LOLZ Venezuela

The U.S. Government has apparently imposed sanctions on Venezuela
(currently under the control of left-wing reactionary, Hugo Chavez).
They cite the reasons as the Venezuelan effort, or lack of, to limit
counter-terrorism efforts.

I love to see how Washington didn't mention it was in the past 2 weeks
involved in a scandal involving selling weapons to a Dutch arms dealer.
Not such a crime? Maybe it is when the guns who were being sold to him
went through the Balkans (already volatile) and eventually ended up in
Iraq and the Arabian Peninsula. The apparent lack of creative reasoning
behind the justification for attacking Venezuela is a supreme show of
arrogance on the part of Western states - "do as we say, not as we do".
I urge Venezuela to continue trading with China, Iran and other states
who cause trouble to the imperical overstretch currently being
experienced by a U.S. Administration in too much debt and logistical
trouble to keep a cap on their decline.

Bring back Clinton. At least he wasn't overly vocal about the
surreptitious dealings and underhand policies of the administration.
George W Bush seems to revel in contradictions and double standards.

BBC News (aka The Voice) link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4774475.stm

PS - why pick on Cuba? I forgot that illegal invasion attempts, and
dislike to a regime opposed to right-wing tyranny had taken foot there,
unable to support it's own people because of our perception of their
policy. I forgot we starved people because of it! Pfft, what a joke.

hey Gwil, what's goin' on

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Every time something happens that gives me additional cause to hate humanity I add another room to my Half-Life level.

!!

Not a deal - just thought i'd highlight the ironies of modern diplomacy and international relations.

I largely support actions by the US Government on matters of
maintaining status quo and furthering "good" globalisation, but this...
is just... our neighbours are kikc their ball against the side of our
house, so we'll pop their car tyres and park on their drive AND tell
the other neighbours they've been stealing.

The worst thing is people will only see "onoes Bush! onoes get the
troops out Iraq! onoes war is bad" without thinking in depth about the
apparent hypocrisy, open hypocrisy at that of the administration.

I love this one -

[size=13]US officials argue that the rule of President Chavez is
eroding democracy and human rights in Venezuela and that he is working
to undermine American influence in the region.

S'all a bit "do as we say, not as we do" - the US complains that Iran
is supplying the Iraqi insurgent with bombs (exercising influence in a
region) even though unlocking the freedom of Shi'ites is playing
straight into their hands anyway...

Mind meltingly f**king stupid.

[/size]

Could it merely be a coincidence that US gas prices are skyrocketting,
while Venezuala is offering crude oil for the low low price of $50 a
barrel?

Me thinks big oil is about to give US the shaft

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Also change the texture of the dock. Docks are rarely tile. -Facepunch
As I Lay Dying

Contradictions for capitalist contiuum for the win!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/armstrade/story/0,,1773106,00.html

Well done, The Pentagon, well done.

The issue is to do with oil, the current Venezuelan President has been looking at the nationalisation of the oil industry in Venezuela, which would mean that all private companies that own oil fields, and any other businesses related to oil, would be told to leave and their operations siezed by the government. By doing this he can ensure that a majority of profits remain in the country for his people, rather than filling the wallets of foreigners. It can be a bad idea to nationalise industries that contribute a majority of a countries national profit, as oil does in Venezuela, because of obvious issues of corruption (Also it didn't work for the Russians under communist rule). But if President Chavez can pull it off and keep its opperation corruption free, then he would be doing a tremendous thing for his country.

Of course the American oil companies who own fields and production facilities in Venezuela wouldn't be too happy, because they wouldn't recieve anything except a kick in the nuts and a significant loss of income. Hence Bush's recent actions.

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

<DIV class=quote>
<DIV class=quotetitle>? quoting Agent Smith</DIV>
<DIV class=quotetext>The issue is to do with oil, the current Venezuelan President has been looking at the nationalisation of the oil industry in Venezuela, which would mean that all private companies that own oil fields, and any other businesses related to oil, would be told to leave and their operations siezed by the government. By doing this he can ensure that a majority of profits remain in the country for his people, rather than filling the wallets of foreigners. It can be a bad idea to nationalise industries that contribute a majority of a countries national profit, as oil does in Venezuela, because of obvious issues of corruption (Also it didn't work for the Russians under communist rule). But if President Chavez can pull it off and keep its opperation corruption free, then he would be doing a tremendous thing for his country.

