DrumBeat: December 29, 2006
Posted by threadbot on December 29, 2006 - 10:05am
Topic: Miscellaneous
Another factor unraveling the globalist project is its obsession with economic growth. Indeed, unending growth is the centerpiece of globalization, the mainspring of its legitimacy. While a recent World Bank report continues to extol rapid growth as the key to expanding the global middle class, global warming, peak oil, and other environmental events are making it clear to people that the rates and patterns of growth that come with globalization are a surefire prescription for ecological Armageddon.
Belarus delegation heads for gas talks in Moscow
MINSK - A Belarus delegation headed for Moscow on Friday in a last-minute attempt to settle a gas pricing row with Russia, which could threaten supplies to Europe in the New Year.
India: 4-hr domestic power-cuts to tide over energy crisis
HYDERABAD: Stung by the farmers’ protests over inadequate power supply to agriculture sector, the State Government on Wednesday initiated a series of measures including imposition of four-hour duration power cut in the domestic sector to tide over the ongoing energy crisis in the state.
Iran’s IOOC sets record in crude production
LONDON, December 28 - Average crude exploited by Iranian Offshore Oil Company (IOOC) has set a record figure in the company’s history, production manager at IOOC stated on Wednesday MNA reported.“By developing the potential oilfields in the region, their capacity has increased from the previous 766,000 bpd to current 805,000. This is mainly due to simultaneous production coordination,” Gholam-Abbas Jokar noted, adding that maintaining the present level of oil extraction is on the company’s priority list.
China: Crude imports 'to surge'
China's crude oil imports are expected to surge this year and exports will fall year-on-year as a result of market demand and trade policy adjustments, a leading industry analyst said yesterday.
The Russian Energy Inc powerhouse is taking shape, and man oh man, it is a formidable juggernaut capable of disrupting the global balance of power. Major Western energy giants struggle to keep pace, join forces in incestuous unconstructive fashion, and have become increasingly “bit players” in the scheme of things. The Seven Sisters from the US & Western Europe seem like rented high school prom queens by comparison. The Russian dames are supermodels on the runway, not much on earning style points (rude, pushy, intimidating) but incredibly impressive chassis to behold (nice bodies)!!!
Russia pondering ways of spending oil revenues
MOSCOW - The Russian Finance Ministry has proposed establishing an Oil and Gas Fund based on the Stabilization Fund, to ensure long-term budget stability through a balanced use of oil and gas reserves.
Russia: Elections and Oil Hold Key to 2007
This year, Brent crude prices were especially buoyant, averaging $67 per barrel after a historic peak of more than $73 in July. In recent months, however, the price has leveled off. Brent was trading at $60.90 per barrel in London on Thursday morning, and most economic forecasts for next year, including those written into the federal budget, are based on the assumption that it will stay above $60 per barrel.Alfa Bank strategist Erik DePoy said this assumption hinged on a pair of highly unpredictable factors -- "the two Ws: weather and war."
Analysis: Unrest curtails Africa oil
Petroleum-rich Nigeria led all of Africa's oil-producing states in two crucial categories in 2006: barrels produced per day and violence against foreign energy firms.
Interest high in Barnett Shale
Action by Congress in the final hours of its last session of 2006 signals to some oil and gas experts that the nation will likely focus its energy-hungry eyes on the Barnett Shale in North Texas.
Fuel Scarcity in a Land of Oil Abundance
While the country is rich, the people are poor. Fuel unites them, but the petrodollars seldom trickle down.
Raymond J. Learsy: An Energy Agenda For a Newly Energized Congress (Part V) -- Preaching Energy Conservation From The Bully Pulpit
In a recent news conference shortly before the Christmas holidays the President encouraged the assembled newsmen and those TV viewers throughout the land to "go shopping". This at a moment when sending additional troops to Iraq was the issue of the day. Said in an offhand way, it nonetheless struck a sour chord, as being out of place and out of sync with the nations mood.Just imagine, instead of urging us to go shopping, he would have said:
"Our situation in Iraq is grave and our soldiers are sacrificing so much. The little we can do this Christmas season in solidarity with them is to make a concerted effort to keep our use of energy to the bare minimum, to learn to live with less, to begin as a national community to make individual efforts to regain our self reliance and our self respect. The price we are paying for our dependency is too high in blood, money and the environments' destruction. Each of us must do our share!"
