As Americans, our ancestors built a global empire, as did the British. Most of us inherited the empire and largely take it for granted. But what does this actually mean? What did it take to build the empire? What are the advantages and disadvantages of living in an empire state? Also, how do other countries, particularly third world countries, view our empire? What are the main goals and needs of an empire?

Shana, good to see you are still a advocate of the truth,
not a easy job at all.
My five cents.

Lets use the Eskimo's as a example, they have tons of oil
that American Corporation covete but dont want to pay for.

Fox News runs a program on how the Eskimo's are the number one
Marijuana growers in the world due to Global Warming. They state
that the Arctic has become a massive jungle of Marijuana. The American public believe the fabricated story.

The USA airforce starts spraying the Eskimo's with Agent Orange even though they dont have anything green growing for thousands of miles. Eskimo's start dying real slow and painful deaths, the women start giving birth to Kangaroos and they have no idea how to survive in a deep freezer.

Bingo, American Coporations strike it big and make billions
of dollars and dont have to bother building a school or church
for the Eskimo's because they are all dead, they claim they
were all eaten by killer whales and possibly by freezing kangaroos.

This is how Americans do business and built a Empire.

Cause and Effect are the chancellors of god.

1945 America
Finance sector - TINY
Inovation - HUGE
Manufacturing - HUGE

2011 America
Finance Sector - HUGE, full of thieves.
Inovation - SO SO, OVERSHADOWED BY THE WALL STREET CROOKS.
Manufacturing - HUMPTY DUMPTY DONUTS.

= dead, dying America.

O for goodness sakes...get a room...LOL

We tried to arrange this but Perky and Barb got wind of it and threatened to tell our spouses, they are doing gods work.

Shana, you had a concern that Pakistan was next on the USA
hit list but I think not. Looks like the Eskimo's are safe
for a few months unless America decides to attack everybody.

US Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich has called for a military strike against Iran's refineries to stop the country's peaceful nuclear program.


The US should bomb Iran's refineries "as a last recourse," Gingrich said earlier in a 2012 presidential debate in Washington.

The former House speaker opined that the US could break Iran within a year with "cutting off the gasoline supply to Iran and then, frankly, sabotaging the only refinery they have."

His hawkish comments came as Washington and its allies are putting pressure on Tehran over its nuclear program, imposing unilateral sanctions on the country following the November 8 report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

In an earlier presidential debate earlier this month, Gingrich advocated increased covert terrorism against Iran.

He suggested employing “maximum covert operations to block and disrupt the Iranian program including taking out their scientists, including breaking up their systems. All of it covertly, all of it deniable.”

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has a message for his successor
.
“Any future defense secretary who advises the president to again send a big American land army into Asia or into the Middle East or Africa should 'have his head examined,' as General [Douglas] MacArthur so delicately put it.”

It's amusing when an entity such as the IAEA or the US issues a statement about Iran's nuclear program, it's always worded with "suspected" or "may have" or "might be developing" a nuclear weapons plan. In reality, there is no evidence of that, per all of the inspections. It certainly is possible, but we simply have no evidence. Suspicion alone is not grounds for legal sanctions, or military action.

It's also very hypocritical for the US to constantly claim that we are "a nation of laws," when we don't extend the same legal protections to other nations. As I've said before, it's all about maintaining and expanding the global empire, regardless of international law and state sovereignty.

Iran is a special case, they are Persian people not Arabs.
They have friends in high places such as China and Russia.
China sells America tons of stuff but buys very little from
you (trade imbalance on a grand scale). The Chinese buy a lot
of stuff from Iran and has a superb relationship with them as
does the Russians.

So, when you start meddling with Iran you are going to make China and Russia very angry. How they react will be interesting
My mechanic claims that America will not touch Iran due to their special relationship with these major powers, time will tell.

Shana, America makes it's own rules and ignores all the agencys
you mention.Kinda like the biggest kid in the playing field who can do what he wants until Russia and China step in as a team and then things will change in a heart beat.

The USA's "economy" is just an empty baloon which is going to explode as the world leaves the dollar as the reserve currency and all those trillions of dollars that the USA printed without any correspondence with their real (non existent) economy come back to them

Keep in mind China has tons and tons of cash and their is a saying "he who has the gold makes the rules" this will be interesting.

