Going to hell in a handbasket

While Americans insist on driving large vehicles with low mileage, complain about gas prices instead of complaining about all the technology kept on backburners, blissfully watch "American Idol" and other mediocre (or less) TV shows, and generally know very little of the goings-on in the world, another major threat to our nation's well-being looms imminently on the horizon. The EU (including our "allies") has much to gain, at our expense, by Iran's oil/Euro plans. Russia and China support Iran. Of course, China benefits greatly as their need for oil swells ever and ever larger. Their economy is going gangbusters thanks to the US consumer and a trade deficit. Now that you (may) have read the bad news you don't really care about, go shop at Walmart to save a few bucks and further support China's economy. (Whatever happened to Walmart's "Made in the USA" slogan?)

US companies continue to outsource more and more jobs outside of North and Central America and the CEOs become richer and richer; do you ever wonder why everyone was so upset about NAFTA? Is there any difference between China, India, Korea, etc. and our neighbors to the south? It seems to me the US is on the fastrack to becoming a third world country. Does anyone care? Why haven't we as a nation marched in the streets demanding an end to reliance on non-renewable resources many years ago, like after the 70's oil embargo? To be sure, there is a debate on how oil is created naturally or whether or not oil is non-renewable. That is irrelevant. The times, they are a'changin' and we are way behind the times thanks to corporate greed.

What? Clueless? Look below.

Iran wants oil market in Euros (AP) — Iran took a step on Friday toward establishing an oil market denominated in euros, a plan analysts described as highly unlikely to materialize but which in theory could have serious consequences for the U.S.

Historical perspective on the above proposal: Dollar vs EURO -- Weapons of mass destruction

Iran's leader drawing fire: President Ahmadinejad is proving too radical even for some Iranian conservatives.

Iranian leader: Holocaust a 'myth'- CNN -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has described the Holocaust as "a myth" and suggested that Israel be moved to Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska.

Iran 'worst threat to Jews since Hitler'
Don't kid yourself that Christians are in a better position.

UN draft on nuclear Iran tabled

The ties that bind China, Russia and Iran

Russia and China on Friday opposed key provisions in a U.N. draft resolution that orders Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions

Imagine this combined with hybrid technology: An Energy Revolution "flexible-fuel vehicles capable of burning any combination of gasoline and alcohol. The alcohols so employed could be either methanol or ethanol."

The Politics of Oil: The Discourse Must Change also available as a pdf

Revisited - The Real Reasons for the Upcoming War With Iraq: A Macroeconomic and Geostrategic Analysis of the Unspoken Truth

Bush's Deep Reasons for War on Iraq: Oil, Petrodollars, and the Opec Euro Question

Crisis Magazine article on the Crusades

Detailed information (online course) on each of the seven major crusades. Written by a history professor at Boise State University

Optional reading, some more controversial than others:
Entire text- digital of A History of the Crusades
*Petrodollar Warfare: Oil, Iraq And The Future Of The Dollar by William R. Clark
*The Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic by Chalmers Johnson
*Twilight in the Desert: The Coming Saudi Oil Shock and the World Economy by Matthew R. Simmons
*Powerdown: Options and Actions for a Post-Carbon World and
*The Party's Over: Oil, War and the Fate of Industrial Societies by Richard Heinberg
*Crossing the Rubicon: The Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil by Michael C. Ruppert
*The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour
*The Collapsing Bubble: Growth And Fossil Energy by Lindsey Grant
*The Empty Tank : Oil, Gas, Hot Air, and the Coming Global Financial Catastrophe by Jeremy Leggett
*From the Fryer to the Fuel Tank: The Complete Guide to Using Vegetable Oil as an Alternative Fuel by Joshua Tickell
*High Noon for Natural Gas: The New Energy Crisis by Julian Darley

Any of the books mentioned above may be found at your local independent bookstore or by searching by title and/or author at Bookfinder or AddAll.