Thunderbird Oath of Honor Pledge Now Available for Thunderbird Alumni.

A message from the Thunderbird Alumni Network:

The Thunderbird Alumni Network is pleased to announce that the Thunderbird Oath of Honor is now available for virtual signing by T-bird alumni. The concept of the Oath of Honor was introduced by Thunderbird President Ángel Cabrera in November 2004 at the first Thunderbird Ethics Day. Following much discussion and solicitation of feedback from T-bird students, faculty and alumni, the Oath of Honor was signed by the graduating class of Spring 2006. Thunderbird has recently been the subject of great publicity surrounding our Oath, which has served to distinguish us as a leader among business schools.

We as Thunderbird alumni have the opportunity to distinguish ourselves as role models for the global business community and society at large. Thunderbird has long been a global thought leader in the concept of global business responsibility as expressed in our mission statement:

We educate global leaders who create sustainable prosperity worldwide.

We invite you to demonstrate our commitment to the Thunderbird core value of global citizenship by signing the Thunderbird Oath of Honor. We challenge you to show the world how our Thunderbird community can join together in a single act by pledging the following oath:

As a Thunderbird and a global citizen, I promise:
I will strive to act with honesty and integrity,
I will respect the rights and dignity of all people,
I will strive to create sustainable prosperity worldwide,
I will oppose all forms of corruption and exploitation, and
I will take responsibility for my actions.
As I hold true to these principles, it is my hope that I may enjoy an honorable reputation and peace of conscience. This pledge I make freely and upon my honor.

Our goal is to encourage as many T-bird alumni as possible to sign the Oath by March 15, 2010 so please encourage your fellow alumni to visit the oath of honor website today!

- The Thunderbird Alumni Network
 http://www.thunderbird.edu/wwwfiles/pubs…

US Oil Imports From Western Hemisphere Countries To The US Are Dropping:

Mexico Petroleum Supply, Exports to U.S. and Net Exports. Source: EIA. Chart by Chris Nelder.

= = = =

Venezuela Petroleum Supply, Exports to U.S. and Net Exports. Source: EIA. Chart by Chris Nelder.

= = = =

Combined Annual Net Oil Exports From Canada, Mexico and Venezuela. Source: Jeffrey J. Brown, Samuel Foucher, PhD, Jorge Silveus.

= = = =

The Oil Export Crisis Has Unofficially Arrived.
By Chris Nelder | Friday, February 5th, 2010

Last March, his study of the effect of peak oil on U.S. imports had
brought Mexico to the forefront. “As our #3 source of imports, the
crashing of its supergiant Cantarell field had put the future of our
oil supply in serious jeopardy.”

The possibility that Mexico’s oil and gas exports to the U.S. could go
to zero within seven years looked very real.

As I explained in that piece, rising domestic consumption coupled with
declining supply puts an ever-tightening squeeze on imports. I have
found no evidence that policymakers are paying any attention to this
critically important dynamic, but it is the very point of the peak oil
spear.

Were it not for the market meltdown and recession, it would have
pierced our vital organs. Instead we felt a pinprick. Hardly anybody
realized what it really was, and most ran off on a wild goose chase
for evil oil speculators.

Now Venezuela has appeared on my radar for similar reasons… only
this time, we’re really going to feel it.

Let’s begin with a review of Mexico’s exports.

Mexico:

Shortly after publishing that article, I casually remarked to my
friend and fellow energy analyst Gregor Macdonald that Cantarell’s
production could fall to under 0.5 million barrels per day (mbpd) by
the end of the year.

I arrived at this somewhat startling conclusion by calculating the
effect of its decline rate — 38% at the time and accelerating — on
production of 0.77 mbpd in January, down precipitously from its 2.1
mbpd peak in 2003.

Gregor’s recent data sleuthing on Cantarell found its production in
December 2009 was 0.527688 mbpd, just a hair above my estimate.

To update the data on Mexico, it’s now our #2 source of imported
petroleum because Saudi Arabia has fallen from #2 to #4.

As of November 2009 (the latest data available) the U.S. imported 1.08
mbpd of crude and finished petroleum products from Mexico. Its exports
to the U.S. peaked at 1.46 mbpd in 2004, the same year as its
production peaked. Net exports (production minus consumption) fell to
1.06 mbpd in 2008.

For the years 2005-2008, Mexico’s exports to the U.S. declined by 0.51
barrels per day. In 2010, supply is expected to fall to 2.5 mbpd —
nearly half a million barrels per day less than 2009.

Mexico nationalized its petroleum operations in 1938 in a
constitutional amendment and handed over total control to the state
oil company Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), with predictable results.

Oil now provides more than 40% of the country’s revenues, which have
been used to pay for a vast array of public services and line the
pockets of the oligarchy while starving investment in both upstream
activities (new oil supply) and downstream (finished products).

Consequently, Mexico’s oil reserves have decreased by more than 75% in
two decades (owing partly to the correction of a previous,
ridiculously inflated figure), production has begun to decline and
exports are falling fast.

It now imports $4.5 billion a year worth of gasoline, $10 billion a
year in petrochemicals, and 25% of its natural gas, mostly from the
U.S. This despite having nearly 13 billion barrels of proven oil
reserves and more than 50 billion barrels of (unproven) reserve
potential.

Mexico would be in a far better position, were it not for its hostile
stance on foreign participation. PEMEX simply lacks the technical
ability to develop its more difficult, remaining resources —
particularly deep water.

Venezuela:

As of November, the U.S. was importing 0.9 mbpd from Venezuela, making
it our #3 source. Its exports to the U.S. peaked at 1.8 mbpd in 1997,
the same year as its production peaked. Net exports (production minus
consumption) have fallen 38% from the 1997 peak of 3.1 mbpd to 1.9
mbpd in 2008.

Venezuela’s oil exports to the U.S. have been declining markedly since
2004, after a long period of relative stability. From 2004 through
2009, Venezuelan petroleum exports fell 0.7 mbpd.

Like Mexico, Venezuela is endowed with enormous energy resources and
could be producing at a far higher level. Estimates of its oil
reserves range from 153 billion barrels of certified proven; to 513
billion barrels technically recoverable in the USGS’ January estimate;
to 1.5 trillion barrels in offshore potential, if you believe the
effervescent Dr. Marcio Mello of Brazil.

Most of it is heavy oil, a low-grade which must be upgraded to synthetic crude.

And like Mexico, President Hugo Chavez has exiled the Western oil
companies who might have made the investment to bring those resources
to market.

A Nation in Free Fall

The good times rolled for Chavez in the first years after his election
in 1998. His socialist programs to rebuild the country and raise its
standard of living were popular but expensive, and soon began to fail
under the crush of declining energy supply.

Oil revenues make up 90% of Venezuela’s foreign earnings, so its
dependence on oil exports is extreme.

Billions of dollars in profits from the national oil company,
Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) were diverted to welfare programs
and into the pockets of oligarchs, while investment in future
petroleum and power supply languished.

The precipitous drop in oil prices since mid-2008 only compounded the
revenue shortfall.

Oil production has fallen 25% since Chavez was elected, and a long,
devastating drought has cut into its hydropower supply, of which 73%
comes from the massive Guri Dam.

Chavez responded by nationalizing most of its petroleum operations and
its grid in 2007.

In 2009, another 76 oil services companies on the Maracaibo Lake were
taken over. The projects now sit abandoned, waiting for PDVSA to
compensate the displaced operators and put them back into operation.

Almost half a million hectares of land were seized in 2009 with the
rationalization that it was underused.

Measures to counter the declining hydro supply have been implemented
in a haphazard fashion, resulting in frequent, unscheduled blackouts,
including seven national blackouts since 2007. Malls and government
offices have had their hours of operation cut and water rationing has
been imposed.

“Some people sing in the bath for half an hour,” Chávez cried at a
cabinet session in October. “What kind of communism is that? Three
minutes is more than enough!”

In January, a wave of public protest erupted, prompting Chavez to
implement a rapid series of desperate measures.

