Showing posts with label middle east. Show all posts
Showing posts with label middle east. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Sen John Kerry is Honest, Practical, Brilliant, and Truly Cares about America and the middle Class

Say what you will about him but he has been a consistent and practical force for US foreign relations for many years. Listin to the podcast on this site.

Under Senator Kerry’s leadership, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee addresses the key foreign policy and national security issues facing the United States, including Afghanistan and Pakistan, nuclear nonproliferation and global climate change. As nations across the Middle East face unprecedented political upheaval, Kerry will discuss current affairs in that region as well as a variety of domestic issues. A U.S. senator for nearly three decades and a former Democratic presidential nominee in 2004, Kerry has distinguished himself as one of today’s most highly respected and influential leaders. Kerry has been a leading voice on a wide array of issues – from expanding health care to supporting small business – but his most notable work has been in regard to international affairs and national security. Kerry now chairs the very committee he notably testified before in 1971.

Read more at www.commonwealthclub.org
 

Monday, April 25, 2011

1979 Oil Crisis Repeated #peakoil #imf

Saudi, Iran, China, Brazil, India, Russia, France all want to stop using the dollar for oil trades and China is dumping USD.

Would NOW be a good time to go to solar and wind?

What happens to USA economy when oil isn't traded in USD? China dumping USD #IMF #SDR @ezraklein @chrislhayes @maddow

The demise of the dollar

In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Read more at www.independent.co.uk
 

Monday, April 18, 2011

Saudi Vs. Iran in New Cold War #peakoil

Lets see, Saudi is probably running out of oil while Iran is fully stocked. China and Russia are investing in Iran and the US is heavily invested in the relationship with Saudi, as they own US treasuries, US assets, and are the backbone for US oil imports.

We are in Iraq with a permanent force of 50,000. Perhaps the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld plan was to secure a source of oil all to itself since the rest of the middle east is set on destroying itself.

Neither Iran nor Saudi are democracies but unrest in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Libya, Bahrain, etc is driven by high food prices which relates to climate change and peak oil.

Things that make you go hmmmm.

The New Cold War

There has long been bad blood between Iran and Saudi Arabia, but popular protests across the Middle East now threaten to turn the rivalry into a tense and dangerous regional divide.

For three months, the Arab world has been awash in protests and demonstrations. It's being called an Arab Spring, harking back to the Prague Spring of 1968.

Cold War cover
See more at www.wallstreetjournal.com
 

WW3 - Saudi Arabia vs. Iran #peakoil

If Saudi runs out of food and oil, then Iran will be stronger than ever.

It is being projected that there will be no more wheat production in Saudi Arabia by the year 2012

Due to a lack of water, some countries in the Middle East find themselves forced to almost totally rely on other nations for basic food staples. 

It is being projected that there will be no more wheat production in Saudi Arabia by the year 2012
See more at www.businessinsider.com
 

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

#peakoil demands population decrease

Starving the beast takes on a whole new meaning


Devastating Demand Destruction

It stands to reason, then, that when resources become increasingly scarce due to ecosystem degradation, peak oil and climate change, violent conflict at the individual, community and nation-state level will become increasingly more likely to occur, which will also feed back into resource scarcity (i.e. oil supply disruptions in the Middle East). People will likely be exposed to this violence over the next few years, regardless of whether they live in Manhattan, London, Tehran, Beijing, Tokyo or many of the cities in between.
Read more at peakcomplexity.blogspot.com
 

Friday, March 11, 2011

Obama Missing Great Opportunity ..again?

Wasnt this a missed opportunity to clarify oil and banking efforts to dissuade the necessary transition to renewable energy? Oil speculators (gamblers) are bidding up the price, oil companies make better profits amd the public is afraid to deal with the real long term issue - time to get off fossil fuels.

Instead my favorite President of all times is defending our plans to step up domestic production...

I really hope that Obama has the audacity to fight big banks, big oil, corporate welfare, guns, military spending, and ending drug prohibition in his 2nd term.

1:37 p.m. | Updated President Obama on Friday rejected criticism from Republicans that his administration was blocking domestic oil production and said his government was prepared to encourage new drilling in the face of rising gas prices.

Obama Rejects Republican Criticism on Energy

President Obama began his remarks to the press on Friday by offering thoughts and prayers to the country of Japan.
See more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com
 

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Oil companies begin demonstrating why we cant eliminate their subsidies

"Every penny increase in the cost of a gallon of gas tears more than a billion dollars from the economy each year, experts say. It takes those dollars out of the hands of people who might spend them in their communities -- at restaurants and craft shops, or on the services of the local carpenter -- and sends them instead to large oil companies."

This is what the oil companies will say when we discuss eliminating oil subsidies. There will be some short term pain but this is the only way to ween ourselves from foreign oil and begin making the transition to sustainable clean energy

irst Posted: 02/26/11 08:52 AM Updated: 02/26/11 09:25 AM










































Sharon James, co-owner of a carpet-cleaning company in the San Francisco Bay Area, thought her business was finally recovering from the Great Recession.



(Are rising gas prices affecting your daily life? Tell your story below.)



After a difficult 2010, in which sales dropped five percent, it seemed that business at Stanley Steemer was starting to pick up. Former customers came back. The spring-like weather in the community of San Leandro made people more willing to spend money, she said. Her Stanley Steemer franchise, part of a larger company, was poised to benefit from a new advertisement on national television. She planned to hire four new technicians in anticipation of extra business in the spring.



Then, oil prices soared.



"Every day that I see on the news that it's gone up over a hundred dollars a barrel, I cringe," James said. "That's coming out of our profit line."



Oil prices have spiked in recent weeks, as purchasers fear upheaval in the Middle East could disrupt the world's supply. A higher oil price translates into higher gas prices for consumers and higher transportation costs for businesses. Small businesses, which create 70 percent of the nation's jobs, according to government estimates, have been hit especially hard.



Just as the economy has begun showing signs that a real recovery is gathering momentum, high fuel prices now threaten to impede progress. The price of a barrel of Brent crude, an industry benchmark, has risen 20 percent since the beginning of the year, going from about $95 to nearly $114. It's the highest price since the fall of 2008, after a summer of record-high oil prices helped drag the economy into recession.



Every penny increase in the cost of a gallon of gas tears more than a billion dollars from the economy each year, experts say. It takes those dollars out of the hands of people who might spend them in their communities -- at restaurants and craft shops, or on the services of the local carpenter -- and sends them instead to large oil companies.



Given that consumer spending makes up roughly two-thirds of economic activity, that's a considerable concern: Recent surveys have shown marked improvement in so-called consumer confidence, but as the numbers increase at the gas pump, so does worry about the future, sowing a new reluctance to spend.



"I don't think the economy is going to contract, but it is going to cause consumers and business to rethink their spending plans and hiring for this year," said Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at the Economic Outlook Group, who until recently stood out as one of the more optimistic forecasters. "Uncertainty and instability will cast a big cloud."



James' carpet-cleaning company in the Bay Area has poured money into fuel in the weeks since protests began in the Middle East. Gasoline powers the eight trucks the business sends out daily and also the machines it uses to clean carpets, upholstery and hardwood floors. Each truck typically uses a full tank of gas every day.



In January of 2010, the business' fuel cost, its largest expense after payroll, was $4,966, James said. In January of this year, it was $6,572, an increase of 32 percent. James dreads seeing February's bill.

Read more at www.huffingtonpost.com