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We have been providing complete tourist service number of years with great success. They were visiting Mogadishu's top sight seen which is the secret tourist destination that world tourist never!
Hello tourist, we are here to serve you on replying emails in 24 hours. We guide you from visa process & prepare you amazing tour that never fetch your mind, discover unexplored tourist destination.
Would you like to travel to Mogadishu next month?!
If you want to travel and tour Mogadishu City "THE WHITE PEARL OF INDIAN OCEAN" and explore the secret world of tourism destinations!


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On behalf of human beings everywhere, let's have a big round of applause for Dwyane Wade.
In the same week Tom Brady began mass-marketing white lentil risotto and charred broccolini, Wade rented a Waffle House and chowed down on some actual food.
What's more, he did it in Orlando when the Bulls were in town to play the (team whose name is banned until it stops losing by 40 to Charlotte).
I am not against the average American eating wisely. I just fear our sports gods might turn us from a nation of blobs into a nation of orthorexics.
Orthorexia is an eating disorder characterized by a fixation on healthy foods.

subset: commoncrawl


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Why The Idea Of Taking "MASSIVE ACTION" IS A CROCK
Okay, so here's the thing…..
I don't have a problem with taking massive action in my business or for any goal.
Success Tip: Changing your viewing point.
So tell me….
We're there any instances in your life where you were told to just take massive action but you were blocked by a lack of motivation, fear, doubt etc.?
How did you get through it.?
Did you give up or push through?
Share your story
To your Success!


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On the final day of our Finland tour, during the Helsinki convention known as Tahtivaeltaja Day, the Tallahassee Tentacles were born. Having learned our home town used to have a semi-pro hockey team and being very familiar with the amount of squid in my books, including City of Saints & Madmen, Finnish SF/F fans had come up with perhaps the most brilliant idea ever: hockey jerseys and t-shirts for a fictional team with a squid as the mascot.
So imagine our surprise on being presented with jerseys and seeing a good 40 people wearing either the t-shirt or jersey as we wandered around the con. I think I began to think the team must actually exist. Certainly, inasmuch as I'd also invented a fake freshwater squid and talked about intrusions of fantasy into the real world, it seemed utterly appropriate—and one of those acts of inspired imagination that makes me love SF/F readers.
(Front row: me, Ann, Jukka Halme, Sari Polvinen. Back row [from left]: Johanna Vainikainen-Uusitalo, Tapio Ranta-aho, Pasi Vihinen, Henry Soderlund, Tami Tietavainen, Juha Tupasela, Ninni Aalto [who did the logo], Pasi Valkkynen, Marianna Leikomaa, and Ari Seppi.)
So my question to you, dear readers, is: What sports team would you expect to find in your favorite fantasy world? Either there or intruding into the real world?


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International Standard Bible EncyclopediaSHALISHAH, LAND OF
sha-li'-sha, shal'-i-sha ('erets shalishah; Codex Vaticanus he ge Selcha; Codex Alexandrinus he ge Salissa): If the general indication of the route followed by Saul, given under SHAALIM, is correct, the land of Shalishah (1 Samuel 9:4) will lie to the Northeast of Lydda on the western slope of the range. Baal-shalishah would most likely be in the district, and may indeed have given its name to it. If Conder is right in identifying this city with Khirbet Kefr Thilth, about 19 miles Northeast of Jaffa, it meets well enough the general indication given above. Eusebius, Onomasticon knows the name, but gives no guidance as to where the district is. Baal-shalishah it places in the Thamnite region, 15 miles North of Diospolis (Lydda). No boundaries can be laid down, but probability points to this neighborhood.
Strong's Hebrew1190. Baal Shalishah -- "Baal of Shalishah," a place in Palestine
Baal Shalishah. 1189, 1190. Baal Shalishah. 1191 . "Baal of Shalishah,"
a place in Palestine. Transliteration: Baal Shalishah ...
/hebrew/1190.htm - 6k
8031. Shalishah -- an area of Isr. searched by Saul
How Samuel Found a Leader
ThesaurusShalishah (2 Occurrences)
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia SHALISHAH, LAND OF. ... Baal-shalishah would most likely
be in the district, and may indeed have given its name to it. ...
/s/shalishah.htm - 8k
Baal-shalishah (1 Occurrence)
Land (19790 Occurrences)
Shaalim (1 Occurrence)
Ba'al-shal'ishah (1 Occurrence)
Shalisha (1 Occurrence)
Shal'ishah (1 Occurrence)
Weren't (25 Occurrences)
Bible ConcordanceShalishah (2 Occurrences)
1 Samuel 9:4 He passed through the hill country of Ephraim, and passed through the land of Shalishah, but they didn't find them: then they passed through the land of Shaalim, and there they weren't there: and he passed through the land of the Benjamites, but they didn't find them.
2 Kings 4:42 A man from Baal Shalishah came, and brought the man of God bread of the first fruits, twenty loaves of barley, and fresh ears of grain in his sack. He said, "Give to the people, that they may eat."
Related Terms
Ba'al-shal'ishah (1 Occurrence)
LinksBible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus


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URBANA — Health officials say you should take precautions after mosquitoes with West Nile virus were found in Urbana, but "It would be the same precautions that we recommend every year," said Jeff Blackford, program coordinator for the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District.
The district reported Wednesday that a sample of mosquitoes collected in Urbana tested positive.
The virus has been found in mosquitoes or birds in 10 Illinois counties this year. No human cases have been reported.
In hot, dry weather, the virus will occur more frequently in mosquitoes and birds. The insects get the virus from biting infected birds, and spread it by biting other birds, Blackford said.
"Last year, we had a pool test positive about exactly the same date," he said.
The health district's recommendations:
— Avoid being outdoors when mosquitoes are most active: at dawn, dusk and in the early evening.
— Wear long pants and long-sleeved shirts if the weather allows it.
— Use insect repellent. Be sure its active ingredients have been registered with the EPA: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/insect/choose.htm [2], and consult a doctor before using repellents on infants.
— Make sure doors and windows have tight-fitting screens, and keep doors and windows closed, especially at night.
— Eliminate standing water — it's where mosquitoes breed. Empty water from bird baths, flower pots, wading pools, pet dishes and swimming pool covers at least once or twice a week. Remove old tires and other items that can collect water.
Most people infected with the virus show no symptoms. About one in five will contract West Nile fever, which can include fever, headache and body aches. Less than 1 percent will contract the most serious illnesses from the virus, which can include encephalitis and meningitis.


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Online Programs
Central Methodist University offers fully accredited degree completion programs entirely through online course work.
CMU's College of Graduate and Extended Studies emphasizes convenient and high quality online classes with affordable tuition. Financial aid is available for degree-seeking students who qualify. Staff are anxious to help students enroll in our programs.
Online classes run either 8 or 16 weeks in length, depending on the courses you choose.
Pursue a degree, or take a class or two to enhance your professional or personal growth.


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Finally, A Book That Details What Men Really Know About Women
Herman Yung from Doobybrain got his hands on a copy of Dr. Alan Francis' seminal work Everything Men Know About Women, a book that offers profound insight into the mysteries and complexities of Y-chromosomally challenged human beings everywhere. Like in all battles, good intelligence is key, and the Battle of the Sexes is no different.
- Reposted by


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Movie Review with Katherine Monk
Rebecca chats with movie reviewer Katherine Monk about the flicks hitting theatres this weekend.
On deck are "Jeff, Who Lives at Home" and "Undefeated."
Download Flash Player to view this content.
Air Times
|CBC Radio One 88.9 FM Kelowna
|Weekdays 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
|CBC Radio One 94.1 FM Kamloops
|Weekdays 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Featured AudioAll show audio »
- Sort By:
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I Love To Make People Smile With A Good Meal And A Kind Word
Personal Stories, Advice, and Support
True Love ?Now i have been looking for a wife for a long time coming . The quest i found out ends when your looking lol funny isent it . I have met a number of woman who could be potentially great wives mothers soul mates of pure bliss vice versa im speaking of course, something or other...
europa111 31-35, M 0 Mar 10, 2011


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This weekend saw a somewhat concerning diplomatic faceoff. North Korea indicated they were going to test a nuclear weapon and Trump had hinted at the possibility of pre-emptive or retaliatory strikes, sparking fears of a second Korean War. It wasn't clear exactly what was going on because it was all rumors and innuendo. Ultimately, the Nork's nuclear test failed (possibly due to US cyberwarfare) and the situation was defused.
Today, however, a new chapter in the saga came out. Trump is apparently talking to China to try get them to reign in North Korea. We've done that before but Trump is apparently breaking with long-standing US policy and offering trade concessions to China if they reign in Kim.
And … I'm actually not averse to that.
Look, we all know that Kim is China's pet. China provides almost all their energy and trade. China has long had the ability to at least threaten North Korea, if not reign it in. Trump has been talking big on China for some time. He's apparently reversed a number of positions after talking to Xi, including backing down on labeling China a currency manipulator. That's another kettle of fish, of course. But if get China to clamp on Kim AND not have a trade war … that's a win-win, isn't it?
I'd like to hear why I'm wrong about this. But if my criticisms of Trump are to have any meaning, I have to point out when he's done something right. Avoiding a trade war and getting North Korea in line is exactly the kind of "deal" Trump promised.


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Today while I was blog surfing it seemed like every blog I stopped at had pictures of food. It seemed like today was a good day to go along with the crowd.
What you are looking at are two great presents that I got last week while my parents were visiting. My Dad brought fresh peas from his garden, and my Mom bought me the bamboo steamer that I have been wanting forever!
The steamer is fun because it cooks the peas quickly while retaining their good flavor and nutrition. It came with two baskets so I can cook two different things at once. Previously I steamed chicken and cabbage potstickers in one basket and some leftover pork roast in the other. A full meal was ready in no time , and the steaming helped keep the pork moist.
Tonight I steamed some red snapper and that also worked well. If you are thinking of steaming fish, here is a tip I learned from the Cook's Magazine that my Mom bought to go with the steamer. Take slices of lemon or lime and put them on the bottom of the steamer. Then set your fish on top of the slices. The lemon/lime slices keep the fish from sticking to the steamer, and the steam carries the flavor of the fruit into the fish. I used lime slices tonight and it was very good!
Do you have a steamer? Any good steamer recipes you would like to share?


