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ESS is attempting to back out of the dyno event they themselves requested?
Roman at ESS is now attempting to back out of the tuner dyno day shootout. I would like to remind everyone, ESS requested this dyno comparison themselves and asked BimmerBoost to schedule it. Now that the date is nearing, ESS is going back on their word at the last minute
I received this e-mail from Roman:
This was my response:
We have over a half dozen companies waiting on ESS. BMS has agreed and has been patiently waiting. MHP agreed although the date change now inconvenience them. Gintani agreed and said they would accept the date change for ESS. OE Tuning agreed and said they accept the date change to wait for ESS. Powerchip said they do not mind the date change and look forward to it. Vishnu has agreed in proxy and we also have GIAC representation. G-power is ready with their supercharger representation.
BimmerBoost has worked tirelessly to make this event happen at substantial cost as any of these companies can attest. We have been on the phones and e-mailing back and forth for what is almost 4 months now.
ESS requested this event, led everyone on, and now is backing down from their own challenge. BimmerBoost has considerable cost tied to the event and will not simply let it go. DC Performance has a large amount of revenue dependent on the event. Literally dozens of people, companies will be hurt financially and inconvenienced by ESS not honoring its own request.
We would like the BMW community to encourage ESS to participate as they had agreed, please contact Roman and make it known you would like to see the event take place as planned:
Roman Zepeda
ESS Performance Products
E-Mail : email@example.com
Web : www.esstuning.com
Tel : (602)751-057
This article was originally published in forum thread: ESS is attempting to back out of the dyno event they themselves requested? started by Sticky View original post167 Comments
So this contest is basically just a big P!55ING contest for those who already have a tune I guess. I mean I hope there's nobody out there other than me that may have been waiting for the shootout to help determine what to buy. If you lease your car because you want to swap it out every couple of years, it just drives the cost of tune/month up. I've driven my 535i for 2 years without a tune and thought I'd see which tune would work best for me, buy one and drive it for another year before turning it in.
There's no way I'm going to see what happens in Octocember or whenever it turns out to be and then buy a tune to use for half a year. Again, the info eventually gained might be cool for those who plan to keep the N54, but so far, I'm thinking this is a good engine to run hard, put up wet and in a couple of years, see what the next big thing is. Besides, only one vendor will come out on top and then it will be six months of arguing over how max hp didn't really reflect what you see on the track and in normal driving, so it's not going to be definitive on anything.
Really disappointing.
I'm getting really disappointed with the entitled posts that sound like they are coming from spoiled children. This event is being done for your benefit at tremendous cost and involving a lot of work. You guys aren't paying for anything yet getting all the results for free and complaining about a date change? Big deal, an extra month or two won't kill you.
Watch some spoiled kids play for a while when things don't go as they had planned. "You're not playing fair, or I didn't get to shoot the ball as much as the other boy or I didn't get on or get to pick the team I wanted or etc...", the typical spoiled kid response, "It's my ball and I'm taking it home even if I did say that we'd play with it today. I'll bring it back out when I want." In the same scenario, the other kids who all showed up to watch or play based on the first kid's invitation are ticked off and gripe a little because of the first kids actions. In this example, who is spoiled?
Commitment is something that spoiled children usually lack. Expectation of another man following through on a commitment is something most most responsible adults have of each other. Just my two cents for however long they stay here before the banning commences.
I just don't see your scenario being relevant at all as the spoiled insinuation is that people complain when they don't get what they want when they want, which is, the nearest date. People complaining about an event they aren't paying for is a bit extreme and if anyone is upset they should direct their complaints to Roman @ ESS for creating an inconvenience for everyone.
Yes, commitment is something spoiled children lack although perhaps they are committed to being spoiled Regardless, only one party did not honor their commitment here so if you have any issues with a date you should take it up with them. I am following through on the event I promised everyone but I need time to give people what I promised to give them due to someone breaking their commitment. I'm not sure how much clear I can be on this.
What banning is supposed to commence exactly? Not even sure where you are going with this but no one has even brought this up and it certainly is not applicable.
If a date shift is so upsetting on the event I am still making happen and only modifying, I will offer a complimentary tune to be raffled off at the event to show goodwill and my apologies for the inconvenience I am not even responsible for.
Sorry Sticky. I've got lot's of other things going on in my life (daughter fighting Leukemia for 9 mos in hospital) that causes a lot of little things to get under my skin and it's not uncommon for me to ramble on a bit. Heck, for most of us, our cars are not much more than toys, so it's nothing to get upset about either way. I don't see you offering a free tune as anything necessary. You're 100% right, the guys who backed out are the ones lacking commitment. Frankly, I wouldn't care if their tune was better and waiting for them seems irrelevant now. If they can't keep their commitment to you and the bimmerboost community when so many other vendors have, why would we put their product in our cars without a good reason to believe that they would honor any commitment of assistance related to their product?
Either way, I'm sure the event will be very appreciated. Consider this my apology and last post related to this topic.
No, I want to offer a free tune just to show how dedicated I am to the members here. That is my choice, and even though it is not necessary, I will do it. Most of the work I do is not necessary but I do it anyway to show my dedication/determination.
I'm sorry about your daughter, not sure how to respond to that. Puts this car nonsense in perspective, we waste too much time on the stuff that isn't important.
Pious Poodle - 08-13-2010, 12:57 AM
Pious Poodle - 08-13-2010, 02:18 AM
ScrotieMcBoogerBalls - 08-13-2010, 03:05 PM
sup man?
Whats the new ETA date?
Let me know,
Thank you
Yea after reading all 6 it sucks even more.
Anyone that doesn't give sticky props for doing what he's done, essentially stand on his head to make this event happen, is not paying the man his dues.
Try organizing an event of this magnitude yourself if you don't feel the same, believe me it's not an easy thing to do.
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Pakistan: capitalising on recovery
Tuesday, January 03, 2012
In 2010, the worst floods to hit Pakistan in 80 years left the country needing years of support to recover its infrastructure, jobs, housing and farmland. ACT Alliance partner Church World Service Pakistan/Afghanistan promises continued support to the people affected by this disaster.
Already tens of thousands of people have received food, shelter and medical assistance from ACT. Mobile health clinics have provided healthcare, consultations and antenatal care, temporary housing, and household goods. This video shows the cash for work component of the support.
Pakistan: After the floods
- Pakistan: capitalising on recovery
- Pakistan as winter looms
- Pakistan: survivor's story - Royan
- Pakistan: Survivors' stories
- Pakistan: 14m affected but still worse to come
- Pakistan: cycle of loss and destruction tests resilience
- Pakistan: heavy monsoon leaves people dead, stranded
- Pakistan: Homeless in the heat


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Gallery: Tri-State Youth Football League's Saturday playoffs
Nov. 07, 2011 @ 10:35 AM
Here are photos from Saturday, Nov. 5, semifinal play-off action in the Tri-State Youth Football League.
The Turf Bowl is set for Saturday, Nov. 12, at Joan C. Edwards Stadium at Marshall University.
Here are the games to be played:
A: Buffalo vs. Ceredo-Kenova
B: Barboursville vs. Beverly Hills
C: South Point vs. Ceredo-Kenova
D: Chesapeake vs. DC Express
Photos are courtesy of Kerry Carter Photography at www.kerrycarterphotography.com.


