Surprise! Big Oil found manipulating the price

And the bigger surprise is, it's BP.

Detailed allegations by federal investigators that BP traders illegally manipulated propane prices in 2004 could hurt the oil and gas industry's image at a time when consumers and Congress are upset about soaring energy costs and record profits.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said Wednesday that BP traders — with the consent of senior management — "purchased enormous quantities of propane to establish a dominant" position in the market and then withheld fuel in order to drive prices higher.

Details of the alleged scheme, compiled with help from internal company documents and recorded conversations, were outlined in a civil lawsuit the CFTC filed against BP Products North America Inc., a Warrenville, Ill.-based unit of London-based BP PLC.

BP denied any wrongdoing, but a former employee admitted taking part in a conspiracy and agreed to cooperate with criminal prosecutors.

And more information about BP

Earlier this week, a group of prominent black leaders including the Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton announced a boycott of BP, saying the company gouges consumers and racially discriminates in its business practices. The company was targeted, Jackson said, because none of its upper-level executives are black and there are no black owners among its hundreds of U.S. distributors.

Frequenr flyer program NOT for flyers

I'm not sure why it's an issue, but I saw this new today. It's basically saying the frquent flyer programs nowaday are too much like reward programs of credit cards instead of a program designed for a real frequent flyer. I'm not sure about that, since the supermajority of my miliage in my WorldPerk account is still from flight (EWR <-> TPE). I have lots of bonus miles, but they are flight related too. My personal feeling is that you're not earning any significant miles by purchasing or so, maybe I'm wrong.

Twenty-five years later, travelers and industry experts say the programs have flown far off course from their original purpose. Yet it’s doubtful the airlines will ever change from their present direction because the programs have turned into huge revenue producers on their own, a $4 billion industry that’s even been listed by airlines as assets in bankruptcy and merger and acquisitions negotiations. Airlines have created a big business out of selling frequent flier miles to outside companies that in turn use miles to woo their own customers.

"In the 1990s, the programs probably changed from less of a loyalty program — that’s what it was all about — more into a rewards program that now the masses of people that just don’t fly 20 times a year have the ability to earn free tickets,” said Jeff Robertson, managing director of Delta’s SkyMiles program.

An interesting Constitutional dispute

I do agree that the President can say something about his personal feeling on the laws, but saying I may not enforce it? I don't think so.

"It's a challenge to the plain language of the Constitution," said Arlen Specter, a Republican whose Senate Judiciary Committee opened hearings on the issue. "There is a sense that the president has taken signing statements far beyond the customary purview."

At the White House, Press Secretary Tony Snow said, "There's this notion that the president is committing acts of civil disobedience, and he's not. It's important for the president at least to express reservations about the constitutionality of certain provisions."

I'm sure the President can say "I personally do not agree with this law," but it's a totally different story when he wrote he'll bypass it.

The bill-signing statements say Bush reserves a right to revise, interpret or disregard measures on national security and constitutional grounds. Some 110 statements have challenged about 750 statutes passed by Congress, according to numbers combined from White House and the Senate committee. They include documents revising or disregarding parts of legislation to ban torture of detainees and to renew the Patriot Act.

And the troubling part of this story is, I'm not sure this can be decided by the Courts, where it should go, since no one seems to have a standing on this issue.

An advertisement

Just realize I haven't advertised this great movie on this blog.

Southern GOP trying to block Voting Rights Act

Because it improperly targeting innocent southern states? Is it a joke?

Former Bush aid found quilty

It was a corruption case, funny enough he was found quilty on obstruction and false statements. Don't take me wrong. Those are serious felonies too.

David Safavian, a former Bush administration official accused of covering up assistance he provided to Republican influence-peddler Jack Abramoff, was found guilty on four counts of obstruction and making false statements.

Safavian, the former chief of staff at the General Services Administration, was accused of concealing from GSA ethics officials, the GSA inspector general and Senate investigators his assistance to Abramoff.

Dubai is now controllong the ports

I don't have any first hand into, but CNN said so, so I guess it's sort of true.

CNN reports that Dubai is still controlling the ports, and that Congress silently killed legislation that would have helped ensure the ports stay American-owned. Lou Dobbs thinks the Republican Congress and the Bush White House have played a fast one on the American people.

