Ohio State Football Fans and All Americans Are Stupid

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Cheeeeeeeeers Chuckleheads!!<br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvN7r6UMocOQSzInrnlN-7V-cHJGmLovFmahgyGsaiG6O_P0lPzYxYHncq3Bd1xJyKifISYarlGmyda5vw2fECrpR1LSv63vyXDYp1MpdEFGI82nVQBm5d9GnAz7pLIGxzdYixYKBHrS3/s1600/Ohio+State+Football+Fans+Suck.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpvN7r6UMocOQSzInrnlN-7V-cHJGmLovFmahgyGsaiG6O_P0lPzYxYHncq3Bd1xJyKifISYarlGmyda5vw2fECrpR1LSv63vyXDYp1MpdEFGI82nVQBm5d9GnAz7pLIGxzdYixYKBHrS3/s400/Ohio+State+Football+Fans+Suck.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>I hope all of you enjoyed your weekend and that football fans everywhere enjoyed their first full weekend of the 2013 NFL and NCAA football season.<br /><br />There were a lot of great games, last minutes heroics, but mostly, drunken shenanigans in the name of football, and I appreciate that.<br /><br />I love this time of year.  It is still summer, but the nights are sometimes cool, and there is of course, the glory and partying associated with football taking place.<br /><br />This time of year is like Christmas in September and Labor Day in December, and no matter which way you slice it or parse it, those two holidays are analogous…or not.<br /><br />Anyhoo…<br /><br />I do have a problem with football fans these days and a problem with football in general.  Want to hear my problems with the sport and/or event that we call football?  No?<br /><br />Good, and I am anxious to write about it.<br /><br />Over the past decade, the number of football fans has exploded, but here’s the thing.  Many of these so-called fans, aren’t really football fans.<br /><br />They are at best sunshine football patriots who enjoy throwing a party, a feeling of belonging, and at faux fandom’s worst…<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOW-e-SyFg0umt18NvA_qSdc5cHnuP62ARKdIz59c0IGckgFVw2TWZ-y8IUU_LhUnDVJvg3e326JmMwUdkE36fBp5ft2ZyVVZLmTbGRSE6ntrcXWri_8mGu4cacARxRQJL_jn1Fo5pD0Oq/s1600/OSU+Stupid+Joe+the+Plumber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOW-e-SyFg0umt18NvA_qSdc5cHnuP62ARKdIz59c0IGckgFVw2TWZ-y8IUU_LhUnDVJvg3e326JmMwUdkE36fBp5ft2ZyVVZLmTbGRSE6ntrcXWri_8mGu4cacARxRQJL_jn1Fo5pD0Oq/s400/OSU+Stupid+Joe+the+Plumber.jpg" width="277" /></a>Get to weave their hard life realities into the game day dialogue about “their team.”<br /><br />Y’know?  That last one…the “my team thing?”  That drives me crazy!!<br /><br />I don’t know about you, but here in Ohio, ninety percent of the college football “fans” are Ohio State fans. <br /><br />And for some odd reason, the ninety-nine percent of OSU fans of whom I speak, have no personal association, connection, nor anything in common with OSU other than they are both located in Ohio, and like those who do attend OSU, the fans can neither read nor write.<br /><br />I’m not an entirely stupid guy, but one thing I have never understood, is this slobbering, incoherent, live and die, cry if “my team” loses, mindset.  OSU fans that I know are like this, and I am sure that there are many more.<br /><br />Okay so you went to school there and even if you weren’t on the team you can be an uber fan, but if you didn’t go there and are still a voracious fan, you have issues…issues with which, I am intrigued, but would rather know nothing about.<br /><br />NFL fans are just as bad, and as they are typically older, it may even be a bit more disturbing…<br /><br />I am eighty miles from Paul Brown Stadium and three times that distance from Cleveland and yet, on a weekend basis during football season, I will see at least three dozen grown men wearing OSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Bengals and/or Browns jerseys etc…<br /><br />And I say to myself…<br /><br /><i>“Self, why are there jersey wearing adult men and women crying over a loss and celebrating over a win with which they had nothing to do…other than to watch others do it?”</i><br /><br />See?  It’s okay to wear a tasteful T-Shirt or what not in order to show some subtle and tasteful support fro a team, but when a grown person wears a jersey, it only exacerbates that abnormal thought in their head that they are part of the team.<br /><br />So please, stop it.  It’s getting out of hand.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKOn1NDhTU6ucPCxrBFZKqyYnyvd7itItm_1wifAYK8HcRa5NxFtUYXQ9fNqhyooNKpf-X7zGz_Yuoq0SlltDoR5ysQdqGiPvIFUv0wK6-S2gLuTLa2euNRAqoE-pJuDpiDPRdxwWbAA1/s1600/sexy-steelers-girl+naked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEKOn1NDhTU6ucPCxrBFZKqyYnyvd7itItm_1wifAYK8HcRa5NxFtUYXQ9fNqhyooNKpf-X7zGz_Yuoq0SlltDoR5ysQdqGiPvIFUv0wK6-S2gLuTLa2euNRAqoE-pJuDpiDPRdxwWbAA1/s400/sexy-steelers-girl+naked.jpg" width="258" /></a>I actually read on Facebook this week a comment from a Steelers fan commenting to one of his friends…<br /><br /><i>“Don’t talk to me until your team has won five Super Bowls like mine has.”</i><br /><br />I am sure….well, I hope he was joking…but it was the, “I am actually on the team” feel in his comment that gave me a case of the goo.<br /><br />The worse thing is, this fanatic feeling of rooting for and wanting to win, has invaded our psyche, the governing of our nation, and the political discourse that takes place in the media.<br /><br />Listen to Sean Hannity, Rachel Maddow, The Five, and Chris Matthews on TV for a couple of days, and you’ll find…<br /><br />They are just like an Ohio State football fan, they don’t care why, or what has to happen to make it so; they just want to win.<br /><br />Because winning and being like everybody else, and better who they think themselves to be individually, is far more important than due diligence and common sense.<br /><br /><i>Cheers!!</i><br /><i><br /></i> <i>Matt-Man</i><br /><i><br /></i> <i><a href="mailto:mattmaniws@ymail.com">mattmaniws@ymail.com</a></i><br /><i><a href="https://twitter.com/MattMan_IWS" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">@MattMan_IWS</span></a></i><br /><i><a href="https://www.facebook.com/mattmaniws" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">My Facebook Page</span></a></i><br /><br />And why you chew on that bone of sunshine, you can listen to IWS Radio…Jay and I had a masterpiece of a show going yesterday…AND our uber-lovely friend from Canada, Jamie, was so taken with us, she called in TWICE!!<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>                                   <iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="370" src="http://player.cinchcast.com/?show_id=5383643&platformId=1&assetType=single" width="400"></iframe><br /><div style="font-size: 10px; text-align: center; width: 400px;"><br /></div></div>

