://imgur.com/a/JeURO
Basically that chart is saying that twice before the market has been this overpriced. So there is no reason why it cannot go to the same extreme as before, or perhaps a bit higher given low/zero/negative interest rates.
There is an old saying in markets about the market remaining irrational longer than you can stay solvent (if betting against it).
Those that read the book, watched the movie ‘The Big Short’, should be well aware of this. This was an example of some that could see the sub-prime fiasco, and duly bet against it. However they were too early for the market to wake up to what was happening, and were losing money/investors for quite a period of time until the market turned.
The stock market is in highly irrational mode now, but is likely to go way MORE irrational before it turns viciously.
The main difference between now and 2007…. is that the central banks are backing everything and anything that is TBTF
Basically the central banks have to fail in this mission for this to come apart…
Not sure what causes the fail….
Thankfully, we’re investing in the future.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=bdMzFQOABcQ
/sarc
I can think of one project whose funding can be cut, if there is a need to try to balance the budget.
What is astounding about this …. is that it is well known that humans cannot remain in space for extended periods of time without dying from radiation. This is just one of many reasons why colonies on Mars or any other planet are not viable.
YET…. these clowns have created a very nice video presentation and they seem to actually be developing their mini reactors — and they seem to actually believe what they are saying (maybe they are actors playing roles?)
https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1440/1*Sn80dgiwpMjBVrqjfiDbnA.jpeg
One of the funniest aspects of the plan to travel to Mars is the effect of Gravity on Astronauts. It is well known that a week or 2 in space and the Astronauts need help and physio to walk again once back on Earth.
Let’s send them on a mission that takes many months, probably over a year to Mars, set them down on the planet, and watch them go nowhere, as even Mars’s reduced gravity will be way too much. Then again maybe they will all have wheelchairs to get around on the surface. That will look good on TV.
Send Hawking …. how much more f789ed he possibly get?
https://img.huffingtonpost.com/asset/586ead8d1b00002c006e5bfa.jpeg
The psychological toll is even greater. We need suspended animation for deep space travel, just to avoid psychosis.
Thanks for sharing, Mark. Just goes to show that energy is needed wherever we go. Looks like a well thought out design for that application. I’m all in favor with space exploration. It doesn’t make any sense to just put food on the table, wash the dishes, procreate, etc., if it doesn’t include exploration and gaining knowledge. Forget about collapse or no collapse for a moment, because the money spent on this type of endeavor pales in comparison to the bucks spent on war toys and overseas military expenses. I’d actually like to see NASA’s budget quadrupled and the defense budget slashed.
When there is no chance of the program working?
Oh, but “when you’re green, your growing.” Now I know where “Kroc of Sh*t” came from 🙂
“I’d actually like to see NASA’s budget quadrupled and the defense budget slashed.”
YES!
For the US, maintaining an empire and running constant wars is not going to make us stronger- it’s going to hollow out the remainder of the US economy. And all the signs are present for a massive exit from the U$D. No foreign governments want dealings with the volatile Trumpster.
All right, Sungr. I’m right there with you on those points incl. the one on volatile (unpredictable) Trumpster.
All 3rd World nations, including Russia, are unable to function domestically without the US dollar, having their currencies being highly de-trusted, owning to cartoonish political regimes running them (likely being installed and sustained by big powers).
People there will pray day and night for god to save the US dollar. If the US$ recedes, the 3rd World people would incur colossal loss as their own currencies would lose the reference scale. Be careful listening blindly to voices telling you otherwise.
What NASA’s budget? NASA’s real budget wouldn’t be known until a ‘Donald Rumsfeld’ comes up one day saying Trillions are not accounted-for, otherwise, it is open. The Pentagon’s, too, the Shale Oil & Gas industry, as well, etc.
After decoupling energy supplies from wealth creation in the 1970’s, the system became a huge global virtual engine scattered all over the place, and growing, nothing in it is on any single book any more, where Madoff and Enron’s accountancy practices would look like books written by angles, if the two compared to today’s status quo.
This is also due to Physics constrains and how humans become incapable of coping with continuously-growing systems they themselves create, due to the un-metered abundance of fossil fuels (i.e. try and read all the comments posted on Gail’s ” Will the World Economy Continue to “Roll Along” in 2018?” alone, since Gail has posted it few days ago, and you’ll find yourself in the middle of next week physically fatigued and psychologically ruined!).
After the 2003 Iraq War, it is on records that no electro-mechanical meters, like the ones you see when fueling your car at the gas station showing gallons’ figure, are installed to register Iraqi exported oil supplies going into tanker ships. They measure what they pumped into the tanker by dipping a wooden stick, seriously. And this is how all your global system operates today everywhere, too, more or less! 🙂
Actually, it is my understanding that Saudi oil exports are (or were until recently) estimated by people counting ships leaving Saudi Arabia, apparently carrying oil. The figures that Saudi Arabia gives regarding its exports are never considered reliable. Other countries, including Venezuela, are not considered reliable in the figures that they provide, either.
Just a few questions-
1. Since when is Russia a 3rd world country?
2. How did energy get decoupled from wealth creation in the 70s? The graph for energy consumed vs gdp growth seems to been tightly coupled from past to present.
Oh, also. Measuring tank depth with a calibrated wooden stick is a time honored method of measuring tank liquid volume.
1. Since when is Russia a 3rd world country? Always, since 1905 and earlier, being under experiment run by big powers. That’s doesn’t mean Russia is not a great nation and a unique homeland, and having ones of most brilliant people, historically and at present, like any other nation. One needs to live in Russia for years to realise and understand that disappointing fine line. You may ask “and who is not under experiment run by big powers?”, and that’s true, to that extent, the ‘big powers’ might be us, the humans collectively 🙂
2.How did energy get decoupled from wealth creation in the 70s? When crude oil supplies have not been allowed a natural market value, forced to hover around a Big Mac’s meal price for a barrel, that decade-long reality has eroded the essence of Capitalism itself, by losing the physics-reference-point (i.e. how the price of a one-person meal comes roughly equal to the energy of hundreds of man hours-worth or work stored in the barrel?). One can keep seeing charts, but physics fundamentals rule and they will come back hitting who messes with them even with carefully-crafted economy engines.
3. …a calibrated wooden stick is a time honored method of measuring tank liquid volume. Yes, but it is now superseded. Human errors and accountability are two weaknesses that flow-meter audit digital-mechanical systems are on the market to prevent, and they are selling cheaper than a calibrated wooden stick, maybe, so why not using them, especially with a critical commodity such as crude oil?
Was it really any different under Obama? He came in with 2 wars, left fighting 7. Empires have their own dynamic, irrespective of the peculiarities of its leaders, who come and go.
Robots are the way to go in exploration. All this human stuff is window dressing for little elementary school presentations (that is the intellectual level of many Americans these days).
The James Webb Telescope that will launch in 2018 can be thought of as a semi-autonomous robot. It is a machine. Robots can explore our solar system for us. They can go to the sun. We now have such super duper AI that our Robots can even think for themselves while they look over Pluto.
I personally think we should have robots prepare a human habitable base on the moon. A human colony could survive there quite handily…underground…if they have energy.
This post and all Gail’s work is very interesting but I have a question : Are you really sure that barrel prices higher than $40 are already too high for the economy? Everything seems to be working and the liberal economy is relocating a lot abroad, especially in China.
The problem with high priced energy products is partly that they become unaffordable for employers. Because of this, the employer fail to leverage human labor with things like more bigger and better trucks and more bigger and better pipelines. Also, all goods become more expensive as prices rise. Wages don’t rise in a corresponding manner. In fact, they often show more wage disparity. Some workers find themselves without jobs that pay enough to cover the cost of transportation to work. People drop out of the workforce. In European countries, people collect government benefits for those without jobs.
At this point, we still have extremely low interest rates and a lot of debt growth propping the economy up. If it weren’t for those things, we would be in much worse shape.
Because of wages declining over time for all the reasons we’ve delved into on this site, it’s probably a foregone conclusion people in the future will live in smaller domiciles i.e. a smaller footprint and thus at a lower cost. There are all these TV programs now on Tiny Homes and YouTube videos on people living in vans. People are already starting to move in that direction – it just needs something done on a grander architectural scale. Instead of 2500 sq. ft. single family dwelling, it will be 800 sq. ft. Instead of big appliances, they will all be small. Instead of their own plot of land, they’ll be in a concrete tube stacked on dozens of others. Instead of big windows, they will be smaller and fewer of them, etc. Instead of changing cloths daily people will wear the same cloths for 3-4 days in a row because of a small washing machine. People will have to seriously downscale their existence to support the people the tiny minority the Republican’s support.
Like Lee Iacocca said, “Lead, follow or get out of the way.” What the R’s are saying to middle and lower income people is get out of the way! Support your local super wealthy person to enjoy palatial massive mansions with helicopter pad, sports building, heated Olympic size pools and all the solar to power that lifestyle. Those wealthy people are in quick need of expanding their complex of financial holdings, so get use to less, much less. In winter hover over a pen light to get some warmth on your hands.
High oil prices have been connected to every recession since WW2 except for one..And the last four we have had…High oil prices cause inflation in 95 percent of all manufactured goods and food. And they decrease consumer spending and consumer confidence.
https://www.brookings.edu/bpea-articles/causes-and-consequences-of-the-oil-shock-of-2007-08/
This is true with respect to US recessions.
The collapse of the Soviet Union, however, was associated with low oil prices. Venezuela’s problems are caused by low oil prices. It depends on whether you are on the buying end of oil, or the selling end of oil. If a country is an oil importer, high prices will cause recession. If a country is an oil exporter, low prices will cause recession.
True, but our own WTI oil is also going up in price as the value of the dollar dives.
