White House Fact Sheet: U.S. Crisis Support Package for Ukraine. Starting Price: $50m

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
April 21, 2014
FACT SHEET: U.S. Crisis Support Package for Ukraine

President Obama and Vice President Biden have made U.S. support for Ukraine an urgent priority as the Ukrainian government works to establish security and stability, pursue democratic elections and constitutional reform, revive its economy, and ensure government institutions are transparent and accountable to the Ukrainian people. Ukraine embarks on this reform path in the face of severe challenges to its sovereignty and territorial integrity, which we are working to address together with Ukraine and our partners in the international community.

The United States is committed to ensuring that Ukrainians alone are able to determine their country’s future without intimidation or coercion from outside forces. To support Ukraine, we are today announcing a new package of assistance totaling $50 million to help Ukraine pursue political and economic reform and strengthen the partnership between the United States and Ukraine.

Elections and Constitutional Reform: Constitutional reform and free and fair elections are keys to Ukraine’s democratic development. Assistance in this area is a down payment on the country’s democratic development. We stand ready to provide further assistance to the new government after elections.

The United States is contributing an $11.4 million package to support the integrity of the May 25 elections. These funds are being used to advance democratic processes – not to support a particular candidate or electoral outcome. These efforts include voter education programs, transparent election administration, effective oversight of the election process, election security and a redress of infractions, and a diverse, balanced and policy-focused media environment.

The United States is contributing support and monitors to the OSCE’s election observation mission and other monitoring groups. U.S. funded programs will provide at least 250 long-term observers and over 1,700 short-term observers.

We are also sending additional experts to provide advice on issues such as constitutional checks and balances, local governance, public participation, and the establishment of an independent, transparent judicial system.

Economic Assistance: The United States has already signed a $1 billion loan guarantee to help Ukraine meet its financial obligations and protect vulnerable citizens from the impact of economic adjustments. We have also supported Ukraine’s work with the IMF to secure a loan program worth $14-$18 billion. As these U.S., IMF, and European funds begin to flow, we will have technical experts from the U.S. Treasury Department on the ground to help the Ukrainian government allocate them effectively to stabilize the economy and ensure all the regions benefit. Currently, there are three banking advisors in Kyiv and we will be deploying public debt management and macroeconomic advisors in the coming week. We are also committed to providing additional technical assistance in the areas of budget and tax administration.

Energy Security: Over the coming weeks, expert teams from several U.S. government agencies will travel to the region to help Ukraine meet immediate and longer term energy needs.

--Today, a U.S. interagency expert team arrived in Kyiv to help Ukraine secure reverse flows of natural gas from its European neighbors. The team will continue on to Poland, Hungary, and Slovakia in the coming days to work on the details of these arrangements. Reverse flows of natural gas will provide Ukraine with additional immediate sources of energy.

--U.S. technical experts will join with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and others in May to help Ukraine develop a public-private investment initiative to increase conventional gas production from existing fields to boost domestic energy supply. A technical team will also engage the government on measures that will help the Ukrainian government ensure swift and environmentally sustainable implementation of contracts signed in 2013 for shale gas development.

-- Department of Energy and USAID specialists will travel to Ukraine next month to provide advice on how to maximize energy efficiency, which could deliver potentially huge cost savings to Ukraine and rationalize energy consumption.

Rule of Law and Anti-Corruption: The United States is committed to helping Ukraine break the cycle of corruption that acts as a tax on business, an impediment to economic growth, and a drain on public trust in government. Technical advisors from the Departments of State and Justice have already been advising the government on anti-corruption measures. Today we are expanding this assistance program with additional commitments.

--Attorney General Holder will co-host an international conference in London April 29-30 to help identify, trace, and recover proceeds of corruption stolen by the former regime. This is part of an ongoing effort, including work by an FBI investigative team on the ground in Kyiv to help the government of Ukraine recover assets stolen from the Ukrainian people.

--The United States will provide advice and assistance to help modernize Ukraine’s government procurement in accordance with international standards, including the creation of a vetted anti-corruption unit. We will offer technical assistance to that vetted unit to help build a sustainable anti-corruption regime within Ukraine, as we have done with substantial results in other parts of the world.

--Specialized teams of prosecutors and investigators will help the Ukrainian government with other forms of technical assistance to put in place the proper legal and regulatory framework to fight corruption. The teams will also serve as a resource to ensure follow-through and effective implementation.

People-to-People Ties: To further strengthen ties between the people of Ukraine and the United States, we are announcing our intent to establish a new bilateral visa regime that will extend the standard validity of visas for businesspeople and tourists from 5 years to 10 years on a negotiated reciprocal basis.

