The price of gold hits a new all-time high, and oil also rises, both boosted by concerns about the weakening dollar…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: diamond studs. For a different topic see here. The blog is also related to: round diamond.

Fast forward 10, 15 or 20 years from now and you will see a vastly different North Africa. While big media outlets are focused on the giant economies of China, Brazil, and others, mid-level economies like those of North Africa are also a place of substantial economic activity. Domestic investments, sometimes aided by the contribution of foreign investors, are fueling economic development and growth. Despite the global economic hiccup, the pace of investments committed into the infrastructure sector in North Africa has been moving at a healthy pace bringing the rest of the economy with it. And that bodes well for the region as it seeks to catch up with the rest of the world. However, this projected economic progress may be threatened and overshadowed by the political uncertainty the region is facing. Democratization has a long way to go and an aging leadership only complicates the political outlook in the next five to 10 years. Follow this link to read this analysis:

As we look at the region from both an economic and political perspectives, we have posted this presentation we gave to a group of American, European and Japanese corporations in the month of November 2009. The presentation is narrated with audio capabilities. If you want to have a copy of the slides in Microsoft PowerPoint format, please contact us. http://northafricaadvisors.com/reports/presentations/North-Africa-Markets-Risks-&-Opportunities/

We have also published the following full articles:

- Spain’s opportunity for leadership in the Euro-Med zone:

- Microsoft in North Africa:

- HP looking at the Libyan market:

For our paying subscribers and supporters, the latest two issues can be found at:
- http://www.north-africa.com/premium/issues/217.htm
- http://www.north-africa.com/premium/issues/216.htm

Also, we have a few positions that have recently opened with our consulting firm North Africa Advisors and with an international company looking for sales engineers in the region.

Finally, for those of you with expertise on North Africa or if you are interested in the region, we are inviting you to join ourAdvisory Council where we hope to establish a strong network of common interests. Visit this page for more details.

As usual, we welcome your thoughts and feedback. We can be reached via this address: http://northafricaadvisors.com/apply/

Best regards,

Arezki Daoud
The North Africa Journal

In my previous post “Frames 1,” I introduced the floater frames that I make for my paintings. In this post, as promised, I will briefly describe how I make them. They have a very simple construction: they start with a base frame (made out of pine 1″ x 2″s), which is then surrounded by an outer “lip” (made out of 7/16″ x 1  5/8″ pine lattice molding).

The base frame is 3/8″ larger than the painting in every direction. That means the painting will float 3/8″ from the outer lip. I cut the base frame pieces with a Logan Picture Framing Pro Saw and fine tune the miters with a Logan Precision Sander. I then join the pieces together, using wood glue and V-nails applied by a Logan Studio Joiner. All these tools came in a Logan Frame Shop in a Box that I purchased from Jerry’s Artarama.

I cut the lattice molding so the outer lip will wrap around the outside of the base frame. Using the Pro Saw and Precision Sander, I take extra special care that the miters will fit together precisely while the pieces lay flat against the base frame. I attach the lattice molding to the base frame with glue and brads from a nail gun. Once everything is in place, I use my trusty Bessey Strap Clamp (purchased from Amazon.com) to secure everything together until the glue is dry.

I drill 4 holes through the base frame, one on each side for the wood screws that will anchor the painting. After a good sanding, I paint everything black. The last to go on are the “D” ring hangers, hanging wire, and vinyl bumpers. Although only two bumpers on the lower corners are really necessary, I like to put one on each of the four corners. I get all the materials I need for this project — all the wood, hardware (except the V-nails), glue, sandpaper, and paint — from Home Depot. I purchase the V-nails online from Dick Blick.

The painting gets centered in its place and secured from the back with four wood screws. Tada! If you have any questions, please leave me a comment here, so everyone can view both question and answer. Thank you!

A recent article on the wire “Debt may swamp the federal Treasury” I’ve retitled here as will swamp because there is no may about it.  Let’s look at some key points from the article:

With the national debt now above $12 trillion, the White House estimates that the government’s tab for servicing the debt will top $700 billion a year in 2019, up from $202 billion this year [emphasis by GardenSERF], even if annual budget deficits shrink dramatically. Other forecasters say the figure could be much higher.