War with Iran To Save The Economy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03yJSiy7sxA&feature=fvst

I will say this much. We (Americans) need to thank our lucky stars that OPEC still trades oil via U.S. currency. Due to that sole fact, there is a global desire for the U.S. Dollar (USD) to remain as strong as possible. The weaker the USD, the more oil costs on a global market. That effects everyone including recently oil thirsty countries like China and India.

I remember reading a few years ago that Iranian President Ahmadinejad wanted to weaken the United States by purposing to OPEC to abandon trading oil via the USD and use the Euro instead. If that had actually happened I wonder if the USD/Euro position would have switched, making our economy more resembling the current European market which is far more unstable?

I guess we will never actually know that answer to that, yet at the same time our "trump card" is keeping us from spiraling completely out of control economically IMHO.

the ONLY way to save the economy, in the short-term, is to steal some natural resources...typically from the middle east. natural resources have instrinsic value, paper money does not. our paper currency (fiat money) has no instrinsic value at all, since abandoning the gold standard in 1971. Fiat money is simply an expectation of future value.

Brad is right about the Petro $, Saddam wanted to or was selling his oil for Euro's which resulted in the Iraq people getting
17% more money for their oil. This was the tipping point for
George W decision to attack them.

Shana,
Stealing resources from poor countries has been an American tradition for a long time, 80% of South America has thrown you
out, the Arabs are now waking up too which doesn't bode well for you. I'm not sure how many jobs this creates for average Americans, I'm sure it helps the rich.

I read a long article by a clever man who basically said if a country gives up it's manufacturing jobs it's basically commiting suicide. Your polititians have assisted coporations
in sending way to many jobs to other countries.

I think America needs manufacturing jobs and this will slowly start to happen when oil prices rise and it's way too expensive to ship goods from Asia. This will happen but it's still early
days. I learnt this from a book called $200 barrel oil written
by a Canadian Economist.

The only guy who makes sense to me in America is Ron Paul, he has tons of practical ideas. The real sad part of America is the
government is not watching out for the people, just the banks
and wealthy corporations. This has got to change for there to
be any HOPE. If Ron Paul gets anywere near a place of power
they will kill him for sure and blame the Eskimo's.



http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2011/11/2011112995048821377.html#disqus_thread

This is all a predictable story. Americas famed "grassroots improvisatory tradition" is but a lost heirloom and has been gradually eroded by entrenched and backwards impositions. So many of their decisions regarding internal and foreign policy make absolutely no sense, especially when compared to the precedence set by other nations around the world for how issues like equitable healthcare, high-quality education and industrial stewardship should be best approached. This is precisely why America is rightfully receiving so much resistance when trying to proselytize the rest of us.

Maybe it's simply a case of too much conceited arrogance, as the now unfounded belief of American exceptionalism continues to mislead and blind a political system that can't seem to get much of anything right. Time to swallow the pride and learn from the trials and tribulations of other nations. Probably not going to happen until it's much too late, when an entire military arsenal has been spent trying to impose and defend the indefensible

"I read a long article by a clever man who basically said if a country gives up it's manufacturing jobs it's basically commiting suicide. Your polititians have assisted coporations
in sending way to many jobs to other countries. "


Exactly. It is shocking how many US manufacturing facilities (of all sizes) have been relocated overseas, in the past five to ten years. I believe the number is in the tens of thousands.

domestic manufacturing and exports is basic mercantilism, it is extremely effective and it creates new wealth. It built the incredible US/global economy over the last century.

unfortunately, in recent decades, mercantilism has been largely abandoned by US business, in favor of foreign production in order to exploit lower production costs. the result has been huge/abnormal profits for US corporations, up until recently. this short-term profit paradigm, coupled with the raping of US workers, has set the US on a path to economic failure. Initially, outsourcing US production to foreign countries looks attractive, but it is suicide in the long run. those foreign companies, given access to our manufacturing methods and technology, will invariably copy them, and produce their own comparable products to compete with the US companies.

what is especially disturbing is that the Republicans, largely responsible for this outsourcing trend, have continued to deny that outsourcing our production is bad. they claim the only real problem is "consumer confidence."

The worlds best selling Auto.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5WZBiTRD-A&feature=related

The first car seen by 60% of the developing world's population is the Land Rover.

Worldwide, #1 animal slaughtered for meat is the goat.

1 of every 6 earthlings is Chinese.

All the major religions are failing because they were based on fear and hate, not love.

