Oil prices have fallen to a nine-month low, with surging supply from OPEC - the Saudis have opened the taps - the US flooding the market, and fresh demand wilts, leading to an "oil glut" in the Atlantic region despite the twin crises in Iraq and Russia.

The Paris-based International Energy Agency (IEA), the leading oil think tank, said yesterday (8/12) that the world will consume less crude than experts had thought this year. Saudi Arabia's supplies are running at the highest level since last September and crude from Libya is back on the market.

The IEA cut its forecast for the rise in global consumption to just 1m barrels a day (b/d) this year due to near recession conditions in Europe and as pervasive weakness in the world economy disappoints.

This comes as supply rises by a further 300,000 b/d beyond what was already planned. The warning sent Brent crude prices tumbling to $104 a barrel, the lowest this year.  US crude is now at $96.

The sudden shift in the balance of the market has allowed the OECD club of rich states to build up their oil stocks at the fastest rate in eight years, creating an extra layer of protection against any possible supply shock from Russia and Iraq.  This good news is disastrous for the Kremlin.

Is this the most fabulous 30-second political ad you've ever seen in your life?

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Joni Ernst is a 43 year-old state senator, a Lt. Colonel in the Iowa National Guard who served in Iraq, and a rock-solid conservative - see her issue positions - who is a Republican candidate for the US Senate.

On Monday (3/24), she released the ad above that's been hailed by NRO as having "The Greatest Opening Line in the History of Campaign Commercials."  To wit:

"I'm Joni Ernst... I grew up castrating hogs on an Iowa farm, so when I get to Washington, I'll know how to cut pork."

On Wednesday (3/26), the front page headline in Iowa newspapers was "Sarah Palin Endorses Joni Ernst." 

That evening, Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show showed the ad in his opening monologue, then commented:  "I don't know what she's running for but just give her the job."  On Comedy Central, Stephen Colbert endorsed her, explaining:

"Joni, you had me at 'castration.' Folks, it does not matter what else she stands for. I'm pulling for her whole-hog, or whatever is left of the hog when she's done with it."

Without the rule of law, a civil and prosperous society cannot long endure. The annual reports of The Economic Freedom of the World and The Index of Economic Freedom show very large declines in the international ranking of the United States in the rule of law over the past decade.

The Obama administration is becoming increasingly arbitrary concerning what laws it chooses to enforce or not enforce, while, at the same time, through executive orders and administrative decisions, just making up "law" outside of the constitutional process.

Perhaps the clearest examples of this abuse can be found at the IRS, which increasingly acts as a rogue agency with the support of its masters at the Treasury and Justice Departments. 

The IRS has a long record of ignoring the Constitution and the rule of law.  Now it's become much worse.

China will redouble its efforts to nationalize Christianity, a senior Chinese official announced on last Thursday (8/07).

"The construction of Chinese Christian theology should adapt to China's national condition and integrate with Chinese culture," Wang Zuoan, director of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, said at a Shanghai forum on the "Sinicization of Christianity," according to Chinese state media.

Gu Mengfei, deputy secretary-general of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement - a state-sanctioned umbrella organization for Protestant churches - elaborated on the initiative. "This will encourage more believers to make contributions to the country's harmonious social progress, cultural prosperity and economic development," Gu said.

As the name implies, the Three-Self Patriotic Movement - which long predates the establishment of the People's Republic of China - has Chinese nationalism at its core.

The Three-Selfs are the three principles of self-support (financial independence from foreigners), self-leadership/governance, and self-propagation (indigenous missionary work).

Nonetheless, the officials' comments last week indicate that the Chinese Communist Party intends to further tighten its grip over Christianity. There are a number of possible targets and motivations for the crackdown.

The struggle between the productive and the destructive never ends. The productive are those who add more value and wealth than they consume, and the destructive are those who destroy more value and wealth than they create. Will 2014 be a year of production or destruction?

Those private individuals, firms or institutions such as the Federal Reserve and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that make economic forecasts for the United States or the global economy are actually making judgments about the outcomes of the struggles between the productive and the destructive.

The good news is that most people will work hard and honestly to create more wealth for their families in 2014 -- whether they are creating a new business or product, or just doing a really good job. The bad news is that in the United States, individuals and businesses now face $54 billion more in new federal taxes and a torrent of new regulations and rules that, for the most part, make life harder.