Mitchell’s laws:
●The more budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor, which leads to civil disorder.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================

The EU continues to lie by using euphemisms like “structural reform,” “economic reform,” “bailout package” and “overhauling labor laws.” What these phrases really mean are “cut economic growth,” “destroy the middle- and lower-classes,” “go deeper into an unpayable debt” and “accelerate unemployment.”

First, here are recent examples of the lies:

Europe Tells Greece to Speed Up Economic Reform
By James Kanter | New York Times –

LUXEMBOURG — International officials told Greece on Monday night to accelerate the pace of economic reform in exchange for further financing from a stalled bailout package. Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the Eurogroup of finance ministers, told a news conference that 89 so-called “prior actions” like overhauling labor and pension laws that were agreed to with Greece in March needed to be implemented, “at the latest,” by Oct. 18.

Translation: Greece, cut your own throat (specifically the throats of your lower and middle classes) and do it faster, with spending cuts and tax increases, so we can push you even deeper into debt with more loans.

Efforts by the Greek finance minister, Yannis Stournaras, to free up the next round of bailout loans from foreign lenders was high on the agenda of the monthly meeting of the finance ministers. Negotiations between Greece and the so-called troika of lenders over an austerity package of 13.5 billion euros ($17.6 billion), must be approved before additional bailout money can be unlocked.

Translation:Greece, your economy is starving. So give it less food or we won’t lend you food.

As expected, the case of another member state, Portugal, was far more straightforward. The ministers gave the green light for the next disbursement of rescue loans to Portugal, which negotiated an aid package of 78 billion euros last year. That decision effectively grants the government in Lisbon another year, until 2014, to bring its budget deficit to below 3 percent of output.

Translation: Portugal, we give you one more year to cut your GDP further, so we can continue lending you the euros you have no way to repay.

Earlier Monday, Germany sought to ward off talk of a bailout program for Spain. Spain is doing everything necessary to make structural reforms and “needs no aid program,” the German finance minister, Wolfgang Schäuble, told reporters.

Translation: Spain already is doing everything possible to save its wealthy bankers at the expense of its middle and lower classes, so we don’t need to lend them euros. Good job, Spain.

Officials from Spain, Ireland and Italy were cheered when E.U. leaders reached an agreement at a summit meeting on June 29 that committed the euro zone to allowing the direct recapitalization of banks, if moves were made to create a single European banking regulator under the aegis of the European Central Bank.

Translation: Your problem is not that you surrendered the single most valuable asset any nation can have: Monetary Sovereignty. Your problem is your banks (and thus your nations) don’t have one supreme, unelected czar, who will accelerate the destruction of your economies.

And now, for (at last) THE TRUTH:

Spiegel online

Top German Economists Say Greece Is Lost

Chancellor Angela Merkel had been hoping that her trip to Athens earlier this week would help demonstrate Germany’s solidarity with Greece as it struggles to overcome its debt crisis. Just two days later, however, leading economic institutes in Germany have darkened the mood considerably. The institutes presented their autumn economic forecast on Thursday, and cast doubt on whether Greece would be able to remain part of the euro.

“We believe that Greece cannot be saved,” said Joachim Scheide from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, one of several top economic institutes tasked by the German government with examining the state of the country’s economy twice a year.

Oliver Holtemöller, of the Halle Institute for Economic Research, was also pessimistic at the Thursday press conference called to present the evaluation. He said it is unlikely that Greece will ever be able to free itself from its debt burden — and called for a new debt haircut for the country.

O.K., that almost was the truth. The real truth would have been:

“Let’s face it. Giving up our Monetary Sovereignty was giving up our freedom. It’s dooming us to endless unpayable debt and economic misery for our citizens (except for the richest ones, of course).

“The euro was our ill-considered attempt at unity, which has resulted in our being united — in poverty.

“If Greece leaves the euro, and readopts its own sovereign currency, it will be able to pay all its debts, past, present and future, while investing money to grow its economy.

“Within a couple years, Greece can be (if it handles its Monetary Sovereignty correctly) one of the wealthiest nations on the continent, while the rest of us keep laboring under the yoke of monetary non-sovereignty.”

