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Recently, I explained the key role played by diesel and jet fuel. In this post, I try to explain the energy bottleneck the world is facing because of an inadequate supply of these types of fuels, and the effects such a bottleneck may have. The world’s self-organizing economy tends to squeeze out what may be considered non-essential parts when bottlenecks are hit. Strangely, it appears to me that some central governments may be squeezed out. Countries that are rich enough to have big pension programs for their citizens seem to be especially vulnerable to having their governments collapse.
This squeezing out of non-essential parts of the economy can happen by war, but it can also happen because of financial problems brought about by “not sufficient actual goods and services to go around.” An underlying problem is that governments can print money, but they cannot print the actual resources needed to produce finished goods and services. I think that in the current situation, a squeezing out for financial reasons, or because legislators can’t agree, is at least as likely as another world war.
For example, the US is having trouble electing a Speaker of the House of Representatives because legislators disagree about funding plans. I can imagine a long shutdown occurring because of this impasse. Perhaps not this time around, but sometime in the next few years, such a disagreement may lead to a permanent shutdown of the US central government, leaving the individual states on their own. Programs of the US central government, such as Social Security and Medicare, would likely disappear. It would be up to the individual states to sponsor whatever replacement programs they are able to afford.
[1] An overview of the problem
In my view, we are in the midst of a great “squeezing out.” The economy, and in fact the entire universe, is a physics-based system that constantly evolves. Every part of the economy requires energy of the right types. Humans and animals eat food. Today’s economy requires many forms of fossil fuels, plus human labor. This evolution is in the direction of ever-greater complexity and ever-greater efficiency.
Right now, there is a bottleneck in energy supply caused by too much population relative to the amount of oil of the type used to make diesel and jet fuel (Figure 1). My concern is that many governments and businesses will collapse in response to what I call the Second Squeezing Out. In 1991, the central government of the Soviet Union collapsed, following a long downward slide starting about 1982.
All parts of economies, including government organizations and businesses, constantly evolve. They grow for a while, but when limits are hit, they are likely to shrink and may collapse. The current energy bottleneck is sufficiently dire that some observers worry about another world war taking place. Such a war could change national boundaries and reduce import capabilities of parts of the world. This would be a type of squeezing out of major parts of the world economy. In fact, shortages of coal seem to have set the stage for both World War I and World War II.
Each squeezing out is different. When there are physically not enough goods and services to go around, some inefficient parts of the economy must be squeezed out. Payments to pensioners seem to me to be particularly inefficient because pensioners are not themselves creating finished goods and services.
World leaders would like us to believe that they are in charge of what happens in the world economy. But what these leaders can accomplish is limited by the actual resources that can be extracted and the finished goods and services that can be produced with these resources. When there are not enough goods and services to go around, unplanned changes to the economy tend to take place. These changes work in the direction of allowing parts of the system to go forward, without being burdened by the less efficient portions.
[2] The importance of diesel and jet fuel
Diesel and jet fuel are important to today’s industrial economy because they fuel nearly all long-distance transportation of goods, whether by ship, train, large truck, or airplane. Diesel also powers most of today’s modern agricultural equipment. Without the use of modern agricultural equipment, overall food production would decline drastically.
Without diesel, there would also be many other problems besides reduced food production. Diesel is used to power many of the specialized vehicles used in road maintenance. Without the ability to use these vehicles, it would become difficult to keep roads repaired.
Without diesel and jet fuel, there would also be an electricity problem because transmission lines are maintained using a combination of land-based vehicles powered by diesel and helicopters powered by jet fuel. Without electricity transmission, homes and offices without their own solar panels and batteries wouldn’t be able to keep the lights on. Gasoline pumps require electricity to operate, so they wouldn’t operate either. Without diesel and electricity, the list of problems is endless.
[3] Green energy is itself a dead end, but subsidizing green energy can temporarily hide other problems.
Green energy sounds appealing, but it is terribly limited in what it can do. Green energy cannot operate agricultural machinery. It cannot make new wind turbines or solar panels. Green energy cannot exist without fossil fuels. It is simply an add-on to the current system.
The reason why we hear so much about green energy is because making people believe that a green revolution is possible provides many temporary benefits. For example:
- The extra debt needed to subsidize green energy indirectly increases GDP. (GDP calculations ignore whether added debt was used to produce the added goods and services counted as GDP.)
- Manufacturers can pretend that their products (such as vehicles) will operate as they do today for years and years.
- The educational system is given many more areas to provide courses in.
- Citizens are given the hope that the economy will grow endlessly.
- Young people are given hope for the future.
- Politicians look like they are doing something for voters.
Unfortunately, by the time that the debt comes due to pay for subsidized green energy, it will be apparent that the return on this technology is far too low. The overall system will tend to collapse. Green energy is only a temporary Band-Aid to hide a very disturbing problem. Its impact is tiny and short-lived. And it cannot prevent climate change.
[4] Energy bottlenecks are a frequent problem.
Energy bottlenecks are a frequent problem partly because the human population has tended to increase ever since early humans learned to control fire. At the same time, resources, such as arable land, fresh water supply, and minerals of all kinds, are in limited supply. Extraction becomes increasingly difficult over time (requiring more inputs to produce the same output) because the easiest-to-produce resources tend to be exploited first. Extracting more fossil fuels to meet the energy needs of a growing economy may look like it would be easy, but, in practice, it is not.
As a result of energy bottlenecks, civilizations often collapse. Sometimes war with another group is involved. In such a case, the population of the losing civilization falls.
[5] The standard supply and demand model of economics makes it look like prices will rise in response to fossil fuel shortages. The discussion in Section [4] shows that energy supply bottlenecks often occur. When they do occur, the response is very different.
The model of many economists is far too simple. Based on the model shown on Figure 2, it is easy to get the idea that a shortage of oil will lead to a rise in prices. As a result, more oil will be produced, and the problem will be solved. Or perhaps efficiency changes, or substitution for a different type of fuel, will fix the problem.
When bottlenecks appear, the real situation is quite different. For example, increases in oil prices tend to cause food prices to rise, and thus increase inflation. Politicians know that citizens don’t like inflation and therefore will not vote for them. As a result, politicians tend to hold down prices. The resulting prices tend to fall too low for producers, and they start producing less, rather than more.
Energy products of the right kinds are essential for making every part of GDP. If there is not enough of the right kinds of energy products to go around, what I call some kind of “squeezing out” is likely to take place. Early on, there may be changes that reduce energy consumption, such as cutbacks in international trade. More businesses may fail. Eventually, some parts of the world economy may disappear, such as the central government of the Soviet Union in 1991. Or war may take place.
[6] When there is not enough energy of the right kinds to go around, spreading what little is available “thinner” doesn’t work.
As an example, if people need to eat 2,000 kilocalories per day, and if the food supply that is available would only supply 500 kilocalories per day (on average), giving everyone the same quantity would lead to everyone starving. Similarly, if a communist government gives every worker the same wage, lateness and “slacking off” become huge problems. Experience in many places has shown that equal pay for all, regardless of native abilities, responsibilities, or effort, simply doesn’t work. Somehow, diligent work and greater responsibility needs to be rewarded.
When an energy bottleneck occurs (leading to too little finished goods and services in total being produced), what I call a “squeezing out” takes place. Such a squeezing out may be initiated in many ways, including a war, angry citizens overturning a government, financial problems, or a shift in climate. The winners in a squeezing out end up ahead; the losers see collapsing institutions of many kinds, including failing businesses and disappearing government organizations.
[7] Most people do not understand the interconnected nature of the world economy, and the way the whole system tends to evolve.
The Universe is made up of many temporary structures, each of which needs to “dissipate” energy to stay away from a cold, dead state. We are all aware that plants and animals behave in this manner, but businesses of all kinds and government organizations also require energy of the right kinds to grow. They get much of their energy from financial payments that act as temporary placeholders for goods and services that will be made in the future using various types of energy, including human labor.
Strangely enough, because of the physics of the situation, business and government organizations are also temporary in nature, and in some sense, they also evolve. In physics terms, all these structures are dissipative structures. Physicist Francois Roddier writes about this broader kind of evolution in his book, The Thermodynamics of Evolution. In fact, economies themselves are dissipative structures. I have written about the economy as a self-organizing system powered by energy many times, including here, here, and here. All these self-organizing structures eventually come to an end.
History is full of records of economies that have collapsed. The book Secular Cycles by Peter Turchin and Serjey Nefedov analyzes eight of these failed economies. Populations tend to grow after a new resource is found or is acquired through war. Once population growth hits what Turchin calls carrying capacity, these economies hit a period of stagflation. This period lasted 50 to 60 years in the sample of eight economies analyzed. Stagflation was followed by a major contraction, typically with failing or overturned governments and declining overall population.
[8] Logic and some calculations suggest that the world economy is likely to be reaching a major downturn, about now.
One way of estimating when a major contraction (or squeezing out) would occur would be to look at oil supply. We know that US oil production hit a peak and started to decline in 1970, changing the dynamics of the world economy. This started a period of stagflation for many of the wealthier economies of the world. Adding 50 to 60 years to 1970 suggests that a major downturn would take place in the 2020 to 2030 timeframe. Since it was the wealthier economies that first entered stagflation, it would not be surprising if these economies tend to collapse first.
There have been several studies computing estimates of when the extraction of fossil fuels would become unaffordable. Back in 1957, Rear Admiral Hyman Rickover of the US Navy gave a speech in which he talked about the connection of the level of fossil fuel supply to the standard of living of an economy, and to the ability of its military to defend the country. With respect to the timing of limits to affordable supply, he said, “. . .total fossil fuel reserves recoverable at not over twice today’s unit cost are likely to run out at some time between the years 2000 and 2050, if present standards of living and population growth rates are taken into account.”
Confusion arises because some people would like to believe that fossil fuel prices can rise to extraordinarily high levels, and this will somehow permit more fossil fuels to be extracted. However, as I discussed in Section [5], the problem is really a two-sided one. Politicians want to hold fossil fuel prices down to prevent inflation, while oil producers (such as those in OPEC+) choose to reduce production if prices are not sufficiently high to meet their needs.
An easily missed point is that tax revenue from the sale of oil is often a large share of the total tax revenue of oil exporting countries. Because of this issue, in order for prices of oil to be adequate for oil exporters, they must include a wide margin for payment of taxes. These taxes are used to support the rest of the economy. For example, in Saudi Arabia, taxes provide support for huge building programs that provide jobs for citizens, but are of questionable long term value. These projects keep citizens happy, at least temporarily. Without adequate subsidy from tax revenue, citizens would want to overturn governments–a form of collapse.
[9] Energy problems are easily hidden because “scientific models” are considered to be important in forecasting the future. These models tend to be misleading because they leave out important elements regarding how the economy really works.
The easiest models to make are the ones that seem to say, “the future will be very similar to the recent past.” These models miss turning points. They assume that growth will continue even though resource extraction can be expected to become more difficult. Some examples of overly simple models include the following:
- Money is a store of value. (Not if the economy has stopped functioning properly because insufficient energy resources are available.)
- Forecasts of Social Security payments recipients will be able to receive in the future are overstated. (It takes energy of the right kinds to produce the goods and services that the elderly require. If the economy is not producing enough goods and services because of energy extraction limits, the share that pensioners can receive will need to fall so that workers can be paid adequately. Inflation-adjusted benefits to the elderly must be much lower or disappear completely.)
- Climate models give high estimates. (These models miss the real-world difficulty of extracting fossil fuels. They also assume the economy can grow indefinitely, greatly overstating future CO2.)
- Future energy supply based on “Reserve to Production” ratios give high estimates. (Reserve amounts are often puffed-up numbers to make an oil exporting country look wealthy.)
- Energy Return on Energy Invested models greatly overestimate the value of intermittent wind and solar energy. (It is easy to assume that all types of energy are equivalent, but intermittent wind and solar cannot replace diesel and jet fuel.)
[10] Added complexity is not a solution to our energy problems.
Many people believe that if we can just be smarter, we can solve our energy problem. We can add more fuel-efficient engines, more advanced education, and more international trade, for example. Unfortunately, many things go wrong, leading to an upward energy complexity spiral. Difficulties include:
- The complexity changes with the best payback tend to be discovered and implemented very early.
- Added complexity may lead to higher energy consumption if cost savings result. For example, more vehicles may be sold if reduced fuel consumption makes their operation more affordable to a wider number of users.
- Wage disparity results because the wages paid to highly educated employees and those in managerial positions leave little funding available to pay less-skilled workers.
- Less-skilled workers indirectly compete with similarly skilled workers in low-wage countries, further holding their wages down.
It is clear that we are now moving past the limits of complexity. For example, international trade as a percentage of GDP has been falling for the world, the US, and China.
Countries are now actively trying to bring supply lines back closer to home. Trips for goods across the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans are being reduced, saving diesel and jet fuel.
[11] Repayment of debt with interest acts like a Ponzi Scheme if there is inadequate growth in the energy supply.
Most people today do not realize the extent to which the entire financial system is dependent on growing inexpensive-to-produce energy supply of the right kinds. It takes physical resources of the right kinds to produce goods and services. Resources such as fresh water, copper, lithium, and fossil fuels require more and more energy consumption to produce the same amount of supply because the easiest-to-extract resources are extracted first.
When the economy is far from limits, adding more debt (or other types of promises, such as shares of stock) does seem to increase “demand” for finished goods and services, and this, in turn, tends to increase the production of fossil fuels and other commodities. Thus, for a while, increased debt does indeed increase energy supply.
But when we start reaching extraction limits, instead of producing more fossil fuels and other commodities, higher debt tends to produce inflation. (In other words, more money plus practically the same amount of finished goods and services tends to lead to inflation.) This is the issue central banks are up against today. Central banks raise interest rates in response to the higher level of inflation, partly to compensate lenders for the inflation that is taking place, and partly to make their own economies more competitive in the world economy. The combination of higher interest rates and higher inflation is problematic in many ways:
(a) Ordinary citizens find that they must cut back on discretionary goods and services to balance their budgets. This tends to push economies in the direction of recession and debt defaults. Some citizens find they need to apply for government assistance programs for the first time.
(b) Businesses find it more difficult to operate profitably with higher interest rates and inflation. Businesses increasingly expand in programs supported by government subsidies, such as those for electric cars and batteries, as it becomes increasingly difficult to make a profit without a subsidy. In the US, defaults seem especially likely on commercial real estate loans.
(c) Governments become especially squeezed. Many of them find that their own tax revenue is falling at precisely the time when citizens need their programs most. Governments also find that with higher interest rates, interest costs on their own debt rises. Subsidized programs increasingly seem to be needed to keep the economy operating. The number of retirees also grows year after year. Government debt levels spiral upward, as shown for the US on Figure 6.
With all these issues, the world becomes increasingly prone to war. Political parties, and even groups within political parties, find it increasingly difficult to agree on solutions to problems. The stage seems to be set for an array of worrisome outcomes, including major debt defaults, failing governments, and even widespread war.
[12] The world economy was able to grow rapidly in the 1950 to 1980 period because of a rapid rise in energy consumption. Now, there is an energy bottleneck. The recent increases in interest rates seem likely to burst debt bubbles. They may even squeeze out some major economies with pension programs for their citizens.
On Figure 4, the significant increases in interest rates up until 1981 corresponded to a huge increase in world energy consumption in the 1950 to 1980 period (Figure 5).
The rapid rise in fossil fuel consumption in Figure 5 was the reason why the economy was able to grow as rapidly as it did in the 1950 to 1980 period. Raising interest rates acted like brakes on the economy and lowered oil prices. The Soviet Union was the economy most harmed by these low oil prices. It also had a communist form of government that did not work well, compared to capitalism. Ultimately, the central government of the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.
Now, the rise in interest rates during 2022 and 2023 on Figure 4 correspond to a very different situation. Extraction of fossil fuels, and in particular the heavy oil used to produce diesel and jet fuel, is no longer growing rapidly. Instead, what has been growing is debt, especially government debt. Figure 6 shows US government debt through April 2023. US government debt spurted upward in 2020 and is still rising rapidly.
The business closures in 2020 and interruptions in travel reduced oil prices and provided a good excuse for more government debt. All this debt added buying power, but it didn’t actually produce very many goods and services. Instead, it added a debt bubble. Similarly, investing in close-to-useless green energy temporarily added GDP, but it mostly added a huge debt bubble. Raising interest rates is likely to burst these debt bubbles.
