Tact: In an unusual display of stupidity, even for the Bush administration, US Special Operations troops swept into Iraqi Prime Minister Maliki's hometown, killed one of his relatives and terrorized the village - while US negotiators were meeting with Maliki, trying to shove terms for a permanent US occupation down his throat.
Doomed! The Chairman of he Netherlands leading international bank, Fortis, expects a complete collapse of the US financial markets within a few weeks.
Nude, Descending Stairs: Officially - and who are these people, anyway? - we're in a bear market. Typically the Dow will fall 30% (it's already down 20%). But in the big ones - 2001, early 70's - the Dow lost 50%. We're not at the bottom. We're barely to the first landing and the stairstep down -rally up- down further -weaker rally cycle went all the way to 85% losses in the Big One. Keep one hand on the railing.
Get Serious: Will Iraq's oil resources be used to create a sustainable state, or will it reward Bush's cronies? No, really. The question is from the New York Times...
Acts of War: Bush has been conducting an illegal war (no, not Iraq, Iran!) for over six months, capturing Al Quds soldiers and hauling them to Iraq for tortu interrogation. They are also killing 'high value targets' in an attempt to destabelize Iran. Oh, and to drive the price of oil up even further. Don't forget the oil.
For Your Safety: The vigilant folks at Homeland Sicherheit Security want to use satellites to watch you, day and night, "for natural disasters and law enforcement purposes". As if Homeland Security wasn't a big enough disaster already.
Be Prepared: FDIC Chair Sheila Bair says the failure of a big US bank is "remote". But just in case, the FDIC is requiring banks with over $2 billion in deposits to provide the FDIC with information it would need calculate depositors payments, if.... Or when.
Stimulating: Even with free money in hand the US consumer fell ever further behind on their credit cards in May. Payment rates on credit cards are a leading indicator for future delinquency rates. Payment levels have been down for seven consecutive months.
Q& A: Will the Last Superpower Recognize In Time What We Must Do to Save the Planet? No.
Rephrasing Malthus: "Reconciling global economic growth, especially in developing countries, with the intensifying constraints on global supplies of energy, food, land, and water is the great question of our time... " says Jeffery Sachs. Least Sachs could have done was acknowledge his source. He concludes: "simplistic free-market optimism is misplaced" Has been for 20 years or more.
Bell Jar: The world's rapid expansion to 7 billion has been possible only because we were burning our way through an immense, one-time store of fossil energy. As the fuel becomes less available, economies will become smaller. So will populations.
Another Contest: Non-OPEC oil production will peak and begin to decline during the next 5 years. Already half of the world's oil producing countries are reporting declines in output. By 2015 OPEC nations will be unable to meet the world's increasing demands. War games are based on these simple observations.
Porn O'Graph: Promises, Promises, Saudi Promises.
No comments:
Post a Comment