The Cheney Observer - Part II
Availability of Online Resources May Be One Reason for Reduction in U.S. S.Ct. Caseload
According to Chief Justice John Roberts, the number of cases heard by the U.S. Supreme Court is declining in part because circuit courts can locate previous legal decisions online in cases where they might have once turned to the Supreme Court for guidance. >> full article text >> This admission, combined with the recent rule change concerning unpublished opinion citation, adds an interesting twist to the ongoing debate concerning the availability of online opinions, online briefs and electronic access to court records.
http://mntech.typepad.com/msba/2007/05/availability_of.html
Jeb Bush Lands Huge Paycheck at Scandal Plagued Healthcare Company -- With a Little Help from Dad's Friends
If you've been worried sick about what would become of ex-Governor Jeb "No Futuro" Bush since his big brother totally screwed his chances for ever being elected president, here's some great news. Jeb is now officially on the board of Tenet Healthcare, at an annual pay of $474,500--for 13 days of work per year.
It's a special board seat created just for Jeb, at the suggestion of an old Bush family friend and fundraiser. (Do they even have any family friends who aren't also fundraisers?)
As calculated by TheStreet.com, Jeb stands to collect a tidy $36,500 per day. All he has to do is sit on the board of a hospital chain so ethically challenged that even the Bush administration went after them.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shelley-lewis/jeb-bush-lands-huge-paych_b_48191.html
APN takeover fails
Business Week in Review: Shareholders of APN News and Media have voted against a $3 billion takeover from a private equity consortium led by Tony O'Reilly's Independent News and Media.
Votes cast in favour of the bid came in at just 51 per cent, well short of the 75 per cent required to get the deal over the line.
APN said it would pay a dividend if the buyout failed.
http://www.skynews.com.au/business/story.asp?id=170792
O'Reilly teams with Carlyle to revive offer for APN
Carlyle Group added in bid to acquire all of media firm
By Miriam Steffens Bloomberg News
Published: January 25, 2007
SYDNEY: Tony O'Reilly, the Irish billionaire, has revived his takeover offer for APN News & Media, Australia's fourth-largest media company, after adding Carlyle Group to his buyout team.
The bidders, led by O'Reilly's Independent News & Media, offered 6.05 Australian dollars, or $4.71 a share, for the 60 percent of the Sydney-based APN it does not already own, APN said in a statement Thursday.
Shares of the publisher of the New Zealand Herald traded at 6.15 dollars Thursday, signaling that the group, which includes Providence Equity Partners, may have to increase its offer, which values the company at 3.8 billion dollars, including debt.
O'Reilly, 70, is taking advantage of changes to Australian laws that have sparked the biggest media ownership shake-up in 20 years. Teaming with Carlyle and Providence, which have invested in almost 130 media and communication companies, gives him funds to expand outside Britain, where his newspapers face slowing advertising growth.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/25/bloomberg/sxapn.php
Australia's APN News & Media shareholders reject Independent News's takeover bid
05.25.07, 12:24 AM ET
...Independent had hoped to realize 500 mln aud in cash from a restructuring of its holding in APN to allow a higher debt load and shared control with private equity interests.
The Independent News led consortium included private equity firms Carlyle Group and Providence Equity Partners.
If the proposal had gone ahead the Independent News holding would have been reduced to 35 pct, while Carlyle would have held 27.5 pct and Providence 37.5 pct.
The bid foundered largely because of the voting of Perpetual Investments' 11.7 pct stake against the deal, along with other smaller but crucial stakes held by the Australian Foundation Investment Co and Argo Investments.
APN publishes 23 daily and more than 100 non-daily newspapers across Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, APN owns the country's largest metropolitan daily, The New Zealand Herald.
It is also Australasia's largest radio broadcaster, with investments in 12 metropolitan radio stations in Australia and 120 radio stations in New Zealand.
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2007/05/24/afx3757407.html
Institutions block APN takeover
By KATE PERRY - The Dominion Post Saturday, 26 May 2007
Independent News and Media is mulling its options after institutional investors blocked a takeover bid for the trans-Tasman media company APN News & Media yesterday.
INM, in which Irish media mogul Tony O'Reilly is a major shareholder, teamed up with private equity firms Providence Equity Partners and The Carlyle Group to bid for full control of APN, which publishes the New Zealand Herald.
The consortium made its initial bid for APN in October last year, increasing its offer four times till a final bid of A$6.20 (NZ$7) a share.
INM's group chief operating officer, Gavin O'Reilly - Tony's son, said yesterday that the consortium was in no hurry and would take some time to consider the vote.
Mr O'Reilly, who also is an APN non-executive director, said he did not think the offer price was too low.
"It was certainly a very full price by international standards, although I do appreciate that the Australian capital markets do seem to be at dizzying heights."
Votes cast in favour of the A$2.97 billion takeover came to just over 51 per cent.
To pass, 75 per cent of votes cast needed to be in favour of the bid.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4072935a13.html
Thursday, May 24, 2007
The Carlyle Group
Category: News and Politics
It is hard to imagine an address closer to the heart of American power. The offices of the Carlyle Group are on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington DC, midway between the White House and the Capitol building, and within a stone's throw of the headquarters of the FBI and numerous government departments. The address reflects Carlyle's position at the very centre of the Washington establishment, but amid the frenetic politicking that has occupied the higher reaches of that world in recent weeks, few have paid it much attention. Elsewhere, few have even heard of it.
This is exactly the way Carlyle likes it. For 14 years now, with almost no publicity, the company has been signing up an impressive list of former politicians - including the first President Bush and his secretary of state, James Baker; John Major; one-time World Bank treasurer Afsaneh Masheyekhi and several south-east Asian powerbrokers - and using their contacts and influence to promote the group. Among the companies Carlyle owns are those which make equipment, vehicles and munitions for the US military, and its celebrity employees have long served an ingenious dual purpose, helping encourage investments from the very wealthy while also smoothing the path for Carlyle's defence firms.
But since the start of the "war on terrorism", the firm - unofficially valued at $3.5bn - has taken on an added significance. Carlyle has become the thread which indirectly links American military policy in Afghanistan to the personal financial fortunes of its celebrity employees, not least the current president's father. And, until earlier this month, Carlyle provided another curious link to the Afghan crisis: among the firm's multi-million-dollar investors were members of the family of Osama bin Laden.
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=121042575&blogID=268155237
The RNC's response is weak!
5/23/2007 at 5:26 PM EST
Who's REALLY profiteering off of our troops?
I missed the webcast of Sen. Edwards' speech this afternoon but I just read the news report of it. I think it is a very good statement: strong, reasonable and well thought out. However the Republican National Committee's response was weak and almost laughable. For the RNC to criticize John Edwards and accuse him of "profiteering" off of our solidiers is the worst kind of hypocrisy considering the nefarious ties between this administration and corporations such as Halliburton, Bechtel, Exxon and The Carlyle Group. By the way, I as not aware that the RNC issued a response to Democratic candidate's policy speeches as a rule. Does this mean they were especially worried about this one?
http://blog.johnedwards.com/story/2007/5/23/172651/830
Petraeus' potential conflict
His actions show his assessment of progress in Iraq may not be completely reliable.
By Lawrence J. Korb
Political leaders from both parties now agree that the American people need to know by September whether the latest escalation in Iraq is working. Many lawmakers will formulate their position on the basis of a coming report from Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the multinational force, to the president. Unfortunately, based on behavior in his last command in Iraq and the manner in which he received his current position, Petraeus is not a reliable source for an unbiased assessment.
On Sept. 26, 2004, about six weeks before the presidential election, in which the deteriorating situation in Iraq was an increasingly important issue, then Lt. Gen. Petraeus published a misleading commentary in the Washington Post. In that article, Petraeus, who was then in charge of training Iraqi security forces, spoke glowingly about the tangible progress that those forces were making under his tutelage. According to Petraeus, more than 200,000 Iraqis were performing a wide variety of security missions; training was on track and increasing in capacity; 45 Iraqi National Guard battalions and six regular Army battalions were conducting operations on a daily basis; and by the end of November 2004, six more regular Army battalions and six additional Intervention Force battalions would become operational.
Because Bush administration policy at that time was that "we will stand down when they stand up," this article, in effect, conveyed to the American electorate that the Iraqis were, indeed, standing up, and, therefore, there was light at the end of the tunnel for the Iraqi quagmire.
If Petraeus wrote on his own initiative, he was injecting himself improperly into a political campaign. If he was encouraged or even allowed to do this by his civilian superiors, he was allowing himself to be used for partisan political purposes.
Even assuming that Petraeus would not repeat his 2004 performance, can we really expect him to be objective about the current situation when the president consistently reminds us that the surge is Petraeus' strategy? In a speech in early May defending the surge, President Bush mentioned Petraeus by name no less than 12 times and stated that the "best messenger for the surge" is David Petraeus. Bush has gone so far as to argue that when the Senate confirmed Petraeus to head the operation in Iraq, it was, in effect, approving the current strategy.
Asking Petraeus to assess the situation in September might be asking him - if the evidence pointed in that direction - to say that his whole counterinsurgency strategy was wrong. If the evidence is not clear, he would most likely cherry-pick data by pointing out, as he already has, that sectarian violence is down in Baghdad, while ignoring such inconvenient truths as the increase in suicide bombings or the rise in deaths of American soldiers and contractors.
Was Gen. William Westmoreland ever objective about the attrition strategy in Vietnam or Gen. Douglas MacArthur about the Chinese intervention in Korea?
Most likely, Petraeus would say that he needs more time, that not all of the extra troops arrive until June. He already has indicated that he will not have anything definitive by September. In fact, Petraeus and his commanders have said the surge must last until spring 2008. Moreover, the Pentagon has alerted four National Guard brigades and 10 more active brigades for deployment to Iraq, so that the escalation can be maintained through the end of 2008.
Another complicating fact is that one purpose of the surge was to buy time for Iraqi reconciliation. Suppose that violence is down, but that the Iraqis have not taken such steps as passing the oil law or providing for provincial elections. Maj. Gen. Richard Lynch, current commander of the Third Infantry Division, noted that even if security does improve, he doesn't think there will be significant progress on the government side between now and then.
The answer is to have an independent assessment by an outside group, like the Iraq Study Group, but not including members of that group who might also have an ax to grind. The House and Senate each should appoint one member and the administration another. Only then can we be sure that we will get an unbiased assessment, and that this country will come to grips with the real situation in Iraq.
Lawrence J. Korb (lkorb@americanprogress.org) is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and a senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information. He was a assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070525_Petraeus_potential_conflict.html
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Bush on the Constitution: "Just a goddamned piece of paper"
By DOUG THOMPSON
Dec 9, 2005, 06:39
Last month, Republican Congressional leaders filed into the Oval Office to meet with President George W. Bush and talk about renewing the controversial USA Patriot Act.
Several provisions of the act, passed in the shell shocked period immediately following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, caused enough anger that liberal groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had joined forces with prominent conservatives like Phyllis Schlafly and Bob Barr to oppose renewal.
GOP leaders told Bush that his hardcore push to renew the more onerous provisions of the act could further alienate conservatives still mad at the President from his botched attempt to nominate White House Counsel Harriet Miers to the Supreme Court.
"I don't give a goddamn," Bush retorted. "I'm the President and the Commander-in-Chief. Do it my way."
"Mr. President," one aide in the meeting said. "There is a valid case that the provisions in this law undermine the Constitution."
"Stop throwing the Constitution in my face," Bush screamed back. "It's just a goddamned piece of paper!"
I've heard from two White House sources who claim they heard from others present in the meeting that the President of the United States called the Constitution "a goddamned piece of paper...."
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_7779.shtml
The .50-Caliber Sniper Rifle
Outlawing a weapon of war
It would be a misnomer to call proposed New Jersey legislation to outlaw certain .50-caliber firearms a gun-control measure. The bill places them in the category of "destructive devices," along with explosives, incendiary bombs, mines and grenades, which is exactly where these weapons belong.
The measure, which unfortunately has been detoured, takes aim mainly at what gun-control advocates call the .50-caliber sniper rifle. Gun-rights advocates call it the .50-caliber bmg.
By either name it is a weapon of great velocity and long range. It is used against enemy fortifications in battle. Place this rifle's .50-caliber bullet alongside a .22-caliber bullet, and it is like an elephant next to its calf. (The new law would also outlaw a handgun version of the weapon, though in each case current lawful owners would be exempt.)
A police officer's body armor cannot stop this bullet. Some versions of this bullet are incendiary or armor-piercing. The weapon can be devastating even if fired from more than a mile away. Imagine it in the hands of terrorists targeting planes at takeoff or landing. The alleged Fort Dix conspirators come to mind.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070525_Editorial___The__50-Caliber_Sniper_Rifle.html
Ducking harder choices
In the spring of 2006, gasoline prices were approaching $3 per gallon, and Democrats seeking to win back Congress blamed the Republicans in charge.
"The American people can no longer afford the Republican rubber-stamp Congress and its failure to stand up to Republican big oil and gas company cronies," House Democratic leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California said at the time. She said Republicans had given the public "empty rhetoric rather than join Democrats who are working to lower gas prices."
