Gas Prices are Stupid...Someones Getting Stupid Rich...

Umm hello, besides a 30 second foot note on the nightly news is anyone truly investigating the price of gasoline or should I say the price of crude oil? Its ironic that though Egypt controls most of the Suez canal and for a minute media hysteria pointed to a resulting increase in crude oil prices due to the country's internal conflict. Well that's relatively over, at least its not making the news, now a new crisis in the middle east has arose. Libya Africa's chief oil exporter is now under serious revolution with a leader proclaiming no intentions of leaving. This crisis has no foreseeable end date and most media reports (as short as they are) indicate crude oil can only continue to rise in price. Really? Why? Libya exports exactly 5% of its crude oil to us. (see Us Dept of Energy). From a business perspective and believe me people, all world leaders are business men, why would they really cut the oil supplies? If they are not selling oil they are not making money and something tells me, Libya will not risk its ridiculous wealthy position to prove a point to its people.
Back to our oil prices. SO we have been hearing for years that the US is the largest consumer per capita of crude oil etc. etc. and now we are being told that because Libya is at war, a country most have never heard of and could not locate on a map, we should expect gas prices to continue to rise. That makes exactly no sense and the saddest thing is that most people just sigh and say how terrible it is that the middle east is making our gas prices high. What is actually true is oil prices are set by OPEC a very powerful committee composed of oil rich countries and businessmen. What is also true is that most of US oil comes from Canada and Mexico (see US Dept of Energy) which is quite a ways a way from the conflicts in the middle east. What is also true is that big oil companies dictate the price at the pump to ensure their profits continue to rise. Has anyone noticed that through any crisis, anywhere the oil companies continue to make profits? The only ones who actually pay the price are the people who pump their own gas everyday and struggle to the pay their heating and lighting bills. Its no wonder that most politicians knee deep in the favors of the oil companies will lay down and die before they agree to consider alternative energy sources. It would cut off the liquid gold that made them beyond wealthy in the first place.  Perhaps someone should look up how much money oil companies donate to politicians and PACS and how many media outlets they outright own perpetuating the myths that "we" the people (anywhere) have anything to do with the excessive rise in gas prices.

Nina Davis

 

see: US Dept of Energy, http://www.eia.doe.gov/pub/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/company_level_imports/current/import.html

US Dept of Energy, http://www.eia.doe.gov/cabs/Libya/Oil.html

Religious leaders Unite and Get Rich, the Religious Leaders Fear and Fight

I agree but what is even harder to "burn" is the people's willingness to seek guidance and direction from outside themselves with little regard to their innate connection to their higher power. For most, religion is taught and followed, not studied, analyzed and put into realistic practice. For millions their religions are their lives, their reason for being, their definition of life. Its complexities, ambiguities, logic or lack their of is not their concern. Each religion has a hierarchy whose job is to "worry" over such things.                                                                                        
                                                                                                           (Courtesy of buffalo-israel-link.org)

For the believer, you simply believe what your religious leaders say. As long as the ideological view remains that man cannot think for himself, that he/she must have a spiritual guide, leader, or congregation, self-discovery, insight, and individual perspectives are inherently oppressed. If a very few are given power due to their "holiness" corruption will rise. Absolute power, corrupts absolutely. Jesus did not want his disciples to bow to him, as he understood the power a "Holy Man" automatically holds. From the early Judeo-Christian perspective, particularly those of the Essenes (some would argue them the true authors of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and attribute them to the earliest Christian writings), warned of any Holy leaders claiming sacred knowledge and encouraged relying on an inner "spirit" for guidance.

I have a friend who argues that most spiritual leaders realize the power they hold over their followers and are actually united to maintain control of the masses. His argument asserts that religion is one of the best tools the elite have come up with to ensure control. "Why do you have to do something you feel may be wrong?"
"Because, God, Allah, The Creater, The One "said so".  Think about how many conflicts actually exist between the leaders of religious nations and how many conflicts exists among their respective followers. Every photo op we are shown displays various religious leaders shaking hands and making deals with their supposed "enemy" and the people of these very same countries killing each other.
(In response to Kevin H. Muhammad aka Kevin 6X .."Aside from the big-wig leaders of faith, what can we do to bring the peace? Perhaps you and I can agree to put religion on a cross and burn it! I think the term religion has been mistakenly applied to our devotion to the Supreme Being, because religion and politics seem to be identical, which seem to fall into the outline that satan came up with to deceive the people of Allah. Divide and Conquer!")

Nina Davis 


World Summit photos courtesy of  google images

Note to Angela Spaccia

You are a horrible greedy human being too pathetic for a plea deal. It is not possible to earn the sympathy of any tax payer while you sat back and earned nearly $800,000 in earnings as a clerk.
The city of Bell was poor and struggling before you and your fellow cronies robbed it of the little it had left but to deflect responsibility to "someone" who "could have done something" is inexcusable. Don't get me wrong, I am more than sure there are thousands of fellow helpless yet well compensated "public servants" robbing their own cities, and districts but the phony pleas of innocence from all of Bells corrupters is like salt in the wound. Hopefully a jury of your peers will nail your greedy ass to a cross and exact their payment in flesh.
Too bad they couldn't (or wouldn't) nab the hog police chief too.

