Archive for the ‘The Perfect Storm’ Category

Wealthy states look globally for fertile soil

Saturday, September 13th, 2008

– This sounds like a new form of colonialism to me.  

– It may begin with economic arrangements, but once the growing country is supplying a significant portion of the consuming country’s food, the internal affairs of the growing country will become the ‘personal and deeply vested interest business’ of the consuming country.

– If the growing country is not well behaved, then military or clandestine intervention will follow.  

– Can anyone say, “Chile, Allende, Anaconda and CIA”?  It’s the same pattern, just with a new name.

“For some policymakers, this evokes the nightmare scenario of crops being transported out of fortified farms as hungry locals look on.”

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Capital-rich but food-insecure countries are exploring the idea of leasing farmland beyond their own borders. Is this a “win-win” idea or a recipe for exploitation? Javier Blas and Andrew England report.

Saudi Arabia has no permanent rivers or lakes. Rainfall is low and unreliable. Cereals can be cultivated only through expensive projects that deplete underground reservoirs. Dairy cattle must be cooled with fans and machines that spray them with water mists. This is not, in short, a nation that would normally be associated with large-scale agriculture.

But that could be about to change. Boosted by revenues from the oil boom and concerned about food security, the kingdom is scouring the globe for fertile lands in a search that has taken Saudi officials to Sudan, Ukraine, Pakistan and Thailand.

Their plan is to set up large-scale projects overseas that will later involve the private sector in growing crops such as corn, wheat and rice. Once a country has been selected, each project could be in excess of 100,000 hectares – about 10 times the size of New York City’s Manhattan island – and the majority of the crop would be exported back, officials say.

While Saudi Arabia’s plans are among the grandest, they reflect growing interest in such projects among capital-rich countries that import most of their food. The United Arab Emirates is looking into Kazakhstan and Sudan, Libya is hoping to lease farms in Ukraine and South Korea has hinted at plans in Mongolia. Even China – with plenty of cultivable land but not a lot of water – is exploring investments in south-east Asia.

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Idiots Fiddle While Rome Burns

Thursday, September 11th, 2008

– I really like Barry Ritholtz’s commentary on financial matters on his Big Picture Blog.

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The collection of ne’er do wells, clueless dolts, political hacks, and oh, let’s just be blunt and call them what they are — total Idiots — expands into an ever larger circle.

While the Republic burns due to the unsavory combination of incompetence, ideological rigidity, and crony capitalism, the fools and assclowns seem ever more determined to avoid any personal responsibility for the damages they have wrought. Instead, they flail about blindly, blaming everything and everyone — except their own horrific negligence.

This is financial incompetence writ on a scale far grander than anything seen for centuries.

As a nation, our institutions have failed us: Under Alan Greenspan, the Federal Reserve slept through the most reckless and irresponsible expansion of bank lending in history for reasons of ideological purity. His opposition to the Fed’s regulatory role reached the point of malfeasance long ago.  History is unlikely to be kind to the Maestro.

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Presidential Crimes

Tuesday, September 9th, 2008

Moving on is not an option

We have at the present time two government leaders, a president and a vice president, who, according to all available evidence, have carried out grave crimes. Will these two men leave office and live out their lives without being subjected to legal proceedings? Such proceedings will surely release new documents and provide additional testimony important in resolving their guilt or innocence. But the public record is now so elaborate, so detailed, and validated from so many directions that a weight is on the population’s shoulders: does our already existing knowledge of what they have done obligate us to press for legal redress?

The question is painful even to ask, so painful that we may all yield to an easy temptation not to pursue it at all.

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– Research Thanks to PHK

Candid Europe

Monday, September 8th, 2008

– I have great friends.   I guess maybe that comes with age.  But many of these folks have risen to positions in their careers which give them great views that not many of the rest of us are privileged to share.  

– Occasionally, they share the view from where they are with me.   And in this world of endless spin, I find this highly valuable.   

– Below, are a few paragraphs that a friend of mine, who works in a large international organization in Europe, wrote me.  

– I trust his intelligence, his candor and his proximity to the things he discusses.   In short, it’s a relatively clear view of something we would normally only see through a fog of spin and ideology.

– My friend shall remain nameless.  Enjoy.

