I guess AI thinks they have a captive audience in China now, too. I suspect this will continue until after the Olympics are over.
The United States is shirking its duty to provide the world with moral leadership and China is letting its business interests trump human rights concerns in Myanmar and Sudan, a human rights group said Wednesday.
Amnesty International's annual report on the state of the world's human rights accused the U.S. of failing to provide a moral compass for its international peers, a long-standing complaint the London-based group has against the North American superpower.
This year it also criticized the U.S. for supporting Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf last November when he imposed a state of emergency, clamped down on the media and sacked judges.
"As the world's most powerful state, the USA sets the standard for government behavior globally," the report said. It charged that the U.S. "had distinguished itself in recent years through its defiance of international law."
As in the past, the U.S. detention center at Guantanamo Bay came in for criticism. Irene Khan, Amnesty's secretary-general, appealed for the American president elected in November to announce the jail's closure on Dec. 10, 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of Human Rights.
State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the U.S. remains at the forefront of promoting human rights and has made extensive efforts to transfer detainees from Guantanamo Bay to their home countries, having done so in several hundred cases already.
But more than 100 countries have refused to take back certain detainees, Casey said.
"Many countries that we would want to transfer people back to, I think if you asked an organization like Amnesty International whether they want us to transfer them back to those countries, would have some serious concerns about that," he said.
Casey said there is no perfect solution, but said those who think closing Guantanamo Bay is the answer should work with the U.S. to resolve these problems.
Emerging power China was also criticized. The report said China had continued shipping weapons to Sudan in defiance of a U.N. arms embargo and traded with abusive governments like Myanmar and Zimbabwe. It said that China's media censorship remains in place and that the government continues to persecute rights activists.
The report also accused China of expanding its "re-education through labor" program, which allows the government to arrest people and sentence them to a manual labor without trial.
But Amnesty said it detected a shift in China's position: In 2007, China persuaded the Sudanese government to allow U.N. peacekeepers into the Darfur region and pressured Myanmar to accept the visit of a U.N. special envoy.
Khan told The Associated Press that it was much easier to grapple with human rights problems when the West and China worked together.
"China has the leverage to work with certain governments," she said ahead of the report's release. But she said China needed to use that leverage responsibly.
"China is clearly a global power. With that comes global responsibility for human rights. It needs to recognize that economic growth is not enough," Khan said.
The Chinese Embassy in London referred a query about the report to Beijing officials. A woman who answered the phone at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing said the ministry would look into the report. She refused to comment further or to give her name or position.
China has rejected previous such reports. It says its human rights record has improved in recent years.
Amnesty International said people are still tortured or ill-treated in at least 81 countries, face unfair trials in at least 54 and are denied free speech in at least 77.
But the report also highlighted an increase in mass demonstrations around the world, citing that as a positive sign of a growing willingness by people to fight for their rights.
"Black-suited lawyers in Pakistan, saffron-robed monks in Myanmar, 43.7 million individuals standing up on Oct. 17, 2007, to demand action against poverty, all were vibrant reminders last year of a global citizenry determined to stand up for human rights and hold their leaders to account," it said.
#1
Amnesty International's annual report on the state of the world's human rights accused the U.S. of failing to provide a moral compass for its international peers
How can they after you trashed them over Iraq?
You want it both ways, guilty if they do something and guilty if they don't. How are collections coming from all those anti-American donors that you live off?
#2
I bought an Amnesty International Annual Report back in the 80s. It had ten pages on Angola, few pages on Algeria and other hell holes. They reserved a hundred pages for the USA. Yeah it's easier to get data in the US, and easier to guilt the US, but that was just nonsense and it really showed Amnesty International's true colors.
After being rushed in from Russia, a toilet pump was loaded into space shuttle Discovery on Thursday just in time for this weekend's liftoff to the international space station, where the lone commode is acting up. Shoulda shipped two, but this will hopefully do for now.
A NASA employee based in Moscow hand-carried the pump on a commercial flight that touched down Wednesday night. Within hours, the pump and related equipment were packed away aboard Discovery. Well waddaya know, there was room after all! Someone must have worked lots of overtime figuring out where to put that thing so it wouldn't upset the delicate center of gravity of that zillion pound beast!
Discovery is scheduled to blast off Saturday on a 14-day mission. The main delivery item is a 37-foot-long Japanese lab; it will be the biggest room once installed at the space station. Good weather was forecast for the late afternoon launch, and the countdown was going well.
While the three space station residents are eager to see the Kibo lab, the bathroom situation has become a more pressing issue. For the past week, the two Russian and one American men have had to periodically manually flush the urine side of the Russian-built toilet. The job takes 10 minutes and requires two people. Five minutes if they have to go to the bathroom.
"Insert that into your daily life and you can see it would be quite inconvenient," Kirk Shireman, NASA's deputy space station program manager, said at a news conference.
The solid-waste part of the toilet is working properly.
The American on board, Garrett Reisman, will return to Earth aboard Discovery after a three-month stay. His replacement, Gregory Chamitoff, will have to deal with any lingering bathroom problems. NASA plans to launch another Russian toilet aboard a space shuttle later this year, along with other equipment that will enable the space station crew size to double. Very diplomatically put.
#5
Wait till NASA gets the %500 million plumber's bill.
Posted by: ed ||
05/30/2008 19:14 Comments ||
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#6
$. PIMF
Posted by: ed ||
05/30/2008 19:15 Comments ||
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#7
..In the classic sci-fi spoof 'Dark Star', there's a great 'captain's log' takeoff where the skipper says their radiation shielding is collapsing and they are out of TP - and since there's room or only one of those items on the supply shuttle...they ordered the TP.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
05/30/2008 19:22 Comments ||
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While cities are hot spots for global warming, people living in them turn out to be greener than their country cousins. Obviously it's because I they don't use their brains!
Each resident of the largest 100 largest metropolitan areas is responsible on average for 2.47 tons of carbon dioxide in energy consumption each year, 14 percent below the 2.87 ton U.S. average, researchers at the Brookings Institution say in a report being released Thursday.
Those 100 cities still account for 56 percent of the nation's carbon dioxide pollution.
But their greater use of mass transit and population density reduce the per person average. "It was a surprise the extent to which emissions per capita are lower," Marilyn Brown, a professor of energy policy at the Georgia Institute of Technology and co-author of the report, said in an interview.
Metropolitan area emissions of carbon dioxide are highest in the eastern U.S., where people rely heavily on coal for electricity, the researchers found. They are lower in the West, where weather is more favorable and where electricity and motor fuel prices have been higher.
The study examined sources and use of residential electricity, home heating and cooling, and transportation in 2005 in the largest 100 metropolitan areas where two-thirds of the people in the U.S. live. It attributed a wide disparity among the 100 cities to population density, availability of mass transit and weather.
Lexington, Kentucky, had the biggest per capita carbon footprint: Each resident on average accounted for 3.81 tons of carbon dioxide in their energy usage. At the other end of the scale was Honolulu, at 1.5 tons per person.
Carbon dioxide is released from burning fossil fuels and is the leading "greenhouse gas." It drifts into the atmosphere and forms a blanket that traps the Earth's warmth. About 6.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide are released into air annually in the United States.
From 2000 to 2005, carbon dioxide from transportation, electricity use and residential heating in the largest metropolitan areas increased 7.5 percent. For the entire nation, it rose 9.1 percent. The average per capita footprint in those 100 cities rose at an annual rate of 1.1 percent a year, half the average yearly increase of 2.2 percent nationwide.
In explaining differences among cities, the researchers cited weather, the type of fuel used for heating and cooling, the development of rail transportation, the amount of urban sprawl and the cost of energy.
Cities with the largest carbon footprints are mostly in the eastern half of the country from Indiana to western Pennsylvania -- areas that rely heavily on coal for electricity production and natural gas for heating.
The smallest carbon footprint was in cities in the West and New England.
Half of the dozen cities with the stingiest carbon output were in California, where electricity prices and motor fuels are expensive. Also cited was the Seattle-Portland, Ore., region, which relies heavily on hydropower.
Cities in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana dominated the bottom tier of high carbon emitters.
These urban areas are "kind of a poster child of what high carbon intensive growth looks like," said Brown. She noted their reliance on coal for electricity and natural gas for heating, a shortage of mass transit, and often older, energy-inefficient buildings.
#1
Gee, once again, an "experts report" says city-dwelling northeastern liberals are more planet friendly than southern conservative rural troglodytes. Color me skeptical...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
05/30/2008 10:59 Comments ||
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#2
This is nonsense playing with numbers. City dwellers share heat seeking carbon producing assets that lower their individual numbers but increase the entire picture for the city.
For example the lights that are on all night, the billboards, Elevators use up more energe than a first floor entrance, subways that still run when few or no people are using them or even when they are virtually empty. Juice is still pumping through that third rail and that juice is produced somewhere.
City dwellers also have far fewer carbon sinks. Grass and gardens per dweller. Yeah they often have massive parks, and I bet they'd love to claim that but if we're talking per individual dweller I don't think they should count.
#3
Soooo..., not only are Kentucky voters so stoopid that they vote for Hillarity instead of the Messiah, now we find that they are the very ones most responsible for this outrageous Carbon footprint. Horrors !
#4
Carbon dioxide is released from burning fossil fuels and is the leading "greenhouse gas."
Again with the CO2 nonsense. Water vapor, not CO2, is the biggest greenhouse gas, accounting for 95% of all greenhouse warming. Carbon dioxide is present at about 4%, while methane and all the rest account for less than 1%. But as long as the "news" people can claim CO2 is the "leading" greenhouse gas, they can frighten people into giving up even more of their freedoms. Anyone writing such nonsense should be taken out and staked to the top of one of the cooling towers at a nuke plant for a year or two.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2008 15:36 Comments ||
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The Telegraph interviews Susan Sarandon
Her financial and vocal support for Barack Obama has not endeared her to some fellow Democrats. "I've got a lot of flak from feminists who feel that I should be supporting Hillary Clinton, but I thought the whole point of feminism is that you're not supposed to be defined by gender," she says. . . .
