When the Levee Breaks, a selfish look at the financial effects of Katrina and how many more fuel inc

The aftermath of Katrina has affected more that just New Orleans
and the surrounding gulf coast. There are huge financial
implications associated with the catastrophe, from the initial
humanitarian aid to the rebuilding and repairing needed to get
the local area back on its feet. Eight oil refineries shut down
as a result of Katrina could take many months to restart. The
Gulf Coast is a prime supplier of oil, through pipelines now
shut due to lack of power and ocean-going barges unable to load
from ports eradicated by the storm.

>From a global perspective, the loss of oil production in the
area is sending shockwaves through the world’s financial
institutions and economies. Even before hurricane Katrina’s
damage to oil production the price of fuel has increased to a
major degree. The following data compares price increases from
September 2004 to August 2005 in the United States of America
and the United Kingdom.

US Fuel Price Increases
September 2004

Unleaded: £0.28 ($0.48) per Litre
Diesel: £0.29 ($0.51) per
Litre
August 2005
Unleaded: £0.38 ($0.67) per
Litre
Diesel: £0.39 ($0.68) per Litre

UK Fuel Price Increases
September 2004

Unleaded: £0.87 ($1.59) per Litre
Diesel: £0.83 ($1.52) per
Litre
August 2005
Unleaded: £0.96 ($1.76) per
Litre
Diesel: £0.94 ($1.73) per Litre

In the United Kingdom, motorists are burdening more fuel
increases with the price of 1 litre soon to exceed £1 ($1.84).
About 65% of the price UK motorists pay goes to the government
in tax so the additional revenues generated are unlikely to
direct the government to rebalance tax levels on fuel unless the
wider economy comes under threat.

“…If it keeps on rainin’, levee’s goin’ to break
And the
water gonna come in, have no place to stay…”

When The Levee Breaks
Memphis Minnie
recording of
1929 written after the devastating Mississippi flood of 1927

My next visit to fill up my car is once again bound to force a
whimper from my wallet especially when the litre dial spins at
the same rate as the total cost dial. But as my day to day
problems range from the extra few pounds I have to pay on the
weekly fuel to what colour to paint my children’s bedrooms, I
consider myself very lucky and certainly very selfish… shame
on me!

Why Can’t We Have a More Responsive Government?

The great people of the United States of America deserve and should have a more responsive government. What is the problem; we are the government; so why are we holding ourselves back? Let’s get busy and get it done. Dog catchers, building plans, code enforcement, even the city councils, county commissioners should be as responsive as the police departments, FedEx or the American Automobile Club. After all if, a customer calls, who pays taxes they should be given the same service that Dominos Pizza would give them if you called for a pizza. Why can it not be this way? Truth is it can.

Government before it destroys the forests ought to catch a clue and stop producing so much paperwork to make them selves look good. Sometime check out the per employee amount of paper waste from Boeing, GE, Microsoft, Intel, HP, and then compare it to government agencies of similar size. Ouch! Fact is the answer is about 1:50. Why? Because government is inefficient; business has to be efficient to make money to so it can comply with all the over regulations that make it nearly impossible to deliver the product or service to the consumer at a fair price. AT&T fills out 37,000 pages of tax returns; why? This could all be done easily by an interface with their accounting department. Guess what? AT&T would be happy to send the government agencies this information electronically, it is nearly all public information anyway since it is a public company.

Why can’t we streamline the waste and tame the blob of bureaucracy to work for us. For God’s Sake we are the Government; that is what they taught us in school. Let’s hold them to those ideals, hold our selves to that truth. Let’s make government more responsive to us, the people. For us and by us. Think about it.

“Lance Winslow” - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Who Deserves to Die?

Former Crips co-founder Tookie Wilson was executed in California when Governor Arnold Schwartzenager refused to grant him clemency. Even though I don’t believe in the death penalty I still debated with myself whether if I did I would still execute the guy. He’s been on death row for twenty four years, supposedly a changed man. But really, if they were going to keep him there much longer then they might have lost the opportunity of taking his life at all because he was getting old, man.

The debate centered on two things, first, whether he actually committed the murders that he got sent up for and, second, whether he had redeemed himself through good works and was doing more good alive than he would dead. I don’t know if I would stress so much who he had or had not murdered myself so much, because even if he hadn’t killed the particular people that he was convicted of - he’s killed a lot, I’d bet you. I can’t prove it. But what do you think? Do you think one of the founders of one of the bloodiest street gangs in the world has clean hands?

