the globe's warming;no, it isn't;yes, it is; no;yes

Byline: the best way to discover if Global warming exists is to ask insurers! They're paying for it.

Vat are you sinking?
Before reading this article, perhaps you should acquaint yourself mit Cherman Inglish. I'll explain why later.



Anyway, in the video above, a boat is sinking.

In this case, we're talking about the world sinking. Why not ask the Germans?

I've been a follower, and sometimes a member, of Greenpeace, that fine Canadian institution. They've had the guts to attack whaling boats, climb Parliament in London, etc getting shot at.
They think and act. Gotta like 'em. Balls o' steel.

They've been telling us this Warming stuff for decades. Of course, they're right. But, they're not winning the day.
We have to be honest. Nobody, AT ALL, wants to cramp their own style in order to save the planet. I'm not even going to ask you to look around you and see how your surroundings compare with the average African's. How much material bullshit do we have to surround ourselves with in order to be happy?

Add it up, folks.
Have we cut down on our pointless trips with these cheap airlines?
Probably not.
Who keeps track of their mileage?
Are you cutting down? Probably not.

I think about it all the time, but I'm neurotic anyway. Still, if I'm honest, I could do more.

There's always someone on tv telling you that the sky is not falling. For example, the BBC's recent Question Time with Jon Dimbleby had a crazy bag lady from the Daily Mail newspaper who said 'there's no proof. In fact, it's cold in here......are you gonna eat that?'.
The Conservative politician nearby, who was a scientist, contradicted her, but he did not want to support the green message whole-heartedly.
He knows that his right 'o centre constituency is full of hedonists. They already 'suffer' with the congestion tax, and fuel tax, and gridlock.

Poor Bentleys. Can't even stretch their legs. xD

But, I'm sick of this opinion bullshit. Warming's not an opinion.

It's either getting worse, or it isn't.
Sh*t or get off the pot

We have no one in the media of any weight who will say clearly

'we got a problem. Let's solve it.'

All of them are afraid of the shit-storm from the powers.

Bush43 had the world stage and he said, Warming's not been proved.

So, unbelievably, we've all relaxed.

I know why. We want to enjoy LIFE, in a

large-stylee.

I think this relativism is a particular Anglophone sickness.
So much of Anglo media is controlled by some nasty Dr. Evil-type, like Rupert Murdoch,
and they don't want us to do anything other than
CONSUME.

Unfortunately, Mr. Perignon, consuming=waste.
So, don't look to them for the answer. But, I DO want answers.
So, I turn to the Germans. They're always practical and logical, and now that we're past warring with them, we should start listening to them.
They cut through the bullcrap very well.
Their Volkswagen is one of the few companies that actually caused the derivatives traders to eat their own naked shorts.

Badda-bing! Lookitup. Cost 'em billions.

Who makes the best cars [The iconic British Mini is now Das Mini.*]? The fastest trains? Which Euro-country has the biggest economy and the most manufacturing. The best green laws and infrastructure? The same answer, every time.

Respect

I say, if you can't beat them, make fun of them. The British have a whole comedy cottage-industry focused on belittling the Hun. The Brits would rather do that than straighten out their own house.
Seriously, though. The Krauts're stiff and dour, but they know what they're doing.

One of their insurance companies, Munich RE has been keeping track of disasters. Why not? They pay out on insurance policies when disaster strikes. So, it's in their interest to be clear about this stuff. Instead of keeping this to themselves, they're actually informing the world.

Talk about your crazy business model.
It's like Wiki-crazy though, folks. Lookitup

The BBC news just showed a reporter visiting them. There's also this article in the The Local, a German newspaper. They've studied the money lost since the 50s and they say the growth in payouts for environmental disasters has been

exponential.
So, they're going green and investing in green energy.
Das ist gut.
Why are British and American insurers so quiet?
aren't they losing money, too?
Your answer please:____
End of discussion for me.

