There are times when is better not to make snide comments. Especially when the people involved have done nothing to you to deserve it, except to be in the position they are in because of chance ancestry. I might expect of some, you know who you are, but others? I'm a bit surprised.
To become an extremist, hang around with people you agree with. Cass Sunstein
Sorry if I caused offence. It just seemed to be "one of those photos". It's the expression on William's face as he looks at the baby that I find funny, and I'm sure there's a good caption in there somewhere - just couldn't think of one myself!
woodburner wrote:There are times when is better not to make snide comments. Especially when the people involved have done nothing to you to deserve it, except to be in the position they are in because of chance ancestry. I might expect of some, you know who you are, but others? I'm a bit surprised.
They could always declare their support for a Republic and vow to end all inherited privilege.
Then they could forswear any current or future financial support from the state and start paying for their own security from their own deep pockets.
And instead of having undeserving people with inherited wealth, we could swap it for, er......., say........., President Blair or perhaps President Cameron.
Oh, hang on, they have inherited wealth ...........................
To become an extremist, hang around with people you agree with. Cass Sunstein
Rather than the USA being the greedy exploiter of natural resources of others it's worth pointing out that the USA does not NEED the oil in the middle east.
Let's put two and two together and ask why the USA might be in the middle east at all shall we?
Who gets their oil from the middle east?
Europe
Who will the Europeans be forced to rely on for oil if they can't get it from the ME?
Not the USA but rather a group of gentlemen who have a habit of turning off the pipelines in the middle of winter.
So.... why is it in the interests of the USA to try to control the ME?
Well to me it's obvious: the EU is one of their largest markets and if the EU implodes then the USA loses big time not just in terms of $$$$ but also geopolitically as Ivan carves up Europe.
if the ME oil output was disrupted enough to interfere with EU supplies, what would prevent us from phoning some friends in Venezuela, Mexico and Canada and simply outbidding the US for the volume it imports ?
At that point, US production would itself be worth the new market price, meaning, in the round, that the US is just as dependent on ME supplies as everyone else.
- Unless of course it chose to ban oil exports, tear up its free trade commitments, and cut its oil use by around half.
The US already nominally bans export of crude oil.
In practice it exports a little to Canada because of logistic convenience, but it hasn't been a net exporter since ?1948 and never will be again, as long as the US remains a political entity.
It does export refined products, but this is again a matter of logistics and using otherwise spare refining capacity.
Billhook wrote:if the ME oil output was disrupted enough to interfere with EU supplies, what would prevent us from phoning some friends in Venezuela, Mexico and Canada and simply outbidding the US for the volume it imports ?
Are they interchangeable like this? I thought Venezuela produced a heavy oil which needs extra refining. Are the European refineries set up for this?
Billhook wrote:if the ME oil output was disrupted enough to interfere with EU supplies, what would prevent us from phoning some friends in Venezuela, Mexico and Canada and simply outbidding the US for the volume it imports ?
Are they interchangeable like this? I thought Venezuela produced a heavy oil which needs extra refining. Are the European refineries set up for this?
You could just buy the finished product from wherever it is being refined now. Unless of course the refinery is owned by the Chinese
Not sure if the US itself has a ban on exports. Canada and Mexico are certainly circumscribed in their abilities to export anywhere but the US due to NAFTA commitments. There is much bitching about that here in Alberta though to be honest we can't get the oil out unless it goes through the States anyway because BC keeps vetoing pipelines.
That said, Venezuela is not constrained (though politically they might be) - it would, however, be necessary to upgrade the refineries to be able to handle super heavy crude.
There is also Brazil: it's increasing production though I doubt by enough to offset a 2-8 million barrel per day deficit.
To my eyes it's a clarion call for getting off oil based transport (which is majority personal vehicles) - but there is a *massive* resistance to doing this.
Over here, you can't even convince people to drive smaller cars. They have convinced themselves that they are unsafe.
I suspect that given the number of SUVs on the road here it would be as simple as everyone just driving a car (not even a fuel efficient car - just simply e.g. a 30 mile per gallon car) and the USA would be able to export oil.
But it's not going to happen and thus the middle east has to be occupied until the EU and North America in aggregate reduce consumption enough.
