Iran Cuts Oil Exports To France and Britain: Let’s Hope This Isn’t The Build-Up to World War III

The Working Home Keeper Putting the doom and gloom vibe aside this is just good practice....if you have to room and time to do it that is. I keep a larder and so did my parents. As a hobby we started a "victory garden". It saves on food expenses since you buy in bulk and when things are on sale.

This year I am going to try my hand at canning. I have all of the equipment and bought the canning book from Ball so I am ready to go. I am lucky in that my Mom is available as an adviser since she grew up canning her own food and did it when we were kids.

Because of the amount of traveling hubby and I do we only garden for one season. If we had to we could get in three seasons but that would mean a lot of work to do that but we are set up for it should we want to give it a go.

Brenda55 I was just canning some jars of grape jelly this afternoon! Canning is a fun and useful hobby for me!

Yes, stockpiling is for more than just gloom and doom. It's also good for bad weather situations, job loss, illness.

dani-BBW Thanks Dani, I appreciate that!

Jamila

We haven't been buying Iranian oil for a long time. I am no expert, but it seems to me that the market adapts and that there are enough oil buying and oil selling nations that if a particular country doesn't buy from or sell to another specific country, it doesn't affect the market much. As long as they continue producing the same amount and selling the same amount, the total supply on the market remains constant. Any increase in the price of oil is likely due to the oil companies finding a convenient excuse to raise prices.

Brice Cameron For countries like the US and China it wont' affect us much, but Iran gets a large portion of it's GDP from certain nations that buy it's oil. Iran doesn't have much else to export--their economy is in ruins; Iran has the high unemployment of the EU, the illiteracy rate of a third world nation, and unlike the more prosperous Western nations they lack the welfare state to take care of their citizens until their economy shakes off its stupor. Iran is incredibly unstable right now. They're kind of like the animal that has been backed into a corner and is now in a fight for it's life. Iran has very little to lose by continuing to escalate their threats; even if they don't get to sell their own, the possibility that they will attempt to build and sell nuclear weapons is very real.

I agree with you that Iran won't stop selling oil. I was just saying that deciding not to sell to certain countries is just a symbolic move as long as they continue to put their oil on the market. The Iranian goverment needs oil sales to maintain control. Each Iranian receives a certain amount of gas from the goverment. Fareed Zakaria has stated that a country having large oil reserves is bad for democracy. If you look at the countries with the largest oil reserves, they are among the least democratic. When a nations wealth pops out of the ground it is easy to control by a small group who then use the profits to arm themselves as well as buy off whomever they need to to maintain control. When a nations wealth is moslty produced by the populace, that gives them a measure of control over the goverment.

As far as an Iranian nuclear weapon goes, Nuclear technology is 70 years old. It is no longer cutting edge. It is only a matter of time before every nation that wants the bomb gets it. One of the most backward countries in the world, North Korea, has the bomb. We can't play nucelar wack-a-mole forever trying to keep other countries from obtaining this technology. There has to be a new way of doing things. I don't know what the answer is.

Brenda55

Not quite true. A certain large un-named East Asian Nation [中國] is using third-party shell corporations to acquire all the Iranian oil they can, transshipped through other nation's ports.

Law Wanxi Understand. Are they hording it or selling it?

Law Wanxi

Some comedian, I forget which one, said that a 3.1 GPA is an Asian F. I thought that was funny. So you are not impressed by Linsanity.? I am a Warriors fan, so I expect anyone they trade to do well elswhere and the Warriors to continue to lose in perpetuity.

Brice CameronLaw Wanxi A 3.1 GPA? The Harvard bumps it up a bit. But I would expect better from someone who got into Harvard.

Law Wanxi

To your point about the media, I think that the average news consumer is more interested in basketball and entertainment than they are to the goings on in the Middle East. The media is just giving the people what they want. We paid attention for a few years after 9/11, but now we are back to thinking their thousand year old feud doesn't affect our day to day lives. The Iran nuclear issue has been around for at least a decade. Wake us up when the bomb goes off. Until then, wasn't that a nice funeral.

Law Wanxi Haha lol.

MonnDutch and what are you proposing that we use?

kennaGransbergMonnDutch

Faerie Dust, Pixie Powder and Unicorn poop.

