The Nigerian Oil War?
Opponents of the War In Iraq have long stated that they believe the conflict to be about oil, the government contends otherwise. Well, a real war for oil is looming in the Nigerian Delta and it is slipping under the radar, even as things escalate in the region. Nigerian militant actions have already caused the price of oil to jump by $1 a barrel, as of Fridays close and further action will obviously cause even greater jumps if they carry through on their threats of escalation.
While the forces involved in the Delta are said to be small groups, when you combine their attacks with the unrest and violence in other parts of Nigeria you find that there's a well fueled powder keg waiting the right spark to go off and when it does foreign powers will see no reason not to step in. The US already has contingency plans to send in US troops to protect their oil interests in the Delta region. There is no reason not to assume that other interested nations also have plans on the table. All of this, plus the Muslim unrest in other parts of Nigeria and the presence of Avian Influenza should be drawing the attention of the American public.
When you combine this with the Iranian situation, the international unrest over the Mohammed cartoons and America's current global military "strategy", the U.S. could well be looking at a multi layered recipe for disaster, economic and political. It's well past time that the U.S. stepped back from their current policies and reassessed things. Interventionism isn't working too well.
There's a rather interesting blog from an oil worker on the ground in Nigeria here, take a look for a view from the ground.
OutSource This...
In the continuing saga of selling off our ports to Middle Eastern concerns the Crypt Keeper hit the Sunday news circuit defending the decision to put our port facilities under the control of a United Arab Emirates company. Something tells me that Crypt Keeper Chertoff and the Bush Administration aren't paying attention. As I have said before, the mental instability in D.C. is amazing. Given the governments penchant for "security at any cost", (usually our liberties) you would think that turning over operations of our nations port facilities to people from a region that really doesn't like us, would be a no-brainer. Apparently it IS a no-brainer....when you have leftist Democrats pointing out the obvious to socialist Republicans something is seriously askew.
From The Libertarian Front
Wally Conger has posted some intriguing Murray Rothbard "masterworks" at "out of step". Now, I have a readin' assignment this week. Thanks, Wally! (If only Natasha Henstridge was a brunette!)
Monday, February 20, 2006
Saturday, February 18, 2006
Give 'Em An Inch.....
.....And they want the world. That seems to be the tune in the halls of government across the globe. Whether it is in Washington, D.C. where the President is playing Empire games, Iran and their nukes and Mohammed Cartoons or France yelling about Iran's nukes. Power is often about making other people dance to your tune and some of the people walking those halls are consumate masters of the art.
"Anti-UN" Bush Calling For Intervention In Darfur
I have often heard those on the socialist left calling the current DC regime everything in the book where Darfur was concerned and now it seems like the head socialist on the Right is joining in their calls for "someone" to do "something" about the genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan.
For all the protestations from the Rightist Talk Radio Heads that Mr. Bush is "anti-UN" he certainly seems to like getting in bed with them. He brought the US back into UNESCO, after Reagan took us out and now he wants to place upwards of 7,000 soldiers under UN command to be sent to Sudan as part of the useless UN forces.
Here's a clue, Mr. President. If we want to send "aid" to the victims in Darfur then send substantive aid. Round up all those AK's you had confiscated in Iraq, manufacture knifes and pistols and then send those, along with instructors as our aid to the people of the region. Teach every man, woman and child to use a firearm and a blade, as is their right. Stand out of the way of private concerns wishing to aid....it's not "mercenary" if people help out free of charge.
Sending American troops into this region is adding fuel to the fire. Remember "BlackHawk Down", it's a certainty that the warlords in the Sudan do.
Homeland Porn Security
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the library, here comes the Homeland Security Forces to drag you out of the library for looking at stuff they find objectionable. Yep, that's right. Along with unwarranted wiretaps it seems that some people from a local Bethesda branch of the Taliban...err...Homeland Security decided to express a more theocratic interpretation of Homeland Security and began harrassing library patrons at the Little Falls library.
This is why religion and politics don't mesh, folks. Given the FBI's new priorities, (terrorism is taking a back seat in favour of pornography) I expect they'll be there next week installing spyware and taking fingerprints. Gotta keep them porno-terrorists under surveillance!
