Do you believe that what's happening in the Mid-East can't/won't affect you directly?
 

You might want to rethink that.

Let's start with the obvious: Gas prices at the pump. No matter what happens from this moment forward you WILL be paying more to gas up your vehicle no matter where you live in the world. Enough unrest and upset has happened over there that higher oil prices are already occuring.

But with regard to Libya particularly right now, the nutjob in power is, instead of trying to quell the problems in his country and apease the people by, oh, maybe spending some of his untold billions to make their lives a bit better, has instead promised to continue to have them shot, mowed down indescriminately in the streets, and slaughtered like cattle for them having the arrogance to want a change in government.

In some news articles I've read it is said that Gadhafi is intent on destroying Libya's own oil pipelines to cut off oil to the outside world. I'm of course hoping someone over there finds a way to finally put a few bullets through this mental case's head very soon, but that might be wishful thinking. He's managed to stay alive and in power for over 40 years while getting away with all sorts of atrocities.

How else will this strife in the ME affect you?

Rising oil costs mean increased transportation costs. Result: Prices in airfair could be going up soon.
Prices of fresh produce very likely WILL be going up between now and this summer. Buying locall will not matter, that food comes with transport costs as well.
In fact costs in basically all forms of manufacturing will go up eventually, which translates to higher prices for a wealth of goods we buy and use every day. Basically any industry that is oil-based or depends on gas/oil in any way to get it's day to day business done is going to be affected.

If you seriously think "meh, it's over there, it doesn't matter, can't affect me in the least" you're simply deluding yourself.


So with all that in mind is it really any wonder why countries like the US and Russia, the EU collectively, the UK, etc, all take an interest in what's going on and what changes are taking place? I read a comment somewhere this week on a blog or a board that said "it's nobody's business but ours, why is USA involved again in our business?" -- Anyone who thinks this way is completely out to lunch on how the world works or even what matters on a global scale.

Do you think you're imune simply because you live where you live? Do tell.

You will pay the price the people set for their oil instead of the price that you used to set for their oil. Prices might go up but the people are reasonable and the US has a lot to trade as incentives but will have to learn how to compromise instead of just going in and killing people that don't agree. :)

the sad part is that the EU leaders will do their best to ensure that the oil keeps flwoing and don't really care who stays in power; if some real shti happens in Libya, italy will prbably be hit the hardest and then the whole of EU will have to chip in

It works well for everyone if the oil stays flowing so I'm sure it will, just the money will be going to build the country instead of to be stacked neatly in some guys bookshelf vault.

Brace yourselves, the ripple has not hit the Americas yet but it will!

More like Tsunami by the time it hits!

mark this down, when we look back at what is happening in the middle east right now and what is going to happen there over the next couple years... history will look at it in the same light of what happened with the cold war and the Berlin wall coming down.

if the cost of greater freedom for others is higher gas prices for me, then so be it.

You're probably right but it's always something with that oil. Whether it's Libya or some story about Nigerian rebels shooting up a pipeline, 911, Kuwait being invaded, the gulf oil spill, the war in Iraq, the war in Afghanistan, China's economy, oil company gouging, declining oil supplies, OPEC manipulation, peak oil, Iranian nuclear tests, Egyptian unrest, summer driving season, too much regulation, etc...etc.

So this is just the latest thing IMHO.

Oil's spiking up. This will only add to the fuel of the fire of FOOD PRICE INFLATION that sparked those revolts to begin with. I see the revolts (over food prices) spreading to ALL PARTS of the globe.

This has happened before--1840s, 1870s, 1930s, etc. There seems to be a cyclical nature to this kind of thing.

I predict a lot screaming it's great democracy is finally hitting the ME. Will be very surprised at the result.

Well said.

You're in the Philippines so you are well aware how fragile grain is. Too much rain or not enough rain and prices spike and many people go hungry. Then it ripples around the world. We're having a palm oil and sugar shortage right now in Thailand. Point is, the entire system is fragile and with the shifting weather patterns that have been taking place all over the world, ANYTHING can happen at any time to create food shortages (or extreme price hikes) around the world.

I'm worried about the legacy of christianity ...

I dont doubt it will affect me, but I am not glued to the tv watching it pretending i have anything to do with it, could stop it, or anything to do with it.

Agreed. What's happening over there is happening for a reason. Tyranny cannot last.

Agreed, as long as the thing that replaces these dictatorships and monarchies etc is actually an improvement which truly does result in more freedoms for ALL the people in each country affected, not just some.

Then absolutely yes, it will have been worth whatever inflation the world has to go through. As I said it's not just oil & gas prices that are going to be affected.

Whether this all translates into an improvement has yet to be seen.

good point. the last oil spike a year or so ago? drove up food prices here and canada. could only imagine as the dictatorships of the middle east fall like dominoes this year.

heard the other day that the male/female difference for china is 39 million more men then women.

that's 39 million men that won't ever enjoy a completion of life

and we speak about the middle east.

You and me Fletch... lets go crack some fucking skulls over there. :upsidedow

With the rate gas prices goes up here almost daily anyway, chances are we won't actually notice the difference anymore...

Trust me, when the fallout from this hits, you'll notice.

Some time between now and summer it should be kicking in full force.

From today's NYTimes...

Oil Soars as Libyan Furor Shakes Markets
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/23/bu...ZdYpKDEq4a7Bgg

The unrest that has spread from Tunisia to Libya pushed oil prices to a two-year high and has spurred an increase in gasoline prices.
....

Oil is now at a price not seen since the recession began,
....

Europe appears most immediately vulnerable to the strife in Libya, which produces almost 2 percent of the world’s oil. More than 85 percent of its exports go to Europe; more than a third goes to Italy alone. Libya sends only a small fraction of its oil to the United States, but because oil is a world commodity, Americans are not immune to the price shock waves.
.....

While Libya has been the immediate cause for the spike in oil prices recently, oil experts said traders were driving up prices because of concerns that a long period of instability in the Middle East was just beginning.

Pretty much underscores what's been said already in this thread.

In another article this...

Foreign companies and Libyan factions focused intensely on the fate of the country’s substantial oil reserves. The Italian oil company Eni confirmed that it had suspended use of a pipeline from Libya to Sicily that provides 10 percent of Italy’s natural gas.

That country is going to plunge into civil war shortly, I'm certain of it.

my country have the most expensive price on gas from UE ... so even if others are going up or down, here is only in one way witch is UP
so screw them!

Higher prices will affect me...but won't be a problem for me. What could be a problem for me is if there are shortages.

Price of gas just went up here overnight 3-4 cents per litre.

Yay, it's begun.