Sorry, no link on this next part because it’s just from memory, but there is this person well versed on the topic of ups and downs in the economy and he says everything he’s expected to happen before and after the mortgage meltdown has occurred, except one. That is the substantial devaluation of the dollar. Maybe it’s finally beginning to happen.
The world is headed towards an Economic/Financial collapse. And everyone is arguing over a border wall and eating tide pods! 😝
If Mexico is headed the same direction as Venezuela because of a collapse in its oil production, a border wall may not be entirely irrational, unfortunately.
My gut tells me the crash is a couple of months away, but then it also tells me to eat junk food when I feel hungry. Either way, I’m getting the “a little -too- quiet” feeling about world affairs.
If I were a betting man, I would bet on an autumn rather than a spring crash, because the three largest crashes of the past century have all occurred in autumn. Spring is usually a season of optimism, growth and planting the seeds of hope. Autumn is the time for harvesting what we’ve sown. However, we’re currently living in desperate times.
The Wall Street Crash of 1929, also known as Black Tuesday, the Great Crash, or the Stock Market Crash of 1929, began on October 24, 1929, and was the most devastating stock market crash in the history of the United States, when taking into consideration the full extent and duration of its aftereffects.
The Stock Market Crash of 1987 or Black Monday was the largest one-day market crash in history. The Dow lost 22.6% of its value or $500 billion dollars on October 19th 1987.. The crash began in Hong Kong and spread west to Europe, hitting the United States after other markets had already declined by a significant margin.
The stock market crash of 2008 occurred on September 29, 2008. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 777.68 points in intra-day trading. That was the largest point drop in any single day in history.
As Bitcoin Sinks, Crypto Bros Party Hard on a Blockchain Cruise
When 600 cryptocurrency enthusiasts set sail from Singapore on Monday night for their second annual Blockchain Cruise, the price of Bitcoin was hovering comfortably above $13,500.
By the time their 1,020-foot-long ship pulled into Thailand on Wednesday, for an afternoon of bottomless drinks and crypto-focused talks on a sun-soaked private beach, Bitcoin had cratered to $10,000.
The group consisted largely of young men, many of whom became wildly rich — at least on paper — as Bitcoin and other digital tokens skyrocketed last year. In all likelihood, they had just lost millions.
But if anyone was fazed, they didn’t show it. The party rolled on as the sangria and Red Bull flowed, Bitcoin-themed rap music blared and drones filmed it all from above.
“Nothing goes up in a straight line,” explained Ronnie Moas, the founder of Miami Beach-based Standpoint Research, who was one of the event’s speakers on Wednesday. In a best-case scenario, he said, Bitcoin could jump to $300,000 in as little as seven years.
For skeptics of the crypto craze, it’s hard not to see all this as another sign of runaway exuberance — a repeat of the boosterish Las Vegas securitization conference, dramatized in The Big Short, that preceded the subprime mortgage meltdown of 2007. But the steadfast optimism on display at this week’s Blockchain Cruise also carries a warning for anyone betting on a cryptocurrency crash: It’s going to take more than a 50 percent drop in Bitcoin from its Dec. 18 high to drive out the diehards.
“This is something that you either believe in or not,” said Moas, who has become a crypto-celebrity after issuing stratospheric price forecasts for Bitcoin.
The cruise’s eclectic list of speakers included Jose Gomez, a former aide to the late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez; Kaspar Korjus, the head of Estonia’s e-residency program (which may issue its own cryptocurrency); and Jorg Molt, an early digital currency backer whose claim to hold 250,000 Bitcoins (worth $2.8 billion at the current price) couldn’t be verified.
But perhaps the biggest draw on the Blockchain Cruise was John McAfee, the anti-virus software pioneer with a checkered past. In 2012, while living in Belize, McAfee had run-ins with local police for alleged unlicensed drug manufacturing and weapons possession, but was released without charge. At one point, Belize police started a search for him as a person of interest in connection with the murder of his neighbor. McAfee said he was innocent and that he fled Belize because of persecution by corrupt officials.
He now helps run MGT Capital Investments Inc., a small-cap tech company with a Bitcoin mining business. He has become a cryptocurrency evangelist on Twitter, touting the technology and various tokens to his more than 700,000 followers. Coinsbank, the digital currency exchange and wallet operator that organized the cruise, made him a headline speaker.
More https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-19/as-bitcoin-sinks-crypto-bros-party-hard-on-a-blockchain-cruise
Held again …
“You cannot force a ban on a distributed system,” McAfee said in an interview after his speech. “It’s like how do you ban smoking weed? You can’t ban it. People will come back.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-19/as-bitcoin-sinks-crypto-bros-party-hard-on-a-blockchain-cruise
Hmmm… if the CBs make this a criminal offence… and the CBs through the NSA know everything that is on your computer….
They most definitely can ban it.
Throw one owner in prison — and this sucker goes to ZERO.
Markets are ignoring ‘major risk’ of rising interest rates and end of QE, warns Citigroup
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/01/08/markets-ignore-danger-central-banks-reverse-qe-warns-citigroup/
Crash fears escalate as markets hit highs not seen since Black Tuesday and dotcom disaster
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2017/11/05/markets-lookout-shock-crash-us-stocks-record-highs/
Re Digital Currencies … and Bitcoin Jesus….
What gargantuan delusion to believe that the Federal Reserve … would stand by … and allow some geek to steal their fire…..
These guys kill babies … and blast countries back to the stone age…. just for the fun of it….
But they are powerless … against Bitcoin Jesus….
Global economy set for decade of gloom as World Bank predicts recovery will fizzle out
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2018/01/09/global-economy-set-decade-gloom-world-bank-predicts-recovery/
The World Bank believes the biggest risk comes in financial markets, where share price valuations are at levels not seen before except in 2000 and in 1929 – the dotcom bubble and the Wall Street Crash.
https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/2018/01/17/117-candyfloss-economics/
Dr Seed says almost all growth lately is us finding new ways mowing each others lawns.
There’s a chart shown here from time to time where GDP grows a little faster than energy consumption. It has been said this is efficiency or technological improvements.
Maybe much of it is only innovative accounting?
a lot of the jobs involve just standing and greeting customers the name of the job is a ‘greeter’
Kinda like a fluffer for shoppers… get them in the mood to spend spend spend!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluffer
I think that they are near the door, to discourage people from walking out with merchandise that they have not paid for.
Some of it is innovative accounting. Governments taxing people to build electric trains that are never very useful, for example.
Depends on how you generate the electricity.
Oops! I meant high-speed electric trains. The high-speed part is what tends to make them terribly non-economic. Very few people can afford the higher cost of high-speed trains, compared to low speed trains. They almost always need subsidies to operate.
But even electric trains are expensive. They also are not sustainable for the long term because they depend on the electricity system continuing to operate 24/7/365. If there is any type of train we would be able to keep operating longer, it is one of the type that was built back when we first made trains. It would have simple, mechanically operated doors. No air conditioning, and probably little or no heating. Seats would be simple and wooden. Power would come from locally available materials, perhaps coal. The more complex the system, the more difficult it is to keep in operation.
Sweden has had electric trains for about 100 years, beats car and bus for commuting. Train can’t compete with bus, maybe not even plane, for longer distances.
Don’t know how electric train would compete with diesel. Swedens electricity 50/50 hydro/nuclear. Other parts of europe have electric trains fueled by coal I think.
High-speed is insane.
Here is an “on the ground” report from AU.
Copied from comments to “https://www.iceagenow.info/frigid-cold-need-dependable-energy”
“Laurel
January 18, 2018 at 5:17 am | Reply
dependable power is also vital in heatwaves..
today in Victoria aus the trains halted i gather due to signal faults
theyre run by solar panels that apparently have “issues” over 32c..it was 40.9 at my place today
supposedly we have an overabundance of rooftop solar pushing power intothe system…but?
several thousand are without powert tonight and tomorrow theyre shutting suburbs off regardless of need/illness etc
theres a n awful lot to be said for diesel trains and coal power electicity supplies!!
firstly”
There seem to be some articles available online, as well.
“Southern states face a power crisis when temperatures soar” https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2018/01/20/australia-power-crisis-looming/
Also:
Part of the problem seems to have been that part of the capacity (500 MW) of the Loy Yang coal-powered plant was not operational. The wholesale price spiked from $80 per megawatt hour to $12,000 per megawatt hour.
I didn’t notice any articles mentioning the solar panel operation at high temperatures as being a problem, but it is well known that solar panels lose efficiency at higher temperatures. This is an article relating to the subject. https://www.thegreenage.co.uk/article/the-impact-of-temperature-on-solar-panels/
The article talks about installing panels where there is good natural ventilation, and using a thermally conductive substrate. Otherwise, the temperature of the panels will be far higher than the outside temperature.
Thanks for pointing out this article by Tim Morgan. It is very good.
One thing that I don’t think that Tim Morgan understands is that the cost of energy, and the amount of energy used by the local population, very much determines which countries can market goods in the world economy. It is basically people in countries with low costs of energy, in warm countries, with low standards of livings, who can market goods to the world economy. These low world prices tend to pull the whole system down, because the workers cannot afford to buy the output of the system.
The US may sell a lot of food abroad, but the dollar amount we get for it is not very high. With food, as with everything else, it is the processing that makes all of the difference. For example, there are only a few cents worth of corn in a box of corn flakes. The value the US adds is all in making the box, puffing up the flakes, advertising the corn flakes, and selling the corn flakes in the grocery store near to the consumer. These are all services, in some sense.
World GDP on a PPP basis somehow gives a great deal more weight to the less developed countries. This plumps up world GDP growth further, even above the distortion Dr. Morgan explains.