Always busy, Sarandon is about to start work on the romantic period drama The Colossus, but with the presidential election campaign being heatedly contested, she also has bigger things to consider.
"If McCain gets in, it's going to be very, very dangerous," she says. "It's a critical time, but I have faith in the American people. If they prove me wrong, I'll be checking out a move to Italy. Maybe Canada, I don't know. We're at an abyss." McCain '08: send Susan Sarandon to Italy.
Posted by: Mike ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
Um... he ain't Obama?
Seriously, Susan if you want to move away, we'll all pitch in for the plane ticket. Really.
#2
Yeah, but didn't Alec Baldwin promise to move out of the US if Bush got re-elected? She will do the same - pretend like she never said it.
Posted by: Rambler in California ||
05/30/2008 0:23 Comments ||
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#3
This is what is so tragically wrong with liberals. To them, we're not all Americans with different goals - if you don't agree with the liberal position, you're stupid or evil, and in either case not really a person. It goes without saying that your ideas can be dismissed without argument.
#5
Here's an even better deal to sweeten the pot Susan, you get to designate an illegal, hell, an illegal family [of no more than 8 members] who'll get your citizenship. Now as a bleeding heart caring sympathetic card carrying limousine socialist liberal how could you in the name of everything you've declared as sacred not take the opportunity to do it for them?
#6
Look this is nonsense. If she said she'd drag her boy Tim Robbins with her that might be something, but Susan alone is a non-entity.
I would like to see a reporter as her, are you serious or are you gonna claim you never said that or didn't mean it or were taken out of context when later people wonder why you haven't actually moved. Assuming McCain wins that is.
Italy declared an emergency in the northwest of the country on Friday after torrential rainfall caused floods and landslides that have killed at least three people and are putting crops at risk.
"We are still in the middle of a crisis and will be so for the next 24 hours," Guido Bertolaso, the head of Italy's Civil Protection service told reporters after an emergency meeting in Turin where the river Po has been at dangerously high levels.
The Turin region of Piedmont and the mountainous Val d'Aosta were put under a "state of emergency" by the government -- a status which allows for extra funds and special measures to be taken to protect lives and infrastructure.
The Po, Italy's longest river which flows across the north of Italy, and its tributary the Dora remain at serious risk of further flooding, the Civil Protection service said.
The heavy rainfall caused a landslide in an Alpine village near the French border where witnesses spoke to media of a five-meter (16 ft) high wall of mud engulfing a house. Three bodies have been recovered and a 3-year old girl is missing.
The floods were also a risk to crops, the Italian Farmers Confederation (CIA) said. "The torrential rain and the Po and the Dora breaking their banks have meant many wheat fields are flooded and the harvest could be lost," it said in a statement.
Environmental group WWF Italia said too much construction along the rivers was to blame. The Po valley is not only Italy's most fertile farming area, it is also its most industrially developed.
"There has been too much building, concreting-over and canalization along our rivers with devastating consequences that happen as soon as rains start," said WWF's Michele Candotti. "Too much civilization!"
A strong earthquake measuring 6.1 has hit southern Iceland, 50km (30 miles) from the capital, Reykjavik. In the town of Selfoss, near the epicentre, buildings were damaged and up to 20 people needed treatment for minor injuries, reports say. Residents in the capital felt buildings shake and aftershocks were felt in the south-west of the country. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 1546 GMT at a shallow 6.2 miles (10 km).
Paul Enarson, Professor of Geophysics at the Institute of Earth Sciences in Iceland, told the BBC that the earthquake happened in an area popular with tourists: "It was close to the town of Selfoss and there is apparently, according to the preliminary news, considerable damage in that town," he said. "Iceland is sitting on a plate boundary where the North America and Eurasian plates are drifting apart. So it's a country of volcanoes and earthquakes and so earthquakes are common but large earthquakes are relatively rare," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
These oversized EM Sparks-Bursts I'd been observing over and near Guam-WESTPAC were rare and miniscule from the 1970s thru 1990's. HOPEFULLY THE US, etc. WILL SEND SEVERAL SPACE PROBES TO THE SUN, NOT JUST ONE, AND TO INCLUDE KAMIKAZE PROBES TO NEAR THE SUN'S SURFACE AMAP WHICH WILL SEND DATA AMAP BACK TO NASA-JPL.
THE SOONER THE BETTER.
* IMO these bursts are getting too big and too numerous to be caused by the Earth's natural forces = anti-forces.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/30/2008 11:58 Comments ||
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#3
It's all good Steve. Joe has a huge interest in solar flares and related magnetic phenomena, it's a national security concern for (him/us). I seek the dark Joe, the backup.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/30/2008 18:42 Comments ||
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Afghanistan will ask international donors next month for $4 billion to revive its agricultural sector, but it could be a hard sell with another massive crop of opium expected this year.
Despite the sharply rising price of grain, foreign-funded efforts to promote legal alternatives to the narcotic have largely failed.
Farmers still make much more from growing poppy, the raw material for heroin, which flourishes amid Afghanistan's Taliban insurgency and rampant lawlessness. Half of the country's production comes from Helmand province, a stronghold of insurgents.
Continued on Page 49
The Zimbabwe government accused the US ambassador to Harare on Friday of transporting opposition victims of post-election violence to hospital and paying for their treatment.
Excellent! Who says the State Department has no spine?
Only days after President Robert Mugabe threatened to expel ambassador James McGee for "interfering" in Zimbabwe's internal affairs, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa said there was clear evidence the envoy was siding with supporters of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).
"The US ambasssador had been collecting from the scene of crime only MDC victims," Chinamasa told reporters at the Zimbabwean embassy in South Africa. "He drove them to hospital where he paid in full, in advance, for their medical expenditure."
Good man, Mr. McGee, keep it up.
Zimbabwe has been rocked by violence since a first round presidential election on March 29 between Mugabe and MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, which has been steadily increasing with the approach of a run-off poll on June 27.
While the United Nations and rights groups say most of the violence has been perpetrated by followers of Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, the government says the real picture has been distorted. "We have heard cases where the US ambassador has been moving round with journalists and photographers in places where there had been no violence," said Chinamasa, who is one of Mugabe's staunchest allies. "That gives you one conclusion -- they are going to foment the violence in order to take pictures."
In a speech last Sunday, Mugabe threatened to expel McGee "if he makes one more wrong step."
There was no immediate reaction to the latest accusations from the US embassy in Harare.
Zimbabwe's government has sent 10 buses and trucks to South Africa to take home Zimbabweans wanting to leave the country over a recent spate of xenophobic violence, Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo said on Friday.
Speaking to South Africa's SAfm radio, Moyo also reiterated his government's earlier commitment to give land to the returning Zimbabweans.
Asked where the land would be found Moyo said there was still plenty of land to be "resettled."
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's government has evicted around 4 000 white farmers from their land since 2000, mostly without compensation. The land has gone mainly to members and allies of Mugabe's Zanu-PF party.
The populist land seizures decimated commercial agriculture, plunging the country's economy into a downward spiral and sending millions of Zimbabweans fleeing abroad in search of work.
Most went to South Africa, where some residents of poor communities turned on African migrants earlier this month, accusing them of taking jobs and housing.
At least 56 people were killed and hundreds injured in the mob attacks.
At least 30 000 African migrants are estimated to have fled South Africa over the attacks, mostly Mozambicans but also large numbers of Zimbabweans and Malawians. - Sapa-dpa
Same report with similar conclusions could be made in France, too, and perhaps to a greater extent, with possibly a less "nanny State" bias and an added ethnic angle (UK Youths seems to be waaaaaayyyyyyyyy more "indigenous" than France's), with, IMHO, the french Powers-That-Be being deadly afraid of rising tensions and fearful of the "natives".
The middle classes have lost confidence in the police, a stark report has warned. They fear they have been alienated by a service which routinely targets ordinary people rather than serious criminals, simply to fill Government crime quotas. The attitude of some officers has also led to spiralling complaints about neglect of duty and rudeness.
The report from the Civitas think-tank says incidents which would once have been ignored are now treated as crimes - including a case of children chalking a pavement. Its author, respected journalist Harriet Sergeant, says she was also told of a student being arrested, held for five hours and cautioned for keeping a London Underground lift door open with his foot.
The report warns that a generation of young people - the police's favourite soft targets - are being criminalised, putting their future prospects at risk. Some offences being prosecuted are now so minor that senior officers have even begun talks with the U.S. authorities to prevent such a 'criminal record' stopping decent citizens obtaining a visa to cross the Atlantic.
Meanwhile responses to crimes such as burglary are slow and statements given by victims of serious crime are often left lying idle for months, the report warns.
An apparent emphasis on motoring crimes is another negative factor.
Miss Sergeant warns: 'The loss of public confidence is a serious matter. The police cannot police without the backing of society. Without trust and consensus it is very difficult and costly to maintain law and order.'
Her report says: 'Complaints against the police have risen, with much of the increase coming from law-abiding, middle-class, middle-aged and retired people who no longer feel the police are on their side.'
In 2006-7, there were 29,637 complaints - the most since records began 17 years ago. Miss Sergeant said this was due in part to the law-abiding middle-classes becoming upset by the 'rudeness and behaviour' of officers.
The report details how officers are expected to reach a certain number of 'sanction detections' a month by charging, cautioning or fining an 'offender'. Arresting or fining someone for a trifling offence - such as a child stealing a Mars bar - is a good way of hitting the target and pleasing the Home Office. Amazingly, the chocolate theft ranks as highly as catching a killer.
Miss Sergeant says performance-related bonuses of between £10,000 and £15,000 a year for police commanders depend partly on reaching such targets. This leads them to put pressure on frontline officers to make arrests for the most minor misdemeanours.