They're Getting A List, Checking It Twice
They're gonna find out who's saved and who will vote for them. Seems the GOP is looking for a few good Christians to recruit for their electioneering programs. Church leaders are just a bit angry over it, too. Seems they've been down this road before.
Honestly, what sane church leader would turn over a list of their membership to ANY government affiliated organisation? It's bad enough that churches have to beg for permission from the government to be churches, now a political entity wants a captive voting bloc. I swear, that Kool Aid these people drink must be some strange stuff if they can convince people to turn these lists over.
And Finally, The French
Yep, last and usually the least something for the Francophiles. Considering that the French have been plagued with Islamic Riots and need "someone" to do "something" about the upsurge in Islamic ire. So, what do they do? Start leading the charge against Iran and their nuclear program. What it essentially boils down to is that "they are not leeesteneeng to us" and the push is on by France for the "International" community to do something.
I have to wonder. When the time comes, as it inevitably will given the parties involved and their "philosophies" of Apocalypse, will France be leading the charge? Will they commit their "best and brightest to the dust and blood that will result? I don't know, but I do know that they are more than willing to beat the drums.
"Anti-UN" Bush Calling For Intervention In Darfur
I have often heard those on the socialist left calling the current DC regime everything in the book where Darfur was concerned and now it seems like the head socialist on the Right is joining in their calls for "someone" to do "something" about the genocide in the Darfur region of the Sudan.
For all the protestations from the Rightist Talk Radio Heads that Mr. Bush is "anti-UN" he certainly seems to like getting in bed with them. He brought the US back into UNESCO, after Reagan took us out and now he wants to place upwards of 7,000 soldiers under UN command to be sent to Sudan as part of the useless UN forces.
Here's a clue, Mr. President. If we want to send "aid" to the victims in Darfur then send substantive aid. Round up all those AK's you had confiscated in Iraq, manufacture knifes and pistols and then send those, along with instructors as our aid to the people of the region. Teach every man, woman and child to use a firearm and a blade, as is their right. Stand out of the way of private concerns wishing to aid....it's not "mercenary" if people help out free of charge.
Sending American troops into this region is adding fuel to the fire. Remember "BlackHawk Down", it's a certainty that the warlords in the Sudan do.
Homeland Porn Security
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the library, here comes the Homeland Security Forces to drag you out of the library for looking at stuff they find objectionable. Yep, that's right. Along with unwarranted wiretaps it seems that some people from a local Bethesda branch of the Taliban...err...Homeland Security decided to express a more theocratic interpretation of Homeland Security and began harrassing library patrons at the Little Falls library.
This is why religion and politics don't mesh, folks. Given the FBI's new priorities, (terrorism is taking a back seat in favour of pornography) I expect they'll be there next week installing spyware and taking fingerprints. Gotta keep them porno-terrorists under surveillance!
They're Getting A List, Checking It Twice
They're gonna find out who's saved and who will vote for them. Seems the GOP is looking for a few good Christians to recruit for their electioneering programs. Church leaders are just a bit angry over it, too. Seems they've been down this road before.
Honestly, what sane church leader would turn over a list of their membership to ANY government affiliated organisation? It's bad enough that churches have to beg for permission from the government to be churches, now a political entity wants a captive voting bloc. I swear, that Kool Aid these people drink must be some strange stuff if they can convince people to turn these lists over.
And Finally, The French
Yep, last and usually the least something for the Francophiles. Considering that the French have been plagued with Islamic Riots and need "someone" to do "something" about the upsurge in Islamic ire. So, what do they do? Start leading the charge against Iran and their nuclear program. What it essentially boils down to is that "they are not leeesteneeng to us" and the push is on by France for the "International" community to do something.