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The Park(ing) Day installation on Clement near 3rd Avenue. Photo courtesy of CurbedSF
On Friday, two neighborhood residents gave a preview of sorts for the upcoming parklet on Clement near 3rd Avenue. They participated in Park(ing) Day, a worldwide event where artists, designers and citizens transform metered parking spots into temporary public parks.
The small park was set up in metered spaces on the 200 block of Clement, in the same location where the new parklet is being proposed.
One of the men involved in the creation of the installation is also the artist behind the infamous pole gardens. He displayed several of them alongside the Park(ing) spot.
Patricia, a blog reader, wrote to us and said, "I stopped by a few times throughout the day and was so inspired and uplifted by the effort. It was a memorable way to connect with neighbors and passers-by. You can do so much within a small space– the creative possibilities are endless!"
This is the first Park(ing) Day installation we've had in the neighborhood since the blog came online, but not sure if it's the very first since the Park(ing) Day event started in 2005. Not that it really matters – it's just great to see residents having fun, being creative, and participating in the global event.
There were dozens of Park(ing) Day installations all over the city on Friday. Stop by CurbedSF to see a gallery of photos.
Sarah B.


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In Hidalgo County, more corruption charges in sheriff's office
Updated 12:23 pm, Wednesday, December 25, 2013
Federal agents Tuesday arrested a top-ranking law enforcement official in Hidalgo County, a man described in courtroom testimony as a chief political enforcer for Sheriff Lupe Treviño.
The arrest of sheriff's Commander Jose A. Padilla, 53, on money laundering and marijuana smuggling charges is just the latest in a series of federal corruption investigations in the border county that already ensnared Treviño's son.
The sheriff didn't respond to phone calls requesting comment, but he has in the past distanced himself from the inner workings of his campaign.
Local Channel
- Botanical Gardens - Architects Brandpoint
- Suspects in brawl-turned-shooting at S.A. eatery at large San Antonio Express-News
- SAPD: Possibly drunk woman struck by pickup San Antonio Express-News
- Heavy rain causes flooding at San Antonio intesection San Antonio Express-News
- Uresti: 'Very, very disappointed with the verdict' San Antonio Express-News
- SAPD finds man holding knives at homicide scene San Antonio Express-News
- Two hit in shooting at S.A. hotel San Antonio Express-News
- Gov. Greg Abbott on gun control action Peggy Fikac
- Standoff with robbery suspect on interstate affects 'thousands' San Antonio Express-News
- LaMarcus Aldridge Explains Why He Doesn't Call Himself a 'Flashy' Player Sports Illustrated
One former deputy testified in the trial of one of his cohorts that Padilla, Treviño's second-in-command who the deputy said leaned on underlings to help raise money for the sheriff's re-election, "put fear in you."
James Phil "J.P." Flores told jurors in the trial this summer that the pressure applied by Padilla to raise campaign money caused Flores to fall under the sway of a Rio Grande Valley drug trafficker.
No one answered the phone Tuesday at the office of Padilla's attorney, Joe Cisneros, and no one from the law firm responded to emails seeking comment.
The indictment against Padilla alleges he worked with Tomas "El Gallo" Gonzalez, 36, an trafficking suspect from Weslaco who prosecutors say smuggled pot to Dallas, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Iowa and North Carolina.
The indictment provides few details of Padilla's alleged participation in the smuggling scheme, but it accuses him of conspiring with Gonzalez and 10 others to distribute more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana since 2007.
He's also accused, along with Gonzalez and another defendant, of laundering money.
He faces up to life in prison if convicted of the drug charge and up to 20 years in prison on the money laundering charge.
Padilla's indictment came as little surprise. His name surfaced repeatedly during the trial this summer of former sheriff's Deputy Jorge Garza, one of nine Valley law enforcement officers, many of them members of the infamous "Panama Unit" joint task force between the Sheriff's Office and the Mission Police Department, charged with drug crimes.
Among those charged was Mission police investigator Jonathan Treviño, the sheriff's son.
Most pleaded guilty and a jury convicted Garza, but witnesses at his trial painted a picture of a county with law enforcement agencies that had been widely compromised by drug traffickers.
Along with the deputies and Mission police, a former justice of the peace and a former investigator for the district attorney's office also had allegations leveled against them.
Another DA's investigator was fired after invoking his Fifth Amendment protections from self-incrimination. The biggest splash, however, came when Padilla, too, took the Fifth. Treviño didn't fire him.
Guadalupe Tovar Chavez Jr., a Valley political agitator, perennial candidate and Treviño critic, lauded Padilla's arrest.
"For him to take the Fifth, it felt like he was protecting a bigger secret," Chavez said. "He didn't want to reveal as much information. It seemed to me that he was a key figure in the re-election campaign."
Treviño in the past has defended himself in interviews and on social media.
"I have stood against corruption my entire 41-year law enforcement career," he said during a public event shortly after the trial. "You may not like the truth, but I've always told it."
Twitter: @jlbuch
Twitter: @jlbuch


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Thomas J. Gearty '39
Inducted Jan. 18, 1980
Thomas and his brother, Gerald Gearty combined for six touchdowns in a game against South Dakota. The aerial attack centered around him. Gearty showed great promise as a light heavyweight boxer, nearly knocking out a taller and heavier Loyola competitor in his first appearance.
- Football 1,2,3,4
- Boxing 1,2


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I'm not worried about the Wilfs' ability to finance their part of the Vikings Stadium ("N.J. judge says Wilfs must disclose net worth," Sept. 10). I'm worried about the Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority's ability to deal adequately with partners whose operations were labeled by the New Jersey judge as "evil" and included "fraud, breach of contract and fiduciary duty and racketeering."
I doubt that the Sports Facilities Authority's "due diligence" will be deep enough.
Pat Ryan Greene, Champlin
People will be shocked
If the Legislature passes legislation in 2014 to reduce the size of the Legislature, they will be faced with one small problem: what to do with the extra (surplus) legislators' desks.
One option is to turn them over to the Minnesota Historical Society for storage in their warehouses. A second option is to put them on the open salvage market in the Twin Cities. Or a better option is to leave the desks in place in the chambers as a reminder of how far we have come since the horse-and-buggy days.
Two legislators introduced bills in the 2013 session to cut the size of the Legislature. Rep. Will Morgan's (DFL-Burnsville) bill cuts the number to 147 (98 House/49 Senate) (currently 201) effective in 2017. Rep. Pat Garofalo's (R-Farmington) bill reduces the number to 75 (50 House/25 Senate) effective in 2023.
My friends say that legislators will never vote to eliminate their jobs. I think not; we have been waiting close to 100 years for this to happen. The benefits are many, and in the next 100 years it would save the taxpayers of Minnesota millions and millions of dollars.
This action would be historic. The people of Minnesota will be shocked that a governmental organization would actually downsize on its own.
If one political party takes the lead on this matter, the other party would have no choice but to go along. In fact, this could be a welcomed bipartisan effort. If it doesn't happen, the people of Minnesota will be the big losers.
Lyle Nelson, St. Paul
Your choices
The most important thing to consider in Syria is who do you want to end up with the nerve gas. Your choices are Assad or the insurgents we have been fighting since 9/11/01. Assad has an address, a country and borders. We can strike him any time and any way we choose. He also seems interested in living. The insurgents have none of these things. Why are we pursuing a policy that seems to give nerve gas to terrorists?
Matt Bangert, Shoreview
Give them a try
Go green, ride yellow! Yellow PediCabs are popping up all over St. Paul. If you have been to an event at the Xcel Energy Center, or to the weekend Farmers' Market, you may have seen the yellow PediCabs.
Minneapolis has had them downtown for a while and now they are trying to establish a customer base here in St. Paul. The drivers are licensed, knowledgeable and are eager to get you where you want to go. The PediCabs also will be on Grand and Selby Avenues for special events.
Those watermelons and squash can get heavy, so hop in a PediCab to get them to your car. High heels can be mighty uncomfortable to walk in, so grab a PediCab to travel to the parking ramp. Bar-hop along Grand or Selby in style. Businesses can also contract with PediCabs to get their patrons to their establishments. PediCabs are perfect for tours of Lowertown, a ride around the park or for wedding parties looking for a memorable experience.
It's a new venture in St. Paul, so give them a try. I promise you'll have a fun ride!
Debbie R. Kenney, St. Paul
The writer's spouse is a part-time PediCab driver.
What could go wrong?
The National Rifle Association must be jumping for joy. Iowa is granting permits to carry guns in public to people who are legally blind. What could possibly go wrong?
Tom Hammond, Woodbury


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Magnificent Rainforest Room
Størrelse15 m²
- Kjøkken
- Vaskemaskin / tørketrommel
- Håndklær
- Frokost
- Internett/WiFi
- Balkong/terrasse
- Parkering tilgjengelig
Oversikt over eiendommen
This is a clean, quiet and relaxed home with a lovely ambience. Spacious rooms and a large deck overlook a beautiful rainforest garden and there is a hammock and lounge to relax on.
The house is situated in a safe, well established neighbourhood on the southside of Cairns 15 mins drive from Cairns CBD and Marina. There is also a bus stop 7 mins walk away with buses available to the city. The driveway provides off road parking for hire cars. There is also a good 30 minute return walk up the hill for those that would like some exercise in the morning - you can see Green Island from the top!
The house has 2 spacious bedrooms, an open plan lounge area, one toilet and a separate bathroom. The bedrooms have arched doorways and are separated from the main area by thick curtains. Each room has a very comfortable queensize bed and sleeps 2. There is also a air mattress if you need one.
A large fully equipped kitchen with electric oven, gas top, microwave and fridge is available for guests to use. Most guests like to eat outside on the verandah overlooking the rainforest garden. I ask that you clean up after yourselves! There is also a TV and a DVD player available.
This home is unique, surrounded by tall, magnificent trees. Birds and butterflies are abundant here. It makes a great base for those wanting to explore the Tablelands, Cape Tribulation and beaches. Birdwatchers will also love the variety of birds here.
Tours & Reef Trips
I love hosting people and am happy to help you plan your trip. For years I worked in travel in Cairns so can give you advice on where to go and where to get discounts on trips.
Breakfast Included
Continental breakfast is included.. Tea, coffee, muesli, weetbix, toast, jam etc.
From 8 August to 17 September Miikai my wonderful housekeeper will be looking after the place. He will be able to do airport transfers and show you around and give you info on the local area, etc. My students will be available if you'd like a reiki treatment over this time.
Transfers to and from the airport can also be arranged at $15 per person (based on 2 people sharing) or $20 for one.
Please contact me for bookings and further information. Julie
HusreglerI want you to have a great time here so do not have too many rules!
All I ask is that you respect my home and when using the kitchen you clean up after yourselves.
Also please switch off all fans, lights etc when not in use and especially when you go out. Thank you.
|Ukentlig rate for en gjest
|Månedlig rate for 1 gjest
|Pris for >1 gjester
|65 NOK pr. gjest/natt ekstra
|Innsjekking etter
|Etter avtale
|Check-in før
|Etter avtale
|Utsjekking før
|Etter avtale
Vurderinger for denne vertens andre eiendommer
We had a nice, amazing stay in the lovely house 'RAINFOREST REIKI',
which lies in the suburbs of Cairns.
We like eat outside of the house on the veranda. We walked in the nice
little garden to relax. The noises of the rainforest are so amazing. It
was a feeling like being in the rainforest. There is shadow around the
house, so the climate here was very good.
We enjoyed our 12 days in Cairns with many day trips in the Tablelands
for hiking in the rainforest.
The trip with Julie in the Tablelands was an individual lovely trip, we
won`t forget. Julie knows much about the nature of the Tablelands and
could show us many animals.
We can absolutely recommend the house. We hope that we come back again.
- Kvalitetssikret innkvartering
- Hver vert er verifisert via telefon
- Sikker betaling med SSL-kryptering