"All the major religions are failing because they were based on fear and hate, not love."


also, science has debunked the ancient religious dogma. that superstition worked on ignorant people. It doesn't work on educated people in the 21st century, when the facts contradict the ridiculous dogma. for example, the christian bible states that "god" (Yahweh) literally sits on his throne up in the sky on the firmament dome. well, since we invented airplanes and spacecraft, that has been completely debunked. no dome, no throne. maybe the biblical god was an alien hovering above the Earth in his spacecraft? LOL

It's amusing that the moderator completely deleted the "misery index" thread, no doubt after someone ran to the mod and cried like a baby. when the discussion turned to religion, it must have really hit a nerve with certain fundamentalist readers who are ruled by their emotions, rather than knowledge and logical thinking.

Clever observation, in my part of the city two churches have been converted into condo's even though they pay no property
taxes. This trend seems to be blossoming throughout the city.
We have had some serious incidents of priests having sex with
young alter boys and this has not helped the church at all.
Many of them are now in jail or the church has had to pay
out tons of money to avoid legal action.

The funny part is we have Muslim Mosque's springing up in all kinds of
places, some of these places are bigger than a shopping mall.
I have no idea what goes on inside these places.

Maybe America is more like Afganistan or Pakistan than I realized, if you say bad things about god they have a punishment book called Sharia Law. Depending on the severity
of the offense they can shut down your internet chat column
or start chopping of pieces of your body. Looks like America
has more in common with Afganistan under the Taliban than any of us realized.

Debating Scripture can be tricky. The reason being is there are different interpretations of the same text. Since the Hebrew Scriptures (what many would call the Old Testament) were translated from Hebrew and some Aramaic to different languages, interpretations can vary. Those variations can have a profound different meaning.

Shana's mention of a "dome" is not mentioned in the English version of Scripture text that many who practice Judaism read. The firmament is just a general description of what would be termed as "Heaven". That Heaven is the place were G-d is said to dwell and not to be confused with the Christian belief of where souls may go upon death.

http://www.breslov.com/bible/Genesis1.htm#1
(See versus 6-8)

As far as G-d, dogma, what we know, etc., I whole heartily agree that science has indeed debunked many prior teachings. I am a firm believer in G-d in a Judaic sense, but feel that mankind has the intelligence to go beyond the thinking of what was accepted just a few short centuries ago. It's OK to question, something many other faiths frown on.

One of the greatest flaws of man I feel is this desire to feel like we know everything with ultimate certainity, most notably what happens to us when we die? I feel it is foolish to speculate on such matters we just don't (and can't) have the answers to. Concentrate on the now and make the world a little better place, and let everything else just take care of itself IMHO.

A final thought is a great lyric to a song. The Primitive Radio Gods put out a popular song about 20 years ago called "Standing Outside a Broken Phone Booth With Money in my Hand". A great lyric within that song is, “We sit outside and argue all night long about a god we’ve never seen, but never fails to side with me.”

Awesome lyric, as belief in G-d is called "faith" not fact.

I dont trust or respect any religion because it was all written
by men. ( dreamt up for their advantage). The women I have spent time with have taught me a huge amount and I have a deep respect for them. The religious books don't factor this in.

Shana is right when it comes to education, Muslim countries are by and large uneducated and very poor. The same as the Irish culture was 150 years ago.

As people become educated religion takes a back seat in their daily lives, thank god.

"firmament" means solid. so, the ancient peoples thought that god literally sat on his throne on a solid dome in the sky, just out of sight. the OT also says that when it rains, god opens the flood gates to let the rain fall through the dome. It makes much more sense with a literal/physical interpretation. the dome was to separate the waters in the sky from the waters on the Earth. with modern meteorology and astronomy, we know this is far from accurate.

differing interpretations muddy the waters even more (no pun intended). If god is writing, or inspiring writings by humans, shouldn't the message be crystal clear? or does god have a motive to obfuscate his message and intentions? If this is the case, how can one believe any message at all?

The firmament is the vault or expanse of the sky.[1] According to Genesis, God created the firmament to separate the oceans from other waters above.

well, god's throne would need wheels and a rocket on the back to propel it around the top of the curved dome. then, god would apparently decide when the Earth needed rainwater, and open the floodgates in the dome to let the rain fall onto the Earth. can you picture that? LOL


"According to Genesis, God created the firmament to separate the oceans from other waters above."

this sounds like the perspective of an ignorant person trying to understand the mystery of rainwater falling from the sky. we know the earth's atmosphere has many other important functions, apart from enabling rain, and separating the magic sky water from the oceans. but I guess God didn't know that. all in all, the professors in my science courses did a much better job of explaining the hydrologic cycle.