Rolling blackouts were imposed in the capital city of Caracas. After a
few days of protests, Chavez lifted the blackouts and fired the
electricity minister. Blackouts are expected to be reinstated in an
effort to keep hydro reservoir levels from falling to the point of
collapse.
A recent report gave the power shortage a paradoxical twist,
indicating that power from one of the state refineries may have to be
diverted to the grid, cutting distillate output by 200,000 barrels per
day — or more. This will result in less heating oil for China, who
will make up the loss by burning more coal.
Chavez devalued Venezuela’s bolivar currency by half; the president
went on to nationalize a chain of French-owned supermarkets over
alleged price gouging.
He ordered cutbacks in the operation of state-run steel and aluminum
manufacturing operations, which account for up to 20% of the country’s
power demand.
This week he turned to Cuba for help on how to cope with the power
shortage, since Cuba has been through similar problems. The island
nation is providing tens of thousands of energy-efficient lightbulbs
and cloud-seeding technology to Venezuela.
Last weekend, he forced six television channels off the air for
failing to broadcast one of his speeches — up to six hours in length —
in a continuation of his campaign for “communicational hegemony.”
Since December, all radio and television networks are required by law
to broadcast his speeches live, whenever he chooses to make one.
Nationwide student marches have been met by troops armed with rubber
bullets, and at least two deaths have been recorded.
Chavez has said he’s prepared to take “radical measures” should the
situation worsen, begging the unsettling question of what could be
more radical than what he has already done.

Looking East, Not North

Now Chavez is turning east for help in developing his nation’s oil and
gas resources. Recent agreements include a $20 billion joint venture
with Russia to develop the Junin 6 field in the Orinoco oil belt, with
a potential top production rate of 450,000 barrels per day.

China has agreed to build a refinery and develop the Orinoco heavy oil
fields, and Venezuela has guaranteed 560,000 barrels per day to China
this year.

Venezuela has launched its first major auction for drilling rights in
more than a decade, for access to areas east of the existing
operations in the Orinoco. Developing the leases will be expensive
because of their distance from the existing infrastructure, and
winning bidders are expected to make offers in the $10 billion-plus
range including early payments of at least $1 billion, financing
plans, and commitments to build the necessary roads, pipelines, ports,
and upgraders. Potential bidders include Spain’s Repsol, Japan’s
Mitsubishi, the UK’s BP, and Chevron.

Given the sheer size of its resources, it’s too soon to declare the
end of Venezuela’s glory days in the oil patch. However, it does seem
likely that the new barrels it brings to market will be headed east —
not north — and Western producers will have very little stake in the
projects.

Chavez will put exports to the U.S. on a short path to zero the first
chance he gets.

—————–

Oh Imports, Where Art Thou?

The combined decline in imports from Mexico and Venezuela for 2005
through 2008 is 0.89 mbpd. If the trend continues in 2009, then over 1
mbpd will have disappeared from the U.S. import stream in the last
five years — a decline of 8% from 2004 levels.

Since 2007, the loss of production from Cantarell alone was 0.7 mbpd,
but the recession cut U.S. demand by 2 mbpd, effectively masking the
decline. This raises the question: If U.S. demand rises from here,
where will those barrels come from… and how much will they cost?

The U.S. is not only in first place worldwide in its demand for oil,
but in paying the market rate for it. Nobody else buys 8.5 mbpd of
crude at retail.

Drivers in Venezuela are still filling up for 25 cents a gallon, even
as their exports decline.

Mexico’s gasoline prices are more on par with the U.S., but its
consumption has been rising steadily since 1997 and continues to cut
into exports.

Saudi Arabia’s domestic consumption is currently growing at the rate
of 7% per year, following a trend of more than three decades. It uses
a whopping 1.5 mbpd — 1.8% of total world oil supply! — to desalinate
water, at the equivalent of 7 cents a gallon.

Before the OPEC cuts of 2009, its exports to the U.S. had essentially
flatlined at 1.5 mbpd since 2004.

Exports from our #5 source, Nigeria, have also declined — from 1.17
mbpd in 2005 to 0.98 mbpd in 2008.

In fact, of the top five oil exporting countries to the U.S.,
representing 63% of our crude imports, only Canada posted an increase
(of 0.2 mbpd).

The combined annual net oil exports from our top three exporting
countries — Canada, Mexico and Venezuela — illustrate our situation:

Given the very modest increases from unconventional domestic production and Canada, the decline of imports from Mexico and Venezuela means the U.S. will be increasingly forced to depend on suppliers farther afield — the very same suppliers that China has been buying into in size. The “collision course with China” that I wrote about in July 2005 has nearly reached the point of impact.

It also means that when oil prices rise again, the pain will be far greater for the U.S. than it is for our top suppliers. Next time, the spear of declining oil exports will puncture a lung.

The oil export crisis has arrived… We just haven’t felt it yet.

Production, consumption, and export data herein is the latest available from the EIA.

Until next time,
Chris

Thanks to the following individuals for their contributions to this
article: Venezuelan oil expert Carlos Rossi for sharing excerpts from
his forthcoming book, The Completion of the Oil Era: The Economic
Impact; Gregor Macdonald for sharing his data on Cantarell; and
Jeffrey Brown and Samuel Foucher, for their work on net exports data
and the Export Land Model.

Investor’s Note: While declining oil imports from Mexico and Venezuela
paint a nightmare scenario for meeting future U.S. demand, all hope
isn’t lost… In fact, one U.S. oil play is developing at a breakneck
pace. You’re likely aware of the Bakken oil formation. But you may not
realize fully how the Bakken has single-handedly thrust North Dakota
into the international investment spotlight.

Of course, members of the $20 Trillion Report know how profitable the
Bakken oil formation is. So far, they’ve raked in gains of 305%, 249%
and 130%! We want you to share in their success.

—————————-

Our reaction to the above goes in two directions:

To every straights there is also the possibility for an answer that provides for new opportunities. in this case:

(1) it becomes even clearer that the US has here an opportunity to make policy accommodations with its neighbors to the south.

(2) the US does not have to – and will not – continue its dependence on oil alone as its source for energy. The US can go for novel and mostly renewable sources of energy, then the Saudis might also discover sun and wind as good replacement for this insanity of using 25% of their oil to provide their water needs. Whatever – energy independence – or at least oil imports reduction for the US – is not an excuse for  a “drill baby drill” US energy policy. Actually, put a carbon tax on the use of oil in the US as a good way to tell the world that the US is capable to detoxify from its addiction to oil imports.

Rupert Murdoch’s Media Empire is Hiring Sarah Palin for its FOX NEWS. They already have Karl Rove and Mike Huckabee – bank on The News Corporation to become the USA Anti Environmental – Effective Anti-America Power House. That is – if caterring for the right fringe will not eventualy help catalyze the awakening of the middle.

Palin signs on with Fox News.
By Howard Kurtz, The Washington Post, January 11, 2010
Sarah Palin, who regularly rips the media, is becoming a television pundit at a place where she’s likely to feel at home.

A Fox News executive says the network will shortly announce that the former vice-presidential nominee is signing on as a contributor.

Palin, who resigned as governor of Alaska last summer, will appear as a commentator on various Fox shows. She will also host an occasional program that will examine inspirational tales involving ordinary Americans.

Palin will join Mike Huckabee as a Fox contributor who was also involved in the 2008 campaign. The exposure can only help Palin if she decides to pursue a 2012 presidential bid.

At the moment, Palin makes pronouncements mainly through her Facebook page. The Fox connection would give her a platform on the nation’s top-rated cable news channel.

Palin is extremely popular with her conservative base, which has fueled the sales of her best-selling memoir. But she is a divisive political figure who not only draws the ire of liberals but some Republicans, including staffers who deal with her during her run as John McCain’s running mate. Steve Schmidt, a top McCain strategist, said on “60 Minutes” last night that “there were numerous instances that she said things that were — that were not accurate that ultimately, the campaign had to deal with.”

Hiring Palin could further boost the popularity of Rupert Murdoch’s network among conservative viewers. The network already employs former Bush White House aide Karl Rove and former House speaker Newt Gingrich as highly visible commentators.

Mexico vows to set new efficiency rules for autos, it will also push for more efficient new government buildings.
05 Jan 2010, Reuters

(Adds background on alternative energy, efficient buildings)
MEXICO CITY, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Mexico will limit imports of inefficient used cars and encourage low-carbon technology to reduce its overall volume of tailpipe exhaust, the energy ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry said it was also mulling regulations that would for the first time set a national standard for auto emissions. Such standards would be at the “vanguard” of international best standards, the agency said.

—
Officials hope to slowly purge heavy, inefficient autos from among the roughly 21 million cars now on the road in Mexico. The nation’s auto fleet is expected to rise by more than 14 million vehicles by 2017.
Only 1 percent of Mexican automobiles currently use alternative fuel, the ministry said.
The new importation rules will aim to “avoid the accelerated aging of the Mexican car fleet,” the agency said in a statement.
A senior Mexican environmental policymaker said in August the country would likely adopt fuel efficiency standards compatible with those in place in the United States. [ID:nN03537208]
Mexico is one of the world’s largest car builders and most global auto companies have at least one factory in the country.
Stakeholders in the domestic auto market have long lobbied for limits to be placed on the import of older used cars from the United States to help support the domestic market.
The new goals were developed as part of a multi-year national plan to create a sustainable energy policy.
In a separate move, the ministry promised to outline new standards for energy efficiency in newly-built government offices.

——–

We wish to bring up the possibility that some unscrupulous US interest might yet bring up NAFTA and free trade arguments to disallow  stopping the dumping of old US cars in Mexico, a measure that clearly has to do with Mexico interests that prefer not to have this competition to their home produced vehicles. We will watch.

 

Climate Change Adaptation: It’s about Water! 
— Global Water Partnership’s contribution to the climate change dialogue

Water is central to the world’s development challenges. Whether it is food security, poverty reduction, economic growth, human health—water is the nexus. Climate change is the spoiler. No matter how successful mitigation efforts might be, people will experience the impacts of climate change through water.

The Global Water Partnership is participating in ‘Water Day’ at the climate change negotiations in Barcelona. GWP Executive Secretary Dr Ania Grobicki will be the lead speaker on water and transboundary issues on Tuesday, November 3. The venue is the Fira Congress Hotel, opposite the conference centre. The opening session starts at 9 am and lunch will be provided.

Recently, the GWP’s Technical Committee released its 14th Background Paper: “Water Management, Water Security and Climate Change Adaptation.” It argues that investments in water are investments in adaptation. The paper can be downloaded on www.gwpforum.org or ordered free at gwp@gwpforum.org.

Climate Change: How can we Adapt? – a one-pager about GWP’s key messages on this subject – is available here: http://www.gwpforum.org/gwp/library/GWP_Briefingnote_climatechange.pdf.

GWP has been accepted as an Inter-Governmental Organisation with Observer Status at  COP 15 in Copenhagen in December and has submitted an article to the delegate publication. But more information on that will follow later. 

More resources about climate change and water and more information on GWP’s involvement in the global dialogue on climate change is available on this page: http://www.gwpforum.org/servlet/PSP?iNodeID=205&itemId=442.

 

——————————————————–Steven DowneyHead of CommunicationsGlobal Water Partnership (GWP)Drottninggatan 33SE-111 51 Stockholm, SWEDENPhone:   +46 8 522 126 52Fax:      + 46 8 522 126 31E-mail: steven.downey@gwpforum.orgWebsite: www.gwpforum.org
A water secure world – the mission of the Global Water Partnership is to support the sustainable development and management of water resources at all levels.

Uranium Contamination Haunts Navajo Country

Dan Frosch, The New York Times, July 27, 2009.

“There were a lot of things people weren’t told about the plight of Navajos and uranium mining,” Stephen B. Etsitty said. The Slowman home, the same one-level cinderblock structure his family had lived in for nearly a half-century, was contaminated with potentially dangerous levels of uranium from the days of the cold war, when hundreds of uranium mines dotted the vast tribal land known as the Navajo Nation. The scientist advised Mr. Slowman, his wife and their two sons to move out until their home could be rebuilt.

“I was angry,” Mr. Slowman said. “I guess it was here all this time, and we never knew.”

The legacy wrought from decades of uranium mining is long and painful here on the expansive reservation. Over the years, Navajo miners extracted some four million tons of uranium ore from the ground, much of it used by the United States government to make weapons.

Many miners died from radiation-related illnesses; some, unaware of harmful health effects, hauled contaminated rocks and tailings from local mines and mills to build homes for their families.

Now, those homes are being demolished and rebuilt under a new government program that seeks to identify what are very likely dozens of uranium-contaminated structures still standing on Navajo land and to temporarily relocate people living in them until the homes can be torn down and rebuilt.

Stephen B. Etsitty, executive director of the Navajo Nation Environmental Protection Agency, and other tribal officials have been grappling for years with the environmental fallout from uranium mining.

“There were a lot of things people weren’t told about the plight of Navajos and uranium mining,” Mr. Etsitty said. “These legacy issues are impacting generations. At some point people are saying, ‘It’s got to end.’ ”

After a Congressional hearing in 2007, a cross-section of federal agencies committed to addressing the environmental and health impacts of uranium mining on the reservation. As part of that commitment, the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Navajo Nation began working together to assess uranium levels in 500 structures through a five-year plan set to end in 2012.

Using old lists of potentially contaminated structures, federal and Navajo scientists have fanned out to rural reaches of the 27,000 square mile reservation — which includes swaths of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah — to measure levels of radium, a decay product of uranium that can cause lung cancer. Of 113 structures assessed so far, 27 contained radiation levels that were above normal.

“In these situations, you have contamination in somebody’s yard or in their house,” said Harry Allen, the E.P.A.’s section chief for emergency response in San Francisco who is helping lead the government’s efforts. “To us, that is somewhat urgent.”

Many structures that showed high levels of radiation were vacant; some families had already moved out after hearing stories of contamination in their homes. But eight homes still had people living in them, and the E.P.A. and Navajo officials have worked to convince residents that it would be unsafe to stay.

“People had been told they were living in contaminated structures, but nobody ever did anything about it,” said Will Duncan, an environmental scientist who has been the E.P.A.’s main representative on the reservation. “They would tell us, ‘We don’t believe you are going to follow through.’ ”

But with a budget of nearly $8 million, the E.P.A. has demolished all 27 contaminated structures and has begun building ones to replace those that had been occupied. Typically, the agency pays a Navajo contracting company to construct a log cabin or a traditional hogan in the structure’s stead, depending on the wishes of the occupants. Mr. Allen said the cost, including temporarily relocating residents, ran approximately $260,000 per dwelling and took about eight months.

The agency also offers $50,000 to those who choose not to have an old home rebuilt.

Lillie Lane, a public information officer with the Navajo Nation E.P.A. who has acted as a liaison between the federal government and tribal members, said the program held practical and symbolic importance given the history of uranium mining here.

Ms. Lane described the difficulty of watching families, particularly elders, leaving homes they had lived in for years. She told of coming upon two old miners who died before their contaminated homes could be rebuilt. “In Navajo, a home is considered sacred,” she said. “But if the foundation or the rocks are not safe, we have to do this work.”

Some families, Ms. Lane said, complained that their children were suffering from health problems and had wondered if radiation were to blame.

The E.P.A. has started sifting through records and interviewing family members to figure out whether mining companies that once operated on the reservation are liable for any damages, Mr. Allen said.

On a recent summer day, Fred and Clara Slowman proudly surveyed their new home, a one-level log cabin that sits in the quiet shadows of Black Rock Point, miles away from the bustle of Farmington, N.M., where the family has been living in a hotel.

Mr. Slowman said he suspected that waste materials from a nearby abandoned mine seeped into his house. The family plans on having a traditional Navajo medicine man bless their dwelling before they move in.

“In our traditional way, a house is like your mom,” he said. “It’s where you eat, sleep, where you’re taken care of. And when you come back from the city, you come back to your mom. It makes you feel real good.”

THE AMERICAS SOCIETY
The Risks of Deforestation in the Amazon

JULY 23 NEW YORK

Confirmed Speakers:

Bruce Babbitt, author of article in upcoming summer issue of Americas Quarterly on the Trans-South American Highway and its effect on the Amazon, former U.S. Secretary of the Interior and former Governor of Arizona

Andrew Revkin, science reporter for the New York Times since 1995 and author of several books, including The Burning Season: The Murder of Chico Mendes and the Fight for the Amazon Rain Forest

Moderator: Christopher Sabatini, Senior Director of Policy, AS/COA; Editor-in-Chief, Americas Quarterly

*Copies of both Americas Quarterly: Human Rights and  The Burning Season:The Murder of Chico Mendes and the Fight for the Amazon Rain Forest will be on sale at the event.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Registration: 5:30 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.

Presentations and Discussion: 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Reception: 7:30 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.

Americas Society/Council of the Americas
680 Park Avenue (corner of 68th St)
New York, NY 10065

This event is free to the public and open to press.

Event information: Please Contact Valeria Souza Cruz at 212-277-8372 or  vcruz at as-coa.org or visit www.as-coa.org.

President Obama will this week become the first African American President to make an official visit to an African country.

The most interesting fact is that he does not go to South Africa or Nigeria – the two countries that compete for the unofficial title of leaders of black Africa. President Obama decided to go to the oil producing belt of West Africa, and this cut out South Africa;   then he chose the unassuming Ghana, rather then the feisty Nigeria – the most populous black state and important partner of the US in oil trade.

Why? What does he teach in this visit?

Nigeria is a corrupt state to its bone. Even its son, the Nobel Price winning Wole Soyinka said that neglecting Nigeria was just the right medicine that Nigeria needed. He continued then with the shocking statement: “I’d ’stone’ Obama if he showed up in Nigeria and conferred legitimacy on its sorry government.”

Ghana on the other hand, a much smaller West African nation, as of now with little US trade, did hold fair multiparty democratic elections since 1992, and   has a history of incumbents stepping down once they reach their term limits.

Ghana is a beacon of hope to Africa and has produced the only two-terms African UN Secretary-General, Koffi Annan, who we hope will be at hand when President Obama arrives for a day at the end of this week.

Yes, we know, it is rumored that the US is interested in Ghana also as it is the newest arrival to the West Coast Oil-belt, and with China making inroads in the region, the US might be interested to establish here a military base as well as an oil trade relationship.

But even so, this US President showed preference for clean government if this is at all possible.

Africa watch and learn!

Natives Hope Obama Will Be Their President, Too.

By Haider Rizvi from IPS

NEW YORK, Nov 24 (IPS) - During his election campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly said that he cared about the issues facing Native American communities and insisted that they could trust him — pledges that Native leaders are now watching closely as the president-elect appoints a new cabinet and fills other key federal posts.

So far, Obama has named six native political figures to his transition team — half of them assigned to assist in Interior Department policy, budget and personnel changes.

“We’re lucky to have such stellar representatives with people with whom Indian Country has really good relationships,” said Jacqueline Johnson-Pata, executive director of the National Congress of American Indians, a nonprofit organisation that represents more than 250 tribes.

Native advocates Mary Smith, Mary McNeil and Yvette Robideaux have been assigned to work on justice, agriculture and health issues, while three current and former attorneys with the Native American Rights Fund — John Echohawk, Keith Harper and Robert Anderson — will advise Obama on changes proposed within the Interior Department.

The Natives, also known as “American Indians”, have their own sovereign governments, which the United States recognises in accordance with its constitution and under treaty obligations. However, as the Native leaders observe, their communities have always suffered from inattention during the transition and early years of past U.S. administrations.

“If appointments and major policy decisions are delayed for extended periods, the long-term issues in Indian Country are left unaddressed and handed on to the next administration,” said Johnson-Pata. .

In her view, “any significant reform efforts must be planned during the transition and start at the beginning of an administration if they are to succeed.”

As he continued to reach out to new voting blocs past summer, Obama made a campaign stop at an Indian reservation in Montana, where he told the audience that, as an African-American, he identified with their struggles.

“I know what it’s like to not always have been respected or to have been ignored and I know what it’s like to struggle and that’s how I think many of you understand what’s happened here on the reservation,” Obama said.

In his speech, Obama added: “A lot of times you have been forgotten, just like African-Americans have been forgotten or other groups in this country have been forgotten.”

Statistics show that the indigenous communities, which constitute about one percent of the U.S. population, are among the most marginalised sections of society with regard to health care, education and employment.

In March 2006 and again in March 2008, a panel of U.N. experts analysed the U.S. government’s treatment of indigenous Americans and ruled that it was guilty of racial discrimination.

In its 2008 report, the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) also urged the U.S. to sign onto the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the current administration has continued to reject despite the fact it has been approved by a vast majority of the U.N. member states.

Indigenous rights activists say they hope that the Obama administration would endorse the declaration, which recognised the rights of the indigenous peoples around the world to control their lands and resources and be able to freely practice their belief systems and traditional values without interference from outside forces.

During the Nov. 4 presidential election, a vast majority of Native people voted for Obama, according to Frank LaMere of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, who led the American Indian delegation to the Democratic Convention.

“Obama has stood with us and it is now time that we stand with him,” he said in a statement, describing the Natives’ interest in the political process as unprecedented. “Indian country has responded to the Democratic message of change and the need for urgency.”

“We have many who go without because our leaders have failed us. This election means much to them. Obama understands this while others remain oblivious. Let us, as Native people, help him.”

On the campaign trail in Montana, Obama was adopted as an honourary member of the Crow tribe, a ceremony that native activists say is reserved for special dignitaries. On that occasion, he was given a new name, “Barack Black Eagle”.

Many activists fighting for the rights of indigenous people say they are hoping that the Obama administration would also re-examine the case of Leonard Peltier, the legendary hero of the American Indian Movement who has been behind bars for nearly four decades.

Peltier was arrested after a shootout between American Indian militants and federal agents in Pine Ridge in 1975. Some 60 natives were killed along with two FBI agents. Peltier has consistently refused to claim his innocence and considers his imprisonment an act of racism.

Over the years, a number of world-renowned figures, including the South African Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu, have called for Peltier’s release, but in vain. According to Amnesty International, Peltier is a “prisoner of conscience”.

Just three months before the election, Peltier sent a letter to the president-elect from his jail cell, expressing his interest in Obama’s candidacy. “Your election as president of the United States, where slaves and Indians were long considered less than human under the law, will undoubtedly constitute a historic moment in race relations in the United States,” he wrote.

However, at the same time, he did not hesitate to warn Obama against opportunism. “Symbolism alone will not bring about change,” wrote Peltier. “Our young people, black and Native alike, suffer from police brutality and racial profiling.”

“I am, however, concerned that your recent statement on the Sean Bell verdict, in which the New York police officers who fired 50 shots at a young man on the eve of his wedding were acquitted of criminal charges, displays a rather myopic view of the law,” said Peltier.

On April 26, when asked to explain his views on the case, Obama said: “Well, look, obviously there was a tragedy in New York. I said at the time, without benefit of all the facts before me that it looked like a possible case of excessive force. The judge has made his ruling, and we’re a nation of laws, so we respect the verdict that came down.”

That is not how the hero of the indigenous peoples of the land looks at how the U.S. political and legal system works.

“Until the law is harnessed to protect the victims of state violence and racism, it will serve as an instrument of repression, just as the slave codes functioned to sustain and legitimise an inhuman institution,” Peltier wrote in the letter.

***

Still, Obama has reached out more to the Native community than most others with presidential aspirations.

“We will never be able to undo the wrongs that were committed against Native Americans, but what we can do is make sure that we have a president who’s committed to doing what’s right with Native Americans, being full partners, respecting, honouring, working with you,” Obama told the Native crowd back in May.

“That’s the commitment that I’m making to you, and since now I’m a member of the family, you know that I won’t break my commitment.” he said. The question many Natives are now asking is: Will he?  

FDR vs. Reagan
By David Sirota, AlterNet. Posted October 31, 2008.

The final stretch of the Presidential race has become an ideological proxy war between Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt. So it has all come down to this.

After two years and a quarter-billion dollars worth of ads, the pulverizing election has become a steel-cage match pitting rivals against each other — and not Immigrants versus Natives, Americans versus Foreigners or Whites versus Blacks.

No, John McCain and Barack Obama have made the race’s final weeks an ideological proxy war between two presidential icons who still loom larger than them: Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt.

McCain promises to “follow in [Reagan's] tradition and in his footsteps” while vilifying Obama as a 1930s-era “socialist” looking to “redistribute wealth.” Obama counters by invoking Roosevelt’s speeches and depicting the financial meltdown as “the final verdict” on McCain’s “failed philosophy” (i.e., Reaganism).

***

Mind you, neither personifies these predecessors. Obama’s moderate record is not FDR’s quasi-socialism, and McCain has renounced some of his Reagan-inspired dogma.

Both also ignore inconsistencies. Obama criticizes the “failed philosophy” of Reagan conservatism while infusing some of his own prescriptions with such conservatism. McCain attacks Obama’s “socialism” after voting for the bank bailout bill — the most aggressive stroke of socialism in contemporary American history.

But all that is less important right now than the duo’s binary framing. They both effectively say a vote for McCain is a vote to continue Reagan’s trickle-down tax cuts and free-market fundamentalism, and a vote for Obama is a vote to resurrect Roosevelt’s regulations and redistributions. And because this choice has been made so clear — because we know what we’re voting on — whoever wins will have a huge mandate to implement the ideology he thematically represented.

That’s why conservatives are so worried.

They see the cause and effect: As McCain doubles down on the right’s economic catechism, Obama is surging. Even in traditional Gipper territory like Colorado and Virginia, the Rooseveltian Socialist is running ahead of Reagan Reincarnate.

Conservatives’ response is a preemptive “nah, nah, can’t hear you!” They contend that no matter how big progressives may win on Election Day, this is nonetheless a center-right nation. Indeed, a LexisNexis search shows this poll-tested term — “center-right nation” — is lately among the Punditburo’s most ubiquitous Orwellian buzzwords. From a Newsweek cover story by conservative dittohead Jon Meacham to a Wall Street Journal screed by former Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan to a Politico.com diatribe by former Rudy Giuliani aide John Avlon, the “center-right nation” phrase is being parroted with the propagandistic discipline of Cuba’s Ministry of Information.

The proof of this center-right nation? Republicans cite polls showing more Americans call themselves conservative than liberal. While that data point certainly measures brand name, those same surveys undermine the right’s larger argument because they show majorities support progressive positions on most economic issues.

Nevertheless, if Obama wins, expect more frantic talk from the fringe about how electing a black man billed as an Islamic Karl Marx obviously means our country is more conservative than ever. We’ll also be treated to hysterical assertions like those from former Bush aide Peter Wehner, who this week told the Washington Post that “it is a mistake to assume that significant GOP losses, should they occur, are a referendum on conservatism.”

But with the Bush era finely tuning America’s BS detector, repetition and revisionism can no longer cloak reality.

“As the Republican ticket continues to run against the very idea of progressive politics, they are sowing the seeds of the post-election realignment narrative,” writes The Atlantic’s Marc Ambinder, adding that a McCain loss in such an ideologically polarized contest means “Democrats can justifiably claim that conservatism itself has been rejected.”

That would be the very mandate for “direct, vigorous action” Roosevelt described in his 1933 inaugural address. Should a President Obama try to capitalize on it, he will have nothing to fear but fear itself.

———————

David Sirota is a best-selling author whose newest book, “The Uprising,” was just released this month. He is a fellow at the Campaign for America’s Future and a board member of the Progressive States Network — both nonpartisan organizations. His blog is at www.credoaction.com

Evangelicals and Rural Americans Are Breaking Big for Obama: A mass defection from the Republican Party may be underway in counties that were once GOP strongholds. Call it the reverse Bradley Effect.

By Robert S. Eshelman, Tomdispatch.com. Posted October 30, 2008.

There’s clearly a new political landscape forming in the U.S. That’s what the polls are telling us. It’s not just that the first major-party black candidate for President is leading by significant margins in the national polls; it’s not just that North Dakota, a state George W. Bush won in 2004 by 64%, is believed to be “in play”; it’s not just that Virginia which, like North Dakota, was last carried by a Democrat in the sweep year of 1964, is, according to the most recent Washington Post poll and others, in the Obama camp by at least 8 points, or that he’s leading in a remarkable number of states Bush took in 2004, or even that Democratic Senate and House candidates are making a run of it in previously ridiculous places.

(a) Consider, instead, three recent polls in the context of the Bush years. Obama and McCain are now in a “statistical dead heat” among born-again evangelicals, those Rovian foot soldiers of two successful Bush elections, according to a recent survey; and the same seems to be true in Sarah Palin’s “real America,” those rural and small town areas she’s praised to the skies.

(b) According to a poll commissioned by the Center for Rural Strategies, in those areas which Bush won in 2004 by 53%-41%, Obama now holds a statistically insignificant one point lead.

(c) To complete this little trifecta, Gallup has just released a poll showing that Jews are now likely to vote for Obama by a more than 3 to 1 majority (74% to 22%).

If present projections come close to holding, this could prove to be a rare reconfiguring or turning-point election — as Wall Street expert Steve Fraser first suggested might be possible at TomDispatch way back in February 2007. If so, the Republican Party, only recently besotted by dreams of a generational Pax Republicana, might find itself driven back into the deep South and deep West for who knows how long, “an extremist rump, reduced to a few stronghold states and obsessed with causes that seem not to matter to the general public.”

Among the remaining unknowns in this election, of course, are the intertwined issues of class and race. In this regard, few places have been more closely examined than parts of Pennsylvania, a battleground state in which polls show John McCain significantly behind, but which he must capture if he hopes to win this election, and a place where working-class, as well as possibly racist, “Hillary voters” were supposed to be especially strong. Ever since the primaries, reporters have been tromping the state in search of them. Today, TomDispatch has an interesting twist on such articles. We’ve sent a home-town boy back to Pennsylvania to offer a more personal view of the race there — and the news isn’t good for the future of the Republican Party. — Introduction by TomDispatch editor, Tom Engelhardt.
 http://www.alternet.org/election08/10526…

Environment on AlterNet.
October 21st, 2008
 http://www.alternet.org/environment

___________________________________________________________

From the editors:
AlterNet has now rolled out voter guides for all our issue areas to help you make informed decisions in the upcoming election — just two weeks to go. Below is our enviro guide and you can also find a guide specifically for water issues in our Water section. Where do the candidates stand on different strains of energy policy? How about clean water? Green jobs? Check out the voter guides.

We’ve also got some great election and economy related content this week — the big topics of the day, including some words that Michael Pollan has for the next president.

Thanks for reading,

Tara Lohan, Managing Editor
___________________________________________________________

SAVING THE ENVIRONMENT MAY BE OUR BEST HOPE FOR THE ECONOMY — ELECTION GUIDE
AlterNet
From climate change to energy independence, a look at where
the candidates stand on this year’s top 10 environmental
issues.
 http://www.alternet.org/environment/1019…

ENVIRONMENTAL FAILURE: A RUINED PLANET IS CLOSER TO REALITY
By James Gustave Speth, Yale Environment 360
Environmental groups have grown in strength and
sophistication, but the environment has continued to go
downhill. Why?
 http://www.alternet.org/environment/1038…

HOW THE ECONOMIC CRISIS WILL AFFECT THE ENVIRONMENT
By Michael T. Klare, Huffington Post
Will the crisis be good or bad for the environment,
especially with respect to global warming?
 http://www.alternet.org/environment/1038…

CLIMATE CHANGE THREATENS TO DRY UP THE SOUTHWEST’S FUTURE
By Jason Mark, Earth Island Journal
The abundant water and cheap energy that have fueled the
Southwest’s transformation are starting to dry up.
 http://www.alternet.org/environment/1033…

DEAR MR. NEXT PRESIDENT — FOOD, FOOD, FOOD
By Michael Pollan, The New York Times
We must move into the post-oil era to improve the health of
the American people and to mitigate climate change.
 http://www.alternet.org/environment/1026…

THE MELTDOWN WE REALLY CAN’T AFFORD
By Kerry Trueman, AlterNet
We are in danger of passing an extremely dangerous tipping
point, with the frightening discovery of massive deposits of
sub-sea methane in the Arctic.
 http://www.alternet.org/water/102351/

India’s humble rickshaw goes solar.
by Elizabeth Roche Mon Oct 13, 2008.   NEW DELHI (AFP) – It’s been touted as a solution to urban India’s traffic woes, chronic pollution and fossil fuel dependence, as well as an escape from backbreaking human toil. A state-of-the-art, solar powered version of the humble cycle-rickshaw promises to deliver on all this and more.

The “soleckshaw,” unveiled this month in New Delhi, is a motorised cycle rickshaw that can be pedalled normally or run on a 36-volt solar battery.

Developed by the state-run Centre for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), prototypes are receiving a baptism of fire by being road-tested in Old Delhi’s Chandni Chowk area.

One of the city’s oldest and busiest markets, dating back to the Moghul era, Chandni Chowk comprises a byzantine maze of narrow, winding streets, choked with buses, cars, scooters, cyclists and brave pedestrians.

“The most important achievement will be improving the lot of rickshaw drivers,” said Pradip Kumar Sarmah, head of the non-profit Centre for Rural Development.

“It will dignify the job and reduce the labour of pedalling. From rickshaw pullers, they will become rickshaw drivers,” Sarmah said.

India has an estimated eight million cycle-rickshaws.

The makeover includes FM radios and powerpoints for charging mobile phones during rides.

Gone are the flimsy metal and wooden frames that give the regular Delhi rickshaws a tacky, sometimes dubious look.

The “soleckshaw,” which has a top speed of 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) per hour, has a sturdier frame and sprung, foam seats for up to three people.

The fully-charged solar battery will power the rickshaw for 50 to 70 kilometres (30 to 42 miles). Used batteries can be deposited at a centralised solar-powered charging station and replaced for a nominal fee.

If the tests go well, the “soleckshaw” will be a key transport link between sporting venues at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in New Delhi.

“Rickshaws were always environment friendly. Now this gives a totally new image that would be more acceptable to the middle-classes,” said Anumita Roychoudhary of the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment.

“Rickshaws have to be seen as a part of the solution for modern traffic woes and pollution. They have never been the problem. The problem is the proliferation of automobiles using fossil fuels,” she said.

Initial public reaction to the “soleckshaw” has been generally favourable, and the rickshaw pullers have few doubts about its benefits.

“Pedalling the rickshaw was very difficult for me,” said Bappa Chatterjee, 25, who migrated to the capital from West Bengal and is one of the 500,000 pullers in Delhi.

“I used to suffer chest pains and shortage of breath going up inclines. This is so much easier.

“Earlier, when people hailed us it was like, ‘Hey you rickshaw puller!’ Police used to harass us, slapping fines even abusing us for what they called wrong parking. Now people look at me with respect,” Chatterjee said.

Mohammed Matin Ansari, another migrant from eastern Bihar state, said the new model offered parity with car, bus and scooter drivers.

“Now we are as good as them,” he said.

Indian authorities have big dreams for the “soleckshaw.”

India’s Science and Technology Minister Kapil Sibal who hailed the invention for its “zero carbon foot print” said it should be used beyond the confines of Delhi.

“Soleckshaws would be ideal for small families visiting the Taj Mahal,” he told AFP.

At present battery-operated buses ferry people to the iconic monument in Agra — but their limited numbers cannot cope with the heavy tourist rush.

CSIR director Sinha said he hoped an advanced version of the “soleckshaw” with a car-like body would become a viable alternative to the “small car” favoured by Indian middle class families.

“Greenhouse gas emissions are showing an increasing trend year on year and 60 percent of this comes from the global transport sector.

“In the age of global warming, the soleckshaw, with improvements, can be successfully developed as competition for all the petrol and diesel run small cars,” Sinha said.

 The Previous posting was September 30, 2008. Now, after the weekend that saw Washington “Get To Its Senses”thanks to an infusion of ideas from G7 Finance Ministers, Central Bank Officials, and other European leaders, who came to the WB/IMF yearly enclave in Washington, and actually told the Americans that things have to be run for the sake of the people, rather then for the sake of the stock-holders and managers. It is only when the people’s interests are cared for, that the health of the banks will return – finally the US was ready to move on the re-capitalization of the banks.   Call it what you want – but this is a guarantee that the National interest is now at stake – not just the jobs of the managers – so, at these depressed prices, the Spaniards, who did not lose from the Americanization of the global useless paper market because their regulations did not allow such deals, and who already expanded two weeks earlier into the UK, are now buying into the US. Simple enough – they say that the US is seen as a higher growth market than Western Europe, despite the possibility of a US recession. Obviously, that is only so if you do not try short cuts, and earn rather your gains from work, not gimmicks. The US needs this money inflow and the Bush Adminstration is guaranteeing these investments.

So, Santander Bank is now buying up Sovereign Bancorp Inc, and their competitors from BBVA (Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, got already two Texas Banks   and now get Compass Bancshares Inc, of Birmingham Alabama with 400 branches from Florida to Arizona.

 

The Big Question: Why are Spanish banks in such “rude” health when ours (that is the UK) are ailing?
By Elizabeth Nash, The Independent,
Tuesday,   September 30, 2008.

Why are we asking this now?

Spain’s biggest banking group, Santander, yesterday galloped to the rescue of Bradford and Bingley, the latest British bank to hit the skids, saving it from bankruptcy and probably further economic meltdown.

Why is a Spanish bank so keen to expand into Britain?

It’s part of Santander’s grand plan to become the world’s top bank. It is already the leading bank in the Eurozone, No1 in Latin America, and seventh in the world by market share. Once it’s consolidated its presence in the British market, it plans to conquer the US. Growth is its watchword. “The aim is to be second to none,” the bank says in its characteristically immodest way.

Hasn’t Santander already established quite a presence in Britain?

Yes, it chummed up with the Royal Bank of Scotland in 1988 and got a seat on the board, which gave Santander a window on the world that was invaluable when it developed ambitions of international expansion.

Four years ago it acquired Abbey National, and it is still digesting Alliance & Leicester which it bought for a song in July. You have to remember that the Banco Santander began as a local family-run operation in the northern Spanish city whose name it bears. There’s not much it doesn’t know about how small regional banks work.

So who is the guiding hand behind this grand invasion?

Santander is run by the charismatic Emilio Botin, 73, the latest patriarch of this great Spanish banking dynasty, an astute predator steeped in the business to his fingertips. At the pinnacle of the most powerful business operation in Spain, he is arguably the country’s most influential man. When Botin endorsed Spain’s incoming socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in 2004, a jittery stock market calmed down instantly.

How has Santander got this far?

The bank has a record of homing in on distressed banks, even lumbering shareholders with apparently hopeless liabilities, as when it scooped up Spain’s Banesto bank in 1995, when it was a multimillion pound black hole ruined by a reckless fraudster. Botin put his daughter Ana Patricia – who will probably succeed when the old man eventually retires – in charge of the operation and she turned it round within five years.

Santander then swallowed Banco Central Hispano in 1995, which enabled it enter the turbulent Latin American market, to the alarm of more cautious operators. Within 10 years Santander consolidated itself as the top bank in the region, and turned its attention to Europe.

How has Santander avoided being savaged by the banking crisis?

Not only has Santander weathered the storm, it has spectacularly benefited from it, announcing 9bn euros profit this year, a staggering 19.3 per cent improvement on last year.

Two reasons, really: first the Spanish banking system is very strictly regulated, largely as a result of a devastating crisis that shook the country’s banking industry in the 1970s, and sent many regional and family banks to the wall. The Bank of Spain imposes iron controls in assuming high-risk assets, and insists that ordinary customers be protected from their vagaries. Second, Santander concentrates on retail banking – the unsexy stuff of high-street branches, current accounts and savings deposits – rather than investment banking, or anything fancier. The bank reckons its business is therefore largely immune from market swings.

Santander never got embroiled in dodgy loans or toxic mortgages, which it regarded as too complicated and unacceptably risky. While the world financial system juddered under the fallout of subprime loans, Sanatander declared its exposure to high-risk mortgages as “zero”. Botin loftily told his shareholders, “We don’t have those strange things.”

So how do Spaniards get their mortgages?

Mortgages in Spain are mostly handled by savings banks, which aren’t quoted on the stock exchange. Some of these became over-generous in dishing out loans during the recent long property boom, and since the bubble burst many face liquidity problems.

Spain’s banking supremos are in general an austere, cautious lot, with none of the buccaneering recklessness of many international counterparts. They are rich, of course, but frugal and philanthropic. If the Botins appear in public, it’s probably to endow a university or science park. You will never see them in the pages of Hola!

So how did Santander come out on top?

As well as knowing the market inside out, Santander’s top brass, ie Mr Botin, the indusputed boss, has an astute sense of market timing. Last year the bank conducted the real estate operation of the century by selling off all its 1,200 properties at the peak of the property boom, including wedding cake palaces in the heart of Spain’s major cities. Pulled off just before the market crashed, the deal netted Santander 4bn euros – which neatly funded last year’s purchase, jointly with its affiliate the Royal Bank of Scotland, of the Dutch bank ABN Amro. It cannily held on to all its branches, however – the bits that make money – and even remains tenant of the properties it sold, with an option to buy back in the future.

How will Santander’s increased presence affect Britain’s high-street banks?

We can expect to see more of Santander’s scarlet flame logo as the old names Abbey, Alliance& Leicester and Bradford&Bingley gradually fade away. In acquiring B&B – as in all its acquisitions – the Spanish bank has been careful to peel away and sell off the liabilities it doesn’t want, to home in on the elements of its core business: branches, and bank deposits.

So having lots of branches is the key to banking success?

That’s the Santander way. It may seem like boring stuff to braver bankers, but Santander believes we need more branches – in Spain there’s a bank on every street corner – and that these are the source of steady money, what Mr Botin calls “high-quality, recurrent earnings”. However, Santander is ruthless in stripping out what he doesn’t need, so bank employees may fear for their jobs.

Will Santander be satisfied, or will it want more of the British market?

History suggests Santander will be eager for another good bargain, especially in the current landscape of smouldering wreckage. The predatory Mr Botin, his coffers plumped with cash, must already be on the alert for further acquisitions, if not immediately. But this is the best moment for him. As he put it recently: “In times of crisis, being better than the others is a big advantage.”

So will the B&B takeover benefit British consumers?

Yes

*Santander has saved B&B from ruin, and account holders can feel their savings and deposits are safe.

*Santander’s low risk policy suggests it will be a steadying influence on Britain’s future banking scene.

*Without Santander’s action, the alternative could have been a wider meltdown too awful to contemplate.

No

*Santander’s move reinforces the concentration of Britain’s banks in the hands of a powerful few.

*Santander has a mixed reputation for its service, and it is strong enough to brush off complaints.

*Savings are better handled by local building societies than by banks answerable only to shareholders.

 e.nash at independent.co.uk

===========

Some of our pointers – A Socialist Prime Minister in Spain; A retreat from Iraq; A US Presidential candidate – John McCain who seemingly thought Spain was an enemy of the US for not following Washington’s edicts like many other lemmings.

Mr. Botin will not laugh, he will not even chuckle – he will just go about his solid business and will not eat chuff. His daughter will take over after him – a solid Spanish woman – He backed Zapatero rather then a Sarah Palin.

