Foresight for Forerunners

The Story:
“It is highly probable that Russia’s continental shelf resources may enlarge by 1.2 million square kilometers outside the 200-mile economic zone in the Arctic Ocean. That area may contain 9-10 billion tons of energy resources,” said Natural Resources Ministry’s Institute of World Ocean Geology and Mineral Resources Director Prof. Valery Kamensky.

The Comment:
Everyone is jocking for position in the battle for control of the greatest field of resources to be harvested in this century. The arctic may contain 25% of the world energy resources. These are new resources, yet to be tapped. The oil companies and the Peak Oil promoters claim they haven’t found any new oil in 25 years. Oddly enough they don’t include the oil found off the coast of Brazil estimated to be as much as in Saudi Arabia (a lot), or the heavy oil of Canada (a very lot), or what they are expected to find in the Arctic (a ton).

It is odd that they don’t include ANY of the new finds and still base their peak theory only on existing reserves which by-the-way are project to last for another 100 years in some cases. Furthermore, when investigating the sources of the data that support the Peak Oil theory, I could only find oil company source data. There is NO independent data available. Apparently, only the oil companies know for sure how much oil they have available to them, and they don’t let others do independent research on their reserves.

I am not suggesting that the oil companies are lying to us, but I am saying that the mouse is clearly in charge of the cheese.

Here is a question that needs answering. Everyone knows how outrageously profitable the oil business is, yet they haven’t built a single refinery in 20+ years. They also don’t seem to concerned about finding more oil. So it would appear that they are not reinvesting in this very profitable business. Instead they are taking all the profits and doing something else with them. So why???

I laugh and cry when the daily news asserts that “prices climbed to record highs today on concerns about supplies or refining capabilities.” But the thing that makes me the most mad is the common attitude that if you question the peak oil theory you are either an idiot or an enemy of humanity. The corporate owned media is brainwashing the entire population into thinking that if you challenge their story, you must be minimized. The most diabolic thing is that the people who reject legitimate discussion on the topic are those who are promoted as rationale and progressive by the establishment.

The thought control is evident in a few other areas such as the theory of evolution verses intelligent design(see the film Expelled), and Global Warming. Where are the forerunners and boat rockers who don’t mind asking the tough questions.

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The Story:

By Barbara Lewis
LONDON (Reuters)
Speaking about the increasing price of oil:

QUOTE: ……Investors have been drawn in by a weak U.S. currency, which has made dollar-denominated commodities relatively cheap for holders of other currencies.

Speaking to Reuters during a visit to Venezuela, OPEC Secretary General Abdullah al-Badri said the soft dollar was one of the factors that could keep pushing oil higher.

Tanker tracker Petrologistics said on Wednesday OPEC’s oil output in May had risen by 700,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared with April.

Extra OPEC crude has had little impact as the market has instead focused on short-term refinery problems, which are symptomatic of chronic underinvestment.

The Comments

It is clear from these reports that prices have NOT been established by supply and demand. Wealthy investors are using commodities as hedges against the devaluating US dollar. You can’t read that in the major media because they defend the system. They defend the system, because it is a system developed by and promoted by large corporations. In fact any questioning of the system is considered blasphemy, which is punished and that has quieted a lot of intelligent and knowledgeable people.

There has not been an increase in fuel consumption by 12% this year, nor has there been a 12% decrease in supply, so what justifies a 12% increase in the price? The Answer: nothing! The markets are not free, they are distorted significantly by speculators who know that the consumer has few if any alternatives. With the consumer up against the proverbial wall, speculators have driven the price up regardless of supply and demand ratios.

Oil supplies have increased and consumption is at its lowest in the year, yet prices have increased dramatically. Price increases are justified by paper thin excuses over fears of supply problems. Even when those fears never materialize, the prices continues to increase and the medias continues to defend the system and its abuses. They assert that the problem is OPEC, which keeps people from pointing their finger at the real problems and demanding the government does something about them.

Governments have not protected the consumer from the abuses of the system. They have failed not because they didn’t know what was happening. The housing crisis was a disaster waiting to happen and the government did nothing. It has effectively transfered the wealth of millions of citizens to the wealthy, turning the country into a labor camp.

