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Organic Olive Oil Salad
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Organic Olive Oil Salad
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April 18 2012, 1:09pm | Comments »
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Organic Olive Oil Salad
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AndyRobertsPhotos
Organic Olive Oil Salad
April 18 2012, 1:06pm | Comments »
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Organic Olive Oil Salad
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Organic Olive Oil Salad
April 18 2012, 1:05pm | Comments »
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Organic Olive Oil Salad
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Organic Olive Oil Salad
April 18 2012, 1:02pm | Comments »
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Why we must make the adder count
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/04/02/why-we-must-make-the-adder-count
More research into adder genetics may prevent small isolated colonies from dying out. Our only venomous snake is an important part of UK wildlife heritage.
This article titled “Why we must make the adder count” was written by John Baker, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 2nd April 2011 09.00 UTC One of only six reptile species native to Britain, the adder is a fussy creature. Its restriction to specific habitats, and its frequent disturbance by human activity, well-meaning and otherwise, have made its populations isolated and prone to the effects of inbreeding. The Institute of Zoology, Natural England and Oxford University is undertaking a survey of adders (also known as vipers) to identify whether their population in the UK is suffering from a lack of genetic diversity. This is encouraging, and I fully support further research into adder genetics. Two of the other reptile species in Britain, the sand lizard and smooth snake, have always had limited natural ranges here. Because of this, they have strict legal protection and have been the subject of conservation programmes to protect and manage the few sites where they occur, and to reintroduce them to places from where they have disappeared. The adder is one of the remaining four species that we call “widespread” because they have much larger natural ranges in Britain. The adder can be found from the very south-west of England all the way north to Scotland. This does not mean that Britain is brimming with them or any other reptile species: within their apparently large ranges, they are restricted to certain types of habitat. The adder prefers grassland, scrub and woodland edge, primarily on sandy soils. There are also other factors that make it a particularly vulnerable species. Back in 2004, English Nature (now Natural England) contacted naturalists around the country who had good knowledge of adder populations and asked them to evaluate the health of “their” adders, with some interesting results. In their opinion, “disturbance” was the greatest threat. But analysis of the data revealed some other trends. A third of the adder populations were small (estimated as fewer than 10 adult snakes), and more than a third of the populations were isolated. Population declines tended to be more frequent among these small or isolated populations, as is to be expected due to chance fluctuations, but also as you would expect from inbreeding. Amphibian and Reptile Conservation co-ordinates Make the Adder Count, a project encouraging local adder conservation and long-term monitoring of populations, pooling information from a small but dedicated band of adder-watchers around the country. They, too, have consistently reported that the greatest threat to adders is disturbance. On further questioning, it become apparent that disturbance can have different causes. In some cases it refers to destruction of habitat – something that can happen even on protected sites, unintentionally, through “habitat management”. Adders are also still being killed by humans, through overly heavy-handed management of some of the areas they inhabit. Sometimes disturbance can also result from people visiting well-known adder sites. So, can the general public help at all? Certainly. They can visit the Sliding Scales campaign website, a project for recording current or recent distributions of any snakes, as well as visiting the Add an Adder site – which aims to collect “records from the past” (both from personal experience and anecdotes from friends and relatives) to get a better idea of not only where adders are, but also where they used to be. If people find shed skins (or “sloughs”) of adders, they can also be sent to the ARC Trust – those will be used in a research project to better understand adder genetics. The animals we love face a range of threats. We herpetologists wait with interest to learn more about the genetics of our adder populations.
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April 2 2011, 2:33pm | Comments »
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Operation Odyssey Dawn commences to end Gaddafi onslaught on Benghazi
Operation Odyssey Dawn commences with more than 100 Tomahawk missiles launched as mission begins to end Gaddafi onslaught on Benghazi without risking troops on the ground.
