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What Gives

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Published : January 16th, 2012
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The awesome exertions of the global banking system to evade the mandates of reality finally yield in a sickening slippage to epochal unwind. What a bad idea: to try to juke nature itself. In case you weren't paying attention over the weekend - and who really wants to? - the cosmic Brinks truck of free money went over a cliff, and the darn thing will keep free-falling until (at least) the American markets open again on Tuesday.


So, everybody and his uncle over in Europe got a sovereign debt downgrade and now the math changes for all the pretend bail-outs and back-stops that had been so exquisitely rigged through the long, nauseating autumn. Math is an annoying representation of reality, but hard to argue with. Bail-outs and back-stops finally became unaffordable even as poetic constructs.


Thus, we also approach the dreaded inflection point for the credit default swaps. Nobody believes that this Mount Everest of jive bond "insurance" can actually pay out, since the first instance of any attempt will bankrupt everybody. And yet there are the holders of all that paper who will object to, say, an 80 percent haircut on their Greek (and other) bonds. Surely some of them will try to invoke their CDS contracts. What then? Three possibilities that I see: 1) all parties and counter-parties go down the drain faster than you can say Benedict Cumberbatch; 2) all parties declare in unison that CDS were a prank that should now just be ignored, as if the cast of Downton Abbey showed up naked at the dinner table; and 3) every sort of loan on God's Green Earth is instantly re-priced and the entire world turns into a flea market. How will America do with its stock of slightly pre-owned Dunkin' Donuts stores, a million-odd Elvis lunch-boxes, and all those old videos of Friends? Don't you wish you'd invested in some hand tools?


In the background of these grave machinations lurks the tragedy of Iran. Subtract the Islamic maniacs who seized the levers of government there thirty-three years ago, and you'd actually find a perfectly modern society, complete with industries, skyscrapers, highways, TV shows, and people eating nice food in restaurants. One can understand why the last Shah was hated and resented. But here you now have a whole class of despotic maniacs much worse than the Shah ever was and they cannot be gotten rid of. Worse, they are devoted to exacting vengeance on the USA and its kindred western nations.


This may be just a tragic case of collective psychological scripting, but it is tending in the direction of a full-dress play-out. Our government believes that their government is determined to build an atomic bomb. Iran's government says, over and over, "...what an idea...!" The trouble is, our guys don't buy their vaudeville act. They will not be allowed to have a bomb, and that's all there is to it. We are doing everything short of all-out war to prevent it, but let's face it, a lot of these things could be construed as acts of war: Stuxnet attacks... blowing up nuclear scientists in their cars. These things are making already-crazy people even crazier, and more reckless.


If events continue down this path then there will be some action in the Persian Gulf. The oil markets will be thrown into disarray. Iran may sink a US navel vessel or two, but we know about their sunburn missiles and we won't put the whole fleet in harm's way, and before too long we will fuck them up very badly. The Iranians are capable of busting up a lot stuff in their neighborhood even as their air force is vaporized and their electric grid goes down. They could launch missiles into the Saudi Arabian oil terminals, for instance. Surely they will try to rain hell down on Israel. That would be a recipe for turning Teheran into an ashtray and a terrible tragedy for those otherwise normal Iranians who are not religious maniacs who wanted nothing more than to raise their children and once in a while go out for a nice lamb dinner.


I don't see any percentage in China and Russia coming into this rumble, though more than a couple of European nations may want to forget their troubles for a moment and, at least, cheerlead from the sidelines.


The result of all this - if the action doesn't get totally out-of-hand - is sure to be a gigantic step down in worldwide energy consumption, trade, and advanced economic activity. It would make the Great Depression look like a sit-com. The American suburban nexus would fail in a matter of weeks. The USA would have to commence the greatest work-around the world has ever seen. In the event, governments everywhere are liable to fall, even here, with elections postponed. There will be little in the way of real money to repair all the things that are falling apart.


Most amazing of all is how quiet the world scene has been, really, since 2001. The buildup of tensions must be out-of-this world. Something had to give.


 

 

