The Press Association: BNP to hold membership rules ballot

The British National Party's senior members have voted "overwhelmingly" in favour of allowing a party-wide ballot on membership rules.

A change in constitution would bring the BNP in line with the recent Equality Bill, and would allow non-white people to join.

On the first day of the party's annual conference in Wigan, delegates debated whether its membership policy should discriminate on the grounds of race or religion.

The BNP's leader Nick Griffin was present at the "closed for business" debate, at the Legends Bar in Hindley Green.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

BBC - Gavin Hewitt's Europe

The Swedish leader would like to arrive at the dinner next week with one name for both key jobs, but that is ambitious. There is still no agreement as to the kind of person they want as president. Do they want a bland consensus-builder or do they want someone
who can sit at the same table as the Chinese and American presidents?

That has not been settled. Neither should Tony Blair be ruled out. He was the clear front-runner but was regarded as damaged by his support for the invasion of Iraq and the fact that Britain was not a member of the euro. In the way that jobs are carved up in Brussels, the Socialist group of leaders indicated that they wanted someone of their political persuasion in the foreign minister's role, not the presidency.

But this is now a game about power. Despite the ambitions of the Lisbon Treaty many leaders don't want to be overshadowed by a strong president. That would count against Blair. The French and the Germans are said to have settled on the Belgian Prime Minister, Herman Van Rompuy, as a compromise candidate. He is clearly the current favourite and if the dinner were held tonight he would most likely be chosen. However, the impression that Paris and Berlin are carving this up would almost certainly cause opposition elsewhere and could persuade others to come behind Tony Blair.

Even though the French and the Germans are regarded as the power-brokers what happens if Britain and Italy fight for Tony Blair? Who will break the deadlock? It opens the way for deals and horse-trading and the emergence of a candidate that may not yet be in the field.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

EurActiv.com - EU on track to meet Kyoto targets | EU - European Information on Climate Change

Latest estimates show that the EU is set to overshoot its collective emission reduction target under the Kyoto Protocol, the European Commission said yesterday (12 November).

A progress report released by the European Environment Agency (EEA) foresees a 13% drop in greenhouse gas emissions below levels in a chosen base year, most often 1990. This would go beyond the collective 8% target of the 15 countries that were EU members at the time of the Kyoto Protocol signature in 1997.

In addition, ten of the twelve member states that joined the Union since the Protocol came into being have since signed up to individual commitments, except for Malta and Cyprus. The report expects that all EU countries except for Austria will meet their individual targets.

The EEA estimates that emissions from the 15 'old' member states fell to 6.2% below Kyoto base-year levels last year. For the entire 27-member bloc, the cuts would amount to 13.6%. But these figures are boosted by diminished industrial activity due to the financial crisis

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Russia astonished over GM decision on Opel NEW EUROPE - The European News Source

The Russian government expressed its surprise on 4 November at the decision by US car giant General Motors to hold onto its European subsidiary Opel and not to sell it. Dmitry Peskov, Interfax quoted a spokesman for Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as saying the decision had caused astonishment in Russia and in particular in the Russian government. Putin had previously been keen about the prospect of the Russian company Sberbank buying into Opel

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Julien Frisch: 10 steps to becoming a Euroblogger

Some time ago, I have already given an answer on why I blog, but I think there might be some interest in knowing how to actually become a Euroblogger - in 10 steps, because anything can be done in 10 steps.

1. You need to become crazy.

If you are not crazy yet, start reading the consolidated Lisbon Treaty from the first to the large page. If you finished reading and you are still not crazy, please apply for a job in one of the EU institutions.

2. You need to make the first and most important choice.

If you finished reading the Lisbon Treaty, you think it is crap and you don't like the EU because of that, you need to call yourself a "eurosceptic". If you think it is crap and you still like the EU you are now called "federalist". As a Euroblogger you will belong in one of the two categories, and officially there is nothing in between.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

One cause of discontent down, many more to go | Policies | Justice | Rights | European Voice

Hungarians and Slovaks are too good at listing their grievances and too bad at tracking change.

The row is over but the problems remain. Amid an outcry from neighbouring Hungary, and discreet pressure from other outsiders, Slovakia's government has backed away, for the moment, from implementing its badly drafted and intrusive-sounding new language law.

