Berlusconi declares "state d' ergenza " and the troops hit the streets throughout Italy - Italy commits subs to US / NATO " fight against terror "

Italy is a country riddled with corruption. Politicians, nationally and locally - global mafias headquartered in the South.

The criminal gangster Berlusconi, is back in power again, fighting off the lingering charges which also involve the husband of the longest serving labour Cabinet Minister after Gordon Brown.

Berlusconi has established an anti crime wave and pushed and rushed legislation through parliament last month aimed at stemming illegal immigration - typically he also declared a state of emergency that gave police and local authorities added powers to tackle immigration-related problems.

The square still shine, the sub sparkles in the afternoon on the fountains of Rom but at 0700 hours Agust 3rd 3000 troops were deployed alongside Police units throughout Italy's major cities - Palermo, Florence, Naples and Turin.

1,000 troops are stationed in Rome even patrolling outside The British Embassy - including 35 glamorous ladies and Italy's fabled crack paratrooper squad the Folgore.

The troops are not inthe sunshine but at railway and Metro stations, metro stops, near immigration detention centres.

The troops can only stop, search and question suspects the police have the powers of arrest. Soldiers were also stationed in other cities, such as Milan, where they patrolled outside the Duomo and also in Palermo, Florence, Naples and Turin.

Interior minister Roberto Maroni and his defence colleague Ignazio La Russo have both insisted the measure will help cut down crime, which has risen sharply in recent months.

The plans are for an initial 6 month deployment , with a further 6 months - and a budget of some 40 Mn Euros has been allocated.

This of course is not a new initiave a crime wave in Naples in 1997 was handled inthe same way but in a local fashion - Sicily also saw them after a Mafia bomb campaign in 1993-4.

Of course they bring back memories of the "years of lead" (anni di piombo ) in the mid 1970s, when the Red Brigades carried out a series of spectacular kidnappings including the murder of Christian Democrat leader Aldo Moro.

It also brings memories of the NATO / CIA Gladio operations styarting with the starting with the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing by neofascists in Milan on 12 December 1969, killed 16 and injured 90.

This was balamed on the left wing - a loose journalistic classification for anarchists, communist and deniers of state authority - it was eventually owned up to by The neofascist Vincenzo Vinciguerra was finally arrested in the 1980s for the bombing, and confessed that this was a false flag attack attack had been intended to force the Italian state to declare a "state d' ergenza " Prime Minister Mariano Rumor did not rise to the bait and Vinciguerra explained how the Italaian SISMI military intelligence agency had protected him, allowing him to escape to Spain.. Neo-fascist terrorists from Ordine Nuovo were accused of the crime, along with a US naval officer David Carret, connected to the CIA and involved in political espionage.



Fo those who want to follow up the history of Gladio and the war of tension andthe role of the CIA the study Secret Warfare : Operation Gladio and NATO's Stay-Behind Armies also the Italian Parliamentary investigation (in Italian) Il terrorismo, le stragi ed il contesto storico-politico1995 .



This report with the authority of the Italian Government details terrorist activities in Italy during what they then called the Cold War - Right-wing terrorist acts are exposed as the result of the activities of the Italian secret army Gladio. By operating outside the law and by not being subject to parliamentary control, Gladio undermined the functioning of the democratic system. In order to avoid such situations in future, the parliamentary commission requests reforms, including a reform of the state secrecy laws, the storage of administrative documents, and the intelligence services. (See Guradian report on this report)

Mariano Rumor would not introduce a "state d' ergenza " and as a result was bombed but he wasn't injured.

Berlusconi has introduced (without a whimper) a state of emergency and no doubt people like Dipartimento Studi Strategici Antiterrorismo, (DSSA) will be happy.

Italy works with NATO and the US on anti terrorism warfare in the Med.

Meanwhile the Italian Navy have ordered at a cost of 900 Mn Euros 2 new submarines from Fincantieri for building at their Muggiano shipyard in collaboration with the Germans - ( Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft AG (HDW) called the “Todaro”, long type U212A which will be 56 meters long. Delivery is expected in 2015 and 2016.(See video reviewing facilities of this submarine here) The Todaro was delivered March 29, 2006.It is not known if these will include tube-launched cruise missiles - which is planned eventually for this class and may explain the extra length.

The Type 212 submarine, is said to be silent as it does not require to surface to re-charge batteries daily. The Todaro uses a hydrogen fuel cell that will allow it to run at low speeds for up to THREE WEEKS without recharging.

