Why Fly When You Can Float?  Behemoths in the Air - A New Age for Dirigible.

ZLT Zeppelin Luftschifftechnik

for details please see:

 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/05/busine…

Saturday, July 5, 2008 about the G8 SUMMIT 2008

Space monster attack to upstage worldly woes at G8?

SAPPORO (Kyodo) -  A science-fiction movie targeting the Group of Eight summit next week in Toyako, Hokkaido, will debut in the prefecture’s theaters Saturday, allowing a beast from outer space to wreak havoc on world leaders.

Cinematic relief: Girara, a monstrous beast from outer space, wreaks havoc on Sapporo in a scene distributed from the movie “Girara no Gyakushu” (”Girara Strikes Back”), which debuts Saturday ahead of the G-8 summit in Hokkaido.
The movie, “Girara no Gyakushu” (”Girara Strikes Back”), is a remake of the 1967 movie “Girara” but with a contemporary parody touch. In the plot, Girara attacks Sapporo while the G8 leaders meet in Toyako. The summit then changes its agenda to contemplate steps to stop Girara, according to the movie’s official Web site.

The movie also includes a scene where the Japanese prime minister, Sanzo Ibe, takes sick leave from the summit after suffering from a bowel problem. Then the G8 chair is taken over by Ibe’s predecessor, Junzaburo Oizumi.

Another scene involves an attempt by a “dictatorial state in the north” to fire a Potedong-55 nuclear missile at the monster.

Director Minoru Kawasaki said he initially conceived the attack taking place in Tokyo but later chose Toyako after it became the G8 venue.

Following the early release in Hokkaido, the movie will show nationwide starting from July 26.

 from: <eban@lclark.edu>
July 3, 2008

Dear friends,

Focus the Nation is supporting PowerVote, a terrific national campaign by Energy Action to engage young people around climate change in the fall election. Please forward widely this call for participation at the PowerVote training camp in August. The deadline for applications is JULY 7th.

Meanwhile, Focus is also HIRING organizers to build Focus the Nation 2009, and help save the future- based out of our office here in Portland.  Check out our job ad and apply today!

Along with Hunter Lovins, Winona LaDuke, Steve Schneider and others, Eban will be speaking at the Rothbury music festival outside of Grand Rapids this weekend—the festival is sponsoring an exciting “think-tank” focused on global warming solutions.

Thanks for the work you are doing.

Eban Goodstein, Project Director
Chungin Chug, Communications Director

POWERVOTE  — please forward widely

Dear Educators,

We need your help in finding amazing young student leaders who are interested in having the chance to build a strong set of organizing and campaign skills and who are interesting in playing a pivotal role in our nation’s historic upcoming election.  Last fall we all came together to make Power Shift 2007 a reality - over 6,000 young people came to Washington DC for a life-changing weekend to learn and take action on  the defining issue of our generation, global warming.  They listened to thought provoking panels, sat-in on informative workshops and stormed Capitol Hill for the largest lobby day on global warming ever.  It took all of us to make this happen, and we all contributed in our own way, from advising students, organizing campus groups or just passing the word on.  We want to say THANK YOU to each and every one of you, and also ask you for your help as we set-off on our next great big endeavor.

With the election season in full swing there are huge opportunities to have discussions with young people about global warming, our future and civic engagement - that’s why we’ve launched Power Vote  http://www.powervote.org), a national campaign to turn up the volume on climate change in the elections and engage millions of young people on the issue.  Between now and November, we’ll be out on the campaign trail asking the candidates what their plan is on global warming, educate young people on candidates positions on the issue, and continue to build a broad and diverse movement to fight for a clean and just energy future.