The Bible is often treated like a buffet. Many taste only what looks good to them. While that is a good start, the best Christian experience is from a complete sampling of even the selections not favored.

I suspect other religions have similar issues. Even enviromentalism has it's devout participants and a host of other interested parties who participate at their own pace.

All are welcomed though.

"All religions are true, if you can get to what the truth is." -Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth

okay, so what are some of the obvious advantages of an empire?

Uh, well, Tom Petty said it like this:

It's good to be king, if just for a while
To be there in velvet, yeah, to give 'em a smile
It's good to get high and never come down
It's good to be king of your own little town
Yeah, the world would swing if I were king
Can I help it if I still dream time to time
It's good to be king and have your own way
Get a feeling of peace at the end of the day
And when your bulldog barks and your canary sings
You're out there with winners, it's good to be king
Yeah I'll be king when dogs get wings
Can I help it if I still dream time to time
It's good to be king and have your own world
It helps to make friends, it's good to meet girls
A sweet little queen who can't run away
It's good to be king, whatever it pays
Excuse me if I have some place in my mind
Where I go time to time.



Sounds pretty advantageous to me!

The largest theft of public money in history.



"Obama's victory and Geithner's appointment are the completion of Goldman's meticulously crafted plan to become a superpower. The firm now has the clout to impose its will on the financial markets, and the world."



http://ozyism.blogspot.com/2011/11/us-federal-government-controlled-by.html

I don't see how a religious entity can become a condominium but not pay taxes. It seems like the govt. would pick up on this discrepancy...

Many of the inner city churches have lost their congregations
and have sold the church building to developers. The new
owners have to pay taxes as they are not a religious entity.

:
$700,000.00
** Riverdale Church Loft ** One-Of-A-Kind In The City! 1800 Sf Church Loft On Quiet Res Street! Bright Sw Corner Wrapped W/Windows & W/O To Large Patio W/Gas Bbq Line. Custom S/S Kitchen W/Jenn-Air Gas Range & Wine Fridge. Upgrades Include Brick Gas Fp, Frameless Glass Shower & Sunken Whirlpool Tub. Unique Design Features Separation Of Space, 2 Entrances (Bldg & Exterior-Ideal For Dogs), High Ceilings & Orig Brick Walls. Walk To Park & The Danforth In Mins.


$500,000.00
A Magnificant Loft In Former Century Church At Pape & Danforth. Approx. 1272 Sq.Ft. Two Level Architectural Gem With Exceptional Upgrades With Designer Colours. Sun-Filled West Exposure (Not On Pape). Subway And The Lures Of Danforth Restaurants/Cafes/Gyms At Your Fingertips.

military strength
economic strength and access to natural resources
higher standard of living, comfort, convenience
more diversity
etc.

My wife and I support Operation Homefront and were recently invited to Fort Leonard Wood Missouri for a VIP escorted tour of the base and spent the entire day mingling with our Troops. We had many, many, soldiers approach us and offer their sincere thanks and let us know just how much it means to them.
Blackhawks

Virtual Range

It was a very humbling experience for me when soldier after soldier offered their thanks to me and shook my hand..they are the true heroes.

no doubt, Operation Homefront is a very good cause. However, I'd like to see our government provide more assistance with these needs for its active duty and former service members. our government gives away and often wastes billions of tax dollars in foreign aid, yet neglects its own soldiers. that just doesn't make any sense.

Why are soldiers elevated to a higher regard in our society when teachers perform an equally important function in organizing, preserving and protecting our society, our health and well-being? and same goes for trash collectors, water-treatment facility operators, nurses, tax collectors...

It's not necessarily in higher regard. Every profession brings a different value to society. A soldiers value is to defend and protect the life of everyone, including teachers, trash collectors etc. and their survival under very difficult circumstances is celebrated.

