Venezuela seizes oil rigs owned by US company - Yahoo! News

"CARACAS, Venezuela – Venezuela's government has seized control of 11 oil rigs owned by U.S. driller Helmerich & Payne, which shut them down because the state oil company was behind on payments.

Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez announced that Venezuela would nationalize the Tulsa, Oklahoma-based company's rigs. He said in a statement Wednesday that Helmerich & Payne had rejected government demands to resume drilling operations for more than a year.

Helmerich & Payne announced in January 2009 that it was stopping operations on two of its drilling rigs, because Venezuela's state-run oil company, PDVSA, owed the company close to $100 million. It said it would shut down the rest of its rigs by the end of July as contracts expired unless PDVSA began to make good on its debts."

BBC News - Details of secret US-UK 'spying pact' released

Interesting... "A previously top secret intelligence-sharing agreement between Britain and America is being released to the public for the first time.

Until a few years ago, even the existence of the agreement was not acknowledged by the two governments."

Infrastructre Min. warns Hezbollah: Israel will fight for its gas fields - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News

"Israel will not hesitate to use force to protect its natural gas fields from being claimed by Lebanon, National Infrastructure Minister Uzi Landau warned yesterday in an interview with Bloomberg News.

Lebanese parliament speaker Nabih Berri earlier this month urged his government to start exploring its offshore natural gas reserves, claiming that otherwise Israel would claim the resources."

Eyes to the skies for lunar event - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

"ABC - Sky watchers in central and eastern Australia will be treated to a lunar eclipse on Saturday night if the weather allows it. A partial eclipse will start at about a 8:15pm AEST or 7:45pm ACST and end nearly three hours later.

Astronomer David Reneke says a lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth is between the sun and the moon, casting its shadow.'You'll see the moon, a little bite being taken out of the side, like when a kid takes a bite out of a biscuit or a cookie,' he said.

'You don't need binoculars, you don't need a telescope. 'It won't hurt your eyes - stand there and look at it as long as you want to.'"

Obama To Earn Nearly $85 Million From Gulf Oil Disaster › Stream.AdamDodson.org

GOOD GRIEF! "Goldman Sachs wasn’t alone either in its astute “foreknowledge” of the collapse of BP’s stock value due to the Gulf disaster as BP’s own chief executive, Tony Hayward, sold about one-third of his shares weeks before this catastrophe began unfolding too.

But according to this FSB report the largest seller of BP stock in the weeks before this disaster occurred was the American investment company known as Vanguard who through two of their financial arms (Vanguard Windsor II Investor and Vanguard Windsor Investor) unloaded over 1.5 million shares of BP stock saving their investors hundreds of millions of dollars, chief among them President Obama."

Levitt Letter Extra News � Blog Archive � Jimmy Carter Worries Supreme Court Ruling May Affect His Interaction With Terror Groups

"Former President Jimmy Carter has voiced concern that Monday’s Supreme Court ruling on “material support” to terrorist groups may criminalize his “work to promote peace and freedom.”

Carter, whose advocacy has entailed contact with groups designated by the U.S. government as “foreign terrorist organizations” (FTOs) – notably Hamas and Hezbollah – said he was disappointed by the court decision."

Read More Here

Israel to expel Hamas politicians from Jerusalem | Deseret News

"JERUSALEM — Israel's decision to expel four Hamas politicians from Jerusalem threatened to set off a new crisis over the disputed city and could hinder U.S. efforts to restart peace talks.

The expulsions of the three Palestinian lawmakers and a former Cabinet minister could start as early as Friday. Israel has not said where they would be sent, but the West Bank is a possible destination."

US says Gaza flotillas 'irresponsible' - Israel News, Ynetnews

"State Department urges parties to avoid 'unnecessary confrontations', says, 'Mechanisms exist for transfer of aid to Gaza, delivery by sea neither appropriate, nor effective'

WASHINGTON - The US State Department on Thursday released a statement against additional flotillas to the Gaza Strip, calling them 'irresponsible.'"

2010 Significant Earthquake and News Headlines Archive

EARTH SHAKING NEWS! Did you know that in JUST the last 30 days this earth has experienced over 500 earthquakes! Did you know that so far in the year 2010 (least than 6 months) there has been over 35 very significant earthquakes! TRUE! I counted them! Sign of the times!

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PAGER - Rapid Assessment of an Earthquake's Impact

PAGER - Rapid Assessment of an Earthquake's Impact
Click picture for real time accurate reports.

DID YOU KNOW THERE WAS A 100% CHANCE OF AN EARTHQUAKE TODAY!

YES! There's a 100 percent chance of an earthquake today! Though millions of persons may never experience an earthquake, they are very common occurrences on this planet. So today -- somewhere -- an earthquake will occur.

It may be so light that only sensitive instruments will perceive its motion; it may shake houses, rattle windows, and displace small objects; or it may be sufficiently strong to cause property damage, death, and injury.

It is estimated that about 700 shocks each year have this capability when centered in a populated area. But fortunately, most of these potentially destructive earthquakes center in unpopulated areas far from civilization.

Since a major portion of the world's earthquakes each year center around the rim of the Pacific Ocean (Ring of Fire), referred to by seismologists as the circum-Pacific belt, this is the most probable location for today's earthquake. But it could hit any location, because no region is entirely free of earthquakes.

Stating that an earthquake is going to occur today is not really "predicting earthquakes". To date, they cannot be predicted. But anyone, on any day, could make this statement and it would be true. This is because several million earthquakes occur annually; thereby, thousands occur each day, although most are too small to be located. The problem, however, is in pinpointing the area where a strong shock will center and when it will occur.

Earthquake prediction is a future possibility, though. Just as the Weather Bureau now predicts hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe storms, the NEIC may one day issue forecasts on earthquakes. Earthquake research was stepped up after the Alaska shock in 1964. Today, research is being conducted by the USGS and other federal and state agencies, as well as universities and private institutions. Earthquake prediction may some day become a reality, but only after much more is learned about the earthquake mechanism

USGS Earthquake ShakeMaps

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USGS M2.5+ Earthquakes TODAY!

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USGS M2.5+ Earthquakes - Past 7 days

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USGS M5+ Earthquakes - Past 7 days

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