Monday, April 26, 2010

China Renders Iran Sanctions Toothless; Party's Over: IMF

4/26/10,1830 PDT -- That wasn't my title. It's the title of the story that's attached. That's one handsome, brand-spanking new refinery there in Iran. I'll bet it can probably handle heavy crude too -- like from Venezuela perhaps.

It is all about oil. It has always been all about oil. Iran's threat to the west is that it can become a true competitor, if not leader in production AND refined product on the downslope. Iran has long passed it's Peak. But it might just have better tertiary-recovery technology and infrastructure. If Iran can refine it will have an almost captive market right there in the Middle East and the enormous influence that brings. There's no serious refining capacity of any kind in Iraq or Saudi Arabia. Knowing where the refining capacity is, is just as important as knowing where the oil is and who owns it. Just like I said in Collapse, you can't put a twenty dollar bill, or crude oil in your gas tank and expect the car to run. If Iran is able to ship refined product anywhere in the world; to countries with no refinery capacity; to countries where refineries are failing for lack of maintenance. -- The Middle East will become the lifeline and provider for the Third World; which will might well then convert to Islam.... Shia Islam as opposed to Sunni Islam. That's a likely scenario if Iran manages to become a gasoline exporter with Chinese assistance. Iran is a clerically-run nation.

http://www.energytribune.com/articles.cfm?aid=3912

OTHER UPDATES -- I have been on the road a lot lately and I'm just amazed at how much activity is taking place. I am seeing and learning a lot. Lifebooats are being built in various stages and in many wonderful ways. There are so many of us and I am meeting some of the coolest people on the planet. We have to stop acting and thinking defensively. We have to call a zombie a zombie when we see it.-- Wes Miller, Paul Mineau, Chantelle Wenz and I are all working hard preparing for the launch of CollapseNet and you'll be hearing a lot more on that soon. I'm going to ask some of you to share your wisdom and skills with us and help us in beta-testing. Many of you will receive free memberships for your loyalty, dedication and oh-so-treasured observations and comments. It's a race now. We all know that. I don't know if we'll get CollapseNet up in time to make a difference. We're going to need your help. The DVD goes on sale June 15th and I just keep wondering if we'll get there in time to reach people. Collapse has been a best-seller on iTunes for a while. That's a very good sign. The deamnd to get the DVD is large and getting larger. I have had local government attendees (that I knew of) at five screenings. They get it.

They get it.

OK, going off to chill out for a while. Long day.

MCR
************************************************************************
COLLAPSENET - Volunteer Coordinator

We have an immediate opening for Volunteer Coordinator on the CollapseNet Communication Technologies Team. This is a volunteer position; however, strong performers are anticipated to move into paid positions. It’s required that you’ve read both Confronting Collapse AND Rubicon. Th...is position will take feedback from Lifeboat builders, help create and prioritize work items, assign tasks to volunteers, track progress, and report trends/needs to management. Familiarity with web 2.0 systems like Facebook required. You will help coordinate video, web, radio and other volunteer engineers. Strong attention to detail, ability to meet deadlines, and strong people skills required. Position will reqire a few hours a week to start but is anticipated to become full-time quickly. If you want to change the world and help deliver the best communication systems we can give the Lifeboat builders, send your resume to RobotTrainMaker@collapsenet.com
*****************************************************************************
From Jenna Orkin

Headlines
The Imminent Crash Of Oil Supply: Be Afraid
Going off cliff in year and a half.
Treasury Taking Donations
For nations living the good life, the party's over, says IMF
A banking crisis is China is now all but inevitable
G20 growth forecasts don't add up
Protesters block police in deepening Thai crisis
South Korea Now Knows A Torpedo Sank The Cheonan, But Country Still Looking For An Excuse Not To Go To War
Deadly new Russian weapon hides in shipping container
Jobless Rate Would Be 25% Without TARP: Kashkari
Indonesia to Tap Power of Nation's Volcanoes
Tap tap tap tap boom. And speaking of volcanoes:
[E]ruption 'could just be rehearsal'