Ohio State Football Fans and All Americans Are Stupid

Cheeeeeeeeers Chuckleheads!!I hope all of you enjoyed your weekend and that football fans everywhere enjoyed their first full weekend of the 2013 NFL and NCAA football season.There were a lot of great games, last minutes heroics, but mostly, drunken …

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Our Employment Pickle (Musical Tribute)

The following chart shows day care employees as a percent of women workers aged 20 to 44.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhBYl-V3dFczL04kN_m3e-AA4eLSnhew12MB909K9bTH7amf0inKhDs2ghbo0EsEbSqW8gvKrNc-ScvwAoEsw5JjtX5XMvwsdRceToE20hZ4sqJCpsUKLSMMoTl8Csfl_oLu6ufeUsVIw/s1600/Day+Care+Employees.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhBYl-V3dFczL04kN_m3e-AA4eLSnhew12MB909K9bTH7amf0inKhDs2ghbo0EsEbSqW8gvKrNc-ScvwAoEsw5JjtX5XMvwsdRceToE20hZ4sqJCpsUKLSMMoTl8Csfl_oLu6ufeUsVIw/s320/Day+Care+Employees.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Stick a fork in that trend. It's not only over, but it's rolling over.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.wikihow.com/Fork-Someone%27s-Yard-Prank">How to Fork Someone's Yard Prank</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>If you want to get a little more creative, buy some pickles (or anything that will stick on a fork), and add them to the forks.</i></div><br />Genius! That's just what this economy needs. More pickles!<br /><br /><b>January 12, 2013</b><br /><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/sunday-review/americas-productivity-climbs-but-wages-stagnate.html?_r=0">Our Economic Pickle</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>It is often thought that college graduates can escape these unfortunate wage trends. But college graduates — hit by the bursting of the tech bubble in the late 1990s and then by the deep recession — have been hit hard, too. <span style="color: red;">Seventy percent of the nation’s college grads have had their after-inflation hourly wages decline since 2000</span>, according to the Economic Policy Institute, with the typical graduate experiencing a 3.1 percent decline.</i></div><br />The future's so bright I gotta whistle!<br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/kzMdqq6Z3n4" width="420"></iframe><br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://www.bls.gov/data/#employment">BLS: Employment</a><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=mdk">St. Louis Fed: Employment Level - 20 to 44 years, Women</a>

Our Employment Pickle (Musical Tribute)

The following chart shows day care employees as a percent of women workers aged 20 to 44.Click to enlarge.Stick a fork in that trend. It's not only over, but it's rolling over.How to Fork Someone's Yard PrankIf you want to get a little more creative,…

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Dillingers with my sis!

<span style="font-size: large;">It's been awhile since I've been in Dillingers (prob 8 weeks or so) and in the time since I've last been they have slightly rejigged their menu.</span><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Sadly the mini corn dogs are off the menu - my sister and I thought they were such a fun item.  They also have no corn bread which we miss.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Last night we split a portion of mac & cheese (now served in a smaller bowl), crab cakes (disapointing and over priced at €9 for 3 crab "balls") and a portion of chilli fries.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Personally I love Dillingers for a casual Tuesday night but I would not recommend it for a special Saturday night meal out.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">My twin sister and I like to sit at the bar, enjoy the atmosphere and have a good natter while we eat out food.  A nice chilled out meet up spot in the locality.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pISgFBGRmq3pbgxrBpFVZIEx_9z3yL51Oqy8OzQNNp66q_KneXi1orFNPuE52ESMCFi0VmcfPzaJJJnn-N6C9FaL5kkK6uaB_1jUxJ7BeyyolboOO-s9hW5UMokPNEW5elfy40n0qrc-/s640/blogger-image--975347433.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9pISgFBGRmq3pbgxrBpFVZIEx_9z3yL51Oqy8OzQNNp66q_KneXi1orFNPuE52ESMCFi0VmcfPzaJJJnn-N6C9FaL5kkK6uaB_1jUxJ7BeyyolboOO-s9hW5UMokPNEW5elfy40n0qrc-/s640/blogger-image--975347433.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DPMbdWmrwYM9Bw8rvBQ1EAyU50wlXn8ZafsjVEtzzN5dcPbjthRfnVIB0SdG7HZD_FjTt0KoW_lEGqnzLn-uB3T-luNt1xVVJ34MTs9kyCiv-i9Wqd8w4iZ-iiitK-1knpMXqfinPdU7/s640/blogger-image--1486010596.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6DPMbdWmrwYM9Bw8rvBQ1EAyU50wlXn8ZafsjVEtzzN5dcPbjthRfnVIB0SdG7HZD_FjTt0KoW_lEGqnzLn-uB3T-luNt1xVVJ34MTs9kyCiv-i9Wqd8w4iZ-iiitK-1knpMXqfinPdU7/s640/blogger-image--1486010596.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphc0359tWWOk5ZN225CX4l3Rp7bUOivXEn_IxYahgIMRhzrWSaG9F9tQcAopSIdGgCtxw-0xbQE7CRDBTbAZ3WZOCm8o3LaanbfukwYWAtGMU3NOR7ATKaY63-gFwMqd5xtOsn-v1sKts/s640/blogger-image--1685818669.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjphc0359tWWOk5ZN225CX4l3Rp7bUOivXEn_IxYahgIMRhzrWSaG9F9tQcAopSIdGgCtxw-0xbQE7CRDBTbAZ3WZOCm8o3LaanbfukwYWAtGMU3NOR7ATKaY63-gFwMqd5xtOsn-v1sKts/s640/blogger-image--1685818669.jpg" /></a></div><br /><br /><br /></div>

Dillingers with my sis!

