December 31, 2006

2006: A Look Back

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It is New Year's Eve!!! It is also Sunday, so there is very little to be done. I thought I would just recount some of the events of 2006.

January: Russia cuts natural gas supply to Ukraine and Hammas wins the majority of seats in the Palestinian Legislative Council elections.

February: U.S Vice-President Dick Cheney shoots his friend in the face and the Al Askari Mosque, a Shiite holy place is bombed in Samarra, Iraq, which causes riots and counter-attacks.

March: Slobodon Milosevic is found dead in his cell at the UN War Crimes Tribunal detention center and ETA announce a permanent ceasefire in it's campaign for Basque independence from Spain.

April: Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinijad announces that Iran has produced enriched uranium and anti-war demostators march down Broadway in New York City to mark the 3rd year of the war in Iraq.

May: Bolivia nationalizes it's gas fields and a new coalition government is formed in Israel.

June: Abu Masab Al Zarqawi, the Al Qaeda leader, is killed in Iraq and Israel launches operations against militants in Gaza.

July: North Korea test fires missiles, including long range Taepodong 2 and Israel-Lebanon conflict begins with Israel invading Lebanon in response to Hezbollah kidnappings of Israeli soldiers.

August: Police in London arrest 21 poeple in terrorist plots against Britain and the United States and a UN ceasefire is accepted in Israeli-Lebanon conflict.

September: Pope Benedict XVI sparks worldwide protest after making remarks critical of Islam and Republican congressman Mark Foley resigns after it was revealed that he sent sexually explicit e-mails to teenage congressional pages.

October: North Korea announces it has successfully tested a nuclear meapon and the population of the United States reaches 300,000,000.

November: Saddam Hussein is sentenced to death for crimes against humanity and Iran successfully tests new missiles.

December: Saddam Hussein is hanged and ETA sets off car bomb in Madrid bringing it's permanent ceasefire to an end.

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting Happy New Year !!!

December 30, 2006

Saddam Hussein, 1937-2006


Saddam Hussein Al Tikriti was hanged this morning. He was sentenced to death by an Iraqi court for his actions in the northern Iraqi town of Dujail in 1982. Someone had taken a shot at Saddam as his motorcade traveled through the town. He took immediate revenge for the attack and ordered 148 men and boys to be executed. This was typical of Saddam. Under his tyrannic rule many thousands of Iraqis would be imprisoned, tortured, and killed. Thousands would be massacred for political dissent and millions would die in his self-defeating wars.

There is no doubt that many Iraqis will rejoice at the news of his execution. There is also little doubt that for many the news of his hanging will inspire acts of vengeance. Vengeance seems to be a primary motivator in today's troubled Iraq. Some will see Saddam as a martyr. This is hardly a surprise in a region where the only people who are not considered martyrs are the ones who are fortunate enough to die from natural causes.

But to really understand Saddam, one must study the 20th century history of Iraq, the Baath Party, and the Middle-East. One must also understand the imperialism of the European and American powers in the region. Germany, excluded from the oil fields of the Middle-East as a result of world war (largely motivated by the need for secure oil supplies), nurtured Arab colonial dissent during the period between WWI and WWII. This dissent was to give birth to the Baath Party. The word Baath roughly translates to renaissance.

The following documentary is rather long, but well worth viewing.

History Channel: Saddam and the Third Reich


December 29, 2006

Mesopotamia: All About The Oil

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In 1901 William Knox D'Arcy, a wealthy Englishman, went into the Iranian desert in search of oil. He finally discovered oil in 1908 and, one year later, founded the Anglo-Persian Oil Company. The company found itself in need of financing and, just before WWI, it found a backer in Winston Churchill, then the First Lord of the Admiralty. The British government acquired controlling interest in the company and guaranteed itself a secure supply of oil.

