This has been a tough year for Americans. I love the American people, they are the most can-do folks in the world. Their Government yuk. They were staunch isolationists during the 1930s and unsure because everything was in flux. The Republicans, the banks and Wall St. had engineered a financial meltdown of 29 because Washington had allowed the Street to put too many sheep on the common. Bush, the Republicans, the banks and Wall St. repeated the performance beginning in 2000 when they removed the monetary restraints [ Glass - Steagall Act ] put in place in 1933 to prevent another 29 crash. It is a little like passing a law requiring each ship to have enough lifeboats to accomodate every passenger on board in the event of a tragedy. Bush / Republicans removed all the US lifeboats because the banks and Wall St. said WE CAN MAKE MORE MONEY IF WE DON’T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THIS LIFEBOAT THING. And the Streeters slipped Bush and the Republicans a few bob to help them make up their minds. This criminal activity involving worthless paper on the part of the political right was spread to Europe in the form of quaranteed investment certificates stamped with AAA by the US rating agencies [ Moody's, Fitch and Standard & poor's ] which are an extention of a corrupt Government in Washington. The Street paid to get those AAA ratings, crap or not. The rating agencies thern slipped those in charge of the Street a few more bob for good measure. I feel sorry for the Europeans, they were taken in by the Yankee traders and the US banks and Wall St. that gamed the EU. England which was always wary of the EU had a relationship with the Union but kept its’ own currency. This holding back was crucial. By pulling back from the EU PM David Cameron has provided England with an emergency escape hatch not available to the other European nations. He is best suited to live to fight another day and in the doing England is a far more valuable ally to the EU by being in a position of strength and at arms length for a debauched Wall St. PM Cameron is being lauded at home and villified in North America. The US right was quite happy to see England contribute to the bailout of Greece and the like. Making the bailout pot bigger would allow them to make even more money gaming the situation. British cash is now out of reach. In trying to come to grips with the fact that Alberta has lost its’ nat. gas and oil markets I tried to look down the road at the options. Contrary to what the politicians and the media said the Keystone people were just going to take [ steal ] bitumen out of the Province for a song and refine it in Texas. I have written many times [ in the old days I wrote letters, every one of them unanswered ] about creating a cross Canada electrical grid [ like the USA ] and sending surplus hydro KWs from Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario and Ontario to the tar sands. This is a made-in-Canada solution that would lower CO2 emissions immediately and lower all energy costs to Canadians at the same time. With David Cameron’s name in the papers every day he made it onto my screen. Hereabouts my England is being portrayed by the right press as a poor EU castoff that will slowly sink below the waves. Bullshit. The US streeters will say anything that brings them a buck. I hope my distant Countrymen and women don’t believe this trash talk, its’ pure hokum. I have suggested to Albertans that their new market for nat. gas and oil lies east aboard the Twin Beaver Pipelines to Toronto, Montreal and the Maritimes. There’s a market of 23 million Canadians down here who actually have the ability to PAY THEIR BILLS. A one customer business is not a bright idea as exemplified by Alberta. Having been in business for 50 years I would never set up to accomodate only one customer no matter how sweet the deal. It struck me that England is the the world customer for Alberta’s nat. gas and oil surplus. First the eastern market should be satisfied then Britain. Now I don’t see that as a problem. Using Churchill Man., a deep water port, for an oil tank farm and a LNG terminal would allow for a resource holding area to smooth supply. England is watching North Sea gas reserves diminish and their only other sources of nat. gas are Norway, Algieria and Russia. The last two are unreliable suppliers. So a secure supply of nat. gas and oil from Alberta would be welcomed by the Brits I am sure. England is not a lost little island. Teaming up with Canada, Alberta nat. gas / oil, our natural resourses, their advanced Green technology, our /their manufacturing and cooperation on the financial front between the London, Toronto and Montreal Stock Exchanges coupled with a market of almost 100 million people is a winner in a wounded world. In terms of Canada coming through the financial meltdown we have former PM Jean Chretien to thank. He brought our fiscal situation back into balance and there was money in the kitty. OUR own banks were screaming for deregulation and the repeal of those measures [ like the US Glass Steagall Act ] that limited their activities. Chretien would not bow. If a bank granted a mortgage IT STAYED ON THEIR BOOKS. Any investment instuments had to be backed up by generous reserves. Meaning if a certificate went sour the investor got his / her money back. There were no wholesale forclosures in Canada and the value of real estate hardly dipped. Even though our exports were reduced due to the inability of people in some countries to buy our goods. This Country is fortunate in that our large land mass, a variety of environments which ensures a wide range of outputs, fruit from BC, Niagara