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BOYS' BASKETBALLLittle Falls at Cooperstown, 4:30 p.m.MEN'S BASKETBALLTrinity Invitational (SUNYIT competing)WRESTLINGCenter State Conference Tournament at Camden, 9:30 a.m.Canajoharie/Fort Plain Duals (Berne-Knox-Westerlo, Catskill, Fonda-Fultonville and Catskill competing)
BOYS' BASKETBALLFort Plain 70, Mayfield 44Utica-Notre Dame 83, Central Valley Academy 34Sherburne-Earlville 65, Adirondack 27New York Mills 68, Poland 37Franklin 51, Richfield Springs 32GIRLS'...
One expert address the causes behind holiday-season migraines.
For Christmas tree decorations, homemade usually trumps store-bought.
Tips from moms on how to keep Dec. 31 from being just another night.
One expert address the causes behind holiday-season migraines.
[WARNING: The following story contains spoilers about Friday's season finale of The Amazing Race. Read at your own risk.] After logging in more than 26,000 miles in eight countries, wrestlers
When O.J. Simpson was on trial for the murder of his wife, he could really have used a best friend. And in Ryan Murphy's true-crime drama
SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk's grand idea for an 800-mph above-ground transit system is taking it's first steps to become a reality.
- Events Calendar


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Blocking of 3rd Party Charges
As a Cox customer, you have the ability to block 3rd party charges on your bill, such as collect and operator assisted calls. Please call your local customer service department if you would like to block 3rd party charges.
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Cox Business is interconnected with the emergency 911 network, however there are important customer responsibilities for 911 operations. Please read our 911 Practice Statement carefully to understand and follow these obligations.
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Service agreements and details
Cox intrastate phone service is provided to you, depending on the state where you receive service, pursuant to our tariffs on file with state public utilities commissions or a state Telephone Service Guide. Cox Business services (except for VoiceManager) and certain Residential service offers are subject to specific terms and conditions in addition to the applicable state tariff or Service Guide. Interstate and international services are offered under the following terms and conditions.
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Buffalo 48 Hour Film Holiday Project
Introducing something new...
The 48 Hour Film Holiday Project is here for the very first time to celebrate the holidays. Which holiday? We don't care - pick your favorite!! Any holiday film is welcome... Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, Halloween or even Arbor Day.
Calling all filmmakers with holiday cheer
The 48 Hour Film Holiday Project visited Buffalo the weekend of November 15 - 17, 2013. Filmmakers from all over the city competed to see who could make the best holiday film in only 48 hours.
Best Film of Buffalo 2013
Buffalo 2013 Audience Favorite
Top Films of Buffalo 2013
Congratulations to All of Our Participants!!
Hon. Mention: "Twelve Deaths of Christmas" by Indie Riot
Hon. Mention: "The Lines" by Buffalo State Filmmakers
Hon. Mention: "Before Christmas" by Team Mono Productions


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Every time Google releases a new feature for Gmail, Calendar, Google Docs etc. people who use Google Apps are left wondering whether they'll get the new feature. Sometimes they have to guess addresses, like for the new mobile Google Talk. They are supposed to figure out that the Google Apps version of: http://talkgadget.google.com/talkgadget/m is http://hostedtalkgadget.google.com/a/YOURDOMAIN.COM/talkgadget/m.
Besides having to deal with delayed updates and mysterious addresses, Google Apps users usually have at least one standard Google account and it's difficult to switch between the two parallel worlds. I noticed that when you go to Google Sites and you're logged using both a Google account and a Google Apps account, you are asked to choose one of them:
Maybe Google could somehow integrate Google accounts with Google Apps accounts so you can access all the services and get all the new features. The services that are part of Google Apps should have a customized interface and functionality, while the other services should only interact with them so you can, for example, share Google Reader items with your Google Talk contacts.
Workin' In A Cocktail Bar
49 minutes ago


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Multi Zip Icon Skinny Jeans
Style # 196581
AVAILABILITY: Unavailable for immediate shipment.
With exposed zipper detailing at hip and bold color pop, these bebe skinny jeans are sure to add serious bad-girl cool to your denim collection. Try them with a silky top and moto jacket. Rise: 8"/20 cm. Inseam: 28"/71 cm. Leg opening: 10"/25 cm.
- 42% lyocell, 33% cotton, 15% rayon, 8% polyester, 2% spandex
- Machine wash
- Made in USA
- Model is 5'9" and is wearing a US size 27
Rated 4 out of 5�by 1 reviewer.
Rated 4 out of 5�by Justlive Beautiful Red These jeans are a beautiful bright red and very flattering. Purchased my regular size 27. I love the black zippers, makes them different. Although the quality is decent I think the retail price is slightly steep. 5'4" 122lbs. December 10, 2013
1-1 of 1


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Halle Pant (Women's)
In Stock Product Number: 33020
Durable, moisture managing, water resistant, and reinforced at the knees, the versatile Halle Pant is prepared for mountain hikes, desert bouldering, and anything else you can throw at it. Your imagination will limit you before the Halle ever does.
* This product does not qualify for shipping to all countries.
- Stretch 'Zion' performance woven with durable water repellent (DWR) finish
- Cross-functional pant
- Trouser styling with snap front
- Articulated knees
- Roll-up leg feature
- Hidden zip stash pocket at upper right leg
- Offered in 3 inseams-short, regular, tall
- Relaxed fit
- Mid rise
Gender: Women's
Material: 97% Nylon, 3% Spandex
Fit: Mid rise, Relaxed fit
Dimensions: Short:30" Reg:32" Long:34"
Season: F14 S15
Vendor ProductId: W4HARG113
Review ProductId: 33020
Reviewed by 2 customers
Sort by
- durability
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Best Uses
- Backpacking
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- Climbing
- Hiking
Comments about prAna Halle Pant (Women's) New:
I've been looking for a pair of pants that fit my A frame. Prana NAILED the perfect combination. These fit perfect in the waist, come in short or regular, and aren't too tight in the thighs (usually the biggest problem when a pant fits the waist) If you're looking for a pair of pants that meet all of your particulars, these are it.
- Was this a gift?:
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Best Uses
- Hiking and everyday
Comments about prAna Halle Pant (Women's) New:
I wear these hiking and everyday rather than jeans for a less casual look. these pants are durable , comfortable and attractive.
- Was this a gift?:
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Tuscarawas News Detail
KSU School of Art Galleries Accepting Submissions for 2013 Student AnnualPosted Feb. 12, 2013
The Kent State University School of Art Gallery will be accepting submissions for the 2013 Student Annual, the yearly juried exhibition of student work.
Entries will be accepted Mon., Feb. 18 and Tues., Feb. 19 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the School of Art Gallery. Alexandra Nicholis Coon, executive director of the Massillon Museum, will jury this year's Student Annual. Entrants must be a major within the School of Art to participate,either graduate or undergraduate. Students may submit up to two works.
All accepted works will be displayed in the School of Art Gallery Feb. 28 through March 20. A reception will be held Feb. 28 from 5-7 p.m., free and open to the public.
Art must be submitted ready to install. The list of accepted works will be posted on the evening of Wed., Feb. 20. Artists with accepted works must returnThurs., Feb. 21 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. to assist with installation. Unaccepted works must be picked up Thurs., Feb. 21 between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
For more information or to download the submission form, visit http://galleries.kent.edu/.
For more information contact:
The KSU School of Art Gallery, 330-672-7853
For more information contact:


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Stoppage doesn't bother some Sanford residents
The cost-cutting move by the U.S. Postal Service to stop delivering mail on Saturdays all across the country, starting in August, was received positively in an admittedly unscientific poll of people in Sanford.
"That doesn't really bother me because of the budget constraints they're facing," Andrae McLeod said while picking up his mail at the post office in Sanford. "They're losing a lot of money, so it makes sense."
McLeod said he was surprised to learn how small a dent the move would make in the Postal Services debt — the changes are expected to save about $2 billion a year, and last year the agency was nearly $16 billion in debt — and said that it seems like the USPS can't keep up with private-sector competitors like UPS and FedEx.
"This whole building could be gone, and we'd still get our mail," McLeod said. And even though post offices will remain open on Saturdays and mail will still be delivered to P.O. boxes on Saturdays, McLeod said he already planned not to renew his P.O. box when his contract runs out in June, saying the convenience simply isn't worth paying more than $70 a year.
Bob Joyce, president of the Sanford Area Chamber of Commerce, was at a meeting of business and economic development officials Wednesday morning and said most of them reacted positively to the news because as business people, they saw the sense in making changes that will save $2 billion dollars while also having a relatively small affect on the quality of service. He said he later called four Lee County businesses — a medical provider, a service business and two locally owned retailers — and found that no one was worried.
"They do not believe that stopping Saturday delivery will have any affect on their business," he said, adding that the retailers told him their main concern would be advertisements for Monday sales, but that they could simply send those out earlier and rely more on radio and newspaper ads during the weekend. He also said that because packages will continue to be delivered on Saturdays, they weren't concerned about losing customers who need quick weekend shipments.
"If they need to express something for a customer, they will still get that on Saturday," he said.
An employee at the Sanford post office, at 1200 S. Horner Blvd., said Wednesday morning that employees had been ordered not to speak to the media.
Other strategies used by the USPS in recent years to save money have included cutting hours and staff at rural post offices, which it has done nationwide since 2010.
However, Monica Robbs, a statewide public relations officer for the USPS, said that Wednesday's announcement shouldn't mean any further reductions in staff, staff hours or locations — although that doesn't mean they weren't happening already.
"There are some changes that are already underway... where we were looking at reducing hours," she said, adding that the reductions are now planned to continue through September, 2014: "But those offices have already been notified."
Some of the smaller communities nearby with post offices include Broadway, Lemon Springs, Gulf, Olivia, Moncure, Goldston, Bear Creek and Mamers.


