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Purveyor's JournalU.S. Railcar Oil Deliveries Hit Record in 2012
The use of rail cars to transport crude oil in the U.S. reached a record in 2012 and continues to rise, the Association of American Railroads said Thursday.
Refiners increasingly depend on rail cars to bring in the oil being produced in increasing quantities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Innovations in drilling techniques have allowed oil companies to cull oil from shale formations in South Texas, North Dakota and elsewhere faster than pipeline companies have been able to connect the wells to market.
A record 233,811 carloads of crude oil traversed the U.S. in 2012, up from 65,751 carloads the year before, the association said. In January, crude oil and fuel shipments via rail averaged 13,043 carloads a week, up 54% from the 2012 weekly average, the association added.
"There's never been a year when they've been 250% plus up," said Kevin Sterling, analyst at BB&T Capital Markets. "The tank car manufacturers, they're building tank cars as fast as the orders come in."
Read more: http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2013/02/21/us-railcar-oil-deliveries-hit-record-in-2012-trade-group/#ixzz2MQs8kTTr
Shirley Maclaine Returning To 'Downton Abbey,' Kiri Te Kanawa Also Joining Cast
NEW YORK — Shirley MacLaine will be returning to "Downton Abbey" next season, and opera star Kiri Te Kanawa is joining the cast.
MacLaine will reprise her role as Martha Levinson, Lord Robert Crawley's freewheeling American mother-in-law, Carnival Films and "Masterpiece" on PBS said Saturday. MacLaine appeared in episodes early last season.
New Zealand-born soprano Te Kanawa will play a house guest. She will sing during her visit.
Other new cast members and characters include:
_ Tom Cullen as Lord Gillingham, described as an old family friend of the Crawleys who visits the family as a guest for a house party (and who might be the one to mend Lady Mary Crawley's broken heart).
_ Nigel Harman will play a valet named Green.
_ Harriet Walter plays Lady Shackleton, an old friend of the Dowager Countess.
_ Joanna David will play a guest role as the Duchess of Yeovil.
_ Julian Ovenden is cast as aristocrat Charles Blake.
"The addition of these characters can only mean more delicious drama, which is what `Downton Abbey' is all about," said "Masterpiece" executive producer Rebecca Eaton.
MORE...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/02/shirley-maclaine-returning-to-downton-abbey_n_2796307.html
Guest Lineups For The Sunday News Shows
ABC's "This Week" — White House economic adviser Gene Sperling; Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H.
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NBC's "Meet the Press" — White House economic adviser Gene Sperling; House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio.
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CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., John McCain, R-Ariz., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.
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CNN's "State of the Union" — White House economic adviser Gene Sperling; Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
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"Fox News Sunday" — Mitt and Ann Romney.
Peres Gives Netanyahu Two Extra Weeks to Form Israel Coalition
Israeli President Shimon Peres granted Benjamin Netanyahu two additional weeks to form a coalition government as the prime minister urged heads of all parties to show responsibility and join together in unity.
“We face huge challenges -- security challenges as well as the challenge of managing a responsible peace process -- and these challenges demand a joining of forces, not a division,” Netanyahu said in remarks broadcast from the president’s residence in Jerusalem.
The prime minister, who last month added former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and her Hatenuah party’s six seats to the 31 that his Likud-Beitenu ticket won in the Jan. 22 election, still has to gain support from bigger parties such as Yesh Atid, Jewish Home, Shas or Labor to reach the threshold of 61 in the Knesset needed to form a government. Some of them oppose the two-state solution advocated by Livni and the U.S., Israel’s main ally.
The prime minister has said he intends to have his new government in place before President Barack Obama visits in late March. Netanyahu indicated in his remarks today that “boycotts” have been one of the obstacles in creating the government.
MORE...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-02/peres-gives-netanyahu-two-extra-weeks-to-form-israel-coalition.html
Chuck Hagel: U.S. Should Only Provide 'Non-Lethal Support' To Syria's Opposition
New U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said on Friday he believed U.S. policy of giving only "non-lethal support" to Syria's opposition was the correct one.
Hagel's comments, at his first news briefing since taking over the Pentagon on Wednesday, came a day after the United States said it would for the first time give non-lethal aid to Syrian rebels and more than double its aid to Syria's civilian opposition.
The moves disappointed opponents of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who are clamoring for Western weapons, something U.S. President Barack Obama has so far refused to provide.
Hagel's predecessor, Leon Panetta, disclosed earlier this month that he joined the heads of the State Department and CIA last year in recommending arming the rebels.
MORE...
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/chuck-hagel-u-s-should-only-provide-non-lethal-support-to-syria-s-opposition-1.506708
Palestinian Film Maker Doesn't Win Oscar, But He's Still Dancing On Rooftops
Everyone who has a human soul should be moved by a Palestinian and an Israeli making the film '5 Broken Cameras' together.By Benny Ziffer | Mar.02, 2013 | 5:46 PM
A photo my daughter sent me from Facebook on Tuesday shows Emad Burnat, who directed (with Guy Davidi) and appeared in the film "5 Broken Cameras," standing on the red carpet in a tuxedo on his way into the Academy Awards ceremony on Sunday. Next to him stands his son, who also stars in the film, and his wife, who is wearing a splendid Palestinian embroidered dress. As we now know, the film did not win an Oscar but it was impossible not to marvel at the rocky road the filmmaker from Bil'in - which after all is only a small Palestinian village in Samaria in the West Bank - has traveled to the Oscar ceremony.
