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Discuss in Forums {mos_smf_discuss:Book Reviews}
Why study programming? Ethical hackers should study programming and learn as much about the subject as possible in order to find vulnerabilities in programs and get them fixed before unethical hackers take advantage of them. It is very much a foot race: if the vulnerability exists, who will find it first? The purpose of this article is to give you the survival skills and the ability to find holes in software before the black hats do.
It should be said at the outset that programming is not something you learn in an article, a chapter or in one book, for that matter. There are professional and hobbyist programmers who spend years perfecting their skills. However, there are a few core concepts that can be picked up rather quickly. We will not try to turn you into a programmer. Instead, we hope that by the end of this article you won't be afraid to look at source code and that you've learned a few skills to "hack" up some code if you need to.
This chapter (CH 7) is excerpted from the book titled "Gray Hat Hacking: The Ethical Hacker's Handbook" By Shon Harris, et al, published by McGraw-Hill Osborne. ISBN: 0072257091; Published: November 2004; Pages: 434; Edition: 1st.
The Problem-Solving Process
Experienced programmers develop their own process of tackling problems. They will consolidate or even skip steps, but most of them will admit that when they first learned, they followed a more structured approach. Programming usually revolves around a problem-solving process as follows:
1 Define the problem. The first step in the process is to clearly define the problem. This step can be as simple as brainstorming; however, there is usually a need to develop requirements of some sort. In other words, "What is the problem we are trying to solve?" The next question to ask is "What are the high-level functions that will allow us to solve that problem?"
2 Distill the problem down to byte-sized chunks. At this point, the high-level functions may be hard to wrap your mind around. In fact, they may be very abstract, so the next step is to break the high-level functions into smaller ones through an iterative process until they are easy to digest.
3 Develop pseudo-code. The term pseudo means fake. Pseudo-code refers to the clear, concise description of logic or computer algorithms in plain English, without regard to syntax. In fact, there is no precise syntax for pseudo-code. That said, most programmers gravitate toward a format like their favorite programming language.
4 Group like components into modules. This is an important step. Recent programming programs rely on a concept called modularity. Simply put, modular means self-contained and reusable bits of code-after all, why reinvent the wheel if the module already exists? Over time, programmers develop their own software module library or learn to quickly find others and incorporate them into their own programs. Modules are loosely related to functions or procedures in most languages.
5 Translate to a programming language. At this point, you should have pseudocode that resembles your favorite programming language. It's a simple process to add the nuances of your favorite language, such as its syntax and format. Then run your favorite compiler to turn the source code into machine language.
6 Debug errors. The term bug (as it relates to hardware) was first coined by Thomas Edison, but it was Navy Admiral Grace Hopper who made it famous
when she found a bug (actually a moth) while cleaning the Harvard Mark II calculator in 1945. Many credit her with coining the term debugging, which means to remove any errors in either computer hardware or software. For our purposes, there are two types of programming errors or software bugs that require debugging: syntax and runtime.
– Syntax errors Syntax errors are caught by the compiler during the compiling process, and are the easiest type of error to find and fix. The compiler usually provides enough information to allow the programmer to find the syntax error and fix it.
NOTE: Many black and gray hat hackers will modify the source code for their exploits and purposefully add syntax errors to keep script kiddies from compiling and running them. The source code could be crippled by removing needed syntax (for example, missing ; or {}).
7 Runtime errors. Runtime errors are harder to find and fix. They are not caught by the compiler and may or may not be found during program execution. Runtime errors (or bugs) are problems that will cause the program to act in a manner not intended by the programmer. There are too many types of bugs to cover in this chapter; however, we will focus on input validation errors. These errors occur when the user provides input in a manner not foreseen or handled properly by the programmer. The program may crash (at the least) or may allow the attacker to gain control of the program and the underlying operating system with administrator or root level access (in the worst case). The rest of this chapter will focus on this type of programming error.
8 Test the program. The purpose of testing is to find the runtime errors while confirming the functionality of the program. In other words, does the program perform as planned without any unforeseen consequences? It's the latter part of this question that's the hardest to answer. The problem centers around the fact that a programmer is often the last person to find all of the runtime errors. The programmer is typically too close to the program to think outside the box. It is usually best to separate the testing and programming functionalities and have separate people perform them.
9 Implement production. Unfortunately, for too many software products, production begins as soon as the program compiles without syntax errors and without adequate testing. There's often a rush to market and a ready acceptance that bugs will be found and handled later.
In this section, we will elaborate on the concept of pseudo-code. In order to better prepare you for upcoming sections, we will aim for a C language format. The reason for this is to quickly move from pseudo to real code.
Though we don't typically think of it in those terms, humans naturally act like programs during the course of their day. To illustrate this point, the process of getting ready for work generally goes like this:
1 Wake up
2 Use toilet
3 Shower
4 Fix hair
5 Brush teeth
6 Shave/apply make-up
7 Select clothes to wear
8 Get dressed
9 Eat breakfast
10 Watch news
11 Grab keys and wallet/purse
12 Head for the door
To a programmer, this process would follow an algorithm like this:
Wake up ( )
Visit the bathroom ( )
Get dressed ( )
Prepare to leave ( )
Leave ( )
At this point, using ( ) indicates the use of modules. The important thing to note is that each step follows a logical progression. It would make no sense, for example, to leave without first getting dressed.
If we were to make a computer program to model this process, we would further refine each of the preceding modules by creating smaller modules, some nested within each other:
Prepare to leave ( ){
Eat breakfast ( )
Until it is time to leave {
Watch news ( )
Grab keys and wallet ( )
The { and } symbols are used to mark the beginning and the end of a block of pseudocode. Don't worry about the symbols we've chosen here. They'll make more sense later. Further refined, Eat breakfast ( ) could look like this:
Eat breakfast ( ){
Choose a brand of cereal ( )
Prepare a bowl of cereal ( )
Grab a large spoon ( )
Eat the bowl of cereal ( )
And so on, and so on…
Programmers vs. Hackers
There are several differences between programmers and hackers, some of which are discussed here.
Order vs. Disorder
Simply put, programmers like order, whereas hackers thrive upon disorder. Programmers will develop complicated yet logical algorithms that are created to accomplish a particular task. The better ones will transform their pseudo-code into a formal mathematical language and attempt to prove the correctness and/or security of the algorithm, ensuring that the program will "never" crash (at least as best as they can tell). On the other hand, a hacker will think outside the box, and throw a million monkey-wrenches into your program to reduce it to a willing zombie-like slave that yields control of itself to the hacker.
The main difference between the operating manner of programmers and hackers is time. Programmers are very limited in the area of time and usually have some type of deadline to meet. Less-experienced programmers will stay up all night removing the bugs until the code finally compiles, after which it is shipped. Hackers, on the other hand, operate within a nearly unlimited timeframe. I say "nearly" because if there is a vulnerability present, it's only a matter of time before some hacker "good or bad" will find it. You see, with hackers, other things become more important than time, such as the challenge. This problem will always exist, and the programmers will always have less time than the hackers to "test" software. That is one of the motivating factors of this book. We need more honorable, ethical hackers out there finding problems and getting them fixed before the attackers do.
Motive can be compared in two ways: defense vs. offense and money vs. bragging rights.
Defense vs. Offense – In general terms, the programmer normally plays a defensive position, performing a function while trying to protect the user from hackers. Meanwhile, attackers are on the offense, attacking the programmer's defenses and intending harm to the user. Following this analogy, any football player will tell you that it is much more physically demanding to play defense than to play offense. The problem is that the defender must defend against all possible attacks and the offender must only be good at a few. To make matters worse, each programmer that makes a server program with ports accessible from the Internet has to defend against millions of bright and dangerous attackers.
NOTE This is where the ethical hacker can level the playing field. By acting on the defender's behalf, the ethical hacker can beat the attacker to the punch by identifying problems and getting them fixed.
Money vs. Bragging Rights – Although money is desirable, never underestimate the power and influence of bragging rights. There are many talented programmers contributing to open source and free software, but the vast majority of programmers program for a living. However, although some attackers are on the payroll of a "client," most are in the game to brag about their conquests and earn the respect of their peers. Besides, collecting a fee for maliciously attacking systems is always illegal and particularly hard to explain away before a judge as some kind of research venture. Ethical hackers, on the other hand, have the best of both worlds. Whether ethically hacking for a paying client or conducting research for free, they have nothing to hide; they earn the respect of their peers and get to brag about their exploits afterwards, too!
Grace Hopper Biography www.history.navy.mil/photos/pers-us/uspers-h/g-hoppr.htm
Explanation of pseudo-code www.cs.iit.edu/~cs561/cs105/pseudocode1/header.html
C Programming Language
The C programming language was developed in 1972 by Dennis Ritchie from AT&T Bell Labs. The language was heavily used in Unix and is thereby ubiquitous. In fact, much of the staple networking programs and operating systems are based in C.
Basic C Language Constructs
Although each C program is unique, there are common structures that can be found in most programs. We'll discuss these in the next few sections.
All C programs contain a main structure (lowercase) that follows this format:
<optional return value type> main(<optional argument>) {
<optional procedure statements or function calls>;
where both the return value type and arguments are optional. If you use command-line arguments for main(), use the format:
<optional return value type> main(int argc, char * argv[]){
where the argc integer holds the number of arguments and the argv array holds the input arguments (strings). The parentheses and brackets are mandatory, but white space between these elements does not matter. The brackets are used to denote the beginning and end of a block of code. Although procedure and function calls are optional, the program would do nothing without them. Procedure statements are simply a series of commands that perform operations on data or variables and normally end with a semicolon.