Security Assistance: In addition to the $50 million package, today we are announcing the provision of $8 million of non-lethal military assistance to allow the Ukrainian armed forces and State Border Guard Service to fulfill their core security missions. The additional supplies include:

Explosive Ordnance Disposal equipment and handheld radios for Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Engineering equipment, communications equipment, vehicles, and non-lethal individual tactical gear for Ukraine’s Border Guard Service.

This is in addition to the $3 million of Meals Ready to Eat and nearly $7 million of health and welfare assistance the United States is already providing to Ukraine. The United States will continue to actively review requests for additional support as Ukraine’s government further modernizes its armed forces and deals with evolving threats.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/04/21/fact-sheet-us-crisis-support-package-ukraine

Ukraine: Joe Biden Promotes U.S. as Fracking Missionary Force

During his two-day visit this week to Kiev, Ukraine, Vice President Joe Biden unfurled President Barack Obama’s “U.S. Crisis Support Package for Ukraine.”

A key part of the package involves promoting the deployment of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in Ukraine. Dean Neu, professor of accounting at York University in Toronto, describes this phenomenon in his book “Doing Missionary Work.” And in this case, it involves the U.S. acting as a modern-day missionary to spread the gospel of fracking to further its own interests.



With the ongoing Russian occupation of Crimea serving as the backdrop for the trip, Biden made Vladimir Putin’s Russia and its dominance of the global gas market one of the centerpieces of a key speech he gave while in Kiev.

“And as you attempt to pursue energy security, there’s no reason why you cannot be energy secure. I mean there isn’t. It will take time. It takes some difficult decisions, but it’s collectively within your power and the power of Europe and the United States,” Biden said.

“And we stand ready to assist you in reaching that. Imagine where you’d be today if you were able to tell Russia: Keep your gas. It would be a very different world you’d be facing today.”
More
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/24/joe-biden-promotes-u-s-as-fracking-missionary-force/print

Original post: http://www.desmogblog.com/2014/04/23/vice-president-joe-biden-promotes-u-s-fracking-missionary-force-during-ukraine-trip

New MAX hydrogen fuel cell bus begins rolling through Birmingham, Alabama

New MAX hydrogen fuel cell bus begins rolling through Birmingham
blog.al.com April 18, 2014

BIRMINGHAM, Alabama -- The yellow and blue bus that is going into service Friday morning marks another green technology addition for Birmingham-area transit.



The Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Authority's MAX fleet now includes one of the few hydrogen fuel cell buses in operation nationwide...

...It is the first of its kind in the Southeast, August has said. The bus doesn't produce gas emissions -- only water -- as a byproduct of its operation.



more:
http://blog.al.com/spotnews/2014/04/new_max_hydrogen_fuel_cell_bus.html

Toyota's new Hydrogen Fuel Cell Car will be able to power a house

CES 2014: Toyota shows off fuel cell car that can also power a home



...The automaker chose the big tech gathering to display the four-seater, which looks like a futuristic Prius, to highlight its advanced engineering. A fully-fueled vehicle will be able to supply enough energy to power a house for a week in an emergency, Toyota said. Its engineers are working on an adapter that will connect the car into a home’s electrical grid.

After debuting the concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in November, Toyota plans to start selling the car in the United States next year. While it has yet to disclose pricing, the company said it has slashed the cost of bringing the car to market by tapping an electric powertrain it already uses on one of its hybrid vehicles and other common parts.

“Fuel cell electric vehicles will be in our future sooner than many people believe, and in much greater numbers than anyone expected,” said Bob Carter, senior vice president of automotive operations for Toyota’s U.S. sales arm.

Toyota is one of three companies pushing forward with fuel cell vehicle cars. Hyundai will start offering one later this year and Honda plans one next year.

http://www.latimes.com/business/autos/la-fi-hy-toyota-fcv-fuel-cell-ces-20140106,0,884109.story#ixzz2pjQ6pJWg

Is it dangerous to store hydrogen in a tank attached to a vehicle?

New Bay Bridge shows signs of rust in critical areas

By Charles Piller cpiller@sacbee.com Saturday, Apr. 12, 2014

Some of the most vulnerable and integral cable sections and rods on the new $6.5 billion San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge are rusting.



The bridge suspension span and iconic tower rely on an unusual design: A single cable, comprising 137 steel strands, loops over the tower and under the bridge to hold it up. That cable is secured on the eastern edge of the span, inside chambers designed to keep out water and marine air to prevent corrosion.