We are currently looking for young leaders who would be interested in working on the Power Vote campaign, and we would love your help in identifying these people.  To prepare them for the fall and beyond, the Energy Action Coalition is hosting a MEGA training camp lead by the exceptional trainers at Wellstone Action.  Selected students and youth will get to participate in a life-changing intensive five-day training, which will equip them with many essential skills to organize and strategically campaign for change.  We have registration fee-waivers and travel scholarships available.  We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone.  You can find out more about the training here: http://energyactioncoalition.org/powervo…

We are currently looking for applicants and it would be a great help if you could pass the information below to any young person who you think would be interested, and pass it onto listservs and other forums.  The application deadline is July 7th, so please spread the word soon.

Thanks again!
Arthur, Brianna, Madeline, Ragini, Jessy, Kassie, Whit, and the whole Energy Action team

Focus News
Forty Percent of Car Trips are within two miles of your home: Take Clif Bar’s Two-Mile Challenge and ride or walk instead! Check it out.
Nike rejoins Focus for 2009. Nike brings to Focus the Nation over a decade of business commitment to global warming solutions on a global scale. Watch for future info about our partnership to green campus athletics.
Join BRITA Climate-Ride 2008!  Focus is partnering with this four day, NYC-DC cycle event this September. Join the Focus the Nation team.
The Focus the Nation Wind Turbine! Thanks to Native Energy, Focus the Nation teams can offset their projects and help build a wind turbine on a family farm in Minnesota .
What Did You Teach at Focus the Nation? Help us collect educational material on global warming solutions; find out what others are up to at ClimateChangeEducation.org.
The President’s Climate Commitment: Has your University or College President signed on?
Donate to Focus—Stop Your Junk Mail! Sign up with 41 Pounds, and a portion of the income is donated directly to us here at Focus the Nation.

New Books & Videos on Fighting Global Warming

On video: Jon Isham and Eban Goodstein talk about their recent books on building the global warming solutions movement–  Fighting for Love in the Century of Extinction (Goodstein) and Ignition (Isham and Waage)

Other recent books of note: Gary Braasch’s Earth Under Fire; and Gary and Lynn Cherry’s How We Know What We Know About Our Changing Climate: Scientists and Kids Explore Global Warming, Laurie David’s Down to Earth Guide; Jay Inslee and Bracken Hendrick’s Apollo’s Fire and  Fight Global Warming Now from Step it Up.

Global Warming Organizing Films: Everything’s Cool (Dan Gold and Judith Helfand);  Revolution Green (Stephen Stout and Jessica Kelly)

Focus Update is the e-bulletin of Focus the Nation. If would prefer not to receive this update, please reply to this message with UNSUBSCRIBE in the header.

Eban Goodstein
Project Director
Focus the Nation
 info at focusthenation.org
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Posted in Reporting from Washington DC, Canada, Global Warming issues, The US States

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Ethiopian Sigd made official State holiday. Knesset decides to include Ethiopian holiday in official holiday calendar. Holiday’s history, traditions, ceremonies to be included in educational system’s curriculum

Published:     07.02.08, www.ynetnews.com

The Knesset plenum decided to formally add the Ethiopian Sigd holiday to the list of State holidays, and will be holding an annual state ceremony for it during the Hebrew month of Heshvan, which usually falls on October or November.

Sigd is a traditional Ethiopian day of fast, dedicated to prayers for the rebuilding of the Temple and giving thanks for the right to return to the Holy Land. The fasting ends in mid-day, in a Seder of sorts.

The Ethiopian community in Israel has been celebrating the holiday by holding a mass ceremony in Mount Zion in Jerusalem, topped with a procession to the Western Wall. In the past few years, the ceremony has been held in Jerusalem’s Armon Hanatziv Promenade.

The motion was brought before the House by Knesset Member Uri Ariel (National Union-National Religious Party) and was widely backed by MKs from Shas, Meretz, Labor and the Likud parties.

The motion passed its Knesset readings, effectively becoming a holiday by law. Its main ceremony will be funded by the Prime Minister’s Office; the holiday’s history, traditions and ceremonies will be included in the educational system’s curriculum and going to work during the holiday will be optional.

MK Ariel welcomed the Knesset’s decision, saying it was “upholding the sacred duty Israel has to the blessed Ethiopian immigration, which has enriched Israeli society.”