Of course the American oil companies who own fields and production facilities in Venezuela wouldn't be too happy, because they wouldn't recieve anything except a kick in the nuts and a significant loss of income. Hence Bush's recent actions.</DIV></DIV>

if by 'his people' you mean the elite and those who helped him gain and hold power, then yes, they will stand to gain greatly from nationalization. He'll throw a few bones to the poor to make it look like he cares but don't for a second think he'll be helping his country. He will continue posturing against the US so he can be looked up to by neighboring countries as the 'only person who can stand against the Americans' and hold power for 20-30 years until the shrinking middle class and the poor revolt against him.

Bookmark this post so I can be proven right in the upcoming decades :evilgrin:

sigh

Welcome back Yak.

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

hahahaha sup Agent Smith :cool:

Glad you're back, Yak!

I never heard anything aobut the US selling weapons.

Castro tried to send all his criminals over to the US. And we have a base there in Cuba. We're hardly invading. We have soldiers that LIVE there.

What needs to happen is we need to find a way to make all oil in the world go away... then everyone would be FORCED to find alternatives, and then everyone would stop fighting under false pretenses when its ALL REALLY ABOUT OIL!

DOWN WITH OIL!!!!

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

And we have a base there in Cuba. We're hardly invading. We have soldiers that LIVE there.

<span style="color: lightblue;">Ah-HAH! You're attempting to slowly
assimilate the local population by exposing them to your capitalist
germs! You can not fool me! :heee:

<br style="color: white;">
God I hate this "watch dog" attitude the US
have.

I'm not sure about the US selling weapons, but i'm pretty sure that a
large section of the weapons currently being used by terrorists are romanian
and ukrainian-made.

</span>

In the end, people like me are getting screwed daily. I am up to 50% of my wages going into the tank of my vehicles. Think about that a while guys whenever you pull up to the gas pump. Try to imagine half of everything you earn going into that tank.

I am not talking net here, this is gross income. It cost me 430 bucks worth of diesel and 100 dollars in gas to make a 1,000 mile run last week. Thats not a typical week, but it is indicative of them. The run paid $820.00.

After I got home and tallied it up I made about 250 bucks. Food on the road is essential too. :sad:

If fuels do not get back down to around 2 bucks a gallon, I will fold.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Orph, it could be worse. Diesel costs here some 1? per litre that's
about $ 1.2 per litre and if I recall correctly a gallon is 4.2 litres
thus a gallon in here costs about 5 dollars. So it costs less than half
there that it costs in here... Perhaps waging war around the world for
cheaper oil is worth it. But it's a fossile fuel so it won't be around
for too long, if we keep up this pace.

The thing that I've been wondering about is why aren't people working
harder on hydrogen based technology. There's a company here that
provides hydrogen batteries for laptop users as an alternative power
source. There are also a couple of prototype cars made run on hydrogen
cells and I remember reading somewhere that BMW has been desingning a
hydrogen combustion engine so that people could still hear that engine
roaring once oil is history.

I must agree with Gwil on that Clinton did his work a lot better than
your current bushman... FEMA for example is only a shadow of what it
was during Clintons rule. Just leave the south americans alone and do
something about the fact that world is running out of oil.

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Pvt.Scythe said:
Orph, it could be worse. Diesel costs here some 1? per litre that's about $ 1.2 per litre and if I recall correctly a gallon is 4.2 litres thus a gallon in here costs about 5 dollars. So it costs less than half there that it costs in here... Perhaps waging war around the world for cheaper oil is worth it. But it's a fossile fuel so it won't be around for too long, if we keep up this pace.

My point wasn't that its worse or better than anywhere else on the globe. My point is, putting 1/2 of your total income into a fuel tank.

I am aware that fuel is higher in places. I am also aware that I am not living there so the people who live there will have to complain for themselves.

What makes me cry is driving across this country and seeing millions of acres of fallow ground. A country as advanced as ours shouldn't have an Achilles heel like fossil fuels. We can grow enough fuel crops to supply the whole globe and we don't.

Many have argued that growing fuel isn't profitable right now. Well thats prolly true, especially if the fossil fuel industry has its way of making it so. The only way we are going to get profitable is by having a reason to do so.

At 70 bucks a barrel, I see no reason to invest into a science that will decrease that barrels worth.

f**k, if I had a cash cow like that, I prolly would milk it for all its worth too.

