Beauty and the Beast/ Wall Street Edition(updated August 26th/2013))

(A repost was in order after this damning email was leaked, it only confirms what we already knew..Read the shocking link below, and if you like, re-read this viral post..

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/larry-summers-and-the-secret-end-game-memo

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Those damn lazy Greeks and their destructive socialist ways, overpaid, underworked while living high on the hog, all those exorbitant entitlements, if one only listened to the likes of Michael and Gordon Campbell and or the BC Liberal corporate party that would be the immediate impression one would get on how and why Greece is going bankrupt, actually they aren`t going bankrupt they are bankrupt, debt financing and interest payments have swelled to levels so high that they can`t pay, they can`t pay today, tomorrow or in 5 years.....

I`m not too sure how long this game of musical chairs will be played but, the bankruptcy outcome will be the same, for Greece to keep receiving more and more money they have to inflict harsher and harsher austerity measures(Cuts in pay/reduced hours/reduced services/pensions slashed)...The more they cut the more the Greek people pull back driving GDP lower and lower thus perpetuating the problem....Isn`t that special, Greece is swirling the toilet bowl and the bankers are playing musical chairs in an attempt to avoid paying the price, and what price would that be, the price for fraud on a grand scale, the price should be paid by the lenders, corrupt politicians and bankers indebted the Greek people and sold them out for Tanks, frigates and gold medals.....

Mitchell Anderson had a good story last week in the Tyee, here is a little teaser from his article..
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Over the last decade, Greece has been the largest importer of conventional military hardware in the European Union. Greek military spending as a percentage of GDP is more than any other EU member and tops even nations such as Pakistan, which is engaged in a variety of ongoing conflicts.
Greece now has more than 1,200 battle tanks, 1,700 armoured personnel carriers, 300 fighter jets (including 156 F-16s), eight submarines and more than 40 frigates, gunboats and miscellaneous missile carriers. The bloated Greek military now has an air force similar in size to Germany's -- a front line member of NATO with an economy 10 times larger than Greece and eight times as many people.
And what country is so threatening to Greece that could possibly justify this level spending by such a dangerously indebted country? Apparently their NATO partner, Turkey. Richer still is speculation from the CIA that the greatest peril to the Greek government is not a confrontation with Turkey, but a domestic military coup stemming from draconian cuts to the Greek public service and the predictable civic unrest that has ensued
http://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2011/10/05/Europe-Arm-Dealers-Take-Down-Greece/

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So there you have it, the number 1 reason why Greece is drowning in debt, the corrupt politicians being led by bankers in support of the Arms dealers sold out those fat lazy underworked and overpaid Greeks...Isn`t that the story big media is portraying?..Have you heard any mainstream media point fingers at the arms dealer, or the politicians in Greece who borrowed $billions for a military build up, has any big media even mentioned the $tens of billions that were literally stolen from Greece during their Olympic plunderfest,....In fact the 2004 Olympic games in Greece are directly tied to Greece`s impending demise..
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The 2004 Athens Olympics is not the only financial burden on the Greece’s government but it certainly has not helped the Greece’s bottom line. The International Olympic Committee promises the world to host cities and it usually ends up in a bad financial experience for host cities such as Montreal, Sydney, Athens, Turin and the same thing is happening right now in Vancouver, Canada who host of the 2010 Winter Olympics, and in London, England, the host of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

In the United States, General Electric’s NBCUniversal division could lose as much as $200 million (US) because advertiser revenues are not going into the Vancouver Olympics telecasts.

The Olympics experience has become a money pit. Most people going after the Olympics know that the International Olympic Committee is a scourge but cities still throw themselves at the IOC’s feet hoping to get chosen. The lure seems to be nothing more than let’s feel good about hosting the event and that we will get some positive publicity out of the event that might eventually draw tourists to the city

Did the 2004 Athens Olympics contribute to the Greece financial meltdown? - National Business of Sports | Examiner.com _____________________________________________________________________________________________

No, it`s all about those fat lazy overpaid underworked Greek socialists....For it must be true, Michael Campbell said as much, the facts surely must bear out proof that Germans, the Dutch, the English and Italians all outwork their Greek counterparts, the proof must be there...... The below is cut n pasted Straight from Wikipedia...

The Greek labor force, which totals approximately 5 million, works the second highest number of hours per year on average among OECD countries, after South Korea.^[34] The Groningen Growth & Development Centre has published a poll revealing that between 1995 and 2005, Greece was the country whose workers worked the most hours/year among European nations; Greeks worked an average of 1,900 hours per year, followed by Spaniards (average of 1,800 hours/year)
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Isn`t that interesting, it appears that the Greeks work more than the rest of Europe, more than the Germans yet all I hear on the TV news is how the Greeks are lazy do-nothing spenders, a continual flow of ad nauseum, what you had/have is corrupt Greek politicians working with corrupt bankers and Arms Dealers, the loans to Greece that are driving them headlong into bankruptcy was for military arms, the Greek politicians deliberately lied about the loans, the debt, the deficit, hidden contracts and secret deals and to this day no one is being held accountable, here are some quotes from Greece`s 2004 pre-Olympics election winner...

