Fall Country Studies Published

The Mike P. McKeever Institute of Economic Policy Analysis (MIEPA) is pleased to announce the publication of its Fall 2014 country studies.

Three countries have been analyzed by four Specialists: Burma/Myanmar, Hong Kong and the United States of America by two Specialists.

Burma/Myanmar is analyzed by Specialist Y. Thu [A nom de guerre at MIEPA suggestion]; the analysis can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/burma.html

Hong Kong is analyzed by Specialist Lilian Chan. Her analysis can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/hongkong.html

The United States of America has been analyzed by two Specialists, Specialist David Schilling and Specialist Sigfredo Ramos. Their analyses can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/usa.html

MIEPA can be accessed at www.mkeever.com

A Gift to the Unborn

Barry, My Liege:

In order to understand our future course as a species, scientists have studied fossil and other geologic records of the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) of 56 million years ago.

Earth's climate endured a rapid warming during this period which was roughly similar to the expected warming from our likely future if global warming continues.

The species die-off during this PETM period was concentrated in non-mammalian species; surprisingly, mammals seem to have adapted and thrived.

However, the likelihood of mankind surviving such an event is unlikely.

The onset of the PETM has been linked to an initial 5 °C temperature rise and extreme changes in Earth’s carbon cycle.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleocene%E2%80%93Eocene_Thermal_Maximum#Life]

Geology suggests that the Earth suffered a massive species die-off during the "Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), alternatively "Eocene thermal maximum 1" (ETM1), and formerly known as the "Initial Eocene" or "Late Paleocene Thermal Maximum". This refers to a climate event that began at the temporal boundary between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs. The absolute age and duration of the event remain uncertain, but are thought to be close to 55.8 million years ago and about 170,000 years of duration.

While massive die-offs are supported by the geologic record, interestingly some of the mammals which appeared in the era, notably horses and primates, appeared and spread around the globe." [Philip D. Gingerich, Geological Society of America, Special Paper 369, 2003, Mammalian responses to climate change at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary: Polecat Bench record in the northern Bighorn Basin, Wyoming, Philip D. Gingerich
Department of Geological Sciences and Museum of Paleontology,
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109–1079, USA]

'If we do not reverse current trends by close to 2020, however, we may have failed. Global warming will pass the widely acknowledged danger level of two degrees, since there is an approximately 20 year delay between emission reductions and the halting of their warming effect. This report clearly demonstrates that climate change is already highly dangerous at well below one degree of warming. Two degrees would be catastrophic', Kofi A. Annan, President of the Global Humanitarian Forum, [http://www.ghf-ge.org/human-impact-report.pdf]

'One of the clearest pictures of this future is emerging for the U.S. Southwest and a similar meteorological zone that stretches across Italy, Greece and Turkey. Work by Tim Barnett of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Seager and others predicts that these regions will get hotter and drier—and, perhaps more important, shows that the change has already begun. "The signal of a human influence on climate pops up in 1985, then marches on getting strong and stronger," Barnett says. By the MIDDLE OF THE 21st century, the models predict, the climate will be as dry as the seven-year long Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s or the damaging 1950s drought centered in California and Mexico, Seager says: "In the future the drought won't last just seven years. It will be the new norm."'. [Our Extreme Future: Predicting and Coping with the Effects of a Changing Climate, Scientific American, Final part of a three-part series June 30, 2011 |By John Carey]

The midpoint of the 21st century is 36 years from today.

In an earlier post titled 'Only Way To Prevent Disaster - Zero Emissions by 2070', published here on November 28, 2014, I asked that you create model legislation which will reverse the course of global warming if enacted.

That call is repeated here - For the sake of your grandchildren, during the '4th Quarter' of your time as President of the United States, please write that legislation and present it to the Congress of the United States.

It will not pass, but there will be a record of what we have to do.

So, DO NOT MODIFY THE LEGISLATION TO SECURE PASSAGE.

Political expedience will kill our species.

Your faithful servant,

Ebola News Pushes Back Doomsday Clock to 2146

Barry, My Liege :

While Ebola is still a terrible disease and still spreading, there are some developments which offer hope that this particular disease may not overwhelm humanity's ability to survive.

First, a vaccine has been deveoped. While testing has been halted temporarily
[http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30432079], the real possibility of a vaccine demonstrates our specie's ability and will to address the disease.

Secondly, the rise in new cases has slowed in Liberia [http://www.cdc.gov/vhf/ebola/outbreaks/2014-west-africa/cumulative-cases-graphs.html].

This demonstrates that humanity has the ability to rise to this challenge. Unfortunately, Ebola treatment in Sierre Leone and Guinea has not increased its effectiveness similarly.

Nevertheless, these two developments are sufficient to push back Humanity's Expected demise by one year to 2146.

Your faithful servant,

Senate Torture Report

Barry, My Liege :

A copy of the Senate Report on Torture is available at this link :

www.mkeever.com/Senate Torture Report.pdf

Note that the file is 67mb and the report has 525 pages.

Your faithful servant,

UPDATE, CHRIS ROCK VIDEO - All the Black Mama's Talkin

Barry, My Liege :

This is a suggestion for the African American Community.

It's the 'talk' that mothers can give their sons about what to do when stopped by Police.

I hope it will be taken in a spirit of love.

'Lookit you, boy. You is jes bout all grown. My Lord. I'm real proud of you son and don you forget it neither.

But, you know, there's sumthin we gotta talk about.

Now you know that there are some white folks out there who hate us just because we black. Now there ain't nothing we can do about that. They just gonna hate. When you meet one, just be polite and go about your business. But, don't do nothing stupid, don't do nothing stupid.

But son, I wanna talk about Police now. Boy, you is gonna be stopped and talked to by Police. A lot. That's just the way it is.

Now, it don't matter why they talk to you, it's just gonna happen.

The thing you gotta remember is that Police don't know your mind. All they know is your actions. Police don't read minds and they all packin. Police just like walking bombs ready to go off.

And remember, you don't know squat about Police mind. Maybe they are looking for someone who looks just like you and who just shot a store owner.

You gotta remember that they under pressure, so don't be stupid. Don't go givin them a reason to shoot, 'cause they will.

Now if you go and do some stupid crap that hurts somebody, like stealin and crashin a car, well Police gonna catch up with you. They gonna be pissed. When they catch you, they probably gonna hit you some. And, you know what, you probably deserve it for doing the stupid.

But, they won't kill you for that. You want to be killed for stupid stuff, go and hang around with the drug gangs. They shoot you for any old reason. Police are better than that.

There some trash talk out there that white Police kill black kids because the kid is black.

Well, that's just plain wrong.

Police kill anyone who makes them fear for their own life. If you make a Police afraid of you, he gonna kill you.

That's his job. Police job is to stop any folks who make them fear for their life.

And, it don't matter you black, white, yellow, brown or red. If Police are afraid of you they gonna shoot you.

Ain't got nothing to do with color, it's only about fear.

And, if Police afraid of you, they ain't gonna ask a buncha questions. It's gonna be 'FREEZE' or some such. And if you don't, they gonna shoot.

Police don't know your mind, only what you do.

So, don't do playing around, acting the fool while you don't mean no harm. How Police gonna know you foolin? They don't and you'll end up dead.

UPDATE: Just in case what I'm saying don't make no sense, watch this funny as hell video from Chris Rock: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR465HoCWFQ

Come back to me every day, Son. I don't know what I'll do without you.


Your faithful servant

Only Way To Prevent Disaster - Zero Emissions by 2070

Barry, My Liege :

'The world must cut CO2 emissions to zero by 2070 at the latest to keep global warming below dangerous levels and prevent a global catastrophe, the UN warns.

By 2100, all greenhouse gas emissions – including methane, nitrous oxide and ozone, as well as CO2 – must fall to zero, the United Nation's Environment Programme (Unep) report says, or the world will face what Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scientists have described as “severe, widespread and irreversible” effects from climate change.'

[http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/nov/19/co2-emissions-zero-by-2070-prevent-climate-disaster-un]

Considering that the world's economies are carbon based, it is unlikely that such a target is achievable.

This likelihood moves the Humanity Doomsday Clock to 2145.

Your faithful servant,

New Cold War Without Honor

Barry, My Liege :

One of the defining issues of the Post World War II era was the Cold War.

In addition to occasional shooting wars, the Cold War was mostly a quiet contest for economic supremacy fought by countries with opposing economic ideologies.

The Socialist countries were led by the Soviet Union and China with their similar Socialist economic systems.

The West was led by the United States and Western Europe with its Free Market Capitalistic systems.

Partisans on each side were convinced that only their system would bring the greatest good to the largest number of people.

