Saturday, November 08, 2008

HELL HOUND ON MY TRAIL



This comes from the blog of our pal Peromyscus

“The Devil is selling Robert Johnson's soul on eBay. Apparently he (the Prince of Darkness) is having a tough time making ends meet and is cashing out. Since souls are intangible, all you'll actually be able to wave around is the certificate of authenticity.”

THE ONCE AND FUTURE DEPRESSION












Our really good friend Aeswiren has sent the following highly informative comments on my LA CityBeat Obama cover story. (See last Thursday.)

“One thing though that turned a crisis into the Depression was the Smoot-Hawley Act. America, basically put up trade barriers to European goods, and the Europeans did the same and trade collapsed and nobody made any money.”

“Dustbowl and Okies... yeah, but real story of the Depression, I believe was the decade of privation, hard times, expensive food etc. that the 30s became for a hundred million Americans, most of whom lived in the E. Coast cities. There was actual malnutrition, even starvation out in Appalachia and down south too, but the big theme, I think, is the pinched existence that most Americans endured for ten years or more, until WW2 lifted all boats with huge, Keynesistic money flows.”

“Oil – it's more complicated than that. The essential number to bear in mind, I'd suggest, is this – of the world's 15 largest oil fields, 9 are in decline now. This is the Peak. The big oil companies only control something like 7-10% of world oil reserves. What they possess is the distribution system and the refineries. What remains incredible- really-- is that oil rich countries run by mental rodents, have failed to build enough refining capacity for their own use – Iran. They have to import petrol! Blaming Big Oil is kinda 90s. The oil equation of the near future looks like OPEC+Russia=50% Market Control. Control Breakers include Canadian production, and potential new fields like that of the Amazon delta and the Bakken Formation in Dakota/Manitoba.”

“Nuclear. Modern fission nukes, especially metal cooled (ie liquid sodium) types, can be tuned up to get something like 70-80% of the energy available in Uranium fuel. Which compares favorably with the old gen PWRs that get 15%. But, of course, there's still the waste and the problem that within a century the affordable deposits of Uranium will be gone. Some near future types of fission nukes could, conceivably burn the radioactive waste left behind by the older PWRs. But, handling that shit, and transporting it, and all that looks impossible for error prone human societies without fucking up and turning some tract of Arkansas or wherever into another Chernobyl. Utimately, the answer comes down to renewables, high efficiency solar (recent breakthrough tech there, too...) geothermal etc. etc.”
“Plus-- nuclear Fusion-- for the concentrated high energy needs of huge, wasteful human cities. Thing to remember is that Fusion research was (deliberately) starved of money for the past 25 years. To the point where Europe is the leader in the field. The fingerprints of Exxon Mobil are said to be all over this, but it's not an easy story to track down. No surprise there. But if the US threw $500 Billion at the problem, the first commercial Tritium-Deuterium Fusion Reactors would be online in maybe 15 years. From that to Deuterium-Deuterium would be the next technological jump, and from that toWater-Deuterium in maybe another 25 years.”
“The wonder fungus. Did you read about that? Obscure S. American fungus that converts cellulose to gases that can be combined to make fuel. you should take a look at the wonder fungus... and so should I, so I know what the fuck this is...sounds amazing....could be a complete game changer, the kind of thing that we dream of.”
(Click here for more on the wonder fungus.)

He concludes...

“Good piece though. I like it.”

To which I can only reply, thanks bro, and note that he has also sent a longer and wilder rant on nuclear fusion that I’m holding for later.

The secret word is Education

Friday, November 07, 2008

LIZ PIC FRIDAY



To offset the absurdity of Palin, for retro-romance, and for other mysterious reasons know only to Google, here’s a picture of Elizabeth Taylor. (It also allows Doc40 to take some of today off because he isn’t feeling too good.)

SO LONG CARIBOU BARBIE?



After weeks of conducting arcane and darkly sinister rituals to make Sara Palin go back to the elk and the frozen tundra (well, they worked didn’t they?), and currently telling harrumphing Republicans, “Boohoo. Too bad. Now fuck off”, I actually wonder if the smartest move might be to keep the awful woman around. She could lead a rump fragment of the GOP – the Raving Looney Shotgun Hillbilly Jesus Plumber Party who would, if lucky, constitute some 15% of the electorate and never manage to be more than a noisy nuisance the rest of us could tune out.

The secret word is Isolate

HERE'S AN ODDITY


HCB sent over this logo from the new de luxe Elvis Presley record label.

Thursday, November 06, 2008

FUTURE NOW



Here's my take on the problems confronting our brand new president -- and maybe some of the solutions.

Click here

The secret word is not Shazam!

Wednesday, November 05, 2008

BYE, GUYS (see you at the war crimes tribunal)


(In fact, the FBI should be inside the White House right now, guarding the valuables. Bush will petulantly fuck up everything he can, and Cheney will steal anything that’s left before they’re evicted.)

OUR WHACKY UNCLE BILL



Uncle Bill is pleased with the outcome of the election, but then he sees the picture of Franz Kafka looking at him and has to turn away.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

YES!!!!!YES!!!!!YES!!!!!


A FUCKING LANDSLIDE!
MORE THAT I DARED HOPE!

AND WHILE WE WAIT TO LEARN OUR FATE...


"What kind of bloody title is The Quantum of Solace? It sounds like a Czech art film about a pregnant waitress."

Monday, November 03, 2008

IT'S ONLY A DAY AWAY



Finally, after all the harangue, hard work, worry, wonder, disbelief, alarms, and absurdity, the 2008 US presidential election comes down to the wire. I tend to trust bookies more than political pollsters but the chart above seems too good to be true, and I freely admit I’m nervous. Like the guy in the poker game who thinks he’s holding a winning hand, but always fears the unexpected. As I just commented in response to our new pal Gerin, the future under McCain would be unthinkable. The future under Obama might at least be possible. And with an Obama landslide it might even be viable.

Jimmy Carl Black – RIP
Yma Sumac – RIP

Sunday, November 02, 2008

THE ADVENTURES OF MARILYN (Part 123XC)



In which Marilyn, after being tediously trapped on either side by the Well Groomed Men In The Cheap Seats, discovers to her delight that her old and dear friend, Quagmar the Destroyer, has finally arrived from Planet J, where he had been disporting and dissipating in the Andromeda Galaxy. Marilyn is doubly pleased that Quagmar the Destroyer, along with his vast retinue, plus numerous extra and irregular thralls, concubines, and body helots, has managed to make the trip without incinerating his Beamship, or doing any more cosmic damage to the polymorphous reality.

THE SECRET WORD IS STILL...

VOTE

Yeah, vote once, vote twice, vote like Homer. Click here to watch. (Courtesy of Munz.)

THIS IS THE NEWS -- THE LAST NEWS


“This is the Wartime Broadcasting Service. This country has been attacked with nuclear weapons. Communications have been severely disrupted, and the number of casualties and the extent of the damage are not yet known. We shall bring you further information as soon as possible. Meanwhile, stay tuned to this wavelength, stay calm and stay in your own homes. Remember there is nothing to be gained by running away. Make sure gas and other fuel supplies are turned off and that all fires are extinguished. Water must not be used for flushing lavatories. Until you are told that lavatories may be used again, other toilet arrangements must be made."

TPG sent us this chilling story of the BBC script for an announcement to be broadcast if the country came under nuclear attack in the early 1970s that has been released from files in the National Archives in London. Click here for more.