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Over the limit
The expected 5.3% budget shortfall is almost twice the 3% allowed by the European Union.
Total cumulative debt, Mr Karamanlis said, was as high as 112% of GDP or 184bn euros - or 50,000 euros for each Greek household.
Before March's election, the previous Socialist government had predicted a 1.2% deficit, with total debt of under 100% of GDP.
That was nothing short of deliberately misleading, he said.
"Social policy was done with borrowed cash, military spending did not show up on the budget, debts were created in secret,"
BBC NEWS | Business | Greek debt spirals after Olympics

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Here is the Greek national debt from 1999 through 2010 ...Numbers in Billions/Euro dollars

1999-($122.)	2000-($141)	2001-($151.9)	2002($159.2)	2003($168)	2004($183.2)	2005($195.4)	2006($224.2)	2007($239.4)	2008($262.3)	2009($298.7)	2010($328.6)

Gross external debt $532.9 billion (30 June 2010)...Source Wikipedia

So let`s run through the lazy Greek propaganda spin machine one more time.....The Greek Government borrowed untold $billions for military build up, the Greek Government hid Olympic debt and military spending, the banks in France and Germany and the USA were all complicit with corrupt Greek politicians, the bank loans facilitated by French and German banks were tied to the world`s arm dealers, corrupt Greek politicians allowed the IOC scourge to thieve from the public purse while secret arms deals were made in the back rooms and now comes austerity measures, austerity measures being inflicted upon those same lazy Greeks, the ones whom have been lied to by corrupt Greek politicians for the last decade.....

Greece`s economy is shrinking, 20% unemployment, services cut, pensions cut, wages cuts and layoffs galore, Greece`s economy will continue to shrink making any chance of debt repayment a pipedream, this is an exercise in futility, actually the game of musical debt chairs is about saving the bankers on the backs of the poor!

Occupy Wall Street, this revolution is growing, these rich billionaires must be getting nervous when the masses are marching out in front of their upscale homes in gated communities...

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Hundreds of people marched up Manhattan on Tuesday to take the Occupy Wall Street protest literally to the doorsteps of some of the richest tycoons in the United States.
Galvanized by an overnight crackdown on protesters in Boston, the marchers traversed the Upper East Side along a route that took them past the homes of media mogul Rupert Murdoch and conservative industrialist David Koch.
"JP Morgan, you're no good! People need a Robin Hood!" some chanted outside the luxury apartment block that is home to JP Morgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Occupy+Wall+Street+demonstrators+protest+front+billionaires+homes/5535883/story.html#ixzz1abtNrXvh

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Pitchforks in the hands of the masses, the sleeping giant has woken from its long blind slumber, Wall Street criminals, they walk among us, multi-millionaire/billionaire criminals who have stolen, cheated, lied and got caught only to dare any entity to stop them...For yes, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and other Wall Street firms had their fingers all over the Greek tragedy.......Here is a little cut n paste from the NY Times

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By LOUISE STORY, LANDON THOMAS Jr. and NELSON D. SCHWARTZ

Published: February 13, 2010

Wall Street tactics akin to the ones that fostered subprime mortgages in America have worsened the financial crisis shaking Greece and undermining the euro by enabling European governments to hide their mounting debts.

Enlarge This Image

Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg News

Gary D. Cohn, president of Goldman Sachs, went to Athens to pitch complex products to defer debt. Such deals let Greece continue deficit spending, like a consumer with a second mortgage.

As worries over Greece rattle world markets, records and interviews show that with Wall Street’s help, the nation engaged in a decade-long effort to skirt European debt limits. One deal created by Goldman Sachs helped obscure billions in debt from the budget overseers in Brussels. 

Even as the crisis was nearing the flashpoint, banks were searching for ways to help Greece forestall the day of reckoning. In early November — three months before Athens became the epicenter of global financial anxiety — a team from Goldman Sachs arrived in the ancient city with a very modern proposition for a government struggling to pay its bills, according to two people who were briefed on the meeting.
The bankers, led by Goldman’s president, Gary D. Cohn, held out a financing instrument that would have pushed debt from Greece’s health care system far into the future, much as when strapped homeowners take out second mortgages to pay off their credit cards. 

It had worked before. In 2001, just after Greece was admitted to Europe’s monetary union, Goldman helped the government quietly borrow billions, people familiar with the transaction said. That deal, hidden from public view because it was treated as a currency trade rather than a loan, helped Athens to meet Europe’s deficit rules while continuing to spend beyond its means.
Athens did not pursue the latest Goldman proposal, but with Greece groaning under the weight of its debts and with its richer neighbors vowing to come to its aid, the deals over the last decade are raising questions about Wall Street’s role in the world’s latest financial drama.
As in the American subprime crisis and the implosion of the American International Group, financial derivatives played a role in the run-up of Greek debt. Instruments developed by Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and a wide range of other banks enabled politicians to mask additional borrowing in Greece, Italy and possibly elsewhere.
In dozens of deals across the Continent, banks provided cash upfront in return for government payments in the future, with those liabilities then left off the books. Greece, for example, traded away the rights to airport fees and lottery proceeds in years to come.
Critics say that such deals, because they are not recorded as loans, mislead investors and regulators about the depth of a country’s liabilities.
Some of the Greek deals were named after figures in Greek mythology. One of them, for instance, was called Aeolos, after the god of the winds.

Wall St. Helped Greece to Mask Debt Fueling Europe’s Crisis - NYTimes.com

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And Wall Street`s crime spree continues....For back in 2008 when Wall Street`s fraudulent banking practices started to show some of their multi-headed financial instruments both Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan became banks, they changed their classification from investment firms to banks, and they did this for one reason, so they could access TARP funds and bailout monies and now?????...And now because of new proposed legislation called the Volker rule these so-called banks Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan want to return to their previous designation!!!!
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Goldman Sachs [GS  99.11    2.41  (+2.49%)   ] and Morgan Stanley [MS  15.84    0.45  (+2.92%)   ] may shed the "bank holding company" classification in order to skirt the Volcker rule banning propriety trading with the firm’s own capital, according to Susquehanna Financial Group analyst David Hilder.