To tell the truth, I was unable to hold back a tear from the corner of my eye, because the film and its plot are intertwined with a family story of my own: The main protagonist of "5 Broken Cameras," Bassem Abu Rahmah, known as "Pheel" (Elephant ), was the man my daughter Talila loved, and the two were destined to be together - until the terrible disaster happened: An Israel Defense Forces soldier fired a gas canister at Bassem, which penetrated his body at short range and killed him on the spot. In the film he is seen falling and dying, an event that was filmed by Burnat, the village cameraman. My daughter wore a white Palestinian dress embroidered in red, similar to the one Emad's wife wore to the Oscars, to the wedding of Rani, another young Palestinian from Bil'in, who was paralyzed by a soldier's bullet that struck his lower body. Unlike Pheel, he did not die, and he has been able to start a family. At his wedding the women of the village wished my daughter that the next wedding would be hers and Bassem's. Fate had other plans.
But even without this tragic story, it seems to me that everyone who has a human soul in his body should be moved by a Palestinian and an Israeli making a film together, that then gets nominated for an Oscar, especially as this film does not depict Israel in a particularly negative way.
And now, upon the news of the outcome of the awards ceremony, the new leader of religious Zionism, MK Naftali Bennett, of Habayit Hayehudi - whom an international magazine has dubbed "the new face of Israel," apparently correctly - has hastened to update his Facebook status to express glee over the fact that "5 Broken Cameras" did not win an Oscar and note that he is not shedding a tear over it.
MORE...
http://www.haaretz.com/weekend/week-s-end/palestinian-film-maker-doesn-t-win-oscar-but-he-s-still-dancing-on-rooftops.premium-1.506630
Spending Cut Debate Casts Pall Over Obama's Second-Term Agenda
WASHINGTON | Sat Mar 2, 2013 5:13pm EST
(Reuters) - Just hours after across-the-board spending cuts officially took effect, President Barack Obama pressed Congress on Saturday to work with him on a compromise to halt a fiscal crisis that threatens the economy and his broader domestic policy agenda.
The failure by Obama and Republicans to agree to halt the $85 billion 'sequester' cuts virtually guaranteed that fiscal issues would remain center stage in Washington for weeks, crowding out Obama's proposals to reform immigration, tighten gun laws and raise the minimum wage.
The economic effects of the spending cuts may take time to kick in, but political blowback has already begun and is hitting Obama as well as congressional Republicans.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Friday showed neither Republicans on one side nor Obama and his fellow Democrats escaping blame.
Obama's approval rating dropped to 47 percent in a Gallup poll on Friday, down from 51 percent in the previous three-day period measured.
MORE...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/03/02/us-usa-fiscal-idUSBRE91P0W220130302
Conservatives Mixed On Continuing Resolution To Avoid Government Shutdown
Source: Washington Post
President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) both expressed a desire on Friday to pass a continuing resolution that would avert a government shutdown later this month. They each suggested they would rather not hold the funding of the government hostage to the negotiations over the sequester, which goes into effect Friday.
But conservatives are giving the idea mixed reviews, with some calling for Boehner to use the continuing resolution — and by extension, the threat of a government shutdown — to secure concessions.
Reps. Jim Bridenstine (R-Okla.) and Tim Huelskamp (R-Kan.) are asking fellow Republicans to sign a letter urging Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) to do just that. The Club for Growth has signed on to the effort, saying it will likely urge members to vote against the CR if it doesn’t include such a provision.
It’s very unlikely GOP leadership would include such a thing in the CR. If he did, it wouldn’t pass in the Senate, where Democrats have the majority.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2013/03/01/conservatives-mixed-on-continuing-resolution-to-avoid-government-shutdown/
It is with this 'continuing resolution' that we shall see where the 'bear shit in the buckwheat'.
The sequester is squat compared to this...
Stay tuned...
Israel Fights To Save US Missile Funding From The Sequester Cuts
Israel is making feverish efforts to save part of the US military aid from the sequester, which will come into effect tomorrow. Israel realizes that it will have to absorb a cut of hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid for the 2013 fiscal year, and the question is what can be saved, if anything.
To some extent Israel is collateral damage of a financial attack, and must now undertake triage to decide which are the elements of US military aid are critical to the country's security, and which of them have the best chance of being saved. This means which items are attractive enough in the opinion of US administration officials or members of Congress so the budget axe can be stayed. At this point it seems that Israel will focus its rescue effort on financing for the Iron Dome and Arrow missile defense programs, and accept the reduction in current military aid.
Senior officials in the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs are drawing up a strategy for dealing with the problem, which is at the top of the agenda at the Embassy in Washington. One source believes that Minister of Defense Ehud Barak's unscheduled visit to Washington on February 13, shortly after his previous visit, was related to the sequester.
The severity of the sequester on Israel is still not fully clear. Assuming that it comes into effect, the worst case scenario is a $729 million reduction in US military aid for Israel. $250 million will be cut from current aid, which totals $3.15 billion for the 2013 fiscal year (the final figure is uncertain because how the sequester will be calculated has not been finalized).
MORE...
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000826125&fid=1725
Palestinians, Israeli Soldiers Clash In West Bank
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinians have clashed with Israeli troops during rallies across the West Bank in support of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners and against Israel's security barrier.
Mohammed Samhan of the Red Crescent says dozens of protesters were treated for injuries caused by rubber bullets and tear gas inhalation on Friday. Israel's military says hundreds of Palestinians threw rocks and firebombs at the soldiers.
The protesters demanded the release of Palestinian prisoners on hunger strike in Israeli jails, warning of backlash if any of them die.
MORE...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/ML_ISRAEL_PALESTINIANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-03-01-12-00-19
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