And that is all.

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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Floatin' Powa News Service: Howza Sekritz?



EU countries practice 'secret' diplomacy, Hamas says
SEKRIT SQUIRRELZ!

Abbas meeting with Mitchell today

Jordanian King, Queen to visit Syria today

RP to send 336 peacekeepers to Syria
The Philippines has assured the United Nations (UN) that it will send a 336-strong peacekeeping battalion to the to the Golan Heights in Syria to help them keep peace in the conflict-ridden area, the Department of National Defense (DND) said Monday.
UN General Assembly ends its 63rd session
Glow Ball Peace through Dead Juden was declared.

Accusing Jews of harvesting organs becomes a fad
Everything old is new again! All the cool kids are doing it.

Fatah claims Israel

Hamas lawmaker warns of changing US policy in region

Netanyahu calls for tougher sanctions now on Iran
Glow Ball yawns, stretches, makes an appointment with him for October

Islam In Action: Video Collection of NY Based Islamist Groups

NAIF BRIEFED ON OIC PLANS
Prince Naif Bin Abdul Aziz, Second Deputy Premier and Minister of Interior, Sunday received in Makkah Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General of Organization of the Islamic Conference. Ihsanoglu briefed Prince Naif on OIC’s activities and future plans, as well as issues of concern to the Islamic nation. Prince Naif expressed his thanks to and appreciation of the OIC for its efforts in following up all issues related to the Islamic nation and its relationship with the world.
One Flak88, downed. Andre did it!:
Rights Group Assailed for Analyst's Nazi Collection
A leading human rights group has suspended its senior military analyst following revelations that he is an avid collector of Nazi memorabilia. The group, Human Rights Watch, had initially thrown its full support behind the analyst, Marc Garlasco, when the news of his hobby came out last week.

On Monday night, the group shifted course and suspended him with pay, “pending an investigation,” said Carroll Bogert, the group’s associate director. “We have questions about whether we have learned everything we need to know,” she said. The suspension comes at a time of heightened tension between, on one side, the new Israeli government and its allies on the right, and the other side, human rights organizations that have been critical of Israel.

In recent months, the government has pledged an aggressive approach toward the groups to discredit what they argue is bias and error. Injected suddenly into that heated conflict, word of Mr. Garlasco’s interest seemed startling to many. The disclosure ricocheted across the Internet: Mr. Garlasco, an American, was not only a collector, he has written a book, more than 400 pages long, about Nazi-era medals. His hobby, inspired he said by a German grandfather conscripted into Hitler’s army, was revealed on a pro-Israel blog, Mere Rhetoric, which quoted his enthusiastic postings on collector sites under the pseudonym “Flak88” — including, “That is so cool! The leather SS jacket makes my blood go cold it is so COOL!”
Bin Laden's Reading List for Americans
Gramsci's Greatest Hits.

UK: Anti-Israel rally moved due to threats
Police made the decision to move the annual Al Quds Day demonstration in London - an annual anti-Israel event held at the end of Ramadan to oppose Israel's control of Jerusalem - following the call from far-right organization the English Defense League (EDL) for its supporters to oppose the event.
Obama Is Pushing Israel Toward War
At July's G-8 summit in Italy, Iran was given a September deadline to start negotiations over its nuclear programs. Last week, Iran gave its answer: No. Instead, what Tehran offered was a five-page document that was the diplomatic equivalent of a giant kiss-off. It begins by lamenting the "ungodly ways of thinking prevailing in global relations" and proceeds to offer comprehensive talks on a variety of subjects: democracy, human rights, disarmament, terrorism, "respect for the rights of nations," and other areas where Iran is a paragon. Conspicuously absent from the document is any mention of Iran's nuclear program, now at the so-called breakout point, which both Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his boss Ali Khamenei insist is not up for discussion. What's an American president to do in the face of this nonstarter of a document? What else, but pretend it isn't a nonstarter. Talks begin Oct. 1.
Obama inspires Islamists' D.C. prayer rally
Shariah experts to proclaim 'Our Day has Come'. Oh... joy!