This article titled “Operation Odyssey Dawn commences to end Gaddafi onslaught on Benghazi” was written by Mark Townsend, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 19th March 2011 23.29 UTC The first strikes came out of the late afternoon sky. At 4:45pm GMT it was confirmed that a French Rafale fighter jet had destroyed a Libyan military vehicle, possibly a tank, near Bengazi, the rebel city that pro-Gaddafi troops had attempted to storm. Then, after nightfall, the real offensive began. As more than 100 Tomahawk missiles rained down along the vast Libyan coastline, the Pentagon confirmed that American and British forces were targeting Colonel Gaddafi’s air defence systems in a concerted attempt to enforce the UN no-fly zone, ending his capacity to continue the offensive against the rebel forces. Within minutes the prime minister, David Cameron, declared that British air forces were in action above Libya, joining combat aircraft from several coalition countries. The sheer weight of firepower trained on Libya was designed to intimidate as well as incapacitate. The Tomahawk missiles were fired at supersonic speeds from a British Trafalgar-class submarine and two American warships in the Mediterranean. In total, more than 20 designated Libyan targets were struck. Batteries of Libyan surface-to-air missiles were destroyed. The military communication network, crucial to Gaddafi’s ability to maintain the momentum of his offensive, was severely disrupted. The Pentagon dubbed the offensive Operation Odyssey Dawn, confirming that the intention of the bombardment was to open up airspace for a second wave of strikes by ground-attack aircraft. The battle to save the Libyan revolution, authorised by the UN security council resolution on Thursday night, has begun. State of the art 21st-century weaponry is being pitted against tanks, guns and missiles from the cold war era. Knocking out Gaddafi’s command structure and jamming his military communication networks is likely to happen quickly. Libya’s air defence system is considered antiquated, comparable to the Soviet systems that international forces faced during the Gulf war of 1991, and the Balkans conflict. In fact, much of Gaddafi’s weapons stock is Soviet-era with his air force thought to include up to 80 operational aircraft based around the MiG-23, which was phased out of Russian service 17 years ago. Ground forces rely on Soviet-era weaponry including T-72 tanks that entered production 40 years ago In Tripoli there was panic and defiance. Thousands of Libyans were reported by state TV to have packed into Gaddafi’s heavily fortified compound in the capital to form a human shield against possible air strikes by allied forces. In Benghazi, the streets were eerily quiet as the first rounds of this epic confrontation played out. From a military point of view, the plans finalised earlier in the day in Paris, at a summit of international leaders, were being put into action with impressive speed. Ahead of the operation, a formidable array of firepower was positioned around Libya. In terms of airpower alone, hundreds of jet fighters were placed within easy reach of the North African state. The squadrons included F-16s, used on bombing missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, along with the G4 Tornado ground attack aircraft which forged its reputation attacking Iraqi military sites and runways with smart bombs during the Gulf war. Most of the jet fighters are stationed in southern Italy. The vast US base at Gaeta is less than 600 miles from Benghazi. Six Danish F-16s landed at the base in Sigonella, Sicily, and will be ready for operations on Sunday. France has deployed around 100 warplanes, mainly Rafale and Mirage 2000 jets. Its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle will head toward the Libyan coast . Six Canadian CF-18 fighter jets have arrived in Italy. By the time Cameron announced that Britain’s forces were involved, the offensive was fully under way. America’s Vice-admiral Bill Gortney described the strikes as the “first phase in a multi-phase operation”, revealing that the US was in charge of the offensive, but that command would switch to coalition forces in the coming days. Few could have foreseen the weight of firepower that would be directed at Libya, just two days after the UN resolution on a no-fly zone was agreed. The decision to use Tomahawks would have sent a fearsome message to Gaddaffi. During the first Gulf war the sight of cruise missiles sweeping across the Iraqi landscape in broad daylight became one of the enduring images of the 1991 conflict. A Pentagon spokesman said: “The targets were selected based on a collective assessment that these sites either pose a direct threat to the coalition pilots or through use by the regime pose a direct threat to the people of Libya.” He admitted that because the attacks began after nightfall it was difficult to ascertain how successful they had been or, as Gaddafi’s camp is likely to claim, if there have been significant civilian deaths. What is certain is that many of the targets are located on the coast, making their destruction pivotal to the enforcement of the no-fly zone. Analysts had warned that the sudden storming of Benghazi by pro-Gaddafi forces was a military ploy designed to negate the potency of international air strikes but also increase the risk of coalition air strikes inflicting civilian casualties. Moving his ground forces from the flat, exposed terrain of the desert to Libya’s second city and into its streets raised the risk of civilians being killed, they said. Experts warned that the consequences of collateral damage would create a propaganda coup for the Libyan leader, while potentially damaging the conviction of the coalition. Shashank Joshi, an associate fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, an independent thinktank, said: “It makes airpower considerably less effective. Given that some of Gaddafi’s most pernicious weapons – ground-based artillery and tanks – are now intermingled with the urban infrastructure and civilian targets like schools and hospitals, it does blunt one of the international coalition’s greatest strengths, which is advanced fast jets with precision targeted weaponry.” Another concern is to avoid hitting British special forces units, which are likely to be operating in the city to help “light up” targets and offer ground-level intelligence. Paul Smyth, a former wing commander with the RAF, Tornado navigator and founder of defence analysts R3I Consulting, said it was technically possible to hit targets in built up areas from