Congressional Leaders Urged to Shift R&D Funds to Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Programs
Washington, DC -- In a letter delivered Dec. 27 to congressional leaders, 103 business, consumer, environmental, energy policy, and other groups urged that federal energy research and development funds be shifted from fossil fuel and nuclear power programs to those supporting renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Renewable Energy Roadmap: Rural America Can Prosper
Report from the University of Tennessee finds the 25x25 goal will boost farm income and create millions of jobs.
Environmentalists Revive German Speed Limit Debate
BERLIN - German environmentalists hope the country's stewardship of the Group of Eight and the European Union in 2007 will help steer the car-crazy nation towards imposing speed limits on its unrestricted autobahns.
Renewable Energy Set to Explode...with Government Backing
A bomb went off in the renewable energy world two months ago, but almost nobody heard it. It has stunning implications for the energy business, both the traditional hydrocarbon side and the renewable side.
Munich Re Sees Natural Catastrophes on the Rise
FRANKFURT - Munich Re sees the number of severe weather-related natural catastrophes increasing in coming years because of global warming, among other reasons, the German reinsurer said on Thursday.
A grass-roots push for a 'low carbon diet'
[David] Gershon put his nose to the grindstone, and a slim workbook titled "Low Carbon Diet: A 30 Day Program to Lose 5,000 Pounds" was the result. Replete with checklists and illustrations, the user-friendly guide is a serious attempt at changing American energy-consumption behavior.
It’s the energy and the economy, stupid: An open letter to US policymakers
The 21st century will likely be defined by three overarching forces: climate change, Peak Oil, and macroeconomics. The twin issues of climate change and Peak Oil are intertwined variables, and each represent extremely important phenomena that have slowly gained some public awareness. However, the third issue, macroeconomics, and more specifically the global trends regarding multiple petrocurrencies remains essentially unreported by the five US corporate media conglomerates.
Top 10 sustainability stories of 2006
Amory Lovins Stepping Down as Rocky Mountain Institute CEO
Wind energy turns out to have a complication: reliability
Engineers have cut the cost of electricity derived from wind by about 80 percent in the last 20 years, setting up this renewable technology for a major share of the electricity market.But for all its promise, wind also generates a big problem: Because it is unpredictable and often fails to blow when electricity is most needed, wind is not reliable enough to assure supplies for an electricity grid that must be prepared to deliver power to everybody who wants it — even when it is in greatest demand.
Ice mass snaps free from Canada's Arctic
"This is a dramatic and disturbing event. It shows that we are losing remarkable features of the Canadian North that have been in place for many thousands of years," Vincent said. "We are crossing climate thresholds, and these may signal the onset of accelerated change ahead."
Russia tightens grip on gas, threatens to cut supply
LONDON — It's getting cold in Europe, and Russia is threatening to turn off the heat — for the second straight winter.Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled natural gas monopoly, has told Belarus to pay double the current price for gas by New Year's Day or supplies will be cut. Gazprom also demanded a stake in the pipeline carrying gas from Belarus to other European customers.
Belarus has rejected the demands. Moscow warned Poland, Germany and Lithuania on Wednesday to expect shortages if the dispute continues. It also warned Belarus not to siphon gas from the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
Honda says fuel-cell cars can be mass-produced by 2018
...challenges include how to reduce the amount of noble metals used for fuel cells, how to improve hydrogen storage and how to make hydrogen at lower costs.
China's Chery confirms deal to build cars for DaimlerChrysler
BEIJING - Chery Motors, one of the few Chinese car makers with its own brand, has confirmed it will build small cars for German-US giant DaimlerChrysler, state media has reported.