Nina Davis

photo courtesy of Fox 11

Bahrain, Yemen, Turkey, Iran, The Revolution Continues, Religion must step aside for Humanity and Reason

Is there any connection between the uprisings within the middle east countries,and the fact that most of these governments are religious in faith and rule? Despite my respect of all religions and the right of their worshipers to praise as they please I do not understand the inability to enter into discussions regarding the obvious flaws in practice within all religions. From all religious perspectives most debates are rife with tension and animosity and most often result in arguments regarding specific doctrine rather than actual practices. If we speculate on the tensions in the middle east sparked by the revolution in Tunisia we see a struggle between the masses and their government, those opposed to the ruling class finding their government oppressive, restrictive and corrupt. I find it no coincidence that the most "religious" countries whether Christian, Hindu or Muslim tend to have a more oppressed body, generally fraught with a history of human struggle. Freedom as defined as the willful act of living, expressing and working without undue restriction, harm or inequity seems to be the underlying theme in all the countries currently experiencing inner turmoil. History demonstrates that the mix of religious doctrine and interpretation (over logic and reason) generally leads to tyrannical leadership, similar to the shamans in early human history getting too drunk on the sacred wine. Within the past thousand years the Christian Church and the countries within its direct domain used numerous hideous acts of terror and oppression in the name of the Church. Hindus in India are still suffering at the hands of their interpretation of the caste system allowing millions to suffer at the lowest form of humanity as accorded to their "birth rite" and socio-religious traditions. The list goes on endlessly when considering what the "elite" and "powerful" can do under the guise of a specified religion but what is mind boggling is how this prehistoric thinking can continue in todays day and age. Religion should be determined by the worshiper and his acts. The truly faithful understand that the most powerful teacher is action. If a government is to rule based on the desire of the people it should do just that. The religious notions, opinions and desires of any person in power should stand as support for law, not the basis of it. The horrific caning, torture and death of women in the most restrictive countries is shameful and disgusting to the human race. The fourteen year old rape victim in Bangladesh is just one of millions of people eradicated by their religiously ruled governments. We may never agree on the "right" religion but we should agree on the right race, the human one. Perhaps millions of people in the middle east tired of the religious rhetoric and rule agree.  

Nina Davis

The Muslim Brotherhood..A Real threat? Or a threat to Western Capitalism

   Have right wing media and conservative pundits spread their hysterical paranoia from Obama and Liberals to a Brotherhood they know nothing about? Nearly every report from CNN to Fox News has a slew of blue eyed, blond haired commentators widely speculating on the impact of The Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt. Besides the fact that they are barely 20% of the opposition force in that particular country their values and doctrine mimic that of the Catholic Church. They both claim to want peace, righteous living, righteous behavior, freedom from religious persecution etc etc. Before I go any further let me please note I am not of the Islamic faith. Raised in a Christian country I am more familiar with Catholic/Christian doctrine than any other religion but I am well read and educated on the 2nd largest world religion, Islam. To insult a religious party whether the Muslim Brotherhood or the Christian Church is to assume that every member of the respective faiths follow the negative histories or controversial doctrines, practices and beliefs. However listening to western media pundits and their fear that a radical Islamic radical group will rise to power highlights the truth which is that they are scared the Egyptian people will rise up and reject the US and our sister country Israel. By broadcasting unfounded hysteria "The Extremists are coming" caused undue Islamic fear, hate and most importantly confuses the issues at hand in Egypt in the first place. 1) Egyptian people deserve freedom, primarily the freedom to choose how their Nation is run as a basic human right. 2) Who rises to power is up to the millions of Egyptian people and not the US or any other nation with no authoritative power over Egypt.

What is alarmingly clear is that the disagreement between Islam and Eastern civilizations and philosophies stand in contrast to those beliefs, principles and practices of Western civilizations and cultures. Western civilization and cultures define freedom as the notion that persons have the innate right to essentially do what they wish within rational boundaries and social expectations. For many western cultures, religion plays a relatively small role in social conduct, laws and expectations preempting a variety of beliefs, practices and doctrines amongst its masses. In Eastern civilizations primarily those dominated by state or national religions have a differing view of freedom, many times viewed through the lens of their national beliefs, practices and legal doctrines. To say either system is better than the other is to deny the violent, turbulent histories of both halves of the world. To spread fear and hysteria throughout the West and non Islamic countries just continues to contribute to the divide between human beings, all which have the right to worship and live in freedom and the method in which they see fit. To continuously slam an entire faith, or group belief which happens to be Islamic or Muslim in nature is an insult to hundreds of millions of people who do not support terrorism and violence of any sort.

  Nina Davis

Images courtesy of :louaysafi.blogspot.com, self-ownership.org