Harper's Weekly
Here's the first paragraph from the latest edition of "Harper's Weekly," one of my favorite email newsletters:
Oil reached a record $139.89 a barrel. Four Western companies met with Iraq's Oil Ministry to finalize no-bid contracts to tap Iraqi oil fields, and the Nigerian government distributed billions of dollars of windfall to corrupt state officials. Thirty-five countries and 25 oil companies met in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to try to fix global oil prices, which have caused strikes, riots, and inflation around the world. Many OPEC countries blamed speculators for the price increase, as did some representatives of oil companies and oil-dependent industries. United States Energy Secretary Sam Bodman blamed supply and demand, as did lobbyists for Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, and the International Swaps and Derivatives Association. Drivers in the Gaza Strip, where Israel limits fuel supplies and black market gas costs $27 per gallon, used vegetable oil and turpentine as fuel, producing toxic fumes that result in diarrhea and stomach pain. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cancelled four global-warming research expeditions, citing the cost of fuel. American cowboys could not afford to drive their horses to rodeos, and those who lived near the border were filling their tanks in Mexico, where gas is subsidized. Giant iguanas continued their conquest of South Florida, surrounding Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioner Bob Kanjian at a golf course in Lake Worth. "I had 25 to 30 iguanas," he said, "staring at me while I was playing."Link
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From the AFP wire story:
"Then the bear started running, so the police were frightened they would lose control. The bear could run very close to the populated area, so they decided to shoot it," he added.
Holst said he believed Icelandic authorities had made the right decision.
"It was a security problem," he said.
When I replace the word "bear" with "starving refugee" I get an unpleasant tingle of Global Warming precognition...
Harper's has perfected that style, the piling on of horrors until you start laughing.
Watch out for those iguanas. They're sneaky, and they're mad as hell.
I love the image of the iguanas just staring....staring with their cold, beady reptilian eyes. Waiting.
OPEC has increased supply to meet increased demand from developing nations such as India and China.
The cause of the inflation is that the United States has expanded the supply of money and credit (e.g. raised ceilings on Congressional deficit, loans from China) and debased the currency.
It's not that oil became more valuable, but rather that the dollar became less valuable.
Because the USD is a reserve currency, the disruptive effects of an inflationary monetary policy have rippled globally.
(Ever wonder how $3 billion each month gets spent on the occupation of Iraq without raising a war tax or selling war bonds? They're "printing money" to pay for it.)
"It was revealed that the Veterans Affairs Department had tested an anti-smoking drug on veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder but failed to warn them that possible side effects included psychotic behavior and suicide." -harpers
So with 40 suicides and 400 incidents of suicidal behavior linked to the Chantix trials the White House criticizes and condemns the reporting of the story and not the VA and or those responsible.
I'm speechless.
Is it a sign of the dominance of my reptilian backbrain that I was most affected by the iguana story?
IGUANA STEW
INGREDIENTS
1 iguana
2 onions
1 tsp salt
1/2 lb carrots
1 tsp culantro
1 small ball recardo
vinegar, lime
1 sweet pepper
1 tsp. black pepper
1/2 lb cabbage
2 cloves garlic
1/4 lb tomato
coconut oil
METHOD:
1. Skin and clean the iguana. Wash thoroughly in vinegar and lime.
2. Rub in seasonings - salt, black pepper, recardo, onions, garlic, culantro and sweet pepper. Leave to stand for about 20 mins.
3. Place enough coconut oil in pot to cover the bottom and heat it up. When hot, put in meat. Keep turning and adding a little water for about 30 mins.
4. Add cut up carrots, cabbage and tomato. Cook for another 30 mins.
I'm a longtime fan of Harper's Weekly.
Every Tuesday, my inbox is filled with its unique blend of pathos and bathos, and I'm set for the week.
Or you can learn what the professionals think in Congressman Stupak's hearing on C-SPAN.
House Energy & Commerce Subcmte. Hearing on Energy Prices: Panels Three & Four (June 23, 2008)
Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI) chairs a House Energy & Commerce Oversight & Investigations subcmte. hearing to examine whether market speculation is inflating the price of crude oil, and whether Congress needs to improve regulatory oversight.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration cancelled four global-warming research expeditions, citing the cost of fuel.
How's that for ironic?
I love this Harper's featurette, as well as their list of percentages at the beginning of every issue. The articles, however, are generally too high-falutin' for me, like they're trying hard to impress me with how smart they are (this observation from a guy who's been reading the New Yorker for 30 years).
It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.
Fuck S.2958 and its pork-and-barrel masters. The real solutions to increasing energy production while reducing anthropogenic CO2 emissions are: nuclear fission, solar thermal energy, and hot dry rock geothermal energy.
Are you astroturfing?
(checking posting history)
...
Uh, yeah, I think we have a professional spammer in our midst.
Only a few posts, one URL has already been disemvolwed, and another points to a website that says this:
"Did you know that the U.S. Senate voted on Tuesday, May 13, 2008 to block oil exploration in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and the offshore areas of the Pacific and Atlantic coasts? Sounds crazy doesn't it?"
I'll let the moderators decide.
Every oil-producing nation on earth HAS been boosting output to take advantage of the situation to make profits (the oil sands fall silent at less than$50/bbl) - and you can actually HEAR that there's less auto/truck traffic lately - the Price is speculation, but future Iran war speculation...the cheapest oil in the world used to come from Iraq, after all...
That's for the creepy Astro-turfer above.
The real reason for my note is that, as a long-time long-ago iguana owner, I hate to be the one to have to say this, but they aren't just "staring", you know.
when it is done so badly, perhaps another term could be applied?
JoanJet does appear to be astroturfing. Not very good at it either.
"American cowboys could not afford to drive their horses to rodeos"
Aint you spose' to ride 'em to rodeo? Everyone's been putting too much faith in the automobile since the West got paved.
Are me and Harper's the only one to make this link?
Not that I think that either the Nigerians or corruption are the _only_ ones to blame. But really.
Go Solar. Reduce yr use.
I made a Wordle cloud of this. It can be found at http://wordle.net/gallery/wrdl/28802/Harper%27s_Magazine_Weekly_Review_-_June_24,_2008
Harper's Weekly and The Onion updating every Tuesday is how I imbibe news without my head exploding.
those who lived near the border were filling their tanks in Mexico, where gas is subsidized
It's been a while since I've been to Mexico, but in the past, guidebooks advised you to use as little Mexican gas as possible due to lower standards for fuel down there. Supposedly Mexican gas had more impurities that can cause problems with things like catalytic converters.
I never had any problems, but I never used Mexican gas for more than a tank or two.
Fascinating, but I think they're stretching the definition of "paragraph" by jamming all those unrelated sentences together.
Say, Ugly Canuck, when you said:
"The real reason for my note is that, as a long-time long-ago iguana owner, I hate to be the one to have to say this, but they aren't just "staring", you know."
What did you mean? Are they plotting our downfall? Exchanging recipes for tasty human flesh? Critiquing the guys' golf shots, or shorts if he was dressed in typical golf clothes?
Also, the iguana thing bothered me more than the rest of the article too. Something atavistic about staring and lizards I think.
Plus the way the article ran on it seemed like the iguanas were somehow responsible for the oil problems. (See the paragraph above about plotting our downfall.)
-Carrie