The Conference Board of Canada is a blue-chip business lobby. When they speak, the Harper gang pays attention.
The Conference Board knows what it's going to take to revive Canada's moribund natural gas industry.
Fracking!
Now the reason that Canada's natural gas industry is moribund in the first place is because the wholesale adaptation of industrial-scale fracking in the US has created a glut in the market. They've got the solution. They figure we can over-produce our way right out of this glut.
Canada has to diversify away from selling all it's oil and gas to the US. What we need is a network of Liquified Natural Gas terminals up and down the West Coast, to deliver that surplus gas to the energy-starved Asian economies.
And while they don't say so, why not supplement that with a few LNG terminals on the East Coast?
Hell, just building all those LNG terminals will keep the economy afloat for a generation!
There's one little nagging doubt I have about this fracking mania that has overtaken the world. Seems to me that fracking more or less involves pumping various toxins into the earths skin under extreme pressure.
Isn't the world's fresh water down there somewhere?
When the US House of Representatives held hearings into fracking practices in 2011, they came up with a list of 650 carcinogens that were commonly used in fracking solutions. So what the Conference Board of Canada is telling us is that we should not hesitate, we should not dilly-dally, we should not lose a moment before pumping 650 carcinogens into the earth's mantle at 15,000 PSI.
Is it just me, or does that seem like a really stupid idea?
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Syrians take to streets in show of support for al Qaeda
The mis-handling of the Syrian "spring" has to be one of the greatest US foreign policy debacles of our times. Or is it?
It's been clear that American policy has been to lead from behind the scenes as proxies Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia took the lead in importing and arming the anti-Assad forces. And it's been clear to most of the world for well over a year that the "foreign fighters" who have been converging on Syria have what might delicately be termed "al Qaeda affiliations."
Recently there have been indications that Washington too is aware of this. First the charade of re-jigging the "Syrian National Council" into the "Syrian National Coalition" to make it more "representative". When the Syrians duly jumped through Hillary's hoops on that count, the US suddenly realized that the single most effective fighting force in Syria was in fact the Jabhat al-Nusra, aka al Qaeda, and promptly added them to their official list of terror groups.
This is all in the context of explaining why the US cannot directly arm the "rebels", and the people of Syria took to the streets to make known their displeasure.
In terms of a Syrian spring, a Syrian liberalization, a democratic Syria, etc, none of this makes any sense.
Can American foreign policy really be that inept and self-defeating?
But what if this entire Syria exercise is just preparing the ground for an invasion of Iran? Suddenly a Syria in ruins is not such a bad thing. Plenty of good excuses to drop tens of thousands of American and/or NATO troops in to restore order/ deliver humanitarian aid / secure the weapons of mass destruction / etc etc.
And those tens of thousands of Sunni fundamentalist fighters on the ground in Syria? I'm guessing that America will permit herself just enough of an accommodation with "al Qaeda" to hand those lads maps to Tehran.
Suddenly it all makes sense!
It's been clear that American policy has been to lead from behind the scenes as proxies Qatar, Turkey, and Saudi Arabia took the lead in importing and arming the anti-Assad forces. And it's been clear to most of the world for well over a year that the "foreign fighters" who have been converging on Syria have what might delicately be termed "al Qaeda affiliations."
Recently there have been indications that Washington too is aware of this. First the charade of re-jigging the "Syrian National Council" into the "Syrian National Coalition" to make it more "representative". When the Syrians duly jumped through Hillary's hoops on that count, the US suddenly realized that the single most effective fighting force in Syria was in fact the Jabhat al-Nusra, aka al Qaeda, and promptly added them to their official list of terror groups.
This is all in the context of explaining why the US cannot directly arm the "rebels", and the people of Syria took to the streets to make known their displeasure.
In terms of a Syrian spring, a Syrian liberalization, a democratic Syria, etc, none of this makes any sense.
Can American foreign policy really be that inept and self-defeating?
But what if this entire Syria exercise is just preparing the ground for an invasion of Iran? Suddenly a Syria in ruins is not such a bad thing. Plenty of good excuses to drop tens of thousands of American and/or NATO troops in to restore order/ deliver humanitarian aid / secure the weapons of mass destruction / etc etc.
And those tens of thousands of Sunni fundamentalist fighters on the ground in Syria? I'm guessing that America will permit herself just enough of an accommodation with "al Qaeda" to hand those lads maps to Tehran.
