The Huguenot Corsair

So the Jamaicans can build microgrids, solar power...

2010-06-15T00:09:17.246-04:00

So the Jamaicans can build microgrids, solar power stations, hydroponic farms, aquaculture tanks, etc. just as easily as anyone else.

So they get disconnected from globalism, so what? They won't get the latest Final Fantasy game.

Now, if INTERNET service to Jamaica were to go out, that would be genuine hardship.

In other words, this is a selling opportunity for ...

2010-06-15T00:07:00.981-04:00

In other words, this is a selling opportunity for microgrid gear, solar panels, windmills, fuel cells, and electronics textbooks.

Okay, I'm sold. Microgrids for everybody!

Lincoln was wrong. It's not "the hand th...

2010-06-12T22:58:14.738-04:00

Lincoln was wrong. It's not "the hand that rocks the cradle." The hand that collects the garbage rules the world.

"this Brazilian story has universal applicati...

2010-03-16T05:18:54.424-04:00

"this Brazilian story has universal application"

Agreed.

First, thank you, Duncan, for the blog--you're...

2010-03-11T10:12:53.724-05:00

First, thank you, Duncan, for the blog--you're doing a great job aggregating vital news.

The article only skims the surface. The appearance of the narcomantas in Matamoros was not the first public announcement of the break between a faction of Cartel de Golfo and Los Zetas--it was advertised two weeks ago with the narcomantas signed by Carteles Unidos Contra Los Zetas--the actual break date back further. The break went public a day after Osiel Cardenas, head of the Gulf Cartel and recruiter of Los Zetas, was sentenced in Houston on Feb 25 after making a plea deal with US DOJ. The fissure within Cartel de Golfo opened when Osiel was arrested and extradited to the US in 2007: Eduardo Costilla Sanchez, El Coss and Ezequiel Cardenas Guillen took charge of the CDG and the paramilitary arm of the cartel-- Los Zetas-- answered to Heriberto Lazcano and Miguel Treviño Morales.

The division widened when the Zetas formed an alliance with the Beltran Leyva org that was negotiated by Hector Beltran prior to the killing of his brother Arturo by Mexican marines in Cuernavaca last December. By that time intelligence agents were seeing a clear split between the two orgs. DEA intel sources pinpoint the final break to January 18 2010--the day a team of sicarios killed the Zetas financial officer, Eduardo Costilla Peña Victor Mendoza, Concord 3 and Treviño Morales.

As for the Ndrangheta and its partnerships, while I agree that it would be inaccurate--if not silly-- to subscribe to some overarching "Moriarty/Fu Manchu conspiracy", evidence of Ndrangheta global trafficking partnerships are considerably heavier than "a grain of salt."

I guess I am more in line with Greer. and I am a s...

2010-02-25T01:45:30.468-05:00

I guess I am more in line with Greer. and I am a senior R&D engineer working on high speed data networks for space exploration. The technology required for even basic electronics is very sophisticated and requires a high level of materials science.. all of which becomes extremely difficult when energy runs short. Technology which will survive is the kind that we used to call "sustainable technology" back in the 70's and reflects what you can do without a complex technology infrastructure and lots of cheap energy. For example solar thermal is much more sustainable than photovoltaic... As for me, Im working on building with straw bales and looking at ancient Iranian cooling techniques.. and raising chickens;)

Bear in mind that the "Mafia" in the USA...

2010-02-06T23:51:58.044-05:00

Bear in mind that the "Mafia" in the USA is influenced by Jewish interests and USA government infiltrators; the "Mafia" in Italy may be more local and less international.

NATO should be ashamed for its high-altitude bombi...

2010-02-06T23:38:47.610-05:00

NATO should be ashamed for its high-altitude bombing of innocent Serbs. I would sooner embrace Vlad Putin than Dennis Blair. May God have mercy on the USA - but tremble, Yankee, when you remember that God is just.

This was an excellent article.

2010-02-06T23:29:15.553-05:00

This was an excellent article.

That's just a face-saving effort on the part o...

2010-02-03T07:52:17.144-05:00

That's just a face-saving effort on the part of the EU - they should never have let them join the Euro zone, after all, in any private Merger & Acquisition there's a true diligence audit by a formerly not involved external auditor. The EU just accepts fabricated numbersas long as they carry a Head of State seal ... but who can print money can also conceive of statistics ... This is my take on the subject of sovereign default: Safe Assets and Sore Surprises. By the way, I have just added a Reference List to my economics blog with economic data series, history, bibliographies etc. for students & researchers. Currently almost 200 meta sources, it will in the next days grow to over a thousand. Check it out and if you miss something, feel free to leave a comment.

You may be interested in something Vadiya wrote on...

2010-01-28T00:33:27.003-05:00

You may be interested in something Vadiya wrote on this.

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/46804

"The only people who are genuinely serious ab...

2010-01-21T15:06:56.642-05:00

"The only people who are genuinely serious about drugs are those who favor legalizing it."

Brilliant!

You can see the truth behind the Greek statistic b...

