Free Republic

Energy workers in Britain have staged unofficial walkouts as protests over the use of foreign workers spread. Contractors at Total's Lindsey refinery in Lincolnshire began a protest on Wednesday after a project to build a hydro desulphurisation unit was given to an Italian company. Unions say the firm has excluded local workers from the contract and has shipped in workers from abroad instead. Advertisement They argue that it flies in the face of promises made by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2007 to provide 'British jobs for British workers'. Around 1,000 angry demonstrators gathered at a car park opposite the...

Political Tensions Force Total to Pull Out of Iran by David Jolly, The New York Times Media Group International Herald Tribune 7/11/2008 URL: http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=64066 Total, the French oil giant, has decided to back away from planned investments in Iran because of political uncertainty, a company official said Thursday. Total's withdrawal from Iran, including a planned massive gas project in the South Pars gas field, makes it the last major Western oil company to give up on Iran amid pressure from Washington to stop doing business with the Tehran government. The United States, Israel and other Western countries say Iran is...

France's Total to Stay in Venezuela, Iran February 13, 2008 Reuters Barbara Lewis and Marie Maitre PARIS -- French oil company Total pledged on Wednesday to stay in Venezuela and Iran, two OPEC nations locked in disputes with the United States, but said it was still too dangerous to invest in Iraq. Total has been at odds with Washington for years about its investments in Iran and faces growing domestic pressure as President Nicolas Sarkozy hardens France's stance against Tehran's nuclear activities. Total has a long-standing deal to develop gas from Iran's huge South Pars field, but the project has...

DENVER - The Earth's shadow will creep across the moon's surface early Tuesday, slowly eclipsing it and turning it shades of orange and red. The total lunar eclipse, the second this year, will be visible in North and South America, especially in the West. People in the Pacific islands, eastern Asia, Australia and New Zealand also will be able to view it if skies are clear. People in Europe, Africa or the Middle East, who had the best view of the last total lunar eclipse in March, won't see this one because the moon will have set when the eclipse...

Total Recall A French oil giant's deals with a rogue regime--this time in Iran. Don't stop us if you've heard this one: French oil giant Total SA is being investigated for illicit dealings with a rogue regime in the Middle East. This time it's Iran, but maybe you recall its experience with another dictator and something called Oil for Food. A French judge is investigating bribes that Total executives allegedly paid Iranian officials to secure business in the Islamic Republic. Last week, the judge issued preliminary charges of abuse of company funds and corruption of foreign agents against Chief Executive...

Total's CEO Charged in Iran Probe By PIERRE-ANTOINE SOUCHARD The Associated Press Thursday, March 22, 2007; 6:26 PM PARIS -- An investigating judge filed preliminary charges Thursday against the chief executive of Total SA in a corruption case linked to a 1997 contract with Iran, the company and judicial officials said. Preliminary charges were filed against Total Chief Executive Christophe de Margerie for alleged abuse of company assets and corruption of foreign agents, the judicial officials said. They were not authorized to speak publicly about the case and provided information only on condition of anonymity. De Margerie, who replaced Thierry...

LONDON - The moon darkened, reddened, and turned shades of gray and orange Saturday night during the first total lunar eclipse in nearly three years, thrilling stargazers and astronomers around the world. The Earth's shadow took over six hours to crawl across the moon's surface, eating it into a crescent shape before engulfing it completely in a spectacle at least partly visible on every continent. About a dozen amateur astronomers braved the cold and mud outside the Croydon Observatory in southeast London to watch the start of the eclipse. "It's starting to go!" said Alex Gikas, 8, a Cub Scout...

A Paris judge has launched an investigation into allegations that Total, the French oil and gas group, paid bribes to win a $2bn gas contract in Iran almost a decade ago. The move is a further blow for Christophe de Margerie, Total's head of exploration and production, who was involved in negotiating the Iranian South Pars contract and is due to take over as chief executive in February. Mr de Margerie, head of Total's Middle East activities from 1995 to 1999, is facing separate charges over allegations that he was involved in corruption during the scandal-plagued UN oil-for-food programme in...

WASHINGTON, Sep. 1, 2006 – A test of the Ground-based Missile Defense System today was a total success, said Air Force Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III, the director of the Missile Defense Agency. Obering called today’s test, the first operational one for the system, a huge step in fielding of the missile defense shield. He said he feels good about the capability for the United States to defend itself from an attack from a rogue nation. The test was the most realistic to date without a nation like North Korea launching the real thing, the general said. “The test...

Iraqi security forces celebrate at a ceremony in Samawah, in southern Iraq, on July 13. Full responsibility for the province was handed over to the al-Muthanna provincial government by Coaltion forces. It is the first of Iraq's 18 provinces to have total responsibility for security. SAMAWAH - Hundreds gathered in Samawah, the capital of al-Muthanna province in southern Iraq, to witness the formal passing of responsibility for security and governance from Coalition forces to Iraqi control today.  Al-Muthanna is the first of Iraq’s 18 provinces to have complete responsibility for its own security. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki attended...

