Energy News

Abu Dhabi Building New Renewable Energy City

May 10, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

A reader kindly sent me a story about the latest MIT/Abu Dhabi project to build an entire city that runs on only renewable resources. My parents went to the Arabian countries during the late 1960's and until the late '70's to help start up SOLARAS, the Solar Energy Research center there. This was because they persuaded the kings of Saudi Arabia to prepare for the future and to beware of the Hubbert Oil Peak. So now this sort of work is rapidly expanding with the foundation of this new, research city. The US should be doing this at home except there is still too little interest. We will also visit a Greenpeace model community in England.

From a 1981 Aramco newsletter:

The utilization of solar energy in Saudi Arabia began in 1 960 when a French company installed a Photovoltaic powered beacon at a small airport. The research activities commenced with small scale university projects during 1969. The first large solar project was the construction of the world's largest solar heating system for a school in the late seventies. The systematized work in solar energy research and development was not genuinely inaugurated until King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST) was established in 1977.
*snip*
One program, that is called SOLERAS (Solar Energy Research-American/Saudi), addressed solar energy technological and economical related issues. SOLERAS was established in 1975 and concluded in 1997. A second program started as of 1 989 with DOE (Department of Energy in the United States), addresses in addition to solar energy R&D, the other technologies of renewable energy.

My parents got involved in persuading the Arab rulers who were sitting on the biggest oil reserves on earth, to go into renewable energy research. This, when the Arabs were first seeing the benefits of higher oil prices and greater oil production. The various programs that were launched have had a checkered history due to lack of genuine fear on the part of the oil kingdoms concerning their future. But now that they a finally seeing their own Hubbert Oil Peak right before their own eyes, the interest in setting up a better system is growing more urgent by the day. When my parents came to Saudi Arabia, most of the people there lived in rather primitive conditions. For example, once there was a big rain storm and millions of bugs came pouring into the apartments where my mother was staying, covering all the walls with creepy-crawlies.

Today, the cities in Arabia are some of the most sophisticated on earth. But as King Faisal said about living in tents in the desert, moving into cities and eventually returning to the camels and the tents, the bounty from the oil profits can be fleeting. As with the high oil prices in the seventies and eighties, all this nearly vanished in the 1990's and Saudi Arabia nearly went bankrupt. Overspending on silly things while making zero preparations for the loss of oil profits, the entire enterprise nearly went under. This is why there is a lot of nervousness over there today. They know the profits can vanish along with the savings and investments. The US has tried to spook Saudi Arabia into supporting extravagant oil consumption over here in order to save their investments in our businesses and properties. But they are obviously going to just cut their losses.

The urgency to develop a sustainable energy community is growing rapidly in the Middle East. Incidentally, another country that made it very clear they were interested in developing sustainable energy systems back in the seventies was China. My parents went there to work on similar projects which are still very much ongoing today. Only here, in America, was their message about the Hubbert Oil Peak and sustainable energy rejected by the government and incidentally, with the election of Reagan, the US voters.

Even today, I see very little movement towards programs that will retrofit our nation for a sustainable energy future! McCain and Clinton both want to make gasoline, the poison that is killing us, cheaper! By cutting taxes that keep our infrastructure from collapsing. And Obama has said little about any of this. All, very sad. Today, I think we should visit the Masdar Initiative project being launched by Abu Dhabi as well as some other, similar energy projects in Europe and Israel.

Building the Zero-Emissions City
A city being built in Abu Dhabi will serve as a large-scale test for renewable energy.

Last week, in the harsh desert climate of Abu Dhabi, construction started on a city that will house 50,000 people and 1,500 businesses but use extremely little energy, and what it does use will come from renewable sources. The initial building is a new research institute that the founders hope will be the seed for the equivalent of a Silicon Valley of the Middle East, only one centered not on information technology but on renewable energy.

The city, which is expected to cost $22 billion, will implement an array of technologies, including thin-film solar panels that serve as the facades and roofing materials for buildings, ubiquitous sensors for monitoring energy use, and driverless vehicles powered by batteries that make cars unnecessary. Indeed, the city's founders hope that it will serve as a test bed for a myriad of new technologies being proposed to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions.

The new zero-emissions city, which is being built near the city of Abu Dhabi in the center of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is part of the Masdar Initiative, a $15 billion government-funded investment program designed in part to ensure that the UAE's prosperity won't be linked exclusively to its oil. Its leaders say that the project will give the country a leadership position in renewable energy. If it's successful, says Sultan al Jaber, Masdar's CEO, "we'll be sitting on top of the world."

Here are two pictures of what this 'city' will look like:

This proposal has some very nice things only from what I see, they are not going far enough! The project very strongly reminds me of the L-5 Society plans I worked on so many decades ago!

I was involved in many of the debates about the structure of the early L5 proposals. The illustration above was what I called 'suburban space colonies' in that it looked an awful lot like Phoenix, Arizona or Houston, Texas. Surprise, surprise. It was, of course, financially impossible because it was a poor use of materials versus habitat use. Some of us argued that 90% of the habitat space would have to be used for food production facilities. Namely, farming. I even joked that the best space colonists would be Amish farmers! Then we had to figure out how to get them out to a space colony and decided to pretend they were being kidnapped by aliens. Heh.

But seriously, the proposals for the model city here leaves me cold due to a lack of greenery. The oxygen/humidity/psychological benefits should be obvious. Plants filter pollution and these places have indoor pollution up the yin yang. Also, the Garden of Eden aspect should not be ignored. I keep two small trees and a number of bushes and potted plants indoors in winter here for these reasons. Who wants to live in what looks like a mall with a food court? The other thing that bothers me in general about Abu Dhabi is the mania for tower building. Towers are not energy efficient buildings. They are grandiose expressions of human hubris. The energy consumption of elevator use not to mention the maitenance problems of big towers is not sufficiently appreciated. True, the Empire State Building has endured a long, long time. Even being hit by a plane. But it is much smaller in floor space than post-WWII towers and has a much, much higher ratio of solid masonry material per square foot.

But the systems being set up in Abu Dhabi's experimental city is very similar to the L-5 Space Colony proposals. For human waste, water use, cooling and heating systems are all going to be bio and energy sustainable. And this is a good concept which all cities should have. Indeed, I proposed long ago, we should move all our manufacturing and cities to space and turn the planet earth back into the Garden of Eden for evolution and living things to recolonize it and continue their amazing evolutionary history! It would also remove us from the grave dangers of weather, earthquake and volcanic hazards. Not to mention bigger events like ice ages, for example. Then the earth could be a vacation spot to feel the force of gravity and enjoy viewing the wonders of nature, etc. Sigh.

The Masdar Institute

is a non-profit, independent entity established with the assistance of the world- renowned Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under a cooperative agreement signed in December 2006. MIT is assisting the Masdar Institute to emulate its own standards of excellence in Abu Dhabi, and to become a regional engine for technology-driven growth by combining local cutting-edge research with high-caliber graduate education.

The Masdar Institute offers Masters and PhD programs in Science and Engineering disciplines designed to attract top-level talent from local and international universities. Masdar Institute students and researchers will experience uniquely-rewarding opportunities in the region's emerging sustainable energy and technology industries, through continual interaction with top academics and campus-based industry experts. Combined with solid scientific training, such experience will ensure that Masdar Institute graduates are in high demand, both regionally and internationally.

MIT is very near where I live, about 1 1/2 hours away. I hope some time to visit their offices and learn more. We should be grateful that the Arabs have chosen this joint venture and perhaps we will gain something from all this. The belief that the present set up we enjoy in America will be our future lifestyle is impossible. So we should start thinking hard, what will we replace it with? I suggested years ago that most suburbs without train service will be turned into scavenger zones and habitat for bears and wild birds in 50 years or less. When we travel about the Midwest, we can see abandoned Victorian farm houses left over from the days when it took an army of people to farm. As modern equipment took over human and horse labor, the percentage of farm labor in the population collapsed from over 60% to under 6%. So it is with our suburbs: they will be just as abandoned.

I once owned a very lovely Victorian mansion. It was very expensive to maintain and to run. The energy use, in particular, was great. So it is with our cultural system of suburban housing. I like the idea, in the Abu Dhabi city, of electric cars, hopefully able to run on a maglev system, picking up people. Instead of the constant headache of owning a car, one can travel in comfort while not worrying about dealing with break downs, insurance, etc. I know many humans love cars as extensions of their egos but that is childish and would be rather silly in the future, I would hope.

There are other, better ways to 'strut your stuff.'

A blueprint for no carbon footprint

MIT will maintain a close association with the Masdar Institute, whose faculty will spend a year here before beginning their teaching there. But the involvement with the creation of the new city and campus is more limited.

Some of the initial ideas for the zero-energy plan came from the MIT collaboration, says Leon Glicksman, professor of building technology and mechanical engineering and director of MIT's Building Technology Program. "We did work with them when they were evaluating proposals for the architecture," he says, but now "they're on a really fast track for construction," so the British architectural firm, Foster + Partners, which did the principal design work, is taking the lead.

Once the project is built, MIT will have an ongoing role in monitoring the actual energy performance of the city, Glicksman says. And that could provide an extraordinary opportunity for students to learn about the potential for such large-scale integrated approaches to innovative energy production and use.

Years and years ago, in the Ice Ages, when MIT was being built [heh] I went to an L-5 meeting there. The new building we met in was in the cement Architecture Brutality style monstrosity which was supposed to be 'modernism' at that time. Moving beyond the Bauhaus Box style, these things looked like cement pill boxes from WWII. I decided to liven it up and drew a unicorn on the wall with a pen. It still didn't fix the psychological depressed state of the building. So I hope the people advising the Abu Dhabi project are not detached from the historic ideal for a place where humans should live: the Hanging Gardens of Babylonia. One of the Seven Wonders of the World according to the ancient Greeks.

