Oil Scoop
As a reporter, it's always fun when a trusted and reliable source pulls my coat to what's really going on behind the media hype.  In this case, it was an article posted at the www.energybulletin.net side by Richard Heinberg titled "Middle East as a Crossroads".  The paragraph that will drive the US to attack Iran before year's end is this:

At the ASPO conference a well-connected industry insider who wishes not to be directly quoted told me that his own sources inside Saudi Arabia insist that production from Ghawar is now down to less than three million barrels per day, and that the Saudis are maintaining total production at only slowly dwindling levels by producing other fields at maximum rates. This, if true, would be a bombshell: most estimates give production from Ghawar at 5.5 Mb/d.

My source, a highly respected oil industry consultant, goes on to advise me that "If true, it is not unexpected, and it means that the two largest producing fields in the world are crashing. BTW, the Saudi stock market crashed earlier this year because of heavy insider selling by the Saudi royal family. Ghawar + Cantarell crashing means explosive increases in oil prices."

So, if you look at the prospect of $200 oil, the Chinese cutting supply deals with Iran, and the Russians buying them nuclear development materials, it means that Iran (which will be putting out about 5% of the entire world's energy supplies as Cantarell and Ghawar production collapses will become an even more strategic asset.  The clock is running on an energy-driven die-off and the neocons and a lot of others know the hour is late and, as energy banker Matthews Simmons has said so many times, the West doesn't have a "Plan B."

Bottom line: If the water-injection to Ghawar is causing it's sudden death right now (as leading researchers like Chip Haynes have been warning of since 2001) then the US is quickly getting into a corner and instead of using what we have lots of (brains) and anticipating the worst case (like a crash alternative energy program) we're trying to take the military solution, ignoring the fact that such tactics use tons of energy and wreck the planet along the way.

Iraq, the Mess

This has been a landmark week because several top officials have actually dared to use the terms "Iraq" and "civil war" in the same breath, something I've been expecting since, oh, at least February of 2004.

The "capper" of the civil war talk this week is the fact that several hundred thousand Shi'ites held a demonstration in Baghdad this week.  That's astounding to me, just the sheer numbers.  And it was all about showing support for Hezbollah in their fight with Israel.

Lebanon, the Mess

Israeli commandos have been busy, staging a raid at Tyre. That's in the southern part of Lebanon.  But now (pull down that map, would you?)  Out on the coast. But the real action to watch is how Israel is moving troops into northern Lebanon.  This means all the more pressure on Syria.  The neocons may get their "wider war" in the Middle East yet.  And, as we've noted before, the time maps from www.halfpasthuman.com suggest a big attack on Israel comes in December-January.

Speaking of the time maps, we're getting close to the Monday-Wednesday window next week when the global media is supposed to see a huge "emotional release event."  Something on one of the multiple wars front wouldn't surprise me, and I'm arranging events so I can watch a little extra TV coverage of whatever it turns out to be...

Oil-driven Sanctions

Moscow says the US putting trade sanctions on two Russian defense companies is related to the recently announced Russian arms sales to Venezuela.

Tamil Terror

And then, just to keep our daily war coverage complete, there's a report Tamil Tigers have killed 100 refugees in Sri Lankan fighting.

Min Wage Screw Job

Republicorp grandstanding in an election year has hit a new low with the Senate voting down an increase in the minimum wage on Thursday.  The republicorps will be able to claim "See, we didn't let those bad rich people have an inheritance tax break" but, as usual, the real victims are the millions who would have benefited from an increase in the minimum wage.

Pop Culture

Coke and Pepsi will have to spell out exactly what is in their "secret formulas" (which you can find on the internet already, if you are a good researcher) or they will be banned from sales in India. The issue is that the drinks contain pesticides at 25-times the allowable limits. It's highly likely that drinks are getting their pesticide levels from local water supplies used by the local bottlers in India.  Here in the US, you presumably can get right to the high fructose corn syrup, caffeine, and phosphoric acid without such worries.  Give me a side of sodium benzoate while you're at it, would yah?

Monsters of Phoenix

Two people have been arrested in a string of serial murders that date back to May of last year.

Sports Scoop

This must have been the week for sources.  One of my sources up in the Pacific Northwest gave me a great (but useless in that it won't change the conduct of our lives much) report from the world of sports.  "Paul Allen is going to move the Portland Trailblazers to Oklahoma...look for word on that to come out maybe sometime this week..."  OK, but let me see if anyone cares...

Worse in Mexico

A reader comments on my continuing coverage of the soon-coming revolution in Mexico:

I read your comments on the situation in Mexico. I think its commendable that you are talking about it but the situation is worse and more complex than your comments imply. You could actually make a link between the murders in ciudad Juarez and the election turmoil. To see it clearly forget about the agreements or mergers. Merging with Mexico is like trying to have democracy in Iraq and would be just as successful. Take us out of it and don't talk about Mayans. What are you left with?

 

I met a young girl once who was from the northern part of the country, where the narcotrficantes rule. We were talking about the murders and why hundreds of woman had been killed and no one cared. She said that why would anyone care, those women were poor, they were nobody anyone would miss. Basically what was the big deal. Who was killing them? Lots of people; police, gangsters, drug lords....all of the above?

 

I was talking to a Mexican friend today who is down there. He was pretty worried. I said who is paying for all this? He thinks it is corruption, government money, because all these happy campers are being fed by someone. I wanted to tell him "follow the money" but he wouldn't understand. Someone who thinks he is Jesu can be used. A country where their are forces who think its OK to kill women by the dozens is capable of anything. And by the way if the border is opened who gets hurt?

 

If the National guard can slip over the border ( the ones who aren't in the middle east) the drug lords will no longer be King. Or are they so well armed that they could put up a good fight. I don't think the Bush people care much about that, they have shown themselves to be rather bad at understanding the enemy. I just throw out all this stuff to get you looking at the problem from a different direction. Sometimes things are not what they seem.

Wet Juarez

We expect to see evacuations as rains continue in the El Paso area.  Floods, muds, and worse all week from exceptional rain there. I wonder what this will do to the pecan orchards now and pecan prices later?

Peoplenomics:  Frightening Conclusions

This week, I thought it would be useful to try and answer reader questions that were invited last weekend. Why? Partly because the summer doldrums are here; many of the world's markets were just "going through the motions" of bidding up the price of paper for the past two weeks. The other reason is that in this week's Chart Pack, I demonstrate a rather frightening conclusion that I hadn't really fully absorbed previously. The conclusion? That if one applies some simple Elliott Wave rules, then there's a strong case to be made the most of the world's markets will collapse in the next two years or so, and with it, most of the companies in today's indices will likely go bankrupt. (How do you have "negative values" in markets?) It's a startling enough conclusion...but click here for the Chart Pack and you'll see why I am still a bit off-balance from the research. The conclusion is both startling and deeply troubling.

