In Baghdad, the Silence of the Lambs

post from Daily Kos on 14 November 2007 12:52:02 AM. © Daily Kos

Ali al-Fadhily at Inter Press reports from Baghdad:

"I would like to agree with the idea that violence in Iraq has decreased and that everything is fine," retired general Waleed al-Ubaidy told Inter Press Servce (IPS) in Baghdad. "But the truth is far more bitter. All that has happened is a dramatic change in the demographic map of Iraq."

And as with Baquba and other violence-hit areas of Iraq, he says a part of the story in Baghdad is that there is nobody left to tell it: "Most of the honest journalists have left."

Ahmad Ali, chief engineer for one of Baghdad's municipalities, told IPS: "Baghdad has been torn into two cities and many towns and neighbourhoods. There is now the Shia Baghdad and the Sunni Baghdad to start with. Then, each is divided into little town-like pieces of the hundreds of thousands who had to leave their homes." ...

Violence is no longer hitting the headlines, but it clearly continues. Bodies of Iraqis killed after being tortured are still found in garbage dumps, although fewer than a few months ago.

"Iraqi and American officials should be ashamed of talking of 'unidentified bodies'," said Haja Fadhila, from the Ghazaliya area of western Baghdad. "These are the bodies of Iraqis who had families to support, and names to be proud of. But nobody talks about them, there is no media. It is as if it is all taking place on Mars."

Over at The Weekly Standard, of course, in the assessment of William Kristol and Kimberly Kagan (yes, another in the NeoCon family of Kagans), the light at the end of the Iraq tunnel is now nearly as bright as it was when Mister Bush gave his "Mission Accomplished" speech. Not, of course, that either is suggesting a departure of U.S. troops any time soon.

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In Baghdad, The Silence of the Lambs

post from Daily Kos on 14 November 2007 12:52:02 AM. © Daily Kos

Ali al-Fadhily at Inter Press reports from Baghdad:

"I would like to agree with the idea that violence in Iraq has decreased and that everything is fine," retired general Waleed al-Ubaidy told Inter Press Servce (IPS) in Baghdad. "But the truth is far more bitter. All that has happened is a dramatic change in the demographic map of Iraq."

And as with Baquba and other violence-hit areas of Iraq, he says a part of the story in Baghdad is that there is nobody left to tell it: "Most of the honest journalists have left."

Ahmad Ali, chief engineer for one of Baghdad's municipalities, told IPS: "Baghdad has been torn into two cities and many towns and neighbourhoods. There is now the Shia Baghdad and the Sunni Baghdad to start with. Then, each is divided into little town-like pieces of the hundreds of thousands who had to leave their homes." ...

Violence is no longer hitting the headlines, but it clearly continues. Bodies of Iraqis killed after being tortured are still found in garbage dumps, although fewer than a few months ago.

"Iraqi and American officials should be ashamed of talking of 'unidentified bodies'," said Haja Fadhila, from the Ghazaliya area of western Baghdad. "These are the bodies of Iraqis who had families to support, and names to be proud of. But nobody talks about them, there is no media. It is as if it is all taking place on Mars."

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Late Late Nite FDL: Goodnight William

post from Firedoglake on 14 November 2007 12:35:51 AM. © Firedoglake

My friend Poppy:William died very peacefully at our vet’s office about 9:45 this morning. I knew yesterday that we’d be taking him in but didn’t want to put a damper on anyone’s Halloween by saying so. He started doing badly on[...]

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Peak Oil, High Gas Prices, And You.

post from African American Opinion on 14 November 2007 12:20:00 AM. © African American Opinion

Peak Oil, the point at which the supply of oil in the world has peaked and begins its expected decline. Some say we have 5 years, some say 4 decades.
But with oil at $91 dollars a barrel and gas prices approaching 3 dollars in the US, you are probably thinking that it is is already here.
So how does this affect you directly? More or less, you are already thinking, how doesn't this hurt you?!
Oil Prices Rise Again! Click here for Bloomberg Story.

Long story short; you are screwed.
But at least you/we can mitigate the damage.
First, the damage: On the oil market, things are so tight that any minor 'disturbance to the force' is enough to send prices up. Earlier this year, a cloud pattern in August over the Gulf sent prices rising. China complained about high prices and the prices dropped 3 dollars. So there is a heavy 'fear factor' burden on the market. Some analysts, like this guy, have been saying that for months now. Another part of the problem is that investors are gaming the market, buying up oil as an investment, which is also driving up the price.
The sinking dollar is part of the problem. Remember that mortgage crisis article I wrote last month? Well, here comes some of those chickens, home to roost. The various proposals on the table won't help in the long term because of...you guessed it, our current war spending in Iraq.
Speaking of which, Iraq is still exporting oil, but do you remember in 2003, Paul Wolfwitz said "The war will pay for itself with oil" or something like that? Well, you are wise enough to know that is not quite what happened.

The Iraqi insurgeants/terrorists/jihadists/criminals are benefiting more from the oil than we are! Not only that, the government can't agree to sign an oil bill, which they probably read, and are now saying effectively "Oh hell no" to it. Would you blame them, giving that it was the oil executives and Paul Bremer who wrote it? Which leads us to...Iran. The Iranian situation is akin to an open gas line next to a cigar shop at 5:59 pm on a weekday. Guess who's getting burned the most? Hold up your hand, because it's YOU. The sanctions and instability with Iran is driving up prices, which hurts your wallet. The Iranians have supersonic anti-ship missiles which our fleet can't defend against, which hurts you physically (if you are in the fleet) or emotionally (if you have people in the fleet). So who is this helping? The oil barons, the sheiks, the hedgefunders, and even the terrorists.
There's more but I'm starting to ramble. In summary, Central Asia is still a mess and Mexico has already peaked.

So what can you do?
First things first. Analyze where you live and where you work. If you live more than 25 miles from where you work, you should consider moving closer, carpooling, or taking a bus. Or find a job that is closer to your house. In other words, the less money you have to spend on gas, the better off you will be. Think walking or bicycling distance.
IF your job is or involves driving around, better hope you gas mileage is covered, or start finding a job that does.
Second, your house. If you use gas to heat your house, you can cut your bill down by following some common sense. Weatherize your home with these tips. Believe it or not, a federal agency that is not a complete FEMA.
Here's another useful website. But the basics are simple- keep the thermostat low, plug air leaks, don't leave the outside door open, heat only 1 room of the house (or 2).
Third, your diet. That food doesn't just teleport to your grocery store. It takes a lot of gas to grow it, gas to pluck, gas to get it to your store, where you probably use gas to get it, and then you fart out some of that gas. Not much you can do here, but if you live near a farming, you can go to a farmer's market and purchase foods there. The farmer bringing his food from 25 miles away burns less gas than the farmer sending his food from 2500 miles away. Start there, and move on to other things.

In the meantime, Canada still has oil (tar sands), and Brazil just found a billion gallons off the coast. Can Brazil even get it out of the ocean? Perhaps they won't need to, if this Hydrogen gas for cheap idea pans out. But it may take years before the hydrogen economy is in your neighborhood. IF you are smart, perhaps starting a hydrogen business in yo' hood is the way to go. Or not.
Ok, class dismissed.

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gas-prices-and-you.html

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Are the Negative Attacks on Clinton Working

There are a number of interesting data points from the new CBS/NYT poll out of Iowa.* 66% of[...]

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1 in 43

At a party recently I was chatting (probably annoying) a transplant from Riverside, CA about the housing market. He was trying to get a handle on the magnitude of the foreclosure problem and wanted a sense of just what share of homes were under foreclosure. I didn't have a number and didn't want to make one up.

CNBC just told me that Riverside had 1 foreclosure for every 43 homes.

Quite a few.