Going down for the third time

  By Mystic | June 1, 2012 - 10:10 |

The Mystical ticker
was an awful lot sicker
only a week ago,
but all is well now
so if you’ll allow
it is back to work we’ll go~!
.
For the third spring in a row, the world economy has turned down.
The Joker Chart,

is only one example of the world economic `heavy weather`, that has prevailed since 2007.

`Economists` are a bit baffled by this, but that is not surprising, because most all of their predictive work is just projections of past happenings…..and, based on the past, the economy should now be sailing with favorable winds.

We must presume that something rather fundamental has changed~! ….. But what~?

I’ll bash out a quick paragraph of what I think has changed….and we can `talk ’bout it` -
About three hundred years ago, on a little island called Ingurland, started a system that we can call `the system`. What was it was this system~?
It was that they dug up coal to replace the wood they had cut down and used….and with this power made money more efficient.
Time went on and the whole world used the system. Energy backed money.

When did it end~? …. I don’t think we need to be precise, but some time in the 70′s.
Why has it carried on for forty years~? I’ll go for, `the eternal optimism of the human being`.
The trouble there, is that humans are not `eternally optimistic` (making a bit of a mess of my last line).

Maybe I should rewrite that last bit~? (I will do so, but reluctantly)….
When did it end~? …. I don’t think we need to be precise, but some time in the 70′s.
Why has it carried on for forty years~? I’ll go for, `the greed of the human being`.
The trouble there, is that humans are not `eternally greedy`; they can go for long periods of greed….and then….one day….flip….over to fear…..
And that is what the world is doing…..
and there is not a flipping thing anyone can do about it.

But, they’ll try.
They will try~!

Written by: Mystic on June 1, 2012.
Tagged . Bookmark the permalink.
  • snedmeister1

    Evening Nick…!!!

    Not been the same without you…!!!
    Welcome back….

    ( It all went to plan last week I take it…??? )

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Yep.  They call it a quadruple bi-pass (I don’t know why….it was five lots of something~?)

      A good line of discussion would be – What should a chap do with any `money` he thinks he’s got~?

      I think I would kick off with asking his age……If he’s young, keeping a job will be more important.

      Hello Sned (and Mrs. Sned).

      • snedmeister1

        The Sned household is glad all is well….

        As for the good line of discussion, I for example, am 34 yrs young..:)

        I’m on the brink of selling my flat, ( hopefully within 2 weeks to complete ), my gold is gone and I have no debt to speak of…. ( Apart from the mortgage on the house we live in, and my soon to be gone flat )…

        Along with some small savings already held ( I tend to spend a lot enjoying the limited lifetime I have, seeing as I am probably nearing half way through it..!!! ), I hope to have a little pile waiting for something to present itself….

        By that, I mean a little piece of land maybe ( although prices are a little out of my reach at the moment for something I would consider worthwhile), as soon as the prices fall some more…???

        As for the job, I would say “Safe as houses”…!!!
        But that isn’t saying much these days, is it….??? :)

        I should therefore say, as safe as is possible outside of politics..!!!
        I made the jump 7 months ago, to a job with considerable less pay to begin with, but a job also far more secure and with better potential…

        Many others here would probably have far more of a cushion, and probably don’t have a mortgage either, but it is what it is, I am comfortable with where I am at the moment..!! :)

        The only slight concern I have at the moment, is the Spanish banks going down the pan, or Greece leaving the Euro, causing my buyer for the flat losing access to his mortgage…!!!

        Other than that, I sleep like a baby…!!!

        • Guest

          For some reason, and I’ve no idea why, I always thought you were older than me!?! Maybe it’s because a lot of the folks here are older than me – or maybe I’m wrong about them folks too? lol.

          • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

             In life one finds that, in the beginning, most people are older than one……..and then, …. not so much.

          • snedmeister1

            Morning Richard,

            Thankfully, misses Sned won’t see that comment..!!

            She constantly laughs about me being an old fart, older than my years…..
            Oddly enough, twenty minutes later, I become accused of being childish with the classic;

             ”Why do men never grow up, they are so immature”..!!

            Go figure…??? 
            I can’t work her out, and I gave up trying a long time ago…!!!!

            I just nod or laugh in the correct spaces now..!!! LOL…

  • extremebuilder

    Evening Mr Mystic,

    Good to have you here, and well

    Happy Weekend

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       It should be just fine.
      This is a really nice room (and they have promised to leave me alone for the week-end (a chap can have too much interference in his private bits and parts~!)).

