Author: Richard

I put my dog down yesterday. Humble Pie. It was quite possibly one of the hardest moments of my life. My dog was a free dog, she never had a leash she never had a collar, she stayed by my side of her own free will. She trusted me, that I would keep her safe right up to the very moment I nodded and the vet put her to sleep for good.

I took her to her favourite park before going to the vet. She died on her favourite blanket, in her favourite position, cuddled in my arms thinking she was safe.

Humble Pie

She wasn’t.

Whether this was the right decision at the right time is a question that is going to haunt me for a long time. The timing was due to other aspects of my life, combined with her already being quite old. I feel selfish, I feel like I betrayed her and her trust and I should have tried harder. But most of all I wish I could have asked how she felt, warned her it was coming, anything. I couldn’t, it was my decision and mine alone. It’s the feeling of betrayal which is haunting me most of all. But what else could I do? The worst part is I think even if I could have warned her, I wouldn’t have, for her sense of security. It’s been a very conflicting day as I battle with the different point of views that insist on infiltrating my head.

The feeling of security is a powerful influence on life. In the moment of her death she felt totally secure, not afraid, and then it just happened. She never saw it coming. The feeling of security (and insecurity) however is also an excellent tool of manipulation.

It’s a constant theme in movies, agents working above the law to protect the public from unknown evils, governments being aware of events and not providing a warning to their people. Usually in some form to keep the public “safe” from certain chaos if the stupid peasants found out. Mass manipulation of this sort is often portrayed as for the good of the people. Much as ultimately the involuntary betrayal of Humble’s trust was for the good of her (I hope anyway) and my desire for her to not die in fear, pain, or alone.

The status-quo wields the weapons of security, and insecurity quite effectively. The feeling of security is inherently anti-change while the feeling of insecurity is inherently pro-change. Feeding the population a balance of the two can produce any desired results. Using the feeling of security Humble Pie had no desire to change her situation, despite being in a strange place with a strange person at the most dangerous moment of her life yet the slightest feeling of insecurity throughout her life would send her skittering away even though it was all mostly harmless.

False security is a blinder, and Canadians are chalk full of false security.

I had an interesting Twitter exchange today about the Chinese diplomat “berating” our poor journalist for asking about human rights violations. An interesting choice of words isn’t it? “berates”?

I found one thing the diplomat said to be very interesting:

“Other people don’t know better than the Chinese people about the human rights condition in China and it is the Chinese people who are in the best situation, in the best position to have a say about China’s human rights situation,” he continued. 

“So I would like to suggest to you that please don’t ask questions in such an irresponsible manner. We welcome goodwill suggestions but we reject groundless or unwarranted accusations.”

We over here look at such statements likely with disbelief, because we know the Chinese indoctrinate their people with propaganda in fact our media ensures we know it. However I think it’s also probably safe to say that many Canadians would believe the statement if it were said about us. Even if we were called out on human rights abuses, we know better, because we’re Canadian. Surely us being Canadian must mean we are in the best situation, the best position, to have a say about Canada’s human rights situation. But where are the journalists asking about it at every opportunity?

And round and round it goes. Of course if it didn’t happen on your T.V. it didn’t happen, did it? Do you really believe the Chinese are being indoctrinated with pro-nationalist crap and you aren’t? What do you hear more about China’s abuses? Or Canada’s? From who? Now go read China’s news.

Every country does it, the world does it, and why? The feeling of security. Not security from the terrorist boogymen but security of self, of purpose, of that feeling that you’re the “good guy”, that you’re right and they’re wrong.

What’s funny is the diplomat is totally correct, it was irresponsible to ask, Canadians just don’t understand why. We see that as some sign of journalistic freedom, while the Chinese view it as a form of disrespect. He was here because we want to do business with the Chinese. As I warned in my piece “Canada may be preparing to decouple from the USD“:

These nations we are aligning with however do not cherish democracy as we do. We will be a minority in this new alliance, and of this we should be wary.

We want in with them, not the other way around. But it makes for a great drum-beating headline as Canadians are once again fed the false security of the supposed international concern Canada has for human rights. It makes us feel good and feeling good is essential to maintaining control and a feeling of trust, even if the actions being taken are knowingly harmful and against our best interests.

Take the Flint water crisis, for example, it has all the trademarks. The government not warning the people, the false sense of security in the idea that the U.S. is an “advanced nation” so something like that couldn’t possibly be happening, and yet.. there it is. It is happening, and will continue to happen, and if you think that’s the only one you’re still lying to yourself.

The government knowing about the ultimate non-viability of oilsands and not warning Albertans is another example. Hell it seems half the population still thinks theres a boom coming any day now. Instead it was pushed and pushed as the future for short term gain and even today is pushing a belief system to keep Canadians invested in a failed endeavour:

“Barring an economic collapse, therefore, Canada will have to reconsider its planned oil and gas production growth and demand real emissions reductions from the oil and gas sector in order to have any hope of meeting its … commitment,” Hughes writes. 

Alex Ferguson, a vice-president of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, said technological change in the oilsands is likely to prove Hughes’s assumptions wrong. 

“You’re going to see something in the next three, four, five years or so in terms of proving some of that out,” he said. “We, collectively, need to make a conscious bet that technology is going to help us in this challenge.“

As central banks exhaust their ammunition, some countries are turning to debt-driven fiscal stimulus. Canada’s own stimulus program may help boost the domestic economy, says Aubrey Basdeo, managing director and head of fixed income at BlackRock Canada. On the other hand, it may lead to unintended consequences, including rising interest rates and an overvalued currency. (RF: Which also means an undervalued USD relative to the countries they would import from (read more))

“Central bank monetary policy has helped drive asset prices higher with the help of interest rate cuts and quantitative easing since the financial crisis,” he says. “But the effectiveness of these policies may be starting to wane and the ability of global central banks to respond to the next downturn appears limited.” 

Interest rate cuts could lose their effectiveness if borrowers become accustomed to a low-interest-rate landscape because there’s no rush to borrow or invest. Low rates also make savers poorer, reducing consumer demand. 

“Negative interest rate policies by the likes of the Bank of Japan and the European Central Bank that are targeted at depreciating currencies may also be close to hitting a limit,” says Basdeo. “It may make sense to weaken your currency if you’re an exporting nation seeking growth, but when everyone else moves in the same way, it starts to lose its efficacy.”