In 1914 British and German oil companies went into partnership with the Turkish Petroleum Company which owned the oil rights to all of Mesopotamia (Iraq, Eastern Syria, Southeastern Turkey, and Southwest Iran). The industrial powers of Europe, fast becoming dependent on oil for growth and lacking domestic supplies, soon took absolute control over the Middle-Eastern oil fields. When WWI broke out the Anglo-German partnership was ended and the German-allied Ottoman empire found it's territories open to British attack. As the war was coming to a close, and Britain looked to it's future, the supply of oil became crucial. Sir Maurice Hankey, Secretary to the War Cabinet wrote to Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour that, " Control of these oil supplies becomes a first class war aim". Shortly afterwards the British forces entered Baghdad.

When the war ended, and after heated negotiations, Britain divided the Middle-Eastern oil fields with the French, with the British keeping the lions share. Not long after, around 1920, the Americans demanded that they be let in on the deal. After threatening sanctions against the British and the French, and making much noise about "old fashioned imperialism", the Americans were allowed to share in the spoils.

In 1928 large oil fields were discovered in northern Iraq. The Americans were allowed to share in the booty. In July, 1928,the Red Line Agreement was signed which gave the American oil companies a 25% share of the business. A cartel was born. The people of Iraq, nor any other territory involved, were not consulted, nor did they gain anything from these deals.

In 1935 the Anglo-Persian Oil Company changed it's name to the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Later, in 1951, the Iranian government, under the newly elected Prime Minister Dr. Mohammed Mossagedh, threatened to nationalize the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. The British, after convincing President Eisenhower that Mossadegh was a communist sympathizer, invited the USA to help them sort the matter out covertly. By 1953 the coup was accomplished and the democratically elected government was out and the newly established absolute monarchy of the Shah was in place and the USA had greatly increased it's share of the spoils.

The Secret Government (CIA overthrow of Mossadegh)
First Aired in 1987



By this time the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company had changed it's name yet again to British Petroleum Company: BP, whose advertising slogan is "Beyond Petroleum"

December 28, 2006

Iraq: World Wars and Oil




The picture on the left is of British forces entering Baghdad on the 12th of March 1917. The Turks, who had sided with the Germans, had surrendered the city to the British. Britain, having converted their entire naval fleet from coal to oil and fast becoming dependent for oil to fuel it's mechanized warfare, saw Iraq as essential to it's national long-term interests.

Prior to WWI oil was merely a product to be traded. By the end of the war it had become a vital necessity to the industrialized nations. Britain, at the start of WWI, had less than 800 motor vehicles. By the end of the war it had 56,000 trucks and 36,000 cars. Airplanes were being mass produced and oil fuelled shipping was replacing the steam powered, coal driven shipping of the earlier century.

Lt. General Sir Frederick Stanley Maude, the British commander issued this statement:

"People of Baghdad, remember for 26 generations you have suffered under strange tyrants who have ever endeavored to set one Arab house against another in order that they might profit by your dissensions. This policy is abhorrent to Great Britain and her Allies for there can be neither peace nor prosperity where there is enmity or misgovernment. Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators."

The victors of the war divided the Middle-East amongst themselves. Britain was given a mandate to govern Iraq, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan. But the British soon found themselves facing widespread Arab nationalistic opposition. The Arab nationals called for independence from foreign control. This led the British to install Prince Faisal as King of Iraq. Faisal was paid £800,000 a month in exchange for granting oil concessions to British oil companies. It didn't seem to matter to anyone, except the Iraqis, that Faisal was not himself an Iraqi.

Britain soon found the cost of governing Iraq was too high, despite the oil concessions. In 1932 Iraq was granted independence. Faisal died one year later in Switzerland. His son became King and and he died in 1939, the year that WWII began.

The picture he is of British and Indian troops in the Iraqi desert in 1941. This was the year that Iraqi generals, with German sympathies, staged a coup. The British saw that the oil supplies upon which they greatly depended were in jeopardy and they invaded once again.

After WWII Iraq saw a few changes in government. In 1958 General Abdul Karim Quassim overthrew the monarchy and established a republic. By 1963 the Baath Party had taken control of all aspects of public life. The man who engineered the Baathist control of Iraqi society was Saddam Hussein.

And the war goes on..and on..and on.

December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas

Christmas day is here. This will be my last Christmas related posting. Tomorrow I will be back to my usual ranting about politics, religion, and war. So I will confine myself today with a final Christmas song for your enjoyment. This song has long been one of my favorite seasonal tunes but, with global warming running rampant across the globe, it may soon become dated.