Despite this, hopes that membership of the European Union and NATO would bring a permanent end to central Europe's tribal conflicts and historical grudges now look over-optimistic. It would be good if all concerned - the Slovak government, Hungarians in Slovakia and Hungary's political parties - paused for reflection about the troubling issues that divide them. But the economic crisis, and the likely victory of the tough-talking Viktor Orbán and his right-of-centre Fidesz party in Hungary's parliamentary elections next year, are among the reasons for expecting another flare-up sooner rather than later.

A short list of Hungarian grievances would go like this.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Anti-immigrant views widespread in Europe | Europe | Deutsche Welle | 14.11.2009

A new study has found that anti-foreigner sentiments are widespread in the EU, although it appears in various forms from country to country. The best way to get rid of it? Friendship, researchers say.  

One in two Europeans believes there are too many immigrants in Europe. But if you look more closely, it is clear that opinions vary broadly across the continent.

In Italy, 62 percent of respondents agree there are too many immigrants, while in Poland, which has very few foreigners, only 27 percent think so. But, when it comes to jobs, three in four Poles say those born in the country should be given preferential treatment.

Another example from the study, of a seemingly contradictory nature, comes from the Netherlands. The Dutch are tolerant when it comes to jobs - only one in four of the 8,000 respondents think natives should be favored over immigrants. But, on the other hand, they are the least willing to invest in neighborhoods inhabited by immigrants.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

France's Mistral amphibious assault ship | Top Russian news and analysis online | 'RIA Novosti' newswire

France's Mistral amphibious assault ship will arrive on an official visit to St. Petersburg on November 23.
Russia is seeking to buy a Mistral-class helicopter carrier worth 400-500 million euros (around $600-$750 mln). The Russian Navy and defense industry experts will be able to inspect the ship during the visit.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Kosovo election commission chief: transparency will be ensured (SETimes.com)

On Sunday (November 15th), Kosovo will hold its first local elections since becoming an independent country. Before the February 2008 unilateral declaration of independence, the OSCE was running the election process and certifying results for the Serbian province. Elections in the country will now be overseen by a Central Election Commission (CEC), led by Nesrin Lushta. She was appointed by President Fatmir Sejdiu in May.

The commission has put together a list that includes 1.6 million registered voters in 36 municipalities. There will be 2,256 polling stations.

Southeast European Times: The upcoming elections are the first to be conducted by the Kosovo authorities. What major challenges are you facing at this point?

Nesrin Lushta: The still not functioning of the Elections Commission for Complaints and Submissions -- an institution independent from the Kosovo Central Election Commission that [makes decisions on] the complaints and the submissions in the electoral process -- the new Kosovo municipalities [and the] late task completion of the Central Election Commission Secretariat are just some of the challenges we are facing at the moment.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Michael Reagan finds Europeans ungrateful  Baxter Bulletin

This past week I have been in Europe to help commemorate the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. I went into this trip with a great deal of enthusiasm and an expectation that the heroes responsible for that momentous event be justly recognized. Sadly, I was instead reminded of how much we have willingly forgotten.

Over the past several months, the Reagan Legacy Foundation has been working hard to ensure that Berliners remember the vital role my father played in bringing down the wall and defeating communism. Amazingly, there are no major statues, memorials or tributes to Ronald Reagan -- the president, the man who sided with freedom over tyranny.

Thankfully, in partnering with the "Checkpoint Charlie" museum, we have now unveiled a Ronald Reagan permanent exhibit to help educate Berliners and their international guests of what would have been an unpardonable omission in modern historical analysis of that period.

During these ceremonies I fully expected the legends of this period to be honored, or to at least be mentioned. But over the course of this celebration that included fireworks and a re-enactment of the fall of the wall, I heard nary a mention of Ronald Reagan or Margaret Thatcher. This was both frustrating and alarming.

:-)

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

Bumm.sk reports that this past week, the mayor of ethnic-Hngarian-majority Slovakian city  Dunaszerdahely sent six of his bureaucrats chosen for a new office to a communications training in Budapest. But the provider turned out to be the "Hubbard College Academy", and the six were treated like dirt, and blackmailed to stay and do silly things like staying without motion for hours (all in accordance with Hubbard's teachings). After three days, they rebelled and left for home, and had a serious talk with the mayor. (The mayor says sorry, claims he knew nothing of the Scientology background, which was proposed by his campaign manager.)