Now that would be the real truth, but don’t hold your breath waiting for the EU to admit it.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

====================================================================================================================================================

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor, which leads to civil disorder.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================

If you have an opinion, but receive new information that contradicts your earlier opinion, you should change your opinion. That’s honesty. But if you repeatedly change your opinion to match the opinion of your audience, that’s dishonesty.

For many of you, abortion is one of the more important issues. And some of you plan to vote for Mitt Romney. So my question to them is: Which Mitt Romney will receive your vote?

Here are his positions on that issue:

1994: We should sustain and support Roe v. Wade

2002: I will preserve and protect a woman’s right to choose

For at least 7 years, he was pro-choice

2005: I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother. I oppose a judicial mandate dictating a nationwide abortion law. The issue should be left up to the states.

2007: We should overturn Roe v. Wade

Then suddenly, he became pro-life, but felt the issue should be determined by each state

2011: I absolutely support a Constitutional amendment banning abortion. I support the Hyde Amendment, which broadly bars the use of federal funds for abortions. I will reinstate the Mexico City Policy to ensure that nongovernmental organizations that receive funding from America refrain from performing or promoting abortion services. I will advocate for and support a Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act to protect unborn children who are capable of feeling pain from abortion.

Again suddenly, he feels the issue should not be left up to the states, but should be federal law.

2012: There’s no legislation with regards to abortion that I’m familiar with that would become part of my agenda.

Whoops. Now (suddenly) he does not favor any legislation on abortion.

2012: “I hope to appoint justices to the Supreme Court that will follow the law and the constitution. It would be my preference that they reverse Roe v. Wade and therefore they return to the people and their elected representatives the decisions with regards to this important issue.”

Wow, as the election nears, the Mitt-flips are coming fast and furious. He doesn’t want pro-life legislation and opposed a judicial mandate, but now wants Supreme Court justices who will reverse Roe v. Wade. Huh?

2012: (One week later): Andrea Saul (Romney’s spokeswoman) clarified Mitt’s position: “Mitt Romney is proudly pro-life and will be a pro-life president.”

Well, now his spokeswoman claims he is pro-life, though we don’t know whether he will leave it up to the states, the federal government or just ignore it judicially. And Mitt ain’t saying.

Of course, we never really did know, did we? I mean, after all, it’s Mitt Romney, and there still are plenty of hours before the election — plenty of hours to “change his mind” a few more times.

There is one area where Romney has been consistent. He consistently has switched positions, according to his audience. Way back in 1994, Mitt debated Kennedy on abortion. Kennedy said, “I am pro-choice. My opponent is multiple-choice.”

And Romney responded: “I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. You will not see me wavering on that or being multiple-choice.”

And you right wingers actually believe anything this guy says?? Yikes! You really can fool some of the people all the time. If Mitt wins, you’ll deserve the Mitt-flip you get.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

====================================================================================================================================================

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor, which leads to civil disorder.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================

Mitt Romney’s rant, implying poor people are slackers looking for a free ride, was not an aberration. It’s the way the wealthy think.

Here’s yet another “rich guy” rant, this one from David Siegel, who built the largest house in America — “Versailles.” According to CNBC, when Siegel suddenly went into debt during the recession:

Siegels’ home went into foreclosure and was put up for sale. They cut back on the jet, took the kids out of private school and gave up some of their staff. (Now) he said his own finances have vastly improved.

He has paid off all of his major lenders. “I have enough money for the rest of my life and enough to leave a good inheritance for our kids.” He said the loan for Versailles is paid off and he’s resuming construction on the home.

“The elevators are going in and they’re preparing to put in the marble.”

“We cut back, we’re lean and mean. That’s what the rest of the country has to do.”

The Siegels’ house

The newly “lean and mean” Siegel (with his elevators and marble), wrote the following letter to his employees, again according to CNBC.

Subject: Message from David Siegel
Date:Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:58:05 -0400 (EDT)
To All My Valued Employees,

As most of you know our company, Westgate Resorts, has continued to succeed in spite of a very dismal economy. There is no question that the economy has changed for the worse and we have not seen any improvement over the past four years.