Officers said at the end of a month, when there was pressure to hit the target for that period, they would pursue young men as the most likely 'offenders'. Offences could include scrawling a name on a bus stop in felt-tip or playing ball games in the street. One officer was so concerned he told his teenage son to be careful at the end of each month.
The pamphlet, parts of which were serialised by the Daily Mail earlier this year, says the police themselves are angry at the way they have to 'make fools of themselves'. There were high levels of 'bitterness and frustration' and the targets were 'bitterly resented'.
One officer told how he was pressed to charge children playing with a tree with 'harassment'. The same offence was used against a drunken student dancing in flowerbeds, who aimed a kick at a flower.
#4
'Complaints against the police have risen, with much of the increase coming from law-abiding, middle-class, middle-aged and retired people who no longer feel the police are on their side.'
#6
'Complaints against the police have risen, with much of the increase coming from law-abiding, middle-class, middle-aged and retired people who no longer feel the police are on their side.'
The police and the rest of the Establishment now have a new master and he only speaks English when he is too pig ignorant to speak the language his orc scrolls are written in.
#7
I thought much the same about the police here in the US -- particularly in the big cities -- back during the early 80s. However, it seems to me that the situation has been turned around.
#8
Heinlein talks about this in his stories about The Crazy Years. He was convinced that the 1970s and -80s were the beginning of that period, and died before he could see that reversed here in the U.S.... and forwarded in Europe.
I'd say that, to borrow a quote from lotp, the USA are less advanced on the death curve... though Reagan and the conservative revolution from the 50's onward had a tremendous effect, IMHO, that is, to keep the "Culture war" (that is, the relentless forward drive of the Forces of Progress, with the conservatives always on the defensive) going... if there is any success to be expected, it will come from 1) collective individual responses, like homeschooling, switching off one's teevee and never turning it on again, going through the msm veil and nver going bacj,... and 2) the inherent, self destructive, failure of the Forces of Progress, the most evident being their nihilism (abortion, low birthrate).
Otherwise than those two hopes, assuming there is no paradigm shift in either or both continents, I really don't see what is the fundamental difference between the USA and western Europe (not eastern Europe is so far untouched, because there was no need to subvert it, as it was submitted, though communism did take its toll, the countries there are in pre-WWII moral state) is that the "struggle" has been lost in the later, and is being lost in the first.
I'm always amazed when people here assume that Western Europe is a "special" place, with its "problem" due to its intrinsic flaws and faults, and that the USA, the New Atlantis, are immune to that.
#12
I'm always amazed when people here assume that Western Europe is a "special" place, with its "problem" due to its intrinsic flaws and faults, and that the USA, the New Atlantis, are immune to that.
Hmmm...maybe because the latter has a bunch of gun totting, church going, bitter white people?
#13
I've lived in some university towns in my day, and this sounds like the same "Let's aggressively enforce the law on those inclined to obey it in the first place, cuz that's just easier" mentality I've witnessed in those places.
Another example of this mindset is the whole "Piss Christ good, Mohammed cartoons bad" attitude shown by the "courageous dissenters" in Western society.
#15
Never mind the theory. Don't I always read comments here about how the (USA) elected/non-elected officialdom couldn't care less that the citizens think?
#16
Because Western Europe didn't use to have those?
Generally, no. Western Euro governments were never too keen about an armed population [think 1848, they got the message]. Now just look at the exception, Switzerland, where everyone keeps their issued weapon and several hundred rounds of ammo at home, as members of the 'militia'. I don't see an overbearing centralized government and most people seem polite if a bit grumpy at times.
#18
Someone was frighteningly prescient about this 51 years ago...
"Did you really think we want those laws observed?" said Dr. Ferris. "We want them to be broken. You'd better get it straight that it's not a bunch of boy scouts you're up against. We're after power and we mean it. There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted and you create a nation of law-breakers and then you cash in on guilt. Now that's the system, Mr. Reardon, that's the game, and once you understand it, you'll be much easier to deal with."
When British military leaders set up a special task force in 1969 to study how best to use deception to achieve their battlefield aims, they turned their attention to the tactics used by the Israelis not the Americans.
Formerly classified documents released Friday by the National Archives show that many officers felt the Americans didn't have a knack for deceiving the enemy. Americans were judged to be so open and friendly that they lacked cunning.
The so-called Defense Deception Advisory Group studied in detail the way Israel's military and political leaders used a complex series of intertwined deceptions to fool their Arab enemies about the Jewish state's intentions and its military capabilities.
Continued on Page 49
#3
Air-Land-Sea Battles such as fought during WW2, + KOREA 1950-53, + Malaya + SINAI, etc. "Police Actions/Brush Wars" were suppos to be obsolete vv ADVANC MISSLES, NUKES, + "PUSHBUTTON" WARFARE.
LEST WE FERGIT, YOM KIPPUR WAR > THE USSR = RUSS SENT NUCLEAR-CAPABLE MISSLE BATTERIES TO EGYPT TO PRECLUDE ANY DEFEAT + CONQUEST OF EGYPT [Suez Canal] VIA THE IDF.
Up to 1.3 million people living downstream of a massive lake created by landslides in this month's earthquake in western China have been ordered to move to higher ground for fear it may burst its banks and cause flooding, state media reported Friday.
The people under threat live downstream of Tangjiashan lake, created when landslides dammed a river in mountains near Beichuan, one of the town's worst hit by the May 12 quake.
Engineers and the army have been attempting to cut a channel to drain water from the lake safely, but rain in recent days has caused water levels to rise and forced the authorities to implement a full evacuation plan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, saying the order had come from the Communist Party chief in the nearby city of Mianyang.
Continued on Page 49
#1
See also BLOOMBERG > CHINA TO BUILD ONE MILLION PREFABRICATED HOMES FOR QUAKE VICTIMS: BIDDER SAYS. Chin is dealing wid up to 5.0Milyuhn homeless + 15.0Milyuhn displaced, and has indic it needs 3.3Milyuhn tempor tents via international donors. Bidder - each prefab unit is good for 5 years and costs approxi 8400 Yuan.
Also, TOPIX > STORMS ADDING TO SICHUAN QUAKE WOES.
China rushed Friday to remove radioactive and chemical materials sitting downstream from a "quake lake" that threatens to burst and send torrents of water into heavily populated areas. Nearly 100 unidentified radioactive sources were ordered to be removed by Friday evening from the path of the potential torrent of water, state press reported, citing the nation's environmental protection bureau.
"Moving those radioactive sources has become a top, urgent priority," the Beijing Times quoted Ma Ning, a senior regional official at the bureau, as saying.
The directive to move the radioactive material came as authorities were already working to relocate about 5,000 tonnes of dangerous chemicals that were downstream of the lake at Tangjiashan.
Continued on Page 49
Government officials are not confirming a report that Chinese officials may have secretly copied the contents of a government laptop computer during a December visit to China by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez.
The Associated Press said an investigation into the suspected incident also involved whether China used the information to try to hack into Commerce computers.
The AP cited officials and industry experts as sources for the story, which said the surreptitious copying is believed to have occurred when a laptop belonging to someone in the U.S. trade delegation was left unattended. If I did this with a company laptop and they found out, I'd be fired.
When asked whether the Commerce Department is looking into the matter, spokesman Richard Mills said, "We take security seriously, and as we learn of concerns about security, we look into them." Great. Reactive security. If you're so serious, try proactive security.
The AP account says that when it asked the Commerce secretary about this alleged breach, he whipped out the canned excuse said, "because there is an investigation going on, I would rather not comment on that. To the extent that there is an investigation going on, those are the things being looked at; those are the questions being asked. I don't think I should provide any speculative answers."
The Commerce spokesman said this comment was taken out of context but would not elaborate.
The FBI does not confirm or deny investigations, but a government official said the agency is not conducting one.
Department of Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said, "It's unclear to me who the AP is citing as conducting an investigation. The DHS at this time is not undertaking an investigation. There is nothing to substantiate an actual compromise at this time."
Knocke said that US-CERT, a DHS entity charged with analyzing and reducing cyberthreats and vulnerabilities, has visited the Commerce Department "roughly eight times" since Guttierez's December trip but that the visits had "nothing to do with laptops or these allegations." At some agencies, laptops and other electronic devices officials take abroad are routinely "scrubbed" upon return.
CNN also tried to reach the Chinese Embassy and the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China, but messages were not returned.
Barak Obama, neo-Marxist? Or is he simply a not very well hidden crypto-Marxist?
The "New Party" was a Marxist political coalition whose objective was to endorse and elect leftist public officials -- most often Democrats. The New Party's short-term objective was to move the Democratic Party leftward, thereby setting the stage for the eventual rise of new Marxist third party.
The party's Chicago chapter also included a large contingent from the Committees of Correspondence, a Marxist coalition of former Maoists, Trotskyists, and Communist Party USA members.
The party endorsed Obama in his Illinois senate race.
Obama also ENDORSED a Marxist and continues to support him. Check at RedState
Following up on Warner's post about Obama seeking the endorsement of a Marxist political group, the group also endorsed Danny Davis for Congress, who Obama also endorsed.
Davis is the only sitting member of Congress to call for the release of Mumia Abu Jamal, the cop killer. He has has also been linked to the terrorist Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
Below is Obama praising the Marxist to the Teamsters in 2004 c/o Youtube.
Todd Stroger. Obama endorsed Stroger in 2006 for Cook County Board President. This, despite the fact that Stroger was actually running in place of his father, who was on his death bed. Stroger has since been linked to obscene amounts of corruption, and just recently passed a massive sales tax increase. Meanwhile, he cut funding to Cook County Hospital while putting several friends on the payroll for cushy jobs.
The case for Obama being a socialist/marxist builds up, as do his association with rotten people, like any other crooked Chicago machine politicians.
IF the press were doing its job in terms of "investigative reporting" (instead of worshping Obama as the Messiah), they'd be all over stuff like this.
