9/22/2017

We are Catalans

Translated from a Wasap thats going around:

We are the other Catalans: those who when we go to demonstrations behave as civilized people, who never put any flag on the balcony, we are quiet, tolerant, hardworking, peaceful, discreet and friends of our friends; we want to have health, love and work, like everyone else; we believe in family and personal effort and not in donation and subsidy to get things; we love peace and freedom. We abhor corruption, violence, abuse of power, manipulation and lies.


We are bilingual without complexes; we do zapping without problems for all the options and the film that we saw yesterday we no longer remember in which language we heard it (Catalan or Spanish).

We like sports and we also encourage Nadal, Ferrer, Lorenzo, Alonso, Barça, Spanish and the National Team, and it does not matter if the goal is scored by a Catalan or a Manchego when we compete for the European Cup or the World Cup. And out of respect we do not whistle the hymn of Spain or any other.

We are fed up with "procès" and politics in general with so much lies. We vote for the least bad or discarded candidates.

We hate those who foment phobias between territories, whatever their color, from here or elsewhere, to win four votes, keep the armchair and keep taking shares from everyone's account.

We do not believe that independence is the solution to all our problems: we are not so naive; we consider that confrontational politics and its leaders are precisely part of the problem.

Why is everything so uptight? Should not they all have to work to get us out of this crisis, to stop stories and not to confront each other? I think that many think so, but we are not seen or heard: we are the Others. And although they know that,  they are ignoring us for not thinking like them.

After the failure of the October 1 referendum there will be new regional elections. Inform everyone that we are part of the Others, tell your acquaintances, tell the undecided ones, those who think that this is not their concern, that depending on our vote in the future regional elections, Catalonia's fate hangs on the balance, that vote will decide if it remains the fiefdom of a few who base their discourse on hatred of the other peoples of Spain, the extremists who are indoctrinating our children in schools and spreading propaganda and lies in the autonomous TV channels and other means which they purchased with our tax money. Let us demand that the constitutionalists be above the interests of their parties and stop using public funds to peddle their hatred and supremacism. 

We will demonstrate to those who lead the process that we are Catalans and Spaniards. Let's show them that we have not believed the vile lie that "Espanya ens steals" when the only ones who have been robbing us are they, the ruling Mafia which steals our resources, our money, our pride and our dignity. We will tell them and the world that it is enough of signs of hatred, intransigencies and threats of sanctions for those who do not collaborate or think like them. We will stop this adventure that has only brought us and bring more economic and intellectual poverty and more crisis despite the promise of paradise.

Because we love Catalunya, because we love Spain, because we want to remain European, viva Catalunya!

8/13/2017

Beatriz arrived in Chile

Beatriz, a Venezuelan lawyer, and her son reached Chile yesterday at 4:30 am, made it through Chilean immigration ok. She was robbed by Venezuelan border guards on her way out, but she managed to get away with $1000 she had put in a very secret place (I had told her she was likely to be robbed, to keep a believable amount of money in her purse, and hide everything else). 

She says the  border guards were very happy to see she had USA dollars they could steal, and since she kept quiet they didn't search her bag thoroughly, so she managed to arrive in Chile with her diplomas, birth certificates, reference letters, and other documents which will help her get a visa. Chile is being very kind with Venezuelan refugees, so there's a huge flow by road and air. 

Beatriz says it's very cold in Santiago, so she was going to buy two air mattresses and two blankets. She has friends who took her in, but they don't have the furniture or beds for her to use. I suggested she also buy warm clothing, and go to the market, buy vegetables and chicken to make soup, because she has to keep herself and her son warm. Getting sick at this point in time would be a serious blow because she's there on a tourist visa, and has no right to public health care services.  

Based on the number of Venezuelans who went to the opposition sponsored consultation on July 16th, there are 2 million Venezuelans abroad, and roughly 50 thousand per month are leaving. This exodus doesn't seem to get much coverage.  

7/15/2017

Beating and arrest of autistic man in Venezuela

This video shows Maduro's national police (PNB), beating an autistic man in Lecherias, Venezuela. The man's name is Gianni Scovino, he's badly hurt, under arrest. If I get additional information I'll write updates below. If you don't like violence, don't watch it.


Update: Scovino is still under arrest, I have confirmation the video is real, it is included in articles in several reputable newspapers.

6/29/2017

What's going on in Venezuela today?

Protests and deaths continue, nations complain, say "if Maduro violates the law" and look the other way. I get the impression Venezuelans are about to get dumped into the same trash bin as Cubans have been. The refugee flow is already being blocked, and other nations are starting to treat Venezuelans who flee regime abuses, hunger and misery, as if they were lepers.

 Maduro has already violated the constitution numerous times. Regime abuses range from murder to taking civilians to military tribunals, to kidnapping and torture. They deny food to regime opponents, have the police enter homes, abuse the people inside, and rob them. 

Maduro follows advice and gets lots
 of help from the Castro Mafia 

In legal terms, it is said "Maduro broke the constitutional thread". This has been declared by the National Assembly, the State Prosecutor Luisa Ortega, and numerous international bodies. 

Anybody with a lick of common sense knows Maduro and his top kingpins are guilty of crimes against humanity and deserve to be fed to a wood chipper. Two days ago Maduro stated what he could not get by votes he would get by waging war. Given that he is backed by less than 20 % of the population, this speech amounted to his personal declaration of war against the Venezuelan people.

I believe he's heading for a cliff, trying to hold an illegal "election" to select members of a constitutional assembly which he set up defining the rules and objectives, while violating the existing 1999 constitution. 