Refer to the videos
Entertaining commentary from Jay Uchiha, “we three seconds into the new year and people already doing du…mb s….hit.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-18/why-are-millennials-eating-toxic-tide-pods
http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-42736397
“Last year was the se cond or th ird hot te st ye ar on re cord – after 20 16 and on a par with 20 15, the da ta shows. But those two years were affected by E l N i ñ o – the nat ural phen ome non centered on the trop ical Pac ific Oc ean which works to bo ost tem p era tu res world wide.”
“Last ye ar was sub stantially wa rm er than 19 98 which had a very big E l N i ñ o.
“It shows clearly that the big gest nat ural influ ence on the cli ma te is being dw arfed by hu man activities – pred ominantly see oh two emis sions.”
But then again maybe adding even more salsa on a burrito will make it co ol er. (sarc)
http://globalwarming-factorfiction.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/04/dec307c.jpg
Read the data, not the jokes.
So the rule is you can make sarcastic comments but other people can’t?
Data is only as good as its source, and you’ve linked to a organization with a proven record of misleading the public that has earned it zero credibility as an information source.
http://honestreporting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BBC-bias-alert.jpg
Read the data?! I could bury you ten feet deep in a blizzard of unbiased real credible data. But Gail has repeatedly told us that she doesn’t want this forum used as a place for debating globally wobbally and climey whimey changey wangey. Why do you disrespect her wishes, JH? Are you out to upset her, or are you just trolling?
I try to go as far as Gail goes and no farther on the subject. But it seems even then easy to trip wires and cause disruption. I can only say (and not belabor the point) that people from Tropical islands (like me) find arguments against the reality they see and that costs them as puzzling.
I got as far as looking at a video clip about the j—et stream circling the Arctic. Up to this point it has operated like a string being pulled around the globe. Now it’s stopped doing that, and is like a string being pushed, causing it to buckle. The buckling makes for unprecedented fluctuations in t—emps, on both ends of the spectrum. This observation doesn’t lead inevitably for any advocacy for EV’s, PV, or anything that isn’t raw fossil fuel that burns and smells and makes a noise. The solution to the main issue above is very little related to this technology. It has overwhelmingly to do with deforestation, diets that Gail speaks of, and the incredible denseness of planners and developers.
This is rich…from…http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/navy-ship-trapped-in-frozen-north-putting-florida-cruise-on-ice/article/2646680
“Navy ship trapped in frozen north, putting Florida cruise on ice”
“Significant weather conditions prevented the ship from departing Montreal earlier this month and icy conditions continue to intensify,” Lt. Cmdr. Courtney Hillson, spokeswoman for Naval Surface Force Atlantic, said in an email.
Now it appears the ship and its crew will be spending the winter in Canada until the spring thaw, or until enough ice melts and weather conditions improve enough to allow Little Rock to safely transit the Saint Lawrence Seaway.”
The navys newest destroyer trapped for the entire winter by ice. What was it someone posted about the arctic ocean ice trending toward zero?
‘But an unusually bitter cold snap has trapped the warship up north since Christmas Eve’
After burning 8 billion trillion tonnes of carbon … one would think Montreal would have a Mediterranean kkklimate by now….
Clearly this carbon burning is not improving the kkklimate as expected….
A new internet meme called ‘The Tide Pod Challenge‘ has circulated social media channels with the millennial generation taking some severe risks to their health.
In a period of wage stagnation and a job environment that is deteriorating, the hopeless millennials have resorted to stupid social media challenges in the hopes of gaining fame, and perhaps the chance for a better life.
As we know, that is never the case, unless a brilliant millennial monetize the content.
Great video here https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-18/why-are-millennials-eating-toxic-tide-pods
I will put a tick beside January 19, 2018 indicating that I have received adequate entertainment on this day.
anybody who wants to eat a tide pod should go ahead and eat it. the societal problem will quickly be self-correcting. can we deal with real issues here?
The real issue is that there is a generation of people wandering aimlessly and despondently through life… without good jobs… or jobs at all…. who are not getting married or having children or buying autos or houses or furniture… living in their parents basements…. snorting Oxycontin and chugging Tide liquid detergent to entertainment.
And now I am in the sh it….. ‘why are you mocking her’
I’m not mocking her… I’m just asking …. I was just wondering…. if she can like… talk…
https://m.popkey.co/fe33b1/M7qLx_s-200×150.gif
http://www.witchvox.com/festivals/afest/elysium1.jpg
I’ve just put on my costume…. does this add credibility?? Gravitas????
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/61UPC9OHC3L._UL1500_.jpg
‘When collapse comes it will be rapid — the financial system will implode — JIT will end — and the power will go off – permanently’
All species, whether a weed, tomato plant, individual human or nation fight each other over energy. I wonder if weeds convince each other that it’s over “freedom & liberty” like the US does?
And then as expected…. Even when asked….
‘We need to make a transition to clean energy – and we need to show leadership and that’s what we are here for’ – Leo D
‘What do you say to critics who say you go on yachts and you are travelling (on private jets)’ PJTV.
Leo didn’t respond.
Seriously – I am not making this stuff up…. you can watch it here…. this is real news… that is really Leo …. walking away when asked the question ….
‘Leadership by example’
I want to follow Leo — I want to travel on yachts…. and private jets…. and buy islands…. and nail super models…. and build concrete ECO hotels…… I want it ALL!
http://www.joshholmes.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/image11.png
well, I know the answer…
here it is:
first, you hav…
oh, wait…
changed my mind…
I’m not telling…
so sorry.
LOL!
here’s a little bit of late night comedy:
https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/pump-breaks-buying-self-driving-car-time-soon-205546606.html
“All of that is to say, while it may sound like a self-driving future is right around the corner, the reality is it’ll still be quite some time before a car can drive itself into your garage.”
“quite some time”?
is that the same thing as “never”?
Common sense would dictate that the goyim immediately dismiss this self driving BS….
However … the MSM easily overrides common sense with repetitive lies…. turning the goyim into self-driving MORE ons.
Let’s take a look at Leo’s ECO hotel…. it comprises the latest in grass and mud hut design….
Wish you were here? Final plans for Leonardo DiCaprio’s ultra-luxury private eco resort on 104-acre island off Belize are released
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/travel_news/article-3934772/Wish-Final-plans-Leonardo-DiCaprio-s-ultra-luxury-private-eco-resort-104-acre-island-Belize-released.html#ixzz54anGoKAI
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/04/04/00/2743E48800000578-3025074-image-a-6_1428102093500.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/11/14/15/3A4715C000000578-3934772-The_artists_renderings_for_Leonardo_DiCaprio_s_new_resort_on_a_s-a-1_1479137747514.jpg
When nobody asked Leo how a hotel made of concrete and metal and other industrial materials can possibly be called ‘eco’ —- Leo didn’t respond.
When nobody asked Leo why he is building a hotel inches above the level of the sea – when he is on record as stating catastrophic flooding is imminent due to xxx xxxx — Leo didn’t respond….
FE, buried beneath that sand is a top-secret, 3-m high pop-up concrete wall that will protect the hotel from tidal surges when activated. It is powered by hidden TESLA Li-ion batteries charged by PC solar power and wind.
Al Gore has one too .. and Obama…..
Well he does have solar panels pictured on the roof. From the looks of them, they would power a kitchen….during the day. I am share our chief GW zealot/actor has green batteries tucked away somewhere, with a diesel generator to make sure they are never out of power.
That aura around the building on the first picture – as if it produced energy… What a lie…
These look like imported palm trees too. What it must have cost to “manufacture” and transport them. Lunacy, the whole thing.
Five Reasons ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ Loves the Digital Currency
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-18/hackers-have-walked-off-with-about-14-of-big-digital-currencies
My brain is melting….
so all those people who bought Bitcoin etc on their credit cards…
only pushed the price way higher to the benefit of the hackers who “own” 14% of all of it.
I bet none of those people who rushed in to buy Bitcoin at $19,000 on their credit cards… is on Facebook gloating about it right now …..
or right here on OFW…
anyone? hello?
who bought Bitcoin above $10K?
my guess is no one…
I hope.
clinton
Ihope
And this is another real example of Joseph Tinter’s diminishing returns thesis;
Imagine the TWatts of energy a day that kept and keeping digital currency systems running + the media engine hyping it day and night, yet little parties do have the money in their pockets or the desire to dive into the extreme DC illusive venture.
More TW’s of electricity (i.e. FF) will now be expended with fewer and fewer players until, again, the whole new digital-currency-novel-machine becomes another closed-membership-by-invitation-only club.
Capitalism becomes another Communist system through the agency of extreme centralisation.
Humans remain humans no matter what system they believe in and operate by, sadly!
(Note: I believe digital currencies will become the primary currencies for oil exports in near future, though!)
(Note: I believe digital currencies will become the primary currencies for oil exports in near future, though!)
Maybe (but probably not) ….but I guarantee if that happens…. the digital currencies used … will be controlled by the central banks…. not the Winklewank brothers… or Sato Yamagoochie….
https://www.ecori.org/natural-resources/2018/1/12/mill-river-dam-removal-opens-up-waters-for-migratory-fish
News of a dam being removed always makes me happy.
Yes gf, I agree, very good news indeed.
Forgive me if I am not overjoyed at this news….
I doubt that the over all energy equation warrants removing any infrastructure–dam, bridge, overpass, factory, “blighted” scene, nuclear plant, etc. Workarounds around these things is another matter.
You spend a little energy to remove a dam, but look at what you get in return. Fish passage upstream, a healthier ecosystem and also a reduced flooding potential.
Well yes, but the trouble remains of having ever increasing paving thrown at coasts in an ever losing battle to get ahead of the trend.