---

Reader feedback on this week's report:

"You outdid yourself with today's Sunday Special. Thanks. You even answered my question of fallback position in a way that works well for me too (about 800 miles closer than your location, and I have a couple of routes). Very well done!"

Should I charge six times the present subscription fee?  Maybe - a lot of people have suggested it - but my idea is to keep alternative views on markets and staying one step ahead of events affordable for the masses.  Click here to subscribe if you can bury $30 in the budget.

Can't Afford $30?

If you can't afford the $30, then you should probably swing by the www.peoplenomics.com bookstore and pick up a copy of my ebook: "How to live on $10,000 a year, or less..."  You do have $10, right?    If you don't have $10, you might want to pick up my ebook "The Best book EVER about Sales." I wrote it to take the "mystery" out of getting into sales as a career.  As you may already know, sales is where the real money is - and it's no different than manufacturing in the sense that it's just five or six simple processes done in a particular order.  It's also a must-read if you are already in sales or sales management.  Go to the bookstore now.

Site Whisperer

Quietly whisper to your friends by clicking here "Go check out Urbansurvival.com!"

Friday August 4, 2006

Unemployment: Up Slightly

Out from the Bureau of Labor Statistics today:

Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 113,000 in July, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.8 percent, the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor reported today. Job gains occurred in several service- providing industries, including professional and business services, health care, and food services. Employment also rose in mining. Average hourly earnings rose by 7 cents, or 0.4 percent, in July.

Unemployment (Household Survey Data)

The number of unemployed persons edged up to 7.2 million in July, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.8 percent. A year earlier, the number of unemployed persons was 7.5 million and the jobless rate was 5.0 percent.

Over the month, the unemployment rates for most major worker groups--adult women (4.2 percent), teenagers (15.5 percent), whites (4.1 percent), blacks (9.5 percent), and Hispanics (5.3 percent)--showed little or no change. After declining in June, the jobless rate for adult men increased to 4.2 percent in July. The unemployment rate for Asians was 2.7 percent, not seasonally adjusted. (See tables A-1, A-2, and A-3.)

Following a decline in June, the number of long-term unemployed persons--those unemployed 27 weeks or longer--returned to its May level of 1.3 million. These long-term unemployed accounted for 18.6 percent of total unemployment, about the same as in May. (See table A-9.)

After trending down for several months, the number of unemployed persons who were reentrants to the labor force increased to 2.4 million in July. This group accounted for 32.7 percent of total unemployment, up from 30.0 percent in June.

Now, for those who want to look under the covers a bit, here are my two favorite numbers to look at.  First, the CES Birth/Death model which provides an estimate of not-actually-counted-but-assumed job creation showed a drop of 57-thousand this month.  That's OK, though, because the CES Birth/Death model has still contributed 658-thousand jobs 2006 year to date and 974-thousand "paper jobs" in the last year.

And the Table 12, U-6 rate (unemployed plus PhD's flipping burgers) rose from 8.7% of the workforce in June to 8.8% of the workforce in July.  But those percents don't get across how many people are un and under employed.  It's 13.33 million because I know you're not up to crunching numbers yet.  More coffee!

One last thing:  If we look just at manufacturing (not including construction), less than 1 person is 10 is making manufactured goods. And even with construction thrown in, one person in 6.75 is a "goods producer."  The rest of America is selling the producers services and "
governing" them. I expect sometime later this year for the number of people making things (goods producers) will shrink below the "government" level.

The $64-billion dollar question is whether the slight tick up is enough to weigh on the Fed meeting next week?  I'm betting on a quarter point because of the surprise Bank of England hike yesterday.  Dollar tanking this morning on the jobs number means a rate hike is more likely, I'm speculating.

Bankruptcy: English for Paradox

A reader in the UK, who sports a string of initials after his name, which mean something I'm sure, sent along this curious observation:

"The bankruptcy laws in the UK were changed 2 years ago IN FAVOUR of the individual http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5244202.stm 

However, in the US it was completely different. The bankruptcy laws were also changed, but IN FAVOUR of the creditors, basically paving the way for life long slavery through bankruptcy repayment.

I wonder why our two countries did it differently?"

Oh, gosh, that's easy:  Look at it this way: Even though the US has helped England out of a couple of tight spots (I'm thinking World Wars 1 & 2, here) we are still viewed in certain circles as traitorous colonialists.  Is this the British bankster class showing it's home colours? Meantime, UK bankruptcies have hit record highs.

Market Note

Looks like my July 28 market peak guess may have been off by a few days. I don't like to say "dead wrong" - it's too early for that, so don't pronounce it DFW (dead #$%^&* wrong) yet.  But whether it will rally higher from here is an open case.

9/11 MIHOP/LIHOP and WW III

Credit where due: Vanity Fair (for their coverage of the NORAD tapes), Alex Jones,  (no, high rise buildings don't collapse easily) and a host of others can take credit for 36% of the American public feeling that 9/11 was a "let it happen on purpose" or a "made it happen on purpose) [LIHOP or MIHOP] event.  And, the Washington Post reports that some members of the 9/11 Commission felt that were deceived and the public lied to about events.

The most astounding thing to me is the gobbledygook proposed by administration "true believers" who patiently explain to me that WTC-7 (which was "pulled") collapsed because of damage to its basement.  Yet the photos show  clearly show a top down collapse.

Still, the perps behind 9/11 are getting what they seemingly wanted: polarization of the world into a "great war".  The movement has been almost glacial at times, but today we see much evidence of events taking on a life of their own.  For instance...

Bombing Lebanon

Regardless of whether the two Israeli soldiers that touched off this massive fighting were on the Lebanese or Israeli side of the border (it's been reported both ways) event the most casual observer might admit that Israel is over-reacting by bombing much of Lebanon back to the Stone Age.. The Israeli side of the warring is that as long as rockets are being fired at it, the bombs and ground attacks will continue. 

On the Arab side, the view is that Israeli bombing of Lebanon a week or more before the "kidnapping" was the precipitating event. And the US is being demonized in the Arab world for being so pro-Israeli, selling (and giving US taxpayer purchased) arms for their cause.

The "kill ratio is presently running between 11.7 : 1 to 13.8 : 1 (in Israel's favor) depending on which set of death stats you select for the Lebanese side.

We've heard reports out of the Organization of Islamic countries that Malaysia is planning to send a "peacekeeping force" of 1,000 to Lebanon.  This, as Muslim nations are uniting behind Hezbollah and closing ranks.

