-Caveat Lector- from: http://www.aci.net/kalliste/ <A HREF="http://www.aci.net/kalliste/">The Home Page of J. Orlin Grabbe</A> ----- Oil Market The Price of Crude Rises Far from slumping to $5 per barrel, as some predicted, Brent crude two months forward is now about $16. Since the start of March, the oil price has risen by an astonishing 45 per cent, helping the FT/ S&P world oil index as a whole outperform by 15 per cent, and exploration and production stocks by 23 per cent over the same period. Opec surprised the market with the scope of planned production cuts and the alacrity with which it acted. Its aim of boosting oil revenues has also been given a fair wind by more muscular assessments of demand: the IMF's latest World Economic Outlook sees advanced economies growing at 2.3 per cent next year, up 0.4 percentage points from its December projection. Does this mean the oil price and oil shares have much further to rise? Although the stock overhang should have largely cleared by end-1999 with 80 per cent compliance with production cuts, the likelihood is that cheating around the edges will cap prices at about $16-$18 per barrel. As for shares, the surge in the oil price will swell short-term earnings and the value of cashflows. But longer-term oil price forecasts will determine whether there is more value to be released in share prices. If these too start to edge towards $18-$20 per barrel, the current rally will have further to go. Assuming there is more consolidation to come and global growth is indeed recovering, investors should not regret rotating into oil stocks. The Financial Times, April 26, 1999 Fin-de-Siecle Cult Group Protests in Beijing (Beijing appeals to FBI to gas cult members and run over them with a tank.) BEIJING - More than 10,000 Chinese followers of a cult-like figure who lives in the United States massed Sunday on the streets surrounding the headquarters of the Communist Party in the largest, and strangest, protest since the student-led demonstrations rocked Beijing in 1989. Clutching the writings of the Chinese martial arts master Li Hongzhi, the protesters entered Beijing in the predawn hours in buses and flooded the streets around the Zhongnanhai compound. There they sat almost silently - five or six deep on the sidewalk, many of them meditating - throughout the day as their leaders negotiated with government officials. Scores of police and plainclothes security officials looked on. The protesters were demanding action by the Chinese government against a Chinese magazine that last week published an article critical of the cult called Falun Gong. Followers of the cult leader, Li Hongzhi, who lives in Houston, said they were concerned that the article, which argued that Falun should not be practiced by young people, represented the first step in a government campaign to ban the cult - which involves group meditation, exercise and ofttimes bizarre spiritual training. They also said they wanted the government to recognize the sect officially, granting it legal status. The protest Sunday underscored the fears of Chinese leaders of unrest in the run-up to the 10th anniversary of the bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square on June 4. Demonstrations have become commonplace in cities and villages throughout China as a restive population - concerned about corruption and unemployment - appears increasingly willing to take to the streets to press their demands. The protesters dispersed late Sunday night after organizers assured them that the cabinet would negotiate with them Monday. The government had no comment on the protests, which went unreported by the official media, or on the protesters' claim that Prime Minister Zhu Rongji had been personally involved. ''This was an apolitical protest, but it also is a very political act,'' said a senior Chinese academic who has written extensively about China's growing number of cults. ''By moving 12,000 people into the center of Beijing, this group was making a very strong statement,'' he said. ''By picking this time to move these people, so near to June 4, the statement had that much more power.'' The Falun protest also illustrates a completely new set of challenges facing the Communist Party, which traditionally has been bedeviled by Western-oriented pro-democracy groups. Cults and religions, combining traditional Chinese beliefs with a dose of hucksterism, have proliferated in China among a restless people seeking a spiritual anchor amid economic and social upheaval. How to control these groups has presented the party with a huge task, evidenced by the fact that without warning more than 10,000 people surrounded the red-walled party headquarters Sunday. Indeed, Chinese security services have for the last six months carried out a crackdown against attempts to form China's first opposition party, a movement with less than 200 people involved. But tens of millions are believed to be practitioners of the Falun sect in China - a potential arsenal in times of trouble. In addition, the protest Sunday was meticulously organized - another potential headache for the government. Throughout the day, as protesters squatted in orderly rows, ate popsicles and nibbled on fruit, others came around to collect wrappers and apple cores to prevent littering. Furthermore, the protest in Beijing was not an isolated incident but rather a continuation of demonstrations that began last week in the coastal metropolis of Tianjin, 145 kilometers (90 miles) east of China's capital. There, thousands of Falun followers protested in front of the offices of the Youth Science and Technology Reader and the city government, demanding that the monthly's editors apologize for the article. The magazine refused the demand. When the protesters attempted to surround Tianjin's city hall, police dispersed them, employing what one source called ''tough tactics.'' No one was seriously injured, he added, but