Providing various innocuous-sounding courses to people unaware of the sect connection is one of their less well known methods. And I wonder how many people have been forced into it by bosses. (I was aware of the courses in Budapest from their advertisements, but this is the first story I read.)

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

BBC NEWS | UK | East Coast becomes nationalised express

The east coast rail franchise is just the latest acquisition by the government since the financial crisis, which has also seen the state nationalise a number of the UK's largest banks.

The French seem to put it best: "deja vu" or "plus ca change..."

All changed yet little has changed at all.

Passengers arriving at King's Cross station for Saturday's inaugural East Coast service from London to York were bemused at the sight of TV cameramen chasing Transport Secretary Lord Adonis along the platform.

They almost certainly missed the new company logo adorning the train they were about to board.

Peeled off was the National Express sticker and in its place was the imaginatively titled East Coast logo, which took over the running of the east coast rail line from midnight.

For the rest though, it's much the same. Same timetable, same prices, routes, same staff and same food.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Caymans seek hedge fund families in growth push | Deals | Hedge Funds | Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - The Cayman Islands hope more hedge fund managers and their families will move to the off-shore centre as it seeks to boost tax revenues, the Caribbean territory's prime minister told Reuters.

The British overseas territory -- legal home to most of the world's hedge funds, but with less than 50 managers actually based there -- wants to attract more financial firms as it struggles with a budget deficit.

"It's what I encourage, it's a new drive. You bring your children," premier McKeeva Bush said in an interview on Monday.

Politicians have demanded tighter regulation of financial havens across the globe, and the Cayman islands in August joined the global "white list" of countries using internationally recognised tax standards, as defined by the OECD.

Nearly 10,000 funds are based in the Cayman Islands, a group of three islands to the south of Cuba, attracted by its light-touch regulatory framework, and financial services account for up to 70 percent of its economy.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

FILM: Challenging 500 Years of Globalisation - IPS ipsnews.net

NEW YORK, Nov 14 (IPS) - To end poverty, you have to know how it began - with globalisation. No, not the 20th century variety engendered by multinationals and their friends at the IMF, World Bank and WTO. They just codified practices that kept developing countries poor.

French Filmmaker Philippe Diaz, in an illuminating documentary opening in New York Friday, traces globalisation back 500 years to the Spanish and Portuguese conquests of the Americas. Diaz shows how the colonial North used the South's resources to build its industrial base and how its continued control over resources, global trade and debt rules prevents developing countries from ending poverty.

Diaz had produced French feature films such as "Bad Blood" and "The Man Inside" before turning to documentaries. He made "The Empire in Africa" about Sierra Leone. The drama of the new film, "The End of Poverty?", is as startling as anything he could invent.

The title is a play on a book by economist Jeffrey Sachs - without the question mark - who, Diaz told IPS, "runs all around the world with Bono and these guys claiming that if we bring mosquito nets and fertilisers, it will end poverty."

For example, Diaz is incredulous that Sachs's book ascribes Bolivia's economic failure to high altitude. He points out that 30 years ago, Sachs advised the Bolivian government to privatise everything, and today the country is essentially owned by foreign corporations.

Abel Mamani, Bolivia's water minister, says in the film, "In the case of railroads, they have practically disappeared since they were privatised. In the east we don't have trains anymore. They have been entirely dismantled."

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Hypo investigation extended | Policies | Business | State aid | European Voice

EU competition authorities say extra aid to German bank necessitates larger investigation.

The European Commission said today that it has extended the scope of its investigation into state aid given to the German bank Hypo Real Estate in order to take account of extra support Hypo has received since the Commission began its investigation.

A spokesman for Neelie Kroes, the European commissioner for competition, said the investigation also needed to be extended because the German authorities had amended a restructuring plan for the bank.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Bair calls U.S. bank bailout "not a good thing"

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Leading U.S. bank regulator Sheila Bair said on Friday that the government's capital injections into the largest banks was "probably not a good thing." Bair, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, said the billions of dollars of capital infusions last year had a terrible impact on public perception of the financial industry and government regulators.

"I think at the time it sounded like the right thing to do and, again, it was part of an international effort, but I just see all the problems it's created," Bair said during an interview with PBS NewsHour. "I think we would have tried to dissuade Treasury from making these capital investments."

....

"It's had a terrible, terrible impact on public attitudes toward the financial system, toward the regulatory community," Bair said. "It's created all sorts of issues about government ownership of these institutions, what happens if they get in trouble again."