Three Dolphin class submarines built for the Israeli Navy are of a similar design, but using conventional diesel-electric propulsion.

The prototype of this fuel cell air-independent propulsion system.(AIP) equipped submarine diesel / electrically powered Taranto based , ITS Salvator Todaro (S526) was the first visit of an Italian submarine to the U.S. since World War II. Todaro's port visit with their crew of 27 was in support of the Theodore Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group joint task force exercise (JTFEX) and demonstrates the U.S. and Italian Navy's continued commitment to building a strong working relationship.

JTFEX is designed to test and evaluate a battle group's reactions to multiple wartime scenarios and is the final certification for a battle group preparing to deploy. (See also Mayport visit)

The Italian Navy since 2001 ensures a permanent NATO availability of an Italian unit in Mediterranean for the 'Active Endeavour's plans, to carry out naval operations of presence and control, support to the crisis' situations management and assistance in case of disasters. This was established after 9/11 and the Todaro acts under the operational control of Comsubsouth and is " deployed with surveillance and fight to the international terrorism purposes" in the Nediterranean.

Todaro represents the Italian contribution to NATO in the fight to international terrorism by sea. This type of submarine has useful caracteristics for such work as the Type 212 is capable of operating in as little as 20 metres of water, allowing it to come much closer to shore than most contemporary submarines. This gives it an advantage in covert operations, as SCUBA-equipped commandos operating from the boat can surface close to the beach and execute their mission more quickly and with less effort.

A notable design feature is the prismatic hull cross-section and smoothly faired transitions from the hull to the sail, improving the boat's stealth characteristics. The ship and internal fixtures are constructed of nonmagnetic materials, reducing significantly chances of it being detected by magnetometers or setting off magnetic naval mines.

Meanwhile it was announced at the end of May that the Todaro submarine will carry out an intense training program with American Navy to test the silence of the sub in which they are showing intense interest and has operating characteristics (silence)unmatched by any other NATO sub (other than the German Navy U212's).

Il Todaro, sommergibile della classe U 212, effettuerà un intenso programma addestrativo con la Marina statunitense per affinare le procedure operative nel settore subacqueo, svolgere una serie di prove per verificare le prestazioni dei sistemi e delle apparecchiature in diversi condizioni ambientali, infine interagire con gruppi navali complessi nei diversi scenari operativi.

At the end of the exercise they will end up in New York celebrating Columbus Day in October... probably also to swap memories of a NATO exercise in the 1970s when the (really small) legendary Italian diesel SSK Toti targeting a USN CV and surfacing less than a thousand yards smack dab in the middle of the CVBG (Carrier vessel Support goup) . All the American Admiral in charge could say is that they were "playing along". Then the incident was hushed up.

Which happened again recently when a lone South African submarine S101 -- or the SAS Manthatisi (german buuilt type 209-1400 commissioned in November 2005) left some Nato commanders with red faces as it "sank" all the ships of the Nato Maritime Group engaged in exercises with the South African Navy off the Cape coast.

It is also said that Norwegian Ula class SSKs have on several occations taken out entire Task Groups on exercises. During the NATO exercise Joint Winter in 2004, (pics here) one sub sank the entire invasion fleet and were ordered to leave the exercise for 72 hours.

Wheat , corn, soya prices at record levels - demand exceeds world supply, fertiliser, farm and fuel costs rise - food costs jump and inflation follows

Dubya and Gordy Brown are struggling with inflation - the dumb bastards have avoided the stunning rise in grain prices which will hit even their rigged consumer price indices hard this summer as these costs hit the retail stores.

Lord King Speech at the Mansion House 16th June 2007...

"Our central view remains that inflation will fall back this year as the rises in domestic gas and electricity prices last year drop out of the annual comparison, and the recent cuts in prices feed through to household bills."

Well that was obvious nonsense and all the double firsts at the Treasury ciouldn't see the problems of the world grain markets either - or that they would feed through to inflation. See post Lord Patel Australian drought - poor spring rains - higher world wheat prices in prospect - low stocks and heavy demand and Nov 1st 2006 World wheat shortages loom - prices soar

In 1973 along with the oil shock , the world price for wheat went up six-fold. Wheat / corn/soya prices ricochet through the food supply chain -

1. Higher prices for cereal and breads eaten directly by humans
2. Higher prices for milk and meat produced from livestock fed a grain-based diet
3. Using corn as an ethanol feedstock has changed the economics of the corn market
4. Labour shortages in agriculture will be affected as farm jobs came in from fields and tend livestock in barns.