-Costick67 (8^P

spread the word

checkitout:
-http://www.thelocal.de/money/20081229-16429.html
-Google: Munich RE press release on 2008 disasters
*[I realise that this talk about manufacturing cars doesn't fit my enviro-message.]

bond futures. tie me down for this one

[pic - bonds in their truest sense]

We are tied quite tightly to our stock markets. In the past, they were just a fancy game, akin to a casino. Now, we cannot expand our economy without them. Unfortunately, that makes us as much of a fraud as the stock markets are.

That's okay. We like being beat on. We've been bad boys and girls. Haven't we? We trusted banks and government with our money. We trusted democracy and gave it legitimacy, only for the rich and their corporations to take it over. AND, we refuse to stand up to this apocalyptic-style government.
So, we deserve the markets that we get. The weak should even stop complaining verbally. Submit to the power.
Say after me:

"I'm bad, spank me."
"I've been bad, please take my money and pension."
"I've sinned, and voted for crooked politicians. Throw me out on the street."

coming soon: Bull markets

-Costick67 (8^P
pics fotosearch.com

Wooly economics

No, this is not about the stock market. But it could be, if you want.

After having heard many sides of the sorry case of the Woolworth's bankruptcy and dissolution, I've figured out a few interesting tidbits which could help us all survive the hard economic times that are to come.

I think their employees feel an inflated sense of self-importance. It's okay for a large employer to get help directly from a government, especially from an unpopular government that feels guilty for chucking the whole nation into hock.

However, it seems like they wanted the government to prop up their losing store. They seemed to think that they were special employees, in a special business, who were supposed to be taken care of. They were just retail clerks in a piss-poor retail store.
[pic- the market strikes back]
That's the miserable thing about Tesco, Sainsbury and Walmart and the like. They pay poor unfortunate souls a fiver an hour to put stuff on shelves so that customers can come in and buy them.

It's sad for me to watch that soul-destroying work going on because I've done my share of that kind of work. Those people will never be able to buy even the smallest of flats, unless they work 16+ hours a day, times seven days a week. Take 16/7 and add a couple of decades with no vacations. It's a dead-end, in other words. [read Anna Sam's book Checkout]
That's what's good and bad about big stores. The stuff is cheap, but the employees are a negligible cost. So, bosses make a killing, and governments are not terribly concerned with this imbalanced situation. It reminds me of the coal mine owners vs. coalminers comparison. Castles, Lordships and royal parties vs. working hard for a sandwich and a rented place to sleep.

But, that's not the worst thing about Wooly's. Even as an occasional customer, I could see that their junk was not leaving the shelves. The products were spending years gathering dust and bosses there didn't seem to be too worried about it. So, in this environment, with big boys like Tesco ruling, the Wooly's franchise deserved to fold, especially in this recession.
It was a vulnerable domino.

Wooly's employees are presented on tv and they mention that generations of the same family were working at some stores. It were an institution! Ya, a sick one. Kinda like the government.

When it comes down to it, retail does not add anything to the economy. It produces nothing. All it does is present stuff to consumers. All of us, stores included, live off of what we produce from farms on the land, oil under the land, manufactured products sold overseas, international trade profits, derivatives fraud and enslaving Iraq (to give a recent example). If that money doesn't flow, the economy loses its shine. However, we do, these days have life support. Almost all of us have loans, whether on credit cards, bank loans or mortgages. To me, that's life support.

It's such a good life support that everyone wants it; no one can live without it.*

It allowed a manager at Wooly's to buy a two-storey semi-detached house with 3 or 4 bedrooms and front and rear gardens/yards. That's far too big a box to hold only a couple and their 1.2 kids. But, if the bank will give you the money, you just go for it, doncha?

That's all ILL! It creates a bubble in the economy. It heats up the economy because we're spending the money we will earn years into the future. It eventually makes us work more and harder for the same pay, due to our worrying.

Then comes the occasional crash,

when many people lose their jobs, and have to stop deficit spending (that's what a loan is).
The dominoes start wobbling.

