Iran fuel rations spark anger, pump stations burn

Angry Iranian motorists queued for gasoline for hours on Wednesday after the world's fourth-largest oil exporter imposed fuel rationing, sparking chaotic scenes and the torching of at least two pump stations. One Iranian news agency, Fars, said 12 gasoline stations were set ablaze in Tehran after the government's announcement late on Tuesday, but only two could be independently confirmed. Some drivers had scuffled while waiting to fill up their tanks before the rationing started at midnight. Others openly criticized President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government, which came to power vowing to share out Iran's oil wealth more fairly. "We are swimming in oil and all they do is just put pressure on people," Despite its huge energy reserves, Iran lacks refining capacity and must import about 40 percent of its gasoline, a sensitive issue when world powers have threatened new U.N. sanctions in a row with Tehran over its nuclear program. One fuel station in Pounak, a poorer area of the capital, was set alight while another in eastern Tehran was partially burnt, two of its pumps destroyed by fire, witnesses said. Windows at the one in Pounak were smashed, six pumps wrecked and walls blackened. State radio blamed "opportunistic elements". Police could not be reached for comment. Last night's riots were an expression of the anger of people with lower incomes," said government employee Saeed Sameti, although he said he in principle backed rationing. Motorists still faced long lines on Wednesday in a country where many see abundant and cheap fuel as a national right. Short of public transport, many rely on cars or taxis to get around in the capital of 12 million people. Some taxi drivers raised their fares by 20-80 percent on Wednesday, media said. "I cannot tolerate more economic pressure," said teacher Hasan Sanjari. "My monthly salary is $300. I have three sons." Parliament had argued for offering fuel above the rationed amount at market prices, a step opposed by the government which fears this would stoke inflation, already at 17 percent.

Impeach Vice President Dick Cheney

The Washington Post’s series on Vice President Dick Cheny is causing quite a stir. Cheney’s claim that his office is “not an office within the Executive Branch” is only fueling the rage against him. House Majority leader Rahm Emanuel responded by threatening to cut off funding to Cheney:

“Today, we discovered that everything we learned in U.S. government class was wrong. Evidently, the Vice President does not consider himself a part of the executive branch, and therefore believes he can obstruct meaningful oversight and avoid being held accountable. If the Vice President truly believes he is not a part of the executive branch, he should return the salary the American taxpayers have been paying him since January 2001, and move out of the home for which they are footing the bill.”

Indeed, there is substantial demand out there amongst Democrats for some response to Dick Cheney. Naturally, people look to presidential candidates to lead the charge. Speaking to a crowd in Rochester, N.H., Sen. Dodd resisted the urge to pander by calling for Cheney’s impeachment and instead offered a sober and what he believes is a practical and serious response to the Cheney issue:

“There are too many other issues out there the American public were hoping Democrats would decide to address and focus on. That’s the choice you make. Others may make a different focus. My choice would be to focus on other agenda items”

Although, Dodd’s candor was well received when discussing the environment and the need for a carbon tax, but the audience was cool to the idea of ignoring the Cheney issue.

CIA tried to get Mafia to kill Castro: documents

The CIA worked with three American mobsters in a botched "gangster-type" attempt to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro in the early 1960s, according to documents released by the CIA on Tuesday.

The CIA hauled the skeletons out of its closet by declassifying hundreds of pages of long-secret records that detail some of the agency's worst illegal abuses during about 25 years of overseas assassination attempts, domestic spying and kidnapping.

The agency's leaders determined "a sensitive mission requiring gangster-type action" was needed. "The mission target was Fidel Castro," the document said.

The CIA contacted Johnny Roselli, believed to have been a high-ranking member of the Mafia. The story Roselli was to be told by a go-between was that several international business firms were suffering heavy financial losses in Cuba as a result of Castro's action and they were willing to pay $150,000 for his removal.