and the Maritimes, oil /gas / coal in Saskatchewan and Alberta, limitless hydro in Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and BC, wind in Newfoundland, PEI, the Gaspe, Pincher Creek and BC, tidal power in the Maritimes and BC, wood in BC, northern Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes, grain on the Prairies and minerals in Northern Ontario and the territories. And to consume these we have a population 0f 34 million people, a critical mass. Any surpluses of course are export bound but we do not live or die based on exports like many other countries. With the new energy alignment of the provinces that I have suggested we would be the lowest cost energy nation on the planet. Even if an economy slows it is the businesses that are well disciplined, cost efficient and customer oriented that survive. It has been my experience, having lived through tough times that one can even expand a well run business in a recession because competion falls by the wayside. Their customers have to go somewhere even if they are not spending as much money each. Another story that fits, I love telling stories. Raglan Industries in north Oshawa has been in business for maybe 40 years or more. It is run by a family, the dad started a small welding business that grew. I think there are at least 4 sons, girls I don’t know. The company has grown to the point where among other things they produce trailers and dump bodies. When you drive around Ontario you will see many a dump truck with mud flaps that say Raglan. I always used to do business with Robert when I needed steel structures, welding and raw metal. In front of the welding shop there were always lawn mowers, tent frames, lawn furniture and the like. One day I asked Robert why they bothered with all of this penny ante stuff when they were manufacturing truck bodies at $ 25,000 a copy. He said the cash and carry welding jobs of which there was a steady stream had kept Raglan in business during downturns. This cash money kept the fires alive. How many businesses think that way to-day??? Robert’s father was older than me. We were both affected by the great depression. My Dad had a job throughout the 1930s, we had a little house and food on the table. Sometimes his employer, the Easy Washing Machine Co. would pay their workers with stock. The overhang of the depression has never left me and I never wanted to do that again. Bush, the Republicans, the banks and Wall St. had no experience with those tough times and were not interested in the possible effects on the general population. Their’s were CLOSED RIGHT MINDS. But my self sufficient and cautious approach has stood this family in good stead. My 3 kids are chips off the old block. They are doing very well thank you. The reason Canada’s economy is getting shaky can be laid at the doorstep of Herr Harper. To begin with the Fuhrer gave away our cash surplus position to his friends in all manner of tax cuts. Now he is reducing the size of Government other that his Gestapo and his Propaganda Ministry which now numbers 1300 no thinkers and climbing. Harper is cutting programs and reducing Ottawa’s responsibility in medicare. He is leading an assault on unions. He is killing Government involvement in a variety of areas and as a result anyone can own a gun without authorities knowing about it [ how USA ] and small farmers will be able to sell their grain to any one of the three giant American food conglomerates. Harper has turned one group against another. He has disparaged the arts and galas, mounted attacks on the CBC, CRTC, Auditor General, Can. Nuclear Safety Comm, Elections Can., Can. Wheat Board, Provincial Securities Comm. His dinosaurs are leaning on, gays, pro choicers, newcomers, enviromentalists and the Green movement. Just to name a few. If that wasn’t enough Herr Harper has threatened the provinces with lower medicare grants, going back on his 6% per annum promise at election time. Do we want a half mad oil cartel employee like Harper tearing the guts out of this Country??? So to my Canadian readers it is decision time. Do we seize the opportunity in these difficult times to build a better Canada based on all of the resources and skills at hand or do we allow Harper and his Fascist Government to remake us in the image of California, broke and ungovernable. Call your Facist / Conservative MP and raise hell. If your MP is one of Harper’s trained seals then buy memberships in the Conservative Party to organize an anti Harper element within. Then take over your local riding association. Such an occupation would bear results. If we can get 25 true PC MPs to cross the floor, then the Government is toast. You can use Harper’s own rules against him. Raise a glass. We already have our first floor crosser, Conservative MP Peter Goldring will sit as an independent MP when Parliament resumes. Harper’s slim majority just lost a little weight. If you try to take over Harper’s riding associations his only defense will be to call in Tim Powers and his Gestapo. They’ll come knocking on your door in the night as you might expect from a totalitarian regime. Remember I AM A TORY. In all of my travels within the PC Party in Ontario I have never encountered so many on the rabid right. They are sprouting up all over the place. What we are facing is private army of adherents on the right paid by big oil like Hitler’s Brownshirts. Accepting Republican hard elbow tactics up here is just a little too much for me. I say to all of the oil execs, American draft dodgers [ Tom Flanagan ] and Republicans in Calgary who are stripping the wealth out of Alberta, go home and take Harper and Pastor Manning with you.
