Thursday, April 19, 2007

French Knew Al-Qaeda Planned Hijacking Attack
DoD IG Wipes Hands of Able Danger
U.S. Agrees to Raise Defense Ties with Israel
Tom Whipple on the GAO Report
House Questions on Tillman, Lynch
China's Oil Plans
China Builds Global Satellite Navigation System
Yangtze River May Be Irreversibly Polluted
"China's CNOOC Ltd confirmed for the first time yesterday that it had begun producing gas at a field in the East China Sea. The state-controlled company said in its 2006 annual report it was pumping oil and gas at the Tianwaitian field (at 500,000 cubic metres a day). It is also ready to begin producing from the nearby and larger Chunxiao field as soon as Beijing gives it the go-ahead, at an annual rate of 600 million cubic metres."
Venezuela, Iran Back Gas Cartel
Chavez: Troops to Escort Oil Takeovers

22 comments:

Anonymous said...

Australian PM John Howard has warned that irrigation of much of the nation's farmland will be banned unless there is heavy rainfall in the next month.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6570589.stm

Rice Farmer said...

GM To Unveil Extended-Range Electric Car at Shanghai Auto Show
http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=12611

I can't help laughing when I see articles like this. All that talk about a "hydrogen economy" that's going to keep the car culture going is nothing but a fantasy. Somebody makes big bucks developing these dream cars, and the public laps up Bush's drivel about the "amazing technologies" that are going to preserve our mobility. The joke's on us.

Rice Farmer said...

Biofuel plantations fuel strife in Uganda
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn11671-biofuel-plantations-fuel-strife-in-uganda.html

A lesson in how rich people who want to fill their tanks with "eco-friendly fuel" are trashing the planet and creating social conflict.

Rice Farmer said...

Gazprom to close Sakhalin-2 deal with Shell (and its Japanese partners)
http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=mergersNews&storyID=2007-04-16T195637Z_01_L16296085_RTRIDST_0_GAZPROM-SHELL-SAKHALIN-UPDATE-1.XML

friendlystranger said...

In your tribute to Gary Webb, you neglect to mention J.H. Hatfield, yet another victim of the CHENEY/bu$h machine. Hatfield was an early voice in the 2000 campaign in his efforts to warn the public about the real nature of the the Republican presidential nominee. This attempt, however, was thwarted, due to the massive resources of the CHENEY/bu$h machine, and his book was subsequently published by an independent publisher post-election. Doesn't Hatfield deserve our heartfelt recognition and appreciation for the sacrifice he made for all of us? Thank you for your own efforts in speaking up for the truth and fighting the good fight. Get well soon.

Rice Farmer said...

New power plants in Japan -- I was at a meeting Saturday in Tokyo where one of the presentations was on Japan’s strategic environmental assessment system. After much public debate about how to set up the system, the Environment Ministry suddenly announced that new power plant construction alone will not be subject to SEAs. The expert who gave the presentation was on a panel involved in the debate, and said the announcement was totally out of the blue because the understanding had been that all large-scale construction would be covered. The Environment Ministry and electric power industry reps gave several reasons why this had to be, all of which the expert demonstrated were totally bogus. So I suggested that the government is panicking about energy and wants to eliminate any potential problems over siting new power plants. The expert said he didn’t think that was the reason, but he also didn’t have any others to offer. Hmmm...

But, I had the opportunity to give an impromptu talk on peak oil and got a lot of people interested in the subject. Unsurprisingly, some of the academics there had never even heard of it, but they were interested in hearing about it. Good thing I took along the journal with my peak oil article, because afterwards people were coming up to me and asking for copies, so I was kept busy at the copy machine a while. Here’s hoping I can jump-start some serious thinking among people who had given this matter little or no thought up to now. One person I talked to afterwards was a young researcher in urban planning. I pointed to the street and said, “What happens when fuel gets too expensive and these cars and trucks stop running?” She got the picture -- and asked for a copy of my article.

Jenna Orkin said...

wow, rice farmer, you may find yourself the leading authority in your area on peak oil. yikes

Pandabonium said...

Kudos Rice Farmer, for being heard at that meeting, and thanks!

Rice Farmer said...

Yea, if I am the leading authority on peak oil in my group, that is kind of scary. But I hope to change that! Meanwhile, I'm hurrying to get my rice paddies ready to flood -- the frogs are impatient!

Pandabonium said...

