Archive for category Brazil

dibs on resources in the Western hemisphere

1. Venezuela awards 2 blocks in massive oil region: India, Malaysia, Chevron (US), Japan, Spain

Venezuela assigned the rights to exploit the Carabobo 1 block to a consortium that included Repsol, India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp., Oil India Ltd. and Indian Oil Corp. and Malaysia’s Petronas, while another block, Carabobo 3, was awarded to a consortium led by Chevron and that also included Japan’s Mitsubishi Corp. and Inpex Corp. and Venezuela’s Suelopetrol

…In both blocks, the winning consortium will have a 40 percent stake and the remaining 60 percent stake will be held by Venezuelan state oil giant Petroleos de Venezuela. According to official Venezuelan figures, the blocks have the potential to produce a combined total of at least 800,000 barrels of crude per day by 2016 and will require $30 billion in investment.

“This is something historic,” President Hugo Chavez said of the auction. “It is extremely important” and is the product of “a transparent bidding process” that began on Oct. 30, 2008, with the participation of 19 foreign companies….He also stressed the importance of foreign investment in developing the potential of that region, which the U.S. Geological Survey recently said is the world’s largest petroleum reserve with more than 500 billion barels of recoverable crude.

more @ tribune

2. India moving faster to tie up mineral supplies

Thus the Indian government is reportedly moving to fast track deals to secure future supplies for its ever-growing industrial base. According to a report in today’s Hindustan Times The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) has decided that the country’s state-owned corporations need to be supported in aggressively pursuing the acquisition of strategic mineral resources through a dedicated fund - and it has set a 30-day deadline for such plans to be in place. According to Hindustan Times, an unnamed  senior government official  told it “The PMO has asked the Finance Ministry and the Planning Commission to work out the size and structure of the dedicated fund in 30 days.”

…The significance of the Indian move should not be underestimated. Indian growth is currently matching that of China and with the two Asian potential megapowers with enormous populations taking ever increasing volumes of raw materials from the global supply, the pressure on resources can only increase dramatically.

According to the report, India is also beginning to try and use diplomatic pressures to help secure supplies with the External Affairs Ministry tasked with a strategy to help acquire them, particularly in Africa which is seen as key area of potential supply with resources frequently directly controlled by government.

more @ mineweb

3. Brazil finds more oil, shallow water, low hanging fruit

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazilian state-controlled energy giant Petrobras said Thursday that it has found oil at a well located in shallow waters of the Campos Basin. The find was made in waters just 200 meters (655 feet) deep and is near massive deposits in deeper areas of Campos, which is located off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state and is the basin where 80 percent of Brazil’s oil is extracted. Petrobras said the 4-PM-53 well contains an estimated 25 million barrels of recoverable heavy oil and is just 6 kilometers (3.7 miles) from the Pampo field, which is currently being developed.

…Petrobras, Brazil’s largest corporation and one of the world’s fastest-growing oil companies, produces an average of 2.5 million barrels of oil and natural gas equivalent in Brazil and abroad. An integrated energy company and a global leader in deepwater oil exploration and production, Petrobras operates in 27 countries in the Americas, Africa, Asia and Europe. Shares of the company trade on the Sao Paulo, New York, Madrid and Buenos Aires stock exchanges, but the Brazilian government retains control through a golden share. EFE

more @ tribune

4. Cuba, Russia confirm “strategic” nature of their relationship

HAVANA – The Russian and Cuban foreign minister emphasized on Thursday the “enormous potential” and the “strategic” nature of relations between their two countries. Sergei Lavrov arrived in Cuba for a three-day visit and presided at a meeting with Bruno Rodriguez, after which they signed three accords.

…Lavrov said that the relationship had transformed itself into a “truly strategic association” and confirmed to the Cuban government Moscow’s “unchanging” stance against the economic embargo the United States has maintained against the communist-ruled island since 1962.