Functions are self-contained bundles of algorithms that can be called for execution by main() or other functions. Technically, the main() structure of each C program is also a function; however, most programs contain other functions. The format is as follows:
<optional return value type> function name (<optional function argument>){
The first line of a function is called the signature. By looking at it, you can tell if the function returns a value after executing or requires arguments that will be used in processing the procedures of the function.
The call to the function looks like this:
<optional variable to store the returned value =>function name (arguments
if called for by the function signature);
Again, notice the required semicolon at the end of the function call. In general, the semicolon is used on all stand-alone command lines (not bounded by brackets or parentheses).
Functions are used to modify the flow of a program. When a call to a function is made, the execution of the program temporarily jumps to the function. After execution of the called function has completed, the program continues executing on the line following the call. This will make more sense during our later discussion of stack operation.
Variables are used in programs to store pieces of information that may change and may be used to dynamically influence the program.
Table 7-1 shows some common types of variables.
When the program is compiled, most variables are preallocated memory of a fixed size according to system-specific definitions of size. Sizes in the table are considered typical; there is no guarantee that you will get those exact sizes. It is left up to the hardware implementation to define this size. However, the function sizeof() is used in C to ensure the correct sizes are allocated by the compiler.
Table 7-1 Types of Variables
Variables are typically defined near the top of a block of code. As the compiler chews up the code and builds a symbol table, it must be aware of a variable before it is used in the code later. This formal declaration of variables is done in the following manner:
<variable type> <variable name> <optional initialization starting with "=">;
For example:
int a = 0;
where an integer (normally 4 bytes) is declared in memory with a name of a and an initial value of 0.
Once declared, the assignment construct is used to change the value of a variable. For example, the statement:
is an assignment statement containing a variable x modified by the + operator. The new value is stored into x. It is common to use the format:
destination = source <with optional operators>
where destination is where the final outcome is stored.
The C language comes with many useful constructs for free (bundled in the libc library). One of the most commonly used constructs is the printf command, generally used to print output to the screen. There are two forms of the printf command:
printf(<format string>, <list of variables/values>);
The first format is straightforward and is used to display a simple string to the screen. The second format allows for more flexibility through the use of a format string which can be comprised of normal characters and special symbols that act as placeholders for the list of variables following the comma. Commonly used format symbols are shown in Table 7-2.
These format symbols may be combined in any order to produce the desired output. Except for the n symbol, the number of variables/values needs to match the number of symbols in the format string; otherwise, problems will arise, as shown in Chapter 9.
The scanf command complements the printf command and is generally used to get input from the user. The format is as follows:
scanf(<format string>, &<named variable>);
where the format string can contain format symbols as those shown in printf. For example, the following code will read an integer from the user and store it into the variable called number:
scanf("%d", &number);
Actually, the & symbol means we are storing the value into the memory location pointed to by number; that will make more sense when we talk about pointers later. For now, realize that you must use the & symbol before any variable name with scanf. The command is smart enough to change types on the fly, so if you were to enter a character in the previous command prompt, the command will convert the character into the decimal (ASCII) value automatically. However, bounds checking is not done in regards to string size, which may lead to problems (as discussed later in Chapter 8).
The strcpy command is probably the most dangerous command used in C. The format of the command is
strcpy(<destination>, <source>);
The purpose of the command is to copy each character in the source string (a series of characters ending with a null character:


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Codemasters, the studio behind racing games like Dirt and the upcoming F1 2010, is taking another developer to court, accusing it of "poaching staff".
Late last year, Trevor Williams and Nick Wheelwright - former Codemasters executives - broke away from the British studio and formed their own new team, called Playground Games.
Codemasters now alleges, though, that Playground "poached" around a dozen Codemasters employees, who "had access to trade secrets and confidential information to give it a head start of about 12 months in developing and marketing games."
In total, 17 former Codemasters employees have been named in the suit, which also alleges that Playground "disrupted Codemasters' development of its own racing games".
Rival didn't play fair, claims games giant [Daily Mail]

subset: commoncrawl


text:
"Mainstreamed time-travel romance, cleverly executed and tastefully furnished....Presented as a literary novel, this is more accurately an exceedingly literate one....A LOVE STORY for educated, upper-middle-class tastes...."Audrey Niffenegger is the author of 'The Time Traveler's Wife', published 2004 under ISBN 9780156029438 and ISBN 015602943X.[read more]
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Confused about whether you qualify for health-care and government tax credit subsidies? Two new online tools help users calculate their eligibility.
The pending launch of HealthCare.gov's new Marketplace on Oct. 1 has many wondering if they'll qualify for a health-care plan on the new platform, and if so, will they qualify for government tax subsidies.
To help ease some of the confusion, both the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and TurboTax have launched online subsidy calculators for individuals to figure out how much in tax credits they could potentially receive based on the new plans that will be available for open enrollment starting next week.
The new Bronze, Silver and Gold plans each vary on how much coverage one would get (Bronze being the least comprehensive, Gold being the most). In few cases, low-income individuals under the age of 30 may qualify to enroll in the "Catastrophic Plan," which includes three primary care visits per year, but requires the individual to pay all medical costs to a certain point, according to HealthCare.gov.
Both subsidy calculator tools require individuals to input personal information like state of residence, ZIP code, annual income and whether their employer has health-care coverage available to them. Kaiser's tool displays a series of questions on one page, whereas TurboTax's tool walks the individual through each question one by one.
To demonstrate how the subsidy calculator works, Government Technology generated three fictitious scenarios and plugged them into the calculators to see what kind of subsidies were available in each situation. Below are the three hypothetical scenarios.
A single, 28-year-old nonsmoker living in St. Louis, Mo., who earns an annual salary of $28,000 but is not offered health insurance at his/her current place of employment could qualify for coverage with an annual subsidy of $2,192 (based on the Silver plan). This would cover 80 percent of the total premium, which would be $2,756.
On this plan, the government would also provide a tax credit subsidy of up to $564 (representing the other 20 percent of the overall premium).
(Estimate based on the Kaiser calculator.)
This family of four consists of a father (a 42-year-old nonsmoker), a mother (a 40-year-old smoker) and two children, living in Sacramento, Calif. While both parents hold jobs, they collectively earn an annual household income of $37,000 and neither of their employers offers health-care coverage.
In California, the fact that the mother of this family is a smoker, won't put them at risk of paying more for health care. According to federal laws, states are allowed to charge smokers up to 50 percent more for a health-care plan.
The annual premium for this family would be $1,601. Under the Silver plan, this figure represents 13 percent of the coverage's total cost of $12,237. Their annual tax credit subsidy, then, would be $10,636.
(Estimate based on the Kaiser calculator.)
Some working individuals may already be insured without going through their respective employer. A 35-year-old unmarried Coloradan with no kids, who is already insured (not through his/her employer) and earns $42,000 annually, may qualify for financial assistance on health care.
According to the breakdown, the individual would qualify for health coverage with a $322 monthly premium. Government subsidies in this case would pay for $40 of that monthly total, making the monthly out-of-pocket cost $282.
(Estimate based on the TurboTax calculator.)
Although TurboTax tells the individual exactly how much the out-of-pocket premiums are, the calculator does not say what plan (Bronze, Silver or Gold) is reflected in the results.
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I am struggling to pay my mortgage and would like to get assistance. What should I do?
The first step for any homeowner struggling to pay their mortgages is to contact their lender. Lenders are in the best position to assist you. Homeowners can also seek assistance through the "Making Home Affordable" plan, which provides responsible homeowners with support to obtain affordable refinancing or loan modifications to help them stay in their homes. Housing counselors are available to help you.
- To find a counselor, contact the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) at (800) 569-4287 or (877) 483-1515, or visit their Website.
- Call (888) 995-HOPE, the Homeowner's HOPE Hotline, to reach a nonprofit, HUD-approved counselor through HOPE NOW, a cooperative effort of mortgage counselors and lenders to assist homeowners.
- Visit NeighborWorks America's Website.
Visit the "Making Home Affordable" program Website for more information about the administration's program to assist troubled homeowners with refinancing or loan modifications.
August 2011


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A councillor has called for a pledge of support for Leeds Bradford Airport to end doubt about its future.
Liberal Democrat Councillor Ryk Downes, who represents Otley and Yeadon, called for a vote of confidence from Leeds City Council after previous comments, which he says have thrown the future of the airport into jeopardy.
Coun Downes used a full meeting of Leeds City Council to call on all members to end doubt about the future of LBA and to pledge to support the airport in its current position.
He believes the future of the LBA had been put at risk by comments from council leader Keith Wakefield and the suggestion that the airport might be better situated to the south of the city.
Coun Downes said the airport was expanding and is looking to employ up to 3,500 employees by 2016, making it a major employer in the region.
He stressed: "I wanted to reassure the airport and any potential investors by calling upon the council to formally vouch that they were committed to supporting the airport and investing in it.
"I believe that Coun Wakefield did not realise the consequences that his throwaway comments would have and they sowed doubt in the minds of both potential investors as well as locals that rely on the airport for their jobs.
"I am so pleased that my proposal was overwhelmingly voted for in the council meeting and the owners can now go back to their fantastic work expanding the airport while we get to work producing the transport links the airport deserves"
The vast majority of councillors voted in favour of his proposal "that this council recognises the long-term benefits Leeds Bradford International Airport brings to the local and regional economy and fully supports the city region's proposed infrastructure improvements to improve both its accessibility and connectivity."


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Physicals, workouts go smoothly for batterymen
BRADENTON, Fla. -- The Longest Day -- due to the rotation for the required physicals, workouts began at around noon, about the time they will henceforth end -- was as routine as possible for Pirates batterymen.