      (You may get rain on Sunday)

  • K_1000_o

    Bonjour Nick
    Je suis tres content que tu sois de retour.
    Repose toi bien et je te souhaite un bon week-end .

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Merci, ever-so beaucoup.

  • Paul

    I think we can add a few more adjectives describing the people now:  confused, hopeless and angry.
    Here is a quick piece from an Estonian comparing the USSR break-up to the EU. 
    http://www.diplomaatia.ee/index.php?id=242&L=1&tx_ttnewstt_news=1426&tx_ttnewsbackPid=606&cHash=540e9b202a

    Politicians and economists will be our undoing in the long run.  They are just not competent enough to handle these momentous changes.  We need better men or women.  They are nowhere to be found.

    Welcome back, Nick!  You had me worried there for a bit.  I’m glad you’re coming out of the gate sprinting, right back to posting.  That’s a good sign.  I hope your recovery is smooth, without too much hardship.  It’ll be hard, but you’re a tough cookie.
    Mystic wakes up after his surgery:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&v=-pGk0AGsIag&feature=endscreen

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

      “Politicians and economists will be our undoing in the long run.  They
      are just not competent enough to handle these momentous changes.  We
      need better men or women.  They are nowhere to be found.”

      I think this is an important quote, but mainly only to show that even those in the know……know not much.

      It is not that politicians and economists will be our undoing, that is silly willy non-sense.  Politicians and economists will be on the television being quoted and generally seen to be doing things (and not doing other things) etc. but that is to say that the flag waving in the wind ……. is the cause of the wind.

      (and the call for better men and women, is just a call for nicer looking flags~!)

      Hello

      • Paul

        Are you saying that the problem is beyond the control of the politicians and economists, so they do not matter in the final summation?  I can agree with you that the end of cheap energy is beyond our ultimate control, and that we face an inevitable downward slide in our standard of living.  But, to say that the politicians and economists will not affect the slope and severity of that slide is incorrect.
        If they squander our remaining intellectual and capital resources on foolish programs and technologies, then they do indeed matter.  For example, green technology and global warming.  The politicians are funding the think tanks, universities, govt R & D laboratories/centers, and private corporations to investigate and develop electric sports cars, gigantic windmills to nowhere, Solyndra-type solar boondoggles, etc.  If they funded programs that might actual work in a post petroleum society, then they would be managing the downward slide correctly.  Development of nuclear power, electrification and expansion of a vast rail infrastructure, research into alternative fertilizers/herbicides/pesticides, research into technology and training of young people for small farming cooperatives, massive water treatment/reclamation/re-use technologies would all be intelligent methods to use our diminishing capital resources.  The politicians choose which programs get funded, so they do make a difference.  On the economist side, their recommendations are often used by the politicians to enact their policies.  If they tell the President to spend a trillion dollars to backfill un-payable pension funds, they have squandered valuable collective capital that could have used to build ten nuclear power plants.  If they recommend silly cap and trade programs to offset global warming, again, mis-allocation of scant resources.
        We may not be able to alter the inevitable, but we can certainly manage the transition period better.  These men and women do have an impact on our future.  Without cheap oil, the Great Culling is inevitable, now it’s just a matter of estimating the percentage.  That percentage is variable, calculated by the effectiveness of our political and economic program managers.  The scientists and engineers, given the proper resources, can make the transition period much more ”livable”.
        Remember that link you sent me with Adam Curtis and the Russian engineers of the 1920′s/30′s?  They were will on their way to making Russia a first rate industrial power and creating cities to rival American ones.  They would have achieved great strides had not Stalin, the Politician, ordered them all shot~!  Afterwards, he installed his favorite party toadies to run the power plants, build the dams, electrify the cities, run the factories.  The result was Russia went right back to being a third rate industrial power with a very low standard of living for its people.  I don’t mean fancy cars and caviar standard, I mean no indoor plumbing, running water, sanitation and electricity~!
        The Romans had it better than most Russians, thanks to their Politicians’ action~!
        It is true, I may “know not much”.  But, to say that politicians and economists have zero impact in our future is truly “silly willy non-sense”.

        Good morning, Mystic~!

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           ”Are you saying that the problem is beyond the control of the politicians
          and economists, so they do not matter in the final summation?  I can
          agree with you that the end of cheap energy is beyond our ultimate
          control, and that we face an inevitable downward slide in our standard
          of living.  But, to say that the politicians and economists will not
          affect the slope and severity of that slide is incorrect.”

