Red Herrings' Summit

"You have ten days to save the Euro"

 

That was the headline before last week's euro-saver-summit. And now? The magic bullet is to be an old hat called Fiscal Union and one more silver bullet was left to make David Cameron come across this brilliant idea of walking away from Europe in order to save his respectively the banksters' City?!

Great!

Fiscal discipline, the focus on strengthening competitiveness and penalties for those who are too deep in debts will actually have to sort out the Greek economy and that of all the other PIIGS and friends; together with iron German austerity concepts and French red but too short herrings this is the latest Wunderwaffe to save the Euro - in just ten days. Merkozy should write two thick books about it and use those to stand on; at least that will make them taller.

I bet Italian bonds will be creeping back up above 7%, the ECB will buy more bond crap and not call it Eurobonds and soon it will be very irrelevant how few diplomacy lectures DavidC ever had for breakfast at Oxford; and his teammate needed a day or two to understand the implications and now tries the splits.

It just makes very clear if you did not know before that none of those in charge of the problem have any plan to sort things out. Red herrings in dark waters.

Carpe diem!

Euroland is PIIGS' land

I don't get it!

And why don't Merkel and/or Sarkozy want to get it?

the guardian: European Union leaders have five days to solve debt crisis

Europe has five days to find a solution to the sovereign debt crisis or else the EU itself will collapse, political leaders warned on Sunday at the start of a week of high-stakes summitry.
...
Peer Steinbrück, her [Merkel's] likely opponent at the general election in 2013 and her ex-finance minister, said she had to change course if she was to win broad support: "Either the ECB becomes a state treasurer or the rescue fund the EFSF wins a bank licence or Eurobonds arrive or there is some form of transitional solution among these proposals."

Eurobonds as the last resort, the ultimate solution for saving the ECB crashing! How naive is that? Another distraction from the real problem, another trick to delay death. Brain death Euro in its final weeks:

That's what the ECB pumped itself up with in the past few months: trash! In its function as the Worst Bank for the Bad Banks and its Banksters, similar to the BoJ, the BoE and the FED, the ECB has already sucked up more than 2 trillion of printed rubbish promises worth ... zero! Capitalised with roughly €5 billion a capital/lending ratio is not worth mentioning and this stupid argument "But they can print whatever sums they want!" is as much nonsense as it is destructive.

So, the party is over, but almost, only. We have yet to watch Eurobonds coming in which will finally and irreversibly make all debts of all Euro countries the debts of the EURO no matter what Euroland it originally was printed for; with other words Euroland will be one big PIIGS as it definitely can't be one big Germany.

And really it is not about rescuing the Euro, it is only about the banks, as the above article sums it up:

Market hopes are that – despite their differences – Merkel and Sarkozy agree on both a short-term solution and longer-term vision that will persuade the ECB not only to cut interest rates by 0.25% to 1% but extend loans of up to three years maturity to struggling banks. The ECB governing council meets hours before the EU summit on Thursday.

Once they decided to all be PIIGS - what kind of animal will the UK with its fabulous Pound be?

 


Carpe diem!

if it wasn't so sad

... I would recommend laughter!

EUROland is celebrating 10 years of - YES! - the Euro!



I am used to hearing b...s..., but that's setting a new record:

Europe builds bridges... and inspires hope... it also has a common currency, the Euro, our money!

The first twelve to introduce the Euro banknotes and coins in 2002 were Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Greece, Spain, France, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and Finland...

... all of which are now tumbling in different levels of bankruptcy!

One advantage is that there is no need to exchange money when travelling within the Euro area.

True: having cut into education for many years would now make it virtually impossible to calculate a cost of a beer in Spanish Peseta for anybody used to the Pound; sorry, I meant to say: the Euro.

Mario Draghi:

Over the past decade the Single Currency has become a symbol of integration and co-operation and the Euro banknotes and coins have become part of our daily lives. Despite the challenges currently faced by Europe as well as the rest of the world the people of the Euro area can rest assured that the European Central Bank will remain faithful to its mandate of maintaining price stability.

This is a joke, is it it? The decade's best joke. Listen yourself, I guess we all paid for that brilliant marketing BS!!

It reminds me very much of this Gentleman and his reassurance to the World, whereas nobody would want to build a wall...:

_____

It is terribly unreal this world; but then this is reality:

That shows UK's oil production curve in a severe decrease. It suggests the UK is saving for later or it is peak UK oil... More on this you will find here (in German).

_____

And, as I have had no time to blog being heavily involved in PassivHaus(ing) here is something to laugh, even though it might be an old joke but more importantly be very sad:

WALKING EAGLE

On a recent trip to the United States, Tony Blair, Ex-Prime Minister of the UK, addressed a major gathering of Native American Indians. He spoke for almost an hour on his plans for a Carbon Trading Tax for the UK and Europe At the conclusion of his speech, the crowd presented him with a plaque inscribed with his new Indian name - Walking Eagle.

A very chuffed Tony then departed in his motorcade, waving to the crowds.

