Most people seem to think that the world economy is going through a temporary disruption, caused by a novel coronavirus. As soon as COVID-19 goes away, they expect the economy will be back to normal. I think that this assessment is overly optimistic. The way I see the situation, the world economy was already having severe growth problems, caused indirectly by resource problems, even before COVID-19 hit.
In a growing world economy, a person might expect that workers would be getting richer, so that they could afford an increasing quantity of goods and services. What we really see is something very different. The number of new automobiles sold was falling in many major countries long before COVID-19 hit, even as population was generally rising. Clearly, something was seriously wrong.
As I see the situation, the world has a resource problem. Resources of many kinds, including fresh water, energy products, and minerals of many kinds were becoming more difficult (and expensive) to extract, even before 2020. Substitution might have worked if the problem were only one or two resources, but not with several major resources. Cutting back was the only answer.
Thus, the shutdowns for COVID-19 came at a convenient time, allowing economies that were already doing poorly to shut down. Needless to say, there was no world leader who was willing to explain this hidden issue to the world population. Instead, world leaders used standardized code words such as “we need to move to renewables” or “we need to reduce carbon use by 2050 to prevent climate change.” Unfortunately, the ability to move to alternatives in this time frame is simply an illusion, allowing world leaders to avoid mentioning the serious resource issues that the world economy is really facing.
I expect that within a few months, a new crisis of some sort (perhaps financial) will come along, further reducing resource use. This will happen, whether or not the problem of the novel coronavirus is solved. In this post, I will try to explain the situation.
[1] The world’s economy is a self-organizing system, powered by the laws of physics. It requires a mix of resources, including energy resources, to operate.
The laws of physics require that energy be “dissipated” whenever activities we associate with generating GDP take place. For example, if a person is to drive a truck, he/she will need to eat food for his/her own personal energy. This food is “dissipated” by digestion. If the truck is to transport goods, it will need to burn some type of fuel, such as diesel. This fuel is dissipated by burning. If a computer is to operate, it will need to dissipate electricity. If a room (or a liquid) is to be heated or cooled, some sort of energy dissipation will be required.
The world economy grows in a very orderly manner. It gradually adds population, as more babies are born than people die. All of these people need food and fresh water; they also need some type of housing and clothing to protect them from the elements. Ideally, they need some type of transportation in addition to walking. Businesses are formed to enable access to goods and services that fill these needs. Governments are also formed to provide services used by all and to regulate the system. A financial system is formed to facilitate transactions, among other things.
The world economy cannot slow down and quickly restart. This is especially the case for an economy that had already started slowing, even before the 2020 pandemic. If not enough resources of the right kinds were available to enable true economic growth before the pandemic, it is hard to see how the situation would be very much improved a year later.
One key to understanding how a self-organizing economy works is to understand that the economy is multi-sided. Businesses need to make an adequate profit, to continue in operation. Workers need to earn an adequate wage to raise a family. Customers need affordable prices. Shortages of inexpensive-to-extract resources can lead to many different problems: lack of profitability for producers, or too much wage disparity among workers, or too high prices for customers. Resource shortages can also lead to people with inadequate wages wanting to migrate. They can also lead to empty shelves in stores.
[2] Depleted coal mines near population centers in China have adversely affected the Chinese economy more than it tells the outside world.
China joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in December 2001. The Kyoto Protocol mandated that 37 industrialized nations cut their greenhouse gas emissions. More than 100 developing countries, including China and India, were exempt from the treaty. This combination of events allowed China to greatly ramp up its economy, building many new roads, factories and housing units from concrete, with little competition from the 37 industrialized economies.
China had very large coal resources, which it ramped up (Figure 2). Of course, this greatly increased world coal consumption, an effect precisely the opposite of the stated purpose of the Kyoto Protocol–to reduce world CO2 emissions.
The problem that China ran into about 2013 was that its coal mines, especially those near population centers, began depleting. The cost of extraction started rising because the thickest coal seams, closest to the surface, were badly depleted. In theory, there was still a great deal more coal available from those mines if the price would rise sufficiently high. Coal from new mines that were more distant from population centers might also be used if the price would rise high enough to include overland transport costs.
Coal prices didn’t rise to match the higher cost of production. If they had risen, they would have raised the cost of many goods manufactured for export, making these industries less profitable. Because coal prices stayed too low for coal producers, over 70% of China’s coal companies were reported to be unprofitable by the first half of 2014.
China closed unprofitable mines and added new mines at more distant locations. China’s coal production has struggled in recent years. A constant problem has been keeping coal prices high enough to cover the rising cost of extraction and delivery to population centers. There are recent indications that coal supply is inadequate: Parts of China experienced rolling blackouts in the winter of 2020-2021, and warnings have been given to expect possible electricity shortages this summer. China has been accepting few coal imports, largely because it wants to keep its local prices sufficiently high that its own coal producers can be profitable.
China uses coal in many ways, including generating electricity, making steel, and manufacturing cement, which is the most important ingredient in concrete. Concrete is used in producing roads, bridges and buildings of all types, including high rise buildings used in many places in China.
Figure 3 shows that China’s cement production fell at a time similar to that at which coal production “flattened out.” This would not be surprising if a shortage of coal led China to cut back on its use of cement in order to save coal for electricity production.
China, like other countries, has been seeing its population rise. Figure 4 shows coal and cement amounts for China on a per capita basis. This approach shows that, viewed on a per person basis, both coal consumption and concrete production have been falling since about 2013-2014. In fact, coal consumption began to fall slightly before cement production, suggesting that the fall in coal consumption is the cause of the fall in cement production.
[3] A decrease in new home building in the United States after 2008, as well as the recent difficulty in ramping construction back up again, are further evidence that the world is reaching resource limits of some kind.
Figure 5, above, shows that the number of new single-family housing units, relative to population, dropped dramatically after late 2005, early 2006. (This was when US Federal Reserve target interest rates rose, leading to higher borrowing costs for both builders and purchasers.) New home building plunged before and during the Great Recession. Building of new units has not ramped up very much, since then.
Even in 2020 and early 2021, the number of new units being started is very low by historical standards. It certainly wouldn’t be surprising if a lack of resources is part of what is depressing new home production. It may also be causing the spurt in resource prices (for example, lumber and copper) when new-home production does try to ramp up.
[4] World oil production seems to be falling for the same reason that China’s coal production stopped growing: Prices are too low for producers because of depletion issues. Oil producers cannot make an adequate profit, so they are reducing production.
World crude oil production was at its highest level ever in 2018. It has fallen ever since.
Figure 7 shows that oil production has been falling in many parts of the world in recent years.
The shining star of crude oil production, at least until recently, has been the United States with its shale oil production.
Unfortunately, with low prices, US shale oil is unprofitable. Shale production fell in 2020, and indications for the year 2021 are down as well.
Worldwide, the oil industry seems to require a price of $120 per barrel or more to make investment in new production profitable, and current prices are far below this. Part of this high price is required to provide adequate tax revenue for oil exporting countries that are dependent on this revenue.
[5] Relative to population, worldwide oil and coal consumption reached its highest level in 2007. It has fallen recently.
Figure 9 shows that on a per capita basis, combined oil and coal consumption reached its highest level in 2007 and dipped during the Great Recession. It reached somewhat of a plateau in the 2011 to 2013 period, but started slipping in 2014 and had fallen ever since. Those who follow oil prices closely will notice that combined oil and coal consumption per capita tends to be high when oil prices are high relative to other goods; consumption tends to be low when oil prices are low. The lower per capita oil and coal consumption since 2007 would be expected to hold back the production of “goods” of many kinds, including houses, automobiles, roads and electrical transmission lines.
The “All Other” category is really not a stand-alone category. It depends on oil and coal for its pipelines and electrical transmission, among other things. Without concrete bases, it would be difficult to have wind turbines. Solar panels without steel supports wouldn’t work well either. In theory, if a huge amount of transition were done, perhaps steel and concrete could be produced in reasonable quantities with only the “All Other” types of energy, but someone would need to figure out precisely how this could be accomplished, including the timeframe required.
[6] Inadequate fresh water supplies are a problem in many parts of the world.
The standard approach to getting fresh water has been to tap underground aquifers and tap them at rates far greater than they are refreshed. In some places, this leads to saltwater intrusion; in others, it leads to a falling water table. Some examples of areas with water problems include California, Saudi Arabia, India, China, and Cuba.
There are ways to work around these problems:
- Digging deeper wells
- Piping fresh water from a distance, nearly always uphill
- Desalination
Implementing any of these workarounds for water shortages takes energy of different kinds, mostly coal (to make steel) and oil (for transporting goods and extracting metal ores). These workarounds make the cost of fresh water higher. Higher water costs are especially a problem for agriculture and for poor families, struggling with budgets that cover little more than the price of food and water.
If fixes for the fresh water supply problem cannot be found, irrigation will need to be cut back. Such a change would likely lead to a fall in world food supply.
[7] We are probably kidding ourselves if we think that production of semiconductor chips can be ramped up significantly in the future.
China is now a major producer for rare earth minerals, and it is practically the only processor of rare earth minerals. Semiconductor chips are created using rare earth minerals, water and huge amounts of heat in an exceptionally clean environment. The leading producer of chips is Taiwan, using raw materials from China. There is a long lead time required for building new factories. My concern arises because of the resource issues China and the rest of the world is facing.
We use semiconductor chips in many things, including computers, cell phones, automobiles and “smart” appliances. Without a ramp up in semiconductor chip production, many high-tech dreams for the future will likely remain only dreams.
[8] With a falling supply of coal and oil per capita and inadequate fresh water in many parts of the world, we have already reached the point where some types of “optional” activities need to be cut back.
An early optional activity that was cut back on was recycling. Oil prices fell in 2014, making the recycling of many types of goods, especially plastics, non-economic because the resale value of recycled products dropped with oil prices. China cut back greatly on its recycling efforts, effective January 1, 2018. Other countries have followed suit. China’s cutbacks on recycling allowed it to save its coal supplies (which were no longer growing, see Figures 2 and 4) for other activities that had the possibility of being more profitable.
In early 2020, cutbacks associated with the pandemic gave the world economy some “breathing room” with respect to resource shortages. Cutbacks in travel left more oil for other uses. Oil prices could drop back. This was especially helpful to countries that are big importers of oil, such as those in Figure 10, below. It is not surprising that some of the countries with the biggest oil import problems have been the most enthusiastic about travel cutbacks related to COVID-19.
[9] The world economy has a very serious resource problem. There seem to be three different approaches to hiding the problem, none of which will really solve the problem.
The serious problem that the world economy is encountering is the fact that the supply of both coal and oil are running short, especially when viewed on a per capita basis. The world is also very short of fresh water. China is affected as much, or more than, other countries by these problems. As a result, China’s future growth prospects are likely quite low, even though few are expecting this change. Without a continued strong forward “pull” from China, the world economy may be headed for “collapse,” a condition which has affected many civilizations in the past.
There seem to be three different approaches to doing something about the world’s resource limits problem, without mentioning the nature of the real underlying problem:
[a] Develop a “fear of future climate change” story by creating models that assume we have huge amounts of fossil fuels that can be burned in the future, even though the evidence is very much the opposite: We are “running out” of coal and oil right now, but in a different way than economists have theorized (low price, rather than high price). At the same time, argue that a transition to renewables (particularly intermittent wind and solar) is possible in the next 30 years. The fact that essential minerals for such a change, including copper and lithium, are themselves in short supply relative to the incredibly large quantities required, is overlooked. No one stops to calculate the true cost, measured in energy products and other materials, required by such a transition, either.
[b] Create a “fear of the coronavirus” story, and use it to keep people inside and away from traveling as much as possible. Emphasize the possibility of mutations. If people cut back on traveling, it saves oil. If they cut back on eating out and large celebrations such as weddings, it reduces food wastage. If a pandemic takes place, politicians can use it as an excuse to mitigate problems of many kinds:
- Reduce the need for imported oil, by keeping citizens at home
- Keep factories closed, without disclosing that the factories could not really operate at full capacity because of inadequate orders or missing raw materials
- Use shutdowns to keep order in areas disrupted by uprisings related to low wages
- Hide the problem of many failing stores and businesses behind a new “temporary” problem
- Give the politician a new sense of control with new rules related to the epidemic
It is disturbing that back in 2010, the Rockefeller Foundation was looking at using pandemics to control people when the foundation was examining possible workarounds for too large a population relative to resources.
[c] Hide the existing resource problem with more debt, to the extent possible. In fact, having a circulating coronavirus has assisted in this effort because everyone can see the need for more debt on a temporary basis, “until this problem goes away.” Of course, the resource problem is not going away, which means the world is likely headed for serious financial problems when the economy tries to ramp up again. See my post, Headed for a Collapsing Debt Bubble.
[10] My expectation is that the world economy will try to bounce back from this pandemic, but it won’t really be able to bounce back.
There really aren’t enough resources of any kind to pull the world economy much farther forward. A day of reckoning seems to be coming, probably in the next few months. The financial system looks like it is the weakest link. If the world economy dramatically slows, borrowers will not be able to repay debt with interest. There may be rapid shifts in currency relativities, disrupting derivatives markets. International trade will become less and less possible, perhaps taking place only among a few trusted partners.
We seem to be headed for a rapidly changing world economy, and unfortunately not for the better.
Alice Friedemann, just posted a thought provoking book reviews on an interesting topic that some here may wish to read..
https://energyskeptic.com/
Preface. This is a book review of “A short history of Drunkenness” by Mark Forsyth, mainly my kindle notes.
I expect alcohol to be a big part of life postcarbon not only because most cultures have embraced alcohol, but to drown the sorrows and memories of the time when we lived likes Gods & Goddesses during the brief oil age. Plus for those of you around after fossils, this is yet another way to make a living if being a farmer isn’t appealing.
Taxation of alcohol is also how governments pay for wars, elites grow rich, and a large role in many religions:
“There is, in the Western world, no tradition of religious drunkenness. But it is a practice found across history and across the globe. From Mexico to the Pacific islands to Ancient China there is or has been drunken mysticism, god found at the bottom of a bottle.
The sway of alcohol over mankind is unquestionably due to its power to stimulate the mystical faculties of human nature, usually crushed to earth by the cold facts and dry criticisms of the sober hour. Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes. It is in fact the great exciter of the Yes function in man. It brings its votary from the chill periphery of things to the radiant core. It makes him for the moment one with truth. Not through mere perversity do men run after it. To the poor and the unlettered it stands in the place of symphony concerts and of literature. The drunken consciousness is one bit of the mystic consciousness.”
Drunkenness is near universal. Almost every culture in the world has booze. The only ones that weren’t too keen—North America and Australia—have been colonized by those who were. And at every time and in every place, drunkenness is a different thing. It’s a celebration, a ritual, an excuse to hit people, a way of making decisions or ratifying contracts, and a thousand other peculiar practices. When the Ancient Persians had a big political decision to make they would debate the matter twice: once drunk, and once sober. If they came to the same conclusion both times, they acted.
History books like to tell us that so-and-so was drunk, but they don’t explain the minutiae of drinking. Where was it done? With whom? At what time of day? Drinking has always been surrounded by rules, but they rarely get written down. In present-day Britain, for example, though there is no law in place, absolutely everybody knows that you must not drink before noon, except, for some reason, in airports and at cricket matches.
Much more posted in the link and I, myself, will acquire a copy to read…
Remember during the collapse of the Soviet Union an societal spike in drunkenness and alcoholism.
Might be a nice cottage industry business to establish now for after the SHTF….
Thank you for the new post article, Gail, lots of insights of what we all must deal with in the years ahead…
Good idea. II would add pot and mushrooms to your inventory.
Well, from my stupid german perspective I want to add this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6bekli_Tepe
This place has been a party place for centuries.
It was found that they brewed beer there for the party.
Breweing beer continously evolved to farming.
Whatever: The place was burried.
Yes.
Intentionally!
I dunno by the hunterers or by the grain growers.
One thing is certain: the burrial of this place is a form of censorship.
Oh man. 12500 years?
Nothing is in the way of true knowledge, no?
@Fast: it does not even matter nill if NASA went to the moon because we lost track at least 12000 years ago and that can never be recovered.
Get on with it!
God is great.
Beer is good.
Peple are stupid:
Yours
MM
“There is, in the Western world, no tradition of religious drunkenness.”
Uh, Mardi Gras? Irish wakes? Purim?
Alcohol helps make not entirely clean water drinkable. Another option is to boil the water, but that takes fuel.
Alcohol is also a way of storing calories for the time when crops are not available.
The peasants of Burgundy in France ate ‘wine soup’ – apparently Renoir loved it. It might have been a way to make old bread edible, like many soup recipes.
The clever man married a very good cook, also kept his mother-In-law busy in the kitchen, too.
No wonder his art exudes joy!
When I was in high school my Spanish teacher was from rural Spain and he explained that indeed the wines that were served provided calories to the people, young and old….it’s been 50 years since I heard him say that and still remember those words…
We need a virus that is specificaly targeted at those who think that there is not enough people on the Earth. That way we can eliminate the population growth.
And what about the rising natural gas production and consumption? There is a lot of natural gas consumption that offsets the falling coal consumption.
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/natural-gas-consumption-by-region
Natural gas tends to be terribly difficult to ship and to store. Its delivered cost tends to be high, if the companies extracting the gas and shipping the gas are to make a profit.
It is a terrible fuel for the tropics, because there tends not to be any place to store it and heat makes it evaporate. When it evaporates and escapes, it is a global warming gas, known as methane.