Just a note, notice that his reasoning for why consumers won’t borrow even more is that they’re “accustomed” to a low-interest rate environment yet also admits it makes savers poorer. Well, if you’re not a borrower, and you’re not a saver, what are you? Admitting that the emergency low interest environment isn’t working is because consumers are tapped is a media no-no. They will talk about one, or the other, but never both at the same time which is absurd isn’t it being that clearly your capacity to borrow more and more is obviously directly associated to your ability to service that debt.  Anyway, moving on…

One policy option is a mix of broader credit easing by central banks, combined with either government spending on infrastructure projects and/or tax rebates. However, many governments are wary of deficits.

“When you come out of a debt binge like the one preceding the financial crisis, the last thing you want to do is go on another binge,” says Basdeo. 

Governments and consumers have reduced debt loads since the financial crisis. Corporations, however, have borrowed heavily. Yet instead of investing in new plants and equipment to improve productivity and spur growth, they have leveraged inexpensive debt to buy back stock and pay dividends to investors. (RF: aka “the recovery”)

Basdeo says the world will be looking carefully at the Canadian government’s gambit to rack up a stimulus debt of $113 billion over the next five years, most of it earmarked for infrastructure spending. Australia has also pulled the trigger on a A$37-billion stimulus program and a rate cut. 

“If Canadian and Australian fiscal stimulus boosts economic growth and bolsters consumer and corporate spending, then other countries may adopt similar fiscal approaches,” he says. 

The downside risk? When governments spend, interest rates could rise. That would increase capital flows into the country, pushing up currency values. 

“For a small, open economy dependent on trade, this scenario would be particularly negative to Canada when we are trying to boost our economy through manufacturing exports that benefit from a lower loonie,” says Basdeo. 

Japan, the poster child for deficit infrastructure spending, also offers a note of caution. After more than 20 years, the policy has resulted in little growth. 

The growth funk miring most major developed economies remains a headwind to future growth in Canada, Basdeo adds. 

“As a result, the Canadian deficit experiment may lack the punch on its own that would sustain it as a model for others to follow,” he says. “Rather than wait to see if it works, the optimum solution is likely a coordinated, comprehensive global policy response which relaxes excessive dependence on central bank policy and begins a renewed effort to achieve good growth via deficit spending.”

The “growth funk”. Cute, isn’t it? And despite no modern economics reason for it we continue to believe infinite growth is possible. The last paragraph is the kicker: “the optimum solution is likely a coordinated, comprehensive global policy response which relaxes excessive dependence on central bank policy and begins a renewed effort to achieve good growth via deficit spending”. He is calling for the start of a centralized global economic system, which naturally is going to be presented as the “solution” to the problem governments and central banks are knowingly creating, the prosperity they are stealing from the future with not one ounce of evidence it can be paid back. We’re doubling down on the bet that the future will be incredibly larger than the present when the evidence suggests everything but, and those in charge know this. There will be no warning.

The attempts by governments to push people more and more into debt to prevent the credit markets from deflating are becoming ever more aggressive. Take this interesting quote about the recent gas tax hike in Newfoundland:

“People will have to make other arrangements to ensure they are carrying a bit more cash or extend their credit or ensure they have enough on their Visa to pay for gasoline,” said Dan McTeague, a senior petroleum analyst at GasBuddy.com. “Newfoundland is now home to the most expensive gasoline in North America and likely the Western Hemisphere.”

As I’ve pointed out before, even the “feminist” Justin Trudeau is well aware how this system works:

I opened my campaign last month with the argument that, if the Liberal Party is to become a positive force for change in Canada, we need to give voice to the aspirations of our middle class. 

Personal income for middle-class Canadians has stagnated for more than a generation. This deeply troubling development is masked by a rise in family income, due to the entry of a new generation of well-educated, hard-working women into the workforce. While this phenomenon is overwhelmingly positive, we must be clear-eyed in understanding that it is a one-time benefit.

It all sounds great until you reach that last line. A “one time benefit”, just as new suckers entering into a ponzi are a “one time benefit”. His article went on to say:

So, we’re left with the vexing question: where will the next wave of growth for the middle class come from?

The “next wave of growth”. As in what new suckers will we find to keep the unsustainable “disturbing trend” of wage stagnation and a consumer economy going. His article went on to describe how Canada’s economic future resided in China, and emerging markets. The same China Canada’s journalist insulted by raising the issue of human rights on a business trip. We just don’t get it, democracy is a game and our new business partners — which we are relying on for the “next wave of growth”, despite the fact all indicators show that China will likely not be the source of growth we’d hoped — aren’t playing it. Nor do they need to.

Our own concern for “human rights” is absolute bullshit as our government sells Saudi Arabia military equipment who was just added to a U.N. blacklist for killing children in their war on Yemen while making excuses for that human rights record. And who can blame us, we need that “next wave of growth” don’t we? There’s good money to be had.

And how about our TFW’s where in a recent article the program was described as “worse than slavery”?

Hundreds of those workers have been sent home from Canada in similar circumstances, a practice known as “medical repatriation.” 

“It’s worse than slavery — they dispose of them,” Barrett told Go Public.

Where’s the outrage, huh?

Meanwhile the global game continues. Russia and Saudi Arabia dumped $50 billion in U.S. assets last year and it doesn’t look like they’re going to slow down. The OECD, knowing that the jig is up on growth, is now preparing people for feudalism saying “don’t worry about the wage gap, worry about jobs”. Which shouldn’t surprise anyone as western corporations fight fiercely against any sort of increase in wages.

But nevermind. Back to your regularly scheduled feeling of security.

I’ve been observing your movement mature for some time now George Clark. I’m not writing for the purpose of focusing on the miss-spelling of coup d’etat, or to talk about your sign. I want to address your position, and reasoning, regarding Alberta’s cu…

I’ve been observing your movement mature for some time now George Clark. I’m not writing for the purpose of focusing on the miss-spelling of coup d’etat, or to talk about your sign. I want to address your position, and reasoning, regarding Alberta’s current issues as frankly I think you’re putting

I’ve been observing your movement mature for some time now George Clark. I’m not writing for the purpose of focusing on the miss-spelling of coup d’etat, or to talk about your sign. I want to address your position, and reasoning, regarding Alberta’s current issues as frankly I think you’re putting the blame in the wrong place and are simply wasting the government’s time, and depleting reserves, in your efforts. I deeply care about Alberta’s future, I’ve been writing on the culmination of numerous issues for nearly 6 years many of which cross-over with your hasty, and incorrect, observations.