A news reporter later asked one of the Indians how they came to select the new name given to Tony Blair. They explained that Walking Eagle is the name given to a bird so full of shit...
...that it can no longer fly.

Tell me, please, who of those eagles working for us, our future and themselves still fly? And, is there an Eagle in the walking Euro?
 

Apropos Tony, the Blair, here ...

is more on him, and here on him and his best pal! Oh, if you think I don't like him; that's really giving the facts no justice.

Walking...tssss!

Carpe diem!

the €-bomb

here in slow motion...

to understand why I have repeatedly claimed: the Euro is dead:

Querschuesse

The industrial output of Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece - month by month since January 2000; a lot of growth in this gap with great potential.

Pure coincidence? It started slowly with the € coming in and it will only be stopped with the € going out. Any other result would see us witness Germany give away permanently e.g. Volkswagen to Greece, BMW plus a couple of its suppliers to Spain, a number of globally leading industrial members and Mercedes to Italy and even a pretty heavy load of successful German exporters to France - all for free just to even out the gap you see on the chart and rescue that marvelous European Single Currency. A really veritable European act of German heroism; the circle closes where Europa was an important and heroic gestalt in Greek mythology.

Now, what would we need to drink to believe in something like that? That's pure phantasy! Fellow Germans will think I am nuts; well, I won't dispute that, calm down. But, we all are watching the patient's mortal agony which the above chart suggests will end in a harsh finale of what was pure bloody nonsense in the first place.

While the € came in putatively friendly and smooth its explosion will rather feel rough and hostile. It will trigger protectionism and isolationism, it will toss Europe far back and make it totally depending on the rest of the world with the only exception being the USA; it will loose the fight to make its green paper the weakest currency. Welcome in the dark ages, boys and girls.

More debts and exchanging the figures in Italy, Greece or anywhere else will not alter the outcome.

And then: what about our beloved Pound?

Carpe diem!

In Pound we trust?!

Miserere!

Some more details on the UK economy that are worthwhile sharing and noting - you can't do much more than note and watch the further development as this economy is obviously run by intelligence that tells us every day they knew what they are doing. A specific proof you can watch here. But for inflation see here. For DC's new economy see here.

These graphs below show our strength in imports and dependency. And strong we are:

The above shows the monthly trade deficit of the UK, the next one the same in reference to food, only.

more; all graphs are in English ink! Querschuesse

Should you make out some kind of trend over the 30 years: don't worry!

Once the Euro is history not only logically (that's the case since 1998) but also in the reality of such intelligence that came up with that crap in the first place and their naive heirs like Merkel and Sarkozy we will have to bury the Pound instantly; that is it will need dumping over night!

Let us hope our intelligence will understand that this burial must happen in an instant manner not being dragged over weeks, months or years really. The latter would destroy the last remains of any kind of UK (export) economy we have and would see us people starve and/or freeze to death despite a global climate change: many!

miserere: [lat] have mercy!

Carpe diem!

merde noir!

What a day?! Full of democratic competitiveness!

 

For once a Prime minister wants to ask the people about their opinion - okay it is 10 or 12 years too late for a now silly question and a last resort, only, of a desperate man, but his move suggests for a moment that there might be some democratic crumbles left - and then this referendum is washed away as, by chance, some other politicians are willing to further follow that endless Merkel-Sarkocracy of piling debts on debts on debts for the sake of what they call competitiveness and a united Europe; in case anybody refuses allegiance peace and freedom of and in Europe are supposed to be history! What an intelligent threat.

Apropos competitiveness: I regularly feel sick when I hear Madame Merkel praying this "...Greece must regain its competitiveness...!" What a nonsense! How come anybody can talk such b...s...? When last - since ancient times - has Greece ever been competitive? And if so, what industrial output would that refer to? Until 1974 Greece was run by a Military Junta! Forgotten? It had this beautiful, regulated and then floating/falling/fixed currency called Drahme which bought you nothing but may be an inexpensive holiday, some olives and if you needed some sheep! Nothing wrong with that; it covered a tax heaven-like ship emporium and similar set-ups and anything serious was imported against so-called hard currency. Basta!

And then, just in time, the banksters' new man heading the ECB, Europe's Worst Bank, reduces interest rates further even though inflation is climbing sharply with the line: "...The remit of the ECB is maintaining price stability in the medium term". And further (Bloomberg):

The ECB lowered rates partly because “what we’re observing now is slow growth heading toward a mild recession,” Draghi said.

He must have listened to Mr. King, just recently. Obviously mainstream allows any kind of merde noir.

It is hard to carpe such a diem; I know; keep trying!

being different is not that difficult

about China: where? whereto?

Very interesting: Yang Lan tells you a lot about China, its society, social media, the country's and people's transition. 80% of the children in the cities go to college; an aging population; the youth is questioning basically every thing.