....

Bair said during the interview that no one should be held accountable for the government's decision to inject capital into the largest banks, but noted that complications are still lingering. She said the government, as partial owners of some banks, are put in the difficult position of determining how to manage compensation and executive changes at these firms.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

How Oil Speculation Affects Oil Prices   Zero Hedge

Let's say there are 100,000 barrels of oil in the world and 10 are sold each day and they are shipped from various places in various amounts but generally there are, at any given time, 30 days of oil at sea (300 barrels).  If I am taking straight delivery, I would contract with the producers to deliver me 1 barrel of oil per day for a year or 5 years or whatever for $50 a barrel.  My interest is to have a steady supply and the producers interest is to have a steady demand.  He wants to charge as much as possible, I want to pay as little as possible.

Enter the speculators.  Rather than me (the actual user) haggling with the producer directly (as is done in most business transactions), the speculator steps in and offers to buy as much oil as the guy can produce for $40.  I can't do that because I only need one barrel a day but if the guy can make 1.3 or 1.6 barrels a day or he can add a new pump and make 2 barrels a day, knowing he has a buyer at $40, he will be thrilled (assuming the profits work selling 2Bpd at $80 vs 1Bpd at $50).

....

But then the speculators get greedy.  They know I NEED 1 barrel per day and perhaps there was some seasonality to pricing or natural fluctuation but all the speculator has to do is wait for the price to rise and then hold it there.  If supply is uneven, they can divert some to storage.  They are still buying it, creating demand but they are not delivering it so there is suddenly a "shortage" where none existed before.   As they accumulate more barrels in storage (say 100) they realize that getting the price up to $60 makes them not only $10 a day more per barrel they sell me, but it increases their "wealth" by 20% as the 100 barrels they have in storage are now valued at $60 - even though they are actually unwanted barrels that have been manipulated out of circulation.

....

On top of all that, you can manipulate the contracts on the "free" market.  All you have to do is get a friend (me) to agree to jack up the price with you.  You and I have 100 barrels of oil in storage and another 30 barrels in ships on the way and contracts for more years at $40 a barrel (say 750 barrels).  We have a few stories printed in the news about peak oil and demand and whatever nonsense and then I offer a barrel (1 of 10 sold that day) for $61 on the open market and you buy it.  Then you offer a barrel (10% of a normal day's trading) at $62 and I buy it.  Then I offer the barrel for $63 and you buy it and then you offer the barrel for $64 and I buy it.  What has happened?  You and I have spiked the volume of trading by 40% for the day and ramped the price up 6.5% by trading the same barrel back and forth 4 times.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

Al Jazeera English - Business - Hopes pinned on Dubai air show

The Dubai air show has opened with hopes that military sales will to continue to prop up a slowing civilian industry.

The four-day, bi-annual exhibition began on Sunday in the United Arab Emirates with advance orders and exhibitor numbers up on previous years, according to organisers.

With aviation being one of the industry's worst hit by the global recession, unrest in the Middle Eastern is said to have kept military orders up and the sector partially afloat.

Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell. Frank Borman

BBC NEWS | UK | No public probe into Iraq 'abuse'

Fresh allegations of abuse by the UK military in Iraq do not warrant a new public inquiry, the Armed Forces Minister Bill Rammell has said.

He told the BBC the claims were taken seriously and would be investigated but that allegations did not mean facts.

He said a special unit within the Ministry of Defence, overseen by him, had been set up to examine the claims.

Lawyers for former Iraqi detainees want an inquiry into 33 abuse claims, which include the rape of a 16-year-old boy.

'Sexually humiliated'

Mr Rammell said there should not be a wider public inquiry because each case first had to be examined and disciplinary action taken if there was evidence of wrongdoing.

He said: "There is no credible evidence that endemic abuse was a coherent part of the way our military operated."

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Obama pledges greater U.S. engagement in Asia | U.S. | Reuters

TOKYO (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama pledged Saturday to deepen dialogue with China rather than seek to contain the rising power, as he laid out a vision for greater engagement with a vibrant Asia-Pacific region.

Calling himself "America's first Pacific President," Hawaii-born Obama signaled his commitment to the region, but gave no new specifics on how to reinvigorate a U.S. trade agenda many see as stalled.

