Oil Is Politics  

Another set of random links observing the "Bony Hand of the Empire" clutching for as many oil barrels as it can.

The head of ASIO has been appointed our new ambassador to the US. Diplomatic postings aren't normally something I keep track of but I'm curious to know if the traditional career progression for spies is top level ambassadorships (I guess a lot of them do have plenty of experience working in embassies).

Bruce Schneier has considered the question "should terrorism be reported in the news ?". (Obviously yes - but I liked his closing comment - "if anyone thinks they can get an accurate picture of anyplace on the planet by reading news reports, they're sadly mistaken.".)

Elswhere the questions being asked is "what does the decline of the SUV mean for retired auto workers ?".

Almost everyone has noted T Boone Picken's statement that we're likely to hit the peak in Q4.

Seymour Hersch was interviewed recently and talks about the implementation of "The Salvador Option" in Iraq and a slide into civil war. In Iraq, Muqtada Al Sadr is accusing the US of fomenting this sectarian conflict.

The Iran situation increasingly looks like predictions of a June showdown could turn out to be right. The "Caspian Guard" is now being set up in Azerbaijan, which would seem to complete the encirclement of Iran with US bases. On the other hand, Iran and Azerbaijan have apparently just signed a memorandum of defence cooperation, the situation in Uzbekistan seems to be getting increasingly unstable, and the Pakistanis and Afghans are very disgruntled about reports about bad treatment of captive Korans in Gitmo.

Counterpunch has some speculation by Mike Whitney that we're about to be hit by an "economic tsunami" (he also thinks free speech is on the way out). Counterpunch also has an article about a "declaration of independence" - which is a rare example of someone viewing peak oil as a positive thing.

One internet forum has a note that China and Japan stopped buying US Treasuries in March - so who is buying them (as there is a rather large deficit that needs to be funded to keep the war going) ? It certainly isn't Norway.

Finally, WorldNutDaily is speculating Al Qaeda has nuclear weapons, which should have anyone who is into conspiracy theories quaking in their boots as they consider which unfortunate city may be on the receiving end of a demonstration of this, errr, unlikely claim.

"Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history. There is a tiny splinter group, of course, that believes you can do these things. Among them are [a] few other Texas oil millionaires, and an occasional politician or business man from other areas. Their number is negligible and they are stupid."

- President Dwight D. Eisenhower, 11/8/54

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