French engage Libyan military

SUBHEAD: Libyan Air Force jet shot down over Benghazi by European coallition. Ground forces attacked from air.By Ryan Lucas and Hadeel-Al-Shalchi on 19 March 2011 for AP -(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/19/warplane-shot-down-libya_n_837911.html)Image above: Libyan jet about to crash in Benghazi after engagement with French air force. From original article.French fighter jets fired the

Revolts in the Middle East

SUBHEAD: A handy guide to the revolts in the Middle East—and their likely effects on us.By Gonzalo Lira on 10 March 2011 in Gonzalo Lira - (http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2011/03/handy-guide-to-revolts-in-middle.html)Image above: Map of Middle East and North Africa. Click to enlarge.In 1848, protests and revolutions swept through Europe. The specific causes were different in each country, but

Impact of Middle East Unrest

SUBHEAD: Energy is not a segment of the economy; it IS the economy.By 6 Energy Experts on 10 March 2011 in Post Carbon Institute -(http://www.postcarbon.org/blog-post/275142-6-energy-experts-address-the-economic)Image above: Dubai lit up at dusk. From (http://thenakedgardner.com/?p=123).With instability in the Middle East driving oil prices higher, huge cracks are widening in the global economy.

The Empire Strikes Out

SUBHEAD: Sooner than you might think the tweets and the video feeds will cease and the screen will go dark.By Dmitry Orlov 8 March 2011 in ClubOrlov - (http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2011/03/empire-strikes-out.html)Image above: Internet down again in Libya. From (http://compushot.blogspot.com/2011/03/libyas-internet-down-again.html).Tunisia, Egypt, Libya... now, children, one of these things is

US ramps up Libyan Ops

SUBHEAD: In Libya, fighting continued yesterday between pro- and anti-Gaddafi forces, with both sides focusing on vital oil-related facilities.By Mike Headon 8 March 2011 for World Socialist Web Site -(http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/mar2011/liby-m08.shtml) Image above: Anti-Gadhafi anti-aircraft weapon on pickup truck guards oil refinery. From (http://www.salon.com/wires/techbiz/2011/03/08

Reality Option Nation

SUBHEAD: A drag race with Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Sen. Jim DeMint to see who can get America to drive over a cliff fastest.By James Kunstler on 7 March 2011 for Kunstler.com - (http://kunstler.com/blog/2011/03/reality-optional-living.html)Image above: Still from "Rebel Without a Cause", 1955. Natalie Wood wishing luck to James Dean a moment before the "chucken race" to cliff over the sea

Fate of the Petrodollar

SUBHEAD: The revolutions came at the worst possible time for the empire and are threatening the financial system guaranteeing the Almighty Dollar.By Zainab Cheema on 3 March 2011 in Media Monitors - (http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/83795)Image above: Fuel oil distribution in Asia set against chart of estimated demand by region. From (http://www.zerohedge.com/article/

Collapse of the Old Oil Order

SUBHEAD: Consider the recent rise in the price of oil just a faint and early tremor heralding the oilquake to come.By Michael T. Klare on 3 March 2011 in TomDispatch - (http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175362/tomgram%3A_michael_klare%2C_oilquake_in_the_middle_east)Image above: Awbari lakes in Fezzan, Libya. From (http://landsgenre.webs.com/thecosmiclandscape.htm).Whatever the outcome of the

An Empire of Lies

SUBHEAD: We must demand more of our corporate media and we must desert them, as is already happening, for better sources of information.By Jonathan Cook on 28 February 2011 in Information Clearing House - (http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27583.htm)Image above: Rafid Ahmed Alwan al-Janabi, a.k.a. "Curveball" now lives in Karlsruhe, Germany. From (http://www.bollyn.com/

The Uselessness Premium

SUBHEAD: Without four more Saudi Arabias ready to dump fuel on the market the price is set to rise.By Steve Ludlum on 2 March 2011 in Economic Undertow -(http://economic-undertow.blogspot.com/2011/03/other-shoes-and-uselessness-premium.html)Image above: Egyptians hold shoes in the air in defiance of dictator Hosni Mubarek a month ago. From (http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/02/01/5969373