The US and other rich countries have also put in place pension plans for the elderly. These are not treated as debt, but they depend upon resources of all kinds being available to feed, clothe, and provide shelter to a growing army of retirees. If there is not enough diesel to allow as many goods and services to be produced as are produced today, there is likely to be a huge problem if payouts to pensioners aren’t significantly reduced. Other citizens will be unhappy if retirees get a disproportionately large share of the reduced supply of goods and services. Some will say, “Why work if retirees on pensions get more than those of us who are still working?”
Thus, the world seems to be increasingly in a situation where more squeezing out will take place. Major governments, especially those with pension plans for their citizens, seem especially vulnerable. No one understood that there had been a temporary rapid rise in energy consumption per capita in the 1950 to 1980 period (Figure 5) that led to a temporary spurt in interest rates on bonds. This temporary rise in interest rates made pension programs look far more feasible than they really are for the longterm.
[13] How does the problem resolve itself?
It seems to me that the problem of debt bubbles and of unaffordably generous pension plans is very widespread. Analysts of all kinds have missed the hidden brakes on economies caused by inadequate energy resources of the right kinds, relative to rising populations. Collapse of at least some central governments seems possible. Perhaps some of these collapses can be postponed by rollbacks in government-sponsored programs, particularly those for the elderly and for those who are not working.
But even aside from the pension problem, there is a problem with many debts not being repayable in an economy that is forced to slow, as described in Section [11]. Many other promises become iffy as well. For instance, derivatives may not be able to pay as planned.
If there are problems with inadequate supply of essential materials, they are likely to spill over to asset values. For example, a farm that cannot purchase fuel for its agricultural equipment is, in some sense, not worth very much, since workers with simple tools like shovels cannot produce very much food. Likewise, a factory with permanently broken supply lines is not worth much.
I wish I could provide a happy-ever-after ending. The closest I can come to such an ending is to say that it appears to me that there is a literal Higher Power that is somehow providing an enormous amount of energy in a way that allows the Universe to continually expand. This literal Higher Power is, in some way, influencing the world today, through the self-organizing nature of the economy. The book Rare Earth: Why Complex Life Is Uncommon in the Universe, by Ward and Brownlee, explains that life could not have happened on the Earth, as quickly as it did, by chance alone. Perhaps things will turn out differently than we expect.
Corporate media seemed completely uninterested in the mysterious nature of Perry’s death. But it wasn’t for privacy this time, since the articles extensively covered Perry’s well-known decades of drug and alcohol addiction (all during the Friends years) and his various surgeries, slyly suggesting the actor died from a drug overdose. Officially Chandler “drowned” alone in a hot tub.
But, bless them, ripping the heart out of corporate media’s first attempt at covering up Perry’s real cause of death, the police specifically reported there were no signs of foul play and no drugs were found on the scene.
It’s now common knowledge that first responders on the scene initially called it in as a ‘cardiac arrest.’ But most media reports omitted that fact. Now, we have seen plenty of these solo “drowning accidents” over the last two years. For instance, just yesterday — totally unrelated — a friend told me about recently attending a 17-year-old girl’s funeral after she died while showering. (There was no head trauma.)
Perry’s life was headed upwards. A few years back, after he got sober, Perry started his ‘Perry House in Malibu,’ a sober-living facility for men. He told one reporter that, because of his addiction experience, if an alcoholic ever asked him for help, Perry stopped everything he was doing and did whatever he could to assist. Earlier this year Perry also published his first book, a memoir describing his career, his alcoholism, his road to sobriety, and his coming to a saving faith.
https://www.coffeeandcovid.com/p/stabbed-in-the-bunker-tuesday-october
> ‘Gaza Makes You Cry’: Putin Gets Emotional Over Israeli Strikes; Blasts West For Mid-East Crisis
Russian President Vladimir Putin has criticised Israel’s bombardment of Gaza strip and blamed U.S.-led West for the crisis in the Middle East. In a televised speech, Putin reiterated his support to an independent Palestinian state and said that Russia is fighting those behind the tragedy of Palestine. Watch the video for more details.
Was that from beyond the grave, or has he risen again?
Makes Jesus look like an amateur 😂
Speech was yesterday and today the Yemeni Armed Forces test the air defence of the encampment(again).
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/yemen-s-saree-vows-to-keep-shelling–israel–until-war-on-ga
The temperature is slowly going up.
Not too surprising the Russia is lining up behind Palestine.
The WSJ ran an opinion article this morning by Benjamin Netanyahu titled, “The Battle of Civilization.” This isn’t only Israel’s war. If Hamas and Iran win, you will be their next target. But we will prevail.
Excerpt:
We don’t need nations lining up on two sides, but perhaps that is what we are getting. And individual people, with strong feelings one way or another.
Nethanyau’s hope is exactly to drag everything into the battle of civilization, while what is happening now is the results of years and years of failure of respect of the international law, expansion of territories, apartheid of an ethnic group, plus additional bad management by this last and terrible Israeli government.
In my view US should stop supporting Nethanyau, not to mention to give him room on the Wall Street Journal.
In my view, Israeli people and Jews around the world deserve much more than him.
I understand that Netanyahu is in a battle for political power. This may be one influence on what is happening.
Gail, please watch this short interview to Prof. Sultan Barakat on CNN about Benjamin Netanyahu.
In my view US should stop supporting him, for the good of the Americans and the Israelis as well.
Nuttyyahoo used the term barbarians, he’s also called them animals. Did the WSJ reveal that he’s also quoted Samuel 15:3 using the term Amalek to describe them?
“You must remember what Amalek has done to you, says our Holy Bible. ‘Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them.Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys”.
No ambiguity then, about what the genocidal maniac has planned for Gaza and the true people of Palestine.
No people left, so no one to claim the rights to the huge gas fields of the coast except the illegal settlers. That’s why they can’t allow a two state settlement, as the people of Palestine would instantly have a decent income and energy supply. Not that there should be a two state settlement, as there is no legal basis for it, as anyone who bothered to read UN resolution 181 would know(probably the most miss quoted resolution ever).
https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/10/26/the-myth-of-the-u-n-creation-of-israel/view-all/
It’s all about the control of energy, as it always has been.
The Amalek quote is indeed disturbing.
Regarding the linked article, this is part of the conclusion of the long article:
Thanks Gail, I should have put the quote up myself.
You can see clips of Nuttyyahoo and his mad ravings in the below. It also mentions some of the energy reasons and some sobering words from Dominique De Villepin(worth following the link for his whole interview) concerning the trap we’ve so stupidly walked straight into(Qasem Soleimani was so highly regarded in all branches of Islam for a reason).
https://simplicius76.substack.com/p/world-plummets-into-eschatological
Notice in the clips, Nuttyyahoo is wearing a black shirt, as have all his cabinet for the last week or so(history repeating) and now their UN reps are wearing yellow stars, which shows their desperation. The truth seems to dawning on them and it’s going to be interesting to see if anyone will stop them, before they do something that sets in motion events far bigger than anyone can control.
A bit hypocritical of Putin. Look at all the Ukrainian apartment buildings that the Russians have indiscriminately leveled. How many children has Putin vicariously killed?
Also, Putin certainly doesn’t want to see an independent Ukrainian state. He wants to see a truncated puppet state, obedient to Russia.
Do the OFW commenters regard Putin as left-wing or right-wing? If right-wing, who do you regard as more right-wing: Putin or Netanyahu?
data says that the Russian SMO has killed an unusually small amount of civilians.
total opposite of say the US killing 500,000 Iraqi children.
I think Putin wants a demilitarized Ukraine that can’t continue shelling Donbass since 2014 and killing thousands of civilians.
right-wing, since I regard left-wing as psychowoketards.
and total opposite of what the Ukrainians have done to the Novorussians since 2014.
That’s all fake
Also, Putin certainly doesn’t want to see an independent Ukrainian state. He wants to see a truncated puppet state, obedient to Russia.
I don’t personally care if there is or is not an independent Ukrainian state. It’s not my problem.
they said that about Czechoslovakia in 1938
And I wouldn’t have cared about that either. Or Poland.
until that comment withnail—i had credited you with the ability to think beyond the limit of self
In my view, we are at the end of a cycle, I don’t know if in US and Europe people are understanding this.
First, Covid-19 was spread probably by western intelligence to separate China from Europe, take a pause for the financial system, save some oil, have some excuses for new debt and introduce terrible things under the umbrella of ‘great reset’ (with some vaccines in the middle to make some experiments on people and some money too).
Then western powers provoked Russia to put that Country in a corner or to separate it from Europe, in order also to sell from US some gas to Europe and possibly in the future put the hands on Russian resources.
Then western powers tried to push for a new corridor of goods and energy (IMEC) to substitute China with India as the new factory of the world, making goods pass through Saudi Arabia and Israel.
But in the meantime China and Russia had established good relationship with Iran and Arab countries and managed a peace with Iran and Saudia Arabia.
Arab countries also didn’t take well the deception of hidden treatments for covid and extremely dangerous vaccines, which, expecially in rich Arab Countries had been used in the meantime with terrible results (like everywhere).
So it happened that there was a coalition to break the IMEC corridor bursting the core of the Western-base in the Middle East, namely Israel, which is based on deception, lack of respect of international law and the suffering of another population.
This breaking arrived through a terrorist attack, which stimulated a violent reaction.
But this last war is showing the atrocity that the western world is ready to accept to reach its objectives and probably will make implode the western world from inside or some of its main istitutions/organizations because the public opinion will not accept the murder of so many civilians.
Being Europe also populated by many Arabs and Africans, expecially young people, who feel great compassion to these killings.
But also Autochthonous people will not accept that being the reaction incredibly bigger than the terrorist attack itself.
Unfortunately the cycle seems not over yet.
that comment is like reading a ‘whodunnit” novel
but starting from the last page, and reading to the first page
then jumping up and down with glee—
saying—”see—I worked out the plot and knew whodunnit from page one.”
and making up the plot itself as you went along, and making the characters fit your idea of what it should be
You don’t like my interpretation of events, that’s it.
But forgive me, you’re saying it in a comical way
😀
You are very funny Norm, thanks
From Pravda. This is a machine translation of a Russian article.
https://www.pravda.ru/news/world/1896298-kennedimladshii_progovorilsja/
Robert Kennedy Jr. let slip who owns the world: Lawrence Fink has already bought Ukraine
The world is owned by one corporation, creating the illusion that there are several such competing corporations.
This was stated by Robert Kennedy Jr., letting slip that this Black Rock corporation, whose founder is Lawrence Fink, has already bought Ukraine .
Late last year, Larry Fink and President Vladimir Zelensky struck a deal. The Ukrainian “leader” simply sold his country to the US oligarch.
“Zelensky and Fink agreed in the near future to focus on coordinating the efforts of all potential investors and participants in the restoration of our country, directing investments to the most relevant and effective sectors of the Ukrainian economy,” said a release on the website of the President of Ukraine.
The head of Black Rock also previously expressed concern about Kyiv’s irresponsible attitude towards its investments. He suggested that Bankova not “tear up” the land and use crematoria for convenient disposal of the dead.
“Now we are seeing a completely unreasonable use of black soil by the Ukrainians themselves. There are too many cemeteries. Friends, this is not only your land. The situation needs to be corrected. Otherwise, we will be forced to impose sanctions for the misuse of our investment assets,” the American oligarch previously said.
Why are the Ukrainians fighting if the land is no longer theirs, and who will live on this land after the “grave of the possessors,” asks Channel One presenter Ruslan Ostashko?
Perhaps Zelensky is buying consulting services from Black Rock/Fink, perhaps in return for some assets?
Ukraine does need help from someone, I would agree.
As the Bearded Man in They Live warns, “They are dismantling the sleeping middle class. More and more people are becoming poor. We are their cattle. We are being bred for slavery.”
We have bought into the illusion and refused to grasp the truth.
From the moment we are born until we die, we are indoctrinated into believing that those who rule us do it for our own good. The truth is far different.
The powers-that-be want us to feel threatened by forces beyond our control (terrorists, pandemics, mass shootings, etc.).
They want us afraid and dependent on the government and its militarized armies for our safety and well-being.
https://off-guardian.org/2023/10/30/evil-walks-among-us-monsters-with-human-faces-wreak-havoc-on-our-freedoms/
We get what we deserve. They are smart — the masses are MOREONS
Likewise, billboards blare out hidden, authoritative messages: a bikini-clad woman in one ad is actually ordering viewers to “MARRY AND REPRODUCE.” Magazine racks scream “CONSUME” and “OBEY.” A wad of dollar bills in a vendor’s hand proclaims, “THIS IS YOUR GOD.”
When viewed through Nada’s Hoffman lenses, some of the other hidden messages being drummed into the people’s subconscious include: NO INDEPENDENT THOUGHT, CONFORM, SUBMIT, STAY ASLEEP, BUY, WATCH TV, NO IMAGINATION, and DO NOT QUESTION AUTHORITY.
https://off-guardian.org/2023/10/30/evil-walks-among-us-monsters-with-human-faces-wreak-havoc-on-our-freedoms/
And then there is Carpenter’s They Live, in which two migrant workers discover that the world is not as it seems. In fact, the population is actually being controlled and exploited by aliens working in partnership with an oligarchic elite. All the while, the populace—blissfully unaware of the real agenda at work in their lives—has been lulled into complacency, indoctrinated into compliance, bombarded with media distractions, and hypnotized by subliminal messages beamed out of television and various electronic devices, billboards and the like.
https://off-guardian.org/2023/10/30/evil-walks-among-us-monsters-with-human-faces-wreak-havoc-on-our-freedoms/
According to the article:
Yet we are all monsters… we partake in the products of industrial farming (torture) and animal experimentation.
But the author would shove that into a corner and ignore it if confronted with this truth.
Humans are … MOREONS.
Bitcoin mining seems to be a way of extracting value, where little value normally exists. I had heard about using wind and solar, when it was not needed on the grid, being used to mine bitcoin. Also, really inexpensive electricity that is far from demand (Iceland). Now it looks like they are using natural gas. I would imagine that building pipelines and infrastructure to carry the the natural gas away would cost more than the selling price of the natural gas, if gas prices are low.
From the WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/business/energy-oil/in-texas-bitcoin-springs-from-gas-wells-47e5e2b6
In Texas, Bitcoin Springs from Gas Wells: When gas prices go down, producers can use it to mine crypto coins
Big swings in the price of natural gas whipsaw producers. Chris Alfano thinks the solution lies in something even more volatile: bitcoin.
The 29-year-old recently led a group of oil-and-gas veterans through a field of pipelines and wells outside Fort Worth, Texas, passing two giant orange generators before reaching a gleaming white structure about the size of a tractor trailer. Alfano’s company, 360 Mining, mines bitcoin here, using power generated from natural gas produced by the wells. . .
The goal isn’t to replace natural gas. Instead, bitcoin serves as a counterweight. When gas prices go up, the producers will sell that. When prices go down, they can burn it to run banks of power-hungry computers cranking out reams of random numbers to generate freshly minted crypto coins.
So more pseudo money is produced, to buy goods in the future. Sort of like more debt. But no more actual goods and services are produced. Doing this kicks the energy problem down the road a bit further.
What about quantum computing? Would that reduce the energy required to generate Bitcoins? Investing in infrastructure to generate Bitcoins could be quite a loser if the technology for generating bitcoins is subject to big revisions. I have to admit I don’t know much about Bitcoin. Clay
bitcoin is worth only what someone else says it is
it isn’t possible to build an economic system on that basis
“bitcoin is worth only what someone else says it is”
That’s true for every medium of exchange, gold, silver, wampum, greenbacks.
The market demand for bitcoin depends on people who want to keep their dealings unknown to governments.
“it isn’t possible to build an economic system on that basis”
Seems to have worked anyway.
What governments are looking at is Central Bank Digital Currencies. These don’t require any computation at all. They are just government controlled fiat currencies, operated by central banks. In fact, I would imagine that they would force the value of Bitcoins to $0.
YES. I have had this discussion with some Crypto Groopies… they seem to think Bitcoin will be the designated heir to the USD cash system
They tell me that the Fed would not be able to replicate the tech behind bitcoin … (even though there are thousands of other wanna be bitcoins already)
MOREONISM knows no limits.