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To date, the sexual sins of candidates for President have focused on the candidates themselves.
Now that we've learned about Gingrich's bold "ask" for an "open marriage" to accommodate his acknowledged affair with Callista Gingrich, for the first time in history, the future First Lady's sexual sins are front and center for evangelicals and perhaps a significant portion of conservative voters.
That's the news this morning from the evangelical right as Focus on the Family's James Dobson declares his preference for Santorum because, among a host of other reasons, Karen Santorum "would make a fabulous first lady role model."
Here's the zinger.
Dobson went on to compare Karen with Callista, noting that "Newt Gingrich's wife . . . was a mistress for eight years."
Will The Right Forgive a Woman as They Forgive Their Men?
The evangelical right has been pretty forgiving of men's sexual misdeeds with women, while demonizing the allegedly far greater sexual sins of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.
We're now about to see what the driving issues really are within the evangelical community and the far right when it comes to comparative sexual "sin."
Feminists have all along contended that one of the overlooked but driving issues on the "right" in reaction to the reproductive freedom and justice movement is women's sexual autonomy.
As one author has argued,
The Christian Right was born as a reaction to changes in women's social roles, growing sexual liberty, and increased sexual knowledge in the early 20th century. Even today, the Christian Right can be defined as a reaction to women's behavior and sexual liberties.
Where others see sexual liberty, the Christian Right sees sexual license. This is a problem for [certain segments of the Christian religious community for] two reasons.
First, sexual license is contrary to God's will. Second, controlling sexuality is key to maintaining social order. When sexuality is improperly controlled, anarchy and chaos result. Women ignoring their god-given social roles are part of uncontrolled sexuality because women are defined as the keepers of moral virtue in the home and sexual virtue generally.
Abortion is not just [seen as] murder . . . [It, along with contraception] also disconnects sexual activity from procreation. This is [seen as being] contrary to God's will and allows for sexual activity to proceed unchecked. Sex without consequences is [deemed to be] wrong because consequences help keep sex from leading to anarchy.
At least one GOP candidate – Rick Santorum – has expressly connected his opposition to birth control to sexuality by arguing on the campaign trail that contraception is "a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be."
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Chevron is unloved by investors and by the residents of its home base. No matter: John Watson has built a cash laden profit machine that's poised for the greatest growth gusher in the history of Big Oil.
John Watson is an odd fit for an oilman. For one thing, he's a Californian in an industry dominated by Texans, Saudis and Russians. A Bay Area native, no less, who attended the University of California in the 1970s and now lives minutes away from Berkeley. Instead of cutting his teeth in the oilfields like Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson or wildcatting billionaire Harold Hamm, Watson studied agricultural economics and started his oil career as a financial analyst, not a roughneck.
He's an odd fit for California, too. Watson is, to use Mitt Romney's term, "severely conservative." At 6-foot-4, charismatic and silver-tongued, he's a throwback to the Golden State of Chevron's predecessor, Standard Oil of California. That was a time when fortunes came not via gaming apps or silicon chips but from mines gnawed into the Sierras and wells drilled in the dusty wastes of Bakersfield à la There Will Be Blood.
So perhaps it's fitting that this misfit CEO runs an odd-duck energy company, one that takes a contrarian strategy on almost every major trend. As his American rivals scoop up the frackable plots powering the great domestic oil and gas boom, Watson has largely taken a pass. And while global giants like Exxon Mobil, Cnooc and Rosneft have built themselves up through acquisitions of big companies like XTO Energy, Nexen and TNK-BP, Watson says he's not doing any deals, despite a balance sheet fat with $22 billion in cash.
Watson is playing a different game from everyone else. While Exxon and the rest crave new reserves, operating in perpetual fear of shrinking supplies, Watson's quest has been focused on cost-efficient reserves, particularly oil, which boasts better economics. Chevron generates a profit of $24 per barrel of oil, or the natural gas equivalent, versus Exxon's $19.80, which is in line with Big Oil's average. "We are always value-focused on what we do. We are not barrel-focused, per se," says Watson.
So while Watson needs to get bigger, he's making an enormous bet that he can keep those efficiencies up by growing internally. How big is the wager? His capital expenditures have topped $100 billion over the past five years. Chevron will invest $37 billion this year alone–about the same as Exxon Mobil, despite having roughly half of its market cap ($225 billion versus $400 billion). "What differentiates us now is that we have a growth profile with more of the same," says Watson. "We have more depth in our portfolio than we've ever had, and they are good projects."
Taken together, Watson promises, these "good projects," centered on liquid natural gas plants, deepwater developments and massive oilfields, will boost the company's oil and gas volumes by 25% to 3.3 million barrels per day in just four years, the rough equivalent of adding the capacity of Chesapeake Energy or Occidental Petroleum.
That kind of euphoria is unheard of at oil companies these days. The balance of power has shifted toward the state-owned giants that sit on the world's last deposits of highly lucrative easy oil. The publicly traded, vertically integrated giants like Exxon, Shell, BP and Total have had to go after deeper and trickier resources–with varying degrees of success. All struggle just to keep output steady, while some have given up trying to stay big: ConocoPhillips split itself up, and BP shed billions in assets after the Deepwater Horizon disaster. The rest have been making big acquisitions to maintain their size. Exxon, despite its $40 billion acquisition of XTO Energy in 2010, has had five straight quarters of declining output.
The markets are just starting to notice. Chevron shares are 20% higher than they were two years ago, versus 0.5% among its Big Oil rivals and 18.5% for the S&P. Yet with shares trading at just 8.6 times earnings, with a 3.1% dividend yield, investors seem leery of what amounts to numerous blank-check fishing expeditions. "The key question is less Chevron's ability to grow, more the cap ex required to get there," says Ed Westlake, analyst at Credit Suisse. Deutsche Bank analyst Paul Sankey adds that it's hard to justify not returning that $22 billion in cash to shareholders given record-low interest rates and the fact that Chevron is carrying a relatively minuscule $12 billion in debt. Others wonder why Watson hasn't gone shopping.
Ask Watson about that and he shrugs. "The idea that our balance sheet will drive us to an acquisition is not supported by our history or by anything that I or my predecessors have said," he says. "Our balance sheet does not drive us."
For Watson, internally growing a Chesapeake Energy-level of output over the next four years means a focused number of massive bets. In Kazakhstan Chevron will invest $25 billion more into the Tengiz megafield to take daily production to 1 million barrels from the current 750,000. In Nigeria it's investing $2 billion offshore as well as $8 billion to build the nation's first gas-to-liquids plant, which turns natural gas into higher-value diesel and lubricants. In the deepwater Gulf of Mexico Chevron has plowed in $12 billion to build out three more fields, which are projected to produce 100,000 barrels per day by 2015, a figure that would make Chevron a leader in developing ultradeep fields far offshore.
But as FORBES first reported in 2011, the real monster is Gorgon, a $52 billion liquefied natural gas joint venture in Australia that's one of the biggest infrastructure projects of any kind on the planet. When it comes online at the end of 2014, Gorgon will be on track to produce the equivalent of 450,000 barrels of oil per day, half of which goes to Chevron, the project operator. With more than 50 trillion cubic feet of gas discovered nearby there's enough gas not only to keep Gorgon going for 40 years but also to justify Chevron and its partners, including Shell and Apache, investing $29 billion in another LNG project nearby called Wheatstone.
Gorgon sits on Barrow Island, 37 miles off the northwest coast of Australia. It's a remarkable place for its unique flora and fauna, including 24 species– like the burrowing bettong–not found anywhere else on Earth. Drilling in this isolated Eden, Chevron has been producing oil from Barrow since 1964. But since the new discovery Chevron has been working to turn Barrow into a massive hub for liquefied natural gas–a tricky task given the sensitive environment. As a condition for approval, Australia mandated quarantine rules that require all equipment, luggage and personnel to be inspected for even the most minute critters, seeds, bugs–anything that could disrupt the native ecology. Chevron must also engineer the world's biggest carbon capture and sequestration project, which will separate carbon dioxide from the natural gas stream, pressurize it and inject it back underground, even deeper than the Gorgon reservoir.
Aside from the potential for catastrophic environmental damage, Gorgon is risky for another reason. Investing $25 billion (Chevron's half) in a megaproject planned and built over ten years is very different from making a $25 billion acquisition of another company. In an acquisition you know–hopefully–what you're getting, and you're pinpointing the cost on the day the deal is signed. With Gorgon, on the other hand, lots of things have changed since the first shovelful of dirt was turned in 2009.
Currency moves, for instance. Half of Gorgon's costs are in Australian dollars, which have appreciated 20% against the greenback in recent years, adding $5 billion in costs. And with $200 billion in liquefied natural gas projects ongoing in Australia, labor inflation has added billions more. What's more, when Gorgon was sanctioned, the U.S. shale boom–and its crushing downward pressure on gas prices–didn't yet exist. In fact, domestic gas supplies were getting tight enough that in 2006 Chevron entered into a 20-year contract with Cheniere Energy's Sabine Pass terminal on the Gulf Coast, giving it the ability to import gas to the U.S., a laughable idea today (the terminal is being retrofitted to export gas).
Still, at least for now, the economics of Gorgon look secure. Deutsche Bank estimates that the initial project will generate an annual return on capital of 13% over the next 40 years, with a lot of upside potential as more exploration wells are drilled and additional processing plants added. All that cleaner, greener gas has already been presold under 20-year contracts to buyers in Asia at prices indexed not to low-priced American gas but to high-priced oil. Aussie gas fetches upwards of $15 per thousand cubic feet, more than offsetting transportation and processing costs. Natural gas in America goes for $3.50.
Despite the price tags and risks, Watson sees these as value plays, betting that Chevron's engineers can build oil and gas projects from scratch cheaper than it could buy similar assets on the market. Why overpay for what someone else has built when you can control your own destiny? And that's where the balance sheet comes into play. "Cash is the risk mitigator that we have," says Watson. Twenty-two billion dollars is a mighty warm security blanket.
Watson's build-versus-buy mind-set was acquired the hard way. He joined Chevron in 1980, just in time to catch oil spiking to a record $35 a barrel ($100 in today's dollars). After rising through the finance side, Watson was appointed president of Chevron Canada in 1996. Then came the dark days of 1998, when the "Asian flu" helped gut oil prices to $11 a barrel. A weak industry needed to consolidate; that same year Watson was named to lead a newly created mergers and acquisitions group. It was Watson who in 2001 spearheaded Chevron's $45 billion integration of Texaco. Four years later came the $18 billion purchase of Unocal.
What the acquisitions brought was a hodgepodge of overlapping holdings in places like Kazakhstan, Australia and Nigeria. Eventually, as CFO, Watson helped then CEO Dave O'Reilly develop systems to rank all these opportunities, discouraging investments that chased the flavor of the week, focusing instead on long-term projects that made economic sense. What Watson learned, however–after years of costly delays on megaprojects like Gorgon and Agbami–was that even on the most seemingly attractive projects, you need to bake in a big margin of error. He now thinks they have it down to a science. "What we have is a uniform process that gives us a consistent view of the geologic risk," says Vice Chairman George Kirkland. From there they overlay global economic and political factors. "That tells you where you first want to put your money," says Kirkland.
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I was kicked out too...Yes,that does make you feel like screaming. Why does that happen with your premmie child, but not with an older child when they are seriously ill...Do they think that your babies are not real until they reach their proper gestational age.
Mum of 6
Three premmies( 2 at almost30 wks, 1 at 34.5)