In some cases, that qualified as good news:
• Kyle McPherson, the rotation candidate who had to cut short a Winter League stint due to some shoulder fatigue, threw the ball with zeal during PFP (pitchers' fielding practice), continuing his problem-free progression.
"He had some minor setbacks over the winter, but his rehab is in a very good place," manager Clint Hurdle said. "He's throwing his mounds and is on time with everything."
• Mark Melancon, the former Houston closer acquired from Boston as part of the four-man package for Joel Hanrahan and Brock Holt, dazzled during his bullpen session, drawing repeated raves from the guy catching him, Carlos Paulino.
• Francisco Liriano could only go through light therapy, but the Bucs are just delighted to finally have the left-hander and his broken right arm in camp, where they can keep a closer eye on him.
"We've set up a rehab program to keep him moving forward," Hurdle said. "Attention is mainly on him not having any setbacks. But we're very optimistic; there has already been a lot of improvement and now that he is in our environment, with our trainers, we have a good feeling."


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I recently presented a talk entitled Succeeding with Creativity in the Enterprise at Adobe MAX 2015. The recording is now available here.
The complexity of modern marketing puts stress on Enterprise Creatives, and Adobe Creative and Marketing Clouds can help mitigate stress through Connected Assets and Creative Sync, Workflows, Analytics and Automation. This talk explores the causes of the Creatives' stress and demonstrates how Enterprises can engage with external freelancers while maintaining Enterprise control over the process. We also see how Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) provides insight into the relationships between assets, enhancing brand compliance and simplifying license management for licensed content.


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Spectacular Eruption of Mount Etna – November 17th, 201337.7N 14.9E
Visible in the center of this image is Mount Etna, in Sicily, Italy. A white cloud of ash and steam can be seen spewing forth from the volcano, which is already erupting for the third time in 2013 (previous ones were on 11 April and 26 October). Mount Etna is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and is in an almost constant state of activity.


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Artificial Invention: Synthesis of Innovative Thermal Networks, Power Cycles, Process Flowsheets and Other Systems
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This dissertation proposes a computational technique for automated "invention" of conceptual schemes of thermal systems. The input provided to the automated problem solver is a description of the streams entering and leaving the system. The output is a network of elementary processes: compression, expansion, heating, cooling, and chemical processes. The problem solver seeks a network that is feasible, and offers an optimal (or at least favorable) combination of energy and capital costs. The synthesis process is modeled as a heuristic search conducted in a state-space of all possible design versions. The main ideas of the dissertation have been implemented in a computer program called TED, which invented a number of nontrivial schemes. TED starts with an initial state (or states), which may be either proposed by the user or generated automatically. TED evaluates each state using a special technique of exergy analysis applied to an infinitesimal temperature interval. This allows us to describe the thermal system by several integral characteristics which are functions of temperature. One particularly important integral characteristic - a measure of system's Second Law infeasibility - is introduced in this work; it allows a uniform treatment of both feasible and infeasible design states. TED then selects the most promising of the available designs. This selection is guided by a specialized search algorithm BP* which is shown to be probabilistically admissible. The results of the exergy analysis are used to perform a look-ahead evaluation of the design states. BP* also uses backpropagation of the state evaluation function to reduce the amount of backtracking. TED then improves the selected design by applying one of the transforming operators and thereby generating a new design. Each transformation involves addition of an incremental network of thermal processes to the original state and reduces either irreversibility (exergy loss) or infeasibility of the thermal system. The application of the transformations is controlled by a heuristic move generation function that selects the most promising transformations. The new design is added to the database of the available design states. The search continues with these evaluate-select-transform iterations until an (approximately) optimal design is found.
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21FT Red Curly Willow Taffeta Table Skirt
Item Number: SKT_03_017_21
- Material: Taffeta
- Measurements: 21ft wide x 29" tall
- How to Care: Hand wash only. Hang dry, don't use dryer.
- For 1 piece table skirt only. Tablecloth and decorations are not included.
- All table skirts come with velcro on top for attachment to clips. (CLIPS ARE SOLD SEPARATELY)
- All sizes are approximate measurements


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Prostitution has long been visible in Sarasota and Manatee counties.
For decades, and continuing to this day, prostitutes and johns have openly cruised North Tamiami Trail in the city of Sarasota and 14th Street in Bradenton. So-called spas on other heavily traveled roads and widely advertised escort services have served as fronts for prostitution as well.
Locals, including police, and visitors have known about all of this.
But "The Stolen Ones" -- a Herald-Tribune special report -- exposes more than the outward signs of prostitution.
The story, published in magazine form in today's newspaper and on HeraldTribune.com, reports what too many of us have not known but should recognize.
The Stolen Ones describes the hidden and sinister aspects of the sex trade.
They are worse than we thought.
The report reveals the entrapment and often violent treatment of underage girls who are forced to sell their bodies -- for little or nothing.
It uncovers details about teenagers and young women addicted to drugs and, most likely, suffering the lingering trauma of childhood sexual abuse. The story divulges the tactics of heartless pimps -- both male and female -- who use violence, intimidation and humiliation to maintain control over their victims.
Right in our own backyard.
Unfortunately, the horrifying stories from our communities and region are consistent with accounts emerging across Florida and the United States.
Sex trafficking, human trafficking, call it what you will. But it is here, there and everywhere -- and it is politically and morally unacceptable.
The challenge
It is hard to ascertain exactly how many children and young women are entrapped in prostitution. But experts believe that at least 100,000 U.S. teenagers are prostitutes, against their will, and three times that many are at risk.
Helping these girls coerced into the sex trade is difficult and complex.
Research shows that an overwhelming percentage of them were sexually abused as children; that abuse often leads the victims to run away from home or drives them toward substance abuse. They often develop bonds with their pimps, despite the abuse they suffer; those so-called trauma bonds make it difficult to protect, isolate and stabilize victims for their own good.
Our region and state lack secure shelters, for both short- and long-term protection and rehabilitation of victims -- children and young women alike. This undermines the efforts of advocates to provide even modest help to those who seek to break the shackles of modern-day slavery.
The Herald-Tribune report reveals many of the same conditions and problems as those found by a grand jury in Miami-Dade County. The citizen jury chose to study human sex trafficking, and did so for months.
Like The Stolen Ones, the grand jury's June report points to numerous failures and shortcomings in "the system." We'll examine those flaws in future editorials, including one commentary tomorrow.
However, the first challenge for government, advocacy groups, social-service providers, foundations and individuals is to recognize reality: In our communities and nation, children and teens are lured or forced into prostitution; countless young women and girls remain abused as prostitutes against their will.
Local residents and leaders have recognized for decades that open prostitution is a blight on communities and neighborhoods.
But the special report shows, in stark terms, how human trafficking and prostitution have stolen the childhoods and young lives of too many girls -- and women -- in our midst. Their families and friends suffer as well, fearing the worst for the "little girls" they have lost.
Awareness and attitudes
Raising awareness about human sex trafficking is vital; heightened sensibilities, including sorrow and revulsion, can lead to changes in laws and policies, as well as funding necessary for shelters and services.
Changing attitudes may be even more important. FBI Agent Greg Christopher, who has investigated numerous traffickers in Florida and our region, is tired of the misconception that prostitutes -- especially minors -- have made a career choice. "No 14- or 15-year-old has said, 'I want to be a prostitute.' There's not been one case where a juvenile said to me: 'I just wanted to give it a shot. I'll be a prostitute.' "
The Stolen Ones provides compelling evidence that children and young adult women involuntarily continue as prostitutes; coercion, abuse and fear prevent so many of them from breaking the trauma-induced bonds with their controllers and abusers.
These girls and women are victims.
'The hardest part'
Understanding the reality and brutality of human sex trafficking is crucial. Sex slavery affects not only minorities and the poor but a wide swath of girls and women, their families and their communities.
"The hardest part of the job," said Dawn Buff, an assistant state attorney who prosecuted an abuser of one of the victims profiled in The Stolen Ones, "is to get people to give a crap."
We hope that the Herald-Tribune report will help reshape attitudes and compel our communities -- and the state -- to care about the girls and young women whose lives have been stolen.
� � �
Tomorrow's editorial: The need for research into best practices for sheltering girls and women trying to break free from prostitution.
To read the entire report and more: www.HeraldTribune.com/thestolenones
The Stolen Ones: Our communities' dark secret
Prostitution has long been visible in Sarasota and Manatee counties.


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The UK's Peak Oil Discussion Forum & Community
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TEQs & Peak Oil : Peak Price for Energy ? $200 Barrel ?
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Sun Apr 27, 2008 1:12 am
Post subject: TEQs & Peak Oil : Peak Price for Energy ? $200 Barrel ?
TEQs Forumeros,
I must admit to having to reconsider my bold prediction : over the last year or so, I have maintained that crude oil prices would bounce up to around $105 a barrel and then float around there until the end of 2009.
One hundred and five is just over the nice round number of one hundred, and so a psychologically important threshold. I figured that demand for petroleum by-products would be tempered by such things as recession - the natural consequence of a massive credit brick wall - and so the cost price could not escalate wildly.
I figured that the eternal dance between the oil producting countries OPEC and the ROW rest of the world (ie oil consumers) would balance the price and hook it.
I figured that the stock marketeers would not start using any excuse they could find to trade higher. Although they come up with some silly reasons for panick buying/selling, I figured they could not go crazy over the basic energy resource for transport, manufacture, power.