          When it comes to an `inevitable downward slide in our standard of living` ……. that is to say there is a once in a thousand year hurricane sweeping through the western world.
          Some politicians and economists will get upended and stuck into trees;  some trees will be upended and stuck into politicians and all other options ….. but so what the fuck~?! ……… Details, mere details.

          (I’m not saying it can’t be fun to talk about it, but that is about all …….. )

          • Paul

            It is fun, like playing a computer strategy game.  If nothing else, it is keeping our minds occupied and entertained, while the Titanic sinks.

            • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

               Now you’re talking …. deep philosophical shit~!
              …….
              Knowing now that the system is sinking
              Tell me where should the fine man be~?
              Sitting in the saloon
              laughing and drinking~?
              Or making plans
              to get away
              scott-free~?

              • Paul

                A mystical cottage in the northern woods is what I seek,
                Along with a garden, an orchard, and a clear running creek,
                You can keep your poxy cities and your shiny Corvette,
                I’ll take a wood-burning stove and a curvy Brunette!

                • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                   That will change real fast (and is something I am looking forward to watching….)….that is, `the mating game`.
                  The critera girls and boys use in looking for a `mate` is going to swing wildly~!

                  • Paul

                    The girls will be looking for good providers and strong protectors; brains with brawn.
                    The boys will be looking for the same as usual; nice curves and a pretty smile.
                    Boys are not very evolved.
                    I wonder how society will divide.  Tribal?  Class? Religion? Geography?   

                    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                      Yes, yes, that’s it ….. how long will it takes the boys (the girl thing will be on television soon).

                      I will start the other with `imagined viable units` (I know it does not mean much, but it is a start).
                      The Greeks are getting all very Greek, as this is what they think may be a defensible unit …… The interesting stuff will happen when they realize it isn’t (and have to go for smaller units~!)

                    • Paul

                      I definitely want to explore this topic further.  It is something I’ve thought about from time to time.  I’m sure law enforcement and military planners have been studying it as well~!
                      Off the top of my head, I would not want to be anywhere near a densely populated, heterogeneous, multicultural urban center; New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, DC, Miami, London?, Paris?.  Especially when the lights go off.  The London and LA riots will look like a walk in the park~!
                      The Greek example is a good start.  We will devolve:  nation, territory, city, region, village, tribe, clan, family, individual.  How we re-evolve requires some thought.  Also, how various groups break into different camps.  European nations still reatin pretty homogenous popualtions, at least compared to the United States.  America and Russia are definitely more multicultural than most of Europe.  This could become confusing.  America can be broken down into many more sub-groups than European nations.
                      How would you like to approach this?
                      I like to use the CIA World Factbook as a reference manual   Lots of good info in there.
                      https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/us.html

                    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                       Yes, it should have a separate folder.
                      Take the US for example.  If living standards are noticeable worse in 40 states ……….. what will the other 10 states do~?

                    • Paul

                      I don’t think it is far-fetched to see the USA break into 4 or 5 distinct nation-states.  That Russian professor might be right.  The southwest becomes Mexi-America.  The southeast becomes Black-Carib America.  The northeast becomes Euro-America.  The Midwest is White-America.  The northwest (with Alaska and Hawaii) becomes White-Asian America.  I could even see Canada break up and join with their American territorial neighbors. 
                      California and New York might just degenerate into anarchy.  They have the most money, but they have the most debts and ethnic issues as well.  With the current information technology infrastructure, Silicon Valley and Wall Street could pack up and move in a week~!
                      Northern Europe splitting away from Southern Europe is a go as well.

                    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                      Example:- If you ever got to know how much the Dutch still hate the Germans for stealing their bikes during the war …….. shocked you would be……Shocked~!

                    • Paul

                      Here’s a good, short vid.  WW2 German veterans explaining to a pretty young Dutch woman why they fought the war.  To save her!  The expression on the woman’s face is priceless.  “Who the fuck are these guys~?!”  I think those men would gladly put back on their uniforms and march off to war again.  The Germans are definitely different.  Their national pride exceeds even the Americans~!  At least amongst the older Germans.  It’s on par with the 19th Century British and French nationalism.  Not sure if the younger Germans are the same.  They have been socially re-engineered to hate their history.  Still, I’m not sure you can re-engineer Germans.  As you said, they still have that “team spirit”~!  They will carry the water for Europe going forward.

