Free Republic

Washington—In what can only be stated as incomprehensible, Phillip Morris-an operating company of Altria Group, Inc—and Halliburton have been named on a short list for a bailout. The bailout being proposed is $1 trillion, which could make it the largest bailout in America’s history. The two companies feel that since everyone else is getting a bailout, they should get in line for their slice of the pie as well, noting that this bailout mania “has created an incessant need for companies to stop trying to be successful.”

Major oilfield service companies are reaffirming their ability to increase profits over the long term, a rebuttal to a sharp sell-off in their shares. Halliburton Co. on Monday said it posted a third-quarter net profit of $687 million excluding a charge related to a retirement of some debt and to a small acquisition. With the charge, the world's second-largest general energy service firm in terms of market capitalization had a loss of $21 million. Per-share earnings not including the charge came in at 76 cents, slightly beating expectations. Executives at Halliburton and other oil service companies say they expect business...

The number of fires and deaths caused by faulty wiring at U.S. bases in Iraq is larger than the military has admitted, The New York Times reports. The newspaper said it obtained internal documents put together for congressional and Defense Department investigations on the work done by contractors. The documents show that many soldiers have suffered non-lethal shocks in their barracks, the report said. The work was done by KBR, one of the largest military contractors and a former subsidiary of Halliburton. Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth died from an electrical shock while taking a shower in January. The death focused...

KBR Corp. said today it would buy BE&K, the 48th largest general construction contractor in the country with 9,000 worldwide employees, for $550 million. KBR, the nation's fourth largest general contractor, was spun off last year as its own publicly traded company from Houston-based Halliburton Corp., the largest contractor for military services in Iraq.

Homeland Security Contracts KBR to Build Detention Centers in the US Sources:New America Media, January 31, 2006 Title: “Homeland Security Contracts for Vast New Detention Camps” Author: Peter Dale Scott New America Media, February 21, 2006 Title: “10-Year US Strategic Plan for Detention Camps Revives Proposals from Oliver North” Author: Peter Dale Scott Consortiium [sic], February 21, 2006 Title: “Bush's Mysterious ‘New Programs’” Author: Nat Parry Buzzflash Title: “Detention Camp Jitters” Author: Maureen Farrell Community Evaluator: Dr. Gary EvansStudent Researchers: Sean Hurley and Caitlyn Peele Halliburton’s subsidiary KBR (formerly Kellogg, Brown and Root) announced on January 24, 2006 that it...

"Halliburton", gang rape, and fear of arbitration: the Jamie Leigh Jones case In February 2006, Jamie Leigh Jones filed an arbitration complaint, complaining that, for her administrative assistant job with KBR in Iraq, she was placed in an all-male dorm for living arrangements, and a co-worker sexually assaulted her. (KBR says the co-worker claimed the sex was consensual, though Jones claims physical injuries, such as burst breast implants and torn pectoral muscles, that are plainly not consistent with consensual sex. The EEOC's Letter of Determination credited the allegation of sexual assault.) Fifteen months later, after extensive discovery in the arbitration,...

A Houston, Texas woman says she was gang-raped by Halliburton/KBR coworkers in Baghdad, and the company and the U.S. government are covering up the incident.

KBR - formerly Kellogg, Brown and Root – is an American construction and engineering company, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, and a long-standing private contractor to the US military. Their successful collaboration with our military dates all the way back to World War II and continues up to today, including valuable and productive partnerships in Iraq and Afghanistan. KBR is based in Houston. On October 27, 2007, a very small group of civilian contractors converged upon Houston for another “conference” of former contractors in Iraq. The group of approximately 20 – 25 attendees, many who have various claims against KBR’s...

If the "peace" movement holds a protest and no one in the press covers it, does it still exist? If Americans are sick of the war, they're also sick of the "antiwar." Even the media have grown antiwar-weary. Rallies on Oct. 27 drew only perfunctory news mentions. The peaceniks have become a bipartisan political problem, now that the Democrats who control Congress haven't dared to placate the radicals by cutting off money for the troops. Cindy Sheehan is threatening to run against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But suddenly -- surprise, surprise -- the media aren't interested in Sheehan's new crusade....