Carpe diem!

a non affordable Expo...

now offering affordable luxury

"a warm welcome to the Highlands"

Do you remember the above photo of the main entrance to the Highland Housing Fair or Highland Housing Expo as it was renamed on its way to become a brilliant success? That's how it started, that's how it went on and that's how it ends: Expo's Funky Town in the bin:

Inverness Courier, 17-10-11: Luxury housing fair homes now selling as "affordable"

THREE of the prestigious houses built for Inverness’ controversial housing expo are being marketed as affordable homes as organisers try desperately to sell the 24 remaining properties before April.
The terraced houses, which feature Ikea kitchens, Neff appliances, ground source heat pumps and solar panels, are valued at £200,000 but are being marketed on an 80/20 shared equity basis, leaving the purchaser to find £160,000.
If the move proves successful, expo organiser Highland Housing Alliance is likely to try and sell more of the homes in this way.

I bet, once three more units are sold it will be then described as the greatest success in Scottish history of what once will have been a world's first and the globe's market leading event or some kind of other beloved exaggerations that have accompanied this disaster all along.

And how do you define "luxury", by the way?

Carpe diem!

More from the Inverness Courier:
Affordable Homes at 300,000? 
Expo homes in running for design awards 
Housing Expo to mount sales drive in bid to recoup 6m
-   (...just decide what headline you would like to give this one!)

the not so passive conference

on PassivHaus Standard and Methodology

organised by

  

and                 

Monday and Tuesday this week saw us participating in the third annual UK PassivHaus Conference in London. While it was held at what one must define as the most extreme opposite of a PassivHaus, The Barbican Conference Centre, the event and discussions per se offered lots of food for thought:

The logo of the Passiv Haus Institute
its website offers some challenges

Fabric first

It now seems to have become the general understanding that it makes more sense to design and thoroughly calculate a building's envelope to the possible highest specs, first and then think about how to provide what and, more importantly, how little energy will be needed to run it. In simple terms, before we think about building new power stations we should try to follow ways of not wasting energy.

The Barbican per se and the conference's presentations offered the chance to understand how to do better, much better and why we must learn from tradition and the mistakes we made in order to secure our future.

MVHR

Amazing how much time was spent questioning air quality provided by mechanical ventilation including heat recovery systems (MVHR) and/or the dubious threat to possibly die in an air tight house caused by lack of oxygen - well, may be I am exaggerating that last bit; but just a wee bit.

a simple schematic

Apart from the fact that traditional houses and those built to PH Standards do have in common that windows and believe it or not even doors are openable, why would fresh air through an open window be any cleaner or healthier than air mechanically filtered entering the same building in controlled volumes through purpose build ducts?

I should add that in my first house, a glazier's refurbished old workshop, I had an early version of an automated ventilation system including heat recovery installed in 1983. It was a French system and in order to follow that stupid routine of not liking what the French and/or Germans and/or English, always vice versa, do come up with (see further down) I should confess: even though it was French it worked fine.

Why did I install it then? Well, if you refurbish an old house and try to make it air tight in order to keep the warmth in - yes, we did discuss and try this in 1983 already - it makes perfect sense to swap moisture and used air for pre-warmed fresh air. Sorry, but that's basically S1 Physics, isn't it?

In S2, maybe, air tightness might be discussed, which mentioned in connection with selling a house might shrug innocent people off; so one of the presenters tried to replace the term by using draft-free environment; fine, however by definition air tightness includes draft freeness, while vice versa it is not the case. Hence, a more positive term remains to be found, but then we should hurry, please, as the customers might overtake the crawling process of inventing new descriptions for old realities.

Appropos Germany

It seems to be a hard nut for many to get over the fact that this PassivHaus Standard could have something to do with Germany, with those Germans. It is a fact, and as I had to live with it I know what I am writing about, that the German Government(s) were among the first, if not the first, to not only realise that energy might become a challenging issue but they have for very nearly thirty years consequently and constantly implemented ever tougher laws and bylaws of how to make constructions and appliances more energy efficient. No wonder the "others" now have to chew on the fact that most working and price worthy solutions, in this case for PH related products, components and technologies are offered by German companies. It is that simple.

By the way, listening to the cramped and constrained efforts of all officials trying to avoid any German ties with all kinds of PassivHaus issues was very close to being offensive; not so much in my eyes as a German living in the UK for a decade, now, I am used to such rubbish especially of those who at the same time indeed own Audis or a German kitchen, etc., but much more so in the heads and translations of German speaking visitors from the Continent. Britain allegedly stands for non discrimination acts and blames others of not sticking to the rules; well, here we are!

UK supply chain

One could say in a globalised world where most if not all of our daily consumer products are produced where they are made the cheapest, sometimes the most efficient, often the "dirtiest" way, this subject of an UK supply chain for PH components could not be of any relevance: may the best, i.e. the best working solution and value for money win.

Not so in this case: with generalised reference to import and transport cost the request for an UK supply chain for PH components e.g. windows is constantly mentioned, most probably by the same people that drive an Audi, a Mercedes, BMW or Toyota and buy Chinese toys, PCs and shoes! I will come back to the industry of automobiles further down.

