The Baltic Dry Index is a measure of world-wide shipping of products. It has fallen 93% in the last weeks.
This is worth paying attention to as it suggests that the trans-continental big-box supply chain is breaking down.
We've now passed the grim milestone of over 100 Canadians killed in Afghanistan.
In light of that, I want to repost this clip from my podcast, detailing why the war in
Afghanistan is unwinnable, and why we need to bring the troops home.
Mission Impossible : The Afghan War - MP3 file 2.8M
Podcast Page
For various reasons, I thought I'd post this important information. People I talk to seem to have misconceptions
about what to do during an earthquake. The following advice comes from Doug Copp, an expert with much experience.
The following information is posted here at http://en.epochtimes.com/news/8-5-28/71106.html
I thought I'd put a few excerpts from the article on my site. Take from it what you will.
We collapsed a school and a home with 20 mannequins inside. Ten mannequins did "duck and cover," and ten mannequins
I used in my "triangle of life" survival method. After the simulated earthquake collapse we crawled through the rubble
and entered the building to film and document the results. The film, in which I practiced my survival techniques under
directly observable, scientific conditions, relevant to building collapse, showed there would have been zero percent
survival for those doing duck and cover. There would likely have been 100 % survivability for people using my method
of the "triangle of life."
The first building I ever crawled inside of was a school in Mexico City during the 1985 earthquake. Every child was under
their desk. Every child was crushed to the thickness of their bones. They could have survived by lying down next to their
desks in the aisles. It was obscene, unnecessary and I wondered why the children were not in the aisles. I didn't at the
time know that the children were told to hide under something.
...when buildings collapse, the weight of the ceilings falling upon the objects or furniture inside crushes these objects,
leaving a space or void next to them. This space is what I call the "triangle of life".
Tips from Doug Copp:
1) Everyone who simply "ducks and covers" WHEN BUILDINGS COLLAPSE is crushed to death - Every time, without exception.
People who get under objects, like desks or cars, are always crush.
2) Cats, dogs and babies all naturally often curl up in the foetal position. You should too in an earthquake. It is a
natural safety/survival instinct. You can survive in a smaller void. Get next to an object, next to a sofa, next to a
large bulky object that will compress slightly but leave a void next to it.
3) Wooden buildings are the safest type of construction to be in during an earthquake. The reason is simple: the wood is
flexible and moves with the force of the earthquake. If the wooden building does collapse, large survival voids are created.
Also, the wooden building has less concentrated, crushing weight. Brick buildings will break into individual bricks.
Bricks will cause many injuries but less squashed bodies than concrete slabs.
4) If you are in bed during the night and an earthquake occurs, simply roll off the bed. A safe void will exist around
the bed.
5) If an earthquake happens while you are watching television and you cannot easily escape by getting out the door or
window, then lie down and curl up in the fetal position next to a sofa, or large chair.
6) Everybody who gets under a doorway when buildings collapse is killed. How? If you stand under a doorway and the door
jam falls forward or backward you will be crushed by the ceiling above. If the door jam falls sideways you will be cut
in half by the doorway. In either case, you will be killed!
7) Never go to the stairs. The stairs have a different "moment of frequency" (they swing separately from the main part
of the building). The stairs and remainder of the building continuously bump into each other until structural failure
of the stairs takes place. The people who get on stairs before they fail are chopped up by the stair treads - horribly
mutilated. Even if the building doesn't collapse, stay away from the stairs. The stairs are a likely part of the building
to be damaged. Even if the stairs are not collapsed by the earthquake, they may collapse later when overloaded by fleeing
people. They should always be checked for safety, even when the rest of the building is not damaged.
8) Get Near the Outer Walls Of Buildings Or Outside Of Them If Possible. It is much better to be near the outside of the
building rather than the interior. The farther inside you are from the outside perimeter of the building the greater the
probability that your escape route will be blocked.
9) People inside of their vehicles are crushed when the road above falls in an earthquake and crushes their vehicles;
which is exactly what happened with the slabs between the decks of the Nimitz Freeway. The victims of the San Francisco
earthquake all stayed inside of their vehicles. They were all killed. They could have easily survived by getting out and
sitting or lying next to their vehicles, says the author. Everyone killed would have survived if they had been able to
get out of their cars and sit or lie next to them. All the crushed cars had voids 3 feet high next to them, except for
the cars that had columns fall directly across them.
