Change.
This may disturb some of you. This may surprise some of you. This may disappoint some of you. But it has to be said.
After denying it for sometime, to you dear reader and even to myself, the truth is now clear. And you should now read this blog in the context of what I am about to say.
I am rooting for an epic housing collapse, a disastrous recession, the collapse of the stock market, a complete replacement of our current partisian leadership, a questioning of our country's current economic model, and a severe and historic financial meltdown.
Period.
Before, I thought just a correction would do the trick. A cleansing of the debt-and-greed-fueled housing balloon we as a society created.
But I've come to the conclusion that will not be enough to right the wrongs and fix the problem, so that future generations will not be burdened with the current generation's misguided and self-centered ways.
Pure and simple, I want Change (with a Capital C), and I now feel that only an historic financial meltdown will create the environment where Americans wake up from their current slumber, and call for new leadership, new thinking, and above all, change.
Something went awry in the US over the past decade. Something changed, with our government, our system, and our collective conscious. And this change was not for the better.
Greed overcame and infected so many of us - the idea of getting rich without working, and an overwhelming need to consume, consume, consume. We no longer worked for the benefit of our common man - we worked only for ourselves. We said "screw the next generation - I want mine, and I want it now!". And we went on a debt-fueled orgy of spending, never stopping to look at the bills coming due, and never stopping to think about the repercussions.
Now, dear reader, it's time to stop. It's time to pause, and consider where we went wrong, and above all, how we can fix it.
So, in conclusion, the fate that awaits us, this cleansing of our ways and of our system, in the form of an epic real estate market and financial collapse, in my simple opinion is a fate of necessity, and will serve as a catalyst for needed Change.
And away we go. Good luck to all of you, and know that I believe that we will come out of this stronger, wiser and determined to Change.
September 07, 2006
A HousingPanic Manifesto: Change
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146 comments:
Here Hear.
Sounds like anarchy...but I am okay with that...sounds like what you want is a totally fresh start
the date will be dec 20, 2012..the last day of the Mayan calender and the start of New beginning...it will be more beautiful than you could ever imagine but yes the existing structure will no longer exist!
My Dear Keith,
We live in a survival of the fittest world and the masses learned from the
way they were treated over many years. It is a learned behavior, not proper, but survival.
Sad but understandable.
Not every one can be Mother Teresa, turn the other cheek, etc. or they risk being eaten alive.
Pure and simple, I want Change (with a Capital C), and I now feel that only an historic financial meltdown will create the environment where Americans wake up from their current slumber, and call for new leadership, new thinking, and above all, change.
Many Germans once thought the same thing, for the same reason.
Change, they sure got.
wow
I'm in 100% agreement on all points. I root for a TOTAL meltdown. The more debt you have the more I root for collapse.
Tell us how you reall yfell Keith hahah!
I agree I to want change and equality we are a divided country the Who is who and then the other half.
Shit one just has to look at how our fellow americans were treated when hurricane katrina devistated New Orleans to see we are a divided country.
You either make it or you dont.
that is really feel (excuse me)
why don't we have candidates with the balls to say this?
Oh F me! Greed has always been there. Yes, even in the take no responsibility Clinton years!
You F'n liberals are all the same!
Open minded to point where your brains have fallen out!
That A.H. Gore cries about 'Global Warming!' That c--ksucker didn't do a damn thing about it for eight years! man of the people my ass! Check out where, and at how many places he lives!
Republicans don't have a Monopoly on Wealth!
How about John Kerry, that horse faced puke is or married into extreme wealth!
So lets not all dump on Bush without lookin' in the mirror!
The meltdown of the excesses of the Weimar Republic turned into Nazism as people looked for a strong leader to take them out of their misery. With our multic-culti society here, it will lead to a massive race war as people group together to fight for the remaining resources to survive.
I'm sending this rant to every one I know, especially my friends with too many toys
Change is not always a good thing!
unless it's a baby's shitty diaper, or a another Democrat in office!
So lets not all dump on Bush without lookin' in the mirror!
Hey anonopuss no one here dumping on any politician but you shit for brains.
read before you post otherwise you look the part...an ass that is
I think it all started with Clinton's office hummer
not one time did keith single out any political party he said GOVERMENT as a whole, and you come here and rave Liberal F's,typical closet minded fool the door open the door shuts...hahah you fool.
that is the problem everything has to be politics, not what people want politics..well anonopuss it is not working anymore.we the people are
SICK AND TIRED .
"I am rooting for an epic housing collapse, a disastrous recession,.."
Wow!!
It's one thing to call a collapse.
Quite another to root for one.
used to like reading this site.
but now.....?
Abortion on demand, Gay marriage, Gay rights, free health care for all, illegals given the vote and drivers licenses, higher taxes,.....etc.
Great party ya got there Dem's
Abortion on demand, Gay marriage, Gay rights, free health care for all, illegals given the vote and drivers licenses, higher taxes,.....etc.
WAR!, LIES, BLATANT THEIVERY OF OUR TREASURY, CLOSE DOOR CORPORATE BARGINS, OUTING OF A CIA AGENT, ILLEGAL PRISONS, TAX CUTS FOR THE RICH,WAR WITHOUT CAUSE, MAJOR JOB LOSSES, FIXED NUMBERS,
the list goes on, hell of a party you have there.
War criminals, outsorced torture-on-demand, gang rape and murder followed by chicken wings, enhanced napalm, billion-dollar no-bid contracts to political cronies - great party YOU got there, Repubs!
Agree completely... but it ain't gonna happen... game is rigged.
Sorry.
The only thing that might make this change come to fruition is an Islamo-nuclear weapon that really kicks off WW3 into full tear...
... I'm certainly not rooting for that but it will probably happen unfortunately.
When sales (of all kinds not just real estate sales) stop is when America will re-think its priorities and positions and not a moment before. When the easy credit gravy train stops running and the financial reckoning day hits is when you will see fundamental changes and not beforehand. It's America and nothing happens either good or bad until the sales stop. I suspect (and hope) that the next great public works projects like the ones done during the great depression will be a rebuilding of the nation's rail system and energy grid. All those young unemployed guys are going to need something productive to do when there is no need to build, rehab, etc. houses and condo buildings. I could be wrong, but, I would think all you construction and engineer types out there would take a great deal more personal satisfaction by producing big, well run, energy efficient, world class transportation and engery systems than to design one more pookie princess mchouse and install another granite countertop. Let's see, a rail system that your grandkids will use and say to others with pride, "my grandpa helped build this" or a cookie cutter subdivision full of houses that will be turning into rentals and section 8 housing in 50 years.
"It's one thing to call a collapse.Quite another to root for one. used to like reading this site.but now.....?"
honesty cuts like a knife sometimes and I think I like hp even more now - although I'm loading up on ammo and h20
let's get this over with quick so we can get on with it I say!
jason
This reminds me of V's moving speech in the latest Wachowski Bros. film, V for Vendetta. "What went wrong? Who's to blame?", etc... Check it out- good flick.
well change is coming Keith, look at this Horror show.
http://tinyurl.com/mph2p
while I agree this society is utterly corrupt and unsustainable, the changes that we must undergo to fix it will be painful. Life-alteringly painful. Personally I hope we can hold it together for a few more years while I set up house in a remote, tropical, agrarian place.
Robin Hood for president!!!
"Something went awry in the US over the past decade."
I'd say two decades. Remember how the latter 1980s began the "greed is good" ethic? I was relieved that the early-1990s recession and last housing fall were a return to normalcy. But then the latter 1990s-to-now reverted with the dot-com bubble, McMansions, SUVs, etc.
