Warning: If you are gullible, please refrain from reading this post.
Ain't it just amazing what you can learn from the internet? For instance, I learned that the earth doesn't revolve around the sun, it's hollow and has a hole at its South Pole, and it's not rotating, spinning or even moving!
Incidentally, did you know there's an alien civilization on the moon? NASA had a secret shuttle mission to bomb the South Pole on the moon because there was a big trap door there. In fact, the reason NASA has never returned to the moon is because of the alien spaceships that were documented on video footage.
Did you know that Bush orchestrated 911? And now Obama and the Israelis are planning to start a thermonuclear war in which we will all die. But the immediate problem is those RFID microchips that they're going to implant into everybody (according to the new healthcare law) by March 23, 2013--unless we can prevent Obama from getting re-elected. Food stamp recipients will be required to get this implant. The RFID implant is clearly the mark of the beast.
Somebody now has a car that runs on water only. This will solve all our energy problems.
Most of us are intelligent and informed enough to reject the above assumptions. But what about stuff like the following? Can you sort the truth from fiction?
1. Does oil (petroleum) actually come from abiotic processes rather than organic residues from tiny sea based organisms?
2. Did Dick Cheney secretly sell biological, chemical and conventional weapons to Saddam in the early 80's, contrary to his denial in this interview? Also, did he, Bush and Cheney honestly believe there were WMD as he asserted?
3. Were these scientific experiments actually performed and the results described accurately or not?
4. What is Donald Trump's true net worth? $7 billion, as he claims? $2.9 billion, as Forbes estimates? Or Less than $1 billion, as Lawrence O'Donnell estimates?
5. Are derivatives "a nightmare", "a ticking time bomb" or "weapons of mass financial destruction" as Warren Buffet has suggested, or is the idea that derivatives are dangerous and unnecessary based on myth, as asserted by the Cato Institute?
6. Is global warming as the result of man's activities a made up myth, as claimed by this analysis?
Okay, before you scroll down, you've already figured out what above is true and what is false, right?
Ain't it just amazing what you can learn from the internet? For instance, I learned that the earth doesn't revolve around the sun, it's hollow and has a hole at its South Pole, and it's not rotating, spinning or even moving!
Incidentally, did you know there's an alien civilization on the moon? NASA had a secret shuttle mission to bomb the South Pole on the moon because there was a big trap door there. In fact, the reason NASA has never returned to the moon is because of the alien spaceships that were documented on video footage.
Did you know that Bush orchestrated 911? And now Obama and the Israelis are planning to start a thermonuclear war in which we will all die. But the immediate problem is those RFID microchips that they're going to implant into everybody (according to the new healthcare law) by March 23, 2013--unless we can prevent Obama from getting re-elected. Food stamp recipients will be required to get this implant. The RFID implant is clearly the mark of the beast.
Somebody now has a car that runs on water only. This will solve all our energy problems.
Most of us are intelligent and informed enough to reject the above assumptions. But what about stuff like the following? Can you sort the truth from fiction?
1. Does oil (petroleum) actually come from abiotic processes rather than organic residues from tiny sea based organisms?
2. Did Dick Cheney secretly sell biological, chemical and conventional weapons to Saddam in the early 80's, contrary to his denial in this interview? Also, did he, Bush and Cheney honestly believe there were WMD as he asserted?
3. Were these scientific experiments actually performed and the results described accurately or not?
4. What is Donald Trump's true net worth? $7 billion, as he claims? $2.9 billion, as Forbes estimates? Or Less than $1 billion, as Lawrence O'Donnell estimates?
5. Are derivatives "a nightmare", "a ticking time bomb" or "weapons of mass financial destruction" as Warren Buffet has suggested, or is the idea that derivatives are dangerous and unnecessary based on myth, as asserted by the Cato Institute?
6. Is global warming as the result of man's activities a made up myth, as claimed by this analysis?
Okay, before you scroll down, you've already figured out what above is true and what is false, right?
HEY!! Did you come to your own conclusions before you read this? Chances are, you don't even know who I am, so are you really willing to consider me an "expert" and just accept my answers? See, that's the problem with the internet!......and with all of us!!!
1. The conventional explanation is true, based on the expert opinion of a vast majority of U.S. scientists, who cite proof for an organic origin. The Russian oil industry has historically followed the abiotic explanation, though--partly because it is their science, and for political reasons. The abiotic explanation continues to be politically charged, perhaps more so than ever before.