A year later, Democrats control Congress, Pelosi is speaker, and gas prices are at a record nationwide average of $3.23 per gallon of regular unleaded, up from $2.87 a year ago. Some analysts predict gasoline will hit $4 per gallon this summer in many parts of the country.
Should we presume that Democrats are now in cahoots with Big Oil? No. Democrats can't control prices now, just as Republicans weren't responsible for rising gas prices a year ago.
World oil markets largely determine the cost of gasoline, which often climbs as the summer driving season approaches. Industry experts also blame a shortage of refinery capacity for almost weekly increases in retail prices since Jan. 29.
Maybe $4 gasoline will create enough outrage to get Congress to do what it hasn't: Take serious steps to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20070525_Editorial___High_Gas_Prices.html
Scalia tapes: Freedom of information lagging
The U.S. Marshals Service obviously didn't learn much when it admitted in 2004 that it violated federal law when a deputy marshal ordered reporters to erase tape recordings of public remarks of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia in Mississippi.
The order by the Justice Department came Tuesday, more than two years after the Hattiesburg American newspaper appealed the service's refusal to allow access to records pertaining to the seizure of tapes of Scalia's speech at Presbyterian Christian School in Hattiesburg in April 2004.
The government conceded in 2004 that the service violated federal law when a deputy marshal ordered reporters to erase their recordings of Scalia's speech. And, on Tuesday, Justice said the service acted inappropriately in denying access to the records.
Jackson attorney Leonard Van Slyke said: "This is the epitome of bureaucratic inefficiency that a one-page letter took two years and three months to generate." And, he's right. There's no excuse for such delay.
The value of holding the public officials accountable, however, far outweighs the heft of the documents or, perhaps, even the findings of the investigation.
http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070524/OPINION01/705240316/1008/OPINION
Did Valerie Plame Wilson Tell the Truth?
A senator’s investigation suggests the answer is no.
By Byron York
...On page 205 of the newly released 226-page Senate Intelligence Committee report on pre-war intelligence, Bond has posted “additional views” that address the question of Plame’s testimony about her husband’s trip, the purpose of which was to check out reports Iraq had sought to buy uranium in Niger. The evidence Bond provides in his additional views contradicts Mrs. Wilson’s version of events.
SWORN TESTIMONY
In her testimony before the House, Mrs. Wilson said flatly, “I did not recommend him. I did not suggest him.” She told the House committee that a 2004 Senate report, which concluded that she had indeed suggested her husband for the trip, was simply wrong. In particular, Mrs. Wilson pointed to a February 12, 2002, memo she had written, which the Senate said showed that she had suggested her husband for the trip, and claimed that the Senate had taken the memo “out of context” to “make it seem as though I had suggested or recommended him.”
The 2004 Senate report to which Mrs. Wilson referred had quoted a brief excerpt from her memo. In the new report, Sen. Bond publishes the whole thing, and it seems to indicate clearly that Mrs. Wilson suggested her husband for the trip. The memo was occasioned by a February 5, 2002 CIA intelligence report about Niger, Iraq, and uranium. The report had been circulating in the intelligence community for a week by February 12, and Mrs. Wilson headlined her memo, “Iraq-related Nuclear Report Makes a Splash….”
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=MjRkMjU3YmQ2MzIwZjhhNDkwYWE3NWI1ZjhhZmRkMmY=
Prosecutor Seeks Prison for Libby
By JOSH GERSTEIN
Staff Reporter of the Sun
May 25, 2007 posted 3:58 pm EDT
Prosecutors are recommending that a former White House aide convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in March, I. Lewis Libby Jr. be sentenced to between 30 and 37 months in federal prison.
The special prosecutor handling the case, Patrick Fitzgerald, made the recommendation in a court filing that also contained a vigorous rebuttal of claims that his investigation into the leak of a CIA officer identity was too lengthy and unfairly pursued Libby after other sources for the disclosure were established.
Mr. Fitzgerald also made clear that one of the key parts of his inquiry was aimed at determining whether Vice President Cheney instructed Libby or other officials to disclose the identity of the CIA official, Valerie Plame also known by her married name, Valerie Wilson.
http://www.nysun.com/article/55291
Leahy, Specter To Rove’s Lawyer: Turn Over The ‘Lost’ RNC Emails
May 24, 2007
Robert D. Luskin
Patton Boggs LLP
2550 M Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20037
Dear Mr. Luskin:
The White House has confirmed that an unknown number of e-mails, including those of your client, Karl Rove, from both White House accounts and those sent or received using political Republican National Committee accounts, have not been archived. You stated publicly that Mr. Rove’s emails were turned over to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as part of the investigation into the leak of the identity of a covert CIA officer by officials in the Administration that led to the conviction of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
The Department’s response to the Committee, however, suggests that these emails were not in fact turned over permanently to Mr. Fitzgerald. According to the Department, Mr. Fitzgerald only obtained access to the “electronic media” containing these emails to do a search for documents related to the Plame investigation and then he returned this electronic media to you in a sealed condition.
Do you retain possession of this electronic media and will you provide the Committee with Mr. Rove’s emails related to our investigation voluntarily?
Sincerely,
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/05/25/rove-emails-letter/
Chinese Officials Extol Benefits of U.S. Relations
WASHINGTON, May 24 — Chinese leaders traveled from the White House to Capitol Hill on Thursday, trying to persuade skeptics of the benefits of the Chinese-American relationship. But they appeared to make little headway in quelling Congressional anger over China’s economic practices.
The delegation, led by Vice Premier Wu Yi, who was invited here by Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr., spent its time marshaling arguments that trade with China benefited Americans and warning that Congressional sanctions would disrupt the chances of resolving disagreements amicably.
The Chinese also made promises to invest in American businesses, declaring their hope that a recent “large-scale procurement and investment mission” in the United States — which they said had led to investments of $32.6 billion in 25 cities and 24 states — would impress Americans.
The purchase by China this week of a $3 billion nonvoting stake in the private equity firm Blackstone Group was cited as part of that investment drive.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/25/business/worldbusiness/25trade.html?_r=1&ref=asia&oref=slogin
Dancing with the Drago
Paulson in China
By MIKE WHITNEY
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wrapped up 2 days of high level talks with the Chinese delegation on Wednesday without any progress on the two issues of central importance to the American people"the massive $230 billion trade deficit and the ongoing manipulation of the Chinese currency, the yuan. As expected, China agreed to allow "more passenger flights between the two countries" and they also approved a plan "to remove a ban on the entry of new foreign brokerages and to allow financial services firms to expand their operations in China". (Marketwatch)
But that was basically it. China will not to allow its currency to float freely on the open market. They want to maintain the advantage they have on their American competitors by continuing to "fix" the yuan in a way that best serves their national interests. That's the way nations are supposed to work. The Chinese aren't taken in by the hogwash about "free trade" or "deregulation". They're playing to "win""and that's what counts.
http://www.counterpunch.org/whitney05242007.html
AFX News Limited
Permira, Goldman Sachs to hold sale of Cognis until at least end-2008 - report
05.24.07, 4:15 AM ET
FRANKFURT (Thomson Financial) - Permira and Goldman Sachs will likely not sell or float German chemicals firm Cognis before the end of next year, Cognis management board member Antonio Trius told Financial Times Deutschland in an interview.
