New Deadly Fungus and Contradictory News

National Geographic: New Deadly Fungus Found in U.S., Has Already Killed Six- Infections from a new strain are unpreventable... and the strain is spreading.

Google and ABC: Fatal Fungus Cryptococcus Gattii: Experts Say Fears Overblown

According to National Geographic, a new strain of deadly fungus found in Oregon that kills 25% of those infected ... "No one knows how the species got to North America or how the fungus can thrive in a temperate region, experts say. ... The alarming thing is that it's occurring in this region, it's affecting healthy people, and geographically it's been expanding,"

Conversely, according to a link to ABC from Google's front news page, there is nothing to worry about.

As far as the fear of fatal fungi, Alcabes of Hunter College pointed out that the strain is likely to fade out soon. "In most cases, when new strains arise, they are transient," he says.... Certainly, he said, "it's worth asking, 'Is there some new risk here?'" But in this particular case, he said, "I see no new threat at all, just a slightly different name for an existing, and rather rare, danger."As far as the fear of fatal fungi, Alcabes of Hunter College pointed out that the strain is likely to fade out soon ... In most cases, when new strains arise, they are transient," he says. "

If you take the time to read the two articles, you'll see that they are clearly contradictory. ABC's expert says that the fungus is likely to fade out soon, however the co-author of the study says the opposite. Common sense tells me that ABC's expert pundit Prof. Alcabes is not entitled to make longevity pronouncements on a new strain of fungus that somehow made from New Guinea to Oregon and managed to mutate. There are too many unknowns and Alcabes did not do the referenced study. Have a look at the articles.

In a previous blog entry "The US Is Heating Up" I proposed that Google appears to be influencing the news per their own the agenda by selectively posting links to news items. This may be another case. Google, Microsoft, Intel and Yahoo along with thousands of other high-tech companies are located in the region ... i.e. Washington State and Northern California. My question is whether or not Google links an article which trivializes the threat for business reasons like recruitment and property values. That is certainly a reason to evaluate the news that Google constantly flashes on our screen.

In my opinion, given the available data, Google should have at least presented both sides regarding this potential emerging threat. My own trust leans towards National Geographic and the person who did the study, rather than some professor pundit from ABC's Rolodex. Time will tell.

Google, Smart Electric Meters and Enron

Google aready knows more about you personally than you can possibly imagine. Their official mantra ("corporate mission") is: "Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." When they reference the "world's information ... they mean ALL. "universally accessible" is also literal ... See: http://www.google.com/corporate/facts.html

Understanding that they already know who you are via public and commercial records, broadcast images of your house, parse your gmail with computers and know what you're doing on the web ... Now ... According to National Geographic, Google is not only going to read your electric meter, they are also going into the energy business. Please read the Nat Geo article:

"Google Can Now Buy and Sell Energy" Source: http://blogs.nationalgeographic.com/blogs/thegreenguide/2010/02/google-can-now-buy-and-sell-en.html

"According to reporting by PC World, Google's move into the energy market is a strategy to help provide power to the electricity-hungry buildings that house its search engine, advertising network, email software, and all the other things Google does that require large groups of computers. Google has also made a pledge to be carbon neutral, so being able to buy and sell energy will help it incorporate greener energy into its operations, the article said. "

Nobody seems to understand what Google is doing. As I described in a previous blog entry ... Google is influencing the news with a political slant and has multiple executives placed in the Obama administration. http://multimeat.blogspot.com/2010/03/us-is-heating-up.html They are taking on Microsoft in the software business, are now a major player in the mobile smart phone business and more. Google's market cap is nearly $200B ... not bad for a company that went public in 2004. Google is far beyond the intellect of the average politician, in a business with little existing regulation and moving so quickly that any future regulations will always be behind the curve.

Nobel Prize winner Al Gore (who invented the internet) will certainly be proud of Google going green, but we have not forgotten Enron ... a predecessor with political clout who invented the business of buying and selling energy. If they can read the world's smart electric meters, they will "probably" do a better job the Enron could have imagined.

Here are some facts to consider: The wires in your home and business are also antennas; They are hard-wired into your phones and computers; The electrical grid system is fully capable of being an internet data transmission system. If a smart electric meter can report your energy consumption, it can also transmit your data. Don't worry though ... Google, per their corporate mission, is going to "organize" it for you.

Buy Recommendation: Google Inc. (NasdaqGS: GOOG)

Urgent but Short Economic and World Stability Tutorial

I'll start with recent headlines and some facts:

Obama calls for new Atlantic, Gulf oil drilling
GM’s China Sales Exceed U.S. for Third Straight Month*
China Central Bank Sees Dollar Strength, Global Inflation
Obama: U.S. starting to "turn the corner" on jobs
March yields first solid growth in jobs since recession

*Business Week- April 2 - China GM sales up 68%; Other Gains: Toyota up 33%; Hyundai up 47%; GM (US) up 21%.

Things are getting better ... right? Before the analysis, let's have a look at some charts:






Despite the EU, Russian and US economies crawling sideways like crabs and putting mechanisms in place to increase consumption and production ... There's more of course, like GDP data: India clipping along at 7-8% growth. Japan, Taiwan and South Korea are not far behind. Turkey is undergoing 10% growth.

Here are the serious problems: These are not political, emotional or ethical issues... These are brute, common sense, documentable facts.