It was a moral struggle as well as a political battle. The spies and politicians of the Era claimed the moral high ground and its attendant honors.

Defeating the opponent in a political contest or covert operation of that Cold War became a badge of Honor.

However, the differentiating economic structures which defined the era have pretty much disappeared.

It appears as Karl Marx predicted; namely, the two systems have converged.

The new system contains the remnants of a Free Market system, but has slowly morphed into an Oligarchic model with great wealth and income concentrations.

Both the Russian and United States economies have become similar Oligarchies.

Read details of Russia's system here : http://rt.com/business/russia-world-household-wealth-944/

Read details of the United States' system here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wealth_inequality_in_the_United_States

Today we can see some of the vestiges of that Era's Cold War tactics being reconstituted in today's world.

But, the two competing systems have similar ideologies.

In this case, there is no moral good or honor to be claimed in any victory.

The New Cold War is simply a turf battle between competing gangs of Oligarchs.

Your faithful servant,

Corporate Personhood - Lock 'Em Up

Barry, My Liege :

Inasmuch as corporations are recognized as persons when making campaign contributions, then it seems appropriate that they should be recognized as persons when a crime is committed.

When a natural person commits a crime, he or she faces penalties like fines and imprisonment.

While we have a system of fines in place to punish corporations guilty of law breaking, we do not have a provision to place the offending corporation in prison.

After all, it is hard to place the collection of legal documents which comprise the 'soul' of the corporation into a jail cell.

However, we do have in place already a system whereby outside, court appointed persons can assume the management of the corporation for a temporary, defined period of time. We can do that already to some banks and financial institutions under existing law; it is time to expand the process to all corporations.

It is called Receivership and you can read about it here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Receivership

It seems fair and just that an entity which has some of the rights of natural persons should have also some of the duties of natural persons, namely the duty to obey the law or forfeit freedom.

When a corporation is convicted of a serious crime, a judge should have the ability to both fine the corporation and to appoint a receiver to manage the affairs of the business for a pre-determined period of time.

The receiver would act in place of or replace the managers who participated in creating the crime. Those executives would be sent home without compensation for the duration of the receivership.

The primary objective of the receiver would be to protect the existing assets of the shareholders. He would be prohibited from taking any risks with those assets to ensure their prerservation.

The practical effect of such a program would be to seriously damage the corporation since taking risks with corporate assets is what companies are supposed to do in order to prevent any loss of ground or market position to the competition.

That effect likely would become a serious incentive to the Board of Directors to be sure crimes are not committed since the loss of momentum from a receivership would have the result of reducing the market value of the company's shares.

Remember, My Liege, what goes around, comes around.

Your faithful servant,

Obama Legacy - Climate Change

Barry, My Liege :

In your Fourth Quarter as President of the United States of America [POTUS], you will be unable to implement substantial legislative changes due to a Republican controlled Congress.

And yet, humanity faces severe dangers from increased global warming. The IPCC 2014 Summary for Policymakers [available here : https://ipcc-wg2.gov/AR5/images/uploads/WG2AR5_SPM_FINAL.pdf] details many of the harms we will face.

My Liege, it is your opportunity to create and propose legislation which would, if implemented, stop climate change. Perhaps you and your associates can describe exactly what humanity must accomplish in order to prevent our mutual extinction.

We recognize the reality that such legislation will not be adopted now.

Events will become worse over the years.

Our expectation is that future conditions may force policy makers to consider actions unthinkable now.

To be successful in the future, your proposals will have to be extreme and not incremental. They will also have to be procedurally correct; that is to say, the legislation should be thoroughy developed so that when it is enacted, it will accomplish its goals.

You will be giving a helping hand to our grandchildren by providing specific and effective policies to save our species.

It is a worthy endeavor, My Liege.

Your faithful servant,

Cynical Investment Strategy

Barry, My Liege:

Despite the looming shadow of doom facing humanity, some souls may be wondering about how to make good investments.

Personally I think spending some time in the sunshine and playing with grandchildren is the best possible investment; but, others may disagree.

Consider that the recent financial crisis consisted of an asset bubble in real estate followed by crashes of markets for all assets and commodities and a pretty severe recession.

Is it likely to happen again?

These events were caused by the felonious bankers at the top of our financial system who committed massive frauds in order to make thermselves richer.

And, My Liege, these are some of the very fellows who have bankrolled your political career.

For shame, My Liege; for shame.

You can read the full story from William K. Black as seen on the Bill Moyers show here http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-big-jail/

I digress.

The same criminals who perpetrated the recent crisis are not only free from prison, they are still in charge of our financial system.

It's a sure bet that we will see another asset bubble followed by a financial crisis and collapse. After all, it is what they do.

Were I to look for coming asset bubbles I would look for commodities essential to life. Although we cannot monetize air, we can surely monetize water. In fact we are doing so around the world.

I would look for rapid price increases in essential commodities like water, grains, metals, oil and so forth as a possible sign of an asset bubble.

If signs of a bubble are visible, then it may well be time to sell off physical assets and convert to cash and hold the cash while looking for distressed assets.

Your faithful servant,

Victory vs. ISIL

Barry, My Liege :

What does Victory look like in a bombing campaign against ISIL?

Good question.

The reality is that we cannot bomb ISIL out of existence. Even if we tried carpet style bombing from WW II, there will be some survivors and many innocent casualties. The survivors will be bitter.

Our aim is different. Our goal should be to take away ISIL's heavy weapons and their mobility so that they are reduced to foot and animal movement and small arms.

Once they are reduced to fugitive criminals, then they are susceptible to police and militia encirclement and capture. At that point the bombing has been successful.

Of course this strategy requires a competent military with foot soldiers on the ground to complete the degradation of ISIL. Our air campaigns can be a support but not the main force.

In the long run we recognize that there will always be Islamic militants. Their sacred text calls for physical violence against all who do not follow the 'correct' path. It seems that the path is determined as 'correct' by the group with the most guns.

While we may not be at war with them, they are at war with us and will be for the forseeable future. Our security requires that we recognize that for what it is.

Also, in the long run, our security is dependent on the citizens of the area choosing a responsive government which can respond to concerns of all people.

In the past we have chosen to support strong but corrupt rulers to keep the peace whenever we could not install an elective democracy. The past few years have shown that such a strategy is no longer viable.

While we cannot insist on Western style elective democracies as a cookie cutter model for all countries, we can monitor and support good and stable governance under a variety of models.

New models are called for. Any successful model will be specific to the culture and country from which it is developed.

The good news is that there are millions of bright people dedicated to just such a solution; the bad news is that there is no other option available which will provide for the National Security of the United States.

Your faithful servant,

DOOMSDAY CLOCK Moves

Barry, My Liege:

While there is a positive event which may serve to delay the DOOMSDAY event, several other events are more negative.

On balance, Humanity lost at least one more year and is now forecast to go extinct in 2146.

The positive event was the citizen march of about 300,000 people in New York together with similar demonstrations around the world; political pressure from masses of citizens is perhaps the most effective lobbying tool available. All marchers demanded political action on global warming. http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/9/21/climate-march-nyc.html

A negative event was the United States declaring war on ISIL. This is an indication that Muslim fundamentalism is gaining ground. There are many radical, barbaric Islamic organizations around the world : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_designated_terrorist_organizations

A second negative event is that Ebola has escaped from the areas of its origination and threatens to infect as many as one million people. The CDC predicts 1.4 million people will be infected : http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/cdc-ebola-could-infect-14-million-in-west-africa-by-end-of-january-if-trends-continue/2014/09/23/fc260920-4317-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html

It will probably move from Africa soon. The following article explores the control question but is out of date since it was published on September 3, 2014 : http://dailydigestnews.com/2014/09/window-is-closing-on-containing-ebola-cdc-says/

Additionally, several very unpleasant viruses have migrated to Central and South America; read about dengue fever here : http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/05/31/3443533/dengue-latin-america/

Your faithful servant,

National Security vs. Bloodthirsty Quran

Barry, My Liege:

Let us be clear, the Quran is a bloodthirsty document, explicitly calling for violence.

One quote is below:

Quran (5:33) - "The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement"

Read more here : http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/quran/023-violence.htm

Rational people conclude that some of those who treat the Quran as a religious text may be violent criminals, using religion as an excuse for criminal behavior.

The National Security of the United States of America requires that all who will not renounce violence in the name of religion, nor disavow the Quran passages which call for violence, should be permanently barred from the country.

Your faithful servant,

UPDATE - Kuwait - ISIL

Barry, My Liege :

UPDATE Kuwait -

It appears likely that money to fund ISIL funnels through Kuwaiti banks and individuals.