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- Atkinson Graduate School of Management
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- http://www.gmatfree.com/: Practice with 800 sample questions and 600 videos, accessible on your laptop, tablet, or phone, brought to you by the "guru of the GMAT."
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Light as a feather (at 2.38 pounds!), strong as an ox (with its aluminium unicase design) and as speedy as a cheetah (thanks to the latest Intel Core i5 processor), this 11" MacBook Air is a lightweight notebook that's anything but a lightweight!
Content is copyright © 2012 The Stage Media Company Limited unless otherwise stated.
All RSS feeds are published for personal, non-commercial use. (What's RSS?)


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Dollar Dog Wednesday for Toronto FC match
Hot dogs will be $1 at Wednesday's match vs. Toronto FC
May 7, 2013
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Wednesday is about more than just soccer when Toronto FC visits Buck Shaw Stadium (7:30 p.m. PT / CSN California).
It's about hot dogs. Lots of them for just $1 apiece.
The Earthquakes are bringing Dollar Dog Wednesdays back for the 2013 season, courtesy of Cosmopolitan Catering. Per the promotion, fans can buy $1 hot dogs at Buck Shaw Stadium for each of the club's two Wednesday matches. In addition to May 8, the club will also offer discounted dogs on Oct. 9 when the Colorado Rapids come to town.


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George A. HerrickMarch 27,2013
George A. HerrickGeorge A. Herrick
CHITTENDEN George A. Herrick, 71, of Chittenden died Tuesday morning, March 26, 2013, at his home surrounded by his family.
He was born in Rutland, March 28, 1941, the son of William and Aurore (Guertin) Herrick.
George was a U.S. Air Force Veteran, serving during the Vietnam War.
He was employed by Carris Reels Inc., and from 1968 to 1999, he was employed by Sears Inc.
George was a member of the Chittenden Volunteer Fire Dept. and an auditor for the Town of Chittenden.
Surviving are his wife Betty (Capron) Herrick of Chittenden; three sons, Jeffrey Herrick of Chittenden, Brian Herrick of Rutland, and his children Tawnya, her daughter, Aubrey and Matthew and John Bradley Mendenhall and his wife Lisa Strachan of Vineyard Haven, MA; two daughters Patricia Pelkey and her husband Herb of West Rutland, and their children Marie, Caitlin and Nash, and Cheryl Lowe and her husband Erik of West Tisbury, MA, and their children Emily and Aaron; nieces and nephews.
He was predeceased by his wife Margaret (Carroll) Herrick, and by a brother, William H. Herrick, Jr.
Visiting hours will be held Thursday, March 28, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Clifford Funeral Home in Rutland.
Graveside services with military honors will be held Friday, March 29, at 2:15 p.m. at Horton Cemetery in Chittenden.
Contributions may be made to Chittenden Volunteer Fire Dept, 266 Chittenden Road, Chittenden, VT 05737.MORE IN Obituaries0801 RH Obits Caldwell paid photo no flag Full Story0801 RH Obits Kotrady Paid photo flag Full Story0801 RH Obits Fredetee paid photo no flag Full Story
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- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day 1739, 'Richard Palmer' identified in prison at York Castle as the notorious outlaw DICK TURPIN; IN 1836, Battle of the Alamo begins near San Antonio de Bexar, Texas; 1896, the Tootsie Roll invented by LEO HIRSCHFELD.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1472, Orkney, Shetland islands put up as collateral by Norway to Scotland in lieu of dowry for MARGARET OF DENMARK on her marriage with JAMES III, king of Scotland; 1962, JOHN GLENN first American to orbit Earth.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: City mayoral candidates debate campaign issues; Hartford, Conn., woman still missing; Neal Goswami reports attempts to legislate suicide; local woman loses 100 pounds through TOPS program.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1878, JOHN TUNSTALL murdered near Lincoln, New Mexico, by the outlaw JESSE EVANS; in 1930, ELM FARM OLLIE first cow to fly in aircraft, first to be milked airborne; 1955, nuke test WASP; '79, snow in Sahara.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Rutland Herald News Editor Alan J. Keays and staff writer Gordon Dritschilo discuss stories planned for the February 18, 2015, edition of the newspaper: Winter budgets maxed, legal marijuana, Springfield bank job, USPS slowdown
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1249 AD, ANDRE of LONGJUMEAU is dispatched by LOUIS IX of France to meet the KHAGAN, ruler of the Mongol Empire; in 1804, during 1st Barbary War, STEPHEN DECATUR scuttles the pirate-held USS Philadelphia in Tripoli.


text:
just thought i'd post a quick update.
Emma's BP kept rising for most of the weekend and spiked on Sunday at around 4 at 157/94.
This combined with a continuing headache caused me to make the trip to maternity. After a 2 odd hour wait, we got seen to. Emma's BP had fallen by this stage to around 137/82 which we were told is fine.
Her urine was clear of protein though which is the important thing. So hopefully the threat of PE is abated for the moment.
So we were sent home and told to take it easy, although her headache still persists.
The hospital staff were a bit unhelpful reallt though, as all they could keep saying was that 'really, she's very early to be exhibiting signs of PE', to which I replied that that was exactly my concern. Still due for a midwife appointment on wed, so we'll see how that goes.
Many thanks for the concern and help from all involved here. It has been greatly appreciated.