But it seems that I may have been mistaken. Reports of Peak Oil and Peak Natural Gas are starting to roll in, and the first response is a "scarcity response" it seems. Although major Western consumer nations have had heart-to-heart chats with OPEC, they have come away with no promise of any kind to increase production.
There has been no spin whatsoever about this. No attempt to control the price. No blocks on trade.
What is happening ? Are people starting to tell the truth ? And what will happen to Fossil Fuel prices ? The empty cupboard message has even included China - who are apparently at the limits of their coal supply.
I will put in in terms of probabilities. P = 1 means a dead cert. P = 0.5 means a 50% chance of something happening.
P = 1 : crude oil price will continue to rise, and I can no longer see a clear sign of a plateau or drop.
P = 0.5 : crude oil price will be in the region of $150 a barrel by the end of Summer.
P = 0.25 : crude oil price could be $200 a barrel by the end of 2008.
All this just emphasises for me that we must move away from the vagaries of cost price for energy.
Energy should be, and will be in time, measured in Carbon value, or rather, Carbon Permit value.
Currency must become Energy-backed, not the other way round.
We so badly need quotas to avoid the economic instability coming at us from Peak Carbon Energy.
URLs to consider :-
China Peak Coal ?
USA Versus Iran ?
OPEC Refusing To Raise Output (Because They Cannot ?)
Peak Chaos ?
Peak Russian Gas ?
At Least The British Government Is Taking It Seriously
Last edited by jo on Wed May 21, 2008 1:25 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Mon Apr 28, 2008 2:08 pm
Post subject: Bloomberg & Philip Verleger echo my prediction
Oil May Hit $200 as Refiners Buy Costlier Crude, Verleger Says
By Robert Tuttle
April 25 (Bloomberg) -- Crude oil may rise to $200 a barrel by the end of the year as refiners increase purchases of low- sulfur oil to make diesel fuel, economist Philip Verleger said.
Ultra-low-sulfur diesel powers most U.S. trucks and diesel- burning cars. To make the fuel, refiners are buying more-costly low-sulfur oils such as the West Texas Intermediate crude traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, said Verleger, president of PKVerleger LLC, in an interview.
``It's conceivable'' oil could rise to $200 a barrel by the end of the year, he said. If economic ``growth resumes, we are short diesel and no way we are going to fill the gap.''
Lower-sulfur crude is easier to refine into ultra-low-sulfur diesel than heavier, higher-sulfur oils, said Verleger, who, in 2005, predicted oil would rise to $100 a barrel. The diesel was introduced to the U.S. in 2006 to cut air pollution.
Converting higher-sulfur crude into diesel requires hydrogen, which is in short supply, Verleger said. The element is a byproduct from making gasoline. Refiners are making less of the motor fuel than in the past because of increased ethanol use, and therefore less hydrogen, Verleger said.
The 2007 Renewable Fuels Standard, signed last December, mandates that the U.S. use 9 billion gallons of renewable fuels, such as ethanol this year and 36 billion gallons by 2022. U.S. gasoline production in November was 1.4 percent lower than two years earlier, Energy Department data show.
Ethanol Requirement
An option ``would be for Congress to waive the ethanol requirement,'' Verleger said. ``There are a lot of reasons to do this.''
Oil has also risen because investment funds are buying commodities, Verleger said. ``These index funds are playing an important role in lifting prices across the board.''
The returns on the index funds are ``negatively correlated'' to stocks and bonds, Verleger said.
``That finding causes the leading pension funds to put more money into these commodity funds because it has the effect of diversifying portfolios,'' he said. ``This is an ongoing processes that probably has another five years to go.''
Crude oil for June delivery rose $2.93, or 2.5 percent, to $118.99 a barrel at 11:01 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Prices are up 81 percent from a year ago.
West Texas Sour, a crude oil that is higher in sulfur, was trading at $112.38 a barrel at 9.03 a.m., according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Robert Tuttle in New York at
Last Updated: April 25, 2008 12:17 EDT
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2008 10:53 am
Post subject: The Financial Times on $200 a Barrel for Oil
Some may accuse me of talking utter rot, but it seems I'm quite zeitgeisty on this.
Here's a piece from the Financial Times with a take on $200 per barrel oil (see below).
Note : the actual price for the commodity is blamed on the falling US Dollar. However, we know better, don't we readers ?
Read again the sentence regarding Saudi Arabia dropping production by 2 million barrels a day over 3 years...
Opec says oil could hit $200
By Carola Hoyos in London
Published: April 28 2008
Opec's president on Monday warned oil prices could hit $200 a barrel and there would be little the cartel could do to help.
The comments made by Chakib Khelil, Algeria's energy minister, came as oil prices hit a historic peak close to $120 a barrel, putting further pressure on global economies.
His remarks suggest Algeria wants Opec to continue to resist calls by US and European leaders for the cartel to pump more oil to help ease prices. But Mr Khelil blamed record oil prices on the weak dollar and global political insecurity.
He told El Moudjahid, Algeria's government newspaper: "I don't think that an increase in production would help lower prices, because there is a balance between supply and demand and the stocks of gasoline in the United States have recorded a surplus and are at their highest level for five years."
He added: "The prices are high due to the recession in the United States and the economic crisis, which has touched several countries, a situation that has an effect on the value of the dollar. Each time the dollar falls 1 per cent, the price of the barrel rises by $4 and of course vice versa."
Some US senators have pinned the blame for high oil prices directly on Opec and Saudi Arabia, its largest and most powerful member.
In a letter to President George W. Bush last week, they said Riyadh had cut its oil production by about 2m barrels a day over the past three years, even though oil prices had continued to rise.
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Wed May 07, 2008 10:40 am
Post subject: Taking Down The Cheap Flight Airlines
Stelios should talk to George Monbiot about his next airborne business, as the current one could fold nastily owing to high oil prices :-
9.15am BST update
Soaring oil price could drive 'weaker airlines' out of business
* Graeme Wearden
* guardian.co.uk,
* Wednesday May 7 2008
The soaring oil price will drive "weaker" rivals out of business, easyJet claimed this morning, despite seeing its own losses treble over the last six months.
With oil hitting a new record of $122 a barrel yesterday, and Goldman Sachs forecasting it could hit $200 a barrel this year, easyJet predicted carnage in the airline industry.
"If the oil price stays high we will see a number of weaker airlines disappear over the next 12 to 24 months," chief executive Andrew Harrison predicted.
The budget airline reported a 15% jump in passenger numbers for the six months to March 31, with revenue growing 24% to ?892.2m. But its pre-tax losses spiralled to ?57.5m, triple the loss it made a year ago. The loss, which was expected following the firm's profit warning in March, was primarily caused by dearer jet fuel, which costs 80% more than a year ago.
Every $10 increase in the cost of a barrel of oil cuts around ?2.5m off easyJet's profits. Harrison claims the company's relatively young fleet - its 157 planes are three years old on average - give it an edge.
"A quarter of Europe's short-haul aircraft are at least 15 years old, so they burn 20% more fuel than our planes," he said.
Rival airline Aer Lingus yesterday blamed fuel costs for an increase in its baggage charges. From tomorrow, it will cost ?12 to check in a bag at the airport.
Shares in easyJet rose 1.3% this morning, gaining 4p to 301.5p. Yesterday it slumped by 8% following Goldman's prediction and the latest record price, which analysts attributed to the weakening dollar and supply problems in Nigeria and Iraq.
With the summer holiday season approaching, easyJet is still confident of making a "very substantial" profit for the full year. Its forward bookings are slightly up on last year, and Harrison said it was not seeing any decline in demand despite the economic uncertainty.
But Andrew Fitchie, analyst at Collins Stewart, advised shareholders to sell. He said a material economic slowdown represented "a further risk to the airlines and low cost carriers in particular".
Oil was slightly off yesterday's record price this morning, trading at $121.55 a barrel in London. Harrison declined to speculate about how the price might move.
"Oil is highly unpredictable, and there are a wide range of predictions from the so-called experts," he said.
The president of Indonesia, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, added to market jitters yesterday by predicting his company could quit Opec because it was no longer a net exporter of oil.
"Our wells are running dry," he said.
If there is a God, he's not green. Otherwise airships would take off
Many will cite the Hindenburg, but flying without harming the planet is possible. These craft are worth developing
o George Monbiot
o The Guardian,
o Tuesday May 6 2008
Of all the charges levelled against environmentalists, perhaps the most unfair is the accusation that we are opposed to technological change. Most of the greens I know are fascinated by gadgets (sometimes to the exclusion of better solutions), while some of the people we confront seem terrified by new technologies, and react to them - witness the campaigns against windfarms - with irrational hostility.
But because environmentalists tend to have a feeling for material constraints, we recognise that solutions cannot be conjured out of thin air. In some cases they just don't appear to exist. There are two reasons why we make such a fuss about flying. The first is that, even as governments promise to cut emissions, everywhere airports are expanding. In the UK, the government expects the number of airline passengers to rise from 228 million in 2005 to 480 million in 2030. Before long, there will scarcely be a patch of sky without a jet in it. The other is that there are no alternative means of propelling people through the air which are not more destructive than burning ordinary aviation fuel. Or so we think.
The airline companies prescribe two cures that are even worse than the disease. Even before they are deployed commercially in jets, biofuels are spreading hunger and deforestation. At first sight, hydrogen seems more promising. If it is produced by electrolysis using renewable electricity, it's almost carbon free. The prohibitive issue is storage. Hydrogen contains just a quarter of the energy as the same volume of jet fuel (kerosene), which means that planes could fly long distances only if they were filled with gas, rather than passengers or cargo.