Suddenly it all makes sense!
One small victory for humanity over Vulture Fund douchebags
The UN Tribunal for Laws of the Sea has ordered that Ghana release the Argentine ship ARA Libertad.
The ship was seized in October pursuant to court actions brought by American Vulture Fund wheeler-dealer Paul Singer. Singer's funds bought Argentine sovereign debt at huge discounts around the time of Argentina's default ten years ago, and has been using the courts to try to force Argentina to repay their bonds at face value.
It's a great strategy when it works. Several years ago Singer's funds made an estimated 400% windfall profit pursuing the same strategy with discounted Peruvian bonds. That's a windfall Peru's impoverished campesinos continue to pay for.
The irony is that Argentina's legitimate creditors have long ago settled with the government. The Singer funds, which never lent Argentina any money but bought the distressed paper on the open market, now claim that the integrity of the global financial order is at risk if opportunistic paper-shufflers like themselves are not paid off in full.
Sounds to me like a great argument for a 100% tax on non-productive economic activity.
The ship was seized in October pursuant to court actions brought by American Vulture Fund wheeler-dealer Paul Singer. Singer's funds bought Argentine sovereign debt at huge discounts around the time of Argentina's default ten years ago, and has been using the courts to try to force Argentina to repay their bonds at face value.
It's a great strategy when it works. Several years ago Singer's funds made an estimated 400% windfall profit pursuing the same strategy with discounted Peruvian bonds. That's a windfall Peru's impoverished campesinos continue to pay for.
The irony is that Argentina's legitimate creditors have long ago settled with the government. The Singer funds, which never lent Argentina any money but bought the distressed paper on the open market, now claim that the integrity of the global financial order is at risk if opportunistic paper-shufflers like themselves are not paid off in full.
Sounds to me like a great argument for a 100% tax on non-productive economic activity.
China to build vocational schools in Canada
China's First Undersecretary of Foreign Development, Wang Flung Dung has announced that China will build vocational schools in Canada to train Canadians how to mine coal and weld pipes together. The program is to be modeled on one being delivered in Africa, where China also has difficulty finding trained workers for its many development projects.
"We find that in many of the backward areas of the world there is a lack of educational infrastructure," said Mr. Dung, "and rather than wait a generation or two for those countries to catch up we find it preferable to build that infrastructure ourselves."
"It's a win-win" continued Dung, "we get to mine our coal and refine our tar sands and Canada and Africa get some skilled workers!"
The matter of worker-training recently caused some controversy in Canada. While the country generally considers itself a member of the "developed" world, it was recently discovered that none of the millions of unemployed had even the rudimentary fundamentals of literacy and numeracy required to be trained as coal miners and welders, thereby forcing Chinese companies to bring their own workers into the country.
"We find that in many of the backward areas of the world there is a lack of educational infrastructure," said Mr. Dung, "and rather than wait a generation or two for those countries to catch up we find it preferable to build that infrastructure ourselves."
"It's a win-win" continued Dung, "we get to mine our coal and refine our tar sands and Canada and Africa get some skilled workers!"
The matter of worker-training recently caused some controversy in Canada. While the country generally considers itself a member of the "developed" world, it was recently discovered that none of the millions of unemployed had even the rudimentary fundamentals of literacy and numeracy required to be trained as coal miners and welders, thereby forcing Chinese companies to bring their own workers into the country.
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Panama: its more than a hat
In fact, according to Stephen Harper, Panama is a "key hemispheric partner."
It's also a strategic ally when it comes to voting with the Nations of Virtue at the UN.
But why all the fuss about a Canada-Panama free trade pact that's been in the works since 2008?
I was actually looking for information on what John Baird is up to these days, when I stumbled on the news that our free trade pact with Panama is now a done deal.
Doesn't make a lot of sense on the face of it. Canada's economy is about 55 times the size of Panama's. We have ten times the population. And all that stuff they talk about in the context of trade doesn't seem that important.
Our frozen french fry makers will now enjoy unfettered access to the Panamanian market. Panama's banana growers will now be free to give Canadian banana farmers a run for their money.
Seems like a lot of energy devoted to liberalizing trade with a banana republic ranked #86 in the corruption rankings issued by Transparency International. After all, Panama's claims to fame focus on it's role as a drugs trans-shipment nexus and a tax haven.
