May 29, 2006

• Ummm...in the unlikely event that some here do not have 45 minutes to burn simply to decide if they agree, can you provide a brief synopsis of the mind blow so we might decide if we wish to be similarly blown?
• Or you could just start watching it, and see if you think it is interesting enough to persevere with In that, it does what it says - it is a 45 minute history lesson, about oil. With some excellent jokes
• RTD, Rob Newman is a Brit comedian who does a very interestingly edited performance recounting some of the intriguing over-looked points in the western policy towards the mid east and oil over the past century...provides laughs and food for thought in equal measure.
• So Archduke Franz Ferdinand didn't start WWI, and it's news.
• All the wars the west has been in were about strategic interests. PetroDollars back US debt? Iran opened their own bourse on the 5th of this very month, and this is news? What else is it all about.. Democracy? The guy was not even funny.
• Thanks, Med. Didn't mean to be a dick, but the "more inside" space is often helpful in compelling aditional surfage...
• Thanks, Med. I thoroughly enjoyed that. Reminds me of the saying that if you're going to tell people the truth, you'd better make them laugh, otherwise they'll try to kill you.
• dng - it's a long download, and I'm at the end of a wireless network, so, even though I have broadband, it'll probably take longer to download than to watch. And, I'm sure there are still some Monkeys who are on dial up. To "just start watching it" is not the easy answer for those of us who are internet challenged. I think Ill be able to watch the thing about about 10 tonight. And, randomaction, since you're proud of being a toll there's no need for me to care what you say. I do feel liberated.
• Yeah, sorry. I was being an arse earlier
• I'm not trolling path, the only thing in his presentation that was news to me was the ratio of petroCalories in / food calories out of industrial farming. [2000/1 IIRC] Both Russia and Iran intend to trade oil and gas exclusively for Euros, Iran's bourse is already open - I don't expect people to be aware of those facts. But being unaware of the importance of the petroDollar in the context of American foreign policy is living in the dark, and makes having an informed opinion impossible. Ok the vid wasn't funny, and it's sad that so much of it is news to people. Many of the warFloggers seem to geninuenly belive the US is in Iraq for Iraq's own good. I think they are insufferable fools. I've not trolled path I've expressed opinions, after you've watched the vid perhaps you could explain your accusation? Where did I go wrong?
• randomaction - maybe you should change your profile, then. "Coincidence manager, and indoor enthusiast. To be found currently in Bloomsbury, London. I am a troll amusing nobody but myself on arpanet since the cold war. Logistics manager for a large decombant system. Holy Moly. May 1st 2006: Never Knowingly under trolled."
• MonkeyFilter: provides laughs and food for thought in equal measure MonkeyFilter: Never knowingly under-trolled.
• No, the vid was not funny. But it was news to me - and I'm a history graduate student whose husband has done research on World War 1, whose friend is an expert on the modern middle east, and I personally have recently taken classes on environmental history and agricultural policy (I knew agriculture was energy intensive, but had no idea it was that greedy for energy). It was enlightening, and it was entertaining, but also moving. I knew that the settlement of World War I in the middle east did have to do with oil, but I didn't know the beginning did. It makes me think that I should learn more about just why the Ottoman empire was allied with Germany. That said, there was a poet/writer in Iraq (and Damascus, and Palestine) whom everyone remembers, T.E. Lawrence - Newman gets that bit wrong. But no one did listen to his advocacy for Arab independence at Versailles - the oil in Iraq was the first concern. He doesn't give any answers at the end, but he is very right that it will involve a revolution - a revolution more profound than anything we could imagine. It would be entirely reorienting our society, our economy, everything. Will this video raise awareness of the seriousness of the situation? I don't know - it may only be passed among the converted, and those who don't believe will find all sorts of reasons to go on disbelieving, because to believe would mean dismantling everything our lives are about. ------ A last point: when he talks about the minimum amount of land required, and that would mean on a vegan diet, that does not appear to take into account sea resources. Which are stretched, and could be abused past the point of no return, but perhaps could also be husbanded. (I like the word husbanded -- farmers used to be called "husbandmen" because they were see to engage in "husbandry" of animals and crops, with all the sense of care that implies.)