I have to wonder. When the time comes, as it inevitably will given the parties involved and their "philosophies" of Apocalypse, will France be leading the charge? Will they commit their "best and brightest to the dust and blood that will result? I don't know, but I do know that they are more than willing to beat the drums.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
1984 Redux
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has apparently taken a page from the George Bush playbook and has somehow managed to get his Parliament to pass a vaguely worded law that all but forbids freedom of speech in Britain. His new "anti-terrorism" bill includes a clause outlawing the "glorification of terrorism". In a country which has successfully outlawed the private ownership of firearms and made a pocket knife a criminal implement this is just one more step into dark and tyranical future. And, even tho this newest step in the long march to the police state is overshadowed and lost by the convenient release of new Abu Ghraib pictures and the Mohammed Cartoon controversy, make no mistake...it is a pivotally important event for freedom lovers everywhere.
When any law containing vague language is implemented we know full well that the capacity for abuse is limited by the most ignorant of common denominators in the legal equation. Just ask any number of people in the United States who have found themselves on our vaunted "No Fly Lists" or under investigation by "The Authorities" for having a poster on their wall.
The new anti-terrorism act ostensibly contains the language it does for the following reason.
Britain is becoming the 21st Century testing ground for tyranical statism. With constant surveillance, RFID equipped car tags, disarmed and complacent citizens one is left to wonder when the tests will be over, declared a success and exported to their allies? Americans are already primed by the State, government schools and media to accept such things in the name of security. Look to the recent passage, via Congressional chicanery of the REAL ID Act for the prime example. Soon Americans will be able to be tracked wherever they go, via their "government approved and sanctioned Citizen ID card" or internal passport. Where was the outrage? It was lost amidst the rhetoric and propaganda of the frightened masses who allowed it to be implemented, (it was supposed to come into effect 3 years from passage but some Bush friendly states have decided that early implementation is the way to go).
The British have one more chance to halt Mr. Blair and his assault on speech, as it must still go through the British House of Lords and they have already spoken out against the "glorification" clause as an infringement on the few civil liberties they still possess.
One thing we can be sure of. If this does pass in Britain, it will not be long before a like measure comes to visit on our shores.
When any law containing vague language is implemented we know full well that the capacity for abuse is limited by the most ignorant of common denominators in the legal equation. Just ask any number of people in the United States who have found themselves on our vaunted "No Fly Lists" or under investigation by "The Authorities" for having a poster on their wall.
The new anti-terrorism act ostensibly contains the language it does for the following reason.
"I think that signal of strength is vital in circumstances where the threat that we face is not just from the individual acts of terrorism but the people who celebrate it, who try and entice other people or recruit other people into doing it."The latitude for misuse and abuse of this act is phenomenal. I can think of a number of books that could be said to "glorify" terrorist acts in the eyes of the British Crown, many of them dealing with American history. Will we see the likes of Alan Moore thrown into prison for having written "V For Vendetta"? Will James McTeigue and the Wachowski Brothers find themselves extradited to Britain to stand trial as terrorism supporters? With such a poorly worded law and the interpretations of the statist mentallity it is entirely possible.
Britain is becoming the 21st Century testing ground for tyranical statism. With constant surveillance, RFID equipped car tags, disarmed and complacent citizens one is left to wonder when the tests will be over, declared a success and exported to their allies? Americans are already primed by the State, government schools and media to accept such things in the name of security. Look to the recent passage, via Congressional chicanery of the REAL ID Act for the prime example. Soon Americans will be able to be tracked wherever they go, via their "government approved and sanctioned Citizen ID card" or internal passport. Where was the outrage? It was lost amidst the rhetoric and propaganda of the frightened masses who allowed it to be implemented, (it was supposed to come into effect 3 years from passage but some Bush friendly states have decided that early implementation is the way to go).
The British have one more chance to halt Mr. Blair and his assault on speech, as it must still go through the British House of Lords and they have already spoken out against the "glorification" clause as an infringement on the few civil liberties they still possess.
One thing we can be sure of. If this does pass in Britain, it will not be long before a like measure comes to visit on our shores.
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Outlawing Freedom Of Speech
Tony Blair-Lincoln Reborn
First they outlawed firearms, then it was knives and now the staunchest of US allies is set to outlaw objectionable speech. Blair, in setting forth new anti-terror laws wishes to make it illegal to speak or write in any fashion which "glorifies" terrorism. Rather a draconian step in any sane individuals estimation. The movie "V For Vendetta" will obviously fall in this category. Any number of books, already censored in Great Britain for decades will fall prey to this and the prisons could very well be filled to overflowing with writers, publishers, political activists and historians. One more step in the wrong direction for the Empire.
