The Potential for Civil Unrest Here and Those Russian Idiots …

Not much organized thought going on here at C2 over the past week, but I do think you ought to read and consider a couple of things.

Peak Oil, the Economy and the Potential for Civil Unrest

From the End is Near Department, Tom Whipple of the Falls Church News-Press is ending the year with a column on the potential for civil unrest here in the U.S.  Check it out.  Whipple has been studying and writing on Peak Oil for years.  There is a growing number of folks out there who believe that the U.S. is ill-equipped and has waited too long to develop and implement an energy policy which takes us from the Oil Age to whatever will be the next energy economy.  From farmers’ fields to the long commutes many of us make to get to suburbia to work every day, so much is dependent on oil.  So much of that oil is now supplied from sketchy parts of the world.  The theory goes that as the world’s supply of oil peaks – and it will (or has) – the society’s ride on the downside slope will be difficult and long; again, because we’re not prepared with an alternative(s). 

Writers like Whipple, James Howard Kunstler and Matt Savinar to name a few believe that this post-peak period will be a test for America that could include civil unrest.  You can read about these issues in many places and make up your own mind.  I tend to think that rather than years or decades of unrest and awful economic pain, we may be looking at years of discomfort.  I accept Whipple’s final paragraph:

America has not faced a serious domestic crisis for 150 years. We have never faced a situation where 300 million of us bound up in a complex and interdependent society has had to make major involuntary changes in our lifestyles.

I’m Beginning to Think the Russians are Bigger Blockheads Than I Once Believed

A recent poll by a popular Russian TV station found that Josef Stalin was the third favorite Russian (he was actually Georgian) of all time. He was beaten by a medieval prince and an early 20th century prime minister.

Among the greatest butchers of history, Stalin ranks right up there with China’s Chairman Mao Tse-Tung and Germany’s Adolf Hitler. What’s the problem with the Russian people? Fifty million votes were cast in the poll – I have no idea as to the control over how those votes were cast. You can read about it here and here.

Russia today announced they are preparing to halt natural gas supplies to the Ukraine.  From the New York Times:

The transit of Russian natural gas across former Soviet states to Western Europe is a pivotal economic and security interest of the Russian government as taxes on exports of oil and natural gas account for about 60 percent of the budget.

About 80 percent of Russia’s gas exports to Europe, meanwhile, cross Ukrainian territory.

Customers include major European utilities like Germany’s E.On and the Italy’s Eni.

This is a rather aggressive move, especially in the wake of the conflict Georgia earlier this year.  It would be one thing for Russia to make a move like this and affect only one of its former Soviet republics.  It’s an entirely different matter if Western Europe pays an economic price.

With everything President Obama will be dealing with after January 20, I hope he’s saved some of his and others’ brainpower for Putin and Medvedev.  These guys are half-cocked and dangerous.

Full Text: Congressman John Lewis Speech DNC

Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 05:15 PM

 On this day 45 years ago, a son of America, a citizen of the world, a peaceful warrior, Martin Luther King Jr., stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and said, “I have a dream today, a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”

He recalled that, “when the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence,” they issued a call for justice. And they founded our democracy on a mandate for freedom, equality and human dignity. Read more

Russian Aggression Update

Russo-Georgian Conflict Update

• Let’s not start WWIII – Daily Telegraph – UK
• Georgians held captive by South Ossetia – Daily Telegraph
• Russia pressed to honour pullout – BBC
• U.S. sees Russia moving missiles into South Ossetia – New York Times
• How a spat became a showdown – New York Times
• Kremlin signs truce but resists pullout – New York Times
• ‘New Europe’ urges West to rethink ties to Russia – Christian Science Monitor
• Ukraine offers to become part of West’s European missile defense – Daily Telegraph
• Russia warned: Withdraw or else – The Guardian – UK