The movement you have created is contributing heavily to what is becoming an increasingly divisive, and toxic, political climate with few if any actual solutions to the real problems which as hard as it may be for you to hear have existed and have been building for quite some time. Not because of “the Liberals”, or “the leftists”, or whatever blanket label you want to throw around as though there are only two strict sets of rules for political ideologies to follow but because Alberta’s perceived prosperity was always assuredly time limited and I intend to show you these issues exist across the political spectrum. While you may admit that the PCAA made many mistakes contributing to Alberta’s situation your movement did not choose to exist while those mistakes were being made. I have been vocal for a long time, George, no one was listening.

To demonstrate what I mean by this here is a post I made prior to the election of the NDP. As you can see it discusses what I viewed as some of the upcoming problems Alberta would be facing (Canada too, really) such as abandoned oil& gas wells skyrocketing and an interesting quote from Jim Prentice, a Stephen Harper favourite where he called what we can see today is essentially an imploding labour market “an opportunity” for oil & gas companies to take advantage of favourable conditions.

I’ve been following this descent from grace for some time, George, for instance here is one of my favourite links few Albertans ever want to seem to acknowledge, or address, from 2012, discussing a memo about the soaring costs of oilsands development:

A confidential government memorandum obtained by CBC News warns that soaring costs of developing the Alberta oilsands could put the brakes on the massive project, stalling one of the main engines of the Canadian economy. 

The booming oilsands industry supports tens of thousands of Canadian jobs, and pumps billions of dollars a year into the national economy. 

The memo written by Mark Corey, one of the highest-ranking officials in the federal Department of Natural Resources, warns that if the current trend of spiralling labour and other costs continues, investors may start to turn off the tap on the massive amounts of money needed to develop the oilsands. 

“Although current crude prices promote oilsands development, ever-increasing capital and operating costs could make this price insufficient to support oilsands development at forecast levels,” Corey writes. 

Cost increases are currently “the biggest risk to investment in the sector,” and could jeopardize the viability of some projects, he says. 

Rising labour costs 

The memo estimates that operating and capital costs to extract a barrel of oil from the tar-like sands have both more than doubled over the past decade. 

It blames a chronic shortage of workers and resulting sky-high labour costs as the main cause of increased operating expenses. 

Corey’s memo reflects a growing concern inside government over the future of the oilsands, and specifically the massive amount of capital investment that will be needed to fuel their continued development. 

Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver recently estimated the oilsands would need $650 billion in capital investments in the next decade alone — almost five times what’s been spent there over the past 50 years. 

The memo written in April this year was obtained under the Access to Information Act and appears to have been prepared for Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver. 

The document pre-dates the Harper government’s current review of foreign takeovers of two Canadian energy companies. 

It nonetheless bolsters the contention of many in industry and government that Canada can hardly afford to turn away foreign investment in the oilsands.

In the latter half of 2014 I caught this article from the Financial Post titled ‘Cost-cutting fever grips oil sands players as economics called into question’ and as you’ll see in the article itself was published before the collapse in oil price:

Canadian oil companies are ruthlessly enforcing capital discipline as project costs creep up and shareholders pressure management to focus only on the most profitable ventures. 

Suncor Energy Inc. announced a billion-dollar cut for the rest of the year even though the company raised its oil price forecast. 

Others such as Athabasca Oil Corp., PennWest Exploration Ltd., Talisman Energy Inc. and Sunshine Oil Sands Ltd. are also cutting back due to a mix of internal corporate issues and project uncertainty. Cenovus Energy Inc. is also facing cost pressures at its Foster Creek oil sands facility. 

“Given that the low-bearing fruit have already been developed, the next wave of oil sands project are coming from areas where geology might not be as uniform,” said Dinara Millington, senior vice president at the Canadian Energy Research Institute.

The NDP government is not making the situation worse, George, you just didn’t realize how bad the situation already was. With oil at $100 and a PC government the industry was still barely turning a profit. I’ve seen a lot of statements from you that say things like “we were doing fine when oil was $10 barrel”, read those articles and you will understand why.

I don’t disagree with every single one of your positions on specific issues particularly in regards to the Carbon Tax (from a certain point of view which can be found here). Nor do I disagree with some of your points on wind turbines (in fact I believe environmentalists have some hard truths to account for). But what I do disagree with is your whole movement sat on their hands when “times were good” while the prior governments gambled on the futures market and called that a budget or “action plan”, whichever you prefer. Where were you then?

Your clear bias against the NDP government and the very disproportional amount of blame you’ve laid at their feet is irresponsible, uninformed, and regardless of the political football outcome will not solve Alberta’s problems because it does not address them. Simply saying “no carbon tax” doesn’t address the myriad of other issues actually creating the problems you’re complaining about – the carbon tax not being one of them. If you’re truly concerned about Albertans, their futures, their jobs, and their prosperity then you will be honest with yourself about our situation and put your political views aside. There is no easy way out of this situation, and we’re in for many years of pain if we ever recover at all.

The industry and governments bought by the industry intentionally lied to Albertans George. They knew, and they didn’t tell you. Increasingly they are looking at automation, and there will be no more 4000 man camps, did they tell you that? Is that because of the NDP too? No, it’s because the oilsands are expensive to produce and the profits for foreign owners mean more than your job, your house, your future, George.

This is why people like me have been screaming for years for the PCAA government to do anything, raise royalties, enforce environmental regulations, anything, to protect our future and the prosperity of our children and you know what George? No one listened.

I haven’t written anything since the election on October 19th. I felt it pointless, Canadians were too obsessed with false victories in the political spectrum. “Defeating Harper” and the sort even though really the public has just once again been manipulated into doing exactly what was desired as I wrote

Look around folks, just.. look around.

The world is sinking into chaos.

