Twirling Toward Oblivion

Conditions: Hot, dry.


Iraq Oil Belongs To Whom, Exactly?

Surely we can accept by now the obvious truth that the Iraq war was about the West securing a significant chunk of the worlds oil supply? I mean, duh. One of the things the Americans have been trying to set up since the invasion is a plan to effectively control the Iraqi oil infrastructure for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately (for the Americans), that pesky Iraqi democratic government they've propped up actually has the gall to want to run their own oil themselves. The nerve.

The oil game in Iraq may be almost up. On September 29th, like a landlord serving notice, the government of Iraq announced that the next annual renewal of the United Nations Security Council mandate for a multinational force in Iraq - the only legal basis for a continuation of the American occupation - will be the last. That was, it seems, the first shoe to fall. The second may be an announcement terminating the little-noticed, but crucial companion Security Council mandate governing the disposition of Iraq's oil revenues.

By December 31, 2008, according to Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, the government of Iraq intends to have replaced the existing mandate for a multinational security force with a conventional bilateral security agreement with the United States, an agreement of the sort that Washington has with Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, and several other countries in the Middle East. The Security Council has always paired the annual renewal of its mandate for the multinational force with the renewal of a second mandate for the management of Iraqi oil revenues. This happens through the "Development Fund for Iraq," a kind of escrow account set up by the occupying powers after the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime and recognized in 2003 by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1483. The oil game will be up if and when Iraq announces that this mandate, too, will be terminated at a date certain in favor of resource-development agreements that - like the envisioned security agreement - match those of other states in the region.
[...]

Even with Iraqi expertise duly factored in, oil remains a complicated business, and foreign expertise and capital will remain indispensable in Iraq. Still, for the Shiite-dominated central government, the most trusted foreign supplier of supplementary expertise, manpower, and even capital would seem to be Iran. For now, the United States is paying many of the salaries in Baghdad; but Iran's president, predicting an American withdrawal, has lately declared his readiness to "fill the [regional power] gap, with the help of neighbors and regional friends like Saudi Arabia, and with the help of the Iraqi nation." This invitation to regional collaboration will surely strike the less populous, militarily more vulnerable Saudis as disingenuous in the extreme, but Iran may be hard to stop. As former ambassador Peter Galbraith has explained: "Since 2005, Iraq's Shiite-led government has concluded numerous economic, political, and military agreements with Iran. The most important would link the two countries' strategic oil reserves by building a pipeline from southern Iraq to Iran, while another commits Iran to providing extensive military assistance to the Iraq government." On Oct. 17, the al-Maliki regime flexed its supposedly non-existent muscle yet again by awarding $1.1 billion in contracts to Iran and China to build enormous power plants in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City and between the two Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala.

The prospect that, in the endgame for Iraqi oil, the victor might be Shiite Iran (and indirectly Communist China) may help explain recent American calls for the replacement of the devoutly Shiite Prime Minister al-Maliki. Yet, even if American pressure leads to al-Maliki's ouster, the Iraqi parliament cannot be ousted with him. The prime minister's announcement that the next renewal of the multi-force mandate would be the last came, in fact, in response to a binding resolution in parliament that the next renewal, unlike previous ones, may not be at the request of the prime minister alone, but only with the advice and consent of parliament. It has voted once already, in a non-binding resolution, to require the United States to set a timetable for withdrawal.

- Truthout.org

So, with the peace and security part of the equation in tatters, the only real attainable asset is the massive oil stocks that lie under the soil. With but a year left in President Bush's term of office, is there anything he can do to thwart the likely Iranian partnership with Iraqi leaders?




2008 Election Still Under Threat.

I've read enough over the years to be reasonably sure that the 2004 election was not, as we say in the news business, "on the level." Something fishy happened in Ohio, at least, and the voting machines have been proven to be about as reliable and as safe as wet tissue paper. The fact the the results were not challenged in any significant way stands as a black mark against the American people, who demonstrated their true character by swallowing the lies, ignoring the actual issues, and hoping for the best. So, how goes the runup for the 2008 election?

