Jefferson (Thomas, not George) warned against too-close relationships with other states.

If Prof. Juan Cole's analysis is credible, Saudis+France+England dragged the US kicking and screaming into the Libyan conflict.

http://www.juancole.com/2011/06/libya-not-a-war-for-oil.html

Ignore the URL title; it's still about oil, only more generally and indirectly than usual.

At ~2M barrels/day, Libya is the world's 9th largest oil producer.  US oil use is about 20M barrels/day with a domestic production of 6M barrels/day.  The US must import the rest.

Saudi Arabia, France, and England are countries that want more access to Libyan oil.  The US, Italy, and China *already* have significant refinery assets in Libya, but only the US could be maneuvered into a military commitment.

I cannot imagine any positive inducements they could offer the US, but the negative ones are self-evident: the Saudis would drastically reduce OPEC oil quotas if the US *didn't* enter Libya.  With US/NATO involvement, OPEC has partially made up for the production shortfall.

Prior to the March ~21 start of the Libyan Civil War, spot oil was $80-90/barrel. Afterwards, Brent Crude oil prices rose to $125/barrel at the beginning of May and currently sit ~$118/barrel as of 6/14/2011.

Jeremiah 1:4-7

⁴ The word of the LORD came to me, saying,

⁵ “Before I formed you in the womb I knewyou,
before you were born I set you apart;
I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.”

⁶ “Alas, Sovereign LORD,” I said, “I do not know how to speak; I am too young.”

⁷ But the LORD said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you.”

Reflection:

God knew Jeremiah before he was in the womb.  God set him apart and called him before he was born.  The calling Jeremiah receives is to not be afraid for God is going to be with him and to live with God’s heart for a broken people.  Jeremiah’s calling most resembles the calling that Paul received and lived out as we’ve learned through the Corinthians studies.  We live in modern day Corinth and as God has called Jeremiah and Paul, God is calling us to not be afraid for He is with us and to live in this world, with this generation with God’s heart for the broken people.  We are to be the Jeremiahs and Pauls for our generation.

Response:

Let’s pray humbly that God would break our hearts for our broken generation, to live with God’s heart in our daily lives as we work, study, play and worship God.  Let’s remember we are called to be not afraid for the Lord is with us.

Fake blogs or real blogs…does it really matter?

On Sunday, U.S. PhD student, Tom MacMaster, confessed to creating the popular “Gay Girl in Damascus” blog under the pseudonym Amina Abdallah Arraf. The blog highlighted the growing concerns about life in Syria including such topics as women and gay rights.

Last week, on the blog’s host website, a fictional family member reported a kidnapping involving Amina Abdallah Arraf and three armed men. Many of “her” followers were panicked and even created a Facebook group entitled “Free Amina Abdallah” which gathered thousands of supporters.

Once the fraud was revealed, the public has become naturally outraged. On the issue, MacMaster offered an apology for readers, but stated that

While the narrative voice may have been fictional, the facts on this blog are true and not misleading as to the situation on the ground…I do not believe that I have harmed anyone – I feel that I have created an important voice for issues that I feel strongly about.

hmmmm… not misleading, eh?

Well, it is another reminder of how cautious one needs to be on the Web, best summed up by the classic Steiner cartoon below.

Read more about this theatre production’s journey to the Kennedy Center here.

Video by Chris Hartlove.