Verify the accusation, then blow them up.

See it here: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/13/world/middleeast/private-donors-funds-add-wild-card-to-war-in-syria.html

UPDATE OIL

It is time to take out ISIL's oil smuggling networks. Cut off the revenue stream.

They will still get some cash from ransom, slavery, extortion and a few slippery oil smugglers, BUT we will not degrade ISIL until and unless we take away their money. Hit the fields, trucks, refineries - all of it. Some innocent slaves will die and we regret that. It is the price of war.

It is good that you commit the USA to take out ISIL, for they are evil.

But, My Liege, be aware that the logic of events may require that Assad be gone from Syria in order to complete the destruction of ISIL.

With Assad, there is a rally point for factions to gather both for and against ISIL or Assad.

Without Assad, there will be no rally point.

The campaign will be more successful if there is no rally point.

Your faithful srvant,

Ukrainian Situation, September 12, 2014

Mayank Kumār
Delhi College of Engineering

"Mike Russians are not doing it [i.e., taking Ukrainian towns]:

What Kiev fears most is that the "rebels" will take Mariupol, then proceed west along Highway E-58 taking Kherson (on the Dnieper River) to Melitopol. then onto Mikolaev (Nickolaev) - creating a massive "land bridge" between Ukraine and Crimea, then straight into Odessa. This is the ONLY reason Kiev has agreed to a "cease fire" and negotiations!

Odessa is the main port in Ukraine and without it, the Kiev government is dead. The rebel forces could simply head 60 Km to the northwest to link up with the extremely well-equipped and VERY pro-Russian Transdnestr army and the 2,000 Russian regular army troops their. (Transdnestr has TWICE voted overwhelmingly in referenda to declare its independence from Moldava and to join the Russian Federation.)

What many foreigners do NOT know is that southern Ukraine is VERY anti-Kiev, especially in Odessa. )Forget the "Odessa Massacre" in which 40-plus Odessans were burned alive in a fire set by Right-Sector fanatics. These Right-Sector folks were bussed in from Kiev and do NOT represent the people of Odessa.

Odessa, much like eastern Ukraine, especially hates to be "dictated to" by the oligarchs in Kiev - when the main source of income for Ukraine are the mines and industries in eastern Ukraine and the port of Odessa, also a literally a "tourist paradise" which draws HUGE numbers of Russian and Western tourists eager to throw away their money- which Kiev sucks away.

Thus, the rebel armies would be wlecomed as they moved along the southern coast to Odessa, with many people volunteering to fight the pro-Kiev forces. Such a military maneuver would split Ukraine in half, cutting off the Kiev government from the sea - and from its most profitable cities.

That is why Kiev MUST stop the rebel movement at Mariupol and is the SOLE REASON Kiev is now willing to enage in a "cease fire" and negotiations at this time.

I would add that I do NOT think that the people of Odessa would vote to join the Russian Federation, but would much prefer total INDEPENDENCE from the corrupt Kiev government, perhaps forming a FEDERATION with other oblasts in southern and eastern Ukraine, along with the Transdnestr Republic."

U S Policy Toward Syria

Barry, My Liege :

In several ways, our decision to stay out of the Syrian situation has helped our current policy choices.

Many people paid for our choices with their lives, pain and suffering through their involuntary uprooting to refugee position. We cannot ignore their sacrifice.

The overriding judgment remains - Assad is a butcher who must be killed.

The ghosts of his victims past and present demand it.

But, time has focused some of the forces opposing him into a single, evil faction, namely ISIL.

Here's how we should proceed :

1. Kill Assad with a bomb, a big bomb, not a nuke, but a really big one. It is a war, after all.

Maybe we lost a missile or it malfunctioned, or something. Maybe an ISIL suicide bomber made it into the palace. Who knows? Oops. Our sincere apolologies for any action we took which hastened his untimely demise. we will strive to ensure that it will not happen again. Our sincere condolences to the survivors.

2. Systematically destroy ISIL's war making equipment from the air regardless of where it is - Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran or Saudi Arabia. Allow no safe haven for ISIL.

3. Locate the banks which collect and transfer funds to ISIL. Blow them up. Especially the branch close to or in Syria.

4. Do not commit US combat troops to the ground; use air power and friendly forces to wither ISIL.

5. Contact Syria Army officers after Assad is dead with an offer: Stay and build a stable society under a temporary military government toward a goal of elections in five years. To do so, they must agree to swear loyalty to the new government, renounce the old including all Ba'ath party ties and allow a political officer from the non-ISIL opposition forces in every unit of more than 2000 men. The PO will report any infractions to a special court for prosecution.

Those who abide and commit to a new regime are allowed to serve. Those who refuse serve prison terms.

The locals - Iraq, Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Iran and Saudi Arabia - agree to provide manpower and/or money to secure a peaceful Syria.

6. Construct secure refugee camps from neighboring lands with neighboring funds to give respite to the refugees.


As you understand, My Liege, the USA cannot fix this area. But, taking the actions above will lessen the evil there.

Your faithful servant,

Russia Invades Ukraine, Starts WW III

Barry, My Liege :

Russian troops have been captured in Ukraine and Russian military convoys have crossed the border.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/26/russia-admits-soldiers-in-ukraine

Putin/Poroshenko talks are a smokescreen to hide the troop movements.

With a military response likely, WW III has begun.

This moves the HUMANITY DOOMSDAY CLOCK forward to 2147.

Your faithful servant,

UPDATE - ISIL - Kill 'Em All

Barry, My Liege :

New thoughts.

Some Brits and Yanks may die when we target ISIL. Shed no tears - they lose their privileges when they declare war on their country and innocent civilians and behead American journalists.

Targeting ISIL in Syria may help Assad - So what? Primary target is ISIL, temporary gains for Assad can't be helped. Don't give any safe havens.

While your remarks on ISIL [http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/transcript-president-obamas-remarks-on-the-execution-of-journalist-james-foley-by-islamic-state/2014/08/20/f5a63802-2884-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html] were heartfelt, Americans are reluctant to enter another war.

Rightfully so.

And yet, ISIL cannot continue its rampage of torture, slavery and mass killings.

It may not be a permanent solution, My Liege, but we seem to have the power to render them into the stone age.

We should do that.

Let's bomb every thing with wheels located in ISIL controlled areas.

Iraq? Yes.

Syria? Hell yes.

We can do it without American troops on the ground by ramping up the drone and airstrike campaigns.

Secure agreements and cooperation from both the EU and neighboring countries, then proceed to bomb them widely and thoroughly. Don't forget Shoulder mounted missiles as well.

They will be less a threat when they have only AK 47's and sniper rifles. Then we can rely on Kurds and Iraqis for ground troops.

The ISIL rampage has taken a year off the HUMANITY DOOMSDAY CLOCK.

It is time to get serious.

Your faithful servant,

RATs Monsanto [Again] and Bayer [Real American Terrorists] Hide Bee Damage

Barry, My Liege :

When corporations buy science so that the science shows that corporate actions do not harm people when the reality is that their actions do harm people, they are terrorists.

Now it comes that a class of insecticide is killing bees at an alarming rate. If there are no bees, there will be no fruits, vegetables or flowers.

The insecticides are applied in huge amounts to entire fields of plants.

The bees are dying.

Scientists across the world are studying the interactions of "..neonicotinoid pesticides on pollinators and the impact of the EU ban on three neonicotinoid pesticides on farmers' crop growing practices."

Read the article by Dr. Joseph Mercola, DO, here : http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/08/12/neonicotinoids-bee-deaths.aspx?x_cid=20140812_nonlead_facebookdoc

The thing is, My Liege, both Bayer and Monsanto, both of which make significant profits selling the products, are providing grant money to some of the scientists in the study.

The conclusion is inescapable: Monsanto and Bayer are buying science so that their actions harming people for money will be unnoticed.

This is not acceptable, my Liege.

Your faithful servant,

On Greed

Barry, My Liege :

The HUMANITY DOOMSDAY CLOCK in this space presents a gloomy future event for our species.

Let us be clear about the concept.

There will be no escape from this event, neither for the privileged nor the weak.

It will be Biblical in its proportions.

All will die.

The HUMANITY DOOMSDAY CLOCK's prediction is based on logical projections of current trends.

This raises two questions.

The first question asks whether or not the event is preventable with species-wide behavioral changes.

Regarding the first question: Even with resolute and extreme behaviorial changes, it is likely that the earth system is already damaged irreparably and cannot be repaired in time to save our species.

There remains a remote possiblity that such behaviorial changes, if instituted, may affect the event's outcome.

It is a remote possibility.

And, it is all we have.

