Tuesday, Dec 09, 2008
For the Jeremy Clarkson fans
Times: Vauxhall Insignia 2.8 V6
I was in Dublin last weekend, and had a very real sense I’d been invited to the last days of the Roman empire. Everyone appeared to be drunk on naked hedonism. And all I could think was: “Jesus. Can’t they see what’s coming?”
Ireland has a tiny population, so how could the Irish ever have generated the cash for their flashy lifestyles? And how, as they become the first country in Europe to go officially into recession, can they not see the financial meteorite coming?
I have spoken to a couple of pretty senior bankers in the past couple of weeks and their story is rather different. They don’t refer to the looming problems as being like 1992 or even 1929. They talk about a total financial meltdown. They talk about the End of Days.
Posted by little professor @ 12:58 AM (2071 views) Add Comment
51 Comments
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1. little professor said...
2. little professor said...
Just need to close my blockquotes
3. titaniccaptain said...
I feel sick after reading that.........................this will make the sheeple panic ................and its true I think we will have a meltdown..................how many times have we talked about this being the last days of rome?...........I think he must be reading this site..................or at least those he talks to are
4. little professor said...
Do you really think it will be as bad as he says, though, tc?
5. titaniccaptain said...
LP........I dunno mate..............I go in instinct in everything.........and my instinct says...........yes it will happen as bad as he said.........I really dont want it to be I have a young family I think the only way of stoping this is back door communism which we may have seen the sseds of recently....but its not communism its something much more inciduous...........then it begs the question again has this been orchestrated..as I have said before many times.........this has been predicted for a long time and with great acuracy.....so if they were acurate about the meltdown what about the reasons for wanting a meltdown.............anyway I think these are end times and christ will be returning soon......and to most that sounds madder than the lizard people taking over.............I need a stiff drink...........b#gger its too late
6. drewster said...
Excellent post, lp. Ireland is similar to Iceland: overblown financial sector, cheap money, too much debt and too much speculation. It's probably the only country in Europe that is worse placed than Britain for this crash (Spain is a close contender too).
7. drewster said...
I take issue with this line: "Ireland has a tiny population, so how could the Irish have generated the cash..."
Being small is not a barrier to wealth. For example the city of Cambridge is small yet wealthy, because it is a centre of excellence. Furthermore, even within a poor country there will always be rich and poor: some individuals can always afford flash new cars.
8. Wacko911 said...
I think if we can survie two world wars, then a cash flow problem aint gonna do that much harm. Ppl will muddle through, as for Ireland starving its 90% farm land and if the machines fail then ppl will go back to planting crops manually, using anaimals or use other energy sources other than oil - eg biofuels
9. techieman said...
i thought JC was a journalist who knows about cars..........
10. charlie brooker said...
@drewster:
You are right in saying "being small is not a barrier to wealth" but unfortunately its how the wealth is generated is key and that's what is Clarkson addressing.
11. charlie brooker said...
In defence of Jezza, he's doing exactly the right thing by telling the sheeple point blank and without any spin exactly how it is.
We need the sheeple to be shocked so that in future they remember the lessons of this crisis and refrain from indulging in the same irresponsible behaviour again (fingers crossed).
We need prominent opinionated figures to make crystal-clear unambiguous statements to as wide as possible an audience as to what the score is because one thing's for sure - our politicians won't.
Good on yer JC.
12. James said...
techieman - quite - and with an emphasis on comedy and controversy, which is precisely what this article is. As he mentions, he got a 'U' in economics. It shows.
Odd that titaniccaptain says 'it will make the sheeple panic' when he's doing precisely that himself. What's that bleating?
13. Oz said...
I was across in Ireland recently and I was shocked at the price of things. Across here in Australia prices have shot up over the past couple of years making things expensive on a global basis.Recently we devalued substantially against most currencies and this helped to bring us back into kilter. Unfortunately for Ireland this is not possible .There are a couple of options.
They could break away from the euro and devalue or they could undergo massive price deflation. Neither option is attractive
14. renting2 said...
Got round to reading NDCIC yesterday (written over 30 years ago BTW), wish I hadn't.
15. sold 2 rent 1 said...
