Are We Living in the Last Days?

The other night, I heard a popular radio show host encourage millions of listeners to purchase firearms because of the dangerous times we are living in. And the alarmist warning seems to be resonating with many Americans. This report suggests that gun sales have risen by as much as 50 percent since the election of Barack Obama.

Do you get the sense that some people—many people, perhaps—might be gravely concerned about the days in which we live?

[Duh.]



Economic crisis, treatment of Israel - a connection?

John McTernan is the author of As America Has Done To Israel, which he recently updated to include the current financial meltdown. He says starting with President George H. W. Bush in 1991, followed by Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, there have been nearly four dozen instances of natural disasters or man-made catastrophes that have hit America, following actions aimed at dividing the land of Israel.

["I will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee."]



Global financial crisis an act of God, says Labor MP Bidgood

LABOR MP James Bidgood, the first-time MP under investigation for selling pictures of a protester attempting to set fire to himself outside Parliament House, has declared the global financial crisis an act of God.

[While I suspect he's right, I tend to agree with this guy:]

“What sort of judgement does this man have that his first reaction when someone is threatening to take their own life is to take a photo and then to try and sell it to a news organisation?” Mr Hockey asked.




IMF Economist: Stimulus May Need To Surpass 2% Of World GDP

Fiscal stimulus measures may have to top 2% of the world's gross domestic product if the economic slowdown continues to worsen, the International Monetary Fund's chief economist said Thursday.

While the global financial system appears to have "stepped back from the brink of financial catastrophe," Olivier Blanchard warned that it is too early to declare victory and that aggressive action is needed.

[I'm shocked.]




Rep. Frank: Passable Auto Bailout Bill by Next Week

Congress has continually said that it is within the scope of the $700 billion rescue/bailout package, and within the administration's authority, to use that money to bail out Detroit. Congress's view got backing today from at least one notable economist, Columbia University Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, who said an autos bailout would be an appropriate use of the already-approved bailout.

Jeffrey Sachs: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Sachs




Gazprom and Republic of Komi sign Cooperation Agreement

Under the Agreement, Gazprom will perform engineering and construction of a gas lateral from the Bovanenkovo – Ukhta gas trunkline system to the location of the Sosnogorsk Alumina Plant and will secure natural gas supply to the Plant in 2012.



Reports of Gazprom cancelling power sales disputed

MOSCOW, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Media reports on Thursday claimed Russia's Gazprom was set to cancel share sales of its electricity companies, though a source in the firm told Reuters no firm decision has yet been taken.

Interfax news agency sited a source in Gazprom's management as saying shares sales of its three power generating companies next year would be called off.

"We decided against the secondary offerings," Interfax quoted the source in Gazprom's management as saying.

But a Gazprom source told Reuters that no clear decision has been taken on the matter. He added that it was still possible for Gazprom's three power firms to hold share sales in the second half of 2009 as planned.



Slovakia to Sign 20yr deal with Gazprom

Based on the agreements, which cover a period of 20 years, SPP will buy around 130 billion cubic metres of natural gas, while Eustream will provide the transport of around 1 trillion cubic metres of gas via Slovakia to other European countries. The prices including in the contract are a commercial secret.



Analysis: Gazprom uses Brazil to enter Latin American market

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- One of the foreign policy batons that the Bush administration is seeking to pass to the Obama government next month is its persistent warnings to the European Union about the perils of becoming overly dependent on Russian energy imports.

Washington might pay less attention to lecturing Brussels and more to events south of the border.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, making his first visit to Brazil, notably made the first stop of his trip at the headquarters of state-run oil company Petrobras. Subsequently addressing Russian and Brazilian businessmen during a working breakfast in Rio de Janeiro, Medvedev announced that Russian natural gas state monopoly Gazprom would open a representative office in Rio in early 2009 and use the office as a base of operations to increase its presence and operations on the South American continent.