Wake Me Shake Me

SUBHEAD: It's coming on springtime and things are breaking loose all over the place. I give Saudi Arabia three weeks before it starts to blow up.By James Kunstler on 28 February 2011 for Kunstler.com - (http://kunstler.com/blog/2011/02/wake-me-shake-me.html)Image above: Family members mourn for protester killed in Bahrain demonstration. From (http://beta.toledoblade.com/World/2011/02/18/

Rebel army forming to face Gaddafi

SUBHEAD: With eastern Libya largely under opposition control, the struggle for the west remains paramount.By Leila Fadel, Liz Sly and Tony Faiola on 27 February 2011 for WashPo - (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/26/AR2011022602622.html)Image above: A Libyan defaces image of Gaddafi as protests continue in Algeria, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Morocco, Tunisia

Inflection Point

SUBHEAD: The current political upheavals could come to be recognized as a major turning point in the history of the oil age.By Tom Whippleon 23 February 2011 in Falls Church News-Press -(http://www.fcnp.com/commentary/national/8586-the-peak-oil-crisis-inflection-point.html)Image above: A fifty-year-old Cadillac rusts away in the snow. From (http://jezzbean.wordpress.com/2010/01/02/20-

Geopolitics Rule

SUBHEAD: We must reinvent democracy in a way that embraces the concept of less at at all levels.By Steve Ludlum on 21 February 2011 in Economic Undertow -(http://economic-undertow.blogspot.com/2011/02/geopolitics-rule.html)Image above: "Until Libya is Free" photo. From original article.One of the big ideas here at the Undertow is that the economic price limit or upper bound for crude oil is a

Libya's Gadhafi to fall

SUBHEAD: Anti-government protests have erupted in capital of Tripoli, as thousands of people converged on the Green Square.By Jonathan Landay, Miret al-Nagger & Erika Bolstad on 20 February 2011 for McClatchy News - (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/02/20/109081/uprising-in-libya-against-gadhafi.html#ixzz1EbTjh77V)Image above: Protesters massing in Benghazi, Libya. From (http://

Middle East Unrest and Turmoil

SUBHEAD: Arab world is boiling over. Tunesia, then Egypt - now Libya and Bahrain. More are simmering including Algeria and Iran.Libyan Protesters Killed by Security Force SnipersBy Salah Naswari on 17 February 2011 for AP/Huffington Post - (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/17/libya-protests-antigovern_0_n_824826.html)Image above: Protesters in Libya before killings. From original

Egypt, Twitter & Watchdog Crowd

SUBHEAD: Social media did not make the revolution in Egypt happen. But, with every step chronicled it in real time.By Caroline McCarthy on 11 February 2011 for Cnet.com(http://news.cnet.com/8301-13577_3-20031600-36.html)Image above: Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, was on display 24/7 for the world to see. From (http://www.24newsupdate.com/eqypt-protesters-marching-from-tahrir-square-to-mubarak%

Mubarak Toppled

SUBHEAD: Mubarak resigns as Egypt's president as armed forces take control of country. Who's next?By AP Staff on 11 February 2011 for Huffington Post -(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/11/mubarak-red-sea-egypt_n_821812.html)[Editor's note: For live video coverage of people's victory this morning watch Democracy Now! (http://www.democracynow.org/) and Al Jazeera (http://english.aljazeera.net/

Mubarak refuses to step down

SUBHEAD: The rapidly moving events raised the question of whether a rift had opened between Mubarak and the military command.By AP Staff on 10 February 2011 for Huffington Post -(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/10/mubarak-speech-egypt-vice-president_n_821568.html)Image above: Detail of poster for "The Mummy". From (http://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/whered-he-come-from-the-mummy/).

Arab Turmoil & Petrocollapse

SUBHEAD: if the disruption is strong enough, severe effects can shut down much of the global economy and simultaneously stop much local activity.By Jan Lundberg on 30 January 2011 for Culture Change - (http://www.culturechange.org/cms/content/view/702/1/)Image above: Women demonstrating in Arab street. From (http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/106412/20110128/