It's been awhile since I've been in Dillingers (prob 8 weeks or so) and in the time since I've last been they have slightly rejigged their menu.Sadly the mini corn dogs are off the menu - my sister and I thought they were such a fun item.  They also …

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New retainer time

<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">I was badly overdue a new set of retainers so on the advice of my dentist I made an appointment with <a href="http://www.beechwooddental.ie/index.php/about/team/">Dr. Paul Dowling</a> in the Beechwood Dental Clinic on Friday.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">After sitting in to Dr. Dowling's chair I had a look around his modern office.  It was a lovely day and he had a sliding door open to a lovely little bamboo walled in city garden - adorable.  I joked that it would be a great place for a lunch time cocktail :-)  His nurse quipped that the drinks area was around the corner!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">After showing Dr. Dowling my old retainers he talked me through options for new ones.  He then went on to take impressions for my new retainers.  That pink stuff they use to take impressions is repulsive and I gagged a little as I waited the short while for it to set (maybe a minute, or so).</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">I'm embarrassed to show a picture of my old retainers but for posterity here they are:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOVpRiaJKS-RoSqpzjXnv60p_CYUaakzaEWQfDNafE2CtS4-VO5bHQZNaSe9VZ5tKevf3ljIbBoPdIYvqnJBZHe4p6N4v7F8RnA0zTix5QhkEUmnv_jucj3pV5G7UFynOsSSl4_F_cMaB/s640/blogger-image--459760296.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOOVpRiaJKS-RoSqpzjXnv60p_CYUaakzaEWQfDNafE2CtS4-VO5bHQZNaSe9VZ5tKevf3ljIbBoPdIYvqnJBZHe4p6N4v7F8RnA0zTix5QhkEUmnv_jucj3pV5G7UFynOsSSl4_F_cMaB/s640/blogger-image--459760296.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">My new retainers will be ready for collection in a few weeks - I can't wait to get them and to get the rid of the old ones.  Hopefully I get a good few years out of the new ones!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">BTW, as an aside, when I got my braces off about 12 years ago I was told I would have to wear retainers regularly for about 5 years.  However after 5 yrs I left them off for 1 night.  The next evening when I put them on they were difficult to get on and were very tight - my teeth had moved!!! Since that time I religiously wear my retainer every night and will continue to do so for the rest of my life.  Your teeth constantly want to revert back to their original position - I don't want that to happen!!!</span></div>

New retainer time

I was badly overdue a new set of retainers so on the advice of my dentist I made an appointment with Dr. Paul Dowling in the Beechwood Dental Clinic on Friday.After sitting in to Dr. Dowling's chair I had a look around his modern office.  It was a lo…

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ARAB GULF STATES TO FUND A U.S. MILITARY CAMPAIGN IN SYRIA?

