Something to think about: crude oil prices have dropped a bit and are hovering a little above $100 a barrel. Retail gas prices are at about $3.70 nationwide.

Back in April, crude oil was retailing at $110/barrel and retail gas hit a new record high at $3.36/gallon.

Next time someone tells you those prices are tied to each other and that usage is the only factor driving prices, hit 'em with a rolled up newspaper, please?


Psychologists determine what it means to think 'green'

Those who make human behavior their business aim to make living "green" your business.

Armed with new research into what makes some people environmentally conscious and others less so, the 148,000-member American Psychological Association is stepping up efforts to foster a broader sense of eco-sensitivity that the group believes will translate into more public action to protect the planet.

"We know how to change behavior and attitudes. That is what we do," says Yale University psychologist Alan Kazdin, association president. "We know what messages will work and what will not."

Aaaarrgh!!! Look, APA )!(#heads, I live in nature. I don't need your blather to make me "protect the planet." I'm willing to bet I know more about it than y'all do. In fact, why don't you keep all your agendas to yourselves?



Europe to reaffirm biofuels targets

The European parliament will tomorrow reaffirm binding targets for biofuels in transport and for renewables in energy use in the face of growing political resistance.

MEPs on the parliament's key industry committee will set a mandatory target of 5% of biofuels in transport by 2015, rising to 10% by 2020.

They will also defy objections from several governments, including Britain, and approve in principle a system of penalties for countries which fail to meet interim targets for renewable energy.

Idiots. I am so freakin' glad my ancestors got off of that hellhole continent. At least there's a good crop this year:

Wheat markets feel the weight of record crop

Wheat prices came under further pressure this week as markets reacted to reports of higher yields in the UK and across east and west Europe. The International Grains Council (IGC) raised its 2008 wheat crop estimate by 10m tonnes to a record 672m tonnes, after good harvests in the EU, Russia and Ukraine, plus much-needed rain in key growing regions of Australia.

Rare battle for leader in Japan gets 6 candidates

TOKYO: A week after Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's abrupt resignation plunged Japan into political turmoil, the governing Liberal Democratic Party appears caught in a rare free-for-all, with as many as six candidates now vying for party leader and
prime minister. But it is a matter of debate here whether it is a true contest or a virtual fracas, staged to build the party's flagging public support.

The flood of new candidates, including a few party veterans, the first-ever female candidate and some young political unknowns, is a startling departure from Japan's usually scripted political successions.

China landslide kills 128, hopes fade for missing

BEIJING (AP) — Rescuers shoveled and hammered at debris Wednesday searching for survivors buried under sludge, mud and mining waste in northern China after a landslide that killed at least 128 people, but hopes of finding anybody alive were fading.

The surge of mud and mining waste formed a wall measuring three stories high and 660 yards wide when it plowed into buildings Monday in a valley in Shanxi province's Xiangfen county. Local officials say they do not know how many people remain trapped in the rubble.

State-run media had initially reported that there were hundreds of people missing, but later cited authorities as saying the figure could not yet be determined.

Bolivian Opposition Protesters Storm Buildings

Demonstrators in eastern Bolivia clashed with police and broke into government offices on Tuesday, as protests escalated against President Evo Morales' planned economic reforms.

Mobs in Santa Cruz raided the state-run telecommunications company, the tax agency, and the state-run television station. Video footage showed the protesters kicking down doors, entering offices, and smashing property. Riot police fired tear gas to disperse the protesters, who fought back. It was not immediately clear how many were injured.

In the southern city of Villamontes, demonstrators tried to seize control of a key gas plant. Officials said protesters failed to disrupt the gas flow from Bolivia to Brazil.

Bolivia blames protesters for explosion

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Anti-government protesters caused a pipeline explosion in southern Bolivia on Wednesday, forcing a 10 percent cut in natural gas exports to Brazil, the head of the state energy company said.

The official, Santos Ramírez, called the explosion in Tarija province ''a terrorist attack.'' Company officials said protesters had closed a valve, creating pressure that ruptured the pipeline and triggered a fire near the border with Paraguay.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolivian_Gas_War


***

Land purchase will boost river

HISTORIC Toorale Station, near Bourke, has been bought by the federal and NSW
governments so its irrigation entitlements can be returned to the beleaguered Darling River.

The federal Water Minister, Penny Wong, and the state Environment Minister, Carmel Tebbutt, said Toorale had been bought for $23.75 million.

The purchase would, on average, see 20,000 megalitres of water returned to the Darling each year, peaking at up to 80 gigalitres in flood years, Senator Wong said.