                      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQdDnbXXn20&feature=fvwrel

                    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                       Yesterday’s BBC thing was very good.
                      Ultimate solution.
                      (I’ll looky this one later maybe)

                      Germany will let the ECB pour~!

                    • Paul

                      I’m glad you liked it!  It was one of Branagh’s finest performances.  It’s great when they make such a fine film based only good writing and good acting.  No flashy whiz bangs required.  Unfortunately, Hollywood just doesn’t get it.  The German veterans vid is only a few minutes long.
                      The ECB better add a money printing machines to their inventory~!

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           ”If they squander our remaining intellectual and capital resources on
          foolish programs and technologies, then they do indeed matter.  For
          example, green technology and global warming.  The politicians
          are funding the think tanks, universities, govt R & D
          laboratories/centers, and private corporations to investigate and
          develop electric sports cars, gigantic windmills to nowhere,
          Solyndra-type solar boondoggles, etc.  If they funded programs that
          might actual work in a post petroleum society, then they would be
          managing the downward slide correctly.”

          Yes, I think I can agree with most of that.
          But …… (and here comes human nature again), most people (like 99% most) do not think like us (and never will~!).
          The politicians will do what the people want. 
          The people will want to go for the big hail-mary shit (anything else will be fobbed off as `defeatist` girly talk).

          • Paul

            Again, I think you’re right.  99% should get exactly what they deserve, and they will~!
            So, why did you coax me out of my hermit cave a month ago~?  I was enjoying the peace and quiet.  The cities were burning and the humans were screaming, and all I could hear was chirping birds and bubbling brooks~!

            “The politicians will do what the people want.”
            This reminded me of an excellent film I watched the other night called “Conspiracy”.  I know you are stuck in bed, so this might help pass the time (watch it in HD 720, full-screen).
            The entire film was set in one location, not like some tasteless Hollywood big production thing.  The acting and script were excellent.  The subject matter was disturbing, but so accurate with regards to “human nature”.  I highly recommend it.  Kenneth Branagh as Reinhard Heydrich and Stanley Tucci as Adolf Eichmann were brilliant!  There will be similar committees along these lines in the future; cold, calculating but, oh so civilized, with regards to the human population “problem”.

             http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bPFy3UeP0I

            • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

               OK.  Kenneth Branagh convinces me to watch it.
              I’m downloading it. 

              I am more than up and about.  If they said I could go today, I would drive home with not much thought that it would be a silly thing to do.

              • Paul

                Colin Firth is good as well.  Sometimes, the BBC nails these films just right.
                I’m glad you’re feeling so fit.  I’m sure you miss Kitty, but an extra day or two might be the wise choice.  Air on the side of caution.  A quadruple bypass is Major surgery, macho man~! 

                • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                   I do miss kitty, but Mrs. M has been in the last two days.
                  No, I’m not going to push it.  (nice lady just brought me an orange juice).
                  (I don’t think a quad is any heavier than a single, but I take yer point).

                  I’ll tell you about the cost structuring for all this one day (I don’t think you will think it silly).

                  • Paul

                    It would interesting to compare it to the equivalent US cost.  Our Medical Industrial Complex is more corrupt than our Military Industrial Complex now.  The baby boomers are going to complete overload the system.  Just another nail in the coffin for America.  Actually, it’s probably the biggest nail.

                    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                       Off the top of my head …..(bugger it, i’ll look it up)….

                      More than I thought – http://www.creditloan.com/blog/2010/03/01/healthcare-costs-around-the-world/
                      the US comes out just shy of twice as expensive per capita than France.

                    • Paul

                      We have 80-90 Million baby boomers entering the system now.  Oh, boy~!
                      We should compare the actual cost of the procedure and the cost per day, hospital stay.  I’m sure it is a lot more than twice.  My guess would be 5 times, at least.

                    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                       Yes, I’m sure 5*.

                      Brief look – In UK, you pay your taxes and the government health-care system does what it can for you.
                      In France (a few quirks) – You pay your taxes and the government health-care system will pay for …. let’s say..30 to 80% of your treatments (dependent on how `optional` they are).
                      Let’s say I go see doc (like I did).  I see him, he sees me, I pay him all his fee (22 euro).  If I am a taxpayer, then the system will credit me back with about 15 euros.
                      A similar thing happens if the doc sends you to hospital……everything has a cost.  (note: If you want to get back 100% then you have to take out private insurance)

                      Now we shift into a tricky area – If you `get` diabetes, or have need of major heart surgery, you doctor will recommend that the government pay up all 100% (which they would look at lists of precedences and decide whether to pay the lot or not).