The point is never to “reduce energy”.
I cannot think of anything more MOREONIC … than this.
Im.beciles who have taken a company public grinning from ear to ear on the Wall St podium as the bell rings and they guzzle Champagne celebrating their pillage and destruction of the planet … is a close second
And if I made these comments publicly… I’d be laughed at… called insane… branded a heretic.
By the oceans of MOREONS.
MOREONS are never satisfied … they want MORE. Always MORE
The planet is not being destroyed.
It’s hubris to imagine we could destroy it.
TRANSPORTATION Forbes
The Mega Trends That Will Shape Our Future World
Sarwant Singh ContributorFuturist and Industry Thought Leader
Picture this: The year is 2040. You’ve just disembarked from a hypersonic flight from New York to London, a mere two-hour journey, and then take an air urban mobility “drone” to beat London’s rush hour traffic to be home in 20 minutes. While in the air, you streamed a holographic conference in real time, thanks to a seamless fusion of cellular and satellite networks made possible by 6G. This isn’t a visionary’s dream. It’s a glimpse into the imminent future. My team of foresight specialists at MarketsandMarkets has put together the top Mega Trends that will shape our future. The below Trends wheel summarises these trends across Horizon 1, 2, and 3.
The Hyper-Connected World: Each generation of technology has revolutionized how we connect and interact. 3G bought data, 4G video, and 5G provide B2B use cases like machine-to-machine communication, providing us with Connected stadiums, factories, and cars. But 6G? The leap from 5G to 6G promises a colossal leap, bringing isolated entities like homes, cars, and cities into a unified connected living ecosystem. Combine this with Space Log Jam (we will launch 20k satellites in this decade, and this will provide high-speed broadband, possibly 5G speeds in the future through satellites and precise location-based services), and we will be connected everywhere, anywhere, anytime, making it a hyper-connected world that will trigger new disruptive business models. The future, in essence, will echo a constant connection. In such a world, being disconnected might be the only true luxury.
Dawn of Technology Singularity: This trend charts the AI evolution from narrow AI to the dawn of singularity, where intelligent and powerful technologies could radically transform our reality with unpredictable results. With the advent of Generative AI, we have now entered the General AI era. There are currently no real-world examples of Artificial SuperIntelligence (ASI) where AI reaches human levels of consciousness, intelligence, and capabilities. A key sub-trend of growth of AI and the hyper-connected world will be us entering what we term an Autonomous world – a $10tr opportunity. By 2035, we will have the advent of new computing science like Neuromorphic Computing, DNA computing, and Quantum computing entering our worlds, and they will challenge Moore’s law further and accelerate the shift from General AI to Super AI, meaning machines will become more intelligent than humans thereby achieving Technology Singularity.
Industry 5.0 – The Symbiotic Era: The fourth industrial revolution was about applying emerging technologies that are connected, interactive, and intuitive. The end objective is to derive the maximum cost and time efficiency. The European Union describes Industry 5.0 as providing “a vision of an industry that aims beyond efficiency and productivity as the sole goals and reinforces the role and the contribution of industry to society.” In the foresighting world, these mega-developments like Industrial revolution profoundly impact our Society. The 1st industrial revolution shifted us from a farming to a manufacturing economy and brought mega trends like urbanization. Similarly, with Industry 5.0, there will be a profund impact to our society at large, where human-robot coworking will reframe the fundamentals of jobs, skills, and global sourcing.
The Energy Transition: Future of Energy will be decarbonized, decentralized, digital and democratized, and possibly one day energy will be free. Decarbonization refers to the shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. Decentralization in the Energy sector refers to the growth of smaller on-site renewable power generation solutions. Digitalization refers to the shift from analog to digital solutions in the energy infrastructure like smart meters and smart grids to real-time management and processing of billions of data points to automate decision-making to allow integration of diverse power generation sources. Democratization refers to localization of Energy and harnessing the local nature to develop the best energy mix for that country/region and making energy accessible to all. We at MarketsandMarkets believe that one day, in the 21st century, energy could be free, and it will usher in new disruptive business models and opportunities that are unique and very different from what we see in the world today. That could mean future fuels like Green hydrogen will be abundant if the solar or wind power to generate it is free.
Free….Happy Ending
Sarwant Singh
Sarwant has over 29 years of work experience in leading major advisory and transformation engagements focusing on making organizations future ready.
Any ongoing connection requires energy. Transportation requires energy.
I am afraid what you are asking for is impossible in a world without lots of very cheap-to-produce energy.
You say “if the solar or wind power to generate it is free.” Solar and wind power are definitely not free. They need to be built and maintained using fossil fuels. Green hydrogen produced in the plains of the Midwest somehow needs to be transported and converted to a usable form in population centers elsewhere.
The thing is …
Most of the MOREONS see EVs and solar/wind power as clean and cheap… even though it is obvious both assertions are lies…
Just like most MOREONS believe the Rat Juice is Safe and Effective…
They also believe claptrap like Hope and Change… MAGA etc…
Why? Because cnnbbc tells them what to think.
That is the definition of a MOREON
They also believe humans have walked on the moon.
What amazes me is that the MOREONS are offended when the elites (Elders and their minions) treat them like cockroaches… the MOREONS believe they are awesome… clearly they are not. They deserve to be treated like cockroaches.
Feel free to keep voting if it makes you feel superior to a cockroach.
5 moreons, 3 cockroaches,, 1 moonwalk, 1 rat juice, 1 maga.
all in one comment
wish i was that creative
dosing people with reality is not the way to win friends and influence people Gail
I am afraid you are right. I do not win many popularity contests.
Guess: Bitcoin is an attempt to separate transactions and store of value from an entity which can print money at will to purchase whatever it wants at the time. Too much and the scrip is rejected, velocity goes vertical and there is no store of value.
Bitcoin can be used purchases goods in the future without the skim of inflation paid to the issuer of scrip.
Dennis L.
Perhaps. But Bitcoin doesn’t maintain supply lines. If the system collapses, and there a few goods to buy, how will it work? Computers and electricity are definitely needed.
no matter
folks still want to believe in bitcoin fairy tales
Combining coal and a little solar, I can pencil out a case for fuel at less than a dollar a gallon.
Coal is roughly $20/ton. Heated in steam, it makes 16 MWh of syngas from 3 MWh of solar electricity or 3/4 of a MWh of direct solar heat. Intermittent is fine, you can store the gas.
The cost 3 MWh of intermittent solar is no more than $60 and much less for solar heat. A ton of coal made into syngas would coat about $80 and make over 4 bbs of diesel or jet fuel at a cost of about $20/bbl. The capital cost of a Fischer-Trochaic plant is about $8/bbl, bring the total cost up to around $30/bbl. Given that a bbl is 42 gallons, the fuel cost would be under a dollar a gallon.
This doesn’t solve the CO2 in the atmosphere, but we have to build direct air capture plants anyway.
Coal is roughly $20/ton.
No it isn’t. it’s more than 5 times as much as that in Europe.
keith
get rid of that calculator—-now
Picture this: The year is 2040. You’ve just disembarked from a hypersonic flight from New York to London, a mere two-hour journey, and then take an air urban mobility “drone” to beat London’s rush hour traffic to be home in 20 minutes. While in the air, you streamed a holographic conference in real time, thanks to a seamless fusion of cellular and satellite networks made possible by 6G. This isn’t a visionary’s dream.
In 2040 New York and London will not be important cities or indeed places any sane person would want to go. If this kind of future is happening anywhere in 2040 it will be in China.
But 6G? The leap from 5G to 6G promises a colossal leap, bringing isolated entities like homes, cars, and cities into a unified connected living ecosystem.
Which does what for the economy exactly? How will this increase production of food, goods and affordable energy? Won’t it just consume more energy for no clear benefit?
Good points. 5G was pretty iffy. 6G would seem to be even more so.
(Al Arabya + Al Jazeera)
The oldest Church in the world has been bombarded.
Saint Porphirius Church is in Gaza.
The news has not be covered by western media, but Israeli forces has also bombarded a Christian church in Gaza.
The interesting point is that many people actually don’t know that Palestinians are also Christians.
Keeping this aspect hidden is of course in the interest of mainstream media, because the attempt is to talk about a sort of war of Jews against Muslims and as Christians we should support that.
While the objective of this war is different.
“Orthodox church condemns Israel’s ‘direct and unjustified attack’ on its Gaza center”
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2023/10/31/Orthodox-church-condemns-Israel-s-direct-and-unjustified-attack-on-its-Gaza-center-
To this day, I don’t understand why, why, USA agreed with the monarchs of Persia and Saudi Arabia to raise oil prices in return for them buying US weapons.
It is one of the most foolish decisions of all time.
Of course it might have made sense at that time and some people will say ‘hindsight is 20/20’. However anyone with a brain would have thought that eventually these countries will get uppity.
Iran got uppity in 1980 and now KSA is getting uppity. Which leads to the current global crisis.
Not keeping them down, like what the British colonial office did so well before, would be the biggest cause of what we have now.
you don’t think the crisis is due to oil running out?
Crush the peasants! Show them no mercy!
the most important job in politics is keeping it
if a senator has an armaments factory in his area, then jobs means votes
it really is that simple
all the senator wants to do is keep his job—the consequences are secondary to that
Kulm, you praise the British for keeping down the peoples in the Middle East and elsewhere, yet condemn the same British for keeping the continental Europeans fighting among themselves. don’t you realize it’s the same op?
A person can do good and bad things at once.
Keeping middle east down was a very good thing.
Why all these smarties at Washington did not think about a regime change in Saudi Arabia before is some oversight which cannot be forgiven
Sooner or later, KSA will have to be invaded and occupied by the Wokists to ensure energy flow. Sorry, but the sheiks at KSA have become too uppity.
you dont have to be a smarty to know that any invasion of KSA would treble or quadruple the price of oil instantly….o more likely cut it altogether,
i’m amazed you weren’t smart enough to figure that out for yourself kulm
They have too many irons in the fire..working on change in Russia, China, ..
I agree …Saudi will be on the table for change too..
There is only so much that is possible….
Hope we don’t explode ourselves in the process
Surprised it was not done long ago.
I think that after Salman, the father of the uppity Crown Prince, there were two more princes to succeed the throne so the Americans, busy in Iraq and Afghanistan, gave them a break
No one could have thought that Salman’s son was that ambitious enough to break the tradition of brother-to-brother succession
Soon the wokies need to invade ksa to enaure the flow of oilly salt water.
I guess noone here has illusions about longevity of ksa oilfields (also reason why ksa is suddey uppity) and state of Gwadar.
No need to thank me for my redaction, kulm 😉
Are you not entertained?
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/freak-accident-hockey-player-sidekicks-opposition-throat-and-kills-him-during-game
It will go hyperbolic. Why? As Inflation becomes higher, they have to print more to cover it. A billion today may not be the same as a billion 2 weeks or 2 months down the road. It can happy really very fast and if it is like Weimar/Zimbabwe, when trillions will buy you just an egg, then what is USD33T? 33 eggs?
I yearn for the pushing on a string phase… when the debt increases a trillion PER DAY… then 5 trillion then 100 trillion … and it does not move the dial.
Even after reading this most humans will still cram this toxic rubbish into their gaping maws… cuz it tastes good
Losers
High Levels of Toxic Metals Found in Foods Sold at Top Fast Food Chains
Moms Across America tested fast food from the 20 most popular fast food chains and found 100% of samples contained concerning levels of lead and cadmium. Experts says even small amounts of metals may impact kids’ IQ and health.
Kids are consuming harmful amounts of heavy metals when they eat fast food, according to the nonprofit Moms Across America’s (MAA) report on heavy metals in foods sold by the U.S.’ 20 top-selling fast food restaurants.
One hundred percent of the samples tested by MAA contained “alarming” levels of lead and cadmium, and roughly 93% of samples contained detectable levels of arsenic, according to the test results.
The nonprofit tested fast food because many Americans eat fast food and some fast food chains supply school lunches.
The MAA testing found food with lead levels nearly 5 times the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) daily maximum for kids. According to the FDA, “Lead is toxic to humans and can affect people of any age or health status.
Additionally, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) points out that no amount of lead exposure is safe, especially for kids, as it can cause lifelong IQ damage.
“Lead is particularly dangerous to children,” the EPA says, “because their growing bodies absorb more lead than adults do and their brains and nervous systems are more sensitive to the damaging effects of lead.”
Both cadmium and arsenic are carcinogenic. MAA found food with cadmium levels more than 11 times higher and arsenic more than 3.5 times higher than levels the EPA allows in drinking water.
Even low levels of cadmium can cause kidney damage, and exposure to arsenic may harm the eyes, skin, liver, kidneys, lungs and lymphatic system, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
https://childrenshealthdefense.org/defender/fast-food-heavy-metals/
We really don’t know what is in our food, especially fast food, but restaurant food in general. Rules seem to be made to benefit the manufacturers and sellers of these products, not citizens who eat this food.
Italy bans Bill Gates controversial synthetic meat products but the US Gov’t gives it the go ahead.
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2023/10/31/bill-gates-and-our-government-hate-us/
Unfortunately it is just a little bull###t to calm people. Don’t worry, for all the rest we do exactly what US says to us to do it.
And we will do it also on that issue.
But at the moment it is only to keep some foolish calm., as Italians are very sensitive on food.
Garbage in … creates a Garbage species
just in time for the season of giving the gift of garbage to garbage addicts.
If I were a CT I would think …
After borrowing $1 trillion in calendar Q3, the US is preparing to borrow another $1.5 trillion in calendar Q4 ’23 and Q1 ’24, or a total of $2.5 trillion, and that’s only for 9 months of the calendar year
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-borrow-15-trillion-debt-next-quarter-after-borrowing-massive-1-trillion-last-quarter
Gail mentioned it below
https://wolfstreet.com/2023/10/30/marketable-us-treasury-debt-to-explode-by-2-85-trillion-in-10-months-from-end-of-debt-ceiling-to-march-31-2024/
https://wolfstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/US-Gross-National-Debt-2023-10-30-marketable.png
Thanks for linking to this. It does explain a little of what is going on.
This article links to an August 2023 article talking about the huge increase in auction amounts needed, and the cycle of inflation in yields this will bring.
https://wolfstreet.com/2023/08/02/here-comes-the-tsunami-of-longer-term-treasury-notes-bonds-monthly-auction-sizes-60-by-august-next-year/
https://wolfstreet.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/US-Treasury-issuance-2023-08-02.png
Despite some signs that excess mortality rates are declining, life insurance executives and actuaries believe the numbers are alarming and could continue to drag earnings and surge death claims for years to come.
https://insurancenewsnet.com/innarticle/excess-mortality-continuing-surge-causes-concerns
This is precisely an article on which Gail is super expert about and could add something. Thanks!
THURSDAY, Aug. 10, 2023 (HealthDay News) — The mental health crisis hitting Americans shows no sign of abating, with provisional numbers for 2022 showing suicides rose by another 2.6% last year.
https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2023-08-10/suicide-rates-continue-to-rise-among-americans
Most of the excess deaths are caused by Rat Juice shots
This is a link to the central chart of the excess mortality article you link to.
https://ourfiniteworld.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Insurance-company-mortality-by-age-group-through-May-2023-1024×615.png
(I had to make an image of the chart, and upload it to OFW, to make it show properly.)
I called the image “Insurance Company Mortality by Age Group through May 2023. ” Mortality is based on mortality level in 2019. The chart also shows mortality for 2018, which is almost identical.
Part of this excess mortality is likely related to depression and greater alcohol and drug use. Perhaps more suicides, as well.
The people buying these policies are likely above average in income level. So the actual population-level experience, including the unemployed and those working only part-time jobs, is likely worse.
One should add that 2019 was the mildest flu season of the last 8 years (I have not see data prior to 2015). So some of that excess mortality (probably all excess mortality above, say, 75 years) is just due to assuming as baseline a very mild year. I can see from the Euro data that elderly mortality at flu peak increases by 50% or more. It can certainly accommodate the 10% seen in the plot at advanced age.