Halliburton's 3Q Earnings Up 19 Percent Oct 21 05:47 PM US/Eastern By JOHN PORRETTO AP Business Writer HOUSTON (AP) - Halliburton Co. continues to benefit from placing greater emphasis on its operations in the Eastern Hemisphere, where expanding business helped the company post a 19 percent rise in third-quarter earnings. The Houston-based oilfield services company said Sunday its net income rose to $727 million, or 79 cents a share, in the July-September period from $611 million, or 58 cents a share, in the year-ago period. The most-recent results included a favorable income tax benefit of $133 million, or 15 cents...

Hunt is a privately-held independent oil company based in Dallas, Texas. A third partner, Impulse Energy Corp., also has a stake in the project. "We're very pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of these landmark events by actively participating in the establishment of the petroleum industry," Ray L. Hunt, Hunt's CEO, said in a statement. Hunt, who is also on the board of Halliburton, has been a key fundraiser for President George W. Bush, who named him to the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board.

So, it has come to this: A 20-year-old Illinois college student is whining because she won’t be able to vacation in Costa Rica, because she got pregnant, because she couldn’t get birth control anymore, because it cost $20-a-month more at the university clinic, because its federal funding was cut, because President George Bush signed the Deficit Reduction Act. Boy, doesn’t that beat all. Bush lied to us, got us into an unnecessary war and now he got a 20-year-old pregnant and denied her the entitlement of drinking mai tais on a tropical beach. You can’t make this up. Here’s the...

What will Washington be like when the Barbarians leave town next year? Will this hapless burg feel the relief of an epic enema? Will this home of flagrant hypocrites and BS ejaculators, stuffed from snout to stern with an indigestible lumpen elite of corrupt souls, moral myopics, and wannabe-messiahs — will it actually change? We know what Washington has become since the Barbarians took over in 2000. Who back then, when Bush was campaigning as a "compassionate conservative," could have foreseen what his Cheney presidency would bring us? 1. The turning of our proud Army and CIA into low-life torturers....

Warning: Unless you put up a roadblock this minute, soon Florida Republicans will "Dubai" all the state's assets. Once again, Elephants in the Florida Legislature have sold their souls, assuming they ever had any. Routinely, they barter the public interest for a buck. This time, in a scheme that only Halliburton could hail, House Republicans just passed H.B. 7033, giving private companies virtual monopoly ownership of most of Florida's toll roads. (Democratic state Reps. Susan Bucher and Keith Fitzgerald told me they were outraged.) That's right! If the scheme becomes law, corporate interests will be able to make a profit...

MoveOn polled its membership without including the Lee alternative, offering a choice of only Pelosi's plan or nothing. Amazingly, Eli Pariser of MoveOn has admitted that the reason MoveOn did this was because they knew that their members would favor the Lee amendment. The following is from a report on Salon.com: ...Pariser is simultaneously admitting that he knew his members favored the Lee amendment to quickly end the war by defunding it, and claiming that he did not know whether his members preferred Pelosi's weak anti-war gestures to nothing at all. This makes no sense. Are we supposed to imagine...

The end of MoveOn.org is now within visible sight as well, because it has become obvious that the organization exists to serve the interests, not of its rank and file members, but those of (to use Cindy Sheehan’s words) “elitist wannabe power-brokers” like Eli Pariser and Namrita Chaudhary, along with the agenda of international financier George Soros. On March 26, Michael Moore posted the following Cindy Sheehan article as a “must read” opinion piece at MichaelMoore.com. (We have changed @ in E-mail addresses to “at” to prevent harvesting by spam software.) "A month ago I wrote that MoveOn began efforts...