I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas


December 24, 2006

Another Christmas Song: Fairytale of New York

Well here it is almost Christmas. The seemingly endless bombardment of joyful, happy, and syrupy "Christmas" songs is almost over. The mad scramble of shoppers will quieten..for a day or two..then the after Christmas sales will propel them once again , credit cards in hand, onto the streets and into the shops.

People will accumulate debts that will take the lucky ones only a few months to pay off. The unlucky ones are still paying off last Christmas's happy holiday. Some will find themselves out of work because of their shameful antics or brutal honesty on that most dreadful and dangerous of occasions: The Workplace Christmas Party.

Not all Christmas songs, or stories for that matter, are happy ones. Many people will drink themselves into melancholic stupors and recall happier and more promising days. In tribute to those fellow travelers I present this beautiful song.


The Pogues and Kirsty McColl: Fairytale of New York

December 23, 2006

Laura "Pickles" Bush: The First Lady's Christmas Address To The Nation

December 22, 2006

Christmas In School

I have refrained from commenting over the last few days on my usual subjects of politics, religion, and war. But, instead, I have made a number of posts concerning Christmas. Today I am reminded of my school days. Back then it was common practice for every class to form a choir and to sing a carol during the school Christmas assembly. The auditorium or gym would be filled with parents and fellow students, and each class would perform their chosen song. I attended grade school long before the presence of God in school was open to debate. In fact it was during the years that I went to grade school that "In God We Trust" was added to the dollar bill, and "Under God" was added to the pledge of allegiance. In 1956 the words "In God We Trust" was adopted as the national motto and first appeared on paper money in 1957. "Under God" was added to the pledge of allegiance by President Eisenhower in 1954. These additions to the national identity were more a response to the immenent threat of global conflict with "Godless" Communism than a forcing of christianity upon the people of the United States.

So children all across America, no matter their faith or lack thereof, would sing and praise the birth of the Christ. No such assemblies were called to honor any other deity, nor would it have ever been considered by the powers that be. I am sure we wouldn't have minded too much if the schools had been closed for Bhudda's birthday, or Abraham's, or Zeus for that matter. And if there were feasts and gifts to be endured..all the better.

As kids we weren't too concerned with the correctness of the carol singing or the theological and legal aspects of the public display of religion in school. Christmas was about something more important and universal than mere ideology. It was all about having fun.

Oh Holy Night: Choir Practice

December 21, 2006

The Holiday Season

Christmas is just a few days away. Frantic shoppers are out in their thousands searching for last minute bargans, buying food and drink, Christmas lights, and generally preparing for the family feast that is the highpoint of the day.

Many people will be laying out their best clothes and getting ready to go to the church of their choice to celebrate the birth of the Christ. Others, who are not christian, will still be caught up in the spirit of the holidays and share in the celebrations with their families and friends.

There are some christians who will say that Christmas is a religious holiday and that Christ should be the main reason for celebrating. This may be true...for christians. But celebrations at this time of year pre-date christianity by thousands of years and christians have no claim to the season. Here is a short video that addresses the historical significance of the season.

The Reason for the Season

December 18, 2006

A South Park Merry Christmas

I am going to use today's blog to promote religious tolerance in the world. Religion can be traced to the heart of many of the problems that the world is facing today. The conflicts between, and within, religions are bringing the world closer every day to Armageddon. If we could only open our hearts and minds to the views of others, respect those views, and encourage tolerance of different cultures and religions, the world would be a better place. So, in the spirit of tolerance and peace, I am posting a video that addresses this most important of subjects.

South Park: Merry Christmas Around the World

December 16, 2006

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

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Rudolph is one of the best known Christmas characters in the world. He was created by Robert L. May, a copywriter for Montgomery Ward Company, a large chain of department stores that spanned the United States. The company gave coloring books to customers every year, but in 1939 they decided to save some money and asked May to come up with a character and a story so that they could publish it in-house.