Meanwhile, think about this: forget the advance in understanding the PH Standard and the advance in know how, training and experience from long years of actual application, it is a fact, the Continental market is huge. Most probably, the window manufacturers in question produce and deliver thousands of windows a day, mostly to very high specs, much higher than the average UK window, and on top of this they manufacture a  smaller, yet comparably substantial number to PH standards. Don't forget: in addition their means of production are high tech manufacturing robots which represent heavy long term investment, the companies' purchase power for raw materials is gigantic, per unit margins are kept to a minimum and transport to and from their facilities are their daily bread covering the Continent from Portugal to Russia and from Italy to Norway.

Now, who would think that any UK supplier can just pick up here and be competitive in a wee UK market that is still discussing the possible disadvantages of e.g. MVHR? Or whether or not recycling and waste water management should be part of the building regulations. I think that should be common sense and should not be used to dilute energy efficiency of any building envelope.

So that successful launch of that part of the UK supply chain remains to be seen. It seems a bit unlikely, as a true Scot would put it; I say, it is economically impossible: either the price or the windows' quality and variety will have to suffer unless protectionism or currency related influences would run the show

In this blog I often refer to China: I do not bash China, I might criticise China, but mainly I adore China for its flexibility, its will to succeed and for always doing their homework. But then, China very much frightens me; many could not care less, which frightens me even more.

Now, imagine China had felt it was too proud to just produce and copy what the market needed or wanted and then too proud to use the much better machinery and tools that they were often even given for free but then soon were able to import upon their own decision. Where would China be today?

No! I believe, the tactic should be quite the other way round. Get what is best value for money, wherever it comes from, learn, understand, teach, use, copy, adopt, adapt and improve! Like Fabric first, we should make a market for the most appropriate Standard: that is the way forward for any industry while the customer will be very grateful.

Customer

This species felt almost like not existing over those two days; from my personnel experience over the last five years attending shows and conferences all over the UK the customer has changed.

They have learned, they google two words and are flooded with information, they travel, they visit, they discuss, they all feel energy costs closing in on them, but in the end they also might drive a ... as I said, I will come back to that.

Real estate markets have changed; the idea that one's dwelling is a lucrative short term investment to climb up a money making ladder has become a very difficult one. While land to build on might be of pretty reliable value, a house that costs a fortune to run proves itself an unaffordable and unwanted burden. Driven to the extreme this could end up to where one will have to sell a house for its land's value minus demolishing and recycling cost. Think about that!

No, I did not leave the red line; a house build to PH Standard, certified, is futureproof. It will hardly loose its value as the standard sets a clear energy consumption figure: 15kW/m2a or even less. So anybody interested in one will know exactly what kind of quality he will get and what it will cost him year by year to come.

Futureproof Asset

With defining energy consumption levels, materials, technologies and tradesmanship are becoming part of this definition. One won't go without the other. Hence, the overall quality including life expectancy and durability are improved; indeed this is setting new standards were the customer or client will be able to compare like with like on the basis of a set energy consumption figure. King customer will love that. And really, once the mortgage companies will be prepared and willing to understand those differences they will finance traditional builds with a surcharge, only. 

miscellaneous

It was also very interesting to learn that there are differences in the door-blower test routines of the UK and Continental procedures; I will look into this much closer. I know from experience that we all need to be sceptical when confronted with too-good-to-be-true U-value calculations; whatever you compare, values, technologies or procedures, only, it should have a common base otherwise any discussion is a waste of time or simply humbug.

Automobile Industry

My first car was a 1967 MG B, spoke wheels, leather, chrome; then we loved British cars, the variety, the design, everything. German cars were boring, looked old and ugly.

What is left of that famous British car industry? Some brand names, now put on Indian, Chinese and again, I beg your pardon, German companies' makes - the rest is history. The industry did not follow what the market, the customers wanted and/or needed, it avoided investments for the sake of short-term share-holder values and called for the government when it failed.

Today the leading car manufacturers are either Asian or German manufactures. There is a severe chance that the British Construction Industry will be following the British Automobile Industry. Trying to protect one's market share by aiming at suppressing competition and innovation and neglecting customers' demands is a certain recipe for disaster.

By the way

when I don't blog, eat or sleep I work with HANSE HAUS (UK), a German off-site manufacturer of highly energy efficient components for all kinds of low energy houses, including, of course, PassivHaus certified turn-key Passive Houses. Here is the German website, here our English one.

Above a Passive House on our show area in Oberleichtersbach, Germany. Below a video, showing the eight essential hours of making a house thoroughly prepared by taking advantage of the latest off-site technology wind and watertight.

Should you miss the phrase "leading" or "best" or "first" in front of our name please don't worry, we know where we stand while we walk the walk!

Carpe diem!


#PassivHausUK: thank you and well done, hope to see you next year in a PHCC*

* PassivHaus Conference Centre

those were the times, ...

my friends, when we gave for children...

Now we give for banksters that speculate on hunger, decease and death.