Here is an old article from back when the US and others were very worried about energy, from the Jimmy Carter era:

A Solar Pond

A "solar pond" is an attempt to solve one of the more difficult problems associated with solar energy: how to collect it. Though sunshine falls on the peninsula in massive quantities, no one has yet perfected a way of conserving it efficiently, and the Research Institute hopes that what they call a "salt gradient" solar pond, may provide a solution.

Essentially, a solar pond is, in the words of the solar program's acting director Bruce Nimmo, "just water, salt, a hole and a liner." The hole is scooped out of "sabkhas," the salt flats which abound the eastern coastal region of Saudi Arabia, then lined with plastic and filled with salt water, found, usually just below the surface.

What happens then, however, isn't at all as simple. Based on certain principles concerning the loss of heat from liquids and gasses, the water in a solar pond gets hotter and hotter and can be stored without loss of the heat.

Normally, in ponds, lakes or seas, the water, when it is heated by the sun, loses the heat at the surface through convection - roughly defined as movement in the water caused by temperature, density and gravity factors. But if the water is heavily salted, the movement of the heated water at the bottom of the pond or lake is restricted by the high density caused by the high salinity. As a result, the convection principle - i.e. the loss of heat at the surface caused by movement - no longer operates effectively; to the contrary, the water in the bottom half of the pond gets hotter and hotter; in the solar pond temperatures can go as high as 212 degrees F, enough to boil an egg or, more practically, provide hot water for dishwashers, showers, and washing machines in homes.
*snip*
So far, the institute's modest experiments - with a prototype pond built at the institute's solar lab last fall - have been successful; a meter and a half deep (five feet) and saturated with salt in its bottom half, the pond, built above ground, registered a temperature of 129 degrees F in its "lower convecting zone" or salt-saturated region just two weeks after start-up. In sufficient volume, water at that temperature could be pumped out of the pond's lower half and piped to homes and buildings for heat, or to factories, for such industrial purposes as washing bottles in a bottling plant.

The Research Institute, however, has more ambitious goals. Its scientists want to use solar ponds to generate electricity - by heating water to about 200 degrees F in the pond - pumping it out and transferring the heat in the water to a fluid with a lower boiling temperature (a Freon, for example) which, as it vaporizes, could drive a turbine.

From a 1980 publication: ISRAEL'S 150-KW SOLAR POND

One of the most impressive sights of the entire excursion was a small power-generating station located at the southern end of the Dead Sea. . . where a considerable amount of electricity is being produced, using solar energy. You might well assume that the plant operates on photo-voltaic's, but—if that's what you're thinking—you'll have to guess again. The new power-generating facilities are solar ponds. . . inexpensive, often naturally occurring phenomena that may just hold the secret to a safe and reliable, middle-technology form of energy production!

Needless to say, MOTHER is very interested in any power system that delivers a lot for a little. So—in addition to reporting on what we saw in Israel—we fully intend to research, first hand, the possibility of scaling down both the size and technology of the operation . . . in order to put it on the "little guy's" level, and maybe open up a whole new world of energy independence for us all!

The Israelis were, from the very beginning, interested in developing alternative energy systems. But unlike the Abu Dhabi or Saudis, they couldn't simply fund it themselves. Hand out time, as usual. But the system of using very salty water which they had in a great quantity via the Dead Sea, as an energy boosting system is smart. Certainly, this can be set up in much of the equatorial countries not to mention Australia. The hopes of this system seem to not have been as great as we wanted back then. But the technology continues to evolve.

Solar ponds today:

The energy obtained is in the form of low grade heat of 70 to 80 °C compared to a 20 °C ambient temperature, which has an upper Carnot-cycle extractable efficiency of 1-(273.15+20)/(273.15+80)=15%. By comparison a solar concentrator system with molten salt delivering high grade heat at 800 °C would be able to convert 73% of absorbed solar heat into useful work, and be forced to divest only 27% as waste heat to the cold temperature reservoir (ambient air).

Further research is aimed at addressing the problems, such as the development of membrane ponds. These use a thin permeable membrane to separate the layers without allowing salt to pass through.

Usually, these sorts of systems don't take off unless there is tremendous urgency. I recall the seventies: the reason the alternative energy proposals as well as the L-5 Society took off back then was due to stark fear. It wasn't the inflation or the high prices, it was the RATIONING of energy that got people hopping. Since 1980, there has ben zero rationing. Even as people get increasingly hysterical about pricing, there are still no lines unless a gas station wants publicity and drops prices a few pennies. Then, people rush over and stand in line for an hour for a $2 savings. Pathetic, isn't it? Even in the ration years, I didn't bother to stand in any gas lines. I considered it a waste of precious time.

Right now, I see people wanting things to simply be cheaper. I see now realization that this is yet another shot across our prow and we better get working on changing all our systems! Mr. Kunstler does go about the nation, lecturing on all this. But this preaching to the choir. It has not penetrated much further. We can only pray that the US public wakes up before it is too late.

Here is a Greenpeace-sponsored energy efficient community in England:

Bedzed is a 100 home eco-village in South London which uses state of the art energy efficiency techniques to create a 'zero emission' community.

In the end, it is all about comfort. Before I was born, nearly no one lived with air conditioning. And central heating was a city thing and certainly not universal. In Pasadena, my god mother and my grandfather both used these gas heaters that were very ancient that heated up only the room they were in. I loved watching the blue/yellow flames warm up the ceramic grille until it would glow a bright red! But it was very simple. My own Victorian house in Tucson was heated the same way in the sixties. The addiction to 'comfort' is tremendous and totally modern. Just 2 generations ago, it barely existed even for kings and queens. The drafty palaces of the royals are still very drafty today!

And here are some other energy systems that are interesting:

Schmack BioEnergy (SBE) is an anaerobic digestion company located in Cleveland, OH. SBE is partnered with Schmack Biogas, the leading German anaerobic digestion technology with over 250 plants in operation. Schmack BioEnergy's first plant in the United States is in Akron, OH processing 5,000 dry tons/year of municpal biosolids

If we wish to cling to the comforts and joys of modern life as it has developed in only the last 50 years and for only the top 20% of humanity, we have to make some sacrifices today. Are we willing to do this? History shakes her snake-like locks and smiles.

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Embargo On Iran Rapidly Killing US Economy

Congress has declared today, 'Train Day'. Wish they would spend some money rebuilding our crummy rail systems!

May 10, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

As the cruel US embargo on Iran tightens more and more the entire planet is seeing the price of oil shoot upwards faster and faster. Too stupid to figure out the obvious, the leaders of the G7 nations run about in circle screaming about how all this is the fault of speculators. Then the central banks hand out a trillion in lending to these same speculators! On top of this, Iran is now refusing to accept dollars for oil at all anymore. The dollar's bizarre problems are very much attached to the business of the Iran embargo the US is imposing on behalf of Israel. As chaos broils out of Lebanon, the US is tightening these same screws yet some more, blaming Iran for all this. And in the end, it is a race to see who will destroy the global economy first: Iran or the US. I am betting Iran will win this race with us, we will hit bottom before them.

Paulson, Trichet Signal Welcome at Dollar's Recovery Since G-7

U.S. and European officials signaled satisfaction that the dollar is stabilizing after Group of Seven policy makers expressed concern a month ago about its decline.

The dollar has advanced 3.4 percent from its record low of $1.6019 per euro on April 22, and is up 2.1 percent since the G-7 central bankers and finance ministers met in Washington April 11.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said May 8 he ``would be happy'' if traders take account of Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson's admonitions that the U.S. wants a ``strong'' dollar. A Treasury official said on condition of anonymity yesterday that the G-7's statement was aimed at getting investors to look past short-term U.S. financial-market turmoil.

``They've got to be quite happy as things are moving in their favor now,'' said David Gilmore, a partner at Foreign Exchange Analytics in Essex, Connecticut. ``There's a sense the market is finally getting the message of the G-7.''

While the dollar's drop helps spur U.S. exports, it has also fueled a record commodity-price surge that is hammering consumers. The G-7 last month warned against ``sharp fluctuations in major currencies'' that could have ``implications for economic and financial stability.''

As if global traders listen to anyone! Or rather, we must understand that they ARE the G7 itself. Namely, the rulers of the rulers are these same people. The people who own the politicians are these people! Or are directly the politicians like Mitt Romney, for example. Goldman Sachs openly runs the US, just for example. So when various members of the US imperial alliance chatted with each other, they collectively decided to artificially up the value of the dollar in spite of a huge trade and even much bigger budget deficit in the US as well as rapid deterioration in the US economy, this is a CONSPIRACY. And boy, are they proud of it!

Of course, this makes hash of the entire concept of 'Let's drop the value of the dollar to fix our trade deficit', doesn't it? But as I have pointed out many years ago, a weak dollar=higher energy prices. This is the inescapable trap, the dread Horns of Dilemma I refer to frequently. When one is destroying a system, the sign that it is entering its final stages of destruction is, all choices are evil, all alternatives are destructive. There is no escape.

It is hysterically funny that the same day the G7 goof balls are boasting about this scheme, the world price of oil rises to a new record. No longer are they saying, 'Compared to last time we didn't buy Iran's oil, if you include the rate of inflation, oil is still cheaper than in 1982'. Now it is not cheaper at all. And note that just like back then, the price of oil is high due to Iran being unable to sell oil to the G7 consortium! Duh! Since this happened in the past and we saw what it did to the US economy, why are we doing this a second time?

The cost of all this is horrific for the US consumers and industries. The delivery service industry, for example, is plummeting towards bankruptcy. Truck drivers are being driven out of business. Airlines are going bankrupt and crashing to the earth! The entire US 'tax rebate' that was supposed to induce consumer spending will be sucked down this black hole. One would imagine our media and our politicians would say, 'We are seeing tremendous oil inflation EXACTLY LIKE DURING THE IRAN/IRAQ WAR in the 1980's because we are repeating what happened back then!' The solution is obvious.

