WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Energy Department failed to prepare a proper analysis and made a $500 million math error when it decided to shelve an experimental coal-fired power plant slated for central Illinois, according to a report from congressional auditors released on Wednesday.

The project, known as FutureGen, would be located in Mattoon, Ill., if the project were revived and could provide a boost for economic development in the coal-rich, east-central part of that state. But more importantly, its advocates say it could provide a roadmap for reducing the amount of carbon dioxide emitted from coal production.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FUTUREGEN?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

There is no such thing as clean coal!!!

While, ACCCE promotes the benefits of coal to local communities, they neglect to speak to the reality of the environmental damage caused by its extraction and use. They fail to mention the impacts of air pollutants and mercury contamination produced in the burning of coal, which are known to cause cancer, impair reproduction, inhibit child development, damage the nervous and immune systems, and worsen respiratory ailments like asthma. They never mention the environmental impact of coal mining, which includes erosion, groundwater contamination, habitat destruction, and toxic waste. Environmental and economic costs incurred in waste disposal and land reclamation and transportation are also omitted from the dialog [14].

Perhaps most relevant to its current campaign, ACCCE proudly admits that 50 percent of our electricity comes from coal, yet they neglect to admit its contribution to climate change. The EPA documented that in 2006 electricity generation "is the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, representing 33 percent of total US emissions [15]. In reality, there is nothing "clean" about the coal electicity it promotes.

http://stopgreenwash.org/casestudy_abec

It's the same MO as Bush.....promise one thing, do the opposite, and be organized religion's whore while allowing corporate america free reign to wallow in more than $780 billion taxpayer dollars.

The campaign over the judges has become a power struggle between Mr Sharif and President Zardari, says the BBC's Barbara Plett in Islamabad.

The government has arrested hundreds of opposition activists and banned rallies, saying they could trigger violence.

Our correspondent says it is not clear if Mr Sharif will be able to reach Islamabad, given the authorities have blocked routes leading to the capital.

She says the unrest has alarmed the West, which wants Pakistan to focus on the battle against the Taleban on the Afghan border.

The tensions between Mr Zardari and Mr Sharif date back to the 1990s, but the two formed a brief partnership in government after parliamentary elections in February 2008.

President Zardari had promised to bring back the judges when he took office last year following his wife's assassination.

But Mr Sharif's party later left the alliance, complaining of reluctance by Mr Zardari's Pakistan People's Party to reinstate them.

The latest crisis was sparked by a Supreme Court decision to ban Mr Sharif and his brother Shahbaz from elected office, and President Zardari's decision to put their stronghold in Punjab province under direct rule from Islamabad.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7945294.stm

WASHINGTON — With two missile strikes over the past week, the Obama administration has expanded the covert war run by the Central Intelligence Agency inside Pakistan, attacking a militant network seeking to topple the Pakistani government.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/washington/21policy.html?scp=6&sq=cia%20pakistan%20missile&st=Search

is hardly revolutionary.

it comes down to one simple fact for them; everything Obama does is right (even if it's the same policies as Bush) and anyone who opposes him is wrong.

If your not with them, your against them.

Sound familiar?

The American International Group on Sunday released the names of financial institutions that benefited last fall when the Federal Reserve saved it from collapse with an $85 billion rescue loan and then 3 subsequent bailouts.

Time and again, the rationale given for bailout out A.I.G. was that its credit default swap agreements — essentially insurance contracts on mortgage-backed securities — were so interwoven into the global financial web that to let the insurer fail would create chaos.

As the mortgages underlying the credit default swap agreements decayed, A.I.G. was required to post collateral to its counterparties. By September, the firm warned that it would run out of money, prompting the government to swoop in with its initial $85 billion loan. That money was used to post collateral to counterparties, including France’s Société Générale, Germany’s Deutsche Bank and Goldman Sachs.

All told, the posting of collateral for the swap agreements cost $22.4 billion, A.I.G. said. The money was paid to the counterparties between Sept. 16 and Dec. 31.

A subsequent government bailout provided money for the Federal Reserve to buy the securities underpinning these credit default swap agreements, canceling the contracts. Nearly $30 billion was spent to do so.

Foreign banks, including Deutsche Bank, France’s Societe Generale and Calyon and Britain’s Barclays, figured prominently among the firm’s credit default swap counterparties.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and others also were owed money under securities lending agreements with the insurer. In this business, A.I.G. lent out shares in companies, primarily to hedge funds that sold short. While the business is normally considered safe, A.I.G. had reinvested proceeds from the business into mortgage-backed securities to earn a higher return. Those investments have since sunken in value.

Nearly $44 billion was paid out to 20 firms, most of which were banks. (One non-bank that appeared on the list was the Citadel Investment Group, the giant hedge fund based in Chicago. It received about $200 million.)

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/aig-discloses-counterparties-who-received-224-billion/

beware the grammar police.

Some think the packaging is more important than what the package contains.

You know, just like Obama.

but any moron can get a gun.

you don't have half the talent Oprah has.