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James Howard Kunstler has worked as a reporter and feature writer for a number of newspapers, and finally as a staff writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. In 1975, he dropped out to write books on a full-time basis. His nonfiction book, "The Long Emergency," describes the changes that American society faces in the 21st century. Discerning an imminent future of protracted socioeconomic crisis, Kunstler foresees the progressive dilapidation of subdivisions and strip malls, the depopulation of the American Southwest, and, amid a world at war over oil, military invasions of the West Coast; when the convulsion subsides, Americans will live in smaller places and eat locally grown food.
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Loved it, very entertaining writing.
There is a financially bankrupt government (FBG) and a monstrous military machine (MMM). The MMM needs to be fed. The FBG cannot do that. The MMM decides to feed itself.! The COA ( citizens of America) need to stand up to the FBG and MMM and tell them enough is enough.
It is apparent that the only politician willing to do so is Ron Paul.
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It's indicative of our contagious national sociopathy when the potential genocidal extermination of another nation's people is described with such insouciance. We have already declared war on the Iranians and the 'embargo's' goals will soon begin to produce the desired results: Dead kids, dead old folks, dead sick people and healthy people becoming sick, dead women and ultimately death to male portion of their population. An ugly repeat of all those children, women and old folks we starved, sickened and disabled in Iraq - hundreds of thousands it turns out when our 'embargo' irrevocably stamped on their lives. Mr. Kunstler repeatedly refers to the 'maniacs' in charge in Iran as if that's a possible reason we're seriously considering murdering more human beings and that they're the only maniacs out there. I guess it'll have to do as there's not much else to latch onto as far as excuses go when we're talking about killing a few hundred thousand more human beings. A seemingly insignificant mote of truth: whenever our 'leadership' proclaims our latest 'victory' over our 'enemies', they always produce numbers and smiles to support their claims. Rarely do they acknowledge the fact that killing human beings is tragic, very tragic and cause for reflection and remorse. Insignificant, yet noteworthy as eventually with this monstrous 'leadership' it will apply to us, too. Mr. Kunstler rarely mentions Israel in his assessments and I think I understand why: It doesn't matter very much at this point who's behind these strategic moves to murder and destroy yet another civilization. It's proceeding under its own power right now and I would consider the possibility that we're ALL digging our own graves in regards to the situation as something to also reflect upon . The 'leadership' here in the USA have finally completed construction of the alternate reality they've spent years developing and they've successfully crossed the threshold and are behaving accordingly. The rest of us, thankfully, are not welcome to join them in their new world. Unlike other sociopaths, though, our 'leadership' continue to evolve: Sociopaths in a majority of cases understand that they cannot commit acts which would possibly destroy their own world. They wouldn't then have a stage to perform upon. I'm unable to detect any sense of urgency on their part to defuse the situation so I must conclude that the game is on and it will involve nuclear detonation. (One more article claiming how worried the United States is about Israel unilaterally attacking Iran and I'll burn my own house down) Why? Visualize a sunken American super-carrier or a few dozen large missiles landing upon Tel Aviv. The right wing zealots are correct in their observation that it will not be a drawn out conflict, but for the wrong reasons. It has little to do with the militaries of all the players involved and more to do with the shortest path to 'victory' and ultimately dominance not only in the region, but over the rest of the earth as well. Should be a good show, but I really do not enjoy being in the cast.
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THE FUNNIEST THING ABOUT KUNTLER IS HE ONLY MENTIONS HISTORY WHEN IT SUITS HIM. THE MANIACS TOOK OVER 30 YEARS AGO, NO MENTION OF THE CIA / MI6 OPERATION AJAX ( CHEVRON - BRITISH PETROLEUM ) MANIACS, WHO IN 1953 CAUSED THE COUP IN IRAN THAT PUT THE SHAH IN POWER, WHEN THEY REMOVED A DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED PRIME MINISTER NAMED MOHAMED MOSSEDEQ, ALL BECAUSE IRAN WHAT A FAIR PERCENTAGE OF THE PROFITS FROM THE OIL PUMPED OUT OF IRAN, HOW DARE THEY EXPECT AN EQUAL SHARE OF THERE OWN FINITE NATURAL RESOURCES, USA BACKED THE SHAH, JUST LIKE USA BACKED SADDAM HUSSIEN, CASTRO IN 1958 , YES DEAR READERS ISENHOWER BACKED CASTRO IN 58, EVERY DESPOT WE BACK SOONER OR LATER TURNS TO BIGHT THE HAND.
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J.H.H. finally joins the hate mongerers.
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It's Monday morning and, as usual, the world is coming to an end. Kunstler, always verbally entertaining, weaves a web of financial collapse, dwindling oil supplies, and an enraged Iran. Iran enraged?

He said: "Worse, they are devoted to exacting vengeance on the USA and its kindred western nations."

Now whay would they do that? We buy their oil, furnish them our technologies (or look they other way when they steal it) and give them our example of freedom. Well, it has to be the later. Our freedom is a threat to Islam who would keep their followers under their thumb -- apparently to Kunstler and the environmentalists as well who would keep us pinned under their green thumbs.

Meanwhile, says Kunstler, "How will America do with its stock of slightly pre-owned Dunkin' Donuts stores, a million-odd Elvis lunch-boxes, and all those old videos of Friends? Don't you wish you'd invested in some hand tools?"

Handtools?






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Handtools ? Hammer and sickle !
You are a typical brainwashed Ameri-empty-can.
The only education you got was how to spell "freedom" correctly.
You wouldn't know what freedom was if it hit you in the face.
Freedom is the ability to take responsibility !
Your government by demonizing the whole world has you by your balls.
And you like it. You are a sado/masochistic nation !
Let our troops do their work. The biggest employer in the world=?
DoD !
Hypocrites !
Department of Offence
The onle free American I know is Ron Paul.
Inspired by Erich Fromm , "The anatomy of human destructiveness." Heil Amerika !
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Latest comment posted for this article
Loved it, very entertaining writing. Read more
Tamoharadasa - 1/17/2012 at 2:01 PM GMT
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