'Maybe at the end of 2008, but maybe not until 2009 or 2010,' Trius was reported as saying.
Goldman Sachs (nyse: GS - news - people ) and Permira bought Cognis, which has annual sales of 3.4 bln eur, from Henkel KGaA in 2001.
The private equity firms were in talks last year to sell the company to Bain, but talks collapsed as the parties failed to agree on a price.
maria.sheahan@thomson.com
mas/jr
http://www.forbes.com/business/feeds/afx/2007/05/24/afx3753874.html
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Goldman Sachs' "Culture"
It seems that Russia is the core attraction for foreign banks and investment companies. In my blogs I wrote about Goldman Sachs and its activities in Russia. I really respect the bank and its good vision. More, I have just published at our FINAM’s Web-site a story about GS new venture TRuE. So I decided to contact Moscow’s Office and discuss possibilities for our business with TRuE. Of course, initially I looked at GS Web-site and read nice words about “our culture”.
“Additionally, the people of Goldman Sachs take very seriously their responsibility to the communities in which they live and work”. So, with this thinking about “responsibility” I made a phone call to Moscow office. A person “Nikolay” politely informed me that he cannot connect me to anyone, unless I produce a name of the person. Unfortunately I do not know ANYONE at the office, and I explained my interest to find only – “NO”.
Well, I guess, that is a very good example of low quality approach of local staff to business.
In my business history I never experienced the case, that a secretary bluntly denied access to office personnel and would never listen to any reason.
I guess that GS should seriously reconsider its attitude towards business in Russia, and live to the language that they put in their Web-site:
“The Goldman Sachs culture is what sets our company apart from other firms and helps to make us a magnet for talent.”
P.S. When riding home from the office I was musing over this situation. This reminds me very clearly old Soviet times when personnel did not give a damn about business. If I was a perspective client who read on the Kremlin Web-site about the letter that Lloyd C. Blankfein sent to President Putin I would be disappointed. Such personnel attitude is not in line with “expansion of contacts with the Russian government and private partners”.
http://equity-russia.blogspot.com/2007/05/goldman-sachs-culture.html
Alltel acquisition carries $625 mln termination fee
By Yogita Patel
Last Update: 5:07 PM ET May 24, 2007
Alltel Corp. (AT :
Alltel Corporation said Thursday that its proposed buyout by two private-equity firms carries a $625 million termination fee.
According to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Alltel would have to pay the fee under certain circumstances, including if it enters an alternative proposal.
The Little Rock, Ark., telecommunications company announced Sunday that it had agreed to be acquired by TPG Capital LLP and GS Capital Partners, an arm of Goldman Sachs Group Inc.
Alltel shares were trading at $68.51, down 34 cents, late Thursday afternoon.
-Contact: 201-938-5400
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/alltel-acquisition-carries-625-mln/story.aspx?guid=%7B82285242-8CB1-409F-B5D7-6C1CD98DE9A0%7D
Chevron U.S.A. Inc. Completes Sale of Dynegy Shares
HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dynegy Inc. (NYSE:DYN) today announced that Chevron U.S.A. Inc., a subsidiary of Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX), has completed its previously announced sale of all 96,891,014 of its shares of Dynegy’s Class A common stock to Goldman, Sachs & Co. Dynegy did not receive any of the proceeds from the offering of this previously issued stock.
Dynegy Inc. produces and sells electric energy, capacity and ancillary services in key U.S. markets. The company’s power generation portfolio consists of approximately 20,000 megawatts of baseload, intermediate and peaking power plants fueled by a mix of coal, fuel oil and natural gas. DYNC
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any state.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070524006034&newsLang=en
Bechtel Power Completes Nuclear Power Project in Record Time
Aging Components at Comanche Peak Station Replaced in Just 55 Days
FREDERICK, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Texas-based Comanche Peak Steam Electric Station is up and running following a modernization project managed by Bechtel Power Corp. that shattered the record for fastest replacement of aging components at a nuclear power plant.
Working with TXU, the plant's owner, a Bechtel team replaced four steam generators and a reactor head during a planned outage that lasted just 55 days—eight days less than the previous record for steam generator replacement (SGR).
Located about 60 miles southwest of Dallas, Comanche Peak features two units, each capable of generating approximately 1200 megawatts of electricity. The project involved replacing the steam generators in Unit 1, each of which was about 70 feet long and 15 feet in diameter and weighed around 400 tons.
To remove and replace the steam generators, crews had to cut an opening high in the wall of the containment structure enclosing the steam supply system and erect an outside lift system capable of handling the components. It was the tallest system of its kind ever used on an SGR job. In addition, the crane inside the structure could not lift either the old or new generators, so a new lift system was implemented inside the containment structure as well.
The four new high-efficiency steam generators were built in Spain. They traveled by ocean to Houston and continued to Comanche Peak via special train. The new reactor head, also fabricated in Spain, was outfitted with new control rod drives in Pennsylvania and transported by barge to Houston, then trucked to the site.
Over the past two decades, Bechtel has performed the majority of SGR projects in the United States, replacing aging components at more than 30 plants, including Arizona's Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station, the largest commercial nuclear power plant in the country.
About Bechtel
Bechtel is one of the world's premier engineering, construction, and project management companies. Since its founding in 1898, Bechtel has worked on more than 22,000 projects in 140 countries. Bechtel Power Corp., a unit of Bechtel based in Frederick, Maryland, is the largest power contractor in the United States. For more information about Bechtel, visit www.bechtel.com.
