Russians in Georgia, Chavez in Moscow, Gas Panic In Atlanta Georgia. Whodunit??
According to Reuters (Gasoline Shortage in Southeast Prompts Panic-9.24.08) quotes the AAA that the gasoline shortage in the Southeast has hit Atlanta Georgia especially hard.
That being said it may be worthy of note that Hugo Chavez, President of Venezuela, has made two trips to Moscow these past two months. Since the conflict in European Georgia the Russian leadership, spurred on by President Medvedev and Prime Minister Putin, is heightening efforts to court anti-American allies throughout Latin America. They are intensifying their efforts to engage a willing partner in Chavez toward an anti-American entente. Discussions have advanced in the spheres of military cooperation (joint naval exercises and $4.4 billions of Russian armaments including fighter planes, air defense systems, transport helicopters) and a "civilian nuclear program" (purportedly for peaceful purposes!?) and the establishment of an oil and gas consortium with Gazprom as operator and headquarters in Caracas.
According to the Russian News Service, RAI Novosti, Medvedev and Chavez also discussed a plan to set up an international gas cartel. The collusion doesn't stop here. Venezuela's oil minister Rafael Ramirez has been quoted, "they (the Russians) are more than welcome in OPEC." Ominously, a large delegation of Russians attended the last OPEC meeting in Vienna on September 9-10 headed by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin.
Add to this a report in the authoritative newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta of September 29, "Gazprom Sets its Sights on the States," reporting that Moscow is trying to take control of energy resource deliveries not only to Europe, but also to the US, "thereby furthering the political interests of Moscow which will be able to use the increasing US energy dependence to exert pressure on Washington."
What does all this have to do with gas shortages in the Southeast? Gulf Coast refineries have been impacted by hurricanes Ike and Gustav and the resulting production shortfalls have caused pipelines servicing the area to run below normal capacity. Clearly it behooves all refiners in the area to return to full operations ASAP.
But wait, two of the major refineries in the area are CITGO Petroleum Corporation refineries, owned and operated by Petroleos de Venezuela S.A., the Venezuelan state oil company. They have a significant refining capacity capable of processing 750,000 barrels of oil a day. Now, given the poisonous atmosphere, what better lesson could Hugo Chavez impart to us than by constraining our gasoline supply in our home market in a time of regional emergency? Thereby he would be reminding us how dependent we are on the unfettered supply of oil and gasoline. Has he, hasn't he? I don't know. With the current gasoline supply shortages in the Southeast he could certainly and readily exacerbate the situation. And the more vulnerable we feel, the more self-assured and bombastic he and his Russian friends become.
Given that Venezuela is a member of OPEC, given the clear collusion between Russia and Venezuela, given the manipulation of oil markets by the OPEC cartel, it is one of the scandals of this administration, in their craven capitulation to oil interests and Saudi influence, to have stonewalled NOPEC legislation, with threats of a veto, in spite of Congress' clear willingness to pass it into law. The NOPEC legislation would have vacated the sovereign immunity of OPEC members making it possible to sue OPEC member companies in American courts for collusion and restraint of trade. It is an issue that needs be high on the agenda of the next administration, and the candidates need to be asked to voice their position on this issue by a vigilant press.
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Phil Gramm his wife, Goldman Sachs, Dick Armey and his wife, Ken Lay, Dick Cheney, Tom Delay..Lee Raymond..et al...!
The Russian government will go into deficit when crude falls below $70/bbl.
I'm sure Venezuela and Iran are in similar positions.
$50/bbl oil will bankrupt the bunch.
Shouldn't we be telling our friends in OPEC to choose which friends they want to keep?
Saudi Arabia can set the benchmark price they want.
The problem as I see it is that Bush's relentless banging on Chavez has created the situation with Venezuela and Russia. Bush did not like Chavez because he was a socialist. Well pardon me; some people have different ideas. Where did the virtue of tolerance go. Well because of the Bush regime's intolerance we can look forward to more problems. The CIA has also been very heavily involved in trying to destabilize the government of Venezuela. The US should be ashamed of itself. What a stupid game. The US deserves everything it gets and I hope that oil supplies dry up for the US so that people will take alternative energy more seriously. Hydrogen is the only future solution that will work for the US.
THE USA DOES NOT EVEN PROSCUTE COLLUSION BETWEEEN LENDERS AND PROPERTY APPRAISERS WHO OVER VALUE HOMES TO MAKE BAD LOANS LOOK GOOD ON PAPER.
So the U.S. Government is planning to take over the refinery ?
That is what I get from this article.
Worner who could possible run it ?
Maybe Exxon or Halibourton ?
The more bombastic we became, "Shock and Awe" baby, "Shock and Awe", the more the KGB and Mr. Chavez were laughing at us. Unlike us they could see that we would be crawling on the floor in a few years time. And they were right, weren't they.