The developer community forces the loss of absorptive soil all around the world. Right or wrong, I conclude that holding on to the embedded energy in existing structures is a better energy solution than trying to improve the situation by demolitions. which take energy and set off the Jevons Paradox. Just stopping and “sheltering in place” doesn’t seem to have been tried.
Remove a dam and look what you lose in return. Loss of hydro-electric generating potential, loss of water storage potential, loss of non-migratory fish frog and newt habitat, loss of lake surface for swans, sucks and people to swim, paddle, or fish in, loss of local cli-mate extreme moderating influence, loss of beautiful lakeside scenery and eco-resort development real estate…….
Dam removal is for losers.
some very good news today:
(well, IF we can believe the UN b w a h a h a h a h a)…
https://www.yahoo.com/news/last-three-years-hottest-record-un-162237600.html
glow ball cool ing would be very bad for humanity…
so…
in conclusion:
Burn More Coal.
I see the same headline regularly on Bloomberg’s home page…. big scary fat words….
http://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-if-you-tell-a-lie-long-enough-it-becomes-the-truth-joseph-goebbels-79-99-98.jpg
Gail someone posted this comment online and I was wondering what you think?
The subject is: why crude prices have gone up, and why they won’t be staying there for long. Almost the entire reduction of US crude stocks (thus the higher price) has resulted from increased exports. What is being exported is LTO. The US is importing almost 8 mb/d of higher quality crude to make fuels for the world market. LTO is not suitable for that purpose. Its higher API rating lacks the molecule structure to efficiently produce fuels. LTO is used primarily as a diluent and petrochemical feedstock, and China has recently been the US’s largest customer. They are using US LTO to run Venezuela heavy.
Every refinery in the world was built to process 33° API crude. The Chinese are taking delivery of Venezuela extra heavy, and buying US LTO for a diluent to work down the $billions in debt that is owned them by Venezuela. Once that debt has been paid (if Venezuela last that long) they will no longer need the large supply of US LTO they are presently purchasing. US stocks will again increase, and the price will decline. The present situation is a short term convenience for US Shale producers, and Chinese refineries. It is not likely to last for long as Venezuela is in a growing state of anarchy, and increasing starvation.
https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_sum_sndw_dcus_nus_w.htm
https://imgur.com/a/yQIaS
I don’t think that it is true, “Every refinery in the world was built to process 33° API crude.” Every refinery in the world is built for different inputs–usually, based on what kind of oil was available locally, when the refinery was built. If the local oil was heavy and sour, the refinery would be built to match this input; if it was light and sweet, they would build the refinery to match this. When the local oil declines (such as North Sea, or loss of Libyan oil), refinery operators must find some kind of oil that more or less matches what the refinery was built for. In some cases, they can find a specific type of oil that matches. In other cases, they may need to blend a couple of different oils to get the right match.
There are other reasons for building special refineries as well. It takes a large supply of cheap natural gas to add to heavy oil when it is “cracked,” to produce smaller molecules. The United States has had a good supply of cheap natural gas, so the US has built quite a lot of refineries for heavy oil. Also, heavy oil tends to be quite a bit less expensive per barrel to purchase than light sweet oil. US refineries have found that they can make more money refining heavy oil than refining sweet oil. We used to have several refineries for refining light sweet oil along the East Coast, but most of them went bankrupt or otherwise closed, because it was hard to make money, starting with light sweet oil. Mexico has not had the refining capacity to create low sulfur diesel. We refine heavy oil for Mexico, and export the full amount back as oil products, including diesel. This is a link a report showing average API of crude oil used in refineries in various areas of the US. https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCRAP2B2&f=A
In 2016, the US imported 7.85 million barrels per day of crude oil. The major countries it came from were
Canada – 3.2 million barrels per day
Saudi Arabia 1.1 Mbpd
Venezuela – .74 Bpd
Mexico – .58 Mbpd
Columbia – .44
Iraq – .42
This year, our crude oil exports are up. Our biggest exports historically have been to Canada, to make use of their refining capacity. Our exports to Canada have been as high as 500,000 barrels per day (in part of 2015). Recently, they seem to be around 300,000 barrels per day. There may also be some light oil shipped to Canada to be used to dilute their bitumen. https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/hist/LeafHandler.ashx?n=PET&s=MCREXCA2&f=M
Other countries that have recently been getting some of our crude oil exports are China, Netherlands, France, and the United Kingdom. I would suppose that the latter three countries are trying to make up for the lack of North Sea oil.
This article says:
This article says the fact that West Texas Intermediate is selling for less than Brent plays a big role in China choosing to import US crude oil. According to it:
I find it hard to believe that China will import very much of Venezuela’s oil. So far, any such imports haven’t affected US imports of Venezuelan oil. A country (like China) without good natural gas supplies would tend not to build refineries to crack heavy oil, I would expect.
The rise in oil production mostly comes from Russia and the US. OPEC is declining. That’s why shale in the US is propped up with unsustainable debt.
http://peakoilbarrel.com/opec-december-oil-production/
Thanks! Some of the last US production numbers seem to be based on models. They may or may not be right.
Most of the models walk on high heels. After the shale debt implosion, they go for offshore drilling, already working on that:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/climate/trump-offshore-drilling.html
The spice must flow. OPEC cannot keep up.
Given the CBs are manipulating the gold and silver markets – the stock markets — the bond markets – the property markets — and the commodities markets….
Then why would they not manipulate the most important market of them all – the oil market?
Push it down to give a little thrust to the economy …. then when producers are threatened with extinction push it back up … investors pile in … live to fight another day …. then push it back down….
As we know investors are just duuuummmmbbb goyim…. they are easily excited…. they quickly forget $30 buck oil as it slowly blasts higher …. and they jump on board even though they lost their shirts last time….. a they expect $147 oil again….
No major producer-exporter of oil out of the US is not between a rock and a hard to keep pumping oil, even if prices drop to $Zero.
Each one of them has been put under certain conditions to adhere to unlimited daily exports, with no exception (Libya–> lockerbie then chaos, Iraq–>decades-long sanctions, wars and then terrorism, Saudi–>war in Yemen then the rival Iran, Iran–>sanctions and the rival Saudi, Russia–>sanctions/Ukraine/Putin-in-power-for-eternity, and so on).
International oil producers-exporters are no party in the energy market. They better export most of the oil they extract, or else!
Given this parameter, and following the Truth Table method, one can safely conclude that a higher entity somewhere is taking responsibility of pricing energy supplies.
What OPEC? What Russia? Imagine telling Winston Churchill in 1927 that some uncivilised Arabs demand a price hike for their oil. He would lough loudly!
Therefore, oil prices become just a one variable in the continuous wealth creation decoupled from energy resources and it is in the hand of entities capable to trigger Lehman Brothers’ moment-class of events and bigger.
The prices may go up to $3000 per barrel, and down to $1, any day. But no one should be thinking this is happening naturally or not under tight control, modeled and well rehearsed.
Lucky who has an insight on the timing! 🙂
‘What OPEC? What Russia? Imagine telling Winston Churchill in 1927 that some uncivilised Arabs demand a price hike for their oil. He would lough loudly!’
+++++++
Remember what happened to Mr Saddam … when he f789ed with the Jesus….. likewise Mr Gaddafi….
The thing is…
The goyim believe we live in civilized nations…. that the world markets are free….. that if a country has corrupt government …. that is their fault….. they believe that America negotiates with other countries fairly….
When in reality America is the Mafia Don … and the UK, Canada, EU, NZ are captains in the organization.
We do not negotiate…. why negotiate when can crush the other side like a cockroach? Nah… fug dat….. We want it all.
So we tell them the way it’s gonna be…. and if they don’t like it …. if they resist…. well….
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mPpGB-5W6hU/VUGaORaX3KI/AAAAAAAAIFg/r607egJnpjo/s1600/the_untouchables_1987_capone_but_i_get_nowhere_unless_the_team_wins.gif
The KSA is barely even a country …. it’s a barren wasteland filled with people who marry their cousins and their mothers and sisters and all kinds of per ver ted sh it like that
And for those of you who are right this moment saying you have gone to far this time Fast Eddy…. this is racism!!! I say:
Genetic referrals of Middle Eastern origin in a western city: inbreeding and disease profile.
Inbreeding or consanguineous marriage is a common traditional practice in Middle Eastern cultures. Studies from various countries and communities of this region showed that the frequencies range from 20% to greater than 70%. Inbreeding is known to have adverse effects on morbidity and mortality, in particular with respect to autosomal recessive disorders. This study examined 200 couples representing all referrals of Middle Eastern origin seen at a large Clinical Genetics Unit in Montreal. They were compared with a similar sized group of different cultural backgrounds from among the same referrals. The rate of intercultural marriages and inbreeding was found to be 24% and 23.5% respectively in the Middle Eastern group, while they were 22.5% and 5% in the comparison group. Excluding the referrals for consanguinity only, the rate of inbreeding among the study group was 16.4%. Within the Middle Eastern group, autosomal recessive disorders were more than twice as common in the inbred than in the non-inbred families, the pattern of which is consistent with previous observations.
http://10news.dk/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/ArabInbreeding1.jpg
https://fellowshipofminds.files.wordpress.com/2015/07/child-born-with-16-toes.jpg
Anyway…. so most goys think that the KSA and OPEC set the price of oil.
Does anyone think that people with 15 toes and heads like flattened pumpkins are capable of controlling a sophisticated market? I doubt they can even count their toes….
So we designate a few of them to be our puppets…. give them a pile of dosh and let them go shopping snort coke and nail Ms America contestants….
But we never let them have any say in the price of oil…..
They don’t seem to mind….
When communities elect to kill themselves through interbreeding or others, it remains much better than expending endless fossil fuel supplies creating weapons to kill those communities in war or by GM foods or disease causing chemicals – burning seas of finite resources and polluting the environment badly – in the process.