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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPX3aePLd63hH6FdL2BJtoeP0IBbAHhXs77aj4WpMYnF7i1O8CcKo8PbCfUJPXLHN72kkJ1fv-YJxf-8bIGSXqUifWl1XyO_-jHP9fAUz3AxZP1aAzCrW6fBoIPJwxX8h_O0rnmHSUEX4R/s1600/Arab-Gulf-States.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPX3aePLd63hH6FdL2BJtoeP0IBbAHhXs77aj4WpMYnF7i1O8CcKo8PbCfUJPXLHN72kkJ1fv-YJxf-8bIGSXqUifWl1XyO_-jHP9fAUz3AxZP1aAzCrW6fBoIPJwxX8h_O0rnmHSUEX4R/s320/Arab-Gulf-States.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">ARAB GULF STATES</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif";">ENERGY CHESS GAME: THE REAL REASON SYRIAN INTERVENTION? </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Is the reported willingness of ARAB GULF states to fund a U.S. military campaign in SYRIA really about major oil and gas interests that run through the country?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The potential for trillions of dollars of energy revenue in deals that snake through SYRIAN territory may be a motivating factor for the U.S., RUSSIA, TURKEY and ARAB states in the current SYRIA crisis.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SYRIA is a key energy transit route to EUROPE and a number of countries appear to be seeking dominance of the energy market that runs through SYRIA. In a hearing, Secretary of State John Kerry said ARAB counties have offered to pay for any U.S. military intervention in SYRIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“With respect to ARAB countries offering to bear costs and to assess, the answer is profoundly yes,” Kerry said. “They have. That offer is on the table.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla., asked for an estimated amount the ARABS might contribute. Kerry replied that they offered to pay for a full invasion.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“In fact, some of them have said that if the UNITED STATES is prepared to go do the whole thing the way we’ve done it previously in other places, they’ll carry that cost,” Kerry said. “That’s how dedicated they are at this. That’s not in the cards, and nobody’s talking about it, but they’re talking in serious ways about getting this done.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SYRIA: KEY ENERGY TRANSIT ROUTE TO EUROPE</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unmentioned are major gas and oil deals that could impact the economies of QATAR, TURKEY and SAUDI ARABIA enormously.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">In 2011, SYRIA announced it had discovered a promising gas field in the city of Homs, which would later see some of the fiercest battles between SYRIAN President Bashar al-Assad’s forces and the rebels. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Oil Minister Sufian Allawi told the state-run SANA news agency that the first wells “were in the Homs governorate and the flow rate is 400,000 cubic meters per day.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“The discovery opens new perspectives in the region of Qalamun, and the SYRIAN company will continue its drilling,” said Allawi.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">BESIDE THE PROSPECT OF ITS OWN GAS FIELD, SYRIA IS ALSO ONE OF THE MOST STRATEGIC LOCATIONS FOR NATURAL GAS PIPELINES TO FLOW TO EUROPE</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">QATAR, home to the world’s largest gas field along with IRAN, has proposed a gas pipeline from the GULF to TURKEY that would traverse SYRIA to the MEDITERRANEAN, with the gas then being shipped to Europe.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, Assad in 2009 refused to go along with the plan, instead inking deals with RUSSIA and IRAN.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/qatar-and-muslim-brotherhood.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/qatar-and-muslim-brotherhood.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/crisis-qatars-transition.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/crisis-qatars-transition.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/04/qatars-great-power-games.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/04/qatars-great-power-games.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SYRIA IS SITE OF THE PROPOSED CONSTRUCTION OF A MASSIVE UNDERGROUND GAS PIPELINE,</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">that, if completed, could drastically undercut the strategic energy power of U.S. ally QATAR and also would cut TURKEY out of the pipeline flow.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Dubbed the “Islamic pipeline,” the project may ultimately favor RUSSIA and IRAN against WESTERN energy interests.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Set to open in 2016, IRAN, IRAQ and SYRIA signed a deal in 2010 to construct the 3,480-mile natural gas pipeline connecting IRAN’S South Pars field to EUROPEAN customers.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpLl29iw70RxTi5UHgiZel4pLlAYMwaXa4zegk6qlv9TLebMW9rxYKuqIixM_0Gk6dmA3JYer8dXnlmdEn35vU5nyS1kpr9023S-xM9aOMxakVd-_xzyIvnD9U4dpSiPhGF-ewIzH09LZ/s1600/casp11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqpLl29iw70RxTi5UHgiZel4pLlAYMwaXa4zegk6qlv9TLebMW9rxYKuqIixM_0Gk6dmA3JYer8dXnlmdEn35vU5nyS1kpr9023S-xM9aOMxakVd-_xzyIvnD9U4dpSiPhGF-ewIzH09LZ/s320/casp11.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IRAN announced the pipeline would ultimately have the capacity to pump 3.9 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day. The route is planned to pass through IRAN, IRAQ, SYRIA, the southern LEBANON territories and also through the MEDITERRANEAN basin with a refinery and infrastructure to be built in Damascus. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">IRAN IRAQ AND SYRIAN GAS PIPELINE PROPOSAL A MAJOR ECONOMIC THREAT TO TURKEY</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A key portion of the pipeline is concentrated on the SYRIAN ports, which would export directly to EUROPE out of the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The “Islamic” pipeline is viewed as a major threat to TURKEY, which has long desired to become the main bridge for natural gas and oil between the East and the West.</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">TURKEY, however, is a key player in the Nabucco and other natural gas pipeline projects, which are being constructed or in process to be constructed in order to transit natural gas to EUROPE from the CENTRAL ASIA and CASPIAN regions. The pipeline is set to traverse AZERBAIJAN, GEORGIA, TURKEY, BULGARIA, ROMANIA and HUNGARY, and end in AUSTRIA. TURKEY has been a key supporter of the rebels fighting Assad’s regime, while QATAR has reportedly been supplied arms and training to the rebels.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If Assad can be deposed, TURKEY and QATAR would like the Nabucco pipeline to run through SYRIA.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information</span></b><span lang="EN" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/europe-and-caucasus-europe-fails-to-tap.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/europe-and-caucasus-europe-fails-to-tap.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/the-caspian-region-future-war-zone.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/the-caspian-region-future-war-zone.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/syrian-oil-and-gas-findings-propaganda.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/syrian-oil-and-gas-findings-propaganda.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/pipelineistan.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/pipelineistan.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">SYRIA WILL BE IN SAUDI HANDS </span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Perhaps in a bid to wean RUSSIA off of the “Islamic” pipeline, SAUDI ARABIA last month presented a plan to Moscow in which RUSSIA would reject SYRIA’S president in return for a huge arms deal and a pledge to boost RUSSIAN influence in the ARAB world.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Agence France-Presse reported President Vladimir Putin refused the plan in a meeting with SAUDI ARABIA’S intelligence chief, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #cc0000; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Background Information:</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/russia-and-saudi-arabia.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/russia-and-saudi-arabia.html</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; line-height: normal; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/syria-is-pawn-in-tough-economic.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/syria-is-pawn-in-tough-economic.html</a></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFyxUps_U7mLegM5Da-MNL8GpfeYHRNc9H0R8IZInZ6Vp80dy80e7CMZcEOB5jvN2IJTOXdHlSiCqNNBQo1TvcL1brrnqOTrSf9qTEBcd17k3Odmz6-E7BxSZN4BN9ziaK5hYo7NDqJzk/s1600/Leaders+of+the+Gulf+Arab+States+pose+before+their+Gulf+Cooperation+Council+(GCC)+summit+-+Reuters.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtFyxUps_U7mLegM5Da-MNL8GpfeYHRNc9H0R8IZInZ6Vp80dy80e7CMZcEOB5jvN2IJTOXdHlSiCqNNBQo1TvcL1brrnqOTrSf9qTEBcd17k3Odmz6-E7BxSZN4BN9ziaK5hYo7NDqJzk/s1600/Leaders+of+the+Gulf+Arab+States+pose+before+their+Gulf+Cooperation+Council+(GCC)+summit+-+Reuters.gif" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gulf States Council </td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bandar reportedly proposed that SAUDI ARABIA buy $15 billion of weapons from RUSSIA and invest “considerably in the country,” according to AFP.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Demonstrating that oil interests are clearly at play, AFP reported: “The Saudi prince also reassured Putin that ‘whatever regime comes after’ Assad, it will be ‘completely’ in the SAUDIS’ hands and will not sign any agreement allowing any GULF country to transport its gas across SYRIA to EUROPE and compete with RUSSIAN gas exports.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div>

ARAB GULF STATES TO FUND A U.S. MILITARY CAMPAIGN IN SYRIA?

