#4
"Political problems". That's a hell of a euphemism for "vaporized economy, depopulated countryside, cholera epidemic, and god only knows what else".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/27/2009 10:10 Comments ||
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Zimbabwe will consider fixing its local dollar to the South African rand but will not adopt it as its main currency, President Robert Mugabe said in an interview published on Thursday.
"I do not see us adopting the rand as our main currency. Even in Sacu, the South African Customs Union, the members have their own currencies even though they use the rand," Mugabe told Harare-based Herald Online. "Botswana has its pula, Namibia has its dollar, Lesotho, Swaziland, they all have their own currencies. But they base them on the rand and that is something that we might consider doing here."
Mugabe said "at the moment we are using all international currencies".
"When it was first mooted, the idea of paying people in US dollars, I was against it and I still am because we just do not have enough [foreign currency]. It is a problem that confronts us even now.
"Personally, I think we should revalue the Zimbabwe dollar in a manner that fixes its relationship with the rand for a while. We will protect it for a while, for a while as we increase production. But we should protect it."
Mugabe said some Zimbabweans have started to speculate with the Zimbabwean dollar. "The problem is that the people of Zimbabwe have become speculators. There are some people who, if you say the [Zimbabwe] dollar is four to one with the rand, they will immediately make it eight to one and 10 to one.
"So there is this escalation on a daily basis. We should fix it [the value of the local currency] legally and keep it there for now. I want to discuss this with [Finance Minister Tendai] Biti.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
"The problem is that the people of Zimbabwe have become speculators.
Isn't that just the way? If it were not for all of these bloody people, Zim would be a lovely place.
#2
Yeah, if you "fix" your currency to a standard, Bob, you can't print money at whim. How're you going to bribe your minions without the printing press rondo?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/27/2009 10:13 Comments ||
Top||
#3
Zim would be a lovely place.
It was a lovely place!
I married a ZA girl in Salisbury 46 years ago.
Security forces have detained hundreds of fleeing border guards and set up roadblocks across the country since a bloody two-day revolt against military officers left at least 22 people dead, officials said Friday.
The border guards, whose unit rose up against their commanders earlier this week, have been promised amnesty, but it was not clear if that would apply to guards who fled their bases.
Soon after tanks rolled into Dhaka and intimidated the mutinous border guards, who had seized their main compound in the capital, into laying down their arms, many mutineers fled under cover of darkness, according to Abdul Kashem, an official of the mutinous Bangladesh Rifles, the official name of the paramilitary border force.
Commander A.K. Azad, a spokesman for the elite Rapid Action Battalion, said more than 230 mutineers - most dressed in civilian clothing - were rounded up Thursday night on the outskirts of Dhaka. Another battalion official, M. Morshed, said security forces had arrested 68 more mutineers near the town of Savar, 40 kilometers northwest of Dhaka. Security forces have set up highway checkpoints to search buses, and are also searching ferries as they look for more mutineers, officials said.
Nearly 2,000 guards opened fire on their senior officers and seized their headquarters in the capital Wednesday to protest poor pay and conditions. Twenty-two bodies, many of them senior officers of Bangladesh Rifles, the country's border force, have been found, said fire official Dilip Kumar Ghosh.
He said 34 officers and men were rescued after the mutineers surrendered and firefighters were searching for at least 65 more missing people. Ghosh said two of the bodies - a man and a woman - were found at the home of the border force's chief, Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed, but that the commander was not one of them.
One officer said earlier that he saw Ahmed killed immediately after the mutiny began Wednesday. "I was confronted by the soldiers three times, but I have survived," that officer, Lt. Col. Syed Kamruzzaman, told ATN Bangla television station. "Allah has saved me from the face of death." Authorities would not comment on the chief's whereabouts.
The mutinous guards had agreed to surrender after the government promised Wednesday to give them amnesty and look into their demands. But as the process stalled and the revolt appeared to be spreading to other areas Thursday, recently elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned the rebels she would "do whatever is needed to end the violence." Hours later, tanks and armored vehicles with heavy machine guns rolled into the capital, taking up positions in residential neighborhoods around the border guards' compound. Apparently intimidated, the guards hoisted a white flag Thursday afternoon and resumed laying down their arms.
