Keystone Pipeline : DEAD, or just more DECEPTION about Dirty Oil?

The greatest energy source known  to mankind

I always find it interesting to see how 'International Relations' are affected when there is a hidden agenda. The  American  'DELAY' of the Keystone pipeline is a fine example of a political decision that was made for reasons that have nothing to do with oil, but manipulation and political  'control'.  

Canada's response? MORE  posturing.  "We'll  build a pipeline to the west coast in British Columbia and sell the oil to China and other Asian markets instead". China would love it, regardless of the cesspool of pollution it will leave in Northern Canada. 
The reciprocal American response?  Crocodile tears.  "Oh, we hope you wouldn't do that".  
Why? 
Canadians and Americans both know that the Athabasca Oil Sands projects are the biggest source of pollution in North America. No refineries will be built in Canada.  
The Keystone oil pipeline, which will pipe dirty crude oil all the way from the Athabasca tar sands to Texas refineries is already being built.  Imagine that. 
At Incoming Bytes we have no illusion that the multi-billion-dollar pipeline will 'terminate' at the 'border'.  Let us be realistic.  Canada already supplies some 2 million barrels of oil per day to American markets.


Where does that leave the 'decision' ?   The fact is, it's parked in 'limbo' while the political benefits are being coolly calculated;  Canada's |Prime |Minister Stephen Harper will benefit politically by "saving" the Keystone pipeline, getting the 'delay' reversed,  and |President Barack Obama will benefit by playing the political game of satisfying environmental critics, while simultaneously delaying development of the Bakken.  Everybody wins by playing the game--except the native population of Athabasca.
Clearly approving the pipeline  'in the next few days'  at least,  is not a beneficial political decision. The United States of America has it's own Bakken oil deposits which are untouched--and hold more oil than Saudi Arabia, and more oil than Athabasca. 
  Why has the Bakken not been developed?  The fact is, nobody in the USA  wants to appear responsible for developing an unprecedented   environmental mess in the United States. It is much more attractive to  well-heeled  NIMBY's  to leave a cesspool of permanent pollution in Northern Canada instead.

How simple. The Keystone delay  won't hurt the historical Canadian/American relationship for long --a calculated deception,  with the economy in such tough straits, we estimate a reversal in a few weeks, or maybe a month or two.  January sounds about right. Everybody gets a big political Christmas present when the 'decision' is somehow magically reversed.  Joy to the world and all that.

   I guess they just don't get it.  Nobody has the moral right to create an irreversible ecological disaster, regardless of where it is.  


Meantime, the same politicians in  North America are collectively missing out on the greatest opportunity the world has ever seen; -the opportunity to develop clean, endless,  alternative energy --which already exists. Look up. 






That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Four Questions? Unbelievable Playground

(c)2011 r.a. kukkee

May 2nd approaches .  With the Canadian Federal election and campaigns in full swing, it is not surprising to see the playground empty. It is not  surprising to see, but difficult to understand  why any leader of any honest political party would  reasonably find it necessary to  "limit" reporters to FOUR questions a day. 

Four questions that are supposed to provide  enough "answers"  that will in turn somehow magically convince 34,000,000 election-exhausted  Canadians that a Conservative majority is deserved after a  problematic minority? 

Would a majority Liberal government be any better?

 Think about it.   We're more than  a bit skeptical.

Is the "Opposition" any better out on the campaign trail?  You guess.   

Here at Incoming Bytes, everyone is allowed to draw their own  opinion at will,  but  the majority of  election-savvy Canadians recognize  that campaigns are artificial events designed to deceive.     This is not just a policy to make an already tightly-scripted,  memorized,  highly-controlled plastic campaign  more effective,  but rather to  guard the fort and keep the  hidden agenda hidden more effectively, so please....the electorate does know better.