Law WanxiMonnDutch must be.

MonnDutch Relax. Not. Gonna Happen.

It will take a while for non fossil sources to come on line so the fossil stuff has to be secured into the, ahem, right hands in order to maintain the current balance of power. That is all that is going on these days.

MonnDutch what advances are you referring to? Lithium batteries have a limited recharge cap, fuel cell technology is still very expensive, Natural gas?, look at all the trouble fracking is causing, corn ethanol? This Causes prices to skyrocket because there is less land for food crops. Coal is still a pollutant, even with afterburners installed, Solar and wind power, cloudy days and no wind blowing, fusion, cold fusion still can’t be done, fission is dangerous because of the waste, matter/antimatter annihilation? waiting for fusion, as we cannot generate sufficient power any other way. So what sciences are you talking about?

dasdbobbMonnDutch I think that the government needs to do more to either directly or indirectly invest in technologies that can save the energy generated by clean technologies such as wind and water power.

Nuclear is actually a great source of energy, but it's trying to figure out what to do with the spent nuclear cells that is turning out to be problem. The stuff stays radioactive for like 10,000 years so there is a question of how do we dispose of it or can we figure out a way to make it less reactive/toxic in a shorter amount of time.

JamiladasdbobbMonnDutch

You must not say those fission heresy things! Jane Fonda will be displeased. America must never ever use nasty nuclear. Think of the children!!!

Meanwhile, France gets most of its electrical power from nuclear reactors.

law Wanxi Jamila MonnDutch You mean good ol' Hanoi Jane?

Law WanxiJamiladasdbobbMonnDutch Yes, aging nuclear reactors. There was a couple incidents a few years ago of radioactive material getting into the local water supply.

Jamila MonnDutch True, too true. But now if you all will excuse me, I have to go and use some fossil fuel to cook my greens and hamhocks! (natural gas) LOL

MonnDutch The US is working towards energy independence, which many--present company included--consider a good thing. Nations such as Nigeria and Iran that are heavily dependent on their oil revenues need to diversify ASAP. Nigeria's economy is becoming more diversified but in Iran and other countries in the Middle East they are having a much harder time.

JamilaMonnDutch Here's my take on the situation which is based solely on my personal insights, which unfortunately have a tendency to be right quite often. First we have to understand how muslims in general and Iran in particular feels on this issue. If even one Jew is alive, Iran thinks it's an insult to Allah and all muslims. No one believes Iran wants nuclear power for peaceful uses. As soon as they're certain they can deliver a nuclear bomb to Israel they will. Their feeling is that other muslim countries will side with them. Unless the situation can be contained, war between Iran and Israel is inevitable. Both sides are convinced of this. That is why Israel wants to initiate a pre-empted strike on their nuclean facilities. The U. S has talked them out of it-------so far. We will be dragged into it along with much of the world. Muslims totally believe that all other religions are made up of "infidels" and that they must create a world wide Caliphate. They seem to believe that Allah will save them if push comes to shove. Hopefully my insights this time are dead wrong.

FriendsofJayJamilaMonnDutch

Actually, Sunni Saudi Arabia is as concerned about Shiite Iran obtaining the bomb as Israel is. That would shift the balance of power in the region from Sunni to Shia Islam and intensify the regional arms race. Of course Iran wants the Atomic bomb. It is logical for them to want it. They have aspirations of dominating their region militarily and the bomb furthers those aims and makes any attack on them potentially very costly to the attacker. Whether or not they would attack Israel with the bomb first if they had it, I don't know. But I am sure the Israelis have no intention of finding out

FriendsofJayJamilaMonnDutch

"Muslims totally believe that all other religions are made up of "infidels" and that they must create a world wide Caliphate. They seem to believe that Allah will save them if push comes to shove."

This is a load of bull. About as insightful as me declaring that just like the Westboro church and Jerry Falwell, all Christians totally believe that Teletubbies are gay, Sept 11 attacks were deserved, it is righteous to picket soldiers funerals, desecrate the American flag, etc.

Every religion has a tiny percentage of extremists which everyone realizes do not speak for the rest of the group. Even 'evil' Iran is composed of lots of regular/moderate folk; but unfortunately for them, their extremist minority happens to be in power, thus oppressing them all. Painting the other side with broad brushes does not help in analyzing/searching for solutions to a complex situation.

