"The Real Problems With $50 Oil"

Henry C K Liu, www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/GE26Dj02.html ">Asian Times

After oil prices peaked above US$58 a barrel in early April, and stayed around
their current $50 range, the White House announced that it wanted oil to go
back down to $25 a barrel.

There is a common misconception in life that if
only things could go back to the ways they were in the good old days, life
would be good again like in the good old days. Unfortunately, good old days
never return as good old days because what makes the old days good is often
just bad memory.

The problem with market capitalism is that while markets can
go up and markets can go down, they never end up in the same spot. The term
"business cycle" is a misnomer because the end of the cycle is a very
different place from the beginning of a cycle. A more accurate term would be
"business spiral", either up or down or simply sideways.

Oil is a good example whereby this market truism can be observed. When oil
rises above $50 a barrel and stays there for an extended period, the resultant
changes in the economy become normalized facts. These changes go way beyond
fluctuations in the price of oil to produce a very different economy. Below
are 10 new economic facts created by $50 oil.

Anonymous Comrade writes:
"La Paz, May 24 (Prensa Latina) The leader of Bolivia´s Movement toward Socialism (MAS), Evo Morales, has issued a call for unity to defend national sovereignty in the face of threats of US intervention in this country.

Bolivian Government Denounces Destabilization Attempts

In a mass meeting held Monday to demand a constituent assembly to unite and transform Bolivia, Morales condemned continous threats and accusations by George W. Bush administration officials against the popular movement in this nation.

Anonymous Comrade writes:

Support Anarchist Anthropologist David Graeber

After a decision at a meeting convened by tenured faculty at the department of anthropology, Yale University, David Graeber’s [author of 2004 Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology] contract was not renewed.

This is not a situation of David being denied tenure, but rather that the extension of his contract has been denied, and this is an extremely rare situation. In light of his exemplary scholarship and mentoring, many of David’s students and colleagues strongly support his continuing at Yale.

To this end we have created an open petition. As the review process of the decision is going to take place very soon, we request you to support this endeavor by signing this petition as soon as possible. We would also appreciate any other support that you are able to provide. The link of the petition is below. Please feel free to forward this petition to any interested persons or listserves.

http://www.petitiononline.com/dgraeber/petition.ht ml

Thanks,
Durba Chattaraj,
department of anthropology, Yale University;
Devika Bordia,
department of anthropology, Yale University

Stockholm Hosts 800 New Media Pirates

The Pirate Agency

More than 800 pirates and filesharers demonstrated in Stockholm on Sunday
May 1st. Among the speakers were broadband industry figure Jonas
Birgersson and representatives from the free art/culture scene and The
Pirate Agency. It was perhaps one of the largest gatherings ever of
Internet pirates, copyright-critics and other believers in free culture.

Andre Gunder Frank, 1929-2005

Pat Manning, World History Network

Andre Gunder Frank died peacefully at 8:30 a.m. on April 23, 2005 in Luxembourg, in the presence of his loved ones, after a long and brave struggle against cancer and its complications. He was a brilliant and highly productive analyst of political economy and related social sciences who produced fundamental insights on global social interactions, from the 1950s until his death, and whose analysis was always connected to campaigns for social justice. He was a founding figure in the current expansion of studies in world history, and his 1998 book, ReOrient, won the World History Association's book prize.

Jelloul writes:

"Ali Versus Chomsky"

Jelloul

The debate, between supporters of conflicting (either-or) perspectives on Iraq; Sunni Arab versus Shi'i sympathizers, is being increasingly brought into the open — needless to say that our protagonists cannot conceive of any consociational-patriotic alternative.

For example, in a Stockholm conference yesterday evening (April 4, 2005), New Left Review’s Tariq Ali expressed views about the Iraqi Shi’a and the Iranians as "US collaborators;" in particular, he didn’t enjoy the idea of al-Sistani being a Nobel Prize nominee.

Tariq Ali didn’t exactly name Chomsky, whose posture is the opposite in those matters, but the latter’s idea of betting on a Shi’a Crescent-like geopolitical alternative to US domination in the region has been questioned, if only indirectly.

More here.

Secret U.S. Plans For Iraq's Oil

Greg Palast, BBC

MACON,GA.—The Bush administration made plans for war and for Iraq's oil before the 9/11 attacks sparking a policy battle between neo-cons and Big Oil, BBC's Newsnight has revealed.

Two years ago today — when President George Bush announced US, British and Allied forces would begin to bomb Baghdad — protestors claimed the US had a secret plan for Iraq's oil once Saddam had been conquered.

In fact there were two conflicting plans, setting off a hidden policy war between neo-conservatives at the Pentagon, on one side, versus a combination of "Big Oil" executives and US State Department "pragmatists."

"Big Oil" appears to have won. The latest plan, obtained by Newsnight from the US State Department was, we learned, drafted with the help of American oil industry consultants.

Carol Lang Arrested at New York Army Recruitment Protest

Carol Lang, long-time clerical employee of CUNY and
former shop steward of DC 37, was arrested last Friday
(Mar. 11) in her office by four plainclothesmen. She
had been caught up in a scuffle with campus security
on Wednesday the 9th, when security attacked a group
(including Carol) protesting army recruiters' presence
at a campus "jobs fair".

The initial charge was
felonious assault on a security officer, subsequently
reduced to a misdemeanor. Carol was held for 36 hours
(while police obstructed communication between her and
her attorney), in a holding cell with 15 women and 3
mattresses to sleep on, and a filthy toilet facility
that prison employees refused to clean. CCNY has
suspended Carol for one month without pay, prior to
any trial or conviction. DC 37 is thus far minimally
defending Carol, accompanying her through
administrative procedure over her suspension.

There is a rally to defend Carol on the CCNY campus
on Thursday Mar. 17 at 12:30 PM, at the administration
building (opposite the NAC). Carol cannot be present
because she has been banned from campus. (To get there
by subway, take the A or the D to 145th St and walk to
the intersection of 138th and Convent, where the rally
will take place.

To let the CUNY administration know what you think of
this attack on a long-term radical activist, write to
CCNY President Gregory Williams at gwilliams@ccny.cuny.edu.

Italy Planning to Start Pullout of Iraq Troops

Ian Fisher, New York Times

ROME, March 15 — Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Tuesday that he aimed to begin withdrawing Italy's 3,000 troops from Iraq by September, in a signal that the domestic cost of loyalty to the United States over the war was growing too high.

Mr. Berlusconi, one of President Bush's few close allies in Europe, framed his words carefully, saying in brief comments on a talk show here that the timing of the withdrawal depended on the strength of the Iraqi government. Italy has the fourth largest contingent of foreign troops in Iraq, its soldiers acting largely as peacekeepers near the southern city of Nasiriya.

Wolfowitz To Be Named To Lead World Bank

London Financial Times

Paul Wolfowitz, US deputy secretary of defence, is to be nominated by president George W. Bush to replace James Wolfensohn as the president of the World Bank.

The nomination of Mr Wolfowitz, one of the chief architects of the Iraq war and a former US ambassador to Indonesia, would likely be highly controversial, and could raise new questions about the process by which the World Bank chief is selected. One administration official said his nomination “would have enormous repercussions within the development community”.