                      I have the type of insurance that only pays out for hospital visits.  It is more a bank-account insurance (for times where I might fall between stools (as it were)).

                    • Paul

                      It’s a good system.  Better than America’s.  But, I think our doctors are paid much more than European doctors.  That drives costs much higher int USA.  Remember, 30% of the “1% Ultra Rich” in America are doctors.  Crooks~!  Also, Americans subsidize much of the medical R & D, especially pharmaceuticals, with their higher fess.  We pay $8 per pill.  The rest of the world pays  less than $1/pill.  Our loss is your gain.  Big Pharma paid the necessary bribes to get that law enacted.  Crooks~!  The Medical Industrial Complex sometimes makes the Military Industrial Complex look like a Church bake sale.

                    • lgrinaker

                      Here in the U.S., near the end of March, my primary care physician felt something “not quite right” in my abdomen, and now, 2 months later, the bills are beginning to come in.  $63,000 so far (surgery and a 4 day hospital stay, along with the diagnostics leading up to it).  And the thing is, it was just this year, at the beginning of January, that I was accepted into the federal system via the “Affordable Health Care Act” (so-called Obama Care).  If I didn’t have that, I wouldn’t have been able to have the surgery, and wouldn’t have survived beyond 2 years (the likely scenario).  (Not that I would have minded too terribly much, but I do have some folks who depend on my being here for a while longer…)

                      However, this month, the Supreme Court is predicted to strike down the Health Care Act, such that folks like me, who stayed at home caring for my folks through their long illnesses (which saved the Medicare System a great deal of money), have been out of the job market for many years, such that my employment prospects are not good at this time, at least in terms of health care benefits.  (I get by via some things I do from home, but I can’t afford private insurance through that).  And soon after the Supreme Court decision, I will once again be uninsured (with little chance for affordable insurance).  So that was quite a window I “fell into,” which allowed me to have the life-saving surgery I had. 

                      Ironically, something like a “single payer” system would never have gone before the Supreme Court, would have been something that would have worked out just fine as far as constitutional law is concerned, but, of course, would never have passed through Congress.

                      I look at that set of medical bills, and I now know very well what it is to see that one will soon be dying because one simply cannot afford treatment, something that a great many people in the U.S. have faced and will go on to face.

                      ~~~

                      Anyway, I know that this is a comment on a post that is no longer your most current, such that you may not see this, but I can’t tell  you how nice it was to come back here this evening and see “Mystic” posting again, ;-).  You have definitely been missed (although a valiant effort was clearly made by some OTP folks to post in your stead, which was pretty cool to see too, ;-)).  I hope your recovery goes as smoothly as mine has gone, Nick.  I must say, you do “sound” fairly strong, and so, I hope that’s basically how you’re feeling as well…

                      Linda

                    • axionication1

                      I am glad it has worked out for you Linda. It is cool when good fortune is acknowledged as such.

                      Hoping for plenty of comments from you- hugely enjoy reading you.

                      Good sort, you are.

                    • lgrinaker

                      Axion – nice to “see” you! 

                      And thank you.  The feeling is, of course, mutual…

                      Linda

                    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                      “There is nothing in existence available
                      without payment. If you want to know yourself,
                      you will have to drop all false identities. They
                      are your investments, they are your power, they
                      are your prestige, they are your religion, they
                      are your qualifications. It is difficult to drop
                      them; it feels like death.”
                      OSHO again.
                      Hello Linda,
                      Happy you fell through the window.

                      (The SC won’t strike down Ocare)

                    • lgrinaker

                      There’s Mystic! ;-)

                      “(The SC won’t strike down Ocare)”  Oh, if I could afford to, I’d offer to wager something on this. 

                      Well, I do hope you’re right…  I don’t think so, but I’d still like to hope so.  (At the very least, I’d like it if the folks who so proudly shout against “Obama Care,” as they strut their holy independence from “big gov’ment,” would own their ruthlessness as well.)