Winter Wheat futures at record levels

The Minneapolis Grain Exchange MGEX, established in 1881, is the only market for Hard Red Spring Wheat,which is one of the highest-protein wheats grown. It is found in bagels, high quality breads and cereals.

Director of Marketing at the MGEX Nancy Krull,said on November 29th that , :“Strong demand for wheat continues to drive increased volume in the Hard Red Spring Wheat contract,”

MGEX set a new daily trading volume on November 28th of 5,260 contracts traded bringing the annual total in excess of the Total volume for 2006 of 1,655,034.

The soaring price of wheats is reflected in the interest in trading, 2 memberships at MGEX traded last week at the new record high price of US$275,000 continuing the membership price rally that began last January when memberships were trading at US$73,000.

On 21st December near month March 2008 contracts closed at US$ 10.78 - they broke the US$10 barrier on December 5th which was then an all time high... they have settled back a little from a new all time high of US$10.98. (they were trading at around US$8/9 in early September.)

Canadian and US droughts in 2007.

In early December Statistics Canada trimmed their crop forecast from down from 526 Mn bushels to 503 Mn bushels....way down on the 684 MN bushels in 2006 but uin 2007 lower pantings and unfavourable heat reduced the crop dramatically. (MGEX futures jumped 30 cents in the day)

The rise in futures in September was driven by the USDA cutting the 2007/8 crop forecast from 500mn to 479 MN bushels.,,in the drought year of 2006 the US crop was down to 460 Mn bushels.

The Australian government on 5th December released a new estimate of the size of their drought-stricken wheat crop of 12.7 MMT (466.6 million bushels). That is up slightly from the October estimate of 12.1 MMT, but is still only about half of normal production.

World stocks low, production forecasts low, demand and costs up = higher wheat prices

With a reduced wheat crop and worldwide rise in living standards,...the rush to biofuels, and disappointing crop yields, foreign buyers are helping the price rise.The US Department of Agriculture forecasts global stocks of wheat will fall to a 47-year low of 9.3 weeks and corn (maize) will fall to a 33-year low of just seven and a half weeks.

India recently bought 12.6 million bushels of wheat for February delivery at US$10.89 per bushel.

Of course producer cost are rising .. diesel for farm eqipment, for driers and natural gas to produce chemical fertilisers - Urea has risen 86% in dollar terms over the past year (virtually all imported in the US) , and ammonium phosphate 150%.

Estimates for this year’s wheat production suggest the world is consuming more than it is producing. The International Grains Council estimates world production at 603m, ( a rise of 4% on last year) and consumption at 611m tonnes.

NB
Soya bean prices are at a 34-year high - the price has soared by more than 30 % since mid-summer to over 11 dollars per bushel for many of the 2008 futures contract months. Corn (maize) prices are at an 11-year high...17 % up from mid-summer- although demand has suffered for ethanol production and livestock feeding have slowed because of reduced profitability in both industries.

Durum wheats, mainly for pasta production are are still in that $15-$16 range, and have been as high as US18 per bushel according to the North Dakota Wheat Commission. That's still about three times higher compared to the last several years and prices earlier this year.



This share price chart for US Panera Bread (company mission?A loaf of bread in every arm® ) shows the impact of higher costs ona very successful nationwide (US) retail chain as flour prices eat into costs.

Panera Bread Company owns and franchises 1,115 bakery-cafes under the Panera Bread® and Saint Louis Bread Co.® names as of September 25, 2007. With its identity rooted in handcrafted, fresh-baked, artisan bread, Panera Bread is committed to providing great tasting, quality food that people can trust. Highlighted by antibiotic free chicken, whole grain bread, select organic and all-natural ingredients and a menu free of man-made trans fat, Panera's bakery-cafe selection offers flavorful, wholesome offerings.


Panera Bread Q3 2007 Earnings Call Transcript October 24, 2007

"We are not currently committed forward for 2008 in our flour purchases. So, this commodity remains a potential source of earnings volatility for next year. Here is how the price of wheat flows into our cost. We expect to use approximately 140 million pounds of flour in 2008. That is equivalent to about 3.25 million bushels. So, a move of $1 in the price of a bushel of wheat translates into about $3.25 million change in our cost. Wheat futures for 2008 now average about $7.70. And our 2008 target assumes wheat at this price.

The $7.70 price is about $2.50 above the average we will pay in 2007. So this creates a potential of more $8 million hit to earnings or $16 per share. We think we’ll be able to offset much but not all of this potential impact through further price increases beyond those planned for November.

