About Us
Mission Statement
Rules of Conduct
 
Name:
Pswd:
Remember Me
Register
 

What are you afraid of?
Author: TriSec    Date: 03/12/2011 13:10:23

Good Morning!

What are you afraid of today?

Given this past week's news, it could be any number of things. Join me on a brief, round-the-world tour.

Heading East, the first place we come to is Tripoli. Much has happened there in the past few weeks, but sadly it seems that the rebels have lost the initiative and are fighting a defensive battle.




Libyan rebels, who for weeks rapidly advanced to the capital Tripoli in a bid to oust Muammar Gaddafi, appear to be losing momentum as the better armed government forces regain control of several towns in the east of the vast North African country.

Brega, the scene of a fierce battle just over a week ago, is the latest town recaptured by Libyan government forces on Saturday, as rebel fighters retreated in the face of intense air and ground firepower.

Al Jazeera's Nick Clark, reporting from the town of Tobruk, said that Gaddafi forces "are now in a good position to take on Benghazi," Libya's second largest city and a rebel stronghold.

Diplomatic pressure is having little impact on the fighting, as forces loyal to the Libyan leader continue to push eastward into territory held by the rebels.

Gaddafi's forces, with air supremacy and a big advantage in tanks, are maintaining the momentum on the ground.

But while his forces were advancing eastward, Al Jazeera's Tony Birtley reported from Benghazi that they were facing resistance from the rebels and that progress was slowed.

Gaddafi's forces have not used the full clout of their superior airpower, raising fears in the opposition stronghold of Benghazi.

"When all that is employed, as the full might of his force is unleashed, there’s concern here," he reported.


Of course, because Libya sends a whopping 1.8 million barrels of oil onto the world market in a day, this has caused the price of gas to fluctuate wildly as the supply is affected, right? Well, Not so much.


The North African nation produces 1.5% of the world's oil supply, or about 1.8 million barrels per day. Other oil-producing nations have more than made up for the loss of Libyan crude.

In fact, world supplies of oil are 4 million barrels a day higher today than they were in March of last year. Simply put, there is no shortage of oil. The global supply exceeds the daily demand.

"We had no difficulty finding replacement crude," Rex Tillerson, the chief executive of Exxon Mobil, told the Wall Street Journal. "Markets are well supplied."

By all rights, oil prices should be trading no higher than $80 or $85 a barrel. Instead, they soared to $105 earlier this week.

What is driving the price skyward? The one-word answer is fear.

If the political unrest in the Arab world spreads to an oil-producing giant such as Saudi Arabia, prices at the pumps could shoot to $5, $6 or even $10 a gallon.

Speculators are acting on these fears. Tom Kloza of the Oil Price Information Service reports a huge jump in traders holding "long" positions, or bets that prices will keep going up. Much of this trading is done by computers using algorithms invisible to the rest of us.

The effects are anything but invisible. At $3.50 a gallon, Americans will spend $41 billion on gasoline in March alone. We are sending shiploads of cash to oil-rich regimes, including the thugs who control Iran.

If the law of supply and demand was in effect, President Barack Obama might be able to dampen prices by releasing oil from the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve -- 727 million barrels stored in four salt domes in Louisiana and Texas.


Further to the East, we're watching the mighty nation of Japan struggle with the ongoing earthquake crisis. Fortunately for them, they decided long ago not to tie their economy to oil, and have dotted the landscape with a multitude of nuclear power plants...something a few in the United States are keen to do.

We don't face nearly the earthquake danger that Japan does, but this story should be a sobering reminder of why it's not necessarily a good idea.


A HUGE explosion blew off the roof and walls of Japan's quake-hit Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant and people nearby were warned to stay indoors amid reports of a radiation leak and possible meltdown.

The explosion highlighted the scale of the disaster facing Japan following Friday's 8.9-magnitude earthquake and 33-feet (10-meter) tsunami that devastated the country's northeastern coast.

Dramatic TV footage showed the blast ripping through the aging coastal facility, sending plumes of smoke billowing high into the air.

"We are now trying to analyze what is behind the explosion," said government spokesman Yukio Edano, warning that people nearby should quickly evacuate. "We ask everyone to take action to secure safety," he said.

Edano confirmed that there had been a radiation leak at the plant, and broadcaster NHK said the evacuation radius around the plant was doubled to 12 miles (20 kilometers).

Radioactivity at the plant was 20 times over the normal level, and hourly radiation matched the allowable annual dose, Kyodo news agency reported earlier.

The government said a "hyper rescue team" was being sent to the facility from capital Tokyo, which is 160 miles (250 kilometers) away to the south.

Wind in the area was weak and blowing the smoke out to sea towards the northeast, weather authorities said.

Several workers were reported to be injured in the explosion -- one seriously -- and smoke was seen billowing out of the plant. Eyewitnesses reported strong shaking at the plant shortly before the blast.

"A seriously injured worker is still trapped in the crane operating console of the exhaust stack and his breathing and pulse cannot be confirmed. Currently, rescue efforts are underway," nuclear company TEPCO said in a statement.

TV channels warned nearby residents to stay indoors, turn off air-conditioners and not to drink tap water. People going outside were also told to avoid exposing their skin and to cover their faces with masks and wet towels.

Parts of the reactor's nuclear fuel rods were briefly exposed to the air after cooling water levels dropped through evaporation, and efforts were earlier being made to pump water into the reactor at the site. The plant's sister plant, Fukushima No. 2, was also experiencing cooling problems.

Loss of cooling water resulted in a near meltdown of the Three Mile Island reactor in Pennsylvania in 1979, the worst nuclear incident in US history.


So as we go about our business today....there are many things to be afraid of. Some real, some imagined. Perhaps President Roosevelt summed it up best during another crisis that was faced by the United States. (A crisis we won, by the way.)

This great Nation will endure as it has endured, will revive and will prosper. So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself—nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance. In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory.

.
 

8 comments (Latest Comment: 03/13/2011 01:52:14 by trojanrabbit)
   Perma Link

Share This!

Furl it!
Spurl
NewsVine
Reddit
Technorati