…Besides the foreign minister, the Russian delegation to the fair includes Culture Minister Alexandr Avdeev and more than 200 publishers, writers, artists, officials, translators and journalists. Lavrov’s trip to Havana continues the frequent visits made by top Russian government officials to Cuba in the last two years, including those by Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin, who has traveled to the island on at least five occasions. Russian President Dmitri Medvedev traveled to Cuba in 2008 and Cuba’s president, Gen. Raul Castro, returned the visit in 2009. EFE

more @ tribune

latin america news

1. charity vaccine clinic chief bagged in trafficking Haitian children — not many degrees of separation between “legitimate” and “criminal”

Admin boss Yis Jean Guerson is responsible for providing medical aid to victims of the January 12 disaster with respected local aid group AST (Association de la Santé Pour Tous - “health for all”).

But, unknown to dedicated colleagues, Guerson secretly heads a child trafficking ring and exploits his position of trust scouring camps for a stock of orphaned, lost and homeless youngsters.

Shockingly Guerson, 31, is also a TEACHER at a local school responsible for guiding and protecting children from the age of three.

But last week - as he gave our undercover reporters a tour of the devastated captal Port-au-Prince with the stench of decaying bodies still hanging in the air - Guerson told us: “Just tell me how many kids you need and what ages you want, boys or girls, and I’ll get them for you no problem.

On Wednesday he lined up eight youngsters ranging from a three-month-old baby to a 13-year old girl for our reporters to choose from. Not once in all our dealings did Guerson ask WHO we were or WHERE the children would end up. In fact he was eager to boost the price to £5,000 EACH by offering his gang’s services in SMUGGLING the kids out of the country. Warning of the danger of trying to do it without his help, Guerson said: “The big problem is you need papers.

We were given Guerson’s name by a guard at a legitimate orphanage called Foundation Blessing Hands in the village of Cotart, 11 miles outside Port-au-Prince. The security man told us: “This place has strict rules for adoption, but there is a man locally who has children that you can take.

After being told we were interested in getting five children and taking them abroad, grasping Guerson quickly abandoned the £65-a-head price tag and demanded $40,000 (£26,000) all in.

When we said that was too much he immediately replied: “I can give you a discount, make it $30,000.” Balding Guerson explained that would include the cost of smuggling them across the border and paperwork appearing to show we had legitimately adopted the children.

...Guerson apologised that he had only managed to find three children to inspect because the rest were at a clinic being immunised. It was then he revealed his job with the AST charity which runs a vaccination programme for youngsters.

more @ news of the world

2. Spain, US want Latin America to assume ‘global role’

MADRID – Spain and the United States agreed Monday on the need for Latin America to assume a role of “global interlocutor” to participate in overcoming problems like the economic crisis and confronting challenges like climate change.

The Spanish secretary of state for Ibero-America, Juan Pablo de Laiglesia and Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Arturo Valenzuela met in Madrid.

The two officials particularly discussed issues like the humanitarian situation in earthquake-stricken Haiti and the political crisis in Honduras, as well as cooperation between the United States and the European Union on Latin America.

more @ latin american herald tribune

3. four human heads found in Mexico

MEXICO CITY – The heads of four people were found in Mexico, but the bodies have not been recovered yet, state officials said.

Three of the heads were found in the northwestern state of Sinaloa and the fourth turned up in the southern state of Guerrero.

Three of the heads were discovered Tuesday at 7:00 a.m. in front of a restaurant and a school in Palmillas, a town in Sinaloa, a spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office told Efe.

Initial indications are that the victims were three unidentified young men, the AG’s office spokesman said.

The killers only left behind the heads, shocking the town, a Palmillas police department spokesman told Efe.

…The head belonged to “a person of the masculine gender, with a dark complexion, whose hair was shaved off and his facial skin removed, and a piece of cardboard with a message was left,” the Guerrero Public Safety Secretariat said. The body has not yet been recovered and authorities have not released the contents of the message.