It is clear that Keith has joined the current administration in his thinking.
Keith - you are not alone in this thinking...groups I belong to primarily (i come here for the cool photos) - believe what you are touching on...unfortunately nothing short of a global die off of 80% of the population is required to just have a running start.
What you read below is a letter from Tom Wayburn - to Hamlet - most need to understand the total picture to even begin to understand the concept of the "artificial economic contingency (AEC)" or the origins of greed.
"Dear Hamlet,
I have just been going over the two most important topics relevant to preventing Dieoff - OR, in the event of a Dieoff, making certain that it doesn't happen again.
I just wrote a letter about the first subject, namely, eliminating artificial economic contingency and the ancillary, but most important topic, how to get the property, power, and money away from the owners of the world:
The problem with allowing different income to different people based on abilities, contributions to the community, etc. - in short, anything related to the people themselves - is the devil itself.
There is no way to permit any such thing without arriving at what we have now. As soon as you open that door, you have allowed the profit motive - and, with it, greed and fear - to enter. This has been my principal discovery, namely, that artificial economic contingency (AEC) is Pandora's Box. With it, every evil; without it, none. [See http://dematerialis m.net/Chapter% 205.html# _Toc80397869 for a definition of AEC.]
At this point, I must point out that my understanding of human nature is much
more realistic than that of my liberal friends who would allow some differences in
wealth and income and don't want to "rob the rich". And, by the way, it's
not just robbing the rich, it's neutralizing them forever. We must take
them out of the game. Retire them. Prevent them from becoming involved in
the economic life of the world until they understand this: Human nature is
good enough to live without AEC if there are no institutions (such as buying
and selling or finance) whereby they can improve their position (or worsen
it or the position of others); but, human nature is not good enough to live
with a little AEC and not make it a part of our propensity to establish
pecking orders.
This is crucial. It is fine if people establish a better reputation for
excellence or virtue or establish reproductive advantages by making
themselves the ones whom members of the opposite sex want to have children
with or if they receive reproductive tokens ( http://dematerialis m.net/Chapter% 203.html# _The_Necessity_ To_Control% 20Population )
from those who have them to give; but, if they can establish resource
dominance, every evil will become manifest once again no matter how you
equilibrate wealth at the outset.
This is the one point upon which there can be no compromise. Please
see Chapter 9 and Appendix II of *On the Preservation of Species*
http://dematerialis m.net/POS. html in which I call AEC "materialism" . My
claim is that, if you do not eliminate AEC, any changes made will be either
irrelevant or temporary.
My course is clear. To go on establishing this as one of the fundamental
principles of the universe by means of my writing but not by arguing with
hostile people. Almost any person I speak to on the street at random is
quick to agree with me (and not just because they think I am crazy), but
"activists" who are committed to their own ideas always give me a hard time.
When I hear a good idea like eMergy or homotopy, I am quick to adopt it.
"Talent recognizes genius instantly; mediocrity knows nothing higher than
itself."
By the way, the Mark II Economy ( http://dematerialis m.net/Mark- II-Economy. html )proves that differences in wealth (in the form of higher salaries) are energetically costly *per se* but not as costly as commerce - the method by which great differences in wealth are established, which is unsustainable in the US because of Maximum Renewables
( http://dematerialis m.net/CwC. html#_Maximum_ Renewables ). [The Mark I Economy ( http://dematerialis m.net/Mark- II-Economy. html#_Toc1408344 50 ) established that to have more than others is murder in a world of scarcity like this one.]
Do you agree that artificial economic contingency ( http://dematerialis m.net/Chapter% 205.html# _Toc80397869 ) must be eliminated? That no economic system that includes AEC is sustainable? Will people who have the ability to do so try to improve their positions only a little or will some of them try to get all of the property and money they can?
The second important topic is preventing the rise of natural leaders in the sense of G. B. Shaw (Preface to *The Millionairess* ). Elsewhere Shaw wrote:
Lord Acton’s dictum that power corrupts gives no idea of the extent to which flattery, deference, power, and apparently unlimited money, can upset and demoralize simpletons who in their proper places are good fellows enough. To them the exercise of authority is not a heavy and responsible job which strains their mental capacity and industry to the utmost, but a delightful sport to be indulged for its own sake, and asserted and reasserted by cruelty and monstrosity. – George Bernard Shaw, Preface to Geneva.
In any case, something must be done to prevent the rise of powerful people because the benevolent despot is never found outside of the covers of a romantic novel or a falsified history.
Tom Wayburn, Houston, Texas
http://dematerialis m.net/
http://dematerialis m.blogspot. com/"
On the bright side of things, doesn't this mean that there'll be an excess of empty houses for the newly homeless to swat in?
whoa man, totally Ted "unibomber" dude, you don't even live in the u.s. anymore - are you hoping a shift in attitudes here will somehow jump the pond to u.k.? as i understand things, if u.s. goes through a recession/depression the rest of the planet gets major hosing for a long time to come.
"Greed overcame and infected so many of us - the idea of getting rich without working, and an overwhelming need to consume, consume, consume. We no longer worked for the benefit of our common man - we worked only for ourselves. We said "screw the next generation - I want mine, and I want it now!". And we went on a debt-fueled orgy of spending, never stopping to look at the bills coming due, and never stopping to think about the repercussions."
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!
In all fairness he's been warning us to get ready for some time. A US depression will be a worldwide economic event for sure with no safe harbor
what kind of anti-american sicko roots for what you say?
Yep, pretty unlikely that the economy would crash "just enough" so that we can all run out and buy a below market houses, yet not so much as to wreak general havoc.
Here's a sketch of what the collapse in Russia was like (1st story):
http://lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/BreakingNews.html
Even without a housing bubble, there are several other factors pressing hard on the world economy. Civilization as we know it is unsustainable - still, I don't see why we can't sort it out... eventually.
mr vincint, the FED is the BAD BLOOD.
google: MONEY MASTERS video- watch, learn,cry and arm yourself!!
you have been warned
dieoff??? zig heil dude. 80% dieoff??/ man go read the story of cain and abel already. one gereration into this human experiment and one bro offs another bro over "he's got something i don't and mommy and daddy don't like me as much". no governments or asset bubbles involved just unchecked emotion and ingrained sibling rivalry competing for mom and dads affection. you can't prevent human nature from showing its ugly side whether you have 6 billion people or 6 people on the planet. financial problems come and they go and then they come again - big flippin deal. hasn't everyone on this blog probably been poor at some point? did you live? yeah you did and you may not want to relive being poor but could you if you had to? making the problem worse by advocating or rooting for the mass dieoff (by the way who made those folks king anyway) of people isn't any help.
anon said: Abortion on demand, Gay marriage, Gay rights, free health care for all, illegals given the vote and drivers licenses, higher taxes,.....etc.
hey its just a DISTRACTION to keep the sheople preoccupied with nonsense posing as politics.
all the while, the FED and the Rothchilds and Goldmans are stealing everyones wealth. Not just here in the US but around the globe, thru the CENTRAL BANKING system.
Holy S**T, and I thoiught praying for $7.00 a gallon gas was a little crazy. I only wanted to see the fat-american-walmart-latte-am Idol-watching-brain dead-SUV driving assholes cry and squeeze their fat sweaty asses into civics.
Unfortunately you are right! The Great Depression created the Greatest Generation most are dead or dying now. Time to start with a clean slate.