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Morning Dove, Mrs Garden and all.
Enjoy meeting with ofsted Dove
It will be good to see pics Mrs Garden- I now use photobucket.
Last night couldn't get on internet
Have good day all
3,601 to 3,620 of 6,191 replies
Just to say hello and what are we going to be doing today... ?Jump to latest post
3,601 to 3,620 of 6,191 replies
11 Jul 2013 07:07
Morning Dove, Mrs Garden and all.
Enjoy meeting with ofsted Dove
It will be good to see pics Mrs Garden- I now use photobucket.
Last night couldn't get on internet
Have good day all
11 Jul 2013 07:12
Photobucket WAY beyond me Bev...usually post from iPad but recent photos on laptop n it just wasn't working out!
11 Jul 2013 07:21
Morning all,
Tina...... have just noticed your post yesterday,about my problem of seeing my own posts,as still have no notifications,Had already tried the usual click on avatar but could,nt get in that way either,but thanks for suggestion,hope it is sorted out soon,
Just tried avatar click this morning that appears ok now,still no notifications though.
Very warm this morning,but sky dark grey,hope that does,nt mean thunderstorms.
Picked first courgettes last night,with carrots and new potatoes went well with lamb chops........Food again,but at least it is not cake Fairygirl,vegetables always sound healthy.
11 Jul 2013 07:46
I am right are,nt I .Beetroot and Chocolate cake is healthy is,nt it?,any calories are ignored if there are vegetables are,nt they?
11 Jul 2013 07:47
Notifications and avater click now working.
Good morning all, off to Mottisfont to see roses today, always a treat at this time of year. Visited a garden of a friend of a friend last night, once an NGS garden but no more. Stiil as beautiful and the owner has created a most amazing wild flower garden by a drainage pond on some land "loaned" by the local farmer. Wild wilderness in the extreme, masses of wildlife and naturalness.
Preparations for annual Village flower show start tonight.
11 Jul 2013 07:53
Morning all- Bev and Dove already gone no doubt- good luck anyway Dove
Yes Gilly - at least it's not cake- too early to be mentioning it though! Nice to be picking and eating the stuff we grow.
Mrs G - I use photobucket as well and it's fairly simple once you get going- I did have to get daughter to help initially! You upload your photos from your computer to it and then transfer them- copy and paste. Someone did put it in a very simple way on a thread recently but not sure which one. If you get stuck I'll try and explain it...or get daughter to do it!
Andy - make sure you sew all pockets before you go to that nursery- in fact sew up ends of sleeves as well just to be sure
To be sunny later so more to do outside hopefully. A fence to take down now instead of putting one up!
11 Jul 2013 08:01
Morning. Sounds fun, Woodie. Have a great time!
Gilly, that is the principple on which I have always worked - vegentables cancel out a;ll other calories. Can't understand why those excess pounds have settled on my naturally slender frame....
Dove, obvously your office is in some way connected with education?
Packing caravan today, doing ironing, finishing garden, extending automatic watering system, moving furniture ready for painter to come in while we're away. Should be a nice weekend, anyway.
Have a good day, all.
11 Jul 2013 08:05
Morning all.
Good luck Dove.
Woody, enjoy.
All have good day even if at work. In a rush this morning, got watering to do and need to nip out for a couple of hours.
11 Jul 2013 08:18
Morning folks. Very warm but we have some cloud too. Supposed to be cooler but still 24 . Tomorrow temps going towards very hot again.
Foodbank soon so glad it is bit cooler.
Last evening we all enjoyed garden.......frisby playing on front lawn whilst I picked blackcurrants, goosegogs, peas, carrots etc. it's sort of summer I remember in my younger days.
My stipa gigantea loves this hot dry air....wonderful focal point that I highly recommend. Full, light m airy golden flower heads constantly move even in the slightest breeze.
Wishing everyone great day today
11 Jul 2013 08:21
Thanks fairygirl, think ill try again, OH said I was impatient , which sounds about right.otherwise it will be time to man up and try new things...not only a gardeners forum but also an IT training project!
11 Jul 2013 08:24
Morning Verdun. Have a good foodbank day.
Rather worried about leaving all the new borders I have planted, in this heat. So many young plants to get dried up. Friend will water, but is a bit frugal with water. I feel like a mother with her babes!
11 Jul 2013 08:30
Morning GG. I know what you mean....very protective.....but I'm sure they will be fine
11 Jul 2013 08:40
Morning all, just looked out the window to see 15 bright red poppys yesterday evening there was just 1
There are literally 100's of poppys growing in that bed which initially looks like a mass of green, had a feeling that this week it was going to get colourful.
did something a little rash yesterday and transfered €30 into a strangers bank account. In payment for a slide duplicator they are selling in Dublin. I think they are trustworthy they emailed me yesterday evening that it is going into the post today.
It was the only sensible way to do it really as travelling up to dublin and back would probably cost more and i would still have to pay for it and thats if they showed up.
Luckily I was able to see feedback from other people who had met and bought from him or her, the feedback used both genders and also another positive was some stuff they had advertised in the past was for free. It also was apparent that they share a passion for photography and film.
I kind of had an alternative option to buy from a fella called hussain in the Uk a negative holder for another piece of kit i already have. Ok he has a website but I have lots of websites and to him i would have needed to call and give him my card number and cvs code and trust he would only take the amount we agreed upon and send me the item... That actually seems a bigger risk, although I think in that case I would use a prepaid credit card rather than my visa debit card limiting access to my money. It also would give me protection if something did go wrong as Visa could do a charge back on my credit card but i don't think i would have the same protection with a debit card.
Trusting random people on the internet hmm probably not the best idea. I guess when it comes down to it there is an element of gambling to it so don't bet what you can't afford to lose.
If i look at the balance of what I have bought already such as leads for my car stereo which are €20 in halfords and have cost me less than the petrol I would have burnt driving to halfords I have already saved more than i'm risking. So even if I was to get burned I am still doing fine.
Anyway looks like today the only way I will get burned is by sunburn.
11 Jul 2013 09:51
Morning all. Cooler at the moment. Might get round to getting the 3 ground plants in today.
Am 'edgy' today as eldest son is having an op. I have been with him for all his previous ones, but he has a wife now and I take back seat. Not complaining at all, but will have to wait for phone calls, etc.
John, I do all shopping of all sorts on the internet, but have never used e-bay or the equivalent. I'm sure everything will be fine. My three use it all the time, both to buy and sell.
Gilly, if folk don't notify Daniel about the problems, then he doesn't know! I have mentioned the spell check and notifications, but as I don't use the notifications facility, I'm not sure what's missing.
Been typing this for the past 20 mins. Lots of interruptions.
Enjoy your day all.
11 Jul 2013 10:18
Morning all, another scorcher.
I suddenly had loads of notifications this morning. But if you go to "latest posts" then onto "followed threads" top right, you can see the posts you've sent on, and if someone has posted after you.
Need to do some more harvesting, mangetout peas, peas, redcurrants. Must make cordial. Made Ribena. 1 big red tomato! 3 Sungolds are ripe.
11 Jul 2013 10:20
Really strange! Clicked on my avator and it says I come from Wyre Forest and my photo and personal information have disappeared!
11 Jul 2013 10:56
Good morning all,
Hope you are all enjoying the weather.
I know how you feel about your son, Tina. My son had an operation on his thyroid recently and had to get information from his wife. Still our babies though. He's fine now and I hope your son will be too.
11 Jul 2013 11:01
Morning all. Very busy today. Got to get everything done as we are off to Cornwall on Satuday for a week. Lawns to cut and got to find somewhere cool for pots and seedlings as no one to water.
Have a lovely time everyone now that we can teally enjoy all our efforts.
11 Jul 2013 11:32
Thank you Pam. You're so right. He will always be my baby, even at 39!! You just can't help yourself, can you. Should be outside as it is cooler today, but I can't seem to settle. Will be happier when I know it's done and he's OK.
Are you staying at Verdun's Punkdoc? I'm sure he operates an 'open house'.
11 Jul 2013 12:09
Have a good time, Puncdoc. We're going to the Somerset-Devon border.
TT, thinking of you and your son.


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We knew that John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John's reunion on disc was going to be freaky. It's hard to look at anything Travolta does these days without feeling slightly icky, but still…
"I Think You Might Like It" might be the weirdest video made this year.
First off-what was the budget on this thing? I'm pretty sure Olivia is wealthy, and we all know that Travolta is loaded. Why the hell does this video look so cheaply made, then? We're talking public access status. Maybe the entire budget was spent spraying on Travolta's hair. Seriously, bro. Either let yourself go bald, start wearing hats, or, if your vanity is gonna get the best of you, wear plugs.
Then there's the awkward line dancing, the sketchy innuendo (which would work a little better if there was any romantic chemistry at all between the pair, and finally, the song itself. Just all kinds of wrong.