Lets see how long they can keep sitting on and hiding this dirt on a dirty politician.
#4
Yes. They only dress different. Although, the former dress cheaply in bad ill fitted suits (which btw is how Obama distances himself from them for public appearences, all that Ivy League education wasn't wasted), the latter usually show up in garb provided by Hollyweird, particularly when they think no one is looking.
#5
crypto- vs. neo-? I'm still working on Leninists vs. Trotskyists, and I've given up trying to figure out where Stalin differed, except for the face on the huge posters keeping an eye on everyone.
#7
BHO is reminding me more and more of the oh-so-smooth and inspiring professor in Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead, whose calm demeanor and talented speechmaking masked his intended agenda.
#8
Union infiltration. Journalism infiltration. Hollywood infiltration. Endowed non-profits infiltration. Now Democratic Party infiltration. Why change a successful strategy?
Posted by: ed ||
05/30/2008 19:18 Comments ||
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A Chicago pastor and spiritual adviser of Barack Obama mocked Hillary Rodham Clinton from the pulpit of the Illinois senator's church - saying her famous tearing-up moment was fueled by self-pitying feelings of "I'm white! I'm entitled! There's a black man stealing my show."
B.O. seems to attract the loud-mouthed hate spitters to his entourage. They kept running this guy on the terriblevision last night until I got sick of him and turned it off.
The Rev. Michael Pfleger, a longtime Obama ally and political supporter, made the shocking remarks from the pulpit of Trinity United Church of Christ Sunday. That's the former base of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's ex-pastor, whose statements blasting the United States and calling AIDS a government plot have caused headaches for the candidate.
Rev. Wright's successor, Otis Somebody, is cut from the same cloth...
Pfleger, who is white and usually preaches at the mostly-black St. Sabina's Catholic Church, said people need to end "white entitlement and supremacy wherever it raises its head."
Had I not seen him on the teevee, I'd not have known he was white. He slings the black preacher lingo pretty well, hollering at the top of his lungs like the worst kind of cliche. The rubes were eating it up.
Pfleger said he believed Clinton's tearing-up in New Hampshire - a moment widely credited with helping her win the primary there - wasn't a "put-on." "I really believe that she just always thought, 'This is mine! I'm Bill's wife, I'm white, and this is mine! I just gotta get up and step into the plate,' " he said. "And then out of nowhere came, 'Hey, I'm Barack Obama,' and she said, 'Oh, damn! Where did you come from? I'm white! I'm entitled! There's a black man stealing my show!' She wasn't the only one crying," he added, and feigned weeping. "There was a whole lot of white people crying."
Obama, who has disavowed Wright, said, , "As I have traveled this country, I've been impressed not by what divides us, but by all that unites us. That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric, which doesn't reflect the country I see or the desire of people across America to come together."
'T'ain't gonna happen when you've got people like Father Pfleger, Rev. Wright, and Rev. Otis swarming in your wake.
This article starring:
Jeremiah Wright
Michael Pfleger
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 13:29 ||
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#1
That is why I am deeply disappointed in Father Pfleger's divisive, backward-looking rhetoric
Until Senator Obama uses the correct word (RACIST) to describe the Whitey just dont get it speeches coming from the pulpit of his church I will not be convinced he doesnt, at some level, share those views.
#2
Had I not seen him on the teevee, I'd not have known he was white. He slings the black preacher lingo pretty well, hollering at the top of his lungs like the worst kind of cliche.
This guy is the ultimate pathetic wannabe. When he's not in the pulpit, he probably wears a baseball cap and track suit (just so) along with bling and grills and all the rest.
#3
Somebody wrote a song about Michael Pfleger about ten or twelve years ago: "Pretty Fly For a White Guy."
Posted by: Mike ||
05/30/2008 15:02 Comments ||
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#4
Pfleger is a German Jesuit priest!!!!!Cardinal Francis George tolerates this spittle and they should yank their tax exempt status from both of their churches.
#6
Herr Pfleger is a Black (his congregation) Liberation Theologist (i.e communist). Trinity United Church of Christ (Obama's church) also explicitly states on their website they are a Black Liberation Theology church. It should be no surprise with Obama's deep communist influences while growing up that he should seek out a BLT church in his adulthood.
James Cone founder of Black Liberation Theology: Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love.
Posted by: ed ||
05/30/2008 18:45 Comments ||
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#7
Agree on the yanking the tax-exempt standing!
2 or 3 days ago the IRS declined to revoke Trinity United's tax exempt status for their political activity. Brothers don't need no stinking rules.
Posted by: ed ||
05/30/2008 18:49 Comments ||
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Unlike Hillary Rodham Clinton, rival Barack Obama planned for the long haul. Clinton hinged her whole campaign on an early knockout blow and ascension to the throne on Super Tuesday, while Obama's staff researched congressional districts in states with primaries that were months away. What they found were opportunities to win delegates, even in states they would eventually lose.
Obama's campaign mastered some of the most arcane rules in politics, and then used them to foil a front-runner who seemed to have every advantage - money, fame and a husband who had essentially run the Democratic Party for eight years as president. Without a doubt, their understanding of the nominating process was one of the keys to their success," said Tad Devine, a Democratic strategist not aligned with either candidate. "They understood the nuances of it and approached it at a strategic level that the Clinton campaign did not."
Careful planning is one reason why Obama is emerging as the nominee as the Democratic Party prepares for its final three primaries, Puerto Rico on Sunday and Montana and South Dakota on Tuesday. Attributing his success only to soaring speeches and prodigious fundraising ignores a critical part of contest.
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/30/2008 13:08 ||
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#1
Note that competency, experience or positions for the actual job of President played absolutely no role whatsoever. Nice 8^P
#4
An interesting stacking of the deck. The delegates, however, are not distributed evenly within a state, like they are in the Republican system.
Under Democratic rules, congressional districts with a history of strong support for Democratic candidates are rewarded with more delegates than districts that are more Republican. Some districts packed with Democratic voters can have as many as eight or nine delegates up for grabs, while more Republican districts in the same state have three or four.
The system is designed to benefit candidates who do well among loyal Democratic constituencies, and none is more loyal than black voters. Obama, who would be the first black candidate nominated by a major political party, has been winning 80 percent to 90 percent of the black vote in most primaries, according to exit polls.
"Black districts always have a large number of delegates because they are the highest performers for the Democratic Party," said Elaine Kamarck, a Harvard University professor who is writing a book about the Democratic nominating process.
"Once you had a black candidate you knew that he would be winning large numbers of delegates because of this phenomenon," said Kamarck, who is also a superdelegate supporting Clinton.
Posted by: ed ||
05/30/2008 19:02 Comments ||
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#5
Again, polls are still indic that OBAMA will lose to MCCAIN in November - IMO, both HILLARY + MCCAIN recognize that 2008 may come down to being decided by whom are their VPOTUS running mates, espec wid IRAN + Radical Islam acting up in the ME, Asia, + Africa. HISTORY > MAINSTREAM AMER IN TIME OF WAR = NATIONAL CRISIS, etc. WILL VOTE SAFETY + DISCRETION + CONSERVATISM OVER DIVERSITY, which means that Amer will prefer or select White Males, Older, Conservative or Conservative Leaning, + wid Mil Experience.
IOW, iff OBAMA = JFK as per TED KENNEDY himself, Obama needs to find an "LBJ" wid STRONGER POL CREDENTIALS, PERSONA, + NATIONAL CREDIBILITY than he but one that is willing to accept and tolerate being second fiddle as VPOTUS.
Lest we fergit, 1960 Elex + JFK-LBJ = PRE-CUBAN MISSLE CRISIS, PRE-BERLIN CRISIS, VIENNA, + PRE VIETNAM [Iran-ME]???
It is to HILLARY's advantage to stay in becuz there aren't many White Male Dems that can fit the above and still defeat MCCAIN in November. THE BALL IS IN IRAN'S + RADICAL ISLAM'S COURT VV WEIGHING WHETHER SIX OR MORE MONTHS OF "STATUS QUO" = US ENTRENCHMENT IN THE ME. i.e. RISK WEAKENING THEIR ALREADY WEAK JIHAD STILL FURTHER, IS WORTH INDIR ASSURING AN OBAMA VICTORY IN NOVEMBER.
SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie "Bernard and Doris," is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada. She adds, "It's a critical time, but I have faith in the American people.
Sure, these Hollywood types say this every election year; but the never leave.
Posted by: Jim K ||
05/30/2008 10:27 ||
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#1
Let's bet on whether she comes to the US the first time she really needs a doctor.
#2
Didn't a ton of you say that about Bush? Keep your promise this time bitch; I'll chip in for the one-way ticket for you to go live in Iran, or Somolia.
Rep. Betty McCollum (D-Minn.) publicly criticized her partys likely Senate nominee, comedian Al Franken, for a satirical column he wrote for Playboy magazine in 2000, telling the Associated Press his writings were pornographic and indefensible.
McCollum said that she found the article offensive and believes it will be a serious political problem for the partys downballot Congressional candidates. McCollum had endorsed Frankens primary rival, attorney Mike Ciresi, before he dropped out of the race.
"Im a woman, I'm a mother, I'm a former teacher, and an elected official," McCollum told Politico. "This material makes me question the judgment of someone who would write this. And this person is now a candidate representing Minnesota."
Frankens eight-year-old article, titled Porn-O-Rama, describes a visit to an imaginary sex institute where he takes part in sexual acts with humans and machines. Aaaahhh! A mental picture I do! Not! Need!
The column included many graphic sexual descriptions.
It's Playboy fergawdsakes ...
According to a state Democratic source, all five Democrats in the Minnesota Congressional delegation recently met and expressed serious concerns about Frankens impact down-ballot on their Congressional campaigns. . . . Were looking at having these pornographic writings tagged onto Democrats. That doesnt seem to be a good strategy to expand our majorities in the House. "We'll have to have the whole party steam-cleaned and disinfected!"