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Explore the state of Delaware
Delcastle Recreation Area is a 400-acre park, most of which is made up of an 18-hole golf course and driving range. Aside from its many fitness courts, ball fields and traditional amenities, another unique feature is the park's fenced street-hockey rink. Nature lovers, meanwhile, will enjoy the 1.7-mile paved walking trail, along with its open vistas and high-grass meadows.


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Vt. solar array is up in PownalFebruary 09,2013Solar array up at
former race track
POWNAL A solar array is up and running at the site of a former Vermont race track.
The array is at whats now known as the Southern Vermont Energy Park in Pownal. It used to the Green Mountain Race Track, which shut down in 1992.
The 144-acre site was bought in 2006 for $1 million by Progress Partners. The solar facility is owned by Gestamp Renewables.
The Bennington Banner reports the project is enrolled in the states Sustainably Priced Energy Enterprise Development (SPEED) program, which offers above-market rates to renewable energy projects. The array is capable of producing up to 2.2 megawatts of power at maximum.MORE IN This Just InNEW YORK Yes, your mutual fund may own some Greek stocks. No, most likely not a lot. Full StoryWHITE RIVER JUNCTION A Springfield man who was captured Friday evening after he took off... Full StoryLoan program launched for owners of flood damaged apartment houses Full Story
- Most Popular
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- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day 1739, 'Richard Palmer' identified in prison at York Castle as the notorious outlaw DICK TURPIN; IN 1836, Battle of the Alamo begins near San Antonio de Bexar, Texas; 1896, the Tootsie Roll invented by LEO HIRSCHFELD.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1472, Orkney, Shetland islands put up as collateral by Norway to Scotland in lieu of dowry for MARGARET OF DENMARK on her marriage with JAMES III, king of Scotland; 1962, JOHN GLENN first American to orbit Earth.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: City mayoral candidates debate campaign issues; Hartford, Conn., woman still missing; Neal Goswami reports attempts to legislate suicide; local woman loses 100 pounds through TOPS program.
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1878, JOHN TUNSTALL murdered near Lincoln, New Mexico, by the outlaw JESSE EVANS; in 1930, ELM FARM OLLIE first cow to fly in aircraft, first to be milked airborne; 1955, nuke test WASP; '79, snow in Sahara.
- TOMORROW'S HEADLINES TODAY: Rutland Herald News Editor Alan J. Keays and staff writer Gordon Dritschilo discuss stories planned for the February 18, 2015, edition of the newspaper: Winter budgets maxed, legal marijuana, Springfield bank job, USPS slowdown
- RICHARD'S POOR ALMANACK: On this day in 1249 AD, ANDRE of LONGJUMEAU is dispatched by LOUIS IX of France to meet the KHAGAN, ruler of the Mongol Empire; in 1804, during 1st Barbary War, STEPHEN DECATUR scuttles the pirate-held USS Philadelphia in Tripoli.


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Wikimedia and the new collaborative digital archives
For today's post we are thrilled to open our blog space to NARA's Wikipedian-in-Residence, Dominic McDevitt-Parks. Everyone knows about Wikipedia (though there is certainly a lot of room for clarification of how it works in practice and why it is valuable for public history), so for this first post, I want to spotlight Wikisource, a […]
Posted by Guest Blogger on July 25, 2011, under Digital Projects, Reference, Researchers, The Process.
9-11 Adolf Hitler Alan Walker Alfie Paul American Red Cross Civil War David Langbart deck logs Department of State District of Columbia DOJ donated materials FBI Foreign Service Posts Franklin D. Roosevelt Greg Bradsher looted art M. Marie Maxwell MFA&A Monique Politowski Monuments Men Onaona Guay OSS RG 24 RG 59 RG 60 RG 65 RG 84 RG 165 RG 239 RG 242 RG 286 RG 306 RG 331 RG 469 RG 498 Roberts Commission Sylvia Naylor U.S. Army U.S. Marshals U.S. Navy volunteers War Department World War I World War II


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The Walking Dead
The Walking Dead Season 4 Spoilers: The Governor Will Be Series Regular
Not only is The Governor not dead, he's coming back for a lot more on The Walking Dead Season 4.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, David Morrissey (The Governor) will return to The Walking Dead as a series regular.
Morrissey initially signed on for just one season, and we kinda expected him to die on the Season 3 finale to get that "satisfying ending" we were promised. But comic book writer/executive producer Robert Kirkman already told THR he wanted to avoid having a new "big bad" every season.
So The Governor stays. Are you happy?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Catch up on Walking Dead spoilers, news, recaps, polls, etc.


text: A contemporary-inspired bedding set in shades of chocolate brown and teal blue, the Greenland Home Brentwood Blue Surf bedding collection will turn any bedroom into a modern chic sanctuary of sophistication and class. Framed with chocolate brown edges, the Greenland Home Brentwood Blue Surf quilt set features teal blue diamond quilted design throughout the center. The Brentwood Blue Surf quilt is available in Twin, Full, Queen, and King sizes. Additionally, the quilt and quilted pillow shams feature Vermicelli stitching and are quilted all-over in 100% cotton for durability, and the quilt is oversized for better coverage on todays deeper mattresses, and is prewashed and preshrunk. Enhance your Brentwood Blue machine washable for easy care.


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Stanford Law Society of San Francisco
February 28, 2008 8:00pm - 9:00pm
February 28, 2008 8:00pm - 9:00pm
Book signing and lecture with Stanford Law School Professor Richard Thompson Ford.
What do Katrina victims waiting for federal disaster relief, millionaire rappers buying vintage champagne, Ivy League professors waiting for taxis, and ghetto hustlers trying to find steady work have in common? All have claimed to be victims of racism.
Stanford Law School Professor, Richard Thompson Ford, brings sophisticated legal analysis, lively and eye-popping anecdotes, and plain old common sense to this heated topic. "The Race Card" is a call for us to treat racism as a social problem that must be objectively understood and honestly evaluated.
- email@example.com 650 723.2730


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1. "Call us Farm Stand Inc."
Ah, the old farm stand, that seasonal roadside wellspring of sweet, ready-to-be-shucked corn, crisp and juicy apples or jugs of real maple syrup. But that humble stand has now become big business—in more ways than one. Spurred by the "eat local" movement, consumers are flocking to stands connected to family farms (and those farms account for fully 96% of the 2.2 million farms in the United States). No less an authority than the U.S. Department of Agriculture calls the trend of selling directly to consumers "an important new opportunity for small and beginning farmers and ranchers to become financially secure."
What farm stands won't tell you
When you're tempted by farmstand produce, remember the sour often comes with the sweet. Matt Heimer has details. (Photo: AP)
But it's not just the farm-stand movement as a whole that's gaining ground. Individual stands are also thinking big, with many morphing into year-round, full-scale enterprises—like supermarkets in touristy packaging. Such "stands," which can have annual sales in the millions of dollars, offer everything from souvenirs to prepared meals. At the Avila Valley Barn in San Luis Obispo, Calif., for example, raspberries and blackberries share space with packaged gourmet goods, bakeware, barbecue accessories, cookbooks and even educational toys.
For some eat-local purists and old-school farmers, there's nothing simple about this. They argue that the bigger-is-better thinking can go against the connect-with-the-soil spirit of the classic stand. "It's very off-putting to see a farm stand without very much 'farm' to it," says Sara Trunzo, the food and farm projects coordinator for Unity College in Maine. But stand operators counter that consumers are voting with their dollars—if they didn't like what was happening, they wouldn't be buying. Plus, in an age of $90 theme park tickets, stand operators say they offer family fun at a relatively low cost. At the Avila Valley Barn, the hay rides are actually free. "We just want people to experience agriculture," says proprietor Debbie Smith.
See also: 5 things you'll soon be eating
This is an update of an earlier version.