Muslims who are working to stage the "Our Day Has Come" day of prayer at the U.S. Capitol have discussed views that include an Islamic takeover of the White House, from where they say President Barack Obama is providing their inspiration.

Building on the Islamic interest in Obama's inauguration, when Muslims claimed in a magazine that "It's our time," the event planners are calling for 50,000 Muslims to attend the 4 a.m. event on the National Mall on Sept. 25

The organizer is Hassen Abdellah, who leads a Elizabeth, N.J., mosque, and two special guests for the event, according to the website, will be Sheik Muhammad Jebril and Sheik Ahmed Dewidar.

Karzai rival warns: Vote fraud would doom US involvement

Opponent Abdullah Accuses President Karzai of Fraud and Treason

UN chief Peter Galbraith is removed in Afghanistan poll clash


Morality of the war on terror descends into Viagra handouts
Bribing leaders in the Afghan hinterland to take sides in the clash of civilisations is no easy task. The CIA used to offer local chiefs money for information, but then they would spend it so ostentatiously they effectively blew their own cover. Operatives used to give weapons before it turned out that the arms were being sold on and used against them.

But one day they decided that if they were going to rally the fence-sitters to the enlightenment cause they should strike below the belt. During a conversation with a chief in his 60s who had four younger wives, a CIA official pulled out a bag of Viagra. "Take one of these," he said. "You'll love it."

It was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. When the officer returned later in the week the once wary chief was all smiles and actionable intelligence. All he wanted in return was some little blue pills. "He came up to us beaming," the official told the Washington Post. "He said: 'You are a great man.' And after that we could do whatever we wanted in his area."
New US Plan To Let Afghan Prisoners Challenge Incarceration
An order creating the review boards at Bagram was signed in July by Deputy Defense Secretary William "RAYTHEON!" Lynn.

Amano to Lead Nuclear Watchdog
Japanese Diplomat's Selection Ends Battle Over Top IAEA Post

Chief UN nuclear inspector urges talks with Iran

EU Foreign Policy Chief to Meet Iran's Nuclear Negotiator


World Powers Accept Iran's Proposal for Talks

Iran Agrees to Talks with Major Powers in October
Oh how mightily tolerant of them!
Iranian state media say Iran has agreed to start talks with six world powers on global economic and security problems in early October
Iran defiant against Israel, US

Iran Signs 25-Year UAE Gas Contract With Unnamed Company
State Sekrits that make me go hmmmmmmmmmm.....
The National Iranian Gas Export Co., or NIGEC, has signed a contract with a foreign company to export gas to the United Arab Emirates for 25 years, Iranian media said Monday. Iran's official Press TV quoted NIGEC's Reza Kasaeizadeh as saying the unnamed foreign company is to develop an Iranian gas field in the Persian Gulf.

It will export an annual 3 billion cubic meters of gas a year to the U.A.E. for 25 years. NIGEC said a month ago it had signed a memorandum of understanding with the unnamed company but the announcement of a contract suggests the deal may have moved closer to reality. The deal comes as U.A.E.-based Crescent Petroleum said it would take Iran's state oil company to arbitration over a gas supply deal after Iran refused to deliver the gas following a pricing dispute.

Now then.... let's try to reason this here major sekrit out ~
In 2002, the Persian Gulf countries...
.... (Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates) produced about 25% of the world's oil, while holding nearly two-thirds of the world's crude oil reserves. OECD gross oil imports from Persian Gulf countries averaged about 10.6 million barrels per day (bbl/d) during 2002, accounting for 27% of the OECD's total gross oil imports. Besides oil, the Persian Gulf region also has huge reserves (1,923 trillion cubic feet -- Tcf) of natural gas, accounting for 36% of total proven world gas reserves.