Cleaner diesel engine rules take effect
Federal regulations that take effect Monday mandate cleaner diesel engines in new trucks and school buses, dramatically cutting pollution but raising costs.
The price of a barrel of oil will fall below $50.As a result, ethanol mania will cool.
One euro will cost $1.50. (It's $1.31 now.)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will receive the first application for building a new nuclear power plant since 1973.
Exxon Mobil asks court for leases
JUNEAU, Alaska - Exxon Mobil Corp. wants a federal court to overturn the state's decision to revoke its leases in the North Slope's Point Thomson oil and gas field.
Linde probed over suspected bribery
MUNICH, Germany - German prosecutors said Friday they are investigating industrial gas company Linde AG on suspicion it bribed the regime of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein while taking part in the U.N. oil-for-food program.
Back from vacation, seeing relatives out in the hinterland. We saved a lot of miles by carpooling with family during most of the trip, although it was a tight squeeze in the car.
The more I see the suburban and commercial sprawl over former farmland, the more I worry about our ability to relocalize in many areas. At the same time, there is great potential to reconstitute many suburban areas into small towns with real walkable streets. The main problem in my opinion is exclusive zoning. At my girlfriend's parents place in the suburbs, we did a lot of short runs in the car just to get basic food, pharmacy and other goods from the strip mall 3 miles down the road. Just plopping down a small retail plot on every block or making one retail strip every few blocks, would have easily made the area more convenient and walkable.
The most surreal experience was going to the newest outdoor shopping area called The Promenade Shops at Saucon Valley (http://www.thepromenadeshopsatsauconvalley.com/info/aboutUs.cfm). It was organized just like a small town downtown shopping district feel. Instead of being inside the whole time, you walked around outside from shop to shop. Most were big chain retailers, but there were a few local shops thrown in. The only way to access this was by car, even for the people in the various housing tracts, golf course & hotel across the highway.
Here is a quote from their website:
In my opinion, one of the biggest problems with most suburbs is the lack of sidewalks; it is often just not safe to walk. I grew up in a town with sidewalks and by the age of eight was turned loose to pretty much walk and bike where I wanted to, so long as Mom knew where I was and that I'd be back for lunch. Then, in a horrible experience, when I was nine the family moved to a ritzy California suburb, and my freedom was gone. Not long thereafter I was hit by a car while walking home from school in the street. Indeed, the authorities at school refused to let me walk home, and I was forced to ride the bus (which I got around by taking the stinky bus to the first stop and then walking the rest of the way home).
In older towns and cities it was and is routine for many children to walk to school--seldom if ever is that the case in the suburbs. I know one ten year old girl who has to get on the bus for twenty minutes to go the two hundred yards from where she lives across the road to school--not safe to walk.
All true.
I grew up in a small town in northern New Jersey during the 1950s and was never more than six blocks away from either grammar or high school. I used to come home for lunch practically everyday, something that is quite atypical these days.
It's not just the growth of new suburbs that has done away with this sort of environment, but also the trend towards consolidating several small local schools into a giant regional school, a move which makes busing just about mandatory. School desegregation in urban areas (though a worthy goal) has had much the same effect.
I wish we would return to small local schools, but I doubt this will happen any time soon.
There is actually an active movement to re-establish small neighborhood schools. See for instance the National Association of Realtors' magazine, On Common Ground, Winter 2005. The effort is helped by support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the fact that small schools have better performance records. See in particular the article Of Sprawl Schools and Small Schools.
Another factor that makes suburbs unwalkable is that the street patterns are deliberately designed to be disconnected, with every street ending in a cul de sac. You might live a half mile from school as the crow flies, but it could be a two mile walk to get out of the maze of cul de sacs, out onto the dangerous arterial, and to the school campus (after cutting through 5 acres of school parking). Why did the suburbs develop that way? See Connectivity Part II: Historical Background for the story.