Today marks 90 days of continuous nation wide protests

Once he gets his spurious assembly seated the breach will be undeniable, and this will give other nations the ability to declare they do not recognize Maduro, to freeze all Venezuelan regime bank accounts, close the borders, and confiscate all oil exports. The legal authority will be given by the National Assembly, if they are brave and willing to risk Maduro's wrath. 

The world should also note that Maduro is bring advised and guided by the Castro dictatorship, which has a keen interest in having Venezuela ruled by a dictator like Maduro. In other words, the Castro cancer is actively spreading, and it will continue to do so until it is destroyed. 

But I have serious doubts anything will be done by other nations. They won't even bother to tell their populations the truth about what's going on. And they'll continue to issue visas and allow dictatorship bigwigs to open bank accounts with stolen money and cash they get from the cocaine trade. It's nauseating. 

6/17/2017

Trump versus Castro

Obama's policy propped up the regime, increased repression, and encouraged Raúl Castro to set in place a succession plan which leaves his family in control, and set to become a Dinasty similar to North Korea's. 
Obama smiling at Raúl Castro, a huge foreign policy blunder
Raul is so ambitious in this respect, that even Fidel's children and grandchildren are given secondary roles. The top security posts, the key to preserving the dictatorship, will be held by his eldest son Alejandro and his grandson Raúlito. The nominal head is married to his grandaughter, and the guy who runs the commercial empire was married to his daughter. 
The sanctions are a message we have to build upon, and work hard to have the dictatorship weakened and overthrown within four years. Because if we don't, the American left, together with corporate interests, will doom Cuba to a horrible future. You see, the Castro dictatorship runs a hybrid system, the Castro dictatorship is nominally communist, it set up the military owned Gaesa conglomerate to partner in joint ventures with foreign investors.

They don't sign deals with other nations, they do it with corporations such as Meliá or Kempinski Hotel chains. These corporations use Cuban labor hired out by the regime, which is essentially slave labor getting less than 10 % of what the joint venture is charged. 
The opportunities were always there for multinational corporations from Europe, Canada, Latinamerica, Japan, etc. so nothing changed, other than they'll see fewer American tourists. 
What hurts the regime is that Trump highlighted Gaesa, forbid doing business with that outfit, and that hit the oligarchy. They are like narcos, so they'll do a work around and I'm sure there's going to be greedy lawyers, banks and corporations willing to help. After all many of them were quite happy to deal with Hitler, the Chinese, and the Burmese military junta. 
What will make investors shy away is the mere fact that the Castro Mafia runs a repressive dictatorship and it chokes the economy with its policies. What makes Cubans dirt poor is the Castro Mafia corruption, the sheer stupidity of their economic system, the way they kill initiative, the way the smart and educated leave...

6/09/2017

Remember Neomar Lander

Neomar Lander, 17 year old student, was killed on Wednesday June 7th, 2017, in Chacao district, Caracas. What I think I know I learned from several videos and interviews made right after the event. What I saw was a skinny young man trying to approach a line of national guards placed above him on Francisco de Miranda (I think the guards were blocking marchers from turning West towards downtown Caracas).
Neomar Lander 

 Neomar was leading a small group of youngsters trying to go down to Libertador Avenue using the sunken access lane when two back to back explosions are heard. The next view shows Neomar lying on the ground and his friends trying to recover his body as the guard fires a volley of tear gas grenades. I can't say whether he was shot at close range with a grenade launcher (this seems to be a prevalent technique used by Maduro's guards and police), or whether he blew himself up. 

Neomar lying on the street after his friends retrieved his body 

The investigation will be tainted because the site was controlled by the same national guard/political police (SEBIN) unit which may have killed him. What I do know is that in most countries we don't see 17 year olds dying during protest marches being tear gassed, beaten, dragged behind motorcycles, run over, arrested, and tortured for over 60 days by a dictator who is stealing, starving the people as the outside world either ignores what is happening (just like they ignore Yemen and ignored the Rwanda genocide), or says they are "concerned" and send their best wishes. 

This video is an edited compilation of what's
 available, it has some bloody scenes


6/02/2017

Goldman Sachs

I sent a note to the FBI office in NY suggesting they investigate Goldman Sachs for possible violations of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. This outfit just purchased $2.8 billion face value Pdvsa bonds from the Venezuelan Central Bank for $835 million via a murky London based bond trader named "Dinosaur". Based on what I've read, there's a possibility the deal was greased with about $200 million USD worth of illegal commissions and/or bribes. For further details please refer to this Caracas Chronicle article by Francisco Toro. Their site includes other good content: https://www.caracaschronicles.com/2017/05/31/watching-250000000-heist-live-bloomberg-terminal/
 
Lloyd Blankfein, Goldman Sach's head vulture 

The $835 million are a life ring for the Maduro dictatorship, which has found itself running out of cash and with negligible credit lines. This behavior by Goldman Sachs is incredibly unethical, if not a serious violation of USA law. 