The unemployed can lose their house (the banks never lose, because their loans inflate house prices) largely because they're overextended; in debt up to their eyeballs. This can push other vulnerable enterprises into bankruptcy and so on.

I'm not going to give anyone a speech on saving, but it's only part of the solution. Besides, if everybody does lock their wallets, we'll go into an economic nosedive as everyone tries to pay off their debts. A few intelligent individuals can however find a way not to be so vulnerable to crashes by not carrying unnecessary debt. If nothing else, the lack of debt worries won't cost you your sleep.

The one part of society that will never live within its means is the government. They give loans to banks that we'll never be able to pay off, enslaving future generations and cutting back on all the public essentials like education, healthcare and pensions (this has already been happening for years in the UK). Govenments are essentially out of control, democracy or no democracy.

They can literally give our money away and we can do nothing about it.

[pic- "Go on, take it. You're too precious to starve."]

Unless....we wise up, buy less, buy with cash, buy used (tax-free) and trade services amongst ourselves (tax-free; e.g. lawn-cutting for taxiing). Because, no matter what we do, the government is going to waste every penny it gets from us, and will print more money, until the Chinese, Oily and Japanese economies can no longer bear our debt (the govenment's and our personal debt). Ya, they're carrying us on their backs, because they make stuff (that we buy) and they also save money (our money). But don't worry. They're really uncool, so don't go copying them. They'll only cramp your LARGE lifestyle.
[pic- Terry Rodgers Palace of Automorphic Delights -redux for PG rating]

So, if you think life is wonderful now, or at least that it was until last year, it was illusion. Live for the here & now and you might be able to keep a smaller, but more sustainable smile on your face.

-Costick67 (8^P
other pics from fotosearch.com
* this is why Back to the Future and Bill & Ted -type films are so popular. In our heads, we just think we'll solve everything by reaching into the future for a bit of wisdom and some cash. we borrow from our future, and banks help us do it. At what cost, folks?
P.S. I won't even get into the environmental benefits of changing our ways.

latest stock market report

Goldman Sachs dividends on the rise.
Goldman Sachs to return the people's money over 20 years instead of paying taxes.
The Dow Jones index rose 10% yesterday.
Banks are taking public money and still foreclosing on houses.
Bankers have no shame. It's not required by law.

I hope you know that stocks began being used in England
for farm workers who dared to ask for more money
(they knew that demand for labour was high after the Black Death).
Therefore, in that era,
creating economic strife was enough to have someone
confined in stocks in public and shamed.
So, what about now?
What should we do to the bankers
who took our money and jobs?
The government ignore our moral outrage
while the media refuses to place them into the focus of public scrutiny?

I want names and faces,

income and bonuses made public.

I may have to do this myself.
stay tuned.
-Costick67 (8^P

checkitout:
A long history, from
http://www.geocities.com/WestHollywood/Heights/9417/history.html

Stocks and pillories have been used in parts of Europe more than 1000 years, probably much longer in Asia, and certainly before reliable records began. The earliest recorded reference to stocks in Europe appears in the Utrecht Psalter, which dates from around 820 AD.

Stocks had become common in England by the mid-14th century. In 1351 a law (the Statute of Labourers) was introduced requiring every town to provide and maintain a set of stocks. This had been implemented as a reaction to the Black Death, which had halved the population. The consequent scarcity of labour had enabled agricultural labourers to demand increased pay. The Statute attempted to discourage this trend by providing that anyone demanding (or offering) higher wages should be set in the stocks for up to 3 days.

Stocks were later used to control the unemployed. A statute passed in 1495 required that vagabonds should be set in the stocks for 3 days on bread and water and then sent away (where presumably they would have faced a similar fate). If a vagabond returned to the same parish, he or she would receive another 6 days in the stocks. These punishments were however seen as excessive and the lengths of time in the stocks were later reduced to 1 and 3 days respectively.

