Flations

So what are all these "flations"
that people talk about?
it's plain that there's at least two sides
two sides that scream and shout

"deflation" screams Mish Shedlock
Puplava he says "no!
Inflation is the way of things
i'm rich so i should know"

We're common folk who walk the streets
and spend our hard earned cash
on things we need to live each day
so we should not be rash

Or take a risk on borrowing
when all could turn to shit
oh no we must be careful now
we're hording every bit

So when we hear "inflation" yelled
across the MSM
we're worried that our savings will
be worthless in the end

and when we hear "deflation"
we scratch our heads and think
the falling value of our house
is headed for the sink

don't tell me it's velocity
or credit we can spend
or talk of printing money
that is worthless in the end

the truth is that reality
has crept up from behind
while we were drunk on boundless oil
that anyone could find

as asset prices crash and burn
and milk and bread costs rise
the net effect is just the same
for us it's no surprise

if anything cost all our cash
it's value will decline
and anything we need to live
will climb and climb and climb

so take your stupid "flations"
and shove them where it's dark
the simple truth is that we're fucked
it's simple, true and stark



deflation as we have it now is where the value of everything most people possess goes down - which means the cost of everything you NEED can go up


a good read on why gold prices go up during deflation can be found on Paul Krugman's Blog


if you liked this you might also like "Fred and Bill"

Fred and Bill

first published: 07/13/2011 zerohedge.com

Fred said “Bill i think we’re fucked”
to which Bill asked “why so?”
“well”, Fred began (not in a rush)
“i can’t say that i know

but what i see when i look around
is freakin’ me fuckin’ out”
Bill, thought a bit and then replied
“so what’s this all about?”

“oh Bill this damned economy
just doesn’t make much sense
we all work and we pay our way
for little recompense

and every year it just gets worse
the news is always grim
there’s less and less employment
and the profits are so slim

and housing, what a fuckin’ mess
those thieving bankers wrought
has left most underwater
on any house they bought

and all those folks in Europe now
their leaders sold them out
the average workin’ family
there knows not what it’s about

and China, bloody China, look
it’s like a monster fire
a burnin’ all and everything
in a global funeral pyre

and all that carbon in the air
they say we’re gonna cook
and all the oil is runnin’ out
there’s nowhere left to look

and people, Bill the people -
there’s billions of us now
and millions more are born each day
who’ll feed them all and how?

i tell you Bill I’m in despair
i’m almost without hope
the future’s looking so so bad
i don’t know how i’ll cope”

Bill pondered for a while Fred’s words
with heavy heart and mind
he had to cheer his partner up
with gentle words and kind

“Fred, listen man it’s not so grim
there’s so much out there yet
the planets, well we’ll mine them too
and think of what we’ll get

remember Chris Columbus?
he found a brave new land
with oil and gold and silver to
so see and understand

the universe is infinite
it’s ours there just to take
there’s nothing that can stop us
there’s nothing we can’t make

some times are tough and some are good
we do the best we can
we bear the worst, enjoy the best
so lighten up ol’ man”

and Fred, he did, he swallowed it
and heaved a mighty sigh
a smile broke out upon his lips
he waved and said goodbye.

And as his best friend walked away
Bill, cried a bit inside
because you see our Bill he thought
to Fred he’d downright lied

“there’s no bright future for our race
we’re fucked and Fred was right
we’re so so fuckin’ stupid
that in the end we’ll fight

we’ll fight and kill in millions
we’ll drag our neighbors down
we’ll kill and steal and lie and cheat
and in our shit we’ll drown

the rich will party on and on
the poor will starve and die
the middle class will whither
and our mothers they will cry

we’re terminal our species
like beasts we are but worse
and all the beauty we create
adorns our funeral hearse.”

And as ol’ Bill did walk away
into the setting sun
the sound of drunken revelry
had only just begun


if you liked this you might also like "Peak People"

When the Bankers go to Jail

first published: 07/12/2011 at zerohedge.com (in the comments section which, by 2019, had been scrubbed - i guess even zero hedge has to deal with the reality of data size)

2019

2013 just after i wrote it then promptly forgot it



song version (varies)

Dm                                                 C
the Bible tells us not to steal - it’s there in black and white

                                                       Dm     C                Dm
our laws are based upon it too: do not do wrong - do right

      Dm                                                                 C

yet somehow since these laws were writ we've seen the system fail

                                                                            Dm       C       Dm
but things will change for all the best when the bankers go to jail

