Some U.S. officials have tried recently to downplay the significance of Ramadi, saying they are not focused on the city.
But retired Lt. Col. Anthony Shaffer, a senior fellow at the London Center for Policy Research, said the situation in Ramadi is a significant sign that forces fighting ISIS need to take a different tack.
Perhaps more later but this is a huge story."Ramadi's a bad news story, period," he said. "It's not going well. The military units we've trained in the Iraqi army are basically laying down their guns and running."
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EU Pushing For US Crude Oil Exports
The Wall Street Journal is reporting:
The European Union is increasing pressure on Washington to include an energy chapter in a planned trans-Atlantic trade deal that would allow U.S. exports of natural gas and oil and reduce the bloc’s dependency on Russia.
Fossil-fuel exports from the U.S. have been restricted for decades. Yet growing internal production of oil and gas has eased some of Washington’s concerns over energy independence and the Energy Information Administration believes the U.S. will become a net gas exporter in 2017.
In recent years, the Energy Department has granted long-term gas-export licenses to six U.S. gas projects, which will eventually be able to sell 8.61 billion cubic feet (240 million cubic meters) of gas a day. At the same time, the U.S. oil industry is lobbying to lift the ban on oil exports, hoping that new markets would boost prices.
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I keep looking for the perfect book to help me understand Scotch. I think I finally found it today. Already on my bookshelf:
- Whisky, The Manual, Dave Broom, c. 2014
- Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch, 5th Edition, c. 2004, but in mint condition
- Whisk(e)y Distilled: A Populist Guide to the Water of Life, Heather Greene, c. 2014
I don't know if the woman on the jacket of the book is Heather Greene, but if she is I would listen to whatever she has to say on the subject of whiskey.
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