Carpe diem

The Banksters' Planet

The network of corporate global control

an ETH, Zuerich, study

Abstract
The structure of the control network of transnational corporations affects global market competition
and financial stability. So far, only small national samples were studied and there was
no appropriate methodology to assess control globally. We present the first investigation of the
architecture of the international ownership network, along with the computation of the control
held by each global player. We find that transnational corporations form a giant bow-tie structure
and that a large portion of control flows to a small tightly-knit core of financial institutions.
This core can be seen as an economic “super-entity” that raises new important issues both for
researchers and policy makers.

We all knew it, we know it, we are taught that money makes the world go around. 143 companies control 40% of what you see above, these are the first 50:

Table S1: Top 50 control-holders. Shareholders are ranked by network control (according to the
threshold model, TM). Column indicate country, NACE industrial sector code, actor’s position in
the bow-tie sections, cumulative network control. Notice that NACE code starting with 65,66,67
belong to the financial sector.
Rank Economic actor name Country

1 BARCLAYS PLC GB
2 CAPITAL GROUP COMPANIES INC, THE US
3 FMR CORP US4 AXA FR
5 STATE STREET CORPORATION US
6 JPMORGAN CHASE & CO. US
7 LEGAL & GENERAL GROUP PLC GB
8 VANGUARD GROUP, INC., THE US
9 UBS AG CH
10 MERRILL LYNCH & CO., INC. US
11 WELLINGTON MANAGEMENT CO. L.L.P. US
12 DEUTSCHE BANK AG DE
13 FRANKLIN RESOURCES, INC. US
14 CREDIT SUISSE GROUP CH
15 WALTON ENTERPRISES LLC US
16 BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON CORP. US
17 NATIXIS FR
18 GOLDMAN SACHS GROUP, INC., THE US
19 T. ROWE PRICE GROUP, INC. US
20 LEGG MASON, INC. US
21 MORGAN STANLEY US
22 MITSUBISHI UFJ FINANCIAL GROUP, INC. JP
23 NORTHERN TRUST CORPORATION US
24 SOCIÉTÉ GÉNÉRALE FR
25 BANK OF AMERICA CORPORATION US
26 LLOYDS TSB GROUP PLC GB
27 INVESCO PLC GB
28 ALLIANZ SE DE
29 TIAA US
30 OLD MUTUAL PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY GB
31 AVIVA PLC GB
32 SCHRODERS PLC GB
33 DODGE & COX US
34 LEHMAN BROTHERS HOLDINGS, INC. US
35 SUN LIFE FINANCIAL, INC. CA
36 STANDARD LIFE PLC GB
37 CNCE FR
38 NOMURA HOLDINGS, INC. JP
39 THE DEPOSITORY TRUST COMPANY US
40 MASSACHUSETTS MUTUAL LIFE INSUR. US
41 ING GROEP N.V. NL
42 BRANDES INVESTMENT PARTNERS, L.P. US
43 UNICREDITO ITALIANO SPA IT
44 DEPOSIT INSURANCE CORPORATION OF JP JP
45 VERENIGING AEGON NL
46 BNP PARIBAS FR
47 AFFILIATED MANAGERS GROUP, INC. US
48 RESONA HOLDINGS, INC. JP
49 CAPITAL GROUP INTERNATIONAL, INC. US
50 CHINA PETROCHEMICAL GROUP CO. CN

In green GB companies, in blue US co-operations; the land of the major rating agencies.

Any questions?

Carpe diem!

DC's concept for a foundation...

of a wise builder?



PM DC, 1:44 into the above video:

...I know that you can't see it or feel it right now. But think of it like this: the new economy we are building it is like building a house; the most important part is the part you can't see: the foundations. Slowly but surely we are laying solid foundations for a stronger future. And the vital point is this: if you don't stick with it it won't work.

A lot of can'ts, Mr. Prime Minister, but I like your metaphor: it is like building a house, isn't it:

²⁴ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. ²⁶ But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷ The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

That's Matthew 7:24-27, known as "The Wise and Foolish Builders".

Yes, the foundation is very important; yet, in your speech it remains unclear what shall be build on this solid foundation: is it going to be a traditional construction, then, what would be new?

We need to tell the truth... you say, so is this new economy on what you describe as a solid foundation going to be like a Passiv Haus? Future-proof, healthy, comfortable and affordable?

I doubt it facing such basic but untackled problems like deficits and unemployment while I miss the strengthening or in some cases even rebuilding of the basic elements such like education, tuition, training, manufacturing and rational R&D into what will be the true elements of our future as well as setting any new standards for what you tell me I can't see or feel right now, Mr. Cameron.

All I see is more cuts and more debts or the same vice versa, trying to save banks, banksters, governments and incapacitated politicians just to preserve what can't be sustainable; is this all and again related to tradition or where and when will we see or feel any kind of learning effect coming in that will take us all forward?

Carpe diem!

CCS: ...and now, the end is near...!

BBC: Longannet carbon capture scheme scrapped

Again, there is this totally inappropriate idea of picking an industry, e.g. CCS or Electric Automobiles and then declaring the obscuring aim to become a so-called world market leader instead of doing ones homework, first and foremost; the end result reads as follows:

"If there was a completely unlimited resource then we may have been able to surmount the technical problems at Longannet," Mr Huhne said.

