Fear will screw us. The truth on Iran’s threats and their impact on the USA
It’s time to stop the lies. It’s time to stop legitimizing the commodities traders’ main weapons- fear and disinformation. In fact, it’s time to end the trading of commodities by anyone who doesn’t actually take delivery of whatever it is that they are manipulating prices on. If you don’t buy and use jet fuel- you can’t write a contract on it. If you don’t actually need a billion bushels of corn- you can’t manipulate its price for your personal profit.
The people who trade in petroleum are fanning the flames with the news that Iran is threatening to close the Straight of Hormuz- and the media is buying it. Gas prices are going up, and we’re going to be in a world of hurt as soon as gas hits $4 a gallon again. From the NYT:
If Iran were to follow through with its threat to blockade the Strait of Hormuz, a vital transit route for almost one-fifth of the oil traded globally, the impact would be immediate: Energy analysts say the price of oil would start to soar and could rise 50 percent or more within days.
via Oil Price Would Skyrocket if Iran Closed the Strait of Hormuz – NYTimes.com.
Let me ask you something. Do you really believe that Iran has a chance against our military? How fast did we get to Baghdad? The Iranians and the Iraqis fought a war for ten years- both are incompetent and impotent. The Iranian people have no interest in picking a fight with the U.S., or any of the other Arab nations who also depend on the strait for their economic vitality. The only people who can say this are the pathetic rulers of Iran, who are one short “Arab spring” away from losing power. They are baiting the U.S. to become the bad guy, to rally their people against us and hold on to power- by making reckless threats.
The real question is why our leadership hasn’t said point blank, you’ll do nothing of the sort- and reached out to the Iranian navy with a chance to break away from the posturing politicians. We don’t need to kill anyone to end this “crisis”- but, we need to make it very clear that ANY military action by the Iranians is a hollow last-chance bluff that will bring swift and exacting deadly force.
The Iranian Navy doesn’t have a death wish- nor do any of the largely youthful population of Iran who are sick of the games of the old men in turbans.
In the meantime, we need to make clear to anyone speculating on the price of oil based on this manufactured crisis that they’ll will be put in jail. It’s time to put a freeze on all futures trading on petroleum products until the crisis is resolved. It’s time to use the military that we’ve paid for to show these idiots in Tehran that we won’t play their game. As to the argument that by strangling the country’s economy by embargoes is somehow going to end their quest for nuclear weapons- didn’t we learn anything from North Korea? Instead, we need to start flooding Iran with rap, Marlboros, Jack Daniels, Budweiser, Levi’s and Chevrolets and let the people go about their business. The only people who reach for nuclear weapons are the ones who feel that they’ve been pushed into a corner (that was our excuse for dropping two on Japan- even though the Japanese were already running on empty and desperation and unlikely to have lasted too much longer).
America’s economy has been brought to its knees once by $4 a gallon gas, to let this happen again would be a disaster.
We need our leadership to step up and put a stop to this “crisis” now.
It is in Iran’s and all oil producing nations to increase the price so they can pay off their people and their security apparatus. Iran does not care about the validity of this argument, nor do the Oil companies in America or Canada. They need high prices to continue to drill in this country. Looks like the Oil Industry and Iran’s interests are aligned.
The Arab spring has a eradicated a great deal of dictators; however, the USA has spent a Trillion to install 2 new ones in Iraq and Afghanistan.
PS. America has no Leadership under the current Fascism….competing corporate interests are the issue as Congress is bought and paid for as well as the President.
Lets not prevent petroleum futures trading. Futures trading is a good thing.
“Economic Purposes of Futures Trading
In a competitive market economy, there is general agreement among economists that a market for a product would be perfectly competitive if:
(1) Many buyers and sellers met openly, and no one individually controlled the market;
(2) The commodity was standardized so all knew the grade and quality of the product being traded; and
(3) Buyers and sellers could enter freely and participants had full knowledge of available supply and demand for their product.
While no market meets the ideal, futures markets come closer to it than most others. Because of their highly competitive nature, futures markets provide three important economic benefits:
(1) With many potential buyers and sellers competing freely, futures trading is a very efficient means of determining the price level for a commodity. This is commonly referred to as price discovery;
(2) Futures markets permit producers, processors, and users of commodities, debt instruments, and currency markets a means of passing the price risks inherent in their businesses to traders who are willing to assume these risks. In other words, commercial users of the markets can hedge, which is to enter into an equal and opposite transaction in order to reduce the risk of financial loss due to a change in price and, by doing so, lower their costs of doing business. This results in a more efficient marketing system and, ultimately, lower costs for consumers; and
(3) Since futures markets are national or worldwide in scope, they act as a focal point for the collection and dissemination of statistics and vital market information.”