The second question asks: What is the likelihood that our species can change its behavior sufficiently?

Regarding the second question, the collective behavior changes are so fundamental to our societies that it is HIGHLY unlikely that we will change in time to have any efffect.

Our current behaviors are driven by simple greed. It is not enough that we are greedy and see no fault in harming our neighbor's family and future for the sake of a monetary gain. We have made greed the basis of our economic system and have exalted it to a virtue.

The simple fact is that we cannot afford greed any longer.

Greed is bad.

Greed will murder 7 billion people through violence, disease and hunger.

Greed has always been a poison in our system, but now it is controlling.

If by some magic we can recognize that simple truth, perhaps we can change our decision making systems.

But, in order to change the event, we will need to make ALL decisions based on likely effects on our species.

While this space can suggest numerous specific actions toward the goal of saving our species, such discussions appear pointless until and unless a political consensus on the need for such changes arises.

Now, perhaps it will be enough simply to make the case while postponing discussions of specific remedies until our species presents the will for change.

Your faithful servant,

Arctic Methane

Barry, My Liege :

One of the consequences of global warming is a melting of Arctic ice shelfs and tundra and a consequent large release of trapped methane gas into the atmosphere.

Large releases of this methane would be catastrophic for humanity since such releases would accelerate global warming significantly.

Although this process has already begun, it is not occurring rapidly enough for concern - at the moment.

For background, read this article :

http://motherboard.vice.com/en_ca/read/if-we-release-a-small-fraction-of-arctic-carbon-were-fucked-climatologist

This space will provide updates as they become avaiable.

Your faithful servant,

El Nino Odds Decline, But DOOMSDAY Clock Stays at 2149

Barry, My Liege :

The odds of an El Nino event this rainy season which would relieve the California drought have just declined.

See this : http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/07/30/1317666/-Megadrought-Huge-Surge-of-Pacific-Heat-Fails-to-Start-El-Nino-Heats-Planet-to-3-Warmest-Months

While this news has the potential of bad news for California and the Western United States, it does not justify moving the DOOMSDAY CLOCK at this time.

But, it bears watching should the drought possibility expand geographically to the Central Plains Bread Basket of the United States and other countries as well.

Your faithful servant,

Nuclear Plant Failure Moves DOOMSDAY to 2149

Barry, My Liege :

As an attempt to compensate for continuing failures in nuclear power plants around the world and the resulting danger to humanity from radiation, United States nuclear power plant manufacturers proposed a modular approach.

The idea was to build new nuclear plants in stages so that costs could be reduced and so that safety could be increased.

It did not work.

It was more expensive and less safe than existing, faulty technologies.

Here is a discussion of the failure: http://www.sfgate.com/news/us/article/Promises-of-easier-nuclear-construction-fall-short-5648628.php

Here's what the failure means.

First, we cannot rely on nuclear power as a safe power source for the future.

Since we as humanity will have less power available, the social stresses will increase. As those stresses increase, the path to our species die-off event comes closer.

Secondly, even if the new technology is improved so that the safety and cost considerations coincide with current technologies, the risks to humanity from radiation will increase as a result of additional nuclear plants.

Lastly, it is an additional demonstration that, as a species, we do not have the ability to manage nuclear power.

One of the continuing themes of DOOMSDAY is that the machines we design today are beyond the skills of the people who are tasked with their operation. For example, the 2013 airliner crash in San Francisco was a result of the pilots' inability to land the plane.

The new approach to nuclear plant construction validates that theme.

Your faithful servant,

Superbugs Kill 3 Billion

Barry, My Liege :

What? You think the headline is overstated and hyperbolic?

I hope so, My Liege.

We both hope so.

But, but...........

There are several bacteria which have evolved and are now resistant to most antibiotics.

This means that hospitals keep them under control with extensive measures. Today, 2014, those extra-ordinary measures keep us safe from past scourges like TB and sepsis caused by staphylococcus aureus.

A longer list of the superbugs is below.

But, consider this My Liege : Hospitals try to operate with occupancy rates between 60% and 90%. These ratios ensure the best use of scarce resources like nurses, physicians and beds.

What will happen to the extraordinary measures taken today to control the superbugs when all the hospitals are faced with occupany of 200%, or 900%?

That's what will happen as we approach the Doomsday Event.

As populations outstrip food and water, sanitary conditions will deteriorate and violence will escalate.

Simply put, hospital staff will be overwhelmed and will be unable to prevent the superbugs from escaping to the general population. That will bring us face to face with massive epidemics of bacterial diseases for which we have no cure.

And, My Liege, this scenario does not acount for the super viruses like Ebola which are already killing many people.

Here is a list of some bacteria which have evolved and are resistant to most antibiotics [Source - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antibiotic_resistance#Resistant_pathogens]:

1. Penicillin, methicillin, tetracycline and erythromycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA) has now emerged as an epidemic that is responsible for rapidly progressive, fatal diseases, including necrotizing pneumonia, severe sepsis, and necrotizing fasciitis.

2. Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcus: GAS) infections like necrotizing fascitis require supportive care in an intensive-care unit.

3. Streptococcus pneumoniae is responsible for pneumonia, bacteremia, otitis media, meningitis, sinusitis, peritonitis and arthritis; it shows increasing resistance to to penicillin and other beta-lactams

4. Multidrug-resistant Enterococcus faecalis and Enterococcus faecium are associated with nosocomial infections.

5. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a highly prevalent opportunistic pathogen.

6. Clostridium difficile is a nosocomial pathogen that causes diarrheal disease in hospitals world wide. Clindamycin-resistant C. difficile was reported as the causative agent of large outbreaks of diarrheal disease in hospitals in New York, Arizona, Florida and Massachusetts between 1989 and 1992. Geographically dispersed outbreaks of C. difficile strains resistant to fluoroquinolone antibiotics, such as ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin, were also reported in North America in 2005.[

7. Salmonella and E. coli hospitalize and kill many people. Some strains of E. coli have become resistant to multiple types of fluoroquinolone

8. Acinetobacter baumannii - On November 5, 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported an increasing number of Acinetobacter baumannii bloodstream infections in patients at military medical facilities in which service members injured in the Iraq/Kuwait region during Operation Iraqi Freedom and in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom were treated. Most of these showed multidrug resistance (MRAB), with a few isolates resistant to all drugs tested.

9. Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC)-producing bacteria are a group of emerging highly drug-resistant Gram-negative bacilli causing infections associated with significant morbidity and mortality whose incidence is rapidly increasing in a variety of clinical settings around the world.

10. Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is increasing across the globe, especially in developing countries, over the past few years. TB resistant to antibiotics is called MDR TB (Multidrug Resistant TB).

11. Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a sexually transmitted pathogen where antibiotic resistant strains predominate.

Your faithful servant,

World No-Fly Zones Hasten DOOMSDAY

Barry, My Liege :

There are many places today where armed groups possess Surface to Air Missiles [SAM's] capable of shooting down any plane; some of the missiles can down aircraft flying at more than 50,000 feet. As a reference, Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 was hit at 33,000 feet.

Humanity loses some of our capacity to adjust when our mobility is resticted by hostile groups with SAM's.

Here's a list of countries where many airplanes are at risk today :

1. Libya
2. Syria
3. Iraq
4. Israel
5. Gaza
6. Northern Ethiopia
7. North Korea
8. Somalia
9. Eastern Ukraine
10. Mali
11. Chad
12. Congo
13. Kenya
14. Yemen
15. Egypt's Sinai Peninsula
16. Iran
17. Afghanistan.
18. Central African Republic
19. Islamic State - parts of Syria and Iraq

Read this for details : http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11297899

Any expansion of these no-fly zones hastens our species Doomsday Event.

Your faithful servant,

DOOMSDAY CLOCK - 2150 AD, It's Ticking

Barry, My Liege :

It may be comforting to think that our species Doomsday Event is more than 100 years in the future. If that's true, then we can just enjoy our time until then, right?

Rest assured, My Liege, that is not the case.

We will experience a constantly rising level of tragedy and violence until then.

Experts disagree on whether the Doomsday Event will be total or will leave a residue of 500 million people alive.

Consider that there are about 7 billion people alive today.

That means at least 6.5 billion people will die by the Event.

We will die from many causes.

Starvation and disease will take a toll as will violent conflicts.

All these exist today but will increase in severity over time.