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Sunday Independent Shoot

<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">We had the Sunday Independent out photographing the house for an article in a few weeks.  <a href="http://www.rugart.ie/">Rug Art</a> gave us a lend of two different Jan Kath rugs for the shoot.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUZOib7ycSw0M6NfEd0CTqREuggCJeoa3JCzB3biOh8qvysUym1nzh1CSqet1-JKqX6HPULQb8tCQY2WUXcmte7vuzwxcp6Qw49vD1EdaZ68UB7CIQZK6it4nahnCMmIj2i3eTsXUVu1y/s640/blogger-image--1531740484.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoUZOib7ycSw0M6NfEd0CTqREuggCJeoa3JCzB3biOh8qvysUym1nzh1CSqet1-JKqX6HPULQb8tCQY2WUXcmte7vuzwxcp6Qw49vD1EdaZ68UB7CIQZK6it4nahnCMmIj2i3eTsXUVu1y/s640/blogger-image--1531740484.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tony Gavin is the Sunday Independent photographer.  He has won numerous press awards for his work.  Here he is photographing the glass stairs.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-VzbcbI4ktlwq2HuzPTLKwkjiFUQzhRmWwT6OFTvHQ8l14MZLvZCNOsJo7bxU4diU3Mk7reqc5uRDSM7uQyJgK_wT-2BsgbuqifTFhLISPvUeq6_aMXKF3zHiQTQY7kYvukmed4fqFCo/s640/blogger-image--881690523.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9-VzbcbI4ktlwq2HuzPTLKwkjiFUQzhRmWwT6OFTvHQ8l14MZLvZCNOsJo7bxU4diU3Mk7reqc5uRDSM7uQyJgK_wT-2BsgbuqifTFhLISPvUeq6_aMXKF3zHiQTQY7kYvukmed4fqFCo/s640/blogger-image--881690523.jpg" /></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: large;">I'm intrigued to see how this shot of the open door in the studio will look.</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXLxkTMdT18YxbBHuiIL9b_cztWmEvGEeQszqdZ6nxYQ_4HmTymGbtNAVjgl_0epVOb-nwcGdtwP3x7hiam_rGJrLl1Ijh73OpX2va6tHHPFg9X4JBjv4t5H_pxEwL5rCTt7yK-hQNgrJ/s640/blogger-image-987321534.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpXLxkTMdT18YxbBHuiIL9b_cztWmEvGEeQszqdZ6nxYQ_4HmTymGbtNAVjgl_0epVOb-nwcGdtwP3x7hiam_rGJrLl1Ijh73OpX2va6tHHPFg9X4JBjv4t5H_pxEwL5rCTt7yK-hQNgrJ/s640/blogger-image-987321534.jpg" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">I staged the area around the hot tub.  Cocktail anyone?!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSI3rceDobFWwJFtpw7L0ewYZdoV5XtBk_JmpnyhR6Y66maXR2zdgA4EI3Gjt2PB8HaGX8utIhaO-v6fwqJb3ixSLCx0ouIQUyhzpDJcSRRoWZ6dBcvOBSIx6NsvXP6Zv_bu5MS1zHukKP/s640/blogger-image--131858789.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSI3rceDobFWwJFtpw7L0ewYZdoV5XtBk_JmpnyhR6Y66maXR2zdgA4EI3Gjt2PB8HaGX8utIhaO-v6fwqJb3ixSLCx0ouIQUyhzpDJcSRRoWZ6dBcvOBSIx6NsvXP6Zv_bu5MS1zHukKP/s640/blogger-image--131858789.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's my Paddington Bear collection being photographed - along with a painting of Picasso that was painted by Ciaran's Dad.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUWpW-wAU74fj_DpTqI-Da6Jmv53Ntb0Slz9cy1RsAFXhQVHiI0Lr38QNHab4u_XRW82L9GCqxdLVNaPHouivcO4HrZXPhTL98xuzxaofvrMGv3zezDDSwdzy-_hFDANV9-_tlNOtAWO8/s640/blogger-image-284340865.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXUWpW-wAU74fj_DpTqI-Da6Jmv53Ntb0Slz9cy1RsAFXhQVHiI0Lr38QNHab4u_XRW82L9GCqxdLVNaPHouivcO4HrZXPhTL98xuzxaofvrMGv3zezDDSwdzy-_hFDANV9-_tlNOtAWO8/s640/blogger-image-284340865.jpg" /></a></div><br />

Sunday Independent Shoot

We had the Sunday Independent out photographing the house for an article in a few weeks.  Rug Art gave us a lend of two different Jan Kath rugs for the shoot.Tony Gavin is the Sunday Independent photographer.  He has won numerous press awards for his…

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Quote of the Day (Plus Charts)