5/27/2017

The rise of Leftwing Censorship and Repression

This is a segment of an article about free speech suppression at the Daily Caller , taking place in USA  university  campuses. It seems to me the USA is being undermined by cadres of extremists who want to have the student body controlled and properly brainwashed so they support the rise of a communist dictatorship. It's like Germany in the early 30's?
Whether it’s tagging legitimate news stories they disagree with as “fake news” or launching increasingly-violent protests to shut down opposing viewpoints, it’s clear: the left is gearing up their war on free speech. 
Like most wars premised on indoctrination, young adults are the ones being overtly radicalized. Protected by tenure, radical leftists seemingly dominate most institutions of higher learning. Once a free marketplace of ideas, today’s academia seems increasingly a modern inquisition against any who challenge the increasingly cult-like radicalism being infused into the minds of college students. According to a recent Gallup survey, a whopping 72% of college students now think the government should ban all “offensive” speech. What they find offensive, of course, is any remark outside of politically-correct liberal orthodoxy.  And they protest – riot – for it. 
These aren’t your father’s college protests. Today’s mob rule on campus is something new? At California’s Claremont McKenna College, protesters blocked the entrance to a campus building to prevent conservative author Heather MacDonald from speaking. Despite being a well-respected commentator, left-wing radicals justified their anti-intellectual actions by claiming to be preventing “fascism” and “racism” from taking hold in America. Undeterred, MacDonald entered in secret through a back door. When she arrived on stage, however, she found the hall nearly empty–because the mob also refused to let anyone interested in hearing her ideas enter the building. 
Dan Backer writing in "The Daily Caller"
I never heard about this Heather McDonald, so I did a search and found this sympathetic article about her "controversial" views. It seems she thinks one reason for the increasing crime rate in the USA is the anti police movement fueled by leftists. Here's a segment of an article in The American Conservative
It’s hard to recall the last time a relatively short op-ed received the sort of instant vituperation rained upon Manhattan Institute fellow Heather Mac Donald’s recent piece in the Wall Street Journal. What explains it? 
In her piece, Mac Donald parsed recent statistics showing an uptick in urban crime, which are not yet comprehensive but certainly suggest that the 20-year trend of reduced crime is being reversed. Sharp spikes in the homicide rates in Milwaukee and St. Louis, Atlanta and Chicago. The terrifying surge in Baltimore shootings since the riots last April mostly came too late for her overview. 
Then she suggested a reason for the rise in crime: “The most plausible explanation of the current surge in lawlessness is the intense agitation against American police departments over the past nine months.  
The stats Mac Donald cites are what baseball fans would call a “small sample size,” and it might take several years of data to know conclusively that a crime upsurge is happening. But that can’t quite explain the strong language Mac Donald’s opponents deployed. “More sophistry than science,” opined Yale Law professor Tracey Mearnes. Bernard Harcourt, a Columbia professor, slammedMs. Mac Donald for producing “fiction” designed to “undermine the recent gains of the country’s newest civil rights movement.” Liberal websites linked to these so-called rebuttals again and again, as if terrified that, if left unrefuted, Mac Donald’s arguments would gain irresistible momentum.  
Why charges of “sophistry” and “fiction”—rather strong language from academics? The figures Mac Donald gathered were, everyone acknowledged, correct. Perhaps what was troubling was her quotations. One New York City had cop told her, “Any cop who uses his gun now has to worry about being indicted and losing his job and family.” A Milwaukee police chief is quoted as saying he has “never seen anything like” the current hostility towards police. 
Or perhaps it was her suggestion that longstanding laws and due process procedures are in danger of being circumvented, to accommodate the new anti-police sensibility. In New York state, for instance, efforts are now underway to create a special prosecutor to put cops on trial when a grand jury doesn’t come forth with an indictment. 
The overall result is what the St. Louis police chief called “the Ferguson effect”—cops are essentially retreating to a reactive mode, answering 911 calls and investigating crimes, but not going out of their way to proactively police crime-prone neighborhoods. Police officers simply don’t know how to deal with a dominant media narrative intent on portraying them as a violent blue gang.
It seems to me there's no reason to suppress her views or silence her the way university radicals are doing. Thus I have to conclude this censorship culture we see arising in USA campuses is extremely dangerous and will eventually lead the USA towards a communist dictatorship.




5/19/2017

Maduro´s generals discuss use of snipers to kill protesters

The following is a translation of a post at Runrun.es which contains an audio and a transcript of a meeting held in Lara state, Venezuela, in which the participants were generals of the Venezuelan armed forces.


This Youtube video (audio only) identifies the 
generals, has running subtitles in Spanish 

I listened to the full tape, and here are the main points I got out of the discussion:
  • The generals believe the current wave of protests won´t stop, that eventually the National Guard and police will be overrun by the protests, and that Army, Navy and Air Force units will have to be employed.
  • Maduro has given orders to contain the protests using a minimum of protester casualties, they are fully aware the opposition takes videos of the protest marches and the victims.
  • They have a plan ready to move beyond the current situation by having Maduro issue an Emergency Order which will authorize the use of weapons to shoot protesters.
  • The generals discussed the need to have snipers trained, psychologically tested, and prepared to shoot unarmed civilians.
  • The generals discussed the need to secure bullets used to seed the scene, so that troops firing on protesters can claim they were fired upon (they seem to be preparing for a cover up investigation of a potential massacre).
  • They seem worried about the lack of training among Army troops (so far the National Guard, police and paramilitary thugs are being used to contain the protesters).
  • One of the generals felt they need field exercises, that planning the mobilization of the armed forces to stop protests isn´t enough.
  • There seems to be a story line, implied in their conversation, that they are ready to throw the constitution out the window and do whatever is necessary to hold power.
  • They feel there will be some within the armed forces who will turn sides and join the opposition, which is now backed by about 80 % of the population.
  • They expect outside intervention, they think this will come because Venezuela has oil. This story line is hammered constantly by both the regime as well as the international left.


The recording was loaded on Youtube, it´s available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkpXxQNWlRE#action=share

Runrunes article starts:

An audio filtered to some international media reveals what was discussed at a meeting in which several high officials of the Bolivarian National Armed Force of Venezuela evaluate the use of snipers to control opposition protests.

