Climate Capitalism: Google Wind Farms in Mojave Desert

Clipped from peakoil.com

Google invests $55 million in Mojave Desert wind farm

Google Inc. is investing $55 million in a large Mojave Desert wind farm, pumping fresh air into California’s struggling wind power industry.

Google said Tuesday that it was partnering with Citibank, which is also shelling out $55 million to help finance part of the Alta Wind Energy Center, one of the world’s largest wind installations.

When complete, the project in the Tehachapi Mountains will generate 1.5 gigawatts, enough to power 450,000 homes. The installation will help boost wind jobs in the state 20% while feeding more than $1.2 billion into the Kern County economy, according to developers. Read more at peakoil.com

 

Parallels Between the Decline of the American Empire and Britain's? #collapse #peakoil @chrislhayes @maddow

How will it differ in light of the #peakoil and #peakeverything being reached?

Clipped from www.bbc.co.uk

Britain, the Commonwealth and the End of Empire

1945: End of World War Two The collapse of British imperial power - all but complete by the mid-1960s - can be traced directly to the impact of World War Two. The catastrophic British defeats in Europe and Asia between 1940 and 1942 destroyed its financial and economic independence, the real foundation of the imperial system. Britain had survived the war, but its wealth, prestige and authority had been severely reduced. It also erased the old balance of power on which British security - at home and abroad - had largely depended. Although Britain was one of the victorious allies, the defeat of Germany had been mainly the work of Soviet and American power, while that of Japan had been an almost entirely American triumph. Britain had survived and recovered the territory lost during the war. But its prestige and authority, not to mention its wealth, had been severely reduced. The British found themselves locked into an imperial endgame from which every exit was blocked except the trapdoor to oblivion. Top Read more at www.bbc.co.uk

 

Hemp as part of #USA #energy policy #2012 #colapse #peakoil

Clipped from www.beyondpeak.com

Hemp

Beyond Peak Oil

Hemp vs. Marijuana Similarities Hemp and marijuana are varieties of the Cannabis sativa plant. They're both illegal to grow in the United States, although hemp products are legal. Both have similar aromas when in bloom. Differences Smoking marijuana makes the user high. Smoking hemp doesn't. (Hemp contains less than 1 percent of the active ingredient THC, marijuana has 10 to 20 percent.) Marijuana plants tend to be short and bushy, hemp can be as high as 25 feet tall. Marijuana can be used to smoke or eat. Hemp can be used to produce more than 25,000 products. Read more at www.beyondpeak.com

 

Wildgoose Arcadia Dyer indicated in oil speculation #cftc #peakoil

http://www.scribd.com/mobile/documents/56186221

 

 

Very clever crime followed by very clever investigation. Good job cftc

#BRIC Taking #UK #USA #EU Place in #Geopolitics #2012 @maddow @ezraklein @chrislhayes #collapse

"Britain is no longer one of the world's price setters. We take our prices from international commodity markets driven by China and India. That is something we have got to live with and adjust to. It is painful. It is a challenge to us in government to explain it. The political class as a whole is not preparing the public for how massive the problem is"

Goldman Sachs has argued that, since the four BRIC countries are developing rapidly, by 2050 their combined economies could eclipse the combined economies of the current richest countries of the world. These four countries, combined, currently account for more than a quarter of the world's land area and more than 40% of the world's population.[7][8]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BRIC

Clipped from www.guardian.co.uk

Vince Cable: People do not understand how bad the economy is

Business secretary says politicians have not made clear the time and pain needed to restructure Britain's broken economic model

Vince Cable has warned that the political class has not yet prepared the public for the scale of the underlying problems facing the UK economy and the coming squeeze on living standards.

In a frank interview with the Guardian the business secretary repeatedly referred to the time and pain that will be needed to restructure what he regards as a broken economic model.

"It is a challenge to us to communicate it better. I don't think it is understood that the British economy declined 6 or 7% – [that is] 10% below trend," Cable said. "We are actually a poorer country, mainly because of the banking crash, the recession that followed it and partly due to the squeeze we are now under from the changing balance of the world economy."