Thursday A.M. Read – Sick Days, Dimora, Uninsured, Brunner, Marc Dann!, Russia v. Georgia, Rice, McCain, Energy Policy

Ohio News

• Editorial: Sick Leave Fight May Require a Power Play by Strickland – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Number of uninsured in Ohio may be higher than report shows – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Political party leaders spar over election rule – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Prominent Dems want Dimora out – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• By 2042, minorities to be majority – Columbus Dispatch
• Anniversary: Largest blackout in US history – Columbus Dispatch
• Dann had rejected favorite for Academy – Columbus Dispatch
• GOP Fear: Voting too soon – Columbus Dispatch
• GOP pushes Cordray to return money – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Full Accounting on Factory Farms – Columbus Dispatch

National/International News

• Russian forces begin pullout from Gori – VOA
• Rice says Russia faces isolation – BBC
• Bush squares up to Putin – Times of London
• Russia rejects West’s call to recognize Georgian sovereignty – The Guardian
• Op-Ed, John McCain: We are all Georgian – Wall Street Journal
• Now is the key time for energy in presidential race – NY Magazine
• Insurgency’s scars mar Afghan main road – New York Times
• GOP in House at risk in NE – New York Times

Transcript: Bush Statement at White House Today on Georgia

President Bush Discusses Situation in Georgia, Urges Russia to Cease Military Operations

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning. I’ve just met with my national security team to discuss the crisis in Georgia. I’ve spoken with President Saakashvili of Georgia, and President Sarkozy of France this morning. The United States strongly supports France’s efforts, as President of the European Union, to broker an agreement that will end this conflict.

 The United States of America stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia. We insist that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected. Read more

Full Transcript: Saakashvili on CBS Morning Show

Georgian Leader Interviewed by Harry Smith

HARRY SMITH, co-host: Joining us from Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital city, is the president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili. Good morning, Mr. President.

President MIKHAIL SAAKASHVILI (Georgian President): Good morning, sir.

SMITH: Please tell me what is the situation in your country now? We are hearing conflicting reports about what is happening in Gori. We understand that the Russians are very active even as we speak in that town, not so many miles away from Tbilisi? Read more

Wednesday a.m. – State agency OT, Payday lender shenanigans, Georgia v. Russia, Jerome Corsi is a worthless hump

Ohio News

• State Agencies: Watch the OT – Columbus Dispatch
• Payday lender petition shenanigans? – Columbus Dispatch
• Dems win over religious leaders – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Glass half-full – Columbus Dispatch
• Schools struggle to help kids – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Safety net hospitals limiting services to poor: Study – Cleveland Plain Dealer

National/International

• Georgia says Russian troops still fighting despite accord – New York Times
• Before the gunfire, cyberattacks – New York Times
• Book on Obama hopes to repeat anti-Kerry feat – New York Times
• Sleight of voice – New York Times

Tuesday a.m. Clips – Ohio Rs: No to Romney; Ohio Highway Patrol sexiness; Dimora & Russo; Ohio AG race; War of Russian Aggression; Dimora & Russo; Payday lending; Debunking offshore drilling

Ohio News

• Ohio activists reject Romney – Columbus Dispatch
• Troopers in trouble over romances – Columbus Dispatch

It’s time for Ohio Highway Patrol to resubmit to civilian authority – racism and sexiness too much – if the Army can take orders from W, OHP can bend to Strickland, Guzman

• McClendon wrongly held by state for 18 years – Columbus Dispatch

Original prosecutors and anyone else who stood in the way of justice in these cases should be disbarred.