–from http://www.infinitytrading.com/economic-purposes
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THE TRUTH IS THAT REAL WARS STIMULATE REAL ECONOMIES. KEEPING IN MIND THE EMPHASIS OF “REAL” CONSIDER THAT THE IRAQ WAR DID NOT STIMULATE REAL ECONOMIC GROWTH. THIS WOULD INDICATE WHAT IS NOW KNOWN, THAT THE WAR IN IRAQ WAS NOT A REAL WAR. IT WAS A POWER(OIL) GRAB TROJAN HORSE TYPE OF RED HERRING MILITARY OPERATION WHICH WAS PRECEDED BY ULTRA-TOP-SECRET HIGH LEVEL MEETINGS BY VP. DICK AND OIL ROBBER BARONS DIVIDING UP IRAQI OIL FIELDS. THE MAPS FROM THOSE MEETINGS CAN BE FOUND IN THE MEMORY HOLE. WHAT AMERICANS, RED,BLUE,PURPLE,ETC., NED TO UNDERSTAND IS THAT ENERGY ESP. OIL, IS EXACTELY THE SAME TYPE OF POLITICAL TOOL AS, ABORTION, SOCIAL SECURITY, HEALTHCARE ETC. THESE ARE ISSUES USED VERY EFFECTIVELY BY BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE TO GARNER THE VISCERAL REACTION BASED SUPPORT WHICH LOCK IN VOTERS. WHAT MUST BE REALIZED IS THAT AS LONG AS THESE ISSUE TRANSCEND BEYOND MERE PSUEDO-SIGNIFICANT ISSUES, THEY WILL NEVER BE RESOLVED. REGARDLESS WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TOLD, POLITICIANS KNOW THAT THESE ISSUES ARE THE ULTIMATE POWER TOOLS OF THE GRAFT-CRAFT. THEY HAVE NO INCENTIVE TO EVER RESOLVE THOSE ISSUES FOR THEY ARE ULTIMATE POWER PILLS WITH WHICH TO ENTICE VOTERS REGARDLESS OF WHICH SIDE YOU STAND ON. THEY ARE LIKE CARROTS ON A STICK USED TO CORAL THE VOTERS IN LOCKSTEP ON BOTH SIDES OF THE AISLE. ENERGY,OIL IS JUST ANOTHER POLITICIANS CARROT TO LEAD YOU WITH. REGARDING THE POLIT BEAURUE, ISN’T IT INTERESTING THAT THE LEADERS OF THE TWO PARTIES IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY HAVE BEEN PARTNERS IN THE SAME LAW FIRM? KIND OF GIVES A WHOLE NEW MEANING AND GRAVITY TO “TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN” DON’T IT? MUST BE GOOD TO BE KING(S). THE ULTIMATE CORRUPTION ACCOUNTABILITY CONTROL POSITION. WHAT A PACKID-ASS. (THE OFFSPRING OF A PACHYDERM AND AN ASS) WITH LOCAL POLITICS LIKE THIS, IT IS EASY TO UNDERSTAND HOW CONGRESS WAS ABLE TO CREATE LAWS ALLOWING THEM AND THEIR MINIONS TO EVOKE “JUS PRIMAE NOCTIS” WITH EVERY AMERICAN’S FINANCIAL PORTFOLIOS. THIS IS ONLY POSSIBLE… Read more »
Hey Mark!
Nice idea, in theory, but it dont work that way! Utopia is not viable from u or Esrati! If the world was truly free market in oil the us would not be driving cars and their would be no starvation!
U have no idea what deals ate made in the oil markets! Barter, security ala Saudi Arabia or the 7% of oil that is traded on the open market.
What we need is more of Ron Paul’s (!) philosopical take on foreign policy/wars @ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgAnUTTp4ss. and Bob Wright’s Bloggingheads TV take: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/3254?in=66:02&out=68:13
@John Ise- I guess I’m in sync with Ron Paul. I agree with him- we don’t want to start a war with Iran (at least the people don’t).
If we’d work to wean ourselves off foreign oil – we wouldn’t have the problem.
One more Ron Paul YouTube hit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0wyRgcAg9Y
Bit more of my man-crush on Ron Paul. This time on drig war’s racism: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK6yAp3oL4Y
Looks like there might be some rattling up Iran now that an American there was sentenced to death for espionage, spying for the CIA …