SNIP

Offshore Persian Gulf Oil Development: Major offshore Persian Gulf oil fields include Khafji and Hout, both of which are connected to Saudi Arabia's Safaniyah, the world's largest offshore oilfield (with estimated reserves of 19 billion barrels). Saudi offshore Persian Gulf production includes Arab Medium crude from the Zuluf (over 500,000 bbl/d capacity) and Marjan (270,000 bbl/d capacity) fields and Arab Heavy crude from the Safaniya field. The Doroud 1&2, Salman, Abuzar, Foroozan, and Sirri fields comprised the bulk of Iran's offshore output, all of which is exported. Iran plans extensive development of existing offshore fields and hopes to raise its offshore production capacity sharply. Iran's national oil company (NIOC) has expressed interest in developing five oil and gas fields in the Hormuz region (Henjam A -- HA, HB, HC, HD, and HE), which, according to NIOC, hold an estimated 400 million barrels of liquids (oil, natural gas condensates, etc.) and have production potential of 80,000 bbl/d.
OK... so who are the major oil field developers active in the Persian Gulf, I ask?
Even if Iran is dancing at the GAZPROM on this the truth still hits a little closer to home, as Saudi Aramco is all mixed up with us, and us with them :
Safaniyah, by far the largest offshore oilfield in the world, was found in 1951 by Texaco (which in 1937 was the first to join SoCal - now Chevron - in Saudi Arabia as a 50% partner in Aramco. But now Taxaco is part of Chevron).

(Texaco sold 50% of its US East Coast system to Saudi Aramco in 1988. The resultant JV Star Enterprise gave Texaco permanent access to 630,000 b/d of Saudi crude oil. In 1997 Shell, Saudi Aramco and Texaco combined their assets into a new JV called Motiva Enterprise. On Oct. 9, 2001, as Chevron's takeover of Texaco was finalised, Saudi Aramco bought half of Texaco's stake in Motiva, with Shell buying the other half. Thus Motiva now is owned 50-50 by Saudi Aramco and Shell - see OMT 16).

SNIP

Dubai-based J. Ray McDermott in May 2007 got a four-year contract to engineer, procure, construct, install, hook-up and commission the new Manifa facilities. The US company then said fabrication of platforms, with a combined weight of over 16,700 tons, was to begin at Jebel Ali in September 2007. The project includes modification work which entails design, procurement, installation, hook-up and commissioning of communication packages on 26 existing platforms. Its job has to be completed by 2011.

Marjan, an offshore giant found in 1967 by Chevron, extends well into Iranian waters, where the field is known as Forouzan. Marjan forms an axis of fields off the Saudi coast, all in Cretaceous-to-Upper Jurassic Fms, which include Hamur, Maharah, Lawhah, and Hasbah. Marjan, producer of AM, has a working capacity of 270,000 b/d - with 300,000 b/d of its 570,000 b/d capacity mothballed.

SNIP

Saudi Aramco on March 31, 2007, signed a $100m contract with Stroytransgaz, a construction arm of Russia's energy giant Gazprom, for laying a 200+-km crude oil pipeline from Shaybah to Abqaiq within 18 months. (President Vladimir Putin in February 2007 made a two-day visit to Saudi Arabia, which was the first visit of a Russian head of state. Saudi-Russian trade has risen from $88.5m in 1999 to $412m in 2005. The kingdom exports wood, coal, wood products, and paper products to Russia, while its imports from Russia include yeast, copper products, and steel. The two countries have only five joint industrial and non-industrial projects worth SR37m).

SNIP

The Divided Zone: The divided (formerly "neutral") zone is shared equally by Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, under a treaty signed on Dec. 2, 1922 to settle a territorial dispute between the two countries. The treaty was revised on July 7, 1965. The joint administration accord was supplemented in 1969 by an agreement whereby the northern half was administered by Kuwait and the southern part was run by Saudi Arabia. An undivided half interest in all resources was maintained over the entire area by each state. A joint Kuwaiti-Saudi committee oversees exploitation of these resources.