Now Clasrkson has stared into the abyss, he can start to look for the good stuff that follows the carnage
16. sold 2 rent 1 said...
There are many references to the Apocalypse here that fit into 2 categories
BOOK OF REVELATION
"Jesus. Can’t they see what’s coming?”
"They talk about the End of Days"
2012 - PLANET X STRIKING THE EARTH
"Can they not see the financial meteorite coming?"
"We can’t see the meteorite coming either."
"If an enormous meteorite was heading our way and the authorities knew it couldn’t be stopped or diverted, why bother telling anyone?"
IMHO, both of these contain elements of the truth whilst at the same time are both smoke screens for the reality yet to happen. This is the way consciousness works.
IMHO, the end date is in 2011 and is about a “consciousness singularity” that will remain hidden to most people until the last moment.
17. luckyjim said...
"On a more cheery note, Vauxhall has stopped making the Vectra. "
LOL
18. lierbag said...
Clarkson's article touches on some interesting issues. One of which being, that our 'democratic capitalist' system of government depends upon us all spending merrily to keep the economic gears turning; therefore governments are loathe to act responsibly by informing us of the facts in times of crisis, in case it disrupts our normal spending/consumption patterns. For a brilliant precis of the current economic malaise, read this recent article by Mike Whitney, at:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=11072
But apart from Clarkson's awakening to the true depth of the financial chaos, he also alludes to the deeper problems stemming from disruptions to the fuel supply, and all the society-destroying circumstances that entails. I personally feel that nation states won't be able to withstand the advent of Peak Oil, basically - again because it's suited the short term race for easy profits - because no realistic plans have been set in place to guide through the post-carbon transition, and that was in case the news that we were undergoing a paradigm shift scared off all the shoppers and investors.
The hierarchies (whoever they may be) are fully aware of the impending circumstances, so I'd advise one and all just to take a brief look through the precis of the 'Hirsch Report' (look it up on Wikipedia) and ask yourselves if you really feel that transitional plans have actually been in place over the required past 20 years?
This will be a lot worse than 1929. That was a financial markets screw-up. And whenit was all over, they still had all the planet's resources, the real wealth, to draw on and rebuild. This time we no longer have that luxury.
19. sold 2 rent 1 said...
lierbag,
"because no realistic plans have been set in place to guide through the post-carbon transition"
Free energy is here, but it will not be developed by big corporates/governments, as by its definition there is not enough profits/taxes for them.
Unfortunately free energy will only come about after we have collectively stared into the abyss of $400 oil.
20. doom&gloom said...
Great hyperbole from Clarkson. Not one for nuances. Like it.
Catastrophe with Tony Robinson on Channel 4 last night was another great chunk of doom-and-gloom for the masses. Doom-and-gloom in the mainstream media (Clarkson, Channel 4, etc) is just what we need to wake the sheeple and propel them into mass panic. Should be a massive boost for gold demand once everyone catches on, so may be a good opportunity to sell up in 2011 for massive profit and then have one last big blow-out just before we all meet our doom.
21. doom&gloom said...
LB/S2R1 - according to Tony Robinson, there are trillions of tonnes of frozen methane at the bottom of the oceans - sounded almost 'limitless' to me. There's an inflection point where global warming will liberate this and it will rise to the surface.
What happened last time is that this methane entered the atmosphere, exacerbating global warming and leading to the extinction of 95% of Earth's species. However my new theory is this:
Capture the methane before it is released into the atmostphere and burn it for our fuel needs. This would have the combined benefits of providing 'free energy' (well almost) and also massively reducing the global warming effect (CO2 is 25 times less potent than CH4 as a greenhouse gas). I might write to Shell.
22. lierbag said...
s2r1: 'Free energy is here, but it will not be developed by big corporates/governments, as by its definition there is not enough profits/taxes for them.'
You are right in inferring that the only directions governments and corporations (synonymous, surely) will explore, are those offering promises of huge revenues - again, one of the problems of profit-driven capitalism - but I don't know what you mean by 'free energy'. Besides which, it's not just the availability of cheap energy that's the problem. As even Clarkson states, we make things out of oil - from insecticides and fertilisers to polymers and pigments - and without it, the whole economic edifice tumbles down.