Influenced by The Ugly Duckling, May set about concocting a character and a story. He practiced the story on his 4 year old daughter and presented it to his superiors. At first they were doubtful, something about the "red nose" that could be associated with too much drinking. But May enlisted the aid of Denver Gillen who worked in the company art department. Gillen made some reindeer drawings after visiting the Chicago Zoo, added the famous red nose, and the bosses relented and Rudolph was born. The company distributed 2.4 million copies of the coloring book the first year and Rudolph has been a favorite ever since.

Now Rudolph is celebrated in song, film, animation, and story. His name will indeed "..go down in history".

Robert L. May, because he was working for Montgomery Ward when he created Rudolph, was not entitled to any royalties. The company owned all the rights. May's wife died around the time that he created Rudolph, and he went deep into debt due to her medical bills. In 1947 May persuaded Sewell Avery, Montgomery Ward corporate president, to turn over the rights to him. May's future was secure. May left his job in 1951, managed his copywrite for seven years, then returned to Mongomery Ward until his retirement in 1971. He lived quite comfortably until his death in 1976.

We all have our favorite Christmas films. I know I do. I also have favorite directors. The other day I found an amusing video, made about a decade ago for MAD TV. The film is an animation of the Rudolph story created in the styles of Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola. Enjoy!


Raging Rudolph/The Reinfather

December 15, 2006

A Christmas Carol: Learning How To Give


Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol in 1843. Apparently he wrote this enduring and endearing work as a "potboiler", which is an artistic work created only to make money. Dickens was in debt. The fact that he wrote this piece for money in no way makes it any less a masterpiece. In fact it was with this piece that Charles Dickens redefined our understanding of Christmas. His tale outlines the themes and sentiments that are the basic stuff of our modern Christmas celebrations.

Scrooge is a bitter and selfish miser, consumed with the accumulation of wealth, and scorning all human contact and emotion. He is visited, on Christmas Eve, by the ghost of his deceased partner Jacob Marley. Marley, whose ghost must carry the long and heavy chain he "forged in life", warns Scrooge that the chain that he himself is forging is, by now, much longer and heavier than his own.

He tells Scrooge that he may still have a chance of escaping his fate. He will be visited by three ghosts over the course of a troubled Christmas Eve. His bitterness and miserliness are revealed to him by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmas Yet To Come. His place in the lives of others, past, present, and future is made clear to him. Scrooge, humbled and enlightened by the experiences of his visitations, wakes on Christmas morning with a new heart.

The scene pictured above is of Scrooge, the cynical miser that is the main character of the story, being visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present. The ghost reveals to Scrooge two pitiful figures hiding under its' robes, Ignorance and Want, the two main causes of misery and suffering in the world. This is how Dickens wrote the scene:

``Forgive me if I am not justified in what I ask,'' said Scrooge, looking intently at the Spirit's robe, ``but I see something strange, and not belonging to yourself, protruding from your skirts. Is it a foot or a claw!''

``It might be a claw, for the flesh there is upon it,'' was the Spirit's sorrowful reply. ``Look here.''

From the foldings of its robe, it brought two children; wretched, abject, frightful, hideous, miserable. They knelt down at its feet, and clung upon the outside of its garment.

``Oh, Man! look here. Look, look, down here!'' exclaimed the Ghost.

They were a boy and girl. Yellow, meagre, ragged, scowling, wolfish; but prostrate, too, in their humility. Where graceful youth should have filled their features out, and touched them with its freshest tints, a stale and shrivelled hand, like that of age, had pinched, and twisted them, and pulled them into shreds. Where angels might have sat enthroned, devils lurked, and glared out menacing. No change, no degradation, no perversion of humanity, in any grade, through all the mysteries of wonderful creation, has monsters half so horrible and dread.

Scrooge started back, appalled. Having them shown to him in this way, he tried to say they were fine children, but the words choked themselves, rather than be parties to a lie of such enormous magnitude.

``Spirit! are they yours?'' Scrooge could say no more.

``They are Man's,'' said the Spirit, looking down upon them. ``And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it!'' cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand towards the city. ``Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse! And bide the end!''

``Have they no refuge or resource?'' cried Scrooge.

``Are there no prisons?'' said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. ``Are there no workhouses?''