Texaco (Chevron), which has the onshore concession to 2010 in the northern half, shares its area's oil production equally with Kuwait. Saudi Arabia gets taxes and royalties on Texaco's share. Texaco's production capacity reached 420,000 b/d in 2005. It had risen after the Gulf war from 100,000 b/d in 1991/92 to 120,000 b/d in 1995 and 270,000 b/d in late 1998 and the first half of 1999. Texaco operates three onshore oilfields: Wafra, South Fuwaris and South Umm Gudair (see their profiles in the Kuwait survey in Vol. 68). The former US operator onshore, Getty Oil, was sold to Texaco in 1984.

Aramco Gulf Operations Co. (AGOC) is a unit of Saudi Aramco set up at end-February 2000 to take over half the operations of Arabian Oil Co. (AOC) of Japan - which had the offshore concession to February 2000 on the Saudi side and to Jan. 4, 2003 on the Kuwaiti side. AOC lost both concessions and now works as a service contractor for Kuwait Gulf Oil Co. (KGOC). The offshore area's oil production capacity is 300,000 b/d maintained since the 1980s. The area has two producing oilfields: Khafji which is offshore and Hout which is onshore. It also has a huge but undeveloped offshore gas field, Dorra, and a very small undeveloped structure called Lulu, and both are on the median line with Iran's waters. Lulu forms an extension of Iran's Esfandiar offshore field.

AGOC and KGOC have formed an operating JV called Khafji Joint Operations (KJO), which is spending $1.5 bn to upgrade and expand the capacity by late 2007 in two phases. Toyo Engineering got a contract in June 2003 to repair and upgrade the oil production facilities by end-2004 to ensure another 10 years of operations. Phase-2, 2005-07, required Toyo to prepare a plan and designs for rebuilding the al-Khafji facilities to ensure stable production levels during the next 30 years.

It has been proposed that Dorra, to be exploited jointly for Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, with a share to go to Iran as part of a territorial deal, will have a major stream of natural gas and this will feed a big electric power plant (see gmt14SaudiFieldsOct3-05).

Saudi Aramco earlier in 2007 unveiled a plan to expand its known resources by finding new oilfields while also concentrating on ultimate recovery from existing and yet to be found fields. It is looking into areas hard to explore and the potential of unconventional oil.

A pilot project for heavy oil involves a steam-flooding process developed by Chevron in Indonesia and other parts of the world - continuously injecting high pressure steam into Fms of heavy oil in the Divided Zone (DZ). The additional heat and condensation causes expansion in the liquid, releasing it from the surrounding rock. It reduces the liquid's viscosity, enabling it to be pumped out more easily. About $300m are being spent on this with Saudi Arabian Texaco (SAT). Targeted production is 300,000 b/d from 2010.

Saudi Aramco is looking into the DZ's offshore part and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia's Persian Gulf waters. Its Supreme Council, headed by King Abdullah, has authorised the NOC to share the risk of its new extraction plans for heavy oil with IOCs specialised in deep offshore E&P. It recently signed a deal with state-controlled Brazilian IOC Petrobras to tackle technological challenges in extracting heavy oil offshore and having a related olefins complex. This will be an integrated heavy oil E&P/downstream petrochemical JV likely to involve several billion dollars. If this experience proves successful, Saudi Aramco may have similar JVs with other specialised IOCs.

READ IT ALL

S&P reiterates strong buy rating on Chevron

Total and Chevron are not alone in enriching the Burmese junta

China's colorful presence in Iran's petroleum industry

CIC in Talks on Mining Investment
Please to remember that HOPU is the Gold Man in China under Herr Fang
...and private equity firm Hopu Investment Management Co., which have previously invested a combined $300 million into Lung Ming
The larger trend: China, Britain and Europe in a multilateral world
Unfuckin'real.
It is nice to be back in the place where you work to get “the truth from facts” in Deng’s words. It is very apposite for what I have to say this morning. And also it’s nice to come now, just as you approach the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic.

China’s achievements are a cause of celebration for all of us. And I also celebrate the fact that relations between Britain and China have never been stronger. We have fifteen British government departments represented in our Beijing embassy which I think is testimony to the extent and depth of our bilateral relationship I last spoke here as EU Trade Commissioner.