Humanity has at numerous times faced certain doom and has each time managed to survive and move on. We have faced the prospect of nuclear annihilation at the hands of the Soviet Union, global domination at the hands of Nazi Germany, global financial meltdown of the Great Depression, the Dark Ages, the Plague, the Great Flood...
Since Man’s eviction from the Garden of Eden, we have had to struggle for our very existence. That is not likely to change. We will get through this, but we must all do our part to bring about positive change.
Anyone who says we are about to enter a period of certain doom is obviously crazy, crazy but correct.
Unfortunately, I think that anyone hoping for "massive" change to improve things is just setting themselves up for disappointment. For one thing, revolutions are hard to pull off. But even when they do, they almost never turn out in a result that makes things better than they were.
I agree that a good thumping economic downturn will do some good, by bringing prices more in-line with income and (MOST importantly) teaching people that saving is a virtue and speculation really has risks. That said, I suspect there will be plenty of "bad" along with the "good".
Just look at what happened during other major economic downturns. Americans demanded greater government help during the '30s and elected Roosevelt. The Argentine's resorted to redistributive populists when they hit a crisis in 2002.
I take the long view of things. Human-kind will always follow generational cycles with peace/war/boom/bust. Whenever you get far enough away from generations who suffered through previous calamities, you are destined to get more of such man-made disasters. No change in government, or society, will change that.
Even if society and government become some paragon of virtue as a result of this upcoming downturn it won't last. Give things another 80 or 100 years and we'll be right back where we started.
Actually, what I wish we had was a willingness of societies/governments to allow frequent booms and busts. It is the desire to smooth things out, and prevent problems (i.e. with central banks, bail-outs of various sorts, etc) which wind up creating even BIGGER problems down the road. I wish the US could just go on like it did back in the 1800s with severe economic shocks every 30 or 40 years. These downturns were painful, but brief.
"Humanity has at numerous times faced certain doom and has each time managed to survive and move on."
Never with 7 billion people.
More thoughts need to be put ionto these rhetorical statements thinker.
Upon exiting the Constitutional Convention Benjamin Franklin was approached by a group of citizens asking what sort of government the delegates had created. His answer was: "A republic, if you can keep it."
Looks like we couldn't keep it. Pride, greed, extravagance, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth on the part of citizens and their elected leaders have done it in. We now await the arrival of the Strong Leader, el Hefe, who will "save" the poor, lost children. History teaches that this charismatic leader will come to power amidst great hope and tribute. Then the suffering begins.
busts are needed after every boom otherwise asset prices would become permanently detached from asset valuation fundamentals, and we all know that can't happen, thus the cleansing power of busts
How apocalyptic.
Have you ever noticed that apocalyptic manifestos never quite work out the way their authors intend? The destruction is never complete enough, the world never gets pure enough for their utopian vision to materialize.
People don't get smarter or wiser or more forward looking when their world collapses. They're just as dumb, and a lot more desperate.
"History teaches that this charismatic leader will come to power amidst great hope and tribute"
barack obama
"How apocalyptic"? I actually found this post hopeful
Keith...why so bitter and negative? Why the jealousy? I would hate to live in your world...
all the while, the FED and the Rothchilds and Goldmans are stealing everyones wealth. Not just here in the US but around the globe, thru the CENTRAL BANKING system.
Oh lemme guess what's next?
It's All The Jews' Fault!!!
And monkeys may fly out of my ass!
Guess what? The problem ain't central banking, Jews, the Illuminati or the Gnomes of Zurich.
Financial problems in the 19th century were worse without modern central banking. "They" blamed their economic problems on Jews then too.
And we know who They blamed for the collapse of the German economy.
How about this for blame:
Greed and a rampant ideology of the powerful which simultaneously pushes the ideals of "mass luxury consumption" and the propagandistic delusion that "you too can be rich", and worship of the rich, and then simultaneously destroys the industrial base and most good jobs for the population----all to benefit a few tycoons here and in Asia.
Figure out who ever was in favor of that, and blame all of them.
The Argentine's resorted to redistributive populists when they hit a crisis in 2002.
And since then their economy has been on a tear, expanding at near Chinese rates; 8-9% GDP growth. Real estate has recovered and is growing smartly. Tourism, agriculture, and even industry is coming back. Tenaris (big steel pipes) is booming, the cafes are full and the chicks are smokin (hot).
The reality was that the previous government (Menem et al) were just plain criminal thiefs, and maintained an illusion of prosperity without actual productivity by virtue of the unsustainable currency peg.
Now does that sounds familiar?
Listen "Richard" you can always come up with a reason why "it is different this time" but you would be well advised to appreciate that it rarely ever is.
Oh my friend it is...
7 billion and climbing.
You may do well to read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Limits_to_Growth
Limits to Growth by the club of Rome.
Yes - it is gravely different this time thinker.
"Croc hunter" croaked!
Is that the "sign" Keith is waiting?
I wish I could replace Keith's "Change" picture with this, more realistic, one:
http://www.despair.com/changewinds.html
be careful out there
I suspect that the anarchy and the dark ages to follow will be double plus ungood. Perhaps at one point in time a collapse could have been staved off, but now it is going to come apart . The time to plan and be careful is before you hit the iceberg. No matter how carefully you planned, life after the crash is probably not going to be as easy as it is now.
Maybe make some printouts of your blog on acid free paper and stash them so future generations can see that some people saw the collapse coming.
Listen "Richard" you can always come up with a reason why "it is different this time" but you would be well advised to appreciate that it rarely ever is.
Never before in the history of human civilization:
* have we run out of a critical energy supply without foreseeable, practical alternatives
* altered the global climate far beyond the entire course of geophysical history.
We are "out of band" on CO2 over the historical recovd covering about EIGHTY ICE AGES, far longer than any civilization and even the evolution of homo sapiens.
* those two above plus nuclear weaponry
ANON - thank you for the well thought out response.
Just amazes me how people post the same rhetoric we hear on MSM "all clear ...full steam ahead captain" on this blog...and think they ar ebeing insightful
no basis for their posts - no references...no links...no justification...no credible argument...just rhetoric..
"all clear..full steam ahead captain"
ROFLMAO
You clowns are to stupid to earn money. To lazy to earn money.To pathetic to save money.
So what is left? How are you gonna get that 3,000 sft home you were bred to live in?
A complete collasp of asset valuation is your only hope!!!
SHUT THE FUCK UP AND GO GET A JOB YOU LOSERS!!!!!!
All you're asking for is punishment. It won't change anything - not for long anyway. Do you honestly think anything or any event that can happen that will eliminate greed? That would be extremely naive.
I wish people would actually recognize the threat of militant Islam and make some personal sacrifice instead of getting their botox injections and their Paris Hilton sunglasses. But I don't wish for another 9/11 to shock them out of their materialistic and shallow ways. Why? Cause it'll only be a year at best until they're wallowing in they're liberal stupidity and demanding we tie our hands behind our backs by reducting our intel gathering and refusing to acknowledge profiles while old women get searched at airports.
It's like the libs wanting us to lose, demanding that we lose, obstructing or attacking every effort in the GWOT just so that they can get back in power. Wait a min ...
Right On!!!!
Not with a bang but a wimper. . .
I would like to see change, but I am afraid we will just get more of the same. . .if housing melts down, there will be all sorts of programs to prop it up - tax rebates, 50 years loans backed by the government, highway rebuilding act (to put the construction guys back to work), etc. . .Citibank will still keep all those 50 years mortgages and 30 year credit-card loans on the books as assets!. No change - just vote for asshole number one or asshole number two. . .take your choice. . .