Obama reaffirmed Washington's decades-old alliance with Japan, its most important ally in the region, strained lately by a dispute over a U.S. military base and questions about the future of the ties as both countries adapt to a rising China.

"But while our commitment to this region begins in Japan, it does not end here," Obama said in a speech to 1,500 people in the Japanese capital, his first stop on a nine-day Asian tour.

"So I want every American to know that we have a stake in the future of this region. This is where we engage in much of our commerce and buy many of our goods.

"And this is where we can export more of our own products and create jobs back home in the process," Obama said.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

RFI - Peru cancels talks with Chile amid espionage row

Peru and Chile are embroiled in a serious diplomatic row, after two Chilean military officials were allegedly found to be spying in Peru. The espionage claims forced the cancellation of Sunday's APEC meeting in Singapore between Peru's President, Alan Garcia, and his Chilean counterpart, Michelle Bachelet.

A Peruvian court has begun extradition proceedings against the two Chilean officers, while the government has launched an official inquiry, justice officials said.

The Chileans, identified as Daniel Marquez Torrealba and Victor Vergara Rojas, were allegedly working with an officer of the Peruvian Air Force, Victor Ariza Mendoza, whose detention officials announced on Thursday.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Al Jazeera English - Business - UN agency asks for urgent food aid

The World Food Programme (WFP) is asking millions of people to give small amounts of cash to beat hunger, as donor governments are hit by the financial crisis.

Josette Sheeran, head of the UN food aid body, said the Internet appeal launched on Saturday invites one billion people living in the developed world to give just 1 euro ($1.50) a week to the campaign, which would be enough to end world hunger.

It is the first time the WFP, which is mainly funded by national governments, has launched such an appeal.

Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell. Frank Borman

Al Jazeera English - Focus - Is Karzai losing US support?

Hamid who?

That would appear to be the subtext of much official comment about Afghanistan in the US capital these days, where that country's fraud-tainted, and poorly-reelected president, Hamid Karzai, has apparently become unmentionable.

Exhibit A: Barack Obama, the US president, gave an interview to a national television network this week, and managed to talk about Afghanistan without using the words "president," "Karzai" or "election."

Instead, Obama, who is intensively reviewing a proposal to increase US military presence in that country, said his administration was looking for new people in Afghanistan to talk to.

"...we are identifying not just a national government in Kabul, but provincial government actors that have legitimacy right now," Obama told the network.

Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell. Frank Borman

EurActiv.com - Political will can eradicate hunger, says UN | EU - European Information on Agriculture & Food

Developing countries can buck the hunger trend with the right policies and investments, says a new UN Food and Agrcultural Organisation (FAO) report published ahead of next week's World Summit on Food Security.

The report, published yesterday (11 November), notes that while global hunger figures are rising, 31 out of 79 countries monitored by the UN agency have registered "a significant decline in the number of undernourished people since the early nineties".

Countries like Armenia, Brazil, Nigeria and Vietnam, for example, are said to be "on track" to achieve the UN Millenium Development Goal of eradicating extreme hunger by 2015.

According to the UN, their success will stem from four common factors:

    * The creation of an enabling environment for economic growth and personal wellbeing;
    * investments in the rural poor and outreach to the most vulnerable;
    * ensuring achievements are maintained and gains protected against threats like recession, disease or natural disasters, and;
    * planning for a sustainable future by upgrading infrastructure and investing in rural development, for example.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

BRAZIL: Deforestation Down 45 Percent - IPS ipsnews.net

RIO DE JANEIRO, Nov 13 (IPS) - Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon jungle was reduced more than expected between August 2008 and July 2009 - 45 percent compared to the previous 12 months, the National Institute for Space Research (INPE) reported.

During that period, 7,008 square kilometres of forest were cleared, according to the Deforestation Monitoring Project, which uses satellite images. In the previous 12-month period, 12,911 square kilometres of jungle were lost.

The results announced Thursday, which reflected the biggest annual decline since the government started monitoring deforestation in 1988, are a positive development that Brazil will present at the December global climate change summit in Copenhagen, said President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's chief of staff, Dilma Rousseff.

At the summit, the government will present ambitious voluntary targets for curbing greenhouse gas emissions. With respect to deforestation, which is responsible for over half of Brazil's emissions, the rate will be cut by 80 percent by 2020, compared to the 1996-2005 average of 19,500 square kilometres.