But a Sacramento Bee investigation found that inside one of the chambers, where the suspension cable is attached, the cable strands and rods show rust. Lab tests confirm the rust, alarming independent engineering experts who warn of severe long-term implications. They urge the California Department of Transportation to move quickly to fix the problem...

...“The implications are structural – and very serious,” said Astaneh, referring to the lifespan of the bridge.“This bridge is fracture critical, which means if any important element of this bridge fails ... the bridge is going to collapse.” snip

more: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/04/12/6319522/new-bay-bridge-shows-signs-of.html

The Astounding Conspiracy Theories of Wall Street Genius Mark Gorton

Mark Gorton is a prominent financier and a respected entrepreneur. He founded the music sharing site Limewire, and he runs Tower Research, a famed high-frequency trading firm. Gorton also believes that the "ruthless" secret cabal that assassinated JFK and planned 9/11 could be coming to kill his family.

Mark Gorton does not have a reputation as a crackpot. Quite the opposite. He's been favorably profiled in the New York Times for his business acumen and charitable deeds. His experience as the head of Limewire—which disrupted the music industry and then lost a $100 million lawsuit as a result—was closely followed by the press. And when Michael Lewis's blockbuster new book about high frequency trading was published recently, prominent media outlets turned to Gorton to learn what HFT firms are really like. The Huffington Post even dubbed him "the new face of Wall Street." He is a very respected and very wealthy man.



This week, we were forwarded documents that Gorton was sending out to employees at Tower Research. These documents—embedded at the bottom of this post—are essays by Mark Gorton, laying out his theories on the secret high-level murderous criminal "Cabal" that is responsible for, among other things, the JFK and RFK assassinations, the presidential careers of the Bushes, Clinton, and Obama, the Oklahoma City bombing, the 9/11 plot, and the murder of countless witnesses, politicians, and journalists who sought to expose them, including Sen. Paul Wellstone and even Hunter S. Thompson. Everything, according to Gorton, has been an inside job.

It is really something. The longest and most complete of Gorton's essays is titled "Fifty Years of the Deep State." To give you a taste of what he believes, a few brief excerpts. On the JFK assassination:

"The assassination of JFK was part of a full scale Coup d'état, the violent takeover of our government by a group of criminals. I have not the slightest doubt in my mind that JFK's assassination was the work of a network of criminals embedded within the political system and power structure of the United States. Key among the players in the Coup of '63 were LBJ; Allen Dulles and the CIA; J Edgar Hoover and the FBI; right wing Texas oil executives including Clint Murchison Sr., H.L. Hunt and D.H. Byrd; the East Coast business establishment centered around Rockefeller interests and the Council on Foreign Relations; Curtis Le May (chairman of the joint chief of staff), other right wing leaders of the military and elements of military intelligence; and the Bush family (both Prescott and George H.W. Bush)... LBJ planned to kill JFK from the moment he considered becoming vice president..."

MORE: http://gawker.com/the-astounding-conspiracy-theories-of-wall-street-geniu-1561427624/+tcraggs22

raspberryHy-- powering the Raspberry Pi with hydrogen

The idea of the project is the development and realization of a small, simple and efficient fuel cell system that supplies the famous Raspberry Pi ® credit card-size computer with electrical power. The fuel cell needs pure hydrogen as fuel and produces only water. It makes the Pi portable by replacing a wall adapter or a battery and offers an operating time only limited by the size of the hydrogen tank.

The project started in 2014 as an idea of Timo Kurz. Currently, development of a first prototype is done at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, Freiburg, Germany in the Department of Fuel Cell Systems in the context of a students' thesis (Link)

For the first version of the raspberryHy system, a planar, self-breathing PEM fuel cell (developed in 2006 - 2008 at Fraunhofer ISE together with FWB Kunststofftechnik) is used together with electronics developed at Fraunhofer ISE, a buffer battery and miniature fluidic parts. The system can be driven with any hydrogen source up to 10 barg...



raspberryHy housing with RaspberryPi ® and fuel cell system inside and all connections. Red: Raspberry Pi, blue: electronics, yellow: fluidics. Dimensions: 145 x 121 x 52 mm. Both pictures: Fraunhofer ISE

Why should I drive a Raspberry Pi with hydrogen?
more:
http://www.raspberryhy.com/

Could you soon be filling up with SEAWATER? US Navy reveals 'game changing' fuel created from water

The US Navy has developed a radical new fuel made from seawater.