The 91,000-hectare station where Henry Lawson once worked in the shearing shed will become a national park. Toorale sits at the junction of the Darling and Warrego rivers and has 2000 hectares developed for irrigated crops.

Namibian 'mass graves' discovered

A human rights group in Namibia has announced the discovery of what appear to be mass graves for victims of the country's security forces.

The National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) said graves on both sides of the border with Angola could contain the remains of up to 1,600 civilians.

It said the graves were believed to hold the remains of people who disappeared between 1994 and 2003.

Irish still unclear on how to reverse 'no' vote on EU treaty

BRUSSELS: Ireland on Wednesday acknowledged that it still had no clear idea how to reverse a referendum "no" vote that plunged the European Union into political crisis three months ago, and that the global economic downturn might have made things harder.

A survey of opinion among voters, commissioned by the Irish government and published Wednesday, revealed surprisingly low levels of knowledge about the lisbon Treaty, which aimed to streamline decision-making and give the EU a bigger global role.

Hey, I got an idea? Why don't you just honor the wishes of the Irish people?

Nah. Too radical. *eyeroll*



Is Situation Ripe For Peace Between Turkey And Armenia?

If the historic visit by Turkish President Abdullah Gul to Armenia is followed by more diplomatic contacts and negotiations, it may prove to have been truly a far-reaching strategic event for the whole region.

It will not only have a direct impact on Armenian-Azerbaijani relations and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, but it will open up unprecedented doors for Armenia economically. The landlocked country will reduce its dependence on Iran and Russia and it can hope to achieve strategic security, after centuries of costly domination by despotic Ottoman rulers and later animosity by Turkish nationalist political forces.

Is the ground ready for a continuing rapprochement between the two neighbors? From the Armenian perspective, conditions for a final and lasting peace with Turkey have been gaining momentum since the country became independent in 1991.

Lehman sees $3.9 billion loss and plans to shed assets

The investment bank Lehman Brothers, in an all-out fight for its survival, said Wednesday morning that it expected a loss of $3.9 billion, or $5.92 a share, in the third quarter after $5.6 billion in write-downs.

The investment bank also said that it would spin off the majority of its remaining commercial real estate holdings into a new public company. And it confirmed plans to sell a majority of its investment management division in a move that it expects to generate $3 billion.

The moves come after Lehman's stock lost nearly half its value on Tuesday as investors feared it was running out of options to raise capital and shore up its ailing balance sheet. Shares in Lehman, a major underwriter of mortgage-related securities during the credit boom, are down over 90 percent since hitting their peak last year before the subprime mortgage crisis took hold.

Lehman said Wednesday that it hoped to complete the spin-off of around $32 billion in commercial mortgage assets by early next year.

Coke’s bid for Chinese juice company reviewed

Beijing — Coca-Cola Co. will have to submit its bid to buy a Chinese juice producer for review under China’s new anti-monopoly law, state television reported, setting up the first major test of the legislation.
...
“This acquisition is a very big one. So when we receive the application, we will inspect it carefully in accordance with the Anti-Monopoly Law,” a ministry spokesman, Yao Shenhong, was quoted as saying.

The Commerce Ministry did not respond Monday to questions by phone and fax about the status of the proposed purchase. A Coca-Cola spokesman in Hong Kong, Kenth Kaerhoeg, said the company will do “whatever it takes to facilitate this process” but declined to say whether it has submitted a formal application or comment on details of the review.

China is the world’s leading destination for foreign investment. But the purchase of established companies is still rare and politically sensitive. In July, the U.S. investment fund Carlyle Group ended a three-year effort to buy a stake in a Chinese maker of construction equipment following regulatory resistance and public complaints about the sale of assets to foreigners.

Somali MP assassinated at mosque

Somali MP Mohamed Osman Maye has been shot dead outside a mosque in the town of Baidoa, the seat of parliament.

He was thought to have been an ally of President Abdullahi Yusuf.

He is the first MP to have been assassinated since Ethiopian forces helped the interim government oust Islamists from power in December 2006.

Meanwhile, Islamist militants who took over the port town of Kismayo last month have imposed a curfew following the assassination of several residents.

US sanctions target Iran carrier

The US has imposed sanctions on an Iranian shipping company and 18 of its affiliates over its alleged support for Tehran's nuclear programme.

The Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL) had provided logistical support for the Iranian defence ministry, the US treasury said.

IRISL's US-based assets would be frozen and its transactions banned, it said.

The US has already imposed a number of sanctions on Iran linked to its controversial nuclear programme.

***


Disney characters adorn hate-filled Palestinian children's show

First it was Hamas, now it is the Western-backed Palestinian Authority of Mahmoud Abbas that is using beloved Disney characters to lure Palestinian Arab children who are then taught that terrorist violence against Israeli Jews is the highest achievement.