Isn't (d)efficiency wonderful?
exactly, no sidewalks.
Last time I was there we had to use the car to go to the library on the same block!!! It was either that or playing the risky sport of walking with the cars (or through the woods). With a sidewalk it would be less that 5 minutes.
We also saw police stop a couple people who walked on the street.
I had no idea this was happening. I recall about 1971 I would walk to 2nd Grade on Kadena Air Base in Okinawa over several fairly steep hills. It must have been over a mile. Air bases have very little traffic except at the main gates. Security was never a problem. In 1975 I used a bicycle for a longer distance to get from Travis Air Base to a public school in Fairfield, CA.
Wow, no wonder the kids are getting so tubby.
In Massachusetts there has been some debate about these "Lifestyle Centers" mostly because every town in MA has an actual downtown that these places are trying to emulate and the real things aren't doing too good because the malls destroyed them all. People are saying why build a new downtown a few miles away when there's the real thing right there looking for occupancy! From what I understand, the answer that comes bacck is that the real shops in downtown don't have enough square footage for the mega-chains satisfaction.
I like this one:
No kidding!
I always have to laugh at the way the media is reflecting our energy problems... it looks more like a Mexican TV show than a journalism. Arghh I forgot - it's because it is some sort of a show after all. Now that they just discovered that wind requires some (in most cases) fossil powered backup, when will they discover that ethanol is almost an energy loser? Or that hydrogen is a worse energy carrier than electricity in batteries? I'm holding my breath for the next episode... anybody got a popcorn?
There is a solution for everything. Global warming will greatly increase both the intensity and reliability of all winds. 200mph 24x7 and we will still be nowhere close to the reliabilty figures they obtain on Saturn.
Exactly the opposite. The greater winds occur in colder conditions.
"Now that they just discovered that wind requires some (in most cases) fossil powered backup,..."
Eventually the Firsties of the world will have to learn to adapt their lives and livelyhoods to the availability of energy - like they are doing in the up-and-coming second and third worlds (from Leanan's Links above):
----
"I always have to laugh at the way the media is reflecting our energy problems...
I think we are going to see many more such "eureka" moments from the press over the years ahead - probably the same phenomena that happened to most all of us as we researched Peak Energy.
First we/they discover some technology (old or new) as a substitute for fossil fuel sources. Later, "upon further review", we/they discover there are limitations to the pet technology and then realize the "Silver Bullet" is at best a silver BB. The lag time between the two depends on how long it takes people to question their assumptions about their new "discovery."
During the holidays several friends and relatives apparenly just discovered natural gas-powered cars, ethanol and coal gasification ("Hitler Used It in WWII".... yeah, and look how things turned out for hitler ;). They happily reported the "breakthroughs."
They are clearly still in denial and also in an argumentative mode so I just nodded and left the discussion. "Never argue with a fool, people might not know the difference" - or never argue with suckers, there's one born every minute and you'll die of exhaustion.
It's NOT PEAK ENERGY! It's PEAK OIL.
Re: "It's NOT PEAK ENERGY! It's PEAK OIL."
And Natural Gas. Definitely in North America, but we are not far away from peak natural gas elsewhere as well. Our knowledge of what is out there for natural gas is pretty deficient.
Furthermore, climate change says we should not be using coal to substitute for oil and natural gas. This combination of issues gets us pretty close to peak energy.
Uh, "pretty close"?
Yeah, if 2075 is pretty close. Oh brother.
Sorry Hothgar, but peak oil is peak energy - and peak matter.
Errr, peak oil doens't matter.
The end of underpriced energy (in relation to gathering photons in the now and making them work for us) and the effects on the economic system is what the peak is all about.
You really should have ended your post after, "Errr..." - or maybe added an "ah...um..ah... nevermind" to it.
Thanks for your comment. IT has added SO much value here - makes ya look like a sage.
what energy source powers polyannaland ?
Hot air.
I think you misunderstand their situation -- they're ignorant of the ramifications not in denial.
