November mid-month round-up: Occupy dies, the New World Order is born, the revolution begins

The Occupy movement is dead. Seriously. In it's place however is the new American revolution. They look similar, and the new American revolution is still calling itself Occupy, but they are very different.

I'll point out this difference for you in a very simple contrast of thought:
1) Occupy: When it first started people asked how long it could possibly go on for.
2) The revolution: People are asking how it can possibly end.

This difference may seem insignificant, but I assure you it is THE difference that makes this now a non-violent revolution. Whether you agree or don't agree with what Occupy has become, one thing everyone can agree on is that it's come so far now that it won't stop and it can't stop. It might change shape, venues, tactics.. but the fight is definitely on. The increase in police oppression shows that the system is aware of this. The status quo is in danger, and they know it.

The system is also coming out with the truth more and more. Take this article from Bloomberg/Businessweek:

“Asset sales are impractical in the current environment,” said Simon Maughan, head of sales and distribution at MF Global UK Ltd. in London. “Every bank is selling, and no bank is buying. It just won’t work. Beyond that, the magnitude of the cuts the banks are talking about is nowhere near the likely required amount of deleveraging. They need to reduce hundreds of billions more to adjust to the new world order. There has to be a recapitalization.”

Thats right, to "adjust to the new world order". That's what the Greece/Italy technocrats are a part of. You see, the system is currently working on transforming the population into accepting non-democratic economic policies. This is the new world order, it's a lot like the Kings and Serfs from the old world order.

As the European banking system continues to collapse and it becomes obvious this WILL be affecting North American commerce you can expect that the New World Order will be making it's North American appearance soon (probably after the U.S. supercommitee fails), and that the war on youth I've been blogging about will go into full swing.

This is an exciting time, scary but exciting. The most important thing you can do to prepare yourself, is to prepare yourself mentally for the what were once unbeliveable situations we are about to witness first hand. This is history in the making.

Occupy: Out with the old, in with the new

I'm happy to say that since my last post Occupy Edmonton is doing very well. Edmonton (and the whole world) showed tremendous support tonight. I dare say Occupy Edmonton is nearing the amount of critical mass it needs to carry forward as a major movement. But where to?

All around the world it seems this is becoming the next big question: What is next for the Occupy movement? Will they start political parties? Will they make demands? I've been thinking about it for sometime from a theoretical point-of-view.

Some of the people who I talked with might remember me saying that ending compound interest for instance might be a good demand. But as this week has gone on I started asking the question 'why should there be demands?' What the people are upset about is obvious. Forcing them to make demands is almost an act of submission in itself, just wrapped in a confidence bow. Sure specifics need to be provided, by why is all of the onus on the people to come up with a credible "societal equitable business plan" and present it to big business/government when they would have us believe they make the big bucks because only they know how to make the big decisions or plan the big plans.

Obviously this stance by the system is completely contradictory. It serves a purpose though, it allows them to play both sides of the field. Say Occupy does make a plan or demands and we present them; it's highly likely the system comes back and says that it had it's "experts" analyze our plan and it simply won't work for one reason or another. When dealing with a systemic issue as large as we are the number of straw-man arguments is endless, there are countless ways we could restructure and everyone has a different idea what that restructuring looks like. Its simple to come up with an argument against any system, as the perfect system is yet to be invented. If no demands are made at all we make an argument for the system in that "we do not know what we want". This isn't desirable either.

So seemingly both avenues are cut off. But wait! There is another!! What if the demand is Occupy itself? Think about it. What if instead of demanding what the people need, the people are actually just doing what the people need? Could our society (for now mostly the U.S. although Canada's turn is coming soon) actually have already reached a point where confidence in the system is so low the people are simply shedding it?

Look at the U.S. right now, Occupy tent cities everywhere. They are beginning to turn into miniature self-governed communities. If these continue to grow.. what significance is the government anyway? If the government can't take care of the people and is just a revolving door and shell game with the banks, what good is it? What service exactly is it providing?

This week it occurred to me that the world just might have been looking in the wrong spot. While we were sitting and waiting for demands, we witnessed the birth of a globally supported, internet based governing system. A system based on direct democracy and consensus.

Lets be honest here and admit society is collapsing, and everything is not ok. As a society we have neglected and underestimated many fundamentals to life which have been lost in our current standard of living. Perhaps without even realizing it the human race is already adapting for the inevitable low-energy future just around the corner.

Katie from OccupyYEG says "As one voice, and one individual I am proud to state, I am a part of the Occupy Revolution. I will not stand silent, I will not relocate and I will not give up. We do not have hope, we are hope."

Maybe more than she even knows.

Reflections on Occupy / My experience with Occupy Edmonton

"We Will Lead Every Revolution Against Us" -- Theodor Herzl

It's unfortunate I have to write this post as I have been an avid supporter of the Occupy Wall Street movement before it even began in the United States. During the first week there was a media blackout at which point I told many people that "there is an occupation of Wall Street going on right now". "Yea right", they said "I would have heard about it on the news.". Before Occupy Wall Street even started I have been writing about it abstractly. So before you assume I am an Occupy hater, realize that to me this movement isn't a prime time fad.

Sure enough, a few days after this embarrassing act by the NYPD, Occupy gained internet fame:

At this point mainstream media had no choice but to report on the growing protests and in the U.S. a new symbol of hope for America's youth has risen to create a uniting front against corruption and fraud. Most of what you see on TV regarding the movement is heavily doctored to sway your opinion regarding it. Following the original livestreams is the only true way to know you are not being lied to during this trying time.