And totally invisible. The problem last time was fixed by higher interest rates in the US and the Iran/Iraq war ending! Duh! Yet here we are, at war in Iraq, Iran being attacked and the stupid embargo designed to beggar and weaken Iran means there is a huge reduction in oil suppliers and the remaining suppliers get to hike prices! What a shock. Just like before. And since I love history and look to see repeats, here it is! We want war with Iran, we get monumental price hikes in oil.

FUEL PRICES: WORSE TO COME

The Victorian Transport Association (VTA) has spoken out about the rising fuel prices and the impact this is having on transport companies.

VTA CEO, Philip Lovel said: “The transport industry is carrying the burden of these fuel prices and we need to ensure that transport operators are sharing this burden with their customers, or they will not survive.”

World oil reached a new record price above 120 US dollars a barrel on Tuesday as concerns over the United States economy continue. Oil prices on both sides of the Atlantic have nearly doubled in a year and have continued to soar since the benchmark New York contract broke through the 100 US dollar mark at the start of the year.

Philip Lovel said that the only positive is that the Australian Dollar is at record levels, and if it ever drops below 90 cents to US dollar we are all in trouble!

Supply jitters in Nigeria and geopolitical tension over Iran have added to the price surge. Nigeria has lost about half its oil output amid a strike and rebel attacks. A group of Nigerian militants attacked an oil ship off the coast of West Africa.

Problems continue in Iran, which said on Monday it would reject any offer that violates its right to the full nuclear fuel cycle after world powers said they had prepared a new package to end a long-running standoff over its nuclear programme. Oil players fear the ongoing tension could result in Iran using oil as a bargaining chip. Iran is the second-largest producer in the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) cartel.

Our Aussie friends are so lucky. Their own media will actually explain why prices are so high! We, in the benighted US, nearly NEVER hear a peep about the fact that Iran is OPEC's #2 oil producer and sits on one of the world's biggest untapped reserves. We are absolutely certain the US military, the G7 creeps who are boasting about raising the value of the dollar and our rulers are hyper-aware of this information. They just don't want to share it with the poor US peasantry who are deliberately being driven to madcap wars with the promise of cheap Iranian and Iraqi oil once we smash the peasants over there. The war drum beating continues and rises. While the finger pointing in this business is just as loud and misleading as well as cruel.

Refusing to explain all this is very important. They cannot have the US public realize we are paying a WAR TAX via oil and that this tax is now over 15% of our incomes and rising and NONE of this is flowing to our government, it is all flowing to private individuals, kings, dictators and overlords of the ruling elites! And our military costs are borne by ourselves, on top of all this craziness. The kings, despots and ruling elites demanded a stronger dollar last week and got it. But this won't help us since they also raised the price of oil even as the dollar supposedly grew stronger.

And this is due to this war for Iran's oil. Iran knows that if they drag out this struggle, the US will go bankrupt. So they play along. Note how, every time it looks like the embargo is relaxing, Iran's leaders say something about Israel and it is renewed. I believe this is a strategic policy which the government of Iran is deliberately using. It is a brilliant strategic tool and will be studied by future historians as a prime example as to how a very small, militarily weak nation can destroy a huge empire and all of its allies! Wow.

Oil Costs To Offset Stimulus Package---Fuel Costs Dash FedEx Forecast By $100 Million

On the eve of President Bush's visit to Saudi Arabia, crude oil prices set a record for the fifth day in a row yesterday, eating into tax rebates being mailed to U.S. households and prompting FedEx to slash its quarterly earnings forecast by $100 million because of rising fuel costs.

Since Congress and Bush unveiled an economic stimulus package Jan. 24, the price of the OPEC basket of crude oil has jumped by $32.51 a barrel, raising the cost of U.S. oil imports enough to offset the entire stimulus package over the course of the year.

When this stupid stimulus package was announced, some of the bears online mocked it and said this would happen. I am proud that I was one of these bears. People who can predict the future and make accurate forecasts should be in the news a lot. We have the internet now and can look backwards through people's writings to see who is the most accurate. I am one of the most accurate of all when it comes to forward-predictions. But few mainstream media want accuracy or foreknowledge. They want fantasy and then hope reality conforms to their desires.

$33 a barrel rise since January is huge. And is continuing since Iran said something about Israel last week. I bet they have a chart at their headquarters that tracks how long it takes for the US to react to these pokes in the eye. One week? Two? Then the Iranians track the rise in oil prices and then plot forwards, when to say something again. This is why there is no escalation of rhetoric, just occasional pronouncements. Today, poor Obama had to trot before the cameras to denounce Iran and state that we will have a knee-jerk response if Iran says anything about Israel. This is cart blanche for more fun for Iran. Poke-poke-poke. There is no escape for us. The media wants us to do this reflexively because it is a Zionist entity. And Iran knows this and uses it to their advantage.

Most people who don't see this think Iran is desperate to stop this business. Why, they should want to work with the US and let us run things over there like we do in Iraq! Heh. What an example. Lebanon is blowing up again as the US and Israel tried yet another coup against Hezbollah. Hezbollah retaliated and war is raging again there. The Palestinians are still refusing to roll up and die for the Jews in the Holy Land and Saudi Arabia is growing fat and happy on the oil business thanks to Iran so they alternate between sneaky embracing of Iran and then egging the US into attacking Iran's oil industries. And they are abandoning their investments in the US this week. This is why Citibank announced they will drop half a trillion in assets and sell them all in a saturated market where they will lose a lot of value but so what? The Arabs who have the biggest stake in Citibank are jumping out of a sinking US ship!

Up until this spring, they were as anxious as the Japanese to keep the US economy afloat. They even pumped more oil to keep prices down. But the dynamics have changed since then. I suspect the Arab oil kings will shift to China for investment opportunities. This is a double plus. China is not pro-Zionist expansions. And the Arabs have no desire to chop China into small pieces. So a prediction: the oil nations in the Middle East will cease supporting the US economy bit by bit as they exit our banking system. This will make the banking collapse here worse. And if we keep this stupid embargo on Iran going, we will go bankrupt in less than 10 years.

Suspend deliveries to U.S. oil reserve, lawmakers say

With fuel costs becoming a crucial election-year issue, members of both parties -- separately -- pitched their ideas Wednesday for bringing down prices.

Democrats called for a windfall profits tax on oil companies, rolling back tax breaks for the industry and new protections against price-gouging, while Republicans urged increased exploration for new domestic oil sources. About the only proposal their plans had in common was to stop the delivery of 70,000 barrels of oil a day for the emergency stockpile.

President Bush has resisted suspending deliveries, contending it would weaken the nation's defenses against an interruption in the flow of foreign oil. The reserve, set up after the 1973 Arab oil embargo, holds about 700 million barrels in salt caverns along the Gulf Coast.

Bush also has asserted that halting deliveries would do little to bring oil prices down. After all, 70,000 barrels represents a small fraction of the 20 million the nation uses every day.

HAHAHA. During all this price hike business, the US government has been buying oil in other nations and pumping it right back into the ground again so we have some oil for WWIII or if we go bankrupt! And Congress knows this. But they see the writing on the wall: if oil prices go up and up this summer and neither the pro-Zionist Republicans or the pro-super-Zionist Democrats do absolutely nothing, the public will rightfully blow up! Peasants storming the palaces while carrying flaming torches is the nightmare of all rulers. Since we live in a land saturated with misinformation and crazy conspiracy believers, the explosion will install someone totally nuts like Hitler. This is why I hate misinformation.

It is important to understand that we cannot prevent the Iranians, a country invaded repeatedly in the last 100 years, from using nukes to defend themselves. We must understand that our diplomacy is directly responsible for high oil prices and the only way to reduce prices is for us to reduce tensions vis a vis Iran. This means surrendering to Iran. But the alternative is suicide. The US rulers will say to the screaming mob, 'It is the FAULT of the Iranians, let's nuke them!' And off run the crazed mob to do that terrible thing and we have WWIII. I make predictions. And the one thing that ties all things together here is the future world war which will be inevitable if we follow the present path. The only way to evade this war is to not support ethnic cleansing anywhere on earth [we can't stop it but we shouldn't pay for it or protect people doing it] and for us to retool America to use much, much less oil. A war won't fix that.

This is why the reserve is being filled. So our rulers can have WWIII. This is why I want it STOPPED. These reserves are a provocation and a danger to us all. If we don't have them, we won't be tempted to do this war with Iran that will launch WWIII. WWII, after all, did not start with the German invasion of Poland! It began in 1930.

US Energy Department:

Iran is a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and ranks amongst the world’s top three holders of proven oil and natural gas reserves. Iran is OPEC’s second-largest exporter after Saudi Arabia, and is the fourth-largest exporter of crude oil globally after Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Norway. Natural gas accounts for half of Iran’s total domestic energy consumption, while the remaining half is predominately oil consumption. The continued exploration and production of the offshore South Pars natural gas field in the Persian Gulf is a key part of in Iran’s energy sector development plan.

Iran is OPEC’s second-largest producer after Saudi Arabia. In 2006, Iran produced an estimated 4.2 million barrels per day (bbl/d) of total liquids, of which 3.8 million bbl/d was crude oil, equal to 5 percent of global production.

I am including this government analysis to show clearly that our brainiacs in DC know perfectly well, what Iran means to global oil markets. If we had political leaders who gave two pisses for the voters, we would see them talk about the futility of our embargo and how it is directly responsible for high prices. But then, the Cone of Silence would slam down on any politician doing this and we would hear nothing. Do we see Ron Paul in the news? No? Gore managed to break through the Cone of Silence but he did this by not talking about these things. It is OK to talk about Global Warming but NOT about Iran and how we are responsible for high global oil prices thanks to our desire to destroy Iran.