And what about the good works he’s committed since being incarcerated? Well, I don’t think you should get so much credit for seeing the error of your ways when you’re not given any choice in the matter. As far as doing more crimes and murders and such - it’s not much of an option when you’re on death row. So, why not write childrens books saying how awful gang violence is? Who knows better how awful gang violence is than the guy who created a whole bunch of it? He’s an expert on the subject if ever there was one.

Killing people who kill people is thought to be a fair punishment - eye for an eye and such, like Hammurabi told us. But is it a Christian punishment? Most of us here in the US claim Christianity as our faith - eighty percent - so you other twenty percent can sit this one out. Christians believe in redemption. They believe in forgiveness. They believe that through the power and faith in Jesus Christ anyone can go to Heaven as long as they truly repent and accept Jesus Christ as their lord and savior.

Just like Tookie Wilson did.

Do any of the Death Penalty Christians - who worked so hard to see that this man got what was coming to him - realize that what he got coming to him was a trip to Heaven? According to the Christian scheme, he goes straight to the head of the line. And he gets there sooner than others, because instead of letting him cool his heels doing more good works in the slammer, they all decided he should get his afterlife right now.

Did they consider that maybe God would want to decide when Tookie Wilson’s number was up without our help? Maybe the Lord Almighty wanted this guy to write more books or maybe he just wanted him to stick around and think about the suffering and pain he’d caused. It should be his call, not ours.

Great Way to Get Flat Abs - Acquire the Proper Mindset

Are you like numerous other adult males? Finding that your belly is expanding or hitting a bee line due south. Is buttoning those trousers growing harder and harder? Are you figuring out that the wasted, horizontal TV time, running through french-fried potatoes and boozing has at long last caught up with you, and you are wearing love handles? Have you lost your 6 pack abs? You’re definitely not the only one and there is great news for you.

If you want to get rid of the big belly to display the muscle you should start some ab exercises (ab-exercises.org). This is advantageous for both sexes as tighter abs lead to less lower back problems. When your stomach muscles are beefed-up your back is also fortified. Some easy examples to drop off those spare tires are sit ups and stomach crunches.

With a focus on the lower back try lying on your tummy. Raising your feet and knees off of the flooring and gently kicking your legs as if you were swimming. Fifteen seconds of kicking, thirty seconds of rest and then repeat.

You may wish to reduce salt and salt heavy foods from your meals. It is accepted to link sodium and salt rich foods with heart problems and risk of stroke. Salt also results in water retention which can make love handles look even worse. Stay away from processed foods and adding extra salt. A fat stomach can also be reduced by drinking water. Water aids in breaking down stored fat, creating energy and also hydrating the body.

You should probably consider reducing your calories from alcoholic beverages. Many of us are foiled that we can not use alcoholic beverages to replace water. Alcoholic beverages contain a lot of empty calories which for men have a tendency to get fixed around the middle area resulting in spare tires. No need to cut alcohol out altogether, just keep in mind how much you drink and adjust as needed; same strategy as reducing your food consumption.

Internet Gaming Keeps Betting Afficionados on Their Computers

Most risk takers will surely have stumbled upon the expression “offshore sports betting”, though many of them are not totally savvy what that actually means. A foreign gaming internet site in essence works out of the jurisdiction of any single land on the other hand it could mean a networked gambling website that bases their host servers within the borders of a nation in which live wagering is not presently illegal. Succinctly then, it is a gambling web site doing business extraneous to the national territory of the purchaser. On-line betting web pages are by and large regulated via three organisations. These are the OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association (the FTGA).

The OSGA are an unbiased “watch-dog” institution which oversees the overseas sports betting trade, they strive to also deliver gamers the facility to pick out legitimate enterprises to play games with. The OSGA endeavors to preserve consumer’s rights, additionally they don’t impose any membership fees.

The OSGA are a professional and neutral third party council that formulates neutral information, founded on customer feedback, unbiased investigation, calls, insider tips and also to supply industry information.

The Interactive Gaming Council are a non commercially influenced council. The council was created to furnish an arena for involved parties to discuss questions and in addition to further shared worries in the global online gaming business, to establish frank not to mention sensible industry standard procedures and practises which raise buyer faith in online gaming merchandise and benefits, and in addition to be of service as the industry’s universal procedure counselor and the council also operates as an info center.

