Just in case you hadn't heard about it yet. Fill up yer tanks. My plumber and home maintenance guru, Mr. Wiliams, is meeting with the geothermal heat pump guy at 11 and will be back to me today with some numbers. I called him this morning and told him what Saddam had done and said it's a bit of a rush now, as opposed to having some time before the heat of summer kicks in and AC bills soar. Hope I don't have to rely on those battery-operated fans if this turnoff spreads among other OPEC members.

I had heard that Saudi needs money (due to those 5,000 royal princes or how ever many they have--it's a bunch) so they may not shut down. But if Saddam has made any quiet threats, well, who knows? Whatever happens, gas prices are bound to soar in the short term because it's going to be a while before other countries (Russia?) can kick in with more. We all know what that means--higher food prices in the short run, for instance.

I highly recommend that malabar spinach, by the way. Tastes like spinach, grows like a vine, laughs at the heat of summer, easy to grow, mine didn't have pest or disease probs. Good salad or cooked green. (And I don't like greens very much.) Believe I got my seed from Parkseeds.com (hope that's the right dot.com). Can self-sow too. Just random thoughts, let's have more from you lot.

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

Answers

Saddam shut it off for a month not too long ago, winter before last, I believe. It wasn't noticed much, IIRC. One of his problems will be that, with Iran's acquiescence, Saddam has been smuggling quite a bit of oil out of Iraq, well above whatever he was allowed to do. So I'm wondering what it means to shut "it" off for a month.

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

You don't think it might have a bit more effect this time, with the ME being particularly volatile and the markets edgy?

Saddam announces cut in oil exports to support Palestinians

Monday, April 8, 2002

(04-08) 03:45 PDT BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) --

Saddam Hussein announced Monday that Iraq would cut oil exports for 30 days, or until Israel withdraws from Palestinian territories.

In a nationally televised speech, Saddam said all exports would be cut starting Monday. The oil minister said the move took effect as Saddam spoke.

Saddam said Iraq's top leaders met earlier Monday and decided "in the name of the people of Iraq ... to stop exporting oil totally as of this afternoon through the pipelines flowing to the Turkish ports and the south for 30 days" unless Israel withdrew earlier.

He said that if Israel had not withdrawn within the 30 days, Iraq would consider what action to take.

Iraq had called on Arabs last week to cut oil supplies as a way of pressuring the United States to force Israel to end its military incursions into Palestinian territory.

A boycott would be ineffective without Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, who have rejected Iraq's call to use oil as a weapon. Many Gulf states depend on oil revenues for more than two-thirds of government income and cannot afford to stop sales.

The last time oil-producing Arab nations used oil as a political weapon was in 1973, when reduced exports caused a global energy crisis. Since then, the world's wealthiest nations have created the International Energy Agency to provide a cushion against any similar disruption.

Based in Paris, the IEA can tap into 4 billion barrels of strategic oil reserves maintained by its member countries. That's equal to more than five years of Iraqi production, based on the IEA's estimate of Iraq's output in January.

In November 2000, Saudi Arabia led the adoption of a pledge by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major exporters that oil would not be used as a political weapon.

Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Friday that Islamic countries should stop supplying oil for one month to countries with close relations with Israel.

Libya announced Monday that it supported the call, in a report on its state news agency, JANA.

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

My fear is that the oil companies will use this as an excuse to raise prices, which have gone from $1.29 to $1.47 for regular in the just the last two weeks.

Fortunately, I now have two working bicycles (touring and mountain) and the weather is warm enough to ride into work. My summer plans include a number of home projects, rather than travel, so I'll store my car if prices get too obnoxious.

I would still like to visit NC this summer, OG, but not if the gas prices keep rising.

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

Think about AC, too, Meems! You don't want to be here if there are any brownouts or whatever! With luck, this mess will be well under control by then.

By the way, just saw that oil prices have jumped to $27/barrel, not a great surprise, and the Dow has dropped 126 points. But then, the Dow could drop that much if Greenspan sneezed.

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

Sorry, no link to this anywhere that I know of. Got it in email. Take it for what it's worth.

Subject: Israel

Benjamin Netanyahu gave an interview and was asked about Israel's occupation of Arab lands -- his response was "It's our land."

The reporter (I think it was CNN or the like) was stunned -- read below "it's our land..."

The following material was written by an American Christian professor.

It's important information to know since we don't get fair and accurate reporting from the media and facts tend to get lost in the jumble of daily events.

Crash Course on the Arab Israeli Conflict

Here are overlooked facts in the current Middle East situation. These were compiled by a Christian university professor. HERE'S THE BRIEF FACTS ON THE ISRAELI CONFLICT TODAY....Takes just 1.5 minutes to read!!!! It makes sense and it's not slanted. Jew and non-Jew -- it doesn't matter. Thank You.

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem. Israel became a nation in 1312 B.C.E., two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

2. Arab refugees in Israel began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1967, two decades after the establishment of the modern State of Israel.

3. Since the Jewish conquest in 1272 B.C.E., the Jews have had dominion over the land for one thousand years with a continuous presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

4. The only Arab dominion since the conquest in 635 C.E. lasted no more than 22 years.

5. For over 3,300 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital, and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

7. King David founded the city of Jerusalem. Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

8. Jews pray facing Jerusalem. Muslims pray with their backs toward Jerusalem.

9. Arab and Jewish Refugees: In 1948 the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews. Sixty-eight percent left without ever seeing an Israeli soldier.

10. The Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab lands due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

11. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is estimated to be around 630,000. The number of Jewish refugees from Arab lands is estimated to be the same.

12. Arab refugees were INTENTIONALLY not absorbed or integrated into the Arab lands to which they fled, despite the vast Arab territory. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, theirs is the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel, a country no larger than the state of New Jersey.

13. The Arab - Israeli Conflict: The Arabs are represented by eight separate nations, not including the Palestinians. There is only one Jewish nation. The Arab nations initiated all five wars and lost. Israel defended itself each time and won.

14. The P.L.O.'s Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel. Israel has given the Palestinians most of the West Bank land, autonomy under the Palestinian Authority, and has supplied them.

15. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated and the Jews were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

16. The U.N. Record on Israel and the Arabs: of the 175 Security Council resolutions passed before 1990, 97 were directed against Israel.

17. Of the 690 General Assembly resolutions voted on before 1990, 429 were directed against Israel.

18. The U.N was silent while 58 Jerusalem Synagogues were destroyed by the Jordanians.

19. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians systematically desecrated the ancient Jewish cemetery on the Mount of Olives.

20. The U.N. was silent while the Jordanians enforced an apartheid-like policy of preventing Jews from visiting the Temple Mount and the Western Wall.

These are incredible times. We have to ask what our role should be. What will we tell our grandchildren we did when there was a turning point in Jewish destiny, an opportunity to make a difference?

START NOW!! Send this to 20 other people you know and ask them to send it to twenty others, Jew and non-Jew--it doesn't really matter.

[As I mentioned, this arrived in email, with no link to anything on the web. thought y'all might find it interesting, and maybe worth finding links to support or discredit the information.]

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002

I've had the misfortune to watch several Palestinian apologists as I surf and they're getting shriller and shriller. They also9 never answer a question! Instead, they go on and on about "illegal occupation." No matter how many times they're asked a direct question, like "How come you don't condemn suicide bombers?" or "Why did Arafat turn down 95% of what he wanted?" they NEVER give an answer. Slimy buggers.

-- Anonymous, April 08, 2002