In the U.S. the media made a fatal mistake, they attempted to ignore the message instead of control it in hopes that the movement would get bored and go home. In the week the media was ignoring the protests, hundreds of thousands found out about it and instantly lost all trust in anything media was telling them. Control is essential in public relations. This failure has ensured the U.S. movement became a success.

In Canada, it seems media and government learned from the mistakes of the U.S. We decided to control the message right away, taking this power away from Occupy itself and giving a heads up to any "activists" who always seem to end up where the cameras are. Articles like this showed up 10 days in advance. In fact on October 2nd I made a note of it on Twitter:

 

 From this point on I decided to be cautious until I could confirm it's legitimacy as it was obvious that parts of this movement were not naturally occurring as they were in the U.S. In the U.S. the people did not need the mainstream media to tell them about the event to make it successful and here they were practically promoting it. This is a red flag.

Sure enough when I discovered that there would be an Occupy Edmonton, Mike Hudema's name (the Greenpeace mouthpiece) showed up as one of the organizers. About a year ago I contacted Mike Hudema about a possible interview regarding his views on peak oil, he never did respond. Suffice to say, I don't think he has any interest in representing this:

It looks more like he's interested in stuff like this. Greenpeace stuff, it looks like. I'd like to direct your attention to this article put out by CSIS. Does that sound like a government that wants to promote Anti-Globalization to you? How much have you heard about Anti-Globalization and banking fraud in relation to Occupy Edmonton? I'm not talking about "Ending Capitalism" here. I'm talking about addressing events like this:

Some of the world’s strongest banks have profited from an emergency credit facility set up by the US Federal Reserve to shore up confidence in the global financial system, according to a Financial Times analysis of data released by the Fed..

Rabobank of the Netherlands and Toronto-Dominion of Canada, two of the only banks in the world with triple A credit ratings, used more than $20 billion in cumulative Taf loans.

Ed Clark, TD chief executive, said that using Taf was logical even though his bank never had a liquidity problem. “That wasn’t how we made a lot of money. But you make a dollar here, you make a dollar there. What’s the spread you make on a billion dollars?” he said.

My bet would be little or none. 

I don't know much about the other two media moguls of Occupy Edmonton. Mike Thomas (who blogs at adhdcanuck.ca) seems to be your run-of-the-mill environment activist. I know even less about Chelsea Taylor. I don't watch TV, so I haven't really been keeping up with interviews.

On Tuesday, I went down during the day, while taking a moment from work (If you don't get it yet, Occupy isn't about hippies who don't want to work contrary to the opinions of the likes of Michael Moore, and the other camera whores that pretend to be "alternative". Hey Michael, if you love socialism so much why are your documentaries *pay only* unlike pressfortruth.ca which is pro-capitalism and puts theirs out for free?) and during my time there some Greenpeace activists were across the street from the Occupy camp. With my megaphone I told them they should come over and join us, in response they smiled but decided to stay across the street. I made a mental note that this was fairly strange considering the Greenpeace spokes-person on oilsands was just across the street. Red flag number 2.

I also happened to witness a certain conversation between Mike Thomas and another participant at Occupy Edmonton. I will not release this persons name on this blog as he is not recognizable via media. Mr. Thomas was worried about some routine security problems and required a "chief of security". He assigned this position to the participant I was having a conversation with and told him he could gather volunteers. I offered to be a volunteer but due to my schedule I never actually ended up participating in any "security services". He went on to mention that it would be confirmed at the general assembly that night and consensus on the new position would be taken, but that in the midterm the position was required until then. I could not remain at Occupy long enough to witness the General Assembly myself, so I cannot say if that happened or not. For the moment I thought nothing of it and continued enjoying the protest until I left.

Throughout history revolutions have happened a lot, and yet they usually end up in tragedy. Take Egypt for instance. Often a desperate population will latch on to anything that even resembles a leader in the hopes it will bring freedom, even if they don't have their best interests at heart. Hitler, the Russian revolution, the list goes on and on. A disenfranchised population combined with demoralization and copious amounts of propaganda can easily be manipulated into following a Napoleon into their own battle of Waterloo, and that is exactly what I feel is happening to Occupy Edmonton.

By the time I got home Tuesday, I had a direct message waiting for me on Twitter from one of my followers asking if I knew what was going on with some incident involving a chief of security banning representatives from kikkiplanet.com. This was the first I had heard of it, and I had only passing familiarity with the Kikki Planet blog. I replied that I would look into it further.

Now one thing Occupy has been doing (for the most part) is taking the moral high ground. It's why they are winning. It's why the LAPD has a twitter account dedicated to supporting Occupy. Truth and honesty always win, and since this movement revolves around corruption it is ever more important. While the system puts out failures, the people stand united and outraged yet courteous and honest. New York avoided eviction by cleaning the park better than the company hired to clean it had. That's how you win against these assholes. That's how you avoid public relations nightmares. While media and big business plays friendly towards Occupy, they are just waiting for that big PR fuck up that will make their day!

I put on my sleuthing hat and away we went. First I had to catch up on the situation, reading Twitter, Facebook, comments on articles. I then decided to contact KikkiPlanet and see if I could get more details. At this point I was simply interested in avoiding a PR disaster. Occupy has enough trouble gaining support in Edmonton it certainly didn't need this. After conversing with Kikkiplanet.com and determining I had enough background on the situation, I decided to write a letter to act as a Proposal for the Occupy Edmonton General Assembly by proxy. I had too much work to do to make it down in person so I left the delivery to someone I felt I could trust regarding the subject matter. Kikkiplanet.com had positively confirmed to me that the "security chief" in question was the participant I met earlier.

Here is the proposal I wrote:

Good Evening Occupy YEG,

  This is a proposal by proxy and thank you to the one reading it.