The insurrection was the result of longtime frustrations over pay for the border guards that didn't keep pace with that of the army's - highlighted by rising food prices in the chronically poor South Asian country as the global economic crisis grows. The guards make about $100 a month. Their resentment has been heightened by the practice of appointing army officers to head the border guards. The border guards also do not participate in UN peacekeeping missions, which bring additional pay.
The army plays a pivotal role in Bangladesh, and only recently allowed the country of 150 million return to civilian rule. There have been 19 failed coup attempts since the country gained independence from Pakistan in 1971, and two presidents have been killed in military takeovers.
Fresh gunfire erupted at a paramilitary camp in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, on Thursday, police said, as troops took to streets in towns across the country a day after 50 people were killed during a mutiny over pay.
"Lay down your guns immediately and go back to barracks. Do not force me to take tough actions or push my patience beyond tolerable limits," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned mutinous Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border troops in a national broadcast.
"Give democracy and the economy a chance to develop."
The turmoil underscores the challenges faced by Hasina, who took office only last month after winning parliamentary elections in December that returned Bangladesh to democracy after nearly two years of army-backed emergency rule.
Bangladesh, home to more than 140-million people, has had several military coups since independence in 1971, but this week's mutinies over pay and command structure do not appear to be politically motivated.
The main duty of the BDR is guarding the country's borders, but often they back up the army and police in meeting other defence and security requirements.
Traditionally the BDR is led by army officers. Demands by some BDR troops to draw commanders from their own ranks, and for better pay and benefits, sparked the shooting among BDR members on Wednesday, officials said.
Fresh trouble
Fresh trouble broke out on Thursday, only hours after it appeared Hasina had negotiated a surrender by offering the mutineers an amnesty.
"Firing started again at the BDR complex in the afternoon although we were expecting the revolt ... to end soon," a police officer said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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The sluice gate of a sewer from BDR headquarters Nawabganj Bazar has turned into a hole for the dead as more bodies of BDR officers killed in Wednesday's mutiny washed out at the gate yesterday morning. Eight bodies -- two on Wednesday and six yesterday -- have been discovered near the embankment in Hazaribagh thana.
Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) plans to pump water into the sewer lines from inside the BDR headquarters to flush out dead bodies if any are still trapped inside. It had initially deployed a team to search for bodies at the sluice gate but later withdrew the team as there was little they could do from that point.
The bodies discovered yesterday were identified as those of Lt Col Kamruzzaman, Lt Col Anisuzzaman, Maj Mahbub, Col Zahid, Col Tauheed and Captain Mohammad Majharul Hayder.
Meanwhile, relatives of missing army personnel rushed to the spot at noon on Wednesday as soon as they heard about the discovery. Six other bodies had floated out to the same point by 9:00 am yesterday morning. The bodies discovered yesterday were identified as those of Lt Col Kamruzzaman, Lt Col Anisuzzaman, Maj Mahbub, Col Zahid, Col Tauheed and Captain Mohammad Majharul Hayder, Lalbagh police said. The bodies were sent to Mitford Hospital.
Captain Majharul Hayder, who got married only in December last year, served as a staff officer to the director general (DG) of BDR. His wife Nushrat Nur Badhon, daughter of the present Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Mohammad, was rescued from the BDR headquarters at Pilkhana late on Wednesday night. The whereabouts of the families of the six other army officials are, however, not known yet.
The drains from the BDR headquarters lead to the river Buriganga through Kellarmore, Swarighat, Babubazar and Sadarghat. Since the first two bodies were found at the sluice gate in Hazaribagh, hundreds of locals including relatives of those missing have kept watching at the water pouring out through the gate.
Muazzem Hossain, waiting around the gate, told reporters that his younger brother Maj Humayun who was at the BDR headquarters when the mutiny began has been missing since.
