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I thought the game plan is to have a plant up by the end of this year. THe guy at the IR firm said that constucting a plant is within a year. So if they get bond approval soon it should be close to end of this year!
I am sure that it will get released within the next couple of months. Maybe the official website will be released with the offical ground breaking constuction for Toms River!
It would take balls to post information like that on a website and risk jail time.
We need someone to driveby the Toms River Site and snap a bunch of pictures to verify the constuction.
THe thing that is sad is the good PRs seem to not move the stock. We all want to see results...Everything has been laid out...Time for some results now. Start building the first FFI plant. I do not think it matters too much if they get +/- 0.5% on their bond money since they are going to make a lot of profit.
Hopefully they have submitted the paperwork for bond approval for the other sites between then and now. Otherwise it might be 1 year before the other sites begin constuction.
Get the website up and running and pro formulate the tech and expected profits/revenues.
FFI also needs after they get some of these above aspects finished, to go to the news media in order to bring national attention to the company. Obviosuly corn is not the future, but most do not know that yet!
He did state that FFI has an ALLSTAR TEAM in place which I believe is true. Lets see what unfolds within the next months time.
I did not say he was a rookie. I said maybe Investor Relations is FOR ROOKIES...
Thank you for the reply...5 plants is great!
He was good and professional...I guess some of my questions I knew were not likely to get answered, but I asked anyways because you never know. He did say to call back if I had any more questions.
Technoman-How many plants did FFI state at the NJEDA meeting that they were working on? You mentioned that FFI stated that they were days away from an exclusive license for sites across teh country. Can you explain more on this aspect....?
I like the technology that FFI plans to incorporate into their ethonal plants. I called the IR for FFI and asked them a bunch of questions, but they were so vague that I could not get the information that I was seeking.
One question that I asked is when was this current agreement signed with StarTech. THe individual said that it is recent. I asked about the bonding approval, how long does it take for final approval and he said that they are working on that now.
I also asked about is there going to be an FFI spinoff and he said that he does not know, that it would be a board decision and that any thing is a possiblity.
I did ask how long is the estimate to construct Toms River ethonal plant and he said that it is within a year.
He also mentioned that FFI is being very agressive right now in getting the company set up and fully operational.
I asked how many ethonal plants does FFI expect to have up within the next 2 years and he did not answer teh question.
I told him that I have been holding this stock for 5 years and taht I wanted to see some results. He seemed impressed taht I have held the stock for so long.
He would not give me teh specific costs data for the projected profit/revenue streams from their Toms River Plant. He said that there is a range a very wide range.
I was disappointed because I knew most of what he told me so I stopped asking further questions. I guess IR is for rookies who know nothing about the company.
Another thing is he has met about 15 employees of FFI, including the lawyers.
I think it means late March or Early April! Coming weeks....however nobody knows for sure. It could be next week.
I remember that..it has been awhile. I read somewhere on this board that the government plans on awarding the Nuclear Detection Contracts this April. I thought it was in June. Nobody knows if NSOL has a working prototype that has been tested...so I guess this round NSOL might miss the billion dollar contract that is going to be awarded shortly.
This statement was made in their last quarterly report. Is NSOL still planning on doing this?
"In addition to our primary business strategy, we are actively researching and attempting to obtain marketing and/or sublicensing rights to fully developed products that fit within our target markets. For example, we have identified and are in the process of obtaining the rights to products for remote detection and disruption of concealed conventional explosive devices. We intend use our expertise to facilitate sales of these products through potential marketing partners and/or integrate them, into new or existing products."
OT: The New Middle East Oil Bonanza
By Stanley Reed, with Peter Coy, John Cady, and Diane Brady in New York, Christopher Palmeri in Los Angeles, and Carol Matlack in Paris
BusinessWeek Online
Beyond the Dubai Ports deal: Where all those billions are going.
If the Burj Dubai development isn't the biggest project in the world, it must be close. At night under floodlights thousands of mostly Asian workers in hard hats swarm over a 500-acre building site in the heart of Dubai, the Persian Gulf emirate that is tiny in size but limitless in ambition. Emaar Properties, a local company, is carving out of the desert a new $20 billion district with 30,000 homes, a Giorgio Armani-designed hotel, an ice rink, and a 30-acre man-made lake.