The US government:

Iran produced 6 million bbl/d of crude oil in 1974, but has been unable to produce at that level since the 1979 revolution due to a combination of war, limited investment, sanctions, and a high rate of natural decline in Iran’s mature oil fields. Iran’s oil fields need structural upgrades including enhanced oil recovery (EOR) efforts such as natural gas injection. Iran’s fields have a natural annual decline rate estimated at 8 percent onshore and 10 percent offshore, while current Iranian recovery rates are 24-27 percent, 10 percent less than the world average. It is estimated that 400,000-500,000 bbl/d of crude production is lost annually due to reservoir damage and decreases in existing oil deposits.

The government report makes it clear that Iran's oil is being boycotted. This week, Saudi Arabia said they can't increase production since the extra oil per day is oil hard to refine anyway. Also, note the Hubbert Oil Peak information in the above paragraph. Yes, there is still oil in the ground. But it will always be somewhat less than present oil being pumped. As new wells are exploited, old ones slowly die. Remember, the Hubbert Oil Peak is when there is maximum production and half of the oil has been already pumped out of the ground! Pretty simple. 100% of the oil hasn't been pumped. 50% has. And Iran can have a huge effect on global markets. A 5% decrease in world oil markets due to the US/Israel embargo on Iran means prices can DOUBLE. It doesn't take much, in a tight market, to make prices double and triple. Slight shortages can equal huge price hikes as people bid for the restricted commodities.

This is one reason why all housing bubbles burst no matter what. Eventually, builders surpass supply. All they need to do is build 5% more housing than there are potential buyers and the bubble pops. Nothing ever runs up to infinity forever.

From 2003: Americans stymie Japan-Iran oil deal

Japan and Iran have missed a deadline to sign off on an important US$2 billion oil deal after two years of negotiations, apparently in the face of American pressure over Iran's nuclear ambitions. Given the importance of the American market for Japan's troubled economy and its reliance on Washington for security, Tokyo may condition its signing the contract on Tehran's satisfying the American demand on its joining the additional protocol to the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968 or a similar agreement.

Japan appears willing ultimately to sign the contract for the development of part of Iran's largest oilfield, Azadegan, located in its oil-rich Khuzestan Province. Tokyo sees it as a vital source of long-term energy supplies for its economy, which is heavily dependent on imported oil. Accessing the oilfield is especially important for the Japanese, who about two years ago lost their rights to extract oil from Saudi Arabia's Kafji zone. According to available estimates, the Azadegan oilfield contains 6 billion barrels of crude.

I am including this 5 year old article to show how the US has worked very hard to cause the present market meltdown. The US used all its diplomatic and economic powers to force Japan to boycott Iran. Japan buys oil from Iran despite US efforts but they did restrict this. To their rising fury. Japan's trade with the US has not been growing the last 10 years. It has stayed even while China, Canada and Mexico's trade has surged far past Japan's trade with the US. But the profits of this trade are still huge for Japan so they yield to us for now. But if we stop buying Toyotas, it will vanish. Already, they are forging much stronger diplomatic ties with Russia and China!

Fukuda, Hu promote 'strategic' interests

During a joint news conference after the signing ceremony, the two leaders indicated that major progress had been made on the sensitive issue of joint development of gas fields in the East China Sea.

"We were in agreement that an early agreement should be reached after hammering out the details," Fukuda said.

Hu added, "The total picture for resolution of the issue has come into view. We agreed to accelerate the discussions in order to reach an agreement as soon as possible."

I predicted last year that China and Japan would resolve this issue between themselves without either of them using the US as intermediary just like the US flubbed the negotiations with North Korea and handed them off to the Chinese who were delighted to take over the negotiations and bring them to a successful conclusion. I expect Hu to sign a treaty with Japan that will insure both nation's energy futures. And this is yet another step down the diplomatic ladder for the US which is focused solely on protecting Jewish ethnic cleansing.

Asahi Shimbun:

Hu touched upon the recent start of discussions between Beijing and representatives of the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibetan Buddhism.

"A major door will be kept open through dialogue," Hu said. "We are opposed to activities that lead to the breakup of our country as well as any action to destroy or interfere with the Beijing Olympics. We will continue the dialogue."

Fukuda asked that discussions continue, saying, "It is a fact that voices of concern are spreading in the international community."

I am including this to illustrate how China is very pissed off about the lunge at Chinese sovereignty and how this is a prime motivating factor in all negotiations. Note how Fukuda is backing China on this while not being loud about it. Triangulation time!

Japan set to open up defense use of space

Japan cleared the way for a law allowing non-aggressive military use of space on Friday, overturning a decades-old policy of limiting space development to peaceful uses.

The move comes during a visit by Chinese President Hu Jintao aimed at warming long-fraught bilateral ties.

A lower house committee approved the bill, which is to be submitted to a full session of parliament in the next few weeks, a ruling Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker's secretary said.

China alarmed the world in January 2007 by using a missile to shoot down one of its own disused satellites, demonstrating its burgeoning prowess in space and military hardware.

Pacifist Japan's space scientists complain that separation of space development from the military under a policy maintained since 1969 is one reason why its own technological progress has been slower.

And yet another step away from the US and towards Japan being on its own. Just as the Arabs are now triangulating with Russia and China, so is Japan. And like the Arabs, they know that they need to have some traction here in the form of their own military systems. Eventually, all our 'allies' will move away from us, all except for Israel who will clutch at us with increasing ferocity. The time for this is not yet at hand. But the trigger will be the US going bankrupt.

When that happens, the planetary map of power will change utterly and very swiftly. Our Pentagon brainiacs and our rulers know this. Instead of avoiding it, they seem driven to make it WORSE as fast as possible. I suspect it is due to a hope that we can fight WWIII quickly and win. And this is total delusion. There is no hope of this happening. It is already too late. But they won't admit this. They can't.

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Oil Continues To Bedevil US Mass Guzzlers

Typical high-speed accident this year on Long Island where many people love to drive their cars
May 8, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

The price of a barrel of oil has shot up to $124 a barrel. Just last year, everyone was fretting and hoping it would drop to under $50 a barrel. That was pure wishful thinking by American oil addicts. Are we still demanding a war with Iran? Yes! Are we fighting more and more in Iraq and Afghanistan? Yes! Is the dollar still being inflated by overproduction via the Federal Reserve's new lending window that doles out $50 billion at a pop? Yes! And is the rest of the planet slowing down oil purchases? Nope. So the price of oil goes up and up and up and Americans are raging at the gas pumps and McCain talks about war, war, war and Hillary wants cheap oil one way or another and will Santa Claus save us and dump oil all over us? The huge sinkhole in Texas due to pumping oil out of the earth is instructive, too. Heh.

Oil Trades Above $124 After Touching Record on Supply Concerns

Crude oil traded above $124 a barrel in New York after touching a record yesterday amid forecasts of stronger demand for distillate fuels, which included heating oil and diesel.

``There's huge diesel demand growth in Asia, which is going to keep pressure on supplies,'' said James Ritterbusch, president of Ritterbusch & Associates, in Galena, Illinois. ``Whenever there's a big rise in one energy market there's an impact on the psychology of the other markets. Also, demand for crude oil will rise as refiners boost distillate output.''

If the central banks of the G7 nations and their trade partners keep on flooding the world with 'liquidity' we will see oil prices go higher and higher. This connection is hard for most people to see since the media never talks about this. The price of gold which collapsed by 10% this spring, is once again rising, too as this flood of Funny Money™ continues or even accelerates. Everyone has seen the amazing videos of the giant sink hole where lots of oil has been pumped out of deep caverns covered with salt domes. I often joke about how people imagine the Earth is but a ball of oil and all we have to do is pump it infinitely. And I point out, the entire planet would collapse into itself if this were true. We can't pump oil forever at bigger and bigger amounts. This is physically impossible.

The desire to have oil fields fulfill our desires and if we just print more dollars and hand it to anyone who can find this Black Gold, it will flow like crazy. Alas for this fantasy! The oil costs are direct forces of inflation! For all our systems from transportation, heating and producing energy of various types, making of plastic, fertilizer production, manufacturing plastics, etc, etc: it is the fundamental basis of modern industrial society!

So oil is usually the engine used to eat up inflation. Since our bankers refuse to raise interest rates, all of this will flow into energy systems where it will be burned off one way or another. So long as we keep trying to evade responsibility for our wayward spending by simply having the central bankers make more money, energy prices will fuel overall inflation across the entire planet.

Note yet again how the 'experts' talk about 'psychology'. HAHAHA. No one can create inflation by wanting inflation! They are always trying to CATCH UP WITH OBVIOUS INFLATION. If one fails in this enterprise, one gets very poor very fast. Ask the elderly on fixed incomes! I am on a fixed income and it killing me. I can't just demand Social Security mail me more money. They don't and won't. So my psychology be damned.

More and more Americans have the answer to skyrocketing gas prices: Just steal it.

According to the Petroleum Marketers Association of America, gasoline theft is becoming a huge issue across the country. Motorists drive up, pump their gas, then speed away without paying.

It’s gotten so bad in some areas that gas stations may revert back to the old “pay-before-you-pump” rules of the 1970s.

Last year, for example, gasoline theft cost the gas industry $134 million. (Experts say it would have been a lot more, but many stations went to pay-before-you-pump rules after the post-Katrina gas-price spike.

Before you stick it to the man and rip off your gas station, know this: It’s not their fault. In fact, motorists in New York were asked how much profit they thought their gas stations were making off them filling up their tanks. One person guessed $1.25 a gallon. Another guessed $.65. The reality? Less than a dime. [CNN]

Here’s the breakdown: For every gallon of gas, 72% goes to the big gas companies (like Exxon and ConocoPhillips), 13% goes to taxes, 8% goes to refiners, and 8% is split between marketing, distribution and the gas stations.

