Tag Archives: Agenda 21

Dec 8 2019

Unstoppable Solar Cycles – Full Video


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When Erik the Red first arrived in Greenland, the fertile green land was perfect for farming. But within a few centuries the thriving Viking settlements had been wiped out by global cooling. The Little Ice Age is one of many climactic eras that have been scientifically identified. Since about 1850 the earth has been in a warming period. What is the role of carbon dioxide in warming? The best available records of temperature and atmospheric CO2 over the past 650,000 years indicate that the earth’s temperature always rises first, followed by a rise in carbon dioxide. If a warmer earth leads to increased levels of CO2 – and not the other way around – can humans’ use of fossil fuels be the cause of global warming? Shouldn’t this critical question remain open to scientific inquiry? Unstoppable Solar Cycles covers numerous educational standards across several subject areas including ELL, Media/Technology, Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies for Grades 4-12. To learn more about this educational program, and which standards it covers specific to your grade, subject area, and which standards your district is using, visit our educational program summary section for this video here: http://www.izzit.org/products/detail….

 

 

Dec 8 2019

The Opium War


Dec 7 2019

Is Carbon Dioxide Endangering the Planet? Craig Idso vs. Jeffrey Bennett. A Debate


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Resolution: There is little or no rigorous evidence that rising concentrations of carbon dioxide are causing dangerous global warming and threatening life on the planet. For the affirmative: Craig Idso is the founder, former president, and currently chairman of the Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change. The Center was founded in 1998 as a non-profit public charity dedicated to discovering and disseminating scientific information pertaining to the effects of atmospheric carbon dioxide enrichment on climate and the biosphere. Dr. Idso’s research has appeared many times in peer-reviewed journals, and is the author or coauthor of several books, including The Many Benefits of Atmospheric CO2Enrichment (Vales Lake Publishing, LLC, 2011), CO2, Global Warming and Coral Reefs (Vales Lake Publishing, LLC, 2009). Dr. Idso also serves as an adjunct scholar for the Cato Institute and as a policy advisor for the CO2Coalition, the Heartland Institute and the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow. For the negative: Jeffrey Bennett is an astrophysicist and educator. He has focused his career on math and science literacy. He is the lead author of bestselling college textbooks in astronomy, astrobiology, mathematics, and statistics, and of critically acclaimed books for the general public on topics including Einstein’s theory of relativity, the search for extraterrestrial life, and the importance of math to our everyday lives. Other career highlights include serving two years as a Visiting Senior Scientist at NASA Headquarters, proposing and helping to develop the Voyage Scale Model Solar System that resides on the National Mall in Washington, DC, and creating the freeTotality app that has helped tens of thousands of people learn how to view a total solar eclipse. His book A Global Warming Primeris posted freely online at http://www.globalwarmingprimer.com
Dec 7 2019

BREXIT & Pound Rally


Armstrong Economics Blog/BRITAIN

Re-Posted Dec 7, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

One of the major distinction is how politics has degenerated into who knows what, all we need to do is look at BREXIT and the chaos of the British elections come the 13th. We have never seen an election where former prime ministers have intervened to disrupt an election as they have this time around. Instead of coming out to support their successors, the former Prime Minister John Major, who staged the coup against Margaret Thatcher in an attempt to abolish the pound and join the Euro along with former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair have both been condemning the leaders and questioning whether voters should back them over their positions on BREXIT. Both men support the full surrender of all sovereignty of Britain no matter what they claim. They both believe in trying to create the United States of Europe.

Meanwhile, Senior Diplomat Alexandra Hall Hall has left the UK diplomatic service over BREXIT claiming she is not taking a position. Her resignation letter read:

“I have been increasingly dismayed by the way in which our political leaders have tried to deliver Brexit, with reluctance to address honestly, even with our own citizens, the challenges and trade-offs which Brexit involves; the use of misleading or disingenuous arguments about the implications of the various options before us; and some behaviour towards our institutions, which, were it happening in another country, we would almost certainly as diplomats have received instructions to register our concern.” 