In spite of all of the challenges we have faced, the good news is this: The economy doesn’t currently pose a threat to your job. What does threaten your job however, is another 4 years of the same Presidential administration. Of course, as your employer, I can’t tell you whom to vote for, and I certainly wouldn’t interfere with your right to vote for whomever you choose.

In fact, I encourage you to vote for whomever you think will serve your interests the best.

Translation: I believe in freedom. You are free to vote for whomever you like. See how open minded I am?

However, let me share a few facts that might help you decide what is in your best interest.The current administration and members of the press have perpetuated an environment that casts employers against employees. They want you to believe that we live in a class system where the rich get richer, the poor get poorer.

They label us the “1%” and imply that we are somehow immune to the challenges that face our country. This could not be further from the truth. Sure, you may have heard about the big home that I’m building. I’m sure many people think that I live a privileged life. However, what you don’t see or hear is the true story behind any success that I have achieved.

Translation: Really, folks, the rich don’t get richer. You people can’t imagine how difficult our lives are.

I started this company over 42 years ago. At that time, I lived in a very modest home. I converted my garage into an office so I could put forth 100% effort into building a company, which by the way, would eventually employ you. We didn’t eat in fancy restaurants or take expensive vacations because every dollar I made went back into this company. I drove an old used car, and often times, I stayed home on weekends, while my friends went out drinking and partying.

In fact, I was married to my business – hard work, discipline, and sacrifice. Meanwhile, many of my friends got regular jobs. They worked 40 hours a week and made a nice income, and they spent every dime they earned. They drove flashy cars and lived in expensive homes and wore fancy designer clothes. My friends refinanced their mortgages and lived a life of luxury. I, however, did not. I put my time, my money, and my life into this business –with a vision that eventually, some day, I too, will be able to afford to buy whatever I wanted.

Even to this day, every dime I earn goes back into this company. Over the past four years I have had to stop building my dream house, cut back on all of my expenses, and take my kids out of private schools simply to keep this company strong and to keep you employed.

Translation: Every dime I earn goes back into my company, oh, except for the paltry $100 million (estimated) for my house, plus other millions to support my lifestyle. Hey, a guy’s gotta live, doesn’t he?

Just think about this – most of you arrive at work in the morning and leave that afternoon and the rest of your time is yours to do as you please. But not me- there is no “off” button for me. When you leave the office, you are done and you have a weekend all to yourself. I unfortunately do not have that freedom. I eat, live, and breathe this company every minute of the day, every day of the week. There is no rest. There is no weekend. There is no happy hour.

I know many of you work hard and do a great job, but I’m the one who has to sign every check, pay every expense, and make sure that this company continues to succeed. Unfortunately, what most people see is the nice house and the lavish lifestyle. What the press certainly does not want you to see, is the true story of the hard work and sacrifices I’ve made.

Translation: You lazy, good for nothing bums, want to cash in on my hard work. It’s just like Mitt Romney said about you.

Now, the economy is falling apart and people like me who made all the right decisions and invested in themselves are being forced to bail out all the people who didn’t. The people that overspent their paychecks suddenly feel entitled to the same luxuries that I earned and sacrificed 42 years of my life for.

Yes, business ownership has its benefits, but the price I’ve paid is steep and not without wounds. Unfortunately, the costs of running a business have gotten out of control, and let me tell you why: We are being taxed to death and the government thinks we don’t pay enough. We pay state taxes, federal taxes, property taxes, sales and use taxes, payroll taxes, workers compensation taxes and unemployment taxes.

I even have to hire an entire department to manage all these taxes. The question I have is this: Who is really stimulating the economy? Is it the Government that wants to take money from those who have earned it and give it to those who have not, or is it people like me who built a company out of his garage and directly employs over 7000 people and hosts over 3 million people per year with a great vacation?

Translation: You ingrates don’t realize what I go through to support you. And don’t tell me about the taxes you pay; mine are higher. Fortunately, I can afford an entire department to figure my taxes.