                G                                                            Dm
when the bankers go to jail my friends, when the bankers go to jail
          G                                                   Dm
we’ll all be dancing in the streets, we'll laugh and sing as well
          G                                          Dm
we’ll finally see justice done, god damn them all to hell
          Bb                                                           Dm       C       Dm
we’ll hear the bells of freedom ring when the bankers go to jail


if things were as they ought to be when any business fails
investors take a haircut amid their tears and wails

but in the twisted system our politicians hail
the working folk pay all the bills and loose their jobs as well

chorus

well it seems the banks keep growing - the banker's pay as well
no matter what they steal from us they never seem to fail

but one day soon we'll take a stand - we workers will prevail
we'll tar and feather all of them and send them all to jail

chorus

---

the original poem

the Bible tells us not to steal
it’s there in black and white
our laws are based upon it too
do not do wrong - do right

but somehow since these laws were writ
we've seen the system fail
but things will change for all the best
when the bankers go to jail

when the bankers go to jail my friends
when the bankers go to jail
we’ll finally see justice done
when the bankers go to jail

when the vampire squid has been deep-fried
in the slime of Bernank’s words
when politicians tell the truth
and not be lying turds

when "austerity" applies to them
and fairness does prevail
we’ll finally see justice done
and the bankers go to jail

when the bankers go to jail ee-hah
when the bankers go to jail
we’ll all be dancing in the streets
when the bankers go to jail

if all was as it ought to be
when any business fails
investors take a haircut
amid their tears and wails

but in our mean kleptocracy
that the MSM does hail
the working class pay all the bills
and no banker goes to jail

when the bankers go to jail dear God
when the bankers go to jail
the haircuts will be number ones
when the bankers go to jail

we’re predators i must admit
it’s human nature too
to seek a better living for
our wives and children too

but animals we’re not you see
it not just fine detail
we keep the law, control ourselves
and the bankers go to jail

yes you bankers go to jail you thieves
all you bankers go to jail
you’ll be some brother’s jail-house bitch
when you bankers go to jail

you may think it’s a silly dream
to think of their demise
they’re oh so very powerful
and every banker lies

but one day soon we’ll overthrow
and have them by the tail
we’ll tar and feather all of them
and send them all to jail

when the bankers go to jail for good
when the bankers go to jail
we’ll hear the bells of freedom ring
when the bankers go to jail


(maw! Dan'l done shot his self a banker wid his gun maw. Maw! I done gotta shoot a banker too maw.

You watch yawself Brad. Dem bankers is nasty nasty things and th' best thung yawl can do is haul off and shoot dem from a goodly distance wid yo shotgun - ya hear me boy?)


if you liked this you might like "for our sons and daughters too".

p

might have had the stars

first published: Jun 26 2011 

energybulletin.net

there is no fat left in the land
we’ve sucked poor Gaia dry
we’ve partied while we raped and burned
what’s left? Who knows? Not i

we’re predators who've preyed ‘til now
on everything we saw
but all that’s left to prey upon
is us. So now it’s war.

The strong will prey upon the weak
the young upon the old
to keep the middle class alive
our children will be sold

descent to bloody anarchy
will shred our civil skin
the truth of what we really are
is just now sinking in

we’re all so nice and proper
when Gaia foots the bill
but now the piper must be paid
the calls are loud and shrill:

“we have to kill the bankers
the politicians too
the CEOs and billionaires
kill them and all their crew

and all with aspirations
to grow and grow and grow
we’d better knock that on the head
and put their heads on show”

and when we're scrabbling in the dirt
for anything to eat
and almost everyone is dead
including the elite

we’ll be what we were in the days
before our “reason” dawned
before we dreamed that we were gods
before our greed was spawned

we’ll fade and die a species
that might have had the stars
but lacked some fundamental thing
we used up in our cars

just hold this child

originally published: Running On Empty

we sit and huddle we hide and wait
it's cold outside and getting late
we whisper just to know we're here
our sleep is troubled and full of fear

we hold our breath at every sound
we're too too scared to look around
we curse our curses of children dying
and steel our hearts to their mother's crying

and every day that ends like this
we bless in whispers to our children kissed
tomorrow maybe then they'll die
tonight they're here don't let them cry

and sleep just sleep don't think of of food
don't think of pigeon or sparrow stewed
just wait for light, just hold this child
just hold this child, just hold this child