The centerpiece of the project, which employs more than a dozen American firms, is Burj Dubai, a $1 billion tower. It was designed by Chicago architects Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, and its construction is being managed by New York-based Turner Construction Co. "We are moving up one floor a week, and we are now on the 31st floor," says Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Emaar's chairman. The exact planned height is shrouded in secrecy to foil competitors, but Alabbar promises that the luxury residential complex, more than 2,500 feet high, will be "40% taller than anything else."
Go to BusinessWeek Online to see Dubai's most ambitious buildings
The world's tallest building? In Dubai? The city-state in the United Arab Emirates captured headlines in the U.S. recently when government-owned Dubai Ports World, through its purchase of Britain's Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co. for $6.8 billion, agreed to take over management of several major ports, from New York to Miami. The deal has sparked an outcry among politicians worried that an Arab-owned company could be a vehicle for al Qaeda operatives. The uproar has forced the company to delay its plans in the U.S.
The Dubai Ports deal, though, is just one relatively small episode in the second great Mideast oil boom. The boom is characterized by hugely ambitious projects that are transforming the shores of the Persian Gulf into a Xanadu with some of the most fantastic and expensive structures on earth. The rush of petrodollars is creating enormous private and public wealth and reshaping Gulf business and society.
All this is happening when the other Mideast -- of Iraq, radical Islam, and Palestinian-Israeli relations -- is wracked by violence and strife. That turmoil could certainly threaten the Gulf's prosperity. Just look at what happened in late February when al Qaeda fighters unsuccessfully attacked a key oil facility in Saudi Arabia. But for now the authoritarian regimes running the Gulf are seizing the opportunity to build new economies and satisfy their restive populations with a new level of affluence.
The tale of Mideast money is not just a local story, however. This year, with oil prices stuck in the $55-to-$65-per-barrel range, perhaps half a trillion dollars will land in OPEC coffers -- more than at any time since the boom of the 1970s and 1980s. The Mideast oil states alone will gather in $320 billion in oil and gas export revenues.
Where is that money going, how is it affecting the global economy, and what impact will the boom have on U.S. relations with the region? Those are crucial questions. The last oil boom, from 1973 to 1985, had dire consequences. The oil price spike created a lethal mix of inflation and slow growth worldwide. Arab states, unprepared for their newfound wealth, socked too much money away in U.S. Treasuries and a few international banks. The banks in turn lent the money to Latin American governments. In the end, these countries couldn't pay it back -- and instead triggered a debt crisis that shook the global financial system.
This time around the impact of money-flows from the Mideast does not appear quite so toxic. The oil exporters are spending much more at home on investment and consumption, helping to shore up global demand for goods, and balancing out the effect of their huge export earnings.
But Mideast money is definitely venturing abroad. For starters, a chunk of the billions is going to deals in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Dubai Ports did not just cut a deal for P&O: It also bought the port operations of Florida's CSX Corp. for $1.2 billion. Last year, Dubai luxury hotel group Jumeirah bought the swanky Essex House in New York for an estimated $400 million. Dubai International Capital, the private-equity arm of Dubai Holding, the government's oil money depository, paid $1.5 billion for Madame Tussauds, the British wax museum, and an additional $1.2 billion for a 2% stake in DaimlerChrysler. Mubadala Development Co. of Abu Dhabi acquired a 5% holding in Italian carmaker Ferrari. In the biggest Mideast deal of all, Egyptian cellular operator Orascom Telecom Holding formed a consortium to buy Wind, a top Italian mobile network, for $13 billion. "These investors have an incentive to invest in assets outside the petroleum industry," says Thomas J. Barrack Jr. His Colony Capital LLC recently partnered with Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal to buy the Toronto-based Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Inc. for $3.9 billion.
On the Hunt
The numbers involved in these deals are still small compared with the billions being spent in the region. Bankers in the Mideast, however, say both governments and family companies controlled by Gulf billionaires are becoming more adventurous. Beat Naegeli, the Dubai-based head of Credit Suisse Dubai private banking in the region, says big Arab investors, while still predominantly invested locally, are increasingly on the hunt for equity stakes in overseas companies and real estate deals in New York, London, and Paris. Many of these investors, he says, are currently expanding their private-equity positions rather than putting money into hedge funds -- a good way to diversify. Abu Dhabi and Dubai have multibillion-dollar funds that are scouting for equity investments abroad. "We will see more of that," says Brad D. Bourland, chief economist at Riyadh-based Samba Financial Group, a leading Saudi bank. "This is the tip of the iceberg."
Then there's the Mideast money flowing into U.S. Treasury securities and other passive investments. U.S. government data indicate that OPEC countries held only $67 billion in Treasuries as of December. Most of that was held by the Gulf states, but it's small compared with the giant holdings of China and Japan.