23. bellwether said...
Clarkson is a knb. Coogan based AP on him. Entirely. That said this is the worse case scenario that haunts everyone with half a brain. I suspect it won't happen but see it as a possibility.
If it does make sure you are fit and strong, that you can run fast and fight, that you have friends with whom you can form a gang, that you can get your hands on weapons and ideally some land that you get the fck out the city. Don't worry about gold you will be stealing everything from those weaker than you
24. d'oh said...
D&G @10.28 There are already suggestions (and I presume plans) to mine the methane hydrates in the future.
25. andrew said...
I still don't understand that a country where most English people wouldn't travel to 15 years ago for fear of being beaten up, crippled or shot dead and was a crumbling wreck, has managed to create the illusion of wealth so fast, I still would never consider living there, the weather is even worse than here as well.
bellwether @23, exactly why do you think Clarkson is a knb ? He does seem to make more sense than your idea of having a gang, hiding in the bushes and beating each other up with clubs.
26. gardeniadotnet said...
23. bellwether said... If it does make sure you are fit and strong, that you can run fast and fight, that you have friends with whom you can form a gang, that you can get your hands on weapons and ideally some land that you get the fck out the city. Don't worry about gold you will be stealing everything from those weaker than you.
And the Lord said, "Blessed are the hoodies, for they shall inherit the Earth."
27. sold 2 rent 1 said...
lierbag,
FREE ENERGY - TECHNOLOGIES OVERVIEW
http://www.free-energy.ws/background.html
As for a replacement for all other oil based products, look no further than hemp.
With over 40,000 uses including Paper, Food, Building Materials, Plastics, Petrochemicals, Energy, and Medical.
On this page you will first find a definition of hemp followed by an explanation of some of its uses.
The following is exerts from the ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA Eleventh Edition. 1910-1911
http://www.hempoil.ca/abouthemp.html
28. sold 2 rent 1 said...
doom&gloom,
Have still to watch last night's Catastrophe with Tony Robinson.
As I said earlier, his first 2 programs were Calleman's fifth night destruction events.
The whole series builds on the lies that Ian Stuart presented with his Climate Change Wars series.
IMHO these media scientists are not part of the conspiracy, but merely being used as patsies to propagate the lies of the NWO.
The question is, how cold does a UK winter have to get before the masses don't believe in MMGW?
-10, -20, -30, -40?
Whatever the answer, this is how cold it will be in Jan-March 2010 (15 months from now) - the NEW winter of discontent
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_of_Discontent
29. bellwether said...
Andrew, if I need to explain to you why Clarkson is a knb there's no point. Also I'm not advocating violence it is just the logical extension of a breakdown in order.
30. sold 2 rent 1 said...
Talking of Winter of Discontent (next year).
Will GB call an election in April 2009 (and possibly win) or will it be a 1979 Thatcher style landslide for the Tories?
31. sold 2 rent 1 said...
bellwether,
"it is just the logical extension of a breakdown in order"
All those Hollywood disaster movies have lead us to believe that this is the only option after the government collapses.
But is there another way? We shall see.
32. bellwether said...
s2r1 try and keep your feet on the ground. There will be no alteration of conciousness if we get into that territory, unless people becoming more violent and brutal is what you have in mind. It has always been such and your being on the planet and hoping for heaven makes no difference to that
33. andrew said...
Japan is already mining Methane Hydrate, http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3740036.ece
34. bellwether said...
S2R1 its got nothing to do with Hollywood but to do with what happens in real countries when order break downs. We are no different and no better.
It has happened repeatedly across Africa at a nation state level.
It also happens on a tribal level - have you read Campbell's account of the Ugandan Tribe the IK
http://www1.dragonet.es/users/markbcki/trnbll.htm
35. andrew said...
bellwether, I actually agree with you (not on Clarkson), s2r1 try a day in London, you can get into a fight just trying to get to work,by looking at someone the wrong way, answering back when someone pushes past you, walks into you, cuts you up on the road, elbows you in the tube, that's just for starters before you get to work, unfortunately there isn't much hope for "the other way" if people can't even get along with their neighbours.
36. titaniccaptain said...
