Bush will leave his legacy.

Bend over everyone, Georgie W wants to give us a parting gift.

From its inception the Bush administration has been driven by one goal -- to secure U.S. access to foreign oil. That was laid out plainly in 2001, in a document called Strategic Energy Policy: Challenges for the 21st Century.

U.S. conservatives believe the United States not only has a right but a duty to use its military might to secure its conventional energy supply.

Also, there's a line of thinking in Washington that says you can't pacify Iraq or Afghanistan without tackling Iran, because Iran covertly supports insurgencies in both countries.

Neither Bush nor Vice-President Dick Cheney is running again. They may feel they have little to lose in launching a conflict that fulfils their ideological mission and, once begun, will be very difficult for the next president to stop.

This dangerous situation should come as no surprise to anyone since Georgie has made his intentions clear right from the get-go. As a matter of fact, that's one of the few positive things that can be said about this administration, they have been outright honest in what they want.

To put a little "Perspective" on the situation I would like to quote from an editorial in the local paper by Michael Den Tandt:

Then there was the bombshell dropped last November by the U.S. intelligence community.

In a paper entitled Iran: Nuclear Intentions and Capabilities (you can find it with Google), the agency that oversees all U.S. intelligence gathering said: "We judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program."

You might have assumed that would be the end of that. Given the unfolding disaster in Iraq, not even Bush could excuse or rationalize war with Iran. The Iraq war has already cost $500 billion US.

The U.S. economy is in recession. And the price of crude oil has shot to a staggering $110 a barrel. Iran produces an estimated 3.8 million barrels of oil a day, accounting for 5% of global supply.

No one denies that a military attack on Iran would push crude far higher, with disastrous impact on global growth. And the economic consequences are the least of it. A U.S. attack on Iran easily could lead to a corresponding attack by Iran on Israel, which then could ignite the wider Middle Eastern war that so many have feared since 9/11.

Here's what makes this a real concern. Bush and many of the people around him believe that Iran must be prevented from acquiring nuclear capacity at all costs.

Their stated reason is that the Shia mullahs who control Iran are insane Islamofascists, and therefore cannot be trusted to withhold use of the bomb out of a desire for self-preservation, as the Soviet Union did during the Cold War.

Subjected to even a little scrutiny, this rationale doesn't hold up.

Saddam Hussein truly was insane, and even he didn't dare use chemical weapons of mass destruction against the Americans, when he had them, back in 1991.

The deeper motivation likely is far colder. Iran is acknowledged as the rising power in the Middle East and it sits on one of the world's last remaining large pools of cheaply accessible crude.

And that's the name of that tune Bunky!

(On a side note here, Canada has nearly as much oil in the Alberta Tar Sands as Saudi Arabia has so maybe that fence they wanted to put up between Canada and the States isn't such a bad idea after all!")

Your "News from the Front" scribe;
Allan W Janssen

Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know!) and is available at the web site www.God-101.com

Visit the blog "Perspective" at http://God-101.blogspot.com

It's about the oil, stupid!

I think we can all agree on a few things about the American Administration's policies.

First, the Middle-East is all about the oil. End of story!

Next, in spite of what the U.S. Administration says, Iraq is in a civil war and those S.O.B.'s are out of control. The U.S. should just get out and let them sort it out themselves. End of Story!

Global warming is a fact in spite of what Georgie says and it might be partly due to increased sun activity but is mostly from greenhouse gases. End of story!

Evolution is a fact and the best way to prove it is by what Lewis Black keeps saying, pure and simple, FOSSILS..... fossils, fossils, fossils! Damn it! End of story!

And now as the icing on the cake, this piece from Reuters News;

LOS ANGELES - The Bush administration wants to eliminate federal support for geothermal power just as many US states are looking to cut greenhouse gas emissions and raise renewable power output.

The move has angered scientists who say there is enough hot water underground to meet all US electricity needs without greenhouse gas emissions.

"The Department of Energy has not requested funds for geothermal research in our fiscal-year 2008 budget," said Christina Kielich, a spokeswoman for the Department of Energy. "Geothermal is a mature technology. Our focus is on breakthrough energy research and development."

The administration of George W. Bush has made renewable energy a priority as it seeks to wean the United States off foreign oil, but it emphasizes use of biofuels like ethanol and biodiesel for vehicles and nuclear research for electricity.

"In spite of its enormous potential, the geothermal option for the United States has been largely ignored," a recent study led by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology said.

Story by Bernie Woodall

Now, here is the kicker, boys and girls. Just as the Bush Administration has promoted the largest military budget in history to keep his Republican allies at Haliburton and other military contractors happy, he has cut funding for Geothermal and is concentrating on Biofuels and Nuclear instead.

Why? Because Biofuels and Nuclear have huge lobbies and Geothermal has NONE! Right now the score looks like this:

Nuclear and Biofuel Lobby = Billions

Geothermal = None

Just so you know!

Your "enquiring mind" scribe;
Allan W Janssen