Thus it should come as no surprise that our exclusive investigations into the firings of eight federal prosecutors who refused to execute Rove’s plans for massive disenfranchisement of Democratic voters reveal a pattern of illegalities and fraud aimed at reducing the number of minority, poor and young voters at the core of Democratic support. In the wake of major news breaks, two felony convictions have come from the rigging of the illegal Ohio 2004 vote count and recount that gave George W. Bush a second illegitimate term. Stunning new admissions from county election boards that illegally destroyed voter records will almost certainly lead to new convictions. And the multi-million-dollar electronic voting machine scam that made possible the biggest electoral frauds in US history is under massive new attack, with key states moving to scrap the machines altogether in a desperate attempt to restore American democracy - but with the job far from done.
[...]

Unmonitorable DRE (direct record electronic) voting machines have been center stage at every Bush-era stolen election. In Florida 2000, some 16,000 votes that "disappeared" from Al Gore’s tallies in Volusia County helped turn the tide for Bush at a key election night moment, even though they were later reinstated. In 2002, fraudulent electronic vote counts in Georgia almost certainly deprived Vietnam war hero Max Cleland of his US Senate seat in a race which all credible polls showed him winning by a substantial margin.

The spread of DREs is at the core of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) pushed through by then-Congressman (now jailbird) Bob Ney. High-powered studies from the likes of the Government Accountability Office, the Brennan Center on Voting Rights, the Carter-Baker Commission on Voting Rights, Princeton University and US Representative John Conyers all conclude that DRE’s can be easily manipulated, with entire elections illicitly shifted by a few keystrokes.

The GOP's HAVA means to put the nation on DREs as thoroughly as possible by 2008. But a public rebellion has slowed that plan. In Ohio, grassroots campaigners stopped Blackwell from giving Diebold an unbid $100 million contract to put virtually the entire state on DREs. Elsewhere, state and local election boards rebelled against the high cost of maintaining the machines, which often must be kept air conditioned around the clock, resulting in huge electric bills. Programming and other costs make administering elections on DREs far more expensive than doing it on paper ballots. The DREs have become infamous because of widespread testimony in Ohio that 2004 voters were pushing John Kerry’s name, only to see George Bush’s name light up, or to have their Kerry vote simply disappear moments later.

In response to nationwide opposition, US Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) proposed federal legislation that would have forced all electronic voting machines to be fitted with devices that would produce a paper trail. An accredited scientist, Holt also wanted to force manufacturers to make public the software that ran their machines.

Holt’s proposed House Bill 811 divided the election protection movement, much of which saw it as an endorsement of DREs. And as the bill progressed, the GOP gutted it, killing the software transparency requirements and settling for unworkable paper trail provisions.

- Truthout.org

I have to think that the somewhat complicated nature of the story, involving computers rather than cartoonish evil dictator warlords, meant that regular folk either didn't get it, or didn't care. How else to explain the lack of public outrage at the very obvious evidence of a rigged election? The coming election promises to have more people taking a closer look, but when the results can be changed in the blink of an eye, will people be prepared to think the (apparently) unthinkable?



Well, At Least They Can't Wash Their Hair.

Over the years, airports have become less like transportation hubs, and more like federal penitentiaries, where all are guilty, and all must prove themselves innocent. Such practices include having officials rummage through your luggage, confiscating your shampoo bottles, and requiring you to remove your clothing. One gets the feeling this is all some elaborate prank instigated by airport security companies. Anyway, the purpose is to catch the bomb-smuggling terrorists. LAX in particular has been checking it's procedures. So, how's that been going?

Despite all these precautions, security screeners missed 75% of fake bombs and explosives that passed through the airport during undercover terrorism drills.

Citing a classified memo, USA Today reported that Chicago's O'Hare International Airport fared slightly better than LAX, failing to detect about 60% of the simulated bombs, and San Francisco International missed 20%.

"They almost undress you in there, and they can't get their stuff straight," said Huntington Park resident Maria Gonzales, 32, as she prepared to catch a flight Thursday morning from LAX to Las Vegas.

Transportation Security Administration officials would not confirm or deny details of the newspaper report. But they defended the screeners, saying the tests were conducted two years ago and were designed to trip up security personnel.

- LA Times.com

Oh, yes it wasn't a fair test due to the 'terrorists' actually trying not to get caught! In real life, the terrorists will be wearing army fatigues, and will carry their bombs strapped to their belts, like in the movies. Sheesh.



Hiding Is The Battle.