2. Yes he did sell the stuff, and no, he didn't honestly believe WMD existed, according to this and this account, as well as this account regarding the WMD, not to mention other instances of his lying, such as this and this and this. But if you want to be sure, you can find a wealth of additional information on these subjects. Of course, you may end up just believing whoever you want to believe.
3. Probably not true--or the explanation is grossly distorted, based mainly on the fact that the original source cannot even be found, much less any corroborating evidence. Junk science. Something does not necessarily become true just because you can't prove it's false, or because it sounds nice; however, some people will still believe it because it fits nicely into a sort of "new age" explanation of things. Note how these experimental "results" have propagated all over the web, yet almost nobody has even attempted to verify them. Surprisingly, even Snopes.com is silent on this one...so far.
4. You make the call, but I'm guessing it's the lowest estimate of the three.
5. Here's an opposite opinion. One would have had to objectively review a vast amount of research to be qualified to hold a credible opinion on this. However, the vast majority of scientific experts from around the world do agree that global warming is largely attributable to the actions of humans who triggered it. This does not mean they're right, it just means they are statistically likely to be right. But that won't even begin to convince many people.
6. Here are some facts about derivatives that might help you make up your own mind:
a) The top five dealer banks hold 93% of total derivative notional value, of which 86% of holdings are interest rate contracts. Such derivatives have performed unpredictably in the past, such as during the market disruption that followed LTCM's collapse or Russia's debt default--with corresponding losses that invalidated the hedging strategies of its holders.
b) A properly capitalized bank making responsible loans within its own country theoretically has very little use for them, and the majority of banks do not use derivatives. Today, only four large U.S. banks hold 96% of all U.S. derivative contracts, meaning those banks' overall risk levels are extremely difficult to measure.
c) A typical, mean estimate of derivative leverage is 20:1. $600 trillion in derivatives sits atop a few trillion in bona fide mortgage debt. For a point of reference, world GDP is "only" $65 trillion. Derivatives represent the largest asset bubble in history.
d) Recently, JPM (the biggest derivative holder in the world) lost $2 billion (a week later it was estimated at between $6 and $7 billion) in some derivatives. JPM admits they did not fully understand these derivatives nor could they explain how the loss occurred--and these represent only a tiny fraction of their total derivative holdings. This article asserts that this is an example that proves JPM is using derivatives for speculation rather than hedging--running the world's largest gambling operation in financial derivatives. JPM's Jamie Diamond and some of his cronies have so far been successful at preventing any meaningful derivatives regulation as part of Frank-Dodd.
When confronted with a subject about which we personally don't have enough facts, information, or understanding, our opinions and beliefs tend to become merely a reflection of our own worldview or our own financial interest.
5. Here's an opposite opinion. One would have had to objectively review a vast amount of research to be qualified to hold a credible opinion on this. However, the vast majority of scientific experts from around the world do agree that global warming is largely attributable to the actions of humans who triggered it. This does not mean they're right, it just means they are statistically likely to be right. But that won't even begin to convince many people.
6. Here are some facts about derivatives that might help you make up your own mind:
a) The top five dealer banks hold 93% of total derivative notional value, of which 86% of holdings are interest rate contracts. Such derivatives have performed unpredictably in the past, such as during the market disruption that followed LTCM's collapse or Russia's debt default--with corresponding losses that invalidated the hedging strategies of its holders.
b) A properly capitalized bank making responsible loans within its own country theoretically has very little use for them, and the majority of banks do not use derivatives. Today, only four large U.S. banks hold 96% of all U.S. derivative contracts, meaning those banks' overall risk levels are extremely difficult to measure.
c) A typical, mean estimate of derivative leverage is 20:1. $600 trillion in derivatives sits atop a few trillion in bona fide mortgage debt. For a point of reference, world GDP is "only" $65 trillion. Derivatives represent the largest asset bubble in history.
d) Recently, JPM (the biggest derivative holder in the world) lost $2 billion (a week later it was estimated at between $6 and $7 billion) in some derivatives. JPM admits they did not fully understand these derivatives nor could they explain how the loss occurred--and these represent only a tiny fraction of their total derivative holdings. This article asserts that this is an example that proves JPM is using derivatives for speculation rather than hedging--running the world's largest gambling operation in financial derivatives. JPM's Jamie Diamond and some of his cronies have so far been successful at preventing any meaningful derivatives regulation as part of Frank-Dodd.
When confronted with a subject about which we personally don't have enough facts, information, or understanding, our opinions and beliefs tend to become merely a reflection of our own worldview or our own financial interest.
No comments:
Post a Comment