The Interactive Gaming Council has developed a name for promoting honor, honorable action also credibility thanks to the rigid principles it demonstrates, and in addition its allure to business enterprises of responsible conduct. The IGC regulates overseas sports betting via applying a characteristic ten-point standard policy directory and in addition charges gaming sites a price for publishing the council’s logo. Vexed gamers can also give an account of their challenges to the Interactive Gaming Council.

The FTGA has been established in a venture to generate a standard to raise the standards of machine-accessible sports gambling operations. The authority believe that conducting business with respected enterprises, they can make a union of the fairest and professional cyberspace betting operations globally.

To review, these are governing bodies who exist to monitor the practises practised by online betting and which should with luck function to take the sting out of a few of the uneasiness due to the apprehension experienced by numerous gamblers. Online sports gaming web sites are nowadays consistently harmless, since individual details shouldn’t be required and the rewards not to mention the odds are as uniform and honest as in a normal Vegas-type sports bet. They eliminate traveling time, but preserve the underlying character, but today you can bet at your desk.

best online casino sports betting

The Project For a New American Century!

In recent months we have engaged in many conversations with Christians and non Christians alike, on matters concerning the American Government, and its activities in the world today. On a universal level, those of the faith AND those who do not share our faith agree on one thing, and that is that none of what we have been saying here at 11th Hour for the last 14 months is actual fact, and that it is all “OUR opinion and OUR misinterpretation of George W’s policies and intentions”, purely speculation and our conjecture: no supportable facts”. The following article will summarily place that statement in the wastebasket… where it belongs. The document outlined in this article was inspired by the foreign policy outline drawn up by Dick Cheney and his colleagues in 1992, when he was secretary of defense for the Senior Bush’s administration. It is a documented fact that these men had sent letters to Bill Clinton and raved about these mandates that they felt were essential to America’s future. The Project for a New American Century, (so called), is an initiative of “The New Citizenship Project”, which is made up of a startling group of names, which will be mentioned here. It is absolutely sobering and even chilling when you read the process of world domination laid out in this document, when you consider the fact that the Men who wrote and endorse this document, are the very men who are in control of the White House, the Pentagon, and the Defense Dept! Let’s take a look at their motives and their intentions, how they have played out recently, and what we can expect from our government going forward…

The PNAC’s Statement of Principles is written by, and bears the names of the following people: Elliott Abrams, Gary Bauer, William J. Bennett, Jeb Bush, Eliot A. Cohen, Dick Cheney, Midge Decter, Paula Dobriansky, Steve Forbes, Aaron Friedberg, Francis Fukuyama, Frank Gaffney, Fred C. Ikle, Donald Kagan, Zalmay Khalilzad, I. Lewis Libby, Norman Podhoretz, Dan Quayle, Peter W. Rodman, Stephen P. Rosen, Henry S. Rowen, Donald Rumsfeld, Vin Weber, George Weigel, Paul Wolfowitz. You can also add to this list Richard Perle and Condoleezza Rice, who met with the core group about how to promote the principles of the War in Iraq - (the public version). When one considers that the names here, printed at the bottom of the “Statement of Principles” on the site reads like a who’s who in the George W. Bush Administration, and in American politics in the past decade, it makes complete sense that the current administration is carrying out the mandates of this document verbatim, to wit, an absolute adherence to every single feature in the document, the result being a conquest for world domination! I don’t care what anyone says, or how much criticism I take for it, the current activities of those in power, look more like the first horse of the apocalypse than anything ever witnessed on the world stage. (more on that later) There can no longer be any question in the heart of a Christian who reads this document, (Rebuilding America’s Defenses), about what the George W. Bush Administration is “up to”. This document was written by, and is supported by all those surrounding him, and make no mistake about it, THIS is the agenda of the George W. Bush administration, regardless of what idealistic or holy hat anyone may be trying to place on him, this document outlines a clear roadmap for the coming years! The fact that Cheney was ordered to re-write the document means little given the fact that Wolfowitz is here on this draft as well. The point being that what our leaders now say only became the case BECAUSE of the 911 attacks, we will prove here has been the case in this circle of men since 1992.

It is truly amazing to us at 11th Hour, in light of the events of the past 4 years, all the excuses, all the pretending that this government is taken by surprise by current world events, when the charter written by the PNAC, the people that now make up the current Administration, a document started in 1998, released in 2000, based on a document written by Cheney’s boys in 1992 no less, are coming true exactly in concert with the goals of this document. How convenient!

Please do not miss this Article! If you are a Christian who cares about the image that the Church presents in the World today, this could be one of the most important documents you ever read!