That's really dirty if that is true. And, it's nothing positive for the Republicans.

Microsoft to attack Apple on iPod

I'm not sure it's a wise move, but it may redo the history of Windows if they do it right.

Microsoft Corp. is developing a music and video device to compete with Apple's iPod and creating its own music service to rival Apple's iTunes, sources familiar with the plans said Friday.

A Microsoft-branded music service would reflect a digression from an existing strategy to provide software for other such services, just months after the company announced a service called URGE with Viacom Inc.'s MTV Networks.

Most iTunes rivals charge monthly fees to access a catalog of entertainment, but some allow consumers to buy single songs for about $1 each. Microsoft's service will emphasize the pay-per-download, or a la carte, model, sources said. A subscription component will also be offered, according to early accounts of the planned service.

Microsoft joins a crowded field of competitors in the music service sector, including an entertainment device and service expected to be launched by Internet retailer Amazon.com Inc .

Amazon plans to heavily subsidize the cost of the digital device, much like wireless service companies do with the cell phones they sell, one source said. Some of the devices will come preloaded with music.

Gee, it looks bloody there. BTW, I added an Amazon ad banner. Feel free to buy something through my link.:P

Dem. are cleaning their own house

I think it's a good thing to do, although on the legal aspect it's violating the innocent presumption.

House Democrats, determined to make an election-year point about ethics, voted 99-58 Thursday night to strip Rep. William Jefferson of his committee assignment while a federal bribery investigation runs its course.

The rank and file acted despite a last-minute plea by the embattled Louisiana lawmaker and persistent complaints from the Congressional Black Caucus that there was neither rule nor precedent for the action.

Some people worry that doing so may alienate black people, but in my opinion it's quite clear that it's not about race, but about what you have done. FBI said they have a tape.

Power of Facebook

I have to admit it was quite odd for me when I heard facebook.com be mentioned more than twice on the past Class Day. Seems its power is far above "connecting people"......

Bob Corker is running for Bill Frist’s Senate seat, and he’s already demonstrating that he can be just as great a politician as the Senator Daktari himself. You see, Senator Frist hasn’t been particularly happy with, well, us for (along with others) publicizing the wacky (but harmless!) exploits of his strapping young sons. Not very happy at all. We even suspect he might be partly responsible for this.

So, after seeing all that, you’d think Mr. Corker might have let his lovely daughter know that she probably shouldn’t let pictures of her making out with chicks and dancing at underwear parties show up on a publicly accessible social networking website. Thankfully for all of you, they never had that talk.

Remeber to go into the link to see the picture. I don't want to have copyright problem with the Facebook. BTW, here is my Facebook profile.

Cristiano Ronaldo the most wanted by gay

Ok. This news has no significance. Just found it interesting.

Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo has been anointed the pin-up boy of the World Cup by Dutch gay magazine 'Gay Krant.

It is the second successive major championships that the Manchester United star has won the accolade.

Ronaldo may make sense. I don't know how long ago they said gay prefer Thierry Henry to David Beckham, which I thought a bad taste.

Rove won't be charged for any crime

I have to say I'm disappointed, but have no idea about what's really going on. Everyone on the left have had a huge hope on Fitzgerald's investigation, and now suddenly everyone is unsure about everything.

Attorney Robert Luskin said that special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald informed him of the decision on Monday, ending months of speculation about the fate of Rove, the architect of Bush's 2004 re-election now focused on stopping Democrats from capturing the House or Senate in this November's elections.

"In deference to the pending case, we will not make any further public statements about the subject matter of the investigation," Luskin said. "We believe the special counsel's decision should put an end to the baseless speculation about Mr. Rove's conduct."

Kerry almost certainly won Ohio - NYT

I know it's an old story and I seldom cite news from Rawstory, but they claim it's an article from New York Times, and I'm not a subscriber of TimesSelect. Honestly, according to their excerpts, I don't think it contains any news; I've known all the claims for nearly two years.

In the 2004 presidential election, Senator John Kerry (D-MA) "almost certainly would have won Ohio if all of his votes had been counted, and if all of the eligible voters who tried to vote for him had been allowed to cast their ballots," writes columnist Bob Herbert for Monday's edition of The New York Times.