Short Shots.
HERR HARPER ASKS FORMER PM JEAN CHRETIEN TO GIVE BACK THE $ 200,000 JUDGEMENT — You know, I might think about that request but first. I want that crook Brian Mulroney to give back the $ 2.1 million of taxpayer’s money he got based on perjured testimony in a lawsuit he brought against Canada. This is the guy who was taking cash under the table when he was Prime Mimister. Mulroney is beneath contempt and a liar as well, just like Harper. My other requirement before we deal with Jean Chretien award is that Herr Harper give back the tens of millions of dollars he has gotten under the table from the US oil cartel.
HARPER DOESN’T LIKE THE CBC, HASN’T DONE SO FOR 30 YEARS — So why doesn’t Steve come right out and make the case HIMSELF. He doesn’t have the balls to address all these issues like a man. He always gets someone else to do his dirty work . Many of these flunkies are then hung out to dry. Where does Harper find so many people willing to fall on their swords for him??? My take on the recent attacks on the CBC is that Harper organized the hits then hid. This campaign included Pierre Peladeau who is hoping to get a special licence through the PeeM that will require every Canadian to subcribe to his failed Sun TV. Hitler did the same thing. Germans had to buy a special one station radio for $ 35. Your SunTV receiver won’t have a tuner on it. The use of any other receiver by a German meant death. Ezra LeRant was the chief screamer at the Sun pushing the CBC situation. Various brainless Conservative MPs were ordered to keep up the assault on the CBC in Parliament. As were the Nat. Post and the Tor. Sun. However, way too late did the Neanderthals in the PMO find out that Canadians love their CBC and the roof fell in. Steve probably said, ” oh shit “, and he bade his whole crew to start to backpedaling like crazy. Minister James Moore was designated as the fool-for-a-day to pull Harper’s chesnuts [ with the emphasis on nuts ] out of the fire. Moore said he loved the CBC [ a lie ]. He said the CBC would get even more money next year [ a lie ]. It was the old switcheroony. Harper makes a mistake [ often ], he never apologizes, he lies and then changes the subject or confuses the issue. This is what comes from living in the land of wishful thinking. Harper is king in that land did you know. That is why the PeeM make so many boo boos. Earth to Harper, earth to Harper, the CBC is the only media outlet in the Country that tells the truth. Therefore it is of SOME USE to Canadians. On the other hand the Post and Sun provide the perfect wrapping paper for fish and chips.
ANDREW COYNE HAS MOVED TO THE USA NATIONAL POST / I WISH HIM WELL AS NEWSPAPERS WALK OFF INTO THE SUNSET / ANDREW * MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR CHEQUE — When Andrew was born I was already a minor PC worker in Pickering. When he was 8 I was writing two historicals columns for local papers. One I called, ” Pickering’s Past “. When Coyne left public school I was serving as a Pickering Councillor. At the time Andrew left university I was writing what would eventually number 150 columns for the Canadian Pilots and Owners News. ” Technically Speaking “, was one. I worked for the PCs from 1960 to the retirement of Bill Davis in 1985. When Frank Miller became Premier our Party made like toast. Ontario was not ready for the hard right and that remains true to this day. One thing about the right in Ontario who think Republican nonsense is that no matter how many times their lunkheaded ideological approach fails they immediately come back and do it all over again. Look at the PCs under John Tory and Tim Hudak. The best years for Ontario started after the War and lasted up to 1985 for two reasons. Hydro power and a business like attitude in the Tory Party coupled with a social concience. We took an interest in the welfare of the WHOLE CITIZENRY BUT WE WERE DEDICATED TO MAKING THE MONEY FIRST WITHOUT IMPOSING RUINOUS TAXES. So the drill was to make the lives of Ontarians better while keeping a credit balance and generating income in every way possible beyond taxes. Since that time Ontario Governments have never been able to rediscover that balance. Added to the woes of Peterson, Rae, Harris, Eves and McGuinty was the fact that the nukies had destroyed our electrical system and as a result they destroyed Ontario’s economy. Even to this day it is a secret still kept from the people here, especially by the Star. Back in my day we operated in the real world and called em the way we saw em. To-day’s journalists like Coyne observe the passing scene and then twist the subject matter to pay homage to the cult of the status quo. The 20%ers are spending millions trying to hold back the hands of time at our expense. The media, especially the press is dying because their copy is largely irrelevant, of little use to the rank and file and more