Colombia hostage rescue: the Israeli angle - July 4, 2008
Based on Yossi Melman from Haaretz

Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was released after six years in captivity on Wednesday, compared her “impeccable” rescue operation to Israeli commando operations.

Perhaps she did not know it, but Israel indeed contributed to the elaborately-planned, daring rescue mission.

Betancourt, who was kidnapped in 2002 by Marxist rebels in Colombia (FARC), was rescued without a shot being fired. Colombian military agents, who had penetrated FARC’s leadership, instructed her guards to transfer her to another rebel group.
 Her captors put her on a helicopter that arrived as scheduled, little knowing that their comrades-in-arms were undercover Colombian soldiers. Betancourt and 14 other hostages who had been held in the jungle, including three Americans, were freed.

Since word of the dramatic rescue spread, speculation in the world media has attributed the success to people trained by Israeli intelligence. But an Israeli figure familiar with the military aid to Colombia said there was “no need to exaggerate” Israel’s involvement in the operation.

The Israelis involved in the operation feel it is important to accord the credit to Colombia.

The Israeli activity, involving dozens of Israeli security experts, was coordinated by Global CST, owned by former General Staff operations chief, Brigadier General (res.) Israel Ziv, and Brigadier (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser.

“It’s a Colombian Entebbe operation,” Ziv said Thursday when he returned from Bogota. “Both regarding its national and international importance. Betancourt has become a symbol of the struggle against international terror. This is an amazing operation that wouldn’t shame any army or special forces anywhere in the world.”

Asked about the Israeli involvement in it Ziv said there is “no need to exaggerate.” “We don’t want to take credit for something we didn’t do,” a company source said. “We helped them prepare themselves to fight terror. We helped them to plan operations and strategies and develop intelligence sources. That’s quite a bit, but shouldn’t be taken too far.”

Israelis may not have taken part in the rescue, but they advised and guided, sold equipment and intelligence technology. {In effect, we saw Israeli Uzzis in the hands of Colombia security - and not just in Colombia}

Melman says that the Israeli involvement began a year and a half ago, when Colombia asked Israel for help in its struggle against FARC, which had become a militia specializing in kidnapping civilians and military figures for ransom and drug trading. In effect we think it was earlier then that.

Israel has over the years sold Colombia planes, drones, weapons and intelligence systems. At the Defense Ministry’s suggestion, Global CST won the $10 million contract to work with Colombia.

Ziv and Kuperwasser did not take part in the fighting, at the Defense Ministry’s instructions.

They hired experts who had worked for the Mossad, Shin Bet security service and IDF in various capacities.

“Well, I have to say that this operation was exclusively carried out by the Colombian Army,” Colombian ambassador to Israel Juan Hurtado Cano said in an interview with Infolive TV, Jerusalem.

———–

Believe it or not, it is quite sure that even Arab states used Israeli experts as advisers for their security when it comes to keep checks on their own potential terrorists - “C’est La Vie!” Some Arab Heads of State were even saved by Israeli tips!

Energy Independence Not For The US - But For Iran (based on Natural Gas) and for Israel (based on electric cars) - Gal Luft of Washington Post.

At around $145 a barrel, the U.S., by my calculations, will spend more on imported oil this year than it will spend on its own defense budget, and much of that money will flow into the coffers of those who wish us ill.

Iran is moving quickly toward energy independence. The Islamic republic has lots of crude but little capacity to refine it, leaving Tehran heavily dependent on gasoline imports. Ahmadinejad is fully aware that this is Iran’s Achilles’ heel and worries that a comprehensive gasoline embargo could cause enough social unrest to undermine his regime. So Ahmadinejad has launched an energy-independence program designed to shift Iran’s transportation system from gasoline to natural gas, which Iran has plenty of. “If we can change our automobiles’ fuel from gasoline to [natural] gas during the next three-four years,” he said last July, “we won’t need gasoline anymore.” His plan includes a mandate for domestic automakers to make “dual-fuel” cars that can run on both gasoline and natural gas, a crash program to convert used vehicles to run on natural gas and a program to convert Iranian gas stations to serve both kinds of fuel.

