November 10, 2009 archive

It Was Never About The Oil

Key oil figures were distorted by US pressure, says whistleblower

Exclusive: Watchdog’s estimates of reserves inflated says top official

Terry Macalister

guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 November 2009 21.30 GMT


The world is much closer to running out of oil than official estimates admit, according to a whistleblower at the International Energy Agency who claims it has been deliberately underplaying a looming shortage for fear of triggering panic buying.

The senior official claims the US has played an influential role in encouraging the watchdog to underplay the rate of decline from existing oil fields while overplaying the chances of finding new reserves.

The allegations raise serious questions about the accuracy of the organisation’s latest World Energy Outlook on oil demand and supply to be published tomorrow – which is used by the British and many other governments to help guide their wider energy and climate change policies.

In particular they question the prediction in the last World Economic Outlook, believed to be repeated again this year, that oil production can be raised from its current level of 83m barrels a day to 105m barrels. External critics have frequently argued that this cannot be substantiated by firm evidence and say the world has already passed its peak in oil production.

Don’t Ask, Don’t Give

Joe and I are launching today a donor boycott of the DNC. The boycott is cosponsored by Daily Kos, Jane Hamsher of FireDogLake, Dan Savage, Michelangelo Signorile, David Mixner, Paul Sousa (Founder of Equal Rep in Boston), Pam Spaulding, Robin Tyler (ED of the Equality Campaign, Inc.), Bil Browning for the Bilerico Project, Andy Towle and Michael Goff of Towle Road, and soon others.

It’s really more of a “pause,” than a boycott. Boycotts sounds so final, and angry. Whereas this campaign is temporary, and is only meant to help some friends – President Obama and the Democratic party – who have lost their way. We are hopeful that via this campaign, our friends will keep their promises.

So please sign the Petition and take a Pledge to no longer donate to the DNC, Organizing for America, or the Obama campaign until the President and the Democratic party keep their promises to the gay community, our families, and our friends.

Clearly we have a problem here.  A fundamental disconnect between our D.C. ‘Representatives’ and the people they are supposed to represent.

A failure to communicate.

Well for all that people think I’m deep and mysterious, I think I’m pretty up front and in your face.  About as subtle as a two by four upside your head.

Democrat does not equal good!

Republicans are evil does not scare me anymore.  Better than nothing does not attract me.

Do your fucking job or go home asshole.  Your title does not impress me idiot.  And if you can’t read a poll you’re a lousy politician and deserve your failure.

The only thing that surprises me is how in denial people are about their delusions.

And that doesn’t surprise me at all.

Comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable

What are journalists supposed to do?

They call handpicked invisible people on the phone and then write columns summarizing what they claim they said without identifying or describing a single one of them.

(They) just faithfully serve(s) as a mindless stenographer for hidden people whose credibility you’re told to accept even as they do nothing but spout manipulative, vapid idiocies about Churchillian Resolve designed to promote endless war.

Colbert

(A)s excited as I am to be here with the President, I am appalled to be surrounded by the liberal media that is destroying America, with the exception of FOX News. FOX News gives you both sides of every story: the President’s side, and the Vice President’s side.

But the rest of you, what are you thinking? Reporting on NSA wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason: they’re super-depressing. And if that’s your goal, well, misery accomplished.

Over the last five years you people were so good, over tax cuts, WMD intelligence, the effect of global warming. We Americans didn’t want to know, and you had the courtesy not to try to find out. Those were good times, as far as we knew.

But, listen, let’s review the rules. Here’s how it works. The President makes decisions. He’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put ’em through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know, the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration? You know, fiction!

Late Night Karaoke

Open Thread

Jesus and The Money Changers

I can’t really put it any better than Wikipedia does

The narrative of Jesus and the Money Changers occurs in all four Gospels in the New Testament. It occurs near the end of the Synoptic Gospels (at Mark 11:15-19, 11:27-33, Matthew 21:12-17, 21:23-27 and Luke 19:45-48, 20:1-8) and near the start in the Gospel of John (at John 2:12-25). As a result some biblical scholars think there may have been two such incidents.

I’m doing ‘God’s work’. Meet Mr Goldman Sachs

John Arlidge, The Sunday Times

November 8, 2009

“Is it possible to have too much ambition? Is it possible to be too successful?” Blankfein shoots back. “I don’t want people in this firm to think that they have accomplished as much for themselves as they can and go on vacation. As the guardian of the interests of the shareholders and, by the way, for the purposes of society, I’d like them to continue to do what they are doing. I don’t want to put a cap on their ambition. It’s hard for me to argue for a cap on their compensation.”