In concrete terms, an additional $500 billion a year in interest expense would total more than the combined federal budgets this year for education, energy, homeland security and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The potential for rapidly escalating interest payouts is just one of the wrenching challenges facing the United States after decades of living beyond its means.
….
Americans now have to climb out of two deep holes: as debt-loaded consumers, whose personal wealth sank along with housing and stock prices; and as taxpayers, whose government debt has almost doubled in the last two years alone, just as costs tied to benefits for retiring baby boomers are set to explode.

That’s just one suction cup on the massive financial tentacle now wrapped around the USA and locked in a conscious economic attack on this country.  Other tightly fastened cups on this single tentacle include the trade deficit, overseas outsourcing, manipulated exchange rates, tax breaks (and removal of tariffs) which both encouraged and allowed domestic manufacturing to be moved out of the USA, etc, etc.

A similar method of attack used on the consumers (once known as citizens) of this country was also used on its government.  However, the financial/economic attack is only one tentacle in a multi-prong attacked which will be used against this country over the next two decades.  However, many Americans will be unable to see this ongoing long term attack due to their daily conditioning by Hollywood/Mainstream Media with the usual short-term emphasis on the “here and now” and instant gratification.  When you think of the frog in the warm water being brought to the slow boil on the stove, imagine a master chef paying close attention to the amount of heat being applied under the pan.  This is the level of sophistication and planning being used against the USA.

Other methods of attack on the people and this country as a whole in the future will be more physically direct.  They will come years apart at first.  Waiting for the smoke to clear will take months at a time in the early stage we’re now in, but even this will be enough for many Americans to forget and be unable to connect the dots.  However, the later attacks on this country will be in relatively more rapid succession and from many directions all at once –similar to an octopus wrapping many tentacles around its prey.

This could take the form of multiple and coordinated acts of terrorism involving WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction, but I would emphasize the biological form of attack as most damaging to the population), symbolic or actual decapitation strikes (persons as well as the means of mass command, control and communication), followed by the loss of our access to imported oil.  Famine is a given in this scenario due to our reliance on fossil fuels in our national model of mass agriculture when combined with our already current loss of local food production of many key staples.

Nothing I have posted here is new.  In fact, this model of attack has been used time and time again throughout human history.  It has been used by both foreign invader and domestic tyrant alike –with the two often working together hand in hand behind the scenes and out of view of the common people.

Comments are open.

Om det stämmer, borde det lämna en del ytterligare frågor obesvarade. Vad Amerikanerna har för avsikter med att ändra “public opinion”? Och beskylla Talibanerna för dåd de inte tar ansvar för.

Aggressive and exclusive military alliances like NATO should be disbanded

by Alan Mackinnon
First Published: Nov. 17, 2009 – Scottish Left Review

The world of war is today dominated by a single superpower. In military terms the United States sits astride the world like a giant Colossus. As a country with only five per cent of the world’s population it accounts for almost 50 per cent of global arms spending. Its 11 naval carrier fleets patrol every ocean and its 909 military bases are scattered strategically across every continent. No other country has reciprocal bases on US territory – it would be unthinkable and unconstitutional. It is 20 years since the end of the Cold War and the United States and its allies face no significant military threat today. Why then have we not had the hoped-for peace dividend? Why does the world’s most powerful nation continue to increase its military budget, now over $1.2 trillion a year in real terms? What threat is all this supposed to counter?

Britain’s armed forces are different only in scale. For generations our defence posture has emphasised the projection of power to other parts of the world. And today our armed forces have the third highest military spending in the world (after the United States and China) and the second highest power projection capability behind the United States. The Royal Navy is the world’s second largest navy and our large air force is in the process of procuring hundreds of the most advanced aircraft in the world. And then there is Trident, Britain’s strategic nuclear ‘deterrent’ – the ultimate weapon for projecting power across the world. None of this is designed to match any threat to our nation. It is designed to meet the ‘expeditionary’ role of our armed forces in support of the policy of our senior ally, the United States.

This military overkill cannot be justified by ‘defence’ unless we extend its meaning to the ‘defence of its interests’ across the world. And this gets us closer to the real explanation for this military build up. US and UK companies comprise many of the biggest transnational companies. Twenty-nine of the top 100 global companies by turnover are US and seven are UK-based. And the top five global companies are all US or UK based. Both economies share many of the same strengths and weaknesses. Both have seen major erosion of their manufacturing base as compared with economies like Germany and Japan. Both have become increasingly dependent on banking, privatised utilities and financial services, hence their vulnerability in the recent banking collapse. But both retain dominance in certain key areas such as oil and gas and arms manufacturing. In the case of the UK we can add mining. Of the top 10 global companies, all but three are in oil and gas, with British companies Royal Dutch Shell and BP coming first and fourth on the list. The world’s three biggest mining companies – Anglo-American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billington – are UK-based.

