Peak Oil just a few years away?
JD
1582
Kurdel, yes, that guy undoubtedly has an axe to grind given how he was suspended from Wikileaks. The disagreement about the screening process they had then might have also been a clash of egos.
However, while I do think that his statements and the book should be taken with a grain of salt, that doesn’t mean that they’re uninteresting or completely wrong. Biased gossip? Yep. Completely sans insight into what Wikileaks was at some point. Probably not.
Kurdel
1583
I agree with your point JD, that we should not disregard this book based only on short term events. Ghandi was racist, but history remembers him as a positive figure. Maybe misogynistic man child will be a footnote to Assange’s Wikipedia entry.
As for the Peak Oil, it is interesting, but ultimately dumb. Saudi Arabia accounts for only 10% of US oil imports. As much as Mexico, Nigeria and Venezuela. The perceived importance of Saudi Oil is clearly a political tool used to play with oil prices. The US imports more oil from Canada than the Persian gulf.
And even so, the commercialization of electric cars signals the beginning of he end of the strain on the oil supply by the consumers. In the west at least…
I got my numbers from the EIA website.
It’s not entirely about percentages, though. The oil that comes from Venezuela and Canada is from oil sands. Nigeria is such a disaster it could be used as the setting for Just Cause 3. Much of Mexico’s oil comes from offshore reserves that are expensive to tap.
Saudi Arabia is such a big deal because the price of extraction there is virtually nil relative to all the other places on your list. You poke a straw into the ground and the stuff gushes up in usable form. When those types of reserves dry up prices will rise because it simply costs more to get the stuff out of the ground and process it.
As for electric cars, we’ll see. Those put demands on an entirely different set of natural resources that will spike in price if there’s a tremendous surge in demand.
Kurdel
1585
Good post Tracy, the ease of access is definitely an incentive. Imagine the reduced stress if we could get some of that sweet sweet Iran oil!
Isn’t crude sold on a more-or-less open market?
It sells in a market that is manipulated by OPEC, whose Arabian members can easily raise or lower production to hit a price target they want to maintain. They can’t raise it too high, or they face competition from places like Canada and Venezuela that can only produce when the price gets to a higher level than it costs for them to process their oil sands and shale. If OPEC members are overstating their reserves it means their ability to reduce prices by producing more will go away sooner than anticipated, and oil prices will rise accordingly.
Tracy has the right of it. If Saudi Arabia has been over stating their reserves, and hence can not control the price of oil, we will get market “correction” on oil barrels really quickly (quickly probably being months or a couple of years). It is not just about America, it is about everyone. If OPEC can not artificially control the market, things are going to get…interesting very fast.
Alan Dershowitz has joined Assange’s legal defense team as an adviser, and would jump into a more active role if the US decided to prosecute Assange.
‘Wikileaks: US judge considers Twitter request’:
"The US has defended its request for the personal details of three Twitter users, as part of its inquiry into Wikileaks. At a court in Virginia, the justice department said it was seeking the account information of three associates of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
The trio are fighting the request, arguing it is an invasion of privacy. A justice department lawyer told the court the request was a standard investigative measure.
US prosecutors say the request forms part of their ongoing investigation into the Wikileaks site, which released thousands of confidential diplomatic cables online. The trio appealing against the request - Icelandic MP Birgitta Jonsdottir, Dutch hacker Rop Gonggrijp and US computer programmer Jacob Appelbaum - all know, or have worked with, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Lawyers representing the trio appeared before the US district court in Alexandria, Virginia, on Tuesday to argue against the release of their private information.
“What’s at stake here is the ability to use the internet freely and privately, without the government looking over their shoulder,” said Aden Fine, of the American Civil Liberties Union."
JeffL
1591
I’m sure somewhere in the Patriot Act this is enabled.
I didn’t see thisposted on Qt3, and it’s relevant, since it deals with Bradley Manning.
"Opening Statement for the Defense of Bradley Manning, Soldier and Patriot
U.S. Army Private First Class Bradley Manning has done his duty. He has witnessed serious violations of the American military’s Uniform Code of Military Justice, violations of the rules in U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10, and violations of international law. He has brought these wrongdoings to light out of a profound sense of duty to his country, as a citizen and a soldier, and his patriotism has cost him dearly.
In 2005, General Peter Pace, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters: “It is absolutely the responsibility of every U.S. service member [in Iraq], if they see inhumane treatment being conducted, to try to stop it.” This, in other words, was the obligation of every U.S. service member in Operation Iraqi Freedom; this remains the obligation of every U.S. service member in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. It is a duty that Pfc. Manning has fulfilled." - from the link above.
Sadly in a ‘neo-fascist’ America(if this movement persists), i don’t see this as being able to stop the inevitable. Pfc.Manning will be found a traitor(and worse) and will probably get the death sentence, or at the minimum a full life sentence.
Skipper
1595
They haven’t given out the death sentence for that in quite some time (removed from evan a possibility in 1990). As for him getting any sentence, If you essentially “cut and paste” anything secret versus actually, you know, stick to whistle blowloing, I think you probably should expect a guilty charge of at least some form of espionage.
I’m sorry I disagree with Mother Jones here. Patriot, he is not.
Lh_owon
1596
He’s one better - a man with principle.
Paypal briefly took away funding from Manning’s defense fund in their own special way, and has now responded to internet wrath and given it back.
I think, probably like Lh’owon, that patriotism is a red herring. I don’t particularly value it one way or another and am indifferent to whether Manning or anybody else meets that standard, so I don’t find the MJ article particularly useful.
I agree that Manning must face charges for his actions, although I would think they are much more appropriately dealt with in the context of dereliction of duty or specific technical infractions of materials handling protocols. I’m sure the military will try to make espionage stick if it can, but it seems a term that would be rendered totally meaningless if you can subtract the traditional motivations (eg aiding the enemy) that have been linked to espionage as an act. You don’t want to set the precedent that documents can be leaked without consequences, but you also don’t want to needlessly broaden the definition of spying.
Actually, I’d just be happy if they stopped the Manning holding pattern and gave him his show trial. There are too many improprieties in the air around it for it to be allowed to linger.
Patriot he is not? For defending the values of civility, responsibility and accountability that are meant to characterize the Western “moral” societies?
Hah. I’d love to know what a patriot is, then – and how it’s distinct from a nationalist.
Edit: How come moral relativism is acknowledged, even understood as a necessity, in a military context? If there, then certainly everywhere.
Skipper
1599
I would have no problem with that personally. I don’t feel the kid is a spy, and I really don’t think the military should either. But he should face charges. Otherwise the value of confidential information will not hold, and despite what a lot of people here would wish, I don’t think everyone needs to know everything. Having no enforcement of rules or binding obligations when serving is … insane.
If there was a way to just flush out classified information on abuses and acts against humanity, that would be the ticket. But there is not. I took an oath and Mr. Manning did as well. I personally feel he went way beyond what his defense is suggesting, but we’ve already have pages and multiple threads of that discussion.
Like all of you guys though, I say get the trial on and give him his due process. The sooner it’s done with, the sooner Mr. Manning can get on with the rest of his life, whatever path that may be.