Meantime, for Tony Blair, all this fighting is a terrible inconvenience.  He's having to delay his holidays because of events.  Gee, yah think?

From my disconnected perch out here in the middle of next-to-nowhere, it sure looks like the battle lines globally are religion and resources, although you're welcome to use other terms if that's not palatable: corporates and converts?

Still, as long as Hezbollah launches rockets (in what they might argue is now self defense) Israel has a free pass to head north with US sanction, perhaps to pick up some needed water resource from the Litani River, as I suggested last week.

This war, like most. tends to be like onions: a lot of tears and a lot of layers.

Orange Betrayal

Speaking of how corporate layers of control collide with human interests, go read up on how "big bucks" have played a hand in watering down the "Orange Revolution" in the Ukraine.

Nigeria Kidnappings

Three Filipino oil workers have been kidnapped in Nigeria.  No plans to invade yet, at least none that I've heard of...

Weather Blows

5-dead in China from Tropical Storm Prapiroon. Meanwhile, the Eastern US should cool down a bit this weekend. Flooding has stricken South Africa. Normally, I wouldn't mention South Africa's weather, but soccer fans are wondering if the midst of South Africa's winter is the best time to hold the 2010 World Cup.

Meanwhile, one of the UK's top scientists is asking for a global effort to slow climate change. Although it may be true that Americans can help prevent sudden catastrophic climate change, it's highly doubtful.  The reason is simple economics: If the US makes any significant change in our consumption habits, it will wreck corporate balance sheets and master plans...Ooops, I mean strategic plans.

A Burnaby (British Columbia) paper asks a really important question: "Are we to blame for climate change?"  There's a lot of energy kicking around the solar system, and changes on other planets mean humans may not be 100% guilty.  Although, we could all end up 100% dead when the climate change accelerates to the point where massive famines begin. For today, famines are in places like North Korea.  And parts of Africa.  And you won't find a lot of fat people in Asia.

By the way, getting little play - but very interesting - is that a new study out suggests that if an expectant mother is starved during pregnancy, the odds go up that the resulting child will suffer from schizophrenia.  My totally un-medical advice?  Don't starve yourself if pregnant because there may be health consequences for the child. 

Now, let me see, I meandered from a tropical storm to famine in a flow of consciousness vein, Yeah, that caffeine is really settling in today. 

Browser Feedback.

Lots of people running the IE 7.0 beta reported that page load problem I was having yesterday.  No one with Firefox reported troubles although I got a lot of "neener, neener, neeners" from the spyware resistant browser users...

Thursday August 3, 2006

Iraq's Civil War

When someone like me writes 2-years ago that Iraq is descending into civil war, no one pays attention.  But, here we are, two years later, and the outgoing British Ambassador to Iraq is now warning that civil war is not only the most likely outcome of the Iraq war, but that the country will likely break up along ethnic lines. Act surprised.

Islamic Demands

Leaders of Islamic nations meeting in Malaysia are demanding that Israel be investigated for war crimes against civilians. Not that their demands will slow anything down: Israel is back bombing Beirut today.

By the way, it will be interesting to note whether various Middle East media report widely on the findings of a human rights group that says the death toll at Qana was 28, not the reported 54 that Lebanese officials claimed. Wars are almost as much perception battles as bombs and bullets.

Somalia Unwinding

29 government ministers have quit and Islamic militants look like they have put another country up on their side of the scorecard. 

Commodities

Although it has been down a bit this morning in the futures markets, gold and oil prices have firmed up this week on escalating global tensions.

Ukraine HR Issue

The president of the Ukraine has one of those tough management decisions to make: Should he appoint his political enemy to a top spot in government or dissolve parliament?

Extreme Weather

"What's a Prapiroon?"  Until this morning, I would have no clue.  Now, I know it's a hurricane, headed for China, but I still have no clue.

Here in the US, more hot temps due today, and with it comes more headaches for the Midwest Independent System Operator shuffling power around to hungry utilities.

Tropical storm Chris is weakening a bit, bringing down oil prices a bit in the pre-open.

BTW, our power bill here at the ranch last month came in yesterday: $207.58 for two buildings (house and my office/shop/barn) with moderate AC use. Just so you can either weep or pat yourself on the back.

Good News

Although I  don't cover a lot of "good news," I'm really an optimistic sort of fellow and to prove it, here's something downright cheery:  New Zealand is looking at a record grape harvest, which means plenty of Kiwiland wines should be available next year.

In general, though, it looks like food prices are heading up.  Russia may get a bit of a windfall from this as prices are firsm throughout Europe this summer.  Touch and go for the Bangladesh rice crop.

Last night, Steve Quayle had an interesting show on the history of famine (which is expected to spread globally as we run out of energy, because we convert oil to food).  Throwing in my 2-cents worth, I'd note that it's the 150th anniversary of the Irish Famine.

Shortage Report

This from a reader:

"Add to your list of shortages...I've been trying to find a 1 (one) gallon gasoline container for months...none to be found in any of the various stores I've been in from Maine to New Hampshire.."

Could just be 1-gallon cans weren't selling - besides, stores can charge more for a $5 can - and if you have a lawnmower, that might last you a whole season.  But then again...

A Browser Curiosity

OK, I admit it, I use a couple of different browsers when I'm news hunting.  One is Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 beta and the other is Mozilla Firefox.  This morning while getting to a story about a ban on drinking Coke and Pepsi in India, at http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=136147, my MS Explorer popped up a box with "Internet Explorer cannot open the Internet site: http://www.financialexpress.com/latest_full_story.php?content_id=136147 Operation Aborted [OK].  When I restarted the browser, it locked up.

Now, the curiosity is that the story was visible behind the pop-up.  And, when I hit "OK" the story disappeared.  I tried it with fresh browser boots several times.  So, if you're an IT whiz, tell me if this is just a flaw in my system.  Or, on a little more sinister note, is this what corporate news censorship might look like in action when a story says something as corporately challenging as:

"Taking serious note of CSE findings, a strong demand for an immediate ban on Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola and nine other soft drinks was made in the Lok Sabha with members alleging that consuming them was nothing short of slow poisoning."

The site popped up in Firefox, no sweat. Please tell me its a glitch in the source code on the originating page (or something on my system) and not you-know-what.....

Flak for "Chaff"

My report on "chaff" use (chaff being metallic flecks sprayed into the air to confuse radar) has drawn a mixed response.  On the one hand, I received several emails from people saying "chaff is not chemtrails" from former military pilots and experts, such as this one:

"Running down the impacts of dropping chaff is just chasing rabbits IMHO. I flew Air Force Jets for 20 years and was also involved in quite a bit of Environmental Analysis prior to my retirement, so I can speak intelligently about this particular subject.

Chaff is simply a training aid used in specific overland RESTRICTED airspace while jets are conducting training. It is NOT used in the enroute airspace over the continental USA - in other words while flying under the FAA control to and from the bombing range. Likewise, aircraft do NOT jam radar frequencies unless in an approved piece of Restricted airspace. Dispensing chaff is a training aid used while the jets are performing on the bombing or electronic warfare range, in order to train in one of the avoidance measures a jet can take to break a radar lock from a threat such as a Surface to Air missile. Fallon is a big Navy traing base for their fighter pilots, so they will dispense quite a bit of chaff on a daily basis, but only on a "postage stamp" size of restricted airspace and only while training against those electronic threat simulators. There is a handful of such bombing and electronic warfare ranges around the country. Most are in the western USA where there is room to fly and train in various combat maneuvers. For what it's worth, most chaff is dropped just a few hundred feet off the ground. Not anywhere close to the contrail/chemtrail stuff going on about 30,000 feet and higher.

All military training is done in some kind of protected airspace, with various levels of protection if we can call it that. Aircraft on low level training routes are flying low and fast, and the public is informed via aviation maps where the routes are published - so that other civilian and military aircraft can "see & avoid" each other. Aircraft that are doing maneuvers up higher are usually flying in Military Operating Area (MOA), which is just a piece of the sky that the FAA will avoid vectoring civilian traffic through. In short, a MOA is a reserved piece of airspace that is called up for the military to use when scheduled, typically for short periods of less than an hour at a time. The highest level of training, where chaff is dispensed, bombs are dropped, guns & missiles are fired, etc., is in RESTRICTED airspace, which is owned exclusively by the military. There are more types & classifications of airspace, but this is sufficient to discuss chaff.

The military does its best (at times!) to be good neighbors, so in much of the restricted airspace there is joint use of the land below it - except for the areas where munitions are actually dropped. Think of it as an upside down wedding cake. The inner piece is exclusively used to drop munitions, and no one except authorized military folks are allowed in. However, the outer layers are just used for a buffer to separate the bombing range from public use. In/under those areas you'll typically have various categories of land use such as BLM managed areas, national forests, wilderness areas, grazing allotments (where ranchers get to use the land for pennies), etc.

That's where the rabid, fanatical environmental types step in to play THE GAME: They tend to make some wild and frivilous claim such as jet hydrocarbons or noise threaten the critical habitat of some spotted critter below the airspace. The lawyers circle the wagons and find everyone who possibly can be "harmed" from the military training above. So, you wind up with the Fish & Wildlife folks claiming some particular endangered species is not spontaneously mating, the dairy farmers claiming their milk production is down, and of course the ranchers claiming that the chaff dropped from above is harmful to their livestock. And so on. Even though there is rarely if ever any actual harm found, Uncle Sam will step in with the checkbook and redistribute some wealth, and The Game goes on. Been that way since the early 60's.

Chaff related to or part of contrails/chemtrails? Nope! About as likely as bouncing a basketball is to cause an earthquake. Actually, chaff was a leftover relic from Vietnam. Things are mostly done with electronics and stealth these days. However, if you are going against some Banana Republic with 25 year old equipment, it sure doesn't hurt to hit that chaff button on the way in to your target. Good way to mark the time.

I got a kick out of the article."

On the other hand, I received a long note from a research into this, and she reported (in a long telephone conversation) that yes, sources have reported to her that aluminized fiberglass chaff can stay up 20-hours (or longer).  And when you mix in the reports of impacts of the change from JP-4 to JP-8 jet fuel (which has reportedly has additives with potential health impacts) you get lots of indications that there are really several layers of aerial deception: weather modification, electronic controls, atmospheric heating (HAARP) and a whole stew of other interests:

"U.S. Senate Bill 517 and U.S. House Bill 2995, a bill that would allow experimental weather modification by artificial methods and implement a national weather modification policy, does not include agriculture or public oversight, is on the “fast track” to be passed in 2006.

This bill is designed to implement experimental weather modification. The appointed Board of Directors established by this bill does not include any agricultural, water, EPA, or public representatives, and has no provisions for Congressional, State, County, or public oversight of their actions or expenditures.

Weather Modification may adversely impact agricultural crops and water supplies. If the weather is changed in one state, region or county it may have severe consequences in another region, state or county. And who is going to decide the type of weather modification experimentation and who it will benefit or adversely impact?

This experimental weather modification bill will impact residents across the United States not just in California. Many current and ongoing weather modification programs (80 listed by NOAA in 2005), including the one in Wyoming that is designed to increase the snowpack, may be diverting rainwater away from Oklahoma and Texas, two states that are currently fighting fires caused by a lack of rainfall. We have no idea what the unintended consequences of the Wyoming action or other experimental weather modification programs might be now or in the future.

In addition to the experimental weather modification programs listed by NOAA, there are both private and ongoing government sponsored atmospheric testing and heating programs underway in Alaska and across the United States. Alaska Senator Stevens recently received $50 million in funding for Alaska’s atmospheric heating program.

All of these unregulated, private, government, and public weather modification programs, may also have unintended synergistic effects. Senate Bill 517 does not address these issues but intends to implement more experimental weather modification programs without a national debate or public oversight.

Artificial weather modification can impact all of us by reducing water supplies, changing agricultural crop production cycles, reducing crop production, and water availability. Since most experimental weather modification programs use chemicals released into the atmosphere the public could be subjected increasingly toxic or unknown substances that could adversely impact agricultural crops and trees.

Trimethyl Aluminum (TMA) and barium are just two of the toxic chemicals used in recent atmospheric heating and testing programs according to NASA. The Alaska H.A.A.R.P. atmospheric heating program may have the capability of changing the Jet Stream which could also change our weather.

Many private weather modification companies admit that precipitation effects may be positive or negative. Fog dispersal programs, using dry ice, liquid nitrogen, liquid propane or silver iodide may improve visibility while adversely impacting Redwood Trees along the California coast by depriving them of needed water they derive from the fog.

The increasing use of varied chemicals like aluminum (coupled with increasing air pollution), can severely impact tree health by depriving trees of water and nutrients normally absorbed through their root systems.

The December 2005 Popular Science Magazine discussed a plan to use an oil slick to stop hurricanes without noting the adverse environmental impacts of the oil used to cover the ocean.

Popular Science also noted that a private company, Dyn-O-Mat, plans to purchase jets to drop thousands of pounds of a water absorbing chemical powder (which is highly toxic), into hurricanes to absorb moisture that may dissipate hurricanes. There is no agriculture oversight or public hearings to determine the consequences of this and other actions or to monitor or prevent adverse impacts of this chemical once it falls on the surface of the ocean or on land.

