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I've been out traveling around, listening to music, playing, shunning serious thought. I think that we all could use some distraction - as if there was not enough - but a distraction from the distraction. To that end, I have embedded a couply videos that are just fun to listen too. patriotz will need his Flash...



Canada lost 169,000 jobs last month. Of those, 35,000 were in BC, and of those, 10,000 were in construction.. Ouch. The US lost some 600,000 jobs in comparison. Per capita, Canada lost twice as many jobs. So much for that Canadian Shield of an economy.

The problem, as I see it, is that we have a lot of uneducated people "running" the ships of state. They do not have a clue what is going on. These bail-out packages by government are ridiculous, and it is just pissing money away. It's all politics on our dime, because the populace is as uneducated as the grunts in Parliament, Legislature, City Hall, etc. Did you hear that the "twinning" of the Port Mann Bridge - at a cost of $1.5 billion - has been tossed for a brand new bridge that will cost $3.5 billion. Of course, the numbers keep changing, just like those of the convention centre, Olympics, etc. Do you realize that nobody is in control, unless you count the fox in the hen house?

A railway was granted 11% of the land on Vancouver Island a hundred-odd years ago. That railway company was rolled into a lumber company, which was rolled into another forestry giant, which was bought out by foreign interests, who are now going to develop that land. Make of that what you will.

Speaking of developers; Another major developer in Metro Vancouver has filed lawsuits against people who have defaulted on their contracts to buy condominiums. Of course, they are perfectly within their rights - both legally, and morally - but a lot of people are going to get burned on this. A lot of lawyers will get rich too, to off-set that. There is one couple, in their mid-late seventies, who bought a pre-sale for ~$460K, and now cannot complete. They can't sell the condo that they already are in, and the developer of the new condo is not only going after them for the $68K deposit, but also for the difference in prices (another $100K?). These folks could not complete if they wanted to, because the banks won't even give them the money. They are fragged. I feel sorry for them, they are going to lose all of their retirement savings, but still, they made a stupid decision. So did many others. Be bold, and move into an alley with a broken credit record.

There is some great writing over at The Republic of East Vancouver this week (and always). Potvin has slipped some in his editing, but it is the ideas that count. Potvin makes a case for cancelling the Olympics (in my dreams!), Chris Shaw makes the case for the homeless to take over the Olympic Village (I'm not quite sure if he is promoting sedition), and there are some other good articles as well. I encourage you to read it all. A madness has descended, and it does not bode well for the future of a civil society.

If you want to become really addled, read this.

Executive Summary

Very few people understand the “continental drift” that threatens with a fracture of the U.S. (and hence, the world) monetary system. There are two tectonic plates: one, the supply of Federal Reserve notes (FR notes), and the other, the supply of electronic dollars in the form of an inverted pyramid that rests on the supply of FR deposits. The fault line between the two tectonic plates, like San Andreas fault in California, is a worrisome source of unpredictable earthquakes that could cause massive and permanent damage to the U.S. and world economy.

Heck, I emboldened that whole paragraph. I've been very worried about my nut, how about you?

I don't have the time, or inclination to expand on what I have presented. There is so much more. There is no good news, and things are going to get much, much worse. I have been looking at windmills, shotguns, cob building, seeds, and other such end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it stuff. I have also been going back into music and art, and really digging my kid. Business is still keeping the rent paid, vehicles gassed and in good repair, good food, and decent wine. I'm just enjoying it while it lasts.

Enjoy the videos. Keep cash on hand. Buy 50 ponds of beans, and 50 pounds of rice. Think about worse-case scenarios, at least you will not be surprised.

Next, I want to write about Neville Shute's On The Beach. It's a good book, and I see similarities to what is going on right now.



I can hardly believe that you still want me to post this stuff...