Further, we know Bank Santander in New York – among its many philanthropies right here – it is also the host for many solid meetings of the New York based “Foreign Policy Association.”   The Bank Manager in the US comes to listen and mingle with the crowd.

We bring here the material e-mailed to the Thunderbird Alumni Network of which we are a ‘75 Class Member.                                                                                                                                                                                                         Thunderbird’s full-time MBA was ranked in 2008 No. 1 in the world for international business by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and U.S. News & World Report, and                       its Working   Executive MBA Program was Ranked No. 3 Worldwide in the Wall Street Journal 2008 Rankings.

Thoughts on Wall Street

Thunderbird Professor and Director of the Global Financial Services Center, F. John Mathis, recently shared his insight and thoughts on the current situation in the banking industry and its impact on the financial services sector. This informal session was presented on campus and was recorded for viewing by alumni.

To view the presentation, please click the following link:
http://www.my.thunderbird.edu/files/content/144411/John_Mathis.wmv

Thunderbird in the News

Want to know what others are saying about Thunderbird? Click here for Thunderbird in the News.

——————————

Executive MBA Program Ranked No. 3 Worldwide

Many working professionals hungry for world-class international management education commute from neighboring states and even the East Coast to participate in Thunderbird’s Executive MBA program, which was ranked No. 3 in a new global survey released Sept. 30 by the Wall Street Journal.

Thunderbird’s full-time MBA ranked No. 1 in the world for international business by the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and U.S. News & World Report. The latest rankings focus on executive MBA programs, which cater to working professionals through formats such as concentrated weekend classes. The new Wall Street Journal report was based on surveys with thousands of students and hundreds of companies.

For the full story, click here.

To view the rankings, visit: http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/st_EMBARank_20080929.html

To read the Wall Street Journal report, visit: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122244975223379303.html

 Added on September 20, 2008

Those who doubt the sincerity of McCain’s enthusiasm for regulating the banking industry (which would have prevented last week’s 400 billion dollar freefall – to be more exact – the nearing 1.5 trillin dollars tax-payers’ expenditure or $7,500 per every man, woman or child), have reason to be suspicious.

Here’s a quote from John McCain’s article, Better Health Care at Lower Cost for Every American, in the Sept./Oct. issue of Contingencies, the magazine of the American Academy of Actuaries:

“Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.”

So McCain, who now poses as the scourge of Wall Street, was praising financial deregulation like 10 seconds ago — and promising that if we marketwise health care, it will perform as well as the financial industry! How could he be different from the prevailing anti-government or anti-regulatory mainstream of the Republican party when he made former Senator Phill Gramm his chief economic adviser – the man who has done most in breaking down the security firewalls that were established with the experience of the Great Depression in mind?

Also -

NEW MCCAIN ATTACKS ECHO ROVE ADVICE
By Sam Stein, Huffington Post
Is John McCain’s campaign taking political directives on how
to handle the current economic crisis from Karl Rove?
 http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/9955…

IS PALIN PLANNING ON BEING THE NEXT DICK CHENEY?
By Steve Benen, Washington Monthly
Her history doesn’t show a love of transparent government,
and now she won’t answer whether she considers the VP to be
part of the Executive Branch.
 http://www.alternet.org/blogs/election08…

PALIN’S SELF-RELIANT IMAGE OF ALASKA IS BOGUS
By David Morris, AlterNet
Palin is trying to appeal to the self-reliant,
anti-government voters while her state is the most dependent
on government pork.
 http://www.alternet.org/election08/98817…

VAN JONES: WE CAN’T DRILL OUR WAY OUT OF OUR ENERGY PROBLEMS
By Van Jones, AlterNet
In an electrifying speech, Van Jones explains that we have
to invent and invest our way out of the economic and
environmental crises.
 http://www.alternet.org/environment/9955…

————————-

The original September 19th posting:

From:      ddboyle at live.com
Subject: McCain Antagonizes Spain Rather than Admit Misunderstanding a Question
Date: September 19, 2008

How far will McCain go to avoid admitting he didn’t hear or understand a question? Apparently, he’d sooner antagonize a NATO ally than admit he was winging his response to an interviewer’s question, a question that he obviously didn’t hear or understand.

In an English-language interview with Radio Caracol WSUA 1260AM in Miami, the journalist asked McCain if he would invite Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero to the White House. McCain responded that he would extend friendship to all friendly Latin American nations. The journalist repeated her question, pointing out that she had asked about Spain. McCain then repeated that leaders of all friendly Latin American nations would be treated cordially, and that those who are not friendly to the US will be dealt with harshly. The journalist once again tried to steer McCain to her question, which, as she pointed out yet again, was about the Prime Minister of Spain, not a nation in Latin America. McCain again repeated his response.

When all puzzled and concerned parties followed up on this exchange, they fully expected McCain to perhaps say that the journalist’s accent was too thick to understand, or that the phone call connection was fuzzy, or even that he was a little confused about whom the woman was asking about. Instead, the McCain camp insisted that McCain knew very well whom he was talking about, and did indeed mean to lump the Spanish Prime Minister into the same category as the leaders of Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela. This is nonsense, because recently, McCain stated that he would invite the Spanish Prime Minister to the White House. McCain does not at all believe that the Spanish government is belligerent to the U.S. But McCain chose to rewrite America’s relationship to this important NATO ally, rather than admit he didn’t hear a question.

SOURCES:
 http://voices.washingtonpost.com/the-tra…

 http://www.politico.com/blogs/jonathanma…

 http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archiv…

 http://technorati.com/posts/KZ68n9mWEruP…

 http://www.americablog.com/2008/09/mccai…

The Video:
 http://tpmtv.talkingpointsmemo.com/2008/…

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It is clear – McCain did not hear. I sympathize with him – I also do not hear well anymore – but then I do not run for President and he does. Further, he clearly did not chose a stand-in future replacement for running mate – he preferred a fast-draw political advantage maker. That was his first Presidential decision and he failed the test. His handling of the Spanish question proves the point and his people’s debacle at the gates of the UN – in the Palin/Ahmedinejad/ Hillary conundrum shows that there is no present thinking that goes beyond November 4, 2008.

Then, Obama thought perhaps too much about the time he will have to manage the world out of his oval room – and worried too little about how he will get there? Was his Hillary decision responsible for giving, birth out of the Alaska oil, to the Sarah – Venus? We would have picked Governor Bill Richardson, have faced frontally the American prejudice for “real outsiders” and have left McCain the only possible choice – pick an outsider of quality.

From:      info_bwc at betterworldcampaign.org
Subject: The McCain-Palin Visit to the United Nations
Date: September 19, 2008

Next Tuesday, the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly opens and President George W. Bush will address the assembly for the last time. Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin are expected to be on hand to meet with world leaders. Their visit is a high-profile opportunity to highlight the importance of a strong U.S.-UN relationship in the years ahead.

The Better World Campaign and our sister organization, the United Nations Foundation, are working together on an ad for Tuesday‘s New York Times.

With all eyes on New York next week during the General Assembly, this is a unique opportunity to help encourage a renewed U.S. leadership role at the UN and to foster international cooperation in support of a better, safer world.

This ad outlines specific steps the next Administration can take to strengthen the U.S. relationship with the UN.

The proponent included here – “(we are also sending our memo to Senators Barack Obama and Joe Biden)” – which makes it clear that the McCain/Palin team is the Bush intended follow up to the Bush/Palin team and the Obama/Biden team are the the only reform/changehope for the US and the world.

So what are the ideas that the UN Foundation/Better World Campaign have in mind for their paid advertisement?

“International cooperation through the United Nations is needed now more than ever to combat global climate change, promote peace and reduce the proliferation of nuclear weapons, and ease poverty and disease around the world. Working together is not only necessary to overcome the world’s challenges, it also ensures that no nation has to bear all the risks, burdens, or costs of achieving a safer, more prosperous world.”

We Say Yes To The Above – But Please Don’t Put All Your Eggs Into The UN Baskett.

 WIP on our website means WORK IN PROGRESS – that is an unfinished posting – work to be continued.

The UPDATE is that the organizers of the Monday, September 22, 2008, 11:45 am, rain or shine, rally at the Dag Hammarskjold Plaza (across from the UN): “STAND UNITED IN THE FACE OF NUCLEAR THREATS AND HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES” against the Ahmedinejad regime of Iran, with Ahmedinejad present at the time inside the UN building and spewing his “HOLY HATRED” against the Jewish Israel and the US in general, has now dis-invited any US political figures from speaking at that rally.