importantly of no use to the young. We have just had a display of the financial power of the 20%ers with the promotion of the Keystone project. A half dozen lies were repeated over and over by the bought media and almost every right wing politician. TransNotCanada was so cock sure. They had puchased the required pipe from India [ thus creating hundreds of good paying North American jobs *** RIGHT ] and they had paid off Washington and Ottawa. In the end the people or little people as Barb Amiel calls us said NO. Those involved in trying to steal Alberta’s bitument were floored by the failure of their hugely expensive campaign. The US oil cartel still can’t come to grips with this defeat. Spreading such a load of cash around in the past has always brought them what they desired most, friendly governments and dirt cheap resources with no responsibilities for the environment attached. Keystone may well be a tipping point in terms of finally driving a knife through the heart of the press. Andew Coyne and his compariots are doomed. Their jobs are defined as writing about the land of wishful thinking and for this they get a pay cheque. The rest of us live in the real world and the majority now seek valid information and guidance as to what is coming down the track. To survive we all need the best / verifiable information possible. Roald Amundsen reach the South Pole in 1911. He is quoted as saying something like, meticulous planning was crucial, the greatest factor was the way the expedition was equipped, every possible difficultly was considered, precautions were taken to meet problems or avoid them if possible. Amundsen brought to the expedition years of Arctic experience. His, sounds like the real world to me, not the land where the wishful thinkers like Herr Harper dwell. Coyne could not write the things I write. Andrew, if he did copy me he’d be out of work tout de suite. If he continues to write Government / advertiser spin as he does now he’ll be out of work shortly. Mind, he will have just enought time to put his financial house in order and then apply for a job at McDonalds.
THE WORLD MOVES EVER CLOSER TO CLEANER AIR AND CLEANER / CHEAPER ENERGY — President Obama has just announced the final rule regarding emissions from coal fired generating plants. Of course the Republicans and many of the private electrical companies are crying foul. Would we expect anything less from the members of the flat earth society. I have been pushing for clean coal technology to be installed at Ontario’s coal plants for years but OPG won’t do it. They don’t want any competition for their nukes, no clean coal, no wind and no hydro electricity. Isn’t it interesting that the nukies get to decide what is good for us but we still pay all the bills. I say, no say, no pay. This is the main reason King Charles 1 of England lost his head [ 1649 ]. The people said if we pay taxes we want some say. Charlie said,” you will pay but you’ll not HAVE ANY SAY “. If Ontario pursued clean coal technology, already an established process we could sell that technology to the world market. Back when I first proposed this the American electric companies were resisting cleaning up. Sounds liike the US oil cartel doesn’t it. We had a chance to seize that moment, reequip our coal plants and reap the rewards. But no, the nukies rule the roost from 700 University Ave.. Mike Harris failed to seize the moment in 2000 to fix the electrical system. McGuinty failed in the same way, 2003 to 2011. Now under this new Obama rule coal plants will move forward in that Country and develop clean coal technology. And once again Ontario will snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. OPG is so desparate for back up generating capacity to cover the shaky nukes that they are now proposing to convert one of our coal plant to burn biomass. Do you know what biomass is??? I thought not. It is wood, a fuel that emits CO2. We have 27,000 MWs of Green / clean / cheap hydro electricity installed or potential and these stupid bastard are going to BURN WOOD. Wood to-day is only used at cottages and in show fireplaces in some homes. There is now a shortage of wood for the present market. McGuinty’s expensive nukie KWs have killed the lumber industry in Northern Ontario so there is no excess of waste wood. We have so much hydro electricity that we could close all the nuclear / coal / nat. gas plants in the Province within 5 years. Can you believe ALL OF THEM LONG GONE. McGuinty won’t tackle the nukies, they gave him a house after all. The Liberal party machine won’t make a waves because so many of them are making big bucks gaming the system. And the Lib / PC MPPs are not going to raise finger because they got you figured for patsies. This electrical system gets crazier by the minute and that process will continue as long as you spend your time sitting on your hands and keeping quiet.
