Slade, your 8:42 is very grave and full of truth. Here are some names: Victor Chernomyrdin of the Chernomyrdin Commission (also envoy in Balkans conflict & ambassador to Ukraine but put that aside for now) was charged with taking USSR’s assets private. His USA counterpart/advisor was VP Al Gore, American envoy to Chern. Commission.
Nobody has ever understood why the most important political event of the century if not the millenium, the casting away of communism by Russia, was not a presidential-level concern in USA, but was handed off to the VP (who has not yet reported meeting minutes to congress, as required by law), whose ties with Russia were thru his father’s sponsor, Armand Hammer of Occidental, associate of Russian leaders as far back as Lenin (Stalin alone is said to’ve kept him a level lower, but –maybe a deception).
Somehow, the transfer of USSR assets to the private sector was so severly bungled, with the so-called oligarchs ending up with the vast fortunes, that the decade-later rise of a Putin-like nationalist strongman was almost guaranteed.
Meanwhile back at the ranch, 2000 comes along, Al Gore loses an election, Putin wins one, and the new millenium kicks off with Al Gore off on a major global crusade to among other things smother USA oil companies –and American industry in general –with more and more taxation and public scorn as spoilers of the planet. He is soon out with a more visual companion to an earlier book, a power-point presentation that somehow wins a film Oscar and a Nobel –and is aimed at (thru what could be called a crude/clever KGB-like fearmongering called ”global warming”) preventing USA from developing domestic oil supplies, which of course is currently causing us to fall ever deeper into dependence and debt and slow growth as the price of oil ramps higher and higher. Now along comes “Georgia”.
Dunno how all this fits together. Gold & oil are falling like crazy lately –but esp today (take a look at the news), a day of crisis in Georgia, when by any past experience both should be going straight up. Either the market is unconcerned with this war, or some big holders are dumping –possibly in order to defuse fear over Russia’s grab? Dunno. Will see if I can get a peep into the dynamics of the trade today tho. Hey i hope i don’t sound too nutty –it is true i may have drunk too much coffee this morning. But that doesn’t mean we should not be very wary of elements within our nation’s Green Movement –
