The media throw up a challenge for us to apply critical thinking, and the intensity of that challenge increases over time. Unfortunately, the manipulation is effective - most people succumb. US and Canadian media (with exceptions) are tools of the powers that be.

Here is one location of a very good BBC series on this topic. Edward Bernays was in the forefront of public relations, twisting opinion and manufacturing consent, basing his work on Freud's discoveries. You can find the documentaries elsewhere - this is just one handy site.

It gets more sophisticated all the time. The US, via the NSA and military programs, just for starters, has a $billion-plus budget just for influencing media and planting false blog comments, astroturfing etc.

Anyone who questions the official story is a "conspiracy theorist". Sad thing is, "sh it" actually does happen.

KXL and the silly business news? As some of you on this board have pointed out, often they are contrary indicators. E.g. while the big boys (e.g. Salomon Bros) were privately betting against subprime debt instruments, they were trying to get us to buy that junk.

Gold and KXL fly into this headwind too. But in the end, fundamentals do matter. I'm happy to see that people on this board are not so easily fooled.

all best