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Topic: Russia (Read 35442 times)
Power User
Posts: 33861
In case of need to laugh, click on this:
Reply #100 on:
February 21, 2013, 04:02:43 PM »
Power User
Posts: 33861
Budget cuts
Reply #101 on:
September 20, 2013, 10:45:36 PM »
Power User
Posts: 4530
Putin's net worth? Maybe 70 billion?
Reply #102 on:
October 12, 2013, 09:28:03 PM »
Power User
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Putin's Judicial Consolidation
Reply #103 on:
October 17, 2013, 09:25:16 PM »
Russia's legislature is considering a proposal to abolish one of the country's top courts, the Supreme Arbitration Court, and consolidate it under the Supreme Court. The bill before the Duma also would expand the Kremlin's power to politically shape the country on a more granular level via the judicial system amid political and social changes inside the country.
This is the Kremlin's first consolidation of a major part of the Russian system since a series of consolidations in the early to mid-2000s. While there are systematic reasons for the judicial consolidation, the proposal -- spearheaded by Russian President Vladimir Putin -- faces opposition, as the new, larger court would tip the political balance within the country and eliminate a court system that was regarded as more efficient and less corrupt than the Supreme Court.
Russia's judicial system consists of three courts: the Constitutional Court, Supreme Court and Supreme Arbitration Court. These courts oversee tiers of courts below them: regional, district, magistrate and others. Each high court has its own jurisdiction. The Constitutional Court is largely independent from its two sisters, as it only oversees matters pertaining to the Russian Constitution and disputes between federal bodies. The Supreme Court is the higher of the two remaining courts, having a general jurisdiction over civil, criminal and nearly every other type of case. The Supreme Arbitration Court, also called the Commercial Court, oversees economic and commercial arbitration.
Russia's Judicial System
But even with the distinctions between the types of cases the high courts oversee, there are some discrepancies and ambiguities between the Supreme Court and the Supreme Arbitration Court. The two have fought over power and jurisdiction since their inception in 1993. The Supreme Court and its supporters have argued that it holds final say in all matters except constitutional issues, even though the Supreme Arbitration Court is technically the ultimate venue for all commercial arbitration. The Supreme Court has, in several instances, encroached on commercial cases. This has occasionally led to one court overturning a verdict reached by the other court, and to commercial arbitration cases going to one court instead of the other in attempts to get a favorable outcome.
As far as perception, the Supreme Arbitration Court has been viewed as the more modern, efficient, impartial and less corrupt of the two high courts. The Supreme Arbitration Court's practices have even drawn praise from the European Court of Human Rights. The Supreme Court, however, has faced accusations from within Russia and by foreign groups of being protectionist, political and corrupt. The efficiency of the Supreme Arbitration Court could be attributed to the lighter caseload, as it receives only 35 appeals per month on average compared to the Supreme Court's 200 appeals per month.
There is also a political aspect to the courts' power struggle, because each is aligned with a different political group. The Supreme Court, headed by Vyacheslav Lebedev, is largely considered to have political support from the security hawk siloviki faction within the Kremlin. The Supreme Arbitration Court, headed by Anton Ivanov, is closer to the more reformist and liberal civiliki faction associated with Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev.
In the past year, competition between the two courts has become increasingly fierce. In 2012, the Supreme Court attempted to create "administrative courts" that would oversee arbitration, meaning that all arbitration would become subordinate to the Supreme Court instead of the Supreme Arbitration Court. The Supreme Arbitration Court was able to block this move in March of this year. In recent months, the siloviki factions put forward the candidacy of Vladimir Vinokurov, who had never served as a judge, for deputy head of the Supreme Arbitration Court in order to infiltrate the system and undermine Ivanov -- something Ivanov was able to block politically because of his ally Medvedev's influence.
Attempts to Reconcile the Courts
Major structural reforms to clarify the courts' positions and power have been attempted continually, including previous proposals to merge the two courts. In the past year, Putin has attempted to find a compromise between the courts by proposing an Administrative Judiciary, which would create some sort of supreme judicial panel with three representatives from each of the three top courts. However, Constitutional Court Chief Valery Zorkin deemed this proposal unconstitutional in a rare disagreement between the court chief and the president. A series of criticisms in the media said the proposed Administrative Judiciary was too reminiscent of the Communist Party Central Committee, which developed centralized legal positions in the Soviet Union.
Instead, the president is now supporting the consolidation of the courts, which would give the Supreme Arbitration Court's functions to the Supreme Court, creating what Russian media have dubbed a "super court." The Supreme Court would then increase its number of judges from 125 to 170, which means that the new court would not absorb all of the current 53 arbitration judges. According to Putin, the consolidated court system would streamline judicial procedures and practices and eliminate redundancies.
This consolidation would require a change to the Russian Constitution, which divides the two court systems, though constitutional modifications would be relatively easy under Putin's direction. It would be the largest structural change within the Russian government since Putin's string of political, economic, social and security consolidations in the early 2000s.
Criticisms of Putin's Proposal
The Supreme Arbitration Court, as well as many in Russia's legal and political circles, has harshly criticized the proposed consolidation. On Oct. 10, seven judges from the Supreme Arbitration Court resigned in protest of the bill. The head of Russia's Intellectual Property Rights Court, Lyudmila Novoselova, said the quality of commercial arbitration would be reduced under the Supreme Court. Ivanov added that a unified court would end up being a "dinosaur guided by a small brain that needs tuning."
Many critics see political motives behind Putin's proposal. Having one super court instead of two competing courts would give one faction -- either siloviki or civiliki -- unprecedented power to shape politics, business and other facets of the country. It is unclear who would head the enlarged Supreme Court, which is aligned with the siloviki. Rumors have indicated that the Supreme Court's chief position could be given to the more liberal civiliki clan in order to avoid alienating foreign investors, who have said they are more willing to invest in Russia based on the more efficient track record of the Supreme Arbitration Court. Whoever might control the new Supreme Court, the appointment will create a battle within Putin's already delicately balanced inner circle.
There is another possible motive for Putin's proposal: The bill submitted to the Duma includes an amendment that would give Putin the authority to directly appoint prosecutors in the regions -- currently a prerogative of the prosecutor general. This would give the country's leader an unusual amount of granular power.
It could be that Putin is concerned about shaping the shifts taking place across the country. As Stratfor has observed, Russia is going through a series of social and political changes that are eroding Putin's consolidated control over the country. Handpicking the people within the regions' judicial circles could help Putin shape the policies and precedents for regional politics and business. In slipping the amendment in with larger judicial reforms, Putin could be signaling that he is increasingly worried about his power in the regions -- just as a growing power struggle is about to intensify in Moscow.
Read more: Russia: Putin's Motives for Judicial Consolidation | Stratfor
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Stratfor: Is Russia's destiny autocratic
Reply #104 on:
February 20, 2014, 01:42:59 PM »
Is Russia's Destiny Autocratic?
Global Affairs
Wednesday, February 19, 2014 - 04:07 Print Text Size
Global Affairs with Robert D. Kaplan
By Robert D. Kaplan
In 1967, the late British historian Hugh Seton-Watson wrote in his epic account, The Russian Empire, 1801-1917, "If there is one single factor which dominates the course of Russian history, at any rate since the Tatar conquest, it is the principle of autocracy." He goes on to explain how the nations of Western Europe were formed by a long struggle between "the monarchial power and the social elite." In England, the elite usually won, and that was a key to the development of parliamentary democracy. But in Russia it was generally agreed that rather than granting special privileges to an elite, "It was better that all should be equal in their subjection to the autocrat."
This profound anti-democratic tradition of Russian political culture has its roots in geography, or as Seton-Watson prefers to explain it, in military necessity. Between the Arctic ice and the mountains of the Caucasus, and between the North European Plain and the wastes of the Far East, Russia is vast and without physical obstacles to invasion. Invasion of Russia is easy, and was accomplished, albeit with disastrous results, by Napoleon and Hitler, as well as by the armies of the Mongols, Sweden, Lithuania and Poland. As Seton-Watson argues, "Imagine the United States without either the Atlantic or the Pacific, and with several first-rate military powers instead of the Indians," and you would have a sense of Russia's security dilemma. Whereas in America the frontier meant opportunity, in Russia, he says, it meant insecurity and oppression.