325,000 Served
Those are the numbers of people the government is admitting to having on their terror watch list. And just who is on it? Hard to say. The AG and administration swear that they are mostly foreigners and that Americans make up only a small fraction of the people on the list. Would that fraction be 10%? 5%? We know that they have children on the list, authors who are critical of the Bush regime and who knows who else? I may be on it, but since I haven't flown in years and won't until they allow me to fly with a minimum armament of at least a pocket knife, (altho I would prefer to carry one of my firearms, as I do on a daily basis).
The fact is that this list is too large and there are too many Americans on it with no oversight and no legal recourse. It is a violation of basic civil liberties all in the name of State security and the likelyhood of it ever going away is somewhere between slim and none.
Dear Congress, Please Send More Money...Love, Dubya.
The current resident of the White House apparently needs some pocket change, to the tune of $75 million for expanded propaganda so they can implement regime change in Iran. Maybe continuous satellite broadcasts of Britney Spears and Black Eyed Peas will finally bring the Mullahs down.
Broke Back Mountain Blues
Well, actually country music. My favourite tax victim has managed to hop on the gay cowboy train and release a song called, "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)", an iTunes exclusive. Willie recorded it last year and released it recently. Given the success of the movie it will likely rocket to #1 and Willie will bump Kanye West out of the Grammy's next year.
Last But Certainly Not Least
The FEMA travails continue apace. The crypt keeper wants more money, more power, more people and will do just as little with them as they did previously. Look for FEMA to be taking over everything related to disaster preparedness from the top all the way down to your local level. And they'll still botch anything. Bringing back the old Civil Defense system that ran from the local level up is the only system that makes sense.
First they outlawed firearms, then it was knives and now the staunchest of US allies is set to outlaw objectionable speech. Blair, in setting forth new anti-terror laws wishes to make it illegal to speak or write in any fashion which "glorifies" terrorism. Rather a draconian step in any sane individuals estimation. The movie "V For Vendetta" will obviously fall in this category. Any number of books, already censored in Great Britain for decades will fall prey to this and the prisons could very well be filled to overflowing with writers, publishers, political activists and historians. One more step in the wrong direction for the Empire.
325,000 Served
Those are the numbers of people the government is admitting to having on their terror watch list. And just who is on it? Hard to say. The AG and administration swear that they are mostly foreigners and that Americans make up only a small fraction of the people on the list. Would that fraction be 10%? 5%? We know that they have children on the list, authors who are critical of the Bush regime and who knows who else? I may be on it, but since I haven't flown in years and won't until they allow me to fly with a minimum armament of at least a pocket knife, (altho I would prefer to carry one of my firearms, as I do on a daily basis).
The fact is that this list is too large and there are too many Americans on it with no oversight and no legal recourse. It is a violation of basic civil liberties all in the name of State security and the likelyhood of it ever going away is somewhere between slim and none.
Dear Congress, Please Send More Money...Love, Dubya.
The current resident of the White House apparently needs some pocket change, to the tune of $75 million for expanded propaganda so they can implement regime change in Iran. Maybe continuous satellite broadcasts of Britney Spears and Black Eyed Peas will finally bring the Mullahs down.
Broke Back Mountain Blues
Well, actually country music. My favourite tax victim has managed to hop on the gay cowboy train and release a song called, "Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly (Fond of Each Other)", an iTunes exclusive. Willie recorded it last year and released it recently. Given the success of the movie it will likely rocket to #1 and Willie will bump Kanye West out of the Grammy's next year.
Last But Certainly Not Least
The FEMA travails continue apace. The crypt keeper wants more money, more power, more people and will do just as little with them as they did previously. Look for FEMA to be taking over everything related to disaster preparedness from the top all the way down to your local level. And they'll still botch anything. Bringing back the old Civil Defense system that ran from the local level up is the only system that makes sense.
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