NonyaFriendsofJayJamilaMonnDutch

Then again there isn't one Muslim majority country that doesn't oppress non Muslim minorities. They like to complain about petty discrimination but don't have the insight to look at themselves and rationalize it by saying its a Muslim country and so and so have no place there. I heard horror stories from my Christian Lebanese best friend. Not to mention all the religious minorities refugees that comes here.

Grace80FriendsofJayJamilaMonnDutch

Another example of broad brushing. There are ~50 Muslim-majority countries in the world. Are you seriously declaring a baseless statement as fact when you have not visited them all, or even read about all of them? An anecdote does not equate to a statistic. Unless researched and documented to show otherwise, your Christian friend's horror stories from one Muslim country does not necessarily represent the experience *all the minorities in that country and it certainly does not translate to fact for all Muslim countries worldwide.

As I acknowledged above, yes oppression exists and it has many legs. In most cases, it is targeted foremost towards what oppressors see as "disobedient" residents period (citizen/not, religious minority/not).

NonyaFriendsofJayJamilaMonnDutch

You do know the Christians are most persecuted group in the world largely thanks to being minorities in many Muslim countries?

I think the CDHRI, is an excellent example of what most thinks about minorities. Equality for Muslims and no one else.. If most are so understanding and moderate, why don't they give them equal rights instead of driving over them with their tanks?

Or is most if not all countries run by extremist.

Don't come and say it's not that bad and that the west treats Muslims worst in their countries, that is the standard reply to any discussion and it's simply not true. You do know there's been a mass excudus of minorities from North Africa and ME, seeing how the Arab spring haven't been that good for Christians and other fokes.

Grace80NonyaFriendsofJayJamilaMonnDutch "You do know the Christians are most persecuted group in the world largely thanks to being minorities in many Muslim countries?"

I'm glad you pointed that out; I was just about to do so.

A week or two ago Ayaan Hirsi Ali wrote an article that was on the cover of Newsweek magazine documenting the anti-Christian violence that is escalating in Muslim countries all over the world, not just the Middle East. Anti-Christian violence is up something like 600% over the last 10 years.

This is definitely not the work of just a few extremists here and there.

Saying there are many tolerant Muslims out there is liking saying there are many black men out there who respect black women. That may be true, but it doesn't mean that the culture isn't biased the other way.

NonyaFriendsofJayJamilaMonnDutch I think Kola Boof might want to comment here.

Grace80FriendsofJayJamilaMonnDutch

Looked up CHDRI. Interesting. Had me wondering how much of it is translated to daily life in the member countries (with the very diverse cultures), eg perspective of Muslims in Nigeria versus those in Indonesia vs those in Saudi Arabia are completely different.

Per most persecuted group: some insist that its Christians, some say it is Jews, some say it depends on geography, some say its chronological (eg pagans during early[?] ages, Native Americans during new world occupation, jews during holocaust, etc), etc. Likewise, It is a fact that Western countries' attitude to Muslims has worsened, but by how much is debatable. So, no, I don't know what the most persecuted grp it is, unless I can see unbiased research showing it is grpX after counting across country/continent worldwide. Simply passing on popular opinion doesn't cut it, neither does documented persecution in Yplace(s) become representative of everywhere.

Brice Cameron

That's another issue that get twisted. There is no monolithic culture for any faith eg not "Muslim culture" or "Christian culture", just different representations across pre-existing cultural settings. Eg Saudi Arabia's culture of extreme social oppression of its women is camouflaged under religion which has been reinterpreted by its men (surprise). Very different life for equally Muslim women in say, Senegal/Nigeria.

I view religion as 3 different aspects that tend to get muddled alot: faith (ethos/intentions), culture (mix formed in cultural setting), politics (organized forms & govt).

Brice Cameron

Media amplification may make them seem more, but extremists are by definition vocal minorities. There are also many black men out there who respect black women; debatable on how many of them are to be found within the US AA population though.

NonyaBrice Cameron When I was a kid in grade school our teacher would tell us about the different religions. She would say, "All the world prays to the same God. We just call him by different names." Wish the world could think like that again. Religion seems to cause more problems than it solves.