Here at home Canadians are bickering about pipelines and other useless drivel as the elephant in the room goes unmentioned. The “west vs east” divisive lines I don’t think have ever been so prominent in my life time. In many extreme “right-wing” circles there’s even been talk of separation; silly of course but still, it’s new. Or old, depending how you look at it. Articles like “It’s raining schadenfreude on Calgary and Alberta” actually exist. The more the economic situation deteriorates, the worse the baseless finger pointing will become.

“It’s the NDP”. “It was the Conservatives”. “It was Justin, and his hair”.

You all need to just stop and think for a minute.. just what is it you expect to happen?

Look elsewhere in the world, it’s not just here. Divisive fault lines are showing up everywhere. The “European Union” is falling apart as their already horrid ponzi-conomy has just been laden with the additional cost of refugees courtesy of NATO’s war in Syria. China is escalating it’s direct challenge to the U.S. in the South China Sea. Russia. The Middle East. And surrounding all of this conflict is intense divisions. You want to understand how divide and conquer works? You’re witnessing it.

The great deflation is going to be a very trying time for a lot of people. Here is a portion of what I wrote early last year on the great deflation:

The majority of the world economy is now supported by near zero, zero, or negative interest rates. Seven years on from the peak-oil induced “great recession” central banks are finally out of ammo. Inevitably this situation can not last forever and with the Saudi’s pushing the collapse in oil price the stage has been set, and in fact the play is already in the first act, for deflationary spiral the world has never seen the likes of before because the world has never seen a fiat asset bubble of this size before.

The expected benefit economists are expecting from lower oil and gas prices are not going to materialize as the middle class which is the primary driver of this trend has been crushed by unaffordable consumption and debt accumulation. The easiest path for this excess wealth to take is towards paying down debt which in itself is inherently deflationary and will only contribute further to the deflationary spiral we’ve entered. 

The artificial deflation of oil is having a direct effect on the outlook for oil related employment and income which both Canada and the U.S. have been completely reliant on for wealth generation. The entire myth of the current “U.S. recovery” which Canadian economists are banking on is essentially based on the economic performance of the shale oil industry prior to the collapse in price (you’ll remember the latest U.S. recovery narrative was originally about the boom of shale oil) which is no longer valid. Without the high incomes oil related jobs provide the unaffordable asset bubbles become completely unbalanced. This is why the Bank of Canada is citing mitigating the effect of low oil prices (lower inflation) as the reason for lowering interest rates while effectively ignoring the increase in inflation high oil prices represent. They are selectively interpreting the situation to service their own needs of maintaining the credit markets. 

No amount of low interest or free currency can ever hope to make up for the loss in energy bounty as a result of peak oil and the focus on low EROI energy production though as currency is not wealth itself but the representation of wealth, it has an end of life and this is where C51 becomes very important for the status-quo.

It’s now one year later, was I right?

The divisive environment in Canada is being driven, and I believe purposely fomented, on a false pretence; that if only we will build pipelines, if only people will stop talking badly about the oilsands, if only, the Canadian economy will come roaring back to life. That the job losses will stop, and the jobs return. It keeps the focus, and the arguments, and the finger pointing around a single topic: pipelines, and not say the more important topic we should be talking about: are the oilsands even viable to produce at any price?

This oil price collapse really couldn’t have come at a better time for Alberta’s oil companies who prior to the collapse, when they were even projecting oil to go higher, were already planning cuts to labour and investment. Companies have been looking at automation as a solution to the labour problem the oilsands have created for years. Of course readers of this blog should know all about ‘the labour problem‘. Despite the heartfelt rhetoric of guys like Doug Suttles who says the layoffs are the worst he’s seen (and I also presume ever responsible for) the unspoken and it seems long forgotten reality here is that the layoffs and drying up of investment in the oilsands were already happening anyway.

Low oil prices has simply provided an excuse to speed up this process and not take the blame. What little blame has been remaining and not directed at the Saudi’s has been kindly redirected towards the new NDP government by the always helpful and awfully plentiful “grass roots” movements that for some reason always seem to have ties back to industry.

The blame game has left very few people talking about the very real problems Alberta and subsequently all of Canada is and is about to be facing. Take for instance the massive expense of cleaning abandoned oil and gas wells which I was discussing in my Alberta Election post which have now come to the forefront among many other issues. Enbridge has set a long term plan to move away from oilsands all together.

It should be noted that all around the world the oil situation isn’t exactly good. The deal to “freeze production” between the Sauds and Russians should be of particular interest for those who understand the geopolitical game at foot here. As I wrote last year an informed Twitter follower informed me that the Saudi’s were not working against the Russians, but were working with them. This new deal, which is not a deal I should point out between the Saud’s and so-called ‘Saudi-America’, continues to fit the grand story of global divestment out of the USD. Divestment which is becoming so noticable that even the National Post wrote something about it.

It is a chilling statement from an expert on both gold and China. But he is speaking the truth: In a G2 world (the United States and China), he who is the piper calls the tune, and China holds a US$2-trillion mortgage on the United States and is not happy. This country, along with others that lend money to the United States, such as Saudi Arabia, will determine the value of the U. S. dollar and gold. And they have spoken. They are not buying more U. S. treasuries and are buying gold as a new asset class. China announced that it was doing so quietly, and recent reports are that the Saudis and others have been buying bullion and hocked gold jewellery from around the world. 

The only way is up for gold prices because the United States, which backstops the International Monetary Fund, the world’s lender of last resort, has had to become its own lender of last resort. 

Washington has cranked up the printing presses in an unprecedented way, replicating the behaviour of its spendthrift corporations and consumers. This year’s budget is US$3.5-trillion, bigger than any in history. 

And as Ing points out, the “bi” in this bipolar global economy is China. Beijing has not only started to hoard gold but has continued to talk up a new reserve currency concept to replace the U. S. dollar. The only reason the Chinese and others don’t dump U. S. dollars is because it would be like shooting themselves in the foot. 

Inflation, on top of excessive money supply dilution, will (unless mitigated by growth or stoppage) reduce the dollar’s value. Ing estimates that the printing of money to bail out banks, autos and the U. S. economy will create a catch-up in gold bullion prices: “Gold should be US$9,000 an ounce to cover the [current and projected] U. S. monetary base,” he says. 

China has become the world’s fifth-biggest gold hoarder, in addition to being the world’s biggest gold producer (through its government-owned mining companies). I also suspect that China is behind the political sabotage in Mongolia, to its north, which has for five years prevented Ivanhoe Mines of Vancouver from producing gold and copper from its massive discovery. 

