Commentary on a dangerous future, Michael Pettis on what China’s gotta do, American corporate welfare bums, the Big Lie about the cause of the financial market meltdown, the danger of lynching a tyrant, and Canada's Liberal Party leadership gamble.

Gwynne Dyer’s warning about our hot, starving and dangerous future: climate change is happening quicker, threatens food supply, there is a point of no return, and the dubious parachute. Thanks to Tony of Victoria.

BC Hydro -- Hot, hungry and hostile: Dyer's dire prediction for our global future
"It's going to get depressing at the middle of this talk, and it will end up a little more cheerful. Be patient and don't cry."

 

Webcast (ed’s note – starts around 18.00)

The Economist on the data.

Economist -- The heat is on
A new analysis of the temperature record leaves little room for the doubters. The world is warming.

 

China’s going to make it, maybe.

Financial Times -- Don’t panic, China’s economy is not on the rocks yet
Two years ago it was hard to find anyone who believed that annual GDP growth in China would ever fall
below 8 per cent.

Related. Thanks to David of Victoria.

Financial Post -- China credit squeeze spurs suicides, violence
Hours after a creditor and his gang of tattooed thugs hustled Zhong Maojin into a coffee shop in Wenzhou, he says he wouldn’t yield to their demands.

Corporate tax expenditures in the United States are estimated to be about $200 billion.

Wall Street Journal -- The Corporate Welfare State
A cause to unite the tea party and the Occupy Wall Street crowd.

Pinocchio.

Washington Post -- What caused the financial crisis? The Big Lie goes viral.
I have a fairly simple approach to investing: Start with data and objective evidence to determine the dominant elements driving the market action right now.

Ian Buruma reminds us that lynching people – whoever the victim – is wrong.

Project Syndicate – The Lynching of Libya
Many would say that Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi got what he deserved. Live by the sword, die by the sword.

From anointment to rough and rumble.

Globe and Mail -- Liberals roll dice on U.S.-style primary to choose next leader
By proposing a series of primary contests to choose their next leader, the federal Liberals are gambling that they can convert a tired and increasingly marginalized party into a powerful new movement for social and political change.

Quote worth quoting.

“Though chaotic, the primary system can mobilize large numbers of voters behind a candidate, generating political momentum, media buzz and a valuable database of potential supporters for the next election. And it could transform the Liberals’ image from that of a centrist party that brokers competing interests into a powerful movement for political change.”