Later, in a desperate plea to the ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, who has revealed to Scrooge the dire consequences of the life he has lead, both for himself and others, Dickens writes:

``Good Spirit,'' he pursued, as down upon the ground he fell before it: ``Your nature intercedes for me, and pities me. Assure me that I yet may change these shadows you have shown me, by an altered life!''

The kind hand trembled.

``I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year. I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future. The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me. I will not shut out the lessons that they teach. Oh, tell me I may sponge away the writing on this stone!''




Scrooge awakens from his last visitor and realizes that he is alive, in the present, and it is Christmas Day! He sets about spreading good cheer and plenty of ready cash and is delighted to have the opportunity of a fresh and humanitarian start. The story ends with the words:

``A merry Christmas, Bob!'' said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. ``A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I'll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-scuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit.''

Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.

The fact that Dickens wrote this marvelous story to get out of debt is amazing and ironic. That he chose for his main character a man obsessed with money and in desperate need of redemption for his avarice is, I think, more than coincidental. Debt, in Victorian England, could mean the Workhouse or even Prison for those unfortunate enough to be unable to pay their way. A great many social ills were fuelled by lack of adequate money and debt. Child mortality, violent crime, alcohol addiction, prostitution, and despair were rampant in Victorian society and Dickens brought the plight of the poor to light in his works. A Christmas Carol did allow Dickens to pay his debtors...but many are not that fortunate.

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The lessons of poverty and debt are as relevent today as they were all that while ago. The developing world is burdened with crippling debt, debt they will never be able to pay. Millions struggle fore mere survival, and many will fail in that struggle. 98% of children who die before the age of five are in developing countries. Disease, war, famine, poverty, even slavery are the stuff of everyday life for millions around the world. Perhaps the West, like Scrooge, should awake one day and set about spreading good cheer, forgiving debt, and get a little taste of redemption. If we ever hope to eliminate Ignorance and Want, the real lesson, for all of us Scrooges, is learning how to give.








December 14, 2006

Christmas Fox Style

As December rushes through it's allotment of days, and Christmas draws rapidly nearer, I have decided not to waste too much time talking about the war in Iraq. Nor will I take too much time talking about the war in Afghanistan. Or the one in Darfur, Sudan. Or the looming war between the Somali Islamic Forces and the Ethiopians. Or Gaza. Or Lebanon. But I will say just one thing about all of these wars: Islam is at war with itself and with it's neighbors. In Africa the lines are being drawn between the non-Islamic African states and peoples and their Islamic counterparts. In Iraq there is a terrible conflict between the Shia and Sunni which is threatening to escalate to include countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran.

But I will refrain from commenting further on these issues. There is a far more important struggle going on at the moment, one that Fox News and it's compliment of lunatics posing as commentators and pundits would like us to take up arms and join. The War on Christmas. The poor Christians, so oppressed and downtrodden in Bush's America, are being forced to suffer for their Christian beliefs and there is an insidious and satanic plot to drive them underground so that they will only be able to celebrate Christmas behind closed doors.

How long must these Christians go on suffering? Why is Fox News their only ally? I have a few thoughts on the matter. Fox News loves to show thing in Black and White, Right and Wrong, Good and Evil. For many years Fox news has delighted in pitting Americans against each other, dividing America and taking sides. The moral highground is where they are comfortably perched, like vultures waiting for something to die.

So, in keeping with my Christmas theme, here is a video in honor of Fox News.



12 Days Of Christmas...Fox Style

December 12, 2006

Christmas Music



Carols have a long history. Traditionally carols were sung for many festivals, but Christmas muscled in and took over the racket sometime in the thirteenth century. Medieval chord patters can be detected in many of the carols that are still sung today. Christmas carols originally reflected the religious themes of Christmas, but, over time, were expanded to include seasonal themes as well. So the modern Christmas celebrations will include songs about Bethlehem and Jesus and also songs concerning the jingling of bells and the riding of sleighs. In modern times there are many songs that could never be considered as carols, but which are associated with the celebrations just as much. Songs about rocking around the Christmas tree and Mommy kissing Santa Claus abound and have become very much a part of the Christmas season.

