On the US: seen it before. The collapse in 1987 and in 1997. Similar articles appeared.

On Global Warming: the hypocrisy of Al Gore’s private jet aside nobody can tell me what caused the 1km of ice above where I write (Toronto) to have melted in the last 10,000 years. Those damn Red-Indians and there SUV’s I guess.

On the hatred of the US: clearly most of the pundits have not lived in a really rotten country with a really crappy leader. They would be more grateful for the US and Bush.

On the 9/11 consipracy theorists: seek treatment.

On the population explosion: problem is the kids are not being born in Europe and the US they are being born in the Middle East, India and China. There they do not give a fig for Global Warming or pollution. And much politics is driven by powerplay and envy. GW is a political tool that has replaced communism as a way of attacking the West

Bing wish I could meet your shadowy self in person. Bet you a $1,000 bucks that by next summer the liquidity crisis will be a distant memory.

Bismark was the ruler of what is now known as Germany. Many of the things he did setup Germany to become a world power and ushered in the Great War (also known as WW I) and WW II. The fighting that goes on in the Middle East has been going on for centuries and virtually every president has stepped into that war from arming the Isralies to protect them from the Arabs to arming the Arabs to protect them from the Russians (and to curtail them getting a winter warm water port).

To many Arabs, it’s quite logical for them to not like America (and Europe for that matter) as we arm and support the sworn enemies. But, we all arm and support them which makes us a strange bed fellow to them also. Add to that, the winners of WW II took some of the land that the Arabs call theirs to make a home for their sworn enemies. It’s easy to see why they wouldn’t like us (that’s us as in all the Allies and not just Americans) much.

Now, several of you have mentioned cycles. We’re overdue for a bust cycle actually. We had a very long boom cycle at the tail end of Reagan, all through Bush Sr., and almost all though Bill Clinton.

Prior to that during the Carter Administration, we had rampant inflation and gas prices that would be equivalent to $3.00+/gal if you adjusted it for today’s dollars (I’m talking about 1970s and very early 1980s). So, there’s a repeat cycle right there.

Let’s talk about the weakening dollar and all this outsourcing that was mentioned in several posts. Most people believe the end of America has come because of this. Let’s not forget NAFTA, when it was passed and by whom. NAFTA paved the way for this outsourcing which paved the way for the global economy to form. It’s natural that business will seek out cheaper labor but that labor seldom remains cheap. When those people who are in 3rd world countries start making more money because these American businesses are willing to pay more to them for the better laborers, those very same people will start looking at all the cash (currency name or type is irrelevant here) and they look at the card board box they live in, they will start thinking that they want better living conditions, better places to shop, better items to buy. All of that requires investments and on large scale. Check it out. The emerging markets stocks and funds are outperforming almost everything else and that is why.

But, this leads to another item that most people don’t think of. All this construction requires manpower and lots of it. Check the largest construction companies in the world: they’re all reporting backlog in the billions of dollars and they are reporting projects all over the world. What are they building you ask? They are building: power plants, roads, bridges, shopping centers, condos, power grids, need I say more.

All of those aren’t built on a few thousand dollars. A road often costs $1 million US dollars per mile and that cost doesn’t change just because it’s in India and they don’t use dollars or China and they don’t use dollars either. Still costs the equivalent of $1 million US. And, a lot of that work is being done by US construction companies.

As for unemployment and the fact we see them time after time report that it was better than projected. Well, all those construction projects require manpower and where do you think the labor comes from? Those very same companies are taking anyone that is qualified and are even hiring people they wouldn’t have hired 10 years ago.

So for all the Chick littles out, the sky is not falling. Quite the contrary. The opportunity for profits beyond your wildest imagination are out there and they’re waiting for you.

I highly doubt that the signaling of the second coming of christ is because OUR stock market is having a hick-up. And Yes, there’s also battles in the middle East at the same time. But WOW… What a shocker… There’s fighting in the middle east. When hasn’t there been?

I’m a Christian man and would love to see the second coming of christ, but do I think he’s coming because oil is at $100 a barrel Or that Citigroup just flushed billions down the toilet? No… get over yourselves.

We do have some major problems going on in the world, and a large part of it has to do with the current American administration. Which, by the way is our fault as well… You don’t give a monkey a loaded gun then act shocked when he shoots the trainer.

Listen, Global warming is real… but will it end the world in 2010… 2020… 2030? Probably not. But, it is happening and we need to take the appropriate and responsible steps to curb it right now. People are willing to invest time and money now, for the future… Just think of this as a real estate investment or a trust fund for your children.

What I’m saying is that Humans are resilient. Adapt and overcome. We’ve done great things in the past and will do great things in the future. Just remember to spend, live, and vote responsibly…

the loonie is rising in value compared to the greenback……. yeah, and i remember maybe 20 years ago, vacationing in yellowstone, where every tour bus disgorged a few score of europeans or japanese who jumped out, took photos and jumped back on the bus…. our currency was cheap then, too, and we were a tourist mecca…. and if you timed it well between buses, you could get some nice photos of the yellowstone falls, old faithful, etc…..

the implosion in the housing market? nah, some parts of the country are suffering from flippers and overbuilding, and that always happens in bubbles… go back to the internet bubble and y2k…. and the world didn’t end, either……

[aside... none of anything resembling a "concrete prediction" by nostradamus, the Bible, or anyone else.... will come true.]

oil will drop to about 70-80 a barrel and gasoline will drop to maybe 2.50 a gallon [usd... sorry euros and loonies]…. any shortages are demand-driven, not supply-driven, like the prior “shortages.”

global warming is a crock… see MY site at http://www.plusaf.com/soapbox/globalwarming.htm , download some pdfs and click some links…. the data really don’t support it, but get this…. my “little epiphany” of a week or so ago…..

the media are in the business of selling EXCITEMENT, not facts, data, nothing but excitement…..

where else will they tantalize you with chair-gripping hints about the 11:15 WEATHER report???????

enthusiasm is what you bring to your life, your job, your love… excitement is a six-year-old running around screaming…. [after more than a few minutes....]…. if you can filter the excitement out of the media, there’s virtually nothing there for you to get enthusiastic about….. shoot your tv….. read the comics in the paper……… assume that ANY scientific “facts” reported by the associated press will be reported erroneously or in a misleading fashion.

robert a heinlein is my hero: “human beings are the otters of the universe… we just want to live our lives and have fun.” all the rest is nonsense.

oh, yeah, ayn rand and john galt, too…..