I remember when the government allowed the big oil companies that were split apart by the government 100 years ago to reassemble themselves. All of the present oil companies in America were all Rockefeller's oil monopoly. Exxon/Mobil obviously should never have been allowed to reassemble itself as a monster entity. But then, old Ma Bell is growing, too, bit by bit. And our media is turning into a monopoly owned by only 5 men who happen to also be Zionists.

Rapid inflation turns law abiding people into criminals. Just like rapid inflation in housing turns reasonable people into scam artists and con men as they misrepresent their finances in order to get virtually free loans. All of these goofy schemes breed crime. I remember the seventies. People rioted at gas stations. Just the other day, someone in a big, fat gas guzzler got infuriated as we filled our own small gas miser and drove right up on our bumper, trapping us at the pump and began blowing his horn. I was going to summon the police but the car in front of us took off to get away from the stupid brute and we followed. This sort of ill tempered infant behavior is alas, not uncommon.

The people who got all puffed up with pride when they first bought their Big Trucks are the same characters who are livid with rage that their beloved Big Trucks are destroying their finances and even their entire lives. I have little sympathy for these people. I drove Big Trucks all my life...as farm or work equipment. Hauling building materials, farm products, equipment, etc. I never drove these to and from desk jobs or to the grocery store. The Big Truck fad morphed into the Soccer Mom fad. I have stood by a soccer field to count the number of Soccer Mom Big SUVs carrying more than two children.

The number was ZERO. None showed up for the soccer games. All had two or fewer children in them. This was an unscientific study but I bet if we did this across the nation, it would barely be above 5%. I was reading a Mad Magazine story about the gas hysteria in the mid-1970's. The cartoons talked about cars getting more than 30 mpg. Today, except for a handful of foreign cars, we get barely 30 mpg on the gas miser cars! My Geo Metros got over 55 mpg but they were unpopular because they couldn't go zoom zoom. I drove my two Geos for more than 300,000 miles between the two cars. The US is not even slightly serious about the oil problems we face.

For example, the average house in 1970 was only 1,500 sq feet. Today, it is over 2,500 square feet! Many are McMansions that are over 5,000 sq ft. The average commute has doubled in the last 20 years. In other words, we spent the last 30 years since the first warnings about the Hubbert Oil Peak and the uncertainty of oil since we can't produce enough oil domestically to keep on going, we spent these 30 years goofing off and making things literally TWICE as bad! The average SUV of the larger classes gets only 9 mpg. This is ludicrous. My big work truck I use only for hauling, a big one ton brute, gets 19 mpg. This is because the engine was built for hauling, not driving 100 mph on a highway.

Hillary Clinton visits Indianapolis Speedway

Sunday, she earned the endorsement of Sarah Fisher, the first woman to earn a pole position at an IndyCar Series event, and who is now preparing for the fabled race.

And today, Fisher, an Indianapolis native, showed Clinton -- and a trailing pack of reporters -- around her garage at the speedway as cars roared around the track at more than 200 mph.

Clinton admired Fisher's high-tech race car, -- "That is so neat," Clinton said -- before posing for photos with Fisher and her team, the first owned by a female driver.

"Making history is what it's all about," Clinton quipped.

Like McCain and Bush, Clinton wants the NASCAR voters. And the NASCAR voters want to drive gas guzzlers. And this is simply irresponsible and utterly disgusting. The US is going bankrupt due to importing much of our energy we use to zoom zoom around and live in huge, hulking houses. Most civilized nations cured this problem via taxes: energy is taxed severely so people are not tempted to up the ante and guzzle. In this election, candidates are tempting voters with the idea of ZERO TAXES! And to sweeten the deal, ZERO INTEREST LOANS! And why stop at that? Why not ZERO DOWN! Like we see in ads on TV. The fine print is interesting. Buy now and pay later at 100% compound interest in the form of slavery and economic destitution. What a charming choice.

Clinton: 'White people support me'

"I have a much broader base to build a winning coalition on," she said in an interview published Thursday. She cited an Associated Press article "that found how Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again, and how whites in both states who had not completed college were supporting me."

"There's a pattern emerging here," she said.

I just had to include this quote. Before, the racism in this election was kept in the closet with the bed sheets. Now it is in the open. It is interesting the McCain and Clinton are both courting the same gang. 'No education? Hate them n.....ers? Vote for me!' is charming, isn't it? There is a huge number of people who desperately want to cling to this 'American lifestyle' which features gas guzzling coupled with reckless spending. These people vote. They can see inflation raging around them and they hope, due I fear to lack of information, inability to see through the lies of the 5 owners of our media and due to political pandering, they can't figure out that their lifestyle is DEAD. And is being sucked into the earth like that collapsing oil reserve that got pumped dry. And the collapse of this culture will be as swift and terrible if we don't change our ways, fast.

According to Attorney General Mike Mukasey, international organized crime has decided it wants a “taste” of all that money generated by high oil prices.

Mukasey said a new Justice Department investigation found the global mafia groups “control significant positions in the global energy and strategic materials markets.”

Mukasey: “They are expanding their holdings in these sectors, which corrupts the normal functioning of these markets and may have a destabilizing effect on U.S. geopolitical interests.”

HAHAHA. High oil prices are due to what international Mafia? ARREST BUSH! ARREST CHENEY! ARREST ALL OF THEIR TEXAS OIL BUDDIES! And bomb, bomb, bomb Saudi Arabia, while you are at it, guys. And start WWIII. Might as well. When America voted---sort of---twice for a pair of oil soaked snakes to run this nation, I was horrified. People around me said, 'They will make oil cheap because they control oil!'

Talk about naive. Then, when these oily Mafia guys used 9/11 as an excuse to attack Iraq, people up here were happy. 'Now we will have cheap oil!' they yelled.

I said, 'Fat chance. All wars make oil expensive and cheap loans at 1% interest makes inflation so oil will inflate no matter who we conquer.' And so it was. Note the latest propaganda! It isn't global central banks creating inflation! It isn't irresponsible oil use by the US who has to import much of our oil and palm off increasingly worthless dollars that is causing the price of oil to shoot up. No. It is this unnamed 'Mafia.' I bet they will say, these Mafia types are Russians and Chinese. HAHAHA. Or perhaps it is the drug dealing Mafia selling heroin from Afghanistan! And then dumping the profits into oil speculation! Yes! Oops. We are protecting the poppy crops of Afghanistan! Oh dear.

Well, I suppose if the media owners join with select politicians to yell nonstop to NASCAR dads and soccer moms with only one or two children in their behemoths, 'It is the fault of international drug dealing Mafia types who have slanty eyes or drink volka', the less educated might fall for it. After all, Clinton fell for the goofy garbage about Saddam having WMD. And millions of Americans still think Saddam and not Bush has a lot to do with the success of 9/11.

Can Rockefeller Heirs Turn Exxon Greener?

It turns out that some of John D.’s descendants would like to see changes at the oil giant and are publicly challenging the company’s current boss, Rex W. Tillerson. Specifically, they are behind proxy resolutions demanding that the roles of chairman and chief executive be split and that Exxon invest more in alternative energy.

“They are fighting the last war and they’re not seeing they’re facing a new war,” said Peter O’Neill, a great-great-grandson of the company’s founder. Another family member, Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, an economist, said, “we feel so passionately about them becoming the best company that they can.”

Exxon didn’t seem too shaken by the threat from the Rockefeller name. It points out that these family members represent only 0.006 percent of Exxon’s stock.

The Rockefeller family wants to keep control of energy systems. But the others running the reborn energy monopoly don't want to change course right now. Money is pouring in like crazy! And don't they all sound like a Mafia meeting? I love 'The Godfather.' It is a great movie. Well, there are ruling elites and they argue with each other as to how to chop apart the world and control it. But I don't think the Mukasey AG is talking about arresting any of these Mafioso.

When gas prices go up, gas station workers brace for the worst

Prices aren't the only things rising at gas pumps around our area.

So are tempers.

Workers at gas stations in Rockland again are bearing the brunt of driver anger at prices that are hovering around $4 a gallon.

"They are getting crazy," said Ash Muhammad, who works at the SuperValue in Stony Point.

As usual, the poor guys with little education at the bottom of life's ladder has to deal with Clinton and McCain's enraged mob of hard-working, white working, poorly educated voters demanding cheap oil. Educating people to make wise choices is supposed to be the role of our leaders and our 'betters'. People with PhDs must be helping people who can barely read. The owners of the media have an obligation to tell the truth as best they can, not lie about everything. And politicians should not pander but this is what works so they do it. And the US will fall into a sink hole we call 'bankruptcy' and no one will stop this. Too many people make too much loot right now to stop this.

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Mexico Cuts Oil Exports To US

May 6, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

BREAKING NEWS: MEXICO TO CUT OIL EXPORTS TO US. This is big news. It hasn't hit Bloomberg yet but already oil traders are shouting up the price of oil due to this news. It will shoot well over $120 a barrel. And it is time to talk about the other energy news. Americans wonder if we should retrofit to solar energy and thus, make jobs. Only China figured this out...long ago. They asked my dad to start off their solar energy industry back during the Jimmy Carter Presidency years! They are way ahead of us in this matter. And the IMF is furious that Russia won't listen to Rato and his fellow flunky wizards who want to loot Russia. HAHAHA. Well, off the cliff we continue to go!

Mexico will lower exports of crude to the U.S.

The Department of Energy United States received notification of PMI International Trade in the sense that Mexico cut its crude oil exports to the U.S. market at 184 thousand barrels per day on average during 2008, a situation which could be extended for two more years .