                      I have a feeling we’ll know soon enough – from all that comes up in the themes here at OTP – perhaps within the next ten years or so, what it’ll be like without much of a national govt. as a part of our lives (or with a very different kind of national govt. as a part of our lives)

                      ~~~~

                      On another front, I’ll tell ya, as I was approaching surgery (for the first time in my life and, for whatever reason, fretting over how difficult I was imagining recovery from it might be), my involuntary repeating thought was (to torture a saying by the actor Edwin Booth, who reportedly said while on his deathbed, “Dying is easy; it’s comedy that’s hard”)…

                      “Dying is easy; it’s recovery that’s hard.”  (Fortunately, recovery for me hasn’t been bad at all, which is my hope for you too…)

                      Hey, I still want to take on a marathon at some point.  I can no longer aim for this coming year, but still, I think I will put the following year in my sights (although I think I might aim for walking one at first; well, perhaps walking a half-marathon, ;-)).

                      Good to “hear” from you, Nick…

                      Linda

                    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                       Life is just a load of silliness…..No amount of marathons will change that~!

                    • lgrinaker

                      Yeah, but I really *like* walking, and then, doing so with the notion of training (slowly, but surely) for a marathon (or half-marathon) in mind adds a bit of structure that I’ve found to be helpful, ;-).  You bet, it’s silly, but it’s really enjoyable for me (a great city park near me is where I do most of my walking), so…

                      Oh!  And how about coming to the verge of death for getting a first-hand jolt of a perspective on just how silly it all is, huh? ;-)  (I can just about picture that experience for you… even your tearing up a bit with it, ;-).)

                      That experience really was quite OK for me, even… I don’t know… “sublime”?  …if that kind of perspective on all the silliness can be called “sublime.” 

                      Yeah, I think I may have teared up a time or two through such an experience myself, and yep, there was a lot of unexpected kindness throughout all of that in my experience as well.  Silly, but still… pretty cool, ;-)…

                      Linda

              • Paul

                If you’re a Branagh fan, as I am, did you watch the Wallander mystery series?  You might be able to download them for free in Europe.  We’re blocked here in US.  They were pretty good.  Great actor.
                http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/wallander/index.html

                • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                   No, can’t get that either.
                  (am half way through the final solution)

            • Lyle

              I’m beginning to think you have entirely too much time on your hands Paul.  :)
              Or you think and type really fast. :)

              • Paul

                Both!  I woke up very early.  I only sleep about 4, maybe 5 hours a day.  Plus, it’s raining here, so I’m stuck inside.  A few errands to run today, but not too much.  I prefer working smarter, not harder.

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

          I don’t disagree with you ……. except in the thinking that politicians can, in any way, make for `a slightly nicer massacre`.

          • Paul

            Hope springs eternal……or not~!

        • Garryentropy
          • Paul

            http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/german-and-chinese-solar-firms-fight-for-survival-a-835367.html

            “But there’s not a genuine market for solar modules in Germany, either. Instead, there’s a market that politicians created in 2000 with the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG), which promised tens of thousands of green jobs and now steers half of its €14 billion ($17.6 billion) in annual funding toward the solar industry.
            People in Germany aren’t buying all these solar modules because the sun shines particularly often in their country. They’re buying them because they will receive subsidies known as feed-in tariffs for the electricity for 20 years. The state has guaranteed every producer of solar power a price that was initially 50 euro cents per kilowatt hour higher than the market price.
            Under these circumstances, politicians have generated the demand for solar modules”

            • Garryentropy

              What you don’t seem to understand Paul is that there must be a final solution to the no oil world, that’s what this website is all about is it not, and the solar power thing in Germany is only a show case of technology, if they can produce half their electricity in a cloudy northern country, think how its going to work in sunny climes, there’s brass to be made with this technology, you can spend your time soft soaping each others backs with the same old no green tune, but its pretty a sad song