Economy
Greece's fiscal despair
Rogoff Says Greece Won't Be Last IMF Rescue as Ireland, Spain `Vulnerable'
Expect Contagion in Europe, Greek Debt Crisis Will Spread; New Wave of Riots in Greece
Obama promises to end bailouts 'once and for all'
'Stockholm Syndrome' Blamed for Regulatory Woes
What about the weather?
Michael Lewis and Andrew Ross Sorkin on Goldman Case

Terror/Intelligence
Iranian technocrats, disillusioned with government, offer wealth of intelligence to US
Morocco breaks up terrorist cell that planned assassinations
Indo-Pakistan Proxy War Heats Up In Afghanistan - from Vantage Point
NATO Sets Strategy to Exit Afghanistan
Attacks against contractors surging in Afghanistan
Paraguay president wants military rule in north
Targeted Killing Lite: Inside the CIA’s New Drone Arsenal
A cruise missile in a shipping box on sale to rogue bidders - from Rice Farmer
Small-scale miners´ protest turns deadly (Peru)
Ahmadinejad Affirms Alliance with Zimbabwe Against "Imperialists"
Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC snubs Ahmedinejad in Zimbabwe
Obama Appeases Turkey By Avoiding Word "Genocide"
Japanese islanders stage mass rally against US base

Resources/Environment
Shell, Total Step Up Reliance on Gas as Access to Oil Declines
Oil over $100 damaging, OPEC may act -Kuwait - from Rice Farmer
6.9 magnitude earthquake strikes southeast Taiwan
Egypt reasserts Nile water rights
Singapore boosts farming to enhance food security
Rooftop farming booming in New York
Climate bill gives polluter and nuclear breaks
Tank barge explodes on Mississippi River at Sunshine

17 comments:

Unknown said...

About that earthquake off Taiwan, no big deal. We get em all the time. The big news yesterday was
this
.

It slid onto the freeway at 100 km per hour, burying two cars. One guy saw it ahead, slammed on his breaks and skidded right up to the behemouth, taking nary a scratch on the car.

The photo is a must see.

ChuckP said...

Has anyone else noticed all the earthquakes over the last 6 months and now the volcano too???? Whats going on????

elite-proxy said...

I don't really see why they are making that landslide into such a big deal. It was constantly on tv and to me it shows that the news stations are desperate for anything to broadcast. I guess it is a slight improvement over the usual "naked man enters shop" or "we found a crying cat" junk that the stations constantly air.

Unknown said...

It might be interesting digging the stories around the crash of the Polish presidential plane. It is said that one important witness (the man who took video footage of the burning wreckage) has been assassinated:

http://once-upon-a-time-in-the-west.blogspot.com/2010/04/red-terror-file-man-who-took-video.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxIFh3NkEvM&feature=player_embedded

Unknown said...

Elite-Proxy,

You don't think 4 acres of 100 m. deep hillside, complete with the trees on top and the hiking trails, moving at 100 kph across a major freeway, covering two speeding cars, is news?

Besides the fact that I was on a nearby highway the same day, I think it speaks elegantly to the temporary nature of our arrangements with planet Earth. At some point, repairs will be way to expensive. In America, they're already going back to gravel roads.

Highways and jet airplanes changed everything. Imagine when everything changes back. That's what the photo means to me.

Soggy Bottom said...

It's Autumn here in the Southern Hemisphere and I am finally coming to the end of the harvest storage.
French Beans salted down in crocks, Tomato puree made,Carrots in damp sand and garlic, onions and pumpkins hanging up in nets in the pantry. Plus a multitude of jams, chutneys and bottled fruit.
There is a great sense of achievement when you 'put up' for Winter. Knowing you have good unadulterated food organically grown, wheat for grinding for bread and plenty of firewood to keep the cold at bay.
I like living like this. The pace is slower and there is time to marvel at the great moments that nature gives to us - Electric Storms that light up the sky and rainbows that send the kids scurrying to find the pot of gold at its end.
IMO we won't be downsizing when collapse finally happens. Rather, given the chance, I think we humans might be rather glad all that frenzy to 'get ahead' is past.
Yes I know the greedy and powerful will still try to make slaves of us with some other scam. But hey why don't we all get together and tell them no thanks. We don't have to fight them. Gandhi proved that.