Mutawakkil was found weeping, as he anticipated the worst -- no one in the family has been able to contact his nephew Lt Col Shamsul Azam since Wednesday morning.
A Wasa engineer said, "The dead bodies seem to have been dumped into the sewer line through manhole openings and the flowing water carried them out the sluice gate." There are around ten manholes within BDR headquarters, he said.
The underground sub-sewer line from BDR has two sections, the diameter of the sub-sewer line across Pilkhana ranges from three to four feet. One section of this line from the BDR goes out through Gate 4 and runs up to Nawabganj sluice gate while the other runs up to Kalunagar on Hazaribagh canal. The diameter of Nawabganj sluice gate is five metres. The sub-sewer lines are wider at the meeting point with the trans sewer line.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Looking to hire: 1 Holyman with background in water purificatioon must have own Fatwas.
#2
People, traditionally , throw all sorts of things into the privy that they don't want to be closely inspected. It can also be a good place to stash contraband, if reasonible precautions are taken. In the mid 1800's many western American forts were dry. Alchol was not allowed. The officers got around this by declaring that wine and brandy were medicine, not alcohol. The troops couldn't afford the high-priced booze so they safely stored their hootch on a strap hung from a nail placed on the underside of the toilet bench. The officers never inspected the bowels of the latrine.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/27/2009 13:16 Comments ||
Top||
French police officers patrolled Martinique's capital late Wednesday after vandals burned cars and looted stores overnight as protests over high prices, low pay and alleged neglect by officials in Paris spread to a second Caribbean island.
Nearly 30 people were detained following the outburst in Fort-de-France, the French island's chief city, according to police headquarters.
Dozens of protesters gathered at city hall Tuesday night to demand results from slow-moving negotiations there over demands for pay increases. Around midnight, some began hurling rocks and bottles at police guarding the building, and officers responded by firing tear gas.
Protesters burned at least five cars, several garbage bins and a small grocery store. Several stores also were looted, but no one was injured, according to a police statement.
On Wednesday evening, a phalanx of French police officers were helping patrol the capital to enforce order.
Martinique has not seen the same degree of violence as that on the nearby French island of Guadeloupe, where weeks of strikes degenerated into rioting last week in which one labor activist was shot dead. Business on both islands has been largely frozen.
In Guadeloupe's biggest city of Pointe-a-Pitre, strikers assembled Wednesday night outside a seaside building where bargaining talks are taking place cheered apparent improvements in negotiations aimed at ending the more than month-long general strike.
Government representatives have offered to add a euro80 ($102) monthly raise to islanders making euro900 ($1,130) a month in order to end the unrest in the French Caribbean island, according to Nicolas Desforges, Guadeloupe's top Paris-appointed official.
"This is a big contribution by the French government to get out of this crisis," Desforges told reporters.
Added with the pledged contributions of island business owners, strikers now have a euro180 ($230) raise offer on the table - just euro20 ($25) less than the euro200 ($250) monthly increase they have been seeking.
But Guadeloupe protest leader Elie Domota said Wednesday evening that it was too early to say whether the new offer would be acceptable. "This is a proposal on the table we are going to review," he told reporters.
Government negotiators in Point-a-Pitre had left the bargaining table Monday night, saying they were not prepared to agree to a euro200 ($250) monthly raise for those making euro900 ($1,130) a month.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week announced a euro580 million ($730 million) financial package to help development in the Caribbean regions of his country. But strikers complained that proposals were vague and did not directly address their demand for higher pay.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
So... The French government sets wages? Isn't this what BHO is shooting for? It works so well. /s
#2
Considering that they have decimated the tourist industry for this year, what do the striking workers think they will be doing to earn the increased wages? Suspect most of them will be unemployed for the foreseeable future. The law of unintended consequences strikes again.