A Statute of 1605 required that anyone convicted of drunkenness should receive six hours in the stocks, and those convicted of being a drunkard (as opposed to be caught drunk) should suffer 4 hours in the stocks or pay a substantial fine (of 3 shillings and 6 pence). A slightly later Statute made it legal to set those caught swearing in the stocks for 1 hour, if they could or would not pay a 12 pence fine. In practice the authorities preferred offenders to pay fines as the monies were used to fund poor relief.

we get the politicians we deserve. Therefore we are evil.

[pic- you can't handle the truth!]

You won't be getting the truth out of politicians, especially when it's about their money.
Here's proof:

We get the politicians we deserve? Bullsh*t.
We're lucky we're allowed to vote. Politics is not for the plebes.
We get the politicians the main parties foist on us (with party strategy sheets on "how to lie to voters", in their fists). An independent would have to be a cross between Rasputin, the Pied Piper and Jesus in order to win because the main parties have the ear of the media.

Voting is like 'buyer beware'. Of course, the public doesn't buy off the politicians. The rich interests do. Also, because we're putting our faith in people, there are even more risks. They could say one thing, and do another. They could change their minds after pressure from the party whip. Then, we gotta wait 4 years to "get a recall".

So, 'we' send a chump to London to represent his party, not his people, but first of all is the spouse. The first order of business is to give the job of personal secretary to his wife. About 60% of politicians are doing this. Of course, the wives wouldn't have it any other way. It would mean fewer mistresses
[pic- yes, minister, yes!]
and charges of sexual harrassment.
However, if family ties were cut, it would mean 350 ordinary plebians would have a paycheck to support their own family. As it stands, it's essentially another 30 thousand quid bonus for the 'voice of our town in London'.

more cow patties.

I've even heard the word sexual discrimination used to dissuade people from changing the law. Sexual discrimination? Is it because most spouses are women? What about female politicians and gays? Don't they count? Don't they have spouses?

Then they took the money for a London residence and used it to pay off mortgage loans. What this means is that, instead of helping landlords in London make some money, politicians effectively get a 20 thou bonus and use it to buy a house at public expense.

So, what happens when you squeeze the old boys on the hill? They start saying that , if you take away the perks, only rich lads will be able to afford to be politicians.

BULLCRAP!

You'll be taking away the men and women who are productive only insofar as knowing how to line their pockets.I'm supposed to be impressed with these politicians?
[pic- fotosearch.com]

I say 'good-bye'. Who cares if they're rich or just non-poor?

Really rich guys wouldn't use the bonus money to buy a house. They probably have 5 or more already. and their wives wouldn't deign to pound a keyboard. They'd be too busy at Harrod's.

At 68 thou, politicking is still a fantastic job,
even without the 50 thou in bonuses.

[pic- fotosearch.com]
What are they worried about? Maybe, some working class people will be allowed to represent poor areas like Longsight, Manchester instead of some "white-collar criminal" from Didsbury? Perhaps the politicians can't handle the truth.

UPDATE: It seems the only reason Westminster's been so up front lately with their scamming is that they want to give back their 50 thousand in immoral bonuses for a clean 40 thousand pound raise in their regular pay. In this way, the wife can spend the year at Harrod's, and the new house will be bought without anyone being able to grouse.

-Costick67 (8^P

Rock's royal couple, de-moated in Ottawa

This is something which will forever be proof of how boring Ottawa's local politicians and public are, sitting in front of their television sets and deciding to celebrate reality-tv stars with a tenuous link to the Capital.
Shannon Tweed Day was mooted by a local politician, and shot down by mayor Doug Thompson.*
The emotion and column inches given to the topic were nuts! I'm sure Quebec succession didn't generate this size of mail bag.

Shannon Tweed, who happened to start becoming a somebody in Ottawa, was originally from Newfoundland. She was a bar manager for a while when she became acknowledged as a babe,
[bit of a wardrobe malfunction there! pic- filmweb.pl]

by none other than viagra-poppin', stinkin' of wee-wee Hugh Hefner and his groundbreaking feminist Playwankrag. (more on him some other time)
[pic- getback.com]

She was FINE, though.