Halliburton’s Energy Services Group (ESG) is opening a new manufacturing center in Monterrey, Mexico, to meet its customers’ increasing demands for energy services products. The grand opening of the facility is expected to take place in May 2007. When operations at the center reach full capacity, the 9,290-square-meter facility will initially create 50 new direct jobs and additional associated supplier jobs. “Halliburton chose the state of Nuevo Leon for its economic leadership,” said Tony Wham, vice president of Manufacturing, Halliburton. “We have been operating in Mexico for more than 60 years, and Monterrey is a leading industrial area with an...

Hear ye, Hear ye... "Billionaire George Soros has quietly invested $62 million in the purchase of more than 2 million shares of Halliburton, the major government contractor criticized by his own Open Society Institute and the activist group he funds, MoveOn.org." http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1794262/posts BUT in the last two days: "Halliburton shares appeared to stabilize on Wednesday as a stream of positive analyst comments boosted investor confidence following a brutal Tuesday sell-off." http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/21/halliburton-expectations-update2-markets-equity-cx_er_0321markets14.html?partner=yahootix The stock (HAL) has basically lost $2.5 per share in the last two days

It is war profiteering of the most despicable, duplicitous kind. And, no, it’s not Halliburton. It’s your very own Congressional representatives, who are churning through billions of our tax dollars for pork barrel spending, with no accountability and no oversight while our active duty soldiers’ needs go unfulfilled. In the midst of a Democrat Congress vowing to "clean up" wasteful spending in the War on Terror, spending is rampant and irresponsible. We are bargaining away the lives of our soldiers and success in the war with no-bid contracts and out-of-control spending. This blood money is not being spent by Halliburton,...

Business: Democrats gleefully demonize oil companies, outlaw offshore drilling and, in Hillary Clinton's case, vow to expropriate profits. In that kind of climate, why the surprise that Halliburton is moving to Dubai? Halliburton's pullout from its Houston headquarters Monday for a new home in the Middle East drew umbrage from the very Democrats who've had the oil-services company in their gun sights for years. Clinton led the charge, hinting at more punishment ahead. "I think it raises a lot of very big concerns, and we're going to be looking into it in Washington," she warned. One of industry's most innovative...

Halliburton's Dubai Move Sparks Outcry Members Of Congress Criticize Move As Insult To U.S. Soldiers And Taxpayers (CBS News) DUBAI, United Arab Emirates U.S. oil services firm Halliburton Co. is shifting its corporate headquarters and chief executive from Houston to Dubai in a move that immediately sparked criticism from U.S. members of Congress. Halliburton Chief Executive Dave Lesar, speaking at an energy conference in nearby Bahrain, said he will relocate to Dubai from Texas to oversee Halliburton's intensified focus on business in the Mideast and energy-hungry Asia, home to some of the world's most important oil and gas markets. "Halliburton...

HOUSTON, Texas – Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) today announced that its board of directors has approved a plan under which Halliburton will dispose of its remaining interest in KBR, Inc. (NYSE: KBR) through a split-off exchange offer to Halliburton’s stockholders. Under the anticipated terms, Halliburton will offer the 135,627,000 shares of KBR common stock that it owns to Halliburton’s stockholders in exchange for shares of Halliburton common stock at an exchange ratio to be determined by a specified formula. If the exchange offer is completed but not fully subscribed, Halliburton will distribute to its stockholders by means of a special...

Report reveals billionaire funder of left-wing groups invests more than $62 million

Billionaire George Soros has quietly invested $62 million in the purchase of more than 2 million shares of Halliburton, the major government contractor criticized by his own Open Society Institute and the activist group he funds, MoveOn.org. The holdings were disclosed in a quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission by Soros Fund Management LLC. Vice President Cheney is the former CEO of Halliburton. As WND reported, another outspoken leftist who had criticized Halliburton was discovered to own stock in the company – filmmaker Michael Moore. "I think people find that stuff funny – Michael Moore owns Halliburton...

