Politics

The next battleground? Oil production is expected to increase to over one million barrels a day, thanks to several deepwater discoveries in recent years. The obvious market for this crude is US gulf coast refiners.

I worked and lived in Trinidad in the mid 1990s and the Venezuelans frequently harassed our operations in the Gulf of Paria.

That’s a tricky argument made by Venezuela. The area is in more of Guyana water.

This fall falls under “Mare Liberum”.


from the Google
do not belong to any state's jurisdiction. As such, states have the right to fishing, navigation, overflight, laying cables and pipelines, as well as scientific research.

The Convention on the High Seas, signed in 1958, which has 63 signatories, defined "high seas" to mean "all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State" and where "no State may validly purport to subject any part of them to its sovereignty."[3] The Convention on the High Seas was used as a foundation for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed in 1982, which recognized exclusive economic zones extending 200 nautical miles (230 mi; 370 km) from the baseline, where coastal states have sovereign rights to the water column and sea floor as well as the natural resources found there.

Yesterday's update from ISW reflects the impression being given by video reports coming out of Kharkiv showing the Russian offensive is bogging down while suffering enormous losses in personnel and materiel. One of the weapons that was apparently rushed to the east when US shipments resumed were 155mm RAAM rounds each of which deploys 9 anti-tank mines. These mines self-destruct a day or two after deployment. Their unique advantage is that it allows the Ukrainians to instantly lay minefield ahead of an approaching armor column. There are several videos on Telegram showing such columns being wrecked.

As ISW suggests, it may also be that the Russians are simply trying to create a buffer zone along the border in that region to reduce the ability of Ukraine to strike inside Russia while increasing the strike depth of their own aviation assets.

This is interesting.

Republicans speak out in New York in support of Trump:​

Doug Hamilton said:

If women were allowed to drive in the Gulf countries that would not be true. A male relative is required for a woman to go anywhere, therefore most cars will have at least two occupants. Other countries don't have as.many cars per capita and people need to stuff more people into fewer cars. They also have populations mire concentrated into cities making mass transit somewhat more practical.

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Not true about woman not driving alone.

PARA45 said:

This is interesting.

Republicans speak out in New York in support of Trump:​

MSN

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Looks like all the potential VP options are paying homage. What is with the uniform?! - looks like a sort of weird male handmaid's tale scene. And will someone please buy Vivek Ramaswamy a set of collar stays.

Red Leg said:

I am not sure I am following your analogy. Most of the world is not prosperous enough to offer multiple automobiles as an option for families, and most of Europe has punitive taxation on fuel. Add to that the environmental ideologues who are making it increasingly difficult to even drive in larger European cities, and car demand is suppressed. Then, of course, there is the issue of travel distances which are unique to the US among first world economies. The only difference that I have ever noticed among the Gulf States is that the families are larger which makes for a more crowded family outing.

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Let me try to explain,
There are places in the World where they are more prosperous than us and can afford multiple vehicles. Some of the Northern European countries,Japan, Gulf states etc...
The issue is not the money the issue is the lack of public transportation options in and around big to medium size cities.
There are a lot of people here who can barely afford a car and insurance who are driving because they have no other option.
And then there's the other segment who should not get behind a steering wheel but then again they are driving because they have no other option.
On top of that most people are driving gas guzzling vehicles they shouldn't drive and have no use for.
It adds up...

For two people that either were or are lawyers neither Lanny Davis nor Michael Cohen demonstrate very much knowledge of how a trial works……. “Where’s Trump, he promised he’d testify “………. Uh, pretty sure the prosecution has to finish presenting their witnesses before the defense presents theirs…… but I’ve never met very many intelligent democrats any way.

Doubleplay said:

Let me try to explain,
There are places in the World where they are more prosperous than us and can afford multiple vehicles. Some of the Northern European countries,Japan, Gulf states etc...
The issue is not the money the issue is the lack of public transportation options in and around big to medium size cities.
There are a lot of people here who can barely afford a car and insurance who are driving because they have no other option.
And then there's the other segment who should not get behind a steering wheel but then again they are driving because they have no other option.
On top of that most people are driving gas guzzling vehicles they shouldn't drive and have no use for.
It adds up...

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I think the thing you have failed to mention or take into account is how cities developed in this country vs Europe for example. Cities in Europe are much more densely populated than in the USA. The reason for that goes back in time to the land outside of cities being owned by the wealthy in Europe.

The promise of the USA was that anyone could own land and it was such. This led to less densely packed cities initially. It required therefore more transportation to get into cities in which these more rural people came to sell their products. This was of course by horse and cart early on but this gave way to automobiles.

This was not the case in Europe and the need for public transportation developed. And to the point that owning a vehicle in some places is more of a pain than what it is worth. The city in the USA that most resembles Europe in that regard is New York City. Most other cities in the USA do not.

Good or bad? Depends on how you look at it. There was a bit of a shift in thinking in the USA for awhile. Instead of flocking to the suburbs as did my parents and my generation, younger people were opting to stay in the cities. But near as I can tell that's reversed itself with the rise in crime in urban areas.

Personally I'd like to see that come back so that the influx of people to my beloved Idaho would slow down. That way I can drive my gas guzzling Tundra thru the countryside on my way to a favorite fishing spot and not have to worry about competing with clown from California.

Doubleplay said:

We are the one of the biggest oil producers in the World and energy independent however it doesn't make any difference how much we pay for oil.
Oil is a global commodity and nobody will sell it less than the global price which is dictated by supply and demand.

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100% correct... especially when the global price is manipulated by price fixing!

