Douchebags, John Howard and the Petro-Dollar

From EK Hornbeck, dig this video of the great, iconic science fiction writer Harlan Ellison ranting about getting paid. Every professional writer should see it:

Speaking of writers, congratulations to Deonandia reader Mary Ellen for having successfully completed the National Novel Writing Month challenge. She officially passed the 50,610 word mark.

Congratulations, as well, to the people of Australia for having finally tossed that posturing windbag John Howard to the dung heap of history. My only disappointment is that, at the time of writing this blog post, it seems that Howard managed to cling to his own seat. As the Howard era ends, the Bush era is fading, Blair having been deposed, and Steven Harper’s stars waning, it seems the Western world might be slipping back into a state of something resembling sanity. No wait, I forgot about France.

Speaking of douchebags (well I was, sorta), Cousin Ajay sends us this fascinating scholarly study of Hot Chicks with Douchebags.

And speaking of Cousin Ajay –who also lives in Australia –see the odd symmetry here?– he also sends us this report and this report on mega-rapper Jay-Z now ostentatiously flashing Euros instead of US dollars. Can there be any other obvious sign of the decline of US hegemony in the world?

In the months after 9/11, I wrote in this blog that “the event would see either the solidification (i.e., unmasking) of the true American world empire, or it would signal the final obliteration of that extant empire.” (Oct 21, 2002). Is there any greater sign of the latter than the devaluing of the US currency against most global standards?

And in March of 2003, I wrote:

“Why would the Bush administration seek to indefinitely occupy a shattered nation at terrible financial cost? Arguments of disarmament and counter-terrorism aside, a permanent dominating presence in Iraq confers upon its conquerors three great strategic advantages. First, US interests would obviously benefit from controlling Iraq’s oil reserves, estimated to be the second largest in the world. (This will have the added benefit of positioning the dollar as the preferred petro-currency over the rapidly rising Euro.)”

It seems the tactic failed: the dollar is slipping as the preferred global petro-currency, which means US domestic inflation will soon be out of control. The new US President (um, Mr Gore?) is going to inherit an economic nightmare. And Canada would do well to follow the Trudeau edict of diversifying our economic interests away from such total dependence on the US market.