Clearly, China also has been dis-investing from the U. S. dollar by getting slowly into hard assets (stock, commodities or ore bodies), which I have written about. This concerns Washington, which is why Hilary Clinton, U. S. Secretary of State, made her first state “house call” in Beijing to make nice with America’s first mortgagor. 

At that time, and publicly, too, China warned the United States about its dollar woes, while suggesting a basket of currencies to replace its pre-eminence. These scary pronouncements were followed by an announcement in Washington a few weeks ago that there would be a massive U. S. Treasury buyback of U. S. bonds. Put another way, the Chinese and others aren’t buying anymore so the surpluses are being mopped up by putting more on the taxpayer tab. 

It is an irreversible trend that China and others will continue to disinvest and diversify out of U. S. dollars, and that inflation will further impair the U. S. dollar’s value. That’s because the U. S. monetary/economic rescue is simply Washington’s version of the excesses and over-leveraging that led to the need for a rescue in the first place.

Speaking of gold, Canada just recently sold half it’s reserves. Yes, that’s right. Half. So whatever the government “deficit” is you’re hearing about these days, add half our gold supply to it.

Are you starting to get the picture folks? This is not normal. This is not normal at all.

When the Saudi Minister says things like this:

“The producers of those high-cost barrels must find a way to lower their costs, borrow cash or liquidate,” the minister told a business audience in Houston during a speech at the IHS Ceraweek event on Tuesday. 

“It sounds harsh, and unfortunately it is, but it is the most efficient way to rebalance markets. Cutting low-cost production to subsidize higher cost supplies only delays an inevitable reckoning.”

You must understand what he is really doing: he is calling North American oil production out on it’s bullshit. And worst still he shows the real target: the banks. Borrow more, he says. But he knows these oil companies can not borrow more, and that their hedges are now expiring, and that the defaults are about to start rolling in.

Peak oil.

I’ve seen a lot of people talking about peak oil lately. It’s pretty amusing. Apparently we beat it. Because the world is producing excess oil apparently all the peak oil theory is junk. Nevermind that were producing much of it at a loss. Nevermind that for almost an entire decade now we’ve been talking about “the recovery”. Nevermind that for the first time in modern economic history banks around the world are having to introduce negative interest rates which our own BoC has even discussed. Just never. Fucking. Mind.

Exxon Fails to Replace Oil, Gas Production for First Time in 22 Years

Exxon Mobil Corp. disclosed Friday that for the first time since 1994, it failed to find enough new oil and gas to replace what it produced last year.

Oil investment is weakest in 30 years

That will be the first time since 1986 that upstream investment has fallen for two consecutive years, the agency said, warning that the collapse could be storing up problems for consumers further down the track. 

“It is easy for consumers to be lulled into complacency by ample stocks and low prices today, but they should heed the writing on the wall: the historic investment cuts we are seeing raise the odds of unpleasant oil-security surprises in the not too distant future,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol on Monday.

So. Who can guess what comes next after the great deflation? Anyone? Bueller?

Once the defaults really get rolling and work their way thru the banking system all confidence in oilsands and shale production will be destroyed. The levels of investment weve seen will not be returning. Ever. EVER. I really want that to sink in. When I discussed Alberta’s new permanent reality, I really did mean permanent.It will be when the damage is done that the Sauds, along with Russia, and their partner China will finally give North America exactly what we’ve been asking them for: they’ll turn off the taps. And all hell will break loose. This is how they will put the final nail in the coffin of the U.S. dollar.

By turning off the taps the price of oil will rise very rapidly, lacking it’s own production North America will be forced to buy foreign oil in whatever currency they choose. They will not be choosing the U.S. dollar. This will also be the start of true hyperinflation in the U.S. as the energy shortage quickly adds pressure to deflation and they are forced to print more and more currency (borrow it from private banks at interest that is) to simply get life’s necessities.

It’s not a pretty picture but unless the people all around the world stop pointing fingers, making baseless accusations, and petty demands and stop just long enough to realize we’ve all been had, these forecasts, like my previous ones, will quickly be upon us. Just look around.

China says ‘really needs’ South China Sea defenses in face of United States

I haven’t written anything since the election on October 19th. I felt it pointless, Canadians were too obsessed with false victories in the political spectrum. “Defeating Harper” and the sort even though really the public has just once again been manip…

I do not care about niqabs and pot, Child tax credits worth a little or a lot, Who said what when seventeen, Or peed in a cup-how obscene. I see through wars started for gain, Pretending we care about people in pain. The campaign managers must laugh into the night,

I do not care about niqabs and pot, Child tax credits worth a little or a lot, Who said what when seventeen, Or peed in a cup-how obscene. I see through wars started for gain, Pretending we care about people in pain. The campaign managers must laugh into the night,

I do not care about niqabs and pot,Child tax credits worth a little or a lot,Who said what when seventeen,Or peed in a cup-how obscene.I see through wars started for gain,Pretending we care about people in pain.The campaign managers must laugh into the…

In part 1 of this post we focused on the need for exponential growth and the monetary system behind our need for this type of growth. We learned that the monetary system in it’s current form is a textbook definition of a Ponzi-scheme requiring ever growing production to meet ever growing debt

In part 1 of this post we focused on the need for exponential growth and the monetary system behind our need for this type of growth. We learned that the monetary system in it’s current form is a textbook definition of a Ponzi-scheme requiring ever growing production to meet ever growing debt

In part 1 of this post we focused on the need for exponential growth and the monetary system behind our need for this type of growth. We learned that the monetary system in it’s current form is a textbook definition of a Ponzi-scheme requiring ever growing production to meet ever growing debt at the top because at any given time there is always more total debt with interest than there is actual currency to pay for it and the only way to conjure up the currency needed to pay outstanding debt is to borrow even more currency resulting in a never ending cycle where the debt load and subsequent “growth” required are perfectly exponential.

In part 2 of this post we looked at the resource wars currently going on with a focus on it’s relation to peak oil and pipelines. The 14 year ‘war on terror’ has really been a resource war for the U.S. empire to position itself as the first and last global empire that is to be succeeded by corporations as we learned in Michael C. Ruppert’s presentation.