Because security in Russia has been so fragile, there developed an obsession about it. And that obsession led naturally to repression and autocracy.
Russia's brief and rare experiments with democracy or quasi-democracy were failed and unhappy ones: Witness the governments of Alexander Kerensky in 1917 that led to the Bolshevik Revolution and of Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s that led to Vladimir Putin's neo-czardom. Truly, Russia's fare has been autocracy, and given the utter cruelty of czars and communists, Putin is but a mild dictator. When Western pundits and policymakers say they are unhappy with his autocratic arrangement, they are basically making a negative judgment on Russian history. For by Russia's historical standards, Putin is certainly not all that bad.
Putin now represents an autocrat in crisis, a familiar story in Russia. His problems are, for the most part, unsolvable, like those faced by Russian autocrats before him. And there are many of them.
Controlling the ultimate destiny of Ukraine is of paramount importance to him, for reasons both geographical and historical. Russia grew out of ninth century Kievan Rus, located in present-day Ukraine. Ukraine's population density (compared to immense tracts of Russia) and geographical position make it a crucial pivot for the Kremlin, if it wants to permanently dominate Eastern Europe and the Black Sea. Yet, Putin finds that he cannot wholly control Ukraine or further undermine its sovereignty. There is simply a very substantial element in Ukrainian politics and society that demands a shift closer to Europe and the European Union. Putin has various tools to undermine Ukraine, such as erecting trade barriers and rationing deliveries of natural gas. But it is hard work, and he probably can never achieve an outright victory.
Putin fears the westward, pro-NATO and pro-EU stirrings inside the former Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova. He fears unrest in former Soviet Central Asia, where reliably autocratic, Soviet-style regimes may soon face increasing turmoil at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists -- the very force Putin fears could destabilize Russia itself. Russia needs stability and compliance in its near abroad, and both will be increasingly at risk in Central Asia: Witness Kazakhstan's recent currency crisis. Putin not only worries about Russia's possible deteriorating position in world energy markets in the long term, but of the rising demographic weight of Muslims in Russian society over the long term, too.
Putin worries about an American-Iranian rapprochement, given how the estrangement for so long between those two countries has been so convenient to Russia's interest. Oh, and here's what Putin really isn't happy about: internal interference in Russian politics by American, pro-democracy nongovernmental organizations. What the United States considers human rights activity, he considers foreign subversion. And that goes for what American NGOs are doing in Ukraine also.
Putin wants to engage in cynical geopolitical deal making; instead he often gets lectures on morality from the West.
Could Putin actually be toppled? Not likely. The unhappiness with his rule that the Western media fervently wants to believe in is probably manageable, and a really free and fair election today in Russia would probably return him to power. He is only 61 years old and lives a relatively healthy life, unlike Yeltsin, who drank to excess. Sure, Putin is under extreme levels of stress. But you don't rise to his position in a place like Russia without the ability to handle levels of intrigue and anxiety that would psychologically decimate the average American politician.
The United States has every right to hate Putin for the Snowden affair alone. But, as I've indicated, Washington may be dealing with Putin for many years yet. As his dictatorship continues, he is liable to become more embattled, and rather than move toward reform, he is more likely to retreat further into a corrosive, authoritarian model. For that is a Russian historical tendency -- something Seton-Watson would have understood. If that is the case, Russian institutions and civil society, such as they exist, will further deteriorate. And with that, a post-Putin Russia, whenever it comes, could be a Russia in some substantial degree of chaos.
Putin is not like Spain's Gen. Francisco Franco, who in his latter years methodically laid the groundwork for a less authoritarian, post-Franco era. He is not like the collegial autocrats of present-day China, who have made their country -- with all its problems -- a relatively safe and predictable place for foreigners to do business and thus aid the development of the Chinese economy. While Russia, with its high literacy rates and quasi-European culture, cannot be compared with the much less developed Arab world, Putin's Russia does contain a scent of the thuggery and benightedness that characterized former regimes in Tunisia and Egypt. Because Putin is not a modernizer -- he is building neither a civil society nor a 21st century knowledge economy -- he is leading Russia toward a familiar dead end, from which only chaos or more autocracy can issue.
Russia is not fated to be governed illiberally forever. Geography is being tempered by technology, and individual choice can overcome -- or at least partly overcome -- the legacy of history. Though one cannot speculate about which future leader or group of leaders can save Russia, one can outline the shape of a less autocratic yet stable power arrangement. And that shape must feature decentralization. Because of Russia's very vastness -- nearly half the longitudes of the earth -- democracy in Russia must be a local phenomenon as well as a Moscow phenomenon. The Far East, oriented around Vladivostok, must be able to carve out its own political shape and identity, the same with other parts of Russia. The center must become by stages weaker, even as the whole Federation becomes more vibrant because of the emergence of a rule of law. Such a Russia would draw in a near abroad united by a legacy of Russian language use from Soviet and czarist times. Centralization is not the opposite of anarchy; civil society is. Thus only civil society can save Russia.
Read more: Is Russia's Destiny Autocratic? | Stratfor
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Russia fuct?
Reply #105 on:
April 20, 2014, 12:56:05 AM »
Power User
Posts: 33861
WSJ: The costs of Crimea to Russia
Reply #106 on:
April 21, 2014, 07:11:02 AM »
What Putin Is Costing Russia
Former finance minister Alexi Kudrin projects up to $160 billion in capital will flee this year.
By Ilan Berman
April 20, 2014 5:24 p.m. ET
Just how much is Vladimir Putin's Ukrainian adventure actually costing Russia? Quite a lot, it turns out.
New statistics from the Central Bank of Russia indicate that almost $51 billion in capital exited the country in the first quarter of 2014. The exodus, says financial website Quartz.com, is largely the result of investor jitters over Russia's intervention in Ukraine and subsequent annexation of Crimea.
As Quartz notes, this was the highest quarterly outflow of capital from the Russian Federation since the fourth quarter of 2008. While Russia can mitigate some of the damage because of its extensive foreign-currency reservesestimated at more than $400 billionthe new Central Bank statistics signal that worse is still to come.
Russia's economic development ministry has downgraded the country's forecast to less than 1% growth this year; an earlier estimate had been 2.5%. The World Bank projects that the Russian economy could shrink nearly 2% in 2014. That would cost Russia in the neighborhood of $30 billion in lost economic output.
Meanwhile, the Russian government's bid to pressure Ukraine could end up backfiring. The state-controlled natural-gas giant, Gazprom, OGZPY +5.53% recently jacked up the price of gas to Ukraine by 80% and levied an $11.4 billion bill on Kiev for previously discounted energy sales. But observers say that the price hike could lead to a reduction in purchases as Kiev diversifies away from Russia toward friendlier European suppliers. This may already be happening. On April 9 the Ukrainian government retaliated by temporarily ceasing purchases of Russian gas, pending resolution of the pricing dispute.
Enlarge Image
Russian President Vladimir Putin discussing the country's economy, April 8. Getty Images
Moscow's international standing is becoming increasingly tenuous. Russia has already been ejected from the G-8 and its path to accession in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has been halted, at least temporarily. In the latest development, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe stripped Russia of its voting rights in protest over its interference in Ukraine.
Russia's annexation of Crimea it is turning into a costly boondoggle. The Kremlin has already earmarked nearly $7 billion in economic aid for the peninsula this year, funds that will be spent on everything from infrastructure to beefed-up pensions for local residents. Even when balanced against anticipated gains from Crimea's energy resources and savings on naval basing arrangements, among other factors, that's a cost Russia's sluggish economy can ill afford.
The situation could become even more dire if Western economic pressure, which is still minimal, is ratcheted up. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has threatened additional sanctions against Moscow in response to its instigation of pro-Russian protests in the Ukrainian cities of Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk. Such measures, Mr. Kerry has indicated, could include broad restrictions against Russia's energy, banking and mining. These sanctions could have significant, far-reaching effects on the country's long-term economic fortunes.
President Putin is currently riding a surge of popularity at home, propelled in no small measure by his assertive moves in Ukraine. When tallied in mid-March by state polling group VTsIOM, Mr. Putin's approval stood at nearly 72%, a gain of almost 10 percentage points from earlier in the year.
