Monday, 2 December 2019

Global headlines - 2 December, 2019

There is one big difference between the 1930s and now: In the 1930s, the developed world was riding a rising energy curve, but now the whole world is at the mercy of net energy decline. The current crash — already begun — will be global and deadly. -- RF
Are we in for a repeat of the ‘Long Depression’?
Is the US dollar doomed?
A China Trade Deal Just Finalizes the Divorce
US law backing Hong Kong protests could end up hurting everyone — the US, China and Hong Kong

## Cut, baby, cut! ##

## War on cash/cashless society/cryptocurrencies ##
China’s Mobile Payments Grow More Than 60% in Third Quarter
In 2035 it's highly unlikely that there will be an airline industry as we know it. -- RF

## Fault lines/flashpoints/powder kegs/military/war drums ##
India watching US for sanctions on Turkey
The weaponization of sanctions is completely out of control. Far from doing any good, sanctions are driving a wedge between the US and other countries, including its friends/allies. -- RF
Foreign Minister warns drone strikes would violate sovereignty


## Global unrest/mob rule/angry people/torches and pitchforks ##
Colombia protest leaders push Duque on dialogue
Nuclear power: the gift that keeps on giving. -- RF
The mere idea that we can properly dispose of deadly nuclear waste and keep it out of the environment for a million years is patently ludicrous. Even a hundred years from now, the energy companies and governments which will supposedly take responsibility for and preside over nuclear waste repositories and nuclear power plant decommissioning won't exist. The price of "too-cheap-to-meter" energy is incalculably high. -- RF
It's true. But I guarantee that renewables won't be able to take up the slack. Once their fossil-fuel underpinning is lost, we will see the true cost of renewable energy. Prepare for an austere future. -- RF
Christmas tree prices rise as drought and fire hit crops and farms close (US)
Christmas tree farmers are questioning how they’ll remain profitable on a warming planet prone to droughts, floods, wildfires and other weather disasters.

The database contained access information to online medical services along with passwords and usernames to websites such as Google and Facebook. 
• Julian Assange

## Systemic breakdown/collapse/unsustainability ##
MTA workers say job cuts led to more filth on NYC subway cars
Filth? You ain't seen nothin' yet! -- RF
This might be useful as a short-term fix, but consumerist gluttony has no future in any country. -- RF
Not just California. Everyone has to start thinking now about how we will cope in a world of increasingly unreliable energy supplies. -- RF
A barrier to the large-scale deployment of renewables in Japan is the shortage of land suitable for siting wind and solar farms, which require far larger land areas than fossil fuels per unit power produced. -- RF
You can easily find articles like this because fertility rates are plunging around the world. Yet this article, like the others, makes no mention of the primary cause: net energy decline. The basic formula is simple: when energy supplies increase, populations increase, and when energy supplies decrease, populations decrease. You can see this in nature when populations of species adjust to their energy (i.e., food) supplies. Humans think that our technological prowess makes us immune to this law of nature, but simple observation shows this to be false. -- RF
The fastest-growing debt category in U.S. is not student loans or credit cards
Personal loans are growing at an 11% annual clip, according to Experian, faster that student loan or credit card balances.
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