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070521006028&newsLang=en
Iraq: Great For Business
Democracy An Idealistic Fairy Tale
By Jon Faulkner
Years later in 2000, another right wing goon squad showed up in Miami to disrupt, and ultimately stop, the vote count in Miami/Dade. Carried live on national television, rioters, hired by Bush supporters, intimidated precinct workers into stopping the count. Miami police watched passively as the cornerstone of American democracy, the right to vote and have it count, was betrayed. The rioters, instead of being frog marched to the nearest cell, were paid for their “loyalty.” Three of them went on to become White House staffers. Many Americans cheered as the rioters struck a devastating blow to democracy. Millions more watched, and did nothing, as the democratic process was obviously, blatantly, contemptuously belittled before the eyes of the world. Unsurprisingly, the U.S. no longer monitors elections in third world countries. "Those who cast the votes decide nothing, Those who count the votes decide everything." -- Josef Stalin
There have been ample warnings. Jefferson and Madison told American citizens to beware of corporate encroachment or lose their freedom. More than a few U.S. presidents have voiced the same warnings. Lincoln said, "When corporations have been enthroned an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people . . until wealth is aggregated in a few hands . . . and the Republic is destroyed."
The Bush Administration has been a dream come true for American business. The Iraq war has generated enormous profits for such corporate entities as Cheney’s Halliburton, Erik Prince’s Blackwater, and The Bechtel Corporation. Blackwater’s privatized military supplies 48,000 soldiers to supplement U.S. Army troops in Iraq. Bechtel Corporation raked in $680 million in a no bid contract. It stayed for three years before pulling out of Iraq and making off with enormous profits. Vice President Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton Corporation. After playing a major role in convincing Americans that Iraq was a threat to U.S. sovereignty, Halliburton was awarded $21 billion in no bid contracts to provide services to the U.S. presence there. Cheney, in his position as Vice President, cheated Americans out of every dime he could find a way to steal. He has no rivals that come remotely close to this achievement. Cheney personifies the kind of corporate greed that destroys democracies - entire societies. He is a grotesquely ugly human being who hasn’t the slightest qualms over profiting from dead, U.S. soldiers. When such a man is tolerated in a position of power over other men’s lives, democracy is doomed.
Sarah Anderson, of the Institute for Policy Studies, said, “ Despite the billions in US government contracts Halliburton has received, it has no loyalty or sense of obligation to US troops or taxpayers." She added that Halliburton has moved their corporate headquarters to Dubai, of the United Arab Emirate, to evade U.S. oversight and tax authorities. Cheney, Bush, et al, have lifted the U.S. by the scruff of its neck and held it up to show the World how incredibly naïve and fantastically ignorant are its citizenry. The World’s people pause in wonderment as they watch Americans race through their self made labyrinth in endless pursuit of more and bigger stuff.
J.C. Bancroft Davis, an obscurity of American history, and may have been the cause of democracies long fall from relevant significance. He was a court reporter for the U.S. Supreme Court, who in 1886, snuck a provision into the case records of Santa Clara County vs. Southern Pacific RR Company. Southern Pacific had pleaded that they fell under the protections of the 14th Amendment, and had personhood status. The Court never ruled, or even entertained the notion of personhood, as it might apply to a corporation. Davis entered it into the “casehead” as if it had. Corporations ever since have enjoyed the same rights afforded to individuals under the 14th Amendment. For those who confuse corporations with people, Buckminster Fuller offered this instruction. "Corporations are neither physical nor metaphysical phenomena. They are socioeconomic ploys - legally enacted game-playing..."
http://cooljustice.blogspot.com/2007/05/iraq-great-for-business.html
FCAT Fiasco
A whole year? FCAT reading scores for third-graders shot up inexplicably last year, and it took a whole year for officials to figure out something was screwy?
I smell a rat.
So this is the point where the conspiracy theorist in me is obligated to point out that last year was a gubernatorial election year, when the FCAT was very much an issue.
If the Flaw-CAT was shown to have problems, then perhaps it would have bolstered the Democratic position that there was too much emphasis on a standardized test.
Instead Republican boosters were able to crow about improving results as proof that the test was working.
It was also Jeb Bush’s swan song year as governor. What better way to go out triumphant over the test he trumpeted than to have record high scores?
One more thing that makes me wonder: there’s an awfully tight nexus between the test-backing politicians and the testing companies.
Notice who the spokesman for test-maker Harcourt is? Russell Schweiss. Schweiss used to be press secretary for Jeb Bush.
http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2007/05/fcat_fiasco.html
Getting in Deeper...
Another week reveals more lapses in judgment by the Bush team
By Chitra Ragavan
Posted 5/20/07
For months, congressional Democrats have tried to force embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales out of his job by using what one congressional source called "conventional weapons"-incriminating E-mails, damaging memorandums, and other documents related to the controversial firings of nine U.S. attorneys. And for months, against the unwavering support of President George W. Bush, they have failed. But last week, the committee investigating the firings detonated what the same source called a "thermonuclear device." And in doing so, they have put Gonzales's future in serious doubt.
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/news/articles/070520/28justice.htm
Tired of being conned by neocons
Mary Pat Hyland
One down, a few more to go.
Thursday evening during the dinner hour, an Associated Press bulletin came across the wires: "WASHINGTON -- World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will resign effective June 30, bank directors say."
The resignation, spurred by reports he broke ethics rules by (among other things) paying his girlfriend raises that were twice the amount allowed by the organization, should have come sooner. Much sooner.
In an article published in the May 15 edition of the German newsmagazine Der Spiegel, Juan Cole writes that Wolfowitz's behavior at the World Bank was nothing new. "The simple fact is that Wolfowitz has throughout his entire career demonstrated a penchant for cronyism and for smearing and marginalizing perceived rivals as tactics for getting his way," Cole writes. "He has been arrogant and highhanded in dismissing the views of wiser and more informed experts, exhibiting a narcissism that is also apparent in his personal life. Indeed, these tactics are typical of what might be called the 'neoconservative style.' "
That's a style that has run rampant over Washington since January 2001. It plunged us dishonestly into a no-win war in Iraq, turned our backs on the issue of global warming and generally flushed America's goodwill and reputation down the toilet.
http://www.pressconnects.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070521/COLUMNISTS04/705210315/1005/
Judge Told Leak Was Part of 'Policy Dispute'
By Carol D. Leonnig
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, May 18, 2007; Page A03
Attorneys for Vice President Cheney and top White House officials told a federal judge yesterday that they cannot be held liable for anything they disclosed to reporters about covert CIA officer Valerie Plame or her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV.
The officials, who include senior White House adviser Karl Rove and Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, argued that the judge should dismiss a lawsuit filed by the couple that stemmed from the disclosure of Plame's identity to the media.
Joseph C. Wilson IV and Valerie Plame say revealing Plame's job endangered their family. They are suing administration officials.
The perjury trial of Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff calls up high-profile witnesses.
The suit claims that Cheney, Libby, Rove and former deputy secretary of state Richard L. Armitage violated the couple's privacy and constitutional rights by publicly revealing Plame's identity in an effort to retaliate against Wilson. Plame's identity was disclosed in a syndicated column in July 2003, days after Wilson publicly accused the Bush administration of twisting intelligence to exaggerate Iraq's nuclear threat and justify an invasion.