The Franken campaign could not be immediately reached, but Franken campaign spokesman Andy Barr told the AP that Minnesota voters understand the difference between satire and the responsibilities of a senator.
And they'll vote for Al anyway?
Posted by: Mike ||
05/30/2008 08:50 ||
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If the democRATS think a candidate will WIN they'll stick with them no matter if they've made animal p'orn with barn yard animals.
~~~~~~~~
Gaining ground this political season is a proposed League of Democracies designed to strengthen support for the next president's overseas agenda and ensure a global leadership role for the United States.
John McCain, the virtually certain Republican presidential nominee, has endorsed the concept of a new global compact of more than 100 democratic countries to advance shared views and has discussed the idea with French and British leaders. "It could act where the U.N. fails to act," he said last month, and pressure tyrants "with or without Moscow's and Beijing's approval." Gonna get rid of that stupid unanimous committee thing I presume?
McCain said the League might impose sanctions on Iran, relieve suffering in the Darfur region of Sudan and deal with environmental problems.
Barack Obama, who has a lead in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, has not taken a stand. But Anthony Lake, one of Obama's policy advisers, has spoken in favor of the idea. Of course he hasn't taken a stand. Every time he does before everyone else reveals their opinion it turns out he's wrong one and shows off his ignorance in stark contrast!
Analysts at think tanks in Washington and elsewhere envision a league focused on maintaining peace and limiting U.S. military intervention, such as the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. But missing so far are specific, proposed steps to turn the idea into reality, such as where to have a headquarters, who would finance the league and how its membership would be decided. How about across the street from the New York UN headquarters? It'll cut down on commute time for the democratic nations and keep the rest focused. Maybe.
"Cooperation is an absolute essential," Ivo Daalder, a national security expert at the Brookings Institution, said Thursday at a seminar. An originator of the idea, Daalder said it would give democracies a better opportunity to reform the United Nations. Smack!
"If there had been a dialogue on Iraq there would have been more rigorous containment of Saddam Hussein," possibly averting war, said Tod Lindberg, a Hoover Institution research fellow, at the seminar held at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
But not all foreign policy experts support the proposal. Thomas Carothers, vice president for studies at Carnegie, said "the world has no appetite for a U.S.-led league and many countries do not want the U.S. going around the U.N." Of course they don't, dumba$$. That's precisely why it needs to be done.
In fact, Carothers said, the United States cooperates often with non-democracies in its foreign policy. China's help in trying to end North Korea's nuclear weapons program is just one example, he said. What help? They could end it with a wave of their hand if they so chose. Instead they choose to prolong it. Strike two, Dumba$$.
President Bush's Iraq war policy was bitterly opposed by two leading democracies, France and Germany, among others. But Bush went ahead despite their strong objections. You mean their objections that were rooted in the pipe dream that Saddam would actually pay them what he owed them for the cool new weapons systems or oil contracts or whatever else it was they were doing illegally? Right.
"It is wishful thinking" that a league of democracies would any more readily approve U.S. military intervention in support of another U.S. president, Carothers said. Well, I suppose it depends on their motivations. Like France and Germany. Strike three.
And while "some people like Senator McCain imagine it might become a replacement for the U.N., that is not the initial intention," Carothers said in a telephone interview after the seminar. Sorry, I stopped paying attention after strike three. But I'll bet that whatever you did say is probably skewed by whatever it is that seems to be pulling your strings.
#1
De-fund the UN and kick them out of the US. Set up a council of democracies that acts like a republic with checks and balances and full accountability and transparency. Then talk about helping the rest of the world and defending freedom.
Until that time, corruption and 3rd world despots will continue to rule the halls of power.
#4
grom, why stop there. I mean, a Digg like, Web 2.0 site, would be awesome. Wait, that would be better for the UN. There could be issues on Israel every day dug up to the top. It would be, like Web UN 2.0.
#5
A serious caucus within the UN would be more useful than another group. What we are really talking about is our failure to use the UN properly. If we are not going to use the body we should kill the body. Perhaps this is a step towards turning the UN into the League of Nations. If that's the end game I support it.
Damn. That's gonna leave a mark on a lot more than just renting apartments to someone who should not legally be in the country.
Federal judge strikes down Dallas suburb's ban on renting homes to illegal immigrants
A Dallas suburb's ban on apartment rentals to illegal immigrants, an ordinance passed by city leaders and later endorsed in a vote by its residents, is unconstitutional, a federal judge found Wednesday. Only the federal government can regulate immigration, U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay concluded in his decision.
The city didn't defer to the federal government on the matter, violating the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution, which allows for the federal government to pre-empt local laws, Lindsay said.
Bill Brewer, who represented apartment complex operators who opposed the rule, declared victory. "It's a good day, not just for my clients," Brewer said. "It's a good day for people who are thinking clearly about what is the proper role of municipal governments in the immigration debate."
Representatives for the city said they had anticipated the outcome. The city has no plans to appeal the ruling because it has already stopped pursuing the ordinance and replaced it with another tactic. "We're disappointed but not particularly surprised," Michael Jung, one of the city's attorneys, said.
The Farmers Branch council passed the ordinance last year. It would have barred apartment rentals to illegal immigrants and required landlords to verify legal status. The rule would have exempted minors and senior citizens from having to prove their immigration status or citizenship.
Families made up of both citizens and undocumented members would have been allowed to renew an apartment lease if they met three conditions: they were already tenants, the head of household or spouse was living legally in the United States, and the family included only the spouse, their minor children or parents. Residents heavily endorsed the rule a year ago in the nation's first public vote on a local measure to combat illegal immigration.
A group of apartment complex operators, residents and advocates sued Farmers Branch. They alleged the rule was so poorly drafted that it could allow exclusion of legal immigrants and citizens from renting, was difficult to abide by because it didn't provide clear guidance for apartment managers and owners, and improperly tried to turn property managers into policing agents.
Lindsay then blocked Farmers Branch from enforcing the ordinance, a temporary injunction now made permanent by his decision Wednesday. The rule failed to provide clear guidance that immigration documents were acceptable for proof and didn't explain what was meant by "eligible immigration status," the judge wrote.
The city's attempts to salvage the ordinance faltered because they would have required the court to draft laws, he said. That function is outside the court's duties.
Farmers Branch has given up requiring landlords to verify immigration status and instead plans to implement a rule that would require prospective tenants to get a rental license from the city, which would then ask the federal government for the applicant's legal status before approving it.
Around the country, about 100 cities or counties have now considered, passed or rejected similar laws, but Farmers Branch was the first in immigrant-heavy Texas, according to the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, which tracks the data.
#1
Probably the correct Constitutional ruling (immigration is under Federal jurisdiction, even though they have abrogated that responsibility.) Farmers Branch can probably come up with some other bureaucratic requirement that would pretty much block illegal immigrants and no others, but they'll have to get creative.
#2
Use the same definition the courts use for bail - ties to the community. Of course, nothing stops the courts from excluding those same standards they use from others using it [definition of liberal], but it undermines them even more.
Oil executives and some lawmakers believe it's one of the only ways to help calm skyrocketing prices, but others say it takes us further away from a long term solution.
The U.S. has huge amounts of untapped oil, but pesky politicians and environmentalists won't let us get it. Pesky isn't the word I would use, but we have to keep this G-rated, I guess.
That's a common cry heard from some lawmakers and nearly everyone working at an oil and gas company. If the U.S. wants to help keep the market adequately supplied with oil and perhaps lower prices they say, it needs to open up vast sections of the country currently off-limits to oil and gas exploration. And if they don't, then just maintain legislation that prohibits it. Simple. Hmm . . . .
But given the amount of time it would take to get new drilling projects up and running, and the relatively small amount of oil they'd likely yield, most analysts say more drilling in the U.S. would do little to help solve the world's dual energy challenge of meeting rising demand while cutting greenhouse gasses. Not in the long run, but if everyone has the discipline to push forward on a new energy policy in a meaningful way while we drill for more oil, perhaps we could keep some money out of the hands of terrorist states.
Some 60% of all federal land as well as most of the East and West coasts are currently subject to drilling bans - many were put in place after a big oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1969.
If these areas are not opened, it certainly won't be for lack of trying. Why push? Let market forces punch down the politics for you. The money for big oil will be the same either way. Just kick back with some popcorn and wait to see what happens when the middle class doesn't like it anymore and people find it more expensive to go to work than to take food stamps and unemployment and stay home.
Oil industry executives harped on these drilling bans in testimony before Congress last week, telling lawmakers lifting them was one of the few things they could do that might have a prayer of lowering oil prices. Other than developing distributed nuclear fusion and switching transportation over to electrical power.
Several Republican-led efforts to lift the drilling bans have emerged in Congress, but they have all failed so far.
"We're the only developed country that methodically restricts access to resources," said Richard Ranger, senior policy advisor at the American Petroleum Institute. "We can't conserve our way out of this. We're going to need a mix of policies, but increasing production is going to be part of that mix."
It's hard to say how much oil lifting the bans would provide - very little exploratory drilling has been done in most of these areas.
But using estimates based on the limited information available from the Minerals Management Service, the Bureau of Land Management and the Energy Information Administration, lifting the bans might boost the nation's oil production by 1 or 2 million barrels a day by sometime next decade.
These estimates are for conventional crude oil. They do not take into account the vast amounts of oil shale or tar sands that do exist in the country, but are either very expensive to develop or come with significant environmental costs.
Either way, 2 million barrels of oil is not an insignificant amount. It's roughly equal to the amount of oil currently coming from Nigeria, and would increase the current U.S. output of 8.5 million barrels a day by over 20 percent.
But the projects would take a long time to come online. Places like the Atlantic coast, thought to be rich in natural gas, lack drilling platforms, pipelines, terminals, storage facilities, and other energy infrastructure. EIA estimates that if Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge were opened for drilling tomorrow, oil wouldn't flow at full tilt until 2025.