The official figures, though, probably underestimate the clout of Arab money in world capital markets. According to PFC Energy, an energy consultant in Washington, the Mideast oil states hold a cumulative $1 trillion in foreign assets -- stocks, bonds, government debt, real estate, and other investments. In fact, the money isn't easy to trace because unlike the oil boom of the 1970s, today's petrodollars aren't being parked in a few big American and European banks. Instead they are sprinkled around the world through an intricate network of private banks, funds, and offshore financial centers. "There's a distinct lack of hard information on where this money's going," says Mohsin S. Khan, director of the International Monetary Fund's Middle East and Central Asian department.
What's more, the Arab states are now major buyers of goods from Japan, China, and the rest of Asia, where they sell the bulk of their oil. So these petrodollars get recycled as Japanese yen or Chinese yuan -- which the Japanese and Chinese governments convert into U.S. Treasuries. Indirectly, then, oil money is bankrolling U.S. deficit spending. Paul Donovan, a global economist for UBS Investment Bank in London, estimates that petrodollars, mostly channeled through Asia and Europe, are funding up to 45% of the U.S. current account deficit.
While these billions circulate through the global money system, you only have to look around the Persian Gulf to see that huge amounts of oil wealth are staying in the region. Fueled by the oil boom, local stock markets have risen anywhere from over 200% to more than 1,000% in the past four years, despite current sharp corrections in Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Imports from the U.S., Europe, and Asia are soaring.
Yet in contrast to the helter-skelter development of the 1970s, a new and better-planned Middle East economy is rising, shaped by a well-educated business class and powered by a youthful population seeking prosperity. "Look at the demographics of these nations," says Alabbar, 46, who graduated from Seattle University. "They all see what the outside world is all about, and they dream to live like that." Some 65% of Saudis, for example, are 24 years old or younger.
Another important difference: Governments in the region learned harsh lessons when they fell into dire financial straits during the lean period of low oil prices in the early 1990s. They began shifting economic policies to cut waste and make room for once-tiny private sectors to create jobs. Those moves created a healthy environment in which growth could catch fire once oil prices took off starting in 2000. In 2005 real gross domestic product grew a healthy 6.5% in Saudi Arabia, by far the most important economy in the region. "Improved confidence, fear of investing in the U.S. and Western Europe, and the massive amounts of private capital brought home have led to an unprecedented boom," says Fareed Mohamedi, chief economist at consultants PFC.
The region's governments have developed more careful spending strategies. The Saudi government, for instance, has been very conservative in its budgeting, assuming until this year that oil prices would return to $25 per barrel. Now, with $150 billion or so stashed away, Riyadh plans to increase its spending by 20% this year, to about $90 billion. Capital outlays are set to nearly triple, to $33 billion.
Planning Ahead
Much of this money is earmarked for long-term projects. They include a $50 billion, five-year program to build new roads, schools, and hospitals in rural areas; a $9 billion modernization of an oil refinery at Rabigh, with Japan's Sumitomo Corp.; and $14 billion for new production-capacity expansion at Saudi Aramco, the national oil company. "The number of megaprojects with five-year time frames is so big that it ought to sustain a lot of the private sector through this decade," says Samba's Bourland. He figures the private sector will record 8% growth this year, vs. 5% for the overall Saudi economy. In the UAE, private-sector growth has been hitting double digits.
Governments have smartened up in other ways. They are tailoring their infrastructure projects to attract clusters of similar businesses, which gain from being close together. Dubai has established Internet and Media Cities -- office parks wired for high-speed data transmission. Not to be outdone, the Saudis have brought in Emaar to develop a new $27 billion King Abdullah Economic City on the Red Sea coast north of Jeddah. The planners of the new metropolis envision a giant port, and manufacturing businesses including petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals. Some 30% of the equity in the project may be offered to investors on the stock exchange.
All this creates huge opportunities for U.S., European, and Asian companies. Dubai's Internet City has attracted the cream of technology companies such as Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Cisco Systems. "This is a mini Silicon Valley," says Ghazi Atallah, Cisco's Dubai-based emerging-markets honcho. The Middle East represents Cisco's fastest-growing region, with double-digit annual revenue increases thanks to local telecom deregulation and the increasing sophistication of private businesses. Mideast companies are also buying a very high proportion of advanced technology like combined video streaming and data services. "In some cases [customers in the region] are leapfrogging Europe and the U.S.," Atallah adds.