• Dimora – Russo probe began long ago – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Ohio AG race overview – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Opposing sides in payday lending fight over ballot language – Dayton Daily News
• Wind may hold energy and Ohio jobs – Mansfield News Journal
• Strickland: Ohio education system stuck in past – Newark Advocate
• Diebold to close Hebron plants – Newark Advocate

National/International News

• Russia orders halt to war in Georgia – Reuters
• What does Georgia want from Russia – NPR
• Russia says it has halted aggression – New York Times
• Healing wounds, Putin calls shots – New York Times
• Bayh offers risks and rewards – New York Times
• Global trail of online crime ring – New York Times
• Editorial: Russia’s War of Ambition – New York Times
• Endangered Species Act eyed – Washington Post
• Bush questions Moscow’s motives – Washington Post
• Editorial: ‘Snake Oil’ – Washington Post

Full Text: President Bush Statement on Georgia

President Bush Discusses Situation in Georgia
Rose Garden

5:21 P.M. EDT August 11, 2008

THE PRESIDENT: I just met with my national security team to discuss the situation in Georgia.

I am deeply concerned by reports that Russian troops have moved beyond the zone of conflict, attacked the Georgian town of Gori, and are threatening the Georgia’s — Georgia’s capital of Tbilisi. There’s evidence that Russian forces may soon begin bombing the civilian airport in the capital city.

If these reports are accurate, these Russian actions would represent a dramatic and brutal escalation of the conflict in Georgia. And these actions would be inconsistent with assurances we have received from Russia that its objectives were limited to restoring the status quo in South Ossetia that existed before fighting began on August the 6th. Read more

George Bush: When the World Needs a Leader He’s Four Days Late

Not Only Moral Authority Squandered In Bush Foreign Policy

Something just didn’t feel right last Friday as Russia crossed the border of a sovereign nation with tanks and airplanes while President George W. Bush enjoyed the opening of the 29th Olympiad.

Friday stretched into all weekend as Bush could be seen by the entire world knee slapping and cheering on the American team in Beijing.

It used to be in this great big world of ours that the United States could be counted on to take the lead and at the very least feign righteous indignation when a big kid on the international playground picked on a wimp.  It used to be that even the appearance of piqued U.S. interest could make the world’s bullies think twice — perhaps even mitigating already in-progress disasters.

That was before eight years of the strategically blind leading the stupid in the U.S. executive branch.  That was before this great country of ours hastily left the war on terror and world support behind and created the mother of all messes in Mesopotamia.  That was before the President’s and U.S. Department of State’s traditional powers were usurped by Dick Cheney and some half-assed lawyers who drove the nation down the trail to torture — squandering what was left of the U.S.A.’s moral authority around the globe. Read more

Saturday Night – Russia v. Georgia, Jackson helps FBI, Sick Days, Dems,

News from South Ossetia

• Georgia and Russia Near All-Out War – New York Times

• Putin accuses Georgia of genocide – BBC
• UN says Georgia conflict widening beyond S. Ossetia – Reuters
• What is the conflict in Georgia really about? – Jerusalem Post

News from Ohio

• Democrats parking – Columbus Dispatch
• Next Week do or die for Sick Days deal – Columbus Dispatch
• Cleveland mayor helping FBI in corruption probe – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Op-Ed, Aaron Marshall: Payday Lending Debate – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Gov: Time short on sick day compromise – Cleveland Plain Dealer
• Medical Mart’s cost jumps – Cleveland Plain Dealer

Friday Afternoon Check In – Hillary Speech, Russia v. Georgia, Afghanistan, Foreclosures, Poverty, Payday lenders

National & World

• Clintons want Obama to win – Associated Press
• Russian troops enter rebel enclave – New York Times
• Russian move into Georgia – U.S. Dept. of State
• Edwards admits affair; lied as candidate – ABC News
• Gates pushing plan for Afghan Army – New York Times
• Stocks rise, oil falls – Bloomberg

Ohio News

• Former Natl Century CEO gets 10 years – Columbus Dispatch
• Payday lending fight: Next Round Due – Columbus Dispatch
• Editorial: Open Access – Columbus Dispatch
• If new jobs aren’t where poor are; poverty persists – Columbus Dispatch

• Ohio foreclosure fighters get $1 million – Associated Press