Since the dawn of time, mankind's response to a threat will fall into two categories, flight or fight. And these days, the general attitude is to fight. Fight the muggers, fight the bullies, fight the cops, fight fight fight! Well the Japanese have been putting a little thought into the opposite tactic, and have come up with something quite wonderful. See if you can spot the person:

Deftly, Ms. Tsukioka, a 29-year-old experimental fashion designer, lifted a flap on her skirt to reveal a large sheet of cloth printed in bright red with a soft drink logo partly visible. By holding the sheet open and stepping to the side of the road, she showed how a woman walking alone could elude pursuers — by disguising herself as a vending machine.

The wearer hides behind the sheet, printed with an actual-size photo of a vending machine. Ms. Tsukioka’s clothing is still in development, but she already has several versions, including one that unfolds from a kimono and a deluxe model with four sides for more complete camouflaging.

These elaborate defenses are coming at a time when crime rates are actually declining in Japan. But the Japanese, sensitive to the slightest signs of social fraying, say they feel growing anxiety about safety, fanned by sensationalist news media. Instead of pepper spray, though, they are devising a variety of novel solutions, some high-tech, others quirky, but all reflecting a peculiarly Japanese sensibility.

- NYTimes.com

It's probably not practical, but I love the mindset that thinks things like that up. Kudos.



Planet To Humans: You're On Your Own.

In a shock move, reports coming in indicate the land and oceans have reduced the amount of carbon they absorb every year. Added to that is the point that we're actually producing more carbon every year than we used to. I'm no mathematician, but that shit don't add up too good.

A team of scientists has found that atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) growth has increased 35 percent faster than expected since 2000.

Lead author and Executive Director of the Global Carbon Project, CSIRO’s Dr Pep Canadell, says the acceleration is due to three factors: global economic growth; the world’s economy becoming more carbon intense (that is, since 2000 more carbon is being emitted to produce each dollar of global wealth); and a deterioration in the land and oceans’ ability to absorb carbon from the atmosphere at the required rate.

“What we are seeing is a decrease in the planet’s ability to absorb carbon emissions due to human activity,” Dr Canadell says.

“Fifty years ago, for every tonne of CO2 emitted, 600kg were removed by land and ocean sinks. However, in 2006, only 550kg were removed per tonne and that amount is falling.”

- ScienceDaily.com

Hmmmm. What we need is some kind of engine that burns carbon and puts out ice blocks. Someone get on that.

Related: We're All Going To Die.


Related: Simple things like dry conditions and hot temperatures set off statewide fires in CA that cannot be stopped without rain.



To The Moon, China!

In one right out of the history books, China has launched it's own lunar orbiter, to spend a year exploring that great unknown, the moon.

The satellite, named Chang'e 1, took off from the Xichang Centre in south-west China's Sichuan province at 1800 local time (1000 GMT).

Analysts say it is a key step towards China's aim of putting a man on the Moon by 2020, in the latest stage of an Asian space race with Japan and India

Earlier this month, a Japanese lunar probe entered orbit around the Moon.

India is planning a lunar mission for April next year.

- BBC

I'm not entirely sure what the point of it all is, it reminds me a bit of what rich tycoons start doing once they get tired of working all the time. Maybe next China will buy a yacht and sail it to the Bahamas.



Film Review: The Brave One.

Back in the eighties, Charles Bronson made a series of vigilante films where a brother or a wife or a daughter or a pet dog of his would get killed by a bunch of hoodlums, causing Bronson to take the law into his own hands, hunt the bad guys down and kill them quite brutally, until they were dead. Clint Eastwood did some of the same stuff, and Steven Segal took up the mantle in the 90's. It's a well-respected template, the revenge movie, and it's been remade again here with a woman as the lead.

Jodie Foster is a very talented actress, managing to be both petite and as hard as iron. She brings a sensitiveness and an emotional depth to the character that helps make the whole thing tick. Set in New York (of course), her character goes through an enormous change that brings out a side of her she never suspected. The film never flinches from the moral choices she makes, in fact even dwelling on them.

If you're prepared to accept that, all of a sudden, a New Yorker could find herself in two life or death situations in the space of a few days (possible, I guess), then then film works quite well. The lead character's unwillingness to be a victim in the aftermath of a shattered life forces her on to the offensive, and things start building toward a conclusion. The involvement of a good cop who pretty much figures it out tends to muddy the moral waters even more, but that's what a film about morality is supposed to do. Three and a half fingerprints out of Five.




End Transmission.