So, our target for 2008 assumes a net $2.5 million hit for increased wheat prices. If wheat prices are below our targeted cost of $7.70, we’ll take less price. If they are higher we will strive for a greater increase in order to keep the earnings impact to $.05 per share.

Now, when we cannot control the price of wheat, we can respond to it intelligently. So, our purchasing team continues to carefully monitor the market. We take some encouragement from the fact that wheat futures for late 2008 are now lower in price than for early in the year reflecting the market's belief that the prices will ease."

See in previous years - "changes in the mix of products sold in the Au Bon Pain stores along withhigher flour prices reduced the manufacturing contribution per dollar of retail sales and raised percentage food cost. " (SEC Filing ) "These efficiencies were partially offset by increased ingredient costs (higher flour"(SEC Filing)

Panera also holds a 51% interest in Paradise Bakery & Café, Inc.®, owner and franchisor of 53 bakery-cafes as of September 25, 2007.


It may be of interest that Neal Yanofsky, President of the Company, has left the company effective January 4, 2008. Yanofsky is leaving the Company to pursue other career opportunities.

Diesel launderers jailed for duty and VAT fraud

Measham is a pretty Midlands village with a defunct colliery and a huge car auction site near the brewing centre of Burton on Trent. It also housed a massive fuel laundering site which was run by three men who were sent to prison today for 13 1/2 years in total.

At Coventry Crown Court today, for their part in an illegal fuel-laundering scam, resulting in the evasion of over £2 million in excise duty and VAT . Damian Mulholland (39) of Beaver Crescent, Maghera, County Londonderry, got 6 years Brian Patrick O'Doherty (49) of Coventry, got 5 years and Jagdevpal Jandu Singh (41) Wolverhampton, got 2 1/2 years under the Customs & Excise Management Act 1979.

Diesel fuel and rebated fuel for use in agricultural machinery is coloured with red dye in the UK and green dye in the Republic of Ireland it must not be used in road vehicles. Dyed red diesel sells for 23p a litre while the clear white fuel sells at approx 87p per litre in the UK.

HM Revenue & Customs Officers (HMRC) in an undercover operation in 2005 showed how rebated oil (red diesel and kerosene) collected from a licensed distributor was laundered or mixed and then sold to the retail market as duty paid road diesel and ultra low sulphur diesel.

The gang were also smuggling, laundering and mixing rebated oil (green diesel) from the Republic of Ireland. (May 17th 2005 Lord Patel reported a similiar sized case in Northern Ireland " Ghosts launder fuel in NI...." where no-one was arrested.)

The fraud involved the laundering and distribution of over four million litres of fuel over an eight-month period.

In court the mechanics of the operation were disclosed in considerable detail.

The details of a bon fide company, Taz Construction were hi-jacked and used by O'Doherty to purchase , 34,000 litres of kerosene in several fuel tankers in August 2004, for which he paid cash.

This fuel was then sold using a bogus company called Mac Oil based in Manchester, operated by others involved in the fraud.

After observing the gang for some time the HMRC moved and a fuel mixing plant was dismantled and quantities of kerosene and green diesel were seized at premises in Lizard Lane, Tong Forge near Telford, Shropshire and also at a Measham, Swadlincote warehouse a fully operating oils laundering plant was dismantled.

O'Doherty was stopped by Police on the M6 driving a tanker containing 25,000 litres of illicit fuel. Fuel was also seized from the tanker's running tank.

Defrauding the revenue is not a victimless theft, in cases like this it usually involves widespread pollution by harmful chemicals, and often the funding of terrorist gangs and para-military organisations. If you buy the stuff ity can also fuck your engine up.

Chinese announce Biomass "Bio-Oil" production by Pyrolysis at low cost. from crop wastes

Indian based Zeenews reports that Professor Guo Qingxiang Dean of the School of Chemistry and Materials Science of the University of Science and Technology has been able to demonstrate a new process known as Pyrolysis Liquefaction Technologies- that decompose biomass using heat which then turns it into liquid they call "bio-oil".

Using crop waste and stalks, stalks, chaff and sawdust they claim the resultant bio-oil is 56.8% ( a curiously precise figure !) cheaper than diesel oil and 39.1 % cheaper than heavy oil. The bio-oil only produces two-fifths of heat energy from the same amount of diesel oil and only half that of heavy oil, Guo said.

The technology, which can produce over six kg of bio-oil from 10 kg of sawdust and five kg from stalks, has passed appraisals by provincial department of science and technology.

Xinhua repport that one tonne of bio-oil in the Chinese lab only costs about USD$100. The lab also invented a machine that can process 120 kg of biomass per hour.

Traditionally, 700 million tons of stalk and chaff left left from harvesting are burnt causing pollution but is a huge waste of energy, Guo - but it does retrun essential minerals etc to the soil.

Bio-oil can be used directly in heating boilers and as fuel for motor vehicles after further refining. Ethanol can also be extracted from bio-oil.

This appears to be a variant on the wartime Fischer Tropf method of coal liquefaction which the Nazis used , and latterly South Africa - apparently it becomes economic when oil is US$50 a barrel and above ?

In the 1990's several fast pyrolysis technologies reached near-commercial status. Six circulating fluidized bed plants have been constructed by Ensyn Technologies, with the largest having a nominal capacity of 50 t/day operated for Red Arrow Products Co., Inc. in Wisconsin. DynaMotive (Vancouver, Canada) demonstrated the bubbling fluidized bed process at 10 t/day of biomass and is scaling up the plant to 100 t/day. Ensyn develop industrial applications for its core technology, Rapid Thermal Processing or (RTP™), and exploits these applications commercially in the biomass sector (see Footnote).Biomass Technology Group, BTG (The Netherlands) operates a rotary cone reactor system at 5 t/day and is proposing to scale the plant up to 50 t/d. Fortum has a 12 t/day pilot plant in Finland. The yields and properties of the generated liquid product, bio-oil, depend on the feedstock, the process type and conditions, and the product collection efficiency, they all have the virtue of low Sulphur and Nitrous oxides ourtputs.

Direct hydrothermal liquefaction involves converting biomass to an oily liquid by contacting the biomass with water at elevated temperatures (300-350°C) with sufficient pressure to maintain the water primarily in the liquid phase (12-20 MPa) for residence times up to 30 minutes. Developers include Changing World Technologies (West Hampstead, NY), EnerTech Environmental Inc (Atlanta, GA) who use "bio-solids" ...er human sewerage, and Biofuel B.V. (Heemskerk, Netherlands)- no website.

Ensyn Coproration (EC), develop industrial applications for its core technology, Rapid Thermal Processing or (RTP™), and exploits these applications commercially in the biomass sector.

More information on research in this field is available at the
U.S. Department of Energy website and the associated Biomass website.

FOOTNOTE

Ensyn's largest RTP™ Biomass Refinery has recently been constructed in Renfrew, Ontario. This will convert 160 green tons of wood per day into natural resin products (75% yields are claimed) , co-polymers, other chemicals, liquid fuel and green electricity. Other projects are being developed with strategic partners in Canada, the USA and Europe.

Ensyn "bio-oil" fuel has been commercially available for for industrial heat since the early 1990's.

Ensyn (website) believes that RTP™ is the only bio-oil technology in the world that is operating commercially, and that RTP™ is the only commercial technology capable of producing large quantities of bio-fuel,

Biomass Technology Group have a useful downloadable leaflet (PDF Alert) which explains pyrolysis very well and also a 400 page book "Handbook Biomass Gasification" for Euro 60.

Ghosts launder fuel in NI....

Associated Press newswire reports ( 7.00pm Tuesday 17th May) 2 plants for the illegal laundering of dyed fuel have been uncovered in South Armagh (NI). They had a capacity of 3 Mn litres a year or a potential loss to the revenue of £1.5Mn. Dyed red diesel sells for 23p a litre while the clear white fuel costs about 87p per litre. (24th March 2005 another one was discovered in the same area with a 20,000 litres per week capacity = annual revenue loss =£0.7 Mn)

They were shut down in a joint operation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Revenue and Customs service.

3,250 litres of highly toxic acid waste was removed....the cleaning proces involves using large volumes of sulphuric acid.

Here is the kicker, the "...joint operation by the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Revenue and Customs service." was so effective that no arrests have been reported. (24th March 2005 another one was discovered in the same area with a 20,000 litres per week capacity = annual revenue loss =£0.7 Mn).... you got it, they didn't catch the perps then either...even the TV Bill would have had an "obbo".

On Wednesday 13th October 2004 a plant was dismantled in the Moneymore (!) area of Co Tyrone. The plant had the capacity to process approximately 30,000 litres of fuel per week = annual revenue loss of £0.9 Mn. Customs seized a tanker and in seperate premises another tanker plus 1500 litres of fuel, 210,120 cigs and 46.6 kgs of hand rolling tobacco. One person was arrested and questioned on the tobacco seizures then released.