It is a higher regard when a soldier gets free college, a pension and life-time free medical care and we get indignant if they don't get it. Teachers don't get those benefits, nor do doctors, for that matter. Teachers and doctors have done a lot more for me and my family than the Marines did by ousting Aristide in Haiti.

teachers and law enforcement can get their student loans forgiven. teachers also get plenty of time off. I constantly hear teachers whining about how they are underpaid and overworked. they are NOT overworked, once they get a few years in and get tenure. teaching is not a competitive environment, and that attracts people who don't want to deal with competitive pressures. If teachers aren't happy with their jobs, they certainly can find employment in other fields.

It is not free. First, in order to have enough recruits to fight wars, the military offers incentives to join. They told me free medical for life, which does not include dental (I guess they lied, because it was not in the contract). When I joined the military in 1965, I made $120 p/month.
Second, depending on the time a recruit enters service, they had to pay in a certain amount to receive the education benefit.i.e. (On August 3, 2011, President Obama signed the “Restoring GI Bill Fairness Act of 2011” into law. This legislation amends the Post-9/11 GI Bill, modifying the rules governing the way VA pays for private colleges or universities that have tuition & fee charges greater than the $17,500 per academic year).
Third, Tricare prime (medical insurance) is not free and imagine you get shot and have to pay for your own operation, how ridiculous is that.
Once you are over age 65, you get Tricare for life, there is talk of starting to charge $200 p/year, on top of that you have to pay monthly Medicare, which is more than Tricare.
For the many injured soldiers, risking their lives physically or mentally in combat, they get very little in return.

I guess I don't know if I'd argue that teachers perform a similar function as soldiers in protecting our society. Many soldiers have risked their lives overseas and deployments can last up to 18 months. It's tough to lay that beside a 9 month work-year and draw a comparison.

The only entity that benefits from these soldiers sacrifice
is the corporations. The American people have not had foreign
troops anywere near were they live and they were never ever
in any "Real Danger".

It's that time of the year when the American people have to send
their billions and billions of dollars to all their middle east buddy's. Pull out your check books and start signing all those checks, you have no choice due to powerful lobby groups in
Washington.

The only entity that benefits from these soldiers sacrifice
is the corporations. The American people have not had foreign
troops anywere near were they live and they were never ever
in any "Real Danger".


Hunter is correct. unfortunately, the US military has been used offensively for global military adventures, nation-building (illegal), etc. the so-called "protection" function has been largely protecting (or imposing) our economic and political needs around the world.

Don't forget that many many nations supported these excursions (aka global military adventures), including Canada and Nevada, HA!

Teachers, cops, firemen, they have a Union and the right to Collectivly Bargin; they have a contract? A soldier also has a contract, only difference they cant just walk off the job. They can ask to resign, but don't have the option to say "Im out". In recent years the Military has faced the possibilty of not being paid for their service because of congressional issues. They still gotta serve though, they cant throw their weopon dawn and say "I'm done".

Muskateer Man,

You have been watching too much TV and not reading enough.
After 911 when American buildings were falling down by themselves all Nato countries felt sorry for America and
wanted to help out. Canada offered help in Afganistan but
not Iraq as did many other countries. The good will that
was offered to America has been badly abused by the American
government who wanted these same counries to attack Iraq, many
refused to help out.The British people voted 70% against the
war with Iraq but America forced their hand, the British public
now hate America for forcing them into Iraq. Keep in mind the
British public have had over 100 years of experience in the
middle east while America is still a retarded tenager with
only 50 years of experience.

Looks like America is going to give the world a Chrismas present
of a major war with Iran. Thank you very much for what will effect all of our lives including gasoline doubling in price.

Why dont the American bullies attack somebody their own size, like Russia or China, that would make for a fair fight. Same deal in high school, everyone hated a bully.

Why was Tony Blair so impotent? He could of taken some Viagra and had the chutzpah to tell W to "stick it" but failed to do so. While I agree with you that the U.K. in Iraq was unpopular among it's own citizens is correct, to cast total blame on the U.S. I feel is a false accusation.

the Iraq invasion was all about removing Hussein (assassination), and securing more oil. It was planned by the neocons many years in advance. GW Bush, their boy, made it possible.

I guess it was a hard offer for Blair to turn down. US does most of the dirty work, Britain shares in the loot.

Who was pushing for the war with Iraq? Neacons, Haliburton,
Lockhead Martin and other large entities. These powerful entities use massive money to pay off all politicians.
Prostitutes and politicians have a lot in common in this day
and age.