He argued: "Britain is no longer one of the world's price setters. We take our prices from international commodity markets driven by China and India. That is something we have got to live with and adjust to. It is painful. It is a challenge to us in government to explain it. The political class as a whole is not preparing the public for how massive the problem is." Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

 

UT supports #Gold as good as #USD #collapse #peakoil #2012 #Transition @planetmoney

Transition started?

Clipped from hosted.ap.org

Gold, silver coins to be legal currency in Utah

they've turned it around, and made gold as good as cash. Utah became the first state in the country this month to legalize gold and silver coins as currency. The law also will exempt the sale of the coins from state capital gains taxes.

Craig Franco hopes to cash in on it with his Utah Gold and Silver Depository, and he thinks others will soon follow. The idea is simple: Store your gold and silver coins in a vault, and Franco issues a debit-like card to make purchases backed by your holdings. Read more at hosted.ap.org

 

IMF To Be Controlled By BRIC? #dsk #collapse #2012

"debtor countries could not and should not provide the leadership because of possible conflicts of interest" - was the argument for why developing nations couldn't run the show before. Now its ignored so the EU can put its house back in order.

Clipped from www.guardian.co.uk

The IMF needs to change, whoever becomes its next chief

Whether the IMF's next head is a European woman or a man from a developing country doesn't matter – whoever it is must change the way the institution works

For more than 60 years now convention, rather than any written rules, has dictated that the appointment of heads of the Bretton Woods institutions has been controlled by the traditional global powers. The US has provided the chief of the World Bank and Europe has provided the head of the IMF. These "conventions" emerged and were entrenched during a period when these two broad groupings controlled the global economy, and polity. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

 

Msg to @barackobama: Legalization is the only way to CONTROL drugs #weed #marijuana #2012 #teaparty #gop #dems @maddow

Legalization is the only way for the USA and MEXICAN governments to end the drug war. Calderon and Obama need to figure that out.

Clipped from movies.netflix.com

Vietnam

Similar titles available to watch instantly High: The True Tale of American Marijuana In Instant QPlay Rate 5 stars Rate 4 stars Rate 3 stars Rate 2 stars Rate 1 star Saving... The Green Rush Add to InstantPlay Rate 5 stars Rate 4 stars Rate 3 stars Rate 2 stars Rate 1 star Saving... Read more at movies.netflix.com

 

Glimpse of History: China's Entry into Capitalism #collapse #2012 #socialism

Clearly China took some lessons away from Vietnam. Did the USA?

Clipped from www.marxists.org

China in Vietnam – An act of aggression to match its return to capitalism

First Published: In Struggle! Vol. 6, No. 31, March 13, 1979 Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba Copyright: This work is in the Public Domain under the Creative Commons Common Deed. You can freely copy, distribute and display this work; as well as make derivative and commercial works. Please credit the Encyclopedia of Anti-Revisionism On-Line as your source, include the url to this work, and note any of the transcribers, editors & proofreaders above.

Honourable rulers in capitalist countries around the world: If the Russian bear or any of the regimes backed by the USSR start infringing upon the development plans of your country or the competitiveness of your market, bring out the heavy artillery!’ The new Number One in China, Deng Xiaoping, wants everyone to understand this simple lesson if he has to repeat it a thousand times: “That is the only language the USSR understands.”

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China decided recently to give back to the industrial and merchant sections of the national bourgeoisie all of the enormous bank deposits and other assets belonging to them... and to re-institute their high salaries and give them the pay which is presently overdue.” (Les Cahiers de la Chine nouvelle, no. 62, February 2, 1979, p. 6, our translation)

China is now an expansionist power which poses a real threat to the peoples in other countries. It is now ready to pokes its head in each time a country’s policy will not be to its liking. Vietnam, allied with the social- imperialist USSR, has talked a good deal recently about China’s preparations for a big war to extend its hegemony in South East Asia.