Leave humans practice their local cultures where they live in their homelands and they will bring their numbers up or down, naturally – without someone playing god trying to do that for them, on behalf of them, every ten years or ongoing, I think?
I am unable to defeat the censor….
Anyway …. the punch line….
The moral of that story is….
Even if your cousin looks like this
http://worldswimsuit.com/images/uploads/website_images/3013/14_kara_0273.jpg
And she comes on to you…..
Walk away…. otherwise…
http://americandigest.org/sidelines/130512-democrat-media.jpg
stock markets up $7 trillion in one year:
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/01/18/stock-markets-value-under-trump-has-grown-by-6-point-9-trillion-to-30-point-6-trillion.html
too bad that’s not real money…
but is “real money” an oxymoron?
Does that sound like step down collapse?
To people with money in the market — and that includes pensioners and their pension funds — that sounds like:
https://mark.trademarkia.com/logo-images/dza-brands/chaching-86691908.jpg
that rings in the ears of the 1%… perhaps the top 10%…
for 2018-2019, the masses may be taking another step down…
like 2008-2009.
US Bureau of Economic Analysis data shows that total wages and salaries for the US we $7.9 trillion in 2015 and $8.1 trillion in 2016. Stock markets can increase in value by nearly the amount of all US wages?
When I went to Yemen — I stayed at the Movenpick hotel…. when entering they opened a blast proof door… and when you stepped onto the property — they had one of these pointing in your face…
Very intimidating… very effective…. I highly recommend you purchase one
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/9e/M2_-_24th_MEU.jpg
Nah…. I’m just gonna sit in my container drinking whiskey out of the bottle … with a 12 gauge on my lap… and a couple of cases of shells….
‘Tactical’ …. that sounds really tough….
You should get all the gear so you look the part https://www.aliexpress.com/w/wholesale-special-forces-uniform.html
Lock and Load!
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/93/50/45/935045f7c99c6a5ef38510cf2d24be47.jpg
I also recommend that bulk up so that you look intimidating … https://www.roidsmall.net/hcg-and-hgh-sale-512/
Study these as well….
Top 50 military slang words and phrases
A question posted recently on Quora asked, “What are some commonly used military slang words?” Obviously, there are too many to list here, but below were some of the responses. Check them out and add yours in the comments below.
By Jon Mixon, USAF Vet
ASAP – As Soon As Possible: This has become slang in normal speech but in the military it means “immediately.”
f***nuts – A derogatory term used to describe a host of people and situations.
FUBAR – F***** Up Beyond All Repair: A description of many differing items and people
Marine Corps socket set – An adjustable wrench
https://www.military1.com/army/article/403808-top-50-military-slang-words-and-phrases/
Knock on the door? Really?
And these people aren’t even hungry…..
4 -0… Let’s make it 5-0 since I am sure you did not match my darts result.
Here’s the thing….
When the hordes arrive…. looking for food… and you shoot at them…..
When they capture you … and your family ….. what do you think they are going to do to you?
Analysts had projected profit of $1.43bn, or 77 cents a share, on revenue of $9.24bn. Net income came to $1.7bn, up from $1.5bn. Morgan Stanley had warned two weeks ago that a roughly $1.25bn charge was in the offing, primarily for the remeasurement of tax credits known as deferred tax assets.
https://www.ft.com/content/f8794489-002f-330d-8445-30342576bba2
$12 trillion of QE and the lowest rates in 5,000 years
https://www.cnbc.com/2016/06/13/12-trillion-of-qe-and-the-lowest-rates-in-5000-years-for-this.html
No doubt the numbers are far higher than that… but then 12 T is a pretty big number.
There are 1000 billion in a single trillion dollars. So 12 1000 billion…..
Morgan Stanley earned less than 2B last quarter. And Morgan Stanley is a big bank https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018-01-18/morgan-stanley-bigger-goldman-first-time-12-years
Yet its profits are not even a rounding error when stacked up against the QE machine…. 2B is a cup of coffee for the central banks.
Why even bother with this mickey mouse outfit…. when you can print out more money in half a second … than this tired dinosaur earns in an entire year????
Why not just get rid of these banks and replace them with printed money? Clearly they serve no purpose.
We have a perpetual prosperity machine — let’s use the damn thing!
In re danger to preppers in instant vs slow collapse scenarios:
During insta-collapse (which isn’t going to happen), the violence will start in urban areas and then spread like waves to the neighbouring regions. Just like waves though, the raiders/looters/zombies will thin out the farther out they venture due to starvation, exhaustion, lack of fuel, loss of morale etc. Preppers who don’t live within ~120 miles of densely populated areas will probably be fine. Militia groups that have battalion sized forces and supplies enough to move those forces around for days over large distances will usually also have farms, cattle etc. Ceteris paribus, most of them will keep to themselves and won’t bother small-scale preppers.
It is a slow or should I say *stepwise* collapse (likely), transpiring over years or maybe decades, that poses the greatest threat to the preppers. Many newly-formed local governments will have armed forces large enough to lay claim to prepper assets within their demesne. In this case, though, the violence will mostly be “constructive”, i.e., the preppers will be allowed to keep doing their thing as long as they pay some sort of tribute/tax.
‘During insta-collapse (which isn’t going to happen)’
I read that as ‘I am from DelusiSTAN and have no brain – don’t waste your time reading any further’
Now that is a nice start to the day … if I don’t say so myself.
Just settling in to my new position as Master of the Universe.
“During insta-collapse (which isn’t going to happen)…”
go, jupiviv, go!
that’s telling them!
“It is a slow or should I say *stepwise* collapse (likely), transpiring over years or maybe decades…”
yes!
brilliance!
for years, JMG has been thinking and writing from this perspective.
Look around you – do you see collapse?
I don’t
I see newly minted millionaires every day as the stock markets surge higher.
I see property markets around the planet breaking records every month.
I see a huge swell in prosperity – particularly in Asia — and specifically in China
I see global growth marching upwards year after year.
So the middle class in America and Europe are f789ed… boo f789ing hoo.
That does not mean that the global economy is collapsing.
For a huge number of people (mostly outside of America and Europe) — life has never been so awesome.
Funny how egocentric people are when it comes to standards of living … if your situation is worsening then apparently that qualifies as a step down global collapse.
Collapse comes when the weight on the camel’s back exceeds his spine’s carrying capacity….
When that happens there will be a loud snapping noise… that would be his spine breaking… and he will collapse to the ground with along with his load.
Anyone who cannot understand this….. is without a doubt … a MORE on
“for years, JMG has been thinking and writing from this perspective.”
I don’t share Greer’s perspective. Collapse won’t take the form of a smooth decline because increasing extraction costs, slumping demand etc. don’t work like that.
Instead, it will be a series of attempts (steps) to readjust the priorities of various economies, each having several unintended consequences. This can happen over any stretch of time, depending on the effect of each ‘step’ on the global economy.
What I mean by insta-collapse is FE’s cartoonish vision of the economy swelling up and suddenly bursting without warning.
I think you don’t realize that Greer doesn’t foresee a “smooth decline”…
for years, he’s been writing about a “stair step” decline, with varying smaller or larger steps, and some partial recovery between down steps.
being highly more learned and scholarly than Darth Eddy (and me and most of the rest of us), JMG has a perspective that I value.
John Michael Greer (born 1962) is an American New Age author who writes on the environment, various religions, and occult topics.
He served from December 2003 to December 2015 as the Grand Archdruid of the Ancient Order of Druids in America [1], and since then has focused on the Druidical Order of the Golden Dawn [2], which he founded in 2013.[1][2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michael_Greer
http://www.controverscial.com/John_M1.jpg
Let’s just leave it at that… no silly comments… no laughter…. no mockery…..
‘swelling up and suddenly bursting without warning’
Exactly.
sure, Eddy, he has some ideas which are probably strange to most people…
I don’t read his stuff for those strange topics…
it’s absolutely laughable that you would try to put him in some mental category below your own…
I mean that literally…
your posts are FEEBLE when compared to his past 10 years of blogs…
so, Feeble Eddy…
how does it feel?
It feels like….
If someone believes that at some point BAU does not implode …. even after they saw what nearly happened in 2008 …..
And they dress in like some kinda f789ing wizard…..
Well… to be brutally honest…. it feels like ….
Time to
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/LGN3KnaT7to/maxresdefault.jpg
Welcome to the Fast Eddy show…. where we mock and ridicule Stooopid MORE ons….. and we don’t stop there…. Re ta rds are not off limits….
I know I know…. it’s not nice to make fun of the feeble minded…. it’s like fishing with dynamite right?
But in my defense…. the feeble minded that we feature on The FE Show…. are so f789ing clueless…. that they don’t even realize they are being mocked…. they can be mocked for hours on end… weeks… months….. and still they keep coming back for more….
I am convinced that they enjoy it….
Madame Fast does this dance class thingy …. and one of the ladies is some form of r e ta rd…. like a Mongo or something like that …. quite harmless (although you need to watch out for the male Mongos…. they probably should all be cauterized before puberty…) ….
She has no f789ing idea what the steps are ….but she loves it…. and she just wanders up on the stage thinking she’s Beyonce …. and flails around …. very very amusing….
Nobody laughs of course…. but even if they did…. she’d probably interpret that as applause…. and it would encourage her to flop around completely off beat for even longer…..
Maybe I should invite her onto the FE show …. she could flop around on FE … I am not sure if she can speak though — HEY M FAST….. you know that ….. can she speak? Yes…. she sometimes make sense…. she’s like a kid….. how old a kid? …. looks at the ceiling … like a 7 year old?
Yes yes — perfect I must bring her on …. she would fit right in with the rest of the f789ing r e tard s here.