In part 3 of this post we looked at the macro effects and purpose of the TPP and free trade in general. Now the TPP has been signed though it still needs to be ratified by the incoming government (it wasn’t even supposed to be negotiated during the election anyway and the (Harper) government has so far pledged $5.3 billion dollars of your tax dollars for the auto and agriculture industries to counter their expected losses).

I was originally going to dedicate this post to the final category of issues “governmental issues” however time is growing short before the election now and with the quickly developing geopolitical situation I can’t be sure I’ll have enough time before the election to write part 5 and this section was really just to complete the context for this post but it is really the summary of what I think about all of this and how it ties into the election which is most important so we are going to skip most of that right to my summary. However, first I would like to touch briefly on the senate because my view on what is going on with it ties into a lot of what I’ll be touching on in my summary.

The Senate

I started this post discussing my top issue: that we basically don’t properly respect the way our parliament is supposed to work. Most people in this election are going to be voting for their “favourite party”, or even worse their “favourite prime minister”. A recent clarification by Justin Trudeau on the T.P.P. demonstrates the issue clearly:

OTTAWA — Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau will not allow his MPs a free vote on the massive Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement. 

Asked about it Wednesday morning, Trudeau was cautious with his answer.
“We’re a long way from that,” he told reporters. 

“We have a very clear policy on free votes that says elements that are in our platform, elements that go to the heart of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and elements that are confidence matters, that is, matters of budget, people would be expected to vote with the Liberal Party,” Trudeau went on to say. 

“On other issues, they would be expected to stand up for the interests of their constituents right across the country because that is what we elect people to do.”

During their departures I noticed many progressives saying they are “fleeing the sinking ship” but what I don’t think Canadians yet understand is Harper completed his voyage. The damage is done with his finale of selling Canada out to the TPP. Everyone is worried about Harper, I believe so strongly in this theory now that I’m not. As Kathleen Smith (@kikkiplanet) said ‘this is his farewell tour’.

Liberal Party

I believe the status-quo wants Justin Trudeau to become Prime Minister. He is a master actor, political royalty, bred from the ground up for this position. If you were a puppet master Trudeau would be the perfect puppet, he’s Canada’s Obama.

You may have noticed throughout this post that I have focused on what it is Trudeau is saying, or not saying, or saying but not have you believing, whatever you want to call it. The purpose of this is to show you that Trudeau is just as invested in the status-quo as Harper is. There is no difference.

Having Trudeau and the Liberals win is important to the status-quo, not just because the Liberals have always been in the pockets of the big banks, but because Trudeau will be elected with a mandate to keep bills like C51 and just supposedly repair them. Remember back before C51 when the media was pushing the narrative that ‘the vast majority of Canadians support bill C51’? As I attempted to show back then it’s not that Canadians discovered how bad the bill was, but rather it was that the ‘vast support’ didn’t exist in the first place. They were manufacturing consent.

But it didn’t work. Trudeau came out supporting the bill and his support dropped off a cliff and the media has been building him up ever since. Manufacturing consent around bills like C51 is necessary because they can not really be used and abused without the public’s consent. Push the people too far, or take too much for granted, and they may revolt. Having C51 on the books isn’t good enough, the next incoming government must have a mandate to use it. Justin Trudeau just happens to have such a mandate and his meaningless “repairs” are simply whitewashing a dangerous bill.

We’ve covered a lot about Trudeau this series so I’ll leave you with this:

New Democrat Party

The NDP are a bigger question mark in my mind. I don’t trust Mulcair – like at all – particularly since he seems to have morals for hire. He seems like a plant to me, much like Ignatieff was to bring Harper his majority, and the NDP are running a weak campaign.

However, on the flip side I don’t believe the NDP are as thoroughly corrupted as the Conservative or Liberal parties and if you care about your civil liberties, or Canada’s sovereignty, and actually hope your vote has some effect as to repealing or withdrawing from these types of activities then they are probably the best bet.

I think Mulcair’s economics, like all of their economics, are bullshit, but until Canadians address our exponential growth fiat monetary system the “economy” is going to suck so don’t expect any changes on that front. Unlike my forecasts for Alberta’s NDP I am not as confident the federal NDP will direct tax dollars where they need to go either in attempting to future proof Canada.

Outside of that I don’t have much to say about the NDP, they probably represent the closest thing to “real change”.

Conclusion

Soooooo.. ya. Slim pickens.

But as I said, if we as Canadians reclaim our democracy and use our political system properly none of this shit matters. The leader is only as strong as those under him and I’ll take a house filled with honourable people who will stand up for the interests of their constituents even if that fuckwit Trudeau says vote with the party over the partisan free for all we have now. That’s what we need and we’re really the only ones who can do that for us.

So with all that in mind, I leave you with this question: Of the three videos shown above how many displayed an ad for Justin Trudeau (if you’re Canadian), and how many for Harper, or Mulcair?

In my last post we started out reviewing a piece by James Howard Kunstler in which he stated the following: Charlie Rose, 60-Minutes — and perhaps by extension US government agencies with an interest in propagandizing — seem to want to put over the story that Russia has involved itself

Charlie Rose, 60-Minutes — and perhaps by extension US government agencies with an interest in propagandizing — seem to want to put over the story that Russia has involved itself in Syria only to aggrandize its role on in world affairs.

Well it seems that may be a lot closer to the mark regarding the idiotic line of clearly pro-US narrative that Charlie Rose was asking Putin as a recently uncovered email regarding Hillary Clinton’s on-going scandal shows.

The contents of the email are shown here:

From: Crowley, Philip J Sent:Friday, January 28, 2011 8:08 PM To: Cc: Mills, Cheryl D; Sullivan, Jacob J; Koh, Harold Hongju; Mull, Stephen D; Reines, Philippe I; McHale, Judith A; Verma, Richard R; Goldberg, Philip S; Abedin, Huma; Steinberg, James B; Nides, Thomas R; Burns, William J 

Subject: 60 Minutes Sunday 

Madame Secretary, 

a very quick update. I just received confirmation from 60 Minutes that a piece on Julian Assange will air Sunday night. He will be the only person featured. We had made a number of suggestions for outside experts and former diplomats to interview to “balance” the piece. 60 Minutes assures me that they raised a number of questions and concerns we planted with them during the course of the interview. We will be prepared to respond to the narrative Assange presents during the program. 