F

Deewayne,

Matt Stoller, is a carnival barker for the “progressive antitrust revivalism” that has of late taken hold in Washington.

He is against any large corporation. Unless it’s big government

deewayne2003 said:

100% correct... especially when the global price is manipulated by price fixing!

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Total BS.

375 Ruger Fan said:

Total BS.

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OH really.... well the total BS seems to coincide nicely with Biden's shutting down the Keystone pipeline or at the very least mesh up nicely with the high fuel prices and stock buy backs of USA petroleum industry.

I guess its just "awe shucks" dumb luck that oil prices are what they are.....

As far as the antitrust revivalism - I'd say it's long overdue, monopolies are now the norm in the USA and if you don't believe me, then just ignore the energy sector and look at the food supply in this nation.

deewayne2003 said:

OH really.... well the total BS seems to coincide nicely with Biden's shutting down the Keystone pipeline or at the very least mesh up nicely with the high fuel prices and stock buy backs of USA petroleum industry.

I guess its just "awe shucks" dumb luck that oil prices are what they are.....

As far as the antitrust revivalism - I'd say it's long overdue, monopolies are now the norm in the USA and if you don't believe me, then just ignore the energy sector and look at the food supply in this nation.

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Do a little of your own research on this. Compare Pioneer’s production to that of OPEC. Pioneer can figuratively be replaced by a tweak of OPEC’s valve. OPEC would not seem to gain anything by collusion with Pioneer.

Oh, and by definition, OPEC is a price fixing organization. US companies have huge safeguards in place when dealing with them.

deewayne2003 said:

100% correct... especially when the global price is manipulated by price fixing!

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This is classic propaganda. It draw’s erroneous conclusions from incomplete evidence to create a fantasy that fits a targeted audience’s confirmation bias.

Isn't this sort of like how World War I started?

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, 59, was shot several times—including in the abdomen—on Wednesday in an apparent assassination attempt, according to the leader’s official Facebook page. An assailant fired four shots outside a cultural center in the city of Handlova, roughly 100 miles northeast of the capital, while Fico was meeting with supporters. He has since been rushed to a hospital in Banska Bystrica, where he is in “life-threatening condition.” No one else was injured in the attack, and authorities reportedly detained the suspected gunman at the scene.

Bratislava’s parliament adjourned its session until further notice, and two of Slovakia’s main opposition parties—Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity—canceled a planned protest against a controversial bid to give Fico’s administration full control over public broadcasting. This was “a brutal and ruthless” attack, President Zuzana Caputova said.

“An assassination attempt on the Prime Minister is a threat to everything that has adorned Slovak democracy so far,” close Fico ally and President-elect Peter Pellegrini posted on X. “I am horrified by where the hatred towards another political opinion can lead. We don’t have to agree on everything, but there are plenty of ways to express our disagreement democratically and legally.” The country’s interior minister described the shooting as “politically motivated” in comments made at a news conference outside the hospital where Fico is being treated.

375 Ruger Fan said:

Isn't this sort of like how World War I started?

Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, 59, was shot several times—including in the abdomen—on Wednesday in an apparent assassination attempt, according to the leader’s official Facebook page. An assailant fired four shots outside a cultural center in the city of Handlova, roughly 100 miles northeast of the capital, while Fico was meeting with supporters. He has since been rushed to a hospital in Banska Bystrica, where he is in “life-threatening condition.” No one else was injured in the attack, and authorities reportedly detained the suspected gunman at the scene.

Bratislava’s parliament adjourned its session until further notice, and two of Slovakia’s main opposition parties—Progressive Slovakia and Freedom and Solidarity—canceled a planned protest against a controversial bid to give Fico’s administration full control over public broadcasting. This was “a brutal and ruthless” attack, President Zuzana Caputova said.

“An assassination attempt on the Prime Minister is a threat to everything that has adorned Slovak democracy so far,” close Fico ally and President-elect Peter Pellegrini posted on X. “I am horrified by where the hatred towards another political opinion can lead. We don’t have to agree on everything, but there are plenty of ways to express our disagreement democratically and legally.” The country’s interior minister described the shooting as “politically motivated” in comments made at a news conference outside the hospital where Fico is being treated.

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Good point - at least his wife wasn't in the line of fire.

Fortunately, I am unaware of any competing entangling alliances.

Today's incident, which may lead to further restrictions on firearms in the European Union.
Regardless of political opinion, I wish our prime minister a speedy recovery.

Slovakia’s Prime Minister Fico ‘fighting for his life’ after being shot multiple times in ‘politically motivated’ attack

Back at the front. Last night Ukraine carried out a major strike against an important Russian airbase in Crimea. It looks like several of the longer range ATAACMS missiles that were part of the latest renewed arms shipments were the weapon utilized.

This is significant for several reasons. First of all, it establishes a new depth at which Russian aircraft have to be based. This, in turn, reduces their potential time in range of the front lines, and reduces their bomb load due to additional fuel requirements. Second, neither the Russian air defense systems nor their GPS technology seem to have had a significant effect on the incoming strike. One of the few photos that escaped Russian censors show a destroyed S-300 or S-400 air defense system which was likely targeted by the first couple of missiles.

A Russian military Telegram poster indicated that the strike destroyed fuel and lubricant storage facilities, two S-400 air defense systems (of which the Russians have a very limited number), air defense radar systems, one Mig-31 damaged, and three Mig-27's damaged. A pre-strike photo from several days ago shows the airfield packed with fighter aircraft. The extent of the explosions would indicate that the aircraft losses may have been quite higher.

The video shows a number of secondary explosions and fires.


Apparently another attack was launched against Crimea this evening. The target(s) has not yet been identified.