Buckley Throws In the Towel

RE: [spiers] Buckley Throws In the Towel

The worst part of the whole equation is that games are being played.
Venezuela sells to Castro (or pays a commission?) for oil that comes to
the US subsidizing the Cuban Government and taking the place of your
friend.


Martin Mendiola
305-445-2525
Martin@Mendiola.US


> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject: Re: [spiers] Buckley Throws In the Towel
> From: "John Spiers"
> Date: Tue, February 28, 2006 5:41 pm
> To: spiers@yahoogroups.com
>
> Say the world price of a given grade of oil is $60 a barrel, then that is what
USA pays.
> Everyone else pays less, depending on who they are. I learned this from a lad
who was
> getting rich redirecting fuel from one place to another and arbitraging the
difference. Marc
> Rich became a billionaire in essence doing this.
>
> Recently Russia jacked up the prices of natural gas on the Ukraine, from the
preferential low
> rates to much higher rates. It's not just oil, it's everything.
>
> http://www.energybulletin.net/10226.html
>
> It's all politics.
>
> Follow the money. One way to launder money is to pay too much, and have your
"supplier"
> divert the overage elsewhere. Since your costs of goods are lower, your
profits are down and
> you pay less in taxes. Some serious moral hazard in this set-up.
>
> Or maybe we are just buying friends. Who knows?
>
> We export Alaskan north slope oil to japan and korea. (Recall we have vast
oil up there?)
> How come? My guess is we cut a deal... we sell them USA oil and they have a
more secure
> supply, and more secure supply route than from the middle east. In return
they act as air
> craft carriers for USA.
>
> My introduction to variable pricing was in China in the 70's. The communists
crowded us all
> together, traders from all over the world. We'd ask for prices, and the
Chinese would quote
> one price to the Americans, one to the Germans, one to the Pakistanis, one to
the Ghanains. I
> saw these prices, and asked how come USA has the highest prices? "Because USA
has the
> most money."
>
> Oh.
>
> Later I saw an American get a 3% discount. I went to my Hong Kong agent and
asked how
> come my competitor was gettng a 3% discount,... I wanted to get a 3% discount
too. He said
> "ask for a 3% discount." I asked for a 3% discount, and the Chinese said
"ok".
>
> You gotta be a Bill Clinton to understand all this stuff, to see it and be
able to follow it. I
> think you have to be a Dick Cheney to actually do this kind of work. It's all
way outside of my
> league.
>
> Did you see Steve Jobs has moved Apple into the Hi-Fi market?
http://www.apple.com/
>
> John
>
>
>
>
>
> On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 11:59:29 -0800 (PST), sourcesf wrote
:
>
> > Hi John,
> >
> > Near the bottom of the email where you said that the US pays the
> > hightest price in the world for oil (and everything else). How are you
> > figuring this? Let me take a quick crack at it- It's not only the
> > price tag that matters, but also other expenditures need to be worked
> > into the costs like:
> >
> > - cost of military/foreign policy abroad (e.g.- the Iraq example to
> > ensure oil resources?)
> > - costs of subsidies that we ultimately pay for in taxes
> >
> > Actually, i'll stop right there. Maybe i can sum it up saying that
> > maybe you're counting the extra taxes and interest we're all paying to
> > subsidize gov't expenditures that are supposed to help. (Who these are
> > helping might be a different question altogther. ;))
> >
> > Could you elaborate or correct my mistakes?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > excerpt:
> > "The bottom line will be economics, and since the USA pays the highest
> > price in the world for oil (and everything else) the Moslems will
> > wonder how come they have to sell to China cheap when USA will pay
> > more."
> >
> >
> >
> > --- John Spiers wrote:
> >
> > > Folks,
> > >
> > > Bill Buckley concedes USA defeat in Iraq (his words):
> > >
> > > http://tinyurl.com/pt4oe
> > >
> > > But he does not concede he was wrong. Nonetheless, since the top
> > > conservative thinker has
> > > spoken, all the underling thinkers will scramble to say they were
> > > always against the war,
> > > assign blame, etc.
> > >
> > > When USA lost the war in Vietnam, US prestige dropped, trade patterns
> > > changed, Soviet
> > > Union's prestige heightened.
> > >
> > > Emboldened, Soviets invaded Afghanistan, China invaded Vietnam,
> > > Vietnam invaded
> > > Cambodia, all self-inflicted disasters and a waste of newly-won
> > > prestige on the part of the
> > > winners.
> > >
> > > On the other hand, Americans retreated into disco... Pres. Carter
> > > lead the way to massive new
> > > freedoms for US citizens (deregulation in transportation, common
> > > carriers,
> > > telecommunications, beer making and other fields). Our puppets fell
> > > like dominoes... the
> > > Shah in Iran, Duvalier in Haiti, Torrijos in Panama, Somoza in
> > > Nicaragua, Marcos in the
> > > Philippines... and many others, a rather nasty lot. Not that
> > > elements in the US government
> > > did not getting busy coming up with new puppets; Saddam Hussein,
> > > Osama bin Laden, and
> > > other bad boys were created, trained and supported by USA. The
> > > Hamiltonians were down, but not out.
> > >
> > > In Iraq, all of the anger in the Moslem world was focussed on USA.
> > > About a fifth of China's
> > > territory is populated by Moslems. China shares a common border with
> > > Afghanistan. China
> > > wants oil. That USA would invade Iraq was a dream come true for the
> > > Chinese... Moslem
> > > unrest in China would be directed against USA, Moslem friendship
> > > would direct oil towards
> > > China. Peace and prosperity for China, USA bogged down in an
> > > unwinnable war, USA
> > > transferring technology to China, China paying for it with US dollars
> > > gained by selling us
> > > video game players. And our government gets busy searching our
> > > luggage. For China, USA
> > > policy could not be better.
> > >
> > > I believe one reason USA has not been attacked again since 9-11 is
> > > simply because the
> > > Chinese are workng very hard to prevent it. Although bringing down
> > > our financial
> > > infrastructure by destroying the internet, or a repeat of 9-11, or
> > > WMD smuggled into our
> > > ports are all very easy options, none has happened. Another attack
> > > on USA would cost China
> > > far more than USA. Whatever China can do worldwide to prevent an
> > > attack on USA, I imagine
> > > China is doing.
> > >
> > > In the meantime, China is making friends wherever it can, especially
> > > any place with oil...
> > >
> > > http://tinyurl.com/nlml9
> > >
> > > And since the Chinese were against the US invasion of Iraq, their
> > > prestige is heightening.
> > >
> > > The best possible scenario is when we high-tail it out of Iraq, the
> > > Chinese make the mistake
> > > of moving in. The bottom line will be economics, and since the USA
> > > pays the highest price in
> > > the world for oil (and everything else) the Moslems will wonder how
> > > come they have to sell to
> > > China cheap when USA will pay more. Could cause some consternation.
> > >
> > > And where we have withdrawn things improve, as in the Balkans, where
> > > what was recently a
> > > hotbed of inter-religious terrorist violence is now a hotbed of
> > > interreligious, well... hotbeds.
> > >
> > > http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4746082.stm (Doesn't she look like
> > > Jodie Foster?)
> > >
> > > So, anyone know a good disco ball designer?
> > >
> > > John

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