PJ
SBU 

This email is UNCLASSIFIED.

Ahh, there is nothing like government “balance” planted in a news story eh? Keep this in mind the next time you see reporters using the exact same phrases on every channel to describe an event as ‘The Daily Show’ was so good at highlighting (yet also overlooking how incredibly odd it was that it happened all the time).

In my last post we started out reviewing a piece by James Howard Kunstler in which he stated the following: Charlie Rose, 60-Minutes — and perhaps by extension US government agencies with an interest in propagandizing — seem to want to put over the story that Russia has involved itself

With the more prominent Russian presence in the war the tables have turned for the U.S. narrative so I’m going to be taking a break from my #elxn42 breakdown series to refocus on the war in Syria as it’s now at a pivotal point. Recently 60 Minutes did an interview

With the more prominent Russian presence in the war the tables have turned for the U.S. narrative so I’m going to be taking a break from my #elxn42 breakdown series to refocus on the war in Syria as it’s now at a pivotal point. Recently 60 Minutes did an interview

Recently 60 Minutes did an interview with Putin which I would really encourage you to watch. Putin is succinct and clear with his answers despite 60 Minutes’ obviously pointed questions. Of course Russia is “up to something”, we’re all “up to something” in this region with everyone using humanitarianism and ISIS as a cover. But the Russian strategy (which we will be discussing throughout this post) is quite clever.

First I’d like to review a bit of commentary by James Howard Kunstler over at Clusterfucknation on this interview (though again you really should read the entire thing it’s – I think anyway – hilarious)

This bit on Ukraine was only a little more appalling than Charlie’s earlier segment on Syria. Was Putin trying to rescue the Assad government? Charlie asked, in the context of President Obama’s statement years ago that “Assad has to go.” 

Putin answered as if he were explaining something that should have been self-evident to a not-very-bright high school freshman: “To remove the legitimate government would create a situation which you can witness in other countries of the region, for instance Libya, where all the state institutions have disintegrated. We see a similar situation in Iraq. There’s no other solution to the Syrian crisis than strengthening the government structure.” 

I guess Charlie and the 60-Minutes production crew hadn’t noticed what had gone on around the Middle East the past fifteen years with America’s program of toppling dictators into the maw of anarchy. Not such great outcomes. 

Charlie persisted though, following his script: Was Putin trying to rescue Assad? Vlad had to lay it out for him as if he were introducing Charlie to the game of Animal Lotto: “What do you think about those who support the terrorist organizations only to oust Assad without thinking about what happens to the country after all the state institutions have been demolished…? Look at those who are in control of 60 percent of the territory of Syria. 

Meaning ISIS. Al Nusra (formerly al Qaeda in Syria), i.e., groups internationally recognized as terrorist organizations. 

Charlie Rose, 60-Minutes — and perhaps by extension US government agencies with an interest in propagandizing — seem to want to put over the story that Russia has involved itself in Syria only to aggrandize its role on in world affairs. 

Forgive me for being so blunt, but what sort of stupid fucking idea is this? And are there any non-lobotomized adults left in the USA who can’t see straight through it? The truth is that American policy in Syria (plus Iraq, Libya, Ukraine, Somalia, Afghanistan) is an impressive record of failure in terms of the one basic aim that most rational people might agree upon: stabilizing the region in a way that does not leave Islamic jihadi maniacs in charge.

Why now? What are the Russians really up to?

A big question on everyone’s minds seems to be. Why now? What are the Russians really up to? As Kunstler rightly notes the official narrative so far has more or less been that they are “Russia has involved itself in Syria only to aggrandize its role on in world affairs”. Of course they’re there to fortify Assad and prevent what I must remind you is the sovereign government of Syria from being overrun by U.S. empire backed terrorists. But based on their actions there is clearly a lot more to it than that.

It’s of course suspected (obvious really) that should the official U.S. ‘moderate’ rebels attack the SAA they will be fair game but they are also taking this opportunity to reinforce the Syrian government against NATO itself.

September 22nd: Russia Has Added Dozens of Aircraft to Its Growing Military Presence in Syria: Reports

Here’s an interesting excerpt:

Vladimir Putin has reportedly added drones, attack helicopters and aircraft to its force in Syria in recent weeks. 

Russia rapidly increased its aerial attack capabilities in Syria over the weekend, U.S. officials told Agence France-Presse on Monday, including 28 combat planes that have been sighted at a new Russian air base in the Syrian province of Latakia. 

The fleet includes 12 SU-24 attack aircraft, 12 SU-25 ground attack aircraft and four Flanker fighter jets, the officials told the news agency on condition of anonymity. An influx of new weaponry was also reported separately by the New York Times and CNN. 

One of the officials told AFP of the additional presence of around 20 combat helicopters and said Russian forces are flying surveillance drones over the Middle Eastern nation’s airspace. 

According to the Times, Russia’s military presence in Syria also includes at least three surface-to-air missiles, nine tanks and around 500 marines. 

“The equipment and personnel just keep flowing in,” another official told the Times. “They were very busy over the weekend.”

So why recent weeks? Let’s take a look at some of the headlines  from ‘recent weeks’.

On September 18th a “special representative to the United States and the United Nations for the Syrian National Coalition.” wrote an op-ed in the New York Times calling for a No-Fly Zone.

On August 28th in the Globe & Mail: “The time for a ‘no-fly zone’ over Syria has arrived“

Yesterday, September 28th “Kevin McCarthy calls for no-fly zone over Syria“

Calls for a no-fly zone in mainstream media have been all over the place again suddenly and maybe this is why as back in July:

The U.S. flew “no-fly zones” over northern and southern Iraq for more than a decade before the 2003 U.S. invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. U.S. warplanes kept Iraqi aircraft out of the sky, and targeted Iraqi air-defense systems that threatened to shoot. Now, along with neighboring Turkey, the U.S. is planning to launch something similar over a stretch of northern Syria.

Now of course the other hand of the U.S. immediately “shot down” this idea but you’d have to be an idiot to actually believe it’s not being considered and I don’t think Putin is an idiot, do you?

I read a great blog post on the type of system Putin is deploying which I really suggest you check out.

