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POPS Iran Says Oil Price Is Right At $100 A Barrel Pressure for a cut in oil output at next week's Opec meeting in Vienna stepped up today when Iran’s Opec governor said an oil price of $100 per barrel was “appropriate” Robert Laughlin, analyst at MF Global, said today that Opec had played a good hand in its actions — or lack of them — this year, when prices rose aggressively. "But will be alarmed at the downturn in demand and the deteriorating economic backdrop of the global economy." "Western leaders will be urging the cartel to remain unchanged in production strategy but I fear there is growing feeling in the ranks of price hawks that a cut in production is required and now," Mr Laughlin said Even the most moderate Opec member, Saudi Arabia, which has indicated that it would prefer output to be left unchanged, has been cutting the discount at which it sells Arab heavy, a poor-quality crude that it uses to calm the oil price, offering large quantities at big discounts.
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POPSProteopedia A wiki for protein structure and function, new 2007 For 288 web site? Or general interest
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POPSHigh Interest Savings There are a lot of options out there today for high interest savings accounts. Some people do it the old fashion way and put there money in a shoe box or a can and hide it in the house
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POPSNassim Nicholas Taleb: the prophet of boom and doom In December he lectured bankers at Société Générale, France’s second biggest bank. He told them they were sitting on a mountain of risks – a menagerie of black swans. They didn’t believe him. Six weeks later the rogue trader and black swan Jérôme Kerviel landed them with $7.2 billion of losses. As a result, Taleb is now the hottest thinker in the world. He has a $4m advance on his next book. He gives about 30 presentations a year to bankers, economists, traders, even to Nasa, the US Fire Administration and the Department of Homeland Security. But he doesn’t tell them what to do – he doesn’t know. He just tells them how the world is. “I’m not a guru. I’m just describing a problem and saying, ‘You deal with it.’” take a moment and read the article
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POPSTurn Off Foreign Aid? The next administration should also immediately reduce U.S. support for international organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the United Nations and the World Bank, which have programs that discourage economic growth.
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POPSHypocrisy or Incompetence? The Democratic National Committee will uphold the same standard: We will not take a dime from Washington lobbyists or special interest PACs. … They will not fund my party! Take a look at the top five industries that donate to Biden as well: * Lawyers/law firms * Real estate * Retired * Securities & investment * Miscellaneous finance Real estate and miscellaneous finance — wouldn’t that figure into the credit crisis and the housing market collapse?
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POPSFour Points for Israel Excellent synopsis of Arab antipathy and hypocrisy, with links and references to further articles. Israel is now 60, and the arabs are still assholes.
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POPSObstruction and Racist Politics in Haiti If just the rest of the world could be like the US. So the thinking at the department of treasury and apparently in all our institutions ...Perhaps it is about time to change the US and adhere to international agreements. Blackmail instead of diplomacy...
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POPSMicroCredit
Microcredit is the extension of small loans to people too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans. These very small loans allow the poor to develop their various businesses and trades. As a result people have the chance to bring themselves out of poverty. Microcredit goes directly to the people who need it and instills a sense of pride that can sometimes be lost with traditional charity handouts. When money is used for microcredit, it is not used once but over and over again. When a loan is repaid with interest, the money generated is given to a new borrower. In time this creates a sustainable institution, which is not reliant on continuous donations. The majority of microcredit borrowers are women because they have proven to be excellent at managing their businesses. Also, when a lady controls the finances the money she earns tends to go back into the home and to her children's education. Promoting credit as a human right. Helping poor families help themselves to overcome.
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POPSPaulson Was Against Cumbersome Regulations
Now he's trying to defuse the crisis deregulation has caused... (excerpt) Today, (Paulson's) Goldman stands alone as the only bank that has yet to take huge write-downs in the credit crisis. However, IT was an INTEGRAL PART OF A MONEY-HUNGRY WALL ST. CULTURE that helped build, oil and maintain the securitization and SPIN-OFFS, underlying the current mortgage-fueled problems. The financial crisis has swirled around the White House in more violent waves. But each sign of economic trouble brought assurances from regulators, Mr. Paulson and others in the Bush adm. that the housing sector was experiencing a “CORRECTION” or a “REPRICING OF RISK” (ROVE-NEWSPEAK) that would work its way through the system without throwing the economy into a steep downturn. Each assurance soon ran aground as more bad economic news poured in. (MOTHER OF ALL SELF-RIGHTEOUS QUOTES) "the real problem facing Wall Street was a welter of cumbersome regulations" - Henry Paulson (Yew recon HE LEARNED SOMEthang)
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POPSGreenpeace Activists Arrested Protesting Oil Sands in Northern Alberta
“Today we brought our message to the perpetrators of this environmental crime with a clear message to put the brakes on the tar sands,” Hudema said. The tar sands use more water than any other Alberta user. Current projects are licensed to remove more than 450 million cubic meters of water from the Athabasca River each year, about two and a half times the amount of water used by the city of Calgary each year. After use, the water is so contaminated with toxic chemicals that it is stored in toxic tailings ponds so large that they can be seen from space. With today’s demonstration, the Greenpeacers targeted the same sludgy six-square-kilometer tailings pond where 500 ducks drowned in April, despite environmental regulations that require Syncrude to have wildlife deterrents in place. “We take a lot of pride in having systems in place to prevent birds from landing on settling basins and storage ponds,” Syncrude’s Katinas said at the time. “So we’re very saddened and sorry that
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POPSObama backs Israel strike Just about his first words when he beat off Hillary were pro Israel. He now appears happy with the title of leader of a war machine. Seems happy to follow the Jews demands. Am I getting ahead of myself, as this sort of press doesn't really know what is happening.