This means that if hydrogen planes are to fly commercially, they need much wider bodies than ordinary jetliners. According to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, "the combination of larger drag and lower weight would require flight at higher altitudes" than planes fuelled by kerosene. A technology that is green at ground level becomes an environmental disaster in the stratosphere. Hydrogen's great advantage - that it produces only water when it burns - turns into a major liability: in the stratosphere, water vapour is a powerful greenhouse gas. The commission estimates that hydrogen planes would exert a climate-changing effect "some 13 times larger than for a standard kerosene-fuelled subsonic aircraft".
But there is another use for this gas, though I am aware that it will go down like a lead balloon with most of my readers. The word airship elicits a fixed reaction in almost everyone who hears it: "What about the Hindenburg?". It's as if, every time someone proposed travelling on a cruise ship, you were to ask: "But what about the Titanic?". Yes, there was a spectacular disaster - 71 years ago. It has lodged in our minds because, like the Titanic, the Hindenburg was bigger and plusher than any craft built before it, and it was carrying rich and prominent people. The conflagration was witnessed by journalists and broadcast all over the world. It also became the technology's funeral pyre: the Hindenburg was doomed long before it burnt, as airships were already being displaced by aeroplanes.
Though the designs have changed, their disadvantages have not disappeared. While a large commercial airliner cruises at about 900 kilometres per hour, the maximum speed of an airship is roughly 150kph. At an average speed of 130kph, the journey from London to New York would take 43 hours. Airships are more sensitive to wind than aeroplanes, which means that flights are more likely to be delayed. But they have one major advantage: the environmental cost could be reduced almost to zero.
Even when burning fossil fuels, the total climate-changing impact of an airship, according to researchers at the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, is 80% to 90% smaller than that of ordinary aircraft. But the airship is also the only form of transport that can easily store hydrogen: you could inflate a hydrogen bladder inside the helium balloon. There might be a neat synergy here: one of the problems with airships is that they become lighter, and therefore harder to control, as the fuel is consumed. In this case they become heavier. Michael Stewart of the company World SkyCat suggests burning both gaseous and liquid hydrogen to keep the weight of the craft constant.
Airships fly much lower than planes, typically at about 4,000 feet, which means their emissions of water vapour have very little effect on temperature. If they were powered by hydrogen fuel cells, they would be almost silent, greatly reducing the effects for people on the ground. Though they are much slower than jets, the cabin can be built much wider, which means that travelling by airship would be rather like travelling by cruise ship, but at twice the speed and using a fraction of the fuel.
There are four small companies trying to get airships off the ground. Most of the new designs make use of aerodynamic lift as well as buoyancy (they are shaped like fat planes with stubby wings or tails), which means they are heavier and more stable than the old dirigibles and can land without help on the ground. They can alight on and take off from almost any flattish surface, including water. But all of them have a problem with flotation - of the financial rather than the physical kind. While the price of carbon stays low, companies have no financial incentive to switch to a different form of transport.
The only help governments are prepared to provide is some development funds for military applications: raising money for killing people is always easier than raising money to save them. For a few years the Pentagon took an interest in craft that could land anywhere and carry several hundred tonnes of equipment. Otherwise, like so many other promising green technologies, this proposal is losing height in a hostile market. All the companies promoting large commercial airships are concentrating on freight, especially in places that are poorly served by roads. The danger here is that, if they take off, they could displace not jet transport but freight shipping - in which case, if they burn diesel, they are likely to cause a net increase in carbon pollution.
Paradoxically, the other major constraint could be an environmental one. Airships are one of several green technologies that might be killed by a shortage of materials. A new generation of solar panels relies on gallium and indium, whose global supplies appear close to exhaustion. The price of platinum, which is used in catalytic converters, has tripled over the past five years. Beyond a few natural gasfields in Texas, economically viable supplies of helium are rare; even there they might be exhausted in 50 years at current rates of use, or much faster if airships take off. If there is a God, he isn't green.
Is this proposal just a flight of fancy? Because airships feature in no official document, because they have not been considered by either government or major industry, I have no way of knowing. But like most greens I'm prepared to try almost anything, as long as it works. Can the same be said of our opponents?
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 1:40 am
Post subject: The Financial Times weighs in
The Financial Times has weighed in on the subject of $200 per barrel oil. They don't think it will happen any time yet...
Living in a world of $200 oil
Published: May 9 2008 19:50 | Last updated: May 9 2008 19:50
It is about 125 years since shipping oil in wooden barrels became obsolete. An oil price above $125 a barrel, however, and speculation that the price could hit $200 are reminders that we have become ever more dependent on the black stuff. Oil is unlikely to hit $200 and remain above it any time soon ? but economies would suffer if it did.
The underlying reason for oil?s tenfold price rise in less than 10 years is that demand, not least from China and India, has risen rapidly while supply has not kept pace. That dynamic is different to the supply shocks of the 1970s, but because truck drivers and commuters cannot easily stop travelling, even a small deficit in supply can cause large moves in the oil price.
Tight supply and demand have made markets volatile. The spot price of oil for immediate delivery remains above the price for delivery in future months. This suggests particular fear about short-term supplies, while there is some evidence that speculation and worried buyers laying in stocks have pushed up prices. Spot prices could surge or plunge in the short-term, but seem unlikely to return to levels that are low and stable for some time.
Expensive oil has economic effects. Net oil exporters become richer at the expense of net oil importers: Middle Eastern producers can buy more German cars, French clothes and US Treasury bonds in exchange for each barrel. Importers must buy less of everything else in order to keep up their consumption of oil.
Higher oil prices can, but need not necessarily, cause sustained inflation. A rise in the price of oil should be offset by falls in the prices of other goods for which there is now less demand. But if prices do not adjust smoothly, or if workers try to compensate for the cost of oil by demanding higher wages, it can ignite inflation.
Oil-intensive capital equipment may have to be scrapped: the useful life of all of sports utility vehicles, farm equipment and gas-fired power stations, for example, may be shortened. Such shifts cause real economic losses.
So far the world economy has shrugged off higher oil prices. So far the argument has been that, because rich countries now produce far more goods per barrel of oil than they did in the 1970s, a rise in the price does less economic damage. That is correct, but the further the price rises, the less true it becomes. The share of economic output that importing countries must spend on oil has risen dramatically.
For rich countries, the $125 oil price will be a noticeable drag on economic growth; for poor countries, when combined with higher food prices, it will mean more poverty. Oil supply should grow in response but if it does not, $200 oil is just about conceivable. It would cause serious economic disruption, international tensions and currency crises for some poor nations.
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Tue May 13, 2008 6:01 pm
Post subject: Yet another $200 per barrel quote
Save Polar Bears : Prop up Oil Prices
On May 13th, 2008 jo says:
Since the Property Bubble has well and truly burst :-
Caroline Flint said: "We can't know how bad it will get."
one of the remaining bulwarks and bastions of the Economy is Energy.
If we can keep oil prices up, then the Stock Market will still rise, and keep the whole capital-debt-industry-globalisation-trade thing going.
So, it seems, if George W. Bush agrees to save the Polar Bears, we could have $200 per barrel of oil by the end of 2008, and the rich will be getting richer, as per usual...
...You know what, if I had less integrity, I would invest in Petroleum and Petroleum by-products. But I don't believe that free-market capitalism can contain Carbon Emissions, and I'd rather have a Viable Habitat than a Fat Wallet, thank you :-
Polar Bears Threatening to Deliver Us $200 Oil: Kevin Hassett
Commentary by Kevin Hassett
May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Protecting the environment is a noble cause, although the consequences can be costly.
Back in August 1973, a biologist found a humble fish called the snail darter in the Little Tennessee River. At the time, it was believed that this species would be pushed to extinction if the Tennessee Valley Authority finished its Tellico Dam.
The snail darter became a celebrity, as environmentalists used the Endangered Species Act to halt the project. It took six
years and an act of Congress to complete the dam.
Since then, the snail darter has been the poster child of endangered species litigation. The fish, which subsequently was
found in other Tennessee waters, established the conventional wisdom about the interaction between endangered species and development. The pattern is familiar. Someone discovers a rare species in a local area. It is declared endangered, and then local projects are blocked.
If things go the right way this week, the local nature of this issue might change. An endangered species could have an effect on economic activity everywhere in the U.S., not just in a single locale. U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken recently ordered the Interior Department to decide by May 15 whether polar bears should be listed under provisions of the act.
There is a strong chance that the polar bear will be declared ``threatened.'' If so, then everything about the economics of endangered species will be turned on its head.
Why is the polar bear in trouble? The main risk is that global warming will melt ice in the Arctic. Polar bears, biologists believe, need ice to live. Take away the ice, and no more polar bears.
Arctic Predator
The dependence on ice results from the bear's evolution as a predator. They mostly eat seals, and capture them by lurking around on the ice. They can't outswim a seal, but they can pounce on one when the seal slides into its den on an ice floe.
They are so good at hunting on the ice, and so bad at surviving without it, that bears that live in areas that have significant summer ice melts tend to go without food during the iceless times. So it is reasonable to believe that global warming would, if it melted the ice caps, be a serious threat to polar bears.
This week's probable decision is debatable, to say the least. One problem is that the beast, which is notoriously hard to count, exists in vast numbers throughout the Arctic. Opinions even differ as to whether its population is increasing or decreasing.
Population Dispute
For example, professor J. Scott Armstrong of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania recently told Science Daily that ``the polar bear populations have been increasing rapidly in recent decades due to hunting restrictions.''
Others, such as biologists Ian Stirling and Andrew Derocher, see troubling signs of decline in specific subpopulations that live in regions more affected by ice melts.