All Canadians know that such tools are  official  Party Muzzles  for ANY  politician that is almost guaranteed to make a mistake when tired,   grab someone by the throat,  stutter,  stammer, stammer a horrible gaffe , blow a line, promise the sky,  slobber all over the baby,  say the wrong thing,  stumble into enemy territory, insert both feet into  the foaming mouth, ---and  thereby throw  the "perfect"  political  campaign  off track, out into space, --or more likely,  as we commonly observe,   bury it  up to the hips in  the inevitable pile of crumpets out behind the horse barn. 

Such are political campaigns, nice try, boys.... but they do NOTHING to answer  REAL questions.  Funny,  the truth always comes out. 

We have questions. Real ones.  Not "approved" by the event organizer, changed to suit the campaign manager, or tweaked for an optimal  photo op.

• Just who IS stealing the election here?
•  Who tried to create a coalition in 2004 and is pretending otherwise?
•  Who has the WORST attendance record in parliament? 
• Does ANYONE deserve a majority? 
• Which Political party has NOT been scandalized or corrupted in the last 40 years?
• Who has told the most blatant, willful lies?
• Who has made the most inflated  promises, knowing full well they can not be kept?
• Who is buying the Canadian electorate with their own money? 
• Why do we still have a Senate which does nothing but cost taxpayers more every year? 
• Why are corrupt politicians allowed to collect fat Senate pensions?
•  Why is a  treasonous, regional separatist  party allowed to sit in our House of Commons ? 
•  Why are Canadians subsidizing petroleum companies when consumers are being gouged and gasoline is over $6.00/ gallon?
• Why are we exporting oil to the U.S. of A.  that has it's own GIGANTIC shale oil reserves? 
• Why are Canadian taxpayers subsidizing the oil sands to export that same oil to the USA ? 
• Why are Seniors in Canada forced to live below the poverty level?
• Why are Canadian troops still in Afghanistan? 
• Why are we buying  $150M per copy F35's  with  no engines?  
• Why did we spend a BILLION dollars on the G-20 summit? 
• Who is INTENT on gutting Canada's universal health care system-- perhaps the best health in the world? 
• Why should Canadians  possibly believe a "majority" would do any better, or more honest ?
•  Why is "fear-mongering" being used instead of common sense and logic? 
• Where are YOU taking OUR Canada??

OOPS.....that's more than four questions ----in  less than five minutes, ...imagine that.  hm.................What are we going to do for the REST of the campaign ? 

Let's face it,  in any political forum,  four questions a day doesn't cut it,,,,,,period.

Let's  cut the bull and call it what it really is,  a canned, memorized campaign  intended to  numb the minds of the election-weary electorate so REAL issues will never be addressed.   

Sadly,  it is clear that Canadians have a right to be skeptical.   Canadians have a right to a better, more responsible and more honest government.   
Get out in the playground and provide some good, honest governance, that's what you're being PAID to do. 

I know one thing; as a skeptical  Canadian voter I  have no intention to vote for "the dishonest". 

That's my opinion  and I'm sticking to it. 

Arab Oil States, Golden Thrones and Disproportionate Distribution of Wealth

     North Africa is shaking and rattling in the  throes of revolution.   In the last few weeks,   Egypt's  Hosni Mubarak was forced out with his vanishing billions.    Yemen is  in trouble, and  the disease of economic disparity and discontent is spreading rapidly. 
     The latest and most serious?   Libya.  Moammar Gadhafi,  the seemingly demented and murderous leader of Libya, has been  hanging onto power tooth and nail by hiring deadly mercenaries and arming civilians loyal to him.   The global community has ordered economic sanctions against Libya as  it becomes more apparent that thousands of people may have been murdered in his bid to keep power at any cost.  It is evident  Gadhafi is neither  considered  to be a "generous  humanitarian"  or  'concerned' about his people one whit.
     On the other hand, the Sultan of Oman,  Sultan Quaboos, who has sat on his  golden throne  for over 40years in an absolute dictatorship, is apparently more of a gentleman and highly regarded.  What do these two  men have in common? They are both facing  major revolts mounted against them. Why?
      The sad fact is,  the common root factor happens to be that they are dictators  hoarding absolute power,  and wealth that belongs rightfully to the people of their respective countries. There seems to be  a newly discovered awareness of  "disproportionate distribution of wealth" , to say the least.
Why is that not a surprise?  The rot of extreme and obscene greed has finally precipitated  the questioning of the ultimate form of self-defeating  capitalism, the "king", absolute ruler,  greedy dictator, and  rich despot. 