  It's come to my attention that there has been a somewhat hostile exchange
between Occupy and the blog Kikkiplanet.com. While I was not directly involved
in any of the exchange I decided of my own accord to try and mediate a peace.

Occupy is very important for myself, and all of it's participants. We will
face many struggles and proper representation of what we are, and what our
opinion is very important. I think we can all agree that no one opinion
represents this movement. I think we can also recognize that with no leaders
we all are responsible for the movement's actions.

I therefore propose to the GA that a formal apology is constructed by the
group for the ill-will Kikkiplanet.com has received. I'd ask our participants
to hold no ill-will towards any media, as I am confident that when they see
what we are really about they will be fair.

I believe in our movement, and that the GA can properly address this issue,
and all parties can move on and focus on the important problems in society.

Kikkiplanet.com has requested to me to relay that they wish to publish an
unedited version of tonight's GA baseline minutes. Please oblige.

@RichardFantin

I waited for word of the result.

A few hours later the person I had asked to deliver my proposal returned. They told me that they had delivered my proposal to someone named 'Rob' and he promised it would be read. During their time at Occupy Edmonton they had a chance to talk with Mike Thomas. They asked him about the exchange between Occupy Edmonton and KikkiPlanet. His reply was that the security chief position has never existed and that Occupy is being set up. I then confirmed this response with KikkiPlanet who had been told the same thing by Occupy Edmonton even though she sent them emails from the "security chief" in question which proclaim her to be banned. I have been forwarded all correspondence, it is authentic.

So there is now a cover-up underway. Occupy Edmonton was facing a small bump in terms of PR stemming from a negative blog post from Kikkiplanet.com seemingly based on misunderstanding. They are now facing failure. The person I sent down to Occupy told me they were shocked how many times Mike Thomas said "I'm in charge".

Charging into Waterloo.

*ADDENDUM*

I hope OccupyYeg can work past this issue and truly respect the spirit of Occupy. Here's a hint about what that spirit stands for (we're better than politicians, aren't we?):

Oh and this has nothing to do with my post, but here is a true hero:

#YEGArena Tales: Santa Katz and the gift of debt

The mystery surrounding Stephen Mandel's trip to New York is over and the word is in; Daryl Katz and Stephen Mandel have a new deal for the city. For those who haven't been following Edmonton's newest attempt to catch the dangling carrot of becoming a "big city", prior to this meeting two main sticking points about the arena existed:

1. A non-compete clause with Northlands
2. $100million in funding outstanding

Post New York it seems they managed to "sort out" the non-compete clause. Katz has withdrawn this request and has instead replaced it with a public-private marketing campaign for the city of Edmonton (I *think* it's about the city, although it sounds more like a campaign about visiting Edmonton's new arena). Considering the ridiculousness of such a request of the city in the first place I don't exactly see this as "productive" since the $100million (arguably the most important sticking point) is still outstanding.

What else has changed? Well it appears the city will now be putting up 100% of the cost up front, with a 30-year "rent-to-own" style lease of 5.5million / year for the $100million Katz was supposed to contribute. Of course Mandel says the city would "ensure" that the $100million is paid, but with the city's *amazing* negotiation skills how confident can anyone really be on that point?

The live chat was again filled with the pro-arena Nike addicts, chanting their "Just do it" slogan. Seriously guys, you watch too much TV. Last weekend while visiting with my parents we all watched the game. I found it shocking how many Money Mart and other payday loan commercials I saw. Thinking about it though, is it really so shocking? Here you have a group of people whose argument for hastily spending a large portion of taxpayer dollars while taking on considerable risk is "Just do it", Money Mart must be getting rich.

So it would appear that Santa Katz this year brings us the gift of debt. Of course we can be completely confident this loan (give away?) will be paid. We can be confident of this because their reasoning for needing public money in the first place is that the industry would go bankrupt otherwise. As we all know, taxpayer dollars are magical and never go bankrupt. So yes, the new twist of logic is "We can't go to a bank and get a loan, we'll loose money. We can however go to the city and get a loan and pay that back 100%".



No investor could realistically take Santa Katz seriously, and that is probably why he doesn't have any.

My solution to the Edmonton arena debate | #yegarena

Ugh, this arena debate just isn't going away. Now it appears the city wants to preemptively buy the land for 25million (on top of the arena's tag price, and infrastructure costs). Some of the ignorant comments in the live chat such as "Like Nike, Just Do It!" shows the severely irrational mentality behind justifying this frivolous expense.

So I'm going to propose a plan that should make everyone happy. It will transfer the risk to those invested in the arena. It will provide returns in as secure a sense as the free market can provide. It will leave the city free to spend it's money on the many high-grade infrastructure upgrades that will be needed should funding be raised. Finally it will give Edmontonian's (or other Albertans, probably open to other investors too) who want to build up, have input, and support the arena a direct way to do this.

Now before I explain this plan, I am in no way vouching for the success of the project itself. Even if this approach were taken, I would not be investing my own money expecting a return. Like any investment this one would be folly to the market's mood and if you read my other posts on this blog my long term outlook for the current global economic system is clear. However that aside, let's see how we can solve everyone's issues here.

First, the main arguments for and against (as I understand them):

• Katz should be using the free market if he is certain about the return on investment.
• Maintenance alone is not worth 100% of return on investment.
• The questionable non-compete clause.
• We are in a deficit and the arena is a luxury item.
• The meetings are too secretive.
• Infrastructure upgrading

• It's believed the arena will contribute to revitalizing downtown.
• The costs to renovate/modernize Rexall are also high.
• The Oilers might leave without an upgraded facility.
• The facility would probably get heavy use by non-hockey events.
• There are high hopes that an arena will springboard an expansion in commercial service in the area.
• It's a 1 time opportunity for the city.
• If not an arena, then what?
• And finally, Katz says he loves Edmonton.