Washington can hardly be blindsided by Gazprom's moves, as the Russian firm began planting its flag in Latin America's most populous nation more than two years ago. On Feb. 8, 2006, Petrobras first confirmed it had begun exploratory talks with Gazprom about possible cooperation. Two weeks later, at the opening of a seminar in Rio, Russia's Ambassador in Brazil Vladimir Tyurdenev announced the two countries were discussing creating a center for technology transfer in Brazil to increase scientific and technological exchange in the biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology and electronics fields that could take advantage of the companies' investment potential on executing large-scale industrial development projects. Tyurdenev added that Brazil and Russia were increasing their energy cooperation, as Russia had begun to supply equipment for Brazilian hydroelectric facilities, and that Petrobras and Gazprom were close to finalizing a cooperation agreement to operate in other countries.



Miller, Zubkov, Torlpov Kick-off Yamal Dev.

(Commersant) - Russia’s gas monopoly, Gazprom, has set to developing the first field of the Yamal Peninsula, the Bovanenkovo field. In another effort, Gazprom has launched construction of Bovanenkovo-Ukhta gas pipeline that will add momentum to Yamal’s project.

Russia’s First Vice Premier and Gazprom BOD Chairman Viktor Zubkov, Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller as well as the Komi Republic head Vladimir Torlopov attended the ceremony of the first joint’s welding at Bovarenkovo-Ukhta pipeline.




Tony Blair endorses Barack Obama's 'A-team'

TONY Blair has hailed Barack Obama's foreign policy appointments as the "A-team" and says he received assurances that securing Middle East peace would be high on the US president-elect's agenda.

The former British leader said yesterday he was more optimistic than a year ago that a lasting deal could be struck between Palestinians and Israelis, describing the role of Mr Obama as "absolutely critical".

On his visit to Washington this week, Mr Blair - Middle East envoy for the "Quartet" of Russia, Europe, the US and UN - held talks with Obama's nominated national security adviser, General James Jones, and Hillary Clinton, nominated as secretary of state.

Previous administrations, including that of George W. Bush, have addressed the Middle East peace process only in their latter stages. Mr Blair is enthused by the prospect of Mr Obama tackling the issue from the day he enters the White House, even as a new poll shows Palestinians have little faith in the new US administration.

"I have no doubt that they will consider it a top priority. And, indeed, that is what he said to me when I saw him," he said.

[I pity the fool who tries to divide Israel.]



Gaza groups reportedly will not renew ceasefire with Israel

According to Israel Radio, Palestinian sources in the Gaza Strip said on Thursday that Palestinian organizations do not intend to renew the ceasefire with Israel, which expires December 19.



Israel rebuffed by Europe

The European Parliament postponed a decision this week about whether to upgrade its ties with Israel, ostensibly because of Israel's recent actions on the West Bank. While Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was in Brussels urging European nations to change their "outdated" perception of the Jewish state, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad warned the E.U. against boosting ties, citing the lack of progress in the Middle East peace process. A top German member of the European Parliament criticized the postponement.



Libya complains of Israeli high sea 'piracy' to UN council

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — Libya protested in vain Wednesday before the UN Security Council over Israel's interception of one of its cargo ships attempting to offload aid in Gaza.

Ambassador Giadalla Ettalhi told an emergency council session that Israel was guilty of "piracy in the high seas," and called for "effective action that will ensure compliance of Israel with international humanitarian law and the law of the seas".

His complaints, however, failed to elicit a formal condemnation of Monday's actions by Israel, which needed unanimous consensus by the council's 14 members -- Libya is one of the 15-strong council's 10 rotating members.

Israeli warships on Monday prevented a Libyan cargo vessel, the Al-Marwa, from reaching the Gaza Strip with 3,000 tons of humanitarian aid for the impoverished Palestinian territory, which has been under a crippling Israeli blockade since June 2007.



[Oy. Meanwhile, dealing with the real pirate threat...]


Blackwater joins fight against sea piracy

Pirates beware -- Blackwater Worldwide may be looking for you, and soon. That prospect certainly would shiver Bartholomew Roberts, better known as "Black Bart," down to his timbers if the infamous pirate hadn't been dead for the past 285 years.

The North Carolina-based security firm, which came under fire from Congress over a shooting incident in Baghdad last year that left 17 Iraqi civilians dead, announced in October that its 183-foot ship, the McArthur, stands ready to assist the shipping industry as it struggles with the increasing problem of piracy in the Gulf of Aden and elsewhere.



