Venezuelan news roundup
Venezuelan state-run oil company considers buying Shell’s Argentinian assets, while off-loading refining operations in the US. Meanwhile President Chávez is building alliances with China and Iran.
Society
IAC Statement: The Election in Iraq
A counterpoint to the corporate media’s unquestioning praise, this article portrays the Iraqi election as a PR effort by U.S. occupiers.
American Account: America stymied as governments bid to control oil
Concentration on fluctuations in oil prices has detracted attention from the fundamental geopolitical changes occurring in world oil and gas markets.
Meditations on Collapse (a review of Jared Diamond’s book)
Heinberg makes a number of significant criticisms of Diamonds latest, not least being loose theoretical coherence and pulling his punches; a quote: “The question is no longer that of avoiding collapse, but rather of making the best of it.”
McNeill Interview with Noam Chomsky
Chomsky discusses Iraq, parallels/differences with Vietnam and 9-11.
The scramble for oil is globalizing the G-7
The Group of 7 leading industrialized nations is not what it used to be. That was amply demonstrated during the energy scare last year, when the most powerful economies stood impotent in the face of surging energy costs that threatened global growth.
Professor talks at exponential rate
Albert Bartlett has given the same presentation, “Arithmetic, Population and Energy” 1,540 times.
State of Hopelessness
An impoverished American middle class will no longer be able to afford theme park vacations and the airlines that used to shuttle them down to Florida will be out-of-business. The new theme in 21st century America will be staying where you are…
China’s VP heads to Latin America on trade visit
China’s Vice-President Zeng Qinghong headed for Latin America and the Caribbean on Sunday on a quest to feed the booming Chinese economy’s growing appetite for natural resources and energy.
The horror of Depleted Uranium is not limited to Iraq – it may well be at our doorsteps.
James Denver argues that the spreading of depleted uranium in Iraq may rank with the worst atrocities of all time.
A Permanent Presence
With up to 14 “enduring bases” being built in Iraq it seems the US’s fabled “exit strategy” may be not to exit at all.
Preparing for the End of Oil?
Hopedance magazine devotes its Jan/Feb issue to “Transitioning from Cheap Oil to a Post-Carbon World.”