See the full Article here: http://www.11th-hour.info/Articles/PNAC.html

About the Author

Writer for 11th Hour Ministries at www.11th-hour.info

Durom Cup Legal Issues Not Healthy for Hip Replacement Patients

Alot of people who got faulty hip implant applied in their hip cup replacement surgical procedures are discovering that there are negative effects that far exceed the regular expectations for recovery. These unfortunate people are feeling a lot of extra pain for lengthier time periods, facing revision surgeries and enlarged medical costs, and losing income by being unable to work at their official businesses. Although Zimmer Holdings, Inc. is laying claim that that their implant is not conceivably flawed and not to blame for the faililng hip implants, numerous people are filing lawsuits against them and receiving settlements.

These hurt poor people definitely deserve some aid and compensation which is the main reason product liability attorneys are telling them to file lawsuits. faulty hip implant has been paying some of these claims, too. Even So, even if the money they are being offered sounds like alot to them, in most cases individuals are resolving too quickly and with no allowance being made for reoccuring issues if pain returns. If they don’t wait to find out what an actual case is worth, individuals might find themselves ending up paying alot more money from their own personal assets when more medical issues exist or surface.

For anyone who believes they do have a claim against Zimmer should start checking into it. If you imagine you might qualify, you should probably call a lawyer to verify this info. Look for one that operates across the country and who has a main focus on litigation against flawed medical devices. This law firm has gone so far as to setup a special section to do the research and take care of the claims against Zimmer and win substantial settlements for their customers.

If your orthopedic surgeon informs you that you will need to undergo a revision surgical procedure to fix your Zimmer Durom hip replacement device, call an attorney right away.

Once your lawyer comes to the conclusion that you have a possible case, be prepared to stick it out for awhile in order to get the very best settlement that you could possible get. Take notice of the advice that your lawyer offers you and dont demand speedy restitution. By not rushing this stage, you will most likey get a larger settlement offer.

The Internet and Tom Robbins are both windows into new reali

The Internet and Tom Robbins are both windows into new realities, realities that are prone to incite laughter and ludicrous behaviorisms.

These days I go on to the Internet not having any clue as to what is going to grab my interest on that particular day. What is slowly seeping into my subconscious like sludge into the sewer is the idea that I’m probably going to learn something new of interest to my already strange and twisted human existence. Whether the information turns out to be credible is another issue altogether seeing that my fellow human weirdoes are prone to the occasional exaggeration and ‘white lie’. Nonetheless, every time I go for a so-called ’surf’ into the deep blue waves of social consciousness I seem to find myself sitting on some new island of information that inevitably causes a smile to crack across my crystallized serious Internet writer’s faade that I must present to my colleagues so that they don’t uncover my secret true identity, that being that I’m a Sweet Medicine Clown from the planet Zepton. That last sentence’s structure is dedicated to the mastery of Tom Robbins.

Today’s particular Internet search was triggered by memories of laughter caused by the reading of books by a fellow named Tom Robbins. Although this guy has written eight awesome novels, most people I ask have never heard of him. After searching for sites dedicated to him I did discover that a lot of other people have read his stuff and actually feel very strongly about it. The main site I found was called the AFTRLife at http://www.rain.org/~da5e/tom_robbins.html. The real buzz I experienced was the biographical information I learnt about Robbins’ personal history, I mean it’s one thing to really be affected by someone’s fictional writing, but another dimension altogether to read about what they supposedly got up to in their life.

With names like: Another Roadside Attraction 1971, Even Cowgirls Get the Blues 1976, Still Life with Woodpecker1980 Jitterbug Perfume1984 Skinny Legs and All 1990, Half Asleep in Frog Pajamas1994, Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates 2000, and Villa Incognito 2003 you might get a little insight into the style of this writer. I say you might, because you’ve really got to read it to believe it. In his biography it said that a copy of “Another Roadside Attraction” was found on the floor next to Elvis Presley when he died on the toilet. Maybe Elvis laughed just a little bit too hard! You’ve got to be careful reading these books; they just might bend your so-called ‘normal’ brain into a warped device with unimaginable powers…

It is alleged that he was thrown out of his university fraternity for throwing biscuits at his housemother. Are you catching my drift here? This guy really likes to look at reality from a different angle, actually multiple angles. The first book I read, “Skinny Legs and All” was written from first-person narrative perspectives of inanimate objects like a can of beans, a conch shell and a painted stick- I think there was a spoon in there somewhere as well! Have you ever thought about how a can of beans would perceive the world?