Father kills 4 children, self after spousal disputeAssociated Press Posted on Wed, Jul. 05, 2006 An undated photo provided by the Gustine Police Department shows twins Alyssa Branscum, 5, left, and Taylor Branscum. The twins and their two other siblings were found dead in their Gustine, Calif., home Tuesday, July 4, 2006, officials said. The children apparently died of gunshots to the head, and their father, Trevor Branscum, 38, died of a self-inflicted wound, Mayor Jim Bonta said. Police Sgt. Vince Inaudi said the children appeared to be sleeping when they were shot. The evidence was consistent with a murder-suicide,...

A young mother who was murdered, along with her three children, in Columbus last week, were loved by many in her old hometown of Warren, and they showed that love today. The funeral for Jameila West, daughter Jameire, and sons Trevion and Jakia, was held today at the family's church in Warren. Beyond the uplifted hands and voices at the Greater Apostolic Church in Warren, is the devastating loss of four loved ones, but only two caskets. 27 year old Jameila West and her 3 year old son Jakia lie in one, 10 year old Jameire and 5 year...

Millions of American investors, as well as their pension funds, mutual funds and other institutions, have unsuspectingly invested their hard-earned wealth in foreign companies that aid and abet the Islamofascist theocracy in Iran. If you are reading this article, you’re probably one of those unsuspecting investors. You may not directly own shares of corporations that do business in and with the Islamic Republic of Iran, but chances are your 401K, mutual fund portfolio or public pension system is invested in such companies. Congratulations. A portion of your money is going toward arming and training Hezbollah terrorists, sheltering members of Al...

Those familiar jingles could be a thing of the past if a health campaign succeeds FOR 60 years the tinny jingle of Greensleeves that announced the arrival of the ice-cream van has been an indelible memory of childhood, but that sound may soon be removed from suburban streets. Health lobbyists have decided that ice-creams are too much of a danger to children’s health. MPs and health officials are planning a series of measures across the country that are already forcing Mr Whippy and his helpers into meltdown. Under an amendment to the Education and Inspection Bill to be put forward...

IRAN AWARDS ENERGY BIDS TO WESTERN MAJORS NICOSIA [MENL] -- Iran has decided to award energy development contracts to Western majors. An Iranian state oil firm said the Oil Ministry would grant Total, Royal Dutch Shell and Repsol upstream development contracts in the South Pars gas field in the Gulf. The Pars Oil and Gas Co. said the three Western contractors would develop phases 11 and 13 of South Pars. France's Total was expected to be awarded the contract to develop Phase 11 of South Pars, regarded as the largest reservoir of natural gas in the world. Iran wants Total...

In reviewing the career of French diplomat Jean-Bernard Mérimée, two key moments stand out. In June 1995, Mr. Mérimée, then France's ambassador to the U.N., announced he was largely satisfied with the progress Iraq had made on disarmament and wanted sanctions lifted sooner rather than later. And this week, a French investigative magistrate brought Mr. Mérimée in for questioning on an allegation that he took a bribe from Saddam in the form of 11 million barrels of oil. So now we know what French officialdom means by the word "multilateralism": One part involves speechifying about the need for international "consensus"...

WASHINGTON -- Within hours of Hurricane Katrina passing through the Gulf Coast region, the Air Force started responding by not only taking care of its own people and infrastructure, but also assisting in rescue and recovery missions. "The total force of the Air Force -- the active duty, Guard and Reserve -- have responded aggressively and effectively to the challenge of the Hurricane Katrina (aftermath)," said acting Secretary of the Air Force Pete Geren. "We currently have over 8,000 Air Force personnel deployed right now (in support of operations)." Air Force units have provided aerial photography and imagery of the...

Not too many years ago, Americans had never heard of sensitivity training, and if a facilitator of it tried to convince them that they needed to be conditioned with it, he would have been told, very quickly and in no uncertain terms, to take a hike. Yet step by careful step, sensitivity training began to be stealthily inserted into our society. Today, Americans simply submit to it without much thought, let alone any protest. In a recent column entitled, “Pavlov’s Dogs versus the Spirit of Truth and Freedom,” I detailed how progressive (communist) homosexual operatives had successfully brainwashed a large...

PARIS, (AFX) - The French government has described accusations by human rights groups that it was protecting the French oil company Total's activities in Myanmar as 'unfair and baseless' and insisted it was observing EU sanctions on the military junta ruling the Asian country. A spokeswoman for the foreign ministry told journalists that Paris is 'especially preoccupied by the situation in Myanmar.' The spokeswoman noted that the European Union decided in April to renew for a year sanctions against the Myanmar regime and said that 'France is strictly and forcefully applying these sanctions.' The comments were in reaction to a...

TEHRAN, Iran Apr 26, 2005 — Day after day, Iranians shrug off the prospect of U.N. sanctions, Washington's key threat against Iran's unwillingness to abandon nuclear ambitions and for good reason: Tehran has powerful friends with keen financial interests in blocking such punishment. But even if Iran cannot secure a Russian or Chinese veto of any attempt at imposing U.N. Security Council sanctions, it has weathered an American embargo for 25 years. Many Iranians, while acknowledging some pain, credit the U.S. embargo with making them more self-reliant. A Foreign Ministry spokesman, exasperated by repeated warnings for Iran to end its...