If the markets were truly free, then they would reflect the actual price a consumer was willing to pay for a product. The fact that this week 84% of Americans had concerns about the economy and high energy prices, indicates that the market does not reflect the consumer’s willingness to pay the price the market is dictating. Furthermore, it is not just the US which is bidding for world oil. Countries with far weaker currencies should effectively lower prices if it was market driven. The markets are far from free. They are being manipulated by speculators who are holding the entire world hostage and extorting from them their life blood.

The idea that markets can operate freely is idealism in this present world. General Motors has more revenue than the majority of countries in the world. When there are corporations with the financial capacity to dominate markets there is no hope of truly free markets. The consumer becomes the victim of extortion. In the case of food, people go hungry, become weak and sick, and even die in third world countries, because of market speculators and the irrational defense of the myth of free markets. There is something wrong with a system that can destroy lives and kill people in the name of profit?

Paul Weigel

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The Stories:

April foreclosures rise 65 percent on year:

Wed May 14, 2008 3:28pm EDT (Reuters) “The total number of U.S. properties with foreclosure activity in April was the highest monthly total we’ve seen since we began issuing the report in January 2005,” James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a statement.

In March, home foreclosure filings had risen 5 percent from February.

The surge in foreclosures indicates an increasing number of homeowners are struggling to make mortgage payments amid the worst U.S. housing market downturn since the Great Depression.

Tame April price rise eases inflation worry

The Story: Patients taking beta blockers, the cornerstone of treatment for heart disease since the 1970s, are a third more likely to die within a month of surgery and twice as likely to suffer a stroke, a study found.

Dr P.J. Devereaux, a cardiologist and epidemiologist at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, who led the research, said the drugs had cost more lives than they had saved and their use in surgery patients was based on inadequate research. Guidelines established in 1996 by the American College of Cardiology recommend that beta blockers be used in all operations, except those on the heart. The advice was adopted worldwide but Dr Devereaux claimed that the guidelines were based on the findings of two small studies.

The Comment: Dr. Devereaux is exactly the kind of person we need in the medical profession and every profession and industry in society. People who are not intimidated by big companies throwing their weight and money around. They don’t give up when they feel the truth has been swept under the carpet in order to serve just some people’s interest. Devereaux is a prime example of a forerunner, and I think he should be honoured for his work on behalf of the people. What do you think?

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More Story here:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/1952818/
Betablockers-’have-caused-800,000-deaths’.html

The Story:
Diebold Machines Miscount New Hampshire Primary New Hampshire’s 2008 primary election used Diebold “Accu-Vote” machines to scan and count 80% of the votes. These are the same machines that were hacked by the famous Finnish hacker Harri Hursti in “Hacking Democracy”. The hand recount of New Hampshire’s paper ballots has already revealed unexplained machine miscounts (huge disparities) in Hillsborough County, NH:

Wilton district = 10.6% miscounted by machines

Nashua, Ward 5 = 4.9% miscounted by machines

New Ipswich = 7.5% miscounted by machines

Manchester, Ward 5 = 10.6% miscounted by machines

The New Hampshire statewide hand recount was begun by Democrat candidate Dennis Kucinich and Republican candidate Albert Howard amid “serious and credible reports, allegations and rumors about the integrity of Tuesday’s results”

Follow the story on Bev Harris’ BlackBoxVoting forums, and atBradBlog

The Comment:

Bruce Cockburn got it right in his song “And They Call it Democracy”.
This line says it all:

Kiss the hands, Shake hands with the fellas,
And they ‘re open for business like a cheap bordello
And They Call It Democracy.

Bruce Cockburn – And They Call It Democracy

Probably the most important film made about democracy in the USA is ‘Hacking Democracy”. If you ever wondered how far people will go, this film will reveal a new benchmark in the human tension between good and evil. I think the evidence is more than sufficient to demand an indictment verdict. The question now is, who is responsible for this treason. For more information on the film “Hacking Democracy” see another Forerunner Project (films by and for Forerunners) web site at www.theforerunnerproject.com/films

New Developments

Election Workers Sentenced for Fraud (Fox 8, Cleveland) A grand jury indicted three Cuyahoga county elections workers, and earlier this year, a jury convicted two of them – Jacqueline Maiden and Kathy Dreamer. Watch the video

Elections Workers Get 18 Months For Rigging 2004 Recount (newsnet5.com & Associated Press) Two election workers in Ohio’s most populous county were sentenced Tuesday to 18 months in prison for rigging the 2004 presidential election recount so they could avoid a more thorough review of the votes. Details & video.

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Greed behind food price rises: development bank head

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