I do take issue with one poster, Posted By joe briggs ma : November 7, 2007 12:33 am
“And yet people are still having kids…there friggen morons!”
I would just have to say, thank goodness for us “breeders”… My husband and I were born in the late 60’s, you know those tumultuous times where our leaders were getting KILLED for their beliefs. And our parents, they were born in the midst of the Great Depression… From Wikipedia,
People cut back their expenditures by ten percent, and a severe drought ravaged the agricultural heartland of the USA beginning in the summer of 1930.
In the spring of 1930, credit was ample and available at low rates, but people were reluctant to add new debt by borrowing. By May 1930, auto sales had declined to below the levels of 1928. Prices in general began to decline, but wages held steady in 1930, then began to drop in 1931. Conditions were worst in farming areas where commodity prices plunged, and in mining and logging areas where unemployment was high and there were few other jobs… And guess what my grandparent were, Minors and Farmers, and guess what they kept doing, having kids!!!
To my grandparents and parents, thank you… Thank you for not letting world events determine when or if you should have children. Imagine if we all stopped having kids due to world political and financial crisis… Neither you, nor the poster, nor I would be here to wonder the marvels of cell phones, electric cars, hydrogen fuel cells, the Internet, etc. etc. etc. Do we have some challenges ahead, you bet. We should not fold like “lawn chairs” and roll up in the fetal position, we need to tackle this crisis head on…
Long live the “breeders”…

There seems to be no conscience left in business, government, education, or anywhere in any institution. As each generation reaches the height of their power they consistently top the last generations err in judgement and there is no end in sight.

An immediate worry I have is war with Iran. It wouldn’t be a worry if we were well prepared and equipped to deal with it but since the USA has been compromised (weakened) on several fronts it is a grave concern. It is sincerely heart breaking to think my generation and all others following will have the least opportunity available to them since the inception of this great nation because we will be too busy trying to rebuild and recooperate from “preemptive preeminence”.

1) The temprature of the earth fluctuates several degrees up/down over time. This happens natually.

2) Although the concept is correct about C02 depleting ozone, we have overlooked the fact that volcanos have easily been known to produce far more ozone than mankind ever could in one eruption. Eruptions happen every few seconds on this planet. Just because we can’t see the eruptions doesn’t mean that the bubbles don’t float to the surface.

It’s easy to pass a law to protect us from a potential danger when there are no answers. What really happens is restricted freedom based on hysteria and ignorance. Such was the mentality of the dark ages.

What we really need to do is repeal the global warming laws until we can get real answers.

Politicians like to pander to the ignorant few while it’s broadcast nationwide, creating the impression that it’s a bigger problem than reality says. This creates hype, hype causes panic, and panic gives us a reason to allow people to restrict freedom for the “greater good.” In reality this politician was only telling you what you want to hear so he can rise to power. Isn’t that scary?

Instead of discussing problems in Global Warming clubs, look at all of the scientific data. Global warming has been mostly debunked by reputable scientists, yet we are allowing people to slowly encroach on our freedom based on a single theory in a large scientific community.

With the American household averaging 2.2 children and the European household averaging 1, the world population should probably be in check in the next 20 years or so…

The world is not ending. Fox News anchors are not fortune tellers any more than they’re scientists. Rising gas prices only increased our budget by $50 a month and we live a relatively comfortable middle class life.

The threat of global warming is a farce. Volcanos produce more CO2 in one eruption than mankind has ever created. Furthermore, the Earth’s average temprature fluctuates over time. 30 years ago, the hype was global cooling.

It’s easy to pass laws to protect us against a potential problem when there’s no answers; but what you really get is sacrificed freedom based on hysteria and ignorance. Such was the mentality of the dark ages. Environmental laws need to be repealed until we can get real answers. That’s the way the constituton works.

OK I’m off my soapbox. If one thinks that the Earth is overpopulated, try having a child. You will find that there’s plenty of room in your town for him/her. These things are under God’s control, and I don’t think He would object to making the world a little more fun by having kids. We need children to remind us that we were children once. We got through it by knowing that there are just some things that we can’t control. Just practice some efficiency and common sense.

Our Economy IS falling apart. Due to US overspending on Everything. Primarily houses most people cannot afford. Then, we EXPECT them to go up in value each year to fund our excesses; but, only so many can AFFORD them. Now we see who REALLY can afford them.
Energy..we should have put the brakes on years ago and gone to alternative, cost effective , clean fuels. We did not. EXPECT to pay $5 a gallon for gas…soon.

WE, own our Little house, have no debts but our 2005 Saturn ($8000 balance owed at 3.9%) We have a combined VESTED pension in a government back pension fund of $2.6 million, if we live to 90)$300,000 in deferred 457 accounts and $60000 in cash and precious metal account.

So am I sorry for those who expect to be saved in the subprime and cannot send their kids to college or know where their next meal is coming from? Your guess….

We have not live high on the hog, just normal lives, few treats, but feel secure for even the worst…when it comes…not if it comes