Blair and Bush and Big John Howard

Dug up from 2006


DO NOT PROCEED IF YOU ARE YOUNG OR OF TENDER EARS

I USE VERY RUDE WORDS




































Blair and Bush and Big John Howard
Sophist, crook and little coward
Sick in mind and word and deed
slaves of fear and fame and greed

Kings they are in their own sight
but kings who never lead a fight
all they know is how to lie
and how to let poor people die

many thousands have they killed
and many coffers have they filled
these men of rank these men of means
these men who've killed so many dreams

they led us to Iraq and war
with lies they led us, lies and more
they sanctioned children to their death
they curry hate with every breath

and soon, who knows, Iran maybe
through secret friends the Israeli
or open warfare waged with nukes
and covered up by lying spooks

and all to keep the dollar strong
and oil flowing right or wrong
the fiat dollar doomed to hell
and oil doomed to peak as well

and housing bubbles due to burst
but that's not all and not the worst
the population's doomed to fall
and climate change will kill us all

and in the midst of all this shit
our lying leaders do their bit
at home they laugh and joke and play
their victims, many, die each day

but do they care? no not one bit
these scumbag leaders full of shit
these men who kill and just with words
these men are cunts these men are turds

Blair and Bush and Big John Howard
Sophist, crook and little coward
killers, thieves, and fucking liars
it's time they wore Soweto tyres



of course, these lowest forms of life still defend their actions

AUTHORNAME. Howard defends decision to invade Iraq. ABC. 2013-04-09. URL:http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-09/howard-defends-decision-to-invade-iraq/4619500. Accessed: 2013-04-09. (Archived by WebCite^® at http://www.webcitation.org/6FklOoMdd)


if you liked this you might also like "The Ghost of Osama bin Laden"

Greenspan speech

Nov 2005

I read a speech by Greenspan
old Allan at his best
he's told us not to worry
about the Peak Oil test

There's lot's and lot's of energy
in forms we hardly guess
there's gas and shale and methane
i'm lost i must confess

he's said that market forces
will rally to the call
the price of energy will rise
but our use of it will fall

i scratch my head when reading him
he's quite a clever man
with arbitrage and other words
i'll never understand

but what i know and know for sure
and what anybody knows
is oil seems pretty special
enough to make us foes

we're right behind old Bush and clan
who seem to think it's big
so big they think it worth some lives
a few more graves to dig

i guess they're only Arabs
and other Muslim folk
i guess they don't amount to much
and their faith is just a joke

for we i think have Jesus
who guides us from above
and tells us who to kill or not
and who to give the shove

so how come Allan Greenspan
you don't address George Bush?
how come you don't jump up and down
and shake your Jewish tush?

Tell George there's heaps of energy
so much we need not kill
we need not steal or lie and cheat
to get and have our fill?

I heard that Jews are shining lights
a chosen race by God
so Allan how come you don't fight
this Rabid Christian dog?

It's time to reign these monsters in
to save your brother's blood
to stop the way they rob and steal
all in the name of God

Go Allan man i beg you
go take their ball away
convince us all there's so so much
we all can sing and play

there's no big problem looming
there's energy galore
there's oil and gas for years and years
and after that there's more

and i'll sit here and scratch my head
because it's all so big
and read your words with relish
and never give a fig

for if you say it's all just fine
a happy man i'll be
i'll go about my daily life
and know that i am free

i'm free to live on others lives
because old George believes
that killing is OK for oil
and no we are not thieves

And if confused i seem to you
well gee go read your speech
it seems that there's no reason
and it's all lies they preach

It's you or Bush that lies i think
and he's a Christian man
so he can't be who's lying
or do you think he can?

And if he's lying Allan
because your words are true
then why oh why don't you stand up
and do what you should do?

Tell Bush and Co and all the world
there's heaps of energy
and there's no need to kill or steal
and make them all to see

that you are full of confidence
about the coming peak
it's just a market re-adjust
and prices will be weak

and maybe then old George and co
will stop their killing spree
and everyone can just relax
and let the Muslims be

and maybe then in years to come
when everybody's cool
we might address the Israel thing
or am i just a fool?

Peak Oil for the Beginner

This was originally published in TU MAI on October 04

I’m a regular Kiwi bloke. Old generation though so I’m a bit set in my ways and find a lot of the new high-tech world a bit daunting at times. I do have a computer though. It seems without email and Google you’re nobody. Even my old mum spends her time ‘on line’ trading for old movies or swapping whakapapa research with people all over the world. Anyway, I got to using my computer and the internet to read about all sorts of amazing things, I had been so proud of my Encyclopaedia Britannica too. Poor thing sits lonely and unused now. Looks great though on my bookshelf.