I think the rise in natural gas consumption is on “borrowed time.” It becomes impossible to have a high enough price for all of those involved in the system. Much of the natural gas that we are extracting today is what I would think of as “stranded gas” – that is gas that we know about, but with shipping costs included, is too expensive to really be used. There is a reason why a lot of natural gas is “flared.” Companies figure it is not worth the cost of collecting it and selling it at loss.
As I mentioned in my post, natural gas needs coal and oil to keep its system going. It cannot power the economy alone, I don’t think, even with “renewables” added to it.
There is also an imbedding function of the charts on the given webpage:
The embedding function does not work via these frames, just the link:
https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/energy-use-per-capita-vs-gdp-per-capita
Thanks. This information is freely available, just like the things at OurFiniteWorld.com
This is a png chart I downloaded from the site:
https://ourfiniteworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/energy-use-per-capita-vs-gdp-per-capita-1024×723.png
I found this on the OurWorldInData.org website:
In 2006 Ron Paul gave an extraordinary speech to the US Congress. Since it is a long speech I have tried to pick up a few excerpts that should show us some of the reasons of the next big financial crisis.
https://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2006/02/15/house-section/article/H318-2
“After all of this great success, our dollar dominance is coming to an end. There was a limit to the number of countries that could be sacked for their wealth, and this always brought empires to an end.
Gold is no longer a currency of the realm; paper is.The truth now is he who prints the money makes the rules, at least for the time being
Realizing the world was embarking on something new and mind-boggling, elite money managers with especially strong support from U.S. authorities struck an agreement with OPEC to price oil in U.S. dollars exclusively for all worldwide transactions.
This gave the dollar a special place among world currencies, in essence backed the dollar with oil. In return, the U.S. promised to protect the various oil-rich kingdoms in the Persian Gulf against
threat or invasion or domestic coup. This arrangement helped ignite the radical Islamic movement among those who resented our influence in the region.
The arrangement gave the dollar artificial strength with tremendous financial benefits for the United States. It allowed us to export our monetary inflation by buying oil and other goods at a great discount as dollar influence flourished.
Foreign countries accumulate our dollars due to their high savings rates and graciously lend them back to us at low interest rates to finance our excessive consumption and our wars.
It sounds like a great deal for everyone, except the time will come when our dollars, due to their depreciation, will be received less enthusiastically or even be rejected by foreign countries.
For the most part, the true victims are not aware of how they pay the bills. The license to create money out of thin air allows the bills to be paid through price inflation. American citizens as well as average citizens of Japan and China and other countries suffer from price inflation, which represents the tax that pays the bills for our military adventures. That is, until the fraud is discovered and the foreign producers decide not to take dollars nor hold them very long in payment for those goods. Everything possible is done to prevent the fraud of the monetary system from being exposed to the masses who suffer from it.
Ironically, dollar superiority depends on our strong military, and our strong military depends on the dollar. As long as foreign recipients take our dollars for real goods and are willing to finance
our extravagant consumption and militarism, the status quo will continue, regardless of how huge our foreign debt and current account deficit become.
The chaos that one day will ensue from our 35-year experiment with worldwide fiat money
will require a return to money of real value. We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold or its equivalent for their oil rather than dollars or Euros. The sooner the better.
Considering the war had nothing to do with our national security, we are talking big bucks being wasted in lining the pockets of well-connected American corporations. Waste, fraud, stupidity, and no-bid contracts characterize the process; and it is all done in the name of patriotism and national security.
Wealth is transferred from one group to another, and it is all related to the system that allows politicians and the central banks to create money out of thin air. It is literally legalized counterfeiting.
Is it any wonder jobs go overseas? True capital only comes from savings, and Americans save nothing. We only borrow and consume. A counterfeiter has no incentive to take his newly created money and build factories. The incentive for Americans is to buy consumers goods from other countries whose people are willing to save and invest in their factories and jobs. The only way we can continue this charade is to borrow excess dollars back from the foreign governments who sell us goods and perpetuate the pretense of wealth that we enjoy.
Counterfeiting money never creates wealth. It only steals wealth from the unsuspecting. The Federal Reserve creation of money is exactly the same. Increasing the dollars in circulation can only diminish the value of each existing dollar. Only production and jobs can make a country
wealthy in the long run. Today, it is obvious our country is becoming poorer and more uneasy as our jobs and capital go overseas.
The biggest ripoff of all, the paper money system that is morally and economically equivalent to counterfeiting, is never questioned. It is the deceptive tool for transferring billions from the unsuspecting poor and middle class to the special-interest rich, and in the process the deficit-propelled budget process supports the spending demands of all the special interests, left and right, welfare and warfare, while delaying payment to another day and sometimes even to another
generation.
The remaining wealth that we struggle to hold on to is based on debt, future tax revenues, and our ability to manufacture new tax dollars without restraint.
There is only one problem. It all depends on trust in the dollar, especially by foreign holders and purchasers. This trust will end, and signs of the beginning of the end are already appearing.
Generally true, except that I am afraid that at this point, going to a different currency will not fix our problem. Our problems are much deeper than the currency printing, ultra low interest rates, and loose lending.
I agree, but the end of the dollar hegemony will just make things even more complicated.
If we hadn’t have such a corrupted system we would have better chances to handle with resources depletion.
Implementation of BASEL-3 Regs Demolishing paper metals market followed by triggering of Sovereign Debt Crisis seems to be in both tea leaves and chicken entrails. Jan 2022 seems key.
27/5/21
New Basel-3 Regulations to Pressure Paper Metals Markets
https://www.activistpost.com/2021/05/new-regulation-could-pressure-paper-metals-markets.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ActivistPost+%28Activist+Post%29
26/5/21
Basel-3 And the New Role For Gold – Collapse Coming ?
https://tomluongo.me/2021/05/23/basel-iii-and-the-new-role-for-gold/
It sounds to me as though there may already be problems in June. One part of the article says,
“We’ve been discussing these changes vis a vis Basel III for more than five years. So, why, all of a sudden is Europe so hot to implement them in June and for the U.K. to adopt them in January 2022, . .? ”
Even having Europe adopting these rules in June would seem like it would be a mess.
There were earlier Basel rules for Banks and Insurance Companies. These rules don’t sound any better.
Hi Gail,
thanks for another great analysis/summary of our predicament.
I don’t know what is wrong, but it looks like WordPress will not let me post a completely new comment myself. I can only respond to someone else. That is why I am commenting here.
There is an interesting WSJ article today that indirectly points out a difficulty with electricity generated by wind and solar. They cannot, by themselves, even with batteries and inverters, be relied upon to restart the electric grid, as least the way I understand the situation. This is the article of interest:
The Texas Grid Came Close to an Even Bigger Disaster During February Freeze
Many ‘black start’ units, which are used to jolt failed electricity systems, weren’t working
I remember this was exactly the issue when the Fukushima power plant went down after the tsunami. In the case of Texas, a lot of these “black starts” were either disabled by the cold weather or didn’t have the fuel they needed. The article mentions that hydroelectric, with water behind the dam, would also work, but Texas didn’t have much of that.
The article doesn’t mention wind and solar, but I see lack of the ability to act as a black start as a major drawback of wind and solar. Part of the problem is the need for the grid frequency to be built back in, and thus the need for the inverters. I expect that there are other issues as well, including the intermittency of the electricity generated.
I knew that the gas grid going empty is a long term catastrophe but hadn’t realised, until recently, about the problems with black starts. I wonder if that is the reason the UK and Norway ( with it’s hydro resources) are building the world’s longest interconnector as the basis for a proposed North Sea Grid?
All I know is that many of the current electricity interconnecting links tend to be maxed out, right now.
Also, I find it hard to believe that Norway will have enough hydroelectric supply to supply both the UK and Continental Europe with back-up supply. Norway’s supply of electricity from hydro is not rising over time.
Paul Frederik Bach writes about some related issues on his blog. http://pfbach.dk
I expect there is some wishful thinking going on.
Northern Europe has an integrated electricity market, with companies like Nord Pool. For my apartment in Oslo, I switch supplier online about once a year to get good deals; there are lots of players. Norway produces just enough hydroelectric power to power the whole country, but mostly doesn’t use it for this. Instead it trades extensively with Europe, acting like a battery. When the winds don’t blow, it sells expensive power to the Danes, Dutch, and Germans. When the winds blow, Norway pauses its turbines and buys back cheap wind power from them. So Norway provides little or no net addition to the market; it certainly does not have the capacity from hydro to power Europe. However, it mitigates what Gail points out as the main problem of renewables, their intermittence.
The large integrated market creates incentives for adding new production. The link between Norway and the UK, projected to be completed this year, is part of the proposed North Sea Offshore Grid, a system of gas-powered turbines near oil fields and sea wind power; formalizing Norway’s hydro dams as a battery.
I think that the system is already up against limits. P-F Bach writes about needing to pay a nuclear power plant to stay online at the end of 2020, so that there will be enough stable power for Stockholm.
One of the big bottlenecks is electricity transmission. With the use of intermittent electricity, a lot more transmission is needed, because on average, the lines aren’t very “full.” It usually takes years to build new transmission lines, far longer than to add new generation.
P-F Bach also talks about the sale price of exported electricity being one-fourth of the price of imported electricity. Being in a “Net zero” position can be very expensive financially. Adding more players to the system may make the cost of imported electricity even higher.
Wow – 450sf for 1.4M…. sign of the times
Hong Kong developers are offering a US$1.4 million apartment as a prize for residents who have been vaccinated for Covid-19, as local authorities grapple with widespread reluctance to get inoculated.
Sino Group’s philanthropic arm Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation and Chinese Estates Holdings Ltd. are offering a brand-new apartment in their Grand Central project in the Kwun Tong area, the companies said in a statement Friday.
Hong Kong residents who have received two vaccine doses are eligible for the draw to win the 449 square-foot (42 square-meter) unit. Sino Group is the parent of Hong Kong-listed developer Sino Land Co.
The latest move comes after the government said it was studying options including donations for unused vaccine doses, some of which are set to expire as soon as August. Authorities have said that the surplus could hurt future procurement of shots.
Hong Kong’s government has been working to encourage residents to get their shots by providing policy incentives like reopening bars and shortening quarantines. Still, Chief Executive Carrie Lam this week rejected the call for any cash or in-kind incentives to boost the local inoculation rate amid high demand for vaccinations around the world.
Despite being one of the few places in the world to make vaccines available to all adults, only 12.6% of the population of 7.5 million has been fully inoculated, according to Bloomberg’s Covid-19 Vaccine Tracker — far behind neighboring financial hub Singapore at 28.3%.
When you read how there are now gifts just for getting the jab. Maybe we should start a new meme “Gifts for the Jab”. This all shows how the wool has been pulled over the eyes of the Plebs. This Covid nonsense has a similar kill rate to the Hong Kong. Doubt me? Look it up on the CDC or WHO websites.
But hey lets look at that $1.4 million dollar apartment/flat. If the vaccine recipient dies, they can re-gift it to another vaccine sucker.
The pushers were blessed with the gift of the gab
They promised the suckers the gift of the jab
According to Branch Covidian High Priest Anthony Fauci, this is the worst pandemic in more than 100 years.
If that is true then why must the public be bribed to take the injectable elixir?
Fauci is FOS. Covid 19 is in the same league with the Hong Kong flu. Fauci owns some of the Jab patents so he stands to make a ton of money.
So… you’ve won a CovIDIOT Lottery (you took the injection realizing it does not matter) … and you have a free private jet all expenses paid trip to anywhere in the world …
Where are you going?
People are starting to wakeup to the Covid Scam-demic. A woman in Tennessee was arrested for driving thru a Jab clinic yelling don’t take the jab.
And this is precisely why they are now resorting to giving away free stuff just to line the pockets of Big Pharma, Tony Fauci and Bill Gates.
Lotteries… freebies… see how stooopid the humans are?
Cattle would long ago have seen the wolves… and stampeded.
You aren’t going anywhere. There are so many different ways in which they can ground would-be travelers. All it would take is a false flag cyber attack (Cyber Polygon Simulation Event, July 9, 2021) or a new “variant” popping up in either your part of the world or the part of the world you’d like to visit.
Even the BBC are calling it a jab. Well I never!
Covid-19: First man to get jab William Shakespeare dies of unrelated illness
Unrelated to the jab? How can they be so sure?
The second person in the world to get the Pfizer-BioNTech jab has died of an unrelated illness.
Bill Shakespeare, 81, received his first Covid vaccine in December at University Hospital Coventry shortly after 91-year-old Margaret Keenan.
Coventry councillor Jayne Innes, a friend of Mr Shakespeare, said he had died on Thursday and added the “best tribute to Bill is to have the jab”.
Mr Shakespeare had worked at Rolls-Royce and was a parish councillor.
The 81-year-old, who had served his local community in Allesley for more than three decades, died of a stroke, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust said.
Oh, so he died of a stroke. After being jabbed with the Pfizer injectable on December 8, Mr. Shakespeare died “on May 20 after a period of illness at the same hospital where he famously received his vaccine,” according to DNA India.com.
And what have we learned about the jabs? They often (that is “in many cases”) cause blood clots which sometimes (that is “in some cases”) manifest as heart attacks or strokes.
So I believe we do have a possible link between the Vax and Mr. Shakespeare’s final curtain.
And yet the BBC, in the headline itself, goes to the trouble to spell it out that his death was “unrelated”. You can’t make this up!
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-coventry-warwickshire-57234741
The ‘best tribute’ is…to follow him in an accelerated death?! Beyond parody.
Injected and died at the same place, too?
It reminds me of relatives of those who were whisked way to concentration camps, in the early days of Hitler’s rule; they next saw them in a coffin, with cause of death noted as ‘unfortunate health complications’.
Psychologically its fascinating, people can’t see what is under their noses…..
‘
Dr John Campbell the ‘trusted’ vaccine pimp on YT is getting lots of stick these days, quite rightly too. Interesting anecdotes of bad reactions, and he never replies.
That gives a clue how long one can survive after the jab. Around 6 months. If you are healthy, maybe one year. We shall see.
It is kind of symbolic that the first person who got the jab had t he name of the Bard of Stratford (although ‘his’ plays were probably written by the Earl of Oxford, Ben Jonson and others since the seed dealer was barely literate).
It kind of reminds that English culture will die because of the jab.
as it was common back then, WS definitely co-wrote his plays. The Earl was Ed DeVere and he was likely the co-writer of many until his death in 1604. Later S plays began to have known co-authors.
“Iran: Nationwide Protests By Oil Workers And Employees In Oil Centers In 9 Cities.
“On Wednesday morning, May 27, 2021, official employees of Iran’s oil company held rallies in different oil centers in Tehran, Assaluyeh, Abadan, Ahvaz, Gachsaran, Mahshahr, Bandar Deylam, Khark, and Lavan Island, protesting their low salaries and harsh livelihood condition due to skyrocketing prices.”
https://www.ncr-iran.org/en/news/iran-protests/iran-nationwide-protests-by-oil-workers-and-employees-in-oil-centers-in-9-cities/
“‘Country has no future’: Iraqi protester killed at Baghdad rally…
“Videos shared on social media showed tear gas, live fire and chaos reminiscent of October 2019 when the nationwide social uprising first began and several protesters were shot dead by security forces.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/25/one-killed-as-iraqs-anti-government-protests-resume
“After a month of protests in which 46 people have suffered eye injuries from police teargas rounds and rubber bullets, a Colombian politician has prompted outrage by saying that supporters of the anti-poverty demonstrations should “stop crying over one eye”.”
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/may/27/colombia-protests-paola-holguin-stop-crying-one-eye
“Argentines defy lockdown and stage protests nationwide against President Fernández…
“…the permanent trial and error (or error after error rather) policies of President Alberto Fernández with no achievements other than those obtained through terror and repression have resulted in more and more people having nothing to lose…”
https://en.mercopress.com/2021/05/26/argentines-defy-lockdown-and-stage-protests-nationwide-against-president-fernandez
“Protests in Oman over economy, jobs continue for third day. Protesters stage sit-ins in several cities as Oman’s ruler promises to address grievances.”
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/5/25/protest-in-oman-over-poor-economy-jobs-continue-for-third-day
Sad stories everywhere!
I anticipate a full media and internet blackout when one of these countries implodes.
It would be bad for morale.
That is why I think that cyberattacks will be the next “threat”. Perfect way to keep control over population and disconnect countries one by one from the global system (with surgical precision).
I am sure that an underlying problem is that the price of oil is basically too low.
“How billionaires’ secretive speculation threatens the next financial meltdown…
“Here’s the recipe: Start with a few billionaires. Next, let them put trillions of dollars in unregulated pools of capital. Next, add a dash of pandemic speculation. What could possibly go wrong?
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-billionaires-secretive-speculation-threatens-the-next-financial-meltdown-11622056842
“Federal Prosecutors Have Asked Banks for Information About Archegos Meltdown.
“Banks that lent to Archegos, including Credit Suisse CS, Group AG, UBS, Group AG, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley have been contacted for information…”
https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-prosecutors-have-asked-banks-for-information-about-archegos-meltdown-11622075234
If it is not one part of the financial system, it is another, having a problem.
“Central Banks Face New Balancing Act With Their Huge Asset Piles… Quantitative easing has been part of the monetary toolkit for so long now that the definition of “normal” has changed…
“Where once the mere purchase of debt of euro-area nations on secondary markets unleashed accusations of illegal monetary financing, high-ranking politicians in Italy and France have in recent months called for the bonds on the European Central Bank’s balance sheet to be canceled or turned into “perpetual” bonds that never get paid back.
