From http://rjr10036.typepad.com/proceed_at_your_own_risk/2006/09/house_republica.html:
Do you ever hear or read something that seems so unlikely that you
think to yourself, "It must be my medication?" And then you realize
that you're not on medication? And then once you actually sort
through the data, you conclude that it's likely time to go on
medication?
House Republicans are quietly attempting to take a first legislative
step to make Evangelical Christianity our first state religion.
The critical $500 billion defense budget has stalled in the House
because the Republicans managed to slip in a "mischievous" little
amendment that they thought no one would notice.
In direct violation of the Constitution, House Republicans drafted
legislative language that would elevate Christian Evangelical
Preachers to the status of official government chaplains above all
other religions, including non-Evangelical Christians.
This obscure little amendment is intended to give Evangelical
chaplains the exclusive right to preside over all secular military
ceremonies.
The New York Times reports that the Pentagon and ecumenical chaplain
groups objected to this amendment, but the controlling Republicans
nonetheless wrote it into the budget and have been stubbornly
defending it. Their view is that our troops should be led by the one
true faith at the exclusion of all others.
Theocracy in action.
The Times says it is "unlikely" that the Senate would ever allow such
a travesty to go through, but the very fact that the
Republican-controlled House has attempted such a thing, and with very
little media attention, suggests that we are closer to a terrible
political crisis in this country than anyone of us has yet imagined.
Clearly, large numbers of elected officials in Congress are determined
to overturn our constitution.
Is the Republican party staging a silent and subtle coup that would
end democracy and create a Christian Taliban theocracy? While that
question seems extreme, what were they thinking? And how much longer
can we go on pretending that things aren't as dire as the evidence
clearly shows them to be?
Every elected official in this nation swears an oath to defend the
constitution. How could such language have been drafted? How could it
have made its way into such an important document? How could it even
be a subject for debate in the United States House of Representatives?
My prayer, if I were to pray to some deity, would be that each and
every one of these Republicans and George W. Bush himself end their
careers in shame and disgrace and go down in history as the insidious
and seditious villains that they have clearly shown themselves to be.
These people have betrayed this nation in no uncertain terms and how
so many of us can go on--including the media, or particularly the
media--pretending otherwise is mind-boggling.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Video game company Atari Inc. (ATAR.O: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it has appointed David Pierce as its president and chief executive officer, effective immediately.
Ending a CEO search that started in June 2005, Pierce takes over from Bruno Bonnell, who will continue to serve as chairman and chief creative officer.
Atari said Pierce has more than 20 years of executive management experience with major entertainment companies such as Universal Pictures, MGM, Sony Pictures and Sony Music Entertainment.
"The company has been suffering with a void in senior management for several quarters and the appointment of Mr. Pierce is one critical piece of the puzzle," said Edward Williams, a video game analyst at BMO Capital Markets, who has a "market perform" rating on the stock.
Atari, a New-York based subsidiary of France's Infogrames Entertainment (IFOE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), last month posted a fiscal first-quarter net loss of $7.1 million.
Atari, which is in the midst of turnaround efforts, has slashed costs and sold assets as it weathers a transition to new video game console technology that dampened industry sales.
As executive vice president and general manager of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Pierce spearheaded the restructuring and turnaround of Sony Wonder, its children's music and home video arm, Williams said in a client note.
Atari shares ended a penny higher at 70 cents, after touching as high as 74 cents in regular Nasdaq trade. The stock has fallen sharply since trading above $3 in June 2005.
(Additional reporting by Paul Thomasch and Mark McSherry in New York)
¶ 2:43 PM 0 comments
Sep 5, 2006, 09:51
BP oil drilling rig in Gulf of Mexico
The Wall Street Journal reports today that the oil industry is on the verge of cracking open a deep-water region in the Gulf of Mexico that could become America's biggest new domestic source of oil since the discovery of Alaska's North Slope more than a generation ago. 
Chevron Corp. and partners Devon Energy Corp. and Norwegian company Statoil ASA are expected to announce today the first successful oil production from the region, a 300-mile-wide swath of the Gulf that lies below miles of water and deep within a bed of ancient rocks geologists call the lower tertiary.
The Journal says that the production test paves the way for the development of the three partners' Jack field, located 270 miles southwest of New Orleans, and ultimately for dozens of comparable discoveries under federal lease to companies that include Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Petróleo Brasileiro SA, Exxon Mobil Corp., BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC.
Chevron and Devon officials estimate that the recent discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico's lower-tertiary formations hold more than three billion barrels' and perhaps as much as 15 billion barrels' worth of oil and gas reserves. If the industry succeeds in finding 15 billion barrels of oil, it would boost America's current reserves of 29.3 billion barrels by 50%.
The Journal says that if all these new finds were successfully exploited, they could approach or perhaps exceed the output of Alaska's giant Prudhoe Bay, the largest U.S. oil field.