Plus, oil is a global market. It's true that oil pumped in the U.S. could stay in the U.S. But prices will be determined by international, not national, supply and demand.
By 2025, world consumption, currently at about 85 million barrels a day, is expected to swell to well over 100 million barrels a day. That makes 2 million barrels a day look pretty small. Kinda does, doesn't it? Nuclear.
"I wouldn't say it's a drop in the bucket," said Greg Priddy, a global energy analyst at the Eurasia group. "But it changes things only marginally over the long term."
Priddy said these 2 million barrels a day would need to be balanced against steep production declines expected in many non-OPEC areas like Russia, Mexico and the North Sea over the next several years. Non-OPEC production is expected to peak within the next decade or two, regardless of what the U.S. does, he said.
"It really just delays the day of reckoning a bit," he said. Something politicians are drawn to. Sort of like a moth to a flame.
Environmentalists, of course, hate the idea of more drilling rigs in the wilderness or offshore on continental shelves rich in marine life.
They say spills will happen regardless of how careful the industry is, although numbers from the Minerals Management Service show the industry has greatly improved their environmental record. Also, countries like Canada and Norway, hardly known for being environmental mavericks, pursue aggressive offshore drilling plans.
The larger argument put forth by the environmental community is that more oil will not solve the world's energy challenge.
"When you're addicted, the first thing you want to do is stop drinking," said Adam Kolton, director of congressional affairs for the National Wildlife Federation, referring to President Bush's State of the Union speech when he said the nation was addicted to oil. "What the American people want is an end to dependency on oil and a focus on alternatives."
Kolton said more and cheaper oil will only foster the same culture of big cars and sprawling houses we've become accustomed to, and leave us even more dependent on OPEC 20 or 30 years out. Ah, so it's my big car. So everyone switches to smart cars, including the trucking companies, and suppose we save 25% on oil or whatever. That'll get us maybe five years further down the road before the train wrecks.
"This is just more of the failed policies of the past," he said. Well, doomed anyway. As most policies are when they look to future changes.
Environmentalists also push for focusing more on conservation. And crushing the economy so we won't need as much oil.
If the U.S. switched to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the country would save 3.8 million barrels of oil a day - roughly twice what new drilling would provide - according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. Didn't the old Hondas or something get most of 50mpg?
Most analysts agree that conservation will play a greater role in meeting energy demand than drilling in the U.S.
"It's not a comprehensive solution to the energy problem," Newedge brokerage Deputy Head of Research Antoine Halff said, referring to lifting the drilling ban. "If you want to design energy policy, you have to think about demand." I demand we get moving.
#1
We need to get from here (oil) to there (nukes, green), and the only way to do it without crippling our economy is to DRILL HERE DRILL NOW while we are building the nukes and developing and deploying a hyrdogen/electric economy.
#3
By 2025, world consumption, currently at about 85 million barrels a day, is expected to swell to well over 100 million barrels a day. That makes 2 million barrels a day look pretty small.
That is a silly statement. World consumption of petro (as of other products) will closely parallel world production, which I doubt will ever get close to 100 million barrels/day.
Since it takes so many years to increase domestic oil production, perhaps other methods should be stressed, such as nuclear power. How long does it take to bring a new reactor on line, once the trial lawyers have been muzzled & leashed?
--- Also, railroads still have an inherent energy advantage compared to diesel trucks, but are currently in the USA limited by track capacity & overhead limitations. Locomotives can run on nuke-electricity or on anything that burns hot enough to generate steam. A major push to increase the capacity of railroads to carry freight & so decrease the need for diesel fuel is decades overdue.
What the American electorate still wants is cheap motor fuel and a continuation of Happy Motoring for the indefinite future. There is neither the discipline on their part nor the leadership by the political class to deal with the issue of ever-increasing petro prices and the transfer of the national wealth to terrorist states.
Perhaps when spot shortages of fuel develop and grocery store shelves go bare, the electorate will wake up.
#4
a big oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1969.
It was horrible, the area still hasn't recovered. School childrens were drafted to clean up greasy baby ducks and the resulting homeless population is present on every American corner. It was a geniune American Holocaust. Also teh beach was closered for a couple of weeks.
Posted by: George Smiley ||
05/30/2008 19:22 Comments ||
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#5
a big oil spill off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., in 1969.
Tarballs are normal on California beaches and have been forever. The pre-Spanish Indians used to gather them to line their baskets to make them waterproof.
At some point after this 1969 spill Arco (IIRC) reached an agreement with the Santa Barbarians to install what was basically an inverted funnel over a natural oil seep in Santa Barbara Bay in return for being allowed to drill further offshore, with the 'risk' of oil spills. Arco thought they'd lose money on the 'public service' part of the deal, but found they collected enough natural seep oil to actually pay for their costs. I think (I have heard the story 'in the business' for many years but do not have documentation.)
#6
If the U.S. switched to plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the country would save 3.8 million barrels of oil a day
And the ressulting brown and blackouts would bring the power distribution system crashing down, there's simply NOT that much generating capacity.
Nuke plants "Sometime" will NOT fix the shortage NOW.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/30/2008 19:42 Comments ||
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#7
Sounds nice, RJ, but who's going to pay for one for me to replace the perfectly good Honda suv I have that's paid for (and yes, I need an suv for my business)?
And where are we going to get them all? There aren't enough made to meet the demand we have now.
I freely admit I don't know much about electric cars, but unless I can drive from here to Charlotte - and have some way to "fill up" at the other end for the drive back, it won't do me much good.
Of course, if we'd started drilling in ANWR 10 years ago (and in the Gulf and off both coasts), maybe we wouldn't be in such a pickle right now. Thanks, Congress. You self-centered pandering assholes.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
05/30/2008 20:23 Comments ||
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#8
Actually, some of the figures I've heard from my friends still in the oil business is that the US could expand its oil production by up to 3.2 million barrels of oil a day within the next 30 years, if the barriers to drilling were eliminated. That includes oil pumped from platforms in the Gulf of Mexico (that part of it stretching from south of Mobile to Cuba, east), oil from off the Atlantic coast, drilling in several areas of the midwest that are currently off limits, drilling off the coast of California, drilling in both the Arctic National Wildlife Preserve and the Naval Oil Reserve, and oil from new fields currently being tested off the western coast of Alaska, north of the Aleutians. One thing that's been discovered recently is that you can't pump all the oil out of a reservoir, and that over time, some reservoirs will re-stock from oil migrating from elsewhere, mostly below current drilling depths.
As much as we need oil, it won't do us any good if we don't expand and modernize refining efforts, which are at near-peak production constantly. We need to build an additional 20 petroleum refineries NOW, then slowly upgrade existing refineries to where they can better produce results at lower costs and less of a chance for polluting the planet.
We also need to follow the lead of France and begin building nuclear power stations where they're feasible. Nuke power stations need LOTS of water for cooling, and there isn't much in desert country. There's no reason we can't build them close to rivers - say within 10 to 20 miles. France generates 25% of their electricity from nuclear plants. We should at least match that here in the US.
One thing that would happen almost immediately with the oil market if the US announced drilling in any of the major, untapped fields within our nation is that the speculators would begin unloading the oil futures they hold as fast as they can, knowing that the price is going to drop. The last guy out is REALLY going to get shafted, so most of them will act as soon as they hear the news.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
05/30/2008 23:11 Comments ||
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#9
Nimble Spemble - thanks for the petition link - signed it and mailed the congress critters...
I posted a flawed version of this a minute ago! This has a better link and includes the second half of the article!
The top two Democrats in Congress are coordinating an effort to get uncommitted superdelegates to publicly endorse a candidate and bring the Democratic presidential nomination fight to a conclusion. A senior Democratic aide tells CNN that Speaker Nancy Pelosi is already calling uncommitted superdelegates and pressuring them to back either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton between now and next week. Pelosi is working with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
In an interview with a San Francisco radio station on Thursday, Reid said he spoke to Pelosi and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. We all are going to urge our folks next week to make a decision very quickly," Reid said.
A DNC aide confirmed that Reid and Dean spoke, but said it was the latest in a series of conversations the Democratic leaders have had on this topic. "Dean is the one who has encouraged superdelegates to get off the sidelines. He has been saying that all along. They've both discussed in the past that the superdelegates should make their intentions known before July 1," said the aide, who did not know whether the two talked about putting a deadline on uncommitted superdelegates to pick their candidate by next week.
Pelosi told the editorial board of the San Francisco Chronicle this week that she "will step in" if there is no resolution to the contest before the convention: We cannot take this fight to the convention. It must be over before then. I believe it will be over in two weeks."
Pelosi, who will serve as the chair the Democratic National Convention in August, insists she will remain neutral until there is a Democratic nominee.
#1
The original concept of the Superdelegate was to avoid another McGovern fiasco. How's that working out for you? Seems everyone is screaming that its doing what it was intended for. :)
#2
Yeah, right. Aren't you two the ones who were going to set a timetable for surrender in withdrawal from Iraq and shove it down Chimpy McHitler's throat? How'd that one do?
Posted by: Mike ||
05/30/2008 11:57 Comments ||
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#3
Al Gore ! Al Gore! Al Gore!
Posted by: john frum ||
05/30/2008 12:59 Comments ||
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#4
What can go wrong?
Posted by: Obama, Harry and Nancy ||
05/30/2008 13:26 Comments ||
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Senator Helen Bruckner is a Hillary Clinton-like character (played by Stacy Travis) that engages the evil law firm (Wolfram and Hart) to smear her male opponent as a pedophile to get reelected Senator so she can then be elected President. The episode is entitled "Power Play".
My favorite line in that episode is when Senator Bruckner says, "I didn't claw my way from the depths of hell and take human form just to lose the chick vote to some man."
Senator Bruckner is killed off on Monday (June 2) on the 6am EDT episode (also the series finale). That episode is entitled "Not Fade Away".