dozens of people were arrested and the group decided to take its protest to Beijing. Protesters said Sunday that they received calls Saturday from local cell leaders and some arrived in the center of the city as early at 4:30 A.M. Others came from as far away as Zhejiang Province, 1,300 kilometers south of Beijing. Falun Gong, or the law of the revolving wheel, says it is ''an advanced system of cultivation and practice'' - incorporating elements from the Chinese martial art, tai chi'chuan, Buddhism and Taoism. It is kind of a New Age movement with Chinese characteristics. By cultivating an ''orb'' of energy around the belly, the theory goes, disease can be cured and spiritual rapture achieved. One can also learn how to send one's soul flying outside the body. Mr. Li first began preaching Falun Gong in China in 1992. His sect quickly became popular. Mr. Li moved to the United States, and he gave his first seminar in Houston on Oct. 12, 1996. Since then he has generally picked celestially significant days for his teachings - often to crowds of thousands. Mr. Li' s writings have been translated into seven languages, and Falun organizations are active around the world and in 18 U.S. states and Washington. More than 80 Web sites are devoted to the practice of Falun. She Qingsheng, 26, a doctor from Beijing who was at the protest Sunday, said Falun is a good way to address the problems in Chinese society and the world, from drugs to the war in Yugoslavia. He said that China's ultra-radical Cultural Revolution destroyed traditional Chinese values, creating a moral vacuum in this country. People need something to believe in, he said, ''like Christianity in your country'' although he stressed that he did not believe Falun was a religion. ''Why did so many people come today?'' he asked. ''It's a problem of the social system, and a problem of recognition.'' International Herald Tribune, April 26, 1999 Who Says There's No "Social Contract"? Just Sign on the Dotted Line, Slave ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Social Contract Between an Individual and the United States Government WHEREAS I wish to reside in and about an area within what is known as the United States of America, and WHEREAS the Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court ("the Government") of the United States of America control the area in which I wish to reside, and WHEREAS tacit or implied contracts are vague and therefore unenforceable, I am forced to agree to the following terms: SECTION 1: I will surrender a proportion of my property to the Government. The actual proportion will be determined by the Government (without limit) and will be subject to change at any time. The amount to be surrendered may be based on my income, the value of my property, the value of my purchases, or any other criteria the Government chooses. SECTION 2: Should the Government demand it, I will surrender my liberty for a period of time determined by the Government and typically no shorter than two years. During that time, I will serve the Government in any way it chooses, including military service in which I may be called upon to sacrifice my life. SECTION 3: I will limit my behavior as demanded by the Government. I will consume only those drugs permitted by the Government. I will limit my sexual activities to those permitted by the Government. I will forsake religious beliefs that conflict with the Government's determination of propriety. More limits may be imposed at any time. SECTION 4: In consideration for the above, the Government will permit me to find employment, subject to limits that will be determined by the Government. These limits may restrict the availability of employment, choice of career or the wages I may accept. SECTION 5: The Government will permit me to reside in the parts of the Earth which it controls. Also, the Government will allow me to speak freely, subject to limits determined by Government (such limits may be varied from time to time). The Government will determine what I am allowed to read, hear and see, both in public and in private. SECTION 6: The Government will attempt to protect my life and my claim to the property it has allowed me to keep. However, the Government and its employees have no duty to protect me as an individual. I agree not to hold the Government or its employees liable if it fails to protect me or my property. SECTION 7: The Government will offer various services to me. The nature and extent of these services will be determined by the Government and are subject to change and revocation at any time. SECTION 8: The Government will determine whether I may vote for certain Government officials. The influence of my vote will vary inversely with the number of voters, and I understand that it typically will be minuscule. I agree not to hold any elected Government officials or their employees liable for acting against my best interests nor for breaking promises, even if those promises motivated me to vote for them. SECTION 9: I agree that the Government may hold me fully liable if I fail to abide by the above terms. In that event, the Government may confiscate any property that I have not previously surrendered to it, and may imprison me for a period of time to be determined by the Government or its appointees. I also agree that the Government may alter the terms of this contract at any time. Signed: ____________________________________ Date: ___________ ----- Aloha, He'Ping, Om, Shalom, Salaam. Em Hotep, Peace Be, Omnia Bona Bonis, All My Relations. Adieu, Adios, Aloha. Amen. Roads End Kris DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion and informational exchange list. Proselyzting propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soapboxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory', with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credeence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