Getty Images The Goldman Sachs booth on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange Goldman, Morgan Stanley May Shed ‘Bank’ Status to Skirt Volcker Rule: Analyst - CNBC

Goldman and Morgan Stanley both became bank-holding companies during the 2008 financial crisis in order to be eligible for emergency Fed lending. But the new rule, which would limit trading when the bank's own money is a risk, would deal a major blow to one of Wall Street's most profitable businesses.

“The regulators have proposed a massive new compliance burden on banks to prove that their market-making activities are just that and not proprietary trading in disguise,” wrote Hilder in a note to clients. “There will be large additional costs imposed on banks as market-makers that will not apply to market-makers not owned by banks. We would expect that to draw capital to non-bank market-makers, and cause Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to examine whether it makes sense for them to exit the banking system.”

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The banking frauds continue, countries drowning in debt can`t get out of debt by borrowing more money at credit card usury rates, these lenders, the private bankers, the world`s elite investors must take a huge loss, Greece is bankrupt and you can shuffle the cards and re-deal but the outcome remains the same, and every European leader is drinking the Kool-Aid and is only concerned with surviving the near-term, in-fact the only person in Europe with the balls to tell it the way it is....Is little old Slovakia, a tiny country being asked to take on $billions in debt to bailout corrupt bankers and politicians in another country!...Good for you Slovakia!, here was a good interview with the Spiegel..

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Yesterday we reported that tiny Slovakia's refusal to ratify the expansion of the EFSF 2.0 (even though a 4.0 version will be required this week after the "Dexia-event"), may throw the Eurozone into a tailspin as all 17 countries have to agree to agree to kick the can down the road: even one defector kills the entire Swiss Watch plan. 

Yet an interview conducted between German Spiegel and Slovakia party head Richard Sulik confirms that tiny does not mean irrelevant, and certainly not stupid. In fact, just the opposite: his words are precisely what the heads at the bigger and far less credible countries should be saying. Alas they are not. Which is precisely why the euro is doomed.
From Spiegel:
Only two countries, Malta and Slovakia, have yet to ratify the expansion of the euro bailout fund. Its fate may be in the hands of a minor Slovak party headed by Richard Sulik. In an interview, the politician explains why he hopes the fund will fail and what he sees as the only way to save the euro.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Sulik, do you want to go down in European Union history as the man who destroyed the euro?
Richard Sulik : No. Where did you get that idea?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Slovakia has yet to approve the expansion of the euro backstop fund, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), because your Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party is blocking the reform. If a majority of Slovak parliamentarians don't support the EFSF expansion, it could ultimately mean the end of the common currency.
Sulik: The opposite is actually the case. The greatest threat to the euro is the bailout fund itself.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: How so?
Sulik: It's an attempt to use fresh debt to solve the debt crisis. That will never work. But, for me, the main issue is protecting the money of Slovak taxpayers. We're supposed to contribute the largest share of the bailout fund measured in terms of economic strength. That's unacceptable.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: That sounds almost nationalist. But, at the same time, you've had what might be considered an ideal European career. When you were 12, you came to Germany and attended school and university here. After the Cold War ended, you returned home to help build up your homeland. Do you care nothing about European solidarity?
Sulik: If we now choose to follow our own path, the solidarity of the others will also crumble. And that would be for the best. Once that happens, we would finally stop with all this debt nonsense. Continuously taking on more debts hurts the euro. Every country has to help itself. That's very easy; one just has to make it happen.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Slovakia's parliament is scheduled to vote on the bailout fund expansion on Oct. 11. How do you predict the vote will turn out?
Sulik: It's still open. The ruling coalition is composed of four parties. My party will vote "no"; the other three coalition parties intend to say "yes." What the opposition says is decisive.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: The Social Democrats have offered your coalition partners to support the reform in return for new elections. Do you think the coalition is in danger of collapse?
Sulik: I don't see any reason why it would.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What will you do should the EFSF reform pass despite your opposition?
Sulik: For Slovakia, it would be best not to join the bailout fund. Our membership in the euro zone, after all, was not conditional on us becoming members of strange associations like the EFSF, which damage the currency.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: If the euro only causes problems, why doesn't Slovakia's government just pull the country out of the euro zone?
Sulik: I don't see the euro as the problem. It's a good project. Everyone involved can benefit from it -- but only if they stick to the ground rules. And that's exactly what we're demanding.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Which ground rules should we be following?

Sulik: We have to observe three points: First, we have to strictly adhere to the existing rules, such as not being liable for others' debts, just as it's spelled out in Article 125 of the Lisbon Treaty. Second, we have to let Greece go bankrupt and have the banks involved in the debt-restructuring. The creditors will have to relinquish 50 to perhaps 70 percent of their claims. So far, the agreements on that have been a joke. Third, we have to be adamant about cost-cutting and manage budgets in a responsible way.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Many experts fear that a conflagration would break out across Europe should Greece go bankrupt and that the crisis will spill over into other countries, including Portugal, Spain and Italy.

Sulik: Politicians can't allow themselves to be pressured by the financial markets. Just because equity prices fall and the euro loses value against the dollar is no reason for giving in to panic.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: But do you really believe that politicians can calm the financial markets by stubbornly sticking to their principles?
Sulik: Let's just ignore the markets. It's ridiculous how politicians orient themselves based on whether stock prices rise or fall a few percentage points.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: You're not afraid that a Greek insolvency could mark the beginning of the crisis instead of the end?
Sulik: No. There's not going to be a domino effect along the lines of "first Greece, then Portugal and finally Italy." Just because one country goes broke doesn't mean the other ones automatically will.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Nevertheless, banks could run into significant problems should they be forced to write down billions in sovereign bond holdings.
Sulik: So what? They took on too much risk. That one might go broke as a consequence of bad decisions is just part of the market economy. Of course, states have to protect the savings of their populations. But that's much cheaper than bailing banks out. And that, in turn, is much cheaper than bailing entire states out.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: Does one of your reasons for not wanting to help Greece have to do with the fact that Slovakia itself is one of the poorest countries in the EU?
Sulík: A few years back, we survived an economic crisis. With great effort and tough reforms, we put it behind us. Today, Slovakia has the lowest average salaries in the euro zone. How am I supposed to explain to people that they are going to have to pay a higher value-added tax (VAT) so that Greeks can get pensions three times as high as the ones in Slovakia?
SPIEGEL ONLINE: What can the Greeks learn from the reforms carried out in Slovakia?
Sulik: They have to make cuts in the state apparatus. The Slovaks could also give them a few good ideas about the tax system. We have a flat tax when it comes to income taxes. Our tax system is simple and clear.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: One last time: Do you honestly believe the euro has any future at all?
Sulík: I believe the euro has a future. But only if the rules are followed.
Interview conducted by Maria Marquart