PETA Calls Michael Moore a Fattie

PETA president, Ingrid Newkirk, has issued a letter to Michael Moore, challenging him to lose weight on a thirty day vegetarian diet. What prompted this sudden intervention? Well, Newkirk was inspired by Moore's latest film, "SiCKO," an in-depth look at the American health care industry. Believing prevention to be the most effective antidote to sickness, Newkirk claims that Moore's weight could easily be diminished (effectively cutting his risk for various ailments) and she attests this should be done through a vegetarian diet.

"Although we think that your film could actually help reform America's sorely inadequate health care system, there's an elephant in the room, and it is you. With all due respect, no one can help but notice that a weighty health issue is affecting you personally. We'd like to help you fix that."

Now, I know that PETA is trying to be helpful in this situation, but dang, that's the kind of letter that would make me want to slit my throat. Remind me never to do an documentary on the plastic surgery industry.

Waste Management taps clean power from garbage

Waste Management Inc. said on Wednesday it will speed up its tapping of gas from rotting garbage to generate clean power from 60 landfills over five years. Waste Management will bring turbines to the landfills to generate more than 700 megawatts of power a year, or enough power for about 700,000 homes, the company said. The power will also earn the company renewable energy credits it can bank or sell for its projects in states that have such programs. Alternative energy is growing amid high oil and natural gas prices and concern about global warming. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says about 425 U.S. landfills tap gas for power and an additional 560 dumps hold promising supplies of the fuel. Waste Management, the country's largest landfill operator, first generated power from garbage in the United States more than 20 years ago. It says landfills are more dependable than other sources of alternative energy.

"Unlike wind power, which doesn't always blow, or solar which doesn't always shine, landfills produce gas constantly," Paul Pabor, Waste Management's vice president of renewable energy said in an interview.

Rotting garbage produces a gas that is about half methane, which has about 20 times the heat-trapping potential of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas. Most landfills simply vent the gas to the atmosphere and those dumps are the largest source of human-related methane emissions in the country, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Pabor said landfills are often placed near urban areas which makes it more convenient than some other alternative sources of power, like wind turbine farms, which can sometimes be placed far from customers. He said the business was profitable, but would not say what the returns were.

World must plan for urban milestone: U.N.

The world will reach a turning point next year when for the first time most of its population will be living in towns and cities, a U.N. agency said on Wednesday, warning the change must be managed carefully. Unless urban planners make provision for this inevitability, particularly in the developing world, towns and cities risk being swamped, Thoraya Obaid, head of the U.N. population fund (UNFPA) said.

"Urban growth is happening. It is inevitable," Obaid told Reuters as the organization's State of the World Population 2007 report was published. "But unless you manage it, it will manage you and could become a hotbed of political unrest and armed conflict." The United Nations has sounded the warning several times before, most notably in U.N. Habitat's 2003 report on the growth of slums which are home to a third of the world's urban population.

Venezuela's Chavez seen wanting office "for life"

Insecurity, "malignant narcissism" and the need for adulation are driving Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's confrontation with the United States, according to a new psychological profile. Eventually, these personality traits are likely to compel Chavez to declare himself Venezuela's president for life, said Dr. Jerrold Post, who has just completed the profile for the U.S. Air Force. He views himself as a savior, as the very embodiment of Venezuela," Post said in an interview. "He has been acting increasingly messianic and so he is likely to either get the constitution rewritten to allow for additional terms or eventually declare himself president-for-life."

Post portrays Chavez as "a masterful political gamesman" who knows that his popularity largely rests on being seen as a strong leader who takes on the United States, the Venezuelan elite and a host of other perceived enemies -- often with public insults that are rarely used by other leaders. "To keep his followers engaged, he must continue outrageous and inflammatory attacks," Post said. Even Chavez's most determined opponents concede that he is a gifted orator and has a rare ability to mesmerize audiences. In the language of political psychology, this is a "charismatic leader-follower relationship."