It was during my time in that job that I really became convinced that China’s reemergence as a global power would redefine not only Asia but the whole landscape of international economics and politics.
India inks uranium deal with Mongolia

Cameco of Canada eyeing Indian uranium market

Honduras envoy says "ordered out" of U.N. rights body
The Honduran ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva said on Monday he had been ordered out of the U.N. Human Rights Council after other Latin American countries accused him of representing an "illegal" regime. After a day of confusion which stalled the start of the three-week session of the 47-nation council, envoy J. Delmer Urbizo left the hall declaring loudly in English and Spanish: "We will be back! Volveremos!"
Bolivia Will Not Sever Ties With Colombia

Gazprom may get control of Lietuvos Dujos
Russia's state-owned gas giant Gazprom may get control of Lithuanian refiner Lietuvos Dujos as a result of a new pipeline.
Gazprom sees political risk to Ukraine gas payments

Chavez Agrees to $2.2 Billion Russia Arms Credit Line

Bank of New York, Russia Near Settlement of Lawsuit


Clearwire Gets WiMax Partners in Japan, Russia


Chechen Security Sources Predict New Attacks in Republic

Russian president meets with French, Spanish prime ministers

Tycoon rails against Russia's "permanent crisis"

Smelling a rat, newspaper sets trap for Sekrit 'Zakazukhi' Man
In The National - Abu Dhabi, UAE
MOSCOW // Over the past 15 years, the Russian biweekly newspaper Novaya Gazeta has built a formidable reputation for its fearless reporting, ardent criticism of the government and fierce independent streak. Its editors, therefore, watched on with puzzlement and wonder as a young man strolled into their offices earlier this year and offered them up to 4 million roubles (Dh476,000) a month from an unidentified “oligarch” to completely overhaul the paper’s editorial line.

“The first thing that made us suspicious is that he came in so confidently and so openly began discussing cash in exchange for changing our editorial policy when he clearly understands that this is illegal,” said Roman Shleinov, head of Novaya Gazeta’s investigations department.

The type of articles he was proposing are known in Russian as zakazukhi, illegal paid-for stories passed off as regular pieces of journalism. The bribery attempt, the editors believe, was part of a secretive, well-funded, and ongoing operation to discredit media and political groups critical of the Kremlin by implicating them in unseemly behaviour, from for-sale journalism to drug use to treason.

Smelling a rat, they decided to play along, surreptitiously recording subsequent meetings and contacting police to set up a sting operation. On March 25, the suspect, Dmitry Kopylov, was detained in the sting after handing 89,000 roubles to a Novaya Gazeta employee and subsequently charged with commercial bribery, punishable by up to two years in prison.

Conducting its own investigation into the curious incident, Novaya Gazeta discovered that Mr Kopylov is a former member of the state-sponsored pro-Kremlin youth group Nashi, a kind of modern-day Komsomol – the Soviet-era youth wing of the Communist Party – that pledges undying loyalty to Russia’s ruling elite. Russian liberals claim that youth groups such as Nashi, which are notorious for organising smear campaigns against Kremlin opponents, are spearheading these often elaborate provocations.
Anger at record Russian oil output

Putin Stalin in his place

Putin Weighs War, US and 2012 Election


Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan to restore historic, economic ties
Glorious!

At least 1.3 thousand honorary weapons registered in Kyrgyzstan


No water reservoirs built in Kyrgyzstan since independence


Sexual abuse knows no boundaries in Kyrgyzstan

Negotiations on status of Sekrit Russian military base in Tajikistan to be continued
DUSHANBE, September 12, 2009- No principle decisions on the Russian military base in Tajikistan have been adopted during Russian defense minister’s discussions with Tajik officials. Friday (September 11) afternoon, visiting Russian Minister of Defense Anatoly Serdyukov held talks with his Tajik counterpart, Colonel-General Sherali Khairulloyev, and Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi.