Ahmadinejad’s plan means that within five years, Iran could be virtually immune to international sanctions.

Last year, Israel launched an electric-car venture designed to turn it into an oil-free economy. Israelis will be able to replace their gasoline-fueled cars with battery-operated ones, which they’ll plug into thousands of recharging points to be erected throughout the country. Motorists will be able to swap their batteries in a matter of minutes at dedicated stations or recharge them at home or at work.

The writer is executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security. (Washington Post)

 from:    gcr-eletter at angelnexus.com about Green Chip Review

Independence Day Greetings from Portugal.

By Sam Hopkins

It’s no accident that I’m overseas on America’s Independence Day. And maybe it’s no surprise either that the first tones of Portugal I’ve taken in on this trip are ones of energy freedom.

“New enterprise, generated by nature…”

So far my Brazilian-accented Portuguese has drawn some strange looks from police officers and shopkeepers as I ask for directions or coffee, but when I read this sign for the national power company’s new renewables division this morning, I only had to kick it around in my own noggin to understand.

International Companies are Dominating the Cleantech Space: Many of the world’s new energy technologies are being developed in countries outside the United States. Germany, for example, is mother to the modern solar industry. The Danes have all but cornered the wind industry with the now-famous Vestas Wind Systems. Green Chip International is taking full advantage of this phenomenon. Its latest German solar recommendation is up about 11% in under two weeks. Everyday, international renewables companies are delivering monster gains.

The new slogan for Energias de Portugal, which trades over the counter in the U.S. as EDPFY, not only exemplifies the transitional energy economy moving Europe from fossil fuels to clean power sources…

It also represents a fresh Age of Exploration in a country that was once one of the most powerful and adventurous empires in the world.

Along with Spain, Portugal is part of a 21st-century Iberian revival that mixes European Union green energy goals with the desire to stand out as individual national economies.
We’re seeing that phenomenon kick into high gear in Denmark, Germany, Norway, Scotland, and here in warmer climes too.

Spain’s Iberdrola Energy (MADRID:IBE) launched its own Iberdrola Renovables (Renewables) as a separate listing on the Madrid Stock Exchange in 2007. Most of Iberdrola’s renewable might comes from the stiff Spanish breeze. Tiny towns and big cities in Europe’s southwestern reaches are now getting electricity from wind turbines, and selling their surplus to the grid.

Now EDP is using its own country’s strength in wind, hydroelectric power, and the world’s largest wave energy array, Pelamis, to chart its course forward.

But here’s the interesting thing…

Energias de Portugal Renovables will be based in Spain, because Chairman Antonio Mexia knows the larger Iberian market can be cooperative and competitive at the same time, building a critical mass of companies and generation capacity that will benefit everyone.

The Lazy Investor’s Portfolio is whst this e-msail we got proposes

EDP has nearly 500 megawatts worth of new capacity in Spain planned for construction in the near term, helping it towards the goal of 10,500 MW worldwide just four years from now.

And you can tap that momentum with EDP Renewables’ forthcoming stock listing here in Lisbon, which we anticipate will be highly successful.

We’ll keep you up to date on EDP and the entire Iberian clean energy scene with Green Chip Review and Green Chip International.

World News Desk – July 3, 2008 - www.realtruth.org
AFRICA

African Union Seeks to Resolve Zimbabwe Crisis.

The African Union (AU) held its 11th summit, primarily to discuss the political crisis in Zimbabwe. The result wa a call for a national unity government, following the widely condemned run-off re-election of incumben President Robert Mugabe. To escape the ensuing violence, the challenging opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has withdrawn a week earlier, taking refuge in the Dutch embassy for more than a week.