Having made it back from Timbuktu alive and with a son named Fleetwood Star Robbins, Tom Robbins proves to be my kind of human: original and fun. Perusing the Internet has once again added depth to my experience and to my reality. It really is fun learning more about people, places and things that I was already interested in. I’m a sponge soaking up the rays of the sun and then washing the windscreen of the Universe!

By Jesse S. Somer, M6.Net
http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer is a fish swimming through the muddy waters of the human condition.

Republican/Conservative Hate Members of the Media

TOP TEN MOST OUTRAGEOUS STATEMENTS OF 2004

Taken directly from: http://mediamatters.org/items/200412230005

Here are the Top Ten most outrageous statements we have heard this year from members of the media. From anti-Semitic comments and attacks on women, gays, and lesbians to reprehensible acceptance of the Abu Ghraib prisoner torture, these statements are acutely representative of the conservative hate speech we found in the news media:

Rush Limbaugh on the Abu Ghraib photos: “I’m talking about people having a good time, these people, you ever heard of emotional release? You ever heard of need to blow some steam off?”

Ann Coulter: “[Senator John] Kerry will improve the economy in the emergency services and body bag industry.”

Tony Blankley called philanthropist George Soros “a Jew who figured out a way to survive the Holocaust.”

Michael Savage: “When you hear ‘human rights,’ think gays. … [T]hink only one thing: someone who wants to rape your son.”

Oliver North: “Every terrorist out there is hoping John Kerry is the next president of the United States.”
Pat Robertson on gays and lesbians: “[S]elf-absorbed hedonists … that want to impose their particular sexuality on the rest of America.”

Pat Buchanan: “[H]omosexuality is an affliction, like alcoholism.”

Bill O’Reilly to Jewish caller: “[I]f you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel.”

Bill Cunningham (Clear Channel radio host who appeared as a guest on The Sean Hannity Show): The election is over because “Elizabeth Edwards has now sung.”

Jerry Falwell: “And we’re going to invite PETA [to “wild game night”] as our special guest, P-E-T-A — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. We want you to come, we’re going to give you a top seat there, so you can sit there and suffer. This is one of my special groups, another one’s the ACLU, another is the NOW — the National Order of Witches [sic]. We’ve got — I’ve got a lot of special groups.”

Posted to the web (http://mediamatters.org/items/200412230005) on Thursday December 23, 2004 at 6:17 PM EST Copyright © 2004-2005 Media Matters for America. All rights reserved.

About the Author

freelancewriter

Moving Day in Gaza?!

The Blade

The Blade just doesn’t get it. “Moving day in Gaza!?” A reality-based editorial title for the terror about to be unleashed against 8,000 Israeli men, women and children (simply because they are Jews), would be “Ethnic cleansing in Gaza,” “Gaza to be made Judenrein,” or “Sharon sells out Israel for foreign interests.”

The United States shouldn’t pay Israel to do the dirty work of their sworn enemies, to violently expel productive Israeli citizens from their homes and property, their literal former desert they made blossom as a rose, since such an act of terror and blood money rewards terrorism! The many Arab terrorist groups are already salivating, claiming victory for driving the Jews away!

Terrorism surely pays off for the “Palestinians,” although we’ll learn the hard way it’s too high of a price for us to pay. President Bush rightly wouldn’t meet with that mass murder Yasser Arafat, but then turns around and invites his blood brother, his partner in international crime and co-founder of Fatah, that terrorist in a suit and tie, Mahmoud Abbas, the present “Palestinian” leader (at odds with the other warlords) to the White House to receive $50,000,000 as a downpayment of at least $200,000,000 of hard-earned American tax-dollars!

Doesn’t President Bush know that such political prostitutes can’t be trusted? Remember the BILLIONS Arafat bilked from the nations and did it buy peace? Did Israel’s suicidal surrender of “land for peace” or Bush’s “roadmap to peace” bring us any closer to peace? The facts on the ground and buried in it testify NO!

It appears our leaders, both Israeli and American and others, are again foolishly gambling that the leopard has changed its spots, and the pogrom planned against the Jews of Gaza is the bleeding wound that will invite the infection of EU occupation.

About the Author

David Ben-Ariel, an American author who has travelled widely and who has lived throughout Israel, shares a special focus on the Middle East and great interest in Jerusalem, reflected in hard-hitting articles that help others improve their understanding of that troubled region. Check out www.benariel.com