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Shale Analytics
Data-Driven Analytics is becoming an important point of competitive differentiation in the upstream oil and gas industry. When it comes to production from Shale, companies are realizing that in "Data", they possess a vast source of important facts and information. Since, in analysis and modeling of production from shale, our traditional techniques leave much to be desired, "Data", reflecting the field measurements, can provide much needed insight. Data Driven Analytics is the set of tools and techniques that provides the means for extraction of patterns and trends in data and construction of predictive models that can assist in decision making and optimization.
In Advanced Data Driven Analytics, data from the well and the formation are integrated with field measurements that represent completion and hydraulic fracturing practices and are correlated with production from each well. As the number of wells in an asset increases, so does the accuracy and reliability of the Advanced Data Driven Analytics.
Attendees will become familiar with the fundamentals of data-driven analytics and the most popular techniques that are used to perform such tasks such as conventional statistics, artificial neural networks and fuzzy set theory.
This course will demonstrate through actual case studies (real field data from hundreds of shale wells) how to build data-driven predictive model and how to use them in order to perform analysis.
Topics Include:
- How to treat data in the context of data-driven analytics
- Organize and prepare the data for predictive modeling
- How to make sure that the physics of fluid flow in shale is honored during the predictive analytics
- How to build predictive models using data as the main building block
- How to avoid over-training (memorization) while promoting generalization
Learning Level
Course Length
1 or 2 Days
Why Attend?
Application of data-driven analytics and predictive modeling in the oil and gas industry is fairly new. A handful of researchers and practitioners have concentrated their efforts on providing the next generation of tools that incorporates this technology, for the petroleum industry.
Data driven analytics have become an integrated part of many new technologies used by everyone on their day-to-day lives such as smart automatic-transmission in many cars, detecting explosives in the airport security systems, providing smooth rides in subway systems and preventing fraud in use of credit cards. They are extensively used in the financial market to predict chaotic stock market behavior, or optimize financial portfolios.
A large amount of data is routinely collected during the production operations in shale assets. The collected data can be utilized to gain a competitive advantage in optimizing production and increasing recovery.
Who Should Attend
This course is intended for completion engineers, production engineers and managers, reservoir engineers, geoscientists, asset managers, and team leaders.
0.8 or 1.6 CEUs (Continuing Education Units) will be awarded for this 1-day course.
Cancellation Policy
All cancellations must be received no later than 14 days prior to the course start date. Cancellations made after the 14 day window will not be refunded. Refunds will not be given due to no show situations.
Training sessions attached to SPE conferences and workshops follow the cancellation policies stated on the event information page. Please check that page for specific cancellation information.
SPE reserves the right to cancel or re-schedule courses at will. Notification of changes will be made as quickly as possible; please keep this in mind when arranging travel, as SPE is not responsible for any fees charged for cancelling or changing travel arrangements.
We reserve the right to substitute course instructors as necessary.
Full Regional cancellation policies can be found at the "Cancellation Policy" link on the SPE Training Course Catalog page: http://www.spe.org/training/catalog.php.
Shahab D. Mohaghegh is the president and CEO of Intelligent Solutions, Inc. (ISI) the pioneers of data driven analytics in the upstream E&P industry. He is also professor of petroleum and natural gas engineering at West Virginia University. With more than 22 years of experience in the application of Artificial Intelligence & Data Mining in petroleum engineering, he has developed innovative workflows and technology that incorporates hybrid forms of neural networks, genetic algorithms and fuzzy logic in solving problems and building predictive models related to smart wells, smart completions, and smart fields as well as to drilling, completion, well stimulation, surface facility optimization, formation evaluation, seismic inversion, reservoir characterization, reservoir simulation, and reservoir management.
He has authored more than 180 technical papers. He was a SPE Distinguished Lecturer (2007-2008) and has been featured in the Distinguished Author Series of SPE's Journal of Petroleum Technology (JPT) four times. He was the former chair of the SPE Global Training Committee and currently chairs SPE Book committee.
He has been honored by the U.S. Secretary of Energy for his technical contribution in the aftermath of the Deepwater Horizon (Macondo) incident in the Gulf of Mexico and was a member of U.S. Secretary of Energy's Technical Advisory Committee on Unconventional Resources. Mohaghegh represents the Unites States in the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) for CO2 capture and storage.
Mohaghegh holds BS, MS and PhD degrees in petroleum and natural gas engineering.


text:
2 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, Capacity: 6
Photo Gallery
Property Description
Bedrooms: 2. Bathrooms: 2.5
A vacation at Summer Breeze is the perfect way to get away from it all. Located in the exclusive Cayman Kai area, it is nestled between a beautiful, blue lagoon and the famous Rum Point Beach. With it's open-air island styling, the house lets in summer breezes all year long. Rooms are tastefully decorated in a classic Cayman motif, and from the moment you arrive, you're in an island state-of-mind.
Owner Contact Information
|Cayman Kai Vacations
Robert Wagner
Sweet Gum Road
Pittsburgh, PA 15238
Click here
|Member Since:
|Oct. 8th, 2005
|Other Listings:
|View here
Rental Rates
- (4/30 to 12/16/2011) -$1750 Per week
- (12/17 to 12/31/2011) -$2625 Per week
- (1/1 to 4/13/2012) -$2450 Per week
- (4/14 to 12/14/2012) -$1750 Per week
- 10% Gov. Tax not included
- Special Monthly Rates on Request
AmenitiesAC in Bedrooms , Ceiling Fans in all , Master Bedroom- King , Extra - 2 Doubles , Equipped Kitchen , Dishwasher , Washer and Dryer , TV in Living Room , Game Room , Screen Lania , Ceiling Fans through , Outdoor Grill , Swimming Pool , Lagoon and Dock
2 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms, Capacity: 6
Beds: 1 King, 2 Doubles
Minimum Stay: 6
Beachfront, Ocean View
Further Information
Cayman Government Tax of 10% not included
Nearby Attractions: - Groceries (Convenient Store) Kaibo Yacht Club Rum Point Restaurant Wreck Bar & Grill Driftwood Sport Club Swimming Restaurants within short distance Beaches -Rum Point Beach Wind Surfing Scuba-Diving Water-Skiing Boating Jet-Skiing Reefs Snorkeling Deep Sea-Fishing Sailing Surf-Fishing Golfing Craft Stores Beachcombing
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text:
The following Featured Post comes from TV Series Group 4, Thread 9.
84. edgewalkers...
uhope asked if anyone saw themselves as edgewalkers, my hand is up. since i was a kid, i've always connected with people on the fringe, and for many gay friends in school- i was the person they came out to. no matter where i am, i'm different and it's made me more resiliant.
85. Domdotcom
I know what you mean about the desire to feel "connected". I'm not adopted, but many factors played into our family not having a real relationship with my parents' families. I couldn't identify a cousin, aunt or uncle out of any line-up. I do know all of my ethnic backgrounds (Chickasaw, not Cherokee!), but since my mom's family came over on the Mayflower, there's no "Old Country" connection there, and it's the usual situation with my father's slave ancestry. And we live over 1,000 miles from any known relatives. No casual drop-ins here. We're just plain American; no hyphens available.
86. uhope
thanks for the response. i think that lack of connection is one of the main that seperates people more than color. i find that people who come from a background rich with tradition and culture, can get along easier with others that share that background. they don't always get along, but if you're hanging out and there are people from different ethnic groups and music is playing, watch the group. most people who come from backgrounds where they celebrate openly, think nothing of enjoying the music. look at men of various ethnic groups when they see each other, they usually hug. some guys are so homophobic, not only will they not hug, they can't sit together in a movie theater! ha! and think of the weddings you've attended and had the most fun. it didn't matter what color anyone was, it mattered that they could be open and share in the tradition.
87. Domdotcom
Yeah - it's ALL about culture. Background and culture determine even your friends, let alone your mates! And who you share (and DON'T share) those things with are often very different from who you might think. A person's race may not have anything to do with it. That's why it's so important to be open-minded with our associates. Frankly, I've had more fun at "white" weddings than "black". Probably since I can't dance, there's more of a tolerance for goofy spazziness at "white" weddings ;-). I can't handle the pressure! But I had a BALL at the Hispanic weddings I've gone to.
88. culturally estranged
here's another one, i know two of my grandparents immigrated, at least one other grandparent was the child of immigrant's - all Irish. so what's happens when I move to SF, a town with a very large Irish population? nothing! I don't hang with Irish folks- I quess I could but I always seem to find myself living and working around wierd artists, and and in black neihborhoods. I don't really try to understand it, it may have to do with being the second generation. the first always works so hard to assimilate that their kids are left trying to figure out just what the ancestor's culture was. I do teach my kid her 'Irishness' and the culture as I've been given it. It's been a long time since I felt comfortable in the mainstream, so I guess I too 'hang with the fringe'.
95. finding your cultural way
i will be the last person to think i know all of the answers to people finding comfort. i agree that if you are exposed to different things as a kid, you adjust easier as an adult.
97. domdotcom
I was very touched by what you wrote. I think you are so right.
98. Domdotcom
What a beautiful comment! Being comfortable with ourselves is a continuing saga throughout life; regardless of who or what we are. The progress comes when one recognizes progress needs to be made. Keep up the good work - I hope I can!
Read more featured posts here or continue reading thread 4 from TV Series Group 9.
Partners Produced by Web Lab
Copyright © 1999 by Zohe Film Productions and Web Lab


text: When I came out, I told my mom first. Being Roman Catholic, I knew she loved me but I had no idea how she'd react. She said, "Did you think you were telling me something I didn't already know?" even though I'd only brought home boys! She said she was glad we were moving into an adult mother-daughter relationship because she never got the chance to have that with her mom.May 18th, 2012


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Irish economy 'particularly vulnerable' - EU
The European Commission has warned the Irish economy is particularly vulnerable in the wake of the housing boom and the erosion of its competitive position.
In a report released today, the Commission recommends careful prioritisation of public spending, strengthening productivity and rebuilding competitiveness as key factors in helping the country to weather the current financial crisis.
The report is part of a regular review of Member States' national programmes to create growth and jobs. Each country's progress is monitored by economic experts and specific recommendations are issued.
The recommendations are not legally binding but are nevertheless a political instrument to ensure that Member States implement their policy commitments.
The Irish report also recommends investing in education and training, improving infrastructure and reforming pensions to help the economy adjust and gradually return to growth.
It praised efforts to stable the beleaguered banking sector saying the support measures introduced would "help improve access to finance and thus support the wider economy and underpin macro-economic stability."
Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU must agree and implement the much-needed structural reforms set out in the report's recommendations "to pave the way for a gradual but lasting return to creating growth and jobs, within a greener and fairer economy."