Mexico has been plagued in recent years by drug-related violence blamed on powerful cartels that are battling for turf and control of the smuggling routes into the United States. Mexico’s most powerful drug trafficking organizations, according to experts, are the Sinaloa, Tijuana, Gulf, Juarez and Beltran Leyva cartels, and La Familia Michoacana. Los Zetas, a group of army special forces veterans and deserters who initially worked as hitmen for the Gulf cartel, may now be operating as a cartel, some experts say.


The state is currently the scene of a bloody turf war between Joaquin “El Chapo” (Shorty) Guzman and the Beltran Leyva cartel, whose leaders broke off from his Sinaloa cartel.

The Sinaloa organization, sometimes referred to by officials as the Pacific cartel, is the oldest drug cartel in Mexico and Guzman, considered extremely violent, is one of the most-wanted criminals in Mexico and the United States, where the Drug Enforcement Administration has offered a reward of $5 million for him. President Felipe Calderon, who took office in December 2006, has deployed 50,000 soldiers and 20,000 federal police nationwide to combat drug cartels and other criminal organizations. The anti-drug operation, however, has failed to put a dent in the violence due, according to experts, to drug cartels’ ability to buy off the police and even high-ranking officials. EFE

source: latin american herald tribune

Mumbai terrorists: unrecognizable faces

also see my post: unclaimed property for additional context

also see this long post by C. Story, which contains information allegedly given to Bob Chapman by a former, high-ranking member of the CIA, retired, which describes, among many other things, that peeling faces off of people is a calling card of certain intelligence operatives. scroll down to: THE CATASTROPHE, COURTESY OF THE CORRUPTION OF TENET, CHENEY AND BUSH

4. Colombian authorities nab 10 FARC rebels near Venezuelan border

BOGOTA – Colombian authorities captured 10 FARC guerrillas in several operations in Norte de Santander province, which borders on Venezuela, the Colombian government said Tuesday….All the people captured are accused of belonging to the financial and military network of the FARC and they will be turned over to the appropriate authorities to define their legal situation with an eye toward future prosecution or adjudication.

more @ latin american herald tribune

5. date unknown, maybe 2007: the mystery of Eugene Island 330  and self-renewing oil supplies

Look what i found on the Net about Self Renewing Oil Supplies Field. Quite an interesting articles and please share your thought.

Eugene Island is an oil field in the gulf of Mexico, 80 miles off the coast of Louisiana. It was discovered in 1973 and began producing 15,000 barrels of oil a day which then slowed to about 4,000 barrels in 1989.

But then for no logical reason whatsoever, production spiked back up to 13,000 barrels a day.

What the researchers found when they analyzed the oil field with time lapse 3-D seismic imaging is that there was an unexplained deep fault in the bottom corner of the computer scan, which showed oil gushing in from a previously unknown deep source and migrating up through the rock to replenish the existing supply.

Furthermore, the analysis of the oil now being produced at Eugene Island shows that its age is geologically different from the oil produced there after the refinery first opened. Suggesting strongly that it is now emerging from a different, unexplained source.

The last estimates of probable reserves shot up from 60 million barrels to 400 million barrels.

Both the scientists and geologists from the big oil companies have seen the evidence and admitted that the Eugene Island oil field is refilling itself.

Odd Reservoir Off Louisiana Prods Oil Experts to Seek a Deeper Meaning
By CHRISTOPHER COOPER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

This completely contradicts peak oil theory and with technology improving at an accelerating pace it seems obvious that there are more Eugene Islands out there waiting to be discovered. So the scientific community needs to embrace these possibilities and lobby for funding into finding more of these deep source replenishing oilfields.

The existence of self-renewing oil fields shatters the peak oil myth. If oil is a naturally replenishing inorganic substance then how can it possibly run out?

source: offshoreman


this is like watching world wrestling

It does not necessarily make a lot of sense….BUT:

Nice tights.