In a statement, Statoil said today that it and partners Chevron and Devon have successfully completed a production test in a highly challenging structure in the Gulf of Mexico.
"The Jack 2 well test data are encouraging and may form the basis of future development projects in Walker Ridge," says Øivind Reinertsen, senior vice president of Statoil's Gulf of Mexico assets. "These development projects will be technologically challenging, allowing us to leverage our subsea and floating production experience."
During the test the Jack 2 well sustained a flow rate of more than 6,000 barrels of oil per day. Test results are very encouraging and may indicate a significant discovery. The full magnitude of the field's potential is still being defined.
Statoil and its partners plan to drill another appraisal well in the Jack structure in 2007.
The Jack production test has been very challenging and the deepest successful well test in the Gulf of Mexico. The Jack 2 well was drilled to a total depth of 28,175 feet.
The operator Chevron has an interest of 50% in the Jack field. Statoil and Devon each have a 25% interest.
"This area is one of the new and promising deepwater areas in the Gulf of Mexico," says Mr Reinertsen. "Statoil has a working interest of 25% in Jack, 6.25% in the St Malo discovery and 20% in the Tucker structure. In addition we have interests in several exploration licences planned to be drilled in 2007/2008. This makes Walker Ridge a core area for Statoil in the Gulf of Mexico."
In 2005 Statoil acquired Encana's entire deepwater portfolio in the Gulf of Mexico, consisting of 239 blocks with an average interest of 40%. The Tahiti development and the Tonga, Fox, Jack, St Malo and Sturgis discoveries are key assets in the portfolio. The transaction has made the Gulf of Mexico a potential core area for Statoil. It has also significantly expanded the group's deepwater position. The first oil was struck in the Jack structure in 2004.
© Copyright 2006 by Finfacts.com
U.S. vetoes U.N. condemnation of Israel¶ 2:03 PM 0 comments
1 hour, 9 minutes ago
UNITED NATIONS - The United States cast the first U.N. Security Council veto in nearly two years Thursday, blocking an Arab-backed resolution that would have demanded Israel halt its military offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The draft, sponsored by Qatar, accused Israel of a "disproportionate use of force" that endangered Palestinian civilians, and it demanded Israel withdraw its troops from Gaza.
by Maxim Kniazkov Wed Jul 12, 4:17 AM ET
WASHINGTON (AFP) - The investigative arm of the US Congress has
openly questioned if victory in Iraq can be achieved without a
significant overhaul of President George W. Bush's strategy, arguing
the outcome of the war was presently "unclear".
The findings by the Government Accountability Office mark the first
time a non-partisan US government agency publicly doubted whether the
geo-strategic undertaking that Bush made the defining element of his
presidency, could be successful.
"It is unclear how the United States will achieve its desired
end-state in Iraq given the significant changes in the assumptions
underlying the US strategy," the GAO wrote in its report unveiled
Tuesday at a hearing in the House of Representatives.
The review focuses on the "National Strategy for Victory in Iraq," a
glitzy document released by the White House with great fanfare last
November.
The strategy charted what was described at the time as a sound course
for overcoming the Iraqi insurgency and turning the country in the
first true democracy in the Arab world.
Nine months later, congressional investigators found these high hopes
were resting on shaky premises that are quickly melting away.
The bedrock foundation of the president's strategy -- a permissive
security environment -- "never materialized," said the authors of the
report, describing the Iraqi insurgency as "active and increasingly
lethal."
The overall number of attacks increased by 23 percent from 2004 to
2005 and rose to the highest ever level of intensity last April, the
investigators pointed out.
In the absence of security, the document continued, efforts to
rebuild the war-ravaged country or even to return key segments of its
economy to their pre-war level have hit a roadblock.
If before the 2003 US-led invasion, crude oil production averaged in
Iraq 2.6 million barrels a day, it stood at only two million barrels a
day this past March, according to the report.
A combination of insurgent attacks on pipelines, dilapidated
infrastructure and poor maintenance have hindered domestic refining
and turned Iraq into an importer of liquefied gas, gasoline, kerosene
and diesel fuel, the document said.
Water and sanitation projects, on which the United States spent about
52 million dollars, were inoperable or operating below capacity.
Investment has been reduced to a trickle. Last year, the report
noted, the Iraqi government budgeted approximately five billion
dollars for capital expenditures, but managed to spend only a few
hundred million.
Generous foreign aid -- another hoped-for component of success in
Iraq -- was never delivered in promised amounts.
While foreign donors had pledged about 13.6 billion dollars to
rebuild Iraq, only 3.5 billion was actually provided as of last April,
the GAO pointed out.
Meanwhile, it will take 30 billion dollars for the Iraqi oil industry
to produce five million barrels a day -- and 20 billion to rebuild the
electricity sector, the agency estimated.
All of these factors have prompted the GAO to issue a dire forecast:
"Security, political, and economic factors will hamper US efforts to
stabilize Iraq and achieve key US goals."