 So how do we solve all of these issues and make everyone happy? We need to both please those for and against the arena, this is a large investment and those not confident in it should not be obligated to fund it. So the solution? We need a competitive bond process. Ownership of this arena needs to be on the open market. We've had partial open ownership of the Oilers before. So let me break this down for you.

Right now it's estimated that the cost is $450 million broken down:

• $100 from Katz Group.
• $125 directly from city.
• $125 loan from the city, which will be paid back with a utility fee in the future.
• $100 is remaining without a source.

What I would propose is to drop everything except the utility fee. The utility fee would remain but not to repay a loan from the city, instead it would go towards dividend payouts. Once the shares were put on the open market, Katz could *buy* his $100million worth of ownership (or however much he deemed fit) and the rest would be put up for bids. As time went on, this would give the Katz Group opportunity to buy back all of the shares for complete ownership and would minimize their risk.

Under this model, I also would not be *AS* opposed to city investment in the arena as there would be a direct return and we'd be able to cash out and have another player buy the shares. This would also give the hockey players themselves a chance to invest in the stadium they play in, giving them direct input. Other investors, and hockey fans would get direct input by holding shares.

So lets see, this solves the issue of Katz circumventing the free market system in hopes of placing himself in a monopoly. If he wants a non-compete clause with Northlands that is his business, but it's not the city's business to give him an edge over an already established business and then demand a monopoly. It solves the issue that the city is getting very little in return as like any other investor it could get as much a return as anyone else depending on free market risk. It places all risk and reward directly on the shoulders of those with direct interest in the success of a luxury item. I personally do not believe with the current credit crisis that an arena will increase growth, so why should I personally be on the hook with all risk and no reward? This mitigates that for me, and also leaves those who think that like Nike "Just Do It" to cover the cost. They might then make financial decisions off information instead of propaganda slogans.

Under this proposal all meetings would need to be 100% transparent to convince investors it's a viable opportunity. Good bye shadowy city counsel meetings, it should be 100% public and this system would ensure that.

When it comes to infrastructure upgrading, the city would have a lot more resources in terms of state of the art infrastructure without an already large commitment to the facility itself, and any commitment like I said would provide direct returns thus topping up the infrastructure fund if the city chooses to put it there.

Since everything on the pro-side is theoretical or fan-based, I don't see why it doesn't meet the needs. It certainly would show Edmontonians how much Katz loves us and the city by giving us direct input. It would give the expected commercial services the chance to have a direct investment in the facility as well.

That's my idea, I'll be refining it as I think about it more, but I think this model pretty well solves all of the major issues and controversies regarding the arena and should make everyone happy, or at least get their happiness out of city council’s hands as they are supposed to work for all people and any deal brokered by the city isn't going to work for everyone.

I am still refining this solution, so please comment with your constructive criticism. Additional factors I should consider, whatever...

In a war of ideology, everyone loses

Not long ago a naive younger version of myself decided he would be ‘left-wing’.  For many years I subscribed to this ideology. I amongst many others took part in partisan flame-wars on news article comments. “Everyone on the right doesn’t have a clue”, I told myself.

Five years later, my perspective has changed considerably. I no longer identify with any ideology. Today I rarely even bother to look at what our politicians are saying, because I already know what they are saying. They are promoting whatever ideology they have subscribed to. They will paint today’s issues with a partisan brush and explain how only their ideology can work. It seems that no matter what sort of problem society encounters all it will take to solve it is a subscription to a specific ideology.

Reality tends to dictate though, that whatever your plan is unforseen circumstances will likely screw with it. This is why life on this planet is adaptive. Life adapts to the circumstances of which it finds itself in. In the last 100 years, with the advent of the petroleum based society which arguably for the first time in human history has provided more surplus than we know how to handle a new problem emerged. How do we control and distribute these resources? It is from this question that the modern left and right ideologies formed. Free market vs. Communism.

Today the world faces vastly different problems than it did 100 years ago and yet  we continue to frame all debates within these two very limited views on society. These views are not adaptive, they do not acount for unforseen circumstances. No one who subscribes to these views truly lives by either of them 100%. Many of those on the right are all too happy during a natural disaster to have governmental disaster relief. Take for instance the recent fire in ultra-conservative Alberta. Even though the government is giving money for rebuilding efforts no one is saying this defies the free market response. Albertans have been accepting of government intervention in this unforseen circumstance.

When push comes to shove in society, ideology goes out the window in favour of critical thinking. The rules of our virtual ideologies do not apply when the “greater good” is deemed imminently threatened. When a crisis is occurring most people are focused on what needs to be done, not who and how they are going to do it. These considerations do not matter in a crisis, there’s a job to be done and someone’s got to do it.

Yet when the crisis subsides the ideologies take hold again. The petty arguing between citizens resumes over petty issues. Who they think should provide health care, the government or corporations for instance. Both sides overlook the fact they both want the best healthcare to be provided, and that should be the primary concern or ‘root’ problem to solve.

Anyone who has ever debated me in politics may or may not have noticed that I refuse to use political labels. When I discuss issues you will not hear the words socialism, capitalism, etc, etc. I don’t use them because they don’t really mean anything when there is a problem to solve.

Since I’m a programmer, I will explain this using a programming analogy. Many people today have a favorite O/S of which you can find flame wars all over the internet debating which is “better”. Few of these arguments though put the phrase “better” in a circumstance.

IE:

“Windows is better for new users.”