Wow...
I thought this was a most interesting blog...
Now, not so much. You've shown your true economic stripes and, as a result, you've just alienated half your readership. Nobody wants to see masses of people starving... but I guess you do.
From your comments, it appears that have no money and are a jealous slacker.
What are you, on the dole?
Liberals do not want to loose, they just do not want to turn our backs on freedom and democracy as we strive to protect it.
I believe it was Benjamin Franklin that said those who would trade a little bit of freedom for a little bit of security deserve neither.
"You clowns are to stupid to earn money. To lazy to earn money.To pathetic to save money."
Too stupid would be not knowing when to use "too" instead of "to" - as in "too stupid", "too lazy" and "too pathetic".
You can also throw in not knowing how to spell "collapse", but that's probably just being picky.
Just "sew where awl" clear...who exactly are you referring to?
right on, keith. thanks for having the guts and style to say the same things i have been thinking.
there will need to be some pain before we see real change.
peace.
Ben's blog is A LOT BETTER THAN YOURS - in your world, throw a few Jews in the oven, but, hey, at least the trains run on time. Facism. Good job!
you are such an idiot. Get a grip, stop being bitter, and live your own life. You think you have all the answers and know how everything should be, but you don't know jack. Typical bitter, liberal Dem.
Hateful.
When I found this blog, I thought it was fun - I had just sold my POS condo for 400% what I paid for it 10 years ago and was happy I "got out". But this has gotten really ugly and I don't think I'll tune in any more... What does some dude in the U.K. know about U.S. housing issues? And now he's "rooting" for another "Great Depression"? You're on your own, man.
btw...how are all you idiot liberal Dem trader-wanna-be's enjoying our nice retracement inoil futures and unleaded gas futures. I thought we were running out of oil and stuff, right?
Borkafatty is a liberal loser. C'mon Bork!
I agree totally. Things are too rotten to the core, too decayed to be fixed with spit and bailing wire. People I know who really think about our situation, who see firsthand how bad things are and apprecuate the inter-connectedness, have all reached similar conclusions.
I think of Yeats' line:
"Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold "
I know people from all over the political spectrum who are talking this way, privately.
Now I'm gonna go click on some ads here, so Keith can have a nice pint.
Keith is really a failure who oved to the UK to get laid by ugly girls over there. The thing is it's not working well. He cant trade his way out of paper bag. Hearing all his trading ideas over the last 6 months is truly painfull. He is useless and realy doesn't understand economics or finance; he thinks he does. What is sad is that all you loser liberal Dems look up to him and cheer him on when he says insane things like he did in this post. I think the "global warming" has gone to your heads.
keith, what you describe or even expressly desire is dangerous and disturbing, if not perhaps inevitable. it is also the kind of once-in-a-lifetime incident that can spark a regrettable reactionary response from those with the most power and the most to lose. the people running this country are not patriotic, fair-minded parliamentarians, i.e., not democrats (small "d"); they are militarist command-and-control corporate-socialists; corporate-statist reactionaries; let's not shrink from telling it like it is: they are "fascists. at some level, these people want or need another 9/11, i.e., their "reichstag fire". a singular economic meltdown would serve well their interests as well as another 9/11 or worse.
this is not paranoid delusion of which i speak, keith; it is the reality just below the surface of hyper-consumerism; it is a tinderbox awaiting the well-placed sparks that will ignite the mass-social conflagration. imagine watts in the '60s, socal in the '90s riots, anti-war protests of the '60s-'70s, new orleans, and 9/11 nyc all occurring at the same time around the country.
imagine lynchings of mexicans and blacks; armed rural vigilante types rushing in to urban areas to "help" law enforcement with rioting mexicans and blacks.
then imagine martial law, rationing, conscription, and internment camps for homeless, unemployed, and undocumented people detained for "protection".
imagine cities, counties, and states shutting down vital services due to a collapse in revenues.
imagine a collapse in the money supply and empty shopping malls with weeds growing to the rooftops.
imagine abandoned cars along suburban streets or families living in their new SUVs for which they are behind in their payments and avoiding repossession.
imagine armed gangs of brutish, illiterate black, mexican, and tattooed skinhead thugs roaming the streets and countrysides robbing, raping, killing, and avoiding capture and prosecution.
you're smart to be out of the country, not that the UK will be "safe".
Remember, remember the fifth of November . . .
I saw a 20 something get out of his Hummer H2 and go shopping in the $.99 store.
Things must be getting tight!
Greed infects and taints any society, not just the US - it's just a matter of scale. I have travelled to Ireland about 15 times since 1987, a long enough span to see it it cycle from depressed to Celtic Tiger and one huge economic boom. It had been such a nice retreat from the materialism and soulessness so abundant in US. I was reinvigorated with every visit. Last 2 visits I left feeling sad; seems there's nowhere immune from greed and the madness which ensues. Their housing boom makes ours look mild- it's just crazy.
Hey, wasn't that the plot of the last Batman movie.
Anon picked up on it. He thinks you should invent a cheap and efficient mass transit system so your grandkids can say "my grandpa built this train"
yep .... Batman.
What's the underlying theme?
Archetypal cynicism vs archetypal hope?
Anonymous said...
anon said: Abortion on demand, Gay marriage, Gay rights, free health care for all, illegals given the vote and drivers licenses, higher taxes,.....etc.
hey its just a DISTRACTION to keep the sheople preoccupied with nonsense posing as politics.
all the while, the FED and the Rothchilds and Goldmans are stealing everyones wealth. Not just here in the US but around the globe, thru the CENTRAL BANKING system.
Wednesday, September 06, 2006 10:13:35 PM
I agree. But let's not forget the IRS, the corrupt police force that serves "them" and our fiat currency.
It's about time you spoke this truth, brother! Let us place the blame where it fucking belongs...on the filthy JEWS who run this world! Thank you for siding with the REALISTS and pointing this out! The ONLY way to totally ELIMINATE THE JEWS is through a total econmic melt-down! God loves you, my brother! We are on your side! Fuck the rebulicn scumbags who dare to challenge THE TRUTHE!
Interesting:
RealtyTrac, an online marketplace for foreclosure properties, said Wednesday it has been listed in the top 500 fastest-growing private U.S. companies by Inc. magazine.
The Irvine, Cal.-based firm ranked 53 on the list with a three-year growth rate of 1,158%.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B9B0E34B1%2DDE24%2D432C%2DBCA6%2DCB152F5CF7E3%7D&siteid=
Looks like the full-bore wack jobs are out now. But the original post--very, very true. Glad to hear someone say it out loud. And it is going to happen. Read your Elliott Wave theory. There's going got be a lot of suffering, the Great Depression times ten. For all of us who will feel this in tragic and horrible ways...and that's most of us...I hope we have the strength to make it through.
Kieth,
Just how bad is life for you?
Come on over to my blog and I will show you the way to finacial freedom Go on little man just one little push is all you need
I agree with Keith.
And all you people scare me.
Could not agree more.
The current system is a house of cards created and perpetuated by a small elite for their own benefit.
In nature, having fires to "clear the Bush" actually is good in the long run.
Pruning, clearing out the "rot"....whatever you want to call it...the sooner the better.
The problem is lazy civil service employees like Borkafatty who should be fired since he's posting during the day from his civil service job. Somebody out this retard and where he works in government. He's the reason the economy is so screwed up!