Other international companies such as Fluor Corp. and Bechtel Group Inc. are likely to benefit from the frantic pace of construction, especially in the oil fields. Aircraft makers Boeing Co. and Airbus are selling squadrons of planes in the region, which is seeing the rise of fast-growing carriers like Dubai's Emirates. That airline has an astonishing $37 billion worth of planes on order, including 45 of Airbus' new A380 -- the biggest order placed by any airline for the double-decker megaplane. And between them, Emirates and Qatar Airways have ordered 49 Boeing 777 jetliners. "The Middle East has become one of the three big reservoirs of aircraft sales in the world," along with China and India, says Habib Fekih, president of Airbus Middle East.
Meanwhile, Nabil A. Habayeb, Dubai-based President and CEO for the Middle East and Africa for General Electric Co., says the company's orders for the region leaped by close to 80%, to $8 billion, from 2004 to 2005. Much of that is in big-ticket items like power-generation equipment and aircraft engines, as well as oil-, gas-, and water-treatment facilities. But state-of-the-art health-care equipment and even theme parks are in demand, too, says Habayeb: "The priorities are health care, education, and diversification away from an oil- and gas-based economy."
It's not just the big U.S. manufacturers that are benefiting. International investment bankers are being called in to raise capital for regional corporations interested in taking advantage of the red-hot markets. Saudi Arabia's Prince Alwaleed raised $397 million on Feb. 23 for his Kingdom Hotel Investments, which will be listed on the new Dubai International Financial Exchange and in London. "There is a big backlog of IPOs," says May Nasrallah, head of Middle East investment banking at Morgan Stanley in London, which managed the Kingdom IPO. Among IPOs expected, according to bankers, are an offering by Alwaleed's main vehicle, Kingdom Holdings, and a listing of Showtime Arabia, a broadcaster partly owned by Viacom Inc.
Bankers say the deal flow could really pick up if governments start to sell off their still-considerable holdings. "If governments see the opportunity to tap into this pent-up demand for financial investments and transfer ownership of public entities as the British did [under Margaret Thatcher], I think that would be very good for the market," says Osama Abbasi, co-head of the European fixed income group at Credit Suisse First Boston.
Plenty could still go wrong. Despite all the private-sector growth, the economies of Saudi Arabia and the rest of the Gulf countries are nailed to oil. Oil and gas production is more than 50% of GDP in Qatar and Kuwait and 42% in Saudi Arabia, according to Credit Suisse. Overheating is also a concern, with investors borrowing money to chase local stocks and consumer debt growing to worrying levels in some of the Gulf countries.
The political problems around the region are far from solved. In the worst case, Iraq's troubles could spill over into conflicts between Sunni and Shiite Muslims around the region. How U.S.-Arab relations play out will also prove hugely influential in containing potential strife. The U.S. is on the receiving end of a lot of criticism now, mostly aimed at its conduct of the war in Iraq. Should the U.S. withdraw, though, the Gulf states might find themselves once again under pressure from their bigger, poorer neighbors, Iraq and Iran.
But if the Gulf regimes need the U.S., the opposite is just as true. America needs a stable source of oil for itself and the world, and U.S. companies dearly want to increase an already booming trade with the Mideast. The indirect but powerful role these oil states play in financing the U.S. deficit further enmeshes Washington's interests with the region's, no matter how contentious relations may get over America's foreign policy.
These factors increase the challenge Washington faces in encouraging reform. The authoritarian governments in the Gulf will have to change to keep pace with their wealthy, better-educated populations. They have a long way to go on improving opportunities for women, for instance. While more money in people's pockets buys time, the rulers are facing demands for greater accountability and wider political participation. Some business people even think that oil money could have negative consequences. With financial pressure off, governments may be more likely to delay privatization and other reforms.
Yet it doesn't look like this Gulf boom will fizzle anytime soon, since oil is in such demand. One possible scenario: As global interest rates rise with the recovery of Japan and Europe, worldwide competition for capital will heat up, and the well-heeled investors of the Mideast will become pivotal players in future deals. Oil money's role, then, could just get bigger.
http://biz.yahoo.com/special/port06_article1.html
It has the potential...however many still may be skeptical until a commercialized prototype is unveiled and proven by Department of Homeland Security.
It will really move up if there is performance gurantees which lock in the profits and elminates the risk to investors.
Yes a 300 million gallon ethonal plant will cause the stock price to move up especially after they get the first one up and running. Maybe that is the news in April! I have all of the shares that I can hold. Just waiting for something to get on the NASDAQ!