Brazil’s economy added payroll jobs for the eighth straight month in September, the latest sign of an economic recovery that is prompting companies to hire workers to meet growing demand for manufactured goods and new homes, government data showed on Wednesday….Brazil emerged from a brief recession in the second quarter of this year, becoming one of the first major economies to bounce back from the global crisis.

Big muscles. http://americas.irc-online.org/am/6494

The recently signed agreements between Brazil and France are about much more than the purchase of armaments. They indicate the creation of a military industrial complex, a goal which forms part of the National Defense Strategy of Brazil. This new industrial superpower, owner of the seventh largest oil reserves of the world and the world’s largest area of natural biodiversity in the Amazon, is now seeking to protect its riches and assert itself as a new military power.

The recent treaty between Colombia and the United States allowing the latter country to use seven military bases in Colombia provoked much high-level military discussion in the Brazilian press. Luis Eduardo Paiva Rocha, retired general and professor at Brazil’s Officer Training Academy, published an article in Defesanet provocatively entitled, “Strategic short-sightedness and military indigence are the biggest threats to Brazilian sovereignty.”13 The general criticizes the “populist hysteria” of the Bolivian leadership with regard to the Colombian military bases and points out that neither Brazil nor any other neighboring country presented an alternative: “The Colombian bases to be used by the United States would not present a problem for Brazil if Brazil had the military power which reflects the international standing in the world it purports to have. What threatens us is our weakness because ‘amongst other things, to be unarmed is to be insignificant (Machiavelli).’”

He adds that “the Brazilian Armed Forces are completely incapable of resisting an invasion from a modern military power.” The threats will most probably come from those attempting to gain control of the riches of the Amazon or the oil reserves of the South Atlantic. The current commander of the navy, Julio Soares de Moura Neto, responded much in the same vein when asked to comment on the French deal by the Folha de Sao Paulo: “Brazilians must become aware of the fact that we have enormous wealth in the sea and the navy must be constantly on alert in order to defend the nation’s sovereignty.”14

The admiral continues by warning that the risks have increased dramatically now that Brazil is not only an emerging economic power but also a potential oil-producing super-state. One comment in particular reveals the changed attitude toward the United States: when George Bush reactivated the Fourth Fleet and deployed it to the South Atlantic, the decision “was conveyed to Brazil neither politically nor diplomatically.”

This must be why Lula, sure that Brazil is well on its way to becoming a great power in the 21st century, is also building the framework which will ensure that the country can defend itself militarily. Brazil will have the largest navy in Latin America as well as the largest air force. It will have the only military industrial complex in the region. The fact that it has sought the help of France, a country that has so openly maintained its political and military independence from Washington, is very significant.

It is possible, as maintained by the analysts of Dedefensa, that Washington will regard the actions of both Brazil and France as a “declaration of war.”15 This development would fit in perfectly with the world vision as seen by the elites who benefit most from the Washington Consensus. The situation was perhaps best summarized by the Italian Dario Azzellini, a specialist in the “new wars”: “War is no longer needed to establish a new economic model—war itself is the model.”16

OK so let me get this straight. Nicky Sarkozy the Zionist tag-teams up with Brazil’s Lula ‘we must never deny the Holocaust’ da Silva, to face off against the American team of Zionists, a team too deep to even contemplate but on the brink of financial ruin?

(scroll down: http://www.jewishresearch.org/newsletter.htm)

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva joined Jewish leaders to mark the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of Nazi death camps, saying the Holocaust must never be denied and urging the world to prevent it from ever happening again. “In the 21st century we cannot accept the denial of the Holocaust as a historical fact…nor can we accept those who deny that six million Jews were massacred,” Silva told some 500 people at the Sao Paulo Jewish Congregation’s synagogue on Friday.