Obviously, our present government believes that taking my money is the right economic stimulus for this country. The fact is, if I deducted 50 percent of your paycheck you’d quit and you wouldn’t work here. I mean, why should you? Who wants to get rewarded only 50 percent of their hard work? Well, that’s what happens to me.

Translation: Never mind that the highest marginal tax rate is 35%. And never mind that the Social Security tax applies only to the first $107,000 of my meager salary. I choose to pay 50%, just like Mitt chose to pay more tax than he owed, just to get up to 14%.

Here is what most people don’t understand and the press and our Government has chosen to ignore – to stimulate the economy you need to stimulate what runs the economy. Instead of raising my taxes and depositing that money into the Washington black-hole, let me spend it on growing the company, hire more employees, and generate substantial economic growth.

My employees will enjoy the wealth of that tax cut in the form of promotions and better salaries. But that is not what our current Government wants you to believe. They want you to believe that it somehow makes sense to take more from those who create wealth and give it to those who do not, and somehow our economy will improve. They don’t want you to know that the “1%”, as they like to label us, pay more than 31% of all the taxes in this country.

Thomas Jefferson, the author of our great Constitution, once said, “democracy” will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.”

Translation: Mitt was right. You people are not willing to work and you just want to take my money away from me. I side with Thomas Jefferson.

Business is at the heart of America and always has been. To restart it, you must stimulate business, not kill it. However, the power brokers in Washington believe redistributing wealth is the essential driver of the American economic engine. Nothing could be further from the truth and this is the type of change they want.

So where am I going with all this? It’s quite simple. If any new taxes are levied on me, or my company, as our current President plans, I will have no choice but to reduce the size of this company. Rather than grow this company I will be forced to cut back. This means fewer jobs, less benefits and certainly less opportunity for everyone.

Translation: You are free to vote for anyone you like, but if you vote wrong, I’ll fire you.

So, when you make your decision to vote, ask yourself, which candidate understands the economics of business ownership and who doesn’t? Whose policies will endanger your job? Answer those questions and you should know who might be the one capable of protecting and saving your job. While the media wants to tell you to believe the “1 percenters” are bad, I’m telling you they are not. They create most of the jobs. If you lose your job, it won’t be at the hands of the “1%”; it will be at the hands of a political hurricane that swept through this country.

You see, I can no longer support a system that penalizes the productive and gives to the unproductive. My motivation to work and to provide jobs will be destroyed, and with it, so will your opportunities. If that happens, you can find me in the Caribbean sitting on the beach, under a palm tree, retired, and with no employees to worry about.
Signed, your boss,
David Siegel

Translation: I meant to sign it, “Your loving, caring, empathetic boss,” but I didn’t want to sound cold, egotistical and out of touch with you common people. I’ll leave that to my pal, Mitt.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

====================================================================================================================================================

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY

Mitchell’s laws:
●The more budgets are cut and taxes increased, the weaker an economy becomes.
●Austerity is the government’s method for widening the gap between rich and poor, which leads to civil disorder.
●Until the 99% understand the need for federal deficits, the upper 1% will rule.
●To survive long term, a monetarily non-sovereign government must have a positive balance of payments.
●Those, who do not understand the differences between Monetary Sovereignty and monetary non-sovereignty, do not understand economics.
==========================================================================================================================================

Unless you’re an ultra right-winger, you probably agree with the scientific consensus: We are in a period of global warming, which at least in part, is caused by humans

But that brings us to the question(s): Is global warming negative for the world and the life on it – including humans – and should we should do everything possible to slow it, if not stop it, altogether? The media have answered, “Yes,” and have focused on the claimed negatives, which as a result, are well known. Increases in:

1. Number and severity of storms – hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, rain, lightning, tsumanis
2. Droughts, heat waves and (ironically) cold waves, desertification
3. Flooding, pollution
4. Volcanic activity
5. Wars
6. Food shortages
7. Species extinction
8. Spread of tropical diseases
9. Wildfires

But global warming is more than a simple recitation of presumed negatives. The world is enormously complex, and not only are these negatives far from certain, but perhaps too little attention has been paid to the potential positives of global warming.