<b>April 19, 2010</b><br /><a href="http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/2010/world/u-s-urban-residents-cut-water-usage-utilities-are-forced-to-raise-prices/">U.S. Urban Residents Cut Water Usage; Utilities are Forced to Raise Prices</a><br /><br /><div style="color: #666666;"><i>The unintended consequence of using less in most cities is that ratepayers pay more. The Cleveland region has increased water rates 45 percent to 80 percent since 2007. Cleveland Water Commissioner Chris Nielson explained to the The Plain Dealer last week that “revenue was $25 million below projections last year because of a decrease in consumption.”<br /><br />...<br /><br />“It’s funny, in the sense that it’s a double-edged sword,” Lamb told the Kane County Chronicle. “We tell people all the time to conserve water, conserve water. But then we, as the municipality providing the water, suffer because there’s less money coming in to maintain that system.”<br /><br />...<br /><br /><span style="color: red;">Despite the perils of the death spiral, the argument for conservation is strong.</span></i></div><br />Let us use this same theory for gasoline stations and see what happens.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqVN6DlcnxhkNDztcmRHaugNf0PD3DEA0ePq3a2O_oRJzV3BxY8ns6C9XS5PuC9w4-FkY7rZ6b761OBEqlrj1IUkJDPbGc8dCj8iaqf8W4rEC2ItlV1xFkt0GXJIZxma8giHEIPXgl5Y/s1600/Gasoline+Station+Sales.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzqVN6DlcnxhkNDztcmRHaugNf0PD3DEA0ePq3a2O_oRJzV3BxY8ns6C9XS5PuC9w4-FkY7rZ6b761OBEqlrj1IUkJDPbGc8dCj8iaqf8W4rEC2ItlV1xFkt0GXJIZxma8giHEIPXgl5Y/s320/Gasoline+Station+Sales.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Since 2011, each gasoline station employee is selling less and less gasoline (by volume). This is unprecedented during an economic expansion. I wonder <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-illusion-of-auto-industry-recovery.html">what could explain it</a>.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXxYRyr8YeTckNVyo8M0vHEeZOZdXAsVhF4dVUM4jvWNN4PmDbZS9dPCsso3af3HEY2VLEubaE7F_fu6nuNBMle2bNjvmFoJcVDpx-dv-TNwAQ9ol89aDts7G6UoFMp0-4IGFaesd1bo/s1600/Gasoline+Station+Employees.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixXxYRyr8YeTckNVyo8M0vHEeZOZdXAsVhF4dVUM4jvWNN4PmDbZS9dPCsso3af3HEY2VLEubaE7F_fu6nuNBMle2bNjvmFoJcVDpx-dv-TNwAQ9ol89aDts7G6UoFMp0-4IGFaesd1bo/s320/Gasoline+Station+Employees.jpg" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Click to enlarge.</span><br /><br />Why has there been so much gasoline station hiring since 2010? Perhaps gasoline station owners have been getting drunk on the free money Kool-Aid? <a href="http://thediplomat.com/pacific-money/2013/07/24/worlds-tallest-building-capital-misallocation/">Capital misallocation</a> for the win?<br /><br />The "recovery" is strong! It can only get better from here! No <a href="http://dollardeathspiral.blogspot.com/">"death spirals"</a> possible! Blah, blah, blah.<br /><br />This post inspired by fried in the comments found <a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com/2013/09/charting-mental-health-of-recovery.html">here</a>.<br /><br /><b>Source Data:</b><br /><a href="http://www.eia.gov/petroleum/data.cfm#consumption">EIA: Petroleum Product Supplied</a><br /><a href="http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/graph/?g=mcM">St. Louis Fed: All Employees: Retail Trade: Gasoline Stations</a>

Quote of the Day (Plus Charts)

April 19, 2010U.S. Urban Residents Cut Water Usage; Utilities are Forced to Raise PricesThe unintended consequence of using less in most cities is that ratepayers pay more. The Cleveland region has increased water rates 45 percent to 80 percent since…

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SYRIA IS THE PAWN IN A TOUGH ECONOMIC CONFLICT IN THE GLOBAL ENERGY MARKET.