IIRC, France sends about 17 billions euros in subsidies yearly to its oversea departments & territories, and I've read yesterday that the envelope was increased by about 950 millions last year. Add to that 4 billions subsidies by the EU. Those locations produce very little past fruit industry, and tourism (and this one even is not very developed, since the locals do not seem to be very keen on it)... and while the population is poorer than in mainland (GNP per inhabitant is 60% of France), there is also an absurdely high percentage of people living on welfare, or hired by the gvt (with salaries for civil servants being 40-50% higher than in France, heck, in guadeloupe, all the leftist unionist leaders are civil servants, paid by the very same colonialist State they're supposedly fighting against) : 40% of the workforce is emplouyed by the State! (As opposed to "only" 24% in France)
And there's a cascade of subsidies, with non civil servants getting subsidies as well, due to the pressure of the local unions, the same ones protesting aggainst the high cost of life... So, yeah, they're being exploited, alright. When you've got an island like guadeloup, sitting in the middle of an huge fishing international boundary, nothing sez success like having to import 60% of its fish consumption.
#9
what interest would Hugo Chavez have in a couple of minor French colonies?
Hugo's got this thing about neo-colonialism. He also fancies himself as the second coming of Boliviar. He's been putting pressure on the Dutch islands. It makes sense that Chavez and his ilk would take advantage of a situation.
Russian military prosecutors have launched an investigation into a group of naval officers and businessmen suspected of stealing and smuggling weapons to sell to China.
Russia's chief military prosecutor has been reported by the Interfax news agency as saying the investigation would focus on a group suspected of smuggling 30 anti-submarine missiles and 200 aerials bombs to the central Asian republic of Tajikistan.
It is suspected the weapons were to be sold to China for $US18 million.
A source has told Interfax that high-ranking naval officers, including vice-admirals and rear-admirals, could be involved. The unnamed source says before the weapons were smuggled, they had been written off as obsolete, and more than $1.5 million of state money had been allocated to dispose of them. I wonder what else was for sale?
PESHAWAR: An activist of PML (N) tried committing suicide by setting himself on fire during protest against SC verdict here on Thursday. According to sources, the activist was identified as Jan Muhammad Habib. The people on the occasion put out fire and shifted him to hospital.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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#1
Another case of do-it-yourself head lice treatment, no doubt.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that he was disappointed over the Supreme Court (SC) judgment against Sharif brothers. The SC ruling damaged the democracy in Pakistan and anti-democratic forces might be benefited by the prevailing political turmoil if this issue was not resolved peacefully. This PM said while talking to media. Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani defended imposition of Governor-rule in Punjab saying imposition of Governor rule was unanimous decision of the government of PPP and also it was the constitutional need of the hour as former Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had been declared ineligible for contesting polls by Supreme Court. PM clarified we are not personally against any political party as I was the one who made phone call to Shahbaz Sharif and extended sympathies to him over SC verdict. Responding to a question about controversies between PM and President houses PM Gilani said having controversies are the part of democratic system and differences may occur sometimes but all elements have to follow constitutional decisions. PM termed politics as day-to-day affair and maintained that no one could predict about future in politics. To a question PM Gilani said President Zardari would be requested to issue National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to undo Supreme Court verdict against Sharif brothers.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People's Party MNA Nabil Gabol has said that Pakistan Muslim League-N Chief Nawaz Sharif intends to destabilize the government. Breaking news, folks. Remember, you heard it here first!
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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Information Minister Sherry Rehman has said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif's speech in Sheikhupura is an open invitation to mutiny and his comments against President Asif Ali Zardari are regrettable, a private TV channel reported on Thursday. According to the channel, Sherry said provoking the government and law enforcement officials by Nawaz was akin to taking the country towards disaster and confrontation, and weakening state institutions. She appealed to the PML-N's 'responsible' leadership to rein in their emotions and avoid making personal comments. She said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had said the "review option" was still open, and the PML-N should avoid politics of confrontation. About governor's rule in Punjab, she said it was imposed under Article 234 of the constitution, the channel quoted its sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday he had imposed governor's rule in Punjab after the Sharif brothers declared war on the Presidency following the Supreme Court decision to disqualify them.
Addressing a meeting of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the president said he had been left with no other constitutional alternative.