The meeting would have been held at the headquarters of the Operational Zone of Integral Defense of Lara (ZODI-Lara), under the leadership of the commander of this branch, general of the National Guard José Rafael Torrealba Pérez. The debate among a group of officers from other forces raises the need to use snipers to "protect" the officials who are at the head of the crackdown on protests and to attack demonstrators.

Venezuela's conflict heating up

The USA added 8 Venezuela Supreme Court justices to the sanctions list, for abusing human rights (the Supreme Court is controlled by Maduro and serves as a key enabler for the dictatorship). The protest movement continues in Venezuela, thus far over 50 are dead, most of them killed by the regime, and who knows how many thousands are wounded. 


50 protesters have been killed, most of them shot 

USA sanctions on these crooks won't be as effective as they could be, because other countries don't cooperate. Many governments hide their mercenary nature by claiming "sanctions on individual Venezuelan regime leaders help regime propaganda". What they fail to account for is that regime propaganda is aimed at left wing radicals who will support communist dictatorship no matter what. 

These European, Latinamerican and USA communists are linked, their beacon or command centers are in Havana, Madrid, Buenos Aires, etc. The best way to defeat THEM is to go all out to free countries like Venezuela, Cuba, and North Korea, because the horrors revealed after dictatorships fall are a powerful weapon against the worldwide communist scourge. 

5/05/2017

Today I applied to renew my visa

Given the noise about Trump's wall and illegal aliens, I'm going to write about what I'm going through to renew my visa. 

Earlier this week I scanned one of my passports (I have two), all 50 plus pages, mounted two pages on a PowerPoint slide and printed it, and I printed my other passport copy which I had scanned two years ago (that's two passports fully printed). I also copied my local ID card, and placed it in the carpet with the passport copies. I think they want the passports fully copied so they can track my travels? I'm not sure. 

I think it was on Tuesday that I had to go trough my tax returns and print enough detail to show I'm a worthy contributor to the local economy (the way it works, if I'm not causing enough economic activity and paying taxes I'm not worth the visa). I also printed or copied enough paperwork to show I'm worth enough to keep around (I'm not sure if they have a minimum, but they do need to see how much money one keeps in the bank). Finally I copied my health insurance cards and the associated contracts (that's so they know I won't be a burden if I get sick). That day I also accessed the form I have to fill out asking them to please renew my visa, and printed two copies. 

This morning I went to the local municipal office and got a standard letter which confirmed I live where I do. The way it works here all non citizens had better keep the local police and municipal authorities aware of any address changes, so that letter will be used to cross check what the police file says about me. Afterwards I went to the bank with a properly filled out form, and paid the fee for the visa renewal process. 

The line at the inmigration office 

Then I went to the inmigration office, stood in line, took my turn, and eventually got to sit in front of a very nice lady who reviewed my originals (including a page by page review of my two passports) and stamped all the copies as verified. This ended step one of my review process. Part two is a separate review by police authorities. 

If the main office gets a positive police report and confirms everything is fine, in about 45 days they send me a letter saying I am worthy of a visa renewal, and in a couple of months I should be at the police office with my new photos, to be fingerprinted and sniffed over by the local police so I can be issued the ID we non citizens have to carry and show for almost every activity. 

I've already gone through this process several times, so by now I'm used to the lines, and I actually feel a sense of companionship with the Africans, Arabs, Chinese and assorted South Americans I hang around with during the visa renewal process. And if all goes well I won't have to go back for two whole years. 

4/04/2017

I interview Obama´s former National Security Advisor.

Former US National Security Advisor Susan Raees has given me an exclusive interview on the electronic surveillance of the Trump building, US-Russia relations, and President Obama´s accomplishments in the Middle East and Latinamerica.   I managed this feat after I saw her coming out of Hillary Clinton´s New York mansion and faked her out saying I was an MSNBC reporter.

This was a great journalistic coup for yours truly.  The interview took place at a secret Democratic Party office, in a town I can´t disclose. Even though I have a reputation as a ferocious interviewer, she seemed quite relaxed during the question and answer session. She even sipped tea and munched on sugar coated donuts,  

Susan Raees during interview. Note how relaxed she looked. 

FL (that´s me): I think I'd like to start by asking how your passion for politics and secret intelligence work got started?

SR (that´s Susan Raees) When my brother and I were children, we used to take neighbor´s photographs, snooped around their mailboxes, and played at being President and CIA Director.   I mean, I've always felt it´s important to know what´s going on, and to make other people follow my orders.  

What I didn´t realize was that fame brings its dark side, the media likes to criticize me for Benghazi…you know, the bit where I said the attack on the US consulate was triggered by an anti muslim video, and had nothing to do with terrorists.

FL: Did you ever get frustrated because you couldn´t get rid of Fox News and Breitbart?

PW: Oh yes, I really hate them. When I was little I always knew I would be important.  But once I got to be National Security Advisor I found out I couldn´t just send CIA agents to bag them and drop them in the Nile river. That was incredibly frustrating.

FL: Maybe they got lucky. So how do you feel about Cernovich saying you were getting information from FBI wiretaps of the Trump team?

SR: In this morning’s papers I read Journalist Mike Cernovich named me as the official responsible for the unmasking of the incoming Trump team during incidental surveillance. I just want to say that´s an incredibly dirty thing to do. When I acted as National Security Advisor I only thought of the country´s future. This had nothing to do with me trying to torpedo the goddam Trumpites.

 FL:  This was apparently discovered after the White House Counsel's office reviewed your document log requests. It looks like the White House has the records and you did sort of mix up national security with an obsessive need to stop Trump from rolling back Obamacare, building his wall, and gutting the Clean Power Plan?

SR: I know nothing about this. I was surprised to see reports. I´m innocent!