     The Sultan of Oman, being an astute man,  saw the writing on the wall as revolts took place in Egypt and Libya;  he quickly ordered the creation of 50,000 jobs for the starving and unemployed.   Each of those jobs will supposedly pay benefits of about $390.00 per month. To a man that has a starving family, it must seem a fortune.

     Nice, but does it not still  remain a disproportionate distribution of wealth? Are these people totally foolish?  No.   Do the poor have calculators and the internet?  Certainly some must do.   Shall  we shake our heads in awe  as we confirm their calculations?

$390.00 per month x50,000  = $19,500,000 U.S.D.  per MONTH.  Nineteen and one-half million dollars. That sounds like a big bribe, and a lot of money.  WOW, that's $19.5M x12 = $234 Million  U.S.D. per year --mere peanuts  for  a desperate  last-minute  "job creation"  solution  to prevent revolution. 
 That "peace offering" and job creation  "strategy" ought to quell the rebellion and keep the  starving peasants happy?    Should it really, Sultan Quaboos?  No disrespect, but think again. Is it realistic?  No. 

The fact is,  normally Sultan Quaboos  and his Omani helpers   sell off 850,000  barrels of crude oil daily,  at a heady payment of  $120.00 per barrel, using the "latest" cost  figures.

  Let us tickle those those calculator buttons one more time:     850,000 barrels x $120.00 U.S.D. ( per bbl )  = $102,000,000   --per DAY.
 ONE HUNDRED AND TWO  MILLION  dollars each day?   UNbelievably, it will take only TWO days of oil production to pay for the  cost of the entire ANNUAL  BRIBE, a.k.a  "job creation"...a.k.a. desperate move to retain the Sultan's throne.... 

  Where is the REST of  money going, other than into the Sultan's  treasury?

Who is kidding who?  Oman has been considered the "peaceful kingdom" but it is not surprising the people of Oman are angry.  At least SOME of them have calculators.  The fact is, oil wealth and other resources  belong to the citizens of that country.   Resources are no longer the exclusive property of  the rich and powerful, or of foreign interests.
Is there a lesson to be learned here?  I think so.

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Meantime, back in my neck of the woods in Canada during this same crisis,  we are paying $1.30/litre for gasoline,  the price of which has not even  yet peaked. That horrendous price translates to almost $6.00 USD per imperial gallon (4.56 liters) --- which is nothing but gouging and shameful for an oil-producing nation. 

At the same time, Canada  (a.k.a. Big Oil )  exports 1.3M barrels of  dirty crude oil to the USA  every day.  Let's calculate THAT while we are at it:  1,300,000 x120 =  $156,000,000 dollars per DAY.   That is One-Hundred and fifty-six MILLION dollars each DAY.   
We seriously must question  who has the keys to the  golden vault THAT huge pile of loot is being hauled to.  It sure isn't in MY back yard.   It is not in pollution control.  It is not in infrastructure, or in tax reduction. Where is it? 

The fact IS,  in times of international crises,  Canadians should be at least partially shielded by  Canadian production.  Are we, at some time in the future,  to inherit ONLY the stripped,  contaminated land,  water, mutant fish, societal cancers,  and dead soil left from the dirty oil extraction from the  Athabasca tar sands? 

In fact, there is no excuse for gouging at the gasoline pump.   Gasoline at $1.30 a liter  is made with the same process and equipment that gasoline was made with 40 years ago, back  when gasoline was 0.30 per  GALLON .    Nobody has to work too hard to figure out that was about 6-1/2 cents a liter.
It seems to me there's something seriously wrong with OUR  OWN systems of golden thrones and disproportionate distribution of wealth,  never mind those  of madman Gadhafi or gentlemanly Sultan Quaboos.

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