a Tornado, although there were obvious challenges to hitting a tank behind a building while moving at 600mph. However, he said the expansion eastwards of pro-Gaddafi troops sent to crush the rebellion had presented international forces with a golden opportunity to deliver a blow against the Libyan leader. “Gaddafi’s forces have travelled a long distance and require long lines of supply and communication. Whether they have the means required to sustain combat is open to question,” he said. Smyth added that even if Gaddafi’s troops had succeeded in making substantial progress in recapturing Benghazi, the rebels’ determination to hold their positions would have been boosted by the arrival of international force. Among the munitions Britain is now likely to deploy against ground forces is the Brimstone “fire and forget” anti-tank missile with a range of up to 12 miles and the sophisticated Storm Shadow, an air-launched cruise missile that can eradicate static targets from up to 155 miles. It remains a possibility that airborne firepower will be supplemented with unmanned aerial surveillance drones like the advanced US Predator that can loiter above a battlefield before attacking positions with Hellfire missiles. How long the airborne attacks will continue is uncertain. Leaders of the countries involved are clearly hoping to avoid being embroiled in a long-running and resource intensive campaign. Joshi points out: “How long can we stay there? Can we keep Typhoons in southern Europe for the next 10 years? Can we keep a no-fly zone in place, like over Iraq, for 12 years? The political decisions are not in place for that.” But the military campaign in Libya has begun and there is no turning back now. The west is once again at war in the Middle East
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Related posts:Libya rebels on the defensive as Gaddafi forces enter Benghazi Benghazi rebels plead for Libya air strikes as Gaddafi forces advance Libya unrest: Allies assemble arsenal for possible strike against Gaddafi
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March 19 2011, 6:42pm | Comments »
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Oil price soars after UN resolution against Muammar Gaddafi
Middle East tensions send cost of crude oil to $117 per barrel, but falls to $114.50 after Libyan leader announces ceasefire
This article titled “Oil price soars after UN resolution against Muammar Gaddafi” was written by Terry Macalister, for The Guardian on Friday 18th March 2011 19.17 UTC The price of oil soared after the United Nations approved military action against the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, heightening geopolitical tensions in the oil-rich Middle East. The price of petrol has already hit record levels and motoring organisations in Britain warned that less well-off consumers in rural areas risked being “marooned” in their villages because they could not afford fuel. The cost of crude broke through $117 per barrel for Brent blend at one stage, spurred by events in Libya, uncertainty after shootings in Yemen and the continuing nuclear crisis in Japan. “The apparent move into a military endgame in Libya, together with the passing of the UN resolution and the escalation created by external involvement, is likely to represent the most immediate source of upside price risk for oil,” said energy analysts at London-based investment Barclays Capital. Robert McNally, an oil consultant and former international energy adviser to the White House, said the loss of oil exports from Libya due to the civil unrest there was soaking up spare oil production capacity throughout the region. “The oil market has moved from complacency around geopolitical risk last year to panic,” he told the Financial Times. The price of oil fell back to $114.50 after Gaddafi announced a ceasefire, but traders remained nervous that trouble in Yemen and Bahrain could spill into Saudi Arabia, the world’s biggest crude exporter. Uncertainty in the world’s main oil-producing region has driven up the price of petrol to record levels on British forecourts and spread a cloud over wider industrial activity. Moody’s Investors Service, the credit rating agency, said that oil prices persistently over $100 a barrel would weaken the global economic recovery. “Ultimately, the effects that high oil and fuel prices have on businesses and consumers depend on a number of factors with some far more exposed than others,” said Steven Wood, Moody’s managing director in New York. Petrol prices have hit very high levels in the US and broken records in Britain. The price comparison website petrolprices.com said the average bill for unleaded fuel was now 133.34p per litre, with maximum prices recorded of 145.9p. And new survey from the AA confirmed the UK average petrol price had reached a new high, with diesel at an average 139.98p – nearly 5p more than in February. The motoring organisation again urged the chancellor, George Osborne, to cancel the planned fuel duty hike of 5p a litre in next week’s budget. “Turmoil in the Middle East, with its impact on oil and pump price volatility, is already adding to financial uncertainty for poorer drivers. The AA asks the government to provide some respite by cancelling the fuel duty increase on 1 April,” said Edmund King, the AA’s president. “If not, tales of the rural poor being marooned in their villages and people cutting back on their food to keep the car on the road so that they can go to work will become more common – to the shame of a developed country,” he added. Although the Middle East has been the centre of attention for the oil markets, the tsunami and crisis in Japan’s nuclear reactors have added to tensions in oil markets. Japan’s electricity supply has been partly knocked out by the halting of nuclear reactors, forcing the Japanese to increase imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and some oil to be used for power generation. Countries in the Middle East and North Africa – notably Qatar and Algeria – are also major gas producers. Japan is already the world’s largest LNG importer in the world but experts say The country may need an extra 9m tonnes over the next 12 months, raising the price of LNG globally, hitting other western importing countries including Britain.The Middle East remains the biggest – and cheapest – place for producing oil despite attempts by heavy consuming nations such as the US and Britain to develop their own supplies in the Gulf of Mexico, now set back by BP’s Deepwater Horizon accident, and the North Sea where supplies are fields are running dry.
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Related posts:Oil price jumps nearly $2 on continuing concerns about Libya and Bahrain Oil price climbs on Libyan unrest Oil price surge risking global recovery, says IEA chief
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March 18 2011, 4:57pm | Comments »
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American Unrest
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/03/18/american-unrest
American unrest started in Wisconsin and now descends upon Washington
One Day General Strike needed to build fightback against Walker’s Bill! Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogAmerican Unrest
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March 18 2011, 9:10am | Comments »
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Tsunami alert sparks evacuations from Hawaii to Easter Island
Luckily the tsunami didn’t wreak as much destruction over the entire pacific ocean as the earthquake that affected the Indian Ocean on Boxing Day 2004
This article titled “Tsunami alert sparks evacuations from Hawaii to Easter Island” was written by Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent, for The Guardian on Friday 11th March 2011 19.39 UTC Visions of a seven-metre wall of water travelling at jet speeds generated evacuation orders across the vast expanse of the Pacific. From the low-lying atolls of Kiribati to Hawaii’s Waikiki beach, Chile’s Easter Island and even inland areas such as California’s Napa Valley, authorities on Friday scrambled to get their citizens out of harm’s way. Low-lying islands that were the first in the tsunami’s path – Kiribati, Tonga, Guam – ordered people to move 30 metres inland and look for refuge well above sea level. By the time the great wave roared past those islands, communities on the west coast of America were engaged in their own disaster preparations. Authorities warned that even though the first waves brought less destruction than feared to Guam and other areas, the Pacific rim was not out of danger. “Stay off the beach,” said US National Weather Service forecaster Diana Henderson. “It’s not just one wave, it’s a series that could last up to 12 hours.” The president reinforced the warning. “If people are told to evacuate, do as you are told,” Barack Obama told a press conference. Hawaii sounded warning sirens within an hour of the quake hitting Japan, sending people running from their homes in the dark to stock up with food and petrol. Pumps ran dry within hours. The US navy ordered all warships in Pearl Harbor to remain in port and ready to support rescue missions. People living in beach areas on Oahu and Kauai were ordered to leave their homes. In the Oahu resort area of Waikiki, tourists were moved to hotel rooms above the fourth floor. The authorities in Maui shut down water and sewage plants to prevent their contamination. Schools and government offices were closed. In coastal areas of Oregon, tsunami sirens went off at about 4am local time. Police and firefighters went door to door to warn residents to move to higher ground after an automated warning failed. Northern counties of California also ordered evacuations. Schools were closed, and police patrolled to keep surfers off the beach. In Crescent City, 35 boats were reported to have been crushed and the harbour area significantly damaged. In the San Francisco Bay area, roads were closed and trains and ferries cancelled, as well as flights to Japan. Officials told curiosity seekers to stay home, and went through parks moving homeless people away. The first landfall on the US Pacific coast on Friday morning left relatively limited damage. The tsunami hit at low tide – with waves of about a metre – and the authorities in Oregon initially compared the effect to a winter storm. “We’re looking at 4½ to 5ft [1.5 metres] so far,” said Don Kendall, the emergency co-ordinator for Oregon’s Curry County. “We’re in the middle of a low tide so it’s not hitting us as bad as it would have had we had high.” But there were sporadic reports of damaged piers and boats breaking free from their moorings. Authorities were also on alert for inland flooding as far away as California’s Napa Valley wine country. Canada, though officially outside the main danger zone, evacuated marinas, beaches and parks in British Columbia that lie below the high-tide mark. Mexico shuttered shops and closed roads in tourist resorts on the Baja California peninsula. Off Oaxaca, empty oil tankers were ordered out to sea. Chile, which was forecast to be hit on Friday evening, ordered residents on Easter Island to make for the island’s airport, which is on higher ground. Port officials in Valparaiso ordered ships to move out to sea. “This is a preventative alert,” said Chile’s president, Sebastian Pinera. “If there are any consequences from the earthquake and tsunamis that hit Japan, they would occur in the last hours of the day.” Ecuador enacted emergency powers, giving the police and military control of the coast. On the Galápagos Islands, tourist ships set off for deeper waters and residents were told to head for higher ground. The Peruvian authorities were waiting until later in the day to issue evacuation orders for low-lying areas of Lima. But the potential dangers left some undaunted. Gabriel Aramburu, a professional surfer in Lima, told Reuters: “For there to be a tsunami the sea water has to suck out and pull back first. If that happens, we’ll paddle into shore and leave. But I’ve never seen the sea recede like that.”
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March 11 2011, 7:02pm | Comments »
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The fallout from the crash of 2008 has only just begun
The world impact of the biggest financial crisis since 1929 has only just got underway. Demand is falling. Talk of recovery is dangerously premature.
This article titled “The fallout from the crash of 2008 has only just begun” was written by Seumas Milne, for The Guardian on Wednesday 9th March 2011 21.45 UTC To listen to government ministers and boardroom barons, you’d think that the economic crisis that erupted in 2008 was as good as over. Recovery might be weak and choppy, they’d have us believe, but it’s nevertheless under way. Cuts might be painful, they insist, but they’re essential for a rebalanced economy – and anyway they’re all the fault of the previous government. As elsewhere, there is a determined attempt in Britain to restore the economic model so comprehensively discredited in the crash of 2008. But the evidence is piling up that the full impact of the crisis is only starting to make itself felt – and that both the economy and politics will be transformed before it has run its course. In Britain the loyalty to a failed past is most striking in the Tory-led government’s resolute refusal to bring to heel the banks that delivered the economic meltdown. Bankers’ greed might be the object of public revulsion and ritual political handwringing; and the banks’ survival might depend on the greatest public handouts and guarantees in history. But once again, their executives have awarded themselves hundreds of millions of pounds in pay and bonuses, while real wages are being forced down across the workforce. Even Stephen Hester, the chief executive of state-owned RBS, is pocketing £7.7m while failing to carry out the bank’s essential function of boosting lending to credit-squeezed businesses. And instead of directing the banks they own or underwrite to ditch bonuses and drive recovery, George Osborne and his Liberal Democrat lieutenants have in effect cut Labour’s bank levy, slashed corporation tax and signed a toothless agreement that will clearly achieve neither. Given that over half the Conservative party’s funding now comes from bankers, hedge fund managers and private equity moguls, perhaps that’s not so surprising. But, combined with a scale of brutal and counter-productive spending cuts only matched in Europe’s basket cases, the result for the British economy has already been disastrous. Put to one side the arbitrary convention that two successive quarters of economic shrinkage are needed to qualify for a recession. Britain has in fact already had a double dip, as the economy shrank by 0.6% in the last quarter of 2010 – and that’s before the effects of most cuts and tax increases have been felt. Greece and Portugal are the only other European Union countries whose economies declined in the same period. But it has taken the Bank of England governor Mervyn King of all people to nail the endlessly repeated falsehood that the deficit is the result of Labour profligacy – rather than the breakdown of an unregulated and unreformed financial system enthusiastically endorsed by the entire political class. King blamed the bankers for the cuts, and warned of the threat of further crises unless the financial behemoths were brought to book. And it was Richard Lambert, the outgoing head of the employers’ CBI, who took the government to task for absurdly relying on the ruthlessness of its cuts to deliver growth. David Cameron’s response has been to promise more deregulation and blame civil servants for “loading costs on to business”. That will be the theme of this month’s budget. It’s got all the makings of a 1980s revival, complete with the Thatcherite favourites of increased VAT, deep cuts in the poorest areas and mass privatisation. Ministers seem determined to reinstate a neoliberal order that is beyond repair, while the conditions that eventually allowed economic recovery in the 80s after the destruction of 20% of the country’s industrial base and the creation of 3 million unemployed under Margaret Thatcher – including a far more benign international economic environment – are simply not there. The latest slow-motion aftershock of the 2008 crash is being felt in the oil market. The Arab uprisings of recent months have targeted dictatorship and had multiple causes. But the trigger for the Tunisian revolution, which sparked the wider revolt, was economic: rising food prices and unemployment in the IMF poster-boy state, combined with declining workers’ remittances from recession-hit Europe. Now that the upheaval has spread to oil-rich Libya and is echoing across the Gulf kingdoms, oil prices have started to spike. If the Libyan stalemate continues, or the revolution reaches the main oil producing states, the impact of sharply higher prices on global recovery is likely to be dramatic – a boomerang effect of the original crisis, which would further squeeze growth and fuel inflation. Already European and British central bankers are preparing to make a renewed downturn more likely by threatening higher interest rates in response to rising energy and food prices. Add to that the continuing turmoil in the eurozone, and the damage of a new oil shock on a stagnant economy like Britain’s – already bled white by market dogma – could be far-reaching. The aftermath of the crash of 2008 demands a different kind of political economy. If Britain’s coalition government carries on imagining it can cut and deregulate its way out of emerging stagflation, it will fail and its unpopularity deepen. But Labour also has to break with policies that helped generate the crisis in the first place. David Miliband, the party’s failed leadership contender, this week defended New Labour’s record, arguing that European social democrats need to move away from reliance on high public spending and state power if they are to regain support in an era of economic crisis. But it isn’t public intervention that is behind the failure to invest or lend – it’s the lack of it. And it wasn’t New Labour’s over-regulation of the City that made Britain especially vulnerable to the credit crash. It was the opposite. Right now, publicly owned banks and their cash mountains should be at the heart of an investment programme to propel recovery. But that would mean moving on from an economic model broken by its own excesses. Instead, they’re being fattened for privatisation. Mervyn King expressed surprise last week that the “degree of public anger has not been greater than it has” over the costs of the system’s failure. But as those costs are rammed home, both in Britain and across the world, it will become clearer that the fallout has only just begun.
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March 9 2011, 5:15pm | Comments »
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Libya rebels isolate Gaddafi, seizing cities and oilfields
Well it looks like the worst case scenario, that in which Gaddafi sabotages the oil fields, may have been avoided. There’s still a strong danger of civil war within Tripoli as hard core loyalists and mercenaries defend a last ditch position. Meanwhile what’s the news from Tangiers and other places?
This article titled “Libya rebels isolate Gaddafi, seizing cities and oilfields” was written by Martin Chulov in Benghazi, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 24th February 2011 17.29 UTC Opposition activists are increasing the pressure on Muammar Gaddafi’s ailing regime, shutting down oil exports and mobilising rebel groups in the west of the country as the revolution rapidly spreads. Gaddafi’s hold on power appears confined to parts of Tripoli and perhaps several regions in the centre of the country. Towns to the west of the capital have fallen and all of eastern Libya is firmly in opposition hands. In a rambling appeal for calm on state TV, Gaddafi blamed the revolt on al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, and said the protesters were fuelled by Nescafe spiked with hallucinogenic drugs. In Benghazi, the country’s second city, basic order is returning to the streets after days of fierce fighting that resulted in the military defecting en masse. Virtually all government buildings were looted and wrecked. There are long lines outside closed banks as people try to resume normal life. Cars have returned to city streets but almost all shops remain closed and the internet is blocked. • Watch dramatic Libya video with commentary by Martin Chulov • Follow live reaction to Gadaffi’s latest statement • David Cameron apologises for delay in evacuating Britons Benghazi is now being run by a makeshift organising committee of judges, lawyers and other professionals who have sent out young people to direct traffic and restore basic order. One high court lawyer, Amal Bagaigis, said: “We started just as lawyers looking for our rights and now we are revolutionaries, and we don’t know how to manage. We want to have our own face. For 42 years we lived with this kind of barbarianism. We now want to live by ourselves.” The town of Misrata, about halfway between Benghazi and Tripoli, is reported to have fallen after days of violence. A resident, Abdul Basit Imzivig, told the Guardian that regime forces had fled overnight and the city was in opposition hands. All southern oilfields are in rebel control. Moustafa Raba’a, a mechanical engineer with the Sirte oil company, said pressure had been put on field and refinery managers to stop work and protect all foreign nationals working with them. “The order was put out to send a message to Gaddafi to stop the slaying of our people in Benghazi. We made a decision to deny him the privilege of exporting oil and gas to Europe.” He said the blockade had prevented 80,000 barrels a day being exported from the Dregga field alone. In Gaddafi’s latest broadcast, he spoke to state television by telephone without appearing in person, and his tone seemed more conciliatory. But it was peppered with bizarre references – he compared his authority to the British Queen and said of the protesters: “Their ages are 17. They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe.” Opposition to Gaddafi appears to have reached a critical mass, with his influence confined to parts of the capital and steadily shrinking. Tripoli remains in lockdown and there are reports of snipers. Irish-trained surgeon Heitham Gheriani, who was one of the revolution’s organisers in Benghazi, said: “Now the people realise the power they have. They started this protest peacefully and then the youths joined them. And when Gaddafi started killing them they rose up. But we honestly didn’t think it would happen so quickly.” A Turkish ferry has docked in Benghazi to evacuate a small number of Turkish nationals, and a British warship remains off the coast waiting for permission to approach Libyan shores. A second ship, the HMS York, has been stationed in Malta to help with the rescue effort. Tens of thousands of Egyptians are continuing to pour towards their home border along with a convoy of other foreign workers. Elsewhere in Libya forces loyal to Gaddafi are reported to have launched a counter-attack on anti-government militias controlling Misrata, 125 miles (200km) east of Tripoli. Several people were killed in fighting near the city’s airport. Lawyers and judges have said they control the city in an internet statement. With help from “honest” military officers they had removed agents of the “oppressive regime” in Misrata, the statement said. Another western town, Zuara, is reported to have fallen to opposition forces as the tide of rebellion advanced closer to Tripoli. Violence reached the town of Az-Zawiyah, 30 miles west of Tripoli. Al-Arabiya television said Gaddafi would address residents of the town. In Oman, the British prime minister David Cameron delivered an unequivocal apology for the failings that left British citizens stranded in Libya. Two chartered planes have now left Tripoli, and a Hercules landed in the Libyan capital. British officials are confident that all UK citizens at the airport have been flown out, though they expect more to turn up. The prime minister said British officials would be “sweeping up” any remaining British citizens who arrive at the airport, while HMS Cumberland has docked in Benghazi to pick up passengers there. The Ministry of Defence is assessing how to rescue between 100 and 150 British citizens working for oil companies in the desert.
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February 24 2011, 12:06pm | Comments »
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Oil price surge risking global recovery, says IEA chief
The combination of approaching Peak Oil and the Arab Spring regional revolution is likely to become the single biggest factor in global economics. This article titled “Oil price surge risking global recovery, says IEA chief” was written by Julia Kollewe, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 22nd February 2011 08.34 UTC The surge in oil prices caused by the Libyan crisis could derail the global economic recovery, the International Energy Agency’s chief economist warned on Tuesday. Fatih Birol said high oil prices could weaken trade balances, add to inflation and put pressure on central banks to raise interest rates at a time when economic growth remains lacklustre in many countries, including the UK. “Oil prices are a serious risk for the global economic recovery,” he said. “The global economic recovery is very fragile – especially in OECD countries.” Birol said IEA members would consider a coordinated release of oil from their emergency stocks to tackle any supply disruption if the turmoil continues in the Middle East and North Africa. The agency’s members – the OECD countries, which are mostly western economies – hold 1.6bn barrels of emergency oil stocks. He added that Saudi Arabia stood ready to pump more oil if necessary. Oil ministers from top consuming and producing countries are meeting at a scheduled energy conference in Riyadh on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 index in London was down more than 60 points in early trading at 5953.95 as the market took fright at the escalating Libyan crisis. Overnight, shares in Japan tumbled almost 2%, falling 192.83 points to 10,664.70. Stocks on Wall Street are expected to open sharply lower following Monday’s closure for President’s Day. The price of oil and grains jumped again this morning amid fears that growing violence in oil-rich Libya could spill over into other oil-producing countries in the region. Libya is the first major oil exporter to be engulfed by the crisis – it exports 1.6m barrels a day – and the first to see significant disruption to oil production. Brent crude oil rose nearly $2.83 to $108.57 a barrel after hitting $108.70 on Monday, the highest since the onset of the financial crisis. US crude for March delivery, which expires on Tuesday, also touched a two-and-a-half-year high, rising to $94.49. “The market is very nervous over news of violence in Libya, and that’s driving prices,” said Yinxi Yu, a commodities analyst at Barclays Capital. “The situation threatens to blow out in the next few days, and it looks like the uncertainty in the region is not going to be resolved anytime soon.” Prices are still a long way from the all-time high of $147.02 reached in July 2008 for Brent crude. Prices then slumped as the recession in the west led to a sharp fall in demand. One international oil firm has shut down as much as 100,000 barrels a day of output, about 6% of Libya’s production. Other big oil firms are evacuating their staff from the country as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi fought to hang on to power and dozens were reported killed in the capital, Tripoli. However, Julian Jessop at Capital Economics said: “There are two reasons not to press the panic button just yet. First, although Libya is an Opec member, it is still a relatively small player. Libya’s usual daily production of 1.6m barrels ranks the country at around number nine of the 12 members. In principle, any shortfall on global markets could easily be offset by an increase in output from Saudi Arabia, which is currently producing some 3m barrels per day less than its estimated capacity (though this additional supply cannot be turned on overnight).” Gold slipped from its seven-week high, to $1,400.95 from $1,410.65, while silver leapt to its highest price since 1980, above $34 an ounce. Grain prices were also higher, with US corn futures up by 0.6% and soy and wheat both 0.5% higher.
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February 22 2011, 2:51am | Comments »
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Oil price climbs on Libyan unrest
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/21/oil-price-rises-libya-unrest
The price of world oil rose to its highest level since September 2008 yesterday, leaping of more than one dollar a barrel. The cause now is the forboding situation in Libya, a key member of Opec, where the Gaddafi family and supporters have adopted a belligerent stance towards the undeterred protests. The biggest fear amongst oil commodity speculators for even bigger price rises now is that the unrest may spread to Saudi Arabia. This article titled “Oil price climbs on Libyan unrest” was written by Julia Kollewe, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 21st February 2011 10.13 UTC Oil prices leapt to a fresh two-and-a-half year high as violent clashes in Libya, a member of the oil cartel Opec, and other Middle Eastern countries fuelled fears of disruption to supplies. As the anti-government protests in Libya threaten to escalate, BP today suspended preparations for exploratory drilling for oil and gas in western Libya. The company does not produce any oil or gas in Libya but had been preparing an onshore rig to start drilling. One of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s sons warned the country could descend into civil war as the regime tried to halt the popular uprising with a bloody crackdown. Protests broke out in the capital Tripoli for the first time following days of unrest in Benghazi, the second largest city. Libya exports 1.1m barrels of oil a day. It was the world’s 12th-biggest oil exporter in 2009 and has proven oil reserves of 44bn barrels, the largest in Africa, according to the International Energy Agency. Brent crude for April delivery hit a new two-and-a-half year high of $104.60 a barrel, and later traded up $1.90 at $104.44. US crude for March delivery climbed by over $2 to 88.42 a barrel. The price of gold, seen as a safe haven, soared to a seven-week high, while prices of silver and palladium hit historic highs on expectations of growing demand. Spot gold climbed to $1,396.1 an ounce. The head of the Al-Suwayya tribe in eastern Libya threatened on Sunday to cut oil exports to western countries within 24 hours unless the authorities put an end to the “oppression of protesters”. There are also fears that the unrest in northern Africa and the Middle East, which has already ousted the Tunisian and Egyptian presidents, could spread to Saudi Arabia. “The oil market could easily jump another $10 in the short term if the violence continues,” said David Cohen, director of Asian Economic Forecasting at Asian Economics.
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February 21 2011, 4:27am | Comments »
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‘Water poverty’ to rise in the UK as scarcity pushes up bills
Somehow this report in the Guardian manages to completely avoid the use of the phrase “water meters” or “self disconnection” instead resorting to “new charging models” and “new pricing system”. The use of a banded system with only two points of increase implies that a meter is installed but distorts consumer behavior as the period end approaches if the next band is close. What is really needed is a massive investment in the water supply infrastucture so that top quality drinking water is no longer used to flush toilets, wash cars and water gardens. Drinking water supply could then remain unmetered as a basic human right.
This article titled “‘Water poverty’ to rise in the UK as scarcity pushes up bills” was written by Jamie Doward, for The Observer on Sunday 20th February 2011 00.06 UTC “Water poverty” will become the new fuel poverty for an increasing number of households as scarcity of supply pushes up bills, according to an influential thinktank that says Britain must deal urgently with climate change. A report by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, one of the largest social policy research-and-development charities, says that low-income households are at particular risk because of new methods being introduced to increase the efficient use and distribution of water. It defines “water poverty” as when households spend 3% or more of their income on water bills. The report, Vulnerability to Heat Waves and Drought: Adaptation to Climate Change, by the environmental consultancy AEA and a team from the University of Surrey, warns that water is becoming scarce as a result of climate change and increased consumer demand. An estimated four million households in the UK are already “water poor”, according to the report, and the situation is likely to worsen, with bills predicted to rise by 5% a year for some customers. Water companies are moving away from flat-rate fees to new charging models that bill customers with steadily higher prices according to how much water they use. The report warns that this could create affordability problems for some low-income households and lead to “water poverty”. “The issue of water poverty – just like fuel poverty – is extremely important, especially as we start to look into the future and consider how climate change is going to impact society,” said the report’s lead author, Magnus Benzie. The south-west of England, where bills are on average 43% higher than in the rest of the country, is set to be particularly affected as the UK becomes significantly drier in coming decades, according to the report. It suggests that any influx of people into the region, coupled with increases in tourism, will exacerbate the problem. The region has tried a new pricing system, using three tariffs that ratchet up with increased water use, but there are concerns that this may see some households hit disproportionately. “We currently waste a lot of water, so on one level it makes sense to encourage greater efficiency by charging people depending on how much water they use,” Benzie said. “But some tariffs can put unfair pressure on households that cannot reduce their water consumption, either because of household size, medical needs or an inability to invest in water-efficient appliances.” Water poverty is expected to be acute in “urban heat islands” – built-up environments that retain heat more than surrounding areas. Failures to anticipate the threat posed by climate change can be fatal. The authors point to the heatwave across Europe in 2003 that led to more than 30,000 premature deaths. “Climate change and how we adapt to it will impact upon disadvantaged groups in different ways,” said Josh Stott, research manager at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. “This report highlights the need for policy-makers and agencies to consider these social justice issues when preparing and building resilience to climate change, to improve the outcomes for vulnerable people.”
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February 20 2011, 3:43am | Comments »
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WikiLeaks cables: Saudi Arabia cannot pump enough oil to keep a lid on prices
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/02/08/wikileaks-peakoil-saudi-arabia-oilprices
Wikileaks cable reveals the US knows that Peak Oil may be sooner than expected because Saudia Arabia has fewer oil reserves than previously disclosed. According to the Guardian report of the Wikileaks cables, reproduced in full below, global oil production may hit the peak as soon as 2012, and the American in Washington would have known about this from 2007. So the temporary hike in oil prices to over one hundred dollars a barrel is very likely to continue and become permanent. The Graph below shows UK domestic heating oil prices over the past 2 years.
This article titled “WikiLeaks cables: Saudi Arabia cannot pump enough oil to keep a lid on prices” was written by John Vidal, environment editor, for The Guardian on Tuesday 8th February 2011 22.00 UTC The US fears that Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, may not have enough reserves to prevent oil prices escalating, confidential cables from its embassy in Riyadh show. The cables, released by WikiLeaks, urge Washington to take seriously a warning from a senior Saudi government oil executive that the kingdom’s crude oil reserves may have been overstated by as much as 300bn barrels – nearly 40%. The revelation comes as the oil price has soared in recent weeks to more than $100 a barrel on global demand and tensions in the Middle East. Many analysts expect that the Saudis and their Opec cartel partners would pump more oil if rising prices threatened to choke off demand. However, Sadad al-Husseini, a geologist and former head of exploration at the Saudi oil monopoly Aramco, met the US consul general in Riyadh in November 2007 and told the US diplomat that Aramco’s 12.5m barrel-a-day capacity needed to keep a lid on prices could not be reached. According to the cables, which date between 2007-09, Husseini said Saudi Arabia might reach an output of 12m barrels a day in 10 years but before then – possibly as early as 2012 – global oil production would have hit its highest point. This crunch point is known as “peak oil”. Husseini said that at that point Aramco would not be able to stop the rise of global oil prices because the Saudi energy industry had overstated its recoverable reserves to spur foreign investment. He argued that Aramco had badly underestimated the time needed to bring new oil on tap. One cable said: “According to al-Husseini, the crux of the issue is twofold. First, it is possible that Saudi reserves are not as bountiful as sometimes described, and the timeline for their production not as unrestrained as Aramco and energy optimists would like to portray.” It went on: “In a presentation, Abdallah al-Saif, current Aramco senior vice-president for exploration, reported that Aramco has 716bn barrels of total reserves, of which 51% are recoverable, and that in 20 years Aramco will have 900bn barrels of reserves. “Al-Husseini disagrees with this analysis, believing Aramco’s reserves are overstated by as much as 300bn barrels. In his view once 50% of original proven reserves has been reached … a steady output in decline will ensue and no amount of effort will be able to stop it. He believes that what will result is a plateau in total output that will last approximately 15 years followed by decreasing output.” The US consul then told Washington: “While al-Husseini fundamentally contradicts the Aramco company line, he is no doomsday theorist. His pedigree, experience and outlook demand that his predictions be thoughtfully considered.” Seven months later, the US embassy in Riyadh went further in two more cables. “Our mission now questions how much the Saudis can now substantively influence the crude markets over the long term. Clearly they can drive prices up, but we question whether they any longer have the power to drive prices down for a prolonged period.” A fourth cable, in October 2009, claimed that escalating electricity demand by Saudi Arabia may further constrain Saudi oil exports. “Demand [for electricity] is expected to grow 10% a year over the next decade as a result of population and economic growth. As a result it will need to double its generation capacity to 68,000MW in 2018,” it said. It also reported major project delays and accidents as “evidence that the Saudi Aramco is having to run harder to stay in place – to replace the decline in existing production.” While fears of premature “peak oil” and Saudi production problems had been expressed before, no US official has come close to saying this in public. In the last two years, other senior energy analysts have backed Husseini. Fatih Birol, chief economist to the International Energy Agency, told the Guardian last year that conventional crude output could plateau in 2020, a development that was “not good news” for a world still heavily dependent on petroleum. Jeremy Leggett, convenor of the UK Industry Taskforce on Peak Oil and Energy Security, said: “We are asleep at the wheel here: choosing to ignore a threat to the global economy that is quite as bad as the credit crunch, quite possibly worse.”
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February 8 2011, 5:17pm | Comments »
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