“Each time we pay homage to the victims of the Holocaust, we strengthen those forces that will prevent that same horror from repeating itself,” he said after praising the United Nation’s General Assembly for last week’s approval of a resolution condemning the denial of the Holocaust. Silva’s remarks came at a ceremony held to commemorate the January 27, 1945 liberation and to mark the second International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

He did not specifically mention Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the congregation’s chief rabbi, Henry Sobel, said the Brazilian president’s presence at Friday’s event represented a repudiation of Ahmadinejad’s insistence that the Holocaust was a myth. Sobel also said he was concerned by what he called growing anti-Semitism in Venezuela. “President Hugo Chavez’s rhetoric is anti-Semitic and he is a close ally of the president of Iran, and both of them share a profound hatred of Israel,” Sobel said.

Chavez has cultivated friendly ties with Ahmadinejad and last year called Israeli attacks in Lebanon during a conflict with Hezbollah militants a new Holocaust. He has made other remarks criticized by some Jewish groups as anti-Semitic, though he said his comments were misinterpreted. At about 130,000 strong, Brazil’s Jewish community is the second-largest in South America after Argentina, which is home to an estimated 200,000 Jews.

Crazy Don King style manager hyping everything.
http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=345512&CategoryId=13303

Dear President Lula, Again,

I wrote to you in the spring, deeply concerned about President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s scheduled visit to Brasilia on May 6. Thankfully, that visit did not take place. Sadly, it is now slated to occur next month. Mr. President, please reconsider.

You are a widely admired political leader. Brazil, under your guidance, has rapidly emerged on the world stage, to quote you, as a “first-rate citizen” of the international community. Why would you wish to confer your considerable prestige on Ahmadinejad, who craves it but surely does not deserve it? And why would Brazil, today a towering bastion of democratic values, seek closer ties with Iran, your polar opposite?

Mr. President, you spoke passionately at the UN a few weeks ago about the kind of world you seek to build. You called for the preservation and expansion of human rights. Under the current regime, however, Iran has trampled on human rights – flagrantly, brutally, repeatedly.

You expressed support for disarmament and non-proliferation. Under the current regime, however, Iran is rapidly arming and is violating binding UN Security Council resolutions and International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines on nuclear proliferation. {LIES}

You appealed for a confrontation with terrorism “without stigmatizing ethnic groups and religions.” Under the current regime, however, Iran actively promotes and funds terrorism and has targeted specific ethnic groups and religions, including the Jewish community in your own backyard, South America. {PROOF??}
And you articulated a vision of a two-state solution, a Palestinian state living alongside Israel. Under the current regime, however, Iran seeks a world without Israel, pure and simple. {GIVE IT A REST!}

In other words, Mr. President, not only does Iran not share your core views, it actively opposes them. You will perhaps assert that dialogue between nations can change minds. At times, yes, absolutely. But many have already tried that kind of dialogue with Iran, each claiming they could find the key to usher in a promising new era with Tehran. The results prove the contrary. Iranian leaders have only hardened their stance over the years, while seeking to exploit the diplomatic and commercial opportunities they have been afforded in visits to capitals from Ankara to Moscow, from Kuala Lumpur to New Delhi.

Now, as you know, there is a new dialogue with Iran, but this one is meant to be different. Earlier this month, representatives of six nations, the permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany, met with Iranian officials to tell them that patience is quickly wearing thin with Tehran’s all-too-familiar pattern of denial and deceit regarding its nuclear program.

For now, at least, these talks hold out the best hope for diverting Iran from its dangerous course. Why the need to host President Ahmadinejad, when the effect, however unintended, could be to complicate the negotiations still further?

Mr. President, last spring when I wrote to you, the case against Ahmadinejad’s Iran was already compelling. In the ensuing months, it has only become more so.

Consider the June 12th elections in Iran. It is clear there was massive tampering and vote-rigging. {CIA? MOSSAD?} Or the aftermath. How many Iranians who took to the streets in protest have been arrested, beaten, tortured, and killed? Recall the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan, who came to symbolize the regime’s violence against its own people. {CIA? MOSSAD?} Consider the fate of seven Baha’i leaders, members of a long persecuted community, who were seized on trumped-up charges and face the death penalty. The trial is scheduled for this month, having been postponed from August, since their attorney was thrown in prison after the elections.