Here are the active armed conflicts which took more than 1,000 lives in 2013 :

1. Israeli–Palestinian conflict, 1203 deaths so far in 2014

2. Afghanistan, 138 deaths so far in 2014

3. Somalia, 854 deaths this year

4. Nigeria, 5026 deaths this year

5. Pakistan, 2316 dead this year

6. Drug War, Mexico - 66 dead so far this year

7. Egypt, 79 dead so far this year

8. Syria, 28680 dead so far this year

9. Iraq, 7422 dead this year

10. Central African Republic, 1211 dead so far

11. South Sudan, 415 dead so far

12. Ukraine, 356 dead so far not including Malaysian Airline Flight 17

The list of additional conflicts which did not meet the 1,00 death threshold in 2013 is even longer, my Liege. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_armed_conflicts

It is likely that armed conflicts arise from groups of people who perceive that they are marginalized in their quest for food, water and shelter.

It is likely also that the number of people so marginalized will increase as the planetary boundaries are crossed more severely.

Your faithful servant,

HUMANITY DOOMSDAY CLOCK - 2150 AD

Barry, My Liege :

The DOOMSDAY CLOCK will note human actions where humanity fails to act collectively by reducing the time we have left. It will note instances of where we act collectively by extending the DOOMSDAY date.

As a species, our collective actions create the conditions for our demise in the forseeable future.

Science has recorded previous species die-offs on the Earth.

Humanity is susceptible to a similar species die-off or civilization collapse.

There are 9 planetary boundaries which, if crossed, will destroy the Earth's ability to support human life. [http://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1063&context=iss_pub]

We have already crossed several boundaries according to journalist Alice Friedemann.

CLIMATE CHANGE - The boundary is 350 ppm of CO2, currently we are at 387 ppm. The average for June 22014 is 401.

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION - Aragonite saturation state in surface water boundary is 2.75 Omega units, currently we are at 2.90.

STRATOSHPERIC OZONE DEPLETION - Ozone concentration (Dobson Units) boundary is 276, we are at 283 today.

GLOBAL NITROGEN CYCLE - Rate of Nitrogen removal from atmosphere (million tons per year) - Boundary is 9, we are at 133 now.

RATE OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS - Extinction rate (species per million per year) - Boundary 10, currently we see more than 100 species go extinct per year.

We are close to crossing the boundary for other planetary boundaries.

GLOBAL PHOSPHORUS CYCLE - Phosphorus rate of flow into oceans (million tons per year) - boundary is 12, we are now at 10.

DEPLETION OF FRESH WATER (cubic km per year) - Rate of human consumption boundary 4000, currently we are at 2400.

LAND SYSTEM CHANGE - No quantifiable boundary, but we currently use 35% of the land surface for crops and animals. Little or no more arable land is available.

AEROSOL LOADING - Boundary unknown but damage is evident.

CHEMICAL POLLUTION - Boundary unknown, but damage to human health is well documented. Between 80,000 and 100,000 different chemicals are traded globally.

Your faithful servant,

Saving Our Species

Barry, My Liege:

The climate is changing. Future changes will be hard on mankind. People will die.

Here is a link to the EPA climate projections: http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/science/future.html

Sadly, My Liege, our current systems of economics and politics are based on short term profits instead of our collective welfare.

As an example, read about the imposition and subsequent repeal of a carbon tax in Australia here: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/carbon-tax-refunds-to-hit-100m/story-e6frg6xf-1226978430115?nk=7d7a6ffb07e5cc736deeaaccfef45650

Without fundamental changes in our profit driven systems, it is possible that the Earth will cease supporting human life in the forseeable future, perhaps in the lifetimes of our great grandchildren.

Geologic history shows many worldwide species die-offs due to extreme droughts and other natural disasters.

We can hope that your grandchildren and great grandchildren will realize collectively that saving the human species requires changing our systems fundamentally in order to act collectively instead of selfishly.

If not, then your grandchildren and great grandchildren will need to cooperate with all humanity to colonize other planets.

There will be hard choices as we move to species preservation and away from indivdual wealth concentration.

Gratitude to Neil deGrasse Tyson for raising the question in Cosmos, Episode 11.

Now is the time to find and support the best and brightest minds in a quest to design system changes and also to design a colonization effort as a fail safe if our systems resist change.

My Liege, I do not suggest a government agency to hire people, but rather a dialog from your office about the possibilities looming in our collective futures. Such a dialog may encourage some brilliant minds to address our species-wide issues.

Today, we do not know the shape or direction of the changes we will make in 50 to 100 years, but we can and should encourage discussions about the challenges we face.

Your faithful servant,

Ukraine, ISIS

Barry, My Liege:

The National Security of the United States is challenged by two issues: Ukraine and ISIS.

Ukraine is a basket case in the best of circumstances. It will need $20 billion financial aid in the next two years to avoid a humanitarian crisis. IMF proposals, if enacted, will make the situation worse by requiring severe austerity on a population already at risk.

It is likely that Eastern Ukraine will secede with Russia's armed support in the near future as the civil war already there escalates with covert Russian support. That will leave Western Ukraine as Europe's problem.

Our options are few, My Liege. We can continue arming the Kiev regime and contributing to a wider war or we can stand down and let Europe and NATO take the lead. We CANNOT send troops because that will lead to war with Russia.

It may be better to have a physically divided Ukraine than a single entity with the extreme tensions of holding an emotionally divided country together.

However, should Russia invade and subsume Eastern Ukraine, then all the former Soviet countries rightfully will be concerned about their future.

In that event, we will be back to the 1950's with a Cold War.

It appears that we are reduced to reacting to Putin's plans. And, Putin's end game is a mystery beyond my understanding.

ISIS represents the future of the Middle East. Climate severity will increase and the populations will be more restive.

NOTE - It appears that the ISIS folks have changed their designation to ISIL. Presumably they are touchy like many Muslims about real or imagined insults, so I will change to the ISIL designation if they merit further mention.

It may be a mistake to hold Iraq together. Perhaps it is better as three separate entities: Kurdistan, Shia Iraq and Sunni ISIS.

Our interests will be helped by an independent Kurdistan and attacked by ISIS.

ISIS seems to be a criminally funded [protection rackets, et.c.] and otherwise supported terrorist organization about to become a Sharia code state. We should work all angles short of armed force to weaken and destroy ISIS. Perhaps we can cut off or reduce its support by pursuading its supporters to withdraw their support.

It is an unpleasant situation, but as climate change and population growth work through the area, we can expect more such situations, My Liege.

Your faithful servant,

UPDATE: PROJECT MINERVA and 2016 Elections

Barry, My Liege :

Even though it is too late for you to make a stronger mark on history, maybe you can guide your successor into some real changes.

Let's talk straight.

We need real change, My Liege.

We don't need pandering and BS and military studies of civil unrest like MINERVA [ see link below].

Specifically, we want our leaders to take back our government from moneyed interests and do what is right for the rest of us.

We voted for change and we got more of the same.

You won because you tapped into a yearning for real change - we wanted you to be Teddy Roosevelt.

You had a chance to be that when the Dems controlled both houses and the Presidency, but you blew it.

Yes, you did some good and necessary things, but now is the time for hard things, My Liege.

Now, we want our country back.

There's a good chance that we will elect a Dem President and both houses of Congress again because we are just fed up.

We are getting desperate, My Liege.

You can see a list of the things that need change here:
http://www.mkeever.com/owsplaneleven.doc

And, My Liege, I am concerned that the reaction of the DOD in today's world is to fund studies about tracking civil unrest as preparation for military action; see it here http://www.alternet.org/environment/pentagon-preparing-mass-civil-unrest?akid=11920.1151017.ibIDFF&rd=1&src=newsletter1003144&t=9


Your faithful servant,

Spring 2014 Country Studies Published

The Mike P. McKeever Institute of Economic Policy Analysis (MIEPA) is pleased to announce the publication of its Spring 2014 country studies.

Two new countries, Bangladesh and Uzbekistan, have been added.

Bangladesh is analyzed by Specialist Syed Hassan; his analysis can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/bangladesh.html

Uzbekistan is analyzed by Specialist Genrietta Lerner; her analysis can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/uzbekistan.html

Additionally, four previously analyzed countries have been updated.

Burma/Myanmar is analyzed by Specialist Chai Jian; her analysis can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/burma.html

Italy is analyzed by Specialist Ashish Neupane; his analysis can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/italy.html

Japan is analyzed by Specialist Satomi Tomida; her analysis can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/japan.html

Tne United States of America has been analyzed by three Specialists, Specialist George Bustos, Specialist Hobie Smith and Specialist Mario Delgado; their analyses can be read at http://www.mkeever.com/usa.html

Conservative Reactions To Picketty

Barry, My Liege :

Some earnest commentators have wondered why it is that few if any conservative writers have reacted to and tried to refute Thomas Picketty's masterful book CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY.

The lack of concern from the political right is easy to understand.