ImSceptical
"I think you misunderstand their situation -- they're ignorant of the ramifications not in denial."
Can I ask a question, ImSceptical? Do the doomers have ANY other response to those who can make distinctions, such as the difference between "oil" and "energy", the difference between "peak" and running out", the difference between the real possibility of "oil" and "gas" peaking, and the assured and apocolyptic destruction of all civilization, between "silver bb's" and real artful and intelligent design, and between "peak oil" and peak incompetence, do the the doomers have any other response other that a knee jerk accusation of "ignorance" and "denial".
Just once try to argue the case on the merits.
I love the story about wind reliability! But put it in perspective...I know of some southern cities several years ago who took the windows of out of city buses because they could not keep the air conditioning running in them. Did anyone decide that air conditioning was to unreliable to be used? Don't the energy police wish it were so...no, they realized there was nothng wrong with air conditioning as a technology, but that they were seriously short of ocmpetent technicians to maintain it.
The constant attacks by many here on anyone with a differing opinion, the fast whipping out of the term "troll", and the belief that there is one belief system and one only risk destroying the usefulness of this forum.
Roger Conner known to you as ThatsItImout
P.S. Motto for the day: It does not take a troll to see the difference, the fundamental, complete and philosophically central difference between peak oil and peak energy.
Funny that you should see our TV "News" sources as an almost comical soap opera or movie that is greatly distanced from reality.
I was just watching this weird video: Who is David Icke and is he right? (warning a long video, approx 45 minutes)
Not that I subscribe to much of what Mr. Icke proposes, but one of his theories is that MSM is nothing but a bunch of well dressed "repeaters" who know nothing and merely repeat the official propaganda line of TPTB. Another of his theories is that MSM is a kind of side-show or distracting movie that the masses are supposed to watch so that they are kept from spotting what is "really going on".
Step Back,
As a former member of the mainstream media, I can tell you that is EXACTLY what is going on. When I proposed an expose on Canadian stock fraud boiler room operations, my editors at CBS told me that they were not interested in stifling business or in negative news.
The evolving state of journalism from the eighties to the present has been a change from investigative journalism, such as we saw during the Watergate era, to one of complicity and so-called "fairness." This rather brilliant ploy by the PTB, calling for "fair and balanced" reporting, played upon American's core need to be fair. This idea is an offshoot of the notion that everyone should get a chance. Before the advent of Republican hegemony, the FCC required that political presentations on TV and radio must air opposing viewpoints through the use of the Fairness in Media Act passed in 1949 and eliminated in 1987. The principal reason for this forced fairness was the simple fact that he who owns the printing press has freedom of speech, all others must beg for air-time. Once that rule was eliminated, the right wing seized upon this basic idea of "fairness" and turned it into a highly effective weapon. Because they were no longer required to supply a credible opposing viewpoint, they would either pit wildly mismatched opponents such Hannity and Colmes, or uses fringe opponents who would appear incredible no matter what they say. By using this execrable technique, the right wing could claim "fair and balanced" coverage while putting on what can only be called a parade of "news" propaganda.
Then the right wing radio shows which made no pretense to fairness, accuracy, or even sanity, simply dumped the opposing voice and launched its loud abrasive voice at the uneducated American and through the big brother technique of shouting a lie often enough and loud enough it permeated the simplistic American's mind as truth. For a great list of outrageous right-wing lies, canards, slurs, and libels, check out: http://www.alternet.org/mediaculture/45983/.
Yes, the masses are not only being diverted by media, they are actively being brainwashed, witness global warming and the legion of Exxon funded "experts" who stepped in to pooh-pooh these alarmists who claim such outrageous science. Look at the hundreds of "think tanks" ( I call them zombie tanks) funded by the right wing to put forth "experts" whose sole job is to dilute the argument. Their job is not actually to win a scientific, economic or social argument, but to inject as much doubt into the argument as possible. They call it muddying the waters. This simple act of diversion enables their coporate sponsors to evade moral responsibility and to continue to profit from the death of the planet.