The Chinese provocateurs should be treated for what they really are: a new bourgeoisie which is increasingly aggressive, foaming at the mouth at the prospect of controlling economically and politically larger and larger areas of Asia and the rest of the world. That is the real lesson, pure and simple that Deng and the Chinese leaders want to teach the world. Read more at www.marxists.org

 

Mexico's Economy Will Exceed Germany and UK by 2050? #peakoil #collapse @collapsenet

40 year projections are about as worthless as a used Barry Manilow 8 track.

Clipped from www.guardian.co.uk

GDP growth across the OECD

GDP growth across the OECD

GDP growth is the standard litmus test of how an economy is performing. National bodies such as the Office for National Statistics calculates it each quarter by assessing the activity in various parts of the economy. They then attempt to strip out the effects of inflation by recalculating the activity using last year's prices (this is called the 'chained volume measure', as it links the two years together to give a better picture).

GDP also ignores a lot of personal activity - hire a company to repair your house and this activity will be measured by the ONS, but do it yourself and it won't be. Additionally, it doesn't measure discrepancies within an economy, so GDP-per-capita does not distinguish between societies where there is a large gap between rich and poor, and a small one. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

 

Great News: US Manufacturing Wages Will Be Lower Than China's in 5 yrs @collapse #peakoil @chrislhayes @maddow

Really? The BCG study suggests that US manufacturing workers are 3x more productive than China's, that their wages are growing rapidly, and that companies are opening plants in the US because labor is so cheap.

Chinese manufacturing cant grow 17% a year for 5 yrs without ENERGY and we understand that China is facing the worst energy crisis ever.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/05/17/chinas-energy-crisis/?test=latestnews

So where will the US get all the natural resources and steel needed to manufacture goods? Especially with oil costing more than $120 a barrel?

Ok, here is the jobs plan from US politicians.

Oh, but wait it also says this: If the U.S. can not maintain or expand its wide productivity advantage vs. China the the projections quoted are likely to be modified to the detriment of U.S. manufacturing.

That means US Sweat Shops Likely - productivity means more hours, no unions, no healthcare, etc. USD drops and thats good for us! Yahoo.

Clipped from econintersect.com

U.S. Manufacturing is Coming Home

Econintersect (Updated May 5):  According to a report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), manufacturing is on the increase within the the U.S.  The study concludes that the U.S. will surpass China in manufacturing production of goods sold in North America over the next four years.  The U.S. lost the world lead in manufacturing that it had held for most of the twentieth century during the weak recovery from The Great Recession.  According to data from IHS Global Insight, quoted by the Financial Times, China had 19.8% of world manufacturing output with the U.S. second at 19.4% in 2010.

A key factor in the U.S. manufacturing resurgence comes from labor productivity, which is more than 3x that of China.  With the wages in China growing at a much higher rate than in the U.S. the productivity advantage is drawing domestic production back home, especially for the "more sophisticated" producrs mentioned in the FT article.

Among the U.S. corporations mentioned by the FT which have announced plans for major investments in new U.S. manufacturing are Caterpillar, General Electric and Ford.  In the first quarter of 2011 manufacturing production in the U.S. rose by 9.1% (annual rate), making it the fastest growing segment in the U.S. economy.

On May 5, as discussed at GEI Analysis by Steven Hansen, The BLS (Bureau of Labor Statistics) reported an unexpected drop in labor productivity growth.  Productivity is a key component of the projections for manufacturing reported in this news brief.  If the U.S. can not maintain or expand its wide productivity advantage vs. China the the projections quoted are likely to be modified to the detriment of U.S. manufacturing.