When one of the good guys kills Senator Bruckner and her vampire assistants he says, "and they wonder why some people don't vote".
Six days and counting. Thats how long Barack Obama thinks itll take before he is the hands-down nominee of the Democratic Party and can make the full pivot toward a general election.
Hillary Clinton is still traipsing through primary states and pressing her case to uncommitted superdelegates, but the Obama campaign is spreading the word that once the final primaries in South Dakota and Montana are held Tuesday, the race is over. I would say either on Tuesday or Wednesday of next week, well know the Democratic nominee, Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said on a cable news show Thursday morning. And I can predict for you right here that that Democratic nominee will be Barack Obama.
Obama told reporters on his campaign plane Wednesday night that he believes hell clinch the nomination Tuesday, and that will mark the start of the general election campaign.
He may limp to the finish. Puerto Rico precedes the final contests on Sunday, and a new poll shows Clinton a favorite among Hispanic voters leading by double digits in the territory. With 55 delegates, it is the most valuable contest left on the calendar. Montana and South Dakota offer just 16 and 15 delegates, respectively.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
So Trinity Church will end the race for Obama with some really really stupid stuff in the next few days?
#3
I've been wading through the swamps (Dem blogs), and it appears that His Holiness has a mutiny on his hands. Hillary supporters think he's an incompetent narcissist and most will vote for McCain over The Chosen One.
Political circles in the Pakistani capital were today abuzz with reports that President Pervez Musharraf might opt to step down in the wake of a meeting with the army chief though the Presidency said he had no plans to quit.
Musharraf held a meeting with army chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani at the Army House in Rawalpindi late last night that lasted over three-and-half hours. The meeting came in the wake of Kayani's consultations with key commanders.
The commander of the army's 111 Brigade, a brigadier perceived as being loyal to Musharraf, was replaced but a military spokesman said this was part of routine transfers and postings. The 111 Brigade is responsible for the security of the President as well as the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi.
The News quoted sources as saying that Musharraf has "made up his mind to call it a day" and that he could make an announcement in this regard "at any time".
Musharraf's closest aides were quoted as saying that the President has made up his mind to lead a retired life "after losing all hope of survival in power".
However, presidential spokesman Maj Gen (retired) Rashid Qureshi dismissed reports about Musharraf's plans to quit this morning. He told reporters that such speculation was "just rumours". Qureshi had denied reports about Musharraf stepping down yesterday too.
Military spokesman Maj Gen Athar Abbas described yesterday's meeting between Musharraf and Kayani as "routine".
Pointing out that Kayani frequently meets Musharraf, Qureshi said the President and the army chief had discussed "prevailing security and political situation".
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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I have no idea if "Int'l confab" acually IS an expression, or if AP just made it up...
Some 110 countries unanimously endorsed on Friday an international pact that puts a de facto total and immediate ban on cluster bombs that cause damage to civilians. The Dublin Diplomatic Conference on Cluster Munitions approved the draft pact, presented by disarmament ambassador Daithi O'Ceally from host Ireland, on the final day of its session that began March 19 in the Irish capital.
The convention calls for banning the use, production, development, export and import of cluster bombs immediately, and requiring parties to the convention to abandon their cluster munitions in eight years, and to remove and destroy used bombs in their territories in 10 years. The response : Better Bombs: Scientists Develop Metal That Explodes on Impact...
But its effectiveness is in question because some major powers that hold a large amount of cluster munitions, such as the United States and Russia, have failed to join the anti-cluster bomb conference.
Sorta like the ban on land mines.
Cluster bombs are air-dropped or ground-launched munitions that eject a number of small bomblets to kill enemy personnel and destroy vehicles. A number of civilians have fallen victim to munitions even years after conflicts have ended.
The anti-cluster bomb convention sets some exceptions for the ban. Among the exceptions are those with nine or fewer bomblets and the most advanced type of cluster bomb that is equipped with instruments to correctly guide and identify only military targets or to destroy or disable themselves to prevent them from turning into dud bombs.
The convention is the result of more than 15 months of talks under the Oslo Process initiative, an international arms control framework spearheaded by Norway, Ireland and some other nations, U.N. organizations, the International Red Cross and lots of Soros-funded nongovernmental organizations. Participants met for the first time in Oslo in February last year to discuss how to effectively address the humanitarian problems caused by cluster munitions.
It was the second international disarmament pact concluded under such a framework, following the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on their Destruction, known as the Ottawa Treaty, which was signed in 1997.
Under the Oslo Process initiative, participants committed themselves to conclude by 2008 a legally binding international instrument that will prohibit the use, production, transfer and stockpiling of cluster munitions that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. They also aimed at establishing a framework for cooperation and assistance that ensures adequate provision of care and rehabilitation to survivors and their communities, clearance of contaminated areas, risk education and destruction of stockpiles of prohibited cluster munitions.
Japan, which has joined the Oslo Process initiative from its start, earlier advocated a partial ban on cluster bombs but changed its stance and declared it will join the convention. In Tokyo, a Japanese government spokesman said Friday that Japan "sooner or later" would have to dispose of the cluster bombs possessed by the Self-Defense Forces.
#1
Now if you really want results get the top 5 international donor nations together and issue an agreement on taking a five year Bankers Holiday moratorium in light of apparently 100 other nations telling them what to do in this world.
#2
My guess is that most of the signatories are countries that would be on the receiving end of cluster munitions rather that the giving end. Sort of like the Geneva Convention, meaningless when you fight nonsignatories.
(MENAFN - Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Iraqi Minister of Oil unveiled in remarks published on Wednesday that the Iraqi production of oil recorded 2.5 million barrels per day and the daily exports of the crude reached two million barrels.
Hussein Al-Shahristani, in the remarks published by the Egyptian "Al-Ahram" daily, that Iraq benefited from the increase of oil prices on the international market, as the oil revenues amounted to USD 21.5 billion from January to April 2008. Al-Shahristani added, that this number exceeded projections by more than USD 10 billion, expecting that the export revenues would hike to USD 70 billion by the year-end.
He clarified, that the US was no longer the top importer of Iraqi oil as was the case during the era of the executed leader, Saddam Hussein, and that position became occupied by China and India.
Exported Iraq oil is distinguished with "the best price on the market and is sold without mediators," he said, adding that the Iraqi oil decision makers were against increasing the exports for the market was saturated with supplies.
Al-Shahristani said Iraq aims towards increasing production to three million bpd.
#3
If the market is saturated with supplies, then that means OPEC is cheating. This is what OPEC did during the 1974 embargo. They claimed they weren't producing and then sold oil under the table - at a much higher price.
Kind of like the WWF, only with turbans.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/30/2008 12:15 Comments ||
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#4
OPEC isn't "cheating". Many OPEC nations are having to store oil in tankers because they can't find buyers for it. The number of tankers available for transport is declining because more of them are being rented as storage units.
As the price of oil has risen, demand has fallen. This means that the supply channels are saturated with oil.
The price is being driven up by speculators in the world commodity exchanges and is not a reflection of market supply/demand dynamics. In other words, the current price of oil is a "bubble" and when it bursts, there are going to be a lot of people holding contracts for high priced oil that they are going to have to unload at a loss.
Based on supply/demand history, the price of oil "belongs" at about $65 a barrel. The current price is artificial and not set by the oil producers.
#6
Time to lift the Brazilian ethanol tariff, slap a regressive import tax on non-north american oil (only starts as the world price falls below $75 bbl) with an exception for Iraqi imports, start permitting nuclear plant openings, and subsidize via tax credits refinery construction, and we'll have an energy policy to drive the MME into panic selling.
Fight the OPEC monopoly with a monopsony of our own.
He's got my vote! :-)
Hardline Likud Party leader Benjamin Netanyahu would win national elections if a corruption probe topples Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, an Israeli poll showed Friday.
The Dialog poll indicates that popular Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni would come in second and Defense Minister Ehud Barak would come in third.
The corruption probe involves a Jewish-American businessman who testified he had given Olmert about $150,000 that was used in part to fund a lavish lifestyle.
The poll, published in the Haaretz daily newspaper, surveyed 467 people and has a margin of error of 5.1 percentage points.
What is this gal like? Good? Bad? Another invertebrate?
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who on Thursday challenged the Kadima party leadership of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, under investigation for alleged corruption, is seen as as rising political star and a contender to be its second woman leader.
The 49-year-old lawyer, who defied her staunch nationalist background to become the number two in government and in the centrist Kadima, is today the most popular member of government. She is seen as the strongest candidate to succeed Olmert as Kadima's head and enjoys high public approval ratings, though she still trails right-wing Likud party chief Benjamin Netanyahu in polls as a potential premier.
Today Livni heads the peace negotiations with the Palestinians, launched late last year in a US conference, but which have since made little visible progress. She has met frequently with her US counterpart, Condoleezza Rice, on improving conditions for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where she is committed to the creation of a Palestinian state but also ensuring Israel's security and fight against terror.
"The creation of a Palestinian state, of a Palestinian economy, is clearly in Israel's interests, and we share the Palestinians' desire, just as cracking down on terror is a Palestinian interest," Livni said, while attending a donors conference for the Palestinians in Paris in December.
In April she took the rarely available opportunity of visiting an Arab country, attending a democracy forum in Qatar, where she lobbied for support against Iran's nuclear drive and urged Arab states to forge ties with Israel.
Ironically, Livni was virtually born to be a luminary in Likud. Her Polish-born father Eitan was director of operations for the Irgun, the hardline nationalist group that fought British rule through World War II and was one of the main factions that later formed the Likud. Yet she was among the first ministers to join former premier Ariel Sharon in breaking with Likud before the March 2006 elections, becoming one of the new party's founders.