The CEC endorsed the proclamation of governor's rule and adopted a unanimous resolution of support for Zardari, sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times. They said most top leaders of the PPP wanted to negotiate a power-sharing deal with the PML-Q, but some stressed taking the PML-N along to avoid political instability.
President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani chaired the meeting. The committee empowered the PPP leadership to name a new leader of the House in Punjab and urged that the new chief minister of the country's largest province should be from the PPP. The sources said that it also authorised Zardari and Gilani to establish contacts with the PML-Q for power sharing in Punjab and Centre.
Challenges: Earlier, addressing the office-bearers of the Punjab chapter of the People's Lawyers Forum (PLF), President Zardari said the PPP did not believe in confrontation and was pursuing a policy of reconciliation, but knows how to tackle political challenges.
"The PPP is a political force that does not believe in confrontation and had adopted the policy of reconciliation for the sake of democracy and political stability of the country. We will pursue this policy but we also know how to meet political challenges that come our way," he said.
The provision of justice to the common man was the top priority of the government, Zardari said, adding he knew the problems faced by the citizens
Law Minister Farooq Naik also addressed the delegation, which was headed by Attorney General of Pakistan Latif Khosa and included PLF Punjab President Khurram Latif, Senior Vice President Iftikhar Shahid, General Secretary Khawar Khatana, and lawyers Shafqat Abbasi, Habibullah Shakir, Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, Zummurd Khan and Amir Fida Paracha.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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Malaysia's prime minister has called for Myanmar's Muslim boat people to be pushed back if they attempt to land on any Southeast Asian shores in search of asylum, according to newspaper reports Friday. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also took swipes at Myanmar and Thailand on the Rohingya issue, which has escalated into a major problem for the region and one of concern internationally.
Thousands of the stateless Rohingya have fled Myanmar as well as refugee camps in Bangladesh in recent years, but their plight was only highlighted recently when hundreds were believed to have drowned after being pushed out to sea by the Thai military. "But if we cannot be firm we cannot deal with this problem. We have to be firm at all borders. We have to turn them back," Abdullah said in an interview with the English-language Bangkok Post.
The Malaysian leader arrived at this beach-side resort Friday for the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-nation bloc that includes Myanmar. While the Rohingya issue is not part of the official agenda it appears to be taking up substantial time during sideline discussions at the three-day conference. Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Myanmar has agreed to take some of the refugees back but gave few details and said the process would be "difficult." The Myanmar delegation has yet to make a public comment on the issue.
The Rohingyas not recognized as a distinct ethnicity by Myanmar's government and denied full citizenship number about 800,000 in that country. Hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Middle East, and many rights groups have expressed concern that they will be abused if forced to return to Myanmar. Myanmar's consul general in Hong Kong, Ye Myint Aung, earlier this month described Rohingya people as "ugly as ogres" in a letter to media and diplomats.
Kasit, the Thai foreign minister, said ASEAN would work with Myanmar and Bangladesh to determine if the tens of thousands of Rohingya scattered around ASEAN countries come from Myanmar. Asked about a timeframe he said it would be "difficult" because of the large numbers involved. "Myanmar says they will take them back if it can be proven they are Myanmar people of Bengali origin," Kasit said. He said the Myanmar government recognizes the Bengali, an ethnic minority group found mainly in Bangladesh, as one of the country's 135 ethnic groups. But Abdullah expressed frustration in his interview with Myanmar's unwillingness to take the boat people back. "Of course, we know they come from Myanmar (Burma). When we ask Myanmar, they ask: 'Are you sure they are our people? What evidence have you got?'" he said.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said work would soon begin "to define the issue with the Myanmar authorities of who these people are, how to refer to them and how to categorize them and how many of them and how we can help them."
#5
wow, this seems like just the sort of clusterfrak that Obama 2would latch unto. wonder what he is saving it up for?
Posted by: abu do you love ||
02/27/2009 19:24 Comments ||
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#6
Nice show of solidarity, among the Master Religion's Oumma.
The whole point of Islam is to leech off non-Muslims. Ever heard of jizya? Feeding the Somalis was jizya. Feeding the Palestinians is jizya. Muslims will contribute to one Muslim cause - jihad.