10) I discovered, while crawling inside of collapsed newspaper offices and other offices with a lot of paper, that paper
does not compact. Large voids are found surrounding stacks of paper.
These comments by Colin Powell and Joe Biden were made on the same day in October this year.
Please email me (host at breadwithcircus dot com) if you know what they're talking about.
All hell, or at least a little part of it, has broken loose in Ottawa and Canadians
are all riled up. We're hearing our Prime Minister go into full attack mode, manufacturing a
unity crisis where there need not be one. There is a lot of noise and bluster, but I think
that we've lost sight of the issue that put us here.
Ignore the red herrings. The issue is that the Conservative Party has lost its mandate to govern.
A little reminder now about the way things are supposed to work. When Canadians vote, they vote to
elect a local MP, not the broader government. Add all 308 MP's together and you've got a House of
Commons. Whichever political party or collection of political parties has the support of the majority
of MP's in the House makes up the government, because in order to pass legislation, you have to win votes.
The issue at hand is that Stephen Harper's Conservatives have lost the confidence of the House of Commons.
They can't win a vote, which means that they can't pass legislation, which means that they can't
be the government.
The Prime Minister's rhetoric is designed to get you all worked up emotionally. By talking about
treason and sedition, invoking the image of evil separatists legislating the breakup of the country,
or evil socialists running the treasury, Harper is obfuscating the real issue and playing the fear card.
This is cynical, divisive, and shameful.
In order to survive, Harper needs to make a deal with one of the other parties. This has worked for him
in the past. In the previous session of parliament, Harper passed legislation with the support of
the same separatist bloc that he is now demonizing. Harper is going to need their support again if he
is to govern, but given the way that he has burned all his bridges, that seems very unlikely to happen.
In the last election, just eight weeks or so ago, Canadians elected a minority parliament. A minority
parliament is dependent upon a coalition (at least informally) among different parties in order to function.
What we need is a block of MP's capable of getting 155 votes on any given issue. They can "prorogue" or
delay parliament from taking any votes but that is a measure designed solely to buy time for the Conservative
propaganda machine to try to scare the hell out of you. Don't forget what the real issue is here. The Conservatives
are incapable of governing. We really ought to see if any other combination of elected MP's is up to the task.
I didn't see this coming at all. It looks as if the parties of Canada's divided-majority left (Liberal Party,
Bloc Quebecois and New Democratic Party) are about to join forces and defeat Stephen Harper's Conservative
minority government. Personally, I'm excited about this prospect. The proposed coalition could be the most
representative government of my lifetime, it could perhaps be the most democratic government in Canadian history.
The coalition government's survival would depend upon appealing to the differing interests of the three parties
involved. This would be good for democracy as the interests of a greater number of Canadians are represented.
The coalition would be forced to act in good faith with measured compromises and political accommodation. Though
Stephen Harper may have failed to understand it, this is how a minority parliament is supposed to work.
Let's look at this by the numbers.
Seats
Stephen Harper's Conservatives - 143
Coalition Parties - 163
Seats by %
Stephen Harper's Conservatives - 46
Coalition Parties - 53
Popular Vote Share by %
Stephen Harper's Conservatives - 38
Coalition Parties - 55*
*does not include the 8% who voted for the Green party.
The Conservative talking points are calling what is happening a coup, but that's nonsense, particularly if you
look at the raw data and have an understanding of the way parliamentary democracy is supposed to work.
Whoever controls the House of Commons makes up the government. Harper failed to win a majority of the house in
the last election so the opposition has the right to govern. The Conservatives should have known that their
survival depended upon appealing to at least one of the other three parties. Harper, however, has behaved as
if he didn't need to compromise. Perhaps he didn't believe that the opposition would ever be able to put aside
their egos or have enough of a spine to stand up to him. Regardless, Harper acted like an autocrat and now he'll
pay the price for it. The nearly two-thirds of Canadians who did not vote for the Conservative Party will be
represented in government if the proposed coalition takes power. It is all up to the Governor General now.
I hope that her decision is one that best serves the will of the people.
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