Carols were very much a part of the Christmas celebrations up until the Protestant reformation. The Puritans and Calvanists considered them non essential and associated them with Roman Catholicism.

Carols were re-discovered and re-introduced into the Christmas celebrations in the 19th century. The tradition of roving groups of carolers, singing door to door, is credited to the Victorians. Often these carolers would be rewarded with cakes or an appropriate seasonal beverage for their efforts, and any monies they were given would be donated to charitable causes.

Today, as we are bombarded with Christmas music through the magic of mass-media, and anyone with a recording contract scrambles to release their new Christmas single, it is easy to become cynical about the whole thing. As a child I loved the songs that made Christmas special. Then, over time, as religion lost it's hold and shopping stole the mystery, Christmas came to lose it's charm and much of it's meaning for me. But there is still a place in my heart for the music of the season and there remains an ember of the spirit that the music once inspired.

Do They Know It's Christmas Time?

December 11, 2006

War and Christmas


Christmas and war are no strangers to each other. Why should they be? After all, Christmas is really just another day, and war very seldom takes a day off.

It was on Christmas day, 1776, that Washington crossed the Delaware river and launched a surprise attack against the Hessian Garrison in Trenton, New Jersey. The Hessians were German mercenaries, employed by the British, and Washington caught them unawares and unprepared. It was Christmas after all, and they were celebrating. Washington's defeat of the Hessians revitalized the flagging spirits of the colonists and their army and was a turning point in the War for Independence.



Christmas and war again came together to form the stuff of history and legend during the early days of World War I. The forlorn armies of that terrible war lived in close proximity, sometimes less than 60 yards apart, each dug deep into their miserable trenches and separated by a strip of killing ground ominously called "no man's land".

The war was in it's early days, 1914, but already many thousands of troops, on both sides, had been killed before the lines were drawn and the trenches dug. Soldiers on both sides would sometimes call out to each other, making jokes and sharing wisecracks. A strange sort of camaraderie was beginning to take shape, much to the distress and disapproval of the generals commanding the war.


Pope Benedict XV actually called for a temporary halt to the war in order to celebrate Christmas. The German commanders agreed, but the Allied commanders refused to entertain the notion. Nevertheless, all along the front, troops did indeed enjoy an unofficial truce. Soldiers from both sides met in No Man's Land and shared songs, cigarettes, and stories. Some played games. Then the war commenced once more and no such respite was seen again. Almost 9,000,000 soldiers and 6,500,000 civilians were killed, on both sides, during the next four years.

I am not a religious person, perhaps I once was...a very long time ago. Peace is a word that one hears quite often over the Christmas holidays. Peace on Earth is the central theme of Christmas. The prayer of Christmas is that the Prince of Peace is born and calls for Goodwill towards all men. In the spirit of Christmas I offer this video.

John Lennon: Happy Christmas (War Is Over)

December 10, 2006

Blue Christmas

Well America says goodbye to the 109th Congress, soon to be remembered as the "do nothing" Congress. Of course there was more than a usual amount of financial corruption, and sex reared (no pun intended) it's ugly head in the form of Congressman Foley, despite the valiant efforts of his Republican colleagues to keep it under the table (again no pun intended).

President Bush will no longer be able to look to Congress to rubber-stamp his blinkered, blinded, and blundering attempts at world domination. Those were the days.

So in honor of this fading and feeble Congress, and to begin a series of Christmas postings, I offer this video for your enjoyment.


President Bush Says Goodbye To The 109th Congress

December 08, 2006

A Few Facts About Oil


A few facts about oil:

1.The United States, in 2005, imported about 58% of the oil it consumed.
2. By the year 2025, the United States will have to import 68% of the oil it consumes just to meet current demand.
3. More than 60% of the worlds proven oil reserves are in the Middle-East.
4. Iraq's oil reserves are equal to those of China, Mexico, Russia, and the United States combined.
5. 2013 is the conservative estimate for the year that the world will have reached peak oil production. Some say peak production has already happened.
6. It is estimated that we have already used 45 to 70% of the Earth's initial amount of crude oil.
7. Oil is a non-renewable resource. Once it is gone it is gone forever.