Scottish Power's coal-fired plant at Longannet had been the only remaining site in the UK government competition for the funding.

"However, almost four years after launching its funding competition, plans for CCS in the UK have descended into farce."

"It is vital that this money is not recycled into the Treasury but used for carbon capture and storage projects. 

£1,000million pumped carefully into the up-dating and up-grading of the British construction industry, its training and teaching facilities would do more; much more; without inventing the wheel again and without an unlimited resource, Mr Huhne.

Carpe diem!

Pretensioning the B(l)ow!

 UK's bubbling model...

The chart seen on www.querschuesse.de shows the UK's monthly trade balance in reference to food!

• August 2011: minus £1.436bn! 


• First eight months of 2011: minus £11.648bn!


• We are depending more on more on imports e.g. of meat, a minus of £3.601bn in 2011, alone!


• Same for such simple and relatively easy to produce dairy products! A minus of £1.391bn in 2011!


• Wheat and animal feed minus £1.382bn in 2011.


• Since 1995 we are net importers of oil with a dramatically falling output of North Sea oil.

Great Britain shows the classic bubble economy of a degenerated Anglo-Saxon model under permanent erosion of any kind of industrial output in relation to its GDP while running out of all kinds of resources; see oil and gas.

Along with the high import volume an ever increasing inflation is imported, the currency is weak even compared to US $ and the failing Euro.

Not my words, but a description of the UK's situation in the German blog above. Now, you might not like Germans, Germany or German cars, but what about the truth?

Inflation, even after tweaking all statistical possibilities, is up: 5.2%. In reference to food even +6.4%:

Another Catch-22 situation one should think as once Mr. King (Governor of the BoE) would decide to fight inflation by raising interest rates the government and the banks would have to declare bankruptcy; however, don't worry, inflation is the globally preferred idea to make debts look smaller.

As such inflation must grow faster...

as debts grow faster!

Don't mention the stability and value of the Pound, though!

"The UK fails to feed its population, Mr Neo and Mr. Lib "what are your answers?"


Carpe diem!

"The customer" was his success

Steve Jobs: where can we take the customer?

He is not even mentioning that share-holder-value rubbish! No wonder...

Carpe diem!

Mister King, what took you so long?

A mere three years later

...it seems our professed intelligent leaders finally understand what they might be up to, just three years after Lehmann and well 20 years into what is an unregulated bonanza of Globalism run into the ground by Mr. Neo and Mrs. Lib! What we all are up to, they still have no clue! Some examples?

So the Governor believes in more debts will quantitatively ease the banksters problems, well done Mr. King! Just picking out one sentence ...

In addition to countries like ourselves, like the United States, like some countries in Europe we need to re-balance our economy; we need to slow the amount of domestic spending and boost our trade position to see our exports be the source of growth so that we are relying less on borrowing from abroad than we have been.

This tastes like a 50 year old soda. Apart from the strange construction of the sentence where an introduction like in addition to... ourselves... we need to ... obviously sees him badly prepared and/or terribly nervous the rest is pure rubbish; wishfull thinking, daydreaming in a world that has definitely moved much faster than Mr. King's enlightenment will ever keep up with. His is closely followed by Mr. Osborne's...

... the bank of England has made an independent judgement, ...it [>QE 2] is... a response to the deterioration in the international economy and it is also a response to the severe strains in the Eurozone...
...it will keep interest rates down, it will help boost demand, and that will be a help for British families..."

The most peculiar sentence of Mr. Osborne you will hear is "...the British Government has earned credibility with plans to deal with Government debts...". Media, journalists, bloggers, wake up?

Yesterday, the theguardian explained QE, Quantitative Easing:

QE involves electronically creating money, which the Bank uses to buy assets – mainly government bonds, known as gilts – from investors in financial markets. That pushes down long-term interest rates – a bonus for the economy – and gives the banks more money to lend out. The Bank doesn't actually print banknotes, it just credits investors' accounts. Its governor, Mervyn King, hates the phrase "quantitative easing" and prefers to call it credit easing.

Well, give me a break! QE 1 in 2009 was limited to £200 billion with hardly a penny of that reaching Mr. Osborne's families. If it did anything it retarded the race into depression by a fraction which now three years later a ludicrous 1/3 of QE 1 won't, rather can't do!

Here is a totally different judgement:

Much closer to reality, to the truth, to what we are up to and how banks and banksters are interconnected. The really frightening fact - as you hear - is: we do not even have a plan!

But back to the Governor whose mainstream sauce got me started on this subject again; how can one get away with talking pure nonsense and at the same time being three years, more likely 20 years late?

What kind of miraculous ingredients will he and his friends have to come up with when cuts into domestic spending, among others severe cuts into education, teaching, training, health and general infrastructure shall boost a trading position that is long gone anyway? Gone to China and it is China that invests in education big style!