“The idea that government debt has to be honored is coming under attack. ‘We’re headed toward this sort of Modern Monetary Theory regime where the debt and free money supposedly have no consequences…'”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-26/central-banks-face-new-balancing-act-with-their-huge-asset-piles
“The amount of cash flowing into the U.S. Federal Reserve’s reverse repurchase (RRP) facility hit an all-time high of $485 billion on Thursday, further pressuring key short-term interest rates, which could fall below zero.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-fed-reverse-repo-idUSL2N2NE2FH
“Fed taper talk thrusts emerging market funding source in firing line.
“Emerging economies from Peru to Romania are in the firing line as looming U.S. tapering raises the risk of outflows from local currency bond markets, hitting a vital funding source for governments striving to recover from the coronarvirus crisis.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/taper-talk-thrusts-emerging-market-funding-source-firing-line-2021-05-25/
ECB must keep money taps fully open as crisis not over, ECB policymaker Yannis Stournaras said.”
https://www.reuters.com/article/ecb-policy/ecb-must-keep-money-taps-fully-open-as-crisis-not-over-stournaras-says-idUSL5N2NB4RR
“Dominic Cummings: PM discussed scrapping Bank of England independence as Covid struck.
“The Prime Minister’s former chief adviser said “emergency powers” were discussed to get funds from the Bank, amid fears that bond markets could collapse just as the Treasury needed access to record amounts of money.”
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/05/26/cummings-pm-discussed-scrapping-bank-england-independence-covid/
Sounds worrisome!
If the ECB has abandoned “pacta sunt servanda” then they are doomed. And so in the Euro.
“The Real Signal Commodities Are Sending on Global Inflation…
“Bloomberg Economics’ model shows movements in commodity prices this year have been mainly driven by risk appetite, not fundamental demand or shortages of supply.”
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-26/the-real-signal-commodities-are-sending-on-inflation-chart
“Commodities Prices Soar As China Stockpiles…
“…it is the Chinese government that has a record of driving up global commodities prices in the wake of a global crisis, stockpiling and hoarding to take advantage of beaten-down prices.”
https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanrich/2021/05/26/commodities-prices-soar-as-china-stockpiles/?sh=5a44d7cc2c2e
“China’s banking regulator has asked lenders to stop selling investment products linked to commodities futures to mom-and-pop buyers, three people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters, to curb investment losses amid volatile commodity prices.”
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/exclusive-china-bars-banks-selling-commodities-linked-products-retail-buyers-2021-05-26/
Some commodities are up a lot more than 4%, causing problems in particular areas.
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More glorification of van-living
https://bc.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=2208984
Feel free to abuse https://iheartvaccination.ca/pages/contact-us
Hi Gail and fellow friends on this forum,
Thanks for another wonderful article to tell the truth and wake people up.
Would like to ask for your opinion – which countries currently are most self sufficient in resources (eg. agriculture, fossil fuels, minerals, water etc) and industrial capacity, that they would most likely survive in case the USD financial system crashes and deglobalization occurs?
Is there a list of countries that you have looked into, that are most resilient and carries best prognosis in case the worst scenario happens? Or do you know any good information resources (eg. blogs / books etc) that research about the resilience and survivability of different countries?
I am so worried about humanity’s future, especially my children’s future too, that Biblical end times is coming soon; war and famine will be so prevalent in that the world won’t be recognizable in 10-30 years time frame. I am actively looking for a safe haven countries for migration and build a safe shelter, to provide for family and those nearby in need. Would appreciate if anyone have any ideas on this topics?
Regards,
YY
Bible
Mark 13:19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
2 Chronicles 20:9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
I am not Gail but I thought about these issues too.
I have three ideas (helpful or not):
– Volkswanderung. The best places will be overrun as it happens during imperial collapses
– Look at liberal countries (countries that did not go insane during the pandemic). Russia stands out but other countries are also relaxed. Probably they are less under stress due to resource/energy shortages.
– JM Greer gave the example of monks after Roman collapse. They survived and manage to preserve some culture by the simple expedient of being even poorer than their neighbors. So if you want to survive, collapse ahead of the rush.
Nomad, the monks were poor but also worked as a large team to defend the monastery.
I agree Ed,
community is just as important (maybe more) than location, soil, water or money. I have another comment below about that.
They were better educated than those surrounding too maybe?
I am not sure that there is any truly “correct” answer.
In general, I think that people are likely to be best off near family and friends, where they have a support group. Moving to a new land, where you do not speak the language or know the customs, is likely to be a problem.
Areas that have been living off of depleting resources, such as fresh water taken from aquifers that are not refilling quickly or oil taken from wells, are likely to be in terrible shape. We can see how well Argentina, Yemen, Egypt, Syria and Venezuela have been doing since their oil extraction has declined.
There are many places where “fossil water” is being extracted. India has been using water from groundwater to produce wheat; this is not sustainable. Saudi Arabia was trying to grow wheat for a while, with groundwater. If you can see an area is going from having enough, because of the use of a temporary resource source, to going without, this is a big danger sign.
None of us know how the decline will really work. I am guessing that it will happen in steps. People who are in good health and are adaptable may do OK in many places. I don’t know.
If you are in a place where it is possible to plant a garden, this would seem to be a good idea. It may not provide much, but it can be a pleasant activity and may provide some fresh vegetables to supplement what is available elsewhere.
No need to give the cattle hope.
When BAU goes — the power goes off — petrol stations go empty — food stops being delivered — no medical care – no police …
Violence will commence within hours — starvation within days — disease not long after — rape/cannibalism — and finally — spent fuel pond radiation will blanket the earth in great plumes of death.
And that will be the end of humans (and possibly all life)
Except that collapse doesn’t seem to happen very fast, at least viewed from a worldwide perspective. Some areas may have the conditions you describe, but other areas do better. Even when the central government of the Soviet Union collapsed, some people continued to go to work without pay. It is my understanding that the subway still ran. People banded together to keep some things operating.
The peripherals are not relevant and are already on the edge (although it would be best to black out all info coming out of a collapsed country otherwise the goy get spooked)…. but when this happens — it will be global within a day
https://www.feasta.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/Trade_Off_Korowicz.pdf
Mother Russia is your best place. Self-sufficient in everything. If being afflicted with bad case of russophobia you can try Ireland but their long term survival is questionable.
Lisa Shaw: Vaccine role in BBC presenter’s death to be probed
“A coroner will consider if the cause of BBC presenter Lisa Shaw’s death might have been complicated by her having had the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.”
Don’t you love the phrase “might have been complicated”. She was 44 with no underlying health conditions and her death was complicated by receiving a vaccine in the same way it would have been complicated if she had been run over by a bus.
Even for one of their own, the BBC can’t tell the truth.
For more honest reporting, try https://www.ukcolumn.org/.
We do need more prominent people to die this way, and perhaps the penny will drop…..
The BBC is now deeply psychopathic, like the people running the NHS and the so-called regulators.
Marvin Hagler died soon after his injection… a massive denial campaign was rolled out.
It’s difficult to resist when you are up against professional PR people who have the MSM licking their asses.
Bernays is the most important person in history.
Baseball great Hank Aaron also died weeks after taking the “Jab”. He also was for Covid vaccination.
I must admit, when I saw this in the Daily Mail, my natural compassion for a young life ended too soon was partially pushed aside by the sour satisfaction that a member of the propaganda corps had be hoist with their own petard. After all, what her fellow presenters have been doing this past year has been to encourage or shame members of the public into compliance with the UK’s particularly vicious COVID-19 plan.
I note the satisfaction I felt, but I don’t like that I felt it. I feel that this war is turning me into somebody I don’t like.
Is there enough shadenfroid to go around Tim? I’d like a bowl full if there is any to spare 🙂
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS7XEW3P2HMelA71xILPKiaKytJ0Gx0yEf0PjJxsOc95JPfzQ-s8h9130MhOwovSOKo3NU&usqp=CAU
Yes, I agree,Tim, we musn’t lose our humanity, even though the bastards fully deserve it. Can’t say I felt any satisfaction myself, though.
What is worth noting is that she, too, was completely expendable, and not protected in any way.
This shows the cynicism of those behind The Plan.
Nonetheless, we do need prominent, younger, people to die in this way., clearly from the ‘very rare’ vaccine side-effects.
Agreed Tim. We would be satisfied to prove we are right, but the cost would be millions lives, or more.
The way for us is to stay in the middle where nothing is right or wrong, and contemplate with no passion what is happening.
Actually, need to refer to this medical intervention as ‘The Injection.’
Calling it a vaccine plays along with the narrative
Good point. The state is currently using ‘jab’ to trivialise it, so yes. ‘injection’ is perhaps the best term – undertones of Dr Mengele, too.
If anyone doubts that a creeping medical horror show has being in progress for some time, they might consider this:
Two years ago, I went in for a serious operation. I’m sitting on the bes taking to the “pleasant” orderlies. They’re fitting me up with IV’s and such the way they do for anesthesia etc. No one explains to me that this time might be a little different.
So I’m sitting on the bed, and then I find that I’m still sitting on the bed. But then something very strange has happened between these two occasions. An orderly checking in on me the next day as I told her I didn’t understand how I was anesthetized and awakened without even knowing it. She explained (sweetly) that I was injected with a drug that made me not remember anything I experience between the time of the injection and its effect’s wearing off.
If medicine can do this sort of thing legally with untutored people, what else can it do?
So, why “within a few months”? Why this specific timing?
Hi Gail and fellow friends on this forum,
Thanks for another wonderful article to tell the truth and wake people up.
Would like to ask for your opinion – which countries currently are most self sufficient in resources (eg. agriculture, fossil fuels, minerals, water etc) and industrial capacity, that they would most likely survive in case the USD financial system crashes and deglobalization occurs?
Is there a list of countries that you have looked into, that are most resilient and carries best prognosis in case the worst scenario happens? Or do you know any good information resources (eg. blogs / books etc) that research about the resilience and survivability of different countries?
I am so worried about humanity’s future, especially my children’s future too, that Biblical end times is coming soon; war and famine will be so prevalent in that the world won’t be recognizable in 10-30 years time frame. I am actively looking for a safe haven countries for migration and build a safe shelter, to provide for family and those nearby in need. Would appreciate if anyone have any ideas on this topics?
Regards,
YY
Bible
Mark 13:19 For in those days shall be affliction, such as was not from the beginning of the creation which God created unto this time, neither shall be.
2 Chronicles 20:9 If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.
I suggest Uruguay. This is a good question.
This is a duplicate and I tried to reply above.
I agree it’s an important question but “people do not live by bread alone”.
If you don’t find a community, life is going to become (even more) unbearable.
I noted before that people in the west (and US in particular) have no idea what it is to be part of a “tribe”. I really hope we can learn it again.
I am afraid that the timing may be a lot less than “within a few months.” The financial system is already acting very stressed. The problems could be in June.
I am not very good with estimating timing, however. Perhaps the current financial problems can be papered over for a little longer.
Attempting to estimate the timing of such a complex chain of events would be a fools bet.
Wise of you to start clear.
I on the other hand fit the description.
July 22nd.
July 22, 2027
This is a speech of Ron Paul to the US Congress, in 2006. ttps://www.congress.gov/congressional-record/2006/02/15/house-section/article/H318-2
Still accurate today, or even more. This is a long speech so I tried to pick up some excerpts.He tells nothing about depletion but the connections with the current economic situation are rather obvious.
“After all of this great success, our dollar dominance is coming to an end. There was a limit to the number of countries that could be sacked for their wealth, and this always brought empires to an end.
Gold is no longer a currency of the realm; paper is; The truth now is he who prints the money makes the rules, at least for the time being.
Realizing the world was embarking on something new and mind-boggling, elite money managers with especially strong support from U.S. authorities struck an agreement with OPEC to price oil in U.S. dollars exclusively for all worldwide transactions. This gave the dollar a special place among world currencies, in essence backed the dollar with oil. In return, the U.S. promised to protect the various oil-rich kingdoms in the Persian Gulf against threat or invasion or domestic coup. This arrangement helped ignite the radical Islamic movement among those who resented our influence in the region.
The arrangement gave the dollar artificial strength with tremendous financial benefits for the United States. It allowed us to export our monetary inflation by buying oil and other goods at a great discount as dollar influence flourished.
Foreign countries accumulate our dollars due to their high savings rates and graciously lend them back to us at low interest rates to finance our excessive consumption and our wars.
It sounds like a great deal for everyone, except the time will come when our dollars, due to their depreciation, will be received less enthusiastically or even be rejected by foreign countries.
For the most part, the true victims are not aware of how they pay the bills. The license to create money out of thin air allows the bills to be paid through price inflation. American citizens as well as average citizens of Japan and China and other countries suffer from price inflation, which represents the tax that pays the bills for our military adventures. That is, until the fraud is discovered and the foreign producers decide not to take dollars nor hold them very long in payment for those goods. Everything possible is done to prevent the fraud of the monetary system from being exposed to the masses who suffer from it.
Ironically, dollar superiority depends on our strong military, and our strong military depends on the dollar. As long as foreign recipients take our dollars for real goods and are willing to finance
our extravagant consumption and militarism, the status quo will continue, regardless of how huge our foreign debt and current account deficit become.
The chaos that one day will ensue from our 35-year experiment with worldwide fiat money
will require a return to money of real value. We will know that day is approaching when oil-producing countries demand gold or its equivalent for their oil rather than dollars or Euros. The sooner the better.
Considering the war had nothing to do with our national security, we are talking big bucks being wasted in lining the pockets of well-connected American corporations. Waste, fraud, stupidity, and no-bid contracts characterize the process; and it is all done in the name of patriotism and national security.
Wealth is transferred from one group to another, and it is all related to the system that allows politicians and the central banks to create money out of thin air. It is literally legalized counterfeiting.
Is it any wonder jobs go overseas? True capital only comes from savings, and Americans save nothing. We only borrow and consume. A counterfeiter has no incentive to take his newly created money and build factories. The incentive for Americans is to buy consumers goods from other countries whose people are willing to save and invest in their factories and jobs. The only way we can continue this charade is to borrow excess dollars back from the foreign governments who sell us goods and perpetuate the pretense of wealth that we enjoy.
Counterfeiting money never creates wealth. It only steals wealth from the unsuspecting. The Federal Reserve creation of money is exactly the same. Increasing the dollars in circulation can only diminish the value of each existing dollar. Only production and jobs can make a country
wealthy in the long run. Today, it is obvious our country is becoming poorer and more uneasy as our jobs and capital go overseas.
The remaining wealth that we struggle to hold on to is based on debt, future tax revenues, and our ability to manufacture new tax dollars without restraint. There is only one problem. It all depends on trust in the dollar, especially by foreign holders and purchasers. This trust will end, and
signs of the beginning of the end are already appearing”
Although Covid restrictions would probably help, I very much doubt that the countries of the world have got together to “create” a fear of the virus story. That would have required far more cooperation between countries than we can expect.
However, it certainly seems that we’re nearing some sort of irrevocable turning point in the world economy, for the reasons Gail mentioned. Whether that will be for the better or not depends on one’s point of view.
Name a country that is not on board with the Covid lie… are any of them not vaccinating?
Name an MSM outlet that has run positive stories about Sweden’s success with what is no more dangerous than a bad flu.
Name an MSM outlet that has interviewed Mike Yeadon.
Seems pretty well coordinated to me!
Have you seen this
https://youtu.be/bdQHKf48Mfw
Unanswerable and excellent points FE.
So many countries, but just one policy – with few exceptions – one media narrative, and one sharp needle waiting for everyone……
Oh, and the same waves of death and injury, in the same groups, after vaccinations began. Funny, that……
I can only name one country not on board—Belarus. Lukashenko threw The WHO’s and the World Bank’s money back in their faces. Some one is so upset that they’ve tried to assassinate him.
And Tanzania also stood out, until the sad and unexpected demise of the President.
Well, I think you’re assuming that all countries which have imposed restrictions are lying to the public about the severity of the virus and resulting disease. So your question is without foundation. My position is that it is unlikely that so many countries would be cooperating with each other to foist such a lie on the public. By the way, I know several people who’ve had Covid-19 and one of them is dead because of it.
Sweden is not a positive success story, as far as I can tell. It’s high on the per capita table for both cases and deaths.
Mike – I recommend you do a bit of research before regurgitating MSM BS:
Sweden is not even in the top 25 in terms of deaths per capita
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
Yet the MSM tells us Sweden is a disaster… because they refuse to lockdown or wear masks.
I know a dozen+ people who have had covid — most of them had a sore throat for a weak… a couple had mild flu symptoms
You must be hanging with people who are riddled with disease or just very unlucky — 52 people under 60 without serious health issues have died in Germany from Covid. Around 400 in the UK.
I highly recommend reading this https://off-guardian.org/2021/05/18/how-the-cdc-is-manipulating-data-to-prop-up-vaccine-effectiveness/ because it is a symptom of the real disease that is in circulation … it’s call Mass Deceipt
FE, you should never assume that someone with whom you disagree has done no research. You implied Sweden is a success story. That isn’t true. If you don’t believe that Covid-19 is a serious disease, then I don’t know why you would think that any position in a table is relevant but Sweden is 33rd, out of about 200 countries and areas on the Worldometers site for per capita deaths. So the vast majority of the world is doing much better than Sweden in terms of per capita deaths. Those countries which are worse include tiny places like Gibraltar, San Marino and Montenegro where just a few deaths can significantly boost the per capita average. In terms of confirmed cases per capita, it is 11th. That is not a success story by any stretch of the imagination. Sweden, though, did have significant restrictions (such as small gatherings) though didn’t have a strict lock down.
