Three weeks ago, the New York Times told us in a front-page story that there is more oil in Iraq than we ever dreamed of. Now comes another front-page story telling us that reserve estimates for the United States—and everywhere else—have been dramatically upwards revised, due to new advances in extraction technology. Exxon and Chevron are already using the technology to pump thousands of barrels a day out of fields that had pretty much been considered spent a few years ago from Texas to Indonesia. This is a clear blow aimed at the "peak oil" theorists. Oil prices have been falling modestly in recent days (almost down to $60/barrel at the moment, Bloomberg says), and the Times might want to help that trend along. But the development of the new technology was itself spurred by high prices (so much for "objective" science), which were in part driven by "peak oil" fears. Which deepens our suspicions that the "peak oil" hysteria was instrumented by the oil industry all along.... Here are the relevant excerpts from the story, "Oil Innovations Pump New Life Into Old Wells" by Jad Mouawad, New York Times, March 5 (links added):

Now they are openly calling some of these increasingly specious terror conspiracies "fictitious," which they certainly are. Two guys are getting sent up the river for a plot hatched by an FBI informant, which had no independent basis in reality. Can anyone explain to us why this does not constitute entrapment? Does anyone else out there grasp how far down the slippery slope we have slid towards the Orwellian concept of "thought crime"? From the New York Times, March 8:

From AP, March 8:

A marriage off to a rocky start: He's jailed after hitting her with car
SALT LAKE CITY - It wasn't the most romantic of honeymoons. The groom was in jail yesterday, accused of trying to run over his new wife after a weekend wedding in Las Vegas.

As if the jihadis aren't ticked off enough already. The opponents quoted in this story seem entirely legitimate, but this obviously serves as more grist for Osama's propaganda mill. Talk about "jihad versus McWorld." What can you say but a plague on both their houses? From the New York Times and International Herald Tribune, March 8 (links, emphasis added):

In a rare expression of dissent, a Libyan newspaper has sharply criticized a new government edict that bans women from traveling abroad without a legal male guardian. The state-controlled al-Jamahiriya daily wrote March 7 that "turning back women traveling alone is a stark and crude abuse of basic womens' rights." It said the edict is "stupid and stains the entire state with backwardness." The paper also said the edict violates Libya's domestic human rights document which stipulates that every citizen has the right to free movement in times of peace and officially guarantees equality between the sexes, calling gender discrimination "unjustified blatant injustice." While not actually naming any officials, the paper called on Libyans to "file suits against those who interfere in our lives," and blasted "anyone who permits or forbids a Libyan woman, as if this woman comes from the medieval times." The edict is thought to be a capitulation to conservative clerics. (Reuters, UPI, March 7)

On March 7, some 250 Arab (Janjaweed) militiamen in West Darfur surrounded the Ardamata camp for internally displaced persons (IDPs) after abducting two civilians from the camp, forcing the temporary suspension of humanitarian work there, the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) announced. The militiamen first swept through the IDP camp, capturing two civilians in connection with the killing of one of their relatives, said the UNMIS press release. Later, they handed the two suspects over to the official Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) camp in Ardamata. Meanwhile in South Darfur, deadly clashes again erupted between the Targem and Rezegat tribes in Yara, 40 kilometers northwest of Kass. Three Targems were reportedly killed in their homes. (UN News Service, March 8 via ReliefWeb)

Voters in three dozen Vermont towns voted March 6 to call upon Congress to open an impeachment probe of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney. Two towns, Clarendon and Dover, voted the measure down. Nearly a half dozen towns agreed to not take up, or table, the resolution. There are 251 towns in Vermont, but not all hold town meetings. Additionally, 20 towns passed measures calling for the immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq, and to care for them when they were back on US soil. Dover also rejected the troop measure.

In an obvious move to undercut the International Criminal Court, Sudan has announced that it will put three men on trial for atrocities in Darfur—including Ali Mohammed Abd-al-Rahman AKA Ali Kushayb, officially named as a suspect by the ICC. Sudanese authorities say the three are already in custody and their trials will start immediately in El Geneina. (NYT, March 7; AP, March 6) Meanwhile in a blow to the Darfur peace accord, gunmen kidnapped and killed two African Union troops, critically wounded a third, and stole their vehicle March 5 in Geraida, South Darfur. The AU said the assailants are believed to belong to the Minnawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army, which signed the rather dubious "peace agreement" in May. (AP, March 7) In a sure sign of changing times, the US envoy to Sudan, Andrew Natsios, has announced he will travel to Tripoli this week for talks on getting Libya involved in efforts to broker an end the Darfur conflict. Natsios made the announcement to the press after two hours of talks with President Omar al-Bashir. Said Natsios: "We believe that it should be one track of negotiations, the one of the UN and AU. I’m leaving tonight to Tripoli to see Qadaffi about the Libyan role." (AFP, March 7)