In the book, Picketty presents a convincing case that capital tends to accumulate into ever larger masses unless it is prevented from doing so, thus reducing equality world wide. Such a world naturally tends toward extreme inequality and reduced social justice.

Conservative writers' reactions, if there are any, will be first of all to ignore the thesis since many conservative writers have demonstrated a disregard of facts over many years and in many forums. Many conservative writers are more concerned with the 'correct' opinion and tend to ignore 'facts' or any 'reality' which disagrees with correct opinions.

Secondly, conservative opinion, if I understand it correctly, will be unconcerned with any inequality resulting from capital accumulations. Any such accumulations will likely be perceived as the 'natural order of things' which does not require any action or comment. It is the way things are 'supposed' to be.

Inequality is, after all, the source of wealth creation and all things good. A misplaced concern with 'equality' is a sure sign of liberal, nay socialist, tendencies and goes against the American grain.

Thus, we can expect few, if any, conservative arguments against Picketty's thesis and factual presentation.

Your faithful servant,

Piketty's Prognosis

Barry, My Liege :

As you know already, a new book by Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics titled CAPITAL IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY was published in 2013 by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

In the book he documents the accumulation of capital into fewer and fewer hands along with an increase in wealth and income inequality from the middle of the 19th Century until 2010 in the United States, France, Britain and Germany.

One of his overarching themes is that there is nothing inherent in economics which will slow or reverse this movement toward extreme inequality in the foreseeable future.

In fact, our earlier expectation that rising economic growth would lift all boats and reduce inequality between classes was based on a study of the United States economy between 1914 and 1944. That study was fine as far as it went, but it turns out that the period in which inequality fell was a historical anomaly.

From this, I conclude that, unless we, My Liege, take decisive and drastic action, inequality will continue to rise until we have an economy ripe for revolution or depression.

Some of the actions we might take include a progressive tax on capital, confiscatory estate taxes and extremely high marginal tax rates.

Unless we voluntarily redistribute incomes and wealth, there is a high probability of a violent revolution to accomplish the same ends.

This space has made similar declarations previously ; I take no pleasure from this confirmation of earlier gloomy thoughts.

We are warned, My Liege.

Your faithful servant,

Needed: US National Trade Policy

Barry, My Liege :

It appears that a Chinese company, Lenovo, is trying to buy IBM's server unit. That is the company which makes and services computer servers used by the FBI, Pentagon and US Telecommunications firms.

You can read it here : http://www.theverge.com/2014/4/4/5582446/lenovo-ibm-server-deal-reported-national-security-concerns

While some are raising concerns about this transaction, it appears from other news about Flight 370 that it is past time to create a COORDINATED national trade policy which protects our National Security and our JOBS, My Liege.

And, don't worry about what our trading partners may say about any such move, because they all have such policies already. We are just late to the party.

Your faithful servant,

Flight 370

Barry, My Liege :

Barry, Barry, Barry.

Holy cow!

I know you're proud of your ability to kill people; as you said to aides 'I am really good at killing people'.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2013/11/03/book-alleges-obama-told-aides-about-drone-strikes-im-really-good-at-killing-people/

But this is too much, My Liege.

I could not come up with a logical explanation of the Flight 370 disappearance until I remembered that quote, My Liege.

The story just did not add up until then.

Here was a large commercial aircraft that suddenly became invisible to all radar, took a totally different course from the flight plan to Beijing and seemingly flew straight to one of the deepest parts of the ocean where it apparently crashed. There is little possibility of recovering the black box in that part of the sea.

Seemingly there is no mention of terrorists or depressed pilots for a motive - just a big mystery.

After about ten minutes on the interweb, I came up with a theory that seems to make sense.

It is written just below, but Barry, My Liege, you won't like it at all, not one little bit. In fact I was so sure that you will really, really not like this theory that I was afraid to publish it.

But I decided to go ahead and completely divulge my CONJECTURE and sources so you won't get your knickers in a knot. After all, I am just one under-employed PATRIOTIC AMERICAN whose ancestors go back to the Mayflower and John Adams, acting entirely on my own in the national interest.

Here's the introduction: It seems that Glenn Beck had noted on air soon after the initial reports that 20 of the passengers were employees of Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL). The company's website confirmed that and in addition provided some clues about a motive for crashing the plane and killing all those on board.

The company has developed a number of specialized miniature microchips for the defense market in order to generate additional revenue. The company either built or participated in building a plant in China to make some of these chips, but it seems that the plant was not performing very well. The Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) employees on Flight 370 included some engineers who were flying to China to bring the plant up to speed.

And, My Liege, it seems that the new chips are very cutting edge. They are deeply involved in stealth technology and ingestible tracking devices.

In other words, with possession of both the secrets and a plant to make them, China would be in a much stronger military position than it is now.

So then it is logical to imagine a scenario where a hot-headed Washington military guy goes apoplectic and demands that we stop those engineers from giving away one of our advantages to the Chinese.

And then, with or without your approval - and considering the state of our lack of political control over the security forces, it was probably without your approval - he goes ahead and orders the hit on 227 passengers, plus crew.

Here's the scenario - a US guy goes to Malaysia Air and asks for permission to run a test on some stealth technology on Flight 370. 'It'll just be a test,' he says, 'no harm to anyone.' With approval, the guy installs the stealth devices and REPROGRAMS THE FLIGHT COMPUTER and communication devices. Whether he also installs some soporific or poison gas is open to question.

So, My Liege, here's the difficulty so far. Even if we grant that allowing the Chinese such a technology steal is a bad idea, the horse was already out of the barn.

We had already allowed Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE: FSL) to build the plant in China! Who dropped the ball on that one?

It looks like we chose to murder 227 innocent men, women and children because some idiot in the US trade office dropped the ball.

We both know, My Liege, that our national Trade Policy is completely off-track. But the solution is to fix the policy. It is NOT to murder anyone in the area when it goes off-track.

My Liege, I hope you are as ashamed and embarrassed as I am.

Your faithful servant.

John Brennan Must Resign

Barry, My Liege :

While it is easy to understand that you do not wish to intervene in the discussion of whether or not the CIA behaved criminally, it is clear that John Brennan has to resign now.

The situation is beyond a criminal matter and affects the integrity of the Constitution itself. It is simply not aceptable. It is time for you to act, now.

Here is how Harry Reid puts it in the first two paragraphs of his letter to the Attorney General :

'As you know, in January 2014, Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Brennan personally informed Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Dianne Feinstein and Vice Chairman Saxby Chambliss that the CIA apparently had - without prior authorization or consultation - accessed a computer network designated for the Intelligence Committee's exclusive use in conducting its official oversight duties.

As Majority Leader of the Senate, I have a responsibility to protect the independence and effectiveness of our institution. The ClA's decision to access the resources and work product of the legislative branch without permission is absolutely indefensible, regardless of the context.
This action has serious separation of powers implications. It is immaterial whether this action was taken in response to concems about the Committee's possession of a disputed document; this stands as a categorically different and more serious breach.'

Read it here : https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1094200-letter-holder-on-ssci-computer-breach.html#document/p1

It is, My Liege, time for you to act by demanding the resignation of John Brennan. It is the sensible way to send a signal to the intelligence community that they MUST obey the Constitution.

Failure to act here will have intolerable consequences, My Liege.

We wait your action.

Your faithful servant,

Terminal Economic Cancer

Barry, My Liege :

The Economic National Security of the United States of America is dangerously weakened by three distinct cancer-like developments. These developments are like cancer in that they are growing while diverting resources to their maintenance and away from healthy economic growth.

First, there exists a trend toward extreme income and wealth disparities which you have referred to previously as the weakening of the Middle Class. We are now a third world nation with regard to the inequalities of income and wealth. As a result of the decline in Middle Class purchasing power, our economy can grow only slowly, if at all, since our most numerous class of people finds it difficult to buy anything beyond the bare necessities of food, clothing, shelter and transportation. The result of this development is that our economy is now more brittle and than it has been for many years. By brittle, I mean that a small shock today may be enough to tip the economy into recession whereas it would not have happened before.

Second, our financial system managers, derisively called 'Banksters' practising 'Bankery', have escaped meaningful punishment for the chaos they created in 2007 and 2008. Many accused felons walk the street and continue to manage large sums of money. Since the same people are managing the same system, we will have another financial crisis in the United States, soon. Banksters are motivated by simple greed- they can make money in chaotic conditions, so they will engineer more chaotic conditions in the near future. But, the result of the next chaos will be a massive recession that will destroy a large share of our total wealth, put many families on the street and eviscerate our social safety net of Social Security, Food Stamps, Medicare, AFDC, etc., etc.

