Following is a list of some of the biggest foreign oil companies in Libya. Information is taken from previous Reuters stories.
U.S. law does ban virtually all commerce with the rogue nations, but there's a loophole that G.E., Conoco-Phillips and Halliburton have exploited: The law does not apply to any foreign or offshore subsidiary so long as it is run by non-Americans.
“These three companies, as far as we were concerned, appear to have violated the spirit of the law,” says Thompson. “In the case of Halliburton, as an example, they have an offshore subsidiary in the Cayman Islands. That subsidiary is doing business with Iran.”
That subsidiary, Halliburton Products and Services, Ltd., is wholly owned by the U.S.-based Halliburton and is registered in a building in the capital of the Cayman Islands – a building owned by the local Calidonian Bank. Halliburton and other companies set up in this Caribbean Island, because of tax and secrecy laws that are corporate friendly.
Halliburton is the company that Vice President Dick Cheney used to run. He was CEO from 1995 to 2000, during which time Halliburton Products and Services set up shop in Iran. Today, it sells about $40 million a year worth of oil field services to the Iranian government.
In the case of Iran, Thompson says they earn most of their revenues through their oil industry. So what is the connection between that oil business and terrorism and weapons of mass destruction?
“The Iranian government is receiving dollars from it. And then turning around and exporting terrorism around the world. It benefits terrorism. At least that's our belief,” says Thompson.
“These three companies, as far as we were concerned, appear to have violated the spirit of the law,” says Thompson. “In the case of Halliburton, as an example, they have an offshore subsidiary in the Cayman Islands. That subsidiary is doing business with Iran.”
That subsidiary, Halliburton Products and Services, Ltd., is wholly owned by the U.S.-based Halliburton and is registered in a building in the capital of the Cayman Islands – a building owned by the local Calidonian Bank. Halliburton and other companies set up in this Caribbean Island, because of tax and secrecy laws that are corporate friendly.
Halliburton is the company that Vice President Dick Cheney used to run. He was CEO from 1995 to 2000, during which time Halliburton Products and Services set up shop in Iran. Today, it sells about $40 million a year worth of oil field services to the Iranian government.
In the case of Iran, Thompson says they earn most of their revenues through their oil industry. So what is the connection between that oil business and terrorism and weapons of mass destruction?
“The Iranian government is receiving dollars from it. And then turning around and exporting terrorism around the world. It benefits terrorism. At least that's our belief,” says Thompson.
Doing Business With The Enemy
Are U.S. Firms Doing Business In Nations That Support Terrorism?
Just about everyone with a 401(k) pension plan or mutual fund has money invested in companies that are doing business in so-called rogue states.
In other words, there are U.S. companies that are helping drive the economies of countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, all places that have sponsored terrorists. Correspondent Lesley Stahl reported on this story last January.
"The revenue that is generated from the work that these companies are doing, we believe, helps to underwrite and support terrorism,” says William Thompson, the New York City comptroller who oversees the $80 billion in pension funds for all city workers.
I guess these companies that paid extensive fees to Libya will want their money back...
Oil Companies That Gave 'Bonuses' to Libya Also Lobbied Against Disclosure Rules
A news report looks at what some oil majors are doing to get around anti-bribery rules.
Multinational companies operating in Libya have had to deal with many obstacles, including a government rife with corruption that often asked for what amounted to bribes.
Sometimes those companies balked; sometimes they paid them, the New York Times reported today.
The Times story doesn't actually mention the word "bribes," using instead the phrase "payoffs to keep doing business." U.S. companies are barred from paying bribes to foreign officials by the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
Not much US corporate involvement in Libya. I guess that explains why we are not pursuing regime change and bombing them into the 19th century with a budget that exceeds the educational budget of most US states.
Companies & Funds Hit with Libya Exposure (ACM, E, EWI, OXY, RDS-A, BP, PBR, AFK, EGPT, TUR, EIS)
Another week, another North African country on fire. As you would expect, many large American and European companies do business in these nations. Libya has followed turmoil in Egypt and Bahrain and we wanted to see how the violence and unrest is impacting these companies now that the market is open. Libya produces around 1.5 million barrels per day, and that which is exported mostly goes to Europe.
AECOM Technology Corporation (NYSE: ACM) had what was roughly a $500 million contract over five years building Libyan infrastructure projects, much of which has apparently already been received. Shares are down 5.6% at $28.19, so this is more heavily impacting than some might have considered.
Doesn't address potential food shortage issues but in terms of life expectancy we seem to be moving up.
