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this New York Times photograph of a crowd of Lebanese refugees: This is probably nothing. If it’s photo manipulation, it’s certainly an incredibly mundane example, and I can’t think of a reason why anyone would do it. I’m tossing this to the lizardoid community for comment from the other photoshop geeks out there, without rendering any judgment yet. In other words, I am not saying this is a definite fake; I know we’ve got quite a few experts at digital manipulation among our readers, and I’m sincerely asking for their opinions. But look at the image of the man in...

A federal appeals court ordered energy regulators Wednesday to consider ordering stiffer penalties for power companies that manipulated the market and caused blackouts during the 2000-2001 energy crisis. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's 2003 handling of some of the fallout from California's energy crisis was "arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion." The state has sought reimbursement for an estimated $8 billion to $10 billion paid by consumers and businesses for overpriced power. FERC ordered energy companies, including several subsidiaries of bankrupt Enron Corp., to pay about $3 billion for market manipulation....

The fake persuadersDetective work ... shows how a PR firm contracted to the biotech company Monsanto appears to have played a crucial but invisible role in shaping scientific discourse. ...An article on its website...warns "there are some campaigns where it would be undesirable or even disastrous to let the audience know that your organisation is directly involved...   it is possible to make postings to these outlets that present your position as an uninvolved third party..." ...So the campaign against the researchers was extraordinarily successful; but who precisely started it? Who are "Mary Murphy" and "Andura Smetacek"? The Bivings Group...

April 17, 2006    Volume 13, No. 8 China's Reserves Soar: NAM Says The Time Has Come For China To Re-Value Its Currency BY RICHARD McCORMACK richard@manufacturingnews.com It has become "imperative" for the Department of Treasury to declare that China is manipulating its currency, says Pat Mears, director of international commercial affairs at the National Association of Manufacturers. Further evidence of China's manipulation is that nation's growing currency reserves. They have risen to $848 billion, and are now the largest in the world, surpassing those of Japan's at $837 billion. "China's currency reserves are nearing half of China's total gross...

Keynote Address to the Cornerstone Research Conference Market Manipulation in the Energy Markets Commissioner Sharon Brown-Hruska October 2, 2003 Thank you for the opportunity to share with you my thoughts on market manipulation in the energy markets. Let me just say from the outset -- I know this notable audience of economic and legal scholars and practitioners will appreciate this -- that the views I express are my own and, therefore, do not necessarily represent the official position of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the views of other Commissioners, or the staff. The observations I make today are those...

Not only did Sen. Chuck Schumer stir up the political firestorm against DP World at the behest of Eller & Co, but Schumer’s staff sent reporters on a wild goose chase for experts to back up his claims. According to “Dubai or Not Dubai: Chuck on Killed Deal”, by Ben Smith and published by the New York Observer, Joe Muldoon III, a lobbyist for Eller & Co, “put together a white paper arguing that the deal could compromise US security”. In LATE JANUARY, a copy of the white paper was given to Schumer aide, Josh Vlasto. When Ted Bridis from...

Democrats like Senator Harry Reid understand—and manipulate—the bias of the mainstream media. They realize it is their most powerful political weapon, and they wield it with masterful skill. Democrats control the news cycle, because they apply an advanced level of game theory as they use the press to gain an edge over their political opponents.In 2005, Thomas Schelling received the Nobel Prize in economics. Schelling won the award because of the way he applied the principles of game theory to help manage the U.S. nuclear standoff with the Soviets. Reid has demonstrated his mastery of this discipline by soundly trouncing...

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil shot $2 higher on Tuesday as consumers feared an unresolved row over Russia's natural gas price to Ukraine could yet crimp fuel supplies to Europe. ADVERTISEMENT An immediate crisis was headed off just before markets opened after the New Year holiday when Moscow agreed to restore gas supplies through a pipeline that transits Ukraine. But the underlying commercial dispute was still brewing, raising concerns over Europe's long-term dependence on Russian energy amid a lack of readily available alternatives. U.S. crude leapt $2.16 to $63.20 by 1631 GMT, building on a three-day rally that lifted prices 5...

Last month, as chilly November winds hinted at the winter to come, Massachusetts received a warm gift from Venezuela via CITGO Petroleum Corporation. It could not have come at a more critical moment as those on fuel assistance faced heating price increases of up to 50 percent. Many low-income families looked ahead to a winter of unbearable options: choosing between heat and food or medication. As a result of the Venezuelan oil program, more than 12 million gallons of heavily discounted heating oil will flow to needy households and social service institutions across the state. Together with local nonprofits Citizens...