Sadly, America's mindset won't allow for alternatives to be created. When you see that SUV's out number economy cars by prolly well over 3 to 1, why bother? Most, prolly 90% of those SUV's are driven by single occupancies too. It gets old seeing this gigantic monster being driven by some of the most incapable drivers in the world but, as far as seeing it end any time soon, I doubt it. America will cry but as long as the mindset remains "I worked for it, I deserve it" no amount of idealism will ever change.

SUV's are the #1 reason for the consumer level problem and until they figure out a way of either making them more efficient, OR making them less desirable to own, that monster is here to stay.

My opinion is, if you want that gas guzzler, thats fine, but don't make me pay for its fuel consumption. All gas prices should be set by the cars efficiency rating. If a car gets 50 MPG, you pay less than a car that gets 15 MPG.

In this way when mister SUV pulls up to the pump and pays 3 bucks, and I am beside him paying 1.25 he'll get the picture.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Andrei: If we don't have the "Watchdog" additude, the people in other countries criticise us for being "selfish" and "ignoring human suffering in the world."

If we help, we're "bullying other people around." if we don't help, we're "Selfish Greedy Pig-dogs." WTF mate?

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

I have no problem with the US swiftly sorting-out conflicts that would
otherwise extend over the years, but on the other hand the White House
has become a little too intrusive, disregarding the rights of other
nations in applying the president's will.

Glad you're back, Yak!
I never heard anything aobut the US selling weapons.

Castro tried to send all his criminals over to the US. And we have a
base there in Cuba. We're hardly invading. We have soldiers that LIVE
there.

What needs to happen is we need to find a way to make all oil in the
world go away... then everyone would be FORCED to find alternatives,
and then everyone would stop fighting under false pretenses when its
ALL REALLY ABOUT OIL!

DOWN WITH OIL!!!!

Saw this and thought I would share this video. Pretty neat stuff. Oil might be pushed aside before we know it.

[url]http://www.rratch.com/Misc/WaterFuel/WaterFuel.wmv[/url]

SnarkSephiroth: cool. I sure hope so.

Andrei: Who decides what conflicts "might extend over the years?" Who decides what conflicts the US should get involved in? Well, the US does. Any country who can, should or will get involved in conflicts like taht should decide for themselves which ones they enter. Any country that does, needs to make sure there are some advantages to it. The USA cannot support the rest of the world in any way. We're already losing money in just about every way possible. I just wish that we'd go Isolationist again. For many reasons. Among them, I want to see how the rest of the world handles stuff without the US, and I just want things to be good here again. Everything is so expensive and nobody has any money...

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

...Nickel... Where do you think all that money comes into your coutry?
Who are those magical people who lend you money so you can wage your
little wars and boast around with your army? Answer these questions and
then think again if US is supporting the rest of the world... Perhaps
it's the other way around...

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Every time i see a SUV i get the urge to smash the windows on those cars. Especialy when driven as a shopping cart or big fat buisniss man.

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RUST Gamedesign
pepper design

The strength of the turbulence is directly proportional to the temperature of your coffee.

SnarkSephiroth said:
Saw this and thought I would share this video. Pretty neat stuff. Oil might be pushed aside before we know it.

<A href="http://span class=" target=_blank a? WaterFuel.wmv WaterFuel Misc A HREF="http://www.rratch.com" TARGET="_blank"www.rratch.com/A http: spana postbody?>http://www.rratch.com/Misc/WaterFuel/WaterFuel.wmv

the amount of electrical energy that this proccess requires is only equal to, at the very very best, or in the real world, much more than, the energy that can be derived from re-burning the hydrogen. and where does most of that electrical energy come from? that's right, burning fossil fuels in power stations. unless you're in france, of course.

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i eat paint

...not only that but water is the original scarce resource that wars were fought over. Why would we want to replace oil, which has few uses outside of fuel, with something that every living thing on the planet needs to survive and is already in a limited supply as it is?

EGADS!!! it sounds just like.....oil!!!

Doc B... :dodgy:

burning the hydrogen turns it back into water

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i eat paint

blah chemistry

I beleive you can use seawater for this process. Perhaps I'm thinking of fusion. You could use fusion plants, however, to provide the electricity needed to separate water into hydrogen and oxygen, and use that in the car. The hydrogen burning system would be like a battery.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher