April 15-21, 2013, I participated on a trip to Baltic Sea States of the KPV (Komunal Politische Vereignigung) of the Politische Akademie of the Austrian Peoples Party (OEVP). Above took us to Estonia  Saturday April-20 to Sunday April 21-st. This was a weekend and it might have been a too short time for serious learning about matters of Energy Policy. But I was fortunate to come back with enough information because I had the chance to meet very helpful people and I was prepared ahead with my questions.

We drove from St. Petersburg in Russia to Narva in Estonia and then continued to the capital – Tallinn. We had the luck of having a very good Estonian guide and were honored that evening with a reception at the residence of Austrian Ambassador H. E. Ms. Renate Kobler who invited as well local and Austrian resource people and made sure to establish contacts according to our interests.

I had in effect two different set of interests. One was in regard to a transportation policy instituted this year by the city of Tallinn that offers free rides on the electric street-cars to documented residents of the city while having increased charges for the out-of-towners. The idea behind this being that people will be moving back to the city from the suburbs and increase the tax roles thus making up for some of the losses and allow for gains in air quality by getting out of their cars. I learned that though nice in theory, seemingly it did not work in practice because it applied mainly to the poor – so it did not result in enhanced income from taxes leaving just the lower income from the tram-rides. The topic was originally brought to my attention by the Austrian Standard of April 5, 2013.

This was the minor interest of my two suggested topics.

The other topic – and that one of major interest these days – dealt with the use of oil-shales for energy – an issue of global importance  when Shale-Gas has become the energy interests’ battle cry. It was brought out of obscurity in the United States, and Europe is talking as if it was going to follow suit. Austria has also shales and at present media battles rage between business interests and the environmentalists – with the Eurosolar monthly table all convinced that Austria can become energy self-sufficient without touching the shales.

Estonia, as well as Spain, are countries with experience in what can happen when energy is obtained from these shales.

Under the Soviets, the shales were mined and used like a lower grade coal in thermal power plants. What was left are mountains of ash from the combustion process and mountains of  spent shales from the retorting process in which the product was a synthetic crude oil. These mountains of by-product contain heavy metals and when washed by rains these heavy metals poisoned the underground water, thus making it unusable for drinking and agriculture. Everybody I talked to told me the same thing – the losses around Narva are immense.

Wikipedia tells us: “Oil shale in Estonia is an important resource for the national economy. Estonia‘s oil shale deposits account for just 17% of total deposits in the European Union but the country generates 90% of its power from this source. The oil shale industry in Estonia employs 7,500 people—about one percent of the national work force—and accounts for four percent of its gross domestic product.^[1]

There are two kinds of oil shale in Estonia – Dictyonema argillite (claystone) and kukersite.^[2] The first attempt to establish an open-cast oil shale pit and to start oil production was undertaken in 1838.^[3] Modern utilization of oil shale commenced in 1916. Production began in 1921 and the generation of power from oil shale in 1924.^[4]

In 2005 Estonia was the leading producer of shale oil in the world. Of all the power plants fired by oil shale, the largest was in this country.^[1][5] As of 2007, six mines (open cast or underground) were extracting oil shale in Estonia.^[2]“

Kukersite, named after the Kukruse settlement in Estonia, is the better quality shale. Estonian kukersite deposits are one of the world’s highest-grade shale deposits with more than 40% organic content and 66% conversion ratio into shale oil and oil shale gas. They have relatively a lower content of heavy metals.

in the 1830s, although the attempt of shale oil distillation failed, oil shale was used as a low-grade fuel. Then studies of Estonian oil shale resources and mining possibilities intensified in the beginning of 20th century because of industrial development of Saint Petersburg and a shortage of fuel resources in the region. Finally – the world’s two largest oil shale-fired power stations – Balti Power Plant and Eesti Power Plant (known as the Narva Power Plants) – were opened in 1965 and in 1973. Because of the success of oil shale-based power generation, Estonian oil shale production peaked in 1980 at 31.35 million tonnes.^[3] In 2004, two power units with circulating fluidized bed combustion (CFBC) boilers were put into operation at Narva Power Plant.^[4] In 1984, the scientific-technical journal Oil Shale was founded in Estonia.^[15]

Some of the spent shale is used in cement manufacturing and Uranium is a by-product.

Kerogen (from Greek for wax + -gen, that which produces)^[1]  is a mixture of organic chemical compounds that make up a portion of the organic matter in sedimentary rocks.^[2] It is insoluble in normal organic solvents because of a huge molecular weight. The soluble portion is known as bitumen. When heated to the right temperatures in the Earth’s crust, (oil window ca. 60–160 °C, gas window ca. 150–200 °C, both depending on how quickly the source rock is heated) some types of kerogen release crude oil or natural gas, collectively known as hydrocarbons (fossil fuels). When such kerogens are present in high concentration in rocks such as shale they form possible source rocks. Shales rich in kerogens that have not been heated to a warmer temperature to release their hydrocarbons will eventually  form oil shale deposits. (The name “kerogen” was introduced by the Scottish organic chemist Alexander Crum Brown in 1906.)

What above tells us is that the organic matter in shales is in the form of very large molecular weight polymers. These can be deconstructed at high temperature in retorts, and then the quality of the remaining ash (or spent shale) can be investigated and the potential damage to the environment assessed. An alternative could be to create a fire underground and collect above ground the released oil or gas created by breaking up the kerogen polymer. In such case the damage from the ash cannot be assessed without knowing the underground conditions and where the underground waters will take the released heavy metals. The Shale Gas operations now in the United States are underground production sites explained as examples of Hydro-Fracking which sounds incoherent when we do not know the operating temperatures which are needed to break chemical bonds of that polymer. Neither the new American production companies nor the EU Shale Gas production interests give us such technology details as they did not even obtain patents that would have required transparency.

This present posting has an added purpose.

I learned that  June 10-13, 2013, the Estonian users of shale-for-energy intend a Shales Symposium in Tallinn as a follow up to the 2006 Symposium that was held in Ammann, Jordan.

The Symposium in Tallinn will be followed by a Field Trip to Estonian oil shale processing industry – an extraordinary opportunity to visit the most important sites of Estonian oil shale industry, including the new, recently completed Enefit280 Oil Plant.

I would like to hope that the European Commission send some inquisitive people to that symposium in order to learn about the side-effects or the environmentally harming “externalities” that could cause harm to the underground aquifers.

Further, as mentioned at the beginning, another European location were there was experience with Oil Shale Retorting is Puertollano, in the Ciudad Real region of Spain. With information from these  sites the EU could be in a better position to judge the issues involved.

I was personally involved with the Purtollano plant of the Empressa Nacional de Pisara Bituminosa Calvo Sotelo in 1959. That plant was producing lubricants or viscous petroleum product alternatives in huge retorts and leaving behind mountains of spent shale as well. Looking at the remains of those mountains – in Puertollano and in Narva, could help the decision making process at the EU.

We realize the importance of the energy independence goal – but as it can be reached in various ways, it is important to start out with open eyes.

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Estonia and Sweden Oil Shale

I will not repeat what was said in previous postings as per the following link but rather start from those notes and see if I still find them correct:

What If: Imagining the Habsburg Monarchy as Today’s Center of the World – An Alliance of Civilizations. IN VIENNA – the Novel “DER KOMET” will be presented at HAMAKOM on March 17, 2013 at 7 PM.

The Internet says about Russ and Daughters:

 www.russanddaughters.com/our_hist…

Mark Russ Federman is third generation – counting from grandfather Joel who located in the Lower East Side, Manhattan Island in 1907.

On March 5, 2013, the Publishers Schocken Books, a Division of Random House, Inc. will release the volume by Mark titled: “Russ & Daughters – Reflections and Recipes From The House That Herring Built.” We wonder if the cover page will carry the picture of the front of the store at 179 East Houston Street, New York, NY 10002, or the picture of a Bagel with Salmon-Lux and Cream Cheese with onion. The latter is depicted on the publication-date advertisement, and it would be a pity to have there the Royal Lux rather then the more plebeian Herring.

Then – please remember – 2014 will be the centennial year to the fabled Herring store.

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These last few weeks, many things sort off created a nostalgic atmosphere that came together in the Yiddish term – A GOLDENE MEDINE or the GOLDEN LAND and I was left wondering which land was this indeed? And here came to my attention that THE NATIONAL YIDDISH THEATER – the New York Folksbiene – will present the end of the run of THE GOLDEN LAND – A musical in English and Yiddish – Created by Zalmen Mlotek & Moishe Rosenfeld – Directed by the famed Bryna Wasserman of the Montreal Theater family.

The added attraction for the 2 PM show on Sunday December 2nd, 2012, was a COFFEE & CONVERSATION with Mark Russ Federman of the famed – nearly one hundred years old – Russ & Daughters Herring Mecca in the heart of the Manhattan Lower East Side – a store that has survived the changes in its neighborhood like the anchor of the ship that transported close to two million European Jews to their first Golden shores.

Talking about Russ & Daughters will embrace 100 years of development of the Jewish Community in America, and as the geopolitics have proven lately as well – steps that led to the other ongoing Golden Land of the 19th to 21st centuries in Jewish history – the strengthening of the Community in Israel.

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A Concise Russ Family History:

1985 – Joel Russ is born in Strzyzow (Strizev in Yiddish) – a rural town (Stetl) in Austro-Hungary’s Galizia. After WWI the place became part of Southern Poland.

1907 – Joe, at twelve, gets to America following an older sister – the usual story – first Ellis Island then Lower East Side (LES). He starts out by selling strings of polish mushrooms that he carries on his shoulders. He saves money to purchase a push cart and then a horse and wagon. He marries another immigrant from Galizia in 1908 at 13. They have three daughters – Hattie, Anne, and Ida. Hattie, the oldest, is born in 1913.

1914 Joel Ross opens up his first store on Orchard Street, just bellow East Huston and includes in his wares salt cured Herring and Salmon. The daughters start working in the store when they reach 11 years of age.

1920 – Joel Russ moves his store around the corner to 179 East Houston Street and renames it – perhaps with some Chutzpah – “J. Russ National Appetizing Store.”

1932 – the start of the Depression and Joel Russ sells the home they bought in Brooklyn and they return to live in cramped quarters on East 4th Street in Manhattan – but hangs on to the store.

1933 – He renames the company to Russ and Daughters, and it is believed to be the first American business to have the word DAUGHTERS in its name.

The sons-in-law work in the family business, and Mark Russ Federman (a third generation Russ) returns to the business with his wife, after 9 years of practicing law.

In 1976 and 1980, two recent young immigrants from the Dominican republic – Jose Reyes and Herman Vargas, join as employees. They learn Yiddish from the clients  and eventually Herman ends up managing the store. Mark does not speak Yiddish, though in grandfather Joel’s home only Yiddish was spoken.

2000 – The Smithsonian Institute designates Russ & Daughters “a part of New York’s Cultural Heritage.” The former tenement building where it’s housed, which in the meantime was bought by the Russ family from Mrs. Franks, the original German lady that owned it, is placed onto the National Register for Historic Places.

2002 – Fourth generation Russ, Joshua Russ Tupper, leaves his career as a chemical engineer and enters the family business, joined in 2006 by Mark’s daughter – Niki Russ Federman.

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The National Yiddish Theater is located in the building of the William and Anita Newman Vertical Campus at the Baruch College (that is the City University College located on Bernard Baruch Way on East 25th Street in Manhattan between Lexington and Park Avenues). Mr. Newman, his brother, both his parents, and many of his eventual partners graduated from this college that allowed them to develop great careers having immigrated to America from East Europe and landed in the Lower East Side (LES) with nothing else then the will to succeed.The Newmans back New York City University so next waves of immigrants can progress as well.

THE SHOW:

The ship arrives – the passengers are enchanted – “Here she is – how beautiful! a Golden Home!”

Oh Ellis Island! The interrogations and a new name some pick for themselves. The old joke – the newcomer trains himself to say Izzie Jacobs0n but mumbles “Shoin Vergesen” and ends up getting registered as Sean Ferguson.

Life’s a Pretzel – Gold is in the Street – it’s fool’s gold.

“A Brievele der Mamen” – a letter to mother – but what should I write?

March 25, 1911 – a day of horror in Washington Square – a fire in a sweatshop – so many innocent working girls burned – trapped to die in the Triangle Company fire. In the follow up the red flag is unfurled with a cry for justice. The trumpets and saxophones from the orchestra march on stage – the conscience of the new America is awakened. The Jewish immigrants fight for the better America.

Intermission.

Surkie becomes Sadie – a regular Yankie – American citizen. {will something like this happen to the Hispanic immigrants of today?} The former Izzie Jacobson becomes now – “they call me C.D. Allen” – that is he lived on Allen Street corner of Delancey and he remembers this for its positives.

The social element sings – Fifty-Fifty as the Astors will have to learn to share their wealth. New wealth appears – Louis B. Mayer in Holywood and radio WEVD provides lessons on the air.

The Depression – President Hoover says don’t panic – they tell us it will be well but do not say when. Not just we – it is half the Nation that is asking for an explanation. Brother can you spare a dime? We lost our store but the faith in God we have not lost. We will survive.

Yesterday I had a dream for you and me. I dreamed about life for you and me and children – yes – children! A beautiful dream, and education, as we did not have. As long as you have me and I have you.

Clouds appear in Europe – My Little Town Belz, and the Germans crossed the Polish border. It should not happen to our dogs what happened to me.

The Bnei Brith ask for 20,000 visas for the US and are told that it will be taken into consideration.

Dozens of Jews have disappeared in Bucarest – Rumania, Rumania – a Pastramale, a Carnatzale ….

We have no contact with our families – Save European Jews! Please Help! Warshaw – Kiew – Kishinew …

We liberated Camp Dachau – it is hard to put this in words.

1947 at the UN – THE SUN IS SHINING – THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAVE ONCE AGAIN A FUTURE IN A GOLDEN LAND.

America Hurra!

Due to demand – the show will continue for another two more weeks.

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Above is in narrative the sequence of well known songs strung out so they tell a complete story.

Did it mean that we moved from one Golden Land to see the creation of an additional one?

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Back to Mr. Mark Russ Federman son of Ida Russ and third generation of American Russ proprietors of the American Herring National treasure.

In his presentation before The Golden Land performance:

Jews love their food – that he learned in his interaction with the clients – Mazaleh, Pastramaleh, Mamaliga – it is all in the songs. The monuments still left in the LES area – the Schimmel Knishery, Katz Delicatessen, and Russ & Daughters – all on East Houston Street.

Joel Russ worked in his store seven days a week – no closed Saturdays or Holidays. They spoke only Yiddish at home but kept no religious laws – it was not a Kosher-abiding place and the sturgeon is not a Kosher fish. Joel Russ left the religion on Ellis Island. By 1940 their business was known as the best place for fish in New York. Mark said about himself that he feels best with a knife in his hand behind the counter. He put on a white gown he used in the store.

He regards his heritage as high pedigree – “Jiches” of his business of fish – Smoked, Pickled or Cured. The customers those days knew to shop and demanded quality. On his part – he learned to sell. He instituted numbers on index cards in order to know whom to serve and found it hard to give a number to an old customer. He described the shopping experience as something between making love and war. He had a story about a Mrs. Manny that had to pick her herrings directly from the barrels in the back-room. Zero – that is the actor Zero Mostel used to come to the store. Once Ronald Lauder came with the chauffeured limousine to get the treats. Now the customers are international – even Chinese and Japanese. The Jiches of Russ is like that of Top Rabbis or Doctors.

Some of the fish are different. The butter-fish is no more – it became too high priced because of the Chinese and Japanese buying it up. The sable fish is also not sold by their store anymore – it belongs to the Japanese. At one time or another 1.5 million Jewish immigrants passed through LES. Now sometimes young descendants make a point of moving into 5-6 floor walk-up apartments there. Many new and expensive buildings with concierge have popped up – clubs and hotels. The linen shops of Grant Street are replaced by Chinese shops and fish shops.

The parents always worked hard and wanted their children to work less hard – that is how Mark studied law and Joshua chemical engineering – but low and behold – they ended up coming back to the fish store. The book will be a story about “Parnusa” – that is about making a living in the Golden Land.

After the show I walked up a couple of blocs on Lexington Avenue to the row of South-Indian Kosher vegetarian restaurants, and ate at Madras Mahal.

Yesterday I saw on TV a series of interviews in a hamlet in Texas where President Obama got only 5 votes while his opponent got 239 votes. It was said that this was the most one-sided voting-booth in the recent elections.The only person the journalist found who voted for Obama was afraid to give his name. Those that proudly acknowledged voting for Mr. Romney – simple people and not of high income – contended that the President was dictatorial, not a true American, not a Christian believer, he allows immigration that dilutes the values of the country … etc. This reminded me about The New York Times article that looked at the voting in the Ukraine. Antisemitism, not a factor yet in the US – but it can be banked upon that this sort of evolution will make it a factor as well. The attack on US military leadership and on the performance of the US government after the very serious mishap in Benghazi may be further proof that ultra-Nationalist elements in the US are on a roll again. The foot soldiers in such movements obviously do not come from the 1% of the extreme rich that help finance this.

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Ukraine’s Ultranationalists Show Surprising Strength at Polls.

By DAVID M. HERSZENHORN

Published: November 8, 2012

Eight years later, Mr. Tyagnibok is preparing to return to Parliament, not as a lone member of a broader coalition, as he was when he was ejected, but as the leader of Svoboda, the ultranationalist, right-wing party that will control 38 of 450 seats, or about 8.5 percent of the national legislature.

Svoboda’s surprising show of strength in the Oct. 29 election — polls had predicted that the party would fail to meet the 5 percent threshold to enter Parliament — has stirred alarm, including warnings from Israel about the rise of anti-Semitism and xenophobia in Ukraine, a former Soviet republic and a place with a firsthand knowledge of ethnic violence and genocide.

But in an interview in the downtown office building that Svoboda shares with an insurance company and a dental clinic named Smile, Mr. Tyagnibok said that fear of his party was misplaced and the accusations of racism and extremism unfounded.

“Svoboda is not an anti-Semitic party,” he said, seated behind a desk, a sport jacket stretched by his barrel-sized chest, his huge hands folded in front of him, speaking slowly and firmly in Ukrainian. “Svoboda is not a xenophobic party. Svoboda is not an anti-Russian party. Svoboda is not an anti-European party. Svoboda is simply and only a pro-Ukrainian party. And that’s it.”

Of course, that was not it.

Mr. Tyagnibok was just beginning to demonstrate the smooth charm that has helped Svoboda, which means “Freedom,” build support beyond its traditional stronghold in the Ukrainian-speaking west.

Tall, with beefy good looks, Mr. Tyagnibok, 44, who is a urological surgeon by training, has used his party’s pro-Ukrainian message to tap into frustration over the country’s stalled economy and growing disillusionment with the government of President Viktor F. Yanukovich.

From Mr. Tyagnibok’s frequent appearances on television talk shows, emphasizing national sovereignty and warning of encroachment by neighboring Russia, most viewers might never discern that some of his party’s members are unabashed neo-Nazis, while others shun the label but nonetheless espouse virulent hatred of Jews, gays and especially Russians.

Researchers who specialize in extremism say it is a talent shared by other leaders of far-right parties and has helped bring them into the mainstream in many European countries, including Hungary, Poland and Romania.

“This is a common phenomenon within these parties, that they have a front-stage image and a backstage agenda,” said Andreas Umland, an expert at the National University in Kiev. “The internal discourse, from what we can only suspect, is much more radical and xenophobic than what we see.” He added, “This is all much more radical.”

In the interview at his office, Mr. Tyagnibok said Svoboda’s message was only positive. “We do call ourselves nationalists,” he said. “Our view is love. Love of our land. Love of the people who live on this land. This is love to your wife and your home and your family. So, it’s love to your mother. Can this feeling be bad?”

“Our nationalism does not imply hatred to anybody,” he continued. “We formed a political party to protect the rights of Ukrainians, but not to the detriment of representatives of other nation.” He added, “So, if you ask about philosophy to be explained in two words: We are not against anyone. We are for ourselves.”

For a long time, they were for themselves and mostly by themselves. In the previous parliamentary election, in 2007, Svoboda received less than three-quarters of 1 percent of the vote, and that was an improvement. Until 2004, Svoboda was called the Social-Nationalist Party, which critics said was just a word flip of its true ambitions.

Born in Lviv, sometimes called the capital of the western, Europe-oriented Ukraine, Mr. Tyagnibok said he was raised to hate Communists, in part because his paternal grandfather was a victim of oppression under Stalin. He got his start in politics as a student organizer in the late 1980s, attended medical school and has been a member of the nationalist party from its inception in the early 1990s.

He served six years in Parliament, from 1998 until he was ejected in 2004. In 2001, with Ukrainian voters growing increasingly frustrated with the status quo, Svoboda made major gains in local and regional elections. Some voters who supported Svodboda said they believed that the party could present the strongest challenge to President Yanukovich. Many said they did not view the party as extreme.

“Those people who supported Svoboda in these elections, they don’t support racism, anti-Semitism, neo-Nazism,” said Vyacheslav Likhachev, who monitors extremism for the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress. “They support Svoboda because every vote for Svoboda was a vote against the ruling government.”

Still, Mr. Likhachev said, Svoboda’s rise was not a positive development for Ukraine. “It is bad for society,” he said.

In the days before the vote, Mr. Tyagnibok signed an agreement to work with other opposition parties, including the Fatherland party of the jailed former prime minister, Yulia V. Tymoshenko. Ms. Tymoshenko, who was barred from the ballot this year, recently began a hunger strike to protest what she said was fraud in the elections.

Mr. Tyagnibok’s ties to Ms. Tymoshenko and former President Viktor Yushchenko date to before Ukraine’s Orange Revolution in 2004, which Mr. Tyagnibok and other nationalists supported. Critics of the alliance say that it will give Svoboda more power than it would have on its own, and grant it further legitimacy as a mainstream faction.

Although his occasional use of ethnic and religious epithets is well documented — there was the 2004 speech to supporters, and in 2005, his public signing of an open letter to President Yushchenko and others demanding an end to “criminal activities of organized Jewry in Ukraine” — Mr. Tyagnibok called the allegations of hate speech “a fantasy and a serious exaggeration.”

The general prosecutor charged him with inciting ethnic hatred, but the case was dropped after the Orange Revolution. “In 2004, I was accused of anti-Semitism, but I won in all the court cases,” Mr. Tyagnibok said.

Mr. Tyagnibok said nationalist parties were enjoying a renaissance in Europe because of the Continent’s financial problems, as well as conflicts with Muslim immigrants in countries like Italy, France and Spain. “Europe is change,” he said. “Economic failures make people look for reasons.”

But he said it was all for the best. “In our view the ideal is to see Europe as one big flower bed full of different flowers, with Ukraine as one of the most beautiful flowers in it,” Mr. Tyagnibok said. “It has its own scent, its own beauty. It is different from other flowers, but it is in the same flower bed.”

He waved away any thought of nationalist strife. “Just imagine one nationalist talking to another nationalist,” he said. “There should be no problems between them. Everybody respects their interests, and everybody understands we live in one big world.”

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Also today’s:

Veteran F.B.I. Agent Helped Start Petraeus E-Mail Inquiry.

By MICHAEL S. SCHMIDT, SCOTT SHANE and ALAIN DELAQUÉRIÈRE

Published: November 14, 2012

The agent, Frederick W. Humphries II, 47, is also described by former colleagues as relentless in his pursuit of what he sees as wrongdoing, which appears to describe his role in the F.B.I. investigation involving Mr. Petraeus. Suspecting that the case involved serious security issues and was being stalled, possibly for political reasons — a suspicion his superiors say was unjustified — he took his concerns to Congressional Republicans.

“Fred is a passionate kind of guy,” one former colleague said. “He’s kind of an obsessive type. If he locked his teeth onto something, he’d be a bulldog.”

The question of how and why the F.B.I. opened the investigation that has had such momentous consequences has been central from the moment Mr. Petraeus stepped down Friday. The emerging portrait of the agent who initiated the inquiry is another step toward an answer.

Mr. Humphries, who was identified on Wednesday by law enforcement colleagues, took the initial complaint from Jill Kelley, a Tampa woman active in local military circles and a personal friend, about anonymous e-mails that accused her of inappropriately flirtatious behavior toward Mr. Petraeus.

The subsequent cyberstalking investigation uncovered an extramarital affair between Mr. Petraeus and Paula Broadwell, his biographer, who agents determined had sent the anonymous e-mails. It also ensnared Gen. John R. Allen, the commander of NATO forces in Afghanistan, after F.B.I. agents discovered what a law enforcement official said on Wednesday were sexually explicit e-mail exchanges between him and Ms. Kelley.

A spokesman for Ms. Kelley provided her version of events in two conference calls with reporters on Wednesday. Ms. Kelley’s concern when she took the e-mails to Mr. Humphries was that she feared the sender was “stalking” Mr. Petraeus and General Allen, said the spokesman, who asked not to be identified.

“She asks the agent, ‘What do you make of this?’ ” the spokesman said. “The agent said: ‘This is serious. They seem to know the comings and goings of a couple of generals.’ ”

General Allen himself had received a similar anonymous e-mail message, sent by someone identified as “kelleypatrol,” advising him to stay away from Ms. Kelley. The general forwarded it to Ms. Kelley, and they discussed a concern that someone was cyberstalking them.

On Tuesday, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said he had asked the Senate to postpone a confirmation hearing for General Allen’s next assignment while the department’s inspector general reviewed his e-mail correspondence with Ms. Kelley, which was discovered by F.B.I. agents investigating her initial complaint.

Pentagon officials said the review covered more than 10,000 pages of documents that included “inappropriate” messages. But associates of General Allen have said that the two exchanged about a dozen e-mails a week since meeting two years ago and that his messages were affectionate but platonic.

A law enforcement official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, disputed that assertion on Wednesday, saying some messages were clearly sexual. Investigators were confident “the nature of the content warranted passing them on” to the inspector general, the official said.

In a statement on Wednesday, General Allen’s military counsel said he intended to cooperate fully with the inspector general’s investigation. “To the extent there are questions about certain communications by General Allen, he shares in the desire to resolve those questions as completely and quickly as possible,” said the statement from Col. John G. Baker, the chief defense counsel of the Marine Corps.

The F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III, and the deputy director, Sean Joyce, briefed leaders of the Senate and House intelligence committees about the investigation. Mr. Petraeus is expected to speak to the panel behind closed doors on Friday about the attack on the American Mission in Benghazi, Libya. The events leading to his resignation are certain to come up.

A Pentagon official said the security clearance of Ms. Broadwell, a West Point graduate and officer in the Army Reserve, had been suspended pending the outcome of the F.B.I. investigation. F.B.I. agents on Monday night carried boxes of documents and a computer out of the house she shares with her husband and two sons. The law enforcement official said that Ms. Broadwell had cooperated with investigators in their effort to remove all classified material, which by law cannot be kept in an insecure facility.

The officials said Ms. Kelley was no longer permitted to enter MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa “with a wave,” as she has for years as a regular volunteer and visitor to ranking officers there. Now she has to get approval and sign in at the visitor’s gate, the official said.

Ms. Kelley, whose house has been besieged by reporters and television crews, has called 911 several times to complain about snooping reporters, according to tapes and transcripts of the calls posted on the Web. In at least one call, she asked for “diplomatic protection,” saying she is an “honorary consul general,” a designation she reportedly received from South Korean diplomats.

By all accounts, Mr. Humphries doggedly pursued Ms. Kelley’s cyberstalking complaint. Though he was not assigned to the case, he was admonished by supervisors who thought he was trying to improperly insert himself into the investigation.

In late October, fearing that the case was being stalled for political reasons, Mr. Humphries contacted Representative Dave Reichert, a Republican from Washington State, where the F.B.I. agent had worked previously, to inform him of the case. Mr. Reichert put him in touch with the House majority leader, Eric Cantor, who passed the message to Mr. Mueller.

Lawrence Berger, the general counsel for the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, who spoke with Mr. Humphries, said Mr. Humphries only received the information from Ms. Kelley and never played a role in the investigation.

Mr. Berger said Mr. Humphries and his wife had been “social friends with Ms. Kelley and her husband prior to the day she referred the matter to him.”

“They always socialized and corresponded,” he said.

Mr. Berger took issue with news media reports that said his client had sent shirtless pictures of himself to Ms. Kelley.

“That picture was sent years before Ms. Kelley contacted him about this, and it was sent as part of a larger context of what I would call social relations in which the families would exchange numerous photos of each other,” Mr. Berger said.

The photo was sent as a joke, he said, and was of Mr. Humphries “posing with a couple of dummies.” Mr. Berger added that it was not sexual in nature.

Two former law enforcement colleagues said Mr. Humphries was a solid agent with experience in counterterrorism. He has conservative political views and a reputation for being aggressive, they said.

Colleagues and news reports described the role of Mr. Humphries, who in 1999 was in his third year at the F.B.I., in building the case against Ahmed Ressam, who was detained as he tried to enter the United States from Canada with a plan to set off a bomb at Los Angeles International Airport.

In May 2010, after he had moved to the Tampa field office, Mr. Humphries fatally shot a knife-wielding man near a gate of MacDill Air Force base. A state prosecutor declined to prosecute the case, and the Justice Department’s civil rights division and an internal F.B.I. review board each also found that the use of force had been justified, according to bureau records.

A large American flag was flying on Wednesday in front of Mr. Humphries’s house in Dover, a half-hour drive from Tampa. A man standing in the driveway who appeared to be Mr. Humphries, approached by a reporter seeking comment, said his first name was not Fred. The man then walked into the house, closed the front door and did not respond to the doorbell.

In regard to his client’s speaking with Mr. Cantor, Mr. Berger declined to address the issue, saying only that his client “had followed F.B.I. protocols.”

“No one tries to become a whistle-blower,” he said. “Consistent with F.B.I. policy, he referred it to the proper component.”

A law enforcement official said disclosing a confidential investigation even to Congress members could sometimes violate F.B.I. rules. The official said that Mr. Humphries’s conduct was under review and that he had not been punished in any way.

On Wednesday, Mr. Cantor said he had no intention of “politicizing” the tip from Mr. Humphries, whom he did not name. “The information that was sent to me sounded as if there was a potential for a national security vulnerability,” Mr. Cantor said.

MEPs 9the Members of the European Parliament) elected Martin Schulz to be the new European Parliament president with 387 votes in favour out of 670 cast. The 56-year old German MEP will lead the European parliament for two and half years, until the beginning of the next legislature in July 2014. This happened January 17, 2012 and his time in office ends July 2014.

—————————————-

————————————-

Martin Schulz (S&D, Germany) replaces the outgoing President Jerzy Buzek (EPP, Poland).

In a brief address to the European Parliament in Strasbourg immediately after the vote, Mr Schulz said: “We must grasp the fact that people in Europe have little time for institutional debates because they are too busy worrying about their future, their jobs, their pensions (…). This Chamber is the place where the interests of the people are defended”.

President Schulz warned that “for the first time since it was founded, the failure of the European Union is a realistic possibility” adding that, our interests can no longer be separated from those of our neighbours; on a shared understanding that the EU is not a zero-sum game, in which one person must lose so that another can win. The reverse is true: either we all lose – or we all win. The fundamental basis for this is the Community method. It is not a technocratic concept, but the principle at the heart of everything the European Union stands for!”.

Over the past two years, summits of the Heads of State and Government meant “the representatives of the peoples of Europe have essentially been reduced to the role of rubberstamping agreements reached between governments in backrooms in Brussels: the European Parliament will not stand idly by and watch this process continue”, Mr Schulz said, adding that “the intergovernmental agreement on a new fiscal union will be the first test”.

“Whoever breaches the values enshrined in our Charter of Fundamental Rights must reckon with us as adversaries. That is our duty as Members of the European Parliament”. He also announced the presence of Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban tomorrow in plenary to discuss his country’s controversial constitutional provisions.

A full version of the President’s address will be available via the link next to this article.

Full result of the vote for the President of the European Parliament

Under Parliament’s Rules of Procedure, to be elected President, a candidate must win an absolute majority of the valid votes cast, i.e. 50 per cent plus one.
Blank or spoiled ballots do not count in calculating the majority required.

The result of the first ballot was as follows:

Votes cast: 699

Blank or invalid votes: 29

Valid votes cast: 670

Absolute majority of votes cast required to be elected: 336

Votes for the candidates:

Martin Schulz (S&D, DE) 387: Mr Schulz duly elected President of the European Parliament

Nirj Deva (ECR, UK): 142

Diana Wallis (ALDE, UK): 141

Right after the speech by the newly-elected President Schulz, political groups’ leaders took the floor to comment on the outcome. Most groups expressed the hope that his presidency would reinforce the Union and Parliament’s role, while a few others stressed disagreements with his first speech as President.

On Behalf of EPP, chair Joseph Daul (FR), after congratulating Mr Schulz on his election said “You must, in our view, have three priorities: defending the Community method, advocating the Community method and safeguarding the Community method”, stressing that “nothing is more important than showing our citizens that the Euro is a strong and sustainable currency, as long as we do what we should have done at its creation, i.e. provide political and economic governance”.

S&D Vice-President Maria Badia i Cutchet (ES), said “There is a great need for the new President to strengthen the role of the Parliament.  In the light of the latest discussions around a new inter-governmental treaty, this is of ever greater importance.  We need to ensure that any future action is based on the principle of democratic participation and thus the Community method “.

Guy Verhofstadt (BE), leader of the ALDE group, said “I want a President who fights in favour of the EU, (…) who explains to Member States the truth, that only through a political economic and fiscal union we can save the Union” with a Parliament able “to show the way out of the crisis and that Europe is the solution”.

Rebecca Harms (Greens/EFA, DE), said with regard to the next challenges facing Parliament that “A new approach is needed to press on to the goals set”. She suggested that Mr Schulz should “not give in to diplomacy but take that rough along with you when discussing with Barroso, Van Rompuy, Merkel and Sarkozy”.

Martin Callanan (UK), on behalf of the ECR group, told Mr Schulz that although “We did not agree with many things you said this morning (…), we will ensure fair cooperation with you”, stressing that his first duty will be to represent the Parliament at the next European Summit.

Kartika Tamara Liotard (NL), Vice-Chair of the GUE/NGL group, told Mr Schulz “It is a shame you’re not a woman”. She added that “Some people elected you because they know you are a tough fighter and I believe Parliament has a big role to play in crisis”, urging him to “make sure there is more transparency in these negotiations” on the fiscal compact.

Nigel Farage (UK, EFD), wondered “What kind of President Schulz are we going to get? A calm speaker (…) or the Schulz we got to know: angry, intolerant of everybody with a different point of view, anti-British and who does not like the free market?” He concluded “We want a Europe of trade (…), not a superpower”.

The votes to choose Vice-Presidents and Quaestors will take place on Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning.

EU-Ukraine: The next chapter

blogs.euobserver.com/paul/2012/08/07/eu-ukraine-the-next-chapter/

from EUobserver of August 21, 2012

WASHINGTON – Mitt Romney, looking for a boost after being battered recently by President Obama, heads abroad this week in a bid to portray himself as a wise statesman.

The Republican presidential candidate leaves Tuesday on a six-day swing to the United Kingdom, Israel, and Poland.

Each stop is carefully choreographed to help him gain stature in the eyes of the American public, not to mention the world. He hopes to create momentum that will continue through August, when he is expected to announce his vice presidential choice and reintroduce himself to America at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla.

=======

Romney’s advisers were divided on whether the candidate should accept the International Olympic Committee’s invitation to attend the opening of the London Games, according to reports from Bloomberg’s Lisa Lerer. Some aides argued that a visit to the Olympics, where his wife’s horse is representing the United States in the dressage competition, could draw more attention to his personal wealth, while others saw a trip abroad as the perfect opportunity to show voters “he could be an effective global player,” she writes.

Politico’s Jonathan Martin writes that expanding the trip beyond Europe to include Israel offers Romney a chance to shift attention from his time at Bain Capital to his successful rescue of the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympic Games as well as focus on foreign policy, which he has so far not done much of this campaign season.

At The Hill, Juan Williams says Romney’s trip will bring foreign policy into the campaign spotlight, which he says is a bold and potentially risky move for Romney since polls show voters consider President Barack Obama to be holding a foreign policy advantage in the race.

“As a governor and a businessman, Romney has dealt almost exclusively with domestic policy. He arguably has the least international experience of any GOP presidential candidate of the last twenty-five years,” Williams writes. “The 2012 election appears to be unique in that foreign policy looks to be an advantage for Democrats — with Republicans seeking ways to reclaim a past strong point.”

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ROMNEY’S COMMENTS ON OLYMPICS RALLY PROUD BRITS.

By PAUL HAVEN,

Updated July 27, 2012

LONDON (AP) Mitt Romney may be just what the London Olympics needed.

In little more than 24 hours in London, the U.S. presidential candidate has gotten Britons to stop complaining about bumper-to-bumper traffic, cringing about cost overruns and fretting about shoddy security – and instead start taking pride in their country’s long-awaited day in the sun.

From Prime Minister David Cameron to ordinary Londoners rushing to work, Britons recoiled at the visiting American’s suggestion that the logistical problems encountered so far were “disconcerting.” Many who have themselves been slamming organizers as incompetent, and the massive competition as an expensive fiasco, are suddenly rallying around the flag.

“Mitt the Twit” screamed Friday’s headline in The Sun, which just days ago was trumpeting an embarrassing incident in which an official bus carrying the U.S. team from Heathrow airport got lost and spent hours in traffic.

“Who invited party-pooper Romney?” asked the Daily Mail.

“Nowhere Man” declared the more reserved Times of London, a reference to a biting comment by the famously diplomatic Cameron, who implied that Romney lacked the experience to offer advice to one of the world’s great capitals since the Olympics he helped organize in Salt Lake City, Utah, took place “in the middle of nowhere.”

“We are holding an Olympic Games in one of the busiest, most active, bustling cities anywhere in the world. Of course, it’s easier if you hold an Olympic Games in the middle of nowhere,” Cameron said.

Colorful London Mayor Boris Johnson also got in on the act, using Romney’s criticism as a rallying cry to stoke up a crowd of tens of thousands gathered at Hyde Park on Thursday night: “There’s a guy called Mitt Romney who wants to know if we are ready. Are we ready? Yes, we are!”

Romney spent much of Friday trying to dial back his dig, but ended up raising more eyebrows when he referred to looking out of the “back side” of 10 Downing Street to see the beach volleyball stadium and after he let slip that he had met with the head of MI6, Britain’s overseas intelligence agency. Briefings with British spy chiefs are usually kept secret.

To the British, “back side” usually refers to the derriere.

Residents learned of Romney’s Olympic readiness comments from friends, television and social media. And the fact the Republican presidential candidate tried to make amends seemed to win him little favor.

“What would he know?” asked Londoner Liudmila Troshina, wearing a Team Great Britain jersey and posing for pictures along with her husband in Piccadilly Circus. “I don’t really care what people from other countries think about us because I take my information firsthand – from people who live here.”

“No matter what some man said, we are prepared … to support our country, our city and our sportsmen with everything we have,” she added.

Those sentiments are a quick about-face from the weeks of moaning many Britons have engaged in prior to the games, which begin with the opening ceremony Friday night.

For months, the nation has been awash in complaints – from taxi drivers angry over special traffic lanes for Olympics VIPS, to slack-jawed travelers staring down long lines at immigration, to commuters apoplectic about being asked to rethink their journey to avoid the crush of Olympic tourists, to residents alarmed that surface-to-air missiles have been placed on their roofs to fight terrorism.

Even the heavens have come in for a browbeating, with the Times of London publishing an editorial recently demanding an end to weeks of rain.

“It is a British sport,” Labour lawmaker David Winnick told The Associated Press on Friday. “We always complain.”

He should know.

One of the iconic images of London’s troubles was Winnick’s cutting exchange with the head of the G4S security group earlier this month after the company failed to provide enough Olympics workers, forcing the British military to step in.

“It’s a humiliating shambles for the country, isn’t it?” Winnick demanded of Nick Buckles after the CEO offered a groveling mea culpa on live TV, repeating the charge until Buckles could not deny that it was.

But even Winnick winced when he heard what Romney had to say.

“These are internal matters that would be well dealt with under our own democratic system,” he said. “There is a feeling, and I’m sure it applies in the United States, that … families can quarrel bitterly in private, but should anyone from the outside have a go, the family is united. In other words: ‘Mind your own business.’”

========================================

National Health Service honored

Children representing the Great Ormond Street Hospital, the NHS and children’s literature take part in the Opening Ceremony. (Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

The glowing bed routine was supposedly a tribute to the National Health Service, the BBC reports.

“Olympic opening ceremony now celebrating Britain’s socialized health system with a dance routine. Really.” Slate’s @AnnieLowrey tweeted.

“Good thing Romney didn’t see a rehearsal of that..” The Post’s conservative blogger @JRubinBlogger responded.

GLOBAL JOBS CRISIS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR SOME TIME, WARNS UN REPORT.

The global employment situation is alarming, says a new United Nations report released today, which also warns that recovery is not expected any time soon.

The World of Work Report 2012: Better Jobs for a Better Economy – published by the UN International Labour Organization (ILO) – says that around 50 million jobs are still missing compared to the situation that existed before the global economic crisis.

It also warns that the global jobs crisis is likely to get worse due to several factors, including the fact that many governments, especially in advanced economies, have shifted their priority to a combination of fiscal austerity and tough labour market reforms.

Such measures are having “devastating” consequences on labour markets in general and job creation in particular, ILO stated in a news release.

“The narrow focus of many Eurozone countries on fiscal austerity is deepening the jobs crisis and could even lead to another recession in Europe,” said the Director of the ILO Institute for International Labour Studies and lead author of the report, Raymond Torres.

“Countries that have chosen job-centred macroeconomic policies have achieved better economic and social outcomes,” he added. “Many of them have also become more competitive and have weathered the crisis better than those that followed the austerity path. We can look carefully at the experience of those countries and draw lessons.”

Another factor leading to a worsening jobs crisis is that many jobseekers in advanced economies are demoralized and are losing skills, something which is affecting their chances of finding a new job. In addition, small companies have limited access to credit, which in turn is depressing investment and preventing employment creation.

“In these countries, especially in Europe, job recovery is not expected before the end of 2016 – unless there is a dramatic shift in policy direction,” according to ILO.

Other factors include the fact that, in most advanced economies, many of the new jobs are precarious and there exists the possibility of increased social unrest in many parts of the world. According to the report’s Social Unrest Index, 57 out of 106 countries with available information showed a risk of increased social unrest in 2011 compared to 2010. The regions with the largest increases are sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East and North Africa.

The report argues that if a job-friendly policy-mix of taxation and increased expenditure in public investment and social benefits is put in place, approximately two million jobs could be created over the next year in advanced economies. {please remember Krugman and Stiglitz articles – see how vindicated they are!}

Among the other findings of the report is that employment rates have only increased in six of the 36 advanced economies since 2007 – Austria, Germany, Israel, Luxembourg, Malta and Poland – and that youth unemployment rates have increased in about 80 per cent of advanced countries and two-thirds of developing countries.

EU Fails To Resolve Dispute Over UN Climate Fund Seats.

Date: 02-Apr-12
Country: UK/BELGIUM
Author: Nina Chestney and Charlie Dunmore from Reuters.

European Union ambassadors failed to resolve a dispute over the allocation of seats on the United Nations’ Green Climate Fund (GCF) board on Friday, possibly undermining the bloc’s credibility in international climate talks.

The EU envoys were meeting for the second time in a week to decide which European nations will be represented on the governing board. This has 12 seats for developing countries and another 12 for developed countries.

“Despite willingness to compromise and adequately share board seats, it has, unfortunately, not been possible to come to an agreement within the EU,” the EU’s Danish presidency said in a statement.

As a result, the EU will miss a March 31 deadline for making a joint proposal on board membership, and EU governments and the bloc’s executive will now have to negotiate directly with other developed countries over who gets the seats.

“For this reason, respective nominations from the group of developed country parties will be withheld until these discussions have taken place,” delaying the entire process, the Danish presidency said.

U.N. climate talks in Durban last year agreed on the design of the fund, which is aimed at channelling up to $100 billion a year to help developing countries adapt to climate change.

Disputes of this kind could both slow the process towards the launch of the fund in 2013 and give other countries the impression that the EU is stalling on climate finance. “It shows that the EU unity we had in Durban has been eroded and that could damage Europe’s image in global climate change talks,” Danish presidency spokesman Jakob Alvi said.

The fund’s first board meeting is due on April 25 to 27, a U.N. spokesman said, subject to confirmation next week.

Despite the EU’s failure to reach an agreement, it should not affect the number of seats it will be allocated on the GCF board, he added.

SEAT DISPUTE

Thirteen of the 27 EU countries had requested a board seat, to ensure they had a say in funding decisions.

A draft EU document, seen by Reuters this week, shows that EU member states and Switzerland might together be able to obtain seven full seats plus associated alternating seats between them. Denmark had proposed that Britain, Germany and France, as the likely biggest financial contributors, should hold a full seat each and share three further alternating seats with another EU country.

But an EU source involved in the discussions said Germany – backed by France – refused to share its seat with any other EU country and insisted on a permanent position on the board, ending any chance of an EU compromise.

Poland also insisted on having a full seat, and told the meeting that in the absence of a joint proposal it would put itself forward to the U.N. in a separate bid outside the EU, sources said under condition of anonymity.

Poland, which relies heavily on coal production for its energy needs, says its economy would develop much more quickly if it wasn’t for the EU’s climate policy, which aims to make coal power generation more expensive.

“(The Commission) has tried to rob us so many times before. This time around we want to wear a second jacket – just in case – and let nothing we are eligible for miss us,” a Polish government source told Reuters.

Energy Crisis Looming in the European Deep Freeze

From a businessman’s point of view:

Everyone’s watching oil right now. And sure, they’ll make a few bucks. But the “silent” move here – and the bigger one – is natural gas. It’s about to explode. What has been a fragmented, local set of markets is about to become one global market, operating at the speed of light. The result, for you, is the profit opportunity of a lifetime. All you have to do is act before the big changes arrives.

The Polish Energy Revolution Begins.
by Dr. Kent Moors

Dear Oil & Energy Investor,

As you read this, I am flying back from Poland, shortly to grab another flight on to Vancouver for our first Energy Summit cruise starting Wednesday.

For now, though, major news has emerged during my stay in Poland.

At about 9:30 yesterday morning, the nation formally embarked on a new energy course – one whose impact will be felt throughout Europe and beyond.

Visiting the first advanced drilling site in eastern Poland, Prime Minister Donald Tusk committed the country to extracting shale gas beginning in 2014. This will fundamentally transform the nation’s energy prospects.

Now, Tusk and his government are in the run up to a parliamentary general election (the voting takes place on October 9), and the country’s energy situation has been a visible campaign issue.

Back in Krakow, the prime minister’s press conference was broadcast live at our shale gas conference. (Funny – it actually interrupted a panel I was on devoted to how the shale gas revolution will affect localities and regions.) Turns out, the Polish shale picture is more significant than even I was anticipating.

—————————————–

The Impact Will Be Felt Around the World.

For one thing, the projections keep increasing of how much unconventional gas Poland possesses.

The government is now convinced the country will become self-sufficient in energy and beginexporting gas to the rest of Europe.

Yet the implications hardly stop there.

Several of the ministers at our meetings are talking openly about using a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal under construction on the Baltic to move product into the broader global market.

Moreover, the rapid development of shale gas will require the creation of an entirely new technical sector to service the fields, process the gas, and apply the newfound largess. This means a significant upgrading of the national gas network, and the laying of major new stretches of pipelines and pumping stations, along with a concerted move to employ the gas as feeder stock for the petrochemical industry.

It is, therefore, hardly surprising that among the audience in Krakow were representatives from such field service powerhouses as Halliburton Co. (NYSE:HAL) and Schlumberger Ltd.(NYSE:SLB), European offices of international drilling companies, consulting agencies, research centers, and law firms.

And there will be plenty of work for all of them.

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Rising Opportunities (and a Message for Moscow)

Despite the refrain I heard repeatedly over the past several days – that Polish companies should provide the bulk of the services – this energy revolution will require outside assistance for years to come.

The primary losers in all of this, of course, are the Russians.

Does the Euro Have a Future?

OCTOBER 13, 2011, George Soros

www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/oct/13/does-euro-have-future/

Excerpts from this and the fact that George Soros advocates now for
Greece, Portugal. Ireland to leave the Eurozone in order to allow the
rest to put the house in order by creating a new EU with much more of
a centralized treasury. He effectively blames the troubles of the EU
on the export to them of the problems of the US that did not handle
correctly its banks in 2008. The papers in Europe already write about
the content of the New York Review Of Books article – the Issue of
October 13, 2011.

———————–

The euro crisis is a direct consequence of the crash of 2008. When
Lehman Brothers failed, the entire financial system started to
collapse and had to be put on artificial life support. This took the
form of substituting the sovereign credit of governments for the bank
and other credit that had collapsed. At a memorable meeting of
European finance ministers in November 2008, they guaranteed that no
other financial institutions that are important to the workings of the
financial system would be allowed to fail, and their example was
followed by the United States.
–
Angela Merkel then declared that the guarantee should be exercised by
each European state individually, not by the European Union or the
eurozone acting as a whole. This sowed the seeds of the euro crisis
because it revealed and activated a hidden weakness in the
construction of the euro: the lack of a common treasury. The crisis
itself erupted more than a year later, in 2010.
–
There is some similarity between the euro crisis and the subprime
crisis that caused the crash of 2008. In each case a supposedly
riskless asset—collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), based largely
on mortgages, in 2008, and European government bonds now—lost some or
all of their value.
–
Unfortunately the euro crisis is more intractable. In 2008 the US
financial authorities that were needed to respond to the crisis were
in place; at present in the eurozone one of these authorities, the
common treasury, has yet to be brought into existence. This requires a
political process involving a number of sovereign states. That is what
has made the problem so severe. The political will to create a common
European treasury was absent in the first place; and since the time
when the euro was created the political cohesion of the European Union
has greatly deteriorated. As a result there is no clearly visible
solution to the euro crisis. In its absence the authorities have been
trying to buy time.

———-

Where are we now in this process? The outlines of the missing
ingredient, namely a common treasury, are beginning to emerge. They
are to be found in the European Financial Stability Facility
(EFSF)—agreed on by twenty-seven member states of the EU in May
2010—and its successor, after 2013, the European Stability Mechanism
(ESM). But the EFSF is not adequately capitalized and its functions
are not adequately defined. It is supposed to provide a safety net for
the eurozone as a whole, but in practice it has been tailored to
finance the rescue packages for three small countries: Greece,
Portugal, and Ireland; it is not large enough to support bigger
countries like Spain or Italy. Nor was it originally meant to deal
with the problems of the banking system, although its scope has
subsequently been extended to include banks as well as sovereign
states. Its biggest shortcoming is that it is purely a fund-raising
mechanism; the authority to spend the money is left with the
governments of the member countries. This renders the EFSF useless in
responding to a crisis; it has to await instructions from the member
countries.

———-

Leaving the euro would make it easier for them to regain
competitiveness; but if they are willing to make the necessary
sacrifices they could also stay in. In both cases, the EFSF would
protect bank deposits and the IMF would help to recapitalize the
banking system. That would help these countries to escape from the
trap in which they currently find themselves. It would be against the
best interests of the European Union to allow these countries to
collapse and drag down the global banking system with them.
–
It is not for me to spell out the details of the new treaty; that has
to be decided by the member countries. But the discussions ought to
start right away because even under extreme pressure they will take a
long time to conclude. Once the principle of setting up a European
Treasury is agreed upon, the European Council could authorize the ECB
to step into the breach, indemnifying the ECB in advance against risks
to its solvency. That is the only way to forestall a possible
financial meltdown and another Great Depression.

========================================================

Mr. Geithner in Wroclaw, September 16, 2011:

It is easy for Mr. Geithner to suggest that Europeans spend more of their own money. Doing so is hard.

The U.S. and Europe have broadly different outlooks on the use of fiscal stimulus—another topic discussed Friday.

“We don’t see any room for maneuver inside the euro area which would and could allow us to launch a new fiscal stimulus package,” said Jean-Claude Juncker, the Luxembourg prime minister who heads the group of euro-zone countries. “We cannot put at risk the consolidation of public finances, which is now well on track.”

By contrast, President Obama last week proposed a $447 billion package of tax cuts and spending increases to boost the slowing U.S. economy. But European leaders appear determined to carry out budget-cutting plans put in place last year, despite slowing growth and persistent financial-market turmoil caused by the currency bloc’s debt crisis.

The Austrian Government has already announced that they will not go above the 1.4 billion Euro they already did spend on Greece – the Austrian taz-payer objects.

The West wrote in the IHT – POLAND TO LEAD ON CLEAN ENERGY – a SAUDI paper changed this back correctly to GREEN ENERGY!  The article itself gives hope to efficiency but has no green items in it.  One better go back to the drawing board to look for the truest niche for Poland – this is in Agro-fuels..

Polish EU lead could yet set green energy example.

Occupy Wall Street Begins Tomorrow, September 17th, 2011.

By Laura Marcinek, Bloomberg, 16 September 2011.

Please see RSN Events Page for more information about Occupy Wall Street.  http://www.readersupportednews.org/news-section2/345-justice/7456-occupy-wall-street-begins-tomorrow-september-17th

Wall Street firms will be the target of a nonviolent demonstration in which organizers say they want 20,000 people to participate with tents, kitchens and “peaceful barricades.”

We were informed of a Press Briefing

at the Vienna International Cenre, Thursday, September 8, 2011, 1:30 p.m. on

Adaptation to Climate Change by Spatial Planning in the Alps.

This was to be about: The main results and outcomes achieved under the CLISP Project “Adaptation to Climate Change by Spatial Planning in the Alpine area” will be discussed at the CLISP international final conference organized by the United Nations Environment Programme and the Federal Environment Agency Austria, held at the Vienna International Centre at that date – on 8 September 2011, at which the Head of the UNEP Vienna Office, Harald Egerer, stressed the importance of the particular study as a platform for the development of an integrated, transnational approach toward adaptation to impacts of climate change in the highly sensitive area of the Alps.

It also said  at the margins of the Conference, high level representatives from the European Union, the Alpine Convention and Austrian agencies will take part at the Press Briefing with the purpose of illustrating present and future strategies to tackle negative effect of climate change in the Alpine space.
Speakers include:

Rosario Bento Pais
DG Climate Action, European Commission

Andre Jol
Head of vulnerability group, European Environment Agency

Marco Onida
Secretary General, Alpine Convention

George Reberning
Managing Director, Federal Environment Agency Austria

————-

Having shown interest, later we also received a Press Release:

Climate Change Adaptation by Spatial Planning in the Alpine Space.

At the Press Conference there were just two journalists – myself and the Vienna editor for an industry magazine 4C, Ms. Margarette Endl who came as a guest of the organizers of what turned out to have been the “graduating” event – the release of the final documents of this stage inthe CLISP Project.

Other people in the room were part of the conference and thus asked no questions. Ms. Endl asked questions on the basis of her attendance at the morning session.
I ended up asking on the base of my general interest in the subject, and learned that since the three poles concept the subject has evolved, and I have now much more to learn about the mountain regions. As evidence of this large area – I already posted several items today based on other sources of information.

Coincidently, years ago, I was present when Ambassador Dr. Irene Freudenschuss-Reichl  introduced for Austria and UNIDO the subject of Mountain Regions to the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. At the UN Mountains were always a synonym to the Himalayas like deserts, arid and semiarid lands are a synonym to Africa – but she was already then speaking about Austria and the Alps. Now the subject has evolved and we speak of regions within this large area previously included in the Alpine region.

I mentioned the three poles where the Himalayas are the third pole – and asked if we should talk now of five poles – including the Alps and the Andes – while leaving out the lesser areas like the mountains of New Zealand – because the region is rather small or Africa where the melting of the snows of Kilimanjaro has sort of eliminated the problem. I knew this was a rather provocative question and got a very good answer from Mr. Pier Carlo Sandei where he explained that the mountain regions are not just about the disappearance of the glaciers – but rather about the moving up of vegetation lines – thus a general  changing in the nature in the mountains because of Climate Change and other reasons. This is a general UNEP interest and the subject has progressed through a series of Conventions.

I stayed for the afternoon sessions that were chaired by Ms. Sabine McCallum, the department head for the subjects of Environment Impact Assessment & Climate Change of the Austrian Department of the Environment. she was actually the head of the project and her Minister – Helmut Hojesky, Federal Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment, and Water Management, was the main speaker at the High-Level Panel Discussion: “Taking action towards climate-proof spatial development – What is the way forward?”

Others on the panel were Thomas Probst, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment; Rosario Benito Pais and Jose Ruiz de Casas, both from the European Commission one from  Climate Action and the other from Regions; Andre Jol, Head of group Vulnerability and Adaptation, European Environment Agency; and Marco Onida, Secretary General of the Alpine Convention.

What happened here was that the area of the Alpine Convention has been divided into 10 regions that the study dealt with separately. It is obvious that the problems of the Swiss Alps that are dedicated mainly to tourism are very different from the problems in the newer members of the EU from the Balkans and the Carpathian regions where there are also States that do not belong to the EU altogether. The project did not just reshuffle data – but produced data and starts proposing plans of action – this being the ultimate goal of the project that after being absorbed by the States involved – will then be continued in order to come up with further plans of action.

We were told not to forget mitigation. While adaptation is a defense for the countries here – if there are no tangible results on mitigation here and elsewhere – there will be need for more adaptation in the future.

The European Commission told us that CLIMATE ACTION is now a new DG (that means a Department with Department Head and Stuff and a mandate to act). All these studies and Plans of Axtion will be under this department.

THE minister said that his people learn the Swiss and German experience – AND WE HAVE TO ADAPT TO CLIMATE CHANGE – BECAUSE IT WILL HAPPEN – WHATEVER WE DO.

UNEP declared that they are here because they want to learn from the A-B-C … the Alps, Balkans, Carpathian regions. The countries that were parts of Yugoslavia and Albania have lot of historic experience but having become independent of each other, whatever centralized poiicy there was it is now worse – there is no communication between them. Cooperation is needed and this project provides a unified platform and future regional adaptation. The Balkan region is actually a Balkan and Dinaric Arc Region that covers the Adriatic Coast.

So far as Vienna goes – as always – it finds itself in the middle – this time in the middle between the Alps and the Carpatians with the “B” region to the South.

There was the need for a Carpathian Convention in addition to the Alpine Convention. The Carpathian Convention includes The Ukraine and Serbia that are not part of the EU. 66% of the Carpathian region is still covered with forests – this provides extra-potential to preserve biodiversity, landscape and quality of air.

Pier Carlo Sandei spoke of SUSTAINABLE GROWTH in the context of the 21st Century – rather then the 20th Century. He gave me the feeling that Sustainable Growth as understood earlier is a no=no today when we must think of TRANSNATIONAL REGIONS that will aim by 2020 to be sustained by 20% Sustainable Energy.

He also used in the summary the conclusion: MITIGATION IS GLOBAL – ADAPTATION IS LOCAL & REGIONAL. One will have to look at climate costs – if you invest or you do not invest. This reminds us of the situation that compares the way industry looks at their strategy to answer CO2 emissions decrease requirements.

If you do something overseas – you get the credits and you can apply the full amount right now – but if you reduce your own emissions at home, you do not get the immediate full credit – you rather get the credit apportioned for the long range of the project – and that is what sends corporations to buy credits overseas. AHA! You Kyoto Protocol; affectionados – hear it from us = we warned you that the system never made sense!

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Looking at the nice collection of material I took along – I would like to give here references for the benefit of our readers:

A – ALPINE CONVENTION, 2nd efition, January 2011, Permanent Secretariat of the Alpine Convention, Herzog-Friedrich-Strasse 15, A-6020 Innsbruck, Austria with a branch office in Bolzano-Bosen, Italy.  www.alpconv.org

B – BALKAN VITAL GRAPHICS – Environment Without Borders. Published by UNEP/GRID=Arendal in 2007. It was backed by Austria and canada and was used as part of the Belgrade October 10-12, 2001 Ministerial Conference on Building Bridges To The Future Environment For Europe. It deals with mining, water and nature.

C – A COLLECTION ON THE CARPATHIAN CONVENTION, material prepared for the Second Convention of the Parties, Bucharest, June 17-19, 2008. Published in
Bolzano, Italy. www.carpathianproject.eu  —– This material was followed by the Carpathian Project headed by Mr. Harald Egerer of UNEP Vienna. www.carpathianconvention.org … Harald.Egerer@unvienna  … The Partners to the project are institutions from Austria, Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Greece, Czech Republic, Germany, Romania, The Ukraine.

You cannot leave the EURO but you can be expelled from the EURO says a
European Central Bank Legal Study from 2009. The Spanish European
Commissioner lashes out at Germany and The Netherlands leaders of the
CORE EUROZONE States that invoked recently this sort of ideas.

a. Brussels: ‘No one can leave the euro’ – 08/09/2011 17:34:05
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The European Commission has insisted that no member of the eurozone can
leave the single currency. However, a European Central Bank legal study
from 2009 argues that while voluntary withdrawal is legally not possible,
expulsion remains “conceivable”.

euobserver.com/9/113563

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b.  Spanish commissioner lashes out at core eurozone states -
09/09/2011 09:18:14
—————————————————————————-
Spain’s European commissioner has lashed out at core eurozone states in the
wake of suggestions from the Netherlands and Germany that heavily indebted
members of the single currency could be booted out of the club.

euobserver.com/19/113568

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The International Herald Tribune as distributed in Europe – on September 6, 2011 had two large front page articles dealing with the Euro zone that make it clear that the deep belief is that Europe willl not solve its problems without looking like the USA. So – to solve the EUROZONE there must be a structural change that will bring the EU to have something like the US Constitution that replaced the weak Articles of Confederation that were not enough as it was shown by the civil war and the demise of the initial union of the 13.

The articles are:

(1)  the News Analysis – “To Break Logjam, E.U. veers towards U.S. model” – by Louise Story and Matthew Saltmarsh.

(2) from Paris – “Euro Zone admonished to act with one voice” – by Liz Alderman and James Kanter.