Category: World Politics

Affects us all

Posted on by — Leave a comment

No more OPEC?!

Yesterday I was reading about OPEC wanting to cut production by 550 million550,00* barrels a day and wherever I was reading that commented that the cuts would amount to more oil than the US could produce if they drilled all US land and territories. Not sure if I believe that. But the point is that OPEC is powerful. Er, was.

Saudi Arabia walked out on OPEC yesterday. It said it would not honor the cartel’s production cut. It was tired of rants from Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and the well-dressed oil minister from Iran.

As the world’s largest crude exporter, the kingdom in the desert took its ball and went home.
…
OPEC has made no announcement to the effect that it is dissolving, but the process is already over.

[Source, MSN Money moneyBlog Top Stocks, The death of OPEC]

Of course, I’m not an economist so I have no idea if this is a good or bad thing.

Update: A friend explains that this is good for the United States in that gas prices will go down but bad for the world because greenhouse gases will go up.

Update: *Thanks to Brian Arner for the correction!

Posted on by — 3 Comments

God Save the Queen!

As seen on Puerilis:

God Save the Queen!

To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except Kansas, which she does not fancy).

Your new Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.

Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.

A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:
(You should look up “revocation” in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

  1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
  2. The letter ‘U’ will be reinstated in words such as “colour”, “favour”, “labour” and “neighbour.” Likewise, you will learn to spell “doughnut” without skipping half the letters, and the suffix ‘-ize’ will be replaced by the suffix ‘-ise’. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up “vocabulary“).
  3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as “like” and “you know” is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let M*crosoft know on your behalf. The M*crosoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter “u” and the elimination of -ize.
  4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
  5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you’re not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can’t sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you’re not ready to shoot grouse.
  6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
  7. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables.
  8. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
  9. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.
  10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
  11. The co ld tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of British Commonwealth – see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat’s Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
  12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one’s ears removed with a cheese grater.
  13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies). Don’t try rugby – the South Africans and Kiwis will thrash you, like they regularly thrash us.
  14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyondyour borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.
  15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It’s been driving us mad.
  16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty’s Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
  17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 pm with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.

God Save the Queen!

[Source, Puerilis]

I wonder if we could talk Christian Payne (@documentally) into recording a reading of this. I tried but it was God awful! Now, give me some Jeff Foxworthy transcripts and I’ll do just fine!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Bin Laden, Mission Accomplished

Bin Laden wanted oil to be $144 a barrel instead of $11 a barrel.

In a 1998 interview, Osama bin Laden — the terrorist organizer of 9/11 who still roams free — listed as one of his many grievances against the U.S. that Americans "have stolen $36 trillion from Muslims" by purchasing oil from Persian Gulf countries at low prices. The real price of a barrel of oil should be $144, bin Laden demanded. [Source, Think Progress, FLASHBACK: Ten Years Ago, Bin Laden Demanded Barrel Of Oil Should Cost $144]

Seen on Knoxviews.

Posted on by — 1 Comment

Who would the world vote for?

A friend of mine in another country once remarked, "The world should be able to vote for the United States president [since the president’s impact is worldwide]." So, who would the world vote in as president? (http://iftheworldcouldvote.com/)

At this time, the results show 432 people have voted with 91.7% voting for Barack Obama and 8.3% voting for John McCain.

Update:
With 1424 voters Barack is 88.2% and McCain is 11.8%.
With 1785 Barack Obama is 87.5% (1562 votes) and John McCain is 12.5% (223 votes).
With 3482 Barack Obama is 86.7% (3019 votes) and John McCain is 13.3% (463 votes).

Posted on by — 1 Comment

President GW Bush 2004-indefinitely

You know…if we were in World War III I wonder if we would have an election in 2008…

WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 — President Bush warned today that Iran would be raising the risk of a “World War III” if it came to possess nuclear weapons. [Source, The New York Times]

Does the United States have a prime minister?