Utilizing the court of public opinion

In part 2 of my series on the Canadian federal election we took a trip down memory lane on some of the events that lead to the Syrian ‘civil’ war. Since the Russian build up the western narrative on Syria has changed significantly almost overnight. Russia is forming it’s own coalition to fight ISIS – and it is legal and operating within Syria at the invitation of the Syrian government. As the Financial Times noted “this puts the U.S. on the back foot“.

If you’ll recall from part 2 of my series on the Canadian election, prior to John Kerry failing to convince the world of the urgent need to bomb the Syrian government there was no ISIS narrative in the news, it was all “rebels” with sprinkles of al-Qaeda. The al-Qaeda participation was downplayed and frankly I don’t think the public was ever supposed to know about their participation. Syria was supposed to go down like Libya where hardly any of the population was aware of the fact the rebels were actually mostly terrorists.

If you remember the media atmosphere back then it was largely the public’s recent awareness to the presence of al-Qaeda within the rebels that made it so difficult for the United States to get a coalition and public mandate to bomb the Syrian government. There was too much doubt about the still dubious ‘chemical weapons’ which were presented to strengthen the argument given the presence of al-Qaeda. It was only following Kerry’s failure to bomb Assad that the media latched onto the phrase ISIS.

The necessity of the change in focus and narrative can not be understated. The United States can not invoke the ‘War on Terror’ to attack a sovereign state. They need a reason, they need public support. They tried to get it, and failed. However, the ‘War on Terror’ allows them to attack terrorists anywhere in the world regardless of borders. They got their bombing of Syria, and they got it by instead of hiding the presence of al-Qaeda – and their atrocities as “the rebels” – moving to a strategy that highlighted them. The heinous acts of ISIS coupled with some likely propaganda aided by intelligence for media purposes were finally enough to gain support for limited military action in Iraq and Syria.

The narrative changed and in what seemed almost overnight there wasn’t just a few terrorist fighters, there were tons, and now they terrorize 60% of Syria. It really is a testament to the awesome power of manipulation that exists within the military industrial complex.

This narrative has a weakness however, and now for the second time Russia has seized on the weakness in the U.S. narrative to deny them what they want. The first time in 2013 when Kerry occidentally provided a direct path for Russia to follow that would thwart the U.S. attack that the U.S. had to honour to save face and now this time by using their “ineffective” war against ISIS as the same pretext for their fortification of the Syrian state which much like the U.S. being able to strike the Syrian government directly would raise suspicion if not for the convenient excuse of ISIS. Russia is beating the U.S. at it’s own game of public relations.

The rhetoric now has greatly changed because the U.S. is trapped in their own ISIS narrative. The hopes for a no-fly zone necessary in the NATO strategy for regime change is now extremely unlikely to occur without a direct confrontation with Russian hardware. The cover for the ‘moderate’ rebels (which if you remember from part 2 of my series on the Canadian election Joe Biden said “there are no moderate rebels”) is now useless as Russia is within every legal right internationally to aid Syria.

Russia is playing the situation by the book, using the same humanitarian crisis excuse that the U.S. has been using to enter Syria to begin a real fight against ISIS which the U.S. and it’s coalition has not truly been doing. They have been working to contain ISIS and force Assad from power for their benefit causing untold grief on the people of Syria for as long as Syria doesn’t play ball. The U.S. has repeatedly warned that Russia’s entry into the war will prolong the war but the conflated reasoning for this is simple: the western proxy will not stop fighting until the U.S. and it’s allies get what they want.

In response to the Russian fortification now Saudi Arabia has warned that they may get directly involved in the conflict against the Syrian government and there are rumours of Chinese involvement in defence of the Syrian government too.

Things are definitely heating up and it seems the U.S. is quickly losing control both of it’s humanitarian shield narrative, and it’s allies.

Update-1

Russian parliament green lights use of troops in Syria

Update-2

U.S. doubts Russia targeting Islamic State positions in Syria

President Vladimir Putin sought to portray the airstrikes as a pre-emptive attack against the Islamic militants who have taken over large parts of Syria and Iraq. Russia estimates at least 2,400 of its own citizens are already fighting alongside extremists in Syria and Iraq. 

“If they (militants) succeed in Syria, they will return to their home country, and they will come to Russia, too,” Putin said in a televised speech at a government session. 

The U.S. and Russia both agree on the need to fight Islamic State, but are in dispute about what to do about Syrian President Bashar Assad’s government. At the U.N. General Assembly, President Barack Obama said the U.S. and Russia could work together on a political transition, but only if Assad leaving power was the result. Putin is Assad’s most powerful backer. 

The Russian airstrikes targeted positions, vehicles and warehouses that Moscow believes belong to IS militants, Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies. 

A senior U.S. official, however, said the airstrikes don’t appear to be targeting IS, because the militants aren’t in the western part of the country, beyond Homs, where the strikes were directed. 

It appears the strikes were directed against opposition groups fighting against Assad, according to the official, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the Russian airstrikes publicly so spoke on condition of anonymity. 

Syrian state television quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Russian warplanes have targeted IS positions in central Syria, including the areas of Rastan and Talbiseh, and areas near the town of Salamiyeh in Hama province. 

IS controls parts of Homs province, including the historic town of Palmyra. Homs also has positions run by al-Qaida’s affiliate in Syria, known as the Nusra Front. Both groups have fighters from the former Soviet Union including Chechens. 

Genevieve Casagrande of the Institute of the Study of War, using an alternative acronym for Islamic State, said the airstrike on Talbisah, “did not hit ISIS militants and rather resulted in a large number of civilian casualties.” 

“If confirmed, the airstrike would signal Russian intent to assist in the Syrian regime’s war effort at large, rather than securing the regime’s coastal heartland of Latakia and Tartous,” she said. 

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement that a Russian official in Baghdad informed U.S. Embassy personnel that Russian military aircraft would shortly begin flying anti-IS missions over Syria. The Russian official also asked that U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during those missions Wednesday. Kirby didn’t say whether the U.S. agreed to that request.

This reminds me of a cryptic warning given by Zbigniew Brzezinski to Russia on the anniversary of September the 11th:

Seems like Russia’s response is: challenge accepted.

In part 1 of this post we focused on the need for exponential growth and the monetary system behind our need for this type of growth. We learned that the monetary system in it’s current form is a textbook definition of a Ponzi-scheme requiring ever growing production to meet ever