Hans Rosling's 200 Countries, 200 Years, 4 Minutes - The Joy of Stats - BBC Four
More about this programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wgq0l
Hans Rosling's famous lectures combine enormous quantities of public data with a sport's commentator's style to reveal the story of the world's past, present and future development. Now he explores stats in a way he has never done before - using augmented reality animation. In this spectacular section of 'The Joy of Stats' he tells the story of the world in 200 countries over 200 years using 120,000 numbers - in just four minutes. Plotting life expectancy against income for every country since 1810, Hans shows how the world we live in is radically different from the world most of us imagine.
See more at www.youtube.com
the 9-11 investigation should begin with every member of PNAC. Clearly these are maniacs that have continued the destruction of the world with WAR, LIES, and a lack of VIDEOTAPE (Pentagon video of plane crashing is not available)
Project for the New American Century
The Project for the New American Century (PNAC) was an American think tank based in Washington, D.C. that lasted from early 1997 to 2006. It was co-founded as a non-profit educational organization by neoconservatives William Kristol and Robert Kagan. The PNAC's stated goal was "to promote American global leadership."[1] Fundamental to the PNAC were the view that "American leadership is both good for America and good for the world" and support for "a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity."[2] The PNAC exerted influence on high-level U.S. government officials in the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush and affected the Bush Administration's development of military and foreign policies, especially involving national security and the Iraq War.[3][4]
On September 20, 2001 (nine days after the September 11, 2001 attacks), the PNAC sent a letter to President George W. Bush, advocating "a determined effort to remove Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq," or regime change:
Obama Administration Scales Back Proposed Homeowner Relief Effort Over Alleged Foreclosure Abuses
The Obama administration has significantly diminished a proposed homeowner relief program that initially aimed to force the nation's five largest mortgage companies to reduce monthly payments for three million distressed homeowners, according to documents and people involved in the discussions.
The administration has shifted its focus to delivering lowered payments for as few as one million homeowners, according to sources that are party to the deliberations.
The demise of the mortgage relief proposal would constitute a significant setback in state and federal efforts to resolve allegations of widespread legal abuses by major mortgage lenders. State law enforcement authorities have in recent months been in discussions with federal banking regulators and Obama administration officials to try to craft a settlement that could effectively close the books on complaints of wrongdoing that have been attendant to a historic surge in the numbers of American homes falling into foreclosure.
Maybe this is why so many Americans take countless drugs, cant sleep and are hopelessly overweight - Because our Govt allows our companies to destroy our lives and our planet and it is causing us STRESS.
Turn Off FOX News, MSNBC, list to NPR
Our world is in the midst of an emotional meltdown. As a psychiatrist, I've seen that many people are addicted to the adrenaline rush of anxiety, known as the "fight or flight" response, and they don't know how to defuse it. An example of this is obsessively watching the news about natural disasters, trauma, economic stress and violence, and then not being able to turn bad news off. Also, people are prone to "techno-despair" -- a term I coined in my book, "Emotional Freedom." This is a state of high anxiety that results from information overload and Internet addiction. It's also related to our super-dependence on smartphones and the panic of feeling disconnected if technology breaks down and we can't access emails or other communications -- a new version of what's psychiatrically known as an "attachment disorder." I've helped many patients address the adverse effects of techno-despair, such as insomnia, nightmares, restless sleep and ongoing angst. You, too, can break your addiction to anxiety and lead a more peaceful life.
Am I Addicted To Anxiety?
- Eliminate caffeine, sugar and other stimulants. These fuel the "fight or flight" response.
- Avoid people who reinforce your fear, whom I call "emotional vampires." They are biological irritants. Stick close to positive people. (See my previous post, "Who's the Emotional Vampire in Your Life?")
- Stay away from violent newscasts, arguments, the Internet, paying bills or other stress inducers, especially before sleep.
- Set healthy limits and boundaries. To combat stress, it's important to realize that "No" is a complete sentence, and a healthy way to set limits and boundaries with stress-inducing people and situations.
- Pause when agitated. Make this vow: "I will never have a conversation with someone, send an email, or make a decision when gripped by anxiety." No matter what the upset is, do not act until you have gained calm and composure.
- Use this Progressive Relaxation Technique. In a comfortable position, sitting or lying down, take a few deep breaths while letting your body go as limp as possible. When you're ready, begin by tightening the muscles in your toes. Hold to a count of 10, and then relax. Enjoy the relief of tension melting. Do the same with flexing your foot muscles, and move slowly through your entire body: calves, legs, stomach, back, neck, jaw and face, contracting and releasing each area.