I assume they are planning 5 plants to be up and running within the next 2 years. After that I am assuming that there are other sites which have exclusive rights for FFI to be developed within 5 years. FFI cannot build all plant locations at the same time. It will have to be developed in stages. Phase I might get the first 5 up. Then stage 2 and so on....I do not think it would be that hard to tie up a site option. Especially if it occured before late 2005.
There is a difference. XTHN just proposed that after the presidents speech when national attention was placed on finding sites for waste to ethonal plants. FFI has been doing this for at least a year maybe up to 2 years in planning which is ahead of the curve so there is a good chance that our sites are the best and most profitable since FFI had most if not all of the choices initially. There are other sites, the question is how many. I hope they have at least 10 to 25 secured with options long term.
It as if the MM know...they tried to get shares at 0.77 as the last shake and they got the shares about 30K. Now its 0.84/0.81. This is still not fast enough.....Does anybodyu think the MM will run it up prior to the news release instead of dipping it down?
Russia is doing similar things as the US is doing in regards to dealing with terrorists.
OT: Russian Law Allows Downing Hijacked Planes 2 hours, 20 minutes ago
MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin signed a measure into law Monday that allows the Russian military to shoot down hijacked planes, the latest in a series of bills passed following terrorist attacks.
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The bill, which was approved earlier by both houses of Russia's parliament, authorizes the shooting down of hijacked planes if it appears possible that terrorists may intend to attack key facilities or populated areas.
The bill also allows the military to attack ships being used in a terrorist act. Shooting the planes or ships would be permitted even if hostages were on board.
The legislation is the latest legal measure to be passed in response to terrorist attacks in Russia in recent years. One of the most sweeping measures pushed by the Kremlin in the wake of the 2004 Beslan school hostage seizure radically changed how local legislative elections are held across the country.
Militants demanding that Russian troops withdraw from the nearby republic of Chechnya seized the school in Beslan, and more than half of the 331 people killed were children. Most died in the climactic conclusion to the siege, when explosions tore through the school and security forces stormed the building.
The anti-terrorism law passed Monday also permits negotiations with terrorists who have taken hostages but bars consideration of their political demands, and calls for armed forces to use Russia-based weaponry against terrorists operating outside its borders.
The bill also permits law-enforcement officials to monitor telephone calls and take control of electronic communications in the area of a terrorist attack.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060306/ap_on_re_eu/russia_terrorism_law
I think it will be the first week of April! Somewhere Patrick said in the comming weeks...That means at last 3 weeks minimum. however that was a couple of weeks or more ago.
Another thing is when things are said and done, everybody will look back and wish that they bought more. What NSOL is about to do, if everything goes well, will make alot of us long shareholders lots of money. To find a stock before it makes the transition to the NASDAQ is very rare. Our returns will be similar to accredited investors and what they seek. NSOL has completed the first phase stock increase in value from 0.07 to $1. THe second phase will push the stock value up high enough to get it onto the NASDAQ and above $10!! Then, if we have the patience to hold on phase III will be potential forward stock splits and long term stock increases to $100+. However, how many will have the strength to hold on if they already have lots of $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$? I will hold the bulk and wait for at least 1 stock split!
THey could say time to buy before XXXX date! However that would take the surprise out of it. FOr a conservative CEO, this is a first time that the company has ever made such a bold statement like that which signals either a good event is about to unfold or he has changed his character which I think is highly unlikely. From talking to the CEO he has always wanted to SURPRISE shareholders! He will do what is right and surprise us all! The shares issued are not that many compared to most OTCBB stocks. The float is still small I estimate it between 12-18 million shares. The team in place is proven...look at all of the high talent onboard. This is not like your typical BS OTCBB stock with CEOs printing shares or hyping with PRs. In time people will look back and be thankful that Partick did things the way he did because this method is how you build Shareholder Value.
That is great information and thanks technoman! As far as time frames April is almost here!
Here is a prediction for you! THey release the great news on Paul browns death! April 6, 2006
The previous post shows how ignorant the US government can be and how bad the system is in general...That is why the best do not work for the government!
Govt. Eyes Error That Cost U.S. Billions By H. JOSEF HEBERT, Associated Press Writer
Thu Mar 2, 4:09 AM ET
WASHINGTON - How it happened or who's responsible is a mystery eight years after the fact. But what may have been a simple error — or perhaps something more ominous — has given a multimillion-dollar windfall to a group of oil and gas companies and could cost the government billions of dollars more in the years to come.