However, the point was that Covid-19 is not a scam and currently has a death rate of 2.2% of closed cases. So it’s not necessary for the world’s political leaders, medical researchers and doctors to collude in creating a story that Covid-19, unrestricted, is a threat. If they had so colluded, then we would be seeing clear stories about how the vaccines are having no impact (even though, in Israel, they clearly are).
But it doesn’t matter whether one believes conspiracy theories or not. Clearly, as Gail has shown, there are plenty of reasons to conclude that the global civilisation is heading for collapse. If restrictions related to a serious disease can help slow that collapse, I would have thought many such as yourself would be delighted.
But Mike – Sweden has NOT locked down… they do NOT mandate mask wearing.
Why are so many countries that have done both experienced far more deaths per capita?
How is it possible the UK could be far above Sweden – given they have been in lockdown continuously for over a year?
Should Sweden not be at the very top of the table?
We are told that if we don’t lockdown we’ll end up collapsing our health care system … people will be dying on the streets because they cannot get a space in the hospital.
Oh? Is Sweden collapsing? Can you find images of people dying on the streets?
On the contrary, there is a correlation between deaths and lockdowns.
Might that be because only Sweden is adopted focused protection last summer? Protect that at risk… everyone else lives normally https://gbdeclaration.org/focused-protection/
Surely it is easier to focus protection efforts on the people who might die from covid rather than the idiocy of trying to protect everyone — when the vast majority of the population will experience covid as a cold or mild flu?
What do you think Mike? This is the strategy recommended by nearly 60,000 scientists and medical professionals — https://gbdeclaration.org/view-signatures/
As for the death … Covid is not different from the flu … Simon Thornley says so as to many other scientists…. as does https://www.covidplanb.co.nz/data-science/an-open-video-from-nz-gp-damian-wojcik/
I do not come here to read regurgitated lies from the MSM. Fast Eddy is tiring of having to respond to the nonsense you are posting… Fast Eddy is more than happy to provide guidance… but he has his limits.
And what you are posting is NONSENSE. It is garbage with no basis in fact or logic.
Here are the regulations and guidelines for Sweden: https://www.folkhalsomyndigheten.se/the-public-health-agency-of-sweden/communicable-disease-control/covid-19/regulations-and-general-guidelines/
Linked from here.
For a long time, I did think Sweden had a better approach. Maybe I will again. But it isn’t the success story that many claim. Here are the very noisy figures for Covid in Sweden: https://www.covid19insweden.com/en/
Here in New Zealand, I think we’ve been very lucky and had particular advantages which most countries don’t have. But, for us, lockdowns seem to have worked (I’m not a great traveller, by the way, so don’t think much about the lack of overseas travel opportunities).
Lockdowns have reduced the need for imported oil for New Zealand. Lockdowns may have driven the only remaining refinery out of business. I think that is still yet to be decided. Then the big question is whether ships can be induced to come to NZ to bring a sufficient array of finished products. Also, take NZ crude to other countries. If not, NZ may lose its little bit of self-produced crude oil.
Yes, I think the jury’s out on the ultimate effect of all this on NZ. However, to most people, for most of the last year and a half, life has been pretty much normal (a few have suffered disproportionately) and the economy seems to be doing OK, with unemployment below 5%.
“Should Sweden not be at the very top of the table?”
Not necessarily. There are many factors involved, including culture. Sweden didn’t lock down but imposed restrictions on gatherings. Depending on how well those restrictions are adhered to, Sweden may have done better or worse than other countries. However, it is abundantly clear that Sweden is not the outright success story that many were hoping for. Many countries with tougher restrictions have done better.
Yes I have heard the endless excuses… they are all BULLSHIT.
And if we follow logic …. then whatever Sweden did — then why doesn’t every country follow their lead?
They did not lockdown and f789 their economy. They did NOT shut schools down and f789 their children
If they limited gatherings then why doesn’t the UK follow their lead? Seems to be working very well for the Swedes.
But nope — they are now planning to extend the June 21 deadline and remain in lockdown.
A CovIDIOT in HK was explaining to me how once the vaccines were completely rolled out we’d return to normal…
I showed him this https://www.globalresearch.ca/covid-19-vaccines-lead-to-new-infections-and-mortality-the-evidence/5746393 (I am sure he didn’t click because he knows what’s there from the url)…
Then I said — only 10% of the people of HK have had the injection — and they had very few covid cases over the past 8 weeks…..
Silence.
FE, you seem to be asking why other countries haven’t been following Sweden’s model, even though it is a very long way from being a shining example (in terms of the results of their approach). Well, the answer is in that previous sentence.
Are you living in the twilight zone?
Sweden has not locked down nor used masks – Sweden has not collapsed – they are living normal lives for the most part.
Compare that with the UK — they’ve been locked in a hole for over a year now — massive numbers of businesses have collapsed — alcoholism and suicide are of the charts…. and then there is this total disaster
COVID-19 having ‘catastrophic’ impact on NHS as 4.7 million wait to start hospital treatment
https://news.sky.com/story/boris-johnson-has-no-doubt-record-4-7m-nhs-treatment-list-backlog-can-be-tackled-12276297
Nearly 5M people who have not been able to get treatment for serious illnesses. Duh … and the UK locked down to prevent the NHS from being overwhelmed…..
This is beyond insane…. does anyone think there would have been 5M people needing medical attention if the UK would not have locked down?
Before you rattle off more imbecility … refer back to Sweden.. no lockdowns… no collapsing health care system… people are living normal lives…. basically the same as they would live if a bad flu was in circulation …
They are doing this https://gbdeclaration.org/focused-protection/ and it is working.
I really don’t understand CovIDIOCY… Sweden offers a way to avoid lockdowns which results in far fewer deaths … but if you show that to them that they push back and trot out endless bullshit.
Makes me wonder if CovIDIOTS love lockdown… love high per capita death rates….
Of course they do…. they are IDIOTS.
How about comparing with New Zealand? Notice that, for most of the last year, events have been unlimited in terms of numbers of people (Sweden still has strict limits on gatherings). New Zealand has had lockdowns but it, ultimately, hasn’t had much effect on the economy (there was a downturn during the only full lockdown we’ve had, but recovery was quick) apart from the tourism industry.
Sweden’s Covid death toll is much greater (per capita) than that of most countries and way above New Zealand’s.
Lockdowns can work in some circumstances but for wishy washy governments that prevaricate or for countries with permeable borders, it is probably a poor strategy. When all this is over (if ever) Sweden’s approach may prove to be the best but I’m not coming down on one side or the other and, so far, Sweden’s results aren’t a shining example.
Useless comparison — NZ is a remote island nation so it is easier to keep covid out.
Here’s an email to me from Johan Gisecke of the W.H.O. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Giesecke
Ah, NZ! They are fascinating. I am sure they will manage to stamp out the virus. And then they will have to have a 2-week quarantine for anyone who enters the country for the next 30 years or so. Will do wonders to tourism.
Johan
We have NEVER had a vaccine that stops the spread of a coronavirus. NEVER. And we still do not because this injection we are being given does not stop it from spreading. Johan is obviously aware of that.
Covid will never disappear – just like the flu and common cold (many are coronaviruses) will never disappear.
So Johan is correct — NZ will keep its borders till hell freezes over.
Sweden and Focused Protection is a tremendous success story. Yet they are vilified.
Odd…
Keeping border quarantine is fine with me, though I accept that many people would not want that.
Opinions are fine. Different people have different opinions.
I on the other hand have no problem with sacrificing a few thousand 80 year old sacks of disease who would have died within a year one way or the other …. and a handful of healthy people…. (healthy people die all the time — flu… covid… traffic accidents… gun shots…)
… so that I can continue my bucket list.
Anyhow… the border will never re-open again …. the lethal injections (that are not needed) will be rolled hard over winter… and NZers get to join in the mass extinction.
Ultimately I win. Because I am a Huge Fan of Human Extinction. I laugh next to last (Mother gets the last one)
Ah, now I understand. You’re a huge fan of human extinction, so all your comments will be coloured by that stance. I can probably ignore your comments from now on. Let’s see if I can manage that.
Any reasonable person would side with Fast Eddy.
https://youtu.be/-X98LttXcgg
Might I suggest that if we are going to engage in industrial torture and experimentation … that we feel is necessary… that we have a lottery … and we choose random children to be the test subjects.
After all… it’s necessary… right.
Meanwhile … this is the best NHS ass-ripper I’ve read:
https://www.conservativewoman.co.uk/the-covid-silence-that-drove-a-nurse-to-quit/
Here is an article about the schedule for lifting of restrictions in Sweden: https://www.straitstimes.com/world/europe/sweden-unveils-plan-to-ease-coronavirus-restrictions
“Well, I think you’re assuming that all countries which have imposed restrictions are lying to the public about the severity of the virus and resulting disease.”
You need to educate yourself. The World Economic Forum Group which meets in Davos each year were wargaming a Pandemic the year before we learned about Covid 19. Klaus Schwab who heads the WEF said that Covid 19 needs to be used to bring about the 4th Industrial Revolution i.e. “Bulid Back Better”. Ever hear of that slogan? It’s the one Boris Johnson and other World Leaders have been using for more than a year.
Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, George Soros and others are part of the Davos group.
If you go to the CDC or WHO websites and look at the death rate and divide that by the population you’ll quickly find that Covid is in the same league as the 1968 Hong Kong Flu. I was alive back then and we didn’t wear masks or shutdown the economy. But supposedly Covid is the second coming of the Black Plague.
And if countries aren’t lying to the public, then why is opposing opinions and treatments censored or removed?
IMO, Covid 19 has been the greatest “mental intercourse” performed on the global population since the Moon Landing. FE can fill you in on that.
Then there’s Trudeau… https://www.bitchute.com/video/uLStFKAw8Okm/
Why do some people assume that those who don’t agree need to be educated and that telling them to get educated will somehow convince them that they are wrong?
So far Covid-19 has a much worse fatality rate than Hong Kong Flu. We won’t have the final comparison until SARS-COV-2 dies out (if ever). WHO estimates deaths from HKF at between 1 and 4 million. So far, 3.5 million deaths are logged for Covid-19 but the WHO estimates that figure may be under-recorded by a factor of 3 (so over 10 million deaths so far). The case fatality rate of HKF may have been about 0.2% with Covid currently at about 2%, a factor of 10 worse.
If you think that HKF should have caused similar restrictions then that is a separate discussion. The fact is that most countries decided that movement restrictions were necessary to control this virus and that some performed better than others in that regard.
No the death rate is NOT higher. I am in communication with one of the Great Barrington scientists and he has done the numbers — it is pretty much in line with any bad flu — worse for older people – less worse for younger people.
And how many of the deaths are from Covid vs WITH Covid? If you tested positive for Covid within 28 days of dying – doesn’t matter if you had no symptoms — and you died (even if you died in car crash) you are listed as a Covid fatality.
Of course when hospitals are paid nearly $40,000 for every Covid fatality … you even list flu deaths as Covid.. because they are pretty much one and the same.
Have you noticed that flu has disappeared? Go figure
Since you did not respond and you got a little uppity on Fast Eddy ..did this hit a nerve?
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1104709/coronavirus-deaths-worldwide-per-million-inhabitants/
You specifically referenced Sweden citing high death totals. I think they are 28th on the per capita.
I always find it very interesting and amusing when I put facts and logic in someone’s face and the lash out in anger.
Because you see — I react differently if the facts dictate a change of position …. I welcome the facts and I change… and that’s how I learn… that’s why I am the Emperor and God of Logic.
All Hail Fast Eddy!
BTW – you have provide ZERO facts to back up any of your assertions… here’s your chance… but if you are going to toss MSM rubbish into the ring…. get ready to be torn apart.
Garbage in Garbage … as the saying goes… arming yourself with garbage against sharp tempered steel…. is folly.
My warriors are preparing …. What say ye Soldiers of Logic????
All Hail Fast Eddy! All Hail Fast Eddy! All Hail Fast Eddy!
Kill Kill Kill the DelusiSTANIS!!!
https://youtu.be/eZeYVIWz99I
Perhaps you could post the communications you’ve had with Great Barrington scientists and let us all draw our own conclusions.
Do you also find it amusing that you claim we don’t know whether any particular death was caused by Covid (in that the death may have occurred at that time if the person had not suffered from Covid) and yet assume that you know the Covid death figure must be much lower?
I find it sad, not amusing, that people use the published figures to prove that the published figures are wrong (and much worse than reality). You may not believe any stories you hear from any major news outlet (in fact, it seems you believe them to be all lies) but there were, and are, plenty of stories about hospitals being overwhelmed by cases. Do you really think that would have been better if there were no restrictions? Now, you may believe (and Gail offered a similar reasonable opinion early on in this pandemic) that the virus should have been allowed to run unrestricted through populations but do you think overwhelmed health systems would have been able to cope better in that situation.
Simon Thornley is one of the scientists involved in Plan B in NZ which is involved in the Great Barrington Declaration.
https://youtu.be/-cB_DEbXrhE
There are indeed plenty of stories about overwhelmed hospitals — including this one at the height of the covid pandemic in the US:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/alarming-cbs-news-denies-staging-busy-coronavirus-testing-line-in-response-to-project-veritas-video
Hospitals are busy with Flu/Covid patients but no more than in other years:
Hospitals Overwhelmed by Flu Patients Are Treating Them in Tents
“We are pretty much at capacity, and the volume is certainly different from previous flu seasons,” says Dr. Alfred Tallia, professor and chair of family medicine at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical Center in New Brunswick, New Jersey. “I’ve been in practice for 30 years, and it’s been a good 15 or 20 years since I’ve seen a flu-related illness scenario like we’ve had this year.”
https://time.com/5107984/hospitals-handling-burden-flu-patients/
Google this but use the filter to pull only results from 2000 – 2018 —- toronto hospitals overwhelmed flu
You will get endless results of hospitals overwhelmed by sick flu sufferers in multiple years….
There is NOTHING new hear except that you get 38k to call a flu death a covid death…
Fast Eddy. Thanks, will check these out later, as I don’t have time right now. I’ll also try to find something newer than a year old, from Simon Thornley as we surely have much more data now.
Here is serious player in Canadian medicine – I had this saved on YT but it’s been removed ‘because it violates their community rules’
https://www.facebook.com/randy.hillier/posts/dr-roger-hodkinson-offers-his-informed-perspective-to-edmontons-city-council-on-/3972191379457835/
This is very good as well
https://www.facebook.com/Roger-Hodkinson-103840901591267/
Thanks but I really don’t have time to listen through an hour’s interview for snippets of new information; I’d prefer to read something. Still trying to find more time but scanned some links from the Great Barrington Declaration site and it still seems as though Covid-19 being perhaps an order of magnitude more deadly than influenza is not disputed. I’d agree that lockdowns are useless if lifted before community transmission had ceased (New Zealand did wait and so got effective elimination, though it will occasionally seep through the border), apart from helping overstretched health service. But I’ll check some of what you’ve posted.
Oh… this was not a video yet you don’t respond to it either https://off-guardian.org/2021/05/18/how-the-cdc-is-manipulating-data-to-prop-up-vaccine-effectiveness/
I can give you water but it you refuse to drink ….
I can understand that the MSM stuff is more ‘exciting’… they have professional PR people and prestitutes and people who are dedicated to writing catchy headlines….
I did respond to that article. Some good stuff, some bad stuff (including assumptions). I commented on the lack of transparency for the CT value.
every country on this planet with the exception of 5 are reliant on the world bank…..
Three of them, Lichtenstein, Andorra and Monaco, are too tiny to matter, so only Cuba and NK (dependent upon China) are free of World Bank
There was not really a conspiracy. Almost all of the planning was out in the open. Johns Hopkins was doing massive preparedness exercises, just before the pandemic started (November 2019), with many representatives from around the world.
Pandemic simulation exercise spotlights massive preparedness gap
Event 201, hosted by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, envisions a fast-spreading coronavirus with a devastating impact
The whole money-making plan for the vaccine industry was set out in advance. I am sure that the pharmaceutical industry bought into this. The role of the press was set out as well.
Once China shut down the area around Wuhan, everyone else assumed that was the right thing to do. They originally thought that a 14 day shutdown would be enough, but soon discovered that was not the case at all.
Someone pointed out that the first US cases discovered were within 15 miles of Bill Gates home in the state of Washington. The shutdown there helped set the pattern elsewhere in the use.
Incredibly inept treatment of early patients (sending sick COVID patients to recover in nursing homes, for example) helped send the early death rate through the roof.
People did not understand that the information being reported (percentage of hospital patents dying, for example) could not be generalized to the population as a whole. They assumed that if something like 20% of hospital patients were dying with early inept treatment, then 20% of those catching the illness would die, regardless of age or health condition.
The early shutdowns in China disrupted supply lines. Politicians elsewhere found that imports from China were low; many of them were having trouble profitably operating their factories, even before COVID-19 hit. Shutting down for COVID-19 provided an excuse (other than inadequate supplies) to shut down their economies. Some of these factories were running at less than full capacity before the epidemic, so were happy to have a chance to shut down. Many stores had been operating at an unprofitable level, and were on the brink of bankruptcy. Shutting down for COVID-19 covered up this problem. Many of these countries had been experiencing uprisings earlier, because of low wages. The shutdowns fixed these. They also helped reduce dependence on imported oil.