Your Tax Dollars at Work: Burying Somali Suicide Bombers ... in Minnesota

[Uggggghhhhhh.......]




Egypt-Syria Tension Simmering

The Syrian ambassador to Egypt has left Cairo in what some observers note is an indication of tension in Syrian-Egyptian relations.

Yousuf Ahmad left Cairo for Damascus on Wednesday with his wife and five large suitcases, according to a UPI report.

The ambassador is ostensibly taking time off for the upcoming 'Id Al-'A’dha Muslim festival, but rumors suggest Syria is in fact recalling its ambassador from Cairo over tension between the two countries.

Syria has expressed displeasure with Egypt over Cairo's handling of the internal Palestinian conflict.

Syria alleges that Egypt is not taking a balanced approach in the dispute between Fatah and Hamas.




'Gunshots' spark terror scare at Delhi's international airport as security forces go on '9/11' alert

A massive security operation was imposed in India following warnings that terrorists were planning 9/11-style hijackings and possible suicide attacks.
India says nine gunmen were killed during the three-day terror rampage, last week which left 188 people including a Briton dead and more than 300 injured, and one was taken alive.
But there are fears that more terrorists were involved - and that they may still be on the loose, planning further attacks on the country.

'I think there are more (more gunmen). My sources say (there were) at least 23 of the gunmen,' said Farhana Ali, a former CIA and Rand Corp counter-terrorism analyst and expert on militant networks.

'If that's true, that makes one wonder why we haven't seen more attacks. Are they lying low?" she said. "I think they (Indian authorities) are bracing themselves for more.'




Some 100 States Signing Cluster-Bomb Ban, But Big Powers Absent

Impressive as the total number of signatories to the ban is, the list includes a number of "makeweights," meaning countries or states which would never dream of using such munitions in the first place. They include the Cook Islands in the Pacific, the Vatican's Holy See, the Republic of San Marino, the Seychelles, and Papua-New Guinea.

Useful inclusions, however, are other larger countries with actually or potentially unstable internal or external situations, such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, Sudan, Timor, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Kyrgyzstan is the lone signatory among the Central Asian states.

Moving to the more weighty signatories in military terms, there's France, Britain, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Canada.

But the big military powers, most, or all, of which are also nuclear-capable -- namely the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India, and Pakistan -- have declined to sign the cluster-bomb ban.



Experts look to U.S. and Russia to take lead on arms control

WARSAW: With nuclear weaponry proliferating and Iran moving closer to a nuclear capability, the United States and Russia should, in the view of many prominent security experts, swiftly start negotiations to reopen new arms control talks that will include the new nuclear powers.

This view emerged strongly from November discussions among American, Russian, Middle Eastern, Pakistani and European experts who all sense an opportunity with the new U.S. administration to prevent the collapse of longstanding agreements on arms control and nuclear proliferation.




US successfully tests anti-missile shield: Pentagon

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US military on Friday successfully intercepted a long-range missile target in a "very realistic" simulated attack to test the proposed US missile defense system, the Defense Department said.

"We had a successful intercept" at 3:29 pm (2029 GMT), Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said of the test, which is seen as a crucial step towards a controversial anti-missile shield Washington plans to base in Eastern Europe.

The Bush administration wants to install a radar facility in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland by 2014.
...
Obama has so far not committed to the missile defense shield.




Putin: Obama may ease Russia-US relations

Diplomatic relations between Moscow and Washington should improve once Barack Obama takes office, Vladimir Putin today suggested.

Speaking before an invited audience at a live, televised question and answer session, the Russian prime minister welcomed the imminent handover at the White House.

"Usually… when there is a change of power in any country, and even more so in a superpower such as the United States, some changes occur," Putin observed.

"We very much hope that these changes will be positive. We are now seeing these positive signals.



Putin sees no need for Russian military bases in Cuban, Venezuela

MOSCOW — Vladimir Putin says he sees no need for Russia to build military bases in Cuba or Venezuela.

The Russian prime minister was asked about the possibility of constructing such bases during a televised question-and-answer session Thursday.


[At least, not yet.]



Russia becomes 3rd nation to sign N-pact with India

NEW DELHI: Russia on Friday became the third country after the US and France to sign a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with India since this
country acquired the waiver from the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).



Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko eyes IMF money for Russian gas debt repayment

KIEV, December 5 (Itar-Tass) -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko wants to use the 16.4-billion dollar relief loan of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to repay a part of the 2.5-billion dollar gas debt to Russia.

Russia warned it would not conclude a new gas agreement with Ukraine for 2009 unless it fully repays the 2008 debts.

Yushchenko’s press service said on Thursday the president met IMF mission head in Ukraine Ceyla Pazarbasioglu to discuss the possibility of using the rescue loan to resolve problems of Naftogaz Ukrainy Company that imports gas from Russia for domestic needs and arranges for its transit to Europe.

Pazarbasioglu’s reaction to the request was unclear. Yushchenko’s press service only quoted her as saying the IMF hopes for a quick stabilization of the financial and economic situation in Ukraine.




BAE accused of £100m secret payments to seal South Africa arms deal

More than £100m was secretly paid by the arms company BAE to sell warplanes to South Africa, according to allegations in a detailed police dossier seen by the Guardian yesterday.

The leaked evidence from South African police and the British Serious Fraud Office quotes a BAE agent recommending "financially incentivising" politicians.

In the arms deal, the new ANC government in South Africa agreed to spend a controversial £1.6bn buying fleets of Hawk and Gripen warplanes.

Critics said the country, beset by unemployment and HIV/Aids, could not afford it. The Hawks, rejected by the military, cost twice as much as Italian equivalents.

But the then South African defence minister Joe Modise and a key official, Chippy Shaik, insisted on the purchase.

BAE is accused in the reports of corrupt relationships with an arms tycoon, John Bredenkamp, recently blacklisted in the US for his links with Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe. Bredenkamp's blacklisting freezes his assets in the US.




“Blood Tantalum” Profiteers in Congo Set to Capitalize on Dramatic 2009 Price Spike for Australian Tantalum

The bloody civil war that is creating another humanitarian crisis in the central African nation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is set to get far worse because of events a world away in Australia.
...
What’s the connection between the endless bloodshed in the DRC and the closing of a mine thousands of miles away due to the global recession? The tantalum in the DRC is far more inexpensively produced compared to mining operations in the Western world. And some of it can be extracted dirt cheap because of the brutal enslavement of civilian workforces -- including young children -- by armed factions.

Located in war-torn eastern Congo, these primitive open pit quarries are controlled by various militias, rebel groups and renegade elements of the Congolese army. These lawless thugs have profited for the past few years from the tantalum, which is known as “coltan” in Africa, by terrorizing rural communities and forcing locals to dig for this rare mineral by hand.

By the way, if you own a mobile phone or a laptop or any other portable electronic device, then there is a good likelihood that one or more of your devices contains “blood tantalum.” And the odds are about to increase that more of this illicit tantalum will find its way into your hands. That is if the price of tantalum jumps as much as the 80-85% increase recently demanded by Talison. This, in turn, will make cheaply produced black market Congolese tantalum all the more attractive to some unscrupulous processors of the metal -- even ones that are so desperate for ore that they are willing to turn a blind eye.




Rwanda, DR Congo agree to dismantle Hutu forces

Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed to try to finally dismantle Hutu forces, some of whom took part in the Rwandan genocide of the 1990s.

The Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers signed the agreement in the border town of Goma.

They also decided that Congolese officials should meet Tutsi rebels loyal to the renegade General Laurent Nkunda in Nairobi on Monday to try to finalise a ceasefire in eastern Congo.




Incredible Text Message Amputation (Photo, Video): Boy Nearly Dies

A British surgeon by the name of David Nott was volunteering with the humanitarian organization in the war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo last month when he saved a boy's life with text messages.

Nott was called upon to help an injured teenage boy who had been shot and left with his arm almost completely severed and infected.

Nott knew what to do to save the boy's life - but he didn't know how. Asylum explains: David Nott knew he had to perform a rare forequarter amputation -- removing the collarbone and shoulder blade -- in order to save the teenager's life.

There was just one problem - he didn't know how to perform the operation. Luckily, Nott had a cell phone - so he text his colleague and fellow British surgeon Meirion Thomas for help: "I texted him and he texted back step by step instructions on how to do it."