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The Interior Department disclosed Wednesday that a provision was mysteriously deleted from hundreds of federal drilling leases in the late 1990s that would have required producers to pay royalties, once prices reached a certain level, on oil or gas taken from deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
In 1995, Congress exempted deep-water oil from royalty payments to spur development. But a price threshold was included in leases issued in 1996 and 1997 and again in leases sold in each year since 2000 that reinstates the royalties if market prices reach a certain level.
For some reason the language "was inadvertently dropped" from an addendum attached to more than 1,100 leases the Interior Department's Minerals Management Service issued for 1998 and 1999, Walter Cruickshank, the agency's deputy director, told a House Government Reform subcommittee Wednesday.
He said officials have not been able to determine who made the change, although he said it had to have been a human act, not a computer glitch.
"It is clear that there is no record telling people to take the language out," he said, and it was widely known that the department wanted the price threshold restriction in any oil and gas leases as a matter of policy.
In the late 1990s, when oil prices were well below the threshold, the issue may not have attracted attention.
Rep. Darrell Issa (news, bio, voting record), R-Calif., the subcommittee chairman, called the whole matter "suspicious."
"This is a $7 billion word processing error," Issa told reporters. He said some of the leases issued during those two years could remain in effect for as long as 85 years, so the government will be unable to collect royalty payments from oil and gas taken from those leases for decades to come.
While providing no specific number, Cruickshank said the government already has lost "several hundred million" dollars in royalty payments from the 1998-99 leases because they lacked the threshold language. If prices remain high, lost royalties "will be in the billions of dollars," he acknowledged.
The price threshold where royalties must be paid changes yearly. Most recently it was set at about $34 a barrel for oil and $4.34 per thousand cubic feet for natural gas, according to Interior officials. The price of oil Wednesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange was nearly $62 a barrel and the government estimates it will remain in the $50-a-barrel range for years to come. Natural gas prices have been in the $9-per-thousand-cubic-feet range.
Issa said he planned to seek more documents from the Minerals Management Service, and said the issue may need to be investigated by the Justice Department to determine whether there was any deliberate wrongdoing.
When Congress enacted the royalty relief program for deep-water exploration and development, it was embraced by the Clinton administration as a way to spur more energy production in areas where the technology and prospects of success were still somewhat uncertain.
Cruickshank said he had no explanation for why the threshold requirement was taken out of the lease language when an addendum was changed for the 1998-99 leases to reflect other regulatory changes.
"Everyone knew the (price) threshold applied" but people didn't focus on it because of low market prices at the time, said Cruickshank, who joined the agency in 1988 but was not involved in writing leases.
The mystery surrounding the 1998-99 leases is part of a broader question over whether any royalty relief should be given to the industry, given high oil and gas prices and huge industry profits.
The Interior Department estimates that as much as $66 billion worth of oil and natural gas that will be taken from the Gulf of Mexico between now and 2011 falls under the royalty relief law enacted by Congress in 1995. Much of that oil and gas will be subject to royalties under the price threshold provision, which is included in leases other than those issued in 1998-99.
Several oil and gas companies have challenged the legality of the threshold requirement in leases issued before 2001. Kerr McGee, a major natural gas producer, has given notice to the Interior Department that it will soon file a lawsuit arguing that the threshold provisions are illegal.
The Interior Department will "vigorously defend" the ability to impose royalties under a price threshold provision, said Cruickshank. "There's a lot of money at stake."
__
On the Net:
bid ask is locked at 0.80
0.85/0.86
Technoman-Do you have any idea of how many possible sites FFI has exclusive rights on for future ethanol facilities. I would assume that once FFI unveils everything the bulk of their sites are already protected and secured. The competition will jump on the band wagon and any remaining sites that are not secured which have good logistics will be taken fast.
To answer the others I expect that the tech will be from Europe. It is speculation, however NSOL never did unveil why they formed a partnership with that company in Rome, Italy. That was the one with the former high profile European Union staff. I believe that on my previous posts there is one tech which may be the ones FFI uses which uses an acid process to seperate the organic material from the inorganic. This is better than burning it and releasing particulates into the air. Then the carbon soup is prepared in a seperate reactor to be converted by bacteria designed to maximize ethonal production.
I just wished this error would gave occured a few days ago so I could have bought in at 0.82. Ohh well. It is a waiting game and hopefully things will unfold fast and FFI will attract national attention. Herda states that FFI will assume an even great leadership role for FFI. Does this mean it will be bigger than just another ethonal producing company? Do they really have exclusive rights on great technology secured from Europe for here in the states?