Third, our National Security System - CIA, NSA, etc., etc. - has gone rogue. It is now officially beyond the control of elected representatives. Once employees realize that they answer to no one, they will be tempted to accept offers of money to act in favor of special interests. There have been convictions of CIA officials for corruption already. Then we will see disappearances, unexplained plane crashes, mysterious deaths and a climate of fear unlike anything we have seen before, but exactly like many other countries. In Chile or Argentina, the Security folks dumped the bodies of political critics out of airplanes over the Atlantic Ocean while their mothers picketed the government HQ.

When we combine a rogue security apparatus with the wealth concentrations and criminalized financial system we have today, the result is a weak economy with no ability to adapt to change. To see this in action, simply read about Egypt, Syria, Iran, Russia in the 1990's and so forth ad infinitum.

However, the real difficulty lies in the brittleness and not the criminality, My Liege. The criminality is bad enough, but the brittleness can be fatal when our country is faced with the choice to change or die.

Sadly our probable reaction to any crisis will be a reaction of force - the Oligarchs and Banksters will call out the security apparatus and the police, mobilize the national Guard and place protestors in the numerous 'secret' prisons we have erected already around the country. This reaction will make things worse. Force will be used to protect the current situation instead of making changes the situation demands.

In order to comprehend what may occur, it is instructive to read about the 1998 Russian financial crisis here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Russian_financial_crisis

In that event, we may follow the Russian example and install a dictator with a mandate to calm the crisis and form a new government with a new Constitution.

And, My Liege, we will be faced with this choice in this century. It will come from one or more of at least three sources.

A newly published study by NASA confirms this : http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2014/mar/14/nasa-civilisation-irreversible-collapse-study-scientists

END OF GROWTH

In her short paper 'Limits to Growth–At our doorstep, but not recognized,' February 6, 2014 by Gail Tverberg, Ms Tverberg suggests that the capital needed to fund further economic growth in our oil based economy will disappear soon. It will disappear since the price of oil today is not enough to finance the creation of new oil supplies.

The United States depends on economic growth to manage our debt and the federal deficits we create by paying more for entitlements, interest and federal government purchases than we collect in tax revenue.

If we have no growth, then we will find it difficult and expensive to borrow funds by selling T-bills. When that happens, then we will be forced to raise taxes and cut entitlements. However, our political system appears to be incapable of managing those changes.

In that event, we will see massive unemployment, deflation and hunger. In Russia in 1998, one could buy food - if one had any cash - ONLY in Moscow.

Our Federal Reserve Bank has created several Trillions of new dollars while attempting to counter the recent Recession, but that action has so far failed to stimulate economic growth of sufficient magnitude. And, that overhang of dollars has the possibility of creating, or contributing to, a massive hyper-inflation similar to the Russian experience of the 1990's. Our saving grace here MAY be that our FED has more skills than did the Russian central bank. We pray.

CLIMATE CHANGE

Climate change will continue. While we could reduce its effects by making changes in our habits, as a species we do not have the collective will to overcome the Oligarchs and force change into our system.

Many writers have addressed this issue; suffice it to say that our population will look to our government for relief when the effects become more severe. We pray that you My Liege can answer the call.

POPULATION GROWTH

Population growth seems to be outstripping the planet's ability to provide. Some of the revolutions, riots and terrorism we see today are a result of that.

It will get worse.

While there are specific actions we can take now to moderate these scenarios, IMHO we do not have the ability to take those actions; the specific actions are listed here : http://www.mkeever.com/owsplaneleven.doc

In conclusion, My Liege, please join me in offering my sincere apologies to yours and to my four grandchildren. Please know that we wish with all our hearts that we could have done better.

Godspeed.

Ukraine, Stop the Madness

Barry, My Liege :

Let us pray that there is no more shooting and death in Ukraine.

My Liege - let Russia have Crimea and also insist on free and fair elections in Ukraine with which the EU and the USA will abide.

Putin - take Crimea, but in return you must guarantee the well being of all Ukrainians.

Current Kiev government - let Crimea go, tell the West that all you want is free elections and then make good on that promise with a peaceful transition to a new government.

Crimean government - time to back off your demand to join Russia - any future Ukraine deaths will be on you, so let events play out.

Neither the USA nor the media nor the EU has a dog in this fight.

It is time to work for peace. The better diplomatic and media role in the peace process is to present only verifiable facts.

Your faithful servant,

Doomsday and The End of Growth ?

Barry, My Liege :

As you know well, your administration together with just about all the economists on the planet have pinned our hope for the future on economic growth.

The mantra is simple : Economic growth will bring jobs and allow a more fair distribution of wealth and incomes.

Indeed, as noted in this space, our current economic policies require that our economy grows.

If we have no growth, then we will be unable to manage our debt or provide for the poor among us.

In that event, one's mind reels at the various scenarios which might obtain.

Now economist Gail Tverberg has proposed that we are facing an imminent end to growth.

Her reasoning is elegantly simple. To wit : We are running out of raw materials like oil which are available cheaply and easily.

As raw materials become more costly, we will be less able to invest in the new ventures from whence growth comes. It will take more and more of our current income just to sustain our current standard of living.

Her short paper is here : http://ourfiniteworld.com/2014/02/06/limits-to-growth-at-our-doorstep-but-not-recognized/#more-38795

At some future time, we may well face a depression with deflation and falling real incomes. When this happened in Russia under Yeltsin, it was preceded by a hyper inflation with a concomitant 'need' to revalue the currency; that revaluation consisted of confiscating the savings of most Russian citizens.

And, My Liege, that time is measured in a few years - not in the centuries we might hope for.

Further, My Liege, fear of possible government reactions to that situation exists in some quarters.

According to the Turner Radio Network, Edward Snowden has taken the following information [http://www.turnerradionetwork.com/news/266-pat] :

* a complete roster of absolutely every employee and official of the entire US Government.

* The names, home addresses, unlisted personal home telephone and personal cellular phone numbers, dates of birth and social security numbers of every person involved in any way, with any department of the US Government.

* The files include elected officials, Cabinet appointees, Judges, and **ALL** law enforcement agency employees including sworn officers.

* Similar files with the personal information of EVERY government contractor and all employees of that contractor!

* Similar files with all the personal information of EVERY Bank Corporation, their operating officers and their Boards of Directors, including all current and former members of the Federal Reserve

Mr. Snowden has indicated that he will publish all this information
if he 'vanishes' for any reason or if potentially harmful government actions are undertaken :

"Making the situation all the more dire for the government is that Snowden has made clear he will release some of the information under certain "other" circumstances. For instance, if Martial Law is declared in the US or if any elections are canceled for any reason, all the government employee info goes out. If the US Dollar collapses as a currency, or there is any type of "bail-in" for banks, where depositors money is seized to prop-up banks as happened in the country of Cypress, all the Federal Reserve and Banker info goes out. If an economic collapse takes place, all the Banker/Stock Broker/Commodities Trader information goes out. If Corporations start hyper-inflating prices, all the information about them, their officers and Boards of Directors will go out."

While predicting future events and subsequent reaction to them is always a risky business, there does appear to be several underlying realities which bear close inspection, My Liege.

Your faithful servant,

Time to De-Felonize Drug Possession

Barry, My Liege :

First, a confession - I have supported the War on Drugs.

But, now is a good time to recognize that the War has failed.

The War on Drugs was going to prevent lives from being ruined, reduce crime and violence and lead to both a safer society and safer streets.

It didn't do any of that.

Instead, now we have jails and prisons full of people with non-violent criminal convictions.

When they come out, they have little hope, few prospects and a post graduate degree in criminal behavior.

Crime is up, social disintegration continues and violence is endemic.

Maybe by reducing the penalties for simple possession, we can reclaim our streets from the violence we see today. It couldn't be worse than the current situation - and a lot of knowledgeable folks think it will be better.

Turns out voters, police, political conservatives and judges all think it is time to reduce sentences for drug possession.

[See C. W. Nevius here : http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/nevius/article/Softening-law-on-hard-drugs-creates-unlikely-5187071.php]

How about you, My Liege : Can we support giving some hope to prisoners convicted of non-violent offenses?

Maybe it would turn the ship of society a few degrees in a better direction.

Your faithful servant,

2014 State of the United States of America

Barry, My Liege :

It appears a good time to examine the state of our country from an unbiased perspective. That is the goal of this exercise.

I have the distinct advantage of freedom from external pressure in any direction from any source in choosing what topics to discuss and which attitude to assume. I imagine that is an advantage you might wish for yourself, My Liege.

Of course, with that particular advantage comes the disadvantage of possessing absolutely zero ability to implement any action, however small.

