Iraqi Oil Contract Bidding: BBC vs. NPR Reporting

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

Here’s a little nugget for you regarding the bidding on Iraqi oil fields…the ones that the U.S. was supposed to clean up on after the “liberation” of Iraq.

It’s also a tale of the miserable news reporting we have here, including the “superior” NPR Radio.

I woke up and listened to the BBC World Service yesterday as usual and heard a brief report about bidding for Iraqi oil contracts.  The report included the facts that bidders weren’t exactly running to invest in Iraq.

From the BBC:

Oil companies reject Iraq’s terms

Only one of the bidders for the eight contracts to run oil and gas fields in Iraq has accepted oil ministry terms.

Six oil fields and two gas fields were available in a televised auction that was the first big oil tender in Iraq since the invasion of 2003.

BP and China’s CNPC agreed to run the 17 billion barrel Rumaila field after Exxon Mobil turned it down.

Iraq has asked the rest of the companies to consider resubmitting bids for the other seven contracts.

The oil ministry is offering 20-year service contracts.

Other fields have failed to find buyers, either because there were no bidders or because terms were declined.

Thirty-two oil companies had been approved as potential bidders.

MORE

The terms, of course, are detailed in the story, but suffice to say that the amount of payment is one of the key issues.  Another twist is that these are not “production-sharing” deals, but “service contracts” being offered because the Iraqi parliament hasn’t passed an oil bill yet and this sort of contract makes it easier to start the process at this point.  Under service contracts, a fixed fee will be paid for oil produced instead of having a proportion of the oil awarded to a company under a production-sharing contract.

So, things aren’t proceeding that quickly on the oil production front.

However, I caught a report on NPR which didn’t provide that information. Instead, the report simply mentioned that Iraqi oil bidding had started.

If you look at the story on the NPR site, you’ll see a fuller report, with the emphasis on being a lot more “touchy-feely.”

Foreign Companies Bid On Iraqi Oil Licenses

Morning Edition, June 30, 2009 · Foreign companies could soon be pumping Iraqi oil for the first time in nearly 40 years.

On Tuesday, the government of Iraq opened bids from oil companies interested in helping the country realize its oil production potential.

The oil companies are so eager for a crack at Iraq’s vast oil wealth that they are willing to overlook some big negatives: It’s a country still at war. There’s a lot of political opposition to foreign oil companies. There’s no guarantee the contracts awarded at this auction will even be honored. And yet, more than 30 companies submitted bids.

Big Oil has not had an opportunity like this for decades.

A bit later in the story, we do get some reality:

When Saddam Hussein kicked the foreign oil companies out of Iraq in 1972, many Iraqis supported the move, and there is still strong opposition to any sharing of the country’s oil wealth with foreign companies. The withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities and towns this week has only reinforced Iraqi nationalism. In the coming weeks or months, Iraqi parliamentarians may even move to overturn oil contracts awarded through Tuesday’s auction.

But there’s hope:

The opening round produced only one deal. The Iraqi offers generally fell short of the oil company bids, and additional bargaining seemed likely.

Such deals won’t necessarily be highly profitable for the oil companies. In the next phase of the competition, however, the Iraqi government is expected to open fields that have not yet been explored or developed. The companies that win the right to search for oil might then be able to take a share of what they find. It’s that competition — not this one — that would mean big money for the companies.

“This is just everybody kind of wanting to get their foot in the door for the bigger prizes that will be here in a year or two,” says Stratfor’s Zeihan. No one wants to be left out.

“What makes Iraq special,” says Diwan, “is [that] there is room for all the big oil companies at the same time, and for all them to have sizable projects. Everybody will get something fairly large.”

All this may be very true, but if you only caught the brief headline story that I heard on the radio later in the day, you wouldn’t have a clue about the first day of bidding.

The question is, of course, why a news brief on the BBC can include fact that there was a difficult first day of bidding, while the NPR brief omits this information.

That’s a silly question, of course, because we all know that Americans are not allowed to get news, just spin and and obsfucation.

While Obama Blows Off Women’s Freedom as He Celebrates His First 100 Days, the Saudis He Bows to Clamp Down on Women Even More (UPDATE 1X – Souter Leaving Supreme Court)

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

What, with Sharia Law creeping into our Treasury Department, Pakistani women trying to fend off the encroaching Taliban, etc. etc., it’s so good to hear that The One is so clear on the status of women when it comes to  freedom.  Go on over to Not Your Sweetie’s great post for some choice comments about  Obama’s little lecture about morality and ethics ad how the Freedom of Choice Act isn’t a big priority for the Ego-in- Chief:

Freedom of Choice Act – not a priority, and not “freedom” either

While women here in the U.S. bask in our knowledge The One thinks our reproductive decisions should be run past “our clergy”,  let’s see how that works in places like Saudi Arabia.