In a similar way that American children are raised by pop culture to believe that becoming a movie star or professional athlete is the pinnacle of social achievement, Arab children currently tuning in to Palestinian Authority TV are being taught that deceased anti-Israel terrorists are their society's greatest heroes.

And it is being done to a Disney theme.

In a recent episode of a special children's show airing during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, a young host addressed Palestinian children from a set adorned with the likenesses of Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Piglet.

Piglet?



Israel: Jerusalem not on negotiating table

Diplomatic officials in Jerusalem negated a statement made by the capital's US Consul General Jake Walles asserting that Israel had agreed to cede control over east Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority as part of the current peace talks.

The sources expressed their astonishment at Walles' public discussion of the negotiations, as the three sides involved have agreed to refrain from making the matter public.

Diplomatic turmoil ensued after Walles told Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam that during US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's most recent visit to Israel she said the basis for the current negotiations with the Palestinians would have to be a withdrawal to the 1967 ceasefire lines, including east Jerusalem.

We are doomed if we insist on dividing Jerusalem. The Word says so.



U.S. won't back Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities: report

JERUSALEM - Israel has not received a "green light" from the United States to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, according to a report in Thursday's Haaretz newspaper.

Without citing where or how it received the information, the widely read Israeli daily said the U.S. had refused an Israeli request for deep penetration bombs, tanker refuelling aircraft and a corridor through U.S.-controlled airspace in Iraq that would provide the quickest secure route between Israel and Iran, the newspaper reported.

The so-called "bunker buster" bombs that Israel was said to have sought could be particularly effective against Iran's nuclear research centres, many of which have been built in underground shelters.

Deep, deep doom.



Israel 'annexes' West Bank areas

Israel has annexed thousands of hectares of West Bank land beside the barrier it is building, according to an Israeli rights group.

B'Tselem says the land has been taken with the justification that it is needed to protect Israeli settlements.

The group says some settlements have seized up to two and a half times more land than they have been designated by fencing it off or through intimidation.

Under international law the settlements in the West Bank are illegal.

This is disputed by Israel, which has settled about 450,000 people in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

Notice how they're referring to "East Jerusalem" as if it's a separate city?



Meanwhile, guess who's coming to dinner?

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Return to U.S.

A U.N. spokesman has confirmed to FOX News that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will return to the U.S. to address the U.N.'s assembly on Sept. 23.

Jewish groups plan to hold a large protest rally under the slogan "Stop Iran Now!" during Ahmadinejad's visit, Israel National News reported.

***

Russia threatens to target missiles at US sites

Russia has threatened to target planned US missile shield sites in Europe as tensions mounted over Georgia, with the shooting of a policeman and discord over the remit of EU observers.

General Nikolai Solovtsov, head of strategic missile forces, said if the United States set up installations in central Europe the Kremlin would ensure that Russia's vast nuclear arsenal remained effective.

He criticised a lack of transparency in Washington's plans and warned that its missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic and "other such objects" could become "designated targets" for inter-continental ballistic missiles.

"We should be sure that the current and future strategic missile forces... are guaranteed to fulfil the task of strategic deterrence," he said.

Russia troops prepare to leave Georgia buffer zone

KHOBI, Georgia (Reuters) - Russian soldiers began dismantling checkpoints in western Georgia on Wednesday in line with a French-brokered ceasefire deal, but disagreement broke out over the international force that will replace them.

Underlining the fragility of the ceasefire that ended last month's brief war between Russia and Georgia, a Georgian policeman was shot dead near a Russian checkpoint in another part of the ex-Soviet state.

Moscow's intervention in Georgia last month, in which its forces crushed an attempt by Tbilisi to retake its breakaway South Ossetia region, drew widespread international condemnation and prompted concern over the security of energy supplies.

Russia agreed on Monday to pull back its troops from undisputed Georgian territory, a presence Western governments said was illegal. It will, though, keep about 7,600 troops inside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a second separatist region.

Russia threatens Georgia truce after 'killing police officer'

A fragile ceasefire in the Caucasus has wobbled after Georgia accused Russian soldiers of killing one of its police officers near the rebel region of South Ossetia.

The shooting would, if confirmed, represent the most serious breach of a month-old truce that ended last month's five-day war.

United States' officials also accused Russia of being in clear violation of the fragile truce signed last month.

According to the Georgian interior ministry, the officer was killed after a police post came under fire from a Russian checkpoint at Karaleti, a village near the strategic town of Georgia.

Karaleti is one of several villages in undisputed Georgian territory that Russia has occupied since the end of the war.