They say it could change the way we produce fuel - and allow warships to stay at sea for years at a time.

Navy scientists have spent several years developing the process to take seawater and use it as fuel, and have now used the 'game changing' fuel to power a radio controlled plane in the first test...

...'For the first time we've been able to develop a technology to get CO2 and hydrogen from seawater simultaneously, that's a big breakthrough,' she said, adding that the fuel 'doesn't look or smell very different.'


The power plant that can turn water in jet fuel: Researchers hope to make the system portable enough to fit on a warship to produce enough fuel for the ship and the planes it carries

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2599036/The-plane-powered-WATER-US-Navy-reveals-radical-new-game-changing-process-power-jets-boats-seawater.html

Fuel Cell-Powered Car Push In Europe Rolls Out With 110-Vehicle Project Across The Continent

By Meagan Clark ibtimes.com on April 03 2014


The Toyota FCV's front end as it looked like in January. IBTimes / Angelo Young

A European Union initiative, the London Mayor’s Office and others launched a $51.6 million project on Thursday to develop hydrogen fuel cell-powered electric cars and hydrogen refueling stations across five member EU states.

Leading motor manufacturers, hydrogen fuel suppliers and energy consultancies around the world signed on with the mayor’s office to the HyFive project, the largest of its kind in Europe.

BMW, Daimler, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota agreed to deploy a total of 110 hydrogen fuel cell vehicles to Bolzano, Italy; Copenhagen, Denmark; Innsbruck, Austria; Munich, Germany; Stuttgart, Germany and London, England. Participating hydrogen fuel companies include Air Products, Copenhagen Hydrogen Network, ITM Power, Linde and OMV, and participating consultancies include Element Energy, PE International, the Institute for Innovative Technology and the EU's Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking, which is funding the project.

Locations for three new hydrogen refueling stations (in London, Aarhus and Odense in Denmark and Innsbruck) are planned to open for use by 2015, giving manufacturers time to put hydrogen fuelled cars in some European markets, the London mayor’s office said. Under the same project, the U.K.’s ITM Power will supply three electrolyser-based refueling stations to London. The units produce hydrogen via electrolysis from renewable power purchased from the power grid...

Full article: http://www.ibtimes.com/fuel-cell-powered-car-push-europe-rolls-out-110-vehicle-project-across-continent-1566845

Tariq Ali: How Vladimir Putin became evil. The US & UK condemn him for Crimea but supported him...

How Vladimir Putin became evil

The US and UK condemn him for Crimea but supported him over the war in Chechnya. Why? Because now he refuses to play ball

Tariq Ali The Guardian, Friday 28 March 2014


Vladimir Putin. Photograph: Ria Novosti/Reuters

Once again, it seems that Russia and the United States are finding it difficult to agree on how to deal with their respective ambitions. This clash of interests is highlighted by the Ukrainian crisis. The provocation in this particular instance, as the leaked recording of a US diplomat, Victoria Nuland, saying "Fuck the EU" suggests, came from Washington.

Several decades ago, at the height of the cold war, George Kennan, a leading American foreign policy strategist invited to give the Reith Lectures, informed his audience: "There is, let me assure you, nothing in nature more egocentric than embattled democracy. It soon becomes the victim of its own propaganda. It then tends to attach to its own cause an absolute value which distorts its own vision … Its enemy becomes the embodiment of all evil. Its own side is the centre of all virtue."

And so it continues. Washington knows that Ukraine has always been a delicate issue for Moscow. The ultra-nationalists who fought with the Third Reich during the second world war killed 30,000 Russian soldiers and communists. They were still conducting a covert war with CIA backing as late as 1951. Pavel Sudoplatov, a Soviet intelligence chief, wrote in 1994: "The origins of the cold war are closely interwoven with western support for nationalist unrest in the Baltic areas and western Ukraine."

When Gorbachev agreed the deal on German reunification, the cornerstone of which was that united Germany could remain in Nato, US secretary of state Baker assured him that "there would be no extension of Nato's jurisdiction one inch to the east". Gorbachev repeated: "Any extension of the zone of Nato is unacceptable." Baker's response: "I agree." One reason Gorbachev has publicly supported Putin on the Crimea is that his trust in the west was so cruelly betrayed...more

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/mar/28/why-putin-crimea-strategy-west-villain



Tariq Ali has been a leading figure of the international left since the 60s. He has been writing for the Guardian since the 70s. He is a long-standing editor of the New Left Review and a political commentator published on every continent. His books include The Duel: Pakistan on the Flightpath of American Power, and The Obama Syndrome