              • Paul

                Hello Gary!  I like your videos and I think you have good intentions, so please don’t take this as a personal attack.  But, you are handing me a plate of shit and calling it fudge~!
                I agree that we do need some solutions to a post petroleum world.  If not for ourselves, then for future generations, like your boys.  But, solar and other renewables are not even close to approaching an energy solution.  The only reason solar is being used is because of massive government subsidies.  Let’s say there was a transportation problem for commuters in Germany.  So, the German govt buys every German household a brand new BMW.  Problem solved, right?  But, at what cost?!
                From your Guardian reference,  ”Germany has nearly as much installed solar power generation capacity as the rest of the world combined and gets about four percent of its overall annual electricity needs from the sun”.  Only 4% and they have as much as solar installed as the entire world combined~!  Does that seem like a solution?  The article also states that they received 50% of their electrical needs in one day.  A bright, sunny summer Saturday when the office buildings were closed and the factories were shut down.  How much solar power do they get on a dark, cloudy Tuesday in January when millions of office workers are sitting in their heated, brightly lit buildings typing away on their computers and the massive welding machines of BMW, Audi and Volkswagen are melting fenders together?!  But, the eco-nuts, or more appropriately, eco-fascists (govt and corporations combined) would have you believe that 50% output number all year long.  Utter bullshit!
                Again, from the Guardian.  “Utilities and consumer groups have complained the Fit (feed-in-tariff) for solar power adds about 2 cents per kW/h on top of electricity prices in Germany that are already among the highest in the world, with consumers paying about 23 cents kW/h.  German consumers pay about €4bn per year on top of their electricity bills for solar power, according to a 2012 report by the country’s environment ministry.  Critics also complain of growing levels of solar power make the national grid more less stable due to fluctuations in output.”
                So, the already heavily burdened German household (23 cents per kW/h is insane!) is forced to pay even more money to support this eco-fascist wet dream.  And it’s not even a stable, steady source of electricity?  That’s criminal.
                If solar is such a go, then why are all the German, American and Chinese solar companies going bankrupt?  If the fucking Chinese with their slave laborers can’t make a profit on solar, how in the hell is this even remotely a viable industry!?  Again, because of the subsidy, which is soon to expire.  These companies are going bankrupt even with the subsidy in place.  How do you think they will do without a subsidy?
                http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-01/et-solar-starts-work-at-german-solar-parks-to-beat-tariff-cut.html
                It’s still cheaper to cover your roof with Sony HD TV’s than solar panels~!
                The eco-fascists want to shut down the nuclear power plants in Japan and Germany.  If they do, you will see a massive exodus of good manufacturing jobs heading for Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and the United States.  Your loss, our gain.  Some German companies have already warned Merkel about this fact.  The 3rd and 4th strongest economies in the world will see a vast drop in GDP.  But, hey, you’re Green!  Broke and jobless, but Green!  Glad-handing isn’t going to pay the bills.

                The cleanest, most reliable and cost-effective source of electricity in the world is nuclear.  You have a choice, nuclear or dirty coal-fired or gas-fired power plants.  Renewables will not provide the power that you will need.  There is no brass to be made in solar.  The sunny clime nations are broke, and wouldn’t even think of buying German made solar panels unless the German govt paid for them.
                Soft-soaping?  You are the first person ever to accuse me of soft-soaping.  Thanks!
                We may be singing a sad old song, a dirge if you like.  But, at least our lyrics are honest and realistic.  The green tune is a pop song, full of fluff and without substance.  When that subsidy is cut off, your green tune will fall off the pop charts quick.
                Dirges last for centuries, pop songs a few weeks. 

  • Axel1million

    Glad to have you back on the case Mystic.

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Yo, thanks Axel.
      What’s going on~!?

  • Emmazedbend

    WELCOME BACK MYSTIC SO GLAD YOU ARE WELL. XXXX

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       I only cried once (ok twice), but they were kinda tears of joy at the relief of it being all as good as over (and wonder at how nice people can be).

      Good morning to you.

  • Paul
  • axionication1

    Hiya Nick, glad all a go!

    May you/ we have many more years of ” Pushing elephants up the stairs….. Searching for answers from the great beyond…”

    Ps, good summation (i 100% agree).
    Automatically, when reading, built in the “game level/ type” being played by the various groupings of the billions. We probably spend more time trying to work out the group thing than the billion thing ( probably easier to do so :))

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       What I see in my mind, is a long (300 year) bottom left to top right (45 degree) line.

      We could call it …….. hmm??…. `Future asset valuations`.

      Someone has come along (me) and drawn a short 45 degree, top left / bottom right type of line (in a different color) across to the right side of the page.

      The `down line` came in around 1970, so is getting a long way away from the first line now.

      OK that is one way it looks, but it is not a good way to think of it, because it will not represent the modern history of human things.
      To get that, you have to turn the page upside down.
      Where we get hundreds of years of easy downhill ride, with a nasty kicker at the end.

      If we zoom into that last 50 years or so, and use a synthesis of these two pictures ……. that is another way to describe what is going down (or up……??) now.

      Hello up there~!

      • axionication1

        We got 2/3′s of India on less than $2 a day. We have had trillion dollar a day stock swings.