Today Britain continues to export capital on a scale unmatched by any other country apart from the United States. By 2006 British capital assets overseas were worth the equivalent of 410 per cent of Britain’s GDP. This is the highest of any major capitalist economy. Much of this investment is in the United States and Europe, but a significant amount continues to be invested in extractive industries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America. An even greater amount of money from abroad (mainly US) is invested in British financial and industrial companies, many of them now under external ownership. It is this interlocking of capital between the UK and the much stronger US economy which helps to bind UK and US foreign policy together. Britain’s oil and gas giants, its mining companies and its arms manufacturers have a powerful and ongoing relationship with government and an effective lobbying influence in the office of successive Prime Ministers.

All of these strands come together with the drive for ‘energy security’ by the US and UK governments. It is the desire to protect overseas investments and control the strategic materials such as oil, gas and minerals that drive the foreign and defence policy of both countries. Britain no longer has the global military reach to defend its overseas investments. Increasingly it depends on the United States for this. The unwritten agreement is that, in return, the British government supports US policy around the world. The same is true for Britain’s biggest arms manufacturer, BAE Systems. It has grown rapidly in recent years to become the second biggest arms manufacturer in the world, mainly through the acquisition of other US companies. It now gets more business from the Pentagon than the MoD. UK support for America’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan certainly helps to oil the wheels of the UK arms business.

That becomes a greater imperative in a rapidly changing world where US power is being challenged by banking collapse and growing indebtedness at home, the rise of the economies of the east, a political challenge to its hegemony in Latin America, and unwinnable wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. With the steady increase in demand for oil across the world, especially from the rapidly growing economy of China, the emergence of Russia as an oil and gas giant to rival Saudi Arabia, the creation of an Asian Energy Security Grid placing up to half the world’s oil and gas reserves outside US control in a network of pipelines linking Russia, Iran, China and the countries of Central Asia, that US strategy to control the arterial network of oil is now in crisis. The Gulf area still accounts for up to 70 per cent of known oil reserves where the costs of production are lowest. So it is no surprise that US policy continues to focus on Iran which has the world’s second largest combined oil and gas reserves.

The US response has been largely military – the expansion of NATO and the encirclement of Russia and China in a ring of hostile bases and alliances. And continuing pressure to isolate and weaken Iran by a campaign of sanctions orchestrated through the IAEA and the United Nations with the threat of military action lurking in the background. The danger is that, even under the presidency of Obama, an economically weakened United States will tend to use the one massive advantage it has over its rivals – its global war machine.

Of course the battle to secure control over strategic materials does not explain everything that happens in the world today. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are not *purely* about oil. In the Middle East the US strategy is about changing the balance of forces against the Palestinians, establishing US client states in Iraq and Iran and leaving an expansionist Israel as the only surviving military power (although even that is ultimately connected with control over Middle East oil). The wars in central Africa (especially the Democratic Republic of Congo) are not *purely* about strategic minerals. But behind the rival guerrilla groups vying for control of these assets and the rival African neighbouring states who support them, stand the mining companies and their nation states.

And what is not directly connected to the battle for strategic resources is the wider agenda of free trade, open economies, deregulation and privatisation which the US and its allies are trying to impose on every country in the world through the IMF, the World Bank, the EU and NAFTA. Structural Adjustment Programmes imposed on countries as the price for ‘forgiving’ or rescheduling debt allow US and UK transnationals to prize open and penetrate the economies of the poorest countries with catastrophic consequences for the people.

In short, to understand the world of war, we need to understand the nature of modern imperialism, and how nation states act internationally to help maximise the profits of their biggest companies. Directly and indirectly these policies generate conflict and war on a daily basis. Moreover, the problem is compounded by arms manufacturing firms, generously supported by state funds, who sell lethal weapons around the world to allow wars to be fought. In 2007 the world’s leading 100 defence manufacturers sold arms worth $347 billion, an increase of 45 per cent in the past 10 years. Britain’s ‘champion’, BAE Systems, is currently under investigation for corrupt practices in several countries and has sold all kinds of weapons across the world, including to countries like Saudi Arabia and Israel who have a record of human rights abuses.