The truth is, as noted by my American Enterprise Institute colleague Kenneth Green in a recent article, ``Is the Polar Bear Endangered, or Just Conveniently Charismatic?'' we just don't have the data to assess what is happening to polar bear populations.
``Polar bear populations are difficult to measure, in part because they travel so much, are sparsely populated, and live far from people,'' he writes. Even aerial surveys and mark-and- recapture studies, which are the best tools to estimate changes in polar bear populations, offer ambiguous results.
If the polar bear is to be declared threatened it must be because the Interior Department accepts the forecasts of continued global warming, and a significant reduction in Arctic ice.
There are two reasons why that decision, if it is made, will be momentous.
Geographic Reach
The first is the possible wide geographic reach of the global warming argument. The snail darter almost killed a single dam.
The polar bear could, in theory at least, stop everything.
Suppose someone wants to build a coal-burning power plant in Florida. Environmentalists might challenge the construction on the grounds that the plant will emit greenhouse gases leading to global warming and an increased threat to polar bears.
It is hard to say how such challenges would play out. My guess is that it would heighten the pressure on the U.S. to adopt a cap-and-trade emissions program or a carbon tax.
The second impact of this ruling is that it will likely end all Arctic exploration for oil and gas, at least in the U.S.
Given surging world demand for oil, increased supply is the only thing standing between us and $200-a-barrel oil.
Costly Restrictions
These restrictions will have a large cost. ``The U.S. Geological Survey and the Norwegian company StatoilHydro estimate that the Arctic holds as much as one-quarter of the world's remaining undiscovered oil and gas deposits,'' Scott Borgerson, an international affairs fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, wrote in the March/April issue of Foreign Affairs. ``
Some Arctic wildcatters believe this estimate could increase substantially as more is learned about the region's geology.''
Many biologists believe that global warming is a serious threat to the polar bear. If that leads to the polar bear being listed as threatened this week, then the world you live in will have fundamentally changed.
(Kevin Hassett, director of economic-policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute, is a Bloomberg News columnist. He is an adviser to Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona in his bid for the 2008 presidential nomination. The opinions expressed are his own.)
To contact the writer of this column: Kevin Hassett at
Last Updated: May 12, 2008 00:01 EDT
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Mon May 19, 2008 1:14 pm
Post subject: TEQs versus Carbon Prices : $200 / Barrel saga Rolls on...
Yes, it seems that pretty much the entire Webosphere is now muttering and screaming about the risks of $200 per barrel oil.
Just Google it for : "$200 barrel".
George W. Bush has recently been on a mission to Saudi Arabia to put out his begging bowl to OPEC.
He got nothing/nothing much/something, depending on which news sources you read. Seems like he may get 300,000 extra barrels a day.
Saudis to boost oil output after US pressure
By Javier Blas in London and Andrew Ward in Washington
Published: May 16 2008 14:06
Saudi Arabia said on Friday that it was increasing its oil production to its highest level in two years, bowing to intense US pressure after the price surged to a fresh record of almost $128 a ?barrel.
The announcement of a boost to output by about 300,000 barrels a day came after a plea by US President George W. Bush to King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh...
It hasn't really impacted on the price "fluctuation", the rising trend in the price of crude.
Speculation does play a very large part in what is happening, but as with all good commodity stories, the largest factor is supply stress.
It gushes out of the ground virtually for free, but the Oil Giants can't rip everybody off totally.
At one time there was a gentle pattern of the cycle of seasonal stress on delivery, but now the graph is only going one way : up.
This is a real price we are looking at, mostly. And demand is genuinely pushing supply. We are into scarcity economics.
Since the price of ancient hydrocarbons is intimately entwined with the price of every other commodity and function of the industrialised economies, the only way is up for the price of everything.
Rapid inflation, here we come.
It's time to think hard about how to guarantee access to Energy for the world's poorest.
And I don't just mean in the Developing nations. I mean right here at home.
Looking over the big water to the United States, we see that tens of millions of American people are relying on food stamps to get enough to eat.
And welfare vouchers may end up being issued for health services as well.
Allowances like these are targeted at the right people, in order to give them the right support. It's effectively a system of rationing, as the welfare budget is fixed.
With Energy and Fuel prices climbing inexorably, how long will it be before the poorest in North America and Europe need to be issued with Energy Cheques in order to continue living in their own homes ?
In the United Kingdom, we already offer Fuel Poverty winter payments.
How many more people need to slip under the "breadline" in order to consider an orderly Energy Ration system ?
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 1:27 pm
Post subject: Rob Hopkins in Transition Culture on $200 a Barrel Oil
Seems another speculator on $200/barrel oil has appeared : Rob Hopkins of Transition Culture :-
Why planning for $200 barrel oil is so important
Rob Hopkins, Transition Culture
With the oil price looking pretty settled above $126 a barrel, what does the UK Government estimate the future oil price to be? Clearly one would imagine that as the most responsible body in the land, charged with making long term decisions that affect us all, they would have their fingers on the pulse of this one. Unfortunately the official position is as insulting as it is pathetic...
published May 20, 2008.
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 12:16 am
Post subject: The FT Editorial Opinion of the day
The Financial Times editorial opinion of today :-
Solving the $130 oil conundrum
Published: May 20 2008 19:40 | Last updated: May 20 2008 19:40
When oil was $10 a barrel, the idea that the stuff was running out seemed demented. What a difference a decade makes. It is now possible to make the case that global crude oil production has nowhere to go but down. While that disaster scenario remains unlikely, it is hard to see a comfortable adjustment to oil near $130 a barrel.
In the near future, there is no saying how high the price may go ? forecasting $200 a barrel is a nice way to get some headlines. Such forecasts may come true because in the short term there is little scope either to reduce demand or to increase supply, so it would not take much to drive prices higher.
Analyst warns of oil at $200 a barrel
By Javier Blas and Chris Flood in London
Published: May 6 2008 18:58 | Last updated: May 6 2008 18:58
Crude oil prices could surge to $200 a barrel in the next two years, according to the Goldman Sachs analyst who three years ago correctly predicted a price ?super-spike? above $100 a barrel.
The warning by Arjun Murti came as oil prices hit a fresh high above $122 a barrel, boosted by supply disruptions in Nigeria, lower output in Russia and continued robust demand in China ahead of the Olympics.
Oil Prophets
Is a gang of analysts driving up the price of crude?
Goldman?s analysts speak, and the price of crude rises
By Javier Blas and Sarah O?Connor in London
Published: May 21 2008 22:21 | Last updated: May 21 2008 22:21
Ali Naimi has been the most powerful man in the oil market since he was named Saudi Arabia?s oil minister in 1995. Even the smallest hint from him about future supplies or prices could send energy prices spiralling up or down.
But Mr Naimi?s influence is today being threatened by a gang of Wall Street and the City of London analysts whose price forecasts and trade recommendations are not only moving spot prices but also shaping long-term trends.
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Posted: Fri May 23, 2008 11:49 am
Post subject: Libya's Leading Oil Official Agrees - It Could Go To ?200
Producers say $200 oil is possible as prices hit record three days running
? US calls for action but Opec blames speculators
? Chancellor is urged to scrap fuel duty increase
* Mark Milner and Larry Elliott
* The Guardian,
* Friday May 23 2008
The oil price soared to a record for the third day in a row yesterday, reaching $135 a barrel, more than double the price a year ago.
The surging cost of crude is increasing the pressure on petrol and diesel prices and led yesterday to renewed calls for the government to scrap planned rises in fuel duty.
The latest surge came as the CBI, the employers' body, warned that an increasing number of manufacturers were planning to raise prices despite falling order books, adding to inflationary pressures and making further cuts in interest rates less likely.
The US has repeatedly called for oil-producing countries to raise output to calm the market but producers blame speculators and the weakness of the dollar for high prices, rather than supply constraints.
Abdullah al-Badri, Opec secretary general, said the cartel saw no problems with the fundamentals of oil supply and demand. "Even if we increase output tomorrow, the prices will not come down."
Libya's leading oil official, Shokri Ghanem, told Bloomberg TV: "It is out of our hands. $200 a barrel is not logical but even $135 is not logical, so yes oil could reach $200 a barrel. Why not?"
Though the price slipped back from the new record in later trading as the dollar strengthened, analysts believe it will push higher.
"The combination of increasing demand and constricted supply will continue to keep oil prices strong," said Robin Batchelor, manager of BlackRock's BGF World Energy fund, in a research note.
The latest surge in prices has been driven by fears about supplies after the US Energy Information Administration said crude oil stockpiles had fallen last week, contrary to market expectations.
In Britain, the AA motoring organisation warned yesterday that drivers would have to spend ?110m more on fuel over this year's bank holiday than over last year's. Average petrol prices have risen to 112.5p a litre while diesel costs an average 124.17p.
Britain's energy suppliers are expected to increase prices to domestic consumers because of rising wholesale gas and electricity prices. Joe Malinowski at TheEnergyShop.com, the online price comparison and switching service, warned: "Prices are going up and they are going up significantly."
Malcolm Wicks, the energy minister, said the government was talking to oil-producing nations to help curb rising prices.
"Talking to the energy producers is the key thing," he said. "We are doing that in a number of forums. We need a better relationship between the consuming countries for oil and the producers, and I'm confident we will get it, but we are living in difficult times," he told the BBC.
"All of us in Britain and Europe have got to put much more emphasis on energy efficiency and I think these high prices may have the impact of making us all take energy demand and energy efficiency seriously."
Labour MP Lindsay Hoyle said the chancellor, Alistair Darling, should scrap plans to raise fuel duty.