Then I happened across this, and all of a sudden I realized that Panama isn't just about hats and bananas and frozen french fries.
Inmet is just one of many Canadian mining outfits keeping busy in Panama, and this is just one of their operations. Scan down that link to where they talk about "measured and indicated resources."
They're talking about 32 billion pounds of copper and 9 million ounces of gold over the lifespan of this mine. That works out to approximately $130 billion at current prices.
That is five hundred times the annual value of current bilateral trade with Panama! It's about four and a half times the annual GDP of the entire Panamanian economy!
Oddly enough, mining gets barely a passing mention in all the Harper government's extensive PR about the importance of this free trade deal with Panama.
Wonder how they could have missed that?...
It's also a strategic ally when it comes to voting with the Nations of Virtue at the UN.
But why all the fuss about a Canada-Panama free trade pact that's been in the works since 2008?
I was actually looking for information on what John Baird is up to these days, when I stumbled on the news that our free trade pact with Panama is now a done deal.
Doesn't make a lot of sense on the face of it. Canada's economy is about 55 times the size of Panama's. We have ten times the population. And all that stuff they talk about in the context of trade doesn't seem that important.
Our frozen french fry makers will now enjoy unfettered access to the Panamanian market. Panama's banana growers will now be free to give Canadian banana farmers a run for their money.
Seems like a lot of energy devoted to liberalizing trade with a banana republic ranked #86 in the corruption rankings issued by Transparency International. After all, Panama's claims to fame focus on it's role as a drugs trans-shipment nexus and a tax haven.
Then I happened across this, and all of a sudden I realized that Panama isn't just about hats and bananas and frozen french fries.
Inmet is just one of many Canadian mining outfits keeping busy in Panama, and this is just one of their operations. Scan down that link to where they talk about "measured and indicated resources."
They're talking about 32 billion pounds of copper and 9 million ounces of gold over the lifespan of this mine. That works out to approximately $130 billion at current prices.
That is five hundred times the annual value of current bilateral trade with Panama! It's about four and a half times the annual GDP of the entire Panamanian economy!
Oddly enough, mining gets barely a passing mention in all the Harper government's extensive PR about the importance of this free trade deal with Panama.
Wonder how they could have missed that?...
Leafs enjoying best season in six years
Leafs GM Brian Burke is looking good as his team heads into the holiday season undefeated.
"Things are really coming together," said the veteran office boss. "We got a great combination of youthful talent not playing, and the older guys are not playing too. We've waited years for this to come together but I think the team has finally gelled."
"Things are really coming together," said the veteran office boss. "We got a great combination of youthful talent not playing, and the older guys are not playing too. We've waited years for this to come together but I think the team has finally gelled."
Friday, December 14, 2012
Israel judiciary riddled with anti-semites
How else to explain the fact that every great patriot in recent memory has been dogged by charges of corruption?
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is but the most recent sacrificial lamb. He has been deemed "corrupt" even though the courts have dismissed all but the most petty of claims against him. So he is obviously only a little bit corrupt, which can be forgiven by all but the most anti-Semitic commentators.
Governing the State of Israel is no job for cringing light-weights. What with those existential threats glowering from all sides, it is easily understandable that a candidate might forget the source of a few millions of campaign contributions. There are bigger fish to fry, as the saying goes.
And while the Heroes of the Holy Land are frying the big fish, the nay-sayers and nit-pickers are hovering over them, waiting for a false move or evidence of some undocumented expenditure.
It's not the Palestinians who will undo the Promised Land; it's the petty bureaucrats in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is but the most recent sacrificial lamb. He has been deemed "corrupt" even though the courts have dismissed all but the most petty of claims against him. So he is obviously only a little bit corrupt, which can be forgiven by all but the most anti-Semitic commentators.
Governing the State of Israel is no job for cringing light-weights. What with those existential threats glowering from all sides, it is easily understandable that a candidate might forget the source of a few millions of campaign contributions. There are bigger fish to fry, as the saying goes.
And while the Heroes of the Holy Land are frying the big fish, the nay-sayers and nit-pickers are hovering over them, waiting for a false move or evidence of some undocumented expenditure.
It's not the Palestinians who will undo the Promised Land; it's the petty bureaucrats in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
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