This morning I awoke to a frozen car..............so I put the key in turned it over and left it for half and hour had a cup of tea then took son to school.................how many places in London can you leave your car running all day if you wanted tottaly unattended? it costs you a fortune to live in one of the biggest s##t holes in the world..............London great London.........................your all welcome to it.......im staying in the country where surrounded by birdsong, fields, lakes, mountains for a 10th of the price of London prime....and I can grow my own food............how may Londoners will survive if this meltdown is as JC said?................average house price in London will be less than in country.........by the way is that Charlie Brooker the Screen wipe, Dead set, Guardian writer the real one or just an alias???????
37. bellwether said...
TC a job with london tourist board awaits. Andrew yeah I think you are right, I actually wish it was more like s2r1 imagines but then again I guess it will be the trusting dreamers that get ripped apart first. Horrible.
38. str 2007 said...
Do you think JC gets his info here and doesn't really dine with wealthy bankers.
All I can say is good for him in recognising what could be and letting the people know.
And even if he is an Asshat as you say LP, I honestly think we'd have a better chance with him as PM rather than Brown or Cameron.
That isn't bestowing JC's virtues rather denigrading theirs. And at least we'd have a laugh.
You'd know where you stood with JC as at least he has an opinion and tells you rather than bluffing round the edges in a vain attempt to keep everyone happy and failing miserably.
JC for government I say !
39. lierbag said...
s2r1: 'As for a replacement for all other oil based products, look no further than hemp'.
Oil is (or was) already in the ground waiting to be used. Hemp ( an under-utilised plant, to be sure) has to be grown - requiring topsoil (itself being rapidly depleted globally), plenty of water, fertilisers and pesticides (oil-based), and careful cultivation. The on-costs would be extraordinary and, as we've found out with the bio-fuels debacle, unsustainable on the major scale you envisage.
There is no way out of the mess, apart from a die-off.
As Clarkson might say: 'We're facing potentially the greatest catastrophe . . . in the world'.
40. Shipbuilder said...
25. andrew said...
"I still don't understand that a country where most English people wouldn't travel to 15 years ago for fear of being beaten up, crippled or shot dead and was a crumbling wreck, has managed to create the illusion of wealth so fast, I still would never consider living there, the weather is even worse than here as well."
Try actually going there and seeing for yourself rather than accepting generalized assumptions. There's probably a good few people with the same view of England now.
41. unplugged said...
I guess we're just not panicking quite as much as the media would like. Time to spook the sheep with Mr common sense - Jeremy Clarkson. The conditions are looking perfect for chaos... After the huge wave of uncontrolled immigration, selfish materialism and social decline it will only take a tiny spark to set our fragmented communities against one another. Plus, we've become inreasingly reliant on the system (the few at the top) for our food and energy and just about everything else.
The scenario that appears to be unfolding isn't far off the worst case - the very thing you always esure you account for and avoid at all costs. So how have we got here??? Out of the blue? Unforseeable? All completely accidental? And whats more those who presided over it all will still collect their pensions and perks - while we argue?!!... arrrrrggh
So when it all finally breaks down will we be at the mercy of the solutions those who broke it accidently in the first place? What a load of b****cks!
42. titaniccaptain said...
@ James
Dear lovely James I have missed you............
Now lets get this straight.....do you think that a Mad bloger who cant spell on hpc uk who believes in God and holds a certain conspiricy theory view is going to have the masses panicing??????? I think not......JC....different kettle of fish......you see JC is a public figure...where as I am not........
But Lovely to see your contribution is as valuable as ever!
43. p. doff said...
Been away for a while, warming myself in sunnier climes. I see we are still talking about free energy and Hemp as the saviours of the world as we know it. I suppose we'll soon have somebody saying they are going to clone Hemp exponentially, and feed it on monatomic gold for those added magical abilities.
Utter tosh.
PS. I actually like reading JC's articles. I don't always agree with the content, but the delivery amuses.
44. gardeniadotnet said...
42. p. doff said... I suppose we'll soon have somebody saying they are going to clone Hemp exponentially...
You've been listening. I'm impressed.
45. unplugged said...