Hall is really against BREXIT and her resignation one week before the election demonstrates that she is trying to “influence” the election rather than truly expressing her patriotic frustration. You would expect her to wait for the election to see if anything changes. Resigning ahead of the election and blaming the politicians is absolutely a staged ploy.

The British Pound has pushed above the key 1.18 level against the Euro and 1.31 against the U.S. Dollar over the last week among the rise in expectations for Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party to win a majority at the polls next week. This would mean no coalition and it would be a rejection of Labour which has become extremely left wing. Despite the resignation of Hall and both Major and Blair coming out against BREXIT, the markets are showing relief that Labour will lose.

Cat
Dec 7 2019

Stunning News in Canada – Economy Loses 71,200 Jobs, Unemployment Jumps to 5.9%…


Re-Posted from The Conservative Tree House on December 6, 2019 by 

Elections have consequences.  On the same day the U.S. economy reports astoundingly successful jobs growth of 226,000 jobs and a drop in the unemployment rate to 3.5 percent; the Canadian state economic minister reports surprisingly terrible jobs losses of 72,200 jobs and a jump in unemployment from 5.5 to 5.9 percent.

The Canadian economy is roughly one-tenth the size of the U.S. So in equivalent terms the results from Canada reflect a comparative loss of 720,000 jobs on the same day the U.S. revises all figures upward to over 300,000 gains.  A stunning economic contrast:

OTTAWA (Reuters) – The Canadian job market lost a surprise 71,200 net positions in November while the unemployment rate rose to 5.9%, the highest in more than a year, data showed on Friday, as analysts said a repeat of the weak numbers could force the Bank of Canada to rethink its monetary policy.

Analysts in a Reuters poll had forecast a gain of 10,000 jobs and had predicted the unemployment rate would hold steady at 5.5%. […] November’s numbers followed a weak report in October, when the labor market unexpectedly shed jobs despite a likely boost from hiring related to the federal election.

[…] Canada’s goods-producing industries saw a decline of 26,600 net jobs, largely on manufacturing. The services sector lost 44,400 net jobs.

November’s unemployment rate was the highest seen since the 6.0% reported in August 2018. 38,400 full-time jobs and 32,800 part-time jobs were lost in November. (read more)

It is worth remembering that Canada does not allow competition in their media sector.  The Canadian government considers the news media a protected “cultural industry”; and through a process of subsidizing broadcast all news media is essentially state run media.

Why is this important?  Well, when the expressed priority of the government is controlling broadcast information if you are intellectually honest you should apply that same ideological outlook toward any information from the government in a general sense.

The Canadian election was held on October 21st, 2019.  The central control government of Justin Trudeau would likely hold-back any negative economic information in an effort to support the ideology of the central government and maintain public opinion in advance of the voting.  However, with the election over the economic books need to be reconciled.

I strongly suspect the Canadian November jobs report encompasses some of that state run reconciliation effort.  Meaning the Canadian economy was in much worse shape in the months leading up to the election than state media were broadcasting.  The reality is now catching up….

Secondly, it was obvious in July of this year that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Justin Trudeau entered into an agreement of mutual benefit.  Trudeau would hold back submission of the USMCA for parliamentary ratification, and left-wing political ideologues in the U.S. would help Trudeau win re-election.

At the time CTH forewarned of what this type of political arrangement really meant.

In essence Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was willing to compromise the health of his own economy for stunningly political reasons.  There was a perfect storm of negative economic dynamics clearly visible on the horizon…. but few were paying attention.

In combination with leftist economic policies on energy development that strangles economic growth through excessive regulation, the leftist government of Trudeau has dismantled the natural underpinnings of a market-based economy.  The manufacturing base of Canada is compromised, perhaps to the point of no return.

For two decades liberal (left-wing) Canadian policy essentially transformed their economic model from manufacturing to “assembly“.   The goods-based production within the Canadian economy was structured to take advantage of the NAFTA loophole.