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Genuine, Good listener, Sweet, Warm


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Follow @NuclearPolicy to be the first in on NPEC's latest research
NPEC's executive director testifies in front of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs on March 17, 2011, "The Global Nuclear Revival and U.S. Nonproliferation Policy"
The video is available here.
Madame Chairman, Ranking member, members of the committee, it is an honor to testify here today. Since the U.S.-Indian nuclear cooperative agreement was first proposed in 2005, the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center has advocated revising the U.S. Atomic Energy Act to assure closer Congressional oversight of negotiations of U.S. nuclear cooperative agreements and to set a higher international standard for nuclear nonproliferation. The Congressionally mandated Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, upon which I served, also made a number of specific recommendations in this regard that were unanimously adopted in the commission's final report. Most of these recommendations, including reassessing what civilian nuclear activities and materials the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) can effectively safeguard against military diversions, already enjoy active Congressional support. These ten specific recommendations, which could be incorporated into the current U.S. Atomic Energy Act, are listed below.[1]
4. Adapt Section 416 of the House Foreign Relations Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 2010 and 2011 (H.R. 2410) to clarify what the IAEA can and cannot safeguard to provide a.) timely detection and b.) timely warning against possible military diversions.
5. Adapt legislation Congressman Fortenberry and Senator Akaka tabled last year (H.R. 3774 and S. 1675) for inclusion in the Atomic Energy Act to ensure proper implementation of Title V of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978's, which requires the U.S. to cooperate with developing nations in the assessment and deployment of nonnuclear forms of energy and in the conduct of country-specific energy surveys.
6. Clarify and amplify the key provisions of the Henry J. Hyde U.S. - India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act of 2006 to assure that all U.S. civilian nuclear cooperation would cease, including intangible nuclear technology transfers and programmatic approvals for reprocessing if India chose to resume nuclear testing or violated IAEA safeguards. Reiterate and clarify the need to assure America's compliance with the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) and that of other key nuclear supplier states by incorporating the "Implementation and Compliance Report" requirements of the Hyde Act in the Atomic Energy Act itself.
7. Require that any changes to current U.S. policy to defer the commercial use of plutonium based fuels, the commercial recycling of spent fuel in the U.S., or the sharing of related technologies with other nonweapons states be approved by a joint resolution of Congress.
8. Require U.S. delegates to international or regional development banks to vote against extending subsidized loans for new nuclear construction overseas.
9. Clarify in law how the implementation of nuclear cooperation with Russia should be tied to Russian willingness to support President Obama's objective of blending down more of the world's surplus of weapons grade uranium and isolating proliferators, such as Iran.
10. Make it the policy of the U.S. to encourage the IAEA to monitor and keep account of every individual that visits any of the sites that the IAEA safeguards.
Tighten the rules on nuclear exports always was needed and now is more salient than ever before. Just two weeks ago, the prevailing presumption underpinning of most assessments of nuclear power's future was that civilian nuclear power's massive, global expansion was an irresistible energy security and environmental imperative that our government and other nuclear supplier states had to support. Now, none of this seems so clear.
The key reason why, of course, has been the news of nuclear accidents following the earthquake in Japan. For years, the nuclear industry reassured us that the reactors they were building were safe because of all of the safety redundancies built into them. There would be no more Three Mile Islands. Now, after three hydrogen explosions, the continued venting of radioactive gas at several Japanese reactors, the possible breach of a containment vessel, and a massive spent fuel pond fire, this argument is no longer quite so credible.
Just the opposite: The worry now is that Japan's nuclear tragedy might repeat itself elsewhere. The Japanese reactors whose safety and cooling systems failed are roughly the same age of many of a good number of those operating in the U.S. Over twenty operating U.S. reactors are of nearly an identical design. Unlike Japan, which is retiring these machines after 40 years, though, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been extending their operating licenses for an additional 20. How sound is this practice? What, if anything, should our government and the reactor operators be doing to assure these reactors' run safely over their projected 60 year lifetime? Have we made any nuclear safety system assumptions that might prove to be as mistaken as those the Japanese made about the independent redundancy of their various primary and emergency nuclear cooling and hydrogen venting systems? These questions, now, should be issues of interest.
There also is likely to be pressures to review what U.S. agencies should be responsible at what time for dealing with a nuclear incident (the Department of Homeland Security, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Energy Department, and the Defense Department). In addition, a case could be made for reviewing how much more or less electric utilities should pay for nuclear accident liability insurance as it bears directly on their financial stake in keeping their plants at the very highest levels of safety.[2] Finally, with the marked drop in the stock prices of most key reactor vendors there is sure to be increased debate over how we should rate the financial risks of building new nuclear plants.[3]
These questions and more are likely to be reviewed, not just in Japan and the U.S., but in every state that either has nuclear power plants or is contemplating their construction. Thailand's prime minister, for example, just announced that his country would review its nuclear construction plans in light of the Japanese accidents. Senior officials from Switzerland, the European Union, India, and the Philippines have announced such decisions and German Prime Minister Merkel has called for a three-month review and the forced shut down of seven of Germany's older reactors.
Other Arresting Considerations
All of these new nuclear concerns, it should be noted, come on the heels of at least three other negative nuclear developments. The first of these is the political turmoil that has erupted in the Middle East. Up until the Tunisian and Egyptian political demonstrations, the Middle East was viewed by most nuclear supplier states as a key emerging market for new power reactor construction. Last fall and earlier this year, the U.S. government was reported to have been in negotiations on the possible conclusion of nuclear cooperative agreements with Jordan and Saudi Arabia - two countries that are coping with political turmoil of their own. Further work toward concluding such agreements, one would assume, is on hold.[4]
Second, and related, there has been a credit crunch that has hampered financing new nuclear projects both here and abroad. Domestically, the U.S. nuclear industry has made it clear that the costs of power reactor construction are high and rising and without generous federal loan guarantees, further reactor construction in the U.S. is in doubt.[5] Unfortunately, according to a recent Wall Street Journal poll, one of the least popular forms of federal largesse during Washington's current budget crisis is spending on more nuclear loan guarantees.[6]
Meanwhile, overseas, South Korea -- one the most advanced and least expensive export reactor providers -- is discovering that it lacks the financial horsepower to competitively finance more, large, export reactor projects. Most recently, for this reason it was unable to compete successfully against Japan for reactor bids in Vietnam and Turkey.[7] The French firm of AREVA, the world's leading nuclear contractor, also has had to pull out of a planned reactor construction project at Calvert Cliffs in Maryland. AREVA failed to secure a credit subsidy fee rating on a U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee low enough for it to feel comfortable to proceed. Due to several other negative financial developments, Standard and Poor's reduced Areva's A-/A-1 credit rating last year to BBB+/A-2.[8]
Compounding these credit woes, the nuclear industry's prospects have been hobbled further by the global discovery of new, massive amounts of relatively clean burning, inexpensive, natural gas. Last week, just days before the Japanese earthquakes, John Rowe, CEO of Exelon, the world's largest merchant nuclear power utility, explained to an audience at the American Enterprise Institute that these gas discoveries give the U.S. and others much more room to let market forces pick energy winners and losers. He welcomed this and argued that the right energy choices were more likely to be made in such an environment. He said his firm had concluded it would not make sense for it to build a new nuclear power plant for the next decade or two. He also made clear that this decision consciously accounted for the need to reduce carbon emissions at the lowest cost in the quickest, most efficient fashion. Using these criteria, building new, expensive power reactors for the next one to two decades simply did not make sense.[9]
Nuclear Power and Proliferation: A Renaissance View
It could be argued that none of these developments have any direct relation to the security implications of spreading nuclear power plants abroad. Narrowly interpreted, Japan's nuclear woes merely highlights the potential hazards of operating nuclear reactors and of selling them to states that lack sufficient nuclear safety experience. More broadly viewed, however, nuclear power's current difficulties releases policy makers from the political pressures previously applied by lobbyists who have insisted that nuclear power's immediate, dramatic expansion demanded additional federal support.
Certainly, the most prevalent view until last week was that we simply had to learn to live with many, many more reactors being built internationally no matter what the security implications might be. Global warming, it was argued, would only worsen with the burning of more coal, and because relatively clean burning natural gas was presumed to be scarce and expensive, nuclear power was viewed as being the only immediate answer to reducing carbon emissions and enhancing energy security. For some arms control proponents eager to eliminate nuclear weapons, it also has seemed critical for nuclear weapons states to share civilian nuclear technology liberally with nonnuclear weapons states. Such nuclear commerce, they have argued, was a necessary quid pro quo to get the world's nonnuclear weapons states to uphold their Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) pledges not to acquire nuclear weapons.[10]
Given all these concerns, emphasizing the need to restrict or control civilian nuclear energy in the name of nonproliferation has been viewed by some as a mistake. In this regard, three basic arguments have been made.[11]
First among these is that worrying about the spread of nuclear power reactors is wrongheaded. Instead of reactors spreading, it has been argued, we should only worry about the proliferation of nuclear fuel making plants, which can bring states within weeks of acquiring the bomb fuel they need to make nuclear weapons. Certainly, the most popular power reactors, light water reactors, are not optimal for making the very highest weapons grade plutonium. Also, with more research even more proliferation resistant reactors may be possible. In the meantime, we can establish multinational nuclear fuel banks to service any demand states might have to make their own fuel.
Second, it has been argued that to the extent there might be a proliferation concern relating to power programs, we can simply scale up the IAEA's inspections to deal with the increasing number and enhance our own nuclear intelligence programs as well so we can counter-proliferate in clever ways like those Israel and the U.S. have used against Iran.
Finally, some argue, nuclear weapons proliferation might yet occur but since nuclear weapons are not all that useful in war, only a handful of states would bother to acquire them. Acquiring the bomb would do them no good since their nuclear weapons could be deterred relatively easily by other states' conventional and nuclear weapons.
A Critique
Each of these arguments is popular. All are misleading. Each, properly assessed, helps clarify what this committee should do to tighten our current nonproliferation policies and to get other nuclear supplier states to do likewise.
Truly Proliferation Resistant Power Reactors? Not Yet
First, there is no bright clear line between boiling water with uranium and making nuclear fuel. Once a country begins a large nuclear power program, it must train hundreds of technicians to master nuclear engineering. This instruction is generally accomplished either by bringing foreign teachers in or sending one's students abroad. In either case, any country's best and brightest young students studying nuclear matters will be naturally interested in learning about the latest and most interesting nuclear topics. This, unavoidably, includes insights into how nuclear fuels perform and the latest techniques for producing them. The idea that one might try to block such learning at Western universities violates not only commonsense, but also most Western states' own domestic laws.
Second, the construction and operation of a large nuclear power plant makes it easier for states interested in making bombs to import illicit technologies and goods that have little or nothing to do with boiling water. This certainly was the case with Iran and its construction of a light water reactor at Bushehr. The U.S. State Department sanctioned at least one Indian nuclear technician who visited the site ostensibly for "safety" reasons. It turned out that he was the world's leading experts in extracting tritium - a fuel used to boost fission bomb yields significantly -- from heavy water production facilities, which Iran was bringing on line. A Russian nuclear implosion expert also visited Iran's peaceful nuclear program. Neither visit was discovered until after it occurred. This was one of the key reasons why the Congressional commission I just served on recommended having the IAEA keep track of who actually visits IAEA safeguarded sites.[12]
Of Course, beyond serving as a cover for illicit, intangible technology transfers, large civilian nuclear programs also make the illicit acquisition of dual use nuclear goods far easier to hide.
Third, large reactors are themselves useful to would be bomb makers. Even the most popular of proliferation resistant power systems -- the light water reactor -- uses fresh low enriched uranium and generates plutonium in its spent reactor fuel that can be seized or slowly stolen to help make bombs. In a detailed study that my center completed several years ago, a detailed analysis was given on how fresh light water reactor fuel could be used to accelerate an illicit uranium enrichment program to make weapons-grade uranium. This could be accomplished with roughly one-fifth the effort that otherwise might be required using natural uranium. This study also detailed how spent fuel from the reactor could be chemically stripped out to produce enough near-weapons grade plutonium for 30 to 60 Hiroshima-sized bombs after only a year or so of reactor operation. The report also explained how would be bomb makers could divert these materials without the IAEA necessarily being alerted.[13]
This report's key findings were validated by nuclear safeguard scientists at our national weapons laboratories, officials at the U.S. State Department, and the House Select Permanent Committee on Intelligence.[14] It was partly because of these findings that the second Bush Administration decided that North Korea could not be trusted with the two light water reactors that the Clinton Administration agreed to help build for Pyongyang.
Finally, the very operation of large reactors normally entails sensitive activities that might help states engage in illicit nuclear weapons related activities. One example is post irradiation experiments, in which spent reactor fuel is taken from the reactor, opened up, and the ceramic fuel pellets and cladding examined to help determine the reliability and performance of the fuel in the reactor. Allowing states to open up spent fuel for this legitimate diagnostic purpose could afford them an opportunity to divert spent fuel in order to separate out nuclear weapons usable plutonium. Post radiation examinations or PIEs, though, are normal for any power reactor operator and permitted even for states, like Taiwan, which have been previously caught trying to reprocess spent fuel illicitly to make bombs.
These problems have encouraged many nuclear researchers in the U.S. and other nuclear power states to call for the development of more proliferation resistant reactors. In theory, this maybe possible, but so far, little has changed. Certainly, what we have in the way of power reactors and fuel making systems today are pretty much what we will be building and operating for the next two decades.[15]
Couldn't the U.S. and other nuclear supplier states convince nonnuclear weapons states not to make their own nuclear fuel by creating multilateral and international fuel banks? Again, the answer is unclear. The U.S. and other states tried to persuade Pakistan, Iran, Argentina, Brazil, Japan, and South Africa all to forgo making their own nuclear fuel and failed even though the economics of making nuclear fuel were far less favorable than they are today.
Construction of large power reactors can cost now anywhere between 4 and 10 billion dollars each - certainly no less and generally far more than what a small, crude uranium enrichment or plutonium reprocessing plant might cost. The U.S. and other nuclear supplier states, moreover, have been quite emphatic in arguing that all NPT-compliant member states have an "inalienable right" to make nuclear fuel so long as it is for peaceful purposes. None of this augers well for the proposition that giving nonnuclear weapons states power reactors and merely offering to make nuclear fuel accessible to them will suffice to persuade them to forswear their "right" to make nuclear fuel (and so develop a bomb option) of their own.[16]
More arguments could be made regarding the difficulty of keeping peaceful power programs from becoming launching pads for nuclear weapons work. What has been laid out here, though, more than suggests why it would be a mistake to share large reactors, even light water reactors, with any nonnuclear weapons state unless one was convinced it was clearly out of the bomb making business.
Nuclear Inspections and Intelligence: What Are the Limits?
This is where the idea of strengthening existing nuclear inspections and enhancing national intelligence are generally held up as nonproliferation solutions. In the case of IAEA inspections, much can be done to improve near-real time surveillance of inspected sites with remote sensors and secure communication links. Securing talented inspectors and retaining more of them would also be both possible and useful.
Yet, simply sending money to the IAEA and increasing its authority ought not to be seen as a panacea. Most U.S. officials, for example, are extremely enthusiastic about increasing the number of state adherents to the IAEA's latest inspection understanding, The Additional Protocol, which authorizes the IAEA to conduct more intrusive inspections than under existing safeguards agreements. The increased inspection authority that the Additional Protocol affords, though, is most commonly occasioned by a reduction in the number of routine inspections. Once a country qualifies for Additional Protocol inspections, it is argued, it should be trusted more and inspected less. This lessens IAEA inspection loads but it also reduces IAEA safeguards presence on the ground.
There also are real limits on IAEA inspections. After Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, and Algeria, we learned that in the most dangerous cases, the IAEA cannot always meet its own timeliness nuclear detection goals. Safeguarding nuclear fuel making (e.g., enrichment, reprocessing, fuel fabrication, uranium hexafluoride production) and nuclear weapons usable fuels (highly enriched uranium, separated plutonium, mixed oxide fuel) anywhere; and large civilian nuclear facilities in hostile states (e.g., Iran and North Korea), are among these cases. In these instances, the inspected nuclear activities and materials are so close to bomb making that there is scant time even with discovery of a diversion to do much and a high likelihood that any discovery might come after the diversion if at all.[17]
Finally, recent research suggests that for large organizations with conflicting goals regarding the regulation of complex technologies, their mere expansion may not help and, in certain cases, could actually make matters worse. These research findings could easily apply to the IAEA, which is designed both to promote civilian nuclear applications and to restrain them to assure they stay peaceful. These two opposing IAEA functions make achieving the agency's safeguarding mission difficult. It also makes determining how much one is "strengthening" the IAEA inherently tricky.[18]
This, then, brings us to the utility of improving national intelligence capabilities. Since the late l980s, much has been made of what the U.S. and other states might do to "counter" proliferation with trade interdictions, covert operations, passing off sensitive information to agencies like the IAEA and, if necessary, military strikes. All of these operations may be needed; all demand timely, actionable intelligence.
To argue that we can depend on such operations to prevent proliferation if we only could secure more "actionable" intelligence, though, would be a stretch. First, there are severe limits on how much actionable intelligence any country is comfortable sharing with allies, much less international organizations. Second, there are limits on how much information most governments, including our own, are likely to demand about states that are about to or may have already acquired nuclear weapons. In more than a few cases, getting or sharing such information becomes awkward since it can force officials to have to act in ways they may be disinclined to. This arguably was the case with Israel, Pakistan, and North Korea, where at various points, senior U.S. officials actually kept intelligence officers from inspecting or reporting more on what actually was occurring in each of these countries nuclear weapons programs. We subsequently have had to downplay the implications of nonproliferation failures in each of these cases. This suggests that our problem in preventing proliferation may not be the lack of actionable intelligence so much as a lack of demand for it in the hardest and, arguably, most important cases.[19]
Government officials' natural aversion to conflict with other states (even proliferating ones) has fostered a school of proliferation optimists for whom the spread of nuclear weapons is hardly awful and may even be good. Their underlying operating assumption is that nuclear weapons are not useful militarily and that their use, in any case, can be deterred relatively easily.[20]
To anyone who has studied the war scares between a nuclear-armed India and Pakistan, much of this optimism seems misplaced. The U.S. and others have had to intervene diplomatically more than once, partly to head off fears of nuclear weapons escalation. Also, the standard for what is thought to be worrisome - the actual use of nuclear weapons in anger -- is so low, it misses much of what matters.
Thus, the construction or operation of large nuclear reactors, in Syria, Iraq, and Iran has prompted at least nine major acts of war by the U.S., Israel, Iraq and Iran. Two of these strikes came with two major invasions of Iraq. Meanwhile, the latest historiography suggests that the l967 Israeli War was actually prompted by Soviet desires to eliminate Israel's option to go nuclear. Similar historiography has detailed numerous plans advanced by India and Israel against Pakistani nuclear plants; by Pakistan against Indian nuclear plants; by Taiwan, Russia, and the U.S. against Chinese nuclear plants; and by the U.S. and Japan against North Korea.[21] In more than a few of these cases, the nuclear facilities that were targeted were IAEA safeguarded. All of this history helps clarify just how "destabilizing" the spread of such facilities can be and why just a "little" proliferation can produce enormous security headaches even if nuclear weapons are never produced or used or the plants themselves are not fully completed.
What's to Be Done
Of course, nearly all U.S. officials understand just how great a security threat nuclear weapons proliferation is. More than a few understand that the link between nuclear power and nuclear weapons is significant and most privately concede that it will be more difficult to manage unless tighter controls are put in place. The difficulty in doing so, they argue, however, is America's lack of leverage. The U.S. is no longer a lead manufacturer of controlled nuclear reactors or of major reactor components. The French, Russians, and Japanese now are easily America's equals. They not only can sell reactors at lower prices than the U.S., as government owned or protected entities, they are not hamstrung as US private reactor vendors are by having to get overseas customers to promise not to sue them in the case of a nuclear accident. As a result, it has been fashionable to argue that Washington must go along to get along - i.e., the U.S. must settle for whatever other nuclear suppliers will allow in the way of nuclear export control restraints.
This view, however, is mistaken on two grounds. First, what other key suppliers will voluntarily allow in the way of nuclear trade restraints is far shy of what is needed. China wants to sell reactors to Pakistan even though Pakistan has a very bad nonproliferation record. Russia, France, South Korea, and Japan, meanwhile, are happy to sell civilian nuclear power systems throughout the Middle East without demanding (as the U.S. did of the United Arab Emirates) that their customers forswear making nuclear fuel or ratify the IAEA's most stringent safeguards under the Additional Protocol.
As I have explained in previous testimony before this committee, all of these same nuclear suppliers, though, are eager to expand their nuclear businesses in America with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory licenses, Department of Energy contracts, and generous U.S. taxpayer-backed federal nuclear loan guarantees. Some of these firms, such as AREVA and EdF, are eager to secure exports to cover the costs they have incurred from their activities within France and Europe. All of this constitutes leverage.
The question is will we use it. The White House seems reluctant. Congress should not be. A key provision, this committee should insist on in revising the U.S. Atomic Energy Act is that no U.S. license, DoE contract or federal nuclear loan guarantee should be granted to any foreign nuclear vendor to expand their business here unless their host government explicitly adopts the key nonproliferation conditions of the U.S. - UAE nuclear cooperative agreement in their own nuclear cooperative activities with other non-nuclear weapons states. These conditions include getting the recipient to forswear making nuclear fuel or engaging in heavy water reactor related activities and ratifying the IAEA's additional protocol.
Promoting global adoption of this nonproliferation "Gold Standard," makes sense. It is something both Presidents Bush and Obama helped establish and is critical to prevent the further spread of nuclear fuel making, which is so dangerous and difficult to safeguard. It also is something that the U.S. needs to take the lead in promoting particularly since the Nuclear Suppliers Group is unlikely, initially to do so.
The key, as I have noted in testimony before, is to get the French to adopt this standard. Once the French do, Germany politically is certain to do so almost automatically. Since Russia is seeking German nuclear technology through Siemens to help it upgrade Russia's domestic and export reactors, Moscow will indirectly be forced to adopt the standard as well: Legally no Russian reactor containing German technology could be exported from Russia without meeting German nonproliferation requirements and formal German consent. With France, Germany, Russia and the US all on the same sheet, it should be relatively easy to secure this standard's adoption by South Korea, Japan, and, perhaps even China.
In any case, this committee should consider all of the recommendations listed in the front of this testimony and others as well to assure that the intent of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978 is realized or, at least, not undermined. Right now, the economics of nuclear energy as compared to its alternatives allows us the time to get our nuclear policies in order.[22] After Japan's tragic nuclear experience of the last week, we owe to ourselves, our friends, and the world to do so. This includes doing a better job of controlling this technology and to assure that it not only is safe, but that it never is diverted or misused to militarily threaten others.
1 . For a point-by-point justification for each of these recommendations, which bear on the promotion of nuclear nonproliferation and safety, see my detailed testimony before this committee and the Subcommittee on Trade, Nonproliferation and Terrorism, "Nuclear Cooperation and the Atomic Energy Act," testimony given before a hearing of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, "Nuclear Cooperation after Khan and Iran: Time for a New Paradigm," September 24, 2010 available at http://npolicy.org/article.php?aid=70&;rtid=8 and "Keeping U.S. International Nuclear Cooperation Peaceful," testimony given before a hearing of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade, "The Future of U.S. International Nuclear Cooperation," May 5, 2010, available at http://npolicy.org/article.php?aid=69&;rtid=8
2 . See, e.g., Jim Tankersley, "Taxpayer Meltdown: Taxpayers, Not the Utilities, Would Be Liable for Most of the Bill," The National Journal, March 15, 2011, available at http://www.nationaljournal.com/economy/a-japan-reactor-repeat-in-the-united-states-could-cost-the-government-dearly-20110315.
3. Prices for the stocks of key nuclear reactor vendors have dropped significantly this week world-wide. See, e.g., Julie Cruz, "Stock in Europe Slide Most in Four Months on Japan Nuclear-Plant Concern," Bloomberg , March 156, 2011, available at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-15/european-stock-index-futures-tumble-on-radiation-concern-at-japanese-plant.html; David Fogarty and Julie Gordon, "Nuclear Sector Takes a Beating But US Offers Support," Reuters, March 14, 2011, available at http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE72D3T620110315?ca=rdt; and Louise Armitstead, "Nuclear Sector Faces Delay Amid Safety Fears," The Telegraph, March 15, 2011, available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/8381297/Nuclear-sector-faces-delays-amid-safety-fears.html
4. See Elaine Grossman, "Obama Team Eyes Saudi Nuclear Trade Deal," Global Secuirty Newswire, January 25, 2011, available at http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20110125_4190.php.
5 . For a review of the latest cost projections, see Henry D. Sokolski, "The High and Hidden Costs of Nuclear Power," Policy Review, September 2010, available at http://www.npolicy.org/article.php?aid=93&;tid=5.
6 . See, Patrick O'Connor, "WSJ/NBC Poll: Hands Off Medicare, Social Security," The Wall Street Journal, March 2, 2011, available at http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/03/02/wsjnbc-poll-hands-off-medicare-social-security/. The raw polling data showing cuts to nuclear power plant subsidies to be the most popular budget cut is available at http://texasvox.org/2011/03/04/wsj-poll-shows-americans-willing-to-cut-from-the-budget-for-nuclear-loan-guarantees/.
7 . See "South Korea to Bolster Support for Exports of Nuclear Plants," The Korean Herald, March 9, 2011, available at http://www.koreaherald.com/business/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110309000846.
8 . See "France-Based AREVA Downgraded to BBB+ On Continued Weakened Profitability," Standard and Poor's, June 28, 2010, available at http://www.alacrastore.com/research/s-and-p-credit-research-France_Based_AREVA_Downgraded_To_BBB_On_Continued_Weakened_Profitability_Outlook_Stable-806353; Dan Yurman, "UK Depends on "France for the Nuclear Renaissance: But first EdF and Areva Have to Get Organized at Home," The Energy Collective, February 3, 2011, available at http://theenergycollective.com/ansorg/50979/uk-depends-france-nuclear-renaissance; Francois de Beaupuy, "Areva's Overruns at Finnish Nuclear Plant Approach Initial Cost," Bloomberg, June 24, 2010 available at http://www.businessweek.com/news/2010-06-24/areva-s-overruns-at-finnish-nuclear-plant-approach-initial-cost.html; "Team France in Disarray: Unhappy Attempts to Revive a National Industry, The Economist, December 2, 2010, available at http://www.economist.com/node/17627569?story_id=17627569&;fsrc=rss; Guy Chazan, "Jinxed Plant Slows A Nuclear Rebirth, The Wall Street Journal, December 2, 2011, available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703865004575648662738551250.html.
9. See John W. Rowe, Chairman CEO, Exelon Corporation "Energy Policy: Above All, Do No Harm," a presentation given before the American Enterprise Institute Washington, DC, March 8, 2011, available at http://www.exeloncorp.com/assets/newsroom/speeches/docs/spch_Rowe_AEI2011.pdf.
10. See, e.g., Ambassador Libran N. Cabactulan, "Defining Success for the NPT Review Conference," NGO Committee on Disarmament, Peace and Security, available at http://disarm.igc.org/index.php?option=com_content&;view=article&;id=340:defining-success-for-the-npt-review-conference-spring-2010&;catid=145:disarmament-times-spring-2010&;Itemid=2 and "The Three Pillars in the Political Declaration," The Seven Nation Initiative on Nuclear Disarmament and Nonproliferation, available at http://www.7ni.mfa.no/NPT/3_pil_in_pol_decl/.
11 . Although the following arguments have been generally made by policy makers in Washington and national security academics, the specific arguments here are drawn directly from a feature article in the World Nuclear Association's flagship magazine their top policy analyst, Steven Kidd, "Nuclear Proliferation Risk - Is It Vastly Overrated?" Nuclear Engineering International, July, 23, 2011, available at http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?storyCode=2056931.
12 . World at Risk: The Report of the Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, December 2, 2008, page 50, available at http://www.absa.org/leg/WorldAtRisk.pdf.
13 . See Victor Gilinsky, et al., "A Fresh Examination of the Proliferation Dangers of Light Water Reactors," in Henry Sokolski, editor, Taming the Next Set of Strategic Weapons Threats (Carlisle, PA: US Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, 2005), available at http://www.npolicy.org/article.php?aid=172&;rt=&;key=a%20fresh%20examination&;sec=article.
14 . See House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, Subcommittee on Intelligence, Recognizing Iran as a Strategic Threat: An Intelligence Challenge for the United States, staff report, August 23,2006, p. 11, at http://intelligence.house.gov/Media/PDFS/IranReport082206v2.pdf.
15 . See Committee on Review of DOE's Nuclear Energy Research and Development Program, National Research Council, "Minority Opinion: Dissenting State of Gilinsky and Macfarlane," in Review of DOE's Nuclear Energy Research and Development Program (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2008), available at http://armscontrolcenter.org/assets/pdfs/macfarlane_gilinsky.pdf and Frank Von Hippel, "Managing Spent Fuel in the United States: The Illogic of Reprocessing," in Henry Sokolski editor, Falling Behind: International Scrutiny of the Peaceful Atom (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, 2008), pp. 159-221.
16 . On the matter of the NPT and the right to peaceful nuclear energy,
17 . On these points see "In Pursuit of the Undoable, Troubling Flaws in the World's Nuclear Safeguards," The Economist, August, 23, 2007, available at http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9687869; Marvin M. Miller, "Are IAEA Safeguards on Plutonium Bulk-Handling Facilities Effective?" (Nuclear Control Institute, 1990), reprinted in Paul Leventhal et. al. (eds.), Nuclear Power and the Spread of Nuclear Weapons (Brassey's, 2002); Brian G. Chow and Kenneth A. Solomon, Limiting the Spread of Weapon-Usable Fissile Materials (The Rand Corporation, MR-346-USDP, 1993), pp. 1-15; Henry S. Rowen, "This "Nuclear-Free' Plan Would Effect the Opposite," The Wall Street Journal, Edwin S. Lyman, "Can Nuclear Fuel Production in Iran and Elsewhere Be Safeguarded against Diversion?" in Falling Behind, pp. 101-20. January 17, 2008, David Kay, "Denial and Deception Practices of WMD Proliferators: Iraq and Beyond" in Brad Roberts, ed., Weapons Proliferation in the 1990s, (MIT Press, 1995); Gilinsky, "A Fresh Examination of the Proliferation Dangers of Light Water Reactors"; and Andrew Leask, Russell Leslie, and John Carlson, "Safeguards As a Design Criteria-Guidance for Regulators," (Australian Safeguards and Non-proliferation Office, September 2004), available at http://www.asno.dfat.gov.au/publications/safeguards_design_criteria.pdf.
18 . See Charles Perrow, Normal Accidents: Living with High-Risk Technologies
(Princeton NJ: Princeton University Press, 1984), pp. 9 ff. and Henry Sokolski, Building Support for the Agency's Safeguards Mission: More Transparency, Funding, and Safeguards Candor,"A Presentation made before Panel 17 "Building Support for the Safeguards Mission" of the International Atomic Energy Agency Safeguards Symposium "Preparing for Future Verification Challenges," November 3, 2010 IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria, available at http://npolicy.org/article.php?aid=50&;rtid=6.
19 . Consider Victor Gilinsky, "Casting a Blind Eye: Nixon and Kissinger Finesse Israel's Bomb," a presentation before the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, January 24, 2011 available at http://www.npolicy.org/article.php?aid=48&;tid=4.
20 . See, e.g., John Mueller, Atomic Obsession: Nuclear Alarmism from Hiroshima to Al-Qaeda (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2010).
21 . See, Matthew Furhmann and Sarah F. Kreps, "Targeting Nuclear Programs in War and Peace: A Quantitative Empirical Analysis, 1942-200," Journal of Conflict Resolution 2010 54:831 Originally published online 15 June 2010, appendix I, available at http://npolicy.org/article.php?aid=622&;rt=&;key=fuhrmann&;sec=article.
22. See, Henry Sokolski, editor, Nuclear Power's Global Expansion: Weighing Its Costs and Risks (Carlisle, PA: Strategic Studies Institute, December 2010), available at http://www.npolicy.org/thebook.php?bid=19.