That will leave the big bump for middle aged people, but keep in mind that those people do not die in numbers. The bump will be small in absolute numbers. I can see, again from the Euro data, that for every death in the 15-44 range there are 40-45 deaths in the 65+ range. A 20% bump is still 0.5% in overall mortality.
so these plots do not really convey how small that excess mortality truly is. Are we talking, what, 0.05% of the population dying, that should not have died? When 1.2% of the population dies every year anyway?
What would be very interesting to see is the excess mortality for Italy by age.
As it is the Country with the highest covid vaccination rate for Europe (or one of the highest) and it also went on and on with many doses.
I don’t know if you can provide it.
Many thanks indeed in case.
https://euromomo.eu/graphs-and-maps
scroll to bottom of page, select age group. One unit of the plots for all ages is about 110 deaths a week. Besides the obvious flu (some call them “covid”) bumps, I can see for Italy an excess only in the 45-64 age bracket, where one unit is about 36 deaths.
one unit for Italy. all ages 110 deaths, one unit for 45-64 about 36 deaths.
The numbers are in thousands…
Anyway, about excess deaths in Europe it would be interesting to have some analysis from
Gail Tverberg…
Thanks for posting this link.
As I look at deaths by age, this is what I see:
1. 0 to 14 year old deaths. There is a noticeable dip in the March 2020 to December 2020 period. Nearly all of the deaths in this age group are in the first year of life. Europe, like the US, stopped immunizations during this period. This seems to have significantly helped mortality (as it did in the US).
Between September 2021 and the end of 2022, deaths seem to be higher for this group. I would wonder whether Covid vaccines are an issue.
2. 15 to 44 year old deaths. I notice that the selection of he base year makes a big difference in this age group. Deaths during 2018 seems to have been quite a bit higher than 2019.
Death spikes are small, compared to other age groups, suggesting that neither Covid itself nor its vaccines is a huge problem for this age group. Deaths are now perhaps a little higher than 2019, but not much above 2018. The recent spike to me looks like a “funny number”- a tiny number multiplied by a huge multiplier for under-reporting that doesn’t really make sense.
3. All of the age ranges, 45 and above
All of these groupings have very similar patterns. It is possible from these to see that flu deaths were much higher in 2018 than 2019. I can believe that flu deaths were abnormally low in 2019, making this a bad year for comparison. It also left a lot of elderly people in poor health who were disproportionately likely to die from Covid in 2020.
The spike in deaths in 2020 for all of these age groupings came in the March, April, May period, followed by a later spike later in the year. One thing about 2020 that is odd is that it had practically no spike in what I would expect to be flu deaths in the December to March period. This further left the elderly population susceptible to a big spike in deaths from a new pathogen.
There were three more big spikes in death, presumably when covid epidemics came through. The spike in late 2020 started about September. This is very early for regular flu deaths and started before vaccines became available. It seems to have hit all of the older age groups equally.
The next peak after the late 2020 peak was the peak starting in late 2021, probably about October, again early for flu deaths. The thing that is different about this peak in deaths is that it hit the 45-64 age group particularly hard, with the older age groups hit less hard. In general, the illness seemed to kill a lot fewer people, but especially this relative reduction was clear in the older age groups. This peak even seemed to have so effect on 15-44 year olds.
The last major peak was towed the end of 2022, starting about October. This peak seemed to affect all age groups, way down to the 15-44 year olds and the 0-14 year olds. This peak again came early, relative to what I think of as peak flu deaths in January-February.
So far in 2023, there hasn’t been much sign of a September-October rise in deaths. This is likely one reason the sale of covid vaccines is not going well.
Outside of the spikes, quite possibly related to covid (or its vaccines), the valleys seem to be higher for the 45-64 year olds and and the 65-74 year olds. This effect seems to be going away in 2023 (perhaps because of fewer Covid vaccines already, or because the vulnerable have already been killed off).
I am thinking that using 2019 as a single base year has lead to some artificially high ratios of recent deaths to historical deaths. My guess is that John Campbell is using 2019 deaths as a base in his analysis. If so, this might bias his indications high.
Many thanks Gail for your considerations. Very kind of you. Have a nice evening.
As the humans are more and more dependent on machines (robots, AI) due to the energy decline and rising complexity, the system of political parties is more and more redundant and every election just a poll about some actual issues. That is why governments are changing more often.
Without sufficient energy there is nothing politicians can do to improve the lives of citizens. Better to make it about some controversial issue or other.
ive always said, that given an ever increasing energy ibput, a troup of monkeys could be in government, no one would notice
MG,
Guess: control at a distance will become increasingly difficult if not impossible. The cost of violence is greater than the reward; politicians without something productive to add are useless.
I keep referring to the Amish, something works. They are a small group and money stays in the group, mostly in the form of joint effort. They have Sunday services in their homes and there is no work on Sunday, it is a day of rest. They know each other and try and avoid standing out too much, they keep their incomes at similar levels.
the amish live in a stable tolerant support system provided by everyone else
they could not live in a country that didnt have that
In some cases, extended families can provide this kind of support system, too. I know that in parts of Africa, if a child is orphaned, relatives will take that child in.
Some of my cousins have traveled distances to be with other cousins, when the cousins need assistance (say, with cancer and no spouse).
i was thinking more of basic infrastructure–military–police and so on
Perhaps the Amish will be forced to amend their religion to include armed resistance. With their large families, they might stand some chance against marauders at least. Without it, though, they are sitting ducks for the imposition of a feudal system with payments to new lords who provide protection against others trying to claim the fiefdom.
Supposedly, everyone in the USA lives in this same stable tolerant support system provided by everyone else that you are so sure exists. Isn’t that right, Norman?
And yet the Amish seem to do so much better at living decent comfortable good old-fashioned lives than almost anyone else.
Perhaps we should turn our attention to why almost everyone else is not doing so well as the Amish, despite everyone being buoyed up by this wonderfully stable and tolerant support system provided by everyone else that you are so sure exists?
i did not use the word wonderful—you did
the amish community is minute
they have a laudable (in certain respects) approach to life and living, the majority of their countrymen just leave them alone and let them get on with it. The majority of us could not tolerate such an existence.
if the nation as a whole tipped into an unstable anarchic condition, then they would not be left alone to be themselves.
that is what i meant by pointing out that their lifestyle is supported by the majority
there was a similar community in uk at one time, it faded away i think
https://www.bbc.co.uk/shropshire/content/articles/2007/07/17/deiter_bruderhof_feature.shtml
Cheers! I thought that was at the root of your thinking.
Still, it is to their credit that when left to themselves the Amish are such a laudable bunch.
The contrast between them and the residents of North Sentinel Island in Andaman Islands and Millwall supporters vast.
I mean, if you were walking home on a dark night and saw a bunch of young men at the end of the alley blocking your way, I bet you’d be very relieved to hear them speaking Pennsylvania Dutch, as opposed to, say, the Sentinelese for “Arrows speak louder than words,” or singing a tonedeaf Cockney chant of “No one likes us, we don’t care!”
And yet the Amish seem to do so much better at living decent comfortable good old-fashioned lives than almost anyone else.
They live a Disney theme park version of old-fashioned lives. They are not self sufficient.
thats what i’ve been trying to point out withnail
the amish are living outside reality
for as long as it lasts–and it will last only as long as the stability of the rest of us lasts
They do use a lot of stuff that comes from the industrial world. But their family structure and taking care of each other, seems to be more intact.
Well, pardon me for making such a profound disturbance in the Force! I never said the Amish were self sufficient.
However, based on the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of self sufficiency as “needing no outside help in satisfying one’s basic needs, especially with regard to the production of food”—I would guess they come a lot closer to self sufficient that most of the population of the US.
By all means give us your own definition of self sufficient, and then we can look at it together and see if any human beings on the planet qualify.
To people who view the world through Disney spectacles, most of us live in a Disneyland of one kind or another. What kind of an argument is that supposed to be?
It may be the antibiotics I am taking for a gum infection at the moment, or it may be the latest phase in my journey from middle age to gibbering old fool sitting along drooling on my shirt/senile old fart playing in the dirt, but I am having trouble following the logic of a lot of the comments I read lately.
Norman, you who are so wise in the ways of learning, and with the knowing of a lot of stuff, please try to sort this out:
If a family grows enough bananas to feed themselves twice over and are content to live only on bananas, they are self sufficient, n’est-ce pas?
If they are fond of coconuts, and decide to barter some of the excess bananas with the people down the valley for coconuts, are they no longer self sufficient, despite growing twice as much food as they consume?
Norman lives in his own private Idaho on a Prudential Pension, for as long as it lasts, and yet he claims the Amish are living outside of reality.
Pour l’amour de Dieu, pourquoi ? S’il vous plaît, dites-le nous !
Meanwhile, I’ll retire to Bedlam.
Are Kulm, Withnail, Norm & Secretary Not Sure saying the same thing? “Lead, follow or get out of the way.”
Reality looms.
And it spins its own yarn.
The “money stays in the group, mostly in the form of joint effort” for the Amish.
I think I see what you mean; in life things appear to be reciprocal. If all the income going out to others is not returned in value, there are problems.
Those in politics seem gifted in getting more than they give. A simple look at the net worth of politicians compared to their incomes is instructive.
Another positive for the Amish is weekly reinforcement, their movement deals with what affects them in an ongoing manner which is not the same as advocacy. It seems to be democracy, not perfect but it on the surface seems to work.
Dennis L.
And yet Norman says the Amish are living outside reality.
And Norman is an honorable man.
Norman says we are reaching the end of more, and that continually wanting more will be our undoing.
The Amish have never wanted more but are content with what they have, yet Norman says the Amish are living outside reality.
And as I’ve elaborated before, Norman is an honorable man, if a bit of a dogmatic doomer.
Most of the people who are living “off the grid” are doing something even less sustainable than the Amish, because they don’t have as many social connections, and they don’t have the use of horses. But both depend on the current fossil fuel system for a whole lot of things, including cloth for clothing and nails to make many things. I expect the Amish depend on metal in many ways, for example, in water wells.
a few 100 thousand amish live one way
most of we 8bn do not.
We could apply the same question to inuit, or the sami people, or the bushmen of the Kalahari, and others.
come shtf time , they will likely do better than we followers of the common herd. If there is to be a bottleneck, they will likely be the progenitors of our descendants., if there are to be any.
(not the amish)
Because those i mention above prosper in adversity.
Whereas the amish prosper in environment which is broadly benign.
All i do is offer information which is available to all. No dogma involved
If you think my above summary is seriously wrong, no doubt you will point out where?
Yes, my thoughts are about ”the End of More”—if you are certain that more will go on into infinity, thus making me wrong, tell me how?—I need to know.
Things havent improved over the last 10 years. Poverty has increased.
We got to here by constant demands for more of everything. Our leaders promise just that>
Any ideas on how that might come about Tim.?
wordpress has gone woke, not publishing anything with a tit-tle of dissent from lamestream lies.
Have posted a couple of items and ….no show.
The wet comments getting through tho’?
Ending up with a sad, lagging comments section.
waste of fkg time.
It seems whenever a medium of communication gets large enough, pressure or cooption takes place. Disqus, wordpress, reddit, etc
The broad mass of people can’t unite if their communication is intermediated.
Let’s stop making excuses for the broad mass of people.
The broad mass of people cannot unite because they are moreons!
It might be my fault. I may have entered some form of conspiracy, for example.
I try to let through fairly reasonable comments. I am sometimes slow about it. You seem to be in a different time zone from me. I had already gone to bed when you put the offending post up.
I find some comments take up to two? hours to post. And others are one minute. I do not think it is a question of “black listed” words. I have learned just to relax.
All you Doomies might enjoy the first part of this Peak Oil Chat
1:30 MBS understands that most countries are in serious terminal decline (but has magic think about SA) and that the US is in deep dodo by 2030, and Russia will essentially only be producing 1 mbd by mid 2040s
8:00 Simon Michaux new presentation on Re-buildables
https://www.youtube.com/live/X4E_rlxwzDI?si=BQyHiR2-wJMRQ_NS
Thank you…worth viewing..especially the beginning with the Saudi Prince precast of oil output of USA and Russia…
https://www.zerohedge.com/covid-19/watch-covid-authoritarians-want-forgiveness-heres-why-they-dont-deserve-it
Never forget!
The climate nasties are just as bad. Call them out whenever you can or else we will be in the same lockdown stupidity that chicken little warned us about.
WE need CO2.
The planet needs us to free the locked carbon so plants can breathe easy.
In case you think all is well with China and the Yuan will soon replace the dollar as the world’s reserve currency, you may wish to reconsider.
Credit growth in China is expanding at a massive rate on nonviable projects, and that is the only reason China has been able to meet its growth targets.
Marc Faber believes China could spark a bigger crisis than in 2008.
China, in particular, has seen credit as a percentage of the economy jump 50% in the last four and a half years, said Faber, the “fastest credit growth you can image in the whole of Asia.”
Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank strategist John-Paul Smith told clients on Wednesday that China’s growth model continues to be based on “ever-expanding debt, which leaves the country and financial markets very vulnerable to any potential loss of from investors and lenders.”
https://mishtalk.com/uncategorized/credit-boom-in-china-could-trigger-bigger-crisis-than-2008-three-things-china-wants-eight-things-china-needs/
The Fed is furiously printing hundreds of billions each week in a desperate attempt to keep the train on the tracks.
Meanwhile… the cannisters await https://www.cdc.gov/globalhealth/stories/images-2019/Ug3_SamplePkging-medium.jpg
China learned quite well how the phony shell game is played from the US Fed. No, none of this is going to end well and it’s going to be hard to recover from the collapse because the cheap energy is NO longer available.
https://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/this-war-will-push-rapidly-escalating-global-food-prices-into-overdrive/
Excerpt: “The only way that we can continue to have cheap food is if we have cheap energy. We use energy to grow our food, to harvest our food, to produce our food and to package our food. And transporting all of that food from the farm to the factory and then to the stores takes lots of energy. Of course it isn’t just our food supply that depends upon cheap energy. Ultimately, our entire way of life is predicated on a cheap energy paradigm. If you take cheap energy away, everything changes.”
Joel Salatin might disagree.
If his farm methods worked so well, he’d sell produce instead of lectures and tutorials
There’s a reason the world population went from a billion to 8 billion and it wasn’t organic farming.
Permaculture will change all that..we just need to get rid of lawns
Permaculture doesn’t include grains, from what I have seen. I am doubtful that it can really provide enough calories for those trying to grow things with only that methodology, in most parts of the world. Warm, wet countries likely could feed quite a few, with almost any technique.
thats why all the first great civilkisations grew around the globe where the sun delivered free energy at its maximum
Like Death Valley?
He sings KOOMbaya… he is delusional
“And transporting all of that food from the farm to the factory and then to the stores takes lots of energy”
A long time ago, maybe 20 years or more, John Deere did a study of the energy involved in food, fertilizer, tractor fuel, transport, processing etc. They found that the largest part of the energy use in food was the last stage of cooking it.
I don’t know if this is still valid, probably is.
Of course if you really account for all the energy in food, the sunlight that causes plants to grow dominates all else.
Fresh hell for Vaxxers https://hartuk.substack.com/p/pah/
https://www.globalresearch.ca/four-professional-international-cyclists-forced-retire-due-cardiac-issues-many-amateur-cyclists-dying-suddenly/5838030
They shoulda have electrified dem bikes!
Cyclists are a pain in the butt when I am driving around feeding trees their much needed CO2.
Well well, what a surprise; the conspiracoholics were correct again.
That because science supports the truth, politics supports the wombles.
From the article;
‘The anatomy of the human vasculature makes the lungs a very likely target for substances injected into the human body, which rapidly enter the venous circulation. The venous blood passes through the right side of the heart, into the pulmonary arterial circulation and then into the microvasculature of the lungs.
The lipid nanoparticles (originally envisaged as a means of carrying cancer drugs to their targets) are designed to pass through lipid membranes enabling cell entry. Hence, contrary to assertions made by the Regulators to the effect that the injected substance would be broken down entirely at the injection site, widespread distribution throughout the body is actually inevitable; this is regardless of whether or not the injection is made into muscle tissue, or inadvertently into a small blood vessel (per Marc Giradot’s bolus theory), though it may happen more quickly in the latter case, resulting in more damage.’
I know a lot of jabby dorks with a nagging cough that just won’t go away. Guess them lungs are chugging out the spikers.
