Call