I hope Borkafatty is fat, because I wouls like to bork him. Too bad he is borking Skytrekker, who is another liberal tool. What does Borkafatty do for work?
This is one reason why the housing crash means nothing...
I could give a handful more
1 more year people. Kiss your lifestyles good bye.
A disaster to take everyone's breath away
September 6, 2006
By Geoffrey Lean
MANAUS - Deep in the heart of the world's greatest rainforest, a
nine-day journey by boat from the sea, Otavio Luz Castello is
anxiously watching the soft waters of the Amazon drain away.
Every day they recede further, like water running slowly out of an
immense bathtub, threatening a worldwide catastrophe.
Standing on an island in a quiet channel of the giant river, he points out what is happening. A month ago, the island was under water. Now,it juts 5m above it.
It is a sign that severe drought is returning to the Amazon for a
second successive year. And that would be ominous. New research
suggests that one further dry year beyond that could tip the whole
vast forest into a cycle of destruction.
The day before, top scientists delivered much the same message at a remarkable floating symposium on the Rio Negro, on the strange black
waters beside which Manaus, the capital city of the Amazon, stands.
They told the meeting - convened on a flotilla of boats by EcumenicalPatriarch Bartholomew of the Greek Orthodox Church, dubbed the "green Pope" for his environmental activism - that global warming and deforestation were pushing the entire enormous area towards a "tipping
point", where it would start to die.
The consequences would be awesome. The wet Amazon Basin would turn to
dry savannah at best, desert at worst. This would cause much of the
world to become hotter and drier.
In the long term, it could send global warming out of control,
eventually making the world uninhabitable.
Nowhere could seem further from the world's problems than the idyllic spot where Otavio Luz Castello lives. The young naturalist's home is a
chain of floating thatched cottages making up a research station in the Mamiraua Reserve, halfway between Manaus and Brazil's border with
Colombia.
Rare pink river dolphin play in the tranquil waters around the
cottages, kingfishers dive into them, giant, bright butterflies
zig-zag across them and squirrel monkeys romp in the trees on their banks.
There is little to suggest that it may be witnessing the first scenes
of an apocalypse. The rivers of the Amazon Basin usually routinely
fall 9m to 12m - greater than most of the tides of the world's seas -
between the wet and dry seasons. But last year they just went on
falling in the worst drought in recorded history.
At one point in the western Brazilian state of Acre, the world's biggest river shrank so far that it was possible to walk across it.
Millions of fish died, and thousands of communities whose only
transport was by water were stranded.
And the drying forest caught fire; in September, satellite camera
images showed 73,000 blazes in the basin.
This year, says Otavio Luz Castello, the water is draining away even faster than last year - and there are still more than three months of the dry season to go.
It is much the same all over Amazonia. In the Jau National Park, 18 hours by boat up the Rio Negro from Manaus, local people who took me out by canoe at dawn found it impossible to get to places they had reached without trouble just the evening before.
Acre received no rain for 40 days recently, and sandbanks are
beginning to surface in its rivers.
Flying over the forest - with trees in a thousand shades of green
stretching, for hour after hour, as far as the eye can see - it seems inconceivable that anything could endanger its verdant immensity.
Until recently, scientists took the same view, seeing it as one of the world's most stable environments.
Though they condemned the way that, on average, an area roughly the size of Wales is cut down each year, this did not seem to endanger the forest as a whole, much less the planet.
Now they are changing their minds in the face of increasing evidence
that deforestation is pushing the Amazon and the world to the brink of disaster.
Dr Antonio Nobre, of Brazil's National Institute of Amazonian
Research, told the floating symposium of unpublished research which suggests that the felling was drying up the entire forest and helping to cause the hurricanes that have been battering the United States and
the Caribbean.
The hot, wet Amazon, he explained, normally evaporates vast amounts of
water, which rise high into the air as if in an invisible chimney,
drawing in wet northeast trade winds, which have picked up moisture from the Atlantic.
This, in turn, controls the temperature of the ocean - as the trade winds pick up the moisture, the warm water left gets saltier and sinks.
Deforestation disrupts the cycle by weakening the Amazonian
evaporation which drives the whole process.
One result is that the hot water in the Atlantic stays on the surface and fuels the hurricanes.
Another is that less moisture arrives on the trade winds, intensifying the forest drought.
Marina Silva, a fiery former rubber-tapper who is now Brazil's
Environment Minister, described how the Government was finally
cracking down on the felling by seizing illegally cut logs, closing
illicit enterprises and fining and imprisoning offenders.
As a result, she says, it dropped by 31 per cent last year.
But that takes it only back to the levels it was in 2001, still double
what it was 10 years before. And it has reached far into the forest
after the American multinational Cargill built a huge port for soya
three years ago at Santarem.
This encouraged entrepreneurs to cut down trees to grow soya.
The symposium flew to inspect the damage this had caused - vast fields of beans destined to feed supermarket chickens in Europe, where until recently there was lush forest.
Brazilian politicians say their country has so many other pressing
problems that the destruction is unlikely to be brought under control, unless the world helps.
Calculations by Hylton Philipson, a British merchant banker and
rainforest campaigner, reckon that doing this would take US$60 billion
($80 billion) a year - less than a third of the cost of the Iraq war.
About a fifth of the Amazonian rainforest has been razed completely. Another 22 per cent has been harmed by logging, allowing the sun to
penetrate to the forest floor, drying it out.
Add these two figures together and the total is perilously close to 50
per cent, predicted as the "tipping point" that marks the death of the
Amazon.
Nobody knows when that crucial threshold will be passed, but growing numbers of scientists believe that it is coming ever closer.
One of Nobre's colleagues, Dr Philip Fearnside, says: "With every tree that falls, we increase the probability that the tipping point will
arrive."
The science behind the scare
Studies by the blue-chip Woods Hole Research Centre, carried out in Amazonia, have concluded that the forest cannot withstand more than two consecutive years of drought without breaking down.
Scientists say that this would spread drought into the northern
hemisphere and could massively accelerate global warming with
incalculable consequences.
The research - carried out by the Massachusetts- based centre in
Santarem on the Amazon River - has taken even the scientists
conducting it by surprise.
When Dr Dan Nepstead started the experiment in 2002 - by covering a
chunk of rainforest the size of a football pitch with plastic panels
to see how it would cope without rain - he surrounded it with
sophisticated sensors, expecting to record only minor changes.
The trees managed the first year of drought without difficulty. In the second year, they sunk their roots deeper to find moisture, but
survived. But in year three, they started dying. Beginning with the
tallest the trees started to come crashing down, exposing the forest
floor to the drying sun.
By the end of the year the trees had released more than two-thirds of the carbon dioxide they have stored during their lives, helping to act as a break on global warming. Instead they began accelerating the
climate change.
The Amazon now appears to be entering its second successive year of drought, raising the possibility it could start dying next year. The immense forest contains 90 billion tons of carbon, enough in itself to
increase the rate of global warming by 50 per cent.
Nepstead expects "mega-fires" rapidly to sweep across the drying
jungle. With the trees gone, the soil will bake in the sun and the
rainforest could become desert.
Deborah Clark from the University of Missouri, one of the world's top
forest ecologists, says research shows "the lock has broken" on the
Amazon ecosystem and the Amazon is "headed in a terrible direction".