The nagging cough is the hallmark of a vax injured MOREON experiencing VAIDS…
They try to suppress it — they know something is wrong with them… but they cannot help but blurt out — I am f789ed… I am f789ed…
M Fast’s colleague:
She’s had an infection around her organs that caused many complications. Quite serious, she will be in hospital for a couple of weeks and then will have to rest for a few months.
VAIDS will do this….
Also, antibiotics aren’t working as well, any more. Bacteria have been mutating away.
That’s what happens, unfortunately, when antibiotics are massively administered to livestock and humans (… but I repeat myself). If all antibiotic-laced urine were treated to remove the antibiotics, it would lessen the evolutionary pressure on these microbes. Also, better hospital decontamination, for example with hydrogen peroxide mist/aerosols.
If all antibiotic-laced urine were treated to remove the antibiotics, it would lessen the evolutionary pressure on these microbes. Also, better hospital decontamination, for example with hydrogen peroxide mist/aerosols.
We can’t do these things. No spare resources to allocate.
The aerosolized H2O2 works and is low cost. It’s more a question of desire. As for antibiotics, we simply should never have gone down the road of feed lots and the like, which require antibiotics due to the breeds and conditions. Oh well, shoulda, coulda, woulda.
Everything comes down to overpopulation, I’m afraid. And no I’m not volunteering to help with that, except potentially as Mr Rabbit 😉
75% of your immune cells are in the digestive system; prescribing antibiotics on the industrial scale that they were is probably the dumbest thing ever. Possibly has augmented the damage that the dog-shite injections have caused.
This was what happens when you strap ‘intelligence’ onto a rapacious ape
All the digestion in your gut is carried out by “friendly” bacteria too. Not only antibiotics should be avoided, but also any foods containing preservatives, as a preservative is an anti-bacterial agent by design.
Behind the pay wall at zero hedge:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/us-borrow-15-trillion-debt-next-quarter-after-borrowing-massive-1-trillion-last-quarter
US To Borrow $1.5 Trillion In Debt This & Next Quarter, After Borrowing A Massive $1 Trillion Last Quarter
After borrowing $1 trillion in calendar Q3, the US is preparing to borrow another $1.5 trillion in calendar Q4 ’23 and Q1 ’24, or a total of $2.5 trillion, and that’s only for 9 months of the calendar year
It would be interesting to know how much of this is to pay SS. When interest was zero no problems, now the numbers are so large as to be unhandleable.
We are all going to experience this, not fun.
More and more I look at the Amish in my area; something works and it is not complexity. Part of it is a dollar does not leave the community which may be the essence of dealing as little as possible with the outside world, e.g. electricity, telephones, etc. They get Sunday off.
Larson Farms had another video reporting their parish praying for labor, there is no one to hire and if there is how many people do you know who can drive million dollar machines in tandem across fields? Fender benders are incredibly expensive.
Dennis L.
The Social Security part isn’t all that bad, when a person looks at the numbers. This is an income and outgo calculation for Social Security:
https://www.ssa.gov/oact/STATS/table4a3.html
Of course, the calculation takes credit for every bit of income that it can, including income tax collected on Social Security benefits and interest paid on unmarketable debt of the US government being held as a way of paying future US Social Security benefits.
With respect to health care programs, a report from the Congressional Budget Office as of February 2023 gives some (sort-of-out-date) projections.
https://www.cbo.gov/publication/58946
Table 1-4 of this reports is helpful when looking at healthcare programs. At the bottom of the exhibit, labelled “Memorandum,” for the 2023 year it says “Outlays, Net of Offsetting Receipts” for the year ended
9/30/2023
Medicare $820 Billion
Major health care programs (including Medicare) $1508 Billion
9/30/2024
Medicare $894 Billion
Major health care programs (including Medicare) $1528 Billion
So, it looks like it is more healthcare than Social Security that is the big funding problem.
By the way more detail numbers, comparable to the CBO numbers, are available in this set of reports.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/historical-tables/
There is something called forced labor which ensures labor supply
There is a reason the southron landowners were allowed to restore the old older after Reconstruction ended with a big failure
Only forced labor ensures the supply of cheaper labor
Gail, do you have an estimate for when the US will borrow $10 trillions a year?
I know that is just another number but my guess would be US dollar would collapse somewhere between $10 and $100 trillion in debt a year.
What do you think?
It is hard to understand how this crazy system works. If banks (or FDIC deposits) need major bail outs, it seems like borrowed amounts could suddenly skyrocket.
Timing is the thing I can never understand. At the rate of the current rapid run-up in borrowing, it would look like it would be possible to get to $10 trillion in five years.
You are right. At some point, it would seem likely that the US dollar would collapse.
NB, It’s the snake eating its tail analogy whereby the USD currency, once it starts to hyperinflate, will explode into nothingness far faster and suddenly than we think. I don’t think we’ll ever see that kind of (hyper)inflation, the reserve currency status and it’s exorbitant priviledge notwithstanding… that might allow the US Treasury to borrow $10 trillion a year. The jig will have been up before then.
The currency was vulnerable enough when Congress allowed a Federal Reserve Bank and a fractional reserve system partially backed by gold in 1913 which flamed out completely in 1971 under Nixon, but it was also the ability to wire, by old fashion telephone, huge sums of currency world wide. No more gold delivered by stagecoach.
But with the off balance sheet accounts as mentioned by Catherine Austin Fitts and Dr Mark Skidmore, who knows how much currency is floating around or stashed away in off balance sheets…plus the Eurodollars out there? Fitts and Skidmore figure there was 23 Trillion in these dark pools of money, including those like the Exchange Stabilization Fund which some claim was created way back when FDR confiscated gold in 1933 under EO 6102 and who “reimbursed” those who “sold” their gold to the government for something like $20.47 an ounce, only to promptly devalue their dollars the following year when they revalued gold at $35.
So along came the internet allowing millisecond transfers of $trillions, along with financial shenigans like Clinton’s repeal of Glass-Steagall which then allowed the banks to run wild with the govt to back stop their losses. Wall Street firms were even trying to build their computer algo transmission centers physically closer to the Wall Street trading desks to gain millisecond advantages over other computer traders. The skim was in full force.
But now with the near extinction of cash, even if it unbacked, there are no brakes on the monetary system (currency creation and transfer) and debt (treasury bonds and stocks) whose value depends on future production, i.e., dependent on both future materials and energy, which I think will suddenly become meaningless…. because the money will become meaningless. The hyperinflation supernova, when it does occurr, will be more sudden and drastic than we think. Instant nothingness after it blows up. No ATMs. No electronic transfer of money, no payments by credit. The trucks stop. The banks close. The gas pumps stop. The utilities shut down, Communications stop. No internet, no cell phone. Chaos.
Back to the small towns and communities we will go– eventually. Trade will restart locally with barter and then silver. maybe gold will gradually make a comeback too, either officially or through the black market. But its value is too high to make it suitable for daily living expenses. Maybe for buying a house or farmland etc. But just owning these makes you a target, from looters to new government tax collectors.
Cryptocurrencies like BTC will go into the inferno as the “surefire” (pun) savior of our financial mess, but it will not emerge after all is said and done. There won’t be any need for it. It will be a long, tedious, grueling slog to recover to a sustainable baseline. It will be very interesting to see who comes out on the other side halfway intact.
Nah… no return to small towns … ROF… cancer… extinction.
Alas they won’t allow this to happen.. cuz they have a plan to pre-empt it
They’re called refugees some of which will be survivors.
We aren’t going back to some version of small town America. That isn’t possible. The resources that sustained the past society are gone.
Why can’t we go back?
It’s very easy to fall pray to catastrophism thinking but history is a better teacher.
We can look back and see that an Egyptian peasant in 3000 BC lived almost the exact same way as an European peasant in 1600 AD.
So that kind of life (which included towns and even cities) is definitely possible, as long as the population drops a lot. I think the difficult part to imagine is how we get from HERE to THERE.
That is the what that I am trying to understand.
the reason is simple
in every past era, populations were supported by their immediate environment
they might have imported the odd luxury–silk say, but nothing that affected their basic lifestyle, either way.. The odd plague might have affected things, but not by much.
In our time, we are NOT supported by our immediate environment, we are supported by a 300m year old environment, ie—oil coal and gas, our deposit account of energy.
That has grown our numbers from 1Bn, to 8bn in 300 years.
we are also fixated that this will last forever, or if not ”ever”—-”they” find a way of fixing things.
this is where the theory falls apart—there is ”nothing else” to fall back on, unfortunately the vast majority refuse to accept this, and will fight to the death to prove they are right.
that is what is happening right now.
That kind of life may be possible, but not for 8 billion people with vastly depleted wildlife and ecosystems.
Why can’t we go back?
It’s very easy to fall pray to catastrophism thinking but history is a better teacher.
Because the resources that sustained the past society are now gone. Metal ores, for example.
If only they understood that it’s an energy problem… I wonder if anyone would attend a retreat where the message was all about the deep depletion of affordable energy?
Right now what the world REALLY needs is people doing the inner work to change the outer world. This is how we bring true lasting change. Here’s a world-changing opportunity. https://learnrenxue.org/courses/realization-wisdom-retreat
Today our teacher, Yuan Tze, a teacher of wisdom, shared a message with the Ren Xue global family, which I am sharing with you. It is a message to help humanity navigate and triumph over challenging times.
For many years Yuan Tze has been telling us that in order to transform our world, we must transform ourselves from the inside out, one person at a time. I have been learning and doing my best to apply these practices for many years now.
Here is his message:
“I am aware that some of you are having a hard time watching the world going through upheavals. Many people are suffering unimaginable pain and even loss of life. I understand that this is the time we can easily fall into despair and question our
very own existence.
Why would we inflict the senseless brutality on one another?
Is there really nothing we can do to help? Is there ever any hope for the future?
Although peace is greatly valued in society, conflict has been part of human life since the beginning of time despite the effort to resolve conflict. In the past ten years, we have seen that the pieces contributing to the destabilization of the world are growing bigger and gathering more momentum, and this is only just the beginning of the trajectory.
Knowing how to navigate treacherous waters is more important than ever. Is it unfortunate to live in this era? This way of thinking does not help and is clearly the work of many patterns. What humanity is going through is neither good nor bad, it is
just what it needs to go through. Really? All the suffering is necessary?
Think about the causes of all the conflicts humanity gets into. Aren’t they all the unhealthy patterns we humans have, in each and every one of us? These patterns drive us to activate our survival instinct and operate on this level. When it comes to protecting and expanding self-interest, sacrificing the higher values we cultivate and forsaking the higher qualities of human life often becomes an option.
When this is the way we operate, conflict is only inevitable. Any measure is justified to gain victory and be successful in securing self-interest. This is the game humans have played for thousands of years. If there is no change to the unhealthy patterns,
how would it stop?
It won’t stop until we have truly learned the lesson and sincerely embarked on what is necessary to make a real change, that is, transforming the unhealthy patterns. This is the way the universe tells us that we still have a lot of work to do. This is the act of
the laws of the universe. Some may wonder why is the universe cruel to us. It is quite the opposite. The universe has so much love for us that it has been giving us the opportunities to change along the way for a long time and hasn’t given up on us.
Whenever we can open our hearts to receive its love and listen to its wisdom, suffering will stop. The good news is every human being has what it takes to achieve this.
I hope you can truly see that what you do to grow your own life is part of the work necessary for the transformation of humanity, for ending suffering. I understand the feeling of hopelessness as one person’s change can seem so insignificant when there are billions of us in the world. For this, I would suggest that we expand our view to a much larger time scale, reviewing the thousands of years we have been through and look ahead at the many thousands of years to come. It may be a long process of transformation. The effort required is the same no matter where we are on this long
timeline.
The universe has provided us a feasible way to do it – via the heart. The power of trust, openness, love, gratitude, and gongjing is infinite. It can free ourselves from distress and bring true peace to life. It can open the door to our True Self. It can create the resonation that goes out to uplift the Qifield of the world. It can reach the hearts of those in need and bring light to them.
Let’s use the Heart Prayer to make it happen.
I invite you to check out Yuan Tze’s upcoming 9 day online retreat ‘Removing the Barriers to Realization and Wisdom’.
It looks like an opportunity for someone to make money. The advertisement says, “NZ$300-800.”
I understand your scepticism. I was sceptical too.
If you read further, you will find that it says:
“PAY WHAT YOU CAN
We are a diverse and global community, and as such we want to offer a payment structure that allows us to accommodate different realities. For this reason, we offer a sliding scale for Yuan Tze events, to enable people to pay what they can. For those who have the means and live in a country with a strong currency, we offer a higher price. For those, whose financial means may be currently restricted and/or are living in countries with weaker currencies, we have various options to choose from.
If the lowest option presented is still a barrier to your participation, please contact our Events Coordinator”
No one is turned away for financial reasons.
It is a nine day online retreat run by Yuan Tze’s non-profit. It is online but there are still costs that need to be covered in order to run such an event.
If you are interested and online retreats aren’t your thing, Yuan Tze’s book Wellbeing Begins With You is a good place to start.
Agree with Gail, way to make money.
“For many years Yuan Tze has been telling us that in order to transform our world, we must transform ourselves from the inside out, one person at a time. I have been learning and doing my best to apply these practices for many years now.”
My belief is we do not transform the world, the universe allows us to discover how it works and how to use it as we live our lives. Free will is an illusion, free choice to chose what is before us is possibly as good as it gets.
Dennis L.
Surely this is a prank post? FE got peace, love and understanding?
Presumably for participant safety, you have to be double jabbed, boosted and masked to attend.
If you followed the medical advice of Matthew Perry rather than Dr Peter McCullough, you should expect to pay the piper sooner rather than later. Sad but, unfortunately, true. At least you got a T-shirt…
In a devastating turn of events, beloved actor Matthew Perry, famously known for his role as Chandler Bing in the iconic sitcom “Friends,” has tragically passed away at the young age of 54. The highly talented actor was discovered lifeless in his Los Angeles home, with initial reports indicating that Perry had drowned in his own jacuzzi. First responders urgently attended the scene after receiving a distressing call for cardiac arrest [SOURCE].
While the exact circumstances surrounding his death are still under investigation, the tragic incident has left both fans and authorities puzzled. It is worth noting that Matthew Perry was actively involved in promoting the importance of COVID-19 vaccination throughout 2021. He has openly also discussed his battles with substance abuse and addiction, which have had a significant impact on his overall well-being.
https://www.aussie17.com/p/tragic-demise-of-matthew-perry-sends
hahahahahahaha
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fc28d2868-a16e-4491-93b0-4c027065934a_1080x1730.jpeg
looks like he’s tripping balls.
Anti-COVID drug accelerates viral evolution. Molnupiravir, an antiviral drug used to treat COVID-19, induces numerous mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 genome that can increase the rate at which the virus evolves — yielding viral variants that might survive and be passed on. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03248-3
Now why would they prescribe this????
Perhaps faster evolution is what the self-organizing system senses it needed. We think we know the only right answer, but to get through the bottleneck, perhaps we need faster evolution.
I find this a fascinating prospective rabbit hole.
Perhaps system “sensors” detected a massive degradation in Homo sapiens IQ, physical prowess and effect on planetary life systems….emergent properties created mechanisms (with in human political/scientific/media culture) to remove/cull large segments of the “developed”, technological sophisticated variety of the species?
Just as bizarre, non survival behaviors emerged within Rodentia in the Calhoun experiments, perhaps this is a manifestation of hominid responses to similar environmental pressures?
Watch Canada as a early signaler of how fast this “evolution” proceeds. This nation is showing myriad signals of imminent societal implosion,……and it is located in one of the harshest environments to hominids this planet offers.
A breakdown in any one of a myriad of technical systems in this woke catastrophe of a nation (especially in winter) has the potential to kill millions within hours/days.
My own suspicions (gnostic or not) is that we (as a global civilization) will be dealt a crushing blow from “celestial forces”, be they real, or from a gnostic illuminati playbook……..solar flare, EMP, impact of space object……..this will cause near instant collapse of our severely stressed civilization….Cataclysm is a feature, not a bug of our universe.
Of course I also suspect this whole “reality” is just an illusion anyway.
There certainly have been a number of mass extinctions historically. They could happen again. I doubt that we will have advance warning.
