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Post by Cranky on Oct 14, 2014 16:26:39 GMT -5
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Post by Disgruntled70sHab on Nov 3, 2014 17:41:41 GMT -5
Well, here's one way of getting Russia back to the table. Can NATO Afford a War on Two Fronts?
by Peter Martino
November 3, 2014 at 4:00 amGatestone Institute (link)Recently, Russian fighter planes and even bombers were spotted over the Baltics, Norway, the Netherlands, the Turkish part of the Black Sea and as far as the Atlantic Ocean. Russia more than doubled its defense expenditure between 2007 and 2013, and plans to increase it again by 44 per cent in the 2014-2016 period. It is always unwise to fight a war on two fronts, especially after defense cuts have undermined one's military. But that seems to be where the West is heading. The Western allies are fighting ISIS in Syria and Iraq, while at the same time tensions are rising between NATO and Russia. The question is whether NATO can afford both after the cuts in its defense budgets of the past two decades. Strange things are happening on the international oil markets. In the past three months, the oil price dropped 25 per cent. The political situation in many oil-producing countries, such as Syria, Iraq, Libya and Nigeria, is deteriorating. In normal circumstances, this would lead to rising oil prices. Exactly the opposite is happening. Economic growth in Europe, Japan and China is stagnating, while the United States is becoming one of the major oil producers while its oil demand is in decline. These trends would normally be corrected by a reduction in oil production. That is not happening, either. Last month, the Saudis were pumping up 9.5 million barrels a day -- a break from their normal practice of reducing oil production by 1.5 per cent whenever the price drops by 10 per cent. The situation resembles what happened in 1985, when the Saudis raised oil production from 2 to 10 million barrels a day. As a result, oil prices dropped by two-thirds, forcing the Soviet Union out of the oil market. This change was one of the factors that lead to the collapse of the Soviet empire. More from Gatestone/suite |
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Post by Cranky on Nov 8, 2014 3:46:25 GMT -5
CTV news...tonight.
No ebola.
Russian tanks crossing into Ukraine. No coverage.
No EU having economic problems.
A short blurb on ISIS
Meanwhile, two waterspouts is now extreme weather. No, really, waterspouts.
5 out of 20 minutes of actual air time on Prince Charles parody of a stupid interview 40 years ago. Not funny. Not newsworthy. Not even worth seeing.
So my chicken and egg question......is the media making society dumber or simply a reflection of society?
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