As we have seen, British defence policy is geared to fighting wars overseas in support of the United States. Our four nuclear submarines and their payload of 160 warheads, are really an extension of America’s strategic ‘deterrent’ and could not be used independently. But there is an alternative. The overwhelming majority of countries, including some who have the technology and wealth to do differently, do not have nuclear weapons and do not seek them. They do not invest in power projection or the expensive platforms or transport systems which will allow them to fight wars thousands of miles from their own borders.

If our concern is really the defence of the nation’s land and coastal waters we could make deep cuts in our ‘defence’ spending without compromising our security one iota. Indeed, withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Germany would dramatically reduce the threat of terrorism and reduce tensions in Europe. It would also save us a lot of money. So would cancelling the two new aircraft carriers, and the F-35 aircraft which are designed to fly from them, the Type 45 Destroyers and the Astute-class attack submarines. Our Trident submarine force is useless, dangerous and expensive and should be scrapped. None of these are required for real defence. Instead we could invest in coastal patrol vessels, early warning aircraft and relatively cheap sophisticated anti-tank, anti-ship and anti-aircraft radar guided missile launchers. Dispersal of these mobile but effective weapons would ensure that a heavy toll can be taken of any potential attacker. A fraction of the money saved could be used to tackle climate change by harnessing wind, wave and tidal energy and insulating millions of homes. We could radically cut the size of the navy, slim down the airforce and army and still have plenty of forces left over to help in any genuine humanitarian intervention led by the United Nations.

In today’s multi-polar and ‘asymmetrical’ world the only threats are from terrorism and unstable states (none of whom could remotely pose a military threat to Britain or the United States). Real security comes from strengthening and democratising the United Nations and developing collective security arrangements in all parts of the world that involve all countries in the region. Aggressive and exclusive military alliances like NATO should be disbanded. Mediation and diplomacy should be used to settle international disputes. A global ban on nuclear weapons as proposed by Obama and the UN Security Council would be an excellent place to start.

Alan Mackinnon is Chair of Scottish CND

Source: http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=16210

Related:

US Military Spending vs. The World, 2008

The Pentagon Budget: Largest Ever and Growing

Global Warfare USA: The World is the Pentagon’s Oyster

The IMF: Raping The World, One Poor Nation at a Time

US-NATO Using Military Might To Control World Energy Resources

DOCUMENTAY– New Rulers of the World, by John Pilger

DOCUMENTARY– War by Other Means by John Pilger

DOCUMENTARY – Arsenal of Hypocrisy (59 mins.)

Oil paintings by Scott Anderson.

• Climate Change, Hunger, Drought: Conflict? North Kenya Pastoralists on edge [Guardian] 
• Yemen crisis: Largest destination for illegal weopons in Middle East [Yemen Post]
• Ongoing Strife in Philippines: Muslim Separatists update [New York Times]
• ICC/DRC: Second Trial of Congolese Warlords [Human Rights Watch]
• No living witnesses left for John Demjanjuk- last Nazi trial [Haaretz.com]
• Trade in Conflict Diamonds Escalates [Liberian Observer]
• Possible EU Satellite monitoring of Georgian situation [EurasiaNet]
• Armenian-Azeri leaders hold talks [Al Jazeera]
• A Tiger for a neighbour: Persecuted Tibetans flock to India [Times of India]
• Khmer Rouge trial comes to an end [New York Times]

From Florida’s West Coast: Among the many financial issues we face, we also have the results of a greedy and shady and a shadow of our strange and disfunctional state government. Republican and the absolute power of money from private and federal dollars, prior to the Economical Bubble burst, has left Florida’s financial future similar to the slash and burn Civil War march thru Georgia…

Building  across our state may have been forever destroyed by both the ancient notions and present reality of elitism and stratification…we may have (6.?%) unemployment until 2019?

The money left for growth and investment may do better by chasing Federal investments in offshore oil exploration and the flow of petro dollars into Florida’s good, evil and its shadow of a doubt.

Great state and a sad example of the greed of destruction…Let us pray that we receive a Left-handed government and Democrats and Socialism, oh my…

From the ever-illuminating Overthinking It and contributor Mark Lee:

The Hubbert Peak Theory of Rock, or, Why We’re All Out of Good Songs

Many rock purists and music snobs (myself included) often lament the quality of most modern pop/rock music.  “Music these days is so trite and derivative,” they say.  “It’s just been downhill since the 60’s and 70’s.  Those were the days.”