Export: something all the countries in debt spirals are fancying, they all pray for the export miracle to happen: but in an unsound parallel it is regarded a clever free-market must and a share-holder-value's boost to export all those jobs that are regarded as cheap, dirty, stupid and/or not lucrative enough. So who was it that now makes all the toys, PCs, shoes, T-shirts, phones, stereos, suits, all the china, many cars, soon more trains and airplanes and then all and anything? The answer is China!!

Export: that is why they all take part in the race for a weak currency. Obama would love to see a strong Euro, so downgrading anything in Europe is based on his and his mates' hope this might get the Europeans sorted and the Dollar finally down. And it's China again...piggybacked on the greenback while spending its mountains of  green paper on buying itself into all kinds of resources, from land to energy and beyond.

He who laughs last laughs best; he will definitely be a king.

And mainstream takes it all!

Carpe diem!

P.S.:

From Daniel Hannan's telegraph comment:

daughter's heroine

I chose my mum to be my heroine because she is hardworking,
trustworthy and has to put up with me, my brothers and sister.

as seen in Charleston Academy; Inverness

Trustworthiness: would it not be nice to be able to rely on this virtue? The people of Japan did when they were told by their ingenious and omniscient politicians how brilliant their nuclear power technology, those highly trained managers and technicians were and how safe it all was and is:

TOKYO—Government officials failed to distribute to thousands of people pills that could have minimized radiation risks from the March nuclear accident, government documents show.
The disclosure is the latest evidence of government neglect of emergency procedures in the chaotic days after the disaster, in which an earthquake and tsunami damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

WSJ ASIA: Japan officials failed to hand out Radiation Pills in Quake's Aftermath

Not even the most simple of all measurements they were capable of initialising. What ignorance, falsehood and stupidity? Failure across the board with no consequences for the failed.

Don't you expect the governments of Euroland to have any clue of what they started when they imposed the EURO upon us and even less when it comes to handle the current crisis out of which there is no way by inventing new dubious ways of accounting (for) ever more debts, every day. That's treating ill patients with more illness; or more debts with more cuts; or trying to safe a dying City from Financial Transaction Tax while betting on a deceasing currency watching what was to be a globalised world and celebrating that nonsense of "we are not part of it"!?

Glad to say: the basics never change; the escape into what is a young sister's and daughter's basic trust into her mum was and is the last resort. Parents: proud as can be; and responsible!

Carpe diem!


more:

Truth or Paranoia? Activists Claim Parts Of Tokyo Are More Radioactive Than Chernobyl

6 months into Japan's cleanup, radiation a major worry

in God we trust on knife's edge

arabianmoney: UK most indebted nation in the world reveals new study

It is not only a race for the weakest currency - to play along the praised export route while we trust in God; it also is a negative race towards who built up the biggest debts. And that is even less funny:

A new study from brokers Tullett Prebon called ‘Project Armageddon’ has established the true scale of borrowing in Britain which amounts to a truly staggering £5 trillion or $8.3 trillion.
...
Once pension fund liabilities and PFI contracts are included the total public debt is £2.46 trillion or 167 per cent of GDP. To that you have to add the £1.34 trillion in financial sector bailouts. The total public debt is therefore £3.6 trillion or 244 per cent of GDP or £135,000 per UK household.
...
Then there is £1.2 trillion in outstanding mortgage debt and £210 billion in unsecured mortgage credit. Together public and private sector debt amounts to £5 trillion, or 340 per cent of GDP.
...
‘Project Armageddon’ is actually pretty thin on predictions as to where this debt mountain will take the UK, apart from flagging up the inadequacies of current government policies, namely that they rely on the resumption of high rates of economic growth that are impossible with 70 per cent of the economy laden with debt.
...
You are left to draw your own conclusions about the merits of holding sterling-denominated assets with this sword of Damocles hanging over the economy. And the investment conclusion about the UK is surely don’t go there!

Of course, e.g. Germany's debts calculated on the same bases as above are also something like €8 to €10 trillion. But that makes the ice on which we all stand no thicker; the conclusion can hardly be leaning back watching Euroland implode or the Dollar's Greens grow over while hoping for the Pound's Phoenix-like recovery.

There is a huge risk, I bet it being only a fraction off from 100%, that with these currency turmoils happening the Pound will implode as well - that might be even a good point to get rid of those astronomical debts and restart the game, may be our only chance: so in the eve of these things happening I recommend to do anything possible to strengthen and support national economy and purchase power, attract and create jobs and - that is the most important point - invest big scale into all kinds of education and training very fast and very furious. Why not print money for all the before, now, instead for the moribund banksters and insolvent economies and their never-come-back-spirals? 

Cuts are definitely the wrong way forward and cosmetic corrections, only, at this point; it needs investment into our all future not cuts into old, rubbish balance sheets.

Our leaders are too beautiful, too young and far too much lobby- and shareholder value-oriented to understand the big picture; it is time that even the most ignorant should by now have grasped that there is no debt relief pill where debts are beyond r/belief.:

The Euro will implode and/or be something totally different, soon. The Pound no different! Shortly before that Big Ben will show an even bigger declination, the clock will be much longer and as it happened in all hard times before our hope and trust in God will be much bigger.