“Linux is better for security professionals.”

“Android is better for embedded devices.”

Instead most of these discussions are absolutes, “Windows is better.”

When I’m approached for a development contract, my first question is always “what is the exact problem you are trying to solve?”. I don’t ask what their favorite O/S is, or if they have a preferred language. The reason? The preferred language or platform may not be the best choice for the particular problem. You might want a desktop app to manage your database, but I insist a centralized corporate website is better!

I can tell them what is the best solution to their problem because I evaluate all tools available without bias. Just because I do not like Windows does not mean I automatically rule out Windows as a tool to solve problems. This is the approach that is needed today in politics. As a society we must learn to address the root problem, and use all tools available to do it. Just as Linux is not the best O/S for every situation, the left (or right) is not always the best ideology for a given situation.

What we need to do to solve today’s problems is focus on critical thinking first and foremost. Not until all available tools are given equal weight will a true solution to our problems emerge. I don’t just mean left and right either, as I mentioned before these ideologies are mostly about resource distribution. None of the mainstream ideologies account for things like “finite resources”, instead opting for infintie growth. These ideologies were developed at a time when things like oil production and consumption might have been a sidenote on someone’s napkin at best. They were developed at a time when the majority of economic activity took place within a countries borders. We need to fully step back and address today’s problems without bias. We need to be open to modern technology, and the infinite amount of tools available to us. We need to understand that today’s world is neither socialist, nor capitalist.

Another sleepless night

It's 3:45am. For the past week I've had a churning in my stomach I can't shake, and with it I can't sleep. So much is on my mind, but so much is always on my mind -- why should this week be any different? So I'm going to just sit here, and write in my little space on the internet. I don't know yet even what I'm going to write about.

I can almost sense that the moment of just utter economic panic is closing in now. Since 9/11 who could have believed what we've seen? What we've witnessed? The G20s to riots in London. An utter war rampage in which now it's "nothing big" when we start attacking or invading a new country, It's seemingly become our right, and our right alone (NATOs) to globally police the world. I'm sick of it, seriously plain sick of it. Is this really all our "civilized" and "progressive" society is going to do? Wage war for the earth's remaining petroleum reserves while enslaving the future generations to debt servitude? These days it sure seems like it. So many people I speak to are so adjusted to the constant atmosphere of war and terror played on repeat to us through our discount Chinese slave labour TV screens.

Even when presented with extreme contradiction, such as NATO claiming to be worried about Al-Qaeda gaining access to Libya's weapon arsenal while simultaneously admitting that the "rebel" leader has links to Al-Qaeda! And people seriously believe this crap about our "war on terror"? Get over yourselves and the false sense of reality you have. Our leaders are liars.

This post isn't about Libya though, I still don't know what it's about. Maybe it's about the fact that the number of problems the world has on it's plate is overwhelming? Or maybe it's about the fact these problems are being left to a generation that will have no resources while the baby boomers drool over their stock portfolios and all of the monopoly money they think it will bring? Or how 10 years later it's perfectly O.K. that civil servants and the population was lied to about dust not being toxic from 9/11? The number of inconsistencies, lies, and glaring holes in not just 9/11 but the entire economic and political systems continue to mount and where is our Canadian voice? I'm still not hearing it. We are not going to be able to vote to fix these issues. Not at a federal level at least. The corruption of our system is utter and complete to the point where deception and propaganda infiltrates our lives almost 24/7. Marketing agencies are on a constant search to see where they can put ads next to get in your face. Cable companies continue to extend the time given to ads and then wonder why people are leaving their services. It's amazing anyone manages to end the day having any independent thoughts that weren't baked up for them by a public relations team.

The double-think in our world I believe can literally drive a non-adjusted person insane. If your memory is longer than 5 years then watch out; the plain criminality and denial can be a lot to handle. But no, none of these things are what is keeping me up tonight. So, what could it be?

I don't get this feeling often, maybe its some sort of super-power? I wish. It just feels like a climax of unseen proportions is barreling our way. Today was an insane news day. I'm still processing everything and trying to understand it. It seems Canada is stepping up it's police state. Two announcements today: Stephen Harper is predictably reinstating the charter violating anti-terror laws and in Vancouver's riot report, the "recommendations" certainly raise some suspicions. Take note of the vague terms such as 'hooligan demographic'. Do you know what that is? It's anyone, like "terrorist". I find it interesting in light of London which may arguably have the most CCTV cameras in the entire world and still had the recent riot, CCTV is still being recommended for riot prevention. Watch how fast 'hooligan' and 'terrorist' become one and the same. The writing is all over the wall at this point, Canadians really need to start noticing the path we are on. If you have never seen it, you need to see Into the fire -- this is their preparation for whatever is in store. I've been writing now for some time about how Canada will soon be in the same economic boat as the other western powers, does it still seem so unbelievable? If it does I'm sorry to say, but you have been brainwashed. Repeated statements such as 'economic stability' and all the other crap these politicians spout might sound fancy, but critically think about what they have said. Are they saying anything? Our banks are stable because we have "regulations"? Give me a break; we use fractional reserve banking, fiat currency and compound interest just like every other ponzi fiat economy. They are not stable, Canada's just in a different spot in the economic food chain. Just today I read an article about how we had better drop our "hostile corporate takeover" regulations. "Hostile takeovers in the U.S. are a lot more difficult" -- I almost pissed my pants laughing. Harder for who? Those not on the inside.

Am i rambling? I can't even tell anymore. There are so many problems, but in reality they are all one problem. A failed naked system, an emperor not only with no clothes, but no money in the bank either. The world's last economic hope of China has just reported that they anticipate a slowdown of growth in their economy. Probably because they are short on energy to grow it. It's simple logic, you see. But does either article point to the conclusions of the other? No. Everything is compartmentalized and packaged with a neat little bow for your half-thought out consumption.