…Mr. Putin made clear that he might seek to become prime minister of Russia when he steps down as president — an approach that Mr. Bush wryly said he might want to emulate. [Source, The New York Times]

Narration: [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/presidentgwbushindefinitely.mp3]

Update: Tim Grieve of Salon has the quote as:

Reporter: Mr. President, following up on Vladimir Putin for a moment, he said recently that next year, when he has to step down according to the constitution, as the president, he may become prime minister; in effect keeping power and dashing any hopes for a genuine democratic transition there …

Bush: I’ve been planning that myself.
[Source, Salon, It was a joke (we think)]

Threat Level isn’t concerned but put in a freedom of information request anyway.

On Nov 3, 2004, I suggested GW would take the 2008 election.

Update narration (with apologies for the poor read-done in tired haste, bad impersonations, and my sound effects didn’t work): [audio:http://realityme.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/10/gwtakes2008withedits.mp3]

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Do you have a PEACE of chalk for tomorrow?

peace post

Do you have your chalk ready for tomorrow? Writing on the sidewalks is not vandalism or graffiti, it’s art! And it washes away.

Campaign to shift the paradigm from conflict to UNITY. From a double negative "No to War" To a double positive "Yes to Peace" [Source]

“Chalk4Peace” is a very simple, fun and inexpensive peace action
that you can implement in your local community [Source]

Get out tomorrow and draw a peace sign or a heart on the sidewalk!

Posted on by — 1 Comment

We are going to war!

The squirrels have been sent in!

A few weeks ago, 14 squirrels equipped with espionage systems of foreign intelligence services were captured by [Iranian] intelligence forces along the country’s borders. These trained squirrels, each of which weighed just over 700 grams, were released on the borders of the country for intelligence and espionage purposes. [Source]

I can’t get the squirrels out of my attic. How do you capture trained spying squirrels?! Perhaps Boris and Natasha were on contract! "We’v ‘ave Moose on our side now as doolble agent." Thank you Ray Kurzweil!

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Dear America

Please be America again.

So, on July 4th, on your birthday, this is my wish for America and for Americans – that you remember that the right thing to do morally is almost always the right thing to do pragmatically. There is no choice between "freedom and safety"; there is no choice between prosperity and massive inequality; there is no choice between generosity and fiscal prudence and there is no such thing as "managed free speech".

Be the America the world loved. Be the America you can be proudest of – the one that does not torture, that treats all men as equal and with unalienable rights. Be the America that rebuilt Europe and that lends a helping hand to countries like Afghanistan. Be the America that would never invade a country that had not attacked you first. Be the America that is about lifting all boats and not just a few.

Be that America, and we will all be Americans.

[Source]

Posted on by — 5 Comments

Wag the Dog

[Update 25-Jan-2017]: And so it is happening.

I joke about conspiracy theories a lot. They are fun to make up. But, getting serious for a minute, first the dog food and now the toothpaste! (direct link to toothpaste story) In January of 2005, I noted that The CIA reports that China and India will be world super powers by the year 2020 and the United States will take a backseat as well as China has forecasted the demise of the United States in reports from the early 1980s and again in 1991 citing the same timeframe that the CIA is now releasing. The year 2020 is just around the corner! N.B. That also means The Singularity is almost here!

THE latest Central Intelligence Agency report mentioning that India will be a super power by 2020 is more amusing than true. Nevertheless, it should prompt introspection. The CIA’s aim is to prepare the US for future economic challenges from China and India. [emphasis added] The spurt in growth in the two countries is credited to the IMF-World Bank’s reform agenda, which aims to push privatisation, deregulate trade and open up markets. [Source]

Aren’t we currently trying to get the right person in charge of the World Bank? So (here comes some opinionated conspiracy theory) Wolfowitz didn’t want to cooperate with Bush’s agenda of destabilizing the Indian and Chinese economies and got replaced!.