A few years ago, Rolling Stone magazine added fuel to the music snobbery fire with its “500 Greatest Songs of All Time” list.  Anyone casually paging through the list would notice that the bulk of the list was comprised of songs from the 60’s and 70’s, just like the music snobs always say.

I, however, wasn’t content with the casual analysis.  So I punched the list into Excel, crunched some numbers, and found an interesting parallel between the decline of rock music quality and, of all things, the decline in US oil discovery and production:

Read the analysis here.

As we oil up our turntables and dust off the vinyls, we might smile a silent smile in honor of that most marvelous of the Marx Brothers, Harpo:  Adolph (later known as Arthur, then as Harpo) Marx was born on this date in 1888 in New York City.

Harpo

]]> http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/us-analyst-cia-is-behind-all-insurgency-and-terrorism-in-pakistan/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 07:48:48 +0000 aquibmoin http://pakistankakhudahafiz.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/us-analyst-cia-is-behind-all-insurgency-and-terrorism-in-pakistan/ http://iedei.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/editorial-honda-toyota-the-us-market/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:32:38 +0000 iedei http://iedei.wordpress.com/2009/11/23/editorial-honda-toyota-the-us-market/ http://nygoe.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/eye-on-iran-in-south-america/ Mon, 23 Nov 2009 03:25:17 +0000 nycoordinator http://nygoe.wordpress.com/2009/11/22/eye-on-iran-in-south-america/

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad paid a visit to Brazil over the weekend to discuss a number of trade and diplomatic issues with Brazilian President Luiz Anacio Lula de Silva.

This is a continuation of Iran’s drive to build stronger ties in Latin American.  Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez is already an ally of Iran, and Iran has also opened embassies in Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Uruguay.  Brazil appears to be next on that list.

Venezuela is receiving help in locating uranium deposits which Chavez says will be used for domestic power production (does that sound familiar?).  With Brazil, Iran is shopping for nuclear technology among other things.

This is also evidence that Brazil is stepping away from close cooperation with the US following its criticism of Barack Obama’s effort to restore the ousted President Zelaya of Honduras in violation of the Honduran constitution.

We can look forward to continued disorder in South American affairs as the bungling foreign policy of our president dismays our allies and encourages those who would spread their socialist mantra across the region.

More information here.

One wonders what diplomatic leverage (and it appears shrinkingly small) was purchased by Obama’s decision to lend $2 Billion to the Brazilian Oil Company, Petrobas, to develop offshore oil fields in the Atlantic.  Or was that just a payoff to George Soros?

Quite a few Brazilians protested Ahmadinejad:

Here’s some analysis by the Council of the Americas:

BusinessWeek reports -

Wall Street is up to its old tricks again. One year later, one of the key excesses that led our consumer-based economy into an historic downturn is being abused in the exact same way that got us $147-a-barrel oil last summer. Worse, many in the media are again getting the facts wrong on oil prices and demand—as if the oil and gasoline price explosion of 2005-2008 never happened—as one look at last week’s oil report will verify.

Continue reading the disgusting details.

It is a shame that the worthless human debris on Wall Street and their government lapdogs care so little for their country and fellow citizens.

Well I have some good news for Derrik Jensen. Most of us know that there is some really well-founded evidence that shows that fossil fuels are running out. Well it turns out that we have known that for years in fact a geologist by the name of Dr. Marion King Hubbert predicted, in 1956, that oil would peak around 1970 and then again in 2000.

I have always thought that if oil was running low that, it would only be temporary, till more was discovered. But for society to face drastic energy reform, very little decline in production would have to occur. When you compound the loss of production with increasing population and industrialization, the results are estimated to be catastrophic in the next few decades. When oil production dropped in the seventies it caused the cost of oil to nearly quadruple. When there was a natural gas shortage a few years ago in California, the price went up by 400%.

Here is a link to a very informative and well backed sight on the oil crash. It’s also full of alternative energy info and many other interesting articles. Most of what I said came directly from the front page article.

Logan Taylor

I know I usually don’t use mixes but my Grandma used to make Duncan Hines cakes mixes and I still love them today.

Cake
1 package Duncan Hines Lemon Cake Mix (515 g)
1 package (4 serving size) Vanilla or Lemon Instant Pudding Mix
4 eggs
1 cup water
1/3 cup oil

Glaze
1 cup icing sugar
1 tablespoon milk or lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 10-inch (3 L) tube pan.