I can feel tensions in my generation are growing. It's not a simple anger boiled around politics or economics. It's a complex, deep seeded anger, that either consciously or unconsciously is on every youths mind. When we see articles today about the baby boomer pensions crisis it's pretty well a huge red flag of hopelessness for future generations already debt ridden. If anyone from my generation believes there will ever be a pension waiting for them, it's a false belief. Maybe it's more faith than belief. Or even normalcy? My generation has been taught that you work hard, live it good, then retire. It's another form of double-think, we are constantly told by the system that everything is ok, and yet if there is a debt crisis now, a pension crisis now, what hope do we have in 40 years? This feeling of hopelessness is inherently political. It really makes me angry when simple-minded supporters of this corruption boil down events like the London or Vancouver riots to simple phrases. One of the more common one's I heard was "Well what do you mean they're poor? They've all got ipods and are tweeting.". Well what do you expect? this comes back to the 24/7 corporate invasion into our life. Madness that can drive actions like this. This isn't 1991, you don't need to be rich to have a cellphone, and most carriers are more than happy to sign multi-year contracts providing the phones for free. Just like how governments keep adjusting the CPI so that real inflation is hidden. Oh the price of food went up? That's ok, kids will just buy more Ipods because they are cheaper. This is the lunacy of the system we surround ourselves with, and then wonder why it's blowing up in our face.

The response from the system is becoming obvious. A campaign against western youth is well underway. The system knows we are long overdue for a generational revolution, and it just doesn't want to let go. It'll come none-the-less though, it's inevitable. Just as civil unrest has spread like wildfire in Europe and the Arab nations, it will be here too. One day in your streets you will see events like this for yourself. They are gearing up for a war against the generation they've stolen everything from. They know most of us will figure it out one day, and when that day comes the propaganda against them will be in full effect.

I'm going to try to sleep now.

Canada: A country in economic denial

Well the market since the S&P downgrade of U.S. debt has been a fun ride huh? Gold continues to set what seem like daily records while stocks are "only slightly higher than a decade ago". But all of these lightning fast developments have not shaken the faith Canadians (and in particular, Albertans) have in the positive outlook on the economy. Canadians still believe that the politicians we call leaders had "no idea" this was going to happen. We are a country in economic denial.

Psychologically it is no different than when a wealthy business man looses their job, their house, and will continue to dress in suits even though they live in a car. This is becoming commonplace amongst the U.S. population whose jobless outlook is bleaker by the day. It is indeed a psychological issue, and is quite prominent amongst our population too.

No one believed the titanic could sink either...

For instance, last week when I tweeted that I had successfully predicted the Bank of Canada interest rate dilemma i received an overly rude message from a fellow Albertan which said "Being essentially the smartest man alive, I'm sure you've turned all your nostradamus like predictions into millions ". This is a typical reaction from someone that is in denial, and finds the topics I write about truly frightening. So frightening that to effectively deal with them he must fantasize about nostradamus like "fortune tellers", which normally are quite crazy to put his mind at ease. For it is simply impossible that Canada is not in the pristine economic shape it has been claiming and anyone with evidence or opinions to the contrary must be crazy.

My prediction wasn't the work of nostradamus. It was a simple conclusion based on a trend being set by current events; the outcome was obvious and I explained briefly the logic to reach the conclusion. All it takes to make such a prediction is to stay current with events, and to think for yourself. The sender of this message obviously hasn't actually read anything I've written, otherwise he would be well aware that millions in fiat money is just what I have been saying it is. Worthless. Why would I want it? I write what I write because it is what I think, and I strongly *hope* that at least a few Albertans and Canadians were inspired to prepare for their futures from my words; that is all, not money, nor twitter followers. I personally don't care if you listen to me or not -- ultimately we are all in charge of our lives, but what we all have in common is that we are on the Canadian economic titanic together. It is your choice whether you want to believe this ship isn't sinkable or not, I surely won't convince you otherwise if you believe it's unsinkable in the first place.

Of course, having provincial and federal governments that also are in denial are not helping matters. Alberta has announced that it's deficit is in better shape than first thought. Of course these numbers are all based on events before the U.S. downgrade during a period where oil was sky-rocketing. As I have reiterated over and over and over again; the oilsands can *ONLY* bring in a profit during large upward moves and it is unlikely with world-wide economic growth outlooks that we will see $120 oil again this year, and it will be rare that we see $100. I predict the price will remain between $80-$100 for the rest of the year. This of course means all of the profit predictions being made by the Alberta government are based on the Q1 run up in oil prices. again as I've explained many times though, input costs take longer to catch up to the price of oil than profits do and once the bar is set for $80-$100 input costs all of those market riding profits are going to dry up. We've already seen this happen once before, remember when $70 was "high and profitable"? Now the government dreads a $70 oil price. It's also a one way road, meaning that input costs don't come down. What happens instead? the projects shut down. The Alberta and Federal governments have been playing Russian roulette with the Albertan (and Canadian) economies with the full support of an uninformed population in economic denial. They are uninformed because an informed populace would have seen the direct connection between Alberta's "growth" in the last few years and the U.S. QE programs. An informed populace would have noticed how in 2008 we lost hundreds of thousands of jobs the moment injections of cash from the U.S. stopped flowing into American businesses in Canada.