Alaska and other areas across the United States are beginning to feel the impacts of climate change. Enormous changes are being seen in the declining health of native plant and tree communities in many areas across the United States.

NASA noted in an October 2005 newsletter that increasingly persistent contrails are “…trapping warmth in the atmosphere and exacerbating global warming…” NASA goes on to note that: “…Any increase in global cloud cover will contribute to long-term changes in Earth’s climate. Likewise, any change in Earth’s climate may have effects on natural resources…”

Global dimming and the persistent contrails, that produce man-made clouds, may have serious impacts on crop production. A recent corn crop study in Illinois shows that cloud cover reduces corn crop production while direct sunlight increases production. In addition, increasing man-made clouds may reduce the effectiveness of solar panels.

Gil Smolin, an Avian Bird Flu expert, noted on the Ron Owens Show on KGO Radio (January 5, 2006), that the flu was spread more quickly in the winter when there was a “lack of sunlight”. Would man-made clouds be contributing to the lack of sunlight which might cause the Avian Bird flu to spread more quickly at other times of the year? Experimental weather modification programs could also exacerbate this problem by changing climate patterns, increasing man-made cloud cover, and changing our weather and climate patterns.

Senate Bill 517 does not address any of these important issues. Its sole purpose is to establish an experimental weather modification policy without any agriculture or public oversight of private, military, and government programs. Without oversight or public hearings agriculture, our natural resources, and watersheds may be negatively impacted. And who will be responsible to determine the synergistic effects of these programs or pay for unintended disasters created by this experimentation. If these programs change growing seasons and interrupt the pollination process crop losses could be substantial exacerbating economic losses.

Please contact all of your elected local, state and federal officials to stop this bill in its present form. This bill needs to have appropriate agriculture and public oversight, with public hearings included, prior to any more experimental projects. We need a national dialogue on this subject before more experimentation takes place."

--- Rosalind Peterson, www.californiaskywatch.com

 By the way, Ms. Peterson's site has a very interesting page about geoengineering, which is particularly relevant with the high global temperatures being reported this summer.

As I presented in my report yesterday, there's a lot going on in the skies overhead and virtually all of it is done without adequate oversight of the public's health and environmental impacts. Between JP-8, micro fibrous chaff, and ionospheric heating from HAARP, the military-industrial complex has a murky agenda of interlocking interests that's without adequate public review and apparently detrimental to humans.

Wednesday August 2, 2006

Secrets Revealed Speeds Up

"Chaff" - The Chemtrail Realities

Anyone who has surfed the net's uncensored pages for any period of time has no doubt heard about chemtrails. There are several schools of thought on the subject, ranging from the mundane republicorp "Ain't no such thing" to the ultra-conspiracy theorist's "It's all a plot of poison huge portions of the population."  Figuring that the truth is somewhere in between the extremes usually, I was intrigued this morning to receive a pointer to the July issue of the Idaho Observer which quotes a GAO report.  The thinking seems to be that what most of us would call "chemtrails" may really be huge use of military "chaff."  Key part of the story:

"Once chaff reaches the ground, it breaks down into particles small enough to inhale. Though military spokespeople insist that chaff is not harmful, the GAO report concluded that health effects are unknown and more studies are needed. "

Naturally, being a curious sort, I went looking for Google results at [+gao +chaff].  Sure enough, there really is a 1998 GAO report that says:

"GAO noted that: (1) chaff is used worldwide in conjunction with military training, testing, and other assigned missions; (2) in fiscal year (FY) 1997, the Air Force reported using about 1.8 million bundles worldwide, Navy and Marine Corps aircraft used more than 354,000 bundles and 593 rolls, and Navy combat ships used about 10,000 large bundles; (3) DOD records indicate that FY 1998 inventories include more than 37 million bundles and more than 141,000 rolls of chaff; (4) the Air Force holds about 77 percent of the bundles, while the Navy and Marine Corps hold all the rolls; (5) the Army has some mission needs but possesses and uses little chaff in peacetime training or testing; (6) while DOD components report that chaff is an effective means of defense for aircraft, ships, and related weapons systems, DOD and other agencies have identified some unintended and potential side effects of chaff; (7) chaff can affect safety by interfering with air traffic control radar; (8) chaff can also affect weather radar observations and the operation of friendly radar systems, especially when vehicles stir up chaff that has settled on the ground; (9) the services have a number of ongoing initiatives to address concerns about the unintended and potential effects of chaff; (10) for example, DOD has entered into or is negotiating agreements with other federal agencies to address issues related to commercial air safety, weather forecasting, and environmental impacts on public lands; (11) also, the Navy has started a program to develop degradable chaff that is estimated to cost about 40 percent more than the current chaff; (12) while intended as beneficial, the Navy has not yet defined the operational and environmental benefits that could result from this program; (13) notwithstanding DOD's actions, some concerns continue to be raised by the public and federal agencies about the potentially harmful or undesirable effects of chaff on the environment; (14) also, some of DOD's studies cite additional areas where questions have been raised about the unintended effects of chaff; (15) DOD has not systematically followed up on these questions or on the recommendations of these reports to determine whether they merit additional review; and (16) DOD continues to retain lead-based chaff in its inventory even though this type of chaff has not been manufactured since 1987 and is reportedly no longer in use.

Naturally, as the word spread about "chaff" use, corpgov went into overdrive, reporting that "chaff" had no serious consequences -  and as you'd expect, by 2000 environmental groups were up in arms about it.  The Las Vegas Journal-Review reported in 2000 that a Naval Research Laboratories report in particular was questioned:

"The report highlights the Department of Defense's lackadaisical attitude towards human health risks by giving a green light to continued use of chaff while noting that several health questions remain unanswered," Grace Potorti, director of the Reno-based Rural Alliance for Military Accountability, said Tuesday."

Naturally, the military contends that there's no harm to use of chaff.  But what surprised me deeply was the amount of "chaff" that was being used in 2000 over the continental US.  Specifically around Fallon Naval Air Station, located in Nevada!

