Graph of the Amount of Oil Production Affected by Crisis

February 27, 2011 Comments off

Although Obama might not view what is happening in the Middle East as all that important- he is going to basketball games and concerts and instead directing attempts to riot in WI- I think it is very important because the Middle East region sits on a very important resource- oil. So for fun, I put together a graph this morning to demonstrate the amount of oil production that is affected by the crisis in the Middle East. The graph shows oil production by country based on the most recent data I found in the CIA World Factbook, and shows each nation currently in crisis or about to be in crisis, and then the gray area represents all other nations not currently affected.

Any change in oil production likely will cause the price of gasoline to go up, and as you can see, a large percentage of the world’s oil comes out of this affected region, although if Saudi Arabia stays stable, then the percentages is considerably less although still significant. In my amateur opinion, gas prices are going to rise, the economy will dip again, and Obama will react to this all by supporting our enemies and lowering our oil output. Here is the graph:

Insider Report: US Government Will Confiscate Gold When It Touches $2000

February 27, 2011 Comments off

It’s no secret that the US government is broke, the US dollar is crashing and losing credibility globally, and the IMF, China, France and others have publicly stated their desire to eliminate the dollar as the world’s primary reserve currency. The IMF, for example, recently issued a call to replace the Federal Reserve’s fiat paper, ironically suggesting that it should be replaced with yet another synthetic instrument known as the SDR, or Special Drawing Right. The SDR is essentially a monetary unit made up of a basket of other global monetary units that include the euro, Japanese yen, pound sterling, and U.S. dollar. Incidentally, prior to the collapse of the Bretton Woods gold-backed US dollar monetary system in 1973, the SDR was actually ‘backed by gold,’ with one SDR being worth roughly 0.88 grams of gold, or at the time, $1 US dollar.

It’s been suggested that a new SDR, which would likely include the Chinese Yuan within the basket, may also require some non-synthetic units Read more…

‘Russian missiles could be passed on to Hezbollah’

February 27, 2011 Comments off
The S-300 missile defense system
Photo by: ASSOCIATED PRESS

By JPOST.COM

Following Russia’s announcement that it will transfer missiles to Syria, Defense Ministry fears weapons could fall into “wrong hands.”

The Defense Ministry issued a statement Saturday regarding publications that Russia intends to complete a deal to transfer cruise missiles to Syria. “This deal was signed two years ago and has been in the process of implementation for some time, despite Israel’s appeals to Russia regarding the matter.”

Security officials warned that the Russian cruise missiles “are potentially dangerous weapons and they may come fall into the hands of Hezbollah, just as other weapons systems came from Syria.”

The announcement came after Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said that Russia would Read more…

North Korea Warns of Military Response Against South Over Leaflet Drops

February 27, 2011 Comments off

North Korea threatened to take military action if the South continues to drop leaflets fomenting revolt, Korean Central News Agency reported.

North Korea said it will fire at the “source” of balloons containing leaflets and video clips saved on flash-memory devices and DVDs, along with books and one U.S. dollar bills. The leaflets were a psychological plot to “shake up our socialism and break the trust of our military and people,” state-run KCNA said today.

South Korea’s military has dropped leaflets on North Korea that contain information on pro-democracy revolts in the Middle East with the intention of provoking a movement against Kim Jong Il’s regime, a South Korean Read more…

Two planets found sharing one orbit

February 26, 2011 Comments off

newscientist.com

Buried in the flood of data from the Kepler telescope is a planetary system unlike any seen before. Two of its apparent planets share the same orbit around their star. If the discovery is confirmed, it would bolster a theory that Earth once shared its orbit with a Mars-sized body that later crashed into it, resulting in the moon’s formation.

The two planets are part of a four-planet system dubbed KOI-730. They circle their sun-like parent star every 9.8 days at exactly the same orbital distance, one permanently about 60 degrees ahead of the other. In the night sky of one planet, the other world must appear as a constant, blazing light, never fading or brightening.

Gravitational “sweet spots” make this possible. When one Read more…

Large crack opens in the earth in southern Peru

February 26, 2011 Comments off

Puno: The Earth Is Opening In Southern Peru

livinginperu.com

peru
The mysterious crack measures 100 meters wide and three kilometers long. (Photo: El Comercio)

The sudden appearance early in the morning of an enormous crack, measuring 100 meters wide and three kilometers long, caused confusion among residents of the Huacullani district in the Chucuito province, department of Puno.