Normally, I'm willing to overlook the hypocrisy of the liberal elite. If Al Gore and his Hollywood cronies want to fly around on gas-guzzling, atmosphere-polluting private jets while railing against global climate change, I'm willing to overlook it. But the latest move by globe trotting, hyper-liberal billionaire George Soros borders on being too much. According to papers filed with the SEC, in the fourth quarter of 2006 Soros purchased nearly 2 million shares of ... hold your breath ... Halliburton. The Halliburton shares reportedly went for an average purchase price of $31.30 a share. That puts Soros' total investment in...

United for Peace and Justice, the lead organizer for a mass march and rally against the Iraq war to be held in Washington, D.C. next month is promoting a music CD that features a song about murdering Halliburton executives.Released in September, the CD by David Rovics, Halliburton Boardroom Massacre, is being sold online by Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Overstock among other online retailers.United for Peace and Justice is being given a portion of the proceeds from the sale of the CD.The title song on the CD is written from the perspective of (an anti-American leftist pretending to be) an...

Top News Story Ukraine 'Sold Nuclear-Capable Missiles to Iran' 2.2.2005 A senior lawmaker alleges that Ukraine sold nuclear-capable cruise missiles to Iran and China in violation of international non-proliferation treaties and is demanding the new government launch a full investigation. The allegations were made in a letter by lawmaker Hrihory Omelchenko and addressed to President Viktor Yushchenko, a reformist who took office last week. Yushchenko, who takes over from Leonid Kuchma, has promised a thorough investigation of corruption and misdeeds that allegedly flourished during his predecessor’s 10 years as president. Kuchma allegedly sanctioned the sale of sophisticated radar systems...

NBC Nightly News just did a hit piece on Halliburton, alleging accounting discrepancies. There is absolutely no proof -- only allegations. But this is one week from the election, and NBC is in lockstep with the DNC to do everything possible to help the Democrat party takes over. A hit piece on Dick Cheney's old company was in order. Note that NBC has yet to point out that Halliburton was the Clinton Administration's company-of-choice for war reconstruction efforts. When Halliburton was underbid on a contract, Clinton stepped-in and awarded a contract to Halliburton anyway. And Al Gore gave Halliburton an...

BAGHDAD — Recent media reports have suggested elements from the 1173rd Transportation Company abandoned civilian contractors charged to its care during a Sept. 20, 2005, ambush. According to Multi-National Force-Iraq senior officials, such ideas lack the pertinent details and are false and inaccurate. A U.S. military investigation into the convoy attack determined the U.S. military unit did not abandon the convoy and, instead, responded properly to repel the insurgents, protect the civilians involved, and assist casualties. On Sept. 20, 2005, a vehicle convoy of 12 Halliburton trucks and a security element consisting of five HUMVEES departed from LSA Anaconda en...

<p>FORMER PRESIDENT BILL CLINTON ON NOT CAPTURING BIN LADEN: 'At least I tried. That's the difference between me and some, including all the right wingers. They ridicule me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try. I tried. So I tried and failed'...</p>

Whistle-blower says Halliburton overcharged for Iraqi recreation

Sept. 4, 2006 — He's tackled Wal-Mart and Fox News with his scathing documentaries. Now, filmmaker Robert Greenwald is releasing a documentary which argues that private companies helping to fight the war in Iraq don't have the nation's best interests in mind. "Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers" debuts in limited release this week, and presents an assault on companies that provide the kinds of services in Iraq that the military once handled itself, such as supplying food, water and mail delivery for the reconstruction. In the film, former KBR/Halliburton water purification specialist Ben Carter is interviewed and says when...

American universities rank among the best in the world, but they also boast another, more dubious distinction: They are home to some of the world’s most radical academics. Last month, one of these select individuals, UC Berkeley professor Hatem Bazian, brought his hate-filled show to two extremist Islamic Centers in South Florida. Both of these institutions are in the process of building large-scale mosques in their respective cities. And, given that their guest had previously called for attacks on the United States, the question naturally arose: Were these institutions looking to make friends in the community or to start a holy war?Past...