FL: Did Trump transition officials, including the president, get swept up in surveillance of foreigners at the end of the Obama administration?

4/01/2017

Transportation Security Agency (TSA) employee receives X-Ray eye implant

Surgeons in Fresno have performed the first bionic X Ray eye implant in a Transportation Security Agency employee who volunteered to become the first highly mobile focused X ray (HiMobX) Scanner. 

The TSA volunteer, Bob Ray Gunn, 54, was implanted with the Alternative Multisensor Device  (AMD) in a four hour operation, which has led to his acquisition of highly focused X Ray vision. The implant, located in the middle of his forehead, converts video images from a miniature X Ray video camera into signals which are sent to his occipital lobe through an artificial neural net developed by Microsoft. 

Mr Bob Ray Gunn with his wife Minnie and 
Doctor Smith chat after the operation. 

He can now make out solid objects and the body shape and even skin markings such as tattoo marks,  right through a person´s clothing, using the implant.

Mr Ray Gunn  said he was "delighted" with the implant and hoped in time it would improve his performance  to help him with day-to-day tasks searching passengers at the Fresno airport security points.

The AMD implant, manufactured by the US firm Freedom and Security Sight, has previously been implanted in chimpanzees and orangutangs at an experimental animal lab located at the Army´s Fort Detrick Medical Research facilities. The project´s original objective was to develop an eye implant which allows soldiers to see through walls. This was found to be impractical because the XRay lamp able to go through a cement block wall used too much power. 

3/22/2017

Technical Post about CO2 emissions and Concentrations

This page is written to document the differences between the IPCC´s AR5 RCP8.5 Pathway (the one that´s called “Business as Usual” in IPCC propaganda and most media), and my estimate of emissions and CO2 concentration, which I documented partially in a post called “Burn Baby Bun" written in 2014.

The following graph shows emissions resulting from all anthropogenic factors (fossil fuel burning, cement, land use change, etc):


There´s a slight difference between the emissions shown in this graph and the one in my referenced post: I added the cement manufacture and other inferred from the difference between the EDGAR data base and the CMIP data, and extrapolated from 2015 at a constant value (1.33 Billion metric tonnes, where billion is the European convention, or 10 to the 12th).

As we can observe in the graph, my estimate and RCP8.5 are both above the EDGAR actual value in 2015. It´s possible that EDGAR´s report only includes emissions from fossil fuel use, and it´s missing the other anthropogenic factors (the EDGAR report writing style could use some improvements).

Both RCP8.5 and my estimate climb over time (which may be an erroneous assumption given that CO2 emissions appear to have stabilized). However, by 2040 they show a large difference, because the IPCC team assumed the amount of fossil fuels resources was essentially endless, and that alternative technologies wouldn´t have much of an impact (this of course renders RCP8.5 less than worthless as a “Business as Usual Case”). On the other hand, I prepared a model which cut back on fossil fuel use because its price was increasing and this discouraged demand (it assumes something else intrudes in the market to replace fossil fuels as they become less competitive).

The following graph shows the CO2 concentration difference between the RCP8.5 and my estimate:


The key differences between the two are the emissions volume, and the carbon sink efficiency. RCP8.5 has a huge emissions increase, which in turn increases atmospheric concentration to very high values. The CO2 concentration extreme causes a large temperature increase, and the overall effect  of the two exaggerated values reduces the carbon sink ability to sequester CO2. This of course causes a larger increase in CO2 concentration as a function of emissions.

3/20/2017

USA shale drillers versus OPEC

The 2017 oil market seems to be coming down to a battle between US shale developers and OPEC plus Russia. In this post I will ramble on about what I can see from 30,000 feet, without getting into a lot of technical details. The only conclusion I can reach is that oil prices are likely to oscillate around $63 per barrel for a while (say three years) and eventually will begin to climb towards a $75 to $100 per barrel range in the 2020´s. 

Hydraulic fracturing a well in Texas 

To understand what´s going on, it´s useful to understand the so called US “shales”. These rocks aren´t really shales. They are very low quality rocks, a mixture of shale with carbonates and sometimes silts and very fine grained sands. 

The quality of these rocks is so poor they weren´t produced much until the oil industry fine tuned a combination of horizontal wellbores which are fractured numerous times using sand, water, and a few chemicals (the “poisonous chemicals” the antifracking lobby likes to whine about, which happens to be quite irrelevant given that fracturing takes place thousands of feet below the surface and the fluids are pumped through very high strength concentric steel pipes). If you want to read a bit more about fracturing, go here:  Drilling Contractor Magazine describes greener fracturing .So... from now on, let´s call these “shales” even though we know they aren´t real shales, to makes things easier for the audience.

Anyway, the existence of the shales was well known for decades, but they were barely produced because they were lousy and we didn´t know how to drill horizontal wells and fracture the hell out of the rocks. Nowadays the oil industry doesn´t have much oil left to produce in conventional fields, which means there´s a lot of focus on the shales, which in turn means the tools and water and sand mixtures have improved a lot. And this means each horizontal well gets to produce enough oil to justify the investment (which ranges between say $4 million and $7 million per well)….if the oil price is high enough to cover the costs and allow for some profits.

The USA seems to have three world class shale rock regions, two in Texas (the Eagle Ford and the “Permian”, which for the most part means the Spraberry/Wolfcamp), and one in North Dakota (the Bakken/Three Forks).

3/08/2017

Castrochavism Organization and Influence Diagram

I prepared a diagram to lay out the Castrochavism organization as it has evolved in the first two decades of the 21st century. The diagram became more and more complex as I sketched it with powerpoint, and eventually I decided it was too busy to include more detail.