The reporters I've dealt with in the past ten years are on the whole an earnest group and, despite being cloaked in a mantle of "unbiased objectivity," they are dumb as a sack of hammers. They pride themselves on their unwillingness to research a topic. To be fair to them, the sheer workload heaped upon them often precludes research, but I have not heard a single reporter bemoan this fact. Now, lower level employees are no longer protected by the basic tenets of journalism. They toe the line because journalism jobs are far and few between. And this type of control means very little information dangerous to the PTB manages to percolate to the surface. Combine that with the gnat-sized attention span of the consumer and the media, and you have a wonderfully effective propaganda machine.
I think that the state of American/Soviet media should be obvious to anyone with eyes to see.
On the other hand, the Internet is a fantastic source of info and gaining in strength every day. As an example, I remember the pre-Internet (for me, anyway) 1991 attack on Iraq. I was gung-ho for the good guys (us) and in all likelihood totally ignorant of the actual reality of the conflict. IMO, the Internet is an incredible threat to the MSM.
Internet good short form. Print good long form
I wd bet u 2 scroll long posts
Internet drive out print.
Print good.
Internet sloppy.
Books are here to stay.
I call them "thought tankers".
(The so-called think tanks.)
Their job is to stop people from thinking, to tank the thought process, to shut down the neo cortex in the brain, to activate the reptilian fear factor.
9/11
be afraid
be very afraid
"they" are out there to get "you"
stop thinking and start trusting us, we are the "decider" people, we decide--you inform (on your fellow citizens), we are the most trusted source in a spinning know zone, be fair and off balance -all the time
"Their job is to stop people from thinking, to tank the thought process, to shut down the neo cortex in the brain, to activate the reptilian fear factor."
Agreed, Stepback. Good thread and you hit the nail on the head!
"It is the primary function of the mass media in the United States to mobilize public support for the special interests that dominate the government and private sector." - Noam Chomsky
I think Chomksy did a great job explaining the process in Manufacturing Consent. He contends that the super elite use the media to persuade (brainwash) the 20% of the population considered to be the intellectual class and to distract everyone else. He also explains that the dominant political parties are really just two factions of the same corporate machine. I also think the two majors are mainly tools for the dialectic approach of implementing policy changes and restructuring societal paradigms. The electorate is never expected to think critically on important issues and is given a false sense of choice during elections and opinion polling. Owing to the highly compartmentalized nature of our society, the strategy has worked remarkably well. While Chomsky is a linguist, his observations are consistent with tenets from neuropsychology.
Last year I came across a good example of the level of control corporate interests excercise on the MSM. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was on the The Daily Show with Jon Stewart when he recounted his frustration of having worked with a major network to put together a news show documenting the link between mercury in vaccinations (thimerosal) and a dramatic rise in autism. Kennedy was called by a network executive right before the show was to air and told that it had been cancelled by higher-ups. Presumably, pharmaceutical interests used their clout to derail the program. Par for the course...
Good point.
The FDA (US "Food" and Drug watchdog agency) never said boo to the whole thing. They are in cahoots with big food and big pharma interests. They are wolves in sheep's garment. They circle about us every day. And yet, "We the Sheeple" keep grazing in happy slumber.
And yet, "We the Sheeple" keep grazing...
"We" --- So YOU are a Sheeple?
Absolutely.
And I have Bahhhd news for you.
You are sheeple too.
You are sheeple too.
Hmmmmm...
Not sure, I am not part of the "elite" but I am not edible either, may be I am just a leftover.
It appears to me that Mr. Icke is absolutely correct.
You should be more faithful to your moniker, ImSceptical. In the UK, we're quite familiar with Mr Icke and know that everything he says has to be taken with a pinch of salt because he is - to put it mildly - stark, staring bonkers. Don't believe me? Read the man's own words (he's not joking!):
By all means associate peak oil with the ravings of such a man. I'm sure the majority of posters here will thank you for it. [/sarcasm]