DALLAS — Republican Gov. Rick Perry's former liaison to the Legislature is working once again for the Spanish company that won the rights to develop the state's $7 billion Trans-Texas Corridor toll road project. Lobbyist Dan Shelley worked for the firm as a consultant just before he went to the governor's office, a connection first revealed in 2004. State officials denied any connection between that circumstance and the decision, three months later, to award Cintra-Zachry the huge highway contract. Now Shelley has left the governor's office, and he and his daughter have large contracts to lobby for the road builder,...

08.18.06 CorridorWatch.org MEMBER BULLETIN CINTRA'S INSIDE MAN - DAN SHELLEY Cintra consultant turned Governor Perry's legislative aide, turned Cintra lobbyist. It's hard to keep up with who is working for who. Or is it? Austin lobbyist Dan Shelley has been one of Governor Perry's aides and Cintra's inside men. Shelley worked for Cintra making introductions to TxDOT just in time to see them get a winning proposal submitted for the Trans Texas Corridor. Then he worked for Governor Perry just in time to lobby the Legislature to protect and strengthen laws benefiting Cintra. Now he's back working for Cintra again...

Trust that conspiracy theorists will attempt to exploit the fifth anniversary of 9/11 to spread sensational claims and sensational lies. Moreover, it's a fair bet sensationalist media will collaborate, not because the squawk show host or headline scribbler believes the poisoned foolishness, but because anger, fear and trembling sell. Conspiracy theories are public ghost stories of a sort, campfire horror tales tarted up with government devils, corporate witches and other demons-of-convenience. However, Popular Mechanics magazine and Hearst Communications have provided a handy antidote to the conspiracy theorists' more noxious rhetorical poisons. "Debunking 9/11 Myths: Why Conspiracy Theories Can't Stand Up...

I'm looking for advice from anyone here who's worked for Halliburton. I'm thinking about applying for a job in Afghanistan doing Information Technology work. This is a civilian position, and does not require security clearance. I don't have any military background but I have never been in trouble, I'm 26 and am in good physical shape. Can anyone tell me about the length of these contracts, how much they pay, what the work is like, basically any information? I did some research and didn't find much. I've been on FR since about 2000 and this is the first vanity I've...

Remember back in 200 when George W. Bush was running for President? Even if you didn't support him, you were somewhat anticipating a Presidency with this amusing guy who didn't know the names of foreign leaders and who spoke with the eloquence of a second greater. Remember how after he was elected,Comedy Central even saw his Presidency as being whimsical enough to create a show, "That's my Bush." It was a laugh a minute back in those Bush salad days. Now we have quagmires in Iraq and Afghanistan, a budding world war centered around Israel, $3 a gallon gas, $85...

The nitwits who are incapable of understanding the grivity of lying to get us into Iraq, and then outing a CIA agent as retaliation for exposing this lie....well, they don't deserve to be American citizens because they lack the intelligence to vote!

The army has decided to end a controversial multibillion-dollar contract with Halliburton, the oil services company, to provide logistics support to US forces in Iraq. Under a new contracting scheme, to be launched late this year, three contractors will be used for the army's contracted logistics work, such as providing meals, washing clothes, transporting fuel and delivering mail. An additional contract will be awarded to a single company to manage the workload. Army officials said the change would improve planning and accountability, and provide better contingency options if one contractor performed poorly. But the shift comes amid charges from government...

According to CNET, the US Justice Department is giving the full Jack Abramoff to a bill sponsored by Sen Mike DeWine (R-OH) requiring all ISPs to build a dedicated info-structure for government eavesdropping. If this passes, yours, mine, and everybody’s Web surfing will be fair and legal game for Big Blowhard to peruse. What are its chances? 2006 is another election year soon to be tainted by Karl Rove’s with-us-or-against-us strategy. If he has his way by this fall, legislators who don’t support the Bush Adm’n’s newest national security measures may as well show up at campaign events wearing a...