The figures presented Thursday reflect exemplary compliance with the government's targets for fighting deforestation, which has steadily declined since 2004, the year after Lula first took office.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

New Evidence Supports 19th Century Idea On Formation Of Oil And Gas

Washington DC (SPX) Nov 12, 2009
Scientists in Washington, D.C. are reporting laboratory evidence supporting the possibility that some of Earth's oil and natural gas may have formed in a way much different than the traditional process described in science textbooks.

Their study is for the ACS' Energy and Fuels, a bi-monthly publication. Anurag Sharma and colleagues note that the traditional process involves biology: Prehistoric plants died and changed into oil and gas while sandwiched between layers of rock in the hot, high-pressure environment deep below Earth's surface. Some scientists, however, believe that oil and gas originated in other ways, including chemical reactions between carbon dioxide and hydrogen below Earth' surface.

The new study describes a test of that idea, which dates to at least 1877 and famous Russian chemist Dimitri Mendeelev. They combined ingredients for this so-called abiotic synthesis of methane, the main ingredient in natural gas, in a diamond-anvil cell and monitored in-situ the progress of the reaction.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Fourteen Democratic senators stick up for coal | Grist

Thursday, 14 Democratic senators affirmed their allegiance to the profits of polluting industry at the expense of the health and jobs of their constituents. In a letter to Senate leaders, a bloc of senators with powerful coal interests in their states called for "fair emissions allowances in climate change legislation." Their definition of "fair," unfortunately, turns out to be full taxpayer subsidies for global warming polluters. They call for the free allocation of pollution permits to electric utilities to be distributed "fully based on emissions":

We urge you to ensure that emission allowances allocated to the electricity sector--and thus, electricity consumers--be fully based on emissions as the appropriate and equitable way to provide transition assistance in a greenhouse gas-regulated economy.

The signatories on the letter defending coal-heavy polluters are Senators Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), Al Franken (D-Minn.), Roland Burris (D-Ill.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), Russell Feingold (D-Wis.), Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Mark Udall (D-Colo), Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio).

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Alternative Energy and Fuel News:

Nashville is one of a handful of cities in the U.S. targeted to become an early focal point for electric vehicles, as Nissan plans to start production of a battery-powered car in Smyrna by 2012 and a program is launched to build a network of recharging stations. But getting to the point where electric vehicles are common will take time and work, said Joe Hoagland, TVA's vice president for environmental policy, science and technology.

"If every one of us had a car or two in the garage that was charging every night, could that be handled?" Hoagland said. "I'm not sure."

A slow charge on a vehicle, referred to as trickle charging, wouldn't be a problem. But if people wanted to fast charge at the same time -- pulling more power than a house could handle -- transformers could blow.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Nissan is turning over a new zero-emission Leaf

Writers and photographers gather around the electric Nissan Leaf outside Dodger Stadium. Industry estimates of its sticker price range from $25,000 to $33,000. The 551-pound lithium-ion battery will be leased separately. (Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times / November 13, 2009)

The Nissan Leaf, a five-seat, zero-emission hatchback, will start filtering into select markets in the U.S., Europe and Japan next year and will go global in 2012 at a price just 1% to 2% higher than similar-size vehicles, the carmaker said. Industry estimates range from $25,000 to $33,000 for the car, which runs on a lithium-ion battery pack placed under the floor and has a 100-mile range after an eight-hour charge.

"There is an appetite, a spontaneous demand for something that would represent a break from the past," said Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn, who also heads car manufacturer Renault. "This is not a golf cart -- it's a real car," he added.

....

So far, Nissan has cut 33 deals around the world, with stations set for San Diego; Sonoma County; Portland, Ore.; Seattle; Tucson; Phoenix; Washington, D.C.; Raleigh, N.C.; and in Tennessee. On Friday, Nissan announced an agreement to develop a charging infrastructure in Texas with Houston-based Reliant Energy, a subsidiary of electricity giant NRG Energy Inc. The deal could involve Reliant home charging packages offered through Nissan, said NRG Chief Executive David Crane.

The Leaf battery, which can be quick-charged to 80% capacity in 30 minutes at special charging stations or fully charged overnight using a 220-volt socket, will be leased separately at a rate that Ghosn said would be less than the cost of gasoline.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

Crowds applaud the inaugural ride of the Gold Line extension

Los Angeles County's latest light-rail line -- the $898-million Gold Line extension through the Eastside -- was dedicated Saturday morning at Union Station and a sparkling silver train full of dignitaries rolled out for the inaugural ride.