THE MELANCTHON QUARRY — Is just another example of the Americans up here trying to steal our resourses to solve their insolvency. The Yanks are hurting for money bigtime and they are going to grab it any way they can. we are faced with grabs all across the Country. Keystone was a grab for bitument. In Northern Ontario they want to grab chromite and process it offshore. They want our gravel and water and on and on. The standard proceedure is to buy off the politicians and the ad media. Sneak up on the public and then when all hell breaks loose start playing dierty tricks. In 1987 GM got a $ 100 million interest free loan from Quebec to build a new paint plant. Although that plant has been demolished Generous Motors has never paid back that money. Pay the electeds enough money and the Yanks could steal the crown jewels. The big deal with the tar sands as far as the world is concerned is the CO2 and the filth the US oil cartel is spreading across the countryside. There is already a small tar sands operation Stateside that doesn’t emit huge clouds of CO2 and recycles the water used. It has to operate clean due to EPA regs. How come the US oil cartel is allowed to despoil Northern Alberta with impunity??? I’ll answer my own question. Just buy a Steve Harper, pay for his electioneering, pay for the cost of his party’s operation, pay for attack ads and voila. Tar sands filth with no end in sight. In terms of members of McGuinty’s inner circle gaming the proposed quarry it is just another example of money buys you everything. Big Energy and Big Business must think they have died and arrived in Heaven. So many politicans are prepared to take bribes to-day to okay almost anything. But there is alway one destination in all of these adventures, the pockets of the people. In many areas of the States you can no longer put in a quarry. They destroy the water table among other things. Water is in such short supply Stateside gravel pits are outlawed. What they do for gravel is grind up rocks. Portable grinders move to an area. Loaders drop rocks on to a conveyor which shakes out the dirt. It take a lot of electricity to run the portable grinders but in California / Washington State particularly there are loads of Green / clean / cheap hydro electricity and plenty of bolders left from the last ice age. Why not in Ontario? We have tons and tons and tons of rocks left over from the ice age too. When I am digging at the cottage Mabs say all she hears is clanging. And we have tons and tons and tons of hydro electricity too in Ontario. Hydro to provide cheap lights, hydro to send to the tar sands and hydro to make gravel [ any size you want ] [ much cheaper / cleaner than a quarry ]. But McGuinty and the nukies won’t let us use our hydro resources. And Johnny Spears and the Star will never tell you about the happy hydro story. Johnny and John Honderich have been bought too. With the Keystone project there was a big confrontation,unnecessary, yet the solution is within reach. With the proposed quarry there was another big confrontation, unnecessary and yet the solution is sitting right there staring us in the face. One simple problem, politicans are paid to ignore us, the present of a house buys a lot of loyalty. Politicians then pay the ad media to keep us at bay. Solution, replace the dishonest politicians. Stop supporting newspapers. It is ridiculous to pay the wages of the very media whose hands clutch us by the throats and do so for money. JUST FOR MONEY. THE NEW YORK TIME IS GOING OUT OF BUSINESS / AND PROPERLY SO / WHEN AMERICA NEEDED THE NYT MOST THE PAPER WENT AWOL — When Bush, the Republicans, the banks and Wall St. drove a stake through America’s heart the NYT stood silently by. While claiming to represent the people the Times was too much of an insider to blow the whistle. All it would have taken to sound the alarm is have a David Brooks, Maureen Dowd, Thomas L. Friedman or the others stand up for the USA. And have a Times management with the spine to print such a warning. I am afraid alas it was a rescue mission too far. The States is a Country of individuals where people are allowed to do as they please. Down there you can own a gun and it is nobody else’s business. You can call people beneath your station names and pay no price. You can have religious beliefs and prejudices, gather together those of like mind and force your views on the majority without regard to the democratic process. Any attempt by Washington to assist vulnerable people is branded socialism. It is where Government is seen as the major impediment to greed and the private pursuit of personal wealth. Well the chickens have all come home to roost. In 2000 Americans needed a strong Government to stop the white / right / rich 20% from flooding the common with to many sheep. Now the grass is all gone. The little people are up against the wall with no relief in sight. Many of those who were supposed to be on sentry duty like the NYT are also being pulled down by the undertow. Much to their suprise. And apparently, still to this very day David, Maureen and Tom haven’t figured out what went so badly wrong. Their failing was not to see that rugged individualism and the attendant far right ideology are not compatible with a democratic system. In the end the whole citizenry has to trust the people’s will. Parade you ideas and ideology as much as you like but in the end once a fair vote has been taken everyone has to live with it, no exceptions. The anti abortionists have never been able to garner more than 20% voter support in Canada. So we have to make a choice. Either we want a democracy with all the benefits such a system brings. Or we are governed by special interests groups. It seems to me that is what we had hundreds of years ago and our democracy emerged out of that turmoil. America has gone back to the past. Read history and you will see what Americans are in for, it aint pretty. In Rome, from 280 to 335 AD there were 50 emperors, like real stable. That particular period was the making of the end of the empire. Too much money had been spent on warring, there was little work, people were starving, the army wasn’t being paid and the Visigoths were at the gate. Those in control fought for power, one group against another with no regard for the larger population. Once an emperor was installed those opposing elements killed him. But Americans have a reputation for living in the land of wishful thinking. They hold up their Constitution but don’t live by it. Most countries in the world have very lax laws and consequently that defines life for them. In the USA there are fine laws on the books which would under normal circumstances never allow for the present financial crisis. But those fine laws are not adhered to so what you get is a society no better than a banana republic.