About five years ago I started reading about oil. I don’t know how I got there, I think I must have been reading some political blurb or some such and something I read got me thinking and asking questions. So I started to search. I started to read. I read for about three months and then I started to buy books. I kept reading. It’s been 5 years now and I am still reading and my bookmarks are like the index volume of my encyclopaedia and my bookshelves are full of books about oil and the politics of oil. I am still reading, still learning. And I am frightened. I am not frightened for me — I am an old fart and shuffling off this mortal coil would be a blessing on the world I am sure. I am frightened for my children and I am frightened for their children and I am frightened for my rellys and friends.

In all my reading I have had to get my head around things I never knew before — I have had to learn about economics, history, sociology and above all the politics of power. I have to admit to a bit of education — I have a degree in science (straight A’s too) and I have most of a degree in surveying which helped get me work in the coal industry for a few years — mostly spent playing cards at the ‘crib’ — some off-cut hole in the ground where we miners had our lunch and smoko, (though of course you can’t smoke in a coal mine). I know a bit about the energy business from the ground down so to speak.

I am frightened because I have a good grasp of what is coming. I can’t tell you the future, I don’t have crystal ball skills (hmm, must Google that), but I can imagine what might eventuate. And what might eventuate, what seems most likely to eventuate, is catastrophe. Utter, total catastrophe. Our world, our wonderful world, of low cost airfares, fantastic quality goods, superb cars, marvellous communications and boundless supermarket shelves is all built on oil or its partner in all ways — gas. All of our food, every single morsel you eat is dependent, heavily dependent, on oil and gas. The world is as we know it only because of oil and gas.

In 1956 a man named Marion King Hubbert (not to be confused with our own Dick Hubbard or Scientology’s L. Ron Hubbard) predicted that the USA would ‘peak’ in oil production about 1970 — that was 14 years before the event. He was right, but for more than 14 years he was ridiculed and demonised by other oil people, economists, journalists and politicians. So what’s this ‘peak’? It is a tad technical but it is basically like this — when you have used half of something (like oil) from that point onwards you can only get less. You might have read in the Listener last year (March) an article by an Otago University professor of Geology Richard Sibson titled ‘Falling Off Hubbert’s Peak’. You might browse your local bookstore and spot The End of Oil by Paul Roberts. You might hearken to those who claim that the war in Iraq is all about oil. You might have been following the financial news of late and noticed the link between share market indexes and the price of oil.

Really, to not see how important oil has become to our way of life you just have to be blind. Think about it. Everything in your house, even the entire house, has got to be where it is because it was hauled there with oil. Many many of the things in the house are made of oil — all your plastics, much of your clothing, your paint, all your high-tech gear — is either made of oil or was built with something made of oil or was enabled by the power of oil. All of your food, all of it, even if you are a vegan, even if you only buy GE-free, organics it is only available to you because of oil. Even you gardeners who grow your own can only do so because of oil. All of your fertilisers and herbicides, all of our farming, all of our agricultural commodities, everything, is only as it is because of oil and gas.

And it is going to run out. Not tomorrow and not instantaneously but it will run out. As it starts to run out oil will become more and more expensive. Nations will fight over it. There will be war and famine. The huge populations of the North will seek escape from the increasingly impossible situation there and those who have the money will flee seeking any place that they and their kids might survive. They will flee here. It’s already started. Go ask your local solar energy retailer who they are getting most of their business from and you will find it is rich Americans setting up fortresses on Kiwi farming blocks that they have bought for a song. More and more, as we stay in the dark, those who fear what is coming will seek out this place hoping that salvation from the worst might be found here. What are you going to do about it? What are we going to do about it? We do not have much time — maybe 5 years. In that time you have to establish yourself so well that when the crunch comes you can hope for survival — for you and your kids.

The Lord’s Prayer

2004

On request by Robert Atack


Our Oilmen, who art in Washington
Hallowed be thy Names.
Thy kingdom come.
Thy will be done,
In Iraq as it is in Washington.

Give us this day our daily gas.
And forgive us our lying ways,
As we ignore those who protest against us.
And lead us not into depletion,
But deliver us from shortage.
For ours is the kingdom,
and the power,
and the glory,
for ever and ever.

Amen

Napalm 21 (Psalm 21)

2004

On request by Robert Atack


George Bush is my oil man – I shall not want
He makes me down to lie
In Oil lands rich; He leadeth me
And those that speak out shall die.

