A hidden side to Oil profits

IRAN WILL BE CHENEY'S NEXT TARGET

This link leads to a very interesting article indeed - raising also a question about the invasion of Iraq that had, I admit, totally excaped my attention before today. In essence, it relates to the fact that all international oil trading is conducted in US dollars, which means traders have to buy that currency in the first place in order to do business. With its huge debts, Amerika's money is no longer of any value in the real sense, so the Middle East suppliers were looking to do business using the newer Euro as a common currency.

Having wasted its own huge natural resources through excessive consumption, Amerika's interest can only be served by raping resources elsewhere in the world. Controlling the financial infrastructure under which such deeds are conducted obviously gives tham a lot of additional leverage in getting their way. It seems that prior to invasion, Iraq switched its exchange currency to Euros. More currently, Iran has just done the same. After the invasion, Amerika forced Iraq to return to dollar-based trading. Unknown is how they will make Iran do the same.

Here in the UK the status of cannabis legislation has popped up yet again and the government wants to reverse previous reforms after scares about the link to mental illness. Typically, they are only reading from one biased textbook. For every allegation of users suffering mental health problems, there are others of the herb being a curative for the same. As with Alcohol, different individuals react in different ways to mind-altering substances. Campaigns to repeal cannabis prohibition (its illegality is comparitively new and was only an accidental byproduct of opium legislation anyway) have been prominent since the late 1960s and in not needed them, successive governments have allowed a huge underground industry to grow. This industry has of course become entangled with other illegal trafficing and the unscrupulous behavior of some of those to conduct it.

Any significant rise in mental health problems is more than likely due to the gentically-modified variations now on the market and other (truely criminal) tampering with the product by those who do not advise consumers accordingly. It is hardly surprising either - they are only mimicing the corrupt market model used by so-called respectable industries. More here.

All this on the same day that GW Pharma, producers of the medinical pot product Sativex, get approval to conduct research in, of all places, the USA. See here. It's a weird world.

Later.