Month: March 2005

Iran's Oil Card. As expected, Iran is starting to brandish the oil trump card. Given the loss of much of Iraq's production and the rapid rise in Chinese imports, any conflict with Iran that results in even a moderate reduction in its exports would drive oil to $80 plus. The recent run-up in the oil… Continue reading Iran's Oil Card

Warren Buffet Increases His Bet Against the US. NZH and IHT. As the dollar slumped 7.5 per cent against major currencies, Buffett increased Berkshire’s position in the fourth quarter to US$21.4 billion of foreign currency forward contracts, or agreements to purchase an asset at a future date. “The evidence grows that our trade policies will… Continue reading Warren Buffet Increases His Bet Against the US

Iran, Oil, Nuclear Power, and Economics. In a perfect world, the problem with Iran would be simple. We would help them get nuclear power. Iran's oil production has peaked. Its internal energy needs are growing quickly with its population. It can either wait a decade and fall into the trap Indonesia fell into (where internal… Continue reading Iran, Oil, Nuclear Power, and Economics

ABC. The Secretary General of OPEC confirms the current window of vulnerability (older brief on the topic) in the oil market (the trigger would be global guerrilla activity directed against the oil markets). The lack of excess capacity available means that the control of the price of oil is now in the hands of groups… Continue reading ABC

Reuters. This year is going to be an interesting test of the government run market for military services. The active-duty U.S. Army missed its recruiting target for February by 27.5 percent, and had slipped about 6 percent behind its year-to-date goal for fiscal 2005, which ends September 30, the Army Recruiting Command said. That marked… Continue reading Reuters

New Yorker. The story of the Aryan Brotherhood is the strongest argument for the death penalty there is. We do have a criminal justice problem in the US. We have more people in prison (~2 million) than the rest of the world combined (if I am wrong about this, please let me know). A system… Continue reading New Yorker

Cryptome, enabled by the Wayback Machine and terraserver, posts satellite photos of the 51 most dangerous chemical storage facilities in the US. Amazing how many are close to population centers. Like this ammonia storage facility in the middle of Tampa. [John Robb's Weblog]