Technoman-Do you really think FFI is way beyond than they are percieved to be....Do you think the other 5 plants will be up and running within the next two years?
Do you think FFI will have exclusive rights on the technology?
It was an attachment in a private email. But, it was interesting. The bullets shot out of the antenna area. They were fake cell phones that were really just a modified gun. Similar to the old style pen guns.
OT: Check out this email that I got about cell phone guns. I could not post the video, but it actually shot 4 bullets out of one cell phone.
> > Just picked this up. You may already be aware of these weapons,
>>but I thought I would pass it along anyway. Read this and then watch
>>the video clip.
>>
>> If you get asked to test your cell phone at the airport, this is
>>the reason. Because cell phone guns have been discovered. The attached
>>video clip shows how cell phone guns operate. These phones are not in
>>the U.S. yet, but they are in use overseas. Beneath the digital phone
>>face is a .22 caliber handgun capable of firing four rounds in rapid
>>succession using the standard telephone keypad. European law
>>enforcement officials are stunned by the discovery of these deadly
>>decoys. They say phone guns are changing the rules of engagement in
>>Europe . "We find it very alarming," says Wolfgang Dicke of the German
>>Police Union . "It means police will have to draw their weapons whenever
>>a person being checked reaches for their cell phone."
>>
>> Although cell phone guns have not reached the U.S. yet, the
>>FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the U.S. Customs
>>Service say they have been briefed on the new weapons. All U.S. ports
>>of entry have been alerted. These covert weapons were first discovered
>>in October of 2000 when Dutch police came upon a cache during a drug
>>raid in Amsterdam. In another recent incident, a Croatian gun dealer
>>was caught attempting to smuggle a shipment through Slovenia into
>>Western Europe. Police say both shipments are believed to have
>>originated in Yugoslavia! .. Interpol sent a warning to law enforcement
>>agencies around the world.
>>
>> "If you didn't know they were guns, you would think they were
>>cell phones," said Ari Zandbergen, a spokesperson for the Amsterdam
>>police. "Only when you have one in your hand do you realize that they
>>are heavier than a regular cell phone."
>>
>> Be patient if security asks to look at your cell phone or turn
>>it on to show that it works. They have a good reason.
Ex-Official: Russia Moved Saddam's WMD
Kenneth R. Timmerman
Sunday, Feb. 19, 2006
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A top Pentagon official who was responsible for tracking Saddam Hussein's weapons programs before and after the 2003 liberation of Iraq, has provided the first-ever account of how Saddam Hussein "cleaned up" his weapons of mass destruction stockpiles to prevent the United States from discovering them.
"The short answer to the question of where the WMD Saddam bought from the Russians went was that they went to Syria and Lebanon," former Deputy Undersecretary of Defense John A. Shaw told an audience Saturday at a privately sponsored "Intelligence Summit" in Alexandria, Va. (www.intelligencesummit.org).
"They were moved by Russian Spetsnaz (special forces) units out of uniform, that were specifically sent to Iraq to move the weaponry and eradicate any evidence of its existence," he said.
Shaw has dealt with weapons-related issues and export controls as a U.S. government official for 30 years, and was serving as deputy undersecretary of defense for international technology security when the events he described today occurred.
He called the evacuation of Saddam's WMD stockpiles "a well-orchestrated campaign using two neighboring client states with which the Russian leadership had a long time security relationship."
Ex-Official: Russia Moved Saddam's WMD
The process is very simple and uses freezing points to collect the Tritium and heavy water...It will be easy to apply the technology and scale it up.
THe most expensive aspect will be building the proccess within a refrigeration unit that has temperature controls sensitive enough to handle small increments consistently. There will have to be 2 seperate systems once for melting and one for freezing. I think it would be easier to have several smaller units instead of one large unit.
The amazing thing is how scientist have not thought of using such a technique and the knowledge of different states of matter has been around a long time and nobody thought of using common melting points to freeze the tritium is just mind boggiling...Makes you wonder about the current scientific system. It must be more uncreative that I originally thought.
yes, the DOE has reviewed it...
I believe that a big contract for TWR will get the stock rolling....especially if it with the DOE...IF you see the patent was sent to the DOE for review prior to having a patent issued.
I agree that teh CEO made it sound like they are underway in constructing a prototype, however it says when completed. That can mean many different things or interpretations.