"To put the amount of chaff expended by aviators training at NAS Fallon into perspective, I offer these facts: First, only about one-third of the 42,000 annual military flights based out of Fallon use chaff in the course of their training missions. Second, over the last five years, the amount of chaff annually dispensed of over the Fallon Military Operating Area averages about 1/4 ounce per acre. As the report describes, the chemical composition of chaff is essentially the same as desert dust, and the amounts expended into the environment are several orders of magnitude less than EPA standards for dust, vehicle exhaust, power generation and industry. "

To bring things up to nearer current for you, in 1998 the GAO was reporting that increased use of this "chaff" stuff was planned:

"The continuous stream technique, called saturation chaff, may be used by aircraft to cover a large area. By 2005 or 2006, the Army also plans to use saturation chaff to mask vehicle and troop movements. Using a cutter, 360 pounds of chaff from nine 40-pound rolls can be deployed in 10 minutes. Depending on the method and the number of aircraft, such releases could disperse billions of fibers. The B-52 can carry about 750 seven-ounce boxes of chaff; each box contains up to 11 million fibers that can be expelled continuously or in bursts. Most chaff bundles contain millions of fibers. For example, the chaff bundles used most by the Air Force (RR-188) and the Navy (RR-144) contain more than 5 million individual fibers each, and the Navy’s Zuni rocket warhead (RR-182) contains more than 100 million fibers."

So if you're thinking "chemtrails" and want to know where you are most likely to see them, the GAO's September 1998 report includes this handy "chaff/chemtrail" map on Page 6:

Notice how Washington DC is not impacted, but most of the rest of the country is? And this is a 1998 map, mind you.

The history of "chaff" goes back to 1954 when it was reported that the government's Chemical Corp pressed the small fiber technology forward:

"Applied research on ground and air munitions showed progress along certain lines. In filling a requirement for practical counter-measures against radar, the Corps developed a nickel coated glass fiber (Agent, Radar Screening, E10) which is approximately 400 times more effective, weight for weight, than chaff. Investigation is being continued to find the most efficient way of disseminating the coated fibers. (SECRET)"

A couple of conclusions present themselves here:

• First, "chemtrails" are real, but they are likely, based on the available reports, advanced forms of "chaff".

• Dispersal over the USA has been widespread and heavy for at least a decade.

And, the military's use of the "chaff" technology (a/k/a/ chemtrails) is not going away any time soon.  The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (www.darpa.mil) notes in their [unclassified] FY 2007 budget buried on page 363 of 453 that "chaff" may have an important role in standoff explosives and concealed weapons detection:

"The Standoff Explosives and Concealed Weapons Detection program will develop a standoff system for the detection of improvised explosive devices (IEDs), suicide bombs and vehicle bombs that have become weapons of havoc and destruction in current urban operations; as well as a low cost concealed weapons detection system. This program will explore various phenomenologies that may permit explosive detections. The first approach will examine chemical approaches such as spectrometry using IR photothermal signature of the explosive compounds, or standoff detection using molecular tags that change physical, electronic, or optical properties upon exposure to emitted vapors. These tags provide specific molecular information on the signature chemicals, thus enhancing specificity in the cluttered environment. They could be deployed as dust or chaff that can be dispersed in the air or sprayed on suspect vehicles, or into larger sensor structures that could be used to integrate the concentration of vapor over time."

Whether current "chaff" operations are already using "chemical tags" for identification is not known.  However, what is known is that whether by intent or accident, the reports on the web that "chemtrail residue" contains lots of other chemicals/contaminants, appear to be justified claims. 

With electronic warfare and it's opposite, electronic countermeasures (along with electronic counter-counter measures) being a fertile purchasing area for corporate defense contractors, we have to expect that chemtrails/chaff use will continue to increase.  Especially if outfits like DARPA are even partially successful in tying "chaff" to real current military problems like improvised explosive devices (IED's) in battle zones like Iraq.

Like depleted uranium munitions, banned by the UN but used by the US, there's no civilian oversight of health consequences of either long term DU or "chaff"/chemtrail use on America's home soil.  Yes, we supposedly have oversight in CONgress, but you should have figured by now from the Abramoff scandal that a whispered "Want to buy some pictures?"  can push votes around with contempt and disregard for the long term health of us non-elevated citizens.

Morgellon's Longshot?

A reader who read the chaff piece sends this:

"very good report on chaff, nice work!

could be connected to Morgellons disease, people inhaling it, comes out skin, irritates?"

I'll ask!

More Feedback:

I read your report this morning and wanted to let you know that DC is impacted by chemtrails. I live right in the city and have been watching them lay these trails since 2001 and photographing some of the more dramatic examples in the last few years. While I know without a doubt that "something" up there isn't right, I'm still not sure exactly what's going on. If it's harmful, I guess either TPTB have preventative measures to take or are away from the city whenever the trails are being sprayed. We all know Bush is never here! I haven't seen much spraying lately, though, only the haze from this heat and humidity. Keep up the great work!

I don't doubt it - remember the map was from 1998...

Meantime, Back at the Wars

It's just (point pun here, but what do you expect?) "bullet points" today:

• Israel's invasion of Lebanon has pushed it very close to Syria.

• Syria's foreign minister doesn't rule out Israel attacking it.

• Lebanon is running out of fuel (and we expect food shortly) as they are in the middle of the "squeeze play".

• Iraq continues to look more like a civil war than "Iraqi Freedom"

• Canada is using bungee-launched drones to patrol Afghanistan

My overview on all this is that wars at this level (and higher) are predictable because in a world economy based on continuously increasing consumption in order to "make a profit" (sort of the prime directive in business), once a transition into a war economy begins, it must by necessity escalate to victory (defined however you will) by one side or the other.  Thus, more demonization of America's "enemies" - you'll note we have a lot more of them lately - but that's good for the death merchant/arms business. Speaking of which:

Money in Death

Let me again use a few "bullet points" for you:

• The Bush administration has spelled out plans to sell $6-billion worth of arms to moderate Arab countries.  Apparently, they haven't figured out that come December, when I expect to see a major attack on Israel, these same Arab held arms would likely be pointing at our brave young men and women who are defending America.  Such is the corpgov cynicism and scorn for life if it crosses profits.

• Let's see, we also have Hugo Chavez of Venezuela continuing his shopping spree in Russian with what's now $3-billion of arms in his shopping cart.

• Russia is doing a land office business in arms sales to China, something that concerns Japan, among others.

Selling arms is a big deal in England too, where they're busy selling things like "components for nuclear reactors" to China.  Apparently, the UK's defence types haven't read "Red Dragon Rising." But then again, Hillary's Bill sold China high tech computers that could be used for evil, so it's not like corporations have any sense of shame about selling potential enemies the weapons to attack us. 

And that's the point: Corporations are amoral business structures which allow collections of humans (boards of directors) to act in distinctly anti-human ways for only one thing: personal gain. But as the time maps from the web bot project at www.halfpasthuman.com show, as we enter the "revolution/rebellion" mode globally in September, you won't be able to say you didn't see it coming.

Mexican Fuse Burning

Mexico's interior secretary says the protests by the Obrador supporters are illegal.  But that headline, and the story, should not surprise you because he works for Vincente Fox who is pulling all possible strings to get his buddy Felipe Calderon installed as president.  40,000 people now living in the tent city protesters have set up in Mexico City. Thney support Lopex Obrador who is demanding a full recount. Which Fox (/Bush)/Calderon won't allow because it would get in the way of efforts of America's other government (the one not-elected) to tear down our borders with Mexico (see www.spp.gov  ).