Consider Ahmadinejad’s hateful speech on Al-Quds Day, September 18th. Once again, he called the Holocaust a fabrication. Consider his UN remarks a few days later, in which he accused Jews of all sorts of nefarious crimes, prompting a walkout from the General Assembly of many European and Latin American delegations, though, regrettably, Mr. President, not yours.

Consider Iran’s trumpeted launch of Shabab-3 and Sejil-2 missiles the same month. Are these symbols of Iran’s commitment to peaceful coexistence with its neighbors?

And then, of course, there was Qum. Despite Iran’s effort to “spin” the story of its undeclared enrichment facility, it is clear that Iran was caught red-handed in a grand deception. {OH REALLY?????} How many other such undeclared facilities might there be in Iran? And what is their purpose if not to advance Iran’s quest for nuclear-weapons capability?

Mr. President, do the right thing. For the sake of your commitment to human rights and democratic values, do the right thing. For the sake of your pursuit of non-proliferation and peaceful coexistence, do the right thing. For the sake of the brave Iranians who have risked their lives, in some cases paid with their lives, to challenge the regime’s abuse of power, do the right thing. For the sake of all those in Brazil and beyond outraged by Iran’s treatment of women, gays, religious minorities, independent journalists, student activists, and labor union organizers, do the right thing. For the sake of Brazil’s conscience and its example to the world, do the right thing.

Or, next month, will it be the red carpet, the extended hand, the captivating smile, the warm embrace, the signed deals, and the promise of closer ties with Iran? Mr. President, while there is still time, I urge you to reconsider – and do the right thing.

Oh, and really big asses.

here comes the bus

All of a sudden I’m noticing Brazil popping up everywhere. A star is born. I think his name is Lula. He’s a major South American suck-up.

Brazil’s Leader: Holocaust Must Never Be Denied
By Associated Press, Feb 3, 2007, Haaretz.com

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva joined Jewish leaders to mark the 62nd anniversary of the liberation of Nazi death camps, saying the Holocaust must never be denied and urging the world to prevent it from ever happening again. “In the 21st century we cannot accept the denial of the Holocaust as a historical fact…nor can we accept those who deny that six million Jews were massacred,” Silva told some 500 people at the Sao Paulo Jewish Congregation’s synagogue on Friday.“Each time we pay homage to the victims of the Holocaust, we strengthen those forces that will prevent that same horror from repeating itself,” he said after praising the United Nation’s General Assembly for last week’s approval of a resolution condemning the denial of the Holocaust. Silva’s remarks came at a ceremony held to commemorate the January 27, 1945 liberation and to mark the second International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

He did not specifically mention Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, but the congregation’s chief rabbi, Henry Sobel, said the Brazilian president’s presence at Friday’s event represented a repudiation of Ahmadinejad’s insistence that the Holocaust was a myth. Sobel also said he was concerned by what he called growing anti-Semitism in Venezuela. “President Hugo Chavez’s rhetoric is anti-Semitic and he is a close ally of the president of Iran, and both of them share a profound hatred of Israel,” Sobel said.

Chavez has cultivated friendly ties with Ahmadinejad and last year called Israeli attacks in Lebanon during a conflict with Hezbollah militants a new Holocaust. He has made other remarks criticized by some Jewish groups as anti-Semitic, though he said his comments were misinterpreted.

At about 130,000 strong, Brazil’s Jewish community is the second-largest in South America after Argentina, which is home to an estimated 200,000 Jews.

Fast forward two and a half years. This is Gideon Rachman writing in the Financial Times. This is the establishment speaking.