"People have to be able to afford to use the car. You can see people's faces looking at the clock as it's ticking away merrily and it's the sheer expense now of taking your car out and of road transport."
In its latest industrial trends survey the CBI said the balance of manufacturers planning to increase prices was the highest since 1995. Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser at the CBI, said: "It is clear from the pricing data in the survey that manufacturers are really feeling the impact and having to pass their increasing costs on. Oil prices rose more than 75% over the last year, and 14% in the past month alone.
"These rising inflationary pressures make it ever more unlikely that we will see the cuts in interest rates expected by the markets only a few weeks ago."
The doubling in the price of oil in the past 12 months has left the market exposed to uncertainty. Last month American investor T Boone Pickens predicted oil could go as high as $125 a barrel but updated that this week to $150 for this year. He seems conservative compared with, say, Goldman Sachs, which bullishly forecast $200 might soon be the tag. But Tim Evans, of Citigroup, said prices might as easily fall - to $40 a barrel - since supplies were "comfortable".
Also, skip all the political rot and celebrity trash and zone in on Larry Elliott unpacking the oil speculation to Jon Dennis in this Guardian Podcast :-
Oil Bubble
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Wed Jun 11, 2008 1:23 am
Post subject: Gazprom talks up the price to $250 per barrel
Not content with claiming $200 per barrel, Gazprom chiefs predict $250 per barrel - and assert that the rising prices are down to competition for resources, not speculation...
From Times Online
June 10, 2008
Gazprom chief forecasts oil price will reach $250
Carl Mortished, Deauville
The chief executive at Gazprom, the Russian energy giant, today predicted that the price of oil will nearly double to $250 per barrel and Europe's dependence on Russia for supplies will increase.
Alexei Miller said the price of gas will rise with oil due to the company?s long-term gas contracts to European customers, which are linked to oil prices.
Speaking at a business conference in the French resort town of Deauville, Mr Miller said that the root cause of rising energy prices was not speculation but competition for resources.
He said: ?There is a certain influence from speculators but this is not a determining influence. We think the oil price will reach $250 per barrel in 2009. The competition for resources is growing and the tendency is very noticeable.?
Mr Miller said Gazprom would invest $30 billion per year in developing new gas transport links and he berated European governments for their efforts to diversify away from Gazprom and seek supplies in Central Asia which he said could lead to higher prices.
?Europe?s desire to diversify is based on the concept that anything is better than relying on Russia but to diversify at any price gives unexpected results,? said Mr Miller, suggesting that Europe?s efforts to build separate gas links to Central Asia bypassing Russia had failed.
Mr Miller said that a route for South Stream, a gas pipeline linking the Balkans with Russia via a sub-sea pipeline across the Black Sea had been agreed and that Slovenia and Austria had recently joined the project.
Widely viewed in Brussels as a rival to the EU?s Nabucco pipeline project which seeks to link Europe to Middle Eastern and Central Asian gasfields via Turkey, South Stream is being vigorously promoted by Gazprom and least week secured the support of OMV, the Austrian energy group which is the lead partner in the Nabucco consortium.
Mr Miller said: ?Some people see South Stream as a threat to Nabucco. Since demand for gas is growing it is not a threat.?
He insisted that his company?s relationship with Europe was one of mutual dependency and he predicted that within seven to ten years Gazprom would be the world?s largest company with a market capitalisation of more than $1 trillion.
?We are already the biggest by gas endowment; we have eight times the reserves of ExxonMobil,? he said.
Gazprom?s deputy chief and the head of Gazexport, Alexander Medvedev, criticised the EU?s efforts to link Gazprom?s long-term sales contracts to spot market prices, suggesting that it would not lead to more competition.
?It would be naive to think that in ten years to come there will be a buyer?s market on theContinent," he said. "The countries that will have gas resources and that willl be able to satisfy demand are Russia, Qatar and Iran. We should not invent gas suppliers that have no gas supplies.?
Mr Medvedev said that Gazprom was not involved in the current talks over the future control of TNK-BP, the Russian affiliate of BP which is embroiled in a dispute with its joint venture partners, Mikhail Fridman, Len Blavatnik and Viktor Vekselberg.
He said that Gazprom had confirmed its interest in the asset when the subject of the sale of a stake arose a year ago: ?Today, there is a corporate conflict internally. We hope the conflict will be resolved.?
Oil is Gazprom?s second priority,after gas and the development of the Russian market which he said would within three to four years become as profitable as the firm's export markets.
Gazprom plans to raise its oil output, which is 100 million tonnes per year, by 4 per cent per year to 2012 at which point it would represent 15 per cent of the company?s total hydrocarbon output.
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2008 12:09 pm
Post subject: Demand Destruction Culls Prices - For Now
It seems like a lot of people saw the light about holding bad Carbon assets, and divested themselves rapidly over Summer, scrambling the prices as they ran.
Another view is that demand destruction took hold and undermined the Fossil Fuel prices, but anyway, the price sawtoothed back down for a while.
However, Winter in the Northern Hemisphere is approaching, and there are various views about what Energy demand will look like, so we are in for some more interesting price times.
The futures market in Crude Oil (from OIL-PRICE.net) today stands for 12 months hence as $152.05 per barrel, and by my reckoning, using a pencil to line up the gradients on the curves at WTRG.com and roughly measure the time span, I'd say we're looking at $150 per barrel easily before 12 months is up : around about March 2009 time.
That is, if the Major Final Recession doesn't hit big time by then, which of course, it really could. If the Final Recession of all time starts to bite, then one of two things could happen : either (a) all manufacturing, transport and development everywhere will collapse and the oil prices could collapse with it or (b) people will start to grasp for resources to prop up failing economies and the oil prices could exponentially rise.
There is always a chance of a plateau in oil prices : somewhere around $250 to $300 a barrel is my guess if that happens. That would make it too expensive for ordinary people to assume air con, home heating or leisure driving choices. Because at the same time as raw energy gets the price boost, so will everything else : home utility bills, loan rates, the cost of food, clothing, everthing, will be impacted by the high oil prices, the rising unemployment and the scarcity of basic goods. So ordinary folks will find themselves in the quandry of rising prices for the cost of living ALL ROUND, so energy consumption will have to be controlled...
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Tue Sep 02, 2008 7:37 pm
Post subject: Oil takes a slide to that psychological barrier of $105
Yes, Hurricane Gustav wasn't so nasty after all, and now everyone wants to jump out of Petroleum.
Crude oil seems to have slipped in price, back to hover around that psychologically important $105 a barrel.
Future prices are still around the $125 a barrel mark however, so that should keep you cautious.
Plus, we haven't even seen Northern Winter yet, so no hedging of bets etc
A lot of what happens will depend on the continuing storm season USA-side, and what goes down with the Russia/Georgia/EU/USA/NATO thing.
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:42 pm
Post subject: It may look like the oil prices are cheaper, but...
...it's just the value of the US Dollar is rising.
Yes, I'll have to admit the recent slide in oil prices is rather amusingly downwards, and so I have been rather wrongfooted.
No, I'm not of the opinion that oil prices will stay low :-
Oil Prices - A Little More of the Story
Posted by Gail the Actuary on October 27, 2008 - 9:15am
Topic: Economics/Finance
Tags: carry trade, gasoline, oil prices, original [list all tags]
A few days ago, I wrote a post titled Why Are Oil (and Gasoline) Prices So Low? Since then, OPEC has voted to cut oil production 1.5 million barrels a day. In spite of this, the price of oil is about 5% lower. The purpose of this post is to add an update, with a little more of the story about why the price of oil is dropping more than some of us would expect.
One of the issues I mentioned in that story was
4. Rising value of the dollar
I noted in that post that the price of oil seems to drop as the price of the dollar rises against currencies such as the Euro. As I delve into the question more, I am starting to learn more about why the value of the dollar has recently been rising. It seems that the rising value of the dollar is tied to a combination of things--one is the flight to the US dollar for safety, another is the unwind of the carry trade, and a third is margin calls on hedge funds and other borrowers. The rising level of the dollar because of these issues seems to be a major contributor to the recent decline in oil prices.
You need to look at the history of the oil prices to get the bigger picture...
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Joined: 20 Oct 2007
Posts: 184
Location: London
Posted: Sun Nov 02, 2008 2:58 pm
Post subject: Oil and Natural Gas are bouncing back
A number of factors mean that Oil and Natural Gas are probably at their lowest prices in the Credit Crunch commodities tumble.
I don't doubt that they will now start to see a healthy incline (as opposed to decline).
OPEC are cutting production, not to force the prices to rise (as the following article states), but because they have seen Peak Oil and they need to contain it.
The best policy for OPEC going forward is to supply the absolute minimum they can in order to hold on to reserves to sell in future.
It just so happens that this is the best Climate Change policy as well as the best profit-preserving policy.
Oil investments leaking badly
Crude's plunge is crushing sector, but some say hit has been too hard
By Andrew Leckey
November 2, 2008
Oil stocks have been slammed hard of late.
A combination of lower crude prices, the credit crisis and massive liquidations of hedge fund and mutual fund portfolios are behind their downfall.
Meanwhile, OPEC is scrambling to cut its crude oil production to stem what it calls "a dramatic collapse" in prices
For the consumer, prices at the pump may slip further and are unlikely to return to previous highs for a while. For the investor, experts say, there are opportunities to buy oil stocks at prices far lower than the value of their underlying businesses.
Dennis Gartman, editor of the Gartman Letter in Suffolk, Va., doesn't believe the slide in crude is over yet.
"Oil prices are probably headed lower still, because that commodity's history is that once it starts to go lower, it continues to go lower," he said. Many endowment and pension funds had been advised by financial consultants that they should be in the commodity markets, Gartman said. Once those investments began losing money, however, they abruptly headed for the exits.