Here’s the latest indignity to consider:

Saudis clamp down on women’s gyms

(SNIP_

Women’s gyms have become popular in the ultra-conservative Muslim country where the sexes are heavily segregated.

But only clubs linked to medical groups can get licenses and others will be closed, the Arab News newspaper said.

Saudi women were reported to have launched an online campaign in protest called Let Her Get Fat.

Government departments are not allowed to issue licenses for commercial gyms and sports clubs for women, unlike facilities for men, the newspaper reported.

No more hiding gyms behind the doors of beauty salons…

Amazingly, some very courageous woman fighting back:

A group of women launched an internet campaign in protest against the move, saying facilities linked to medical clinics were too expensive, and their health would suffer as a result of the closures.

Woman are so precious in Saudi Arabia that they really MUST go to gyms linked to medical clinics.  The reasoning behind this must be surveillance, right?

As the article concludes:

Women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving, must wear a head-to-toe cloak when out in public and must obtain permission from a male relative to work, travel, study or marry.

And the Guardian reports that the clergy, of course, consider gyms for women “shameless.”

As a trade-off there’s been talk of letting women vote, but with the half-brother of King Abdullah looking strong as a possible successor, this sop doesn’t offer much solace.  After all, Prince Nayef, who acts as interior minister, said “the kingdom had no need of either women MPs or elections” just last month.

So now, many Saudi women won’t be able to the gym.

Meanwhile, the “President” who bows to the Saudi leader tells us that FOCA isn’t a priority.

I would like to use a string of profanity at this point, but it’s not good for my blood pressure.

By the way, thank goodness I can still go to the gym and work off the stresses of putting up with the insufferable Obama crowd…

UPDATE

With the news that David Souter is retiring from the Supeme Court, do you trust an Obama appointment?? This is the guy who wanted to vote to confirm John Roberts, but didn’t because of political expediency…

Obama could halt a lot of this “interpretation of the Constitution” stuff by pushing for FOCA and getting the court out of the “privacy” issue…but he continues to dance around. His “one hand giveth and the other taketh away” approach to women seems to leave women on the short end as we’re used for bargaining chips.  Well, he’s a misogynist, so why is that surprising?

Welcome to “Fiji on the Potomac”…

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

It was already Easter Sunday in Australia when I turned on my Grundig shortwave radio and tuned in to Radio Australia.  I always find the news interesting from Australia because the regional news often talks about events in Southeast Asia– places like Vietnam, Thailand and  little-talked about places in the media here like Fiji.

Well, the report that caught my attention that morning was about Fiji’s woes.

Fiji has had 4 coups in the last 20 years…and hopes of bringing democracy to the country are fading.

Fiji’s constitution has been scrapped and the screws are being put to the media. From Radio Australia:

FEATURE: Fiji’s political crisis

Fiji has been plunged into political chaos after the country’s Court of Appeal ruled that the interim government of Commodore Frank Bainimarama was illegal.

Last Updated: Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:03:00 +1000

Campbell Cooney and Sean Dorney

(SNIP)

The scrapping of Fiji’s constitution also appears to mean the scrapping of any notion of a free and open media in Fiji.

“Emergency regulations are in force,” Commodore Bainimarama said on Saturday.

“However, these regulations are only an emergency measure. I am sure we will all, including the media, collaborate with the relevant agencies.”

But Fiji’s media hasn’t really been given a choice about co-operation.

On Friday officers from Ministry of Information and the Police Media Unit were placed in the country’s newspaper, radio and TV newsrooms.

In response, sections of Fiji’s media have launched a self-imposed news blackout in response to new censorship regulations.

Fijian media are boycotting political stories, with newspapers on Monday strikingly bland in their design and reports.

The Fiji Times on Sunday ran blank spaces where censored stories critical of Friday’s abolition of the constitution and the re-appointment of Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s government would have run.

For Monday, it ran no stories at all relating to the extraordinary events of the past four days.

The Fiji Sun says it will not print any political stories under the current censorship provisions, imposed on Friday.

The main television station in Fiji, Fiji One, refused to run a news bulletin on Sunday because the management objected to the censorship being imposed by the head of information, Major Neumi Leweni.