2010-01-14T08:12:08.579-05:00

You can see the truth behind the Greek statistic by looking at whether they're hiring and firing. Right now they've just fired another bunch of Museum staff- something they're always loathe to do because of their campaign for the return of the Elgin marbles.

Also noteworthy is how whilst in the US you have parasitic companies (i.e. Goldman Sachs) but in the EU you have whole parasitic countries.

If S truly H's the F, I plan to migrate south ...

2010-01-07T14:38:31.634-05:00

If S truly H's the F, I plan to migrate south and make a small fortune in tech development for the cartels.

Have you been reading Richard North's articles...

2010-01-05T06:46:13.712-05:00

Have you been reading Richard North's articles on TATA, the IPCC and mass-corruption? They're at http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/ mostly under the 'Pachauri' headline. You have to wade through other stuff but its worth it.

Howler on that page (where I'm unable to comme...

2010-01-02T23:36:57.449-05:00

Howler on that page (where I'm unable to comment). The Al Maktoum family rules Dubai, not the Al Nahyans.

Nowhere in my article did I say Nigerians banks do...

2009-12-30T11:36:08.864-05:00

Nowhere in my article did I say Nigerians banks do not know their customers. It will therefore be very mischievous for anybody to infer this. What I did was a comparative analysis of the CIP (Customer Identification Procedure) in the UAE and Nigeria. And the challenges faced by the latter due to the failure of the state to provide the basic infrastructure. Abimbola Adeseyoju MD/CEO DataPro Limited

nice posting....i like it...it is really helpful t...

2009-12-22T18:32:00.485-05:00

nice posting....i like it...it is really helpful to all...

Bathmate

I have no coherent answer. Instead: As I recentl...

2009-12-17T11:27:20.153-05:00

I have no coherent answer.

Instead:

As I recently stated on Fabius Maximus' blog, given the deficits and all the other systemic problems, my objective is to kick the can down the road and hope something like John Robb's resilient communities get enough times to organize.

As I have sometimes sardonically stated on various blogs, the real solution to the health care crisis would be to turn the matter over to the Mexican Drug Lords because they know howto get things done.

As I stated on Don Vandergriff's blog, political decay happens to coincide with artistic creativity, so one meaningful thing that I actually can do is develop artistically. That poetic duel I posted here several weeks ago is no sideline for me. I spend lots of time thinking about things like the similarities between hip hop, on the one hand, and Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse, on the other.

This is a heartwarming and democracy-affirming per...

2009-12-17T10:23:40.829-05:00

This is a heartwarming and democracy-affirming period for young Americans. We see no change (either forced by government or self-flagellatory) in the plutocrat's rapacious business models even after they destroy our parents savings (which will inspire great grumbles when we're forced to go to the same bankers that ruined our parents when we finally get our asses out of school and want to start a business) nor do we see our elected representatives working for our interests instead of their electoral-season sponsors (as in the case of the healthcare bill you mention).

I've come to the conclusion that democracy is a delightful idea, but capitalists will always own the system. Not the pleasant, free-market capitalists either (although they prance around in deregulatory garb well enough when the mall owners and third rate lawyers that run this country begin to mutter about forcing them to change their nation-destroying ways) but the kind of smart capitalists that casually suggest to all they meet that the stock market is a safe repository for long-term savings.

But it's not like there are any better alternatives (to American democracy). I mean, I like my sausage, egg and cheese McGriddles, and wouldn't give up the international beer market for all the permaculture installations in the Pacific Northwest.

Whattaboutchu, D.K.? Is American representative democracy fux0red, or do you see a way to talk our representatives into considering our interests even to some degree?

Could we build a legalization framework to benefit...

2009-12-16T13:50:36.800-05:00

Could we build a legalization framework to benefit small-capital homeowner-entrepreneurs instead of these clandestine transportation and production networks?

I understand that much black market power derives from drugs and Western nations spend an inordinate amount of money to bring users and end-chain distributors to heel. Why is it impossible (or at least so far outside mainstream rhetoric) to neuter one source of global crime networks' power, turn a budgetary expense into a profit and begin rebuilding individual savers all around the world in one fell swoop?

I have trouble seeing the difference between the a...

2009-12-03T20:57:20.924-05:00

I have trouble seeing the difference between the armed gangs in Rio and the ones occupying nation-state capital cities. Wasn't it Mao who said that the power of government comes from the barrel of a gun?

btw, i've appreciated your blog for some time ...

2009-11-27T15:04:21.706-05:00

btw, i've appreciated your blog for some time now. many thanks for your efforts.

an insightful, useful point. one area where this ...

2009-11-27T15:03:12.111-05:00

an insightful, useful point. one area where this has come up lately is the border region between researcher on terrorist mentalities vs. research on religious extremists, as discussed in recent posts at zenpundit and swj blog re. nidal malik hasan. see esp. comments left by charles carmeron and jean rosenfeld here:

http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2009/11/the-hasan-slide-presentation/

Fantastic.

2009-11-25T10:23:02.741-05:00

Fantastic.