POLITICAL tensions in Malaysia erupted into a scuffle at parliament on Thursday, witnesses said, as angry ruling party members confronted an opposition veteran. Karpal Singh, a 69-year-old wheelchair-user and opposition politician, enraged the youth wing of the ruling Umno party with a feisty performance in parliament this week where he accused them of sending him bullets in the mail.
Mr Karpal, chairman of the Democratic Action Party which is part of the opposition alliance, said a group of 20 Umno Youth members confronted him at parliament and demanded he apologise. 'This is a very dangerous precedent. We can't allow it as we have a duty to carry out here as lawmakers,' he told AFP.
Another DAP lawmaker, Lim Lip Eng, said he was assaulted as he tried to help Mr Karpal escape the pushing and shoving which broke out at one of the entrances to parliament.
The political temperature has been rising in Malaysia since general elections a year ago that saw the opposition gain unprecedented ground, winning a third of seats in the national parliament.
Mr Karpal sparked controversy this month when he threatened to take legal action against the sultan of Perak state, who had ordered the opposition to quit the state assembly and allow the Umno-led coalition to take power. In parliament on Wednesday, Mr Karpal accused his political opponents of being responsible for two bullets he received in the mail, and proclaimed 'Singh is King' after the title of a new Bollywood movie. 'Where did the damn Umno youth fellows get the bullets?' Mr Karpal asked, according to the New Straits Times. 'Singh is King. I am not afraid. They made 100 police reports, sent me two bullets and demonstrated.'
'I would also like to remind Karpal not to be too arrogant to the extent of not respecting our Malay rulers.'
Umno Youth member Mukhriz Mahathir said Mr Karpal should be charged with sedition for the bullets comment, and that he should show more respect to the constitutional monarchy. 'I would also like to remind Karpal not to be too arrogant to the extent of not respecting our Malay rulers,' he said in a statement.
Umno Youth secretary Abdul Rahman Dahlan confirmed members of the influential party wing were involved in the scuffle. 'It's a very serious accusation by Karpal as an experienced MP. We have 700,000 members and we might not be able to control all of them,' he told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009 00:00 ||
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In its budget, the administration predicted that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, will shrink by 1.2 percent this year but will grow by a solid 3.2 percent in 2010. That growth would be followed by even stronger increases of 4 percent in 2011, 4.6 percent in 2012 and 4.2 percent in 2013.
By contrast, the consensus of forecasters surveyed by Blue Chip Economic Indicators in February predicted that the GDP will fall by a larger 1.9 percent this year and then increase at weaker rates of 2.1 percent in 2010, 2.9 percent in 2011 and 2012 and 2.8 percent in 2013. there is also the counting revenues from increasing the marginal rate as 'savings' and pretending to lower Iraq related expenses that were never planned in the first place and pretending to eliminate unspecified programs, etc.; but those are separate issues
If passed, President Obama's spending and tax blueprint for 2010 will mean the U.S. government's debt will increase 63 percent in two years.
The publicly held debt -- money that is owed by the government to foreign and domestic creditors -- was 40.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2008. That increased to 58.7 percent based on projections for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, and will rise again to 64.6 percent in 2010 under Obama's proposed budget.
Gross domestic product is a dollar value of all the finished goods and services produced by the nation. The United States' GDP was $14.22 trillion in 2008, of which $5.8 trillion was debt held by the public. In 2009, GDP is projected to increase to $14.4 trillion but the publicly held debt will rise to $8.3 trillion. According to Obama's budget plan, the economy will reach $14.7 trillion. Public debt will rise to $9.5 trillion.
Posted by: ed ||
02/27/2009 06:48 ||
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#1
Barry doesn't care about any of this! The debt could rise 163 percent, no problem. These are just a bunch of white man's numbers. It's the 40 acres and the mule he cares about. We won, it's our turn.... we're mak'n up time. Pass the Beluga Michelle.