From a local politician’s perspective, what was not to be liked? Also Bill Gates and Anthony Fauci were saying that this was the right thing to do. The WHO (funded by Bill & Melinda Gates “Foundation”) said this as well.
No conspiracy was needed.
So, Gail, you’re saying that creating the scare story is simply what governments do and that there was some prior work that enabled all governments to peddle that line? (Ignoring the “leaders” who downplayed, and are downplaying, the virus.)
OK, so, apart from allowing a few people to make billions from the vaccines, why peddle the story that vaccines will allow life to go back to normal, that vaccines allow us to not be afraid any more and allow societies to be freed up with economic growth resuming?
Perhaps the next pandemic is not too far away?
Because everything is geared towards convincing people to get the injection … beat them to a pulp then tell them … if you take this … the punishment will stop.
Now why would you want to inject 8B people with an experimental substance — when almost all of them would experience covid as a cold or mild flu or not at all… and which does not stop them from contracting covid….
Ringy f789ng dingy.
It started with Santa Claus
Then along came the tooth fairy
It continued, for many, with the idea of Royals
Its been added to with the moon-believers
Then the magic kennedy single assassin
It continues with the unbacked greenback
Wowee then the tinfoil planes versus the concrete and steel of the twin towers
Building seven brought down by some filing cabinets on fire
The green new deal/steal
And the big slam-dunc….convid via fleet-street, with an injection conjoured up in minutes..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mYBSayCsH0
We all wanna be believers, and thats just how it is
Yep — most people are NormDuncs
Tom Petty free falling and B7.
15,000 Now in Isolation (Covid Prisons)
https://www.traveller.com.au/no-booze-no-sunbathing-lots-of-vegemite-welcome-to-quarantine-at-howard-springs-nt-h1w1my
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-covid-live-updates-first-day-of-state-wide-lockdown-begins-as-authorities-rush-to-contain-covid-19-outbreak-20210527-p57vsc.html
Throw of the yoke of English oppression.
The governor serves the dictator in England. The solution is clear.
US horizontal, tight oil production, including condensate, appears to have peaked in November of 2019 at 8.47 MM BOPD.
Circumstances, some extenuating, others self-induced, caused the shale oil sector to fall off the drilling hamster wheel in 2020 and by January of 2021 tight oil production had fallen to 6.742 MM BOPD.
We lost 1.7 MM BOPD in just 14 months. If you had been standing behind that rate of decline you would have gotten sucked plum off your feet.
Over 60% of America’s 6.742 MM BOPD of horizontal, tight oil production is now less than two years old.
Based on known first year decline rates, that 4.0 MM BOPD will be down to 2.2 MM BOPD this time next year.
You need to let all that sink in a minute; the decline rate of this shale oil stuff is terrifying.
https://www.oilystuffblog.com/single-post/decline-baby-decline
+
He said operators had carried out “massive fracks” that created “artificial, permanent porosity”, inadvertently reducing the pressure in reservoirs and therefore the available oil.
The comments will cause alarm in the shale patch, given the crucial role of investors such as QEP in financing the onshore American oil business.
https://energyskeptic.com/2021/the-end-of-fracked-shale-oil/
=
We will all soon be dead.
The remaining 100 million Americans will have money and a comfortable standard of living.
5.0/3.3 = 1.5
The one and a half million surviving Kiwis will also have a nice standard of living.
England rugby star Henry Slade branded a Covidiot for saying he ‘doesn’t agree with’ vaccine and won’t have it
Some criticised Slade for his stance on the jab, with one saying: “Great player and an utterly selfish man.”
Another wrote: “It is his choice not to have it, but perhaps it would be responsible not to say it may have not been tested enough given he’s a role model for some young people. How does he know? Where’s his evidence?”
One person tweeted: “It’s not about you, it’s about who you could infect.”
https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/15092187/henry-slade-vaccine-refuse-rugby-england-coronavirus-covid/
Sounds like these people need to watch “Being Selfish.”
https://off-guardian.org/2021/04/11/watch-being-selfish/
Thank you for the new post and thanks again for the previous one. I found myself reading and contemplating that one several times. I think we are indeed going to head “back to normal”. Just the normal of 1500 not 2019. 🙂
The building materials prices does seem to be putting some projects on the shelf. As long as housing prices stay at these levels and inventory is very low some will proceed. The inventory is so low that a sale at a price that accounts for the material cost is virtually guaranteed.
Its much like the high shipping costs from china and the container ships backed up at long beach. it adds to the cost of goods. As long as demand remains at higher prices the log jam remains.
There does seem to be the smell of a slowdown but it hasnt quite manifested yet. Im not sure prices can fall. Perhaps but I just dont see us returning to $10 OSB sheets. I call stagflation.
Theres a lot of money out there still. The middle class which are now millionaires will continue to spend.
People have money “left over” from not being able to travel, giving them extra funds to spend on new homes or home improvement items. Governments are also starting infrastructure projects to stimulate economies of various countries. The combination gets to be too much. Some things like copper were already at maximum production before. It takes a time to build new mines, and generally higher prices are needed because the new mines are in less desirable locations.
At some point, the higher prices will lead to debt defaults or to cutback on orders. We will see.
Members of SAGE are out in force today, warning the Prime Minister that Britain should not unlock on June 21st because of the risk posed by the Indian Covid variant. Professor Neil Ferguson said on Wednesday that this strain could result in restrictions needing to be “tightened“, despite the recent increase in Covid cases not being matched by an increase in deaths.
Following further pressure from other members of the advisory group today, the Prime Minister has said that Number 10 may have to “wait” for more data before pushing ahead with ending the lockdown.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9624453/June-21-hangs-balance-warns-Professor-Neil-Ferguson.html
Sieg Heil mutherf789ers!
Funny tens of millions of Indians live in the US and we do not care one wit about Indian variant. It seems to be the racist English who are being used by that propaganda.
remember the VP iis Indian and the soon to be president when Joe wears out.
Indians are only 4 million in the USA, about 1.2%, not tens of millions.
Indian variant has nothing to do with racism. It’s just an excuse to extend the state of fear. It would have been the Brazilian or the South African variant if there was no Indian variant.
Fantastic!!! Two Big Ol Hogs…. going at it over a mask rule
https://www.ctvnews.ca/video?playlistId=1.5446187
Pingback: Damn the Matrix
“It is disturbing that back in 2010, the Rockefeller Foundation was looking at using pandemics to control people.”
I read the report (it’s pretty good) and no, that’s not what they were doing at all. In attempting to forecast the future–in order to judge how a charity like the RF might respond–the report sketched three representative types of future, only one of which (the first) involved a pandemic. The details and timing of this fictional pandemic were completely different than what ultimately happened, as one would expect. That particular timeline envisions governments becoming more authoritarian as a result, which was a shrewd guess.
The second RF scenario (increased international cooperation) doesn’t really resonate, but the third (the world reels from numerous disasters, natural and otherwise) is as good as the first.
Let’s have a look at a quote from the document:
“During the pandemic, national leaders around the world flexed their authority and imposed airtight rules and restrictions, from the mandatory wearing of face masks to body-temperature checks at the entries to communal spaces like train stations and supermarkets.”
You see now? That sounds NOTHING like what’s going on right now. 🙄🙄🙄
Well, you could say that the RF was “looking at using pandemics to control people” in the sense that they anticipated that governments around the world might react to (or take advantage of) a pandemic by instituting such controls. But the RF wasn’t contemplating doing anything like this themselves–or if they were, at least this was not in the report. Now that I think about it, Gail may have intended the first reading.
These bodies like to make and publish ‘predictions’ and ‘forecasts’, ‘horizon-scan’ etc.
Later, having participated in the engineering of an event, they can point back to their publications and say ‘See, it was inevitable, and are we not all wise?!’
It’s all a bit perverse and sadistic. Great fun for them,I am sure.
On the other hand, we poor sacrificial sheep can perhaps gain some idea of what is coming up by looking at what they publish and ‘war game.’
Next up, if we are to follow the heavy hints in their recent publications and activities: cyber pandemics and mass starvation.
They are also signalling a massive banking crash due to the disruption and losses ’caused by Covid.’
All three will justify further, permanent, destruction of civil and human rights, create a shocked and pliable society, and justify the rapid move to CBDC’s and Digital Identity/social credit system as the new global form of government.
New York State was one of the first in and may be one of the first out. We have many smart and rich people. The play of make Trump look bad is over time to get on with life. Was at music event tonight with dancing! People in grocery stores without masks. Went to live music on Sunday at reduced seating 80 instead of 200, funny thing it has always been 80. Wink wink the fix is in, this is New York.
I would say Malls are dead and never coming back but most of their business was poor trash of whatever hue. The up scale food store for Jews and Whites and Asians with money has carried on with no issues.
I think part of the plan is to drive people south to get decrease winter heating fuel use. We have for some years been decreasing section 8 housing. Without the Mall for feral child care….
Funny that Gail mentions the lack of water around the world because that is precisely one of the big hurdle in trying to ramp up electronic chip production. Taiwan has been facing drought conditions and as such has been unable to produce the necessary supply of electronic components due to their water shortages.
I also remember reading in the past where experts have been warning that “water” will become more valuable than oil in the future. We are also dealing with top soil and phosphorus depletion which the world needs to grow food.
The water problems with Taiwan’s chip factories shows how insane it is that Intel’s CEO announced the other day that Intel would soon be solving the chip shortage by building new factories in ( drum roll please) Arizona and Israel. I thinks this shows he has no intention of actually doing it and just wants to collect as many subsidies as possible while the collecting is good.
It has always been Intel policy to build plants within a one day round trip by air so executives can fly out in the morning inspect and fly back in the evening for dinner with the family in Silicon Valley. This limits it to California, Oregon, and Arizona. As to Israel that is a whole different issue.
Israel and Arizona are about as short of water as any place I can think of.
Indeed Oregon would make more sense.
Transporting water to dry places requires energy and all the other yadda yadda logistics. Water used in dry places tends to evaporate, residues that remain make the soil saline and toxic.
Humans are stupid as long as they’re making profit.
And water comes out of plastic bottles
The Sea is getting salty-er
Blame it on the flamingos
Suck on that Himalayan stock pile
Make some more solar farms
In dead lake beds
“The global economy was facing the worst collapse since the second world war as coronavirus began to strike in March, well before the height of the crisis, according to the latest Brookings-FT tracking index.
“The index comes as the IMF prepares to hold virtual spring meetings this week, when it will release forecasts showing the deepest contraction for the global economy since the 1930s great depression.
https://www.ft.com/content/9ac5eb8e-4167-4a54-9b39-dab48c29ac6c
Behind a paywall. Any chance you could copy and paste?
https://archive.vn/UUfl2
The link gives the text but not the charts with the index and other charts. A little helpful.
Unfortunately I don’t have access.
What would be interesting is to look at that index and see which other flashing red signals (in addition to auto sales) were there….
China-Australia passenger traffic has peaked 2018-19 before Covid
https://crudeoilpeak.info/china-australia-passenger-traffic-has-peaked-2018-19-before-covid
Thanks! The fact that China-Australia passenger traffic peaked earlier was another thing I wanted to mention in the post, but I ran out of “space.”
So many peaks preceded the crisis: we all knew that something big – and nasty – was coming in 2020, didn’t we?
That we did is mostly thanks to researchers like Gail.
All I hoped for, probably like many who were aware of the multiple dangers, was that further inventive juggling of the plates by CB’s – as after 2008 – would somehow keep them in the air, preserving the illusion of normality in the Core countries for another 5, maybe 10, years or so.
‘Normality’ of course, being relative, with obvious deterioration for informed observers.
But, clearly, my pessimism was just disguised optimism and self-deceit……
Good stuff. I’d like to see your analysis of the north east link project in Melbourne.
https://www.oilystuffblog.com/single-post/for-shale-oil-cash-flow-ain-t-free?postId=0ca8fc66-fdc5-4916-b60c-ca39bf8fedba
Thanks! I was hoping I would have “space” to say more about shale production, but I figured that I was probably already pushing the limits of how long readers would want to stay engaged with the post.
Great post Gail. Your work is extremely important.
That blog is excellent.
This is superb analysis… all it is missing is the CEP 🙂
Create a “fear of the coronavirus” story, and use it to keep people inside and away from traveling as much as possible. Emphasize the possibility of mutations. If people cut back on traveling, it saves oil. If they cut back on eating out and large celebrations such as weddings, it reduces food wastage. If a pandemic takes place, politicians can use it as an excuse to mitigate problems of many kinds.
This was a tip off on the food issue https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/dec/23/china-to-bring-in-law-against-food-waste-with-fines-for-promoting-overeating
They try to cloak it in a ‘be healthier’ message…
Thanks! This is a good article to remember from December, 2020. Among other things, the article says:
“new law means restaurants will be able to charge patrons for leaving leftovers”
“Under the campaign “Operation empty plate”, local authorities quickly embarked on programs to reduce waste and encourage food outlets to limit orders to one less dish than the number of diners in a group.”
Why not toss all the left over food into a large clean bin … mix in some ketchup … and leave it outside the restaurant for the homeless people?
https://youtu.be/AgLzJm83bZ8
In New York State it is illegal to put out household compost because the deer might eat it. It would disturb the natural balance we are oh so woke. We want to section 8 folks to move to Florida and Georgia and places like that.
and don’t get me started on the black bears
Gail, did you see this? A Dutch court decision against Shell is expected to add momentum to global activist efforts to legally force fossil fuel companies to, in effect, severely reduce their usual operations, and to supposedly shift to investment in ‘green’ energy.
> Shell Court Ruling Could Have Ripple Effect for Industry
Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc was ordered by a Dutch court to slash its emissions harder and faster than planned, dealing a blow to the oil giant that could have far-reaching consequences for the rest of the global fossil fuel industry.
Shell, which said it expects to appeal the ruling, has pledged to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% within a decade, and to net-zero before 2050. That’s not enough, a court in The Hague ruled Wednesday afternoon, ordering the oil producer to slash emissions by 45% compared to 2019 levels.
…. While many countries, including the Netherlands, have signed up to the Paris Agreement on climate change, companies such as Shell were not part of the agreement and so far haven’t been bound by national pledges. That didn’t stop Larisa Alwin, the Dutch presiding judge, from stating that companies have a burden to shoulder too.
…. There are currently 1,800 lawsuits related to climate change being fought in courtrooms around the world, according to the climatecasechart.com database. The Shell verdict could have a powerful ripple effect, not least among its European peers including BP Plc and Total SE. Those companies have set similar emissions targets, which have also been criticized by campaigners for not going far enough.
…. Shell’s loss of a key climate lawsuit in the Netherlands — brought by environmental NGOs — is likely to force the company to accelerate its energy-transition and decarbonization plans. A judge ruled Shell has the legal responsibility to reduce all CO2 emissions associated with its business and products by more than already planned to 45% by 2030 and 72% by 2040 vs. 2019 levels. We wouldn’t be surprised to see Shell appeal the decision.
https://www.rigzone.com/news/wire/shell_court_ruling_could_have_ripple_effect_for_industry-26-may-2021-165528-article/
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For reasons that you have discussed, it is highly questionable whether ‘green energy’ can substitute at scale, in the face of declining fossil fuel production. If not, then this could be a foretaste of a supposed ‘legally compelled’ reduction of energy flow – which is liable to take down the whole of industrial civilisation.
It seems to be an attempt by states to pretend, for now, that they are ‘in control’ of energy reduction and the winding down of IC. It may be a strategy, based on how states understand the ‘behavioural psychology’ of citizens, to perpetuate institutions of social control, and to keep IC going for a little bit longer. We will see how long that works out.
So, if energy flow is about to reduce, pass laws that energy use must decline, pretend to be ‘in control’ of events. Not that that ‘solves’ the problem of obvious disaster once ‘green energy’ fails to take up the slack. But at least for now, it gives a gloss – and even temporary results can be ‘justifiable’.
But none of that ‘works’ if the financial system gives way. After all, capitalism is a profit- and growth-based economic system, and it is difficult to see how it can continue to function in a context of contraction. Presumably ‘debt’ is meaningless if economies are contracting, it cannot be paid back – and then it is just money-printing, which is liable to be just as meaningless (a whole ‘nother subject.)
Exxon and Chevron have their own problems – within. Activists are pushing through a shut down of fossil fuel production – and it will be interesting to see how soon industrial civilisation collapses.
> Hedge fund forces oil giant Exxon to go green after shareholder revolt
ExxonMobil lost a historic battle against activist investors on Wednesday, forcing the oil giant to install new board members who are likely to push it away from fossil fuels and demand it embrace renewable energy.
Shareholders at Wednesday’s annual meeting approved the nomination of two directors put forward by the hedge fund Engine No. 1. The votes on two other proposed directors were yet to be counted.
The move signals a historic rejection of Exxon’s reliance on oil and gas, which the company has continued to pursue even as other energy giants move away from fossil fuels and towards renewables.
Engine No. 1 – which has only a 0.02pc stake in Exxon – has spent months lobbying for the changes, saying it is failing to embrace the move to renewables and risking its long-term future. It secured the backing of top investors including BlackRock in its campaign.
The company lost $22bn (£16bn) last year and lost its position in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, nine years after Apple first surpassed it as the world’s most valuable publicly-traded company.