[pic- scrapetv.com]

That's why she high-tailed it out of this somnolescent burg**.

Well, she sauntered back in triumphally to support her partner's*** little music ensemble, Keep It Simple Stupid. She was just minding her own business like a good Newfie girl, until a bored politician seized the moment to get his 15 minutes of fame by latching onto someone famous.
Anyway, they were invited to visit the parliament with full honours in recognition of their regal status.
The partner was allowed to address parliament, as you would expect:

"Rock'n'roll!"
"Rockin' the mic!"
"Order, order!" "get me a scotch."
"what's it take to get a waitress in here?"
"Pfffft.HAAAA!...you get it?", tapping the mic, "Is this on?"
He joked, playing up to the stuffed suits in the front row
who cleared their throats in disapproval.

Then, he proceeded to weigh into policy issues, shocking the House:

"Whataya doin' givin' free health care?"
"Youz freaks!"

Funny thing is, in all the articles, Shannon's called an "actress."
As far as her acting career is concerned, let's say a few things:
-the less said the better, poor thing.
-reality tv saved her image.
-it sure got Ozzy out of the gutter.
-at least it's obvious she didn't try to sleep her way to the top in H-wood, 'cuz she didn't even get anywhere near the middle. Wiki and Ytube it, if you dare.

-Costick67 (8^P
other pics- fotosearch.com
* Her Jewish husband, Gene Simmons, encapsulated feelings well when he said "Not everybody loved Jesus either."
** like Dan Akroyd, Rich Little, Paul Anka, Tom Green, Alanis Morisette and lots of other fine, non-boring folks.
*** It's so regal to have a partner rather than a wife/husband. Look at Prince Chuck and his tamp...er, tram.., trom...er... dromi...Camilla!
One article- "Rock's royal couple cause big downtown stir" Tony Lofaro & Katie Daubs, Ottawa Citizen July 2009

filet of democracy, in a fish wrapper

Byline: FEMALE Afghan politician dares to speak the truth

A certain kind of boredom makes me occasionally reach for one of the many free newspapers being forced on people in public places, here in London. This time it was the Metro (19 August)

What should I see but an interview with an Afghan politician.
Before you imagine backward-looking guys in foot-long beards, stinking like cattle, think again.

Latest Afghan political news:
what do you know? Karzai is corrupt. It's not him, really. It's the American guys telling him what to do that's the problem. Oil guys...government guys..After fixing the first round, he was gifted the second-round victory, instead of having to run against a dead-man walking, Dr. Abdullah (squared), who is not a Unocal employee.

[pic- Metro]
Anyway, Malalai Joya (her book: Raising my voice) did a 60 second interview which laid out the whole sick opera for us to peruse:

The Barber of Kabul
starring: Hamid "Sweeney" Karzai
Malalai "Die Hard" Joya
assorted warlords and kingpins

[my comments- Costick67]

Scene 1- threatened by corrupt politicians
Joya: "in parliament they couldn't tolerate me because I told the truth. They turned off my microphone...they insulted and threatened me....There are people saying they 'must punish [me] with the Kalashnikov.'"
Joya: "other democratic men and women in my country have been killed...no power is able to hide the truth"
Joya: "we democrats have two options..one, to compromise with a warlord, drug-lord government [she didn't mention Karzai's brother's drug business by name]... with the mask of democracy...like Pinochet, Hitler, Khomeini." "Your governments have replaced the fundamentalist rule of the Taliban with another fundamentalist regime who are responsible for killing, torture and repression."

Scene 2-the real reason for the invasion:
Joya: "People have always wanted to occupy Afghanistan because of its geopolitical location and also to have access to the valuable gas and oil of the Central Asian Republics."

Scene 3-
Chorus: life is better now with the US/UK in town, right?
Joya: "NO....Men and women of my country suffer from injustice, insecurity, joblessness, poverty, corruption. ..We have 'jungle law'. I have meetings with young girls and children who have been brutally raped."