With her mother Sarah also an Irgun militant, Tzipi was brought up steeped in the vision of a Greater Israel that would include what are now the Palestinian territories. But under Sharon's tutelage she swung round to his conviction that the only way to preserve Israel as a Jewish state was to relinquish at least some of the land occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War. That or have them as voters. You decide.
Livni was born in Tel Aviv on July 8, 1958. She received a law degree from Bar-Ilan University, and practiced law in a private firm for 10 years before entering public life. She specialised in commercial, constitutional and real estate law.
An MP since 1999, she was appointed to the cabinet in March 2001, becoming minister of regional cooperation. She has since also held the agriculture, immigration and justice portfolios. She is married and has two children.
Before following her father into politics, she worked in a commercial law partnership after four years in the legal section of the Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service.
Israeli PM Ehud Olmert's party should prepare for possible elections, his party deputy has said, amid calls that he step down over corruption claims. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, tipped as a possible successor to Mr Olmert, said Kadima should prepare for "every eventuality, including elections". On Wednesday, a key ally said he should take leave of absence or resign.
Mr Olmert denies claims that he took up to $500,000 (£250,000) in bribes or illegal campaign donations. "I think the reality has changed since yesterday and Kadima has to make decisions in relation to what it does," Ms Livni told reporters in Jerusalem. "I suspect that Kadima needs to start right away acting for every eventuality, including elections."
She also said she favoured holding a party primary to give the public a say in choosing a leader, and to "restore the trust" in the centrist party.
Mr Olmert said on Wednesday he was "not going to give up", after Defence Minister Ehud Barak, warned he would take his Labour Party out of Mr Olmert's ruling coalition if he did not step down.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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Human rights and aid groups complained Friday that Myanmar's military government was still hindering the free flow of international help for victims of Cyclone Nargis. Some foreign aid staff were still waiting for permission to enter the hardest-hit Irrawaddy delta while the regime continues to review entry requests for 48 hours, the groups said.
About 2.4 million are homeless and hungry after the May 2-3 cyclone hit Myanmar, also known as Burma.
"The Burmese government is still using red tape to obstruct some relief efforts when it should accept all aid immediately and unconditionally," the U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement.
The International Red Cross was waiting for permission to send 30 of its foreign staffers into the delta.
The regime has also barred naval vessels from the United States, France and Great Britain from entering Myanmar's waters, leaving them to wait offshore with their loads of humanitarian supplies. The French have been forced to dock in Thailand and turn over the relief goods to the United Nations for onward shipment into Myanmar.
"By still delaying and hampering aid efforts ... the generals are showing that, even during a disaster, oppression rules," Human Rights Watch said.
While welcoming millions of dollars from the international community for cyclone relief, Myanmar lashed out at donors for not pledging enough. State-run media decried donors on Thursday for only pledging up to $150 million a far cry from the $11 billion the junta said it needed to rebuild. One article said the same countries that criticized Myanmar for not opening its door to aid workers were being stingy with relief aid.
The isolationist government agreed to allow foreign aid workers in after U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with leader Senior Gen. Than Shwe last weekend.
But delays continue, Human Rights Watch said.
Although a major improvement over the pre-cyclone period of four months needed for approval to enter the delta, the 48-hour waiting period now required is "still wasting time," the group said. Myanmar's government says the cyclone killed 78,000 people and left another 56,000 missing. And probably another 1000 missing that the government took care of because the cyclone accidentally missed them.
The country's xenophobic leaders are leery of foreign aid workers and international agencies, worrying they could weaken the junta's powerful grip. The generals also don't want their people to see aid coming directly from countries like the U.S., which the regime has long treated as a hostile power.
TEHRAN (AFP) Iran is facing a summer of power cuts after a severe drought slashed output from its hydroelectric power plants, the energy minister warned, according to press reports on Thursday. "The electricity shortage and the cuts will multiply before the start of summer," Energy Minister Parviz Fattah was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.
Gonna get worse when electrical pylons mysteriously fall, and generators mysteriously fail, and power stations mysteriously go off-line ...
He said there was a shortfall in electricity production due to "the drought and the lack of water" in dams. "The production of hydro-electric power must reach 6,500 megawatts but for the moment it is only 1,500 megawatts."
A spring of only sporadic rain has left Iran with a severe drought as it enters summer, which is normally hot and dry all over the country except in the humid northern provinces.
Thanks, Halliburton ...
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has already told Iranians to watch their consumption of water. Officials have said a drop of 10 percent in consumption is needed to prevent even worse cuts. The capital Tehran and other cities have already been hit by cuts of up to three hours in certain areas as the authorities seek to make-up the shortfall.
Iran had to cope with major power cuts during the 1980-1988 war with Iraq but since the 1990s the authorities have invested in major projects, such as hydroelectric dams, to match the consumption of its over 70 million population.
The electricity cuts recall major gas cuts suffered by northern Iranian towns during the bitterly cold winter this year, as a halt of gas exports to Turkey failed to make up for the domestic shortfall.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/30/2008 00:00 ||
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#1
sure they are not running the power into enrichment facilities?
#2
Well, there *IS* a regional drought. Iraq has had to shut down some power generation due to lack of water, too.
From the USDA:
Iraq has been experiencing one of the worst droughts in the past 10 years, with total wheat and barley production in 2008/09 expected to decline 51 percent compared to last year. Drought conditions have predominated the entire winter growing season, and have severely impacted non-irrigated grain production in its northern regions. Acute dryness has also affected winter grain area and yield potential in several of the countrys primarily irrigated governorates (Iraqi provinces).
Which can be anticipated due to this year's cooling of the climate. That region gets dryer when the climate cools and wetter when it warms. During the Holocene Optimum it was *much* wetter in that region.
Syria, like its neighbor Iraq, has been experiencing a serious drought during the past 8 months. Drought stress in 2008/09, which was exacerbated by abnormally hot spring temperatures, is expected to cause significant losses to the nations winter grain crops. Wheat production is expected to decline 38 percent compared to last year, to the lowest level in the past seventeen years.
#14
Iran gets less than about 10% of their electricity from Hydro according to this source they have one of the largest reserves of natural gas in the world and could upload such plants quickly if they had the professional and financial resources to do this.
#15
You want to cripple electricity? Neutralize those transformers at each end of a high voltage (115kv or higher) transmission line, or at intermediate substations. They are non stock items and are expensive and slow to replace.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/30/2008 11:40 Comments ||
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#16
So Syria, Iran (and Iraq) are facing droughts. Must be the result of global warming. All part of a Rove/Cheney/Halliburton plot, no doubt.
The economy logged slightly better -- but weak -- growth in the first quarter, spurred by improved sales of U.S. products overseas. While that's heartening, the country's economy is still far from being out of the woods.
In fact, a closer look behind the 0.9 percent increase in the gross domestic product during the January-to-March period revealed much caution on the part of consumers who have been clobbered by the housing, credit and financial debacles.
"What emerges is a picture of an economy that's gasping for air," said Bernard Baumohl, managing director of the Economic Outlook Group.
Continued on Page 49
#1
"The economy is scraping along close to the bottom"
Obviously spoken by someone with very little knowledge or experience regarding the definition of economic bottom. They should look at the stagflation of the 1970-85 period. Or the Great Depression. Or various crashes about every generation before that. If we're scraping bottom, it's on a seamount, because this thing can crash a whole lot more than it has.
#3
Need I remind people of double digit unemployment and double digit inflation and fuel shortages and negative gdp growth for years under Jimmy Carter?
Dman morons in the press want to call this a bad economy when its every bit as good in terms of unemployment and inflation as were the "good" economy under Clinton in the mid 90's. And back then we were not actively at war.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Italy declared an emergency in the northwest of the country on Friday after torrential rainfall caused floods and landslides that have killed at least three people and are putting crops at risk.
Zimbabwe's government has sent 10 buses and trucks to South Africa to take home Zimbabweans wanting to leave the country over a recent spate of xenophobic violence, Zimbabwe's ambassador to South Africa Simon Khaya Moyo said on Friday. 
Up to 1.3 million people living downstream of a massive lake created by landslides in this month's earthquake in western China have been ordered to move to higher ground for fear it may burst its banks and cause flooding, state media reported Friday. 
China rushed Friday to remove radioactive and chemical materials sitting downstream from a "quake lake" that threatens to burst and send torrents of water into heavily populated areas. Nearly 100 unidentified radioactive sources were ordered to be removed by Friday evening from the path of the potential torrent of water, state press reported, citing the nation's environmental protection bureau. 
Unlike Hillary Rodham Clinton, rival Barack Obama planned for the long haul. Clinton hinged her whole campaign on an early knockout blow 
SUSAN SARANDON, who appeared in three films last year and won kudos for her TV movie "Bernard and Doris," is still not a contented soul. She says if John McCain gets elected, she will move to Italy or Canada. She adds, "It's a critical time, but I have faith in the American people.
Frankens eight-year-old article, titled Porn-O-Rama, describes a visit to an imaginary sex institute where he takes part in sexual acts with humans and machines. 
Oil executives and some lawmakers believe it's one of the only ways to help calm skyrocketing prices, but others say it takes us further away from a long term solution.
Six days and counting. Thats how long Barack Obama thinks itll take before he is the hands-down nominee of the Democratic Party and can make the full pivot toward a general election.
Political circles in the Pakistani capital were today abuzz with reports that President Pervez Musharraf might opt to step down in the wake of a meeting with the army chief though the Presidency said he had no plans to quit.
Israeli PM Ehud Olmert's party should prepare for possible elections, his party deputy has said, amid calls that he step down over corruption claims. Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, tipped as a possible successor to Mr Olmert, said Kadima should prepare for "every eventuality, including elections". On Wednesday, a key ally said he should take leave of absence or resign. 
TEHRAN (AFP) Iran is facing a summer of power cuts after a severe drought slashed output from its hydroelectric power plants, the energy minister warned, according to press reports on Thursday. "The electricity shortage and the cuts will multiply before the start of summer," Energy Minister Parviz Fattah was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency.