The subsidiary Pemex responsible for the marketing of oil abroad informed the U.S. government and its customers in that country due to the fall in crude oil production was necessary to adjust downward the export platform committed during the year and to persist that the problem of production could be adjusted to maintain the volume of foreign sales of crude oil until 2010.

The original program of 2008 exports of crude oil planned to put on the international market one million 678 thousand barrels per day on average throughout the year, but at end of first quarter sales volume reached one million 499 thousand barrels, ie 179 thousand barrels less than originally envisaged, which also affects the U.S. market.

The original article is in Spanish so I will post that, too:

México bajará exportación de crudo a Estados Unidos

El Departamento de Energía de Estados Unidos recibió notificación de PMI Comercio Internacional en el sentido de que México recortará sus exportaciones de petróleo crudo hacia el mercado estadounidense en 184 mil barriles diarios en promedio a lo largo de 2008, situación que podría extenderse por dos años más.

La filial de Pemex encargada de la comercialización de hidrocarburos en el exterior hizo saber al gobierno estadounidense y a sus clientes en ese país que debido a la caída en la producción de petróleo crudo fue necesario ajustar a la baja la plataforma de exportación comprometida durante el año y que de persistir el problema de la producción se podría mantener ajustado el volumen de ventas externas de petróleo crudo hasta 2010.

El programa original de exportaciones de petróleo crudo 2008 tenía previsto colocar en el mercado internacional un millón 678 mil barriles diarios en promedio durante todo el año, pero al cierre del primer trimestre el volumen de ventas alcanzó un millón 499 mil barriles, es decir, 179 mil barriles menos de lo previsto inicialmente, lo que afecto también al mercado estadounidense.

Mexico is at its own Hubbert's Oil Peak. The right wing rulers of Mexico used hook, crook and murder to install one of their own in the last 'election.' The US rulers were immensely pleased there was no countervailing revolution down there. Thanks to commodity speculators, there just may be a revolution in the not too distant future there. I am looking at Bloomberg news as I type. The stock market just fell 65 points in a few minutes. Anyone who thinks there is even a ray of good news in the news stream today is either nuts or works for Bush and Bernanke.

Of course, the OPEC nations will be grimly pleased. Certainly, Iran Kitty is laughing its feline head off today. The US has continued to menace the Persian Cat. And the price of oil won't go down, of course. So we have a confluence of forces here: the Hubbert Oil Peak, the end of infinite lending at low rates and the US spending on wars going off a cliff and into the abyss where Chtulhu dwells.

Here is my February, 2005 story about Mexico's oil:

Mexico's Biggest Oil Field Hits Hubbert Oil Peak, Europe Demands Russia Give Them Control Of Russian Oil And Gas

Already, danger signs from Mexico as their greatest oil field, Cantarell, signal the possiblity that it is not only past peak but in danger of a sudden drop off in production. Nearly all the oil there is sold to the USA which continues to guzzle gargantuan amounts of oil. In Europe, at the G8 meetings hosted by Russia, the Europeans and Americans demand Putin let them run Russia's oil and gas fields for ourselves. Putin smiles and and says 'Don't call me, I'll call you."

When the Great Permian Extinction happened, and it was, like all following extinctions, very rapid, the earth was covered by a tremendous amount of rotting biomass both in the oceans and on land. Instead of merely slowly filtering down, slowly piling up, nature usually is very thrifty and various organisms eat or dissolve whatever organic matter dies leaving relatively speaking, not much behind. And it tends to be used again by plants, for example, which grow using the fallen debrie of previous plants after worms and bacterium digest them all.

In the great catastrophe of the Permian Extinction, 90% of all living things died very quickly, the earth became very hostile and tons of mud and sand and very briny seas covered over the sad remains of a once teeming earth. This pile of dirt/salt/sand has been, over the last several hundred million years, been compressed into oil and gas and we seek them out and squeeze it all out again, leaving empty gaps which we pump water into so the salt domes won't collapse and to pressurize the oil so it comes out to the last drop.

I just got a call from a friend who tells me his TV set pundits are all saying we are going to see a world oil glut! Whoo hoo. I roll my eyes. This is the sort of lies one expects from our rulers who need to deceive everyone so we won't change now and save our skins. The plan, I assure you, is to enslave the vast majority of humans and put them to work as serfs and slaves. They know all about what is going on and pray we don't figure it out.

Here is my story from March, 2007, talking about the Mexican oil industry:

Both Ghawar And Cantrell Oil Fields Are Past Peak

We Hubbert Oil Peak watchers have been expecting this. Seven years ago, many of us thought this would happen by 2010. But the Saudis beat us to it by recklessly pumping oil for political reasons, mostly to keep Bush in power and gas prices in America briefly down. Recently, they claimed they were increasing their pumping to punish Iran and drop world oil prices only this didn't happen at all: if prices went down a few pennies, it was only because oil futures buyers anticipate a global recession or even depression.

Way back in the early 1970's, Americans were much more alarmed about the Hubbert Oil Peak: we reached it back then. Even with the subsequent Alaskan discoveries, the decline has continued. The Gulf has produced a good amount of oil but not enough to make up the shortfall and hurricanes have crippled more than one pumping facility there.

The second-largest producing oil complex in the world is Mexico's giant Cantarell oil field, in the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatan. The field was discovered in 1976, supposedly after a fisherman named Cantarell reported an oil seep in the Campeche Bay.

Exploration yielded surprising results. It turned out that Mexico's richest oil field complex was created 65 million years ago, when the huge Chicxulub meteor impacted the Earth at the end of the Mesozoic Era. Some 10 years earlier, Luis and Walter Alverex had suggested in their independent studies that an impact meteor was responsible for the extinction of the dinosaurs. Scientists now believe that the Chicxulub meteor impact was the culprit that killed the dinosaurs, as well as the cause for creating the Cantrell oil field.

Mexico has been obviously heading towards its own Hubbert Oil Peak for some time. The Cantrell Fields are very old just like the ones in Saudi Arabia are reaching their end. The need to pressurize oil up into the wells via pumping in sea water is reaching its economic limits since all this water needs to be removed after pumping and when the oil to water ratios drop too far, it becomes uneconomical to do this much longer.

By the way, up in Canada where the sand oil processing plants are, they have to use a lot of water to get the oil and this polluted water is stored in these huge ponds that are pure poison and they didn't stop the migrating birds from landing on this lake of pure poison and hundreds of birds died. The downside to our frenzy to produce oil no matter what has a severe ecological impact. I will note here that the US and the other G7 nations love to attack China over environmental issues even as we befoul our own parts of this lovely planet.

Mexico, along with Canada, imports a huge proportion of our oil we use. Along with Venezuela. And Venezuela is cutting back on oil exports to the US, too, at the same time. This is another reason our oil prices have been relentlessly moving upwards. The US government's response has been to offer gas tax holidays via McCain and his side-kick, Hillary Clinton. But that won't stop the relentless rise in prices. And our wars which are directly responsible for all this, will be hampered by Europe and Asia rushing off to Iran Kitty to get deals signed whereby they buy oil for euros and yen, not dollars. The US can stop this by bombing Iran but this might start WWIII. A serious mistake if we think THAT is a good idea.

Our masters in Saudi Arabia will be pleased by this news. They have us over a barrel. They usually kept OPEC prices down for us in exchange, we were to do things for them like kill Saddam. But we fouled up that game and released tremendous Shi'a energy and this displeases the Sunni Saudis. Who are being kicked in the teeth by the Israelis on a daily basis. So we will see some queer things broil out of that mess. One thing is certain: Saudi Arabia won't give us cheap energy. I suspect, they can't increase production, anyway.

Medvedev Boxed In by Oil as Putin Bequeaths Economic `Dead End'

When Vladimir Putin hands Dmitry Medvedev the keys to the Kremlin on May 7, he may be locking his presidential successor into an economic box.

Russia is riding so high on rising oil and gas prices that it has little incentive to diversify beyond commodities. The energy industry produced more than two-thirds of the nation's export earnings and more than a third of the state's 2007 revenues, which totaled $315 billion.

The government has ignored advice from the World Bank and other organizations to invest in other industries, start-up companies and infrastructure. Instead, the central bank has amassed $530 billion in gold and foreign-currency reserves; Putin has put $130 billion of that in a sovereign-wealth fund that would provide no more than a two-year cushion if energy prices fall.

HAHAHA. Oh, the humanity! Russia is in trouble because they won't listen to the IMF! HAHAHA. One thing is certain: Russia's masters aren't stupid. Only stupid people listen to Rato and his ilk. Since Rato and his buddies are all liars and con men and con women, listening to them is fatal. I suggest no nation listen to them. Besides, who is being de-industrialized, anyway?

AMERICA! Russia had to retreat on this, too, but unlike America, they have energy to sell so unlike America, they are NOT in debt and have a huge FOREX reserve, the third largest on earth! We have nothing! Nothing! Russia's energy is 2/3rds their export earnings. No shock. And as the value of energy rises, they will see greater and greater profits. DUH. Is this evil?

Of course not. Russia is licking its wounds from a past century of wars, destruction and communist leaders gone insane. Now they are led by sane people and this drives the US and the other G7 nations insane. We all want a weak Russia! The fact that it is growing stronger via energy sales infuriates the West no end. Note also, Russia has a two year cushion. What is America's cushion?

A cactus plant! We don't have any cushion at all! So who are we to yell about Russia's damn cushion? They are sitting pretty while we are falling off a cliff into a pile of very painful cacti.

Here are some NYT letters to the editor concerning our energy plight and our trade deficits:

To the Editor:

David Brooks is right: the global economy is driven by technological change. One should add that the third industrial revolution will start when we accept that technology can solve the energy crisis.