The report is certain to add fuel to a growing debate in Congress
over the future US course in Iraq, which President Bush says
should remain unchanged and Democrats insist is in need of a thorough
re-evaluation.
In the meantime, the State Department rejected the congressional
findings, saying in its response that the GAO report "rests on a
flawed understanding of the strategic architecture guiding United
States policy in Iraq."
¶ 9:12 AM 0 comments
In Rexburg, a few cowboys explored the possibilities on Saturday.
The signs suggest burning hay, not fuel, and these cowboys are all for it! Horsemen and women joined forces, hopped on their horses, and showed off their alternative modes of getting around.
"A lot cheaper than gas. They burn hay, they don't burn gas," responds Dean Jacobson.
"Hopefully we can influence somebody that the price of gas is a little bit high around here," says Jeff Hawkes.
In doing so, riders from all over met off the Archer-Lyman Road, excited to hit the dusty trails.
Horsemen put on their chinks, cowboy hats, and saddled up, ready to go.
After being injured two years ago, Swede Wilson is back in the saddle.
"It really feels good. It's still sore, but it feels good to be back on a horse, really enjoyable," says Wilson.
Though the "horse power" didn't get us to the speed limit, the horsemen did make it to their target destination, slowly but surely, and worth every minute of the ride.
"Where a lot of people go to the beach, fishing, we go take our horses with us and just have fun. They don't burn no gas."
Neither do mules. Dean Jacobson had his team pulling this buggy around town. The high price for him is only a little bit of this.
"Mules are smarter, better, and a lot of fun!"
The riders there says they plan on doing this at least once a month, bringing more riders with them each time or at least until they say their point has been made. ¶ 12:12 PM 0 comments
By GREGG AAMOT, Associated Press Writer Mon May 8, 1:54 AM ET
ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Most motorists are feeling the pain as gasoline creeps toward, or over, $3 a gallon — but not Art Altrichter.
"This feels pretty good!" Altrichter said as he filled the tank of his Ford F-150 pickup for $2.03 a gallon on Thursday, when the average here was $2.73. "Right now, to be a few pennies over $2, when it's as high as it is? That's a real deal."
A year ago, the retired milk truck driver bought 500 gallons of gas at First Fuel Banks, locking it in at the then-current price of $2.03 a gallon. He taps that reserve whenever gas rises above that mark. If the retail price drops below $2.03, he can leave his reserve alone and buy elsewhere.
First Fuel Banks bills itself as the only retailer in the country where customers can buy gasoline for the future and hedge against rising prices. It advertises no service charge and no storage charge, just a $1 lifetime membership fee.
Altrichter said one of his neighbors got in at First Fuel Banks several years ago and is now is withdrawing from a reserve that cost him 99 cents a gallon. "How about that!" he said.
Both people and businesses buy gas from the company, which has six stations in and around this central Minnesota city. The city of St. Cloud fills its fleet of cars at the company's stations.
The program is open to anyone who drives off the street. Customers buy whatever amount they want at the current price — the most ever purchased in advance was $400,000 worth — then swipe a card and key in a PIN number when they draw from their reserve.
Chief executive Jim Feneis, who runs the company with his brother, Dan Feneis, said 300 of its members are still filling up with gas that cost them less than a buck a gallon as recently as 2002. Many more are locked in under $2.
"We're offering a pretty attractive concept to the savvy buyer," Feneis said.
Each station has a 50,000-gallon tank for each grade of gasoline — regular, mid-grade and premium — compared with 6,000 to 8,000 gallons for each product at a typical convenience store, Feneis said.
That's enough capacity to handle short-and medium-term demand, he said. For people holding onto reserves for a year or longer, the company hedges its obligations by buying gasoline futures contracts on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
First Fuel Banks started with a single station in 1982 and now has about 8,000 members, Feneis said. It makes its money just by selling gasoline, diesel and some specialty fuels since its stations aren't convenience stores. He said it has less than 5 percent of the St. Cloud area market. But he said it's just one part of a larger business, East Side Oil Co., that has other divisions such as oil recycling.
"Our 43-year-old family fuel business is happy, healthy and completely debt-free," Feneis said. "And I think we're definitely the minority."
A few other stations in the country have tried a similar approach, but none have succeeded, he said.
Lance Klatt, executive director of the Minnesota Service Station and Convenience Store Association, can understand why: price volatility and risk.
"There's no margins anyway" in the gasoline business, said Klatt.
It was a new idea to Ron Planting, an economist with the American Petroleum Institute in Washington. "But in the Northeast and maybe elsewhere there are heating oil dealers that do something similar with a customer who wants to lock in a price for the current heating season," he said.
Sheila Hallerman learned about First Fuel Banks when she received a gift card a year ago, and a few months ago she bought 100 gallons at $2.40.
"It still hurts," she said of shelling out more than $2 for a gallon. "But not as much as it could."
___
Associated Press Writer Steve Karnowski contributed to this story from Minneapolis.
