Natural Resources: gas and oil in the East Med

RT: "New Mediterranean oil and gas bonanza"

The Middle East could soon see new battles over rights to oil and gas beneath the eastern Mediterranean in the Levant Basin and Aegean Sea. The discovery of huge reserves off Israel's coast is changing the geopolitical balance of power in the region. (...) Energy self-sufficiency had eluded the state of Israel since its founding in 1948. Abundant oil and gas exploration was repeatedly undertaken with meager results. Unlike its energy-rich Arab neighbors, Israel seemed out of luck. Then, in 2009, Israel’s exploration partner Noble Energy discovered the Tamar field in the Levantine Basin, some 50 miles west of Israel’s port of Haifa and with an estimated 8.3 tcf (trillion cubic feet) of highest-quality natural gas. Tamar was the world’s largest gas discovery in 2009. (...) >>>

Febr. 26, 2012
~

Ethics of Capitalism: the African dream

Quite an achievement! Singing the praises of capitalism under a Leftist ethics program! This article did it! -

The Atlantic: "Africa's Amazing Rise and What it Can Teach the World"

(...) The economic evidence that they were right, building since the start of the new century, now seems incontrovertible. In the ten years from 2000 to 2010, six of the world's ten fastest-growing countries were in sub-Saharan Africa: Angola, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Chad, Mozambique, and Rwanda. In eight of the past ten years, sub-Saharan Africa has grown faster than Asia, according to The Economist. In 2012, the International Monetary Fund expects Africa to grow at a rate of 6%, about the same as Asia. (...) >>>

Feb. 26, 2012
~

Under the Bus: Muslim power grab - who cares?

Here we go! Archeological News Network: "Mob storms Maldives National Museum, destroys Buddhist statues" -

American Thinker: "Coup in the Maldives", by Rick Moran

Well here's a head-scratcher. The Religion of Peace backs a coup that overthrows a democratically elected government on Tuesday. On Thursday the US recognized the new government. There were reports that the police and security forces forced the president out, but Victoria Nuland, spokeswoman for the US State Department, saw no problem because "President Waheed, as you know, has committed to forming a national unity government." Of course he did. All any new tyrant has to do is coo magic words like "national unity government" and we bow before him. (...) >>>|

Feb. 12. 2012
~