As I often say to my friends "if Canada was any other country [without our vast natural resources], we'd be so broke we wouldn't know what to do with ourselves". We may quite possibly be the worst money managers in the first world. We simply don't realize it because theres always more "oil in the ground" or "fish in the sea" to replace the funds we squander and not to mention our number 1 trading partner can (for the moment) print all the money they need to pay us. If Canada properly managed it's resources, we'd all be living like kings. Instead we've opted to "sell the pond, instead of the fish" and at bargain basement rates at that. From the actual issuance of our currency, to the oilsands, to our nuclear industry it is safe to say that Canada is "For Sale" and it is through these bottom basement price sales that Canada has been able to lie about the amount of foreign business we are loosing due to global economic circumstances. At least up until now.

Canada, we are a country in economic denial. Time to face reality.

The next Alberta economic boom will be funded by faith

Good day to you Albertans. I haven't written on this blog for quite awhile, in fact I wasn't even sure if I was ever going to blog again. Things are moving too fast now to really spend any significant time on a particular subject however I feel Alberta's economy needs some special attention right now.

Just recently I saw an article proudly displayed on every frontpage: Alberta tops U.S. job creation. Apparently Alberta's job market grew by 22,000 jobs where as the ENTIRE united states only recorded 18,000. Naturally Albertans rejoiced, claiming that boom times were back and economic growth was on the way. Further it seems to be not a reason to be concerned but instead put even more faith the Alberta government is right "waiting for oil & gas revenue to rebound". Anyone remember Ed-TV almost 3 years ago? Anyone remember Alberta's "5 year economic action plan"? Yea, I didn't think so, apparently 3 years into this plan we are still on step 1 "waiting for oil & gas revenues to rebound". So lets look at when they will be rebounding.

Who buys our oil? Who is our largest trading partner? Well it happens to be the U.S. The same U.S. that had the remarkable drop in job numbers, and now today GDP data just kicked the U.S. while already down. One has to wonder exactly where all of this expected economic growth is going to come from? U.S. oil demand continues to stagnate, and lets be honest about how much time it takes for oil infrastructure to be set up for any profitable sales to China or other cross-continental markets. A long time. China certainly is pursuing this option though, and you can trust that China (the largest slave-wage market) really has Albertan's jobs and wages at heart.

Just wait for the day in the very near future where Alberta says "hmm, we really didn't see this coming". Because they will, of this I have no doubt. The forgotten 5-year plan will be revived and extended into a "10 year plan" and by the time Albertan's and the Alberta government take the global economic situation seriously we will not have the funds to do anything about it.

The new Alberta boom is based entirely on faith that Alberta "always has a boom". We simply expect economic booms to be thrown our way, and when we are not in one we are waiting for the next. There is no world-economic data to show any signs of a coming boom for Alberta. Yes, we had more jobs than the U.S., so what? That means a whole bunch of our clients will soon not afford our product. 18,000 jobs for an entire country is dismal, it does not point to an Alberta job boom, it points to a U.S.A. mega-economic failure and this will surely affect the Albertan economy in the not-to-distant future. Faith alone can't sustain us anymore.

Canada's Economy: The Good, The Bad, and the Bullshit.

Seems to be a lot of confusion out there about why exactly Canada's economy isn't entirely under water like the rest of the world. Is it Conservative policy, was it Liberal policy? No one seems to really know, and both parties claim it was their doing.

Reality Check: The people make the economy and not the politicians. So in this article I will explain to you why our economy is currently percieved as being stable (which in reality it is not anymore stable than the currencies we depend on).

Canadians have all heard the stories about how "stable" our banking system is. The reality couldn't be further from the truth and a little known fact is our banks were bailed out by the U.S. Federal Reserve. This was an under the table deal which was only revealed this year and it was on top of the Canadian stimulus package put forth by the Harper Government and the Liberals. It coincidently didn't make Canadian news, and I'm sure most people reading this never heard about it. You were never meant to hear about it as it would fly directly in the face of the 'deep integration' plans currently underway.

Now I know my detractors will point at the "AAA" rating of our banks in the article and simply say they were just looking for more profit, so let me remind you the banks that failed in the U.S. all had "AAA" ratings. Rating agencies are run by the ratees. This should be obvious given that the S&P is only just now warning about U.S. debt even though U.S. debt has been a problem for awhile. The S&P is only now saying something because their credibility is being seriously questioned by those who bought into the USD koolaid.

So what's so great about the Canadian economy? Well we export resources, and this isn't because of political policy in the last few years. We are one of the few energy exporting countries left, in fact just recently Russia announced it would be cutting off petroleum exports in the month of May. This is just one more sign that the dawn of the post-petroleum age has begun due to peak oil.

What is bad about our economy? Well, about 60% of our economy relies on trade with the U.S. We give them valuable resources, and they give us USD. Unfortunately the USD continues to push towards record lows due to the QE programs while gold continues to push for new record highs. So what exactly is Canada getting for it's valuable resources? Not much. We are trading resources that are only increasing in value, for worthless digital paper that is not worth the paper it's not printed on, and is also decreasing in value. Sound like a good deal to you? Well it gets better.

What does Canada use to import pretty well everything? USD. Unfortunately for us, China has begun dumping the USD meaning that as our politicians push for more integrated trade between the U.S. and Canada, the rest of the world is trying to figure out how to dump the U.S. and not get stuck holding the empty bag. Canada will be the empty bag holder, as none of our politicians have the political will to say no to the United States. In other words, all 4 politicians telling us the economy will be fine are completely full of shit. We have no control over the economy, we are an exporting nation. This means as long as there are buyers, we can be sellers -- but if no one is buying, we won't be selling. We experienced this briefly in 2008 before the U.S. initiated the TARP programs.