Never underestimate your opponent. He might just be smarter than you think.
Chavez is not blind. He can see what the United States has done to Iraq. He needs protection. Here's a crazy idea. Since its us that Chavez needs protection from, maybe we could make him a better offer than the Russians. I know, I know. Tradition would have us kill Chavez and install a puppet dictator. I'm just trying to think "out of the box" here.
Chavez can see that the US has exhausted itself in Iraq. We are done militarily. Most likely we have no credible human intelligence base left that is not focused on the Middle East and even there it is virtually useless. It takes a fool not to see that. And as long as we have the real conflict in Afghanistan going (and that will be for decades to come), there is no way we can pull stunts in other parts of the world.
I hear my bible-toting friends refer to Obama as the antichrist.I'm mot sure what the hell that is but apparently America was in the bible,How did I lose so much money on the horses,if it was all foretold.Anyway,I think Bush is more likely to be the antichrist,or maybe the bible wasn't about America at all.
"The more vulnerable we feel, the more self-assured and bombastic Chavez and his Russian friends become."
Don't you think the election of GW Bush twice made them bubble over?
Raymond;
These happenings not withstanding, how is it that the manipulation of the commodity markets, vis a vis the speculators, has gotten so little attention. Relative to the overall affect these machinations have on the overall economy, how is this not looked at as traitorous, in the extreme. Is the need to make money by "pushing paper", so ensconced in the American dynamic that it is somehow an American "right"?
http://www.forbes.com/energy/2008/09/23/energy-oil-washington-biz-cx_wp_0923energy.html
I'm sure you have discussed this before, but I think it deserves to have a broader light shone on it. It should be part of this "Bail Out".
How about a national sit in? If millions of Americans simply stayed home for one day, didn't drive to work, turned off all lights and electrical gadgets, used absolutely nothing that consumes electricity, what would that say?
People, the reason why America (despite it's failures due to incompetent republican leadership of course), is still the big kid on the block, is because of our purchasing power.
If we got smart and just didn't consume anything or spend any money for 1 DAY, that would send one helluva message to the rest of the world.
Very interesting. What other things can the "people" do to get things changed?
Being careful to remember and realize that the people of cental america were known for community and collective demonstrations of their will. And my government sent in black helecopters with machine guns to break up these "leftist" disputes.
What if one million people converged on Wall Street -- and shut it down. In the 60s we shut down Columbia University.
And why are we bogging down efforts to get us not only off foriegn oil, but oil altogether?
There are many reasons for Chavez's appeal and for the rapprochement between Russia and Latin America.
Chavez is recognized by everyone for the clown that he is. But he is also seen as a cunning individual who can say a lot things others in Latin America think but cannot say.
Russia, like Venezuela, has oil. More importantly, if you have to choose between two bullies (U.S. or Russia), you might as well choose the one that is farthest from you; the one that happens to have a smart, rational leader (regardless of whether you like him or not).
A few days ago I got a very interesting email, even thought it was one of those that gets forwarded a gazillion times. It was about how last month the president of Costa Rica (a Nobel Peace Prize winner, no less) recently sided with Russia and its new security claims http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/septiembre/11/pais1696985.htmll [sorry, but the link is in Spanish]).
Also last month, Arias said that Hugo Chavez was far more generous than the United States http://www.nacion.com/ln_ee/2008/septiembre/04/pais1688263.htmll).
Ironically, the U.S. Coast Guard patrols Costa Rica's territorial waters (both the Pacific and the Caribbean) 24/7 and even provides search and rescue services. Who foots the bill? The American taxpayer.
Much of what Chavez does is in response to American meddling in his country.
Dictators like Uribe in Colombia who commit atrocities against their own people, in support of American business interests are "good guys".
But someone like Chavez who was illegally targeted for assassination by the US is somehow always the bad guy.
It would help us all to understand that Chavez is close to Evo Morales the Bolivian leader who has also been dealing with CIA efforts to damage his country. It would be nice to see an article on that here on huffpost.
Here is a good one for anyone who wants to understand the big issues in South America.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10284
We should all know that as we focus on Sarah Palin and her daily trials and tribulations, that we Americans are unleashing Hell on South American peasants.
http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10282
CliffNotes version:
Russian Federation,... ba-a-d.
Venezuela... b-a-a-d
America... go-o--d.
Is that from Palin's flash cards for the debate?
No this is from Mr. Brzezinski's prep for his protege's upcoming speech.
It'll sound like this: " I do not support Russia expansion on one hand. I support the development of Russian interests on the other hand. And I hope that change will come under my leadership because this is the change that we all hope for... ( finger wag, adjust tie, decline all food offers)....
Bush and his bozos brought this on themselves, and the rest of you too.
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