Slovakia On Why It Votes "No" To EFSF Expansion: "The Greatest Threat To The Euro Is The Bailout Fund Itself" | ZeroHedge

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What we are witnessing friends is a revolution, actually it`s more of an awakening, people around the world are opening their eyes to the crimes these elite bankers have committed, corrupt politicians like Gordon and Michael Campbell, religious zealots like Stephen Harper waiting for the space ship to take him and his fellow Christian fundamentalists away to the sacred land, it angers me how these criminals have hijacked religion and used it as a wedge issue, the right left divide, we, we the 99% are neither Liberal nor Conservative, we are victims of slavery, slaves to the bankers, enslaved by shallow selfish politicians like Gordon Campbell and Christy Clark, politicians like George W Bush, Bill Clinton and Barrack Obama, politicians with no morale fiber, gutless cowards who knelt down on bended knee in front of Hank Paulson and Alan Greenspan and gave away your freedom, and the voices who alerted and warned the heads of state were vilified and sent to the woodshed, ....

Meanwhile history is changed and re-written before your eyes, main stream media shills for the bandits and the likes of Brooksley Born are all but forgotten.

Frontline did an excellent interview and show about Brooksley Born, Alan Greenspan and the "Old Boy`s network" shooed Brooksley Born away, ....She was the only one who rang the alarm bell about the investment banks and derivatives, credit default swaps and other space-odyssey financial instruments, but then Alan Greenspan laid down the law of the rich, he had her removed and shut her up, and what did Bill Clinton do, he backed the old boy`s club And to this day both the Republican party and the Democratic party protect the same criminal bankers, a footnote in history, Brooksley who? perhaps that explains why Bill Clinton and George Bush are traveling together on the latest talking tour!.....

Presidents Clinton and Bush at 2011 Surrey Regional Economic Summit

February 01, 2011

Surrey – Surrey Mayor Dianne Watts today announced that Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush will be the featured speakers at the fourth annual Surrey Regional Economic Summit on October 20, 2011.
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I don`t expect either Ex-President to point fingers at each other, dumb and dumber, you decide who.


Perhaps today`s politicians need to watch and read the Brooksley Born files....Again 

"Occupy Wall Street is not a movement, Occupy Wall Street is an Awakening"..Grant G 

Watch an amazing show on Brooksley Born here

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Enbridge Proposal Cannot and Will Not Be Permitted To Proceed In British Columbia, Coffin Nail Number 1000

Go click the link and read the entire article, in a nutshell, British Columbia was ill-prepared for oil spills with the existing Kinder Morgan pipeline, the oil spill response and regime was virtually non-existent, adding Enbridge`s pipeline is an unacceptable risk, remote location, no oil spill response vessels, no access to a remote rugged location, no expertise, no funding in place for oil spill clean up costs, and the uncomfortable fact that bitumen can`t be cleaned up in water, even Enbridge themselves admit there is no technology for cleaning up bitumen in water, in rivers and or oceans...

Read the article here, 

 http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2012/10/mr-jones-versus-fluvial-goemorphologist.html

Enbridge experts under cross examination admitted bitumen spilled in water is a problem with no available solution, bitumen sinks to the bottom and kills everything, ..Also, the below article proves that Stephen Harper is insane and deranged, not of sound mind, he closed our coastguard station and moved our very limited oil response regime we had 3000 miles away to Quebec, he also cut funding to Kenneth Lee and his worldclass research on oil spills...Imagine, Stephen Harper trying to ram his dirty tar sand goop through British Columbia and he spits in our face..

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2012/01/enbridge-will-kill-british-columbia.html

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2012/01/canadians-awaken-to-harpers-involvement.html

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2011/12/enbridge-northern-pipeline-must-be.html

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2011/12/enbridge-attempts-to-hoodwink-british.html

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2011/12/enbridge-inc-are-criminals-period.html

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2010/04/577the-unluckiest-numberten-years-out.html

More Enbridge crimes reported on the homepage righthand side-bar..

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B.C. worries oil spill would "overwhelm" resources

BY STANLEY TROMP

VANCOUVER - Officials in British Columbia privately warned the province lacks the ability to manage oil spills from existing and future oil traffic, and even a moderate spill would overwhelm their ability to respond, documents show.

Ottawa's decision to deal with coastal oil spills from a base in Quebec would make it much harder to contain spills, and Transport Canada and the Coast Guard lack the needed "environmental expertise" to manage them, officials said the documents obtained by The Canadian Press under freedom of information laws.

The notes were written by B.C. environment ministry bureaucrats for the incoming minister's briefing book in June, and other concerns were detailed by emergency response officials in memos from last year.

B.C. environment ministry bureaucrats voiced a range of misgivings for minister Mary Polak....