So Canada, we have a big decision ahead of us. Do we decouple the CAD from the USD, effectively cutting off trade with them, but returning our dollar to a reasonable value? Or do we keep the trade going by devaluing our own currency and thrusting 8% or more inflation on Canadian citizens. I'll be honest, neither option is without it's downfalls. We will not escape this crisis pain-free.

* Updated | 11/09/2011:The decision is now ahead of us. As I predicted when I wrote this article on April 30th (posted just after midnight on May 1st), Canada is faced with a decision on whether to break the peg to the USD. Raising interest rates would prevent the inflation I mentioned (for a time) at the cost of our exports to the United States. However, as I mentioned in 'Miss Canada' our political "leaders" have no political will and this probably won't happen. This includes the NDP which voted alongside the Liberals and Conservatives to continue our illegal war against Lybia, in which we are actually backing Al-Qaeda. They are all puppets.

* Updated | 18/09/2011: Surprise, surprise, the truth about Canadian banks is coming out. Like I said, our banks are only as stable as the currencies we depend on. Look around the world... all of them are failing.

Canada is a country in economic denial.

Miss Canada 2011

Here we go again, another Miss Canada contest. Leaders debates, campaign roadshows, and probably more time spent in a stylist's chair than your favorite hollywood actor. Is it any wonder we have such low voter turnout when so many Canadians are not even entirely sure how our political system works? Let alone having any faith it works at all?

canada.com

Browsing comments on election articles you often will see statements such as "I'm not voting for Stephen Harper." Well just an FYI, hardly anyone in Canada is voting for Stephen Harper. You would have to be a member of his Calgary constituency. You see here in Canada, we actually don't vote for a Prime Minister, believe it or not. We don't even vote what "party" will be in power. Our MPs vote for these things and it is indeed quite possible to have a Prime Minister elected from a party not in power, as long as the house has faith in the governing body. In simple terms, we elect members of parliament and nothing else.

I know it sounds simple right, and yet here Canada is stuck in this Canada/American party politics, first-past-the-post void. Canadian elections today are more like leader popularity contests, which is funny because it is also entirely possible for the "leader" to not even have a seat in the house. This is why leaders choose a constituency that is highly likely to vote them in and favor "their party". Wouldn't it be embarrassing for Prime Minister Stephen Harper to not get elected to his seat? Yes it *could* happen in our political system. When it comes to the "party system", I believe strongly in what Gerald Celente has to say:

"they're having a party, and you're paying for it." -- Gerald Celente

This election though has had a few interesting turns in events. everyone has heard about Harper throwing students out of his rallies. I personally don't care what he does at his rallies, it is his prerogative who attends and who does not. Whether it represents true democracy or not is debatable but in any case it is not illegal. However, what seems to be getting the good old media white-wash on this is that it is the RCMP doing these background checks:

“I was told the RCMP had done a screening and that perhaps my name was affiliated with something on Facebook or the Internet,” MacDonald told the Star. “Something that made me unfit to enter. They wouldn’t say what it was.”

The RCMP are even complicit in removing media from Harper events:

Since when is it the RCMP's job to work for political campaigns in this manner? Normally we would say things like this happen in a police state but as mainstream media constantly reminds us we are not Iraq and this is not a police state, which leaves me still almost a year later without an appropriate term to call this circus:

Truth of the matter is that Canadian elections are just for our entertainment. None of the parties have any interest in explaining the real way things work. All of them have latched on to this party policy crap which is usually superficial issues that don't affect our overall agenda. Notice how during this election all work for the people has stopped to campaign, but agendas we take part in such as bombing Lybia are going ahead as scheduled. In the end no difference will be made, especially if we go with either the Conservatives or the Liberals who both have publicly stated an intention to sell Canadian sovereignty.

The Cons:

The Libs:

So you see, when it comes to what matters to those in power; on the real issues, they all agree. That is why Ignatieff is not using the G20 public inquiry as an election issue. The liberals don't want an inquiry into the rights abuses, just as much as the conservatives don't. Indeed it was the Paul Martin liberals who created the event in the first place, at which rights abuses have occurred at almost every single event held. The Liberals will focus on the costs though, to give the illusion of opposition. There are many other examples of the singular agenda between the Conservatives and Liberals.

When it comes to the NDP, they will promise the moon to get in power. But once they get in and realize the world economic state what will they do about it? The sad truth is that today, no political "party" or politician has the political will to come out and lay down the situation about the world debt collapse and peak oil even though it's obvious confidence in the economy just isn't there.Take for instance the Liberal Platform fiscal policy which states:

A Liberal government will commit to reducing the deficit to one percent of GDP within two years, down from 3.6 percent in 2009-10. We will set subsequent, rolling targets to continue decreasing the deficit every year after that until the country is returned to surplus. Unless Canada is faced with an unexpected second recession, all fiscal planning will be consistent with this anchor.

"Unless Canada is faced with an unexpected second recession"? How often do you see that on a political platform? Or take Harper's flagship platform promise which might take effect in 4 years if everything is A'Ok economically. Politicians today are running on empty promises, because that is all a politician really has under their belt to offer. They then go and backup their empty statements with propaganda campaigns to keep peoples faith in a political system of all stripes and colors that has screwed them over time and time again. How many politicians does it take to change a light bulb anyway?

Canadians need to realize that we have some serious structural issues that go far beyond our partisan political bickering. Until politicians stop painting the world in rainbows, sunshine and lollipops voter apathy will only go up. Fewer and fewer people believe the tired rhetoric coming out of these people's mouths on a daily basis and I believe this trend will only continue as the world situation gets worse and increasingly contradicts the unrealistic promises in their platforms until one day there will only be one action left to take: facing reality.