Whichever nation decides to cover its roofs with solar shingles and use inexhaustible and free solar energy to convert sea water into hydrogen fuel for its cars will not only provide a permanent solution, but will also initiate the economic boom of the century.

Political leaders should not use the gasoline cost for pandering or preparing for energy wars. No, our political leaders should return the United States to its natural role of leading the technological transformation of the planet.

Béla Lipták
Stamford, Conn., May 2, 2008

OK: Jimmy Carter! My dad was the head of the Alternative Energy Commission. Everything my dad said was WIPED OUT DURING THE REAGAN YEARS. Reagan told him to jump in a lake. And told me to take a hike. During the 1970's and 1980's, the Communist Chinese took a very deep interest in my dad. He spend half of his time in China from then until 1989 when I infuriated the Chinese leadership and they ceased talking to us. HAHAHA. My one talent, infuriating rulers.

Anyway, back in the 1970's, the Chinese asked my dad to start their solar energy programs. Which have continued since then! As the US deindustrialized, China built its industries. And one of them is their solar energy production industries. The US chose to go for cheap oil and cheap interest rates, gas guzzlers and big houses while refusing to do anything concerning alternative energy systems at all. To my great fury! Anyone supporting alternative energy, from 1982-2007, were curtly told to 'Shut the hell up.' And we were denied any visual support in the news. Like Volcker, we have spent a long, long time in the wilderness.

Solar Energy Booming in China
by Zijun Li on September 23, 2005

The city of Beijing, China’s second-largest energy consumer, has announced plans to build a “solar street” where buildings, streetlights, and other features will run entirely on energy from the sun. A second pilot project in the city’s Xuanwu Park will introduce solar power for lighting, heating, and refrigeration. Both projects reflect a larger government commitment to dramatically increase China’s use of renewable energy in the coming decades.

In a move to cut domestic reliance on coal and oil, the Chinese parliament passed a historic law in February pledging to use renewable energy resources for 10 percent of China’s energy consumption by 2020. The new law includes details on the purchase and use of solar photovoltaics (PV), solar water heating, and renewable energy fuels. In particular, the government will promote the use of solar PV in buildings as a way to push China’s solar energy industry, said an official at the International New Energy and Renewable Energy Forum on September 19.

China has several advantages in solar energy development. According to Xinhua Net, two-thirds of China’s land area receives more than 2,000 hours of sunlight annually, more than many other regions of similar latitude, including Europe and Japan. This gives China a potential solar energy reserve equivalent to 1,700 billion tons of coal. And China has become a world leader in PV cell production: Shangde Solar Energy Power Company, the country’s largest crystal silicon solar cell producer, recently expanded its operations and expects to boost China’s total production capacity of the technology from 200 to 320 megawatts by the end of this year.

China is also a world leader in solar thermal production and use, accounting for 55 percent of global solar heating capacity (excluding pool systems)—or 52 million square meters of collectors—by the end of 2003, reports Worldwatch Institute senior researcher Janet Sawin in Vital Signs 2005. China aims to boost its production capacity of one specific type of collector, solar heat panels, to 51 million square meters by the end of 2005, which would make it the world leader in solar heat panel production, according to an official from the National Engineering Research Center for Renewable Energy.

That news was from 2005. China's rulers have a 50 year plan. I watched them hatch it. Arguing about these things, them watching me rage about these things back then, they came up with a plan for the Hubbert Oil Peak. And we are seeing it being fulfilled right on schedule. They knew the Peak would begin to show itself by 2000. I told them this, my dad told them this. We were right. The 'there is no peak' people are being shown to be utterly wrong.

My dad and I both know that if Greenland and Antarctica's glaciers melt, there will be new oil, of course. And wars will be fought over this oil. My dad even went to Greenland once to scout this out himself. Russia is staking its claim in the Arctic and so is Norway and others like Canada. The US is floundering about hoping to get something, too. China can't do this, they are using the other road, the industrialization road that we should have taken. They will win in the end.

DuPont plans China facilities for solar energy

U.S. chemical maker DuPont Co said on Tuesday it plans to open a research and development center and a manufacturing facility in China, which will cater to the growing demands of the solar energy industry.
The research and development facility will be based in Hong Kong, while the plant will be in Shenzhen.
The company expects growth in the photovoltaic market to exceed 30 percent each year, over the next several years. DuPont has made significant investments in product development and capacity expansions to help keep pace with this demand. (Reporting by Euan Rocha, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

OK: are lots and lots of solar energy plants being built in the US? Or China? And this is the whole problem. The present system is set so we go bankrupt and China becomes the top industrial power on earth and everyone has to deal with the problems of the Hubbert Oil Peak.

MORE BREAKING NEWS:

Clinton: OPEC 'can no longer be a cartel'

"We’re going to go right at OPEC," she said. "They can no longer be a cartel, a monopoly that get together once every couple of months in some conference room in some plush place in the world, they decide how much oil they’re going to produce and what price they’re going to put it at," she told a crowd at a firehouse in Merrillville, IN.

"That’s not a market. That’s a monopoly," she said, saying she'd use anti-trust law and the World Trade Organization to take on OPEC.

Clinton has cast herself as a warrior for working people against the oil industry and malicious "speculators," and made that -- along with her push for a gas tax holiday -- central to her closing message in Indiana.

And how is this bomb, bomb, bomb Iran for 1,000 years lunatic going to 'break OPEC'? This wild talk but craven political operatives, talk about using violence to get free oil, this is how WWIII will happen. This is why the IMF is demanding Russia not build up reserves or charge high prices for energy. The US imagines we can talk violently about energy and no one notices this. And egging on Americans to violence against our suppliers is evil, pure unadulterated evil!

The US consumes more energy per capita than any nation on earth, by far and away. We are the biggest energy gluttons on earth. We are directly responsible for the Hubbert Oil Peak happening rapidly to ourselves. We knew back in 1972, the Hubbert Peak had hit us and we deliberately ignored this. During the intervening years, we pretended there was no peak and we had to do nothing to prepare. Now that the price for ignoring this is rising rapidly and as we flood the planet with increasingly worthless dollars as we BORROW MONEY to pay for this OIL we want, we complain? And the fix is to what?

Kill Saudi Arabia? Kill Iran Kitty? Kill Mexicans? Kill Venezuelans? Talk about suicidal. Do we imagine China will let us? Russia will let us? Saudi Arabia is already making moves to draw closer to Russia and China for fear that the US will betray SA. It is only a matter of time. The US people don't have the slightest idea, what is going on thanks to the media and our politicians. And no one wants to listen to Jimmy Carter or Volcker or me, either. Our message has been 'Take your medicine and stop drinking booze.' Not what our party-mad drunks want to hear.

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Jiminy Peak's Amazing Wind Mill Power Plant

April 30, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

The other day, I visited a local business, Jiminy Peak. This is an upscale ski resort run by an old family friend of my husband who began skiing there 45 years ago when it was very small. The owners of this resort are environmentalists who try to minimize their carbon foot print as well as design slopes and care for the water sources so that there is minimum impact on nature. They recently installed a wind mill on top of the mountain. It is very lovely, I think. But then, I am fond of such mega-structures like the Eiffel Tower, too. Also, a company proposes a new ocean wave energy system.

Jiminy's Environmental Policy Statement

The Jiminy Peak Resort Management and Employees are committed to being responsible stewards of Massachusetts' natural resources. Massachusetts' beauty and healthfulness are an integral part of our business. We live here, and working to maintain it comes naturally.

Jiminy's policy of environmental awareness is seen in all our activities. We seek to raise the environmental awareness of guests and employees, and to broaden their knowledge and appreciation through educational programs along with our active and passive use of the land for year-round recreation.

Our development and maintenance programs are guided by principles of land and energy conservation, by forest and wildlife habitat preservation, and by maintaining Massachusetts' water quality and aesthetic beauty.

Jiminy Peak strongly believes in preserving the Earth for future generations. We are showing our commitment by being the first Mountain Resort in North America to install a wind turbine in order to generate clean, natural energy. Together we can shape a sustainable community for the future.

I am a tad biased here. Brian Fairbanks is a generous and kind man who is also loves art and science. His family has invented ski systems and equipment, for example. He likes to organize information with charts and graphs and projections and is a realist. Once, when we had a too-warm winter, he complained to me, 'Isn't there any way to tell El Nino to go home and let La Nina come back?' But then, none of us can tell the Weather what to do. It is pretty elemental.

When Brian proposed putting a windmill on top of Jiminy Peak, he worried about opposition. I know what he is worried about. Previous proposals to install these systems have been defeated by people who want unblemished vistas to sit and enjoy while they consume vast quantities of energy produced by destroying the Appalachians or polluting the lands around oil rigs. This pollution is 'invisible' because of distance, of course. A lot of pollution is parked far away like in China, so we can enjoy the Garden of Eden. But few of the anti-wind mill people live in tents and use wood stoves to heat their homes or don't use any electricity like I did for ten years! No, this is a classic, 'Have your cake and eat it too' type of reflexive thinking.

So Brian had to move very cautiously to get permission to install this sensible system. It was either that or close shop. Running his ski resort is very energy intensive. And he believes in the Hubbert Oil Peak just as I have for much of my life and we discussed this long, long ago. So when he had the financing, he moved quickly to set up his systems.

Here are some of the basic statistics:

It is a 1.5MW wind turbine capable of producing up to 2,000 H.P. for our snowmaking plant.

A 1.5MW wind turbine will provide approximately 33% of the electrical demands of Jiminy Peak annually. During the winter months when the wind resource is the strongest it may provide as much as half of our electrical demand.

The turbine will generate approximately 4,600,000 kWh and Jiminy Peak consumes approximately 7,500,000 kWh a year.

The wind turbine will sit atop a 253 ft tower.