2. For cake, combine cake mix, pudding mix, eggs, water and oil in large bowl. Beat at low spead with an electric mixer until moistened. Beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Pour into pan. Bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes or until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan 25 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Cool completely.

3. For glaze, combine icing sugar and milk or lemon juice in small bowl. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over cake.

We beginnen het eerste bericht met een zoekertje!

In augustus 2009 nam Glenn afscheid van Orange Oil, en daardoor zoekt Orange Oil nu een zanger of een zangeres.



Ons repertoire gaat van RHCP tot Nirvana, van QOTSA tot Kings of Leon, maar uiteraard spelen we eigen nummers en hopen we dat het zangtalent ook nummers kan schrijven.
Een leuke extra zou zijn moest hij/zij een instrument kunnen bespelen, maar dit is geen must.

Contacteer via

• www.myspace.com/orangeoilgroup
• www.orange-oil.net (under construction)
• http://www.freewebs.com/orangeoil/Home.htm (oude website)

I know I usually don’t use mixes but my Grandma used to make Duncan Hines cakes mixes and I still love them today.

Serves 12

Cake
1 package Duncan Hines Swiss Choocolate Cake Mix
3 eggs
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Frosting
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup evaporated milk
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup butter
1 1/3 cup flaked coconut
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease and flour 9×13″ pan.

2. For cake, prepare cake mix following package directions for basic recipe. Stir in 1/2 cup pecans. Pour into pan. Bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes or until toothpick inserted to centre comes out clean. Cool completely.

3. For frosting, combine sugar, evaporated milk, egg yolks and butter in medium saucepan. Cook and stir on medium heat until mixture comes to a boil. Remove from heat. Add coconut, 1 cup pecans and vanilla extract. Stir until thick. Spread on top of cake.

“Name the most powerful narcotic in the world,” he asks the former beggar boy. “Oil,” the mentor says. ” More than opium, more than heroin. The pipelines are syringes. The addicts pay anything for their supply, kill for it, steal for it, topple governments for it.”

This gripping, high-concept thriller about an oil-eating microbe is written by best-selling author R. Scott Reiss. “Black Monday” is in movie development for release in 2012.

A plague that will cause the death of millions. A plague that will destroy countries. A plague that will plunge the world into a dark age. A plague that will make nobody sick…

When the first planes go down — in Europe, in California, in Asia — authorities blame terrorists. All flights are grounded as world leaders try to figure out how the global assault has been coordinated. And when cars, ships, and factories stop running too, it becomes clear that the common link is oil. Somehow a microbe, genetically engineered to destroy petroleum, has infected the world supply. The world descends into a new dark age.

Dr. Gregory Gillette, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control, is a disease hunter specializing in microbes that attack human beings. When the Pentagon taps him to be part of the Rapid Response Team assembled to track and kill the devastating Delta-3 bacteria, he quickly discovers that his expertise is ignored, his presence meaningless. The leader of the task force is an old nemesis who sidelines Gillette.

Gillette returns home to Washington, where he watches in horror as food becomes scarce, neighbor attacks neighbor, and government collapses. With winter approaching, the capital faces anarchy and Gillette faces a choice: to stay with his family or to disobey orders and find the microbes’ antidote through clues that may not even be real.

Best-selling author R. Scott Reiss

“Black Monday is an involving thriller with a timely theme. The author’s use of the present tense provides an excitement and immediacy that rapidly propel the narrative forward…Reiss includes enough solid detail to make his improbable plot seem almost realistic. He handles his complicated scientific explanations with aplomb, takes the time to focus on a variety of compelling characters, and creates a terrifying scenario that will make thoughtful readers think twice about the world’s dependence on the ultimate narcotic–oil.”~~Mostly Fiction Book Reviews

Read a chapter excerpt from Black Monday

Fishing in Kribi isn’t what it used to be. There are certainly multiple reasons for the decline in fish stock, but everyone here singles out the pipeline as the main culprit.  The pipeline cuts right through the middle of the coastal village of Bume, just south of Kribi, on its way to the marine loading terminal 12 kilometers offshore. The residents of Bumé, who depend entirely on fishing, blame the pipeline for killing their livelihood.

