Open Thread - 20 June

pl

Comments

[Clwydshire]

A reporter for the German magazine Der Spiegel on the situation in Syria at http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/spiegel-reporter-describes-increasing-brutality-in-syria-a-839503.html.

[William R. Cumming]

Has anything in USA fundamentally changed since 9/11/01? One item I would argue as changed is the increased role in law enforcement by the federal government! If asked whether good or bad I conclude that the traditional role of the STATES and their local governments in policing functions should be maintained but has badly eroded because of erosion in federal funding and erosion of STATES and their local governments revenues. Don't have actual numbers but this is my surmise.

[turcopolier]

All

This is interesting on both crude prices and the dollar/Euro markets.

http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/look-below-major-crude-oil-crash-coming-says-170127530.html?l=1

pl

[Tyler]

Issa charged Holder with contempt. About time!

[r whitman]

There are four important things happening on the crude oil market now:
1. Large increase in Continental US production.
2. Opening of the Seaway pipeline from Cushing to Houston market with initial 100K bbl/day creating a surplus of crude on the Gulf Coast leading to discounting on the spot market.
3. Failure to startup the 300k bbl/day addition to the Total refinery at PA, Tx. Saudi crude in tankers in the Gulf of Mexico and on the high seas with nowhere to go. Startup delayed 3-5 months. More spot market discounts.
4. Iranian oil in tankers offshore Iran being offered with big discounts FOB Persian Gulf with buyer arranging insurance and payment.

[r whitman]

Error in point 3 above. Should be Motiva refinery in Port Arthur not Total.

[Fred]

If true the next president looks like a hero, if it really happens in 2 months then Obama's re-election chances look brighter.

[Tyler]

Anyone else do kettlebell training?

[JohnH]

After exemplary elections in Egypt, Libya was set to vote...yesterday...except they had to postpone it until July 7.

Now you have to give Egyptians credit. They understood what elections were--exercises in fraud. Now they're just futile exercises, where the SCAF simply ignores the results and issues edicts countermanding whatever was voted on as soon as the results are in.

In Libya, no one even knows what an election is. And they don't know who the members of the NTC (the interim government) are. Or who the thuwwars (revolutionaries). Everybody's buying guns--the kind of place the NRA would love.

A fine place, that Libya! And kudos to America's democracy building nonsense!
http://merip.org/mero/mero060112

[par4]

Reuters: Sanford Police Chief fired over Trayvon Martin case.

[Jonathan]

With the headline:

Campbell: Israeli PM Sharon Threatened Bush with Nuking Iraq (Mearsheimber & Walt vindicated)

In his blog Juan Cole comments on and provides a link to Alastair Campbell’s serialized memoirs which

"Contain a bombshell that is largely being ignored in the Western press, the revelation that in conversations with President George W. Bush in late 2002, then Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon threatened to nuke Baghdad if Saddam Hussein hit Israel with rockets again. (Campbell was then British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s communications director)."
.
Link to Juan Cole's blog post: http://www.juancole.com/2012/06/campbell-israeli-pm-sharon-threatened-bush-with-nuking-iraq-mearsheimber-walt-vindicated.html

[William R. Cumming]

Full House will vote on Holder Contempt citation next week.

[rjj du Nord]

If Issa is involved, it is dodgy.

[boindub]

Ron Paul says it all. Will this not be reported??
http://runronpaul.com

[Paul Deavereaux]

Oil price collapse?

Yippee! Road trip to Canyonlands!

[Paul Deavereaux]

Recommended Reading:

"Live among The Apaches" by John C Cremony

"Originally published over 130 years ago, LATA is John C Cremony's absorbing eyewitness description of pre-reservation Apache life and culture. Through his years in the military Cremony fought in the war with Mexico and participated in many Indian campaigns in the southwest deserts. In 1848 he served as Spanish interpreter for the US/Mexico Boundary Commission where he learned to speak Apache and subsequently wrote a glossary and grammar of the language. Although he wrote this book with the intent to encourage more effective military suppression of the intimidating Apaches, this historical document has all of the fast-paced action and excitement of a Wild West novel."

Very hard to find. Well worth the search. Cremony had a superb eye for detail without a shred of 1860's or 2012 politically correct thinking.

[Tyler]

Based off of what?

[Paul Deavereaux]

ah rats... that's supposed to be "LIFE Among The Apaches"..

[rjj du Nord]

http://archive.org/details/lifeamongapaches00cremrich

There are recent reprints available at bookfinder.com - the 1868 editions are $400-500. Personally I prefer the pdf scans of old editions at archive.org to most reprints. The pdf files not scanned by Google have the added benefit of being searchable.

[optimax]

You can download the book at the California Digital Library. I went PDF.

http://archive.org/details/lifeamongapaches00cremrich

[optimax]

I should have checked du Nord's link.

[Fred]

I'm thinking of gettting a nice Scotch to celebrate the latest birthday. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards a Macallan 18yo.

[turcopolier]

Fred

I used to be a Lagavulin guy. Maybe I should go back to that. I didn't have Bell's Palsy then. pl

[Fred]

I'll have to give Lagavulin a try. Is that a bit 'smokey' like other Islays?

[r whitman]

As a very experienced ex-drinker I have fond memories of Laphroaig.