- INDEPENDENT
Race Among the Ruins
You think you had the last laugh
Now you know this cant be true
Even though the sun shines down upon you now
Sometimes you must feel blue
You make the best of each new day
You try not to be sad
Even though the sky falls down upon you
Call it midnight feelin bad
When you wake up to the promise
Of your dream world comin true
With one less friend to call on
Was it someone that I knew
Away you will go sailin
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon
The road to love is littered
By the bones of other ones
Who by the magic of the moment
Were mysteriously undone
You try to understand it
But you never seem to find
Any kind of freedom comin clean
Is just another state of mind
When you wake up to the promise
Of your dream world comin true
With one less friend to call on
Was it someone that I knew
Away you will go sailin
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon
So take the best of all thats left
You know this cannot last
Even though your mother was you maker
From her apron strings you pass
Just think about the fool
Who by his virtue can be found
In a most unusual situation
Playin jester to the clown
When you wake up to the promise
Of your dream world comin true
With one less friend to call on
Was it someone that I knew
Away you will go sailin
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon
When you wake up to the promise
Of your dream world comin true
With one less friend to call on
Was it someone that I knew
Away you will go sailin
In a race among the ruins
If you plan to face tomorrow
Do it soon
acquisitive, tribal, manipulative, elitist, anti-wasp jews are a "symptom", not a cause. they are just getting theirs while the gettin's good. the anglo-american power elite are using jews to facilitate empire.
but the jews got theirs in germany/europe, too, until the 1930s. however, they're in charge now, so they're more likely to be the nazis now, and that should REALLY scare non-jews.
will jews be the victims of an "american hitler"? or, will they be the facilitators of the next series of hitlers? they're doing a great job in israel.
perhaps we can deport the jews to china to let the chinese deal with them in their way in 50-60 years.
shalom.
I thought that was a Phoenix rising from the ashes. Perhaps it would help to focus on how that new bird will differ from the turkey we've got now. Also, a lot is available to us that wasn't in the Great Depression. We are going to make it.
Before us is the great challenge of deciphering The Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth. We have the tools to solve the puzzle - how to live in a closed ecosystem. We have all the technology needed, all that's lacking is a new way of looking at things. This is where Keith is coming from - a desire for a set of viable solutions.
A little bit of venting, though: everyone who blames greed is on the mark. We should not have to go through this collapse - I first heard of Global Warming in the 1970's. I recall wondering if we shouldn't be saving up oil for making plastics instead of burning it, and the same concern seems to be surfacing! Another intelligent lifeform, given the same set of resources, might have made very different choices with their wonderful blue, spherical, planet-spaceship.
Let's start with...houses, since that's the obsession here. Passive solar design was known to the CAVEMAN. Why do people spend a quarter million dollars for new construction and not insist on passive solar? Why don't we have photovoltaics on (green) rooftops? The ancient Mayans had passive AC. Underground is a constant 54 degrees year-round. Why do we build up, then want black-out shades for the home theater? Isn't it rather simple to just dig deeper to make a bigger living space? Why not capture rainwater from the roof? Solar water heater is a weekend project - no one has one. Food garbage is fertilizer. These are ideas that conserve, so are they not "conservative" in nature? How about simply labelling it good engineering? Why didn't those super "market forces" bring about the same common sense possessed by the CAVEMAN in house design? Oh, I'm just getting started - up and away Pheonix (the bird, not the city)!
If the world made sense, all would love all. True hardship is unifying - peace breaking out is just as likely as riots breaking out. Not to be Polyanna. In Jared Diamond's book Collapse, there is hard evidence that in the worst of collapses, we resort to cannibalism. I don't think anyone is wishing for that sort of outcome! The big Q is can we learn from our (humanity's) mistakes?
How do you price your house "reasonably" when you have 5 to 20 people bidding on it?
This is a very good question.
http://forums.craigslist.org/
?ID=48843777
Better Yet where did the 5 to 20 QUALIFIED Buyers come from?
Probably has nothing to do with lenders who forgot what lending standards means.
Read comment from this web page titled
"Bubble bloggers victory: NAR devil Lereah blames psychological factors and negative news stories for housing freefall"
Isn’t it a fact that currently Lenders ability to make a profit on the money Lenders have borrowed and what Lenders are loaning it for is no longer as profitable?
Isn’t it a fact that as the Lenders profitability decreases the Lender willingness’ to take risk decrease?
Isn’t it a fact that as profitability decrease lending standard becomes higher also?
Isn't it a fact that when lending standard become higher it becomes harder and harder for homebuyers to get a loan.
Isn't it a fact that house demand is based on the availabilities qualifies homebuyers and not by people who want to buy a home but do not qualified?
Isn't it a fact that when the availability of qualified homebuyers decrease then the inventory of house increases if the same amounts of home sellers are available?
Isn't it a fact that as inventory of house for sell increase then the supply will eventually outnumber the demands from available qualified homebuyers?
Isn’t it a fact that when the supply of houses outnumbers the demand of qualified homebuyers then prices of house will fall?
Congratulations. Recognized as Blog Top site...
Wow...
http://www.blogtopsites.com/sitedetails_16396.html
they're liberal stupidity
ROFLMAO!
Real Estate Broker Sentenced to One Year in Prison in $15M Texas Fraud Scheme
http://www.mortgagefraudblog.com/
I am rooting for it myself Keith. In my own personal way.
thats why your blog has so much appeal
since we are on the subject of change..
Tony Blair's administration has been dealt what may turn out to be a fatal blow by the resignation of seven members of his Government.
Tom Watson, the under-secretary of state for defence, wrote to Mr Blair this morning telling him that it was no longer in the interests of Labour or of the country for him to remain Prime Minister.
pack your bags tony take care by by
what will it take for our wonderful leaders to address our problems, such as social security, medicaid, medicare, the debt, the deficit, tax reform, immigration, transit, the environment, global warming, energy conservation and education? You got it, it will take a catalyst like keith says. I don't think anyone would have wanted us to get into the position we are in today but now that we are we need change and like it or not housing is collapsing which will take the economy with it so at the end of the day I hope something good comes of it and we get the change we need
WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that the CIA runs secret prisons overseas and said tough interrogation forced terrorist leaders to reveal plots to attack the United States and its allies.
US 'could be going bankrupt'
By Edmund Conway, Economics Editor
The United States is heading for bankruptcy, according to an extraordinary paper published by one of the key members of the country's central bank.
http://tinyurl.com/rz87t
Gordon Lightfoot -Very Poetic, I think you nailed it. What were the words to Canadian Railroad Trilogy?
Thanx dude!dudette?!
Very interesting chat on the manifesto post HP'ers. Keep it going I'd say
Also, keep this in mind. I am an optimist, not a pessimist. I want something better for America. I want government to address its problems. I want people to live below their means (and save). I want kids out of school to be able to buy a house, with a 30-year fixed rate mortgage.
If it takes a meltdown to get there, then so be it, let's have that meltdown, sooner rather than later.
Then let's get on with it. But something has to change. We can't keep denying our problems, piling on debt, and buying stuff we can't afford.
As allways in history, the smart, capable people will be OK even if Keith's HP turns to chaos. None of this economic bullshit will matter in 50 years.
Life turns like the endless sea
Death tolls like a vesper bell
Children laugh and lovers dream
On a street called Buy and Sell
- Laura Nyro
People...
History can repeat itself. The Great depression of the 1930's was created from bad monetary policy, faulty investment policies, and other macro problems we all know. People suffered, things changed (not always for the better) - but America bounced beyond that even despite the nay sayers claiming it was the end. I don't feel indicators are leading to this, but US domestic and and international policy gets a D-.