1. The world's economic engines and politicians are addicted to growth. They need it as a benchmark of success ... Otherwise, the multi-national CEOs get fired and the politicians get voted or thrown out of office.
2. Economic growth, especially at current, accelerated levels, is completely unsustainable. China and India are the poster children for reckless growth, evidenced by pollution, water shortages and their increasing, bimodal distribution of wealth, which is an impending cultural train wreck. These two countries alone
represent over 1/3 of the world's population.
3. We are all running out of resources ... oil, water (particularly for crop irrigation) minerals, trees, fish and so on. The supposed hundreds of years' worth of coal in the US is a myth, and the lead times and problems
with nuclear energy render them a non-solution to meet near-term energy need projections.
4. We live on a razor's edge of just in time inventory on every supply chain, with virtually no reserves.

Now before you dismiss these facts by saying ""Ive heard it all before." ... Consider an analogy: Question: if a species of water lily is introduced into a pond, and it doubles in size daily, and will choke the pond in 30 days... when will the pond be half full? Answer: One single day before it is completely choked.

One problem with the world's economy is that while it is in difficulty, and resources are dwindling, half of it is cranking along at or near 10% growth. While less than the lily pad analogy, this growth is still a logarithmic curve and remember that economies are compelled to grow rapidly or they will suffer instability.
Another fly in the ointment: The world's largest economy by far is still the US ... beyond the EU and Japan. However, the US cannot possibly repay it's existing debt. This is a classic logarithmic example of a compound interest curve .



For a real time thumbnail of US Debt, see a brilliant website: http://www.usdebtclock.org/

Common sense tells us that as world production and consumption go up, finite resources must go down. Absent some technological energy miracle and major advancements in material science, the world is headed for serious trouble very soon. With apologies to pro economic chart theorists, have a look at my trend schematic:


The Proof of an impending disaster is simple arithmetic. I will ask you invest your time in viewing an 8 year old old on line, YouTube lecture from a geriatric professor you never heard of. Unfortunately, the lecture is chopped into parts, but I include the links to the individual bits in order. This is dry viewing, but in ordinary language and makes the point about the perils of growth. After the lecture, you will be equipped to make your own calculations about what the future holds for you and yours.

Lecture Sections:
One Two Three Four Five Six Seven Eight

The real problem is not dwindling resources, but the instability and chaos that results as resources get scarcer. Both China and India (3 billion people) will need all of the energy and material resources they can get if their socio-political systems are to survive. These are typical plutocracies ... rule by the wealthy irrespective of the espoused brand of politics. Disinclined to give their wealth to the multitudes on the lower end ... they are compelled to provide jobs and the promise of growth to keep order at home. (The same goes for most of the rest of the world.) Worse, plutocracies are also compelled by resources to be expansionistic. Germany and Japan are examples which caused WWII. Venice, England, Spain and Greece are earlier models.

Many material resources are essential for both manufacturing and the modern military. The way that God made the earth, these resources are scattered. ALL plutocracies, whether European, Asian or American are completely dependent on these resources for survival. ALL modern supply chains are vulnerable to single points of failure and we are dangerously close to having some plutocracy or other "corner the market" on supply chain pressure points.

If you take this blog seriously and want to investigate more, there is an excellent free book online from the National Academies Press: Managing Materials for a Twenty-first Century Military. http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=12028

The Chinese now have the US held hostage economically. They don't need military conquest to, for example, take US coal. They can simply buy it. They already, de facto are the world's largest shippers. They control the Port of Los Angeles, the Panama Canal, and the world's largest shipping port in Freeport, the Bahamas, controlling the East Coast of the US. The net has been cast.

It isn't rocket science to figure out that we are headed for a near-term resource and economic disaster. If you have taken the time to see the video lecture, you will have concluded that it is basic arithmetic and irrefutable. The world's plutocracies certainly figured out the problem years ago and the US Bailout with the resulting debt problem is a new can of hot chili powder in the soup.

Whom is at risk in particular beside everyone on the planet? Certainly any country with strategic resources.

The fractionated Middle East is certainly a target. Weak militarily, they are long in energy and, they are an obvious survival target for both India and China ... (Nuclear-equipped Pakistan and soon-to-be nuclear armed Iran are in the way of course. ) The current US Obama Administration is unlikely to threaten to use
nuclear weapons to protect the Middle East and the EU has an ineffective military armamentarium.

Currently, I am 260 pages into writing a comprehensive book: "Integrated Security Concepts and Solutions". Topics range from the ballistics of building materials through computers to economic survival. Especially the latter is becoming increasingly important and the time to consider both personal and economic survival is now. While I can't offer methods to fix the world, I do have some solutions for individual and small group survival. I think smart and capable individuals will still have some time to prepare.

I can tell you who the survivors won't be: New York, London and Hong Kong securities brokers and bankers or iPad-equipped computer geeks or ivory tower economics professors, or lawyers with cash in "the bank" or big city apartment dwellers ... And ... even large midwest US farmers that only plant genetically-produced, inedible crops like GM corn requiring industrial processing for . (These large farmers are incapable of feeding themselves even with 10,000 acres!)

My eBook will be done in a month. If you would like to be placed on a mailing list for Integrated Security Concepts and Solutions, send me an e-mail: po at posaunders.com In appreciation for your interest, by return email, I will send an annotated Table of Contents and samples from chapters.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/01/business/global/01rupee.html
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-04-02/gm-sales-gain-in-china-on-government-stimulus-update1-.html