The irony in all this is the Neacons wanted to attack a whole
bunch of middle east countries and bring them American style
democracy. The middle east countries surprsed the heck out
of them with the Arab Spring and forced the hand themselves, this is not what the
Neacons wanted or ever expected. The winner of the Iraq war
is Iran, the Shia populaton in Iraq has been empowered in a
major way. One of your Generals in Iraq made a special point
of thanking Iran for not unleashing its power against US troops
in Iraq, this general knew if Iran wanted there would have been
a roadside bomb every 15 minutes 24 hours a day and a ton of
Americans would have died. Iran showed a ton of self restraint.

When America strikes Iran, Iran will hit back at the states.
This will result in Marshall Law being imposed on the American
citizens and all their liberties will be suspended, maybe this is the long term plan for the American peasants by the ruling class. The land of the free will cease to exist in a heart beat.

One of the key ingredients of success for the westen world is
the freedom of the individual. This has been eroded and
is in the process of being eliminated by the War on Terror.
The end result will be Americans living in a police state.

China has copied the western model with great success. The
Freedom if the individual is the one element they have not
adopted. This is fine for now but when the middle class
reaches the 200 million mark then the citizens will demand democracy and then all hell will break loose in that country.

The marching orders from the American Monsters at the moment is
Canada is supposed to buy a whole bunch of American F35 jets that we cant afford. They also want us to start building Super
Jails that will be run by private companies like Haliburton.
America has 2.3 million people living in these places at great
expense to the American public. The American Corporations also
want us to privatize health care so that American companies can
provide health care to the Canadian people, then you guys
wonder why we hate you so much.

STAY THE HECK OUT OF OUR BUSINESS AND FIX YOUR OWN BROCKEN COUNTRY.

Why doesn't Canada have a contractor in Canada build your military the fighter jets instead of taking orders from the "American Monsters"?

I agree! The same thing holds true for CheezWhiz(R) . . . . I never understood why Canadians have to consume so much more of this product from Kraft than do Americans, even though they have only one 10th the population.

On a per capita basis, the average Canadian consumes 900% more CheezWhiz(R) than his American counterpart. I reckon it's high time that the Canadians developed their own CheezWhiz(R) production capacity, and quit relying on the US!

Canada reigns as the United States' leading oil supplier, exporting some 707,316,000 barrels of oil per year (1,938,000 barrels per day) — a whopping 99 percent of its annual oil exports, according to the EIA.

Canada holds the second largest oil reserves in the world after Saudi Arabia.

We have a surprise planned for you cats, we will Nationalize our
oil and sell it to the highest bidder, which will probably be China. So I strongly advise all Americans to all buy a very good
bicycle because you will need one just to get around.

When we buy military hardware we always evaluate European offerings at the same time that we consider American equipment.
American companies are trying to stop this for their own benefit.

Why doesnt America try and force something useful on our government, a high speed rail system would be of more use. The problem here is America is not a leader in this field.

It's the arrogant French Canadians bastards that pour cheese on all the food they eat not the rest of us. They call it POUTINE or something like
that. It helps them keep warm, sorta like jet fuel for a human.
Don't worry we hate these guys just like you do, you would do us all a favour and send a Nuke their way. We can call it a accident or friendly fire.

Rank country (bbl) Date of Information

1 Saudi Arabia 262,600,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

2 Venezuela 211,200,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

3 Canada 175,200,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

4 Iran 137,000,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

5 Iraq 115,000,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

6 Kuwait 104,000,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

7 United Arab Emirates 97,800,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

8 Russia 60,000,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

9 Libya 46,420,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

10 Nigeria 37,200,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

11 Kazakhstan 30,000,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

12 Qatar 25,380,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

13 United States 20,680,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

14 China 20,350,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

15 Brazil 12,860,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

16 Algeria 12,200,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

17 Mexico 10,420,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

18 Angola 9,500,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

19 Azerbaijan 7,000,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

20 Ecuador 6,510,000,000 1 January 2011 est.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2178rank.html

Musketeer Man,
I dont trust your source, the American government has been
full of lies lately you might want to learn to think for yourself. How many countries on that list are friendly to
America and live right next door to you, not many
I suspect and I'm referring to the PEOPLE of these countries
and not the governments. How much energy is required to drive
a fully laden tanker across a ocean? Dont worry when I get in
power no more Canadian oil for Americans.

http://exploredia.com/oil-reserves-by-country-2011/

We don't need your oil, we just eat more chicken...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/05/us-usa-biofuels-navy-idUSTRE7B423Z20111205

p.s. I don't know about your "Musketeer Man", but the picture/avatar is of Johnny Carson as the Great Carnac, whose shows I used to go see in LA.