The six-mile extension of the line from downtown L.A. through Boyle Heights and into East Los Angeles opens to the public on Sunday, when passengers will be able to ride the entire length of the line to Pasadena for free. The Saturday event gave elected and transportation officials a chance to give speeches and laud the newest public transportation offering in the county.

If sanity be culturally normative, then by the norms of this culture I claim insanity.

Microsoft Allows Companies To Sponsor Windows 7 - Windows 7

In a rather telling move, Microsoft has for the first time ever, allowed third parties to produce themes for the company's flagship operating system, Windows 7, thanks to a new scheme called "Windows 7 Theme Experiences".

Companies like Pepsi, Coca Cola, Ferrari, Infiniti or Twentieth Century Fox have been given unprecedented access to the Windows 7 desktop in an apparent bid by Microsoft to lure advertising money and help global brand names "connect with consumers".

Darren Huston, corporate vice president of the company's consumer and online group, said in a statement that "The new Windows Theme Experience and Windows Personalization Gallery in Windows 7 allow consumers to customize their technology to reflect the things in life they are most passionate about."

Microsoft has also confirmed that selected companies will be able to add their logos to Windows 7 and Vista gadgets as well as IE8 add-ons and themes packages that includes backgrounds (and nothing much).

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

French cash stunt scrapped as huge crowd gathers | U.S. | Reuters

PARIS (Reuters) - An Internet company that planned to throw envelopes of cash to passers-by from the top of a bus in Paris had to cancel the publicity stunt for security reasons after thousands of people turned up, police said on Saturday.

About 5,000 people gathered near the Eiffel Tower, with groups spilling into neighboring streets and bursting through crowd barriers before the planned handout of banknotes by the online marketing company Mailorama.fr.

...

Police in riot gear were called in and there were around 10 arrests.

"We couldn't anticipate that there would be so many people," Stephane Boukris, a spokesman for the organizers told France Info radio.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Cooper looks to fire up Imperial's growth | Deals | Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) - Alison Cooper is set to become the second youngest female chief executive of a FTSE 100 company as she looks to put sales growth at the top of her agenda for the world's No 4 cigarette group Imperial Tobacco Plc (IMT.L)

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

RIGHTS: U.S., Somalia Still Opt Out of Children's Treaty - IPS ipsnews.net

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 13 (IPS) - When the U.N. children's agency (UNICEF) commemorates the 20th anniversary of its landmark international treaty protecting the rights of children next week, there will be two countries skipping the celebrations: the United States and Somalia.

"It is embarrassing to find ourselves in the company of Somalia, a lawless land," presidential candidate Barack Obama said last year during his election campaign.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), which was adopted unanimously by the United Nations back in 1989, will be 20 years old on Nov. 20.

Described as the world's most rapidly and universally ratified human rights treaty, the Convention has been ratified by 193 states.

But the only two countries that have not ratified the treaty have nothing in common.

"Somalia is understandable," Kul Gautam, a former U.N. assistant secretary-general and ex-UNICEF deputy executive director, told IPS.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

BBC: Logging 'caused Nazca collapse'

The researchers have now found new evidence that suggests the society would not have been so easily destroyed if they had not cut down the forests around them.

Analysing plant remains and pollen in soil 1.5m deep, the team was able to trace an important sequence of events which show the clearing of woodland for agriculture.

"At the bottom of the profile there is a lot of huarango pollen and little evidence of human impact," explains Dr Alex Chepstow-Lusty from the French Institute of Andean Studies in Lima, Peru who also took part in the study.

"Then, at 80cm deep, maize pollen becomes common, showing the importance of this crop, suggesting a greater need for food and an increasing population," he says.

"It is now we notice a big impact on the huarangos and a major decrease in their pollen."

"Then suddenly corresponding with the El Nino event at AD500 or shortly afterwards, the pollen is dominated by weeds in the family Chenopodiaceae, which are adapted to salty conditions and this landscape is now the desert seen today."

En un viejo país ineficiente, algo así como España entre dos guerras civiles, poseer una casa y poca hacienda y memoria ninguna. -- Gil de Biedma

Celebrated mountaineer Tomasz Humar found dead in Himalayas | World news | The Observer

The man considered the greatest mountaineer of his generation, who had been told 10 years ago that he would never walk again, was found dead in the Himalayastoday after breaking his leg and becoming stranded on his latest extraordinary adventure.