The nacelle that sits on top of the structure and houses the shaft for the blades, the gearbox and the generator is approximately 13 ft wide and 13 ft tall and 26 ft long.

Each of the 3 blades is approximately 123ft, therefore to the tip of the blade the entire structure is 386 feet tall.

The blades will turn a maximum of 22 RPM even in high wind conditions.

Alas, I didn't have a camera when the wind mill was erected. So I had to wait until this week to take pictures. It is a stunning structure! When I first saw it, I was listening to Schubert's Unfinished Symphony on public radio. I stopped the car and gave this technological achievement a good look. Like the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower, like the Golden Gate Bridge or the Brooklyn Bridge or the Hoover Dam, it soars to the heavens. It is one of humanity's successes. Engineering is not ugly, it can be quite splendid. And we should appreciate it as an esthetic positive. Compared to a power plant burning coal, this energy producing system is nearly silent, shapely and an addition to the landscape, not a smoking, roaring mess with endless trains loudly discharging their cargo.

Indeed, I would happily put one on top of my own mountain. First of all, it would attract all the lightning bolts that try to hit me! This is a huge plus. But realistically, ALL the communities in these here mountains MUST have these systems and as soon as humanly possible! We have NO CHOICE or we can roll back our civilization to the level I lived at for ten years in a tent. Anyone who thinks the choice is 'no windmills versus windmills' is indulging in wishful thinking. If they propose a solar system, this is OK with me but I see only a very, very tiny handful of people here doing this! It seems to me the desire is for the present status quo. Which is, of course, doomed.

I am so very pleased that Brian can see ahead so clearly!

Now for a little tour of Jiminy Peak. I really like the set up, the Fairbanks family has good taste and the architecture is friendly, easy to use and fun to look at.

This is the view from Rt 43 in Mass. The Hancock town hall sits next to the old grave yard. And if we look around the corner of the building, we can see this huge windmill and note how big it is compared to the flag pole. Beyond this point is a river and then dense forest. So this is the closest one can get without hiking and boating, from the west.

This is the view from a mountain that is to the north of the resort. Note how the ski slopes are not huge gashes but are artfully laid out and surrounded by good forest. The windmill is quite visible but it doesn't loom over the landscape. Since it is white, it looks elegant, not ugly. Indeed, if I didn't use a good camera with a powerful lens, it would be nearly invisible.

Here is the telephoto shot, still, the windmill is dwarfed by its setting.

This is the Jiminy Peak Moose mascot.

Here, in the 'village' at the base of the mountain is the Energy Center where visitors can learn all about wind energy and other vital ecological matters. I am a big believer in rewarding businesses who try hard to do the right thing. And I have been a big supporter of wind energy since the early 1970's.

Riding the power of undersea waves

Back and forth, back and forth. That's the idea behind WaveRoller.

The company, based in Espoo, Finland, says it has devised a way to generate electricity from waves without buoys or other floating devices, the mainstay of other wave power companies.

Instead, the company wants to plant oscillating fiberglass/steel plates on the sea bed. Waves rolling in push over the plates, which rebound after the wave passes to only be knocked down by another wave. The back-and-forth motion of the plates drives a piston and creates hydraulic pressure. The pressure ultimately gets fed to a turbine to generate electricity.

Human ingenuity can solve many problems. Of course, one of the biggest problems that can't be solved is our limitless need to live an easy life. When I was a child living in Death Valley, for example, few people had air conditioners. We used 'swamp boxes' which were actually quite good in the 0% humidity. When my granddaddy crossed Death Valley on a dare in one of California's first automobiles over 100 years ago, he had no air conditioners, no heaters, nothing in his primitive vehicle. When my great granddaddy wrote in the Cavalry across the Wild West, he lived out in the open, got saddle sores and my great grandmother lived in an adobe house and did all her cooking outside in a pavilion due to the desert heat! And she walked about Old Tucson using an umbrella to keep the sun off. And did this while wearing corsets!

The desire for a temperate environment at all times is very energy-intensive. On top of this, we want odd environments, not merely temperate. This is why the Arabs have built a huge ski resort in one of the hottest deserts on earth. Or huge stadiums in the US where games can be played in summer on an air conditioned field. If we have more energy or if it is cheap, we use it for the most bizarre purposes. This process is endless and open-ended. Like with debt creation, its only limit is infinity or when the system crashes.

This utilization of wave energy is quite smart. There are some problems, all of them being produced by Mother Nature. Namely, tiny sea creatures view these things as wonderful places to live. So very swiftly, living things will totally encrust these wave energy machines. Keeping them clean will be a huge challenge. All ships have to deal with this. Whales have to deal with this. The power plants that are feeding energy to the Wild West such as Hoover Dam, has to constantly battle tiny water creatures who love to grow in the plumbing systems, for example.

All energy systems have downsides. Some are worse than others. This wave energy system is pretty much benign compared to say, nuclear power or damming rivers. I hope this is developed further.

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Talk Of Bombing Iran Rises As US Military Goes Insane

April 25, 2008

Elaine Meinel Supkis

Pure, utter madness has gripped our nation. As we await our official Funny Money™ government handouts, Bush says, 'This will pay for gasoline!' You bet! The US is trying hard to start WWIII and if anyone thinks global nuclear war=cheap gasoline, they are nuts. But then, our nation hopes to fight its weary way to easy times, easy money. At least the goofy Japanese carry trade has restarted. So we have infinite money for our infinite wars. So begins a very bitter weekend. It's all 'Bomb, bomb, bomb Iran.'

U.S. Weighing Readiness for Military Action Against Iran

The nation's top military officer said yesterday that the Pentagon is planning for "potential military courses of action" as one of several options against Iran, criticizing what he called the Tehran government's "increasingly lethal and malign influence" in Iraq.

Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said a conflict with Iran would be "extremely stressing" but not impossible for U.S. forces, pointing to reserve capabilities in the Navy and Air Force.

"It would be a mistake to think that we are out of combat capability," he said at a Pentagon news conference. Speaking of Iran's intentions, Mullen said: "They prefer to see a weak Iraq neighbor. . . . They have expressed long-term goals to be the regional power."

Mullen made clear that he prefers a diplomatic solution and does not expect imminent action. "I have no expectations that we're going to get into a conflict with Iran in the immediate future," he said.

Mullen's statements and others by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates recently signal new rhetorical pressure on Iran by the Bush administration amid what officials say is increased Iranian provision of weapons, training and financing to Iraqi groups that are attacking and killing Americans.

In a speech Monday, Gates said Iran "is hell-bent on acquiring nuclear weapons." He said war would be "disastrous" but added that "the military option must be kept on the table, given the destabilizing policies of the regime and the risks inherent in a future Iranian nuclear threat."

All signs are pointing to a massive war with Iran. The US is losing 3-5 troops a day in the Iraq lottery. The troops we have can't escape by doing service and then coming home. There is no home in Homeland USA. They will cycle through the hell we created in Iraq until mad, dead or they commit suicide. This cruel, evil fate is ignored by all our candidates for Dictator. The US people are unaware of this because our media is all edgy about the wrong things. Did Obama ask for a glass of orange juice? He is an elitist? And how much did Edward's haircut cost? He is an elitist. And Ron Paul, who got more money from military in Iraq than all the other people running for Dictator? Well, they don't know who he is. He is the Forgotten Man.

The US ran into Iraq screaming that we were going to destroy the Baathist party. This party is for Sunnis only. Everyone with half a brain knew that this would unleash the huge legions of fanatical Shi'ites who would, of course, cleave to Iran. This is totally natural. The US and England as well as Germany and France are huge, huge believers in splitting up countries along ethnic and religious fissures. WWI and WWII were all about 'Spit apart the Ottoman Empire and other empires along ethnic lines while our empires get bigger and bigger.' The recent attempt at splitting apart China comes to mind. The US loves this and hopes to continue to support ethnic uprisings in distant lands we wish to dominate.

But THIS split weakens the US and Europe! It makes Israel, the outpost for the EU and US, weaker. This is a historic mistake: we thought the Shi'as would love us for killing off the Sunni rulers. But the idea that the Shi'as would love Shi'as didn't enter into our calculations.

So here we are: Iran is winning the war against the Baath Party, their old enemies and we helped Iran. There is no way out of this. The Shi'as will not embrace the US domination of their people in the long run. They used us! DUH! What do we expect? They were smarter than us. The US demanded that Maliki attack Sadr and kill him. We have repeatedly demanded this. Reluctantly, he tries to appease us but each time the Iraqi people refuse to cooperate. The US has tried every trick in the book and this only makes Sadr stronger and more powerful. The battles raging after Iran brokered a cease fire are due entirely to the US demanding a battle. We were thoroughly enraged that Maliki went to the Iranians for this cease fire.

When Iraqi troops were sent to fight Sadr, they failed utterly. Many famously saluted him and pledged their lives to Sadr! Instead of backing out and going home, the US is now promoting the Baath Party yet again just like we supported Saddam. All the kings and sheikhs in Arabia are supporting this new action. They desperately need a new Saddam to rule Iraq and keep the Shi'as from revolting across the entire Arab world. But this won't work. Whoever replaces Saddam will try to rule all the other Sunnis. So everyone is trapped in an arena the size of a closet with the infamous Bull in the Maze who has the Horns of Dilemma!

Al-Sadr may restart full-scale fight against US in Iraq

Muqtada al-Sadr is considering setting aside his political ambitions and restarting a full-scale fight against U.S.-led forces — a worrisome shift that may reflect Iranian influence on the young cleric and could open the way for a shadow state protected by his powerful Mahdi Army.

A possible breakaway path — described to The Associated Press by Shiite lawmakers and politicians — would represent the ultimate backlash to the Iraqi government's pressure on al-Sadr to renounce and disband his Shiite militia.

By snubbing the give-and-take of politics,