My tank he doth restore again;
And me to drive doth make
and for the God of commercial gain
The world’s last oil he’ll take

Yea, though I drive for miles and miles
Yet I will fear no ill
For George will find the gas I need
My SUV he’ll fill

My gas tank he hast furnished
despite our Arab foes
My life he dost with oil anoint
And my tank overflows

Goodness and mercy all my life
Shall surely follow me;
And in the white house forevermore
His dwelling place shall be.

All My Life I’ve Waited

2004

On request by Robert Atack


Well all my life I’ve waited and waited patiently
for an honest politician or two or three maybe
someone to spur my faith in men and women who might lead
some bright and honest leader not consumed by power and greed

I’ve waited nearly 50 years and watched you all go by
from left and right and center I’ve seen you have a try
I’ve heard you all, your ways and means, I’ve even followed polls
I’ve sometimes even had a vote and joined electoral rolls

but mostly I’ve grown sick and tired of waiting for my vote
there’s never seemed to be a point and so this poem I wrote
it’s written to you leaders, you lot who seek to lead
who take our hard earned money and let the country bleed

you think you have a mandate to choose the way we go
you even think you have the right to judge what we should know
you all assume you’re smarter and know the ins and outs
the ropes of legislation - cause we’re all dumb-ass louts

and so with little more at all than just ideals and whim
we’re very soon committed - and all must sink or swim
you’re led around by snout and ear by lobbyists with cash
and wined and dined like royalty and dressed to cut a dash

you stand in pomp and circumstance delivering address
while all your social policy becomes a stinking mess
I’ve met so many leaders and members prom-in-ent
and listened to them speak their case, considered their intent

but not a one, not ever, has piqued my confidence
nor even ever made me think that they are ought but dense
how many of you have a clue as much as even me?
I know that I am better schooled than you will ever be

and yet you think to lead us, to be our heart and soul
but none of you have any clue what should be now our goal
the peak in productivity of oil and gas has come
and very soon a world of shit is what it will become

I used to think the Greens maybe would lead us through the mess
but no, Jeanette Fitzsimmons even seems to not care less
for other things important are playing on her mind
and winning seats in parliament is all her work you’ll find

and that’s the crux, the problem of our democracy
it’s geared to periods too short or so it seems to me
before you’ve had a chance to forge some hope that we might win
again the time as come to vote and change the shit we’re in

but that is all you ever do you leaders at the top
and I forever wonder when this mess will ever stop
I watch my kids and grandkids grow and all the time I think
that maybe they will perish soon in all your mess and stink

I beg you now to stand up tall and start to make a change
to fight for true democracy that seems to you so strange
democracy is not at all a case of win and rule
democracy means citizens - a massive voting pool

where every single law you make is argued by us all
not argued just between you dolts then forced upon us all
come greens and Limbaugh lovers come independents too
come lefties too I beg you there’s much for you to do

start looking out beyond just now and educate us all
and seek to make this country one where we can all stand tall
try looking now at Sweden where they all know what comes
and guide us with a loving heart and please stop being bums

the future will be horrible we educated know
and now we want our leaders too to know the way to go
try speaking out more bravely, try speaking out at all
try giving up your party goals and save us from the fall

for Olduvai is coming (go google that and read)
the peak of oil will cause a crash so bad that we will need
a nation geared to live it through a people bold and brave
and so my good and noble readers here I end my rave

Tribute to Robert Atack - Oilcrash.com

2004

First Published: Oilcrash.com

Our hero sought to save us all
but we refused to hear
he worked and slaved to teach us
with rising dread and fear

“you must perceive” he cried and cried
but all we did was jeer:
“there’s plenty left” was our reply
our leaders gave a sneer:

“extremist people just like you
don’t understand the game
it’s market forces we obey
and shifting votes and blame”

“just understand the price will rise
and magic will ensue
the market it will save us
not idiots like you”

and so our hero hung his head
and wrung his hands with pain
his heart was torn with fear and dread
at all our children’s pain

for he looked ever onward
towards the coming fall
with grim anticipation
with what could kill us all

and though he thought to give it up
his calling and his quest
he summoned up his mighty will
and dug deep for his best

and so the years unfolded
and soon the Peak had come
but we all smiled and laughed aloud
’cause we knew what he’d done

he’d saved us from our ignorance
he’d fought our lazy ways
he’d banged our heads with words of truth
cause he’s the one who stays

we thank you dearly Robert
we understand it now
we know that we are worthless yobs
but you love us anyhow