The BCG study says that Chinese manufacturing wage costs seem likely to rise 17 per cent a year in the next five years, compared with only 3 per cent a year in the US. Read more at econintersect.com

 

Presidential #EnergyPolicy Fracking Our Way to Armageddon WTF? #halliburton #collapse #peakoil #transition

Just watch this quick video and investigate fracking. About as useful as destroying the Rocky Mountains for shale oil

Clipped from www.youtube.com

My Water's On Fire Tonight (The Fracking Song)

The destructive hydraulic fracturing process was initially developed by Halliburton, Dick Cheney's old company. In 2005 the entire fracking industry was mysteriously allowed to be absolutely exempt from all of the regulations in the Safe Drinking Water Act through something know as the "Halliburton Loophole". Read more at www.youtube.com

 

As American Neoliberalism Begins to Crack, Latin American & Chinese Models Grow @ezraklein #collapse

Are Brazil and Venezuela's economic models applicable to the EU and USA?

Clipped from www.guardian.co.uk

Austerity? There is an alternative – a new project for Europe's left

Our initiative aims to show there is an alternative analysis of the present situation rather than the misery and injustice of austerity

Europe stands at a crossroads. Successive waves of fiscal austerity have been imposed by European and domestic elites on the people of Greece, Ireland and Portugal, with Spain, Britain and Italy following suit. These programmes, almost without precedent in their severity, were barely debated either against alternative policy options or accounts of the nature of the crisis, both of which were certainly available. Governments, bureaucrats and pundits of dubious expertise simply declare that "there is no alternative", and instruct the public to take their medicine.

Neoliberalism – audaciously, given the historic humiliation suffered by its market fundamentalist dogma in the autumn of 2008 – is on the comeback trail, with a renewed and reinvigorated assault on the fundamental democratic principle of economic governance in pursuit of the common good. The public itself – with its "generous" pensions, social safety nets and other unaffordable luxuries – is now portrayed as a burden on the economy.

Across Latin America, various novel and interesting forms of socialism have been emerging and evolving for some time, since an earlier generation experienced the miseries resulting from the imposition of the Washington Consensus. Read more at www.guardian.co.uk

 

Preview of USA #Collapse? Greek crisis forces Athenians into rural migration @collapsenet #transition

Clipped from www.guardian.co.uk

Greek crisis forces thousands of Athenians into rural migration

Debt, unemployment and poverty is causing mass unrest and thousands to seek a cheaper lifestyle outside the capital

See more at www.guardian.co.uk

 

Source of Electricity: Nuclear, Natural Gas, Shale, Fracking, Unocal, Water, & War @nprnews @planetmoney @ezraklein @collapsenet, #collapse

This NPR article ignores the war in Eurasia for natural gas, the war in Iraq for oil, the poisonous side affects of fracking, the amount of time it takes for nuclear power to come online, the cost of waste disposal for nuclear, the WATER cost of fracking, etc....

The WAR in Afghanistan is all about increasing our presence in Eurasia as Unocal builds a pipeline from the Caspian sea through Afghanistan, through Pakistan (expect more ware there) through to the Arabian Sea.

Clipped from www.npr.org

Nuclear Nations Turn To Natural Gas And Renewables

May 16, 2011 Listen to the Story Morning Edition [4 min 41 sec] Add to Playlist Download Transcript

Engineers probing the ruined nuclear reactors at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi plant are finding yet more damage. Not only did fuel melt in three reactors, they've just discovered a hole in one reactor vessel. And radioactive water continues to leak at the site. That mess in Fukushima has led several governments to reassess nuclear power. Read more at www.npr.org

 

Starbucks Should Support Full Marijuana Legalization @mystarbucksidea @starbucks #weed #oaksterdamn @alapoet

The pro-marijuana movement needs powerful capitalists to support legalization. That is the only way things get done in the USA. Big Money for politicians and businessmen means full legal and tax system support!

Think about the headline. Starbucks has the logistical infrastructure to source and deliver marijuana to virtually the whole world. The already get the beans from the same countries where marijuana is grown (but it should be a sell it where you grow it license only.)

Several have thought of this idea. You go in all times of the day and get your fix.