…. Separately, 61pc of shareholders at Chevron supported a proposal from campaigners demanding that the group cut its carbon emissions.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2021/05/26/hedge-fund-forces-oil-giant-exxon-go-green-shareholder-revolt/
I am sure the CCP is quite pleased.
Couple of notes on the oil major news:
-Shell will undoubtedly appeal the judge’s ruling, so it’s not over. Forcing a company that size to cut half of its production in 9 years by decree is insane. It would force the company to commit suicide. The ruling also only applies within the Netherlands and Shell has operations just about everywhere, so we’ll see how that plays out in reality. Maybe the company moves HQ to another country? Personally I’m baffled as to how a judge can mandate new policy for a private company. I thought the legal system was supposed to interpret and rule on existing laws, not issue decrees from the bench based on whether or not the issue is “good for the world”.
-Exxon and Chevron shareholder proposals were pushed through by very well-coordinated voting campaigns from large funds (BlackRock being one) and state pension funds in left-wing states (New York, Cali) that concentrate a high number of shares (votes) in a few peoples’ hands. It’s analogous to a conservative, right-wing state voting in a socialist government because the conservatives didn’t bother to go vote.
-Exxon’s new greenie directors still constitute a minority of the board, so we’ll see how that plays out internally in the company’s politics.
-It’s true that the green Left is trying the lawfare route to cut oil production, but what’s not reported is that the effort has been largely unsuccessful to date. The Shell ruling is one big win for them, but for example in the US they’ve lost some ~20 similar lawsuits consecutively and won 0, with judges repeatedly ruling that energy policy must be set by politicians, not courts.
-Even if the western major oil companies are forced to slit their own throats, they constitute ~7% of global oil production. From a competitive viewpoint, this would be an idiotic move because they’re not even close to big enough to dictate global supply and what they’ll up doing is handing over production and revenue to non-western indepedent and state-owned producers, such as Rosneft, Lukoil, Aramco, etc.
Good points! Our liberal media doesn’t like to mention those details, however.
If Shell has the sense God fave a tree sloth, they will cut their greenhouse gas emissions in the Netherlands to zero tomorrow. By ending all exports of fossil fuel to that country.
Self-organizing systems work strangely. It may be that smaller companies can more nimbly produce what oil and gas is left. I agree that we need the oil and gas. If there is energy that can reasonably be dissipated, I expect that it will be dissipated, but perhaps not by the current companies, in the current form.
If the world economy is breaking up, large companies may need to break up as well. I just don’t know how this works out.
I am sure the activist investors see the subsidies offered for renewables. They figure that is where the profits are to be made. We will see how long the subsidies really last.
This should be filed with the stories that indicate we have hit peak oil demand … (because we are transitioning to EVs and renewables)….
This is a way to admit that oil has peaked… but without spooking the cattle.
Easy process really; stop all deliveries to the Dutch.
Next?
This is the woke thing to do. hehehehe so good
The only system that doesn’t have a dissipating energy problem is biological succession. The evidence is found in a diversity of life that produces an increasing amount of soil fertility. Energy is used to produce more usable energy, I suggest you people get started learning how now.
Thermodynamically, the earth’s ecology is an open energy system that relies on the constant reception of energy from the sun. Energy dissipation means that energy is lost in its change into heat. It is not that biological succession is a self-sufficient, isolated energy system; it loses energy, and its survival depends on constant openness to the sun. All dissipative systems are ‘open’; isolated systems (constant energy-mass) do not exist in nature or experiments, they are hypothetical.
“Energy is used to produce more usable energy” is not really true, I am afraid.
Energy is used to try to capture energy from the sun, but we never calculate the resource needs of the full system required to operate such a system. They are huge–far greater than the energy that we get back out.
Texas and California have illustrated how badly our current systems work. As more intermittent renewables are added to the grid, more problems arise. The storage issue is huge. So is the energy transmission issue, and the resulting forest fires. The devices used are basically not recyclable (especially the concrete), meaning that more and more resource use is required over time, and the environment increasingly “trashed.”
Gail, both you and Mirror focus on thermodynamics but I think Rick’s point stands.
Of course ecology is an open system. What is different from human created systems is that it manages a dynamic stability and an increase in complexity without (too much) collapse.
Start with a rocky area and nature can create soil, forest/savanna and a stable ecosystem that can last millions of years.
At most peope can destroy/remove the rocks and or convert them in solar panels that end up in the dumpster in 50 years barely recouping their production energy.
That is what we should try to learn but it seems difficult if even people here misunderstand it.
I am just not sure that it helps to say, “well, look at the plant ecosystems” – that is not what humans are. We seem to have been subject to boom and bust patterns as far back as anyone can tell, and the collapse of industrial civilisation is just another example of that. Even Neolithic agricultural societies seem to have been unstable and subject to population expansions and collapses. https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms3486 Periodic collapse is just what human societies do, and what we will do – that is just how it goes.
Btw. there are no eco-systems on land outside of the tropics that predate the ice age. Humans have been around for hundreds of thousands of years; indeed we are descended from fish 50 m years ago, so ‘we’ have survived unimaginably longer than any non-tropical ecosystem. Ultimately we are descended from life that emerged 3 to 4 billion years ago (putting aside questions of panspermia.) Species survive, and evolve, while ecosystems often come and go – and certainly while societies and civilisations come and go. Species and their descendants often last much longer than any ecosystem, let alone a civilisation.
Ultimately, being is not about ‘stability’, it is about change, instability. Nothing is, all is becoming. ‘Stability’ is a false value, a fake ontological reality, when life and being are considered. Species evolve, and some go extinct – 99.9% have already. Ecosystems emerge and then vanish, while others have appeared. All previous ecosystems are gone, while others have emerged. That is how the process works – coming to be and passing away; changing, adapting and surviving, while others do not; emerging and getting wiped out, while others survive. The planet itself, even the cosmos (cyclic theories aside) is time limited. It is what it is.
You are in fact wrong. Ecosystems in succession don’t produce energy. Nothing produce energy out of itself. The ecosystems in succession has very big 1st line of producents (yes, plants) which can transform the UV energy from the sun into biological equivalent which then can feed the 1st line of reducents (herbivores) and bring their numbers very high (ecosystems in succession have plenty of ‘non occupied’ space and energetic relationships ready to be made) which further feeds up the next lines of reducents. Those things feed into each other and thus increase its complexity and volume but when the ecosystem reach equilibrium it stops adding ‘complexity and new energy relationships inside the system’, the system itself steps the most complex parts of itself which translate in the loss of species, decreased number of species individuals and further simplified energy relations inside the system. Yes, exactly, the ecosystem is dying in a very slowly pace and once it reaches an energy minimum (basically once the system is almost dead) it starts the cycle of succession again.
Maybe you don’t know what ecosystem in succession means, let me give a very good example. If the volcanos of the hawai islands puke lava and Ash and cover the islands (which is basically kill everyone and everything) the ecosystems of the islands will be set into succession. We people are product of such ecosystem in succession but we will certainly be wiped out if we find ourselves in such situation. When ecosystem enters succession thus basically means that the old species and energy relations are nullified.
As for the last part of your comment, it is not energy that produces more energy. It is the fact that ecosystems in succession pertuberate through high number of species with increased individuals numbers (life explosion) which once dead provide huge amount of biomass for the saprophitic organisms to break down and thus enrich the soil. Once this cycle ticks up those process are halted in low energy equilibrium.
Whit the above I’d recommend for you to really study ecology and not parotting half-truths based on PBS short videos. I will give you a very good basis for your journey to enlughtment – ecology is thermodynamics in situ.
Thanks for your fine explanation!
Thanks Gail, great graphs that reveal a lot. Like the 3 strategies used to hide the resource problem too. Maybe add (d) Blame the Russians and/or Chinese for everything.
Here in wonderful Aus the State of VIC is back in lockdown again. The terrifying new Indian variant is responsible!
Wait, does that mean we might have another COVID death in the country? That would make 2 in the past 6 months. Yes, a terrifying doubling of the single death registered in that time, so must lockdown again.
The Gov is using this to ramp up vaccine propaganda yet again and to say we now need to start vaccinating the young, even though the vaccine makers themselves admit that the vaccines don’t reduce transmissibility.
http://www.nomorefakenews.com has good background on the whole vaccine charade, fiddling of trial stats, adjusting the PCR cycle nos to get the adjust positive test rates you want etc.
I await news of a returning vacationer to introduce the frightful ‘Indian variant’ into NZ….
Thousands are being asked to self-quarantine if they have been anywhere near melbourne in the past couple of weeks…
Fortunately my anti-covid suit arrived the other day and I am ready for anything!!!
https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/5f12e6a34fabfc0006d66e3d/960×0.jpg
In chart 1 we see NZ is the most profligate nation for oil. I am looking forward to Fast Eddy as captian of a sailing delivering good up and down the coast of NZ.
10
So, when are Aussies going to show the immense courage of WW1 and WW2 and rebel against this? I hope they do!
Australia has continuing problems to operate coal fired power plants reliably:
Queensland hit by widespread power outage after fire and explosion at Callide power station
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-05-25/qld-widespread-power-outages-across-the-state/100164200
The exact reason for the generator fire is not yet known. Wattclarity has done a couple of articles with a detailed analysis but hasn’t come to any definitive conclusion. A cascading shutdown was triggered by low frequency of 48.6 Hz
https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2021/05/25may-part5-threeevents/
There are many questions
https://wattclarity.com.au/articles/2021/05/25may-part7-7questions/
The Australia institute maintains a coal and gas watch website:
https://australiainstitute.org.au/initiative/gas-coal-watch/
Renew Economy has identified an uncontrolled coal exit
https://reneweconomy.com.au/a-new-flagship-coal-plant-failed-spectacularly-but-it-wont-be-the-last-time/
The context: It’s not lack of coal but an endless debating club about climate change and energy policy (or lack thereof) for the last 15 years which has left the power supply system in a degraded state while coal fired power plants are aging and have to be closed down after 40 years of operation
https://www.singletonargus.com.au/story/7242779/liddells-closure-begins/
The critical issue is energy storage. Huge projects are required which take years to build
https://www.snowyhydro.com.au/snowy-20/
AEMO’s Integrated System Plan: Does it leave Snowy 2.0 high and dry?
https://reneweconomy.com.au/aemos-integrated-system-plan-does-it-leave-snowy-2-0-high-and-dry-32930/
Now the hope is batteries
The Wallerawang 9 Battery Project would have a capacity of 500 megawatts and 1,000 megawatt hours of storage.
Work underway to repurpose Wallerawang power station into battery and industrial zone
https://www.abc.net.au/news/rural/2021-05-08/wallerawang-power-station-finds-new-lease-on-life/100119980
That would be 500 MW for just 2 hrs.,important to keep the grid alive, but insufficient to store renewable energy
All the while governments are approving one energy hungry project after the other
https://www.skyscrapercenter.com/complex/375
The international Towers 1-3 alone need 62 MW for airconditioning
https://www.fredon.com.au/portfolio/barangaroo-central-plant/
Funny you should mention Coal… because I just hauled 1200kg of the fabulous black smoke emitting stuff from Mitre 10. I normally go through about 4000kg during the winter months.
I love this stuff!
Not only do I contribute to fake gw … but shifting 40kg sacks is fantastic exercise.
Any how…. I normally get a discount because I am to be rewarded for belching black smoke!!!… … the price has gone up over 10% in just a year… and that’s with my discount.
Oh well… a bump in price is not going to convince me to Burn Less… no way will I consider that. Why would I?
And for any green groopies… and for Geeta Toonberg…. f789 you all.
I’m running my only little China here in Central Otago…
https://www.jwnenergy.com/article/2021/4/20/record-chinese-coal-burning-to-drive-surge-in-carb/
It is tree pollen season here in New York State. There is a green film over every thing including the solar panels. Looking forward to cadres of young communists out speeding off the panels in spring and the snow off in winter for the 80 sunny days we have here in New York. LMAO
Sorrry, I didn’t get a chance to look at this earlier.
I notice that the coal fired plant with the big explosion and fire is the newest one, built in 2001. According to the Renew Economy article:
If I understood the article, the emissions aren’t really that much better, either, even though they were promised to be. All the high tech equipment may not be compatible with all of the ramping up and down required with wind and solar, and with problems on the demand side as well. Having a big explosion in a fancy new coal-fired plant is a problem.
The pumped hydroelectric storage that they are talking about (to replace coal) doesn’t sound like it can be economic in any reasonable time frame. Also, there also seem to be problems that crop up that aren’t planned for whenever new technology is built.
Intermittent power (without batteries or coal backup) doesn’t look like it would work well for those new high rise buildings being planned, either. I wouldn’t want to be caught in an elevator for hours, or have the heating/ventilating system go off.
Maybe the US’s approach of more work from home would be better for Australia as well. Use homes with ventilation, instead of the big office buildings.
We are already under a one world government. Those who were at the Capitol on Jan 06 are being hunted to the ends of the earth, and that has given a warning for the would be dissidents.
It is the elites or else; an Asian style despotism all around the world is not too far away, with resources all going to the elites.
You are correct. The first amendment had five rights but the one about right to petition the government for redress is clearly gone gone gone. The right to associate is gone until the CV19 is gone or maybe forever. The right to worship is maybe for a while being pried back in some states but clearly not in Canada. As for the right to speak and write they are fine as long as you have no reach no TV station nor large circulation newspaper.
Funny thing many will prefer the Asian dictatorships without the trans, gay, nullo, death to men, death to whites, death to Asians aspects.
It was observed in the 19th-century that under Habsburg absolute imperial rule (thrown into prison and the key lost if you meddled in politics, the Austrians were very cruel to enemies) you could at least have some fun, and Vienna was a delightful city.
The emperors knew that much would be accepted so long as people had their normal, sociable, pleasures.
This is far, far worse – a vista of misery, lies and oppression which, if it weren’t for Collapse, they would try to extend to infinity, even erasing human nature through Transhumanism.
Creating covid panic is an attempt to temporarily take a plate out of the jugglers’ challenge, with which they have been prolonging the illusionary growth game since 2008. So far, it has worked. for us, the plates are still in the air. However, the jugglers stumble! They lack real net!!! -energy.
the growth illusion has been going on since the 1970s
we are living in a debt wedge
Agreed, as we can no longer pump up the past, we need to pump up the future.
It does appear we are going out with a whimper rather than a bang… I was so hoping for mass revolution… a bit of Mad Max tinged with a whiff of The Road…
Instead we get a queue for The Injection ….
Very disappointing
They bought everyone off with comfy WFH and generous furlough money.
Or, more likely, an economic Singularity is coming up, with today’s tycoons, real estate moguls, etc guaranteed ownership for practically for ever, all debts ‘on hold’, rents rising to astronomic levels and introducing a Dubai-like absolute rule with non elites disenfranchised.
I enjoyed reading Christopher Clugston’s “Blipl”, I believe you would also.
Bravo;… Bravo… a new article!!!
Meanwhile….
Nurses rap sharply on the door for random early-morning temperature checks or coronavirus tests. Police and soldiers patrol, occasionally shouting at people to put on masks. And there is a 39-page booklet of rules and procedures. All this, for the price of a good hotel room.
The rules are detailed: no alcohol, no care parcels, no restaurant deliveries, no balls, no sunbathing, no metal silverware, no scissors or sharp implements, no cooking in the kettle, no putting food waste into the hand basin (who does that, anyway?), no electrical appliances, no stepping off your balcony except for rubbish disposal and three allotted weekly laundry spots, no skateboards or inline skates, no swimming or playing in the drains when it rains, no noise after 9.30pm.
https://www.traveller.com.au/no-booze-no-sunbathing-lots-of-vegemite-welcome-to-quarantine-at-howard-springs-nt-h1w1my
The US and Mexico have a green bubble so we are set.
I am hoping for Russia to open for vax, Sputnik V, tourism.
No way I would go anywhere near the wackjobs in AU or NZ.
I love it, plastic cutlery so they can’t top themselves!
Hilarious – are the plates paper too? One could slash one’s wrists with a broken china plate, or attack a guard.
And all the while the provider makes a mint…..
And to think… I have so many rifles and shotguns… and a massive box of ammo…
Hi Gail,
1) Car sales levelling probably isn’t due to resource constraints, because a supply issue would mean car prices would have risen. They haven’t [1]. Unless, as you’ve posited elsewhere, those same resource constraints have simultaneously impoverished people by the same amount and made them unable to pay higher prices.
2) The assertion that the developed world curtailed its coal consumption as a result of the Kyoto Protocol is a new one by me. I think you share my suspicion that a country voluntarily reducing its fossil fuel usage would be volunteering to crash its economy.
In fact, coal consumption in the OECD *has* declined slightly since 2001 [2] but that has been offset by OECD growth in natural gas consumption [3] (a luxury for the rich countries who want to clean up their air and water).
3) I think the cost of fossil fuel extraction is a useless signal. We know fossil fuel extraction is already heavily subsidized, so it’s not like it’s a free market and you’re looking at a signal reflecting reality.
Money’s really for incentivizing humans to do work. There are many ways to do this. If prices reflect rising Energy Cost of Energy [4] and become a problem, subsidies could just be increased. Or, worst case, a crashed world economy would probably deploy slave labor to extract the extremely useful, but “expensive” fossil fuels for essential uses like agriculture, health care, and private jet travel to Davos climate conferences.