"Even a moderately-sized spill would overwhelm the province's ability to respond and could result in a significant liability for government . . . The industry requirements, established by Transport Canada, are perceived as being insufficient in both scope and scale. For example, in both Washington State and Alaska industry requirements are far in excess of what is required in B.C."

The B.C. government has said the Enbridge (TSX:ENB) proposed Northern Gateway pipeline — which would deliver Alberta oilsands products to a tanker port in Kitimat, B.C., for export to Asian markets — and Kinder Morgan's proposed expansion of its existing TransMountain pipeline into the Port of Metro Vancouver could increase tanker traffic by more than 1,000 trips annually off the Pacific coast....

The briefing book estimates that at a rate of 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day, a pipeline spill lasting an hour could lead to 21,000 barrels spilling into B.C.'s wilderness...

last year, B.C. emergency response officials wrote that money was not the only problem: "Coast Guard and Transport Canada are to receive increased funding to respond," stated one memo. "However, these agencies do not have the required environmental expertise."

As well, cuts in the 2012 federal budget prompted Environment Canada to close its regional spill response offices in Vancouver and other cities and consolidated these in Quebec.

In May 2012, documents show officials in the B.C. Environmental Emergency Program in Victoria privately wrote this relocation would hinder efforts to contain an oil spill on the west coast. Those warnings were written about then-existing oil traffic, without factoring in future pipelines and tankers..

Polak's briefing book indicates a concern about the lack of commercial vessels that could be used to help in the event of an oil spill: "The level of (industry) resources, including spill response assets and trained personnel, provided to the Canadian Coast Guard for spill response appears to be inadequate and may be even more challenged with the anticipated increase in large vessel traffic on the B.C. coast."

Yet last year, Knox regretted the loss of at least one existing resource, notably Ottawa's firing of the internationally respected Canadian oil spill expert Kenneth Lee and the elimination of his research centre in Dartmouth, N.S.

"This will limit resource managers' access to critical scientific expertise when making response decisions in the future," he wrote. "Oil spill expertise is eroding."

http://www.theprovince.com/news/worries+spill+would+overwhelm+resources/8830659/story.html

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Do you see how the oil companies treat British Columbia, the highest fuel prices in North America, Enbridge pipeline would mean prices 30% higher than they are now, but more importantly it is not if Enbridge would destroy our salmon rivers and poison our pristine northern coast the question is when..

Our rivers, our Salmon industry, tourism jobs, our beautiful northern coast, 100,000 jobs depend on our salmon rivers and northern ocean, Enbridge pipeline is a mere 25 permanent jobs and a tiny $20 million dollars per year in taxation for British Columbia, one river spill $1 billion dollars in damage minimum, one major ocean tanker spill $10 billion dollars in damage minimum...

Exxon Mobile still haven`t paid their court ordered fines from 25 years ago, Prince William sound is still thick with ground oil, wildlife still being poisoned, somethings are more precious than a few piddly Enbridge dollars, Stephen Harper will soon be punted out of office, he is a habitual liar, can`t run the economy and now mental illness has set in, ....Decriminalizing marijuana and opening up medical marijuana sales can provide British Columbia 20 fold the money Enbridge is offering up, and with no environmental damage...Stephen Harper wants a police state, cameras and spying, he wants the internet controlled and monitored by his political police army, ..Harper wants to destroy public healthcare and drive down wages thus making us all slaves..

http://www.themudflats.net/archives/25862

http://powellriverpersuader.blogspot.ca/2009/11/it-cant-happen-again-can-it.html

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

LNG And The Blender, Pass The Salt Please

Christy Clark blathered about a $trillion dollar industry, how LNG would eliminate our debt, pay off crown corporation debt, pay for new hospitals and new schools, plus $100 billion in a separate prosperity fund for future generations, Christy Clark and the BC Liberal MLAs went even further and said LNG revenues would eliminate tolls on bridges and our provincial sales tax, ...

We were also told by Christy Clark that we were in a race with Australia....If we are in a race against Australia, East Africa, Mozambique, Russia, Qatar and so many more countries shouldn`t we at least start running..?

Because, as of Mid 2013 there is not one shovel in the ground, not one energy company has committed to build anything in British Columbia and no decisions are expected before late 2014 to 2016...How on earth can that be classified as being in a race..?

As has been reported over a year ago here at The Straight Goods, there is a glut of LNG supply coming online, more supply coming online than demand, also reported was Australia has LNG plants(multiple) coming online this year, more in 2014 ..2015..and 2016...Projects where construction started years ago..The USA has a huge advantage over B.C. s LNG proposals too..They have infrastructure and a pipeline grid for natural gas in place, America has a dozen LNG import terminals that were scrapped before completion because of a glut of domestic natural gas that can easily be converted into LNG export facilities..Thus saving $billions of dollars in construction costs..

With Japan restarting their nuclear facilities and China now fracking domestically, and of course the USA awash in natural gas one-time expectation volumes for LNG exporting and wannabe LNG exporting countries has plummeted, and so has the North American price...The price for LNG in Europe has also fallen by 30% or more, current North American Henry Hub prices are in the $3.40 range...Europe is in the $10.00 range and Asia who WAS paying in the $18.50 range...Asia(Japan) now has deals signed with Cheniere Energy for about $10.50, a Henry hub linked price...At that price nothing gets built in British Columbia..

Everything is stalled here in British Columbia, in fact floating LNG plants is the only thing being discussed for British Columbia at this time, mobile, movable, floating LNG plants...meaning very few British Columbia construction jobs, these floating facilities will be built in South Korea...They will be barged here, anchored and secured in our deep water ports and merely hooked up to a natural gas pipeline..that is if any energy company decides to invest in British Columbia...Chevron is looking for equity partners to share any and all build costs, Chevron in other words in divesting its position in British Columbia, that is what Petronas has done too...You see, despite all the blather from Christy Clark about a $trillion dollar industry, one must ask themselves, these giant energy companies who have very deep pockets, if they believed these proposed projects were so lucrative they wouldn`t be looking to surrender 40%..50%..60%...70%...of their share...Equity positions to buying customers means no profit...means no profit to the BC Government either...