So, it’s business as usual, then, regardless of whether it makes most people howl at the moon with rage? Goldman Sachs, this pillar of the free market, breeder of super-citizens, object of envy and awe will go on raking it in, getting richer than God? An impish grin spreads across Blankfein’s face. Call him a fat cat who mocks the public. Call him wicked. Call him what you will. He is, he says, just a banker “doing God’s work”

As you might guess from my handle and my Buddhism I reject Christianity entirely, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know it.

What Blankfein is embracing is a particularly warped and narrow view of Calvinism.

Since everything is predestined by God who knew you in the womb, your material success is an indication of God’s favor.  It shows you are among the elect.

This is sometimes also called the Protestant Work Ethic.

The richer you are the more Godly.

Now how you square this with Camels and Needle Eyes and Saul’s Unmerited Favor through Grace is a job for a real theologian.

You know, someone who believes in original sin.

(h/t Digby)

Why the U.S. has to go

Original article, an interview with Malalai Joya via socialistworker.org:

Interesting Times

Thousands of years ago a very technologically advanced society on earth went by the name Atlantis.  The theories of advanced alien extraterrestrial races guiding or even making humans in their own image or rather more important to us lowly earth dwellers is that we have never been alone.  Ancient writings, pyramids, seemingly advanced celestial knowledge and pyramid structures on earth in diverse geographically removed locations.  The Bermuda triangle, ley lines, sacred geometry, the fibonacci series, the golden ratio, Stonehedge, Easter Island, the Mayan calendar, Nostradamus, Buddha,Christ,Princess Diana and the Three Stooges.  You have to say you are living in “interesting” times.

What does all this have to do with politics?  Everything.

Overnight Caption Contest

Do you live in Maine? Then you could influence history

If you live in Maine and know 100 people (or live within driving distance of 100 people), then you can change the results of the gay rights referendum from last Tuesday.  An email from Black Box Voting:

I’ve been getting a lot of calls and emails from folks both for and against gay

rights, the first group wondering how to get this recount thing off the ground,

the second group kinda mad at Black Box Voting for leading the charge.

So here are some updates:

1. The $2500 is available. People who’ve been getting our emails have stepped up

to the plate with this, and all it takes is a phone call now

2. The holdup is the petition. Black Box Voting is not going to organize this.

It takes 100 Maine voters on a petition to  do this thing. 100 names:

http://www.mainelegislature.or…

If someone gets 100 names on a petition, call me and I’ll help push the buttons

for #1.

Wire transfers or overnight means tomorrow’s deadline is challenging for handing

over the money.

Now as to “why do it?” and “where are the numbers anyway?” and what would happen

if the recount goes forward?

Why? Because Maine does happen to have the best voter’s rights in the country

right now, but it’s not great — they use concealed computerized vote counting,

violating citizens right to see their own election counting. Maybe I should call

it “the least worst” voting rights in the country. We have a confluence of key

opportunities that is very rare for the issue of concealed computer counts.

1) The recount is affordable

2) There are probably interested citizens willing to seek it

3) The firm with control over programming Maine’s elections is one that concerns

many citizens, not just Maine, but also in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New

Hampshire and Vermont. LOTS of people want more light shed on these guys.

4) If machine counts don’t match the recount in any location, or if the chain of

custody is broken in any way for any of the recount ballots the implications

will affect all of New England because one firm controls all the voting machines

(LHS Associates)

5) This will give us a good opportunity to examine chain of custody in Maine

There’s more to the email, but the basic story is this – for $25,000 and 100 Maine citizen signatures (although you should probably collect a few hundred if possible), anyone in the state can order a recount of November 3rd’s vote.  It’s worth a shot since it’s so easy, and it could mean a victory for election, integrity, too.

Any takers?

Casting the Beauty Platform for the Afghanistan Quagmire



   No moving lines.
Retreat

   Retreat. Success.

   In what is small, perseverance furthers.

The Image

   Mountain under heaven: the image of Retreat.

   Thus the superior man keeps the inferior man at a distance,

   Not angrily but with reserve.

________________________________

No moving lines: this does not contain within it the immediate seeds of its own change – though of course, all things contain within them the ultimate seeds of their own change.

Retreat. The inner trigram is “the sky”, “The Creative”. We have mountains at home if we need them, and Big Sky – there is no need to play the Game of Empire in mountains far abroad.

Retreat. The outer trigram is “the mountain”, “Keeping Still”. In poise, we advance without effort, but the sword that is constantly taken from its scabbard will rust and break.

Retreat. An imposing mountain from without, but within a whole sky to explore. A cabin in the woods, the autumn woods rustling at night, quiet conversation among friends.

Retreat.

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