After a little fumbling with the envelope, the head of the International Olympic Committee has just announced the venue for the 2016 Olympics – Rio de Janeiro. It all seems a confirmation of the mood of the moment – Brazil is deeply fashionable and on the way up; and the shine has come off Barack Obama, who turned up in person to lobby for Chicago – only to see his home town eliminated early.

Poor Obama, he really didn’t deserve this. I bet he now regrets going all the way to Copenhagen to lobby for Chicago. His great trump-card was meant to be his global popularity. But the International Olympic Committee had no trouble in brushing him aside. I’m afraid this is all going to play into the gathering conservative narrative in the US of Obamas a naive dupe, who grovels in front of foreigners and gets nothing back in return. It seems to be setback after setback for the US president at the moment – health-care, Iran, the Afghanistan mess, unemployment up at nearly 10%.

As for Brazil – never has the country been so fashionable. The Brazilians are hosting the World Cup in 2014 and now the Olympics, two years later. They provide the first letter of the much-touted group of emerging economic superpowers - the BRICs. They are key members of the G20. In Lula, Brazil at last has a leader who is a recognised global figure. He gave the lead-off address at the UN General Assembly last week. (Just before Obama, symbolically enough.) And Brazil has also just discovered massive reserves of offshore oil. Oh lucky country!

Oh “I bet” Gideon Rachman “is afraid” how this is all going to play out badly for Obama as the naive dupe GROVELING IN FRONT OF FOREIGNERS AND GETTING NOTHING IN RETURN.

OH MY GOD GIDEON YOU DIDN’T SPECIFY WHICH “FOREIGNERS”???? DO YOU MEAN… THE ONES THAT CAN’T BE NAMED?!?!???
DO YOU THINK THE US IS BEING SET UP FOR A BIG TAKE-DOWN?

Well I guess so.

In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning – along with China, Russia, Japan and France – to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar.

Secret meetings have already been held by finance ministers and central bank governors in Russia, China, Japan and Brazil to work on the scheme, which will mean that oil will no longer be priced in dollars.

The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years.

The Americans, who are aware the meetings have taken place – although they have not discovered the details – are sure to fight this international cabal which will include hitherto loyal allies Japan and the Gulf Arabs. Against the background to these currency meetings, Sun Bigan, China’s former special envoy to the Middle East, has warned there is a risk of deepening divisions between China and the US over influence and oil in the Middle East. “Bilateral quarrels and clashes are unavoidable,” he told the Asia and Africa Review. “We cannot lower vigilance against hostility in the Middle East over energy interests and security.

This sounds like a dangerous prediction of a future economic war between the US and China over Middle East oil – yet again turning the region’s conflicts into a battle for great power supremacy. China uses more oil incrementally than the US because its growth is less energy efficient. The transitional currency in the move away from dollars, according to Chinese banking sources, may well be gold. An indication of the huge amounts involved can be gained from the wealth of Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar who together hold an estimated $2.1 trillion in dollar reserves.

The decline of American economic power linked to the current global recession was implicitly acknowledged by the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. “One of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power relations,” he said in Istanbul ahead of meetings this week of the IMF and World Bank. But it is China’s extraordinary new financial power – along with past anger among oil-producing and oil-consuming nations at America’s power to interfere in the international financial system – which has prompted the latest discussions involving the Gulf states.

Brazil has shown interest in collaborating in non-dollar oil payments, along with India. Indeed, China appears to be the most enthusiastic of all the financial powers involved, not least because of its enormous trade with the Middle East.

Blah blah blah, not a word breathed about ISRAEL in the whole thing. Just a lot of talk about what fucking assholes AMERICANS are.

But hey, do you know who has been running our country all this time? Israel! That’s right. The Jews are very very powerful in America. We are nothing but a giant puppet and we’ve been acting like a Giant Puppet Asshole. Now everyone hates us. Hey good job! Now the puppet is about to have the strings cut and fall lifeless to the stage, blamed for everything, and the puppet master is moving on.