Also reported almost exclusively here, Chevron...Shell...Petronas and others can`t get any long term energy buying customers at a price high enough to justify the $billions in investment to get these projects up and running, there is also the problem with locality, B.C. may be close to Japan in comparison to America`s east coast, but...But British Columbia`s gas is in the northeast part of the province, meaning there is a rugged mountain range between the gas and the coast, pipelines to transport natural gas are in the $5 billion dollar range..EACH!...America`s gas for the most part is situated close to their export facilities...Chevron...Shell...They have conceded that the earliest they will be shipping LNG out of B.C...The earliest would be 2021 to 2023..In other words, no construction would start before 2017 to 2018...In plain English, those big energy companies are laying back and waiting to see where the LNG market is going....How much of Japan`s nuclear facility is being restarted, how aggressively China delves into their own domestic fracking and gas development and especially what happens with the exciting new energy known as ocean methane hydrates...

Now you must remember, Chevron, Shell, Petronas, even though they are doing nothing in British Columbia doesn`t mean they aren`t in the LNG game, those energy giants are prominent in Australia, in Africa, in the USA, in Qatar, in Israel, the same companies have LNG plants online or under construction around the world, their position and or profitability and survival is not contingent on any British Columbia project, these are not start up companies...And the other really big LNG story is Russia and the Stan countries, Russia in particular has ramped up natural gas to China, natural gas pumped directly into China, Vlad Putin has pressured Russian energy companies to offer discounts and increase export volumes to both China and Europe..All this has made British Columbia`s LNG export dreams both gloomy and risky, risky to energy companies wanting a return on investment...And Christy Clark wanting a $trillion dollars in taxation over 20 --25 years has rattled and angered the Energy companies...There are other more compliant and yes, even more corrupt Governments in Africa and abroad willing to sellout very cheap, wink wink, envelope nod nod arrangements...One must remember, Chevron, Shell, Petrona don`t care about you, about British Columbia or Canada, they are not our friend, they care about profit and profit only and as of right now...There is more profit to be made by not building in British Columbia, by limiting supply, by creating more supply here will hurt profitability of LNG plants in other countries, all owned by the same major energy companies, and the saving of $billions by not building excess infrastructure...That is why floating LNG facilities are the only thing on the table being discussed by the major energy companies..

So..Friday afternoon, trash day, stories printed by our major newspaper dailies, stories put on the backburner and ignored by political pundits and local newscasts, nothing on the cutting edge of the ledge today on LNG, nothing reported on the news and Christy cluck cluck Clark is still vacationing in la la world, it matches her vacant la la mind...A post media story today given almost no fanfare...A story on LNG which is reporting some very uncomfortable facts, uncomfortable LNG facts reported here months if not years ago...Here is the skinny..

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LNG projects in Canada given gloomy outlook by international report

CALGARY – High costs for new export terminals proposed for Canada’s West Coast make discount sales of liquefied natural gas “difficult to financially justify,” a new report says.

LNG projects proposed by San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron Corp., ExxonMobil Corp. and others for the northwest coast of British Columbia may struggle to meet demands by overseas buyers for sales volumes linked to low North American gas prices instead of the higher-priced marker that prevails in Asia, the Norwegian-based International Gas Union said.

But high development costs, including the billions needed to fund drilling programs and string thousands of kilometres of jumbo pipe across a rugged wilderness, could make it harder for Canadian projects to offer LNG prices that are competitive with their U.S. counterparts, the IGU said.

“Project costs in Canada far exceed counterpart projects in the United States where the natural gas market is much more liquid,” said the organization, whose 110 members represent 95% of the world’s gas market.

“Moreover, the distance between the proposed export facilities and the North American gas pipeline grid is large, and connections are small in both capacity and number.”

The call for LNG sales volumes linked to U.S. gas prices has led to a standoff between some project developers and Asian customers, as Canadian proposals vie with U.S. competitors for market share in the Far East.

Chevron, the second-biggest U.S. energy company, has balked at demands for discount sales from its five-million-tonne-per-year Kitimat, B.C. LNG proposal, arguing higher prices are needed to justify the enormous capital expenditures involved in building export infrastructure.

The disagreement has prompted delays reaching a final investment decision, as the company seeks buyers willing to sign long-term contracts based on the price of oil.

“Exporting Henry Hub-linked LNG is risky” because the U.S. benchmark price is volatile, the IGU said. “This is a problem because Western Canada shale gas will likely be more expensive than the marginal acreage that sets Henry Hub prices,” the report said.

U.S. projects, by comparison, are expected to be more flexible because many are designed to take advantage of existing infrastructure, and are therefore cheaper to commission, the IGU said.

Chevron has said it would offer prospective buyers equity positions in its proposed export plant, mirroring moves by Royal Dutch Shell, Malaysia’s Petronas and the U.K.’s BG Group to sell off interests in the massive developments to potential customers

Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/resources/exports+from+Canada+unlikely+compete+with+cheaper/8825559/story.html#ixzz2cpavNbQ8

______________________

Now for those interested in everything LNG, there is a new section on The Straight Goods home page righthand sidebar...It`s called Straight Goods LNG Files...There are some of the posts we have done on LNG, it is all there, peruse at will and don`t forget to share...

And I would like to add something else...Christy Clark blathered on and on how British Columbia was the (IT place) energy companies were focused on...Nope, we are but a tiny blip in a crowded and now saturated LNG market...Here are a few LNG related issues to think about..