Libby was convicted in March of lying to a grand jury investigating the leak.
The lawyers said any conversations Cheney and the officials had about Plame with one another or with reporters were part of their normal duties because they were discussing foreign policy and engaging in an appropriate "policy dispute." Cheney's attorney went further, arguing that Cheney is legally akin to the president because of his unique government role and has absolute immunity from any lawsuit.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/17/AR2007051701400.html
United States v. I. Lewis Libby
by Murray Waas, Murray Waas (Editor), Jeff Lomonaco (Editor)
Paperback
ISBN: 1402752598
Pub. Date: June 05, 2007
http://search.barnesandnoble.com/booksearch/isbnInquiry.asp?z=y&EAN=9781402752599&itm=1
US short-listing Wolfowitz's successor
Fri, 25 May 2007 19:38:49
The White House has started short listing candidates to head the World Bank with the former US Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist on top.
The heart surgeon who has traveled widely in Africa is getting scrutiny for the top post as well as Treasury Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmitt and the former US trade representative,Robert Zoellick, presently working at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the Wall Street Journal quoted individuals who are familiar with White House deliberations on Thursday.
Among the other candidates being discussed are the Commerce Secretary and the former chief executive at Kellogg Co. Carlos Gutierrez, the former senator from Missouri and US ambassador to the United Nations, John Danforth, and Paul Volcker, the former chairman of the Federal Reserve.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=10972§ionid=3510203
Chief Justice Roberts Responds to Questions Posed by Holy Cross Seniors
...Q: Your wife, Jane Sullivan Roberts, an alumna of Holy Cross as well as a Trustee of the college, has remained closely tied to Mt. Saint James since her graduation. As you prepare for your Commencement Address to the Holy Cross class of 2007, what interesting information about the college has Mrs. Roberts been able to provide for you?
A: Jane was in the first class of women admitted to the college, and she has often remarked how supportive her classmates, the faculty, and the administration were during that period of transformation. I know her life has been deeply affected by the relationships developed at Holy Cross, and the school has no more faithful alum than Jane. She did say it could get cold during the winter.
http://www.holycross.edu/publicaffairs/features/2006-2007/roberts_qa
Novak Says His Plame-Case Legal Fees Were About $150,000
By E&P Staff
Published: May 23, 2007 12:49 PM ET
NEW YORK Columnist Robert Novak said he personally paid for most of the $150,000 or so in legal fees required to defend himself in the Valerie Plame case, according to a Wednesday article in The Providence (R.I.) Journal.
Novak, the Chicago Sun-Times/Creators Syndicate writer who was visiting Providence yesterday to give a speech to financial-service professionals, outed CIA operative Plame in a 2003 column. Many have said Plame's name was leaked in retaliation for a New York Times Op-Ed piece -- by Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson -- questioning the Bush administration's Iraq War policies.
The Journal quoted Novak as saying he wished the Plame incident hadn't happened, but the conservative columnist defended his actions in testifying before a grand jury investigating the Plame leak. "I didn't feel I gave up anybody," he said, referring to his testimony about his sources -- who turned out to be former State Department official Richard Armitage and George W. Bush's political adviser, noted the Rhode Island newspaper.
http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003589272
Book Chronicles Career of Justice Clarence Thomas
Authors Kevin Merida and Michael Fletcher discuss their book, "Supreme Discomfort: The Divided Soul of Clarence Thomas," which explores the justice's trials and career.
GWEN IFILL: October 1991, Clarence Thomas was on the verge of confirmation as only the second African-American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. But it all nearly came crashing down, when on the eve of the full Senate vote, law professor Anita Hill, a former Thomas protege, stepped forward to testify he had sexually harassed her 10 years earlier.
ANITA HILL, Law Professor: When I was asked by a representative of this committee to report my experience, I felt that I had to tell the truth. I could not keep silent.
JIM LEHRER: The nomination took a startling turn after that, moving beyond issues of constitutional interpretation to a he said-she said confrontation that lasted for three days, including rare Saturday and Sunday sessions. Everyone seemed to take sides. Thomas denied the charges, and he was furious.
JUSTICE CLARENCE THOMAS, U.S. Supreme Court: Unless you kowtow to an old order, this is what will happen to you. You will be lynched, destroyed, caricatured by a committee of the U.S. Senate, rather than hung from a tree.
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/law/jan-june07/thomas_05-23.html
Last post on abortion ruling
by Chris Lawson on 24 May 2007
OK, I’ve delayed long enough on returning to my previous post to discuss judicial activism. Having thought about this I have decided that the amount of reading I would have to do to make my argument is beyond my desire and current capacity, so I will refer readers to Mitchell J. Freedman’s blog entry listing some legal arguments against the Gonzales v. Cathcart decision, as well as pointers to other legal counter-arguments. It seems to this non-legal expert to be well-written and knowledgeable.
But the point I still want to make for myself is the one I raised originally. The justices of the Supreme Court made a number of far-reaching decisions, including the overturning of precedents that had survived several prior Supreme Court decisions and a concurring brief signed by Thomas and Scalia that, to many people including myself, looks like an invitation for anti-abortion groups to pepper the court with appeals against Roe v. Wade until the justices come across a submission that can be used to justify a reversal.
The point I was trying to make was directed not so much at the justices themselves. Whether or not this ruling counts as “judicial activism” as opposed to judicial over-reach or judicial revisionism or judicial wisdom or whatever one might choose to describe it, I was aiming my comments at the conservative opinion bloc which has the hypocrisy to label every decision they don’t like “judicial activism.” The most egregious example followed Judge John E. Jones’s stinging rebuke to intelligent design in the classroom. Jones referred to precedent that had been established in several prior cases, as well as the basic Constitutional separation of church and state. Despite upholding every precedent and Constitutional principle, and despite Jones pre-emptively denying any activist leanings, the conservative opinion bloc was quick to label him a judicial activist simply because he rejected the conservative case. That is, “judicial activism” has become a term of abuse, like “liberal”, which bears absolutely no relation to the actual meaning of the term and is used to dismiss opponents without grappling with their arguments.
I think it says something about the narrow-minded intolerance of the current conservatism that an old-fashioned, devout Lutheran, Bush-appointed judge can so easily become an opponent of conservatism for doing his job and upholding established law. In actual fact, what the conservatives wanted was for Jones to overturn precedent and ignore the Constitution — Phyllis Shlafly went so far as to say that Jones had “stuck the knife in the backs” of the “evangelical Christians” to whom “he owes his position entirely.” That is, according to Shlafly and many other conservative pundits, Jones’s duty was not to be a judge but to be an appointed agent for his political handlers. Which would of course be judicial activism of a particularly corrupt nature. To have Jones labelled an activist by swathes of conservative opinion-makers demonstrates the utter emptiness of the term “judicial activism” in conservative thinking.