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Russian Foreign Minister Visiting Eastern Kazakhstan
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has started a two-day visit to eastern Kazakhstan.
Lavrov arrived in the city of Oskemen, the capital of the Eastern Kazakhstan region, on August 6. He is expected to hold talks there with Kazakh Foreign Minister Erlan Idrisov.
The two will discuss bilateral ties, international and regional issues, the Eurasian integration process, and cooperation in the political, economic, and cultural spheres.
Lavrov is expected to visit Kazakh-Russian enterprises operating in Oskemen and the region, which borders with Russia's Altai Krai province and China's Xin Jiang Autonomous region.
Eastern Kazakhstan has a large Russian-speaking population.
Based on reporting by Interfax, mfa.kz, and mid.ru
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© St. Petersburg Times, published March 17, 2003
WASHINGTON -- The United States has not given up on Turkey as a springboard for American forces in a war against Iraq even though the Turkish Parliament has rejected the idea, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday.
Powell said Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan will resubmit the proposal to Parliament but the timing was uncertain.
He praised Erdogan's political courage because of the "interesting political situation" he is trying to resolve -- finish forming his government while developing a way to get a disapproving Parliament to say yes to the Americans.
"I wouldn't eliminate any of the options that are on the table right now. A lot depends on what Mr. Erdogan feels he can get through his Parliament. And he has to make that political judgment," Powell said on Fox News Sunday.
The United States wants to deploy 62,000 troops in Turkey for an invasion of northern Iraq. The United States also wants permission to fly combat missions from Turkish air bases and to use Turkish airspace for cruise missile attacks.
CAMP COMMANDO, Kuwait -- The top Marine commander in the region predicted Sunday that war was "just a few days away" and suggested that it would begin with a three- or four-day bombing campaign intended to wipe out half the Iraqi defenders at the border before sending in U.S. and British land forces.
Lt. Gen. James Conway, who commands more than 85,000 Marines and British troops poised to attack, said his force would target Iraq's 51st Mechanized Division with 130 fighter jets and about 75 attack helicopters, then rush in on the ground to seize southern Iraq.
The "road-to-war brief," as it was called, complete with flyovers by fighter jets and attack helicopters, reinforced for troops in the field that war appears imminent. Some units have packed up and moved out of their camps, received live ammunition and sent off what they think could be their final letters home before hostilities begin.
Conway told the Marines that he did not know exactly when war would begin. "But I'll tell you this," he said. "I believe in my heart it's just a few days away."
IRBIL, Iraq -- U.S. special forces troops are working with Kurdish military units with the aim of penetrating Iraqi-held territory once an American invasion begins, spotting targets for U.S. airstrikes and laying the groundwork for seizing Kirkuk, a strategic oil city in northern Iraq, Kurdish officials told the Washington Post.
The deployment marks the first known instance of American forces blending with Kurdish units, which are based in a safe haven beyond control of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's government. Several dozen U.S. troops are stationed in the Kurdish zones, largely invisible to the public, the officials say. More will begin arriving in the next few days, a Kurdish official said.
The Kurds lack the technology to call in U.S. airstrikes, Kurdish officials said. "The Americans have the technology and the training. We have the numbers and the morale, and we know the area," said Azad Miran, chief of the Kurdistan Democratic Party's military operations. "Spotting is vital. It has to happen."
CAMP PENNSYLVANIA, Kuwait -- At this American army base several miles from the Iraqi border, infantry officers with the 101st Airborne Division sat outside on sandbags to watch jerky images of President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair on a satellite-fed Fox News Channel monitor.
Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, who commands the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry of the 101st Airborne, said he was heartened by their speeches and believes an attack is imminent. Most of the division's troops arrived from Fort Campbell, Ky., two weeks ago.
"It's one more nail in Saddam Hussein's coffin as far as I'm concerned," Hughes said. "'I don't see a crack in that coffin. When the 101st arrives, you know things are about to happen."
Soldiers of all ranks say they hope war starts sooner rather than later, especially with temperatures beginning to rise. Most also say Hussein has more than enough time to comply with orders to disarm.
"They've done more than they've had to to convince the world what needs to be done," said Hughes, a former antiterrorism officer. "There are only so many ways you can say, 'Trust me, the guy has weapons of mass destruction and we have to stop him before he comes to our homeland.' "
-- WES ALLISON, Times staff writer
VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II implored Saddam Hussein on Sunday to urgently comply with U.N. disarmament demands and avoid giving cause to the West to attack Iraq.
"The next days will be decisive for the outcome of the Iraq crisis," the 82-year-old pope said from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square.
NEW BANDAGES COMING: Military medics will soon carry bandages designed to halt massive blood loss quickly, the first upgrade for treating battlefield wounds since the days of the Roman Empire.
The two kinds of bandages, expected to be approved soon by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, form instant scabs or sealants over a wound.