[1] https://data.bls.gov/timeseries/CUUR0000SETA01?output_view=data
[2] https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/world-coal-consumption-1978-2019
[3] https://www.iea.org/data-and-statistics/charts/world-natural-gas-demand-by-region-1973-2019
[4] https://surplusenergyeconomics.wordpress.com/
“3) I think the cost of fossil fuel extraction is a useless signal. We know fossil fuel extraction is already heavily subsidized, so it’s not like it’s a free market and you’re looking at a signal reflecting reality.”
I think this is true only if you have dollars and can print as much as you want. This is why only the US could afford to exploit shale oils. Nowhere else in the world this happened.
1) The problem is on the wage side, more than the cost of the car side. Resource shortages lead to high input costs. Businesses cut costs by substituting machines for workers and laying off workers. Also, competition with workers in low wage countries holds wages down. Low wages and people whose efforts are replaced by a machine are problems.
Also, the BLS imputes an awfully lot of added value to unwanted additional car features. The real issue is that a huge share of workers (and would-be workers) cannot afford a new car, or even a used car.
2) The Kyoto Protocol basically moved manufacturing to China and India, because the cost structure needed to manufacture goods in the US, Europe, and Japan was too high relative to the buying power of those countries. Because of this issue, there was not enough “demand” from these countries to keep the price of oil high enough for oil extraction to continue. As you will recall, the price of oil was very low in the 1996-2001 era. The issue wasn’t too different from today. Oligarchs and businesses favored the general idea of the Kyoto Protocol, because they could see the net effect on their own businesses would be more sales and perhaps higher profits.
China and India could manufacture goods more cheaply than the US partly because these countries would look the other way with respect to pollution. Also, the delivered price of coal was very inexpensive. Furthermore, China’s use of cogeneration was a very inexpensive way of producing both electricity and heat for its population, keeping its total energy costs very low. New factories could be very modern and fuel efficient. China and India did not have all of the overhead of an expensive healthcare system, retirement system and educational system either.
The energy system needed the demand from the newly added factories in China and India to pump up the price of oil and coal so that the world economy could continue to expand. In effect, adding China and India to the mix of countries reduced both the average price of energy (coal is much cheaper than oil, and often natural gas), as well as human labor. The world economy, with these additions, could pump up oil prices in the 2002 to 2008 era, and keep the economy at least temporarily humming along.
Before the Kyoto Protocol, coal production was already declining in the US and Europe, and Japan never had much. These countries needed natural gas to substitute for the shortfall. These countries could explain the issue from a “sour grapes” perspective: They didn’t really want the coal because it was too polluting. Natural gas was available, and it was less expensive. The price of natural gas tended to be highly variable, but hopefully the average delivered price would be OK, and wouldn’t average out to as being a whole lot more than coal. (In most cases, the delivered price of natural gas ends up being quite a bit higher than locally produced coal.)
3) You have to recognize that there are two different issues:
(a) How much energy consumption actually costs which is related to Tim Morgan’s Energy Cost of Energy.”
(b) What the price of energy actually turns out to be, which depends on “demand.” Many different things tend to affect demand, including interest rates, the availability of debt, and the extent of wage disparity. It turns out that quantity of oil and coal extracted seems to rise when the inflation-adjusted price of energy is relatively high, compared to the price of other good. (Thus, it is not just money printing that works.)
I have been looking at this stuff for a long time. I have spoken at academic conferences related to these issues. Tim Morgan has developed his “Energy Cost of Energy,” which is closely related to (upside down, actually) the concept of Energy Return on Investment. The overall Energy Cost of Energy needs to be about 5% of the total cost, according to Tim Morgan, and according to the Limits to Growth model. The move of manufacturing to China/India was successful because it greatly reduced the world’s average Energy Cost of Energy. Now that China’s coal is depleting, the world’s average Energy Cost of Energy has become too high. I think Tim Morgan puts it at 9%, rather than 5%. The Energy Cost of Energy for Wind and for Solar has not been measured properly, but if it were, it certainly would have no chance of bringing the average cost down enough. They also cannot be used on a stand alone basis.
Outstanding reasoning and use of data. Thanks, Gail.
Thank you for the post.
we unwittingly decided that the planet could be turned into a cash asset to be bought and sold as we thought fit
to this end, infinitely increasing consumption is critical.
(Bezos can only get richer if more and more people play pass the parcel. In the last century Rockefeller could only get richer if more and more people burned his oil. Same thing)
Thus we are all infected by collective greed whether we like/admit it or not. And resources are finite whether we admit it or not.
We collectively survive by buying and selling stuff we mostly don’t need.
Overlay that bit of insanity with an even bigger level of insanity, that of denial that there is anything wrong at all.
Denial reigns supreme among the unthinkers.
Advance any line of logical reasoning, on any subject related to our future survival, and it will be denied by a wall of unreason–that it is a conspiracy intended to ‘hide the truth’.
The screaming mob on Jan 6th confirmed that.
Flat earth, Climate change, resource depletion, –we all know the list.
Uncomfortable reality must be denied. It’s all a collusion by some hidden cabal of mysterious people wanting the planet for themselves. Exactly what they’ll do with it is never explained. Sufficient that there is a conspiracy about it.
There is no ‘collective plot’ to direct humankind in this direction or that. Covid unleashed itself and brought forward the inevitable crunch of non-consumption, maybe by about 10years.
That was much too big a proposition to be the result of human reasoning and determination.
We tore the planet apart for profit. Think of it as burning the ship’s planking to fire the boilers.
Now the planet is shutting itself down in response to our predations.
**************
The future is clear:
Resource wars. Leaders determined to hang onto what they have, and grab what others have to reinforce their personal status quo.
That will mean national and international conflict
We are good at that
‘Uncomfortable reality must be denied.’
Like this?
https://youtu.be/bdQHKf48Mfw?t=1921
Eddy, you are clearly a Luna-tic
Eddy, what is with this non stop moon.nonsens?
You’ve become a racing Luna-tic!
That is what is likable about Eddy—–
Being totally nuts is entertaining!
Most posts on this blog are quite entertaining.
But only for a short while.
The reason great comedians maintain their entertainment value over the years is that they have an army of gag writers working for them
when there’s only one writer–the comic value gets very repetitive and monotonous
eventually the only applause is one handed
waving goodbye
I am considering changing DuncNorm to NormP…. I need to check with the Owners of the Dictionary to see if that is feasible
Apparently they already have NormP registered … by definition a NormP is a one hit wonder… one trick pony….
The end of days is approaching… and I’d hate to see NormDunc kick off without having that ‘aha’ moment….
Undoing effective propaganda that has been instilled in unthinkers by the use of repetition … can only be undone by … repetition… kind of like trying to beat sense into someone with a baseball bat…
I watched a short series on the Challenger explosion recently…. and I remarked to M Fast… that’s payback for faking all the moon landings…
How many times did we go to the moon what 6 times? FAR more difficult a feat than going into low orbit… yet we did it with a fraction of the tech used by the space shuttles… how incredible is that?
Of course that’s because man has never been above low earth orbit…. ever.
I refer to this as our Icarus Moment!
https://youtu.be/j4JOjcDFtBE
I find your luna-cy very entertaining and fun to be honest. On the previous article comment section I asked you why you promote so much the Luna conspiracy as it doesn’t matter on the big picture. You said that you are doing it so that the sheeple see trough the matrix. I have a news for you, no matter how much information you provide to a human being it won’t change his/her perspective/conclusion. The change and the ability to see the matrix comes from within, when a person gaps the cognitive disonanse between reality and manufactured consensus. It is lonely and hard endeavour and 70% of world population lack the faculties to rmabrk on it. Yes I know, I have a soft spot for futile actions and the persons who embark on them. Keep on churning, FE, at least you bring laughter 😉
“Uncomfortable reality must be denied. It’s all a collusion by some hidden cabal of mysterious people wanting the planet for themselves. Exactly what they’ll do with it is never explained. Sufficient that there is a conspiracy about it.”
Norman, I’m thinking the elites have put something in our drinking water to cause 99+% of citizens to deny pretty much every reality that matters. The evidence for irrational denial is overwhelming and Ajit Varki is clearly wrong because no one pays any attention to his MORT theory so denial must be a conspiracy by the evil elites.
‘Norman, I’m thinking the elites have put something in our drinking water to cause 99+% of citizens to deny pretty much every reality that matters’
Yes …. it’s called DuncNorm flavoured Kool Aid… and Norm drinks a gallon of it every day!
Building 7 Norm… what happened there?
Rob, aren’t you the guy who occasionally discusses OVERPOPULATION? Your blog would be more relevant, in my opinion, if you wrote about OVERPOPULATION more frequently. As a matter of fact, you could mention the subject of OVERPOPULATION right here on this site.
I’m the guy who is fascinated by the fact that 99% of people deny the most important and obvious fact about their species: humans are in overshoot.
I’m also the guy who is fascinated by the fact that the 1% that are aware of overshoot, like the people here at OFW, never discuss the one thing that would improve the future and reduce suffering: democratically supported rapid population reduction policies.
The common denominator between aware and unaware people, regardless of intelligence and education, is that they aggressively deny unpleasant realities.
This led me to search for a theory that explains our ubiquitous reality denial and the best I have found to date is Ajit Varki’s Mind Over Reality Transition (MORT) theory which hypothesizes that behaviorally modern humans exist with their unique intelligence because we evolved to deny unpleasant realities.
https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-030-25466-7_6
https://un-denial.com/denial-2/theory-short/
That is the conclusion reached in Planet of the Humans … and it’s been removed from YT
https://www.bitchute.com/hashtag/planet-of-the-humans/
I fully support that move btw… because there is no alternative … and that documentary (very much like the leaked video that proves the moon landings are fake) blows up the renewable energy BS…
We need to remember … the Elders went to a lot of trouble to convince the cattle that there are endless green pastures out there… they did this for a valid reason … the cattle get anxious when they see their current pasture is nearly denuded of grass….
Busting the Matrix… would be dangerous.
‘Uncomfortable reality must be denied.’
Too right, Norman. I am going to have that put on a T-shirt.
It is almost the prime directive governing human self-awareness.
But why should that be? Is avoiding discomfort really such an important goal?
I ask this because I personally am not very comfortable when I look out at the world of men, the world of lies that the vast majority assent to or help create.Would I exchange my knowledge of reality for the comfort of not having the burden of it?
No, personally I wouldn’t. but I am sure that I’m in a small minority in that respect.
Anyone who believes that most of the time on most subjects the TV, the press and the government tell the public truth is living in in a total fantasy. And that is most of the people, most of the time. It is an uncomfortable reality that I refuse to deny for the sake of having a rosier view of how the world works.
The movie clip Eddy keeps taunting you with? Did you actually watch it? Did it make sense to you in any context whatsoever? Or are you refusing to view it in order to not have to deal with any elements of uncomfortable reality?
I watched it some years ago and came to the conclusion that (a) the scene was real, and (b) it makes no sense in any context but that the trip to the moon was faked. I’m open to other interpretations. Wide open to them. But I haven’t come across any yet. Attacking Eddy as the bearer of this nugget of uncomfortable reality doesn’t alter the validity of the information one iota.
Did NASA go to the moon or did they not? To me and my world view it makes absolutely no difference. But I suspect that if you had to acknowledge that they faked it, that for you would be a very uncomfortable piece of reality that would shake your faith in the non-conspiratorial nature of human society to the core.
Norm… are you doing a DuncNorm on us… or is it a NormDunc?
I am one for giving second chances… third… fourth… fifth…. I can go up to 100… and we aren’t there yet so let’s try this again … what are we looking at here Norm?
https://youtu.be/bdQHKf48Mfw?t=1921
since I was fool enough to open the clickbait video of your fellow luna-tic with his mic , haranguing some astronaut (forget his name) I haven’t opened any more.
if you want to post vids of people who are clearly mentally ill, I can only think it is in order to bolster your own righteous self esteem
I realise this is your only audience, so I am reluctant to rain on your parade.
(it’s wet enough as it is)
That, Norman, is a cop out.
But we all know how it is: ‘Uncomfortable reality must be denied.’
I find this all the time with people who wax confident in their opinions. Provide them with clear contrary evidence, and they will perform a diversionary tactic in order not to have to address said evidence. It is truly sad, but it’s the world we live in.
Only the other day, I was chatting online with an old friend who told me he was taking the vaccine. He actually wrote this: “I imagine the vaccine kills / will kill some people. But it’s kind of like the chemo vs. cancer debate. Cancer / COVID-19 kills many more than the treatments.”
This led us into a conversation, not about chemo vs. cancer (although I think the comparison is ridiculous), but about how countries implementing vaccine rollouts are seeing rises in COVID-19 cases following the vaccinations. He insisted this wasn’t true. He wrote: “The number of cases in Japan went up quickly beginning in January. Vaccinations didn’t start until the end of April.”
I explained what had actually happened by sending him the graphs for cases and vaccinations in Japan: “You should be able to see from the graphs that there was a trough in cases that bottomed out in the middle of February and that vaccinations began in the middle of February. It has taken three months for the numbers to peak following vaccinations.”
He then claimed to be busy and said he’d look at it later.
I replied: “That’s quite OK. When I look at the new cases graph, Is see a small hill peaking in May 2020, a larger hill peaking in August 2020, then a mountain like the matterhorn that starts rising in November and peaks on Jan 7, 8, and 9, then falls to a trough around March 1 and 2 before rising to a new peak on April 22 and then falling by about 20% on that peak over the past month.
There were very few vaccinations prior to mid April, but the first shots were given in February and by March 5 over 50,000 shots had been administered. That is not a lot in comparison to the entire populatiion, but it is comparable to the number of new cases being recorded, which was about 1,000 a day at the end of February and rose to over 7,000 a day at the end of April, by which time 3 million people in Japan had had at least one dose and 1 million were fully vaccinated. Of course, it is hard to judge since we don’t have data for the number of vaccinated people who’ve developed Covid-19. And a possible mechanism could be vaccinated people shedding the spike protein their cells are producing through the breath, pores and urinary and feceal routes and this spike protein getting into nearby people and giving them certain Covid symptoms or triggering a positive PVC test. ”
His reply: In any case, I ‘m gonna get vaccinated. If it sends me to terminal dreamland, that’s the way the sembei crumbles. Family members in the US have been vaccinated and are fine.”
I showed him the data only to have him ignore the data. That’s how it is with most people. Snug in their safety bubble and with fear and panic raging outside if they accidentally burst it, most people are at least subconsciously aware that ‘Uncomfortable reality must be denied.’
It’s difficult to have many true friends … when one is constantly disappointed.
Rather amazing considering there are 8B of us…
so when one damn fool posts a video of another damn fool making a damn fool of himself, I am supposed to make myself look an even bigger damn fool by watching it and accepting it?
And then follow on by opening every damn fool video that comes from the same source?
Like I said–great comedians have an army of gag writers
the ones who don’t get a round of one handed applause.
********
I can come up with an equal volume of plus and minus stats for vaxxing.
My bro sent me a load of anti stuff—all well documented with authentic medical words of wisdom
I researched the individuals concerned, they’d all been condemned by their peers for malpractice.
I sent it back to him
He’s not getting vaxxed anyway. His problem.
I knows lots who have–the most serious reaction seems to be a slight arm-ache. (probably less arm ache than trying to type common sense on here.)
*******
My uncomfortable reality was intended for a much bigger picture. I would have thought you would recognise that Tim.
Gail’s post was about resource depletion. Resource depletion will lead to violent conflict through denial of reality.
(anti vax–resource depletion–the mental approach to it is the same. I can bring you ‘proof’ that the earth is flat and it was created 6000 years ago) –denying it proves how stupid you are.
Denial of resource depletion will lead the unthinkers (the MAGAmaniacs) to vote autocratic rulers into office, convinced that resource shortage is a hoax.
That is a reality borne out by history
Idiots remain convinced that prosperity is just a matter of voting for it. (remember ‘I love coal’ from the Don?)—and miners blindly voted for it. Suckers.
Instead they got a wannabe fascist dictator. (my forecast from 2011) He wasn’t very good at it. Next time someone will arise who is good at it. Someone who has been voted into offers by bigger suckers.
Then you can kiss your democracy goodbye
vaxxing and moon landings will be the least of your worries (which is why I suggest ignoring luna-tics)
Norm … this is a different video … as I have mentioned this is a leaked video FROM NASA … involving astronauts claiming to be in lunar orbit … but it is totally clear that they are in low earth orbit.
You must watch it Norm.
It’s even better than the Zapruder film.
The belief that it would be ‘too big a plot to organise’ is itself an arbitrary and irrational one, which flies in the face of reality – it assumes that ‘national’ governments are the principal actors, which would have held good in the 18th-century, but not now.
It also assumes a very primitive level of organisation in government, finance, the media, etc.
Even in the early 19th-century, bankers ran the show, and they have never really had any sense of national welfare as the main priority. Now they are a global predator class, with no national loyalties of any kind.
Why hold such an irrational belief? As always, because it is comforting – even when you believe that Collapse is looming anyway!
To accept that governments are acting in bad faith, that ‘news’ is just official propaganda, that doctors and nurses are often unthinking killers, and actively trying to poison you into the bargain,is simply too much to bear.
It’s perfectly understandable – even those with inoperable and advanced brain tumours somehow manage to believe that it might turn out well, even as they visibly deteriorate.
There is no sense in trying to reason with such beliefs, they can only be pitied and sympathised with.
taking advantage of a situation, and pre-organising a situation are two different things.
When Watt perfected the steam engine, he didn’t ‘pre organise’ the industrial revolution and the coming of the railways.