But the longer the crisis over Ukraine lasts, the higher the economic costs to Russia are likely to be. Former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, for example, has projected that Moscow's maneuvers in Ukraine could result in up to $160 billion in capital flight this year, and he concluded that the Russian economy will stagnate as a result.
Sometime in the not too distant future, it might become considerably more difficult for the Kremlin to continue to ignore the real-world price that is associated with its policies.
Mr. Berman is vice president of the American Foreign Policy Council in Washington, D.C.
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10-15% budget cuts announced
Reply #107 on:
January 21, 2015, 12:43:20 PM »
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Posts: 33861
Putin and the security apparatus
Reply #108 on:
February 06, 2015, 05:25:06 PM »
Russia: Rumors Indicate Security Services Shift
February 5, 2015 | 10:15 GMT Print Text Size
A photo shows the Russian Federal Security Service headquarters in Moscow. (MAXIM MARMUR/AFP/Getty Images)
Rumors persist about continued restructurings and consolidations among the security services within Russia. The shifts are part of Russian President Vladimir Putin's attempts to make the security organizations more effective and to limit the power of many figures among the security circles' elite in light of the crisis in Ukraine and Moscow's standoff with the West.
In 2014, Russia's security services suffered a series of failures regarding the uprising in Kiev, struggling to rally parts of eastern Ukraine and to read the West's willingness to unite over meaningful sanctions. These failures weakened the security services, the foundation of Putin's power in Russia. Particularly hampered was the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's largest security institution. The FSB is tasked with internal intelligence, and its sister agency, the Foreign Intelligence Service, is responsible for external intelligence. However, the Kremlin considers Ukraine like many other former Soviet states strategically critical to Russia's national security and territorial integrity, making the Ukraine crisis an internal problem and the FSB's responsibility.
The security services' failures also changed how countries along Russia's periphery view Moscow. Russia resurged into its former borderlands for nearly a decade, and its security services were widely seen as infallible. The events in Ukraine changed this view.
In mid-2014, rumors spread in Russian media that Putin had purged the FSB of those intelligence operatives and analysts who faltered in handling Ukraine. In November, Putin said the FSB would undergo "restructuring," though he was vague in discussing the changes. Over the past week, hints of this restructuring have appeared. Russian media group RBC reported that Putin has decided that smaller security services the Federal Drug Control Service and Federal Migration Service would be consolidated under the Interior Ministry, one of the FSB's primary competitors within the security circles. These two institutions previously had strong connections within the FSB; the Federal Drug Control Service's current chief was a KGB general.
Putin's first strategy is to streamline many of the security processes in Russia while focusing the FSB on its primary directive: internal intelligence and counterintelligence. The FSB's influence and focus have spread throughout many institutions, such as the drug control service and migration service. The consolidation of these smaller groups under the Interior Ministry could serve to purge the FSB and hone its focus to prevent any more failures that weaken Putin's power base or authority.
A second strategy could be to continue sidelining members of the security elite who could eventually challenge Putin's position. Putin's control over Russia is fairly solid. In the latest polls by Levada, his approval rating has lingered at around 86 percent, and 54 percent of Russians believe that no one could replace Putin a doubling of support over the past year.
Many Powerful Figures
However, Putin still has concerns for his future, especially as hardships grow in Russia. Among the many powerful figures within Putin's inner circles who could compete with the Russian president is Security Council chief Nikolai Patrushev. Patrushev commands a great deal of loyalty among the FSB's ranks. He earned a reputation for organizing counterterrorism operations in Russia's northern Caucasus and was rumored to have organized many of the FSB's activities abroad, such as the assassination of former FSB agent turned critic Alexander Litvinenko. In 2008, Putin removed Patrushev as head of the FSB and moved him to the nominally important Security Council, which is considered more of an organizational role than a position of power.
In December, Stratfor received a report that Patrushev would be fired. However, because he has retained his post, it is likely that Putin decided to keep Patrushev in place because of his influence within Russia's security circles but limit his abilities. Multiple reports also surfaced in Russian media in November and January that Putin is backing Deputy Interior Minister Vladimir Zolotov and could give him the top Interior Ministry spot. Zolotov is the former longtime head of the Federal Protective Service, Putin's personal bodyguards, much like the U.S. Secret Service. Zolotov also was the bodyguard to Putin's mentor, Anatoly Sobchak, and is one of Putin's judo sparring partners. He is considered directly loyal to Putin and not tied into any other security circles or elites in the Kremlin.
The FSB has long influenced the Interior Ministry in an attempt to wield the ministry's large paramilitary and police forces. However, the Interior Ministry has begun acting more independently. Making Zolotov the ministry's chief could be another signal that Putin wants to ensure that the FSB focuses on its prime directive and that members of the FSB elite, including Patrushev, do not expand their influence.
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Record Store Day is rapidly approaching (April 21) and once again Revelation is releasing some cool vinyl for the big event. Here's a bit of info on each record:
Lineup for the first night of the anniversary shows is complete today. Tickets on sale Saturday 3/31/12 at noon.
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Mini documentary video on how a vinyl record is mastered, pressed and manufactured. Featuring the making of the Mouthpiece "Can't Kill What's Inside" LP.
Tickets to the Revelation Records 25 Year Anniversary Show go on sale today at noon, Pacific Standard Time.
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2012 is the 25th anniversary of Revelation Records and to mark the occasion, there are three shows coming up in June featuring Youth Of Today, Gorilla Biscuits, Underdog, No For An Answer and Statue, with more Rev alumni to be announced. Click on the flyers below for info.
During Gorilla Biscuits' show in Argentina on November 17th, Civ broke his ankle in two places (see the painful pictures here and here). Walter Schreifels filled in for him for the remaining shows they played on their mini-tour. We all wish him a quick recovery.
Here are some clips from the Santos and São Paulo shows: New Direction (Live @ Santos, Brazil):
Forgotten (Live @ São Paulo, Brazil):
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Richie Birkenhead (Into Another/Underdog), will be making two more solo appearances: December 14th at Gunners Run in Philadelphia, PA and January 14th at Cafe 9 in New Haven, CT. Stay tuned for more info.
Gorilla Biscuits will be playing shows in both Argentina (on 11/17) and Brazil (on 11/20). Please click the flyers below for more info.:
After many years away from the road, Youth Of Today will return to play a free CMJ show at Santos Party House in NYC on Saturday, 10/22. This is the same show that Trash Talk and Kylesa are playing, not to mention AraabMUZIK, Action Bronson, Mr. Motherfuckin eXquire, Main Attrakionz and many others for what will be an eclectic mix of stoner, hardcore and hip hop. Converse's "True Til Def" will be hosted by the venue's own Andrew WK and is open to the 21+ public, but RSVP is required. Full lineup and flyer for the show is below.
Anthony Pappalardo of In My Eyes and unofficial Rev video archiver Larry Ransom have salvaged the "Edge Day 2000: The Last Show Of In My Eyes" documentary. The complete documentary has been posted on Revelation's Vimeo and YouTube channels.Anthony Pappalardo offers some words to capture the time as an extra bonus on the Vimeo channel. You can read his contribution and view the video here:
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1234 Go! Records, Oakland, CA
2nd Ave Records, Portland, OR
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Armageddon Shop, Providence, RI
Backstreet Indiana, PA
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Crooked Beat Records, Washington DC
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Generation Records, New York City, NY
Green Hell, Munster, Germany
Hits And Misses, Toronot, ONT, Canada
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Long In The Tooth, Philadelphia, PA
Love Garden Sounds, Lawrence, KS
Music Millenium, Portland, OR
Musique City, Sherbrooke, QUE, Canada
Neat Neat Neat Records and Music, Fort Wayne, IN
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No Way Records, Richmond, VA
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Park Ave Cds, Orlando, FL
Phono Select, Sacramento, CA
Punks of All Ages Costa Mesa, CA
Radio Active, Ft Lauterdale, FL
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Raunch, Salt Lake City, UT
Reckless Records, Chicago, IL
Record Breakers, Chicago, IL
Red Onion Records and Books, Washington, DC
Redscroll Records, Wallingford, CT
Relapse, Upper Darby, PA
Resist Records, Newtown NSW, Australia
Revolver Records, Phoenix, AZ
Rhino, Los Angeles, CA
Ritual Music and Books, Melbourne, Australia
Silver Platters Seattle, WA
Smash Washington, DC
Sonic Boom Records, Athens, Greece
Sound It Out, Traverse City, MI
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Underdog, Cologne, Germany
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