Flying column said...

This is a new project coming online in Ireland.Its not fully funded yet but international investors are being sought.Its using wind energy to pump water to an elevated reservoir and then using that water for hydroelectric power on demand.Looks like a good idea.....

http://www.spiritofireland.org/

Paul said...

Mad World Video

This is one of the saddest, and most chilling, video’s I have seen for some time. I don’t think it matters where these events happened. It’s happening everywhere. To ordinary people.

Namaste

Elmo said...

The real irony about the landslide is that it looks to be far enough away from any populated area that it would have probably gone completely unnoticed, had there not been a highway underneath it. A shining example of how we stage our own tragedies.

Elmo said...

"Look at this graph and be afraid..."

AFRAID!? I'm friggin' ECSTATIC!

That graph's about a year old, by the way.

Elmo said...

IMF ... "...as they plot a course to keep the world economy growing..."

"Infinite Growth meets Finite Resources"... Hmmm... Are there any rocket scientists in the room? I can't figure this one out!

Paul said...

Just thinking out loud here…

When Collapse.Net launches for real, then presumably Jenna’s enlightening news items will only be available to subscribers. C’est la vie. I am not arguing for or against the change - we all need to put bread on the table.

There is a further implication tho, that I have not seen mentioned. This Blog is the mechanism for a rich and varied discussion in the form of these comments - when Jenna stops posting here, then (I assume) she will also stop moderating these comments. If that is the case, then I don’t blame her at all - moderating is a difficult and time consuming job. But at that point ‘We’ will no longer be able to post our views here.

I am sure Mike has catered for a forum for posting comments on Collapse.net, and I am sure many here (and from Facebook) will switch to that new forum. Nothing stays the same forever, and evolution can be a good thing.

However, that evolution will mean an end to this community as it stands - and I shall miss it… Not everyone ‘Here’ will be able to subscribe to Collapse.net, so we will lose many posters - and many new posters will join - which will change the flavour of the new forum. It will be a different community.

The King is dead, long live the King!

Personally I do not know if I will be able to afford to subscribe - like many here, I am on a low income. C’est la vie. Those are my choices. If not, then I shall miss Jenna’s news items, and I shall miss reading the many excellent posts here.

Namaste

Elmo said...

"Potential customers for the formidable Club-K system include Kremlin allies Iran and Venezuela, say defense experts."

This comedy routine never gets old!

Hey... Who do you think they'll bomb first, Hugo or Mahmoud?

Margaret said...

Chuck P,
If you Google U.S. Geological Earthquake reporting you'll find a website where there is a report of all the earthquakes that happen daily all over the world. You'd be surprised, or relieved, to note that upwards of 20-50 earthquakes happen EVERY DAY all over the world. It's normal. The MSM is just cashing in on people's fears. Don't worry.

Margaret said...

I'm anxiously awaiting the launch of CollapseNet.

Although I agree with Mike that there are a lot of lifeboats being built on the ground, what I see from my corner of the country is that there's also a lot of distraction and splintering going on. Many people have fallen back asleep. I'm a part of the Transition Movement here in Colorado and the initiator of one of the most active groups. My opinion is that many people are taking their eye off the ball. It's difficult to keep people engaged. We get a lot of new members but not enough. Now that the economy is improving, people are busy recovering from various hardships.

Anyway, I look forward to becoming a CollapseNet member.

Unknown said...

@ Soggy Bottom

Bravo, the first uplifting thing I've read here in the few short months I've been following the blog.

I think perhaps you're describing my own personal economic beliefs, which apply to everyone.

There are only 24 hours in a day, and a limited number of days in a lifetime. As with any limited commodity this makes them very valuable.

Spend them wisely.

Jenna Orkin said...

paul

see today's blog for response to ur comment