>> Of course I also suspect this whole “reality” is just an illusion anyway.
Yes, but why …
Prison, soul trap, education and history lesson, spiritual development, psychological test … too many options.
“Watch Canada as a early signaler of how fast this “evolution” proceeds. This nation is showing myriad signals of imminent societal implosion,……and it is located in one of the harshest environments to hominids this planet offers.”
What signs do you mean. Same as here in Germany?
My two chidren are in Canada now! (Montrea/Vancouver).
Perhaps the self organizing system is purging itself of cancer.
Sometimes a few days go by before I do a quick catch up online.
Norm posted a link to the article below with the quote ‘worth a read’
I agree, it was a barrel of laughs.
https://www.resilience.org/stories/2023-10-24/scientists-pursue-climate-activism-despite-violent-threats/
‘For political reasons, a large share of the U.S. population started pretending that it was Covid vaccines and masks, not the virus itself, that were deadly, and from there, the plague of upside-down science spread. Climate change eventually got swept up in it; in the far right’s collective imagination, Covid lockdowns were morphing into nonexistent “climate lockdowns,” and attempts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions were the work of “woke CEOs.”
In return I post the equivalent drivel re renewables; worth a read.
https://cleantechnica.com/2023/07/04/how-many-things-must-one-analyst-get-wrong-in-order-to-proclaim-a-convenient-decarbonization-minerals-shortage/
‘So why are we talking about this not-so-hot academic whose expertise is in the fine rock particles that result from blowing up and grinding rock during mining?
Because he wrote a paper with the implicit or maybe explicit GTK stamp of approval which states that there weren’t nearly enough minerals on earth to support decarbonizing through electrification. Yeah, we can’t build enough batteries or transmission or storage to leave fossil fuels behind. According to Michaux. Who doesn’t have anything remotely like the background to make this claim.’
‘Michaux first commits the primary energy fallacy, multiplying the future requirement for energy by a large percentage. As I noted recently, with heat pumps, electrified ground transportation and some more efficient industrial electric heat, the USA’s primary energy demand drops by 50%, even accounting for continued inefficiencies. Fossil fuels are deeply wasteful forms of energy.’
These people are Pot-holes on the road to nowhere, making a splash as they get run over.
Worth a read Gail; it ‘counters’ most points in your article using Michaux as a target right-wing etc etc apologist.
A cancel culture peice of rubbish
Resilience used to republished articles by authors at TheOilDrum.com. In fact, they were closely related organizations.
Resilience does not like my articles. I do not tell the story Resilience wants sold. They want a story that contributors and buyers of their materials will like.
Simon Michaux is the new messiah… does anyone here deny it(sorry, FE)?
His core message is what it is and you can do with it what you will but he makes a sublime commentary on ALL things that is the most bold of all.
You won’t find it easy to find all his interviews as they are not collated in one place. I came across him in 2010 as I’m in Aussie and he lived then in Queensland.. where he was appealing the QLD govt to make transport changes in lieu of Peak Oil. We exchanged emails… I suggest you do the same. BTW his Facebook page is hilarious…
I have corresponded with Simon Michaux, but I have never met him in person. He has some very good ideas.
As an extremist right wing, climate denying, anti-vaxxer, I say Slava Ukraine and clean, green electrification of everything is the way to go, cos if Ukraine had more electric tanks they’d be kickin’ Russian Orc ass.
Any implied limits of rare earth metals and all the associated resources necessary to electrify everything is a Malthusian CONSPIRACY THEORY.
https://thehonestsorcerer.substack.com/p/this-energy-crisis-is-here-to-stay
hahahahaha
https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_webp,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F42e8dc23-0614-4b18-9255-ff00f78d96ca_1000x706.png
The honest sorcerer has many worthwhile things to say. I had almost forgotten Lion Hirth’s analysis:
At least until the next threshold is reached where utilities would need to invest further still in ever more sophisticated and complicated electrical equipment and storage.
We can’t even maintain the existing grid let alone greatly expand it. As we’ve discussed before, the US and other Western economies that have depleted their high quality coal now have a lot of trouble producing specialist steel like electrical steel for transformers.
If one dares to show this to a Green Groopie – they will get very angry
Eye pleasing .
How to write 33 trillion in numbers?
33 trillion = 33,000,000,000,000
Now it looks good , the US debt .
Aapproximately 24 hours after her surgery, Talia’s throat closed and she lost the ability to breath. The ICU staff attempted to intubate her (which was impossible due to her fusion) and ignored Talia’s father’s pleas for an emergency cricothyrotomy (which I presume was ignored since it differed from their standard procedure) and after 20 minutes of impaired breathing, Talia entered cardiac arrest.
About 15 minutes after Talia took her last breath, a new doctor came in the room and assessed the scene. He [at last] called for the crike kit.
None was in the room.
This experience broke Talia’s father and led to him quitting the practice of medicine.
The publicity this case created led to a lengthy investigation of the hospital where it was discovered:
•In 2012, Dr. Deleshaw was hired by UC Irvine in 2011 because the administrators there (as memos showed) believed Delashaw could make them a lot of money and gave him a starting salary of 900,000 plus a commission for the money his surgeries made and those he could incentivize his colleagues to perform.
•Once there, Deleshaw started siphoning money from his colleagues to himself, which understandably upset the other doctors and Deleshaw later justified in testimony by stating:
I wanted all my faculty — as I said to them many times — I want them to be rich… But in order to be rich, you have to work and you have to do clinical volume or you have to have other kinds of financial support.
•At UC Irvine, his colleagues reported him for dozens of cases where Deleshaw had performed, reckless, unjustified, fraudulent (claiming to operate when the operation had not been really performed) and partially botched surgeries. They feared many of these surgeries were clear malpractice cases where a jury would almost certainly side against UC Irvine, and to quote one of his colleagues:
[Deleshaw’s surgical complication rates] are higher than anybody else I’ve ever seen in my life.
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-many-dangers-of-spinal-surgery
And now they push the Rat Juice… for $$$$ … doctors are generally scum.. Used car salesmen are irritating … doctors will kill you … for $$$
And people generally trust doctors… sheesh…
https://www.midwesterndoctor.com/p/the-many-dangers-of-spinal-surgery
In a small-mid town practice, I would have to see dozens and dozens of patients before encountering a true surgical candidate. Could not maintain proficiency and hence after my first few years of practice had to drop that procedure. Never had a lawsuit or follow up for a repeat procedure by another neurosurgeon or orthopedist in the big city- to my knowledge. Back pain, neurogenic pain etc very difficult to evaluate and treat sometimes, especially surgically.
When I had to present my cases before the American Board of Orthopaedic Surgeons in Chicago after two years of practice as part of board certification, I included a laminectomy and dissecting case along with over a dozen other cases, from fracture treatments to joint replacements etc. The evaluators totally ignored all those other cases and grilled me on the laminectomy. It was as if I had picked the forbidden fruit!
Nowadays if neurosurgeons can see a small bulge on an MRI, which is totally clinically insignificant in most cases, they will operate, trumpeting all the wonders of micro disectomy , spinal fusion techniques etc. in other words they operate on the MRI, not the patient’s symptoms, especially when there are no signs of spinal nerve root impingement, but only back pain. In a way the outpatient and minimally invasive techniques may have expanded the indications for surgery. Kind of like how fuel efficiencies in engines have reduced the need for gasoline due to improved mileage, but only to be negated by increased driving. Chevon’s paradox?
Re. “operating on the MRI”. When I had a large ovarian cancer which needed to be removed, the gyn-onc told me they also saw an adenoma on the CT scan, and so they wanted to have a second surgeon operate to remove that, at the very same time the gyn-onc was to be performing the rest of the many-organ-ectomy. This sounded like a crazy three-ring circus, so I consulted Dr. Google (boy, do they hate that!) and Dr. Google said that one can determine whether an adenoma (in this case on the adrenal gland over the kidney) is malignant by doing a timed-contrast CT scan (malign tissues clear the contrast at a different rate from healthy tissue). Over 10% of the population apparently have these masses, which are almost always benign.
[I wonder why all CT scans aren’t timed in this way.. hmmm.]
Because the docs are so walled off from pt contact, I had to print out this material along with a personal cover letter and FAX it to the gyn-onc, who sheepishly ordered the timed CT. I think they not only wanted an extra needless op to make money, but it was an opportunity to entertain baby docs at their whiz-bang teaching hospital with their juggling skills.
This was the beginning of my shocking and painful but essential realization: **Their agenda is not your agenda.**
It makes one feel like laying a serious beating on doctors. Thrashing them within an inch of their lives…
BTW — all those Tee Vee medicine man shows… PR … to make people believe that doctors are wonderful… but in reality … most of them are MOREONIC C789s… just like most humans.
Yep. During COVID times one of the many hospital whistleblowers told stories of old folks, who were in the legal care of aged care homes, being signed up for unnecessary hip replacements etc.
Surgeons = Butchers
Is this possible?
EV market could become the ‘next big flop’: Economist Fox News
Investing in electric vehicles has been ‘a bad bet,’ Steve Moore says
Just like Ford’s “Edsel” model in the 1950s, Trump administration economist Steve Moore cautioned that electric vehicles (EVs) may be the auto market’s “next big flop.”
“Henry Ford’s son was named Edsel, and this was going to be the great car, all of the executives said, ‘This is the car everybody’s going to want to buy.’ Ford made 500,000 of these new sedan cars, but guess what?” Moore said on “Varney & Co.” Monday. “Nobody bothered to ask consumers whether they wanted the car.”
“And of course, the Edsel was one of the great flops of all time,” the economist continued. “I’m here to tell you, if these trends continue, we’re going to see the EV market become the next big flop because car buyers don’t want them.”
And more moerons
50 new EVs are hitting the US soon. It’s not clear if there are buyers for them.
Nora Naughton Oct 26, 2023, 11:11 AM ET The Insider
More and more electric vehicles are coming even as demand slows.
Dealers say selling EVs is getting a lot harder.
Some of the new models in the pipeline might appeal more to the new demographic of EV shopper.
…All of this is leading to a realization that basing EV product plans on early adopters who have driven the last few years of growth in the segment may have led to an overestimation of long-term demand.
Industry analysts tend to agree that more than 50 new electric models are expected to hit the US market in the next three years as the automotive industry continues to wean itself off of gas-powered vehicles. But it’s unclear if there will be willing customers on the other end.
Sure, I’ll interested..let me call my insurance company first to see the premium they will quote me
Mike said ” Is this possible? ” . Not only possible and probable but guarenteed , just like what is happening in the wind turbine industry .
It’s simply impossible to swap out current ICE vehicles for electric ones.
Even if it didnt cause instant sustained blackouts (it would), the roads would wear out many times faster due to the extreme weight of electric vehicles. On top of that electric vehicles are a lot more vulnerable to underbody damage from things like potholes.
So we would need to have many times the amount of road repair vehicles, crew, fuel and materials compared to now. The resources simply don’t exist for that.
Isn’t it amazing how everything is unravelling all at once hahaha
The Green Groopies are stunned by Reality
The question of the character and future of the cohesive urban ethnic groups if interesting. Even with FF going away urban centers will still exist maybe smaller in scale.
Long existing urban people: Japanese, Chinese, Indian, the middle east Persian, Jew, Muslim
With low FF the mixing of peoples will slow. I expect the dominant will be selected by success in reproduction and warfare. My guess Japanese take Japan. Chinese take China, Indians take India. The rest of the world are swing states open for conquest. Middle East, Europe, Africa, South America, North America. I have no idea who wins those territories. I do expect a long, 20 generations, drawn out struggle.
Afghanis take Ireland?
https://www.bitchute.com/video/UdQ4rAsfgFm7/
No degrowth over generations!. I expect a collapse of the complete house of card because of ecnomies of scale and hughe complexity. The party is on or off.
https://www.designer-daily.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/blu-1.jpg
Saludos
el mar
Some 25 young men from Balkan Province were coming home after graduating from the Saratov State University in Russia,” said a woman whose son was among the graduates. “At the airport, they were met by officers from the regional military recruitment agency, the security service, and police, who rounded them up as if they were criminals and took them from the airport straight to the army.”
Another woman said the authorities didn’t even allow the graduates to speak to parents who were waiting for their children at the airport’s arrival hall.
“Most of us have not seen our children for five years,” the mother said. “The officials didn’t even let us to meet them at the airport for [a few] minutes [or to] at least drink a cup of tea with them. We don’t understand why our children were treated like this.”
The parents, who come from the city of Turkmenbashi and the towns of Akdash and Kiyanly, told RFE/RL that the officials also scolded the graduates for not returning to Turkmenistan immediately after their exams finished in June.
“Our children had been waiting for their diplomas to be issued,” one of the parents said.
They also claimed that two of the returning graduates were allowed to go home because they have relatives who work at law enforcement agencies.
The parents spoke on condition of anonymity for fears
TURKMENISTAN
Airport Assault: Turkmen Students Returning From Russia Immediately Forced Into The Army
October 29, 2023 09:57 GMT
The rich and powerful often use their influence and connections to bribe their children’s way out of military service.
Others also pay bribes to ensure their sons in the army will be stationed in military units in the capital, Ashgabat, or other big cities, instead of being deployed to higher-risk locations, such as the border with Afghanistan.
If the sons of high-ranking government officials are enlisted in the army, they usually serve in prestigious military units in Ashgabat, such as the presidential guard regiment and other honor guards, a source close to the matter told RFE/RL.
The official said wealthy parents who want to get their soldier sons into such guard regiments must pay about $14,300 in bribes.
Sounds a lot like what went on in the States during the Vietnam conflict
Civilization is maintainable with the top 10,000-100,000 of humanity, which would have been roughly the same number of people who would have entered Type I civ, with the rest left behind.emger
Any ideology offering hope to those who are not exactly part of Civilization is nothing more than opiate. Karl Marx, who said religion is the opiate of the people, ironically created the worst opiate of all time by proposing those who don’t belong to civilization to revolt to take the possession of the winners.
The only freedom for those who don’t belong to civilization is choosing what place to fall dead , by exhaustion, with no retirement and no caring for the sick.
Ernest Thompson Seton, a hunter, wrote a series of stories loosely called “Animals I have Known”. All of the animals in his book, some of them he hunted himself, met violent ends. There is only one , out of hundreds of stories he wrote about animals, where the animal does not meet a violent end, because he was put into a zoo in San Francisco. It was called Monarch, the California Grizzly, something like that.
Someone asked why all of his animals had to die tragically and Seton answered that it is how all of them meet their end. He had zero, nada, sympathy on any of animals he saw.
He was deemed politically incorrect by the sentiments of 1960s and was put into the memory hole. However his books were popular in Asia after World War 2 since the realities resembled the animal world in his books, so he is still remembered in Asia.
I also mentioned Fox and Hound by Daniel Mannix, written in 1967. It became a disney animation which bombed in 1981, but that bomb only deals with the childhood of the animals. In the end, all of the fox’s descendants, and finally the fox, are killed by the hunter (not named in the book and the hound. After the fox’ extinction the hunter feels like hunting again, but since there are no more foxes, he hunts the hound as his final kill since he has gotten old enough.
That is how civilization advances, and after 1970 nobody writes books like that anymore. Not even in the Third World.
Hence
https://wtfhappenedin1971.com/
After 1971 real progress has died for all practical purposes.
We have to go back to the old way to advance civilization, which was NEVER meant to be enjoyed by the laboers, the maids, the farmhands and the precariats, who only exist to facilitate the advance of civilization with less pain.
After 1971, the rich countries of the world went into stagflation. We started substituting more debt for energy, especially after 1980.
Sci fi films of the era changed radically from Star Trek optimism to Soylent Green.
Kulm this is a serious question, what are the characteristics of the civilization you long for?
Sterile, inhuman, emotionless, only going after efficiency and so advanced it can do the wondrous things in fairy tales.
Thanks for the answer. I will pass unless I get to be the one at the top.
Top of what Ed?
Kulm is following a death cult. Like the hunter, they want to kill everything. If they really wanted efficiency, they’d just kill themselves and realise singularity.
The funniest part, it’s all based on fairy tales(mostly 19th century ladies fiction).