Oily Vice

The Senate has passed legislation to expand offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.  The big problem, however, will be finding rigs to do drilling. Extreme hard to find rig time now.  And wait till be hit $100 oil this fall!

Poor Held Hostage

A perfect example of republicorp two-faced politics continues to evolve as we notice that Sinate Majority Leader First is linking an estate tax cut for the rich to an improvement of minimum wages for the poor.  We have the best lawmakers money can buy, don't we?

Tuesday August 1, 2006

Beef as an Investment

Those record high temperatures recently have intensified what is already a disastrous drought in America's Heartland. Ranchers are finding things especially hard, partly because soybeans and corn harvests will be exceptionally weak according to reports.

All of this has gotten me to thinking about investing in beef: buying a quarter, half, or even a whole beef plus a freezer to put it in.  My thinking goes like this: Lot's of beef is coming to market right now because ranchers don't want to be saddled with higher feed prices later as grains go up.  But once the herd sizes are down, I figure beef will soar.  I reckon beef ought to come down in September when BBQ season slows down a bit.

I may be wrong on this, but if I am, at least I won't have to eat crow.

Personal Incomes Up

Maybe not yours.  Not mine.  But on average, says the latest government figures, they were up a bit in June:

"Personal income increased $66.5 billion, or 0.6 percent, and disposable personal income (DPI) increased $53.2 billion, or 0.6 percent, in June, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $35.4 billion, or 0.4 percent. In May, personal income increased $41.7 billion, or 0.4 percent, DPI increased $34.6 billion, or 0.4 percent, and PCE increased $51.4 billion, or 0.6 percent, based on revised estimates."

But the headline behind the headline is that people are still spending more than they make and the national savings rate is still quite negative:

"Personal saving -- DPI less personal outlays -- was a negative $138.9 billion in June, compared with a negative $152.5 billion in May. Personal saving as a percentage of disposable personal income was a negative 1.5 percent in June, compared with a negative 1.6 percent in May. Negative personal saving reflects personal outlays that exceed disposable personal income. Saving from current income may be near zero or negative when outlays are financed by borrowing (including borrowing financed through credit cards or home equity loans), by selling investments or other assets, or by using savings from previous periods."

Castro's Health

The reins of power were handed over to Raul Castro in Cuba with fiery Fidel going into surgery to repair intestinal bleeding. Depending on who you list ten, either there will be no change, or the health crisis of Fidel could start a whole series of revolutionary changes in the region.

Its only coincidental, I'm sure, that Fidel's health is reported deteriorating as the US oil interests have been shut out of drilling in Cuban waters.

The US House and Senate are trying to work out new legislation to allow drilling off Florida.

Overblown Spill

Russia media says that oil spill we reported on previously is not as bad as the Western press made it out to be.  Or is it?

Ceasefire?  Nope

Israel has rejected calls for a ceasefire.   What's more, with yesterday's call-up of additional reservists it looks like the country is heading deeper into conflict in the very near future. Condi Rice, who was sent packing from her efforts in Lebanon, is now changing topics, issuing statements to players like Iran to "heed UN" demands.  According to some media reports, Israel has 'lost the war' on all fronts, but they are expanding the battles in fresh fighting today. Syria has put its forces on alert. It's enough to stoke mushroom cloud fears.

Lest you think that my fears of the Middle East escalating into a nuclear exchange on a global scale, as first Syria, then Iran, and then China and Russia are dragged into the confrontation, I'd bring your attention to a report today that China has built nuclear shelter capabilities for 200,000 people in Shanghai alone. I'd call this "public messaging."

Iraq, meantime, continues to devolve into civil war and 52 people have been killed so far today and it's only half over (US time).

Korea Tensions

Not like we need another hotspot to report, but there's been an exchange of gunfire along the DMZ.

WiFi for the Masses

Boston is looking at installing a municipal broadband company as the city tries to bring high speed access down to about $15 per month.  While it sounds great on paper, I wouldn't be surprised in 4-5 years for such operations to go the way of the public investment in things like highways: Turned into toll operations to generate money for the free-spending politicos.

Depression Hits Home

If you thought the Second Depression was a myth, check out Paul Kasriel's article on how household income has morphed into household debt/savings depletion.

Monday July 31, 2006

Qana: Fallout and Forecast

In the latest web bot run, which I refer to as a "rickety time machine", there's a lot of language that goes to the idea of a major battle/war involving Israel in December of this year.  And sadly, some of the language deals with children.  Posted here with exclusive permission from www.halfpasthuman.com is a peek at December from the recent (July 10) data run:

"Returning to the theme of Israeli war for a moment, we note that as the modelspace is progressed through the December release periods, a 'provocation' claimed by Israel is 'used as {a} stick' to stir up war in the region again. The indications are for an 'all out/totally committed' response to some 'perceived/claimed' grievance which will lead to the Israeli boomerang' effect. The modelspace and all of the entities are showing, via cross link, that a complex of emotions and inter connections will arise from 'Israeli war' in December and January. The effect will be to 'splash back' on Israel and to 'pull away' former supporters. This will include most of the people of the USofA and North America. This last will be due to the 'gutting/disemboweling' of what modelspace is showing as a 'tribe' of children. Yes, there will be video. As an aside, a few hints within modelspace show via cross links to the Press entity that a 'prominent/major' press personality will be 'injured unto/near death' in the attempt to 'bring out {the} news'. Further, the association of 'female' dominates the whole of this area, both within the Press entity, as well as the GlobalPop entity and Populace/USofA."

I called Cliff, the chief "time monk" who is the inventor/ chief architect of of the time inferring software technology that uses subtle language shifts across broad sweeps of the internet to perceive future developments in advance.  The conversation went something like this:

G: "So in the 1206 run, does this mean the carnage at Qana is a 'prequel' to an event worse, more grisly series of event in December, or did the bots just get the timing wrong?"

 

C: "Could be either. We won't know till is plays out, but it also could be a lot more complicated than that..."

In time studies, because of the way the technology works, all we know is that the December period will involve fighting in which Israel is one of the sides and the hostilities that break out will progress from December through January.  A new data run with the temporal focus Ides of March 2007 is underway now for HPH subscribers.

Those seem to be the choices: We got the image of injured children with females (mothers) correct but the timing wrong, or there's a worse event to come.  Or, as Cliff explained as our conversation went on, because the technology reads emotional impact of events in advance, the December fighting that breaks out involving Israel could involve cries from the Arab side of "Remember Qana!". 