Major Leweni has been given exceptional powers as the chief censor – he can recommend the closure of any newspaper, television or radio station that does not obey his directions.

Now apart from the fact that here in the U.S. the media was bought and sold for Obama during the election season and is still pushing his charms at us constantly,  we’ve also had rumblings about the government “helping” newspapers in trouble.  We know from the banking debacle that banks who take money from the government are either in cahoots with the people responsible for this financial mess or, it they were outside the cabal and forced to take money, they’re having a hard time extricating themselves from the Obama Administration’s grip.

Right now our own Constitution is being disregarded when convenient.  We have a compliant/complicit media along with a dying print media that may be willing to be “helped.”

So, while “officers from the Ministry of Information” aren’t quite in television studios or newsrooms here yet because so far very few feathers are being ruffled,  don’t you wonder if things will change if and when some of the mass media that adore Obama and helped create him begin to get a bit uppity? Obama and his crowd are so very good at applying pressure and intimidation…

In Fiji, the press is fighting back as best they can by ignoring any political stories or running blank spaces.

Wouldn’t that be something?  Dead air on all the talking heads’  TV shows?  A refusal by newspapers and magazines to run Obama’s propaganda?

One can dream..

Oh, but now there’s a new development…The courts are being “recreated” and there’s much talk of reform.

Fiji courts to be reinstated, says attorney-general

(SNIP)

In a wide-ranging interview with the ABC’s Michael Vincent, Mr Sayed Khaiyum [Fuji’s Attorney General] also: defends the actions of the Fijian interim regime as part of a long-term vision; speaks about the need for fundamental reform in the nation; and says communications blackouts are not as serious as had been claimed.

SNIP

The Attorney-General defended the actions of the interim regime. Asked about negative international reaction, he said: “With any changes, any reforms, people who are perhaps not in the country itself may take a different view.

“People need to look at our history, need to look at the objectives, the vision of the government including (that of) the President, and make their judgement calls then.”

Vision outlined

He said the national vision had been outlined in recent speeches by the President and the Prime Minister.

“Fundamentally, we need a number of reforms in Fiji, in particular things like electoral reform, before we can have true democratic and parliamentary elections.”

Present features of the electoral system were that “a huge gerrymandering (electoral boundary changes) takes place within it; you don’t have equal value of votes; you don’t have equal suffrage, and plus it’s based on ethnicity . .

“You don’t have basic notions of citizenry.”

MORE

Well, that’s the way to get true “reform”–have a few coups.  And the Police Media Unit and a military man running the “information office”–nice touches, yes?  But not to worry about those “communications blackouts”–who knows whether Radio Australia shut down its transmitters in Fiji–the AG doesn’t have any “personal knowledge” about it.  Anyway, it’s all OK because Commodore Bainimarama was once a U.N. Peacekeeper, doncha know.

We’re in the middle of our own stealth coup now and many of us saw it coming during the primaries as the Democratic Party acted anything but.  And, the “ethnicity card”…well, we had/have that, too.

The BBC report on the problems in Fiji includes the following observation by Professor Helen Ware in Australia:

“The country’s about to fall off a cliff…”

And other observers see the promises being made as “vague and worryingly-open ended.”

Sounds so familiar over here in “Fiji on the Potomac”…

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the North American Union: A Layman’s Overview of the Coming New World Order

~~By Grail Guardian

As a follow-up to American Lassie’s excellent article last week I have expanded on a comment I made. As I stated then, I had just listened to a Blog Talk Radio show that had our good friend Diamond Tiger (from Logistics Monster) as the featured guest; use the link to the archive in the post. It’s well worth the listen! I also strongly recommend you check out this piece linking to clips from the movie Zeitgeist for an overview of the ties between today’s political climate and the events of the past. (Wikipedia notes that the term “Zeitgeist” refers to the ethos of an identified group of people that expresses a prevalent world view at a particular period of socio-cultural progression.) But one of the most important points Diamond brought out in the interview is that Barack Obama was chosen (and one could even argue created) by TPTB (The Powers That Be) as a distraction. We spend so much time focusing on his being a usurper and his buffoonery that we don’t watch what’s happening “over here”. She is 100% right, and I applaud her along with everyone at InsightAnalytical for not falling for the distraction. This excellent research is exactly what TPTB are hoping no one does.