India’s richest man builds 60-storey home [for his 6 person family and their 600 full-time staff]…The Indian economy is soaring: yesterday it posted annual growth of 9.4%. Friends of the Ambanis told the Guardian that the billionaire’s new home was "comparable to those owned by friends such as Lakshmi Mittal". [Source]

Want to read some incredible stuff with quotes like According to some Chinese military authors, the United States already knows China can defeat it in 2020 and the idea that U.S. strength is weakening and that its policies will no longer be effective throughout the world is not new in the 1990s. Using internal Chinese documents, Professor Robert S. Ross has shown it was alleged in the early 1980s. This document, packed with citations and references to support its data, is sobering in it explanation of what was to come and is happening now.

Another analyst at that time argued that U.S. "position of strength is declining" and U.S. policy will "lead to failure everywhere." [emphasis added] [Source]

What’s this got to do with dog food and toothpaste? Our dog is being wagged! This is the beginning of a play to grow dissension toward the Chinese and sway public opinion to place economic sanctions on China. Decisions by the president of the World Bank will further help to corrupt and destabilize the Chinese economy. China is ahead of the United States in preparing for a digital war as predicted in the National Defense University Press’ January 2000 publication China Debates the Future Security Environment.

China’s military is preparing for electronic warfare by setting up information warfare units that are developing viruses to attack enemy computers and networks, according to the Department of Defense’s annual report to Congress. …the PLA (People’s Liberation Army) has also established tactics to protect its own computer systems and networks and those of friendly states. Since 2005, the PLA has been including offensive network attacks into its exercises… [Source]

General Pan Junfeng states that the United States will not have formed a full information warfare force until the middle of the 21st century. He explains three ways that in future wars American computers can be very vulnerable. "We can make the enemy’s command centers not work by changing their data system. We can cause the enemy’s headquarters to make incorrect judgments by sending disinformation. We can dominate the enemy’s banking system and even its entire social order." [Source]

The moves our government is making match the predictions in the article which references some scary realities.

  • The United States barely won the Gulf War.
  • Saddam could have won with a better strategy.
  • The United States today cannot “contain” Chinese power.
  • The United States is unable to execute its military strategy of two major regional contingencies.
  • U.S. munitions cannot damage deep underground bunkers (like those in China).

    • [Source]

Maybe there was really nothing wrong with the dog food and toothpaste. Perhaps dog food and toothpaste was the United States’ first, preemptive, strike in the Chinese war. Blind faith in your leaders, or anything, will get you killed. (Brice Springsteen) [Author: Jack Bungart Date: August 22, 2005 Publication: Times-Herald (Vallejo, CA) Article ID: 2963260 ] How’s your Kanji?

Posted on by — 2 Comments

John Bolton Gets Served on the BBC

I absolutely love Tony Benn’s reading of the UN charter.

I was born about a quarter of a mile from where we are sitting now. And I was here in London during the Blitz. And every night I went down to the shelter. 500 people killed. My brother was killed. My friends were killed. And when the charter of the UN was read to me. I was a pilot coming over the ???. We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war which twice in our lifetime has caused untold suffering to mankind. That was the pledge that my generation gave to the younger generation and you tore it up! And it’s a war crime that has been committed in Iraq. Because there’s no moral difference …there’s no moral difference between a stealth bomber and a suicide bomber. Both kill innocent people for political reasons. And that’s why in Britain majority against American worldwide there is no support for the United States in this worldwide. And you’re living… You’re a declining empire as we were and you’ll learn the truth. You were beaten in Vietnam as you said yourself that’s why you didn’t want to serve there. Said you don’t want to die in a Southeast Asia rice paddy. And you’ll be beaten in Iraq and I’m afraid that’s the truth.
–Tony Benn, President, Stop The War Coalition

Posted on by — Leave a comment

Of course people don’t want war

"Of course the people don’t want war. But after all, it’s the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it’s always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it’s a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger."

— Herman Goering at the Nuremberg trials

Source