(Btw – If M Fast sees this… I am f789ing dead….)
Feeble Eddy…
I think that one might just stick.
FE
You dont make fun of handicapped.
Unless, maybe, if they drool.
What I mean by insta-collapse is FE’s cartoonish vision of the economy swelling up and suddenly bursting without warning.
That’s exactly what will happen when the global economy collapses. — Most likely at free fall speed into its own footprint and leaving the survivors wondering whether it was a controlled demolition.
Why? Because we are currently witnessing controlled propping up, buttressing and underpinning of the system by means of continuously increasing elastic debt to prevent things in the core from collapsing a bit at a time. And when the elastic becomes stretched too far, we will hear a giant snapping sound.
Another way of envisioning the process is more and more IOUs being loaded onto the proverbial camel’s back.
For some it is slow collapse. Venezuela is slow collapsing. I don’t consider Greece collapsing, but maybe they are a small step down.
So unless you are at the very core you will probably enjoy slow collapse.
Plenty of countries have ‘collapsed’ in the past…. plenty of people’s lives have ‘collapsed’ in the past….
Nothing new there….
The real collapse will be when the lights go off.. everywhere… and as you point out … that happens when one of the core TBTF countries snaps the camel’s back
Finally, one one of the more realistic assessments over-here..
As you mention in opening paragraph, It’s true that any kind of “re-balancing” of state/gov subsidies towards elderly, sick – other unfortunates and or including crumbling/unreliable long distance infrastructure, means in today’s world rather swift demographic reshuffle. That’s in the end less people to feed, keep warm, ward off during uprisings etc. And obviously, factions within and around mil/police/rescue forces would staff the new power elite, occasionally mixed up with some remnants of the old elites..
That has been general collapse “rulebook 101” anyways..
The urban hordes will be a concern — how many people live within a half a tank of gas of your farm…. that’s how many potential raiders you will have to deal with….
However I would be more concerned about my immediate neighbours…. we live in a very quiet fairly remote area …. but there are a couple of dozen people living withing a 5 minute walk of our property — some have big food gardens (watered by electric pumps….) … but many have no gardens at all…. if I were get serious about planting our garden — I would not be able to feed the 4 people in our house…..
But those dozens will be at the gate…. expecting me so share… some of these people are good friends….
Then within a 45 minute walk … there are perhaps another 5000 people….. mostly living in the town — no gardens… they know where the gardens are though…..
It does not take a very high level of intelligence to recognize the futility of prepping.
My view on prepping is there is going to have to be some cooperation or it is futile. I too live in a rural area. I have a large garden, greenhouse, root cellar, fruit trees, livestock. I enjoy the lifestyle. I too have neighbors within walking distance who don’t have a garden. If it comes down to every man for himself I’m out of here. I have a shotgun that I use to dispatch the occasional woodchuck and I would use it as a last line of defense if necessary. But I am not investing in a huge arsenal. At age 58 my best years are behind me anyway.
Keep posting those images Eddy. Very entertaining.
I thought about the neighbour thing before abandoning the prep phase…..
Would I be willing to turn away a neighbour who was hungry?
Would I be able to put a bullet in his head?
…… and I said to Madame Fast — why not …. survival of the fittest and all that eh? eH? EH???????
And Madame said …. Fast how could you do that — these are our friends — they have welcomed us poor refugees into their country…..
And then she complained that her one leg was longer than the other…..
So no — I will not shoot my neighbours… in fact I will not sit in the box with a shotgun …. I will open the box up and share the contents….
However when the bad guys inevitably attempt to hijack the party ….
I’m signed up for the last stand….
http://s2.storage.akamai.coub.com/get/b92/p/coub/simple/cw_timeline_pic/58796d62a96/f9393645d6bfd056943dd/big_1471491553_image.jpg
Prepping means a more peaceful death. Dying from a bullet in the head defending your preps will be much less painful than from dying from starvation. Dying from hunger is a long drawn out death.
Agreed in that respect…. that’s why I don’t bother spending my time pulling weeds and shoveling manure…. because the end game is a bullet in a head trying to defend what cannot be defended…
Instead I have a fully loaded:
https://www.abrichards.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/dimensions_start_20_merged.jpg
Now if you were serious about surviving….. and did not believe in the Spent Fuel Pond devil….. or the epidemics of deadly diseases….
Would you not be better off not advertising ‘Food Available Here – Come and Get It’ by growing a garden full of vegetables?
Isn’t that like putting up bill board ‘Come and kill me and steal this food’ — or ‘I know how to grow food – make me your slave’
Would it not be a better idea to keep it all low key — store a year’s food in your container… stick a green crop in you garden … hide away … and wait for everyone to die … then return to your garden… and get your crop started?
And what happens if BAU ends and it is not harvest time? Again … a 20ft container would come in handy … as you wait it out
Even better —- why not buy a good sized sail boat and stock that with food … and wait off shore for the dying to play out….
BSFP (before spend fuel ponds) …. I considered the sail boat … but madame fast hates boats… and she vetoed my efforts to purchase one….
This is actually one of the worst ideas possible … in terms of preparing for the end of BAU… it cannot be defended…. it will be overrun…..
http://mainstreampreppers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/MEN-FM10-firsthand-lead-672×372.jpg
Dear jupiviv;
Did I mention that you sound like a smart guy?
No amount of abuse from cowardly, ignorant eddie is slowing you down. Way to go.
Double DelusiSTANI!
Thanks. I’m not really bothered by hostile online strangers, though.
That’s the thing with DelusiSTANIS…. technically they don’t have brains…. well… they have this thing called a pea … pea brain…… so nothing bothers them…
Facts? Logic? What are those?
The DelusiSTANI brain has very little horsepower…. just enough to make sure they breathe regularly…. it keeps their hearts pumping…. and it tells them to eat….. all those basic functions needed to stay alive….
But there is not enough computing power left over to make their eyelids blink…. this allows you to identify a DelusiSTANI>… they look like humans but they don’t blink… they never blink….
F789ing weird eh?
As for logic and reasoning …. fawgetaboutit….. you can’t even train the f789ers to fetch a ball….
So they are not as smart as a below average dog…..
My experiments with them indicate they are about as intelligent as a parrot…. and like parrots they are very good and repeating things…. particularly if they are put in front of a TV and they listen to the same things over and over again….
For instance if you ran endless stories about xxx xxxx they would be able to — verbatim – repeat exactly what they heard on the TV.
See the image on the bottom right corner? That’s the size of a DelusiSTANI’s brain.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/images/2016/06/160613153411_1_900x600.jpg
And when you show a DelusiSTANI this … with a brief explanation
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/05/realestate/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O-videoSixteenByNine1050-v2.jpg
they respond like this
http://andyandjanine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/dont-understand.jpg
And then they go back to repeating what the stuff they saw on the TV about xxx xxxxxx
Fortunately they don’t carry any dangerous diseases and they don’t bite…. they are just useless sacks of skin and bone and guts….
I am thinking of getting one for a pet….
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/md_WCN5XZdI/maxresdefault.jpg
Seems like there may be an unfortunate side using that firearm in a self defense situation. That is you’re going to want to hear every pin drop to locate the assailants and fire as needed, but with a gun like that you’ll potentially do damage to your hearing. Of course it’s better to have some ringing in your ears for a few days or even permanently lose some hearing to protect yourself in a life and death situation but I wonder if it’s necessary. For one consider the mess to clean up and all the products you’d need to do that right.
I figure it this way. We’ve got what we need inside the house, so the last thing I’m going to do is go outside where I could get shot. So I figure if they really want our cache of supplies and food, they’ll have to come inside. In this case a hand gun with a plastic bottle w/the end cut off affixed to the muzzle will act like a suppressor and the smaller firearm works better up close and personal, like within 15 feet. The mess from that won’t be anything like from a shotgun. I also have a pain inducer, a handheld device that delivers pain via an electric shock. If someone’s unarmed I might just opt for that but shoot if necessary with the firearm in the other hand. That way there’s less noise and stuff to clean up later if there’s no ordinance used. I’m also going to carry zip strips under my belt to fasten limbs together to control movement.
https://futurism.com/tesla-building-bigger-battery-australia/
“Tesla May Be Building an Even Bigger Battery in Australia”
Even bigger than the one that provided less than one hour of storage for a single wind farm for 50 million bucks?
Wow, I’m impressed. Maybe this time they’ll get one full hour of intermittency relief… For one wind farm.
Biggest Cushing Stock Draw On Record
U.S. crude stocks drop, led by record outflow from Cushing hub: EIA
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-oil-eia/u-s-crude-stocks-drop-led-by-record-outflow-from-cushing-hub-eia-idUSKBN1F728N
If these large stock draws keep happening, especially in the face of record tight production, we may get to $100/barrel oil sooner then April
The drawdawn of 6.9 million barrels is equivalent to about 1 million barrels a day. That is a lot. Since June, we have drawing down a lot of oil. I am wondering if there is something funny going on in the production data.
Could it be creative accounting? Falsify records to juice the price, then later incrementally adjust records moving forward until they match actual amounts.
I wouldn’t rule out market manipulation. However, we are due for an oil crunch.
Oddly despite the very bullish inventory draw oil prices are actually down slightly. Traders are evidently expecting a flood of new US shale oil coming on line soon.
70% of the expected surge is from the Permian alone, which seems to be the last good play going for the oil industry in North America. It would be interesting to see the rig count too.
US shale oil output poised to surge above 6.5 million barrels a day in February
This is a copy of the latest “Drilling Productivity Report” the EIA put out for the Permian Basin. https://www.eia.gov/petroleum/drilling/pdf/permian.pdf It sees a tripling of rig count, from under 132 rigs in April 2016 to over 400 in early 2018.