        Sometimes think the line pokes into the page too.

  • doc

    Welcome back ya frikkin’frack
    Ferney yerkin o’me gerkin
    Yer off, on a zippy start
    Still sharp is the tool
    N’keepen’er cool
    Y’ole’hippyfart!

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       The night of the long knives, oh
      they hacked at the Mystic pubes so,
      but they’ve done their sewin’,
      the hairs are back growin’…
      and so it’s scritchy and scratchy
      that the Mystic doth go~!

  • Toby

    Good to have you back!

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Thank you Toby.
      Make no mistake ….. I am back~!

  • Garryentropy

    nitro glycerin under the tongue
    dilates your pipes
    and tickles your bum
    Good health Mystic

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

      Nothing has changed ……
      Germans will pay the bill (or get the ECB to pay the bill)~!

  • CSARichardo

    Welcome back to reality or did you wake up in another world ?

     ……enjoy alittle George

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0yhHHPc7IU&feature=related

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       Thanks Richardo (althogh I am thoroughly sick of George Fuckin’ Carlin).

      • Lyle

        Do not go gentle into that good night,Old age should burn and rave at close of day;Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

        Though wise men at their end know dark is right,Because their words had forked no lightning theyDo not go gentle into that good night.

        Good men, the last wave by, crying how brightTheir frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

        Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,Do not go gentle into that good night.

        Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sightBlind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay, Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

        And you, my father, there on the sad height,Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.Do not go gentle into that good night.Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
        ———

        Glad to see you back at the game Nick!

        • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

           ”The mystic can pour his light within you and can make you aware of all
          that is hidden in you — your hidden splendor. This is the authentic
          relationship between the master and the disciple. The master does not
          teach anything. He simply pours his light into the heart of the
          disciple. There is no philosophy to be taught, there is no teaching that
          the student has to be converted to — there is only an experience that
          has to be transferred. For centuries it has been known as the
          transmission of the lamp. It is a beautiful expression: `transmission of
          the lamp’. The master simply allows you to have his fire, to make your
          dark house also light. He loses nothing, but you gain tremendously.”

          Osho
          (remember that not so mad old bastard~!?)

          • Paul

            Wasn’t that the guy with 365 Rolls Royces?  One for each day of the year.  I like the saying though.

            • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

               Yep, that’s the guy.
              (it may have been Rolex watches, but he did have a bunch of Rollers as well ….. (happy days~!))

              • Paul

                In addition to the Rollers, he had a large group of female sannyasins devoted to him and adhering to his free sex policy.  This guy was up to his eyeballs in Rollers and birds~!  Now, why didn’t we think of this first~!  A day late and a dollar short!
                Here is a pic of Osho in Oregon driving in his Roller past all his devotees.  “I’ll take her, and her, and her, and her….”  Brilliant~!

                • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

                   ”One has to drop possessiveness, one has to drop the very idea of
                  dominating, one has to give freedom if one wants freedom. Whatsoever you
                  want for yourself give to others. And if you cannot give even to those
                  you love, to whom else can you give it? And the only gift worth giving
                  is freedom. And the miracle is that the moment love gives freedom it
                  becomes pure, absolutely pure. And in that purity it rises to its
                  ultimate height.”

                  …..and oh, how people love the idea of that `ultimate` stuff~!

                  • Paul

                    If it’s not “ultimate”, then it’s just not worth it.  Every detergent and food advertiser knows that~!
                    You need to change the name to Over The Ultimate Peak.  Your viewers will increase ten-fold~!

          • Lyle

            Good stuff at its level.
            —
            5 cat enlightenment.  :)Coda Cat, the Pretty Boy, wants only acknowledgement of his Kingship.Charlie, the Hulk, speaks with his eyes.Radar,  the Vociferous, speaks many languages.Breezy, the Trouble, only wants his belly rubbed.Sugar, the One Eyed, keeps her eye on you.;-)

            • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

               I don’t think OSHO was a mad old bastard (any more than Sugar was inquisitive) and I rather had a guilt trip about it (that lasted nearly a few seconds).

  • Stephen Simpson

    Glad to see all
    went well with your surgery and the Mystic is on the mend.

  • http://www.outoftheboxinsight.org Outoftheboxinsight

    Dear M,

    Glad your heart is good.
    Now hope your asshole is ready.

    Time to pucker up,

    Love,

    The Universe

    • http://overthepeak.com/wordpress/ Mystic

       I say T~!! …. Hello.