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Welcome to The Nor West Jockey Club
The Nor West Jockey Club, Roebourne is the second oldest race club in Western Australia and conduct four race meetings every year in the cooler Pilbara months of June and July. The Roebourne racecourse is situated on the North West Coastal Highway just one kilometre east of the Roebourne township and has full bar and catering facilities, TAB , bookmakers, live entertainment and traditional two up after the last race on every race day.
The Nor West Jockey Club race meetings are an integral part of the Pilbara race round which starts in late May in Port Hedland and ends in August in Newman. Every year Trainers and Jockeys travel north with their horses from the southern regions of Western Australia to support the Pilbara race round and the Roebourne Cup is one of the most treasured trophies to win.
Pilbara residents and Tourist are welcome to attend the Nor West Jockey Club race days and more information regarding local accommodation and caravan parks can be obtained from the Roebourne Visitors Centre by calling 9182 1060.
Membership for the 2017 season is now SOLD OUT.
Membership badges MUST be collected by Friday 28th July from either:
- Alicia 3 Treetop Crescent Nickol
- Fran 45 Oleander Crescent Wickham
Every year each race meeting has a theme and they are described below:
Opening Day
Sunday 11th June 2017 150th Anniversary Roebourne Races Open Day
The opening race meeting at Roebourne is always a grand event and is well supported by the local cultural groups and tourism operators. The six race card provides an early opportunity in the Pilbara race season for the trainers to test their horses on a pindan track.
Ladies Day
Saturday 15 July 2017 - 150th Anniversary Roebourne Races Ladies Day
- View Photo Gallery
Ladies Day at the Roebourne racecourse is the pinnacle of the social calendar in the region and every year the local women revel in the challenge of wearing their beautiful outfits in what many people call a harsh and challenging environment. The feature event of the Day is the City of Karratha Harding Cup over 1800m another race that has it past steeped in tradition. The Harding Cup race has its origins in the 1950's and was a much coveted race for the local station owners to win with their Nor West bred horses.
Family Day
Saturday 24th June 2017 - 150th Anniversary Roebourne Race Family Day
- View Photo Gallery
Family day is always well supported by the local communities of Roebourne, Wickham, Karratha & Dampier and features a range of children's activities. There are two feature races on this day, the Great Northern Handicap over 1600m and the Cossack Handicap over 1200m, the former race in the 1890's was the starting point for a number of successful campaigns by North West horses during the Perth Summer racing season, which was eclipsed by the legendary North West bred Wandering Willie which won the Perth Cup in 1890 & 1892.
Roebourne Cup Day
Saturday 29th July 2017 150th Anniversary Roebourne Races
Regarded by some as one of the best race meetings in the North West, Roebourne Cup Day is a true spectacle and is always well supported by the local Pilbara communities. The seven event card never fails to please the punters and in more recent years the race meeting has gained exposure all round Australia via Sky Channel. Regularly attracting over 4,000 racegoers the day always finishes with one of the biggest two up games in the state. There are three feature races on the day, the Publicans Purse (1200m) and the Settlers Handicap (1200m) were two of the original races ever run by the Nor West Jockey Club under WATC rules in 1863. The first Roebourne Cup (2200m) was originally the Roebourne Plate ran in 1889 over the two miles (3200m).


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