The exact cause of the crack in the earth still unknown. Peru’s geophysical institute ruled out the occurrence of an earthquake in the region, but what is clear is that the ground opened up and large blocks of earth can be observed scattered throughout the area.

The event, recorded Wednesday morning, caused the collapse of one house located in the rural community of Llorohoco. Four people managed to escape, but the youngest in the family, five-year-old Jean Carlos Vilcanqui Acero, is missing.

Geological engineers from the regional committee for civil defense have Read more…

China’s droughts nears worst in 200 years, adding pressure to world food prices

February 26, 2011 Comments off

climateprogress.org

The recent unrest in the Middle East, which has been attributed, in part, to high food prices, gives us a warning of the type of global unrest that might result in future years if the climate continues to warm as expected. A hotter climate means more severe droughts will occur. We can expect an increasing number of unprecedented heat waves and droughts like the 2010 Russian drought in coming decades. This will significantly increase the odds of a world food emergency far worse than the 2007 – 2008 global food crisis. When we also consider the world’s expanding population and the possibility that peak oil will make fertilizers and agriculture much more expensive, we have the potential for a perfect storm of events aligning in the near future, with droughts made significantly worse by climate change contributing to events that will cause disruption of the global economy, intense political turmoil, and war. Read more…

Wikileaks: GMO conspiracy reaches highest levels of US Government

February 26, 2011 79 comments

WikiLeaks Wikileaks: GMO conspiracy reaches highest levels of US GovernmentRecent Wikileaks cables are typically associated with information leaks related to U.S. war strategy, and foreign policy, which has led some people to conclude that leaked information of this nature is a possible threat to national security.

But in this case, Wikileaks cables leaked information regarding global food policy as it relates to U.S. officials — in the highest levels of government — that involves a conspiracy with Monsanto to force the global sale and use of genetically-modified foods.

In 2007, then-U.S. ambassador to France Craig Stapleton conspired to retaliate against European countries for their anti-biotech policies. U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal the Bush administration formulated battle plans to extract revenge against Europe for refusing to use genetically modified seeds.

In the leaked cable, Stapleton writes: “Europe is Read more…

After the ecstasy of revolution, the Bankers quietly begin carving up Egypt and North Africa

February 26, 2011 Comments off

21stcenturywire.com

By Richard Eastman
21st Century Wire
Feb 25, 2011

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is ready to lend one billion EUROS a year to Egypt for reconstruction and “free-market reform”- even as Egypt’s Minister of Finance Samir Radwan has gone begging to the City of London bankers and the British Ministry of Trade and Investment  for relief on debt payments that are about to throw Egypt into bankruptcy.

All this, as Egypt has been such a good boy with regards to privatization and austerity, measures which awarded Egypt its celebrated 7 percent growth rate- mostly in investments that will end up in international hands as ventures fail to pay out with ever diminishing Egyptian domestic purchasing power.

FRESH CYCLES OF DEBT

First EBRD will lend at interest and build what they want backed by Egyptian collateral and the value of the projects themselves.  Then when it turns out they can’t make the debt payments because of all the interest we have sucked from them, we take over all of the assets we have developed.  That’s freedom and EBRD is really going to give it to them.  After all EBRD is  experienced at this.  In 1991 the EBRD was organized to financially lead  Russia and Eastern Europe in their transition from paternalistic socialism to sustainable  free-market economies open to international Read more…

Robert Kaplan on the New New Great Game

February 26, 2011 Comments off

The U.S. can maintain its global primacy if it (among other things) plays Russia off China, India, Iran and Turkey off Russia and Turkey off Iran. That’s the analysis of globe-spinner extraordinaire Robert Kaplan, along with his brother Stephen (apparently recently retired as a top CIA official).

The essay, America Primed, is in the new edition of The National Interest and doesn’t deal too explicitly with the Caucasus or Central Asia. But it’s all about how the U.S. (assisted by the “Anglosphere,” other English-speaking countries like Canada, the U.K. and Australia) can maintain dominance on the Eurasian continent. And that requires American leadership to make sure that no other country — in particular China, Russia or Iran — gets too powerful. What does that entail, specifically?

For one, playing India off Russia (and “punishing” Pakistan):

Out of national pride, and because of its own tense relationships with China and Pakistan, India needs to remain officially nonaligned. But that will not stop New Delhi from accepting more help from Read more…