There is some positive news, My Liege. Below is a personal list of a small fraction of the positive changes you have brought or have occurred under your watch.

** The American people remain generous, helpful, fair-minded and optimistic. Sadly, our political system has failed our people and has been captured by selfish and short sighted moneyed interests.

** There is a political move to the left among Americans. It is apparent to this observer that the American people have understood exactly what has happened to the political process and want to fix it. Americans want to change the political process so that the results of that process will be more fair.

Mostly we do not have a laundry list of specific items to change, we just know that it is not OK now. But, My Liege, we do know that the road ahead is hard and long. We hope that the coming elections will give you some added political influence so that you can address some of the major issues.

For full disclosure, the writer has proposed just such a list which can be read here : http://www.mkeever.com/owsplaneleven.doc

** Many states are legalizing same sex marriage and gifting happiness to millions of people in love.

** ACA has brought medical insurance and with it actual healthcare to millions of Americans. That is good news. It is a good first step, but is it only a first step.

In our country people with no insurance have little or no access to medical care. I think we are the only industrialized country where that is true. In the long run, a better solution is to remove the profit motive from healthcare and adopt a single payer system similar to other countries.

It is an amazement that some people actually work diligently to take health care away from people. I was taught not to hit a man when he's down.

** Job Creation has increased under your watch and that has benefitted many Americans. We are all grateful for that, even the Republicans. Additionally, our economy is becoming more stable as a result of the additional jobs.

Much remains to be done for the unemployed, My Liege.

** Lastly, it is possible that the United States of America has not passed the point of no return down the path of oligarchy and injustice. We hope that is correct, My Liege. And, we know we will need hard work to make that so.

Here is a somewhat longer list of the serious issues we face.

**** Wealth concentrations have increased to the point that moneyed interests have assumed control of the political process.

**** Most of the people in charge of our political process have no interest in the state of their fellow Americans or in the future effects of their actions. They appear to focus on short term selfish material gain at the expense of our country and their own grandchildren.

This level of barbarism has not been seen for a very long time, My Liege. It is unacceptable.

**** Continuing attacks on women’s rights and voting rights demonstrates additional barbarism toward American citizens. Both are unacceptable.

**** The people in charge choose to gridlock our government when they cannot get their way. This government gridlock has caused and will continue to cause injustice, injury and death to American citizens.

**** As a species we choose to ignore global warming. Our failure to address it adequately will cause serious and unpleasant life-style changes by mid century.

Owners of the carbon based fortunes in our country reinforce our government gridlock to thwart meaningful energy reform in order to secure additional short term profits.

**** Long term unemployed people can expect to remain jobless and without unemployment insurance. Many of them will fall through the cracks and will become homeless.

**** In addition to the income losses for long term unemployed workers, average real wages for most Americans with jobs have remained unchanged since the 1970's. During that time incomes to the fortunate have skyrocketed.

**** Cumulatively, these trends remove purchasing power from most Americans. That means they cannot afford to buy anything besides the basics of food, clothing and shelter. This diminishing of middle class purchasing power assures that our economy will stall and show little or no growth in spite of all the fiscal and monetary policy actions we may take.

**** Any economic growth we can manage is now at the point that it will cause more degradation of the environment through pollution and using up of natural resources. Continuing to use the oceans as our collective dump will damage the oceans' abilities to generate half our oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide.

We pray you address these real problems, My Liege, but, in the event that you are unable or unwilling to do so, then we will consider other places to live. Countries which appear to merit investigation include Canada, Australia, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and New Zealand

Your faithful servant,

TEPCO = RAT [Real American Terrorist]

Barry, My Liege :

TEPCO [Tokyo Electric Power Company] is the Japanese power company which owns and operates the Fukushima nuclear reactors.

It earns its RAT designation from its consistent refusal to acknowledge the existence or severity of the fallout from the Fukushima disaster.

That witholding of information is the direct cause of scores of cancers which have develped among American Naval Personnel from exposure to the fallout while on humanitarian missions to Japan.

See details here - http://www.nationofchange.org/toll-mounts-among-us-sailors-devastated-fukushima-radiation-1389540068

Additionally, TEPCO's refusal to disclose radiation levels or to reduce or stop the radiation leakage places the citizens of the Pacific Coast of the United States in imminent danger from radioactive fallout.

Further, TEPCO's failures to disclose prevents the citizens of the Pacific Coast of the United States from planning for their own physical safety.

And, My Liege, interweb hyperbole suggests that your governmenmt is cooperating with TEPCO to withold information.

There is no honor - only well-deserved shame to all actors in this tragedy.

Your faithful servant,

UPDATE JAN 10 - Radioactive New Year - No Honor Found

Barry, My Liege :

There is much confusion in the world about the radiation from Fukushima.

**************************
UPDATE -

Although two recent articles claim that there is no PRESENT danger from Fuksuhima radiation in California:

1. http://www.sfgate.com/default/article/Coast-getting-little-radiation-from-Fukushima-5125645.php;

2. http://deepseanews.com/2013/11/true-facts-about-ocean-radiation-and-the-fukushima-disaster/],

the fact remains that no government agency is considering future developments. At the least, it is the responsibility of the Government of the United States of America to create and publicize a radiation tracking and threat assessment program for radiation. Without a reliable source, we must rely on interweb hyperbole.

***************************
After an intense albeit limited search, my conclusion is that there are very few facts available to potential victims.

Since I live directly in the path of the moving radiation from Japan, I am led to use unverified statements and logic to plan future actions for my family.

In Chernobyl, the authorities did not alert the local population for several days. Those who went outside during the intense radiation mostly died within two years or developed severe cancers. Those who did not go outside mostly lived with no ill effects.

Sometime later, the military enforced an evacuation at gunpoint in selected areas. After the evacuation, there was looting, rioting and murder.

Ukrainian authorities acted without honor toward their population.

Tracking the movement of radiation is a confusing enterprise. First, there is not a standard method of measuring the amount of radiation or the level of harmful radiation.

Some instruments use CPM measurements which count the raw number of events of radiation per minute. A higher CPM indicates more radiation. A CPM of below 100 seems to indicate a background level of radiation - that is to say, 'just normal and no ill effects'.

Other instruments measure the amount of milli sieverts per hour of radiation. A level of 0.10 to 1.00 is considered normal as above.

The Fukushima event has released radiation both into the sea water and the air. Sea water radiation is the probable cause of highly unusual fish and sea mammal behavior in recent days. A United States Naval Vessel, the Ronald Reagan, has seen highly unusual events of cancers in its crew; the probable cause is the use of radioactive filtered seawater for cooking and bathing on the ship during its cruise to the Sea of Japan.

The radiation plume has moved from Japan to the Coast of California. Additional radiation is being released into the ocean daily.

Recently, clouds of steam were seen over the Fukushima site; the probable cause is additional meltdowns of nuclear material as the cooling systems continue failing.

These events have released additional radiation into the atmosphere. This additional radiation is moving toward California. Japanese authorities are incapable of controlling the site and are acting without honor toward their population.

Reports on this were obtained from a website wherein the former owner is serving a prison term for threatening federal judges about an unrelated ruling on handgun possession.

It is difficult to track the progress of this radioactive cloud since the Government of the United States of America has chosen to ignore the question.

An honorable government would track such an event similar to the method in which they track hurricanes.

This government is acting without honor toward the citizens of the West Coast of the United states of America.

Now, in order to survive in a confusing situation, I have taken a few steps.

Our household owns a geiger counter which measures in milli sieverts per hour. We measure at least once per day. So far, the levels have not approached 1.00.

We also own two rolls of plastic sheeting and several rolls of duct tape which can be used to seal windows, doors and electrical outlets when the radiation passes 1.00 milli sieverts.

I will order two face masks with the ability to protect against radiation inhalation. I have ordered a bottle of potassium iodide pills; they are supposed to prevent the absorption of radioactivity into the thyroid gland. That should reduce the likelihood of thyroid cancer. Unofficial reports are that the United States Government has recently ordered millions of these tablets.

Our house has iron bars on the windows and doors. My shotgun is loaded and in easy reach. In my city, celebratory gunfire for New Year’s Eve was mostly from automatic weapons.

We track radiation movements daily using two websites. One website [http://radiationnetwork.com/DetailMaps.htm] records unadjusted geiger counter readings from several locations every five minutes on a map. It records raw CPM readings.

A second website [http://www.netc.com/] tracks radiation in some manner which I have not yet deciphered. But, it does have a news stream with relevant articles.

We are actively considering some unannounced visits to relatives in areas far from the ocean if the readings exceed the danger levels.

Happy New year, My Liege.

Your faithful servant,