No one is saying the threat of higher oil prices is over forever, but prices are definitely in a lull.
"I think that oil prices are likely to bounce between $60 and nearly $100 a barrel, but I doubt we'll face triple digits in the next 12 months," said Tim Parker, energy analyst with T. Rowe Price in Baltimore.
Sometime in the next three years, oil prices likely will be back at higher levels again, he said, because the United States hasn't fixed the problem of dependence on foreign oil.
"Gasoline prices at the pump should be headed down to $2.50 a gallon, depending on where you are," Parker said. "As oil prices head back toward $100 a barrel, pump prices will be between $2.50 and $3, but won't be $3.50 a gallon until oil prices are at $120 or $150."
But energy issues aren't going to go away.
"We've lowered our oil forecast for 2008 to $105 a barrel, which means oil would have to average around $80 a barrel in the fourth quarter," said Philip Weiss, oil analyst with Argus Research in New York. "For 2009, we have an estimate of $90 a barrel on average, with supply and demand the key factors."
Oil stocks have been hit too hard, Weiss said. Although oil prices aren't much higher than three years ago, more than half the oil stocks Weiss covers are trading at lower prices now than they were then.
"My tendency has been to upgrade stocks in this environment," Weiss said. "If you're a long-term investor looking for undervalued stocks, the oil sector is a good place to go because we've had an irrational correction."
Weiss recommends these stocks:
Contract drillers Transocean Inc. and Noble Corp., both with extensive deepwater oil and gas drilling activity and a backlog of contracts.
BP PLC, a solid oil stock with strong dividend yield that is a great place to wait until the oil market turns around.
Marathon Oil Corp., an inexpensive stock because it has more refining than some competitors, and refining has been hit especially hard. It has an exploration and production business that should be able to grow at a 7 percent to 8 percent clip over the next five years, Weiss said.
"There has been a lot of talk about alternative energy, but it is not that imminent, and developing world economies are going to be using oil, natural gas and coal to grow," Weiss said. "While oil might not be a good investment 10 or 20 years from now, there are real opportunities now, and none of these companies are going away."
Among major oil stocks, Exxon Mobil Corp. and Marathon Oil receive the strongest consensus "buy" recommendations from Wall Street analysts, according to Thomson Financial.
BP, Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips, Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell also receive "buy" recommendations.
Whether stocks or commodities, in the topsy-turvy investment world it is difficult to make exact predictions. Up or down is about the best any expert can do.
"I've been at this for 35 years and have learned that if I tell someone oil prices are going lower, say to $55 a barrel, and it goes to $58, I look like an idiot," Gartman said. "The only thing that makes you look wise is to say that it looks like the trend is down."
Andrew Leckey is a Tribune Media Services columnist. E-mail him at
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New (9th) album by greek electro producer Binalog Frequency. A selection of singles of the past 2 years, unreleased and brand new techno/electro tracks. Out now on Bandcamp:
Binalog Frequency "Purge" [Binalog Productions]
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Christmas greetings from Venus – with a new educational film
What is the link between Earth and Venus? Find out with this new educational film, where scientists walk you to enchanting places on Earth to unveil the secrets of Venus.
The film consists of four chapters. In the first and main chapter, 'A breath of Venus', two scientists climb atop one of the most famous active volcanoes on Earth. From the island of Vulcano, Italy, the scientists talk about Venus' impressive green-house effect, give glimpses of how volcanism may work at Venus as compared to Earth, and illustrate the principles used for such investigations on other planets.
The three additional chapters of the film bring our attention to other fascinating aspects of Venus exploration – all addressed relentlessly by ESA's Venus Express.
From a sandy beach in the Netherlands, 'A story of Deuterium and Hydrogen' takes us through the story of the fate of water on Venus. Did Venus host oceans in the past? If yes, where has this water gone now?
In 'A question of temperature', a scientist climbs an apple tree and tells us how to calculate the global temperature of a planet. He talks about why planetary temperatures are important for the overall climate balance, related to the green-house effect - the phenomenon at work on both Earth and Venus.
'A look at operations' unveils the secrets behind spacecraft operations, and tells us about the complex job engineers perform as they translate scientific objectives into commands for the Venus Express spacecraft.
Click on any of the images in this article to go to the download page.
ESA and Venus Express take this chance to wish you a merry Christmas. Enjoy watching!


text: Given how small they were, they certainly came in handy when someone needed a weapon at a spur of the moment. Beverly Crusher just happened to have one in "Conspiracy" after the parasite-possessed Admiral Quinn managed to incapacitate Riker, LaForge, and Worf. Q seemingly didn't think to disarm the bridge crew the first time he whisked them minus Picard off to some planet in "Hide & Q". After the first season of TNG, they gradually fell into disuse. Riker and Worf occasionally use them in the second and third seasons. Wesley even had one in a fifth season episode. But we never saw them in use beyond that or on DS9 and Voyager.


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Mayor's Office
Mayor Chris Beutler welcomes visitors to Lincoln for Husker football games and says Nebraska's Capital City is ready to accommodate fans and game-day traffic. The Huskers home season begins Sept. 1. Drivers and pedestrians will notice freshly paved downtown streets as well as the completion of the six-lane Antelope Valley Parkway from the Devaney Center to Capitol Parkway. Other projects are under way in the downtown and Haymarket areas:
The Mayor encourages fans to check the City website at lincoln.ne.gov for the latest information on street construction and on City programs to help beat game-day traffic and parking challenges:
The Mayor also encourages fans to enjoy Lincoln by arriving early and lingering downtown after games.
Those traveling downtown need to be aware that parking violations and towing are now more expensive. Meters are enforced Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., and the following fine system is in effect:
The City also has implemented a $50 towing fine for vehicles towed by order of the Police or a Parking Control Officer. The fine is charged in addition to the $49.53 required to get a vehicle out of the impoundment lot. The towing fine does not apply to cars towed from a private lot.
On football game days, Interstate 80 exits at I-180/Downtown and 27th Street can be very congested, so visitors are encouraged to use other routes into Lincoln:
Work continues on the North 14th Street project. Fans wishing to enter Lincoln from the north using 14th Street will be detoured to North 27th Street. All other highways will be open, and Interstate I-80 will have at least two lanes open in each direction.
Other traffic reminders:
Other general reminders:
In addition to its regular routes, StarTran will provide its Big Red Express service on Husker game days starting two hours before kickoff from six locations:
Due to east stadium construction at UNL, buses will drop-off and depart from a new location on "R" Street between 12th to 14th streets. The cost is $4 each way for adults and $1 each way for children age 12 and under, and passengers will need exact change. Electronic signs will help direct fans to the Big Red Express locations. Big Red Express season tickets, good for round-trip travel for all home games, are available for $40 at StarTran, 710 "J" Street; the SouthPointe Pavilions office; or at the lots on game day. For more information, call 402-476-1234 or visit startran.lincoln.ne.gov.
The City recommends reserving reduced-price, pre-paid, event parking through parkandgo.org. Football parking locations and fees are:
Grills are not allowed in City garages. RV parking is available at Sun Valley and Charleston for $10, and at the North Bottoms lot, 14th and New Hampshire, for $20. Grills are allowed at these locations. RV parking may be purchased online. Fans planning to stay Friday night on City property must purchase their parking online and display the permit in their RV overnight. Unlike last year, RV parking will not be allowed at the Haymarket Park baseball/softball complex.
A number of private lots are available. Rates vary, and some offer season passes. Vehicles blocking drives, parked too close to the intersection, parked on public right of way or interfering with vehicle and pedestrian traffic will be towed.
UNL parking lots will be available for use six hours prior to kick off. Game-day parking information and maps are available at http://parking.unl.edu/ (keyword: football). Parking also is available at the following University areas for $15:
Wheelchair accessible parking is available at UNL Lot 5, Stadium Drive and Holdrege, for $15 per vehicle. Handicapped parking is available at:


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Alonso, Alicia
Alonso, Alicia (Alicia Alonso Martínez) älē´syä älōn´sō märtē´nās [key], 1921–, Cuban ballerina and choreographer, b. Havana. Alonso danced in Broadway musicals before becoming a soloist with several leading companies, including the American Ballet Theatre, in 1939. She had a large repertoire and was best known for her work in Giselle and in Agnes de Mille's Fall River Legend. Her own works include La Tinaja, Ensayos Sinfonicos, and Lidia, all created for the company she, her husband, ballet master Fernando Alonso (1914–2013), and her brother-in-law, choreographer Alberto Alonso (1917–2007), founded in 1948. Originally called Ballet Alicia Alonso, the company had been in financial difficulties and closed in 1956. It was reopened under the sponsorship of Castro government after the 1959 revolution, renamed the Ballet Nacional de Cuba, and, touring the world, became a symbol of Cuban artistry. Alonso, who suffered a detached retina at 19, built a stellar career despite her failing vision and continued to direct her company into the 21st cent. despite being almost blind.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Dance: Biographies


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Terry D. is this the dilemma of which you spoke? You want to write with Rwhen, Tuile and I? Unfortunately rwhen rarely comes in anymore. She has moved out of state and is working a lot at a new job and loving it.
Right now I am working 6 days a week and am not able to but that could change soon as one of the companies I work for is closing it's doors. But they are trying to transfer me to another store that bought it. We shall see if that will work out. I sure hope it does cause I sure don't want to have to be looking for another job anytime soon.
Let me know what you decide and then where to look in and see if I can join in!! Sssmmmoooooochhiiiiiiies to you!!