Our Awful Situation

Archive for May, 2008

Ron Paul is helping Glenn Beck get closer to the truth

Posted by Charlie Kilo on May 21st, 2008

Glenn Beck keeps getting closer and closer to the truth. I fear for him:

China: supply and demand is driving up oil prices

Posted by Charlie Kilo on May 21st, 2008

Soaring oil prices have not slowed China’s consumption of oil as statistics show that China’s apparent consumption of crude oil and refined oil products both hit record highs in the first quarter of the year.

According to statistics released Tuesday by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA), China’s apparent consumption of oil products composed of gasoline, diesel and kerosene rose by 16.5 percent year on year to 52.73 million tonnes in the first three months, and crude oil, rose by 8 percent to 91.8 million tonnes.

The “apparent consumption” represents the sum of net imports and output and could be taken as an index for the real oil consumption excluding inventory.

Quote of the day

Posted by Charlie Kilo on May 21st, 2008

Via SurvivalBlog:

“[T]he Clinton administration launched an attack on people in [Waco,] Texas because those people were religious nuts with guns. H*ll, this country was founded by religious nuts with guns. Who does Bill Clinton think stepped ashore on Plymouth Rock? Peace Corps volunteers? Or maybe the people in Texas were attacked because of child abuse. But, if child abuse was the issue, why didn’t Janet Reno tear-gas Woody Allen?

- P.J. O’Rourke

Gun owners pinched as ammo costs shoot up

Posted by Charlie Kilo on May 21st, 2008

Bang, bang! Rising metal prices, demand for war effort driving up price of bullets:

Ammo prices for many popular guns have more than tripled in the last three years, driven in large part by surging demand for metals in rapidly industrializing China.

As the Asian giant becomes wealthier, millions of tons of copper, lead and zinc, which are also used to make bullets and brass shell-casings, are being snapped up.

Shooters, gun dealers and sheriffs say the impact has been further aggravated by competition for limited ammo stocks with the U.S. military, currently fighting wars on two fronts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Keeping Secrets

Posted by patriot on May 21st, 2008

Shhh, don’t tell:

Sometime in the next few years, if a memorandum signed by President Bush this month ever goes into effect, one government official talking to another about information on terrorists will have to begin by saying: “What I am about to tell you is controlled unclassified information enhanced with specified dissemination.”

That would mean, according to the memo, that the information requires safeguarding because “the inadvertent or unauthorized disclosure would create risk of substantial harm.”

Bush’s memorandum, signed on the eve of his daughter Jenna’s wedding, introduced “Controlled Unclassified Information” as a new government category that will replace “Sensitive but Unclassified.”