Castrochavism Diagram. Feel free to copy and
 paste elsewhere to see a more detailed view

Key points to note are the Legend, which codes countries where autocracy or tyranny are already in power, countries evolving towards autocracy, and countries where castrochavism has been defeated, for now. I also included these sets of controversial links:

1. From Pope Francis (Bergoglio) to Cuba, Venezuela, and Argentina. Bergoglio has been a long term supporter of Cristina Kirchner, and hard core Argentinian communists (like de Bonafini). He showed key support for the Castro dictatorship by visiting Cuba twice at the beginning of his papacy. And he was a key player in defeating the opposition protest movement in Venezuela when he organized the failed dialogue in late 2016. 

2. From Obama. Obama became a key supporter of the evolution of the Maduro dictatorship when he legitimized the Castro dictatorship and provided it with economic benefits, while failing to negotiate that Castro cease his de facto invasion of Venezuela with tens of thousands of spies, military personnel, political advisors, and key mentoring from high level Cuban officials based in Havana. 

3. From China. China has been a key supporter, although its mostly interested in extending its mercantilist empire. Chinese support has been mostly in the forms of loans, which Maduro has ha difficulty paying back with oil, or by purchasing Chinese goods. The chinese have extended or delayed payments, recognizing that Maduro´s corruption and mismanagement have destroyed the Venezuelan economy. 

2/25/2017

High Technology Mexico border barrier

I want you all to know that I´m thinking real hard to solve the illegal immigrant problem.  A few days ago I called  President Trump and offered my services to design his wall, because I´m a tax payer, and his idea isn´t exactly the most cost effective barrier I can think of. I´m really into this because anyone who wastes tax dollars is the enemy of the people. Sure they are. They are the enemy of the people.

(Please applaud)

I start out by telling you that Trump really has no idea of how to build a useful border barrier, when he makes speeches and describes it, he just makes it  up. There're no designs. I don't believe he has even looked at the existing fences built by Bush and Obama.

I watched Trump giving his typical spiel about the huge wall he´s going to build, and how he´s going to make Mexico pay for it, and I thought, "Give me a break, I know how to build a better barrier. One that´s going to create lots of good paying jobs, most of them right inside the USA”.

The people around Trump, they're very dishonest people. In fact, they just don´t know when to tell him his comments are bullshit, and this allows the dishonest media to bash him, because he comes across as an asshole.

So I'm not against Trump, I'm not against the wall as such. But I don´t think the US taxpayer ought to be paying for a tall concrete wall. Something like this:

Trump´s concrete wall, with gravel
 road and patrolling border guard

And I tell ya, I love good stories, but I don't go for Trump´s design at all. A tall concrete wall is just stupid, because it´s fairly easy to put up a ladder against it, climb it, and drop on the other side. 

2/21/2017

Swedish Crime: I interview former Swedish PM Carl Bildt

A few days ago, President Trump gave one of his rambling speeches inside a hangar at the Orlando airport. The campaign-style speech outlined what he intended to do, and was met with cheers and applause by about 9000 fervent followers. The speech was controversial as usual, and included a passage which triggered a long series of articles and social media trolling, which went as follows:
“Sweden. “They took in large numbers. They’re having problems like they never thought possible. You look at what’s happening in Brussels. You look at what’s happening all over the world. Take a look at Nice. Take a look at Paris,”
If we read this carefully, the president didn´t say there had been an attack in Sweden, but he stuck it in between the names of countries which have had horrific terror attacks in recent years.

This time the trolling went to the highest levels of the European elite: former Prime Minister Carl Bildt (who used to lead a center right party)  got on his Samsung and Twitted: “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.”

Former Swedish Prime Minister´s Tweet 

I saw the potential to get a great pseudointerview out of this controversy, so I called Mr Bildt´s assistant, Mohammed Dame, and managed to get into his busy schedule. So I put on my bullet proof vest in a handbag,  flew to Stockholm, and rushed to Bildt´s favorite hangout in Östermalm, one of the poshest neighborhoods in Europe.

I started the pseudointerview recapping the last 24 hour´s events:

Fernando: Mr Bildt, the origins of your now famous tweet “what has he been smoking?” began with Trump´s speech in Orlando, you didn´t have time to figure out the consequences, so you went ahead and started this controversy. What do you think now that Sweden has been put in the spotlight?

Carl Bildt: Well, after the election, I made a fresh start and decided my own personal and professional priorities were the key to happiness, social media became my top priority, and because I don´t have a real job anymore, I figured, what the hell, I´ll pile on Trump now that´s so fashionable.  

2/12/2017

Expansion Rate of the Universe revised using Alternate Physics

The following is a draft of my award winning paper, to be published in Science, which is sure to get me a Nobel Physics prize. Credit is due to the multitude of scientists who preceded me, including Pope Paul V, Urbain Le Verrier, Giovanni Schiaparelli, Emmanuel Velikovsky,  Stanley Pons, and Michio Kaku.

Until now, the classical view of the Universe is based on incompatible theories: quantum physics, and Einstein´s general relativity. However, 97 % of scientists agree that quantum theory doesn´t make sense, because “God doesn´t play dice with the universe” (Einstein, 1912). Segments of the scientific community  have speculated when they saw the scientific evidence (Le Verrier 1838).  Some of these models provide a glimpse of reality in a limited sense, and while they do not agree on all of the details, models and equations do predict a few general trends (Maxwell 1883).

Maxwell´s Equations

Maxwell´s Equations were built upon his concept that the vacuum was like an elastic solid. In other words, he didn´t limit himself to scribbling stuff on a piece of paper. This concept was ignored until Henrietta Leavitt figured out the relationship between Cepheid period and luminosity (Wikipedia). Leavitt´s idea (polished a bit by Hertzprung and Hubble) eventually led Emmanuel Velikovsky to figure out that Venus had been responsible for stopping the earth´s spin when Joshua´s raiders blew their horns at Jericho (Velikovsky, 1956).

Velikovsky had a great influence on the evolution of scientific thought in my head. His theories gave me the running room to throw out information I couldn´t fit to my equations, which allowed me to grasp the meaning of Maxwell´s “elastic solid vacuum” concept of the universe (Fernando 1976). My new conceptual discovery of the universal truth incorporates everything. It´s so different that even the great Sabine Hossenfelder has been unable to grasp its multidimensional paraphernalia.

Here I must digress, and explain that in modern physics, nobody agrees on much that matters. First, according to the gossip in MIT hallways, Dr Alan Guth (MIT)  got into a fist fight with Dr Paul Steinhardt (Yale), over the nature of the early universe. Second, Dr Michio Kaku got so tired of the number of conflicting string theories evolving as a result of the lack of googolplexwatt particle collider data, that he got a job on TV (Kaku, personal communication). Third, the Coppenhaguen school of quantum mechanics was discredited when Gell-Mann said: “Niels Bohr brainwashed a whole generation of theorists into thinking that the job (interpreting quantum theory) was done 50 years ago” (Motl 2016).

2/07/2017

Technical post on Nordhaus' new DICE model

I'm using this post to document a comment I made about Dr. Nordhaus' revised DICE dynamic model. This model is used to predict world wide CO2 emissions, and has been used to create "business as usual" economic runs which in turn are used to set USA, EU, and other countries' energy and emissions policies. Below I explain the model is flawed, requires a significant overhaul, and explain briefly the reasons why. 

Nordhaus' description of the work he did with DICE is here: 

http://cowles.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/pub/d20/d2057.pdf

If we refer to page 12, in the paragraph headed "decarbonization" we can read "the model has a highly condensed version of the energy sector". I don't have access to Dr Nordhaus, but I would like to point out that a dynamic model expected to forecast CO2 emissions ought to treat the energy sector in detail. Emissions reductions are dictated in part by government policies, population growth, changes in the size of economies, the cost of fossil fuels (ignoring externalities) and the cost of replacement energy sources. 

Please note that emissions have almost stabilized over the period 2014-15-16, even though oil and coal prices were in the lower part of the price cycle. This was driven in part by policy, but it was mostly due to market conditions. The key item to focus on is the significant drop in the cost of photovoltaic solar power, a slight improvement in energy storage costs, slight improvement in wind turbine costs, etc. 

Now we are entering a period of rebounding oil and natural gas prices, and we do know there's a limit to reserves (this seems to be ignored by the dice model). The forces which "bent" the CO2 emissions to a much lower growth rate are still working. Therefore I must conclude the DICE model needs to be revised and gave a much more detailed and properly documented energy sector treatment. 

This flaw renders its results fairly useless for policy setting, and this means it's fairly easy to overturn any policy decisions made using this particular model's results. 

2/04/2017

The Imperial Order Code of Conduct

The Imperial Order Code of Conduct is the set of standards by which all officers of the Empire live up to and are measured by. 

Article 5.

"Officers of the Imperial Order are expected to adhere to the Code of Conduct at all times, especially when communicating with other officers via Whatsap, Skype, and E-Mail. Officers are to respect and treat their inferiors according to their rank, birth line and religion.

Emperor and Darth Banon action figures 

Article 6.

When an imperial Nobleman of the Great Order of the Dragon is assigned as senior counselor to his Imperial Majesty, he has full authority and responsibility for managing the activities within the framework of policy and direction set by the Emperor. 

His primary responsibility is to organize and direct those assigned and ordered resources for efficient and effective control of the nation and enhancement of the Emperor's wellbeing, that is whenever his Vid appearances receive a "Big Plus" from 80 % of the commoner population, or when his personal wealth increases faster than 7% per annum."

I understand the above articles to give Darth Banon full authority to command the Palace eunuchs to do as he pleases, provided the orders do meet established criteria.

2/02/2017

I interview President Biff Tannen

Last night I interviewed America´s brand new supreme leader, President Biff Tannen, at his residence in Washington, now known as “Tannen Mansion”.  Before I was given access to the waiting room for my audience with the world´s most powerful ruler, I was led to a small theatre where they were showing the new presidential mansion introductory message, starring Clint Eastwood:

"Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Biff Tannen Mansion! Dedicated to America´s #1 Citizen. And America's greatest living folk hero. The one and only Biff Tannen. Of course we've all heard the legend, but who is the man? Here you will learn how Biff Tannen became one of the richest and most powerful men in America. Learn the amazing history of the Tannen family, starting with his great-grandfather, Buford 'Mad Dog' Tannen, fastest gun in the West. See how an inheritance on his 21st Birthday made him a millionaire overnight.

Share in the excitement of a fabulous business deal streak that earned him the nickname "The Smartest Man on Earth." Learn how Biff parlayed that inheritance, and family connections, into a vast empire. Discover how President Tannen has successfully legalized gambling in US Army bases, and will turn US Navy warships into beautiful casino-hotels to be moored at all major world ports.

Meet some of the women who shared in his passion as he searched for his three true loves, the beautiful Ivana, Marla, and Melania . And relive President Tannen's happiest moment when in 2016 he realized his life long dream by defeating President Clinton´s  sweetheart, Hillary Rodham Clinton, for the presidency.

Marvel at the newly redecorated Tannen Mansion, the luxurious Albacete marble pillars, Venetian crystal chandeliers, gigantic painted portraits depicting Greek myths, cherub statues, and the new indoor fountain. And now, without further ado, the Greatest Show on Earth!!"

PresidentTannen´s voice came from speakers up on the celing: 

"I just wanna say one thing! God Bless America!"

After watching this brief introduction, I was given a booklet describing Tannen Hotel properties I could visit, and a 10 % discount voucher good for a one week stay. Afterwards I was led into the Presiden´t office. The sight was impressive…he was surrounded by a retinue of white folk wearing dark business suits. I recognized Vice President Penco, several Secretaries, and a dark clad unshaven dude who looked like his consigliere.

1/31/2017

Note from Bhutan's Chancellor

On behalf of the King and peoples of Bhutan I wish to express our concern and worry for the corruption and human rights abuses in the USA. It is our sincere hope that you hold a national dialogue between the government and the opposition. I also regret to inform you that Americans trying to flee will be turned back at the Bhutan border. 
I also wish to inform you that King Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the 5th Druk Gyalpo. has agreed to visit the USA and attend, together with your President Trump, a cricket game between the USA and Bhutan national teams, to establish closer ties between the two countries. 
King Jigme and Queen Jetsun Pema 
Queen Jetsun Pema and young Prince Jigme will visit the USA at the same time, with Disney World, Universal Studios, and a Las Vegas circus show being the highlights of their visit to top US cultural attractions. 
The King has expressed his wish to avoid interfering in internal US politics, and prefers to see all dissidents kept away from their Highnesses’s presence. However, he has agreed to a private audience with opposition leader Scarlett Johanson.
Note: Bhutan is a key importer of USA coal, used clothes, and empty shipping containers. It is interested in increasing exports to the USA of Bhutanese products to reduce the current trade deficit between the two nations. Should this trend fail to be reversed his highness is considering a 20 % import tax on all USA products.

Further Reading: Diary of a Time Traveling Antiwar Protestor

1/30/2017

2001 speech by a Palestinian woman

Adnan Hashrawi gave this speech at a Human Rights conference in Durban, South Africa, in late August of 2001.  I consider this one of the best political speeches ever given by a woman. 

Map of Israel and whatever is Palestine 

Given the abuses of Palestinian rights we continue to see, and as small measure to balance the damage caused by Trump's ugly behavior, I've decided to post it here. Speech follows:

Sisters and Brothers,

From Jerusalem, from the heart of Palestine, a land besieged, and repeatedly violated by a most brutal Israeli military occupation, I have come to join you today.  From the midst of the people of Palestine, a tortured nation, guilty only of an unwavering commitment to freedom, dignity, and independence, I have come to join you today. From the depths of unredeemed history, I have come to join you today.  I represent a narrative of exclusion, denial, racism, and national victimization, but I also come with a message of hope, redemption, and historical vindication embodied in the spirit and the will of a people that has refused to succumb to all forces of oppression, violence, cruelty, and injustice.

In convening this conference, you are the authentic embodiment of courage in withstanding the forces of domination, subjugation, and enslavement.  We stand together today to launch a truly global mission of  empowerment and solidarity, to give voice to the silenced, to give a reality to the invisible, to give recognition to the denied, and to give credence to the victimized.

In times of adversity, and during the darkest nights of the soul, we look to you for affirmation and action as an antidote to the failure of established power systems, including governments  a failure characterized by self- interest, power politics, absence of will, and impotence.  I take this opportunity to recognize before you those valiant men and women who had left the comfort of their homes in Europe and the US and joined us in Palestine to provide popular protection, a human shield in the face of Israeli abuses, violence, and violations against the Palestinian people.

I come to you today with a heavy heart leaving behind a nation in captivity held hostage to an ongoing Nakba [catastrophe], as the most intricate and pervasive expression of persistent colonialism, apartheid, racism, and victimization.

More than half a century ago [53 years], the Palestinians as a people were slated for national obliteration, cast outside the course of history, their identity denied, and their very human cultural and historical reality suppressed.  We became victims of the myth of a land without a people for people without a land whereby the West sought to assuage its guilt over its horrendous anti-Semitism by the total victimization of a whole nation.  Zionism sought to implement its agenda of exclusivity by usurping not only the lands and rights of the Palestinians, but also by confiscating their utterance

1/24/2017

Venezuela's Currency and its new Syrian Vicepresident

Nicolás just fired his Central Bank President, Nelson Merentes, because the guy botched the issuance of new larger denomination bills. Inflation is so high the largest bill will be the 20 thousand bolivar note. The largest note has been the 100 bolivar, now worth 2 1/2 cents. 

Merentes wasn't blamed for the 800-1000% inflation rate, because Maduro was told inflation is caused by a webpage run by an old Venezuelan who works at Home Depot in Atlanta, Georgia (this is for real, it's not a joke).

The guy Maduro blames for causing Venezuela's hyperinflation   

When the government came up with their plan to switch notes they also created regulations to force people to use electronic banking. But poor people don't have bank accounts, Internet, etc. I remember reading articles by economic gurus a couple of months ago that Maduro's plan was based on the success of what Modi was doing in India. 

The ex-central bank president, Merentes, will now retire to his beachside fiefdom at Naiguatá, where he has been keeping a stable of teenage girls who have had plastic surgery to enhance their goodies. 

Also in the news, the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled the Constitution was wrong, and that Syrian citizen and executive Vice President, Tarek el Aisami, is eligible to be president.  

Meanwhile I hear Mr Bernie Sanders is still praising the Castros and the Bolivarian revolution, and the Pope keeps asking for world leaders to stop global warming.