Why would Starbucks be against legalized marijuana if they could SELL IT!
http://newsjunkiepost.com/2010/02/06/when-70-support-marijuana-legalization-starbucks-gets-message/

They are not idealogues. They are capitalists. If the weed was sourced organically, and the farmers were paid well, and it was a sustainable model, they would SUPPORT it wholeheartedly.

Clipped from www.npr.org

In California, Marijuana Dispensaries Outnumber Starbucks

The sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes has been legal in California for the past 13 years. Now, close to 1,000 dispensaries are selling marijuana in Los Angeles. Local authorities are talking about shutting down a lot of these operations. Host Michel Martin finds out more with N-P-R Correspondent Mandalit del Barco.

The sale of marijuana for medicinal purposes has been legal in California for the past 13 years. Now in Los Angeles, alone, there are close to 1,000 dispensaries currently selling pot. But local authorities are now talking about shutting down many of these operations. To talk more about this topic, we hear from NPR correspondent Mandalit del Barco. Over the next several weeks, we're going to be checking in with Mandalit to hear about all things West Coast, and she's joining us now from our studios at NPR West. Welcome, Mandalit. Welcome back.

DEL BARCO: Well, Michel, in the past year or so, the number of medical marijuana dispensaries, as you say, has exploded. There's estimates of 800 or 900 storefront shops. In fact, we have reported on NPR that in some neighborhoods, there are more medical marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks, if you can believe that. Read more at www.npr.org

 

Eisenhower Warned: Security and Defense Industry Will Bankrupt USA @maddow @ezraklein #teaparty #gop #dems @bluegal

real predators feeding on our decline — the military-security industry — are feasting

Clipped from www.americablog.com

real predators feeding on our decline — the military-security industry — are feasting

Rachel on Osama and money: "The goal of Al Qaeda was to bleed America to the point of bankruptcy"

"According to bin Laden, the goal of Al Qaeda was to bleed America to the point of bankruptcy. That was his grand strategy" (6:35 in the clip). She titles her report "On Our Terms, Not His". On his terms, we lost, right? After all, isn't that what the Reagan of our myths did to the old Soviet Union — get them to spend themselves into bankruptcy? Food for thought, though I don't hold out hope for our digesting it. The real predators feeding on our decline — the military-security industry — are feasting. They're unlikely to allow the process of decay to stop until the last drinkable drop has passed their lips. And we're unlikely to stop them. Read more at www.americablog.com

 

Osama Bin Ladin Bankrupted USA and USSR

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow...

 

 

This is a very interesting look at OBL's history. Makes you wonder why the Bush family prohibited the investigation of Saudi Arabia in our terrorism investigations.

Maybe the Saudi's figured out we have been misleading them or blackmailed them into having our military there.

On our terms, not his - obl was the money guy

Listen to the video linked below.

? for John Kerry, Is the CIA now selling drugs from Afghanistan like in the Iran Contra Scandal? #peakoil #obl #war #2012

Not like this is new news to anyone...

Clipped from www.pbs.org

We permitted narcotics we were complicitous as a country in narcotics traffic at the same time as we're spending countless dollars in this country to try to get rid of this problem. It's mind boggling. Read more at www.pbs.org

 

Sen John Kerry is Honest, Practical, Brilliant, and Truly Cares about America and the middle Class

Say what you will about him but he has been a consistent and practical force for US foreign relations for many years. Listin to the podcast on this site.

Clipped from www.commonwealthclub.org

Under Senator Kerry’s leadership, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee addresses the key foreign policy and national security issues facing the United States, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, nuclear nonproliferation and global climate change. As nations across the Middle East face unprecedented political upheaval, Kerry will discuss current affairs in that region as well as a variety of domestic issues. A U.S. senator for nearly three decades and a former Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, Kerry has distinguished himself as one of today’s most highly respected and influential leaders. Kerry has been a leading voice on a wide array of issues – from expanding health care to supporting small business – but his most notable work has been in regard to international affairs and national security. Kerry now chairs the very committee he notably testified before in 1971. Read more at www.commonwealthclub.org