- Stay in "the now." Try not to project negative scenarios about the future. Stay solution-oriented in the present moment and be grateful for what is positive in your life.
This cannot be denied. We MUST get Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld + others into Federal court ASAP.
the collapse of the three World Trade Center buildings on September 11, 2001.
Sunday afternoon, March 6th, at the Boulder campus of the University of Colorado,
Colorado 9/11
Visibility will host a debate between Richard Gage, AIA (American Institute
of Architects), and Chris Mohr, Denver investigative journalist and nondenominational
minister.
The question: What brought down the three World Trade Center skyscrapers?
Seriously there needs to be a call for a new 9/11 commission. The towers fell by controlled demolition. This cannot be denied. There were war games going on with the EXACT same targets and scenarios. The evidence was guarded by the military and carted away never to be seen again.
This MUST be investigated before too much time passes.
Establishment media talking points from every direction strongly indicate that a false flag attempt on President Obama’s life is being considered, to be blamed on patsies from either the “extreme” right or left, in order to silence dissent in America and blackmail Obama into launching a military assault on Iran.
Meanwhile, the corporate media and its operatives like Glenn Beck on the phony right-wing side and establishment liberals on the phony left were busy manufacturing ready-made patsies upon which the false flag would be blamed.
Beck forwarded 9/11 truthers as the main threat to the President’s life in a ludicrous continuation of his debunked premise that people who question the official 9/11 story are somehow terrorists themselves, despite the fact that there is not one single example of a 9/11 truther committing a crime or an act of violence in pursuit of their cause.
By hyping the threat of assassination, Beck was not only using it to demonize political groups, he was introducing the idea as a foreseeable scenario to his millions of unhinged sycophantic viewers, subtly implying that they should even try it.
You MUST watch the Story of Stuff Pt2
In 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case called Citizens United v. FEC that corporations have a “right” to spend unlimited money influencing elections.
Corporations are not people. Democracy is for people.
This is clearly a right wing ideological attack on the last bastion of halfway decent media that isn't influenced by mega corporations.
House Votes to Cut Off Money for NPR
The House voted on Thursday to cut off funding for National Public Radio, with Democrats and Republicans fiercely divided over both the content of the bill and the manner in which it was brought to the floor.
Under the measure, sponsored by Representative Doug Lamborn, a Republican from Colorado, stations could not buy programming from NPR or any other source using the $22 million the stations receive from the Treasury for that purpose. Local NPR stations would be able to use federal funds for operating expenses, but not content.
“The time has come for us to claw back this money,” said Representative Marsha Blackburn, a Republican from Tennessee.
Really? The Fed doesnt include the cost of food in its basket of goodies in the cpi? How can that be?
PPI Surges: Food Rises Most Since ‘74 As Fuel Gains 3.7% In A Month
Ha! Made you look! You really thought somebody finally cut military spending amd the defense budget instead of education and social programs.
Retweet if I made you look!
GOP budget would actually INCREASE defense spending
When is enough enough? If the GOP was serious - and we know that they're not - they would cut into the DoD budget which is already the most bloated of them all. Let's not squeeze the poor with stripping heating subsidies or cutting school lunch programs and then let the fattest of the fat cat get even larger. CNNMoney:
By that measure, defense would not be hit by the $60 billion in spending cuts passed by the House before dawn on Saturday.
In fact, the defense budget would increase to $533 billion, up from $526 billion currently.
It would seem that decentralized solar power at the individual building or small community grid level would be a lot less risky than any grander scale power supply, whether it be fossil fuel based or nuclear.
Decentralized utilities have another advantage - they decentralize power and wealth generated from the capitalistic activities. This will promote entrepreneurship and redistribute the wealth from the Fortune 400 to the less fortunate 150,000,000 American Middle Class that have suffered throughout the last 20 years.
This will also improve the US Govt budget deficit problem by pulling wealth away from the Fortune 400 wealthiest individuals ho pay an average of 16% taxes back to the middle class who pay an average of 25% taxes. Not aht that's fair at all either.
Japan's Quake to Shake the Solar Market?
As Japan grapples with the likelihood of a nuclear power disaster as a result of the huge earthquake and tsunami, investors are betting on solar as a more benign form of alternative energy. While solar stocks are going up and up, the impact of Japan's crisis may not be so sunny for the solar market in the coming year.