Death, tears, blood as days of rage envelop Jos

For two days, Jos, the capital of Plateau State, boiled with rage. Like the crisis that erupted in September 7, 2001, the November 29 conflagration that rendered the once peaceful city impotent was not anything different.

It first started like a normal political exercise. A local government election was conducted and the results were being awaited. Instead of the results, what the residents witnessed was burning, killing and looting. And for two days, the city laid prostrate. The result was that after the two-day mayhem, 200 people, going by official figures, lay dead, over 150 cars and an unknown number of houses were burnt to ashes. The home of peace and tourism had acquired a new epithet as thousands of people left the town in droves.




Ghana to fly with new-found oil or flounder?

akoradi's port, one of the oldest in the region, is set for a makeover as the oil find has increased the number of vessels.

"Our biggest problem is lack of space, we need to expand the port, we need lots of space for pipelines, we have to upgrade the facilities to take larger vessels," port director Nestor Galley told AFP as a new oil rig arrived at the port.

Locals now speak of an influx of human and vehicle traffic and of hitherto unknown traffic jams in the city of 400,000 people.

Ghana's oil is set to upstage the gold, cocoa and timber exports it previously relied on.



Zimbabweans die as Mugabe manipulates politics

South Africa has said it will send teams of aid assessors to determine how to help Zimbabwe, which made a rare appeal for international aid after declaring the cholera outbreak a national emergency.

Cholera has now killed over 570 people in Zimbabwe.

Zimbabwe’s leaders have failed to reach agreement on the formation of a unity government almost nine months after an election left the country in political limbo.




Zimbabwe: Is Anyone Safe Anymore?

SCORES of soldiers have been causing mayhem in Harare's Central Business District (CBD) where they were seen in the past week beating up members of the public, dispossessing them of their property including cash, while destroying shops and ransacking anything valuable they could lay their hands on.

Just like ordinary citizens, the soldiers have been unable to access cash from the banking system because of the acute shortages of banknotes which the central bank has tried to explain to anyone who cares to listen. And in a fit of thuggery disguised as rage, the soldiers descended on illegal money changers, who have lost quite a fortune in the past week.
...
What is extremely disturbing about the latest episode is that it was not the civilians who led by mayhem in central Harare but members of the Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA). And yet uniformed forces should be the last members of society to lose their heads no matter how justifiable their grievances may be.

While Defence Minister Sydney Sekeramayi has condemned the actions of the rogue soldiers as "unacceptable, deplorable, reprehensible and criminal," the nation cannot believe the leisurely manner with which the government approached this whole episode.

Whereas government is quick to ruthlessly crush demonstrations by the civic society and the opposition, it was rather late and slow in responding to these ugly acts, giving currency to speculation that the violence could have been sanctioned from the top. By trying to ignore the disturbances, the state media -- both print and electronic -- did not help matters.



Mugabe’s strategy for State of Emergency

[Don't quite know what to make of this, but the more I read about what's happening over there, the more likely it seems.]




Proposed Media Law in Kenya Draws Comparison to Zimbabwe

Kenya's parliament has postponed debate on a controversial bill that would give the government the power to license and control media companies and the content of their programs. The proposed bill has sparked an outcry among Kenyan journalists and from international media watchdogs.
...
Critics say the proposed law, known as the ICT Bill, seeks to curtail media freedom through a government-appointed commission, which would have the power to grant or deny licenses.

The bill also proposes to give Kenya's information minister the power to issue guidelines to the commission, wiretap journalists and media organizations, and to interrupt radio and television broadcasts. The minister would also have the power to control programming content, through a new commission that would have the responsibility of ensuring that all broadcasts are in what the government terms "good taste."

Kenya's internal security minister would be given the authority to raid media houses and seize and destroy equipment.

Paris-based Reporters Without Borders says it is shocked by what it believes is a blatant attempt by the Kenyan government to block criticisms by muzzling the media. The organization's editor-in-chief, Leonard Vincent, says the measures in the Kenyan ICT Bill is strikingly similar to those being enforced by the government of President Robert Mugabe in Zimbabwe, where the media has been sharply restricted.