Have a look at all the players, all the countries involved in exporting LNG, and this is only a partial list...Click the below link..



http://www.zeusintel.com/LNG/WorldLNGExportTerminalListing.aspx


And you really should have a look at what Russia has going on...World natural gas domination, and with conventional gas..

http://my.firedoglake.com/stevehorn1022/2013/08/19/russia-vs-u-s-gas-cold-war-underlying-edward-snowden-asylum-standoff/

Happy Summer, have one for me would ya....



The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Faith Goldy Suffers an Unthinkable Horror, A Sunnews Exclusive

Laughter is said to be the best medicine and it has been awhile since I had a really good laugh..

There is a story at Sunnews network, Faith Goldy who has been covering the line 9 protesters..

Faith Goldy was sitting/seated in a court facility in Hamilton, Faith Goldy was so busy tweeting and emailing, her head like most young people glued to their electronic devices, oblivious to her surrounding, unbeknownst to Faith Goldy was the fact one of the dirty stinky(Ezra Levant`s description) line 9 protesters put his rear end near and pointed at Faith Goldy`s face(who was seated, protester standing) and let one rip, not a loud one but a silent killer fart, ....

Faith Goldy having no warning of the incoming assault only became painfully aware of noxious umbrage when her nostrils cringed at the offending smell....I`ll let Ezra and Goldy finish(for now)

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"Ezra Levant chatted with Faith Goldy about her attempt to talk with the Line 9 protesters who were having their day in court. And what started out as a peaceful attempt to get to the root of the protesters' cause, ended up with noxious emissions of a different kind.

Goldy was on hand for a court hearing on Tuesday in Hamilton, Ont., "minding her own business" when an activist "farted" in her face......

Goldy spoke about the incident on The Source, saying, ""I'm just minding my own business, when all of sudden something putrid emerges in the air. So I gaze from my phone and there before me is one of the bottoms of one of the Line 9 protesters."

"So they farted in your face? That's what you are saying," Levant replied.

"That is exactly what happened, Ezra," Goldy said.

http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/sunnews/canada/archives/2013/08/20130821-154558.html

__________

Now, I urge you to click the link and play the short video...

OK..Like I said, I haven`t had a good laugh in some time now, and reading the article and watching the video didn`t make me laugh...It was a Facebook comment below the written article that made me bust a good one...

Here is the comment..

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Andre Schepkowski · Works at Retired

This why we need sun news in our homes, hard news.

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On a more serious note, that comment and the outrage expressed by Goldy and Ezra, the horror..Oh the humanity..

That comment got me to thinking about the great and heroic war correspondents who died covering wars, incursions, reporters and journalists spreading the word on massacres, on genocides, scenes of streets blood red, the smell of death in the air, ducking for cover as bullets fly, ...Cameramen and ladies who filmed holocaust scenes, pits full of emaciated bodies, unthinkable horrors, real horrors and atrocities reported by professional journalists..

Newsflash to Faith Goldy....if you can`t handle a little passed wind, something everyone in the world does, in crowds, in theatres, in restaurants, in public spaces, in bed, lovers, wives, husbands and children all pass gas, including both Ezra and you Faith...

If you can`t handle that, you are in the wrong profession Faith..

These really must be..

The dog days of summer if this type of crap makes the news..

I Thank you Andre Schepkowski for that comment, I really needed the laugh

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Water, Our Maternal Parent Under Fire

Water, do you realize that we are drinking the same water as the dinosaurs..


As a human fascinated with space, intrigued with our galaxy and the universe, from supernovas to red giants, we know so little and we know so much, time and distances seem unreal, unfortunately the madness of humankind is too real..

If there is one thing science agrees on, the key to planetary life taking off is  water, so what kind of lunatic would propose taking our maternal parent, yes, for if one thinks about water it is our paternal parent, for without water none of us would be here..

What deranged society would use the life sustaining substance known as water, add a cocktail of chemicals to it, inject under pressure deep into ground and blowup rock formations...Underground aquifers are vanishing, depleted, and now we human beings are conducting a grand experiment of injecting chemical laden water deep underground to blow up rock formations....Fracking well-holes deplete quickly, unconventional fracked drill holes deplete their gas so quickly that any LNG industry will require literally thousands and thousands of new drilled holes every year, which will in turn be filled with millions, no billions of gallons of chemical laden water..

Fracking in my opinion is the most sinister environmental crime on scale ever committed by the energy companies, energy companies with their grip on Governments around the world, all vying for more and more profits, all proposing fracking, and thus proposing locking mankind into decades of insanity, just imagine if there was even half as much enthusiasm for new clean, green technology, solar, tidal, algae, yes even nuclear....

Time has come to put our maternal mother water on the endangered species list..

(enjoy the film)

Last Call At The Oasis

______________
part I

part II

part III

part IV

  part V

part VI

part VII

The end..
______________




 And an appropriate song, water flowing underground....

Once in a lifetime

The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open

Lost Babes

 Written by Grant G



Innocence of the child, fragility of a kitten, both can be sculpted into fine art or molded to reflect the harsh reality of a cold advanced society...

It amazes me how the poorest and hungriest children of the world will feed, care for and protect a kitten, those babes with nothing and without hesitation would rather starve than watch an innocent feline waste away, is it something born to us, ingrained at birth, the need to care for and protect those even more helpless, or is it a way to remain feeling human in a world turning more and more alien, more cold, silent and dark like space..

Razor`s edge society where the difference between a hero`s welcome and a hangman`s noose is merely the colour of one`s uniform, or the colour of one`s skin, believers versus doubters, the indoctrinated against unscripted heathens and the everlasting fight of few haves against the billions of have-nots,..