For more interesting facts about oil you can click here .


Peak Oil: Supply Depletion and Energy Crisis


December 07, 2006

Iraq: A New Plan?



George Dubya Bush's views on the war in Iraq and the world in general are being questioned at long last. The new report by the Iraq Study Group is making recommendations that have been previously rejected by President Bush and his neoconservative administration. These suggestions include the scheduled withdrawal of troops over the next year, and a complete withdrawal of all combat troops by 2008. It also recommends the opening of diplomatic talks with Iraq's neighbors in the region. Iran and Syria should be invited, by the United States, into diplomatic talks in order to seek a peaceful resolution to the Iraqi conflict.

The Iraqi government, which has been under heavy criticism for it's inability to disband the militias and neutralize the insurgency, has also been made aware of the Iraq Study Group's recommendations. Mr. Malaki's government has long called for more control over the armed forces, and seems quite content with the Study Group's vision of the immediate future.

I am posting two news reports today that support the idea that the way forward in Iraq is for the occupation troops to withdraw, and for the Iraqis to overcome their internal disputes, whether by the gun or the ballot box, for themselves. If the neighboring countries, like Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia can be drawn into a diplomatic process that includes the Iraqi and American governments then that would be a very big step in the right direction.

But will Dubya listen to, and act upon, the Iraq Study Groups recommendations? Is he willing and able to change his so-called "strategy" in Iraq? We will see. Meanwhile the war goes on..and on...and on.

New Survey Shows Iraqis Want The Troops To Leave




Iraq Study Group Calls For Withdrawal Of Troops

December 05, 2006

Hercubush

The news today is that Prime Minister Blair is arranging a meeting with President Bush aimed at developing a policy that will allow the pulling out of British and American troops from Iraq over the next year...or so.

Meanwhile, if the occupation forces do pull out, and the sectarian violence increases afterwards, the Iranians and the Saudis are each planning to support their respective factions with money and weapons. And the Kurds, who are pushing for their own US supported homeland out of the ashes of a failed Iraq, are being threatened by the Turks, who have a slight problem with the Kurds due to their own attempted genocide of their own Kurdish population.

In Afghanistan (remember that war?) the Taliban are entering into local treaties with villages and warlords and increasing their violent opposition to the occupation. Lacking oil as an economic foundation, the good news for the Afghans is that the poppy harvest has reached record levels and many Afghans will soon be able to buy food and medicine, and heroin prices in the West will remain low as the supply is increased.

The news on the "exporting democracy" front is that the prime examples of this enterprise, Palestine and Lebanon, are exercising their freedom by voting in their main terrorist organizations as their new governments.

But, on the lighter side, I have dug up this historical, and hysterical, video from the youtube archives. This video puts present events into a proper and historical context.



Hercubush

December 04, 2006

Diplomatic Dick: The Peacemaker?



Dick Cheney met with the Saudis a short while ago. He visited Saudi Arabia in order to get the Saudis to become more involved in sorting out ongoing and increasing problems in Iraq. He was hoping that the Saudis would be able to exert influence over the Sunni insurgents, even though Al Qaeda (a Sunni organization) is all for overthrowing the Saudi royal family and evicting the USA, both it's military and commercial interests, from that country. So the Saudis have a very fine line to tread, if they choose to do so, in Iraq.

Iran, which has also called for the overthrow of the Saudi royal house in the past, are the middle-eastern nation currently exerting the most influence in Iraq. Saudi Arabia also supported Saddam Hussein's Sunni led government in it's long and deadly war of attrition with Iran. So now Dick Cheney, knowing full well that Iran and Saudi Arabia are the two most powerful countries in the region, and are also divided by the same sectarianism that is fuelling the civil war in Iraq, has decided that the best way to diffuse the Iraqi situation is to pit these two regional superpowers against each other.

Last week a report by a Saudi diplomat hinted that Saudi Arabia would support the Sunni minority in Iraq with funding and weaponry should the sectarian war escalate. The Saudi government quickly offered a denial, but the warning to Iran was quite clear.