I am not advocating your manifesto - I find that it is steeped in anger and bitterness. The hope of families (children) suffering and all out anarchy is a foolish idea to somehow change problems, and disturbing to a serious point to call for. I feel many might reap some bad times; yet our ability to renew ourselves and create for one another has been tested several times before and we have come out better - and helped other people too.
So much cup half empty obsessivness makes some people think there is no water at all.
the greatest generation came from the Depression and went on to win WW2
history repeating itself?
Careful what you wish for....
"WASHINGTON - President Bush on Wednesday acknowledged for the first time that the CIA runs secret prisons overseas and said tough interrogation forced terrorist leaders to reveal plots to attack the United States and its allies."
and there is a problem with this???
One more false flag event and bush will have all the power he lusts after.
perfect timing and distraction from the developing economic meltdown.
manifestos are fun!
Don't be sad Keith. You can come home after the bubble bursts.
Do you mean we need a new FUEHRER?
In a worst-case scenario, holing up with guns and gold, frequently advocated in these sorts of discussions, would not work as well as co-operating. Read the link above for survival strategies that work (figure out what you have to offer others, think of getting your resources as locally as possible, make it appear you have no money, etc.) A completely different mindset than the sole survivor fantasy is required.
I don't wish anyone harm, but Americans wallow in material comfort to the degree that it is possible to live in ignorant, wasteful bliss of our untenable system. If there wasn't such a wrenching, traumatic shock involved, it would be amusing to observe the "Wha' happnened?" response. Hmm...would a sudden collapse drive people insane? "Look out below" indeed - especially below skyscrapers on Wall St.
Seriously, I'm rooting to keep as much of the good of civilization around as long as possible. The widespread realization that we are in a hostile universe with finite resources in a narrow life-bearing zone of a closed ecosystem which we can affect is a big step in that direction. At the same time - there is enough to go around, if we change our notions of "accounting" and aim technology in the right direction.
Keith--
I have to admit that I agree with you...unfortunately. As a country, we have certainly lost its way. The only way we'll recover our values is, like you say, through a great crash. Having suffered through the recession of the late seventies and early eighties, I have a gnawing feeling that this one might be worse, because of the excesses of the past couple of years. Having said that, I agree with the poster who said "be careful what you wish for", as I having a feeling this one will be real ugly and very few of us will make it through unscathed.
130 comments and counting.... think you hit a nerve Keith?
Buckle up America... it's going to get bumpy from here...
We had fair warning and all the money in the world. Is it human nature to collectively ignore problems until it is too late?
To the small govt. advocates - your hero Ronald Reagan cut the budget for solar energy research in the 1980's. Funny how we have suddenly discovered a $TRILLION dollars to "protect our national interests" for the oil wars. Ah, conservative fiscal responsibility to the rescue.
One of the things the rising Pheonix should bring is a solid base of pure research and an excellent school system. Discoveries happen when people are looking for other things. An alarming number of things we take for granted only came about in spite of "the system". Check out the story of the discovery of the blue LED/laser - the inventor had to repeatedly ignore his managers and risk his job to give them a priceless treasure.
The demographic makeup of the country has changed radically since the days of the Great Depression- this could be key in how bad it gets. Look at the crime rate of illegals now, when things are not so bad. We have millions -15-30, maybe more?- among us that broke the law to get here, what will stop them from doing so when TSHTF? We no longer share a (mostly) common faith & tradition, we now have racial, ethnic & even inter-generational divisions not present in the '30's.
The way we live, mainly urban & suburban would provide many challenges. How many know how to grow crops? There are many more of us now, and lots of losers (gangs)with guns. The movie 'Ripple Effect' has been on my mind lately.
I hope we could weather an economic/social upheaval amicably & cooperatiely, but think it would be wise to consider and at least prepare for the worst.
And I'm already so tired of neo-con bots crying "fascist" and "nazi". I guess nobody was buying their "stay the course", "cut and run" crap, so they visited the cliche recycling bin for something "new".
((((And I'm already so tired of neo-con bots crying "fascist" and "nazi". I guess nobody was buying their "stay the course", "cut and run" crap, so they visited the cliche recycling bin for something "new". ))))
Just remember that when the Neocons make accusations of their opposition, it usually is about them. Fascist, Nazi applies more to them. Read John Dean's "Conservatives Without Conscience". It details how these guys are authoritarians and would be the nazi fascists.
Keith--
This is good! Your best by far. These outrageous but brutally honest musings are why I visit your site daily. Now if only you can keep off the Islamic-Fascist ranting, and focus on the troubles arising from the bubble, you'd be heads and shoulders above the other blogs.
http://www.angus- reid.com/ polls/index. cfm/fuseaction/ viewItem/ itemID/13028
Angus Reid Global Scan : Polls & Research
Europeans See U.S. as Threat to Global Stability
September 5, 2006
- Some adults in five European nations express reservations about the role of the United States in world affairs, according to a poll by Harris Interactive published in the Financial Times. 30 per cent of respondents believe the U.S. is the greatest threat to global stability.
Iran is second on the list with 23 per cent, followed by China with 15 per cent, Iraq with 14 per cent, North Korea with eight per cent, and Russia with two per cent.
In Spain, 44 per cent of respondents place the U.S. as the main perceived threat. 36 per cent of respondents in Britain—and 28 per cent of respondents in France—feel the same way.
In Italy, Iran was the first country on the list with 31 per cent. The U.S. and Iran are tied with 24 per cent in Germany’s sample.
On Aug. 31, U.S. president George W. Bush discussed his foreign policy approach, saying, "America has committed its influence in the world to advancing freedom and democracy as the great alternatives to repression and radicalism. We will take the side of democratic leaders and reformers across the Middle East. We will support the voices of tolerance and moderation in the Muslim world."
After being branded as part of an "axis of evil" by Bush in January 2002, Iran has contended that its nuclear program aims to produce energy, not weapons.
Polling Data
Which one, if any, of the following countries do you think is the greatest threat to global stability?
All
BRI
FRA
ITA
ESP
GER
United States
30%
36%
28%
21%
44%
24%
Iran
23%
19%
24%
31%
15%
24%
China
15%
10%
21%
19%
14%
13%
Iraq
14%
12%
10%
13%
15%
18%
North Korea
8%
14%
8%
5%
5%
6%
Russia
2%
1%
2%
1%
1%
4%
Other
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
2%
None
6%
5%
5%
7%
5%
9%
Source: Harris Interactive / Financial Times
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,936 adults in Britain, 2,050 adults in France, 2,019 adults in Germany, 2,011 adults in Italy and 1,946 adults in Spain, conducted from Aug. 2 to Aug. 11, 2006. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
"130 comments and counting.... think you hit a nerve Keith?
Buckle up America... it's going to get bumpy from here... "
such drama! You all are a bunch of women. Liberal ones at that. Suckas
"You all are a bunch of women. Liberal ones at that."
I'm a paleo-con. This crowd seems to be a decent cross-section.
Who do you consider "conservative", Bush & co?
Jeez, where do you people come from, Plato's Cave?
No such animal as a "conservative"
Keith,
Are you a fan of the sites:
www.dailyreckoning.com
www.financialsense.com
?
I think we are in for a Great Depression II, but god man, Those conditions are great for cooking up the American Hitler or Stalin.
Scary stuff, indeed.
"such drama! You all are a bunch of women. Liberal ones at that. Suckas"
Just like those wimps in the Pentagon who plan for all contingencies. Simply because everything points towards a likely outcome does not mean anyone here is saying they know for certain how the future will transpire. Thinking ahead is a way to avoid drama; hopefully opinions change as the facts warrant. Please share with us why you feel the status quo will go on indefinitely, Oh wise anon.
p.s. - This gentleman apologizes on behalf of the troll to any actual liberal women readers.