Goods production in Canada was reduced from full manufacturing to a process of assembling parts brought in from overseas and then selling them into the U.S. market.   This process exploited the NAFTA loophole allowing foreign companies to ship parts to Canada and then assemble for transport into the U.S. without tariffs.

Over time the Canadian economy became more and more dependent on this system of brokering goods, while Canada simultaneously dismantled their heavy industry at the request of extreme environmentalists.

The Canadian assembly system for durable goods was always at risk of the NAFTA loophole being closed.  When President Trump renegotiated the USMCA, primarily with Mexico, the loophole was closed.  The USMCA rules on origination now require the parts to come from inside the North American manufacturing system.

Importing parts from Asia and simply assembling them in Canada is no longer permitted under the USMCA agreement.  The majority of the parts -which require heavy industry to produce- must originate from North America.  Canada has little capacity to take advantage of this economic opportunity because they dismantled their heavy industry.

As a consequence, if any multinational company wanting to invest in a manufacturing system, that avoids tariffs, to bring their end product to the massive U.S. market… well, Canada is no longer a viable option for that investment.

The multinational banks and investment groups who fund corporate manufacturing investment; and who are now no longer willing to underwrite Asian investment due to the impact of Trump tariffs; are focusing on where that investment can support the economic activity.

As with this latest report, when we see: “Canada’s goods-producing industries saw a decline of 26,600 net jobs, largely on manufacturing” leading the headline, this is a direct consequence of the economic dynamic identified above.

Elections have consequences; and those economic consequences are extraordinarily impactful in the era when U.S. President Trump is dismantling global supply chains; focusing on bringing high-wage manufacturing industry back to the U.S; and driving a process of profound consequence through economic nationalism.

“Economic Security is National Security” ~ President Trump

Dec 4 2019

Socrates Project – Best Kept Secret


Armstrong Economics Blog/Socrates

Re-Posted Dec 4, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Marty; A friend of mine is an analyst at one of the major banks in New York. He said they are not allowed to forecast some things as you said. He used to work for a European bank and did say it was much worse.  He said everyone who is anyone reads you. He also said that none of the mainstream media will ever report on Socrates because you will put all analysis out of business. Is this why you intend to go public?

Thanks so much for your insight in creating Socrates.

MH

ANSWER: Mainstream press in the USA has never been interested in really covering our analysis. They are not interested in reporting that a computer can actually write reports and forecast the entire world. You have to understand, we remain the best-kept secret. Even when Nigel Farage was our guest speaker in Rome, he said he had to come after we forecast BREXIT. Now, not a single British newspaper ever reported our forecast before or after. Nonetheless, those in power and in strategic institutions and corporations, all know what our forecasts were. So it is an interesting paradox. We are the best-read, but the most under-reported.

Nobody wants to report there is a computer that forecasts the world for it at the same time exposes the true trend of the economy and all the interconnections, including climate change. In the summer when the Inverted Yield Curve was taking place, all the newspapers were forecasting Trump would lose because the economy was headed into a recession. That was their typical biased war against Trump. Our model showed there would be a moderate decline in the expansion into the ECM for January, but that we did not see a major correction or a major recession.

These types of forecasts are not luck nor are they based upon what “I think” for we are all human and thus we are subject to making mistakes. We need a dispassionate analysis of a computer to provide an objective outlook. People keep trying to compete with me personally which is often quite funny to me.

Socrates will only be recognized when (1) we go public, and (2) after my death. That is just how things work. Even in the Bible, Jesus said that a prophet has no honor or is recognized in his own country’ (John 4:44). That is the way it has ALWAYS been in every field. Not exactly sure why it is that way. It just is! I have always been covered more by the press outside the USA than inside.

Dec 4 2019

Italy & the Euro


Armstrong Economic Blog/Euro €

Re-Posted Dec 4, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION: Dear Mr Armstrong,
When will the Euro begin the final drop against the USD?
My second question is property in Italy seems to be rising. Is this what you referred to a currency inflation?

