Geo-Fossil-Fuel-Politics: Under Previous Administration, The US Conceded Future Fossil Fuel Arctic Exploration To Others -- October 18, 2018

Today it's being reported that Saudi Arabia is more than happy to fill that vacuum. Oilprice.com is reporting:

Now that global oil markets have gotten used to Saudi-Russian oil production cooperation that first hit the scene in early 2017 in an effort to reign in global price concerns, it now appears that the two fledgling allies are also going to cooperate in the liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector. And this time too, it looks as if the alliance could take aim at U.S. energy ambitions.

The kingdom’s media savvy energy minister Khalid Al-Falih said at the India Energy Forum in Delhi on Monday that Saudi state-owned Saudi Aramco is open to the idea of marketing some of the LNG from the proposed Russian Arctic LNG 2.

“Aramco has the mandate to go global and not only invest in downstream but also invest in gas and LNG. We have looked at projects in Africa and the Mediterranean, and of course the Arctic with some Russian companies, Novatek. The idea is that Aramco will trade that [LNG] globally and bring some of that to India and other markets,” Al-Falih said.

Murder in the consulate? What murder? That's so yesterday. 

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Poll: Should Trump Close US-Mexico Border ...

... Before/After The Mid-Term Elections

Updates

October 19, 2018: I suggested that a couple of well-placed phone calls would stop this. It is now being reported, but not confirmed, and has not been reported widely in the mainstream media yet, but apparently the mass of Hondurans -- which just reached the southern border of Mexico this past week -- is now disbanding and turning back. More to follow.

Original Post

This is very interesting. Binary thinking.

First binary choice: is the massing of Honduran "families" serious enough for the president to do something brash? Yes/No

President Trump is accused of being very brash. He comes across in word (tweet/rallies) as being very brash, but from my perspective he has been much more measured. His bark is louder than his bite is serious. So, for him to unilaterally close the US-Mexico border would be perhaps the most "brash" thing he has done.

If one feels he should not be so brash as to close the border then we move on. No poll. Nothing to see here.

But if the president (or it appears, John Bolton) sees this as a serious enough issue to do something as brash as closing the border, then it's a binary choice: close the border before the mid-term elections or close the border after the us mid-term elections.

From my perspective, regardless of whether it's the "right" thing to do or not, the anti-Trumpers would jump on this as a brash act by the president. Like the Kavanaugh circus, the merit of the decision would not be the issue. The "definition" and "defining" of "brashness" would become the issue. The issue may affect the Cruz-O'Rourke race. And not necessarily in a good way. As things stand, Cruz should win by at least a small margin. If Trump does something brash, Cruz might win by a bigger margin (so what? a win is a win regardless of the margin; ask Brett); if folks see Trump as being brash, then Cruz might lose by a narrow margin. Oh-oh.

Others will disagree. Others see the Cruz-O'Rourke race as a too-close-to-call and a brash act by Trump would cement a win for Cruz.

I think Trump could get just as good a response from Mexico if he personally spoke with the president, while at the same time sending the US SecState to visit the Mexican ambassador to the US, making it very clear, the border is closed the day after the election if the Mexican government does not stop the mass migration.

So, ignoring the question of whether the issue is serious enough for the president to take serious action, should President Trump close the border before the mid-term elections, or the day after the mid-term elections.

The poll is at the sidebar at the right.

The Heidi Heitkamp - Kevin Cramer debate is tonight. I think one will be able to tell how Heidi's internal polling is trending based on how she answers the questions. If she says she has brought huge bi-partisan support to the US Senate ...

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Polling

It will be interesting to see the overnight polling.

Most recent poll at this link: