February 24, 2008 archive

The following comes from Jack Dresser, Ph.D., Behavioral Scientist, Co-founder, Lane County Veterans for Peace: Capt., US Army (psychologist, Vietnam era)

Squadron 13 ; Veterans Against Torture via  G.I. Special-Military Project, Volume: 6B Issue: 16 Ft. Dix, you can read it in Word or in PDF for the rest of the News Letter.

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According to those in the corporate world, the fighting and the lack of security in Iraq is no longer a major obstacle to getting at Iraq’s oil. The real problem now is the lack of a favorable hydrocarbon law.

Meet Michael Wareing. He is Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s business emissary to Iraq. His job is to bring international investors to Iraq to help stimulate economic growth.

Wareing is head of a well-connected auditing firm and was appointed head of a new Basra Development Commission. The Basra region has 70 percent of Iraq’s proven oil reserves and according to The Observer, Oil giants are poised to move into Basra. Wareing thinks security is no longer an issue for investors in Iraq.

‘If you look at many other economies in the world, particularly the oil-rich economies, many of these places are quite challenging countries in which to do business,’ he said. ‘Frankly, if you can successfully operate in the Niger Delta, that is a very different benchmark from imagining that Basra needs to be like London or Paris.’

Iraq’s parliament has yet to pass a hydrocarbon law setting out the terms oil companies will operate on and how profits will be split. ‘My sense is that many of the oil companies are very eager to come in now, and actually what they’re waiting for is the hydrocarbon law to be passed and various projects to be signed off. That is what is causing them to pause, rather than the security position,’ he said.

Calling all Dharmateers!

The Time Has Come Again.

The Call Has Gone Out and Shall Not Go Unanswered!

Welcome to Dharmathon 2, where you are the star.

You! Yes you, you bioquantum computing sentient amalgam of water and carbon and nitrogen and heavy metals spawned in supernovae of eons past…the Universe was designed to bring you to this moment….to this virtual place, where the I meets the Thou in a Raucous Volleyball Mud-slinging and Daquiri Party of Epic Proportions, Now with Extra Karma!

And All We Ask Is This:

See that biggish oval yellowy-orange lozenge on the right? No silly, the one on the screen. The one that says “Donate”.

Click it!

Thank you very much.

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Leave a comment describing the worst thing or the best thing you ever bought for a buck.

Keep it clean, skinflints.

(Iglesia is a serialized novel, published on Tuesdays and Saturdays at midnight ET, you can read all of the episodes by clicking on the tag.)

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If there was one thing Abe was good at, it was following orders. The fact that this was one of those kind of “if you want to live, do this now” orders, just made his reaction that much faster. And it was. It was unmistakable in Rogers’ voice. And he was running as fast as he could through the long prairie grass. He had been trained well and so didn’t look back until he was at full speed. He was expecting choppers. There were no choppers. So, he didn’t bother with trees or cover. Just ran flat out. Reaching out with his senses for any sound behind him and any ambush ahead or being flanked from the sides. As always in these kind of deals….he was waiting for a bullet in the back. But he had learned long ago that you can’t cringe and run fast at the same time.

He missed his suit and helmet, dammit! He would have to do this one…whatever the hell it was, without the crutch of technology. And, apparently without Rogers…who was nowhere to be seen.

This was originally posted here: http://www.dailykos.com/story/… which is why it refers to DKos, but I think it applies everywhere.

This is turning my mind into a shards of pretzel.  So, I thought I would ask you, dear docuDharma community, to play.

My friend posted this on her blog:

This morning, my cyber-friend, Lilli, over at Bookbabie tagged me for a new meme. This time, it’s a six word memoir, inspired Hemingway, who once bet ten dollars that he could sum up his life in six words. He came up with: For Sale: baby shoes, never worn. For more examples, check out Not Quite What I was Expecting: Six Word Memoirs by Famous and Obscure, written by Larry Smith and Rachel Fershleiser. Fascinating!

Here are the meme rules:

1. Write your own six word memoir

2. Post it on your blog and include a visual illustration if you’d like /snip

And she sent this to me asking me to participate.  I took the liberty of omitting the other rules that relate to tagging others and posting the meme on your personal blog and making something that resembles the dreaded chain letters of yore of out this.

So I’ve been thinking about composing my ultimate six word memoir.  Unsuccessfully so far.  I have only these three for starters:

1.  I dream.  I read.  I write.

2.  Breathing: I notice I am thinking.

3.  Talking to myself.  Nothing to report.

I don’t feel this expresses my essence.  Not yet.  But I’m going to continue working on it.

I suspect chardonnay or some other device (your choice) might be helpful in illuminating this process.  I’m not sure about that.

Regardless, I hope that you, my creative and inspired docuDharma community, will play and will astound us in the comments with your very own six word memoirs.  It is, after all, the weekend.

Let the games begin.

Just a note of encouragement for everybody.  Well, I found it encouraging: Finally checked my in-box today and there’s an email from Sen. Bob Casey–apparently a bunch of his constituents contacted him regarding FISA and telecom immunity, and our actions worked:

After careful deliberation, I voted in favor of legislation to revise and update the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance (FISA) Act of 1978 to provide our intelligence community with the tools they need to target terrorists. This bill is not perfect, but it does improve on the legislation hurried into law last summer by the White House when it comes to strengthening civil liberties protections for Americans and enhancing judicial oversight.

In updating the FISA legislation, however, we did not need to extend retroactive immunity for those telecommunications firms that may have cooperated with the administration in warrantless surveillance programs. I proudly voted for the Dodd-Feingold amendment that would strip immunity from the bill, and I am disappointed the Senate did not agree to this important change. I believe that the retroactive immunity provision is inconsistent with the protections afforded every American by our Constitution. It is my hope that, when the House and Senate conference meet to reconcile the two different bills, they will agree to narrow and limit the immunity provisions for telecommunications firms.

I have been gratified to hear from so many of my constituents on this issue. Please be assured that I kept your concerns in mind as I deliberated and casted my vote.

[emphasis added]