CDP

ANSWER: The decline in the euro since 2008 has been steady, but gradual to some extent. The EU government has been warning banks not to accept short positions and they have done their best to try to hold the currency. The final blow comes ONLY when the general public realizes that there is a problem with all central banks. They cannot support the economy while the fiscal side makes no effort at reform. That is more likely in the 2021-2022 time period.

As far as property in Italy is concerned, Italians have a cultural attachment to property. Many have more than one place. They have traditionally sought to park money in property because the Italian lira was in a perpetual decline.

Pension funds on a global scale will become a major crisis. Japan has the worst aging population. However, the same problem exists in Europe and America. This is a long-term issue rather than instantly, right now

Dec 4 2019

German Politics


Armstrong Economics Blog/Germany

Re-Posted Dec 4, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

QUESTION:

Hi Martin,

It can not be said enough: thank you for everything that you do.

I have a question that has been bothering me for some time now. I haven’t had the time to compose it until now.

You often talk of the fact that Hitler was elected with only 30% of the vote, and was allowed to propagate because of it. This changed the face of Europe and the world.

Was this the same for Merkel? Was she allowed, with only 30% of the vote, to open the borders and so change the face of Europe for decades to come?

If so, then Germany, with all its preoccupation about hyperinflation, has misread history and so should have focused on electoral reform rather than austerity.

Thanks, from a dedicated daily reader,

D

ANSWER: Yes, political reform in Germany is really essential. At the very least, it should adopt the French system where the first round of voting reduces the multi-party factions to two. Then the people have to vote between them. In the case of Germany, they form governments from groups to form coalitions. This means there must be compromises in what the people voted for. It is wrong that those compromises are then decided by politicians rather than the people. The next result, someone with only 30% can change the face of Germany and Europe

Dec 3 2019

ADVICE To Teenage Daughter Climate Response


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate

Re-Posted Dec 3, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

COMMENT: I am really, really upset and astonished by ”A LETTER FROM A CONSTITUENT ABOUT HOW HE ADVISED HIS TEENAGE DAUGHTER ON ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’”.

I am certain that there are more points to be made but here is mine:
Bicycle Do you know they are made of steel, aluminum, plastic, rubber, etc, etc. All ingredients devastating to our planet. The only sensible solution is to walk or if you are in a hurry run. By the way, running will keep you warm.

Cold shower Well I suppose that the water is brought to the house in buckets, made out of some material not harming the environment, from a nearby stream of water. In the winter ok if not possible then sorry, you have to wait for the spring. This will also save a lot of water and cleaning of effluents.

WiFi Oh my god! That means she has a mobile, tablet and/or computer! Discard all of them. Of course in a safe way. Certified recycler is nearby I suppose so you don’t have to walk too far.

Horsehair pillow Are you for real? For that, she needs a horse. Why not start with the primary ingredient for growing a horse, HAY! Which by the way is perfect for the mattress. Maybe she can cut off her own hair and stuff her pillow?

I really hope that your wonderful off-spring survives until summer.

Categories: Climate
Dec 3 2019

LETTER ON HOW TO ADVISE A TEENAGE DAUGHTER ON ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’


Armstrong Economics Blog/Climate

Re-Posted Dec 3, 2019 by Martin Armstrong

A LETTER FROM A CONSTITUENT ABOUT HOW HE ADVISED HIS TEENAGE DAUGHTER ON ‘CLIMATE CHANGE’:

After our daughter of fifteen years of age was moved to tears by the speech of Greta Thunberg at the UN the other day, she became angry with our generation “who had been doing nothing for thirty years.”

So, we decided to help her prevent what the girl on TV announced of “massive eradication and the disappearance of entire ecosystems.”

We are now committed to give our daughter a future again, by doing our part to help cool the planet four degrees.

From now on she will go to school on a bicycle, because driving her by car costs fuel, and fuel puts emissions into the atmosphere. Of course it will be winter soon and then she will want to go by bus, but cycling through the freezing builds resilience.

Of course, she is now asking for an electric bicycle, but we have shown her the devastation caused to the areas of the planet as a result of mining for the extraction of Lithium and other minerals used to make batteries for electric bicycles, so she will be pedaling, or walking.