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It is very interesting in Europe.  First, the European Union for the most part has control of the currency (the Euro) not all old member states are under the Euro, (Denmark, Sweden, UK), and the newer member states are not all in the Euro (Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania).  So I think it is 13 European countries which are laboring under the Euro which includes France, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Cyprus, Finland, Slovenia, Ireland.  But, these for the most part are the economic dynamos.  I might not have the Euro members exactly correct, but it is close and off the top of my head.  Anyway, the main point is that the European Central Bank (ECB) does not act like our Federal Reserve.  The ECB is charged with keeping Inflation at or below 3% across the board.  It might be 2% but I think its 3.  So, when someplace like Spain gets a head of inflationary  steam, then the ECB would screw with interest rates and other controls to curb  this villain. This was a solution looking for a problem. This has been disruptive in some cases because if a smaller nation causes the ECB to react, it could really affect larger nations, like Germany, to enter an economic downturn where things were otherwise OK.

Overall this has more or less worked OK, but it really has not had to deal with a major economic problem like that which is coming.  If you will notice, the dollar is slowly strengthening against the Euro. This is because the European economy follows the US lead but it traditionally lags by 9 months to a year.  The UK seems to have a much shorter lag, and they are feeling the crunch now. Real Estate in Spain and France is in dire straights. Europe is beginning to head south at this time.  The ECB now has to make a decision about broadening its mandate. All bets are that it will reduce interest rates to stimulate the EU economy even though inflation is not where they want it. That in part is why the dollar is strengthening.  High interest rates attract capital which causes the currency to strengthen.  So if the ECB reduces or indicates lower interest rates, then the currency depreciates.

There are other problems also, no real wage growth for years, very high social programs which drain investment capital. None of this can hold because the Asian tigers are gobbling up everything in sight.  So what we have is a massive drain of capital (National Wealth) towards Asia.  Also, Asia is stealing all the intellectual capital. To me all of this means that at some point in time Europe and the US become has-been nations.

This issue with Russia is very interesting. It has revealed the real weakness in Europe’s ability to defend itself.  For years they have lived under the US umbrella which as you know can’t extend this far due to world wide commitments. The amount they (Europe at large) spend on national defense is very low.  They are not equipped to defend themselves at all. Our (USA) equipment is wearing out, our troops are tired, and our national will is spent.  Russia knows this and is taking full advantage. For some reason the Europeans are deluded into thinking it is really not a big deal.  Shades of Pre-WW II wishfull thinking.  They are also extremely dependent upon Russia for energy.  By taking Georgia, they [ Russia] have severely tightened the screws.

My overall assessment is that economically Europe is headed South.  This very well could cause a huge social upheaval.  We will just have to wait and see how deep this thing gets.

By the way I saw something yesterday about the number of Americans now in trouble with mortgages. It is about 10%.  The Fed is going to intervene in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  I am afraid that I do not see any leadership coming that will deal with these issues.  Reminds me of the old Chinese curse “May you live in interesting times”. OR, can we say depression???

Arctic Map shows dispute hotspots

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

British scientists say they have drawn up the first detailed map to show areas in the Arctic that could become embroiled in future border disputes.

A team from Durham University compiled the outline of potential hotspots by basing the design on historical and ongoing arguments over ownership.

Russian scientists caused outrage last year when they planted their national flag on the seabed at the North Pole.

The UK researchers hope the map will inform politicians and policy makers.

“Its primary purpose is to inform discussions and debates because, frankly, there has been a lot of rubbish about who can claim (sovereignty) over what,” explained Martin Pratt, director of the university’s International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU).

“To be honest, most of the other maps that I have seen in the media have been very simple,” he added.

“We have attempted to show all known claims; agreed boundaries and one thing that has not appeared on any other maps, which is the number of areas that could be claimed by Canada, Denmark and the US.”

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“Water Mafias” Put Stranglehold on Public Water Supply

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Worldwide corruption driven by mafia-like organizations throughout water industries is forcing the poor to pay more for basic drinking water and sanitation services, according to a new report.

If bribery, organized crime, embezzlement, and other illegal activities continue, consumers and taxpayers will pay the equivalent of U.S. $20 billion dollars over the next decade, says the report, released this week at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm, Sweden.

The water sector is one of most corrupt after health and education, added HÃ¥kan Tropp, chair of the Water Integrity Network (WIN), an advocacy group and report co-author.

That’s because the poor often don’t have a voice in strategic water policy decisions, said Christian Poortman, head of the anticorruption group Transparency International (TI), which collaborated with WIN on the study.

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Melting glacier leaves no room for doubt

Thursday, September 4th, 2008

Huge ice fields in western China’s Tian Mountains are diminishing because of global warming. Jonathan Watts went to Urumqi No1 to see how the local people are being affected.

