Tag Archives: Politics

Here we go again… Oil Price Speculation or Real?

Posted on by

CNBC.com this morning has an article that I wasn’t expecting until at least August this year. But here it is all the same. The topic? Oil Prices Resist the World’s Recession Trend

Their main point:

The resilience shown by the oil markets is not because of any improvement in the global economy or rise in oil consumption. Global demand remains on course for its steepest drop since the early 1980s, and oil inventories are at their highest levels in 19 years.

Instead, analysts said, oil is once again being sought by investors as a refuge against a slumping dollar and rising inflation.

Lets stop right there. Slumping Dollar? The US Dollar has gained over 20% over the Canadian dollar since July and the same can be said for the Euro and Yen. INFLATION? Last month, the US officially experienced DEFLATION (negative inflation)… so I’m really not sure what planet CNBC is on!

But then, the very next sentence, they take a different tone:

Stabilization of the oil price is also a victory for the OPEC cartel, which has succeeded in cutting output sharply to match lower demand.

and so, once again, it’s all evil OPECs fault. Because, you know, it has nothing to do with plummeting oil production in Mexico (World #3 Super Giant field Cantarell is now producing less than other Mexican fields).

Oh.. but wait…

The perception remains well ingrained in the market that oil supplies, while plentiful today, may prove insufficient once demand picks up again.

Huh. So you mean investors don’t buy the “drill drill drill” mantra? You mean investors have looked abroad and seen conventional production in Mexico, Canada, the UK, Russia and Norway declining even while prices skyrocketed over the past 5 years? You mean investors have seen Saudi Arabia hit a wall, unable to pump more oil without damaging it’s fields.

Investors know this.

The OECD knows this.

So why the “speculation” talk? We have been given a great opportunity during this recession… depression, the first shrinking of the world economy since WWII (OECD), demand is knocked down. The pressure is off… people are LOOKING for work. We need to put them to work creating a new economy… low energy, high efficiency, low carbon.

If we wait until “recovery” happens, then we are doomed to be right back here within 2 years.

Maybe Canada needs an ad campaign on American Idol?

Posted on by

Cuz how the hell else are we going to convince the bunch of high-powered yet bloody ignorant misinformed officials and public in the US that *EVERY SINGLE 9-11 ATTACKER ENTERED THE UNITED STATES DIRECTLY*.

And in fact the only “terrorist” ever known to have attempted to cross the Canada/US border was the dude who tried to smuggle a bomb in his car in Victoria and was apprehended by border guards upon entry in Port Angeles.

Apparently the White House wasn’t the only Bastion of Stupid in the US Administration. I wonder how Obama feels about cloning?

Try out BC STV online!

Posted on by

This is really cool!

Some ingenious folks have created a website that mimics a BC Election using the BC-STV system.

You can select your riding, choose your candidates, and then see how your vote gets processed. I “voted” multiple times by going to different ridings so that I could see how my vote worked if I voted in different ways. Make sure you click on the “All Rounds” link when you get to the results so that you can see how the votes get transferred through all the rounds.

It is very interesting. And while it is clear it will take longer to have a final result under STV, it sure will be nice to have the choice and to be able to elect different foks from different parties! It really works!

Chris

Ray Lahm, NDP… bows out… because that’s what honourable people do.

Posted on by

NDP Candidate Ray Lahm bowed out of a Vancouver riding over the weekend for having what were deemed “inappropriate” pictures of himself in his underwear on Facebook.

So I ask the same question MyBlahg did this morning.

Which picture is worse?

Ray Lahm NDP

or

Gordon Campbell Mugshot

The NDP should Axe the Tobacco Tax.

Posted on by

Carole James

Yes, they should. It adds $37 to a carton of cigarettes. Canadians have pumped $138 Billion into government coffers since Louis St. Laurent levied the first tobacco tax in 1950.

And where has that gotten us? Censorship. Certain companies can’t advertise in certain places… or at all? Discrimination. Folks, stuck outside, 5 metres from everything, trying to lite up in the cold Canadian wind.

Is this the Canada we want to live in? Where habit is treated like a threat rather than a comfort? Where businesses are sued instead of embraced? Where hospitals are filled with the sick and needy… rather than the terminally happy?

In 1965, 60% of Canadians were loving life in Marlboro country, now only 25% enjoy that priviledge.

Carole James, thousands of British Columbians are counting on you to keep fighting against these repressive regimes. Not since “Colonel” Drew stood in the House against another giant taxgrab in 1950 has there been someone to fight against these grave injustices. Good Luck.

George Alexander Drew

***THE PRECEDING POST WAS EXTREMELY SARCASTIC —- I DON”T EVEN SMOKE —- THE CARBON TAX IS THE FIRST STEP TO ENDING OUR ADDICTION TO OIL —- OPPOSING IT TO SCORE POLITICAL POINTS ONLY ENDANGERS MORE LIVES DUE TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND RELIANCE ON INCREASINGLY PRECIOUS CRUDE OIL AND NATURAL GAS***