NYT / JANUARY 1 / 12 / COMMENT BY KEVIN DELANEY / IGNORANT AND DISHONEST — This is a continuation of the above piece and the commentary herein prompted me to slam the NYT. If I have heard / seen it once I have heard / seen it a thousand times, ‘ the financial meltdown of 2008 /2009, was caused by people buying houses they could not afford “. This crock was orchestrated by the 20%ers to lay off the blame which was squarely on their shoulders. They paid a thousand scribes in the media to write / repeat this nonsense over and over again. Goebbel’s said,” if you repeat a lie often enough people will think it is the truth “. That is actually true. It worked for the Nazis, it worked for the 20 %ers, it worked for the Keystone people and it is working for Herr Harper. In all cases the telling of lies worked / works because of a subservient media, well paid but subservient still. I wonder about such people as the journoshills. How can one sell out the truth, friendship, love of Country and one’s own standards for a paycheque? It seemed to me that this kind of thing only infected the Germans in the 1930s. Just following orders they said. However this mindless / groupthink is alive and well in North America. The 20%ers have found a whole host of brainless scribes who have and continue to promulgate the land of wishful thinking. One example might be the media treatment of Conrad Black. A stranger to this Country, reading our newspapers for the first time would think Black was a leading citizen who holds the Order of Canada, a successful businessman, a publisher of merit, a noted author and newspaper columnist and general bon vivant who is going to have supper with George Jonas at their favourite Toronto haunt when he returns. Rather, Black is a convicted criminal, his Order of Canada is going the be taken away [ that is if he hasn't already paid off the committee responsible ], he wrecked every business he was ever involved in [ Conrad bought businesses or cheated the owners out of them, broke them into bits to sell off the assets or he stole company funds ], he started the National Post and wasted $ 210 million on it before it was sold, he has written various books about people who remind him of himself, Paul Godfrey gives Black a half page in the Post each week so he can show off his superiority, his kind side and a sort of look at me, such a nice guy am I. Conrad makes favourable mention of Herr Harper every chance he gets.. All this malarky is calculated to get him back onto our shores. A while back Black could not have his own way, left in a huff and denounced Canada. He bought British citizenship and his way into the House of Lords. This suited Barbara Amiel who was quote as saying, ” the little people should know their place “, when Conrad first fell afoul of the law. I cut her comments out of the paper and put it on my fridge. Black had been in my sights for years. He was a crook from day one and in 1985 the Ont. Securities Comm. had him up on 28 criminal charges. The Attorney General, Roy McMurtry at the time urged the OSC to proceed with charges. Rather they let Black off the hook. After that I never took the OSC seriously. It is just another group of insiders who looked after their own like the doctors and lawyers. This , ” little people “, babble from Barbara was quite enlightening. Amiel came for a questionable background in England, she was little people too. What the hell is this? I can only assume she is empty headed and overawed by the money even if it came from crime or cheating. My Mom was born in a jailer’s cottage outside the wall of Wandsworth Prison and my Dad south of the Barnes Train Bridge over the Thames. My Grandfather was a brick layer who worked on the London Subways. I’m little people and proud of it. The little people created England and Canada. Black is going to come out of Coleman Prison in Florida after serving his term. Immigration officials will take him into custody immediately as he is not an American citizen. He will be deported to England, his purchased home. In the mean time I would expect Black’s Order of Canada will have been withdrawn. I hope that he will be kicked out of the Lords because he is a convicted felon. Criminals are not granted Canadian citizenship under normal circumstances. The only exception is a Cabinet Order I understand. This is why Conrad keeps kissing Herr Harper’s ass almost every time he puts pen to paper. In terms of the media there are so many other fairy tales that have been told and are now being told by the media for money. I think the most current fairy tale is the Keystone project. The American Petroluem Assoc. announced a couple of months back that they would commit TO A HUGE MEDIA BUY TO PROMOTE THE PIPELINE. Now the APA was doing the dirty work for the US oil cartel just like Herr Harper does along with his hirelings. None of what was advertised, announced or written about the Keystone is true. I have already covered that story in previous posts. I latched on to this type of propaganda blitz with the