For instance, global warming could help prevent future glaciation periods and could open millions of acres to agriculture. Maybe.

Tellingly, few people know that today, we live in an ice age:

Wikipedia:
An ice age, or more precisely, a glacial age, is a period of long-term reduction in the temperature of the Earth’s surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental ice sheets, polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers.

Glaciologically, ice age implies the presence of extensive ice sheets in the northern and southern hemispheres. By this definition, we are still in the ice age that began 2.6 million years ago at the start of the Pleistocene epoch, because the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets still exist.

Much of the earth’s history has been warmer than today. Discussions of global warming often begin with the Arctic. Here are excerpts from an article in NewScientist Magazine:

Industries make a dash for the Arctic
03 October 2012 by Fred Pearce, Sara Reardon and Catherine Brahic

Last week, the Inuit-owned Nunavut Resources Corporation hit Wall Street asking for $18 million to help prospect half-a-million square kilometres of the Kitikmeot region in northern Canada. They expect to find gold, diamonds, platinum and lithium.

. . . the shrinking ice cap will have profound consequences for the rest of the planet – including changed weather patterns and water distribution – and the region’s biota has undergone vast transformation.

Most commentators expect the Arctic to play a key role in meeting the world’s energy needs in the 21st century. The US Geological Survey (USGS) says the continental shelves are the largest area on the planet not yet explored for oil and gas. It estimates that the Arctic contains 30 per cent of the world’s undiscovered natural gas, more than 80 per cent of it offshore.

From the geology, the USGS reckons that the biggest oil and gas reserves will be off the north shore of Alaska, and beneath the Kara and Barents seas. Russia’s Yamal Peninsula already supplies around a fifth of the world’s natural gas.

Exploration and mining activities are booming, bringing infrastructure such as roads, ports and new settlements. London-based insurers Lloyd’s earlier this year forecast that up to $100 billion of investment would pour into the Arctic in the next decade.

Extracting hydrocarbons in the Arctic is scarcely new. Coal has been mined there for more than a century. But a combination of global shortages, rising prices, technical advances and the exposure of wide areas of the Arctic Ocean during summer melts, are triggering an explosion of activity.

Inevitably, as global warming melts the ice, industry will enter – and pollute. On balance, will this prove to be beneficial? And, “beneficial to whom?”

Nearly a million visitors go to the Arctic each year. They account for more than 80,000 hotel-nights on the Norwegian island of Svalbard. Even greater numbers visit Greenland, where they easily outnumber the local population of just 55,000 people.

Canada’s Cambridge Bay – a stop on the North-West Passage – has seen a 30 per cent jump in tourists visiting the town in the past five years, with six cruise ships dropping anchor annually. The World – a giant residential vessel calling itself the world’s largest private mega-yacht – sailed through the North-West Passage for the first time in August. It was the largest passenger vessel to make the trip without an icebreaker to escort it.

As the sea ice melts, sailing passages open, and more people not only will visit, but live in today’s remote northern climes.

Warmer waters and a 20 per cent increase over the past decade in the volume of algae that sustain the marine food chain means there are more fish in the Arctic than ever before. And less ice means more open ocean in which to catch them.

The number of voyages by fishing vessels in the Canadian Arctic increased sevenfold, to 221, between 2005 and 2010. The Inuit of Nunavut now run six factory ships trawling for turbot and other species in Baffin Bay and the Davis Strait, up from none 10 years ago.

Climate change is altering the region’s fish population, as warmer water temperatures further south push commercial fish stocks into the Arctic circle. According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s fisheries service, six species of fish have recently extended their range north through the Bering Straits into the Beaufort Sea in the Arctic. They include the Pacific cod, walleye pollock and Bering flounder.

New fishing waters will open, providing relief to currently overfished areas.

Burning oil helped melt Arctic ice in the first place. Now the estimated 90 billion barrels beneath it – 13 per cent of the world’s remaining total – promise profit to anyone able to reach them. Oil companies have operated onshore in every Arctic nation for decades, but the new frontier is offshore . . .

A melted Arctic pushes back the date on which we will “run out of” energy, giving us more time to develop new sources.