Hmmm...I wonder why GW Bush was so hostile toward Chavez/Venezuela, and so darn concerned about bringing "democracy" to that country?? Do ya think GW and his cronies might have an ulterior motive?? LOLOL

CheezWhiz all the rage in Canada. simple product, simple marketing strategy. If I had traveled in Canada, I'd be a billionaire. LOL

I was a contractor in the Middle East from 1988 to Aug. 1990, when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait, doing mostly classified work in preparation of the war, and was responsible for 10 military sites along the Iran, Iraq border. Securing more oil was not on the priority list.

The US is starting to become a Net Exporter of petroleum products, because of the increase in alternative power, such as wind and solar, more efficient vehicles and the increase in demand by developing nations. We will see more of our own domestic oil from new extraction and drilling techniques, which we will export and sell as a refined product.

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/dec/5/tapping-our-energy-potential/

Finally the truth. Trillions of dollars later, thousands of
dead Americans, families with shattered lives and young men
with permanent damage.

If you REALLY wanted tons of free oil you could invade Canada
on a Friday of a long weekend and have total control of the
country by Tuesday.

The truth is, that mostly the innocent, women, children and elderly suffer during war time, the generals and politicians are not affected. Maybe it's time to send them into combat to learn what reality is for the ordinary person.

I'm sure the majority of these deaths were children and
non combatants. The American public will pay a high price for this in some form or other, the universe will see to that.


BAQUBA, Jun 2, 2008 (IPS) - The real number of the dead is far higher than even the highest declared in death tolls, many Iraqis say.

A study by doctors from the Johns Hopkins School of Health in conjunction with Iraqi doctors from al-Mustanceriya University in Baghdad, published in the British medical journal The Lancet in October 2006, estimated the number of excess deaths as a result of the occupation at above 655,000.

not officially. but there's no doubt it was the long-term goal. coincidentally, we now have an oil-sharing agreement with Iraq. never woulda happened without the installation of a friendly Iraqi government.

and GW's official motive was "protectin' Amurricans from them evil turrists" and spreadin' democracy to the good people of Iraq. LOLOL

Now you diplay your absolute ignorance. Keep you head stuck in
the sand until they blow your back side off.

yeah, well, you can't power industry with non-combustible human bodies...it takes huge quantities of OIL.

Edit

You have to admit that the Iraqis were not the sharpest knives in the drawer when consistent demands were made for them to withdraw from Kuwait. Their leadership definately deserves some kind of tatoo. Instead of witdrawing, they in turn made demands for Israel to withdraw from occupied territories, how dumb is that?

For your suggested reading from a anti-war American organization.

http://www.antiwar.com/casualties/

http://www.iraqbodycount.org/

Well at least we agree on one thing and that is at least 100,000.00 people are dead as a result of America and the reason for this massive killing is not oil.


The reason for this misguided thinking is due to a lack of
attention to ones chosen religion.

"The world is a jungle! And if you want my advice Anthony, don't expect happiness. You won't get it...People let you down...and I'm not namin' any names! But in the end you die in your own arms...It's all a great big nothing! What makes you think you're so special?" (Livia Soprano)

"Well at least we agree on one thing and that is at least 100,000.00 people are dead as a result of America and the reason for this massive killing is not oil."


Hunter, what are you talking about? Of course our involvement in the middle east is about oil. secondarily about military control. military control ensures access to economic resources. the neocons and globalists have made their intentions quite clear for decades now. they don't want OPEC and potentially hostile oil-rich nations to be in a position to hold the industrialized nations hostage with oil. It's that simple.

Hasn't a thread jumped the shark when Livia Soprano is quoted? She tried to kill her own son! LMAO

There is a grain of truth in every jest. Obama is on front of the curtain but behind the curtain is were the real power lies.
There are multiple players behind the curtain that are pushing their own agenda so it's impossible to lay blame on one entity. If only life was simple.

Western warmongers seek to cater for the insatiable appetite of "a greedy military machine" with the taxpayers' money by waging military confrontations under false pretexts.

“Just like the taxpayers of medieval Italian cities, we're having our money siphoned off to pay for a greedy military machine".