October 26, 2007
There will be a rally on Friday October 26 at the Alberta Labour Board at 3PM (10808 99 ave) AUPE along with many other concerned Albertans will be presenting the Albertan Government with thousands of letters asking the government to change Alberta's antiquated Laws. Please help spread the word and most certainly bring family and friends
www.albertasolidarity.com
"The employing class and the working class have nothing in common."
Preamble to the IWW Constitution
Welcome to Defense and the National Interest. Our aim is to foster debate on the roles of the U.S. armed forces in the post-Cold War era and on the resources devoted to them. The ultimate purpose is to help create a more effective national defense against the types of threats we will likely face during the first decades of the new millennium.Contributors to this site are, with a few exceptions, active/reserve, former, or retired military. They often combine a knowledge of military theory with the practical experience that comes from trying their ideas in the field.
10/23/07 World Oil Shortage - Scenarios for Mitigation Planning, by Robert L. Hirsch. "The more you think about it, the uglier it gets." Stand by for World War III. [114 KB PDF]
Background
“…it only requires a relatively small amount of oilto be taken out of the system to have huge economic and security implications.”
Robert M. Gates. Oil Shockwave. June 2005.
“The rate of decline after a peak is an important consideration because a decline that is more abrupt will likely have more adverse economic consequences than a decline that is less abrupt.”
GAO-07-283. February 2007.
IEA: There’s Trouble
•“The recent apparent surge in oil and gas investment is illusory, because costs have soared. Real investment in 2005 was barely higher than in 2000.”
•“This energy future is not only unsustainable, it is doomed to failure," because of underinvestment.
•"... we are on course for an energy system that will evolve from crisis to crisis…”
•Excess capacity and demand converge in 2012 (Peaking).
Stelmach Finds the Balance in the Response to the Royalty Review
alberta's royalty review: who's side is ed stelmach on?
The new royalty framework announced today will boost overall royalties by $1.4 billion or 20 per cent in 2010. But Stelmach has rejected a call to impose an oilsands severance tax that established producers would have had to begin paying next year.
The new rates, which will hike royalties from current highs of 35 per cent to a maximum 50 per cent for conventional oil and natural gas, won't take effect until 2009.
Under the new framework, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2009, the government projects it will squeeze $1.4-billion more from the oil and gas sector, with most of the increases coming from the oilsands.
The government take from oilsands projects will increase from the current 1% before project payout, to a range of 1% to 9%, depending on oil prices.When investment is recovered, projects will see royalty increases from the current 25% to a range of 25% to 40%, depending on oil prices. At current oil prices, that translates into a government take of about 65% of net revenue, up from the current 47%.
The new framework will boost government take for natural gas from 58% today to 60%, rather than 63% recommended by the panel; for conventional oil, government take goes up 5% to 49%, which is what the panel proposed; for oilsands, government share increases to between 57% and 66%, when the panel was recommending an increase of 64%.
SEE:Energy royalties and taxes are vital to the Alberta government's Canada-leading wealth. They brought in $9.8 billion last year, compared to only $7.6 billion in personal income taxes.
Auditor General Fred Dunn bolstered the case for higher royalties earlier this month, when he revealed that the government has ignored its own conclusions since 2004 that it could reap $1 billion more a year without damaging oil and gas companies' business prospects.
Bush Travels To California To See Fires
President Bush flew to fire-ravaged California Thursday with promises of federal help, supportive words for those who've lost home and businesses and thanks to overworked firefighters.
Ezra Levant Disowned By The Sun
The next cheapest is my favorite union label brand, Canadian. It carries the union bug for the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco workers & Grain Millers union. Which is $64 a carton 20's or 25's, GST included.Press release: 22 per cent of cigarettes smoked in Canada are illegal
Hot trail leads to cigarettes -ONSun, March 4, 2007By JOE MATYAS, SUN MEDIAThe search for cheap smokes in the area includes smuggling and contrabandEvery three weeks or so, Rita and her spouse take a half-hour drive from London to a local First Nations community to buy cheap cigarettes.In Rita's house, every penny counts. With a modest family income, $70 for a carton of brand-name cigarettes is a steep price to pay for "one of the simple pleasures of life." On the reserve, Rita can buy 200 no-name, untaxed, machine-rolled cigarettes with filter tips in a plastic bag for about $8.
In 2001, the total revenue from tobacco exports to the USA and the E.E.C combined is over $140 million (140, 535, 000). In other words, Canada sells far more tobacco domestically than is exported abroad. Three large tobacco companies dominate the cigarette market in Canada: Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited, Rothmans, Benson & Hedges Incorporated, and JTI-Macdonald Corporation. In 1999-2000, their combined net sales was approximately $3 billion. Imperial is the largest, followed by RBH and then JTI-Macdonald. Health Canada’s Tobacco Control Programme has compiled cigarette sales data for 2001-2002 on the three major cigarette companies for each province and the total for Canada. For the year ending December 2002, the “big three” combined sales was $3.2 billion
Fellow progressive blogger Ken Chapman whom the National Post called a Left Wing Conservative says that Farmer Ed's TV speech last night is the return of the Progressive Conservatives. What he really means is the Peter Lougheed Conservatives.
Premier Stelmach Brought Progressive Conservative Politics Back to Alberta Tonight
Well it sure did sound like the platitudes voiced by the old Lougheed government. However he is so bland and boring that despite the Lougheed platitudes he is actually the ghost of Harry Strom.