No one has been able to prove that the election in Ohio was hijacked. But whenever it is closely scrutinized, the range of problems and dirty tricks that come to light is shocking. What's not shocking, of course, is that every glitch and every foul-up in Ohio, every arbitrary new rule and regulation, somehow favored Bush.

Mebane told me that he compared the distribution of voting machines in Ohio's 2004 presidential election with the distribution of machines for a primary election held the previous spring. For the primary, he said, "There was no sign of racial bias in the distribution of the machines." But for the general election in November, "there was substantial bias, with fewer voting machines per voter in areas that were heavily African-American."

This is probably true, but definitely bad to be talked publicly

Gee, seems Browniw is really pis0sed at Bush and so on.

This was the text of the email message to Brown read on the air: "I did hear of one reference to you, at the Cabinet meeting yesterday. I wasn't there but I heard someone commented that the press was sure beating up on Mike Brown, to which the President replied, 'I'd rather they beat up on him than me or Chertoff.'"

It's perticularly interesting that this thing was disclosed on CNN's Wolf Blitzer by Michael Brown....

Youth is important to the future

Of course it is politically, but it is now also financially. You can win money on that. OK. You may not be able to, but someone will.

Rappaport planned to announce the plan to award grants on Friday at a convention of liberal activists in Las Vegas. The donors plan to award up to a dozen grants over the next three years that could total $250,000 each to groups or individuals in 12 states. Those states are Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee and Washington.
The donors include Rappaport and her husband, high-tech investor Andy Rappaport, and businessmen Jonathan and Peter Lewis.

BTW that convention is called YearlyKos, if I'm not mistaken.

Recall campaign on in Taiwan

Hmm....I'm not sure how this thing is happening, also not sure whether there is a strog rational basis for recall. In principle, unlike impeachmeant, you can call up a recall as long as there is a strong opposition, but that will definitely introduce too much instability into the society. At some stage I heard introducing the recall case will allow the Legislature to hear and investigate the cases, which is a positive rationale, but I stop hearing that in the recent unfolding, which I'm not perticularly happy with.

Chen, who is to complete his presidency in 2008, is facing mounting pressure over allegations that his wife and son-in-law used his position for personal gain.

The recall referendum would only be held if a two-thirds majority in Taiwan's 225-seat Legislature agrees — an outcome that would require about 35 lawmakers from Chen's Democratic Progressive Party to side with the opposition.

If this thing doesn't havea strong theoretical basis, it better has a strong poltical basis, which I don't see either. I just don't want the whole thing being hijacked.

Update: Frist came for the Class Day

He was here listening to Bill Clinton's Class Day Lecture on finding common values. Seems he's already at Washington, DC. Not sure he'll be here tomorrow or not.

Alert for Hotels.com customers

You may want to flag your credit report for potential fraud. They lost a laptop containing credit card information.

Thousands of Hotels.com customers may be at risk for credit card fraud after a laptop computer containing their personal information was stolen from an auditor, a company spokesman said Saturday.

Both Hotels.com and Ernst & Young mailed letters to Hotels.com customers this past week encouraging them to take appropriate action to protect their personal information.

The transactions recorded on the laptop were mostly from 2004, although some were from 2003 or 2002, the companies said. The computer contained personal information including names, addresses and credit card information of about 243,000 Hotels.com customers. It did not include their Social Security numbers.

Monthly reading report

I got 64 impressions in May 06, peaked on May 16 with 10. Is it what people really interested in?

One thing just occured to my mind

It's known that Sen. Frist will be pushing the Marriage Amendment next week, it's scheduled to start the debate on Monday, and believed to have a vote on Tuesday. I've also been aware of the coming events at Princeton -- it's now the well-known Princeton Reunions, and the Commencement will follow right after, with Classday on Monday and Commencement on Tuesday. I'm not quite sure how young Harrisson Frist '06 would think about this, seems the Marriage Amendment is more important than his graduation from College? I'm not sure not attending your son's college graduation is a great family value. I'm sure John Edwards came for his daughter's in the election year (2004). Or, perhaps he'll fly here for the Commencement, so we're sure that the vote will be held in the afternoon?