Fairy tales and wonder don’t have much to do with efficiency and sterility, rather the opposite…
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy—they smashed up things and . . . then retreated back into their money . . . and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” – Nick Caraway, who flees back to Midwest , being the only person who knows the whole story but preferring to remain anonymous to protect the winners of that era.
==
That is Civilization.
Today’s winners make a lot of messes, and the rest are destined to clean up the mess, or die on it.
Today’s winners should NOT be held accountable for what they did, since if they are held accountable, no progress and no advance of civilization cannot be made.
F. Scott Fitzgerald was the foster boy for the upper classes in his day, satisfying their urge to appear intellectual. Ditto to Thomas Wolfe, a harvard grad from a town in North Carolina. he is now forgotten because all of his stories were about himself screwing one privileged woman after another and with his death his books lost relevance.
Civilization is advanced by concentrating everything to the top, and nothing should remain for those who do NOT belong to it.
You will do well in Ancient Egypt…since it didn’t last like all the other top concentrated civilizations…I bet you are a Republican minus the trickle down theory
Ancient Egypt lasted for 23 centuries and would have lasted longer if Cleopatra chose a better partner than Mark Anthony.
Exactly, that’s why I suggested you would do very well there ….perhaps as the head of the funeral procession lead in the tomb of the Queen as it is locked up with you as her High Priest…praising the high civilization..
Fitting end to the likes of you
Now we see a different part of the supposed transition away from fossil fuels failing, or rather the way we can keep using fossil fuels without a guilty conscience:
https://www.wsj.com/science/environment/he-pioneered-carbon-offsets-to-save-tropical-forests-now-the-market-is-collapsing-18a5bc54
He Pioneered Carbon Offsets to Save Tropical Forests. Now the Market Is Collapsing.
There has never been any evidence that these projects actually reduce deforestation that I am aware of. They mostly funnel money to financial intermediaries. This is another jobs-producing approach that gets the economy nowhere.
“sustainable aviation fuel” This!
“They mostly funnel money to financial intermediaries”. Go the MIC!
“The company says the lawsuit against it, which alleges Delta falsely claimed to be carbon neutral based on offsets, is without merit.” Any real-world business that says it’s carbon neutral is spouting woke bollox.
Look, just replace tropical forests with windfarms. Problems solved and no need to worry about carbon offsets
Cutters News
Comcast & Spectrum Lost Over 2.4 Million TV Customers So Far in 2023 As The Two Largest Cable TV Companies Struggle With Cord Cutting
Luke Bouma Luke Bouma
This week the two largest cable TV companies reported their earnings, giving us an idea of how fast cord cutting is growing. According to the most recent numbers, both Comcast and Spectrum have lost over 2.4 million cable TV companies so far in 2023.
If this trend continues, the two largest cable TV companies could easily lose over 3 million cable TV customers before the end of 2023. With major TV providers still to report 3rd quarter 2023 earnings including DISH, the number of new cord cutters could skyrocket.
According to the Leichtman Research Group in 2022 all Major Pay-TV providers lost about 5.9 million subscribers. With just Comcast and Spectrum possibly losing 3 million on their own that number may go up in 2023.
In Comcast’s 3rd quarter earnings report released this morning, the company reported it lost 490,000 video customer losses. That works out to almost 5,300 Subscribers Every Day. The company lost 18,000 broadband customers for the quarter. Comcast now has 32 million total broadband customers. Revenue from domestic broadband was up 3.8% to $6.4 billion in the 3rd quarter.
Spectrum, has once again lost 320,000 TV customers in the 3rd quarter of 2023. Spectrum also reported that they lost over 288,000 voice customers as many Americans turned away from traditional phone lines and TV services. Spectrum did add 63,000 internet customers during that time for both residential and business customers. That represents the largest-ever drop in TV customers in a single quarter for Spectrum.
Cable TV companies are still working hard on ways to keep as many cable subscribers as they can. The question now is how successful they will be.
What will this people do now? What Matrix will they hook up with…bet they will miss all the mindless commercials the watched on cable TV…it must be very entertaining
We unhooked from television over 20 years ago. It is quite possible to live a person’s life without television. We also don’t use radio to any significant extent. I have music in my car, but it is not from the radio any more.
No cable use here for many, many years. Radio is just nasty. Use my own music recordings. Many people paying good money for cable for some reason.
No Tee Vee
No Radio
Audible when driving
No processed food sugar etc.
The Stoic Lifestyle
Yes, television is really terrible.
My impression is that when one goes through internet to find news is aware that is exploring websites with different perspectives.
While one watching television normally does in a passive way.
One is not on ‘high alert mode’ about manipulation with television.
There is a sort of switch off of the brain in front of television.
It must be an habit of the past, which is still going on.
We probably are not able to update our attitude against this kind of household appliance.
Just saw this, about one’s brain on Zoom as opposed to in-person contact:
https://scitechdaily.com/zoom-vs-reality-scientists-uncover-astonishing-differences-in-brain-activity/
They should do a study on brain activity in heavy Tik Tok users. Can activity go negative?
From the report:
My son with high functioning autism has been working from home using connections that are even more limited than Zoom. He usually gets voice only, partly because band width to countries like India and those in Eastern Europe is limited. I would expect that the social connections are even more limited.
Working for a consulting firm, with placements with different clients, adds to the confusion.
Now he is between jobs. He has been asked for a like of recent references, and he is having a hard time coming up with reasonable names and contact information. Everyone’s contact has been quite brief, and he is not very much aware of “details” himself. Human resources handles a lot of issues, so that removes the employer even more.
Amusingly the other day I was told that computer programmers fear being made redundant by AI…
Rather than engage with the MOREON and explain that AI is just a computer programme and a fat database … that was created by humans… and therefore in itself has zero intelligence…
Why bother trying to cure stooopidity… just leave them believe whatever cnnbbc tells them… and encourage them to take more Rat Juice
It’s like showing the MOREONS this … yet almost all will still take statins if their doctor advises… https://metatron.substack.com/p/cholesterol-and-statins
Because they are STOOOPID>
Tee Vee makes people Stooopider.
I used T-Mobile 5G home internet. It’s $50 a month no extra fees. I think Spectrum wanted $80 for just internet a little more to bundle in phone/tv services. I had no services at home but had to buy something when C19 required me to work from home. 5G was the quickest and cheapest way. There are no cable or tv lines running to my house.
Anyone with an unlimited data plan on their phone can use USB tethering and not pay for separate home internet. Just an idea for anyone who want to live cheap. It’s a little inconvenient, but maybe worth it for some.
If anyone lives in the UK you can do that with Smarty mobile for £18 a month unlimited.
You really don’t need cable broadband unless you’re streaming all the time in ultra HD or gaming or whatever.
I do not have a smart phone. I considered getting a cell phone and making it a hotspot but the fine print said the data would be throttled at about 40gb even with ‘unlimited data’ and was more than $50. I use about 200GB attending pointless video calls and pushing digital paper around along with refreshing OFW comment section.
ten eur pcm here in the EU for a phone contract, 130gb data. no TV, no landline, tethering is easy via a wifi hotspot on a phone, too.
I just put a phone sim in a 5g router, works with all networks here except for some reason O2
i recall noticing some Spanish mobile operator didn’t count any data on my (back in the day) 1gb monthly allowance if i sent the data over any other port than http/s…i think that worked for a few months before they (and the vpn i was using) noticed. routers were even set to easily crackable (WEP) passwords in those days, so free internet was a thing.
>> easily crackable (WEP) passwords
the good old days really were better!
Business as usual is doing just fine…really it is,.
In 2021 alone, 1.6 million acres were plowed across the United States and Canada to make way for primarily row crop expansion, according to the World Wildlife Fund’s annual Plowprint Report. The report analyzed grasslands plow-up in North America using government data and satellite imagery from the past two years.
Since 2012, the region has had 32 million acres of its landscapes destroyed. But the land most suited for farming in the Great Plains was plowed up decades ago, according to WWF, and newly plowed land is not likely to produce significant yields.
Yet grasslands continue to be treated as useless until they are converted into fields for agricultural use.
Clay Bolt, manager of communications for WWF’s Northern Great Plains program, said the importance of the grassland ecosystem is hard for people to grasp because much of the work is happening underground.
Bolt said that grasslands have large and ornate root systems that resemble something like “an upside-down forest” and trap carbon underground. When these plants are plowed, the soil is turned over and that carbon is released into the atmosphere. Crops that are grown in their place, such as corn or soybeans, typically have shallow roots and do not have the capacity to store carbon.
“It’s a loss to those areas that normally in the past would have been like a bank for storing that carbon,” Bolt said.
https://phys.org/news/2023-10-million-acres-great-plains-grasslands.amp
Once grassland is plowed, habitats can be destroyed for good, Bolt said, as it “takes a tremendous amount of effort” or is impossible to restore the ecosystem.
Not to worry, Permaculture will take root and save the day😜
Aren’t those soya beans and corn crops meant to be transformed into jet fuel or gasoline ?
I understand the sarcasm so I won’t pontificate over permaculture….I was a certified educator in the process in a previous life.
What will happen is the rather “sudden” collapse of field agriculture over vast stretches of brittle dryland environs. Just as soon as the spigot of fertilizer, diesel and irrigation is cut just enough……
Then we will see semi desert and degraded wastelands supporting nomadic herders and grazing animals.
It always, always, always occurs……but it wont happen until the agricultural option is shot dead by energy restriction.
“What will happen is the rather “sudden” collapse of field agriculture over vast stretches of brittle dryland environs. Just as soon as the spigot of fertilizer, diesel and irrigation is cut just enough……”
Cromagnon, this is probably the most important discussion we should have. Gail touches on basic energy/economy issues but I think by now we now that trajectory.
The next question should be what happens next?
Can you expound on this? Or convince Gail to maybe look at this aspect of the problem?
I know that this site is almost completely taken over by cultists (infinite progress believers on one hand, sudden catastrophe on the other) but I would like to understand better the stairstep collapse coming
The next question should be what happens next?
A lot less food is produced and people start to die.
Withnail, I am an optimist.
Imperial and civilisational collapse would lead to a population of under a billion for sure.
But there will still be art, literature and music. People (just like rats) will continue to live and reproduce.
So I am still interested in the details. Call it morbid curiosity.
when the world had 1 billion people, (pre 1700 say) only a priveleged few heard music in the sense that we know it—same with literature.
Literacy can easily fade from human ability over a few generations.
Learning is a product of liesure.
If youre part of a world with only 1bn people, you’ll be too busy surviving to learn to read
yes, i know about cave paintings and bone flutes, but they didnt rely on mass media for transmission.
“Literacy can easily fade from human ability over a few generations.”
This is already happening.
People now want little “sound bites” on videos. (Me too, I am afraid.) If they are willing to read something, it needs to be short and “dumbed down.”
Handwriting is disappearing as an art, too.
Ironically it sorta starts in the opposite direction,……
While we still have globally increasing food supplies, the population of humans on earth has leveled off (and I suspect will start declining shortly),…..other factors seem to be the initiating factors (crowding pressures….hat tip to the jab and general idiocy). BUT as populations start the decline then the economics of field agriculture collapse FAST. The massive cereal and oil seed productions are dependent on incredible levels of technology and energy inputs. As population falls just slightly the ability to financially move these commodities vast distances to decreased markets will decline precipitously.
Just as the “intuitively wrong” economics of oil production decline will deceive most humans, the failure of the global intensive food system will fool most economists also.
Without the economic ability to infuse massive fertilizer and chemical inputs into ruined soils production will be abandoned quickly.
A positive feedback loop will be established and yes people will start to starve also.
The graph of food supply over the fossil fuel era will of course mirror the oil curves with slight delays over the long haul and big picture.
In the end patch agriculture will be all that remains.
The horse barbarians need those patches to feed their horses when they burn the remaining small cities on earth to their foundations after all.
I don’t understand why anyone resists the allure of UEP… it is a good solution to all of this
The availability of barbed wire for fencing helped push the plowing of the grasslands along. This took place fairly early. https://www.kshs.org/kansapedia/barbed-wire/10296
Between 1875 and 1885, the national consumption of barbed wire jumped from 300 tons to 130,000 tons.
Once animals could be kept out, it made more sense to try to plow the grassland to raise the desired crops.
Essentially , the story of the 20th century is the British Empire bartering the cultured continentals with the rednecks of USA, Canada and the outbackers of Australia.
Few people remember that Andrew Bonar Law, from New Brunswick, became the Prime Minister of United Kingdom. he didn’t last long but he set a precedent that someone not from the mainland could head a government.
The British Establishment gave way to a colonial.
The less-than-cultured peoples of North America and Oceania opened the gates for Asia and the rest is history.
The British Establishment chose the peoples who spoke English. Even pidgin English which are usually not understandable for ordinary people in the UK mainland. And we now know what we got.
Remember reading in a book….perhaps Jeremy Rifkins Entropy, concerning the advanced western mindset regarding so called less cultured peoples.
From what I recall he pointed out these folks have more control over their destiny than ever an advanced person ….their culture is just different, as well as their base of knowledge..
For example, another book I recall reading concerning an anthropologist doing a field study in the. Amazon among the Yanomani tribe.
Eventually, he was so accepted he was able to marry one of their own…
Later he moved back to the States with her and their baby.
He remembered how she would have a struggle in finding her way around the city as he did finding he way around the jungle forest, causing great amusement from the other tribesman..they could not understand how dumb he was…just a different kind of knowledge
After a spell, his Native wife left to return to her people…she said..people here are so alone..even if you are together in the Mall or Church…wherever it does not matter….
Kulm, best you reassess you measure of less…
His story is interesting. he had little money and the couple went to Amazon to film a documentary to raise some money. She ran away on the last day of filming, and the crew failed to stop her. I heard that he settled out of court with National Geographic, who was sponsoring the documentary, and collected more than what he expected from the series.
Society lacks the flexibility for the deep changes that would be needed for a green energy transition. Kris DeDecker has written several articles detailing what a renewable energy economy would look like. The latest is here:
https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/08/direct-solar-power-off-grid-without-batteries/
Today’s just in time economy is a fossil fuel adapted system. Renewable energy from the sun and wind cannot fit that economic model. Insane amounts of energy storage are needed in order for wind and solar power to meet the needs of the JIT economy. This trashes the net energy return from intermittent RE, rendering it unworkable.
In a practical RE economy, energy consuming functions will work when the sun and wind are providing energy. They will stop working when it isn’t. Wind powered ships will move freight when the wind blows. They will stop moving freight when it doesn’t. A society that is powered by renewable energy, must adapt to that reality. It will require deep changes to everything that we do. If RE is the way forward, we must adapt to that reality. Pretending that we can continue living in the same way on a RE base is folly. What a RE economy does on any particular day, will depend upon the strength of sunlight and average wind speed.
Peter this makes prefect sense. Make hay while the sun shines.
Sorry Peter , intermittency cannot work in an industrial civilisation or even in a semi industrial civilisation . You cannot cross the ravine in two jumps .
Glass for example will stop being made.
And the furnaces would have to be destroyed and rebuilt.
At a lecture recently, a ikea £1 glass was held up, the lecturer said, “in nthe future this will be worth hundreds of £”
For more than a century after Jamestown, there was little American glass. The earliest successful glasshouse was begun in 1739 by Caspar Wistar in Salem County, New Jersey. The fact that his works produced only humble utilitarian vessels and windowpanes saved him from extermination by the “lords of trade.”
Something we don’t stop to think about!
Of course, it is necessary to build the computers and batteries to begin with. This requires international trade and lots of fossil fuels. I don’t think that looking at this little piece is terribly helpful–there is no way that replacement parts can be made of the system.
(Various twitter posts)
In my view, the current actions done without great attention to civilian deaths (expecially chiildren) in Palestine risk to create problems to Jews outside Israel and that will be a pity and a disaster, of course.
In my view, Israel and US should make things differently in that area, not only for the good of themselves but also for the good of Jews living outside that area.
https://twitter.com/olex_scherba/status/1718683535794389018
https://twitter.com/aradboaz/status/1718699857269899318
https://twitter.com/nexta_tv/status/1718686535514456105
Stop worrying about people – there will always be genocides as long as there are tribes of people.
More interestingly, when do you think Israel will follow the fate of Outremer?
It seems that they know they don’t have too much time left so extermination might help them in the future – if there are no palestinians left, Israel might survive when US collapses (but I doubt that).