Rockefeller used his steam engine to sink oil wells, but he didn’t ‘pre-organise’ the motor industry.
He took advantage of it to make billions, as did those who invested in his oil. Bankers are opportunists. It’s what they do. Tankers, pipelines etc have to be paid for in advance. They are highly profitable.
We, the common herd, just got on with oil burning. As much and as fast as possible.
Why?–because wages do not appear until one energy form is converted into another. Your wages and mine depend on it. And everybody demanded payrises. Every year. You can check that for yourself.
Now we look back and think:–‘Ah–it was all planned from the beginning’
well–no it wasn’t. Financiers are opportunists.
Humankind made the collective choice that burning oil was a ‘good thing’
Even if bankers and oilmen had got together and found a conscience and said–‘right–no more oil, its going to screw the planet’–dyou think for one moment that the rest of us would have gone back to the horse and cart?
C’mon.
that’s not irrational belief, that’s an expression of human nature.
And governments are driven by a single force–the need to stay in office. To that end they will give the voters anything they can—including MAGA daydreams. If bankers supply the necessary money, all well and good.
********
As to doctors. I’m fully aware that any medical intervention carries risk. Fortunately I’m not a regular customer. When I am, I balance the risk against my need of their services. The obsession that they are out to kill me is childish in the extreme.
Like equating the risk of flying with the idea that the plane is being flown by a trainee kamikaze pilot
Norm… you are so lost…it’s quite sad… actually
No, on the contrary, Norman you are the childish one with your head under the pillow saying ‘It’s not there!’
And we will leave it there, as your delusions are clearly very dear to you.
There is a limit to the amount of reality we each can take, it’s personal and there’s nothing to be done about it.
The sad thing is that, if you were to face up to things, you could at least be warning your children and grandchildren of the danger, which is your duty – just as I am trying to protect my niece and nephew for a time if possible and which my conscience tells me I must do.
if I gave constant duty-warnings about the future to my current 16 line-of-descendants, I would be rightly considered a pain in the proverbial
It’s your duty, Norman: so do it.
Evading one’s duty is the only thing to be regretted on one’s death bed.
lol
if I come to worry on that score on my deathbed
I’ll be too busy to die
(and if there’s one thing your learn from kids, it’s that they are too busy to listen to you. My dad taught me that)
The only trouble with the hopeless view of the human is its lack of beauty and such deadly pall that it horrifies you to the core. It is also squalid.
humankind is a unique species
there are xx millions of other species of critter in the world, each of those species has its own niche and relative beauty
we are the only one with the means and the intent to make it untenable for ourselves and others, and ugly in the extreme
no wonder the outlook is depressing
Now on that I do agree with you!
well don’t tell Eddy of he’ll have you shot as a deserter
I always feel the greatest sadness that the whole Earth was raped and plundered, from the 18th-century onwards, to make so much poisoned ugliness without any redeeming feature.
The irony is that often the only beautiful things around today were made by and for the selfish kings and aristocrats who didn’t give a damn about anyone else, but had great architects and artists working for them.
The social reformers of the 20th-century made all the ugly housing estates and dead town centres……
Self-organizing systems work strangely. What looks like a plot can occur simply because many people are acting in their own self-interest. It this self-interest all goes in the same direction (taking advantage of subsidies, for example, or hiding a problem from the eyes of voters), it can look like a plot, when it really is not.
hooray
somebody gets the plot!!!
Right! Every politician wants to get re-elected or at least be popular.
Every company wants to make money. If something is subsidized, it will grow more rapidly than everything else as long as the subsidy stays in place. Once the subsidy is dropped, it may fail miserably.
Even when there is an over-arching plan, and a general consensus as to the desired destination, there can still be competing factions and personalities.
This was true, for instance, of Nazi Germany, and probably every totalitarian system.
I suspect that there is some tension between the Transhumanists, who seek the Singularity and logically the extinction of the human, and the ‘saner’ military, industrialists financiers – for all that they are still psychopaths.
One can imagine the MIC, for instance, loving the idea of intelligent AI autonomous fighting vehicles, robots and drones, to gain advantage in the global struggle with China, (and also a compliant slave domestic population with no human rights) but complete merging with AI perhaps not so much…..
Having said that, the evidence that this is all co-ordinated and concerted internationally is now overwhelming.
However, I have noted that those who understand this vast international struggle being played for the highest stakes -dominion of the world – often do not grasp the immediacy of the energy crisis.
Equally, they often do not understand that ‘social credit’ systems, like lock-downs, are not all about simple control of the public, but are tools to limit and direct energy consumption in a micro fashion.
They really do need to talk to Gail to get the energy context.
Now, getting back to the competing/co-operating factions: they are well-informed, and must realise that if the mass of people are not cut out of excessive consumption, very rapidly, their own pet projects will likely not be realised.
This explains the great speed with which things are moving, and the hint of desperation which one can detect.
This is alarming, as the Germans in both WW1 and WW2 thought they had to act quickly or go under. It is the mentality that leads to wars.
Norman,
so you accept that self organizing systems possess a higher level of “intelligence” or “behavior” than their component parts?
Because if you accept that, you accept that the system will behave exactly like a giant conspiracy.
You can read about thousands of evil things that happen and still kill people despite the truth being out (veganism, fat-free or sugar diets are just 2 minor examples from the medical field).
And yet you will bluster and deny any “conspiracy” like the name matters. You support internet censorship but you somehow think that the reality is what the mass-media tell you.
Honestly it’s impossible for me to twist my brains to understand your cognitive dissonance.
Let’s stop discussing this issue. Different people will see it a little differently.
have you ever watched a conspiracy of starlings—where thousands of birds decide to form themselves into one of the most awe inspiring sights of nature
I am certain they do it just to confuse us humans into thinking there’s a hidden cabal of starlings somewhere forcing them to do it
And the music world is fighting for BTS, from Korea, and Olivia Roderigo, a Filipino who starred in some Disney series. The decline is deep
Thank you very much
Just saw Ana Popovic a singer blue guitarist. Before CV she had a large band with two saks players. Now a small band with zero saks players. Still a wonderful show but we are getting more frugal.
So happy for the new post. Thank you Gail.
“A day of reckoning” sounds like cliff or a sudden death. Only a few month away – finally no turkey for FE.
With frozen turkey, El Mar, there’s no need for FE to wait for the seasonal slaughter – Christmas is possible every day!
I’ve adjusted to living for the day, and not being bothered with long-term plans or worries about security and pensions, etc, is quite mentally liberating – if you have a full stomach and somewhere to stay of course.
Good advice, Xabier, but:
I do not worry for myself – I worry for my children and their children. One of our daughters is pregnant!
Saludos
el mar
Many new babies here, too (not mine!) and it’s painful to contemplate, of course. I have an adorable nephew and niece…..
On the other hand, children live entirely in the moment, and so the future can be kept from them by those who know more – another reason for that awful Greta to shut up!
During the russian famine of 20/21… babies and young children were prized for their ‘sweet tender flesh’… I am on inventing that… they were…
CEP = Goodness… Kindness
Sorry to hear this el mar. Much more difficult to endure this when children are involved… I’ve got a brother with young children trapped in the nightmare in Toronto… even though he is with the program… I still empathize with him and anyone who is having to endure this nightmare.
Although I suppose compared to Holodomor… it’s not so bad. But I have never experienced Holodomor
At end times like these, it may be helpful to read some of the more uplifting bits of the Bible.
And the King James Version is the best of all for those who can’t read Greek or Latin.
This one always does it for me:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.
We now have competing religions:
“Technology will save us.”
“Green energy will save us.”
“As soon as everyone is vaccinated, the world economy will return to normal growth.”
At least the old religion has uplifting aspects to it. We all need hope of some kind, so we tend to choose one or another religion.
Gail, I think that the two points you’ve made:
1. “Create a “fear of the coronavirus” story, and use it to keep people inside and away from traveling as much as possible.”
2. A religion of “As soon as everyone is vaccinated, the world economy will return to normal growth”
Are mutually exclusive. Surely, the idea that vaccination will allow a return to unrestricted travel (part of “normal growth”) is counter to the notion that a fear of Covid has to be engineered to mask the reality of resource limits.
But nobody is returning to normal with vaccination. Because the vaccine does not stop any from contracting Covid.
Look that one up.
Vaccines are lethal injections … but the MOReONs are being told if they get them they return to normal…. next month… or the month after…. try leaving new zealand and coming back without a two week quarantine even if you are vaccinated.
Duh… surely if the vaccines were what they say they are… if I had the injection I should be able to hop on a plane and go anywhere without quarantining.
Hmmm….
I was commenting on the incompatibility of the two ideas.
By the way, my understanding of the vaccines, from the MSM, is probably the same as yours; vaccines do not stop the vaccinated from contracting the disease and, thus, do not stop the virus being transmitted via the vaccinated.
However, as far as I know, vaccines have a 100% success rate against severe symptoms and death.
By the way, I could hop on a flight to most of Australia and to Rarotonga, without quarantining at the destination or when I returned to New Zealand. I don’t intend to make such trips, however.
FYI
https://off-guardian.org/2021/05/18/how-the-cdc-is-manipulating-data-to-prop-up-vaccine-effectiveness/
https://off-guardian.org/2021/05/26/more-flagrant-data-manipulation-from-the-cdc/
https://greatgameindia.com/covid-19-vaccines-creating-variants/
https://www.geertvandenbossche.org/
Just a quick comment on sources. Though much of the MSM is BS, the same is true of many of the alternative sources often quoted to counter an official narrative. Each is unlikely to include information that goes against their usual line. One needs to treat most sources carefully and try to get good neutral corroboration wherever possible. I know, that is becoming increasingly difficult.
The MSM is is owned and controlled by the same people who are running Operation Compassionate Extinction … and they have been caught out lying over and over and over again.
They are also blocking and/or ridiculing eminent researchers including Yeadon and the Great Barrington authors…. anyone is not on board gets destroyed.
They are also threatening doctors who refuse to play ball on the injections.
I trust ZERO from the MSM on this issue. They are lying top to bottom – deaths – testing methodology — you name it is a lie.
Alt media may not have the right story (I have the right story – this is about extinction…) however they are at least attempting to understand what is going on here.
Instead of your pretty much useless response (I think people here do not just accept a theory because it’s published in alt media) why don’t you instead explain how this is a lie or wrong:
https://off-guardian.org/2021/05/18/how-the-cdc-is-manipulating-data-to-prop-up-vaccine-effectiveness/
CT cycles is something that needs more transparency. Anything over 30 cycles is suspect but NZ isn’t transparent about what CT value is considered a probable historic case.
Regarding trust of sources, I had hopes for off-guardian but I find it can be great or useless. Sadly, most sources will try to perpetuate a line they’ve decided on regardless of contrary or indecisive information.
Not sure if it was Fast Eddy but someone mentioned deaths from COVID-19 vaccines but pointed to a CDC page which didn’t show that at all. It simply showed deaths in people who had received the vaccine. That is not causation at all. People are dying all the time but, recently, there has been a huge spike in people being vaccinated (due to COVID-19 vaccine jabs). I haven’t looked closely at the data yet but all cause mortality rate in the US, in 2019 was 0.897% whilst the death events after Covid-19 vaccination is 0.0017%.
Sweden is following the recommendations from https://gbdeclaration.org/
On October 4, 2020, this declaration was authored and signed in Great Barrington, United States, by:
Dr. Martin Kulldorff, professor of medicine at Harvard University, a biostatistician, and epidemiologist with expertise in detecting and monitoring infectious disease outbreaks and vaccine safety evaluations.
Dr. Sunetra Gupta, professor at Oxford University, an epidemiologist with expertise in immunology, vaccine development, and mathematical modeling of infectious diseases.
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, professor at Stanford University Medical School, a physician, epidemiologist, health economist, and public health policy expert focusing on infectious diseases and vulnerable populations.
Co-signers
Medical and Public Health Scientists and Medical Practitioners
Dr. Alexander Walker, principal at World Health Information Science Consultants, former Chair of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, USA
Dr. Andrius Kavaliunas, epidemiologist and assistant professor at Karolinska Institute, Sweden
Dr. Angus Dalgleish, oncologist, infectious disease expert and professor, St. George’s Hospital Medical School, University of London, England
Dr. Anthony J Brookes, professor of genetics, University of Leicester, England
Dr. Annie Janvier, professor of pediatrics and clinical ethics, Université de Montréal and Sainte-Justine University Medical Centre, Canada
Dr. Ariel Munitz, professor of clinical microbiology and immunology, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Dr. Boris Kotchoubey, Institute for Medical Psychology, University of Tübingen, Germany
Dr. Cody Meissner, professor of pediatrics, expert on vaccine development, efficacy, and safety. Tufts University School of Medicine, USA
Dr. David Katz, physician and president, True Health Initiative, and founder of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, USA
Dr. David Livermore, microbiologist, infectious disease epidemiologist and professor, University of East Anglia, England
Dr. Eitan Friedman, professor of medicine, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
Dr. Ellen Townsend, professor of psychology, head of the Self-Harm Research Group, University of Nottingham, England
Dr. Eyal Shahar, physician, epidemiologist and professor (emeritus) of public health, University of Arizona, USA
Dr. Florian Limbourg, physician and hypertension researcher, professor at Hannover Medical School, Germany
Dr. Gabriela Gomes, mathematician studying infectious disease epidemiology, professor, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
Dr. Gerhard Krönke, physician and professor of translational immunology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany
Dr. Gesine Weckmann, professor of health education and prevention, Europäische Fachhochschule, Rostock, Germany
Dr. Günter Kampf, associate professor, Institute for Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Greifswald University, Germany
Dr. Helen Colhoun, professor of medical informatics and epidemiology, and public health physician, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Dr. Jonas Ludvigsson, pediatrician, epidemiologist and professor at Karolinska Institute and senior physician at Örebro University Hospital, Sweden
Dr. Karol Sikora, physician, oncologist, and professor of medicine at the University of Buckingham, England
Dr. Laura Lazzeroni, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and of biomedical data science, Stanford University Medical School, USA
Dr. Lisa White, professor of modelling and epidemiology, Oxford University, England
Dr. Mario Recker, malaria researcher and associate professor, University of Exeter, England
Dr. Matthew Ratcliffe, professor of philosophy, specializing in philosophy of mental health, University of York, England
Dr. Matthew Strauss, critical care physician and assistant professor of medicine, Queen’s University, Canada
Dr. Michael Jackson, research fellow, School of Biological Sciences, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Dr. Michael Levitt, biophysicist and professor of structural biology, Stanford University, USA.
Recipient of the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
Dr. Mike Hulme, professor of human geography, University of Cambridge, England
Dr. Motti Gerlic, professor of clinical microbiology and immunology, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Dr. Partha P. Majumder, professor and founder of the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, India
Dr. Paul McKeigue, physician, disease modeler and professor of epidemiology and public health, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Dr. Rajiv Bhatia, physician, epidemiologist and public policy expert at the Veterans Administration, USA
Dr. Rodney Sturdivant, infectious disease scientist and associate professor of biostatistics, Baylor University, USA
Dr. Salmaan Keshavjee, professor of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, USA
Dr. Simon Thornley, epidemiologist and biostatistician, University of Auckland, New Zealand
Dr. Simon Wood, biostatistician and professor, University of Edinburgh, Scotland
Dr. Stephen Bremner,professor of medical statistics, University of Sussex, England
Dr. Sylvia Fogel, autism provider and psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital and instructor at Harvard Medical School, USA
Tom Nicholson, Associate in Research, Duke Center for International Development, Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University, USA
Dr. Udi Qimron, professor of clinical microbiology and immunology, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Dr. Ulrike Kämmerer, professor and expert in virology, immunology and cell biology, University of Würzburg, Germany
Dr. Uri Gavish, biomedical consultant, Israel
Dr. Yaz Gulnur Muradoglu, professor of finance, director of the Behavioural Finance Working Group, Queen Mary University of London, England
“Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.”
That sounds like schadenfreude to a tee!
From time to time… I feel I should return to Canada… but we have two people we have under our care who we cannot abandon to this situation …..they cannot return to the hell of the Philippines… and if we sent them back they’d get wind that something this wicked way comes…
They still trust in the future….
So we make the best of it… take pleasure from a crisp sunny day… the heat thrown off the Rayburn… the dog, begging at the table – oblivious to the storm brewing … we wonder if we will get to those last good books in the queue… we marvel at the hard frost that blots out all colour on magical mornings …
There was a blood moon last night… set against a clear black sky….
And we wait…. for the death rattle… the last breath…. or is it the sigh of 8 billion….
Unthinkable. Truly…. unthinkable… is this.
What we face – because we have no illusions at all – is as possibly as dreadful as heading back to the trenches in WW1 after a brief leave; but my gt-grandfather got through no less than 14 battles in that war, so I’m not going to buckle if I can help it.
The beautiful things are all the more lovely, as FE says, and it is weirdly fascinating, too.
I’d imagined being murdered by house raiders, not being the victim of a totalitarian state, coldly murdering with ‘science’, deploying lies a clever child could see through.
But so it is, let’s see what the next act in this staged drama is…..
I do not value his sacrifice since he did that to make the world safe for the failed states in Central Europe, whose life expectancy after USA leaves will be less than 12 months, and the Hindus.
We don’t know how big a cliff we are approaching. It may be a huge step down for some, but not for others. We could lose bank accounts for example, but we still could end up with some limited substitute (acting more like ration coupons) for a while, for example. I don’t know.