There`s a saying, or should I say a theory that people are born of the left and by middle age they become of the right, in other words it means people are born caring of animals, of life, of planet survival, social causes like justice and Democracy for all, care of a sustainable environment, woman and child rights to live in safety, to live without fear of rape and assault both mental and physical..

Yet today in 2013 there is more plants and animals going extinct, rainforests being cut, toxic spills and human atrocities than ever before so why would older human beings stop caring, one doesn`t need to become a shadow to know it makes shade, cover and camouflage, one can close their eyes to the rape of a child but still the screams are heard..

I know people like this, they don`t want to hear of the corruption, of environmental crimes, eyes are shut to racism, ears are muted to screams of pain and minds are closed to solution, or even attempted solution, turn on the ball game crack open a beer, mind altering advertisements of life with status quo dreams, commercials of beautiful people drinking on pure white beaches, freedom 55, exotic lands where food tastes good and smiles never stop...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2396076/Surfs--filled-rubbish-Shocking-picture-shows-Indonesias-famous-surfer-gliding-trash-filled-wave.html

Yet the reality of the world is in stark contrast to television illusions, Wheel of Fortune or American Idol, Goldman Sachs or Statefarm, growing gang rape in Bangladesh or unthinkable atrocities against children in the Congo, "like a good neighbor Statefarm is there"...We aren`t good neighbors, those children are the next generations, yet the masses remain silently unaware, or is that deliberately oblivious..

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"In a small house on a hill overlooking Lake Kivu, a young Congolese soldier recounts the crimes he and his comrades committed in Minova a few months ago. "Twenty-five of us gathered together and said we should rape 10 women each, and we did it," he said. "I've raped 53 women. And children of five or six years old.....

 On 22 November last year thousands of exhausted, battered and bruised Congolese army troops descended on the town having just lost a battle with the rebel M23 fighters in Goma, the main city in eastern Congo some 30 miles away.
Their retreat was haphazard and chaotic. The soldiers were embarrassed, angry, upset and out of control; their commanders had disappeared and the battalion and regiment structures had disintegrated.

When they arrived in Minova they were drunk, hungry and violent. The locals suffered two nightmarish days of looting, 
rape and murder before the army restored some discipline among its troops.
Hundreds of women were raped. It is impossible to accurately state the number of cases as victims often fail to come forward, fearing that their communities and even their husbands will reject them, but hospital director Dr Ghislain Kassongo said he dealt with well over 100 women with rape-related injuries after the army rampage.

At a rape victim refuge centre a couple of miles from Minova, Nzigire Chibalonza, 60, tells what happened when the soldiers came to her shop. "They beat us and beat us, and then they started to rape. Three men raped me – two from the front and one from behind," she says, tears welling in her eyes as she nervously grabs and twists fistfuls of her dress.

 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/11/congo-rapes-g8-soldier

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In 2013 no child should go hungry or be raped, children can`t be denied childhood dreams or education, sex tourism to Thailand, to Vietnam, to Haiti, Dominican Republic or Sochi Russia should not be permitted, yes, even our Vancouver 2010 Olympic games prostitutes were recruited from around the world and delivered for service in Vancouver...Canada wasn`t about to put a stop to shadow industry, even if those shadows happen in bright open daylight...

Persecution, exploitation, deliberate willful assault upon those who are different, vulnerable and alone, yet technology of satellites, cameras, phones, CCTV, nothing happens in isolation anymore yet it still happens, from oil companies destroying watersheds and environments with impunity to child rape atrocities in commidity extracting corporate controlled trading countries, valuable wares offered have always blinded open eyes, muted voices of dissent, corporate ideology bleeds innocence..

Countries with gold, oil or gas, directions other are looked, evidence and crime ignored, and it`s not just developing countries it`s the advanced countries that are the biggest offenders, sex tourism comes from wealth, ability to do different or affect change exists here yet nothing is done, whether religion and ideology or freedom 55, from Abbotsord and Coquitlam dumping chicken manure on homeless camps or pricing families out of the lower mainland, they really are one of the same it`s only a matter of scale, what causes normal man to stop caring, not just here but everywhere..

$70 billion dollars being spent on winter Olympics in Sochi Russia, the huge uproar over draconian anti-gay laws, and what was the world response, stop drinking vodka for a night or two and switch to drinking tequila or rum,...Ah yes, the beautiful people drinking coronas on the beach, gorgeous white sand beaches where drinkers are pretty and funny, an alcohol filled television world where drunks don`t beat children and wives, where booze filled drivers don`t mow-down innocents,..

Maybe it`s the liquor that turns man from left to right, from caring to carrying on without a care, maybe double shot vision is required to prevent crying eyes from seeing child atrocities, $70 billion dollars spectacle coming to Sochi Russia, two weeks of investment, liquor and travel ads, come to Thailand, come to Asia, come to Las Vegas and roll the dice, have a corona, big mac, large fries and don`t forget to invest in freedom 55...

In 2013 certain things shouldn`t be happening anymore, children being exploited, abused ,woman being raped, and Governments choosing to ignore evil shadows in bright daylight..

It has always amazed me with children, no matter how poor, how hungry or destitute they are, pleading eyes of innocent kittens are granted safety in even the shantiest of hovels, and homes in the hearts of children...

I don`t know at what age the caring stops, for some it is never..

 
The reason for killing drunk men and anger directed towards is so obvious, sniffing glue in Russia or sniffing paint on First Nation reserve in Canada, distraction, hallucination and escape, temporary relief until you become what you hate.....

Oblivious to the Obvious and blind to the blatant...

  $70 billion on 2 week Sochi winter games party..


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/russia/10090245/Billions-missing-from-Sochi-2014-Winter-Olympics-fund.html


The Straight Goods

Cheers Eyes Wide Open