One way or another, the world population will be reduced to where it needs to be. Which is about 7.8 billion lower than it is now.
Student, a couple of points on that.
Search for a flight from the illegal encampment to there and see if there are any.
Read this
https://mid.ru/ru/foreign_policy/news/1912536/
Your point still stands and will be borne out.
(Al Arabya English + Europenews + CNN)
”Israel Palestine Conflict. Thousands in Morocco rally in solidarity with Palestine, demanding end to genocide”
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/middle-east/2023/10/29/Thousands-in-Morocco-rally-in-solidarity-with-Palestine-demanding-end-to-genocide
”Pro-Palestinian demonstrators across Europe step out in support of ceasefire”
https://www.euronews.com/2023/10/22/pro-palestinian-demonstrators-across-europe-step-out-in-support-of-ceasefire
”Pro-Palestinian protesters calling for ceasefire gather across the globe as bombardment of Gaza intensifies”
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/10/29/world/global-pro-palestinian-protests-saturday-intl/index.html
Wake me up when they start hunting down and ambushing the Joos.
That will get my attentioin
(Al Arabya English)
”Protesters angry over Gaza war storm Russia’s Dagestan airport in search of Israelis.
A mob looking for Israelis and Jews overran an airport in Russia’s Caucasus republic of Dagestan on Sunday, after rumours spread that a flight was arriving from Israel.
The violence in the region, which erupted amid the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, prompted Israel to call on Russia to protect its citizens.
Dozens of protesters broke through doors and barriers with some running onto the runway, according to videos posted on social media, and Russia’s RT and Izvestia media.
AFP could not immediately verify the videos.
Shortly afterwards, Russia’s aviation agency Rossavitsia announced that it had closed the airport to incoming and outgoing flights and that the security forces had arrived on site.
“The situation is under control, law enforcement is working at the scene,” said a statement from the government of Russia’s Dagestan Republic posted on Telegram.
Rossavitsia announced later on Sunday that the airport had been “freed” from the mob and would remain closed until November 6.
Earlier several local Telegram channels showed photos and videos of dozens of men waiting outside the airport to stop cars, with some of them attempting to break down security barriers.
One protester could be seen in the videos holding a sign reading “Child killers have no place in Dagestan.”
Other videos showed a crowd inside an airport terminal trying to break down doors as staff members tried to deter them.
Hamas militants stormed across the Gaza border on October 7 in the deadliest attack in Israel’s history, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 230 others, according to Israeli officials.
In relation, Israel has relentlessly bombed the coastal strip, killing more than 8,000 people, half of them children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.”
https://english.alarabiya.net/News/world/2023/10/29/Mobs-storm-Russia-s-Dagestan-airport-after-word-of-flight-landing-from-Israel
This is indeed a real problem. No one wants them, Russia must have learned her lesson, but they will come here as soon as things go sour there. Russia is doing well in part because there are now very few Jews (that does not stop them from being over-represented in the oligarchy, the media, and finance). A cynic would turn a blind eye to the ongoing occupation of Patagonia, so that they are as far away as possible. Even Ukraine, their plan A, which they supported by first occupying the government and then using Mossad and other assets to keep the war going, is too close.
It is really difficult for me to understand why, at a certain point of history (1948), the so-called civilized world (United Nations) accepted and supported the idea of a new ethnic State starting from zero, in a place where other people were already present (Palestinian area).
Also considering that the so-called civilized world (United Nations) was, at the same time, going on saying and saying that having a single ethnic society in a nation is wrong concept, because societies must be open to people from different origins and cultures.
It is crazy.
Why did it happen?
Student , a video of Rothschild telling about how it was done . 15 minutes .
From this video, it really seems to be the entertainment of a very rich and powerful noble class who wished to expand their power with a some sort of additional state of the United Kingdom, exploiting a series of covers of ancient religious books, so that they could do whatever the f##k they wanted in that area too.
It started in a bad way and probably went on through the years even worse.
My impression is that in this phase of history, where also China, Russia, India, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and a lot of other Countries play a role in the international chessboard, these justifications have deep difficulties to be accepted again.
I think that in these days we are really living THE crisis of the western world.
And probably BRICS have realized that.
Yes the Balfour Declaration is a declaration by the English government to the Rothschild family. The Rothschild did it for their race, but also so there would be a place where finance criminals could flee to.
I am far most optimistic. I would call it the freeing of the western world. A return to the enlightenment after a sad and long detour in colonialism of all stripes.
Some ideas why this could happen, in a self-organizing system.
1. The Jews consider this their homeland. They feel they have a a rightful claim to it.
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jewish-claim-to-the-land-of-israel
” the Jewish people have maintained ties to their historic homeland for more than 3,700 years. A national language and a distinct civilization have been maintained.”
2. Belief in the Scattering and Gathering of Israel.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/doctrines-of-the-gospel-student-manual/24-scattering-and-gathering-of-israel?lang=eng
A. Ancient Israel was scattered throughout the earth because the people rejected God’s covenant. (Many references)
B. Through His prophets God promised to gather scattered Israel once again.
“When the ‘lost tribes’ come—and it will be a most wonderful sight and a marvelous thing when they do come to Zion—in fulfilment of the promises made through Isaiah and Jeremiah, they will have to receive the crowning blessings from their brother Ephraim, the ‘firstborn’ in Israel” (Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 3:252–53).”
3. Christian Zionism (From the far right).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Zionism
Christian Zionism is an ideology that, in a Christian context, espouses the return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land. Likewise, it holds that the founding of the State of Israel in 1948 was in accordance with Bible prophecy: that the re-establishment of Jewish sovereignty in the Levant — the eschatological “Gathering of Israel” — is a prerequisite for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.[1][2] The term began to be used in the mid-20th century, in place of Christian restorationism, as proponents of the ideology rallied behind Zionists in support of a Jewish national homeland.[3][4]
4. Several countries didn’t really want the Jews. They were happy to get rid of the ones who wanted to go to Israel.
5. Muslims were underrepresented in the UN. At that time, no one was paying any attention to the population that lived there. The people of the area had virtually no political power in 1948.
6. Also, there is now way too much population relative to resources such as water, productive farmland, and diesel fuel. (Both Israel’s and Palestine’s populations have been growing.) Perhaps the lack of resources for the larger population was not as obvious back in 1948. I don’t think that people were thinking in terms of resources per capita, then.
Yes, it is good reference list.
It is just to make an example, but making a comparison, according to that reasoning, Native Americans scattered around the world would have the right to come back, occupy some US States, because it was written so in their holy scriptures.
As a consequence, some US people should be moved up and put on refugee camps in Canada and Mexico, without having a nationality.
Those people that try to fight to come back to their cities should be defined terrorists, sometime killed or put in prison without judgment, for the right of Native Americans to defend themselves.
It depends who has the power, and who doesn’t. The history books in the US are written as if pushing the Native Americans aside was the right thing to do.
Yes Gail, absolutely.
It was just an example to see the other side of the coin or have a perspective of the opposite side, as it may be said in English language.
As 1/8 native north american I support the right of return and the need to free our lands. Sadly we do not have the power.
Student I think you understand exactly.
Wow Ed, very interesting.
I find fascinating to look to our own origins.
I’m a mix of south and north of Italy.
Also, there is now way too much population relative to resources such as water, productive farmland, and diesel fuel. (Both Israel’s and Palestine’s populations have been growing.)
I think this is the real problem. Jews and Muslims have historically lived in peace for well over 1,000 years.
But this situation of exploding populations and not enough water or land does not seem to have a solution.
Correct Gail . ” Victors write the history ” . I forget but some Russian intellectual remarked that after WWII the Russians were so busy rebuilding their economy that they never got to write it . The world is taught that it was the US and allies that won the war . Actually , the land war was won by the Russians , the air war by the Brits and the sea war ( Pacific area with Japan ) won by the US .
Gail,
that is a great list of fictional excuses (aka rationalizations).
You should know by now that people act on instincts and then justify their actions later.
As for Israel, US became the greatest world empire after WWII and they followed the British doctrine about the control of Eurasia. Middle East was a geostrategic location and just like the crusaders, US decided to create a colony there.
Most jewish people realized that (and Einstein was strongly against it) but that didn’t stop the empire.
Of course as US collapses, Israel will follow (unless it becomes a Russian protectorate, which I doubt). Expect more genocides – this time from the other side.
Gail, well done for another excellent post.
Right now, the UK government appears to be collapsing. The party likely to replace them at the next election is led by a man who is best described as a lump of wood, or a bum on a seat.
Meanwhile, the EIA are forecasting that fossil fuel consumption will peak in 2030, due to the green energy transition.
https://www.npr.org/2023/10/24/1207976763/global-shift-to-clean-energy-means-fossil-fuel-demand-will-peak-soon-iea-says
One wonders if these people actually know what green energy is. At present, intermittent renewables make minor contributions to electricity production in some developed countries. They only do that much because fossil fuels provide backup and Chinese coal is available to make them in the first place. They do nothing to meet non-electric energy energy consumption. One wonders what planet these people live on?
The planet these people live on is a strange one where the narrative “Clean energy will save us” is pushed. These folks think that all energy is alike, and that we can get along with much less energy per capita than we use today. They have no idea that the economy is physics-based. They live in a world of “scientific models,” based on projections without the correct “bends” in them.
Texas – Just two months after Regina Stock was crowned Mrs America 2023 she was diagnosed with renal cell carcinoma. We’re admiring the 27-year-old mom of four and west Texan for not letting cancer bring her down, in fact, although she admits “the next couple of months are going to be rough,” she’s maintaining a positive attitude and looking forward to her next competition. Stock revealed in a recent video shared to Instagram that doctors discovered a mass on her left kidney last month that’s 14cm by 14cm by 13 cm, later confirming she had kidney cancer.
https://markcrispinmiller.substack.com/p/soap-star-christian-leblanc-diagnosed
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/tennis/article-12686129/Pete-Sampras-reveals-wife-Bridgette-ovarian-cancer.html
A celebration .. of death!!
Soap star Christian LeBlanc diagnosed with cancer; Erik Jensen (“Walking Dead”) diagnosed with cancer; “Mrs. America” Regina Stock has kidney cancer; Hank Green has Hodgkin’s lymphoma
“Medical drama halts American Ballet Theatre gala in front of starry audience”; Alaska Airlines pilot, off-duty, has “nervous breakdown” mid-flight, tries to shut down plane’s engines
https://markcrispinmiller.substack.com/p/soap-star-christian-leblanc-diagnosed
PCR—no, not the technique for multiplying genetic material!, the other PCR—Paul Craig Roberts—explains how Sidney Powell’s Plea Bargain Sets Up Donald Trump for Conviction and How the US Justice System Actually Operates in Practice:
According to this report–https://www.rt.com/news/585357-powell-pleads-guilty-trump-georgia/ — one of President Trump’s attorneys, Sidney Powell, “pleaded guilty to six misdemeanor counts of conspiring to interfere with election duties and accepted a sentence of six years’ probation and a $6,000 fine. She must also write a letter of apology to the state and its residents and testify against her co-defendants, including her former client.”
I will explain to you what this means. Sidney Powell found herself at risk at the hands of a black prosecutor and a black jury in Atlanta, Georgia in a jury trial. Powell already knew that the prosecutor was biased against her and reasoned the same from the black jury.
Plea bargaining, which is what Sidney Powell has done, arose because prosecutors are more interested in their conviction rate than they are in innocence or guilt, and judges are more interested in clearing their dockets than in trials. To aid their conviction rate, prosecutors have gained the power to withhold exculpatory evidence from the defendant and to bribe other defendants with reduced sentences or with money to testify falsely against the target defendant. This is what Sidney Powell has done.
What this means for Trump is that one of his own attorneys has admitted guilt rather than to undergo the ordeal and risks of trial and has agreed in exchange to testify against Trump. So Trump’s own lawyer provides the black prosecutor and black jury (or white Democrat) with evidence to convict Trump.
As I explained in my book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions in 2000, in a plea bargain a fictional crime is created and it serves as a substitute for the alleged crime. The fictional crime is a lessor one compared to the indictment crime. The defense attorney tells the defendant to accept the plea deal he has negotiated and not risk a jury trial that will annoy both the prosecutor and judge, with a corresponding higher punishment if found guilty.
Plea bargaining results in defendants admitting to what did not happen in order to avoid the more severe charges in the indictment, often orchestrated in order to coerce a plea. Cleary, plea bargaining permits prosecutors to build cases on speculation rather than on evidence.
As I wrote in 2000:
It is only a short step from creating a fictional crime out of a real one to creating a fictional crime out of thin air. The step isn’t taken all at once. When he option of plea bargaining first surfaces, it is considered by everyone involved as a way of meting out punishment in a timely way. But with the passage of time, several things happen.
As Plea Bargaining takes over from jury trials, as it has, the investigative work that is the basis for the indictment is not tested by judge and jury. This permits prosecutors to bring charges for which they have little or no evidence. The public presumes that the prosecutor has a case, and the prosecutor uses the media to create a presumption of guilt. Newspaper and television reports from anonymous leaks from the prosecutor’s office, preceded by the phrase “according to sources familiar with the investigation,” create a presumption of guilt, reducing the defendant’s chance of an objective jury. It would be unusual for a jury to find innocent a person already convicted in the media.
The pressure builds as the prosecutor speaks of expanding the investigation to family, friends, employees, and in Trump’s case his attorneys. The defendant is told by his lawyer that even if a jury throws out most of the charges the one or two that remain may carry severe penalties. In RICO cases, the prosecutor can freeze the defendant’s assets, making it impossible for him to pay his attorneys.
Meanwhile, the defendant’s attorney has been meeting with the prosecutor to arrange a plea bargain. Neither wants the trouble or risk of a trial. When the defendant is worn down and loses all hope of a fair, or affordable, trial, a deal is brokered.
When the defendant, his attorney, and the prosecutor stand before the judge, the judge asks for assurance that the plea was voluntary and no deals prompted it, and he is given assurance. Judges, clerks, defense attorneys, persecutors, the defendant all are parties to the lie.
It is nonsense to expect honesty and justice to characterize a process that bases conviction on plea bargains. Psychological pressure, indeed torture, and exhaustion of the defendant’s resources replace evidence.
Under a plea bargaining regime, law is no longer a shield of the people. It is a weapon against the people in the hands of government. The administration of justice ceases. Prosecutors become copies of Andrei Vyshinsky.
This is America today. To learn more, read my book, The Tyranny of Good Intentions.
https://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2023/10/23/sidney-powells-plea-bargain-sets-up-trump-for-conviction/
Well written informative post. But a nothingburger, a tiny detail in the slide of the empire into anarchy. IMO, the globalists in power can afford one such step.Americans are total cowards and will take this and much more.
What about Russians with Gorbachev? Yeltsin?
It’s an issue of organization … your typical plumber, nurse, programmer have neither the time nor the inclination to involve themselves in politics and organizing society. There exists a separate class of people with those inclinations and unfortunately the results speak for themselves.
Well, right now it is what it is. Sure my summary was telegraphic but right now, and I assume for another decade at least, accurate about the bulk of americans.
Indeed, that is the Catch -22 paradox. Those who are busy doing useful productive work do not have the time, energy or ability to combat the parasites.
The only solution that comes to mind is that government be a duty, i.e. everyday folks rotate in and serve 2 years every 10 years. Maybe there could also be some minimum IQ or competence-measure threshold.
Yes, Americans are cowards. As long as their government checks keep coming they will accept anything.
and Canadians make Americans look brave by comparison…….we live in worm world up here.
There will be no justice when there is an agenda.
I am afraid Paul Craig Roberts is correct. The law is no longer a shield of the people. Joe Biden and his son can do many unlawful things at the same time the prosecutors use plea bargaining to frame Trump.
The Republicans and the Democrats get further and further apart in their views. Central urban areas (such as where this trial is taking place) tend to be strongly Democratic. Outer suburbs tend to be strongly Republican. Inner suburbs, such as where I live, tend to be more mixed.
It is hard to see how this will work out peacefully. But maybe most people will not pay attention.
This is the same city versus country divide Williams Jennings Bryant spoke about in the democratic convention of 1896(?). With the fall of FF maybe both groups can live in semi-isolation peacefully.