"Utter tosh"
p. doff
I'm not going to suggest that 'free' energy exists. But I would suggest that 'far superior' energy technology might well exist, and that if that were the case it is quite plausible that this supposed technology, for one reason of another, might well be supressed, quite possibly with the intention of maintaining control and/or dependancy. With the nature and track record of certain humans in mind, this is quite logical. Its more than worthy of debate here.
With respect, you (and a few others) make such a confident stance... but what is it based on? Truth??? Superior education/ability/knowledge? Assumptions? Educated guesses based on the very tiny fraction of the very big picture you have managed to build? Beliefs reinforced by various psychological conditioning and tendancies? How is it that you are so sure of yourself? Could you be wrong? What then?
46. nopensionnohouse said...
Unplugged said: “I'm not going to suggest that 'free' energy exists.”
Halleluiah! Remember what they said about nuclear being too cheap to meter? Well that worked out just fine!
/sarcasm
“But I would suggest that 'far superior' energy technology might well exist, and that if that were the case it is quite plausible that this supposed technology, for one reason of another, might well be supressed,”
YES, I totally agree with you. I believe this as well. But this is a far, far cry from dark energy or perpetual energy machines.
“quite possibly with the intention of maintaining control and/or dependancy. With the nature and track record of certain humans in mind, this is quite logical. Its more than worthy of debate here.”
Oh – my – god! I’m agreeing with you on three counts. I feel dirty. I’m off to scrub myself clean.
47. unplugged said...
nopensionnohouse,
Appreciate your comments... hope you're feeling a little cleaner now. LOL
I'm sure in the real world we'd all share plenty in common ground if we really got down to it, but for whatever reason (difficulty in communicating points clearly and breifly, ego's, perceptions, convictions?) it appears all too easy for bloggers to fall on different sides of 'the line'.
48. p. doff said...
44. unplugged said...''guesses based on the very tiny fraction of the very big picture you have managed to build?''
I haven't been into outer space to check that the Earth is spherical, and I can't see much of it from the top of a mountain. Yes, the astronaut photos could be faked, and Buzz Aldrin and his mates could be lying. (after all, some people are convinced the moon landings were faked). That book I read in school could be wrong as a number of people are absolutely certain that the earth is flat, and I could probably invent some valid sounding reasons why somebody would wish to suppress the fact that the world is flat.
On some matters I only need a tiny fraction of the big picture, and a belief that is reinforced by conditioning. In this case I have made an educated guess on the basis of the available data and I am confident in my judgement that the world has a sort of roundish look to it.
I merely apply the same logic to the subject referred to.
Now, if you asked me whether gold will tank or 'go to the moon', I wouldn't even try to guess - not even with a signed original copy of the Mayan Calendar under my bed!!.
49. rumble said...
Problem is that these ideas can't be taken seriously because the people preaching them have such a superficial knowledge of the topics. Flipped through a magazine, saw an intriguing idea, preached it as fact. The topsoil observation somewhere above in response to hemp as the answer to everything was a clear example of the lack of thought given by the preachers. Give me a hint that you know something about the topic, rather than regurgitating little more than a headline... I'll be all ears. I'm open minded, but I expect decent evidence.
50. unplugged said...
p. doff, fair enough, it is your apparent confidence that I question. We have to go with something. Also, in hindsight perhaps my reference to the 'very tiny fraction of the very big picture' could have been better put.
But... when it comes to such complicated (and highly controversial) issues as potential manipulation of house prices, who actually makes the decisions in this world, technological suppression etc etc, the logic becomes far from simple. Surely its not a question of it simply being tosh? It is how on earth anyone could establish what is and isn't tosh? I can see the integrity of information becoming a big issue. Perhaps THE issue.
Funny how the discussions have gone over the last year, and its interesting that so many feel the need to air their views on 'off topic' posts.
I can see why some take issue with the contribution and appraoch of a few bloggers here. And often agree with some objections/points raised.... rumble's being a perfect example. Nevertheless I do think in many cases their contributions have value. Above all I thinks its a shame that bloggers are being banned.
51. James said...
TC - perhaps if you could comprehend the point I'm making, you'd see what it is. Let's try again, slowly.
You say:
JC will "make the sheeple panic"
You then proceed to panic
What does this suggest you are? What's that bleating?