Carpe diem!

no wonder cuts are in

knife, fork, scissors, flames,
have no place in children's games

A couple of centuries ago, when I was born, I heard the above saying again and again, still I cut myself and had to learn, that flames are hot: all by myself!

Modern world's mainstream and cheap Lidl scissors in girly designs for the 18+, only, transformed cuts to be fiscal elements of ignorant politicians and political economists.

Carpe diem!

smoke gets in your eyes

"Deniers are the messengers of the good news."

Worthwhile listening to Professor Naomi Oreskes on "The Merchants of Doubt" and her comments on Climate Change and why we all rather hear the good news.

So, there ain't no easy way out; this time.

Carpe diem!

change is upon us!

He who will not economize will have to agonize.

Confucius (551 - 479 BC)

Admitted, I have not blogged much lately; our problems don't seem to change, nobody comes up with any kind of sustainable solution for any of those irrevocable troubles but while the daily routine rushes by things seem to turn in slow motion circles or shall we say spirals?

The death of the Euro is a slow process as is accepting and more so understanding Climate Change; slow is the Gulf Stream, some examples?

January 2003

 

January 2011

 

 __________________________________________________________

August 2003

August 2011

 

 __________________________________________________________

 September 2003

 September 2011

I am not a climate expert, but I am not colour blind either. Fresh from Wikipedia:

One of the greatest influences on the climate of the UK is the Atlantic Ocean and especially the North Atlantic Current, which brings warm waters from the Gulf of Mexico to the waters around the country by means of thermohaline circulation. This has a powerful moderating and warming effect on the country's climate—the North Atlantic Drift warms the climate to such a great extent that if the current did not exist then temperatures in winter would be about −10 °C (−18.0 °F) lower than they are today. The current allows England to have vineyards at the same latitude that Canada has polar bears. A good example of the effects of the North Atlantic Drift is Tresco Abbey Gardens, on the Isles of Scilly, 48 kilometres (30 mi) west of Cornwall, where Canary Island date palm trees grow - possibly the nearest of their kind to the Arctic Circle, at 50° latitude north. These warm ocean currents also bring substantial amounts of humidity which contributes to the notoriously wet climate that western parts of the UK experience.
The extent of the Gulf Stream's contribution to the actual temperature differential between North America and western Europe is a matter of dispute.^[23][24] It has been argued that atmospheric waves that bring subtropical air northwards contribute to a much greater extent to the temperature differential than thermohaline circulation.^[23]

The above pictures you can find here and here, freely available, lots about Ocean currents, but mainstream has more interesting slow stories, e.g. Climate Change and the deniers' rubbish oracles led by what the Americans might face as their next best Republican President! Here is an Open Mind summary on the situation.

 be prepared!

Al Gore is back, did you watch his new initiative? It is worth it.

Apropos slow, the death agony of the Euro enters into its next round; the ESM, the European Stability Mechanism is here, and here is the key of which country has to bear how much:

source

Those countries are all virtually insolvent, but being ill does not prevent one from becoming iller; I know, it should be "more ill" but "iller" sounds similar to "killer" and a killer this ESM is. Same for the Eurobonds, the last resource of a dying species.

There is really nothing wrong with not having joined the EURO and now not being involved with this ESM; but then the EURO's failure will not feel like the UK was no part of it and the Pound will suffer, promised.

Here is a video, sorry, in German, only, on the ESM and its conditions; as I said, a killer:

I am sure any normal independent court would call this contract null and void and the initiators criminals. Here are the details in English.

But all this will not avoid the deterioration of the global markets; what begun with the financial markets caused by banksters will be now accompanied by markets either collapsing into deflation or exploding into peak scenarios causing all kinds of destroying issues. GEAB N°57:

"While the US iceberg is ramming the Titanic, the crew leads the passengers in search of dangerous Greek terrorists who may have planted bombs on board!" In propaganda terms, it’s a known recipe: it’s a diversion to allow, first of all, the rescue of the passengers one wants to save (the informed elite who know very well that there are no Greek terrorists on board) since everyone can’t be saved; and then, hide the problem’s true nature for as long as possible to avoid a revolt on board (including some of the crew who sincerely believe that there really are bombs on board).

Apropos Confucius: China is on track, no doubts! The latest has become the only global player against all its vast challenges, but it is on track! The media comments on the latest Chinese ideas of investing into what are hollow PIIGS' bonds of even more hollow European economies are dreadfully ignorant, stupid, some are pseudo-clever by intention. Yes, mainstream, it is you I call stupid; don't you see this?:

Join the dots, Beijing-watchers say, and China's strategy becomes clear: It wants to use its economic leverage to make friends who may be more forgiving in disputes over trade and human rights, and ensure doors are open for its goods and corporate investments in the European Union, its main export market. (source)

B...s...: it is worse! China is swapping green rubbish currency for hard-core influence, know-how, resources and ever more addicted markets. Better than trading debts for more debts.

Carpe diem!