The Army is discontinuing a controversial multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide, a decision that could cut deeply into the firm's dominance of government contracting in Iraq. The choice comes after several years of attacks from critics who saw the contract as a symbol of politically connected corporations profiteering on the war. Under the deal, Halliburton had exclusive rights to provide the military with a wide range of work that included keeping soldiers around the world fed, sheltered and in communication with friends and family back home. Government audits turned...

What's wrong with you people? Your corrupt, despicable party has control of everything and you still complain. Whine and bitch. Whine and bitch. I feel sorry for you. Bill O'Reilly, Tom Delay, Rush Limbaugh mentality makes for a new meaning for Republican "CONVICTION".

After spending 8 months in Gulf War I (Aug. 1990 to April 1991) with an elite unit, and now in Afghanistan this soldier has definite opinions on the Iraq/Afghanistan war, politicians and supporting our troops. The threat of civil war in Iraq and the outbreak of suicide bombing in Afghanistan heighten concerns here at home. Here is a front line assessment of implications for the future. Question: Recent reports indicate that Iraq Sunnis are turning on Al Qaeda. If they are driven out of Iraq, what are the implications for action in Afghanistan? Answer: "Most likely suicide bombers have made...

Capital movements due to fears over a possible US-Iran war, financial speculation or market meltdown are driving crude prices upward. Milan (AsiaNews) – Capital movements on commodity exchanges, not low supply are pushing oil prices upward. Brent crude has reached US$ 74 a barrel because of lowered refinery use and a backup in crude inventories that has left many a super tanker waiting to unload. Oil storage has become a problem since facilities are full in the Persian Gulf, Europe, the Americas and even Asia. Even Israel, which built huge embargo-busting oil depots to allow the country to survive every...

In one of the largest sums ever donated to charity by a U.S. public official, Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife Lynne gave away nearly $7 million last year to help the poor and to medical research. According to income tax information released by the White House on Friday, the Cheneys' adjusted gross income in 2005 was $8,819,006. The sum was largely the result of Mr. Cheney's stock options from Halliburton and royalties from three books written by Mrs. Cheney. The Cheneys gave more than three-quarters of their income - $6,869,655 - to several charities, including George Washington University's...

SAUDI ARABIA has invited bids for the construction of a security fence along the entire length of its 900km (560mile) desert border with Iraq in a multimillion-pound project that will attract interest from British defence companies. The kingdom claims to be winning the battle against al-Qaeda’s Saudi wing but wants to protect itself against Saudi insurgents returning from Iraq.

The way that so many people, especially politicians, went nuts over the ports deal reminded me once again what a difference party designation makes. One only has to compare how harshly Sam Alito was treated during his confirmation hearings with the way that the ACLU’s chief counsel, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, sailed through hers. Getting back to the matter of the ports, I’m still not sure if it was a good idea or a bad one to allow the United Arab Emirates to manage those installations on the east coast. But I’m awfully curious why some of those same people who...

The truth is out. The “truthiness” is no longer in doubt. There is a minimum of one confirmed concentration camp built on American soil in rural Wyoming. Okay, many have heard the rumors, dismissed them as kook theories, believed by nobody, perpetuated by the ABB (Anybody but Bush) crowd or as a topic of interest for the Art Bell and Jeff Rense radio audience. An undisclosed DHS (Department of Homeland Security) order was placed with DigitalGlobe to photograph the near completed work camp facility only listed by location as “central Wyoming” on the mistakenly published photographs. DHS accidentally placed these...

John McCain is running for President 2008. As a republican candidate, John McCain could win the republican nomination. Many feel if John McCain runs against Hillary Clinton, he would win the presidential election in 2008. John McCain graduated from the Naval Academy in 1958. After graduation, John McCain became a Naval Avaitor. For over 5 years, John McCain was a Vietnam captive. John McCain became a US Senator for Arizona in 1986. Senator John McCain is now Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, and is known for his successful passing of Campaign Finance Reform. Express your...