There are two types of fishing in the Kribi area and the pipeline impacted each differently.  The hardest hit are the small, village fisherman — like the residents of Bumé — who put their nets out just offshore.  These fishermen do not have motor power; they paddle their small dugout canoes out to sea and are unable work more than a few kilometers from shore.

They used to catch the fish that lived in the reef just offshore. That reef was blasted away during pipeline construction and the fish have never come back.  Using their traditional fishing methods, local fishermen now pull in only a few kilos of fish at a time.  Sometimes, they pull in nothing at all.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the initial pipeline plans did not include the destruction of the reef.   As no one from ExxonMobil would speak to me, I could not find out why this, a significant environmental impact, was not not part of any early reviews.  The shallow waters of the coast here are lined with rocky offshore reefs and the Bumé reef was clearly visible.  If any local fishermen had been interviewed, they would have talked about the importance of the reef for local fishing.

Although ExxonMobil documents claim that there were multiple environmental studies and an extensive consultation process prior to pipeline construction, my research (and that of others) shows that consultations were limited and insufficient. There was a lack of frank, detailed communication. Oil company representatives were often accompanied by government officials when visiting villages, a further impediment to any real dialogue.

The marine loading terminal, seen from Bumé.

So the pipeline construction crews came through, blasted away the reef, and left behind a village with no viable source of income. The people of Bumé — poor to begin with — were ruined.   Although the area is dotted with hotels, tourism is still on a fairly small scale here and there’s definitely not enough hotel or restaurant work to employ all the fishermen of a village. Following numerous complaints from residents and NGOs, the fish pond plan was foisted on the residents of Bumé.  After that failed, COTCO eventually put out an artificial reef made of tires.  According to Bumé residents, that structure has already detached from the seabed and risen close to the surface of the water. It does not attract fish. Bume residents claim that the fish, plentiful before the pipeline construction, have not returned in the seven years since construction ended.

Again, I could not verify this information as no officials would speak to me.  But I did see what the fishermen hauled in and it’s very little.  I also spoke with local journalists and environmentalists who have been following the plight of the Kribi fishermen and concur with their claims.

At the port of Kribi, I met with local fishermen who fish on a somewhat larger scale.  They still go out in wooden boats, but they are larger and powered by outboard motors.  These men are out at sea for two to three days at a time.

These boats have just enough room for the fishermen and the ice chests and it’s hard to imagine how the men spend several days out on the water. It was raining the day I was at the port and the seas were choppy.  The fishermen coming in were thoroughly soaked.  It’s a tough life, but when the fishing is good, there’s enough income to sustain a local economy.  The fish they bring to port are packed in ice and are immediately dispatched to buyers who distribute to Douala, Yaounde and beyond.

The fishermen in Kribi also had complaints about the pipeline.  They, too, report that fish stocks are down, although they see the trawlers  (Chinese, Spanish and others) offshore and blame them for depleting stocks with their destructive fishing techniques.  The pipeline poses different problems for these fishermen.  First, there’s a large security perimeter around the marine loading terminal where no boats are allowed, effectively limiting their fishing zone.  Then, even more troubling, is the question of oil pollution.

In January 2007, a small spill occurred at the marine loading terminal.  Unfortunately, COTCO did not release any information about the spill for four days.  Local village leaders were kept in the dark for an additional two days. The Cameroonian government agency responsible for the pipeline made no public statement on the oil spill.  The spill, which began in the middle of the night, was only detected, visually, in the morning, suggesting that the marine terminal facility is lacking sufficient surveillance technology.  At the time of the spill there was no national emergency plan for dealing with spills at the marine loading terminal, despite the fact that this plan is required by law and should have been in place before the marine loading terminal became operational.

Several NGOs released a news statement shortly after the spill that underlined the problems caused by COTCO’s silence.  The public was unable to get any credible information about the actual amount of oil spilled, the cause of the spill or COTCO’s emergency response procedures — especially crucial given the lack of a national plan.  Suspicions and rumors filled the void and added to the general public distrust of COTCO.

Fishermen today say they can often see oil on the water near the terminal.  Is this true? Is this from the marine loading terminal or from passing ships? It is hard to say as no officials will speak and local journalists are thwarted in their efforts to gather credible information.

I was consistently frustrated by COTCO’s unwillingness to speak publicly.  The case of the missing fish is one example of a problem whose causes are likely more complex than one missing reef.  For the public, however, the logic is simple: if COTCO won’t speak, it’s because COTCO has something to hide and therefore, COTCO is to blame.