I agree with your new agenda but for me its just about one last great money making opportunity here in el stupido land, then its back to civilization and retirement in Australia
WOW........Time to get off of this "Rock".
"I have to admit that I agree with you...unfortunately. As a country, we have certainly lost its way....Having suffered through the recession of the late seventies and early eighties, I have a gnawing feeling that this one might be worse, because of the excesses of the past couple of years."
+++++IMHO, the S&L bank debacle is just a prelude to what we're going to see in the coming year. Because of all the bad loans out there and the global involvement of hedge funds, I'm expecting the same number of banks to fail in the future as failed in the Great Depression--approximately 40%.
About a fifth of the Amazonian rainforest has been razed completely. Another 22 per cent has been harmed by logging, allowing the sun to
penetrate to the forest floor, drying it out.
Add these two figures together and the total is perilously close to 50
per cent, predicted as the "tipping point" that marks the death of the Amazon.
Studies by the blue-chip Woods Hole Research Centre, carried out in Amazonia, have concluded that the forest cannot withstand more than two consecutive years of drought without breaking down.
Scientists say that this would spread drought into the northern
hemisphere and could massively accelerate global warming with
incalculable consequences.
The trees managed the first year of drought without difficulty. In the second year, they sunk their roots deeper to find moisture, but
survived. But in year three, they started dying. Beginning with the
tallest the trees started to come crashing down, exposing the forest
floor to the drying sun.
By the end of the year the trees had released more than two-thirds of the carbon dioxide they have stored during their lives, helping to act as a break on global warming. Instead they began accelerating the
climate change.
The Amazon now appears to be entering its second successive year of drought, raising the possibility it could start dying next year. The immense forest contains 90 billion tons of carbon, enough in itself to
increase the rate of global warming by 50 per cent.
Nepstead expects "mega-fires" rapidly to sweep across the drying
jungle. With the trees gone, the soil will bake in the sun and the
rainforest could become desert.
Deborah Clark from the University of Missouri, one of the world's top
forest ecologists, says research shows "the lock has broken" on the
Amazon ecosystem and the Amazon is "headed in a terrible direction".
__________________________________
++++Man alive! What a scary article!
A little background here:
1. The deforestation of the Amazon is continually so rapidly because the soil quality is so poor in the jungle. After a couple of years of growing crops on newly exposed ground, the soil becomes exhausted and the farmers are forced to burn more jungle is burned to expose new soil.
2. The jungle trees have very shallow roots because these species are supposed to live in a very wet environment. There's only so far a species of jungle tree can sink its roots into the ground in a search for water. Accordingly, they die much more quickly than a deciduous forest.
3. If global warming increases suddenly by 50%, you can say goodbye to the world as we know it, and I'm not talking about the state of the world economy. Such an environmental catastrophe will probably lead to the beginning of another Ice Age. Those people who retired to Costa Rico will be glad they did....
We now await the arrival of the Strong Leader, el Hefe, who will "save" the poor, lost children. History teaches that this charismatic leader will come to power amidst great hope and tribute.
We had him in 1992. Remember Ross Perot?
You environmental alarmists are too funny. Hint: by the time scientists discover a major climate trend, it is far to late and/or impossible for us to do anything to mitigate it. We could stop every factory, park all vehicles, and live shivering in thatched huts, and it wouldn't make a bit of difference in the Amazon forests.
The world climate changes. We can either cope with it or perish. Star Trek magic fixes are not going to happen.
bravo
the best blog post of the year. where do we send in the nomination?
Don't bother. This is all just hype, looking for far left lovers to unite and the rest to shake their collective heads.
Good job at stirring the pot. But what a load of leftist crap.
"leftist crap"? Not at all.
More like realist food for thought.
This is an excellent post- thanks to Keith for posting what so many are thinking, but not saying.
Check the original source on that Woods Hole study - they actually said the trees were more resillient than anticipated. That article (New Scientist?) was, in fact, alarmist and a distortion of something that is bad enough as it is.
We are seeing other indications of runaway greenhouse effect, including melting of Siberian permafrost which will release tons of methane, a worse greenhouse gas than CO2 - a positive feedback mechanism that was not supposed to kick in for decades.
How can factual statements such as the above be liberal or conservative? It boggles the mind.
Copper Leaf in PHX all sold out!
http://www.trendhomes.com/cl-plat.html
a creampuff - here is the article on Siberian Permafrost -
Most on this site don't even know where Siberia is - let alone what permafrost is - and then Global Warming - well Bush said it was not an issue...duh.
http://www.newscien tist.com/ article/mg191256 85.600-siberias- pools-burp- out-nasty- surprise. html
Siberia's pools burp out nasty surprise
06 September 2006
Northern Siberia's thaw lakes are belching out up to five times as much methane as previously thought. And as global warming causes the permafrost to melt, lakes worldwide could emit even more methane, reinforcing climate change.
Katey Walter at the University of Alaska Fairbanks and her colleagues developed a new technique to measure the amount of methane bubbling out of two lakes in northern Siberia. In autumn, when the lakes froze over, they identified regions where methane was being released by searching for gas bubbles pushing through the ice. They then placed umbrella-shaped bubble traps over the hotspots and measured emissions daily for one year. At both lakes, the gas flux was five times as high as previously estimated. Walter's team also got similar figures from smaller studies on more than 100 other lakes in the region (Nature, vol 443, p 71)
complete meltdown??
take a look at Iraq..that's pretty close
so Keith, maybe you should just move there
however, I understand your frustration; but until more Americans start educating themselves and turn off Fox News...get ready for more of the Repuklican same old same old
okay with that - but how long will it take....I am about to go buy a POS b/c I am tired of the wait. I don't want to make a bad choice, but waiting another 2 years is not an option. This "stand-off" is being dragged on again by NAR and gov't.
How about a program of Economic Patriotism?
How about an economy structured for jobs? No chains, only mom and pop stores. For other kinds of industries there could be a limit to the number of employees allowed (e.g., economists could say how many employees a auto maker should have to minimally competitive -- economics is a science, right?)
No megacorporations to become larger power centers than the government. Family farms and main street. Millionaires, not billionaires.
You say we can't go back? You want to go forward to pure fascism?
We're all patriots now.
Anonymous said... 3:03:12 AM ...BE NICE!
Find it very bizarre that so many see Keith's post as negative.
What is negative about Americans letting go of crass materialism and getting back to appreciating the finer things in life?
What's negative about hoping for a return to young people affording a home with a sane price and sane mortgage?
What's negative about Americans saving money to buy the things they want instead of going into debt over crap they'll still be paying for long after they've tossed it in the garbage?
The above sounds like Heaven on Earth to me.
I have more faith in people than to think that people will automatically freak en masse and start rioting just because they've got to tighten their belts.
Poverty does not make people crazy. Loss of hope does though.
I think if things don't change radically and cost of living/housing does not come back in line with people's incomes, THAT is when we'll see the real riots begin.
In other words: a CRASH in the housing market is what is NEEDED to keep this country from going all out berserk.
If the housing market does not crash BIG, that's when you'll see rioting in the streets.
This is exibit A as to why we need to wipe out about 25% of the losers on this planet ....just to start.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0906061grave1.html
Hey! it ain't so bad! We've got islamopop to look forward too.
http://tinyurl.com/f7wod
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