I am convinced that Citibank is a huge player in this, and I was struck by their volte face last week (going from being nationalized to turning a profit in just about 2 weeks). Following the money will show just how much fiat currency is mixing and mingling between the 3 members of the proposed North American Union, and I predict that you will continue to see Citi mentioned in small bits buried in obscure places. Of course, Citibank (aka Citigroup, or just plain Citi) is the current rendition of National City Bank of New York (one of the early players in the Federal Reserve System originally run by protégés of John Jacob Astor), so we’re back to the same group of bankers doing the same thing they always do: pushing for global domination in an indirect way.

The plan is to take everything over quietly while they distract us with the Obama show, and by the time we realize what’s happened,  it will be too late. Our banks will be owned by Canada; our real estate will be owned by China; our jobs will be owned by Mexico, India, and Indonesia; and our souls will be owned by the central banks. We will have glass tracking chips implanted under our skin in the name of “National Security”; we will have video cameras recording every moment of every day in public and in private (think about the more than 10,000 public cameras located throughout London;  not to mention the way that webcams are now being built into every new laptop PC and will soon be standard equipment);  each mouse click or keystroke on our computers will be tracked by software that’s been perfected over the past few years disguised as viruses and spyware,;  our mileage will be monitored and regulated electronically via GPS systems built into our vehicles (why else would the government buy the automakers?);  our guns and ammunition will be monitored and eventually the attempt will be made to take them away (although I am convinced that this will fail and likely be their downfall–America will not give up her firearms or Second Amendment rights); and how many Americans will be caught playing with their Obama “Yes, we can” messages on cell phones and Ipods when the civilian police force comes knocking at our doors?

The real message to remember here is one I must again attribute to Diamond Tiger (and of course the late, great Douglas Adams):

Don’t Panic.

[For those of you unfamiliar with this classic, I highly recommend listening to the original BBC radio version in a darkened room with surround sound!] at:

http://www.sadena.com/BBC-Radio/H2G2/

That’s what will set us apart from the masses, and if we spread the word far and well enough, it might be what averts the pending disaster TPTB have planned for us. So in the style of H2H2, just remember a few basic points:

1. Nothing is what it appears to be. If something draws your attention left, look to the right for the real story.

2. “Zaphod Beeblebrox” Obama is just the dancing hot dog that’s there to entertain and divert you until the real show starts.

3. Don’t believe the media about how bad things are. They’ve been lying to us for years; why would they stop now?

4. Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. Be sure you and your family are prepared for whatever might happen. And don’t forget to bring a towel.*

5. You are not alone. No matter how much the Oborg tries to convince us otherwise, there are way more than a dozen PUMAs that are worried about America’s future. Hell, there are way more than a dozen countries that are worried about America’s future!

6. We are Americans. We will come through this, one way or another. That’s what we do.

***

*From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy: “A towel is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have”

Women in Power: The Example of Prime Ministers in Bangladesh, “A No-Casserole Zone”

~~By InsightAnalytical-GRL

As Inauguration Day draws closer, many of us are still feeling very angry and insulted. Even though most of us were not naive about politics before the 2008 primary season began, we still were in for a shock on  two fronts. First, the utter corruption of the Democratic Party, once our “safe haven,” became painfully clear. Second, and related to this, was how the party saw their hand-picked candidate introduce misogyny, as well as race, into the campaign and didn’t make any moves to stop it. Not that the leadership even wanted to…

So, many of us feel that Hillary Clinton, even if she weren’t the first choice of some, still was badly treated and was “robbed” of the nomination.  Later, Clinton decided to stay and play with the boys, which was very disappointing. On the Republican side, Sarah Palin was trashed just to be trashed and suddenly the only person on either ticket with long executive experience wasn’t “qualified” ; and she was undermined by factions in her party as well.

So here we are in the United States, with so many of us not feeling fine about the status of women these days.   Many of us who have been in this fight since the 60’s see things slipping away, while many women and girls, along with the media and many men, either don’t get it or if they do, are just willing to accept a disdainful, hollow man as President rather than a more experienced, tough, fighting woman.

(As an aside…seeing the Roland Burris debacle unfolding, you can almost understand why Hillary Clinton wanted out of the Senate. I wish she hadn’t decided to stay in the game as Secretary of State, but it’s clear that Harry Reid et al will stop at nothing when it comes to getting “their” people in…and Clinton is not “theirs.”)