Scene 4-
Chorus: There's been outrage in Britain at each British soldier killed in the conflict. Should there be the same level of outrage for every Afghan civilian killed?
Joya: "Of course. The blood of our people is shed like water. ...150 civilians killed by air strikes [true], most of them women and children. Bombing doesn't bring peace" [true].

Scene 5-the future of Afghanistan
Joya: "These criminals in government have no support among the hearts of our people...All the British families who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan should raise their voice against injustice, and also against more of their taxes funding an occupation that keeps a gang of corrupt warlords in power in Kabul."

Scene 6-
Chorus: are you hopeful about tomorrow's election? [the corrupt one, mentioned above]
Joya: "The election is a showcase of the US government. We have a famous saying that it's not important who is voting, it's important who is counting [she was right]. The next president...will be selected ...[by] the White House."
___
Update: Apparently the US army has been paying off the Taliban, so that they would allow American supply shipments to pass. It's amazing how weak the US looks. They stick their chests out and say "We don't deal with terrorists," but they do, daily. The Taliban are not the terrorists, by the way, the invaders are.
checkitout: Bruce Wilson, Talk to Action, or on Alternet.
Also, the 'ambassador' to Kabul recommends no further troop increases, because Karzai is corrupt.
Latest: Now I see what Corruption those Americans are talking about. The Afghans are giving minerals contracts to the Chinese, instead of gifting them to the Yanks.
___
-Costick67 (8^P
-----
Notes:
[check my old stories: Mass Media stories, and (tech blog) Grease is the word]
I remind you'all. Check the documentary Rethinking Afghanistan which says that there's no Al Qaeda over there any more, and our politicians know it. Doesn't stop them lying. The latest prevaricator was the Finance Minister, A. Darling (on the Politics Show, 1 Nov.). "We are fighting...Taliban...terror at home ...blah...blah". The Taliban is not Al Qaeda, and US/UK and Canadian soldiers are fighting the Taliban. What good is that?
I remind you'all. The Taliban warned the US that Al Qaeda was planning a big attack on a US city.
I remind you'all. The Taliban has been removed, not because they allowed Al Qaeda to run around unchecked, but because the Taliban wanted too much money to allow a Central-Asian-gas pipeline to pass through the country. The plans were already set before 11 Sept '01.
I remind you'all. Unocal (oil company) employee, Hamid Karzai, hosted the Taliban in his home in Houston.

trip to the homeland

Bonjour, mon chum.
Canada Day celebrations. Canuck festivities, orderly, as always.

Th celebration of Canada Day, 1 July, 1867, which was when the British said
"alright, fine. stop whining, you can have a country",
responding to our request,
"please, please, please, can we have a country?"
Then the Brits said,
'you still have to worship the Queen, okay?' to which we said,
'what else would you expect? we're spineless.'
I swear, republicanism is weaker here than in the UK.

Before Europeans brought over the garden gnome to install in front of homes (also displaying the residents' mental and emotional retardation),
[pic - fotosearch.com]
the aboriginals had these totem poles to inform and instill fear. They're carved from old-growth trees. -gasp!-
[pic-museum of civilisation]
[pic- museum of civilisation]
In case you're thinking it's all animism and love for nature, check THIS one out (above and below pics). It starts at the top with the pater familias of the tribe, and then below is the "latest" leader, who was a whale hunter, with the spear in his hands (it's a coastal British Columbia tribe). As the story goes, he got so pissed off at one guy that he sewed him into the belly of a slain whale and sent him out to sea. I sh*t-you-not! You see the whale in black and the guy inside, right? the guy with the puckered lips, kissing his butt good-bye.
another view:


[pic- the Rideau Moat]

Now, the Parliament and the Papanack Zoo. I'm not sure which is which.


[pic- white-haired, noisy and cut off from the public, just like parliamentarians. See the confusion?]

[pic- a lion, snacking in public]

more photos later
-Costick67 ( 8^P