Looking at Baker Hughes detail data, oil drilling rigs in Texas for the Permian basin have increased as follows
April 2016 116
December 2016 230
June 2017 312
Jan 2018 323
So, in Texas, most of the increase in Permian Basin rig count came prior to June 2017. Someone figured out they were reaching a saturation point.
In New Mexico, Permian Basin rig counts increased as follows
April 2016 15
December 2016 34
June 2017 58
Jan 2018 80
New Mexico rig counts have increased a lot more since June 2017 than Texas rig counts. I would expect more of the recent increase in production to be in New Mexico than in Texas.
The Texas Rail Road Commission is reporting an increase in Permian Basin production in Texas. This is a chart from the RRC website.
I would expect the “ultimate” 2017 production for Texas Permian basin oil to be somewhat higher than 1.6 million barrels per day. Perhaps it might be as high as 1.8 million barrels per day.
This is the forecast of total future US oil production, made nearly a year ago by the EIA, split between tight oil and other. (Update expected in February 2018.)
The way the EIA assumes that this will happen is through oil prices rising enough to encourage more drilling by tight oil operators.
Tripling of rigs? A Red Queen effect right there.
https://media.licdn.com/mpr/mpr/AAEAAQAAAAAAAAwhAAAAJDgwMjUxMDgwLWRmY2YtNGI5Ni04ZGY5LWQ3ZWIxZTgwZjE5Ng.jpg
I am very much suspicious that exactly the Red Queen effect is taking place. Texas’ oil production doesn’t seem to be up much at all, when crude and natural gas liquids are added together. Eagle Ford Shale production seems to be off substantially, but this doesn’t seem to be reflected in the EIA forecast.
New Mexico’s production will take a while to ramp up, but it is hard to believe it will do much more than offset declines elsewhere.
I wonder if the reason why we are drawing down petroleum stocks so quickly is because US oil production really is not rising any more, even with all of the additional drilling. It may even be falling since mid-2017, given how rapidly stocks are falling. But I am not sure I have enough data to prove it. And with EIA data disappearing offline at midnight, it doesn’t give a lot of opportunity to use the data.
The only organization putting together world forecasts of stock drawdowns seems to be the IEA. But its drawdowns don’t match up with the pattern we are actually seeing.
Also, I never did figure out where on the EIA web site that CNBC got the data points for the “Gee Whiz” Permian Basin projections. The graph seems to imply that for the year 2017, Permian Basin oil production amounted to about 2.5 million barrels per day. If Texas’s 2017 Permian Basin oil production is 1.8 million barrels per day, on average (or even 1.9 million barrels), that is expecting quite a bit from New Mexico. New Mexico’s total oil production (mostly Permian) for October 2017 was reported as 528,000 barrels per day, so it may be “sort of” possible.
BTW:
I was at the gunsmiths yesterday, and the place was crowded … hardly room to walk. Ok, there were 10 guys there. But 8 of them were obviously Amish. They were buying hand guns.
@Pintada, a word on censorship – Gail doesn’t censor every post manually, if that is your impression. There’s some kind of auto filter which may or may not be customizable by Gail which holds posts in “quarantine” until she clears them. It seems Gail does/can not prevent the filter from catching words like “k-ill” or “su-prema-cist”. The way to avoid having your comment quarantined is to misspell loaded/un-PC words. The only problem is that the filter’s dictionary of un-PC words makes no fracking sense whatsoever.
And good luck to them defending this from the hordes…. (who will also have guns)
https://aisforamishbuggyrides.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/AmishFarmTour-2.jpg
https://ssl.c.photoshelter.com/img-get/I0000j7x80zNGDZs/s/600/600/AGB-07-TW732-009.jpg
https://foodfreedom.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/freerange-cattle.png
https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3771/33078499781_9e860c1717_m.jpg
World Champion 3 – Pintada 0.
Maybe we should play darts instead? Let me go first…
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/21/1e/0c/211e0c049bb0feec13f35a69fa7086fc.jpg
Your turn….
it must indeed be getting toward the end when the Amish start buying hand guns. BTW, regarding loud noise from shotguns, I can attest to the hearing loss, unfortunately (too much small game hunting with no ear protection). however, those guns are very lethal and you don’t have to be good shot to hit something within their range. if you are using those types of guns in self-defense, the last thing to worry about is long-term heading loss.
I might even take up smoking again.
Ah, we are not allowed to say “die by their own hand” in the typical way. I get it.
Good questions.
Little known fact:
It’s impossible to complain and be happy at the same time.
If you have “issues” with the comment section, contact our host. Gail even has her phone number on here.
Edit: Oh never mind
Spent fuel ponds… now xxxxx
You are down 2-0.
What shall we debate next?
And….
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3 continued
Yup, those ignorant entitled white men who didn’t have the ambition, intelligence, or courage to do any preparation, that vowed to die by their own hand at the end (but obviously do not have the guts), those are the ones that will be at my gate.
Or perhaps it is those who tried preparation, but had bad luck with insects or rainwater or broken water pump. That could be you.
Or maybe they just realize that prepping is futile… and decide to spend their time doing other things?
Show me a person who is unwilling to admit they were wrong – and change course— and I will show you an id iot.
3. Truth be known, if you want a look at someone that will be raiding peoples farms, all you need to do is look in the mirror.
YES!!!
I think I mentioned previously that my neighbour has around half a dozen large beef cows on his property. He uses electric fences… so post BAU they will wander onto our property —- and I will put a 308 calibre bullet into each of their heads.
World Champion 5 – Pintada 1.
Congratulations! If you will admit xxx is a ho ax…. I will subtract 2 from my score.
2. If i read the gang tats correctly, those guys are from LA, and they are in jail. I don’t live in – or near – LA.
What was I thinking…. the only bad guys in America are in LA…. and they are all in jail.
Let’s ask the referee if you should get a point for that …..
https://joeyfullystated.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/ridiculous2.gif
1. I have no fear of people like those pictured because they remind me of many of my in-laws and nephews.
Dear Fast Eddie;
I saw on 1/17 @ 4:46PM your declaration that you are scared of brown people, particularly brown people with good bodies. Fear not little man!
Ive said it before, and here it is again:
Cowardice appears to me to be an inability to see truth from fiction, reality from lies, and so the most cowardly among us are the ones that don’t realize how ignorant and dull witted they actually are. There is no point in rehearsing all the incredibly absurd things cowardly Eddie is afraid of but which do not exist. I’ll just explain why i have no fear of the brown skinned people pictured.
‘good bodies’ – are you talking about men with ‘good bodies’
What are you trying to say?
China’s local government debt growth almost doubles in 2017
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/business/chinas-local-government-debt-growth-almost-doubles-in-2017/articleshow/62552288.cms
biggest threat to india is high oil price for ex
my cousin brother who work for banks was say if oil price goes to 100 dollar
the banks will collapse
even our politician are talking about impact of high oil price on economy
http://www.financialexpress.com/economy/subramanian-swamy-says-economy-is-heading-for-depression-claims-warning-govt-last-may/860618/
Interesting.
According to BP, India depends heavily on imports for oil (Consumption 212.7 MTOE in 2016; Production 40.2 MTOE, or Production 19% of Consumption in 2016).
The lower prices of oil since 2014 have helped India’s economy. Its oil imports seem to have surged with the lower prices. If prices should go up, I agree it has a big problem. India seems to be past “peak oil.” Its production declines ever year. So as it grows, its import bill grows, even at the same price.
India is also past peak on natural gas, and its consumption of natural gas has dropped.
This leaves coal and expensive renewables as the energy types of choice.
How to get around a problem of 1.2 billion people in India that will need more and more resources including rising amounts of energy. Situations like that seem untenable even in the short run.
India’s problems don’t stop the IEA from talking about air conditioners for India and other “growth” opportunities. It some forecasts, it is the fastest growing big country in the world.
Just noticed this:
https://m.economictimes.com/industry/transportation/railways/japan-in-drivers-seat-for-indian-bullet-train-deals/amp_articleshow/62548996.cms
More evidence for my earlier prediction about countries like India being the dead canary of BAU. When the outsourcing economies crash (this year or the next I’m guessing), the leaders there certainly won’t be worrying about bullet trains! Even a partial collapse in a densely populated region like India will make Venezuela look paradisal, especially since they apparently have no idea how fracked they are.
biggest threat to india is high oil price for ex
my cousin brother who work for banks was say if oil price goes to 100 dollar
the banks will collapse
even our politician are talking about impact of high oil price on economy
http://www.financialexpress.com/economy/subramanian-swamy-says-economy-is-heading-for-depression-claims-warning-govt-last-may/860618/
Bullet trains seem to need subsidies wherever they go. This article says https://reason.com/archives/2017/09/20/quentin-kopp-bullet-train-flashman/print “Supporters, who claim that most high speed rail systems operate at a profit, use accounting tricks like leaving out construction costs and indirect subsidies. If you tabulate the full costs, only two systems in the world operate at a profit, and one breaks even.” The article links to this study. https://reason.org/wp-content/uploads/files/high_speed_rail_lessons.pdf
Poor people cannot afford to pay a premium to arrive at their destination a bit sooner. The trains certainly cannot be fixed locally, if they break.
China has built high speed rail projects as a way of stimulating the economy. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_China I wonder if that is the primary purpose here–simply to create jobs in building the train and tracks. I expect it will be too expensive to ever operate.
I took the high speed train from the airport in Shanghai – ONCE….. it was sure fast….. but it let me off nowhere near the centre of the city ….. I had to haul my sh it onto the train — then when I got off I had to haul it down some stairs to street level — find a cab…. and drive another 30 minutes to get where I was going ….. if I had taken a cab from the airport the trip would have been only slightly longer….