The meeting was held behind closed doors at the government residence in Dushanbe and the sides did not comment upon the meeting results. However, according to some sources, no principles decision was adopted regarding the Russian military base deployed in Tajikistan. The sides decided that negotiations on organizing and staff structure of the base would be continued. The sides reportedly discussed issues related to military and technical cooperation between Tajikistan and the Russian Federation and training of personnel for Tajik armed forces at Russian military schools.

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to arrive in Turkmenistan
During the visit, President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov and President Viktor Yushchenko will take part in the opening of a railway bridge across the Amu Darya river that was built by the Ukrainian specialists. At the invitation of the Turkmen leader, the head of Ukraine will also participate in a ceremony of laying the foundation stone of a bridge over the Amu Darya river.
Turkmenistan's friend in the Obama administration

Before he was named as the administration’s special envoy on international energy, David Goldwyn advocated for closer ties to Stalinist Turkmenistan as head of the energy industry-endowed U.S.-Turkmenistan Business Council. That group argued for closer ties with the government there on the grounds of its energy reserves and alleged progress on human rights.

Here’s the latest news from Turkmenistan: The Turkmen dictator, who is coming to the U.S. in about a week, is panicked at the idea of Turkmen kids going to college. Of course there is no college in Turkmenistan, so the only way to get a higher education is to leave the country. So he’s clamped on controls to stop kids from going abroad to get an education. His thinking is pretty self-evident: anyone with a college education would probably want to overthrow his government, and that’s almost certainly true.

Turkmenistan, Russia's Itera sign energy deal

Berdimuhamedov touts natural gas potential

Caspian issues were debated in Aktau behind closed doors

Ancient Caspian Sekrit!

No Change in Iran's Position on Caspian Sea

Not without a major earthquake, anyway.

Caspian littoral states require financial system reconstruction

LITTORAL: of or pertaining to the shore of a lake, sea, or ocean.

Raytheon-led Littoral Warfare Weapons Team


Lawmaker: Kazakhstan could have president-for-life

US-British-Kazakh Military Exercises Begin In Kazakhstan
ALMATY -- The opening ceremonies for nearly two weeks of military exercises involving Kazakh, U.S., and British personnel have taken place in Kazakhstan's Ili region, near Almaty, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

The maneuvers, called "Steppe Eagle 2009," are being held under the auspices of NATO. Kazakh Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov took part in the opening ceremony along with British Ambassador Paul Barmmel and U.S. Ambassador to Kazakhstan Richard Hoagland. NATO representatives from Brussels also attended.

More than 1,300 troops and 100 military vehicles and airplanes are participating in the exercises, which are scheduled to last until September 26. The main goal of the maneuvers is to train the military personnel in operating a peacekeeping mission in a conflict zone.
Kazakhstan Delegates Arrive In Tyler To Learn More About American Government

ADB approves USD 500mn short-term loan to Kazakhstan
One of four visiting delegates from the country of Kazakhstan who has come to Tyler for a federally funded professional exchange program is staying in the home of Federal Magistrate Judge Judith Guthrie and her husband Matthew Watson.

Judge Guthrie said the delegate, Sergey Gulayev, is fascinated with the size of her refrigerator. "He told us that our refrigerator is the size of his whole kitchen," she said. He is also fascinated with the size of American houses, public transportation and the differences between public and private housing in the United States.
EU calls on Uzbekistan to improve human rights
Tovarich EUniks, please.

Uzbekistan Baptist Union Leaders Face Up to 3 years in Jail

Crisis has not altered Wall Street
Silly headline. In Soviet Oymerika crisis puts you up against wall and alters you!