Ontario nukies years ago. The media, especially the Toronto Star showed me just how successful the press could be fudging the facts for the Government and the nukies. A steady stream of false and misleading copy. If a problem occurred at a nuclear plant the word was mum. I have all such articles in my files. One thing the modern media doesn’t do is go back in time. The dots don’t get connected for a price. Harper can say something, reverse himself later and from the press never a murmur. When Black was brought to trial he was asked about coming back to Canada. His answer clued me in. That there was already a move to get him back in if he went down for the count. Again I started to clip articles. When APA said it would buy the media for the Keystone promotion I knew exactly what was in store , one side of the debate only. There would be no counter comment, nothing on the horizon but paid boosters. My only question was how many of our established journalist would fall under the spell [ cheque ] of the APA? I was surprised at how many of the known Canadian scribes started pimping for the Keystone. The cartel left nobody out. I was more surprised at the number of politicans, Gary Doer, Gordon Campbell, Brad Wall and others who bought into the fairy tale hook, line and sinker. This without even investigating the claims. Jeez, out of thousands and thousands of people who started to sing the Keystone song not one of them said,” hold on for a minute “. So it is with the white / right / rich 20% who are determined to avoid any blame for the 2008 /09 US trip over the cliff. Many of the nukie, Black and Keystone shills are double dipping on the melt down spin campaign. One being Kevin Delaney. We used to have investigative journalists. Nobody digs into nothing, these day. The writers of to-day specialize in copying propaganda for whoever is paying the bill. A lot of people made a lot of money screwing little Americans. Not one of them wants to admit involvement. So they pay big money to the ad media and their shill writers to continually muddy the waters. You would be amazed at the number of people in the street, on TV, in papers or magazines mouthing,” the whole mess was caused by people buying houses they could no afford “. Bush, the Republican, the banks, Wall St. and the media screwed the little Americans, bankrupted the US financial and then came cap in hand to Washington asking for taxpayer’s handouts. That is called a double screwing. Delaney’s piece in the NYT was written to provide a cover for all of those derelict subdivisions that people now see when they are driving around. Kevin Delaney says that building subdivision from on after the War was dream that was not sustainable and now the problems are evident. It was just a mistake of historyKevin say and this is the tragic result. Canada has had no such problems with subdivisions. We don’t have street after street of burned out houses that have been stripped, where the streetlights have been shut off and the police and firemen don’t visit anymore. I have never seen a single picture of any of the hundreds of US subdivisions that look like bombed out Beirut Lebanon in the media, not a magazine, paper or on TV. In 2006 such pictures were on the MLS network. I was ONLY TOLD about the carnage, called the Cleveland effect, MLS is a private network, not for the eyes of us little people. Thousands of real estate agents knew what was coming, as did politicans, government officials, bank employees, managers, mortgage brokers, lenders of all type and on and on. They were prepared to see their fellow Americans go to the wall as long as they themselves were making a buck. Apparently the USA elites practise a reverse of the good samaritan idea. Stateside, if someone falls by the wayside the 20%ers just ignore them. For Delaney a little lesson. I have been trying to instruct Johnny Spears of the Star about energy matters for years. When one is going to write for a national newspaper I would think one should know a little bit about the subject. But I have been proved wrong. Not knowing what one is writing about is a real plus, the politician, business or advertiser can say anything they want and they will not be challenged. Spears has made a lot of money for the Star not asking questions. It is at present an amazing business, newspapers. One is paid for not doing something. Like the private generators of electricity in Ontario, they oftentimes get paid for KWs they don’t generate. If Spears spilled the beans the public would be outraged. Kevin, people who don’t have money can’t buy a house under normal circumstances. Why would a bank lend to a person who isn’t creditworthy? Only, only, only if the bank could hand over the money but not suffer the consequences if repayment is not made. Now, how could such a thing happen? When I owned my appliance store I dealt with a finance company and had a floor plan. I bought display washers and dryer on terms. I paid a small amount of interest each month and had to eventually buy the machine