SINGAPORE (AP) -- Natural gas prices rose to a new record Friday as a winter storm hit the northern United States, while crude and heating oil prices also gained amid expectations for strong demand. Natural gas for January on the New York Mercantile Exchange reached a new intraday high of $15.52 per 1,000 cubic feet in Asian trading before slipping back to $15.351 per 1,000 cubic feet, up nearly 36 cents. The contract had closed at $14.994 overnight, also a new record. ADVERTISEMENT Nymex crude was also higher. Light, sweet crude oil for January delivery surged 58 cents to $61.24...

Advanced Search Iraq: What Did Congress Know, And When? Bush says Congress had the same (faulty) intelligence he did. Howard Dean says intelligence was "corrupted." We give facts.November 19, 2005Modified: November 19, 2005 eMail to a friend Printer Friendly Version Summary   The President says Democrats in Congress "had access to the same intelligence" he did before the Iraq war, but some Democrats deny it."That was not true," says Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean. "He withheld some intelligence. . . . The intelligence was corrupted." Neither side is giving the whole story in this continuing dispute. The President's...

It wasn't until two years after his ordination as a Roman Catholic priest that the Rev. Fred Daley acknowledged he might be gay. "I was coming down the stairs for morning Mass, and I felt this real deep ache and pain in the pit of my stomach," he said. "It was the first time I was recognizing an ache within that my activity and work and ministry was covering up, and avoiding something." A light went on, he said. "I began to become aware of my sexual feelings and desires," he said. He was 27. Almost 30 years later -...

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=13410 Click to see.

If the Catholic Church wants to prevent sexual abuse by priests, several abuse experts said, there are better ways to do it than by trying to bar gay men from the clergy. The church recently began checking American seminaries for ''evidence of homosexuality," and the pope is widely expected to ban actively gay men from taking holy orders. But it will be tricky to cull gays from the priesthood, the abuse experts said this month. And it would be more effective -- and more humane -- to target likely abusers rather than all gays. ''There's no adequate way to screen...

Supposition And Irresponsibility Well have you heard the latest about what actually happened in the Superdome and Convention Center during Hurricane Katrina? We were told that there were gang rapes, murders and mayhem on a grand scale and that the basement of the Superdome was stacked with dead bodies. As it turns out none of these stories were true. Eight people died, mostly from natural causes and suicide and an official in New Orleans stated that the murder rate during Katrina was about the same as during normal times. We sat at home imagining the horrible things happening in the...

Edward Jay Epstein, Hollywood industry guru and author of "The Big Picture: The New Logic of Money and Power in Hollywood," explains that despite news stories claiming that Michael Moore was a victim of Disney censorship with regard to his "Fahrenheit 9/11" flick, both Moore and Disney raked in a bundle of bucks. According to Epstein, Moore manipulated the press in Madonna-like manner, faking a censorship threat to get cheap P.R. In May 2003, Michael Eisner, then CEO of Disney, exercised his right under an agreement with Miramax to veto Disney distribution. But Miramax, a Disney subsidiary, still held the...

By Playing at 'Rage,' China Dramatizes Its Rise By HOWARD W. FRENCH Published: April 21, 2005HANGHAI, April 19 - The banners had been carefully printed, the slogans memorized, and the students and young unleashed onto the streets of China's largest, most sophisticated city, where they were to speak sacred truths and make the enemies of the people tremble. Liu Jin/Agence France-Presse - Getty ImagesOn Saturday, Shanghai held a clearly stage-managed rally against Japan. To some, it recalled the Cultural Revolution. Chinese today have little experience of mass organized protests, so when the Government tolerated - some would say encouraged -...

The Pope as Monarch: Reflections on Politics by Dr. Jeff Mirus As I ponder the life and death of John Paul II, I am reminded that there is something about a pope that is very much like a king. This analogy with the social order is far from perfect, for the Church and the body politic are very different things. But there is much to be gained from wondering about the sheer greatness of this fallen leader. For both the Church and the world, some of these gains may be political. The Ideal Form of GovernmentThe Church has never taught...

I love brain food. A gentleman who has been a long-time warrior in the battle for our country forwarded a website to me, which you will find at the end of this article. What a find this is – what a doozy! You will be privileged to read a MAB-commissioned, research report (Man and Biosphere Reserves). It is a report that studied the failure of a U.N. Biosphere takeover attempt in the Ozark Mountains. The report documented the human opposition to the MAB takeover, how they successfully stopped the MAB takeover, and finally, recommendations made by the hired professional researchers...

EVERETT, Wash., Feb. 3 - In the midst of the California energy troubles in early 2001, when power plants were under a federal order to deliver a full output of electricity, the Enron Corporation arranged to take a plant off-line on the same day that California was hit by rolling blackouts, according to audiotapes of company traders released here on Thursday. This is an excerpt, read the rest here: Click here for the rest.