Sunday, August 10, 2008
Is it just me???
For some time now I've had an abiding interest in conspiracy theory of all shapes and sizes. While I'm not as nutty as some of my friends and acquaintances, I tend to buy more than the average bear, which leads me to this:
It all starts Thursday as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England decide to leave their benchmark interest rates unchanged. This sends the dollar shooting up in value against both the Euro and Pound, which in turn leads to oil prices plummeting. This all happens as Gulf Coast drilling operations begin to recover from Katrina, increasing oil supply. At the same time demand for oil is way down (almost 3% down from the same time last year...that's a lot of crude).
And now for something completely different:
Little known fact: the war in Iraq (love it, hate it, can't live without it, whatever) has been doing its job. The surge has worked. The region is stabilizing. Yes, there are still deadly attacks day in and out. Yes, there are still regions that are devastated, but things are improving. Casualties are much lower than this same time last year. The Iraqi government is ready for us to get out of there.
Things sure are looking good, right? Oil could be below $100 a barrel by November... our troops could be home by 2010 (the year we make contact, right?) and on top of it all, this is all happening against the backdrop of massive protests for human rights in China, where you've currently got more world leaders than your average UN resolution meeting.
And then:
Osettia. Dammit.
I liked the Cold War. I thought it was awesome. It had cool things for a seven year old to think about, like iron curtains, and communism, and a big wall that for some reason people equated with Pink Floyd.
All things considered, it beat the shit out of the Hot War we're currently engaged in.
But I digress. Some of Russia's first targets were oil production facilities and pipelines within Georgia. Check out Bloomberg.com:
"Georgia is a key link in a U.S.-backed ``southern energy corridor'' that connects the Caspian Sea region with world markets, bypassing Russia. The U.S. seeks to connect Central Asia natural gas supplies with European markets, skirting Russia in an attempt to weaken the grip of Russia's state-run OAO Gazprom energy company. One planned pipeline route runs from the Georgia-Turkey border."
Hmm. It gets better.
"``They bombed it but missed,'' Georgian Economy Minister Eka Sharashidze said by phone today. ``There were 27 bombs fired, 25 exploded and two did not, about 5 meters from the pipeline,'' she said."
Gotcha. Thanks, Eka.
Moving on, would anyone care to guess who just pulled the third largest contingent of troops out of Iraq to defend its own oil facilities against a country that has steadily been backsliding into a cold war-like stance? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Georgia's on MY mind.
Hey, did this all just happen when EVERY major world leader was pretty much on vacation in the last bastion of communist power? It did?
It reminds me of a few months ago when my nephew Aiden was fond of saying "get it?," after just about everything he said. It goes like this:
In one fell swoop oil supply as well as Iraqi stability can be disrupted. Get it?
The strategy is divide and conquer. Get everyone on one side or the other, let them duke it out, and rule over whoever survives. Simplicity in itself when you consider the EU. Standard currency. NAFTA. Super Interstates reaching from the belly of South America to the heart of Canada. The losses in the value of the dollar against the Peso and the Canadian Dollar. Neat.
In this corner, wearing the blue trunks, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the WEST!!! The inventors of Freedom, Liberty, and Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches!! Should they win, they pledge to donate their earnings to save the dwindling habitat of the Blue-Peckered Beaver Snake!
And in the other corner, wearing the red trunks, I give you the EAST!! The inventors of Fascism, Human Rights violations, and Religious extremism!! Should they win, they pledge to donate their earnings to eradicate free-market trading and Christianity!!
That's how it will be billed to us. We are the good guys. We're fighting for freedom and a better world. Guess what? The bad guys will think the same.fucking.thing.
That's all for now. More later, I guess.
It all starts Thursday as the European Central Bank and the Bank of England decide to leave their benchmark interest rates unchanged. This sends the dollar shooting up in value against both the Euro and Pound, which in turn leads to oil prices plummeting. This all happens as Gulf Coast drilling operations begin to recover from Katrina, increasing oil supply. At the same time demand for oil is way down (almost 3% down from the same time last year...that's a lot of crude).
And now for something completely different:
Little known fact: the war in Iraq (love it, hate it, can't live without it, whatever) has been doing its job. The surge has worked. The region is stabilizing. Yes, there are still deadly attacks day in and out. Yes, there are still regions that are devastated, but things are improving. Casualties are much lower than this same time last year. The Iraqi government is ready for us to get out of there.
Things sure are looking good, right? Oil could be below $100 a barrel by November... our troops could be home by 2010 (the year we make contact, right?) and on top of it all, this is all happening against the backdrop of massive protests for human rights in China, where you've currently got more world leaders than your average UN resolution meeting.
And then:
Osettia. Dammit.
I liked the Cold War. I thought it was awesome. It had cool things for a seven year old to think about, like iron curtains, and communism, and a big wall that for some reason people equated with Pink Floyd.
All things considered, it beat the shit out of the Hot War we're currently engaged in.
But I digress. Some of Russia's first targets were oil production facilities and pipelines within Georgia. Check out Bloomberg.com:
"Georgia is a key link in a U.S.-backed ``southern energy corridor'' that connects the Caspian Sea region with world markets, bypassing Russia. The U.S. seeks to connect Central Asia natural gas supplies with European markets, skirting Russia in an attempt to weaken the grip of Russia's state-run OAO Gazprom energy company. One planned pipeline route runs from the Georgia-Turkey border."
Hmm. It gets better.
"``They bombed it but missed,'' Georgian Economy Minister Eka Sharashidze said by phone today. ``There were 27 bombs fired, 25 exploded and two did not, about 5 meters from the pipeline,'' she said."
Gotcha. Thanks, Eka.
Moving on, would anyone care to guess who just pulled the third largest contingent of troops out of Iraq to defend its own oil facilities against a country that has steadily been backsliding into a cold war-like stance? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Georgia's on MY mind.
Hey, did this all just happen when EVERY major world leader was pretty much on vacation in the last bastion of communist power? It did?
It reminds me of a few months ago when my nephew Aiden was fond of saying "get it?," after just about everything he said. It goes like this:
In one fell swoop oil supply as well as Iraqi stability can be disrupted. Get it?
The strategy is divide and conquer. Get everyone on one side or the other, let them duke it out, and rule over whoever survives. Simplicity in itself when you consider the EU. Standard currency. NAFTA. Super Interstates reaching from the belly of South America to the heart of Canada. The losses in the value of the dollar against the Peso and the Canadian Dollar. Neat.
In this corner, wearing the blue trunks, Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you, the WEST!!! The inventors of Freedom, Liberty, and Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches!! Should they win, they pledge to donate their earnings to save the dwindling habitat of the Blue-Peckered Beaver Snake!
And in the other corner, wearing the red trunks, I give you the EAST!! The inventors of Fascism, Human Rights violations, and Religious extremism!! Should they win, they pledge to donate their earnings to eradicate free-market trading and Christianity!!
That's how it will be billed to us. We are the good guys. We're fighting for freedom and a better world. Guess what? The bad guys will think the same.fucking.thing.
That's all for now. More later, I guess.
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