Biggest banks taking new risks
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., and others that have received tens of billions of dollars in federal aid are once more betting big on bonds
The Bailouts Revisited
Without all that bailout money going to the banks via AIG, wouldn’t the financial system have crashed, the banks have stopped lending, and the recession have gotten worse? Well, no.
How the Financial Crisis Has Impacted the Banking Industry
On Monday, Sept. 15, 2008, investment banking firm Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy protection, kicking off a week of massive shifts on Wall Street that was the beginning of the largest financial crisis in recent memory.Brookings Institution fellow Douglas Elliott was online Monday, Sept. 14 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the effect the financial crisis has had on the banking industry. A transcript follows.
Crisis measures boosting central banks' bottom line

Credit Suisse Publishes "The World Post the Credit Crisis" Report
Global in perspective, the report comprehensively examines the financial and economic effects of the crisis, but also considers its potential social and political consequences. The report`s contributors include Sir John Major, former British Prime Minister and Senior Advisor to Credit Suisse; Dr Ernesto Zedillo, Nobel prize winner and former President of Mexico; Robert Parker, Vice Chairman of Asset Management at Credit Suisse; and a host of other leading Credit Suisse analysts and external commentators. An overview of topics is outlined below.
Fed's Lacker: Financial Regulation Could Backfire

Financial Regulatory Round-Up
"I expect Congress to pass legislation to create systemic authority, resolution authority and to strengthen protections for consumers," says Scott Talbott
Obama's Speech: 'TARP on Steroids'
Representative Brad Sherman, Democrat of California, called right after the president’s speech to complain that his plan would create “TARP on steroids” — a permanent expansion of the Treasury’s $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program. Mr. Sherman, a member of the House Financial Services Committee, was perhaps the most visible Democrat to vote against creating TARP last year.

But he is neither a fire-breathing anti-government conservative nor a left-wing liberal angry at helping Wall Street. He calls himself a member of the “skeptics caucus.” Mr. Sherman said the president’s legislative proposal to establish a “resolution authority’’ to shut down troubled institutions would actually expand the government’s authority to bail out banks — precisely the opposite of what Mr. Obama has said he wants to do.
President wants investors to pay cost of future failed firms

Why Isn't Obama Breaking Up the Insolvent Banks?

Obama Says US Financial Rules Overhaul Will Happen This Year


On the World Socialist Web Site:
France's “national subscription” prepares massive handout to big business
In short, the French political elite is mobilising the state’s financial resources behind several of its most internationally competitive industries—notably nuclear power, transport, and high-tech. This will further stoke international tensions with trading partners such as Germany and the US, which also compete in these areas.

There is also a significant military and strategic dimension to the “national subscription” plan: French industrial expertise, notably in nuclear plants and weapons systems, has been central to plans to expand French imperialism’s influence abroad. The recent installation of a French military base in Abu Dhabi was linked to selling two French-built nuclear plants to that country. The French government hopes to sell further such plants to Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states.
AFL-CIO's Hughes renamed NY Fed chairman for 2010

China's Growth Expected To Drive Global Demand For Oil


Oil price may hit $200 a barrel - economists


Natural gas prices jump 13 percent

More Radical Actions Planned for Icelandic Households
Possible actions to solve the financial problems of households in Iceland were discussed at a meeting between government representatives and associations of wage earners and employers on Wednesday.
Lobbyist: A Bill Will Pass
There is a “very strong possibility” a health reform bill will pass Congress this year, according to a lobbyist who once worked as a health aide in the office of Sen. Charles Grassley. Colette Desmarais, a principal at Mehlman Vogel Castagnetti Inc., Washington, a lobbying firm, said today at a Medicare conference organized by America’s Health Insurance Plans, Washington, that she believes Grassley, R-Iowa, will work to get a health reform bill through the Senate Finance Committee.

Grassley is the highest-ranking Republican member of the committee. Desmarais said the final health reform bill will look more like the draft developed on the “Senate side” -- without a public option -- than the more liberal version now being developed in the House. The House “tri-committee” health reform proposal is more a “wish list” put together by “left-leaning” interests than a viable legislation proposal, Desmarais said.

It's Showdown Week for the Baucus Six, With a Medicaid Fight Looming

Axelrod: Obama Firm on Public Option

Yah mean THIS Axlerod?
Firms with Obama ties profit from health push
President Barack Obama's push for a national health care overhaul is providing a financial windfall in the election offseason to Democratic consulting firms that are closely connected to the president and two top advisers.Coalitions of interest groups running at least $24 million in pro-overhaul ads hired GMMB, which worked for Obama's 2008 campaign and whose partners include a top Obama campaign strategist. They also hired AKPD Message and Media, which was founded by David Axelrod, a top adviser to Obama's campaign and now to the White House. AKPD did work for Obama's campaign, and Axelrod's son Michael and Obama's campaign manager David Plouffe work there.

