[housekeeping] posts coming

I'm currently near the end of a mega-post which I'm going to have to break into separate posts. I'm still waiting for a few snippets to arrive from outside and then it will be ready. Good day to do it, Saturday, when almost no one is around.

[global jihad] one needs to look at the total picture

Melanie Phillips states: A global Islamic jihad is now being waged from Bali to Istanbul, from Chechnya to Madrid, from Morocco to Manhattan, from Thailand to Bloomsbury – and … the world that is under attack is deeply in denial about what it is facing. Absolutely correct but too narrow. Why has Islam made undoubted inroads since the end of the last global conflict? It’s always wanted to but was hitherto prevented. Because of the demise of the Christian model for society under heavy assault from humanism which is an offspring of the Enlightenment, the greatest misnomer in human history in terms of its major backer. Also because of the rise of the 3rd player – China, who are spreading their particular nastiness around the world just now. China and Islam are easy targets because they are visible. The 4th player, whom virtually no one recognizes, is invisible, though Churchill, McFadden, Wilson, Lindburgh and countless others spoke out about them. Look at reality. How are the Islamists, who can’t organize their way out of a paper bag [Hamas/Fatah, Syria/Lebanon] able to carry out globally coordinated warfare? Because they’re funded and trained by professionals, of course. Money has no conscience.

[iran-china] unholy alliance or the lion and dragon dance

Interesting look at the ties between two major nations: For several reasons, none of the other East Asian countries are as close culturally to Iran as China. The two nations have many things in common. Iran and China are two of the world's oldest civilizations. They were both stops on the ancient Silk Road trade route. The Persian Empire, stretching in its heyday from the Indus River in the east to the Mediterranean in the west and from the Ural Mountains in the north to Egypt in the south, left undeniable impacts on Chinese civilization. Later the Persian Empire was invaded by Muslim Arabs and the Persian crown prince, Pirooz, then fled to China's western borders, lived and later died there. Islam also made its way to China via Persia. Iran, the Middle Kingdom of West Asia, and China, the Middle Kingdom of East Asia, have been historically symbolized by the lion and the dragon, respectively. Like their communist counterparts in China, the Iranian clerics are confronted by the reality that their ideology is no longer working and that they have no option but to improve the country's national power, which was damaged systematically by wrong policies. Further reading here and here.

[china] forever a sincere, unselfish good brother to africa

Hu Jintao, the Chinese president, pledged to double China's aid to Africa from its 2006 level by 2009, promising African nations $3 billion in loans and $2 billion in export credits, as well as creating a $5 billion fund to encourage Chinese investment in Africa. "China will forever be a good friend, good partner and good brother of Africa," Hu said in a speech at Beijing's Great Hall of the People. "Chinese assistance to Africa is sincere, unselfish and has no strings attached," Wen Jiabao, the premier of China's ruling state council, said at a gathering of Chinese and African entrepreneurs held as part of the conference. China - friend of the world.

[oil&gas] anomalies of general interest

I’ve largely kept off this area and that of trade in recent weeks but a few stories are worthy of mention. 1] the Global Petroleum Club. One has to ask why? There is already sufficient consultation at management level upstream and downstream so why the need for a formal club? 2] Oil prices rose by more than $1 a barrel Monday in Nigeria after Nigerian oil minister and OPEC President Edmund Daukoru said the oil cartel may need to further cut its output. One threat and prices react - that’s volatility, in my book. 3] Halliburton are always news – A Halliburton subsidiary charged the Iraqi government as much as $25,000 per month for each of as many as 1,800 fuel trucks that were to deliver gasoline to Iraq after the 2003 invasion, but the trucks often spent days or weeks sitting idle on the border, says a report released yesterday by an auditing agency sponsored by the United Nations. 4] Russian-British oil firm TNK-BP, half owned by BP , came under new attacks on Tuesday as prosecutors asked to withdraw its top Siberian gas licences, which previously belonged to gas monopoly Gazprom . Reason - multiple ecological and licensing violations at the Novo-Urengoi and East-Urengoi fields, which belong to Rospan. This would have to worry western interests. 5] things like Paladin, First Calgary etc would only be of interest to afficianados, so I won’t expound on them.

[thought for the day] friday evening

A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.

[Clearer tomorrow morning]