Which will not harm her, or the planet. We used to cycle and walk to school too.

Since the girl on TV demanded “we need to get rid of our dependency on fossil fuels” and our daughter agreed with her, we have disconnected the heat vent in her room. The temperature is now dropping to twelve degrees in the evening, and will drop below freezing in the winter, we have promised to buy her an extra sweater, hat, tights, gloves and a blanket.

For the same reason we have decided that from now on she only takes a cold shower. She will wash her clothes by hand, with a wooden washboard, because the washing machine is simply a power consumer and since the dryer uses natural gas, she will hang her clothes on the clothes line to dry, just like my parents and grandparents used to do.

Speaking of clothes, the ones that she currently has are all synthetic, so made from petroleum. Therefore on Monday, we will bring all her designer clothing to the secondhand shop.

We have found an eco store where the only clothing they sell is made from undyed and unbleached linen and jute. Also can’t have clothes made on wool, because the emissions from farting sheep are supposedly causing bad weather.

It shouldn’t matter that it looks good on her, or that she is going to be laughed at, dressing in colorless, bland clothes and without a wireless bra, but that is the price she has to pay for the benefit of The Climate.

Cotton is out of the question, as it comes from distant lands and pesticides are used for it. Very bad for the environment.
We just saw on her Instagram that she’s pretty angry with us. This was not our intention.

From now on, at 7 p.m. We will turn off the WiFi and we will only switch it on again the next day after dinner for two hours. In this way we will save on electricity, so she is not bothered by electro-stress and will be totally isolated from the outside world. This way, she can concentrate solely on her homework. At eleven o’clock in the evening we will pull the breaker to shut the power off to her room, so she knows that dark is really dark. That will save a lot of CO2.

She will no longer be participating in winter sports to ski lodges and resorts, nor will she be going on anymore vacations with us, because our vacation destinations are practically inaccessible by bicycle.

Since our daughter fully agrees with the girl on TV that the CO2 emissions and footprints of her great-grandparents are to blame for ‘killing our planet’, what all this simply means, is that she also has to live like her great-grandparents and they never had a holiday, a car or even a bicycle.

We haven’t talked about the carbon footprint of food yet.

Zero CO2 footprint means no meat, no fish and no poultry, but also no meat substitutes that are based on soy (after all, that grows in farmers fields, that use machinery to harvest the beans, trucks to transport to the processing plants, where more energy is used, then trucked to the packaging/canning plants, and trucked once again to the stores) and also no imported food, because that has a negative ecological effect. And absolutely no chocolate from Africa, no coffee from South America and no tea from Asia.

Only homegrown potatoes, vegetables and fruit that have been grown in local cold soil, because greenhouses run on boilers, piped in CO2 and artificial light. Apparently, these things are also bad for The Climate. We will teach her how to grow her own food.

Bread is still possible, but butter, milk, cheese and yogurt, cottage cheese and cream come from cows and they emit CO2. No more margarine and no oils will be used for the frying pan, because that fat is palm oil from plantations in Borneo where rain forests first grew.

No ice cream in the summer. No soft drinks and no energy drinks, as the bubbles are CO2.

We will also ban all plastic, because it comes from chemical factories. Everything made of steel and aluminum must also be removed. Have you ever seen the amount of energy a blast furnace consumes or an aluminum smelter? All bad for the climate!

We will replace her memory foam pillow top mattress, with a jute bag filled with straw, with a horse hair pillow.

And finally, she will no longer be using makeup, soap, shampoo, cream, lotion, conditioner, toothpaste and medication. Facewashers will all be linen, that she can wash by hand, with her wooden washboard, just like her female ancestors did before climate change made her angry at us for destroying her future.

In this way we will help her to do her part to prevent mass extinction, water levels rising and the disappearance of entire ecosystems.

If she truly believes she wants to walk the talk of the girl on TV, she will gladly accept and happily embrace her new way of life.

Regards,

(Name Withheld)