Putin calls for changing the International Financial System

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in a meeting with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon, has called for substantial changes in the international financial system: "We all need to think about changing the architecture of international finances and diversifying risks. The whole world cannot depend on one money-printing machine," Putin said at the final press conference after a meeting of the Russian-French bilateral commission. (Please click on the title for the full story on the TASS web page, then search for "International Financial System).

China's, Iran's Oil Companies grab Iraqi Oil

Hussain al-Shahristami, the Oil Minister of Iraq has reached agreements with China's (CNPC) state-owned, and Iran's goverment controlled oil companies to favor Russians and Iranians. (see http://www.azzaman.com/english/

Iran is pressuring Iraqi authorities to exclude US major oil companies from contracts to develop the country's massive oil fields, sources at the Iraqi Oil Ministry said.

Iraq, though occupied and administered by the United States, has grown to be so dependent on Iran that many analysts see it as a satellite state of Iran! The Ministry of Oil and other key portfolios, such as the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Finance are now in pro-Iranian hands.

Peak Oil, Climate Change, Overpopulation!

The most important question facing the human race is how we respond to the interconnected

crises of Peak Oil, climate change, overpopulation

and other resource conflicts.

Please click on the headline to find out more! Operators are (NOT) standing by!

Who is the Real Osama Bin Laden

Please click on the headline for a possible scenario about a fake Bin Laden, and see wheather the hype is familiar, and read the stuff about a one hour photoshoot for our elusive terrorist. Then, and only then, make up your mind about whether all the hype about this guy is real.

Iran Says OPEC Considering Production Cuts

Iran's oil minister says he thinks there is too much crude on the
market, adding that OPEC is reviewing whether it should cut back
supplies.
His comments come a day ahead of a meeting of OPEC oil ministers
who will decide whether to reduce production.
Iran is pressuring Iraqi authorities to exclude U.S. majors from
contracts to develop the country's massive oil fields, sources at the
Oil Ministry say.
The authorities currently favor Chinese and Russian companies to
those in the United States.

Doctor Pat Smith, my Idol in Vietnam

This indomitable, blunt-talking woman, whom my Montagnard friends called "ya pogang tih" - big grandmother of medicine, had besieged the Catholic Relief Services in 1972, trying to return to the war zone, where she had worked almost day and night, experiencing 13 years of terror, disease, squalor, frustration and triumph.

During her unselfish devotion to the poor in that region, where I had spent several months advising the 748 Regional Forces Company, at Ngo Trang, several miles north of Kontum, I had visited her facility in downtown Kontum a few times. She seemed irascible, and she was, but then, how do you control your temper, when you spend almost twenty hours, seven days a week, in a primitive and non-sterile environment, treating desperate patients whose only hope for survival is that you drive yourself daily to the point of exhaustion?Had she been Catholic, I suspect that she would have been very high on the path to sainthood by now.

France, Great Britain Against War with Russia

French President Nicolas Sarcozy and UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown led the European Union leaders against US proposed sanctions for Russia's "invasion" of Georgia's breakaway province, which was necessitated by that province's war against ethnic Russians.