That was the point I was trying to make. Whether or not the Gonzales v. Cathcart decision counts as judicial activism, the fact remains that the Supreme Court was far more revisionist than Jones was — and so I ask again, how come Jones is called an activist for upholding precedent while Supreme Court justices are not when they overturn it? And I suggest again, this appears to be because only “liberal” decisions can be “activist” — even when they are made by conservative judges using conservative legal principles.
Addendum: in a stunning example of synchronicity, an hour after I wrote this the New England Journal of Medicine mass-emailed to announce another article examining Gonzales v. Cathcart, this time from a legal perspective. It’s freetext, and again, although author George Annas never uses the term “judicial activism,” it makes clear how far the Supreme Court has gone towards rejecting precedent and creating an entirely new extension of legislative powers.
http://www.talkingsquid.net/archives/210
More buyout firms go it alone in megadeals
By Jason Kelly and Edward Evans Bloomberg News
Published: May 24, 2007
NEW YORK: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts wanted Alliance Boots for itself. Instead of teaming up with another private equity firm, a practice known as clubbing, KKR kept all of the bragging rights to the £11.1 billion deal for the largest British drugstore chain. It was the biggest European buyout.
"It enabled us to have a very straight and clear discussion with the Alliance Boots board," said Dominic Murphy, the KKR partner based in London who led the acquisition. "We could make decisions very quickly and effectively. We didn't need to revert to other partners."
Record-breaking war chests are giving private equity firms the power to fly solo on multibillion-dollar deals. As buyout shops drive the value of acquisitions past the 2006 record $701.5 billion, they are pushing fee-hungry banks into providing new kinds of financing for such purchases.
Buyout partnerships rose to prominence in the past three years, highlighted by the deal in which Blackstone Group and six other companies paid $10.4 billion for the software developer SunGard Data Systems of Wayne, Pennsylvania, in March 2005.
http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/05/23/bloomberg/bxequity.php
GM faces $7B Delphi exposure
May 24, 2007 08:36 AM
Reuters
NEW YORK – General Motors Corp. said Thursday U.S. government officials have requested documents relating to its accounting of derivatives and said its exposure to bankrupt auto parts maker Delphi Corp. was probably $7 billion (U.S.).
The auto maker said the request from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relates to accounting of derivative trading of foreign exchange and commodities contracts mentioned in its most recent annual report.
GM also said it might have to restate results because of lingering accounting issues at its lending arm, GMAC, and said that the previously discussed sale of subsidiary Allison Transmission is "probable" but subject to union, regulatory and other approvals.
Blackstone Group, Centerbridge Capital Partners and Carlyle Group are among the other buyout firms said to be interested in the division.
GM is in the middle of a restructuring effort that focuses on cutting costs and improving cash flow.
http://www.thestar.com/Business/article/217303
May 25, 2007
Housing Development Finance Corporation Welcomes an INR 26.38 Billion (Approximately US$650 Million) Investment from The Carlyle Group
Mumbai, Maharashtra, India -- Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (Business Wire India)
Housing Development Finance Corporation Limited (HDFC), India’s leading housing finance company, announced today that global private equity firm The Carlyle Group (‘Carlyle’) will purchase 15.25 million new shares in HDFC through a preferential allotment at INR 1,730 per share. Upon the close of the transaction, Carlyle will own a 5.6% stake in HDFC.
The investment will be made by Carlyle Asia Partners (CAP), which manages over US$2.5 billion and makes large sized investments across non-Japan Asia. The proceeds will support HDFC’s continued investment in banking, life insurance and mortgage businesses. The transaction is subject to shareholder approval and is expected to close in July this year.
Mr. Deepak Parekh, Chairman of HDFC, said, “We are delighted to invite Carlyle as a key shareholder. Carlyle’s approach to investments is long-term and partnership oriented. We value that orientation.”
Mr. Rajeev Gupta, Managing Director of Carlyle in India, said, “HDFC is one of the best managed Indian companies. Carlyle, which has made a number of successful investments in financial institutions, is honored to be a shareholder in this remarkable Indian Institution”.
http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage%5Cmonitor.asp?id=3821
The Carlyle Group Makes Its First Real Estate Investment in Barcelona
(WebWire) 5/22/2007 10:48:44 AMBarcelona –The Carlyle Group, the global private equity firm, today announces it has recently purchased a development site in St. Adrià del Besòs, Barcelona. The site is located near the 22@ District/Forum 2004 area of the city and permits a 15,500 m² mixed use development.
The site comprises two adjacent land plots which are located in south-east Barcelona between calle Manuel Fernández and calle Llull near Barcelona’s ring road, the Ronda Litoral. The joint zoning of the plots will allow for the development of approximately 15,500 m² of which 5,700m² residential, 3,000m² retail, and 6,600m² hotel/office.
Next to the site there are important developments such as Diagonal Mar, the Forum 2004, and the 22@ District. A new university campus, ‘Campus del Besòs,’ including a notable office/student residence building designed by the well-known architect Zaha Hadid, is being constructed in the area.
Rachel Lupiani, Associate Director, The Carlyle Group, said, “The Carlyle Group’s real estate team has invested in over 55 transactions across Europe since 2001; this is our third investment in Spain and our first in Barcelona. The zoning of this site represents an exciting opportunity for a mixed use development project in an area that is being transformed by an urban regeneration, and is witnessing increasing demand for residential, hotel, retail and office space. Barcelona is a dynamic and thriving city, and we are delighted to contribute to the renewal of St. Adrià del Besòs with a high-quality development.”
Carlyle is investing in this project through its second European real estate fund, Carlyle Europe Real Estate Partners II, a €760 million fund. The fund closed in September 2005 and is over 90% invested.
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=37114
Rice to meet with G8 counterparts in Germany, travel to Spain
Posted : Mon, 21 May 2007 18:24:01GMT
Author : DPA
Washington - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet with her G8 counterparts in Potsdam, Germany next week ahead of the June summit of the seven richest nations in the world plus Russia. During the May 29th to June 1 trip Rice will also attend a women's empowerment conference in Vienna and hold meetings with Spanish officials in Madrid, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Monday.