Which brings us to another thing to ponder.  We’ve seen NOW and NARAL cave, and we’ve witnessed Nancy Pelosi in action.  We  may speculate that once women reach a certain level, they’re in a power game and they forget where they come from and play the game alongside the men in the same way.  And this includes undermining other women.  It may be that they’re jealous of the power they’ve gained, fearful of losing it to a rival,  or may it’s just what’s in their own characters.  Whatever is going on, it’s clear that just because a woman gains power, there’s no guarantee that they will be any different from men in power. The media may try to undercut women in power with hints that they are “emotional” or “weak” but anybody watching can see these women are playing the power game no-holds barred.

As an example, let’s take a look at recent events in Bangladesh. Bangladesh, one of the world’s poorest countries and one of the most politically corrupt, had an election on December 29, 2008.  For the last two years the country has been controlled by a caretaker government backed by the military which was installed  to try to bring stability to the country and stop political violence.

According to the BBC’s Q & A published before the election (Q & A: Bangladesh Election,December 17, 2008):

The two main parties competing for power are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and the Awami League of Sheikh Hasina – also a former prime minister…Between them the two women – bitter personal enemies – have alternated from government to opposition for most of the last two decades….both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia have been detained during the last two years on corruption charges along with dozens of other top political and business leaders. Many fear that the character clash between the women – reflected among their respective sets of supporters – means that their mutual rivalry will overshadow the pressing problems the country faces.

Prime Ministers Zia (L) and Hasina (R)

Sheikh Hasina Wazed won a landslide victory on December 29th, marking her second election as Prime Minister. According to Reuters, “Security remained tight across Bangladesh and police were on alert for attacks by Islamist militants as the army-backed interim authorities prepared to hand over to civilian rule….Strikes, street violence and attacks by militants trying to turn Muslim-majority Bangladesh into an Islamic state based on sharia, Islamic law, have hampered past Bangladeshi governments.”

Today, January 7th, Hasini has been sworn in as Prime Minister (Hasina emerges with a change)

Her charter for change, which includes building of a “digital Bangladesh”, drew public attention, particularly of the young generation, which was finally reflected in the battle of ballots, observed political analysts. Her promise of change also reflected in the formation of the cabinet as she appointed young and fresh people.

The restraint in her speech attacks on her political rivals won her popularity in the run up to the election. Her call upon all political parties to shun politics of confrontation, and to develop a healthy political culture for building a prosperous country, also earned her public kudos.

We’ll see.  Hasini’s rival, Khaleda Zia ,who was the first woman prime minister elected in Bangladesh, initially vowed to work with Hasini even though she stood by her charges of voting fraud, but has already revived the bitter rivalry.

From The Daily Star (Bangladesh), January 7, 2009:

AL’s journey for ‘change’ started thru’ killing Says Khaleda

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday came down heavily on new Awami League (AL)-led government, saying that it has started its journey towards “change” through killing, snatching and criminal activities across the country.

(SNIP)

“You’re observing what is happening across the country. Does it mean change? Do people want it?” Khaleda made the remarks after visiting the bereaved family members of Nazrul Islam, a leader of Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal, who was killed in the city’s Bijoynagar area on Monday.

(SNIP)

Khaleda, who didn’t attend the oath taking ceremony of Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet, demanded immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the killing.

Both these women have been jailed and both have been either threatened with exile or actually exiled. In Zia’s case, corrupt relatives have fled the country (elder son, Tarique Rahman, still awaiting trial). Observers believe that there will never be political peace in Bangladesh as long as these two women are on the scene.

All this reminds me of Benazir Bhutto’s history in Pakistan, which probably shouldn’t be a surpise as Bangladesh was once part of Pakistan. Like  Bhutto,  Hansini comes from a political family; she is the daughter of Bangladesh’s first prime minister.  Zia is the widow of the assassinated Maj. Gen. Zia ur-Rahman (assassinated in a failed coup attempt in 1981); she has also been elected to the office of prime minister twice.  As with Bhutto, corruption is the name of the game when it comes to these political rivals.

So, while lots of people mourn the demise of Hillary Clinton’s bid for the Presidency, the reality is that while being a woman in power does make a statement, it’s not always the statement we dream of.  In the meantime, let’s see how Pelosi, Clinton, and other women in the Obama Universe operate. We already know what Pelosi is capable of.

And let’s see long Sheikh Hasini lasts…THIS time around…

***

Related Post: After “Aunt Benazir’s” Assassination, Fatima Bhutto Still Fighting to Reveal the Truth [Posted December 27, 2008]

Bangladesh’s Political History from InfoPlease