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font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} </style><![endif]--> <br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><br /></span></b></span><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span class="hps"></span></span></b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0qO-emcQyyYXgoQVdam7x58_YcSVR81a5ZxNh56bNvMexxtQNMZ0regqVDbR5LXHBf5S4_jsJEEpAFW3up9zlS3SbDYte73N4Q3auFS0iX0THeX9T4ZlB4OTwClmdDyfSg26yk5iRedS/s1600/britannica+7+20+10+great+game+Central+Europe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjb0qO-emcQyyYXgoQVdam7x58_YcSVR81a5ZxNh56bNvMexxtQNMZ0regqVDbR5LXHBf5S4_jsJEEpAFW3up9zlS3SbDYte73N4Q3auFS0iX0THeX9T4ZlB4OTwClmdDyfSg26yk5iRedS/s400/britannica+7+20+10+great+game+Central+Europe.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #134f5c;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="hps"><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;">WAR</span></b></span><b><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; line-height: 115%;"> <span class="hps">IN</span> <span class="hps">SYRIA</span> <span class="hps">IS ALL ABOUT</span><span class="hps">GLOBAL AND</span> <span class="hps">IMPERIAL INTERESTS</span></span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><b><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">It's about</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">access to</span> <span class="hps">oil and gas</span> <span class="hps">and</span> <span class="hps">the currency</span> <span class="hps">in which these</span> <span class="hps">resources are</span> <span class="hps">paid.</span><span class="hps">The U.S. has</span> <span class="hps">much to lose</span>, <span class="hps">the RUSSIANS</span> <span class="hps">also</span>. <span class="hps">The</span><span class="hps">puppet masters</span> <span class="hps">in the background</span> <span class="hps">come</span> <span class="hps">from SAUDI</span> <span class="hps">ARABIA and</span> <span class="hps">QATAR</span>.</span></b></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The U.S. wants to</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">overthrow</span> <span class="hps">Assad, not</span> <span class="hps">for moral reasons</span>, <span class="hps">because</span>he allegedly used chemical weapons, <span class="hps">but</span> <span class="hps">for Geo and Eco -strategic</span> <span class="hps">interests.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The SYRIAN conflict is about the switch point in the international energy</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">market, for </span>wars are mostly fought over energy <span class="hps">market access</span><span class="hps">and</span> global <span class="hps">politics.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The SYRIAN </span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">conflict became clearer from notes taken during the meeting <span class="hps">between</span> <span class="hps">RUSSIAN President Vladimir</span> <span class="hps">Putin and</span> <span class="hps">the SAUDI</span> <span class="hps">intelligence chief</span> <span class="hps">Prince Bandar bin Sultan</span>. <span class="hps">The question of who</span> used <span class="hps">poison gas</span> in <span class="hps">August</span> is <span class="hps">still unclear</span> <span class="hps">–</span> though the USA seems to be certain it was the<span class="hps"> Assad</span> regimes responsibility, real legitimate evidence is still outstanding<span class="hps">.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It would appear that two renowned reporters working for the Associated Press have conducted a rather different research in SYRIA regarding the chemical attack and came up with a different version. They claim that SAUDI intelligence was responsible for the poison gas used. This apparently becomes clear after numerous interviews that they have conducted on-site. Accordingly, the SAUDIS have brought weapons to SYRIA. Due to improper handling an explosion occurred which subsequently caused considerable number of casualties, including 12 terrorists.<br />If true, the U.S. would have to take action also against SAUDI ARABIA.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> </span><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">that won’t happen. SAUDI ARABIA is</span> <span class="hps">next to ISRAEL the USAs </span>closest ally <span class="hps">in</span> <span class="hps">the GULF region</span>.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">RUSSIAN, SAUDI GEO- STRATEGIC CHESS GAME </span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><span class="hps"></span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In addition, more</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">than</span> <span class="hps">a dozen of the</span> <span class="hps">rebels interviewed, allegedly </span>claimed<span class="hps"> that</span> <span class="hps">they are on the payroll of</span> <span class="hps">the SAUDI government</span>.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">That SAUDI ARABIA supports the rebels is a known fact and was confirmed by interview notes obtained during a closed door session in a country house of RUSSIAN President Putin in August and SAUDI intelligence chief Bandar bin Sultan, according to the Telegraph and the LEBANESE newspaper As Safir, referring to diplomatic sources.<br />Furthermore Bandar bin Sultan apparently told Putin also that: <br />"I can guarantee to protect the Olympic Games next year. The CHECHEN groups that threaten the security of the games are controlled by us. "</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">But the</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> SAUDI <span class="hps">intelligence chief</span> <span class="hps">is said to have</span><span class="hps">not only have control over the</span> <span class="hps">CHECHEN</span><span class="hps">rebel</span>s but could also <span class="hps">guarantee</span> <span class="hps">the security of</span> <span class="hps">the RUSSIAN</span> <span class="hps">naval</span> <span class="hps">base in</span> <span class="hps">SYRIA,</span>once the <span class="hps">government</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">Bashar al</span>-Assad <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">overthrown.</span><span class="hps">He could</span> “turn on and turn off” <span class="hps">CHECHEN</span><span class="hps">rebels</span> fighting <span class="hps">in SYRIA</span> as deemed necessary.<br /><span class="hps">"</span>These groups <span class="hps">do</span> <span class="hps">not scare us</span>. <span class="hps">We use them</span> <span class="hps">to put pressure</span> <span class="hps">on the SYRIAN government</span>, but they will <span class="hps">play</span> <span class="hps">no role in</span> <span class="hps">SYRIA'S</span> <span class="hps">future. "</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="hps"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">IT’S ALL ABOUT ENERGY DEALS </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">For the RUSSIANS,</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">SYRIA is</span> <span class="hps">of enormous strategic</span> <span class="hps">importance because the</span> <span class="hps">RUSSIANS want to</span> <span class="hps">prevent</span> <span class="hps">QATAR</span> becoming <span class="hps">EUROPE’S alternative</span> <span class="hps">energy (gas) market</span>. <span class="hps">If</span> <span class="hps">RUSSIA loses</span> <span class="hps">its influence in</span> <span class="hps">SYRIA,</span> <span class="hps">this would mean</span> <span class="hps">that</span><span class="hps">the RUSSIAN energy</span> <span class="hps">giant Gazprom</span> faces <span class="hps">serious competitive disadvantage over the</span> <span class="hps">GULF region</span>. <span class="hps">Currently,</span> <span class="hps">EUROPE is dependent</span> heavily <span class="hps">on RUSSIAN</span> <span class="hps">gas monopoly</span> <span class="hps">-</span> <span class="hps">especially in winter</span>.<br /><span class="hps">Interesting to note is that one of the</span> <span class="hps">most important political</span> <span class="hps">advisors to</span> <span class="hps">Gazprom</span>is <span class="hps">former GERMAN Chancellor</span> <span class="hps">Gerhard Schröder.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="hps"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Background Information</span></b></span><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">: </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/europe-and-caucasus-europe-fails-to-tap.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/europe-and-caucasus-europe-fails-to-tap.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/the-caspian-region-future-war-zone.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/09/the-caspian-region-future-war-zone.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/syrian-oil-and-gas-findings-propaganda.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/syrian-oil-and-gas-findings-propaganda.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/pipelineistan.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/05/pipelineistan.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html">http://news-these-days.blogspot.com.ar/2011/12/syria-cause-and-effect.html</a></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">The SAUDIS</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">are aware of </span>Moscow’s <span class="hps">economic interests</span>, and thus <span class="hps">offer them an end to the civil war scenario in SYRIA which would also be beneficial for the RUSSIANS. Thus the SAUDI</span><span class="hps">intelligence chief</span> suggested <span class="hps">the</span> <span class="hps">RUSSIANS</span>:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">"Let</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">us evaluate how to set up a</span> <span class="hps">joint RUSSIAN</span><span class="atn">-</span>SAUDI oil and energy <span class="hps">strategy.