Slovenian Tomasz Humar, 40, contacted his base camp on Monday to say he had broken his leg while climbing solo in Nepal. Satellite phone contact was made with him the following day, but a source at the camp reported Humar had sounded very weak and said: "This is my last." It was the final contact he made.

When locusts move on, they leave nothing behind

Sarko caught short in Irish VIP footie box shocker * The Register

Diplomatic relations between Ireland and France have crumbled ahead of the two nation's World Cup qualifying playoff, according to alleged letters between the two nations allegedly leaked to an alleged Irish soccer blog.

Irish Soccer Insider tells the world there's now a "full-blown diplomatic row brewing" after the French Consulate General asked the Irish Department of Diplomatic Affairs to provide French president Nicolas Sarkozy with a "VIP box" for Saturday's all-important match at Croke Park in Dublin.

Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell. Frank Borman

Books of The Times - Going Rogue - An American Life - Review - NYTimes.com

"Going Rogue," the title of Sarah Palin's erratic new memoir, comes from a phrase used by a disgruntled McCain aide to describe her going off-message during the campaign: among other things, for breaking with the campaign over its media strategy, its decision to pull out of Michigan and for speaking out about reports that the Republican Party had spent more than $150,000 on fancy designer duds for her and her family. In fact, the most sustained and vehement barbs in this book are directed not at Democrats or liberals or the press, but at the McCain campaign. The very campaign that plucked her out of Alaska, anointed her the G.O.P.'s vice presidential nominee and made her one of the most talked about women on the planet -- someone who could command a reported $5 million for writing this book.

Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell. Frank Borman

Crypto-Gram: November 15, 2009

Terrorism is rare, far rarer than many people think. It's rare because very few people want to commit acts of terrorism, and executing a terrorist plot is much harder than television makes it appear. The best defenses against terrorism are largely invisible: investigation, intelligence, and emergency response. But even these are less effective at keeping us safe than our social and political policies, both at home and abroad. However, our elected leaders don't think this way: they are far more likely to implement security theater against movie-plot threats.

A movie-plot threat is an overly specific attack scenario. Whether it's terrorists with crop dusters, terrorists contaminating the milk supply, or terrorists attacking the Olympics, specific stories affect our emotions more intensely than mere data does. Stories are what we fear. It's not just hypothetical stories: terrorists flying planes into buildings, terrorists with bombs in their shoes or in their water bottles, and terrorists with guns and bombs waging a co-ordinated attack against a city are even scarier movie-plot threats because they actually happened.

Capitalism without bankruptcy is like Christianity without hell. Frank Borman

1936 - Wolf Biermann, a German writer and a former East German dissident, was born.

Biermann is 73 already? Time flies by...

*Traitor*, n.
A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.

Exhibit 171

Infants, Zhu Zhu asset inflation, save Q4 retail and jobs numbers worldwide | Bloomberg | 15 Nov 2009

"This is a Christmas where a lot of people didn't want to take big risks," Hornsby, 56, founder and chief executive officer of closely held Cepia LLC, said in a telephone interview. "You're gambling because you're selling to kids. That's a pretty fickle group."

The bet is paying off. U.S. and U.K. retailers, such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Toys "R" Us Inc. and Tesco Plc, can't keep them in stock. Target is limiting them to four per customer. Some parents are resorting to Amazon.com, where the critters sell for at least twice the $8-to-$10 price....

Cepia has 16 U.S. employees, most in its St. Louis office, and 30 in Guangdong province, China. It started with one Chinese factory that in August made 600,000 hamsters for U.S., U.K. and Australia markets, Hornsby said. Today, four factories churn out 220,000 a day, with plans to release about 50 new characters next year.

For now, Mr. Squiggles, Patches, Chunk, Pipsqueak and Num Nums, plus a bevy of accessories, will generate $350 million to $400 million in a 12-month cycle, Hornsby said. The hamsters move around and respond to touch with various noises.

Christy Sershon, a 39-year-old mother in Duluth, Minnesota, heard about them from her 3-year-old daughter, who asked for one after seeing it advertised on television. "Once the commercials started, all the little kids couldn't stop thinking about them," said Sershon, who also has 5-year-old and 8-month-old sons.

srsly.

Diversity is the key to economic and political evolution.