It is all a bit confusing. The USA is leaning towards the Shiite majority in it's efforts to effect a peaceful settlement of the conflict. But Iran, the Shiite superpower in the region, which is developing diplomatic ties with the Iraqi government, and supports the shiite militias, is considered to be interfering with the internal affairs of a sovereign nation by the American government. This is the American government that led an invasion, in violation of international law, of that same sovereign nation in order to effect a regime change. The Sunni insurgency, including Al Qaeda, which supports neither the Shiite majority led Iraqi government nor the American occupation forces, is now being told they can expect help and support from the Saudis. The Saudis, busy pumping oil and managing their investments, have kept themselves, until now, out of becoming involved in the Iraqi situation. But, now that Dick Cheney has gone and played diplomat, they seem to have dealt themselves a hand in a deadly game that could well see the whole, oil rich, region descend into sectarian chaos.

And the war goes on..and on...and on.

December 03, 2006

Powers of Ten

Charles and Ray sames

December 02, 2006

The End of Suburbia

I, along with many others, have determined that the real motivation for the war in Iraq was the supply of oil. Unlike Afghanistan, which harbored and encouraged the formation and growth of Al Qaeda and therefore was partly responsible for the attacks of 9/11, Iraq had no discernible ties to the terrorist threat. But, armed with false intelligence and neo-conservative logic, the Bush administration pushed forward with it's own agenda of securing the Iraqi oil fields and putting in place a government that would comply with the long term strategic plans of the United States.

The supply of oil is paramount to the long term interests of the USA. President Bush, like many of his cabinet colleagues, comes from a oil business background. All of these people are very much aware that the oil supply is not only essential to economic growth, it is essential to the way of life that most people in the West take for granted. But it is a way of life that is fast going to become history no matter what they do. The supply of oil will soon not be able to meet the demands that our way of life calls for. Securing the Iraqi oil fields, or all the worlds oil fields, will amount to nothing more than a temporary fix to an insurmountable problem.

At the moment I am reading a book by James Howard Kunstler called The Long Emergency. The following video is from another of his books called The End Of Suburbia. It is quite long, about 52 minutes, but it is well worth taking the time to watch. The way of life that we have all become accustomed to will soon be facing crisis. In fact, it is already there. How we face that crisis, the inevitible shortage of oil with all it's ramifications, will determine our future.

I have a friend, in the American midwest, who has an old house with a woodburning stove, 20 acres of farmland, geese, ducks, turkeys, fish, and more than a few firearms. I believe that he, without really thinking about it, will be among those who will survive the coming changes with little trouble.

This cultural change, and the crisis that stimulates it, is already upon us. My advice: Start planting vegetable gardens and buy a horse and wagon....soon.

The End of Suburbia: 52 Minute Documentary on Oil

December 01, 2006

The Secret War: All About Oil

The video I am posting today is from a 1987 PBS broadcast that addresses the use of the CIA and other such secret agencies by administrations in order to further America's interests. One of the examples given in this broadcast is the toppling of a freely elected Iranian prime minister, and his government, by the covert actions of the CIA. The American government, with the help of the British as usual, replaced the democratic government of Iran with the Shah. This was done to insure the ownership of the Iranian oil fields by these two western industrial giants.

It is highly ironic that the present US administration is accusing the Iranians of interfering in the internal politics of the Iraqi state in order to further their own political interests. This is a prime example of the pot calling the kettle black.

Just as oil was the prime motivation behind the overthrow of the Iranian government in 1953, it is also the prime motivation behind the overthrow of Saddam Hussein fifty years later. The industrialized nations of the world depend on oil for their survival and growth. The problem is that oil is fast reaching peak production. Soon, perhaps twenty years or less, the world's oil production will begin to fall far short of consumption. There will be severe repercussions for the industrial economies. Control of oil supply determines the national interests of those nations that are industrialized, and those nations that aspire to industrialization. New industrial economies, like China and India, will enter into fierce competition with the older established industrial giants for their share of what remains of the worlds fossil fuels.

So this war in Iraq, while not the first war over oil, is far from being the last. When governments start describing national interests in terms of promoting democracy and freedom in the developing world, read between the lines. It is, and will be for the foreseeable future, all about oil.