</span> <span class="hps">The goal</span> <span class="hps">is to</span> <span class="hps">reach an agreement on</span> oil price and <span class="hps">flow rates</span> in order to<span class="hps"> keep global markets</span> and prices <span class="hps">stable.</span><span class="hps">(...) We</span> understand <span class="hps">RUSSIA’S interest in </span>recent oil and gas findings <span class="hps">in the EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN</span>Sea ranging <span class="hps">from ISRAEL, CYPRUS to the offshore of SYRIA and LEBANON.</span>We also <span class="hps">understand the importance</span> <span class="hps">of the RUSSIAN</span> <span class="hps">natural gas pipeline</span> <span class="hps">to EUROPE.</span><span class="hps">(...) We</span> <span class="hps">could collaborate in this area.</span><span class="hps">"</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="hps"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Background Information:</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/russia-and-saudi-arabia.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/russia-and-saudi-arabia.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/10/israel-azerbaijan-and-kazakhstan_6.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/10/israel-azerbaijan-and-kazakhstan_6.html</a></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><span style="color: #cc0000;">OPEC MEMBERSHIP: INCENTIVE FOR RUSSIA?</span></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Bandar</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> emphasized that the offer comes not only from his country but is also seconded by the USA<span class="hps">.</span> <span class="hps">SAUDI</span> <span class="hps">ARABIA</span> went even as far as apparently offering RUSSIA an<span class="hps"> alliance with</span><span class="hps">the Organization of Petroleum</span> <span class="hps">Exporting Countries (</span>OPEC). <span class="hps">RUSSIA</span> <span class="hps">and OPEC</span>provide <span class="hps">45 percent of the</span> <span class="hps">world's oil</span>.<br /><span class="hps">Putin for some time now has perused such an agreement.</span> <span class="hps">If</span> <span class="hps">SAUDI</span> <span class="hps">ARABIA</span> <span class="hps">reduced its</span> oil production,<span class="hps"> oil price</span> <span class="hps">would</span> <span class="hps">rise and the</span> <span class="hps">RUSSIA'S</span><span class="hps">government</span> <span class="hps">could</span> <span class="hps">generate additional</span> <span class="hps">revenue.</span> <span class="hps">Putin</span>, however, <span class="hps">declined the offer</span> <span class="hps">of the SAUDIS, allegedly stating that:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">"Our stance on Assad will never change. We believe that the SYRIAN government is the best representative of the SYRIAN people and not these cannibals."Putin allegedly responded, referring to a video that shows a rebel who is said to have eaten the heart and liver of SYRIAN soldiers.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Putin is gambling, because he is confident that the West will not be able to win a war in SYRIA. The FT wrote: The more the AMERICANS get caught up in SYRIA, the better for RUSSIA.<br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">But the SAUDIS have a strong argument on their side: they plan together with QATAR a pipeline, which will run from the GULF to TURKEY. Thus Gazprom would face a strong competitor - especially in the important EUROPEAN market.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Pipeline project between IRAN, SYRIA and IRAQ, the trigger for US – French intervention? <a href="http://pipelinesinternational.com/news/iran_iraq_and_syria_sign_on_for_pipeline_to_europe/062853/">http://pipelinesinternational.com/news/iran_iraq_and_syria_sign_on_for_pipeline_to_europe/062853/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-highlight: yellow;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkHgjIDcUFjk_WQiA6RJufHvhr_pDvtwKKvgy56PnWAP9nyYWYFecwPBWith_A2cIPdt9gusAdyhMZmohes3UnKcrZXSKhxrsnqK_2ssrTLMGRJoCYeijw_nyI_wCJXj6P32rdA-LtDel/s1600/casp11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkHgjIDcUFjk_WQiA6RJufHvhr_pDvtwKKvgy56PnWAP9nyYWYFecwPBWith_A2cIPdt9gusAdyhMZmohes3UnKcrZXSKhxrsnqK_2ssrTLMGRJoCYeijw_nyI_wCJXj6P32rdA-LtDel/s400/casp11.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span style="background: yellow; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-highlight: yellow;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">QATAR, which</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">has supported</span> <span class="hps">SYRIAN</span> <span class="hps">Rebels</span> <span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">$ 3 billion</span><span class="hps">want</span> <span class="hps">to supply</span> <span class="hps">EUROPE</span><span class="hps">with</span> <span class="hps">natural gas</span> <span class="hps">through the pipeline</span>. <span class="hps">But as long as</span> <span class="hps">there is</span> <span class="hps">Assad</span> <span class="hps">in SYRIA</span>, <span class="hps">this pipeline</span> <span class="hps">will not be</span> <span class="hps">built because</span> <span class="hps">RUSSIA wants to</span> <span class="hps">prevent</span> <span class="hps">this competitive challenge by all means.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="hps"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Background Information:</span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/qatar-and-muslim-brotherhood.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/qatar-and-muslim-brotherhood.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/crisis-qatars-transition.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/07/crisis-qatars-transition.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in; text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/04/qatars-great-power-games.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/04/qatars-great-power-games.html</a></span></span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">In addition of controlling the</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">EUROPEAN energy market</span>, there is also a new currency war emerging in order to eliminate the petro dollar and find an alternative currency to trade<span class="hps"> petroleum</span> <span class="hps">and natural gas with.</span> <span class="hps">The dollar, it is argued by some,</span> <span class="hps">is</span> <span class="hps">coming under increasing pressure</span> <span class="hps">to lose</span> <span class="hps">its status</span> <span class="hps">as the world reserve</span> and <span class="hps">oil</span><span class="hps">currency.</span> <span class="hps">SAUDI</span> <span class="hps">ARABIA</span><span class="hps">a loyal</span> <span class="hps">ally of the U.S.</span> <span class="hps">will</span> <span class="hps">hold onto the dollar as a trading currency</span>. <span class="hps">In the case</span> <span class="hps">of</span> <span class="hps">RUSSIA and to some extend CHINA, </span>however, <span class="hps">this is</span> <span class="hps">not such a clear cut case.</span><br /><span class="hps">Since</span> <span class="hps">the meeting failure between</span><span class="hps">Putin and</span> <span class="hps">Bandar,</span> US and FRENCH<span class="hps"> pressure</span> <span class="hps">has increased steadily</span> towards a<span class="hps"> military strike</span> <span class="hps">against SYRIA.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">After the</span></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"> <span class="hps">BRITISH</span> <span class="hps">rejected to participate in a military action the USA indicated it would, if need be, strike</span> <span class="hps">alone. The FRENCH however suddenly showed eager support for a military strike in SYRIA. Why the sudden enthusiasm of France to become involved in military action against a Syria? Could it be colonial ambitions – dreams, or simply a diversion from Frances precarious economic situation and the fear that oil prices are controlled by one cartel? On its own France would not be able to finance its participation in a military strike which leaves only one option, the French and the USA must brokered a lucrative eco – financial deal that could levitate France out of its current economic doldrums and secure the not so popular President Hollande another term in office.</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-element: para-border-div; padding: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt;"> <div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="hps"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;">Background Information: </span></b></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/france-eager-to-engage-in-syra-why.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2013/08/france-eager-to-engage-in-syra-why.html</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 1.0pt 4.0pt 1.0pt 4.0pt; padding: 0in;"><span class="hps"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN;"><a href="http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/12/frances-colonial-ambitions-in-syria.html">http://geopoliticsrst.blogspot.co.at/2012/12/frances-colonial-ambitions-in-syria.html</a></span></span></div></div>

SYRIA IS THE PAWN IN A TOUGH ECONOMIC CONFLICT IN THE GLOBAL ENERGY MARKET.

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