Up close, the sound of global warming at the face of the Urumqi No1 Glacier is a simple, steady drip, drip, drip. Just 30 metres from the main wall, the flood of meltwater becomes so powerful that it cuts a tunnel under the floor of grey ice, leaving only a blotchy, wafer-thin crust on the surface. [See Guardian video here.]

Compared with the collapse of ice shelves in the Antarctic, the melting of the mountains in China’s far west is one of the less spectacular phenomena of global warming, but it is a more immediate cause of concern and hope.

There is concern because this glacier — more than almost any other in China — is a natural water regulator for millions of people downstream in the far western region of Xinjiang. In winter, it stores up snow and ice. In summer, it releases meltwater to provide drinking and irrigation supplies to one of the country’s most arid regions. It brings hope because its rapid shrinkage is helping to set off climate-change alarm bells in a country that emits more greenhouse gases than any other.

The Urumqi No1 Glacier is so named because it was the first ice field to be measured in China. Since 1953, scientists have been monitoring its thickness and length, analysing traces of pollution and tracking changes in temperature at this 3,800-metre altitude. The results leave no room for doubt that this part of the Tian (Heaven) mountain range is melting.

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Elephants Decimated in Congo Park; China Demand Blamed

Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

– Entire species may disappear for transient human vanity.   My species truly embarrasses me.   We are not worthy to have the power we have over these innocent beasts.

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Since the beginning of this year, armed groups, soldiers, and poachers have killed 10 percent of the elephants in Congo’s troubled Virunga National Park—allegedly driven by rising Chinese demand for ivory—park officials say.

The announcement raises fears that elephants could disappear forever from Africa’s oldest and largest national park, which has recently made headlines for its gorilla murders.

Rangers plying the lawless central sector of Virunga have discovered the bodies of seven elephants in the past two weeks alone.

In one case they came upon Rwandan militia members hovering over the bodies of two elephants. The rangers managed to drive the men away before they could remove the animals’ tusks.

In all, 24 elephants are known to have been killed in Virunga so far this year.

“We believe that less than ten were killed last year,” said Samantha Newport, spokesperson for Virunga National Park. “Undoubtedly this year is a lot, lot worse. It’s catastrophic.”

(Earlier coverage: “17 Elephants Butchered for Ivory in African Park” [May 5, 2008].)

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Banned OSHA Films

Monday, September 1st, 2008

-A hat tip to The Big Picture Blog for this story: 

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In 1980, the last year of Jimmy Carter’s administration, the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) commissioned a series of three 30-minute films about worker safety.  These were real pro productions, with Studs Terkel as narrator on two of the productions.  In 1981, Reagan appointed 36-year old Florida construction executive Thorne G. Auchter, who proceeded to systematically dismantle the agency.  Evidently, the 3 films disturbed Thorne greatly, because OSHA issued a recall, threatening to withold OSHA funds from any organization that did not return their copies of the films, which were promptly destroyed.

But a few union officials defied the ban and “stole” copies so they weren’t able to be returned.  Over the years, they would occasionally show them to their troops, using the fact they banned as a way to get them to watch the films, which have important messages about worker rights and workplace safety.  But, aside from these bootleg showings, the video disappeared.

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– Well, after all these years, these suppressed films have been posted on the Internet for everyone to see.

– In my opinion, the purpose of governement is to serve the people and create an environment that benefits their health, happiness and welfare.   These films are from a time when this POV was actually taken seriously at the highest levels in our government.   But, these ideas died with the advent of Reaganism and haven’t returned since.   Sad.

– Follow this link to go to the Internet Archive where you can see these three films: 

‘Big Dry’ turns farms into deserts

Monday, September 1st, 2008

In the once-lush fields of South Australia, on land that borders the state’s world famous Lower Lakes, farmer Nigel Treloar rounds up the herd with the help of his off-road motorbike.

It is one of the few things that has got easier as a result of Australia’s worst drought in 100 years.

That is because he used to have 800 cows and now he only milks 250. There is not enough irrigation water from the nearby lakes to sustain a bigger herd.

Nigel took me to nearby Lake Albert, to what used to be a vast expanse of water. But now its waters have receded and much of it resembles a moonscape.

The pump and pipeline that once irrigated his land now lie in the open-air rather than underwater. He has been chasing the retreating water and has been losing the race.

“We’d be up to our waist in water here and it would be navigable,” Nigel told me, after we had walked out 100 metres from what used to be the shoreline.

“You could come out here with boats. All the fishermen would be up and down with their fishing gear and pulling in the catch.”

“But this is the middle of winter and it looks like a desert.”

There are puddles of water but they are brown-tinged and unwelcoming. The cows will not drink it. So high is the salt content that it stings and burns their mouths.

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