Simplified: History might be about to show us this December how "Remember Qana" might be the Arab/Middle East equivalent of "Remember the Alamo!"

---

Now that Israel has been stopped by a well organized Hezbollah defense, losing the mythos they have enjoyed since 1967 that they were the next-best-thing to invincible, we notice that Condi Rice is suddenly pushing for a cease-fire.  But wait!  What about all the Condi-blather from just a few days back about "sustainable" and "expectations"?

---

The "time stew" for the balance of this year (once we get through the relative calm of August) is not at all pretty.  Tensions will be rising from September of this year through the middle of March 2007, and along the way the global population is set to get wrapped up in a revolution/rebellion context starting about the end of August. And along with that, paper assets tank.

Mexico Perspective

Panama Bates, back from some kind of urban adventure in the El Paso area this weekend, reports maquilladores are now leaving Ciudad Juarez, El Paso's larger sister city across the river. "I think they've found people in China or elsewhere will work cheaper than Mexicans," he noted.

Also, the killing of young women there has continued.  The local wave of serial killings in Ciudad Juarez that goes back to at least 1996 has continued unabated.

Meantime, the Council on Foreign Relations and the gang that doesn't think straight (the "steal the US" group in  DC), are working full speed to tear down the Mexico border and "merge" Mexico with the US (and Canada) including a new currency to replace the US Dollar.  You can read the details of how George Bush and his corporate pals are selling out our beloved Constitutional Principle at the government's web site www.spp.gov.  Spun by naming it the "Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America, the real plan is to steal direct representation by putting in an "uber layer" of unelected officials to "run" a North American equivalent of Europe in what was at one time, our hard fought sovereign country.

There's a cute trick to how they're doing it, too.  By calling the paperwork with Mexico "agreements", the Decider in Chief's minions can sign away your sovereignty without CONgressional review.  Wouldn't want to wake those good old boys up, but if this was on the up-and-up, these "agreements" would be called what they really are - TREATIES - and that would force the GOB's to at least be answerable to voters.  Thief in the night stuff, for sure.

More than one reader has suggested that any official of government or private organization, seemingly bent on selling out independent America, should be brought up on treason charges.  I can't find any reason to disagree.

Patriotic Paradox:  What's curious as hell to me, is that while some in the US are trying to sneak through Constitution-and-border-busting busting legislation that would, among other things, call on the US to defend Mexico's southern border, the non-Bush-Fox-Calderon groups in southern Mexico are rallying behind Lopez Obrador.  He's busily calling for his supporters to occupy the center of Mexico City, occupy Mexican embassies, and airports - not to mention demanding a recount in what many observers believe is a tainted election.

There's an historical dance underway here, full of moves and dodges miraculous to behold: US sell-outs are trying to "incorporate" Mexico and Canada into America, Mayan Mexicans are trying to prevent the "incorporate" Mexicans from stealing their election, and American MSM (mainstream media) being (as usual) months behind events by putting a virtual news blackout on efforts to sell-out US sovereignty. He who pays the pipers, huh?  But, that's what happens with the 300-richest families in the world controlling  more assets than the poorest 3-billion people on the planet.  You get megalomania from the "we have money, therefore we're better than you, so we'll make the decisions..." kind of thinking.  No thanks!

The real power players were all at the Bohemian Grove meeting in California this weekend.  So now, media blackouts aside from MSM, you know why Tony Blair was doing San Francisco this weekend. Read the datelines!

U.N.-American?

Several boards that discuss the operation of UN and other foreign forces on CONUS United States soil have been heating up.  Here's a good example: reports of cremation trucks and foreign soldiers training US forces on escape and evasion.

Tamils Fighting

And, as if you need any convincing that the Global Population (entity in web bot model space) has accurately forecast the rebellion/revolution transition, I have to point out that Tamil Tigers have stepped up fighting against government forces in Sri Lanka. Remember, revolution/rebellion is going global on a planet near you this fall.  This is foreplay...

Name Game

In Malaysia, authorities are trying to tell folks what they can name their children.  The BBC reports that naming your child "Hitler, smelly dog, or 007"  is now verbotten. Big long list, too. Makes the "hippie era" in the US with names like Spring, Summer, Rain, and such as an almost idyllic time.  Call me anything but don't call me late for dinner...

Secrets Revealed

One of our sources in Illinois was up early watching NBC this morning and reports this:

"Just saw a promo for NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams for tonight. A feature story will be how increasing gas/diesel prices will soon be driving up food prices at your local grocery store. (What does he mean "soon"? They are already clearly rising in this area.)"

OK, so prices going up is not exactly a "secret" but what is might be putting it on mainstream.  Gosh: Next thing you know they will talk about how "core rates" (ex-food and ex-energy) is a deliberate scam to keep you from expecting to gety screwed as badly as you are at the store.  That's what the Feb BS phrase "setting inflation expectations" means: It's like saying "We're screwing your checkbook, but we don't want you to notice" or we'll skip from price-push inflation to something more...er...real.

Cuban Oil Leverage

Want to place any side bets that the Bush administration will start to warm up relations with Cuba now that Cuba has a large offshore oil find?

Speaking of oil: A big spill is reported in Russia this morning.

Leo Wanta Story

I continue to get emails about how supposedly $4.5 trillion dollars is about to land in US coffers in a highly complex case involving a fellow named Leo Wanta. While I would be happy to see $4.5 trillion land in the Treasury, I'm still putting this story in the woo-woo category. 

Sidebar: Psychology: There's something strange going on in "universal monkey mind" at the moment: tons of people are starting to circulate 'savior" stories.  Leo Wanta is to be the "savior" of national financial issues.  "SETI has picked up real alien communications,  but the government is blocking them," goes another story making the rounds.  A number of religious/faith-based sites are suggesting that either "The tribulations are about to start August (various dates), or other "End Times" events.

For my part, I'll pass along snips of it here and there, like the Wanta story on the off chance there's something to it.  However, if you find a story that just seems to fit with too many of your hopes and desires (peace, harmony, balanced budget, nice world, friendly humans), take all those stories and pour out about two-fingers of Scotch and go think through the logic of it.  Is it real, or is it a fiction occupying you so that you won't focus on the real, provable wrong/misdirection/sleights-of-hand that lurk just beneath today's headlines?

If the Wanta case results in a real lawsuit in Federal Court tomorrow, we will, of course, be all over that like a bad smell on do-do.  It won't be the first time I've been served crow, but I don't expect it. It sounds a little too pat, too much like a 'savior" story.  And last time I checked, Universe helps those that help themselves.  And that' starts with alot of facts and logical analysis.

.

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Write when you get rich,

George Ure, The People's Economist