There were very few people on the train ….. go figure
High speed trains are great ways to make it look like a country is spending money on something useful, but they really accomplish virtually nothing.
Rode the bullet train in Japan. Very effective and comfortable. Very fast. I especially like the speedometer display they had. Significant ridership also.
I rode on a bullet train in Japan, too. There was only room for small brief case or back pack for each person on the train; no room for traditional luggage. People seem to ship their luggage a day or two ahead of time, if they are riding the bullet train. This allows all the revenue to be for passengers, none for luggage. The true cost, if a person has luggage, includes the time and bother of having to ship the luggage ahead. The trains are subsidized in this way, if in no other way. Thus, the train is basically for one-day trips, without the need for luggage.
With the high population density, relatively high incomes, and difficulty of building roads, Japan is probably as good a place as any for high speed trains.
Yes I remember we Americans lugging our suitcases onto the train and then finding no place to put them! Had to stash then near the end, or between the cars somehow.
Well well well…. look what Fast Eddy found.
Ever since the late ‘90s, Leonardo DiCaprio has been talking about a warming atmosphere, rising sea levels, forest fires, and endangered wildlife. His new, free-to-stream documentary, “ Before the Flood ,” is in many ways a culmination of his advocacy.
https://www.beforetheflood.com/
Leonardo DiCaprio Builds an Eco-Resort
A well-known environmental activist, Mr. DiCaprio bought Blackadore Caye, 104 acres of wild, unpopulated land off the coast of Belize, with a partner soon after he set foot in the country a decade ago.
“It was like heaven on earth,” he said, speaking by telephone from Los Angeles. “And almost immediately, I found this opportunity to purchase an island there.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/05/realestate/an-idea-hits-the-beach.html
The PUNCH LINE is coming….. stay tuned….
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1…..
KABOOM!!!!
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/05/realestate/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O-videoSixteenByNine1050-v2.jpg
Holy Jesus Leo …. that’s even closer to sea level than Al’s place….. and how many millions are you planning to spend on that flash concrete ECO — resort????
WTF Leo?
As I do not imagine that Leo reads FW — he is too busy flying around in private jets and partying with hotties on mega yachts….
So maybe one or two of you xxx xxx ers can respond on his behalf…. come on … say something stooooopid… like he’s rich so he can do whatever he wants….
Leonardo DiCaprio’s much-ballyhooed Blackadore Caye Resort off the Atlantic coast of Belize is finally taking shape.
Renderings were unveiled Friday for what the living structures will look like once the property is fully completed (projected for late 2018).
Lead design architect Jean-Michel Gathy, known for his work with Aman and One&Only, drew inspiration from Belize’s ancient Mayan ruins, with minimalist designs that subtly nod to Central American pyramids while remaining resolutely modern—thatched roofs over plenty of natural materials such as wood and marble. There will be 36 residential estate homes and 36 bookable bungalows spread over the island’s 104 acres.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-11-07/leonardo-dicaprio-s-private-island-resort-blackadore-caye-belize
https://assets.bwbx.io/images/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/iaGXUjZfPE0g/v0/-1x-1.jpg
Good to see all the concrete Leo …. how many tonnes?
It’s that time AGAIN!
Time for Fast Eddy to
https://i.ytimg.com/vi/DH_EscT5lZk/maxresdefault.jpg
The titles are piling up … World Champion …. Mr Galaxy…. Mr Universe…. King of Everything, Destroyer of Feeblies, Wrecker of DelusiSTANIS, Logic and Fact Master, Mr Awesome, Mr Wonderful, Mr Everything… and so on…
http://cdn.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/picture/2097689/83575417.gif
http://2.media.collegehumor.cvcdn.com/71/29/fbf55e8da2d515fd195c7f884d6bbfa2-fabulous-touchdown-victory-dance.gif
https://hips.hearstapps.com/ver.h-cdn.co/assets/15/15/1428338513-leodicaprio.jpg
I still can’t believe this …..
I am flabbergasted …. I am speechless…
Al … Leo….. Barrack….. you are sending out the wrong message fellas….
But who am I to criticize eh…. a raging ocean is about 30 metres from my front door…. but like you guys…. I know xxx xxxxx is a ho ax…. so I got a sweet price on this place that was on the market for nearly two years…. with no takers…..
Hey — is that your game — you guys talk the xx xxxxx talk … drive the beach front properties prices down….. then come in with low ball offers?
Now that makes sense….. absolutely brilliant!
Meanwhile, from the Green corner……
http://www.statefansnation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/crickets.gif
They are screaming … without making noise……
https://78.media.tumblr.com/a41aaa9ec7e5529569392be8b8472192/tumblr_nkm0weoabb1smsmqro1_500.gif
If anyone wants to publicly proclaim their rejection of xxx xxx Al Gore, Leo, Obama and the many other false prophets…….
I promise not to say:
http://memecrunch.com/meme/BGO24/i-told-you-so/image.jpg
On the contrary …. you become an ally in the pursuit of truth … and the destruction of DelusiSTAN.
We can use all the allies we can get…. they are many … we are few….
Come forth. Come forth.
Ask not what Fast Eddy can do for you… ask what you can do for Fast Eddy.
http://www.japalangblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/qotd_nov_feature_18.jpg
And just in case anyone has missed the Moment xxx xxx was proved to be a ho ax….. let’s just have a quick recap:
1. Leo Dicaprio one of the main men involved in the xxx xxx movement — who made a documentary ‘Before the Flood’ (as in before the ice melts and the ocean side property is flooded – which his mate Al Gore said would happen within the next 10 years)
2. Recently purchased an island inches above sea level — and is spending millions to build a CONCRETE luxury ECO hotel
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/05/realestate/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O-videoSixteenByNine1050-v2.jpg
According to Fast Eddy’s reasoning, unless 100% of the people who support worldwide heating act 100% rationally, morally, honestly etc. 100% of the time, worldwide heating is a hoax. Let’s apply that to the sustainability of BAU – at least 80% of Fast Eddy’s posts are incorrigible stream-of-consciousness twaddle, so everyone else in the collapse community is a raving lunatic as well.
He certainly fits the mold of crazy sooner. He’s been losing it for years.
Doomer*
Looner?
Question:
Why did Leo buy this
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/05/realestate/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O-videoSixteenByNine1050-v2.jpg
When he has stated that the oceans will rise dramatically within the next decade?
And the xx xxxx woke up … read Fast Eddy’s posts destroying xxx and said:
http://s2.quickmeme.com/img/14/140f7b1e109c56983ed76e23a1d9d118390c16370f3c587aba748cf25e1f6357.jpg
I suppose he bought the island because its now or never. I really don’t think he owns it though. Looks to me like it is owned by the sea. Wonder who the previous “owner” was?
Either he assumes technology will save us or it’s all a joke to drive people nuts.
Fossil fuel burning set to hit record high in 2017, scientists warn
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/nov/13/fossil-fuel-burning-set-to-hit-record-high-in-2017-scientists-warn
And what did his buddy Al Gore say — 7 metre rise within the next decade?
You win a gold medal for coming up with another stuuuupid implausible excuse.
hoax
həʊks/Submit
verb
1. trick or deceive (someone).
You have been ho axed. But you refuse to believe it
It’s simply that you guys don’t appreciate Eddy’s idiosyncratic brand of humor, which weaves together such eclectic influences as John Belushi, John Cleese, Lenny Bruce and Muhammad Ali. Indeed, you don’t even recognize it as humor, because at heart, like 77% of the 99%, you’re suburban, bourgeois conventional, and about as interesting as an evening around the campfire with Guy McPherson.
http://img.picturequotes.com/2/22/21126/i-guess-you-guys-arent-ready-for-that-yet-but-your-kids-are-gonna-love-it-quote-1.jpg
Some humor but mostly intangible glossilalia. And I’m pretty damn interesting and entertaining myself but don’t really care to share either of those qualities right now. And I don’t care. I’m really only responding because I’m in the bathroom right now.
Would you like me to write a few lines for you? I could even borrow your handle and post as if I were you. There would be fees involved….
Here come the stoooopid excuses! (as expected)
Let’s refresh :
1. Leo is a huge proponent of stopping xxx xxx – he speaks at the UN – at KKK CCC conferences — on TV — and he (like Al Gore) is urging us to act because – among other things — we are causing the glaciers to melt and the oceans to rise so that in less than a decade — coastal cities around the planet – will be UNDER WATER
2. Leo buys an island that is a few inches above sea level – then invests many millions of dollars into building a concrete eco resort on said island.
https://static01.nyt.com/images/2015/04/05/realestate/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O/20150405COVER-slide-LZ8O-videoSixteenByNine1050-v2.jpg
XXXX XXXX is a
http://beyondthehorizon.com.pk/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/hoax.jpg
Let us turn now to Mark Twain and his great wisdom:
http://thequotes.in/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/Mark-Twain-Quote-12.jpg
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NyLjPTTwey8/VSxBJIPJWuI/AAAAAAAATpE/rILodvRnAw0/s1600/twain.jpg
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f9/43/cb/f943cb2cdee9045183b23ea902117b54.jpg
O ccult Stuff
The oil price started to collapse on Summer Solstice 2014. It then spent three years in its grave before its resurrection. The oil price started to rise again on Summer Solstice 2017.
There is something magic about the Sun.
At the Detroit Auto Show, the Autonomous Car Dream Is Still a Way Off
https://www.technologyreview.com/the-download/610004/at-the-detroit-auto-show-the-autonomous-car-dream-is-still-a-way-off/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=2018-01-17&utm_campaign=Technology+Review
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-42728251
More information on that Iranian oil tanker that sank in Chinese waters. It was loaded with condensate, the same thin junk they pull out after fracking. This stuff in the water is colorless.