The foreign ministers will be meeting in Potsdam days before the June 5-6 G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, which will be attended by US President George W Bush and leaders from Britain, Canada France, Germany, Italy, Japan and Russia.
http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/64821.html
The Bush Policy regarding Cuba is a policy of Pre-Emption. It is designed to remove as much American presence as possible in Cuba to make way for an attack on the island country. This isn't good policy necessarily, but, it is an attractive aspect to voting Republican for special interest groups. American Navy for sale for your vote ! It is well within the definition of Human Rights Violation.
US-Madrid 'clear up misunderstanding' over Cuba
25 May 2007
WASHINGTON - Spain's top official for relations with Latin America said her visit here has allowed her to "clear up misunderstandings" with the United States about Madrid's posture toward Cuba.
Trinidad Jimenez told Efe late Wednesday that she had given the high-level U.S. State Department officials she met with an opportunity to "better understand our position regarding Cuba."
On the first day of her official visit to Washington, Jimenez had what she described as a "very productive and cordial" session with the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, Thomas Shannon.
The Spanish diplomat also met with Sen. Mel Martinez, a Cuban-born Florida Republican who heads the U.S.-Spain Council
Jimenez said she conducted "a review of the region," including the situations in Colombia, Mexico and Guatemala, and "its most important problems" at the meeting with Shannon.
Cuba and the Spanish government's position toward the island were a main theme of the talks between Shannon and Jimenez.
"We wanted to clear up a series of misunderstandings," Jimenez told Efe.
Spain's main opposition Popular Party criticized the visit to Cuba in early April by Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos.
The conservative PP criticized Moratinos's position toward the island and said his trip reflected the Socialist government's backing for the regime of Fidel Castro, who turned over power temporarily to his brother, Raul, in July 2006 as he tries to recover from multiple surgeries for an unspecified intestinal ailment.
The United States also reacted negatively to the Spanish foreign minister's trip to the island, with Shannon calling on Moratinos to explain the reasons why he did not meet with opponents of the Cuban government.
Jimenez told Efe that she explained to Shannon the Spanish government's policy of "respect" in relations with Cuba and that even though there were differences between Madrid and Havana, "permanent talks and fluid dialogue are very positive."
Trinidad Jimenez plans to meet Thursday with the head of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno, the head of the Organization of American States, Jose Miguel Insulza, and U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns.
This is the first visit to the United States by Jimenez since being named Spain's secretary of state for Ibero-America in September 2006, and the trip comes just days before U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's June 1 visit to Madrid.
Rice's trip will be the first to Spain by a high-level Bush administration official since the electoral victory in April 2004 of Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who, acting on a campaign promise, ordered the withdrawl of the 1,300 troops Madrid sent to Iraq under the preceding conservative government. EFE
[Copyright EFE with Expatica]
Subject: Spanish news
US-Spain relations to warm up with Condoleeza Rice visit
22 May 2007
WASHINGTON - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will make a stop in Spain as part of a four-day European swing next week, the State Department said Monday.
"Every relationship has some bumps in the road, but you work through those in a respectful way and try to build up mutual understanding so you don't talk past one another," department spokesman Sean McCormack said of Rice's visit to Madrid.
The move comes three years after Spain angered the George W. Bush administration by pulling its troops out of Iraq.
The spokesman said that Rice will spend only a few hours in the Spanish capital on June 1, meeting with counterpart Miguel Angel Moratinos and other unnamed officials.
http://www.expatica.com/actual/article.asp?subchannel_id=81&story_id=40044
Veidekke is one of Scandinavia's leading construction and property development companies. It is the largest in its field i Norway; the fourth largest in Denmark; and in Sweden it has operations in the areas surrounding Stockholm and Gothenburg and in Skåne. Veidekke is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It has a dispersed ownership structure where the emphasis is on institutional owners. A special feature of the company is its broad employee participation.
Veidekke Company to Create Exciting New City Area in Copenhagen
A consortium consisting of Hoffmann Ejendomme A/S and The Carlyle Group, a global private equity firm, is purchasing the vegetable market in Valby in Copenhagen with a view to developing a completely new city area on the approximately 40-acre area. The property is centrally situated in a very attractive area near the Carlsberg brewery in Vesterbro.
The agreement to take over the vegetable market that has been reached between the consortium and the Copenhagen Wholesale Market (Grønttorvet København s.m.b.a.) will make it possible to develop and build a completely new area in the centre of Copenhagen. The take-over of the approximately 40-acre site will take place around New Year 2011, when the vegetable market plans to move to a large, new food and flower market in the Høje Taastrup Transport Centre. The sales contract is subject to the approval of the Copenhagen Wholesale Market's extraordinary general meeting at the end of June.
The Copenhagen Wholesale Market's board decided in the spring of 2006 to sell the old market in Valby because of the extremely cost-intensive investments that would be necessary in the future and the risk that the introduction of low emission zones in Copenhagen would bar heavy traffic from the area. Negotiations commenced at the beginning of the year and the parties have now agreed that the purchasers will take over the site and buildings in Valby two years after finalisation of the local development plan for the area by the City of Copenhagen.
Close cooperation with the local inhabitants
Hoffmann Ejendomme and Carlyle have formed a joint development company, CVM Development, which will draw up a proposal for a completely new city area in collaboration with the inhabitants of Valby, Danish and international architects and urban planners, and the City of Copenhagen authorities. On the basis of this proposal, the City of Copenhagen will finalise a local development plan for the area. The plan is expected to be available at the end of 2008. The purchasing consortium anticipates that the first residential units in the new area will be ready in 2012 and that total investment in the project will be DKK 6-8 billion.
"This is one of the most exciting development areas in Copenhagen, because the site is close to the city centre and because this is a chance to create an entirely new, coherent area. It is crucial for us that the development takes place in close dialogue with the local inhabitants, future-oriented experts and the City of Copenhagen," says Mr. Gert Olsen, Managing Director of Hoffmann Ejendomme A/S and spokesman for the consortium.
"We regard Copenhagen and the entire Øresund region as one of the most important growth areas in Northern Europe. This is an opportunity to build a whole new city district in a very attractive location and as such the project fits very well into our investment strategy," says Director Thomas Lindström of the Carlyle Group.
For more information, please contact:
Managing Director Gert Olsen, Hoffmann Ejendomme,
tel. +45 4329 9310, mobile +45 6012 9310
Managing Director Thomas Lindström, The Carlyle Group,
tel. +46 8510 69600, mobile +46 7089 25130
VEIDEKKE ASA
Veidekke ASA is a leading Scandinavian building contractor and property developer with 6,350 employees and an annual turnover of NOK 16.4 billion (2006). Veidekke is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. It has a wide group of shareholders and 14% of the shares are held by the company's employees. The company's activities cover a large range of building and construction contracts, development of housing and commercial projects for private and public customers, asphalt operations and road maintenance, and collection and recycling of waste.
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