Culling Out the Population, the Enlightened Liberal Way

Feds urge small businesses to prepare for H1N1

UC Davis physics professor gets $1.2M federal grant for studying nuke fuels
A research team headed by a University of California Davis physics professor has received an almost $1.2 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to find more efficient fuels for nuclear reactors. Sergey Savrasov will work with two colleagues at Rutgers University in New Jersey to try to address the shortcomings of uranium dioxide as it relates to its use with nuclear reactors. Uranium dioxide is the fuel most often used to generate nuclear energy.
DoD Announces New Information-Sharing Access to Help Fusion Centers
The DoD Secret Internet Protocol Router Network! All your Sekritz are belong to Willie Raytheon Lynn!
The Departments of Defense (DoD) and Homeland Security (DHS) today announced an initiative to grant select state and major urban area fusion center personnel access to classified terrorism-related information residing in DoD’s classified network. Under this initiative, select fusion center personnel with a federal security clearance will be able to access specific terrorism-related information resident on the DoD Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet)—a secure network used to send classified data.

This classified data will be accessed via DHS’ Homeland Security Data Network (HSDN). DHS will be responsible for ensuring that proper security procedures are followed. “With this action, DoD continues its work in supporting states and localities who are leading our efforts to secure the nation from domestic terrorism attacks, said Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense and Americas’ Security Affairs Paul N. Stockton. “We look forward to exploring other opportunities where DoD can help our state and local partners effectively defeat terrorism.”
Homeland Security Committee Confronts Cyber Crime

Raytheon Accomplishes Successful Underwater Missile Test

Raytheon picks Intracom for UAE Patriot

RIP Patrick Swayze: The image of dignity, decency and defiance.
WOLVERINES!

Second Temple road uncovered in Jerusalem


1500-year-old Aphrodite figurines discovered in Hippos

English cave dig may yield clues as to why Neanderthals became extinct


Further Drilling Results at the Etango Uranium Project

Environmentalists Question Niger Uranium Mine

Bloody Dictator Mugabe to Ask Investors to Dig Mines, Forget Farms

In what’s being billed as Zimbabwe’s biggest ever mining conference Mugabe will present a united front with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, the former opposition leader with whom he formed a coalition government. They are seeking investors to help them exploit the world’s second-biggest platinum and chrome reserves and companies to reopen idled gold mines and dig coal pits.

“There’s a number of issues that need resolution,” David Brown, the chief executive officer of Johannesburg-based Impala Platinum Holdings Ltd., the biggest investor in Zimbabwean mining, said in an interview. If the government makes the legal changes it promised “we’ll be in a much more positive frame of mind in terms of investment.” Impala, which owns platinum mines in the country, has held back on investment plans worth about $750 million as it awaits clarity on mining laws.

Zimbabwe’s platinum reserves lag behind only South Africa. Along with Russia the three countries are the only nations with significant reserves of the metal used to curb car pollution.

Ecuador President Denies Government Intervention In Chevron Case

French volcano expert killed in Ecuador
A French volcano expert has been murdered in Ecuador's capital under circumstances that remain unclear
4.8 Mb - SOUTH OF FIJI ISLANDS

4.7 Mb - FIJI REGION

4.9 Mb - SOUTH INDIAN OCEAN

4.6 Mb - VANUATU
Where?
Make a left at Xanadu!

Mayon volcano spews ash anew

4.5 Mb - CRETE, GREECE


Moderate earthquake rattles central Italy


4.2 Mb - SICILY, ITALY

4.7 Mb - JUJUY, ARGENTINA
The JuJuze did it! With the hair rays!

4.7 Mb - OFF COAST OF NORTHERN PERU


4.3 Mb - OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO

4.7 Mb - OFFSHORE CHIAPAS, MEXICO

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