A statement such as, "Testing our existing proof of principle prototype." would have been much more concrete.
I was expecting a more significant PR regarding nuclear detection technology. It clearly states a possibility, but you can put anything out as a possiblity......and nothing will ever happen.
What about TWR construction of a full scale commercial prototype?
One option is that investors will buy the 10 companies stock in order to gurantee that they will have a winner. I do not know how the investment communith will ract, but if you put equal investments intoeach company...NSOL shares are substantially lower than otherbig nbame companies....Most likely NSOL will have an established partner who has good relationship with the Federal government. This partner will probably be represent both NSOL and itself at the competition.
I expect that if NSOL is competing for that nuclear detection competition beginning in March until July 2006, that we will hear something soon....When will the public become aware of teh 10 companies competing at the Nevada testing facility?
OT: Audits: Millions of dollars in Katrina aid wasted
Reports cite scams, unused mobile homes; charges filed against 212
These mobile homes being prepared last September in Riverside, Calif., were among the 26,000 ordered by FEMA for Hurricane Katrina victims but which cannot be used because FEMA's own rules ban them in flood plains.
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Updated: 4:01 p.m. ET Feb. 13, 2006
WASHINGTON - In its rush to provide Katrina disaster aid, the Federal Emergency Management Agency wasted millions of dollars and overpaid for hotel rooms, including $438-a-day lodging in New York City, government investigators said Monday.
Reports released by the Government Accountability Office and the Homeland Security Department’s office of inspector general detail a series of accounting flaws, fraud or mismanagement in their initial review of how $85 billion in federal aid is being spent.
The two audits found that up to 900,000 of the 2.5 million applicants who received aid under FEMA’s emergency cash assistance program — which included the $2,000 debit cards given to evacuees — were based on duplicate or invalid Social Security numbers, or false addresses and names. The GAO audit was first reported by NBC News last Friday.
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Separately, the Justice Department said Monday that federal prosecutors have filed fraud, theft and other charges against 212 people accused of scams related to Gulf Coast hurricanes. Forty people have pleaded guilty so far, the latest report by the Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force said. Many defendants were accused of trying to obtain emergency aid, typically a $2,000 debit card, issued to hurricane victims by FEMA and the American Red Cross.
Thousands of additional dollars appear to have been squandered on hotel rooms for evacuees that were paid at retail rather than the contractor’s lower estimated cost. They included $438 rooms in New York City and beachfront condominiums in Panama City, Fla., at $375 a night, according to the audits.
The two audits were released by the Senate Homeland Security Committee as the panel wrapped up its investigation into the federal government’s preparation and response to the disaster.
Some audit findings
The audits included these findings:
The $2,000 debit cards issued to hurricane evacuees for emergency supplies were often used for purchases unrelated to disaster aid, including: adult entertainment, gambling, a $450 tattoo, a .45-caliber handgun for $1,300 and a diamond engagement ring for $1,100.
There was little or no verification of the names, addresses or Social Security numbers of applicants registering by phone or the Internet for the $2,000 in aid, resulting in thousands of checks issued to those with duplicate or bogus information.
Duplicate payments were made to about 5,000 of the nearly 11,000 debit card recipients who received Katrina aid, first with debit cards and then again via electronic bank transfer.
Although FEMA says it bought 114,341 trailers for $1.7 billion, discrepancies abound in FEMA’s documentation of the number ordered, received and occupied, making it difficult to ascertain the exact units available or whether government-owned property was otherwise accounted for.
FEMA may have bought too many temporary homes — 24,967 manufactured homes obtained for $857.8 million and 1,295 modular homes at $40 million — resulting in 10,777 such homes sitting empty in Hope, Ark., in sinking mud without proper storage. “It was unclear how the decision was made,” the Homeland Security audit stated.
Collins: FEMA ‘failed to prepare’
Sen. Susan Collins, who chairs the committee, decried the findings, noting that a series of audits and hearings after hurricanes in Florida in 2004 highlighted similar accounting problems and had called on then-FEMA director Michael Brown to make immediate changes.
“The problem, once again, is that FEMA failed to prepare for the very type of disaster that happens every year,” said Collins, R-Maine. “This ’pay first, ask questions later’ approach has been an invitation to unscrupulous behavior.”
The audits do not try to estimate a total dollar figure on abuse, but GAO auditor Gregory Kutz told senators it was “certainly millions of dollars; it could be tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.”
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11326973/
AAA Bond Rating which last time I checked was at 5.31%