#1
And yet just 3 days later: Institute for Energy Research (IER) president Thomas J. Pyle issued the following statement today after the Interior Department announced its plans to withdraw from consideration acreage in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming where research and development of a small portion of our nations homegrown oil shale reserves had previously been scheduled to take place:
Earlier this week, Secretary Salazar suggested Americas massive and homegrown reserves of oil shale held great potential. Unfortunately, the Interior Departments decision today may help ensure that potential never becomes reality in the process, locking-away an American energy resource larger than the total reserves of the entire Middle East.
At a time of great economic uncertainty, with millions of Americans out of work and state budgets stretched beyond their breaking point, responsible development of Americas abundant shale resources could be a way out of our current condition, and a way back to a better one. The Interior Departments announcement today effectively forecloses that opportunity.
Posted by: ed ||
02/27/2009 6:46 Comments ||
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#2
Its amazing how dumb these politicians really are. In December Colorado brought in rules which extended the period for permitting drilling to 65 days. In any other state, the permit period is about 7 days. The regulations that were brought in and the considerations which were bought into the process included one provision, for instance, which required companies extracting natural gas from certain coal seams to treat their water pits so as not to attract mosquitoes that could transmit West Nile virus to pregnant sage grouse. I kid you not. The I-70 corridor economy down to Grand Junction is going to be gutted economically. It happened in the 80's and now its deja vu all over again.
#3
Secretary Salsa is the front man for the vironuts. Does he talk to the Eneregy Department? Probably not, unless they are already on the same windpower page.
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.
President Robert Mugabe has rejected demands that he dismiss two discredited officials, while the government asked its neighbours for $2-billion.
Security forces broke up anti-government protests in Antananarivo on Thursday, after the opposition leader broke off talks aimed at ending the unrest.
The sluice gate of a sewer from BDR headquarters 
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that he was disappointed over the Supreme Court (SC) judgment against Sharif brothers. The SC ruling damaged the democracy in Pakistan and anti-democratic forces might be benefited by the prevailing political turmoil if this issue was not resolved peacefully. This PM said while talking to media. Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani defended imposition of Governor-rule in Punjab saying imposition of Governor rule was unanimous decision of the government of PPP and also it was the constitutional need of the hour as former Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had been declared ineligible for contesting polls by Supreme Court. PM clarified we are not personally against any political party as I was the one who made phone call to Shahbaz Sharif and extended sympathies to him over SC verdict. Responding to a question about controversies between PM and President houses PM Gilani said having controversies are the part of democratic system and differences may occur sometimes but all elements have to follow constitutional decisions. PM termed politics as day-to-day affair and maintained that no one could predict about future in politics. To a question PM Gilani said President Zardari would be requested to issue National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to undo Supreme Court verdict against Sharif brothers.
Information Minister Sherry Rehman has said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif's speech in Sheikhupura is an open invitation to mutiny and his comments against President Asif Ali Zardari are regrettable, a private TV channel reported on Thursday. According to the channel, Sherry said provoking the government and law enforcement officials by Nawaz was akin to taking the country towards disaster and confrontation, and weakening state institutions. She appealed to the PML-N's 'responsible' leadership to rein in their emotions and avoid making personal comments. She said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had said the "review option" was still open, and the PML-N should avoid politics of confrontation. About governor's rule in Punjab, she said it was imposed under Article 234 of the constitution, the channel quoted its sources.
President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday he had imposed governor's rule in Punjab after the Sharif brothers declared war on the Presidency following the Supreme Court decision to disqualify them.
Malaysia's prime minister has called for Myanmar's Muslim boat people to be pushed back if they attempt to land on any Southeast Asian shores in search of asylum, according to newspaper reports Friday. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also took swipes at Myanmar and Thailand on the Rohingya issue, which has escalated into a major problem for the region and one of concern internationally.
POLITICAL tensions in Malaysia erupted into a scuffle at parliament on Thursday, witnesses said, as angry ruling party members confronted an opposition veteran. Karpal Singh, a 69-year-old wheelchair-user and opposition politician, enraged the youth wing of the ruling Umno party with a feisty performance in parliament this week where he accused them of sending him bullets in the mail.