The meeting of the pan-African summit highlighted a deep division among the continent’s other countries regarding what to do about the Zimbabwean crisis, particularly Mr. Mugabe, who has historically been considered a “liberation hero.” The summit’s resolution fell short of a much stronger statement wanted by some nations.

According to a Reuters report, Botswana, which borders Zimbabwe’s west, called for Mr. Mugabe to be barred from both the AU and the Southern African regional body SADC. Mompati Merafhe, vice-president of Botswana, said that Mr. Mugabe’s participation in African meetings “would give unqualified legitimacy to a process which cannot be considered legitimate.” He added that the government and opposition must be treated as equal in any mediation. Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga made a similar call.

South Africa, the regional power, resisted the stronger statement for the AU, and called for the crisis to be resolved by the SADC, which it chairs. South African President Thabo Mbeki, however, has been criticized for what has been seen as ineffective mediation and favoritism towards Robert Mugabe. The Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), an opposition party to Mr. Mugabe’s Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), issued a statement: “The MDC’s reservations about the mediation process under President Mbeki are well known. It is our position that unless the mediation team is expanded to include at least one permanent representative from the African Union, and the mediation mechanism is changed, no meaningful progress can be made toward resolving the Zimbabwean crisis. If this does not happen, then the MDC will not be part of such a mediation process.”

In addition, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who just began his six-month presidency of the European Union, said the EU would only accept a Zimbabwean government led by Mr. Tsvangirai, who is generally accepted to have beaten Mr. Mugabe in the first round of the March 29 election.
The AU’s position is tenuous at best, as Mugabe representative George Charamba had earlier rejected any Kenyan-style power-sharing deal, and MDC Secretary-General Tendai Biti more recently said there was no chance of negotiations.

A Christian Science Monitor article pointed out that the AU’s inability to directly rebuke Robert Mugabe regarding an election that its own monitors say “fell short” of AU standards (e.g., due to acts of violence) shows that the body is unable to live up to promises of “African solutions for African problems.”

“This clearly indicates that there are no shared and common values around what good governance is, what democracy is,” said Chris Maroleng, a security analyst at the Institute for Security Studies in Tshwane, South Africa. “A lot of our leaders have questionable democratic credentials, so it’s not surprising that the AU fell short of the mark” (ibid.).

“A government of national unity at this stage is a nonstarter,” Mr. Maroleng added. Unless there is a complete restructuring of the Zimbabwean constitution, a change in the executive powers of the presidency, any power-sharing deal at this point would permanently tilt the advantage, in the favor of Mr. Mugabe. “It’s placing icing over a rotten core. It would look nice, but underneath, it would still be rotten” (ibid.).

In the meantime, the U.S. was preparing a United Nations resolution calling for economic sanctions against Robert Mugabe and 11 of his compatriots, as well as imposing an embargo on arms sales or military hardware to Harare. The position was to express “deep concern at the gross irregularities during the June 27 run-off presidential election (and) the violence and intimidation perpetrated in the run-up to the election that made impossible the holding of free and fair elections” (Reuters).

All the while, the people of Zimbabwe continue to endure severe financial and social hardship.

We received an e-mail showing how little costs to buy gasoline (in German called Benzin) and diesel fuel if you live in a so called developing oil-exporting country or in the USA

Date: July 4, 2008

1 Liter = 0.264174 gal (US Liq)
US$ 1 = Euro 1.5682 as of 7/4/2008

The Austrian e-mail evokes the following list. We went then and looked up other countries and found that Austria is actually a bargain when compared to other developed economies.

The Austrian 1.32 Euro/liter is 2.16 times what the complaining American sissies are paying, but only 78.7% of what Norwegians are paying or 80.7% of what the Dutch are paying.

On the other hand Japan at 0.99 Euro/liter is another chaeap-shot so is Canada at 0.88 Euro/liter.