I swear I'm not making this up:

BBC - "Pig fat to be turned into diesel. A solution for the world's energy crisis may come in the form of a pig."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6571993.stm

Sometimes, I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

Rice Farmer said...

When pigs fly -- Nice catch, Pandabonium. Just as I pointed out in my comment on thermal depolymerization the other day, they think this is going to keep the fleet running because they don't see where the energy to raise the pigs comes from. Raising livestock in the US is very energy- and water-intensive.

PM Abe visits the US -- Some days ago I commented on the visit of China's Wen Jiabao to Japan. Recall also two important facts: (1) Abe visited China barely three months into his term, and (2) he is just now getting around to visiting the US, even though it is usual for new Japanese prime ministers to quickly visit the US and cement ties with the US leadership.

On the 26th Abe will at last visit the US. What's more, he will be there barely two days, and is not scheduled to speak to either Congress or press organizations (for this he is being criticized from within his own party).

This is another indicator of the new political emphasis of the Japanese leadership. Clearly, the US just isn't as important anymore, no matter what the Japanese government says outwardly.

Rice Farmer said...

One of Japan's petroleum product distributors as just announced a whopping 5.5 yen/liter price increase on all products, effective come May. Other distributors are likewise expected to announce similar increases. I suspect this will put a crimp in some people's summer vacation driving plans.

Rice Farmer said...

In the debate on why the US is following its present course of action in the Middle East, there is a faction which claims that it's all for Israel and has nothing to do with oil. What I've noticed is, that faction has surprisingly little knowledge of energy issues. They explain away high gas prices as mere gouging by oil companies, but apparently have no real knowledge of energy realities. We must give credit where credit is due: Although the neocons are evil, it's clear that they are far more energy-savvy than their critics.

Pandabonium said...

Indian consumers enraged by higher fuel costs-

"The Indian government's decision to transfer the burden of rising oil prices to consumers met a firestorm of criticism Tuesday and triggered inflation fears in one of the world's fastest-growing economies."

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/06/business/fuel.php

Pandabonium said...

Lost the follow on article to the one just posted about India which was from mid-2006. Their fears of inflation are being realized so two months ago the government lowered gasoline prices to help that, even though that costs money. So they are in a trap - lose money to keep prices low or raise prices to cover costs and boost inflation in their fast growing economy.

A peon said...

http://apnews.myway.com//article/20070424/D8ON54K80.html

"Ranger Told to Conceal Tillman Info"

Pandabonium said...

Three Japanese power companies have cut a deal to participate in state owned Uranium Mine Projects in the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Even if the deposits are a large as expected it will take at least seven years to reach their annual production rate goals. The uranium would provide 20% of Japan's needs. China and France are also negotiating for uranium from Kazakhstan.

Former PM Koizumi visited Kazakhstan in August of last year.

There are currently 53 nuclear power plants in Japan.

http://www.japancorp.net/Article.Asp?Art_ID=14460

Anonymous said...

"Rebel gunmen have killed at least 74 people in an attack on an oil field in Ethiopia's remote Somali region"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6588055.stm

Rice Farmer said...

This page on the FTW site comes up blank.
http://www.fromthewilderness.com/free/ww3/060704_tripod_fema.html

Jenna Orkin said...

rice farmer, it's coming up ok on my computer. a bit of the article is copied here:
© Copyright 2004, From The Wilderness Publications, www.fromthewilderness.com. All Rights Reserved. May be reprinted, distributed or posted on an Internet web site for non-profit purposes only.

____________________

TRIPOD II AND FEMA

Lack of NORAD Response on 9/11 Explained

by
Michael C. Ruppert

JUNE 5, 2004: 1900 PDT (FTW) -- The "Tripod II," joint New York City-Department of Justice biowarfare exercise, scheduled for Sept 12th 2001 at New York's Pier 29, and revealed in testimony by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani at the 9/11 Commission, may become one of the single most important disclosures of 9/11. I salute the work done by INN Global Free Press at http://inn.globalfreepress.com. But the "FEMA-Kennedy arrived in NY on Sept. 10th" myth is pure poison and absolutely incorrect

Rice Farmer said...

Admin -- Thanks. The article DOES appear today. Must have been a temporary glitch.

Well, on to peak oil. This morning I was interviewed by a reporter from the Asahi, one of Japan's three big general-circulation national daily newspapers. I used the opportunity to talk about peak oil, of course. Whether this actually appears in the paper is up to the editors, but the reporter was excitedly scribbling in his notebook.

gaelicgirl said...

Go, Rice Farmer!!