outright. But I only ordered popular models and turned them over quickly. If a customer want to finance a machine they filled out the necessary forms. I HAD TO MAKE SURE THE FORMS WERE FILLED OUT PROPERLY BECAUSE IF NOT I WAS ON THE HOOK. If a customer lied on the form it was the responsibility of the finance company to take action. My practise was to just not make questionable deals, it was not worth the hassle. So now we come to the US mortgage subprime situation. Bush and the Republicans pulled ALL OF THE RESTRICTIONS OFF THE BANKS AND WALL ST. Investment money and depositors money could be mixed. One for the banks. This allowed the reduction of reserves. Two for the banks. Mortgages did not have to be carried on the bank’s book. Three for the banks. Mortages could be bundles together to create investment certificates to which fees could be easily added [ theft actually ]. So the investors did not have a piece of any one house but little bits of 100 houses. Four for the banks. These certificates returned an interest rate of about 7% as if related to an individual house where there was hard equity. It was the old bait and switch. Five for the banks. The rating agencies were paid by the banks to apply an AAA rating. Six for the banks. The lending institutions were putting questionable paper through but since the banks were not reponsible, how the forms were filled out was of little importance. Seven for the banks. In fact having to spend the time filling out forms slowed down the flow of mortgages, money flow and bonuses. Is the person actually breathing? Okay. Eight for the banks. To make even more money the banks opened with a teaser rate wherein the interest rate jumped by 4% in two years and they didn’t explain this to the suckers [ fellow Americans ]. This meant even more money for the banks. If the new owner could not pay the interest increase on the home the bank could alway foreclosed. It could then be sold for even more as house prices were always going to be going up were they not? Nine for the banks. This was not only living in the land of wishful thinking but a fools paradise. Thus the score stands 9 for the banks / nothing for Americans. A game played without rules wherein the Government didn’t tell 300 million people that all the rules had been removed and they were the ones being gamed [ just one of the prices to be paid by little people ]. With all of these bogus mortgages granted they easily constituted 20% or more of the housing market. Of all of the thousands of people from the top down who were in on this betrayal surely someone had second thoughts. What if there isa downturn in the housing market? In 2005 80% of the wealth in the US was in real estate? Kill real estate and you kill America. Anyone with half a brain, not even in real estate knows once the number of homes for sale reaches 20% in a hundred house subdivision the value of all of the homes is negatively affected. Even if the empty 20% are still spiffy. But the problem here is that once the slide started and the number of empty homes grew the point of no return was passed. And that is what has happened in the US. The housing market has been destroyed and will take years to climb out of the hole IF EVER. No matter the grave situation the Republicans continue to play childish games in Congress and across the countryside in the Republican primaries. Of course the media like the NYT continues to walk with blindfolds on. Business as usual. Kevin Delaney is ignorant of the subprime mess and therefore his copy should not be in the pages of the Paper. Or Kevin knows exactly what has been going on and he writing propaganda for money from the white / right / rich 20%. Under those circumstances Jill Abramson should have banned such a dishonest article. Most of those involved in the subprime stickup should face criminal charges. The NYT in my view is just covering up this wholesale theft. I saw Jill interviewed on the Charlie Rose Show. She also lives in the land of wishful thinking. I would like to say to her, lady, the dam went out some time ago. You are now wasting everyone’s time. I am a natural fix-it-guy. I follow Canadian affairs very closely. All of OUR problems have happy solutions if we can only get round the RIGHT ROADBLOCK. But in terms of the USA I am completely buffaloed. The Country is like a vase that has fallen 10 stories and smashed into a million pieces. What is the answer? Beats me. And the antics of the Republican leaders currently tells me that the search for the shattered pieces of the national vase and the criminal masterminds of the meltdown is still a ways off. With every passing day America’s heartbeat grows more feeble. The time may shortly come when consideration should be given to having a large monument erected in Arlington Cemetary to commemorate the death of a once great nation. I am sure the new rulers of the land will allow former Americans to visit such a memorial to remember and to think of what might have been.
Catch you next time — Ken www.ge-eman.com LAOCOON