And you know already what we think? Those that pay more for their gasoline have also decreased their dependence on oil by efficiency methods and conservation - they also developed alternatives to oil and have started building the economy of the future. So, it is actually the US that is falling behind while it transfers its funds to the Gulf States hoping that the increased National Debt will devalue the US$ to the point that it remains valueless paper in their hand.The problem is that they do not sit on the money anymore. They actually buy assets with that money - among that buying spree they also buy up chunks of America. So what then? Will they agree to American taxation without representation - or the US will eventually find out that Bush made a Faustian Deal with the US oil companies and with his Arab friends.

Our advice to our Austrian readers is thus - DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT THE TAX ON FUEL - BUT MAKE SURE THE MONEY IS USED SO THAT EVENTUALLY YOU WILL HAVE TO BUY LESS OF IT.

The following is what we got in the mail - then look at what we added for the sake of analysis. if our other readers want to get the actual numbers in US dollars, please use the above conversion factors.

BENZINPREISE INTERNATIONAL

Benzin that is Gasoline - but much of the posting is about Diesel - this because in Europe the motor-fuel of choice is high quality Diesel.

Afghanistan Normalbenzin € 0,43

Algerien Diesel € 0,11

Aserbaidschan Diesel € 0,31

Ägypten Diesel € 0,14

Ãthiopien Super € 0,24

Bahamas Diesel € 0,25

Bolivien Super € 0,25

Brasilien Diesel € 0,54

China Normal € 0,45

Ecuador Normal € 0,24

Ghana Normal € 0,09 !!!!!!!

Grönland Super € 0,50

Guyana Normal € 0,67

Hong Kong Diesel € 0,84

Indien Diesel € 0,62

Indonesien Diesel € 0,32

Irak Super € 0,60

Kasachstan Diesel € 0,44

Katar Super € 0,15

Kuwait Super € 0,18

Kuba Normal € 0,62

Libyen Diesel € 0,08 !!!!!!!

Malaysia Super € 0,55

Mexico Diesel € 0,41

Moldau Normal € 0,25

Oman Super plus € 0,20

Peru Diesel € 0,22

Philippinen Diesel € 0,69

Russland Super € 0,64

Saudi Arabien Diesel € 0,07 !!!!!!

Südafrika Diesel € 0,66

Swasiland Super € 0,10 !!!!!!

Syrien Diesel € 0,10 !!!!!

Trinidad Super € 0,33

Thailand Super € 0,65

Tunesien Diesel € 0,49

USA Diesel € 0,61

Venezuela Diesel € 0,07 !!!!!

Vereinigte Arabische Emirate Diesel € 0,18

Vietnam Diesel € 0,55

Weißrussland Diesel € 0,51

EU und dem Finanzminister sei dank ist der Österreicher bzw. Europäer dumm
genug sich abzocken zu lassen (Mineralölsteuer und Mehrwertsteuer auf
Benzin).

Bitte dieses E-Mail weiter zu schicken damit wenigstens einige Leute
erkennen wie stark Österreich geneppt wird.

Benzinpreise auf der eigenen Webseite

And looking at international prices for July 4, 2008 at - http://benzinpreis.de/international.phtm…

Land Normalbenzin in € Superbenzin in € SuperPlus in € Diesel in €

Österreich 1,26 1,29 * 1,28 1,32 *

UK 1,40 1,46 1,50 1,58

Finnland 1,47 1,50 1,50 1,36

Frankreich 1,39 1,34 * 1,44 1,37 *

Irland 1,26 1,26 1,15 1,43

Island 1,35 1,40 1,47 1,50

Israel - 1,05 - -

Italien 1,36 1,46 1,34 1,45

Japan 0,99 1,08 - 0,79

Kanada 0,88 0.87 0.82  0.90

Neuseeland 1,03 0,97 - 1,46

Niederlande 1,56 1,61 1,69 1,31 **

Norwegen 1,60 1,61 1,46 1,56

Schweden 1,37 1,39 1,36 1,47

Schweiz 1,24 1,21 * 1,23 1,37 *

Ungarn 1,29 1,26 1,20 1,31