after oil prices hit $40.06 a barrel yesterday...how can i not post about opec...

i read somewhere that a bunch of harvard panelists (like they really know awnything) rate OPEC as one of the top 5 monopolies in America (from what i remember the US POST OFFICE was number 1 until email and internet kicked their arse)...on another side note...OPEC isn't even US so i dont know if it could be considered as an American Monopoloy other than obvious collusion....which is another issue in itself....

OPEC....11 countries (5 major arab countries) who produce ~33% of the world's oil...are the naturally wealthiest countries...yet because of this natural wealth and the dominant controlling politcal families there is no urge to push money into the economy to develop a wealthy productive economy...to lack the urge to continually rely on the import goods and export of oil...the head hancho's of these countries have a stranglehold of not only the future of their own economy...but of the world economy....

as it may be hard for them, these countries need to view their natural resource rich regions as the worlds right to trade with them...and not put a restriction on its release and sale...this would better their own countries and not just their immediate families....for these countries to abuse their oil power over the world would be catastrophic to economies all over teh world not only because of the obvious hike in oil prices and lack of oil....but also monetarily especially when fueld by revenge:

"Saddam sealed his fate when he decided to switch to the euro in late 2000 (and later converted his $10 billion reserve fund at the U.N. to euros) -- at that point, another manufactured Gulf War become inevitable under Bush II. Only the most extreme circumstances could possibly stop that now and I strongly doubt anything can -- short of Saddam getting replaced with a pliant regime. "

"Otherwise, the effect of an OPEC switch to the euro would be that oil-consuming nations would have to flush dollars out of their (central bank) reserve funds and replace these with euros. The dollar would crash anywhere from 20-40% in value and the consequences would be those one could expect from any currency collapse and massive inflation (think Argentina currency crisis, for example). You'd have foreign funds stream out of the U.S. stock markets and dollar denominated assets, there'd surely be a run on the banks much like the 1930s, the current account deficit would become unserviceable, the budget deficit would go into default, and so on. Your basic 3rd world economic crisis scenario.

"The United States economy is intimately tied to the dollar's role as reserve currency. This doesn't mean that the U.S. couldn't function otherwise, but that the transition would have to be gradual to avoid such dislocations (and the ultimate result of this would probably be the U.S. and the E.U. switching roles in the global economy)."

the latter being an unlikely scenario...but completely plausible...jsut give CHINA 50 years...or until NORTH KOREA unleashes its nuclear bomb....

back to work...shall post later...

for IDJIOT, the next RUSH LIMBAUGH: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/05/06/opinion/meyer/main616021.shtml

Rush: MPs Just 'Blowing Off Steam'

"I'm sorry, folks. I'm sorry. Somebody has to provide a little levity here. This is not as serious as everybody is making it out to be. My gosh, we're all wringing our hands here. We act like, 'Okay let's just die,' you know? 'Let's just give up. What can we do to make these people feel better? Let's just pull out of there, and let's just go. Let's just become a neutral country. Let's just do that.' I mean, it's ridiculous. It's outrageous what's happening here, and it's not -- and it's not because I'm out of touch; it's because I am in touch, folks, that I can understand. This is a pure, media-generated story. I'm not saying it didn't happen; I'm [not] saying the pictures aren't there, but this is being given more life than the Waco invasion got. This is being given more life than almost -- it's almost become an Oklahoma City-type thing. One more Bush sound bite, and the president continued explaining how real democracy works here."

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peja....SWEET...

kg...just doesn't have that fire the last 4 minutes of the game...falls on the inbounds pass and then just stares blankly in disbelief...he's not hopping around...pulling a vlade-mutombo on the refs...and rallying his troops...instead...cassell is yelling off the bench...predator-spree is semi-handling the team...and well..KG...mini webber...hahaa...if only he called a timeout while falling on the floor....TECHNICAL~..

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http://www.pinkystar.com/pds/contents/solo/200401/ttws3.wmv

**edit**

after last years oscar winning "bowling for columbine"...i became a quite fan of michael mooore...definitely found his style of juxtaposing government and the fourth estate very intriguing and altogether..revealing/enlightening...

his new movie "fareinheit 9/11" has just been allowed to be distributed by Mirimax because they just got the "OK" from parent company Walt Disney.  In short, Michael Eisner is a cheap prick...disney is gonna go down the tubes if he continues to operate his MEDIA company with his financial mentality...if only comcast bought his ass out a few months ago....

go watch the movie