Mining is big business in the Arctic. Russia’s Norilsk mine is the world’s largest producer of nickel and palladium, and Alaska’s Red Dog mine is the world’s largest source of zinc. More record-beaters are set to break ground.

Last month, the Nunavut environmental assessment agency gave the green light for the Indian metals giant ArcelorMittal to dig an open pit iron-ore mine on 170 square kilometres of tundra at Mary river on Baffin Bay, Canada. The $4 billion project will be connected to a port in Baffin Bay by the world’s most northerly railway.

The south-west coast, around Kvanefjeld (Greenland), probably holds the world’s second largest deposit of rare earth elements and huge reserves of uranium and zinc – all together valued at almost half-a-trillion dollars. Last month, Greenland Minerals of Perth, Australia, announced plans to carry out a feasibility study. The project could keep miners busy for 100 years.

It seems like only yesterday when we read about shortages of rare earths threatening computer development.

Receding sea ice is opening up the Arctic to shipping. The North-East Passage, linking the North Atlantic to the Pacific via the Arctic waters north of Russia, was open for five months in 2011. More than 30 ships passed through, including a 120,000-tonne Russian gas tanker and Nordic and Japanese iron ore carriers taking Arctic minerals to China.

The shortcut to Asia halves the shipping time from northern Europe to China to roughly 20 days, and avoids pirate-infested shipping lanes in the Indian Ocean. Russia expects a 40-fold increase in shipping along the route by 2020. American analysts say it could be carrying 5 per cent of world’s shipping by 2050.

Bottom line: No one knows what the long term effects of global warming will be, and not knowing, no one can say whether on balance they will be beneficial or not. Even the concept of “on balance . . . beneficial” is shaky. “Beneficial” for whom and for what?

Even if we focus on “beneficial for humans,” are we talking about long term or short term? Survival? Life span? Society? Progress? Happiness? Is there something about global warming that will help humans to better health in the short term, but give us less ability to survive in the long term? Will it assist tribal society at the expense of “modern” society? And what do we mean by “progress” and “happiness”?

Robert Burns wrote: “. . .foresight may be vain: The best-laid schemes o’ mice an’ men, gang aft agley,” and the longer we try to peer into the future, the more “agley” our best-laid schemes become.

The universe and our world in it, are victims of chaos, where: “Small differences in initial conditions (such as those due to rounding errors in numerical computation) yield widely diverging outcomes for chaotic systems, rendering long-term prediction impossible in general. (Wikipedia)

We can’t predict what volcanoes will erupt, nor what wars will be fought, nor the status of the stock market, nor the next coronal mass ejection, nor the next pandemic, nor scientific progress in a thousand areas. And we can’t predict the effects of global warming.

At best, we can try to address our immediate problems and hope our efforts will bode well for the long term. We can and should try to reduce air, water and ground pollution. We can and should try to find cures for diseases. We can and should try to prevent wars and to make cars safer to drive, and to improve the education of our children and to explore the solar system and to save our forests.

But, I suspect our efforts to reduce global warming are misplaced. We simply do not know what we are doing. Global warming very well could be what saves the human species.

Rodger Malcolm Mitchell
Monetary Sovereignty

====================================================================================================================================================

Nine Steps to Prosperity:
1. Eliminate FICA (Click here)
2. Medicare — parts A, B & D — for everyone
3. Send every American citizen an annual check for $5,000 or give every state $5,000 per capita (Click here)
4. Long-term nursing care for everyone
5. Free education (including post-grad) for everyone
6. Salary for attending school (Click here)
7. Eliminate corporate taxes
8. Increase the standard income tax deduction annually
9. Increase federal spending on the myriad initiatives that benefit America’s 99%

No nation can tax itself into prosperity, nor grow without money growth. Monetary Sovereignty: Cutting federal deficits to grow the economy is like applying leeches to cure anemia. Two key equations in economics:
Federal Deficits – Net Imports = Net Private Savings
Gross Domestic Product = Federal Spending + Private Investment and Consumption – Net Imports

#MONETARY SOVEREIGNTY