The above was done as a face saving solution for the fact that Mr. Hoenlein and his fellow Jewish-Republican activists had invited Sarah Palin, the Governor of Alaska and GOP candidate for the US Vice-presidency, to share the podium with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton in order to give Ms. Palin credibility in the eyes of women voters in the US. Not just Jewish-Republican women – but women in general – who were supposed to listen that she will present similar ideas to Hillary – ergo she is a stand in for Hillary in this US internal competition for the Presidency. This ploy was insane and the rescinding of the invitation to Palin, coupled with stopping all American political figures of well known position in above matters is insane as well.

Simply said, the Hoenlein leadership and his purported representation of American Jewry has been put in question – the American Jews deserve much better then he can deliver. Sorry the organization called President of Presidents – the ego is inflated – the test is in the delivery – it is failing the people.

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The original September 17, 2008 posting:

Hillary Rodham Clinton: As Palin Joins Planned Protest Against Iran, Clinton Cancels.
September 17, 2008, The Washington Post online – By Colum Lynch.
NEW YORK — Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton dropped out of a planned rally outside the United Nations next week after learning that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin would also be in the crowd protesting the appearance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

The rally — which includes prominent political and religious leaders, including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel — is being organized by a coalition of American Jewish organizations, under the umbrella group the National Coalition to Stop Iran Now.

Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, said that Clinton accepted the invitation to the rally back in August, before Palin was part of the Republican presidential ticket. “We had approached Republican leaders because we wanted to have this event on a nonpartisan basis.” The Republicans offered up Palin today, he said.

Hoenlein said that Clinton had been informed of Palin’s plans to attend the Monday protest, adding that she had no intention of pulling out.

But Clinton aides told the Associated Press tonight that they learned of Palin’s involvement only when informed by reporters.

“Her attendance was news to us, and this was never billed to us as a partisan political event,” Clinton spokesman Philippe Reines told the AP. “Senator Clinton will therefore not be attending.”

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Hoenlein did not immediately return messages seeking comment about Clinton’s dropping out. Nor did other organizers of the rally.

A GOP campaign official said only that Palin tentatively planned to attend the rally, but by Wednesday morning, the McCain-Palin campaign had pounced on Clinton’s withdrawal and was using Palin’s scheduled appearance to try to pressure Clinton to attend after all.

“Governor Palin believes that the danger of a nuclear Iran is greater than party or politics. She hopes that all parties can rally together in opposition to this grave threat,” said McCain-Palin spokeswoman Tracey Schmitt.

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The following comes all from the New York Sun of Friday,September 19, 2008 – a paper that is solid Republican and presents the best party-line in an intelligent fashion – so we are happy to use it for reference in all matters except when the subjects are the oil industry, the use of oil, or the conundrum of global warming/climate change. In those areas the New York Sun has never seen sense in anything that does not favor the oil folks.

On the present issue of Jewish-Republicans running roughshod over interests of the Jewish People – The Sun can be counted on of taking a true journalistic position.

New York journalism would be poorer if The Sun is allowed to go under – and the paper may be in financial difficulty surviving beyond the November elections.

Palin says war with Russia could be NATO option: Republican vice-presidential candiate Sarah Palin has outlined her hawkish views on Russia and the Caucasus.

VALENTINA POP, EUobserver, September 12, 2008.

US Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has backed Georgia’s NATO membership in a television interview, while leaving open the option of war with Russia if it were to attack a NATO ally.

In an interview with ABC News, Ms Palin was asked whether the United States would have to go to war with Russia if it invaded Georgia, and the country was part of NATO, Ms Palin said: “Perhaps so.”

“I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally – if another country is attacked, you’re going to be expected to be called upon and help,” she explained in her first television interview since becoming Republican John McCain’s running mate two weeks ago.

Ms Palin, currently governor of Alaska, said she supported NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia – a move Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin strongly opposes. It was America’s responsibility to be “vigilant” against a larger power invading smaller democracies, she said, while stressing: “We will not repeat a Cold War.”

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NATO-Georgia Commission on Monday

Georgia is currently a NATO partner, but was not granted a Membership Action Plan (MAP) – as official membership candidate status is termed – at this year’s NATO summit in Bucharest.

However, following the Russian invasion, NATO decided on 19 August to establish a new NATO-Georgia Commission, which will inaugurate its work in Tbilisi on Monday with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and ambassadors from the 26 Alliance’s member states.

“We won’t supply arms to the Georgians, but we will help them develop their own military potential,” NATO spokesperson James Appathurai said, Gazeta Wyborcza reports, adding that the ambassadors will fly there using a Polish government plane.

Russian threats against Europe

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned on Thursday (11 September) in Sochi that tensions between Russia and the EU may well worsen if the planned US missile defense shield is deployed in Poland, threatening yet once more to point Russian missiles at European targets.

On the same day, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met his Polish counterpart in Warsaw, saying that “Poland is not a threat to Russia, but we can’t ignore the fact it’s an integral part of the US strategic system.”

Mr Putin fiercely defended Russia’s invasion of Georgia, accusing the West of “anti-Russian hysteria” and saying that if this military operation had not been carried out, it would have been like Russia “getting a bloody nose and hanging its head down.”

Russia wanted a constructive relationship with the European Union, but only if the new “realities” were taken into account, he said.

Mr Putin accused the Bush administration of “not doing anything about stopping the conflict,” a feeling he got when speaking to the US president at the Olympic Games in China and which prompted him to send tanks into Georgia.

In Beijing, he had already raised the question of Russia recognising Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent territories with the Chinese government, and told them Russia did not expect Chinese support, which suggests Moscow was already planning to recognise the two enclaves, the BBC reports.

Putin also made clear that Russia could easily have occupied the Georgian capital and toppled its president, Mikhail Saakashvili, despite earlier claims of the Russian army being close to the Georgian capital as an exaggeration in the Western media.

“Our forces were 15 kilometres from Tbilisi. It would have taken four hours to capture Tbilisi. We didn’t have that goal,” he said.

Palin Code Name: ‘Denali’

By Anne E. Kornblut, The Washington Post, September 10, 2008.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — The Secret Service has selected a fitting enough code name for Gov. Sarah Palin: “Denali,” same as the Alaska national park and preserve famed for its mountain peaks and wildlife.

Perhaps even more perfect is their code name for former oil slope worker Todd Palin — “Driller.” McCain and Palin have made drilling for oil a central part of their platform, so much so that “Drill, baby, drill!” is now a regular McCain-Palin rally chant.

The names aren’t exactly state secrets; although the Secret Service doesn’t advertise them, the names are generally symbolic, with the service relying on more sophisticated methods to safeguard protectees. McCain is “Phoenix” and his wife Cindy is “Parasol.” Sen. Barack Obama is codenamed “Renegade,” while his wife, Michelle — in keeping with the theme of selecting code names for spouses that begin with the same letter — is “Renaissance.”

Sen. Joe Biden’s handle remains unknown, though he has joked he’s so boring it could just be plain old “Joe.”

Denali is word that comes up with some frequency in the commercial world.

It’s the name of a luxury model of GMC SUVs, the great Mastodon from “Gumby” and a computer project that “enables hosts to safety execute untrusted applications,” particularly in “virtual machines,” according to The University of Washington.

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Sarah Palin – A Warm Welcome for Palin in Alaska.
By Anne E. Kornblut, Washington Post, September 1o, 2008.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Nearly two weeks after being whisked away as John McCain’s surprise running mate, Gov. Sarah Palin stepped off the plane here on Wednesday night to a hero’s welcome — received by hundreds of cheering Alaskans, a massive banner, “Welcome Home Sarah!” strung outside the airport hangar.

“What a trip it’s been,” Palin said, energetically taking the podium here. “I cannot wait until you meet John McCain!” She more than once described McCain as a “friend of Alaska.”

An eclectic crowd — including women wearing large plastic lips, an unmistakable jab at Sen. Barack Obama after his remarks that McCain is trying to put “lipstick on a pig” — returned the enthusiasm, chanting her name. Outside the event, however, protesters gathered, including one who carried a sign that read, “Palin is an Unqualified Opportunist.”

Palin made the journey to Fairbanks on a private campaign plane with “McCain-Palin” emblazoned on the side, landing just before 8 p.m. local time. She is spending the night here in order to attend a deployment ceremony for her eldest son, Track, on Thursday, as he heads to serve in Iraq.

Even on the friendliest imaginable turf, Palin delivered roughly her same stump speech at her first solo campaign rally — a version of the speech she gave at the convention a week before — and used both written notes and a teleprompter to do so. She digressed only to note how incredible Alaska’s role in national politics has become, and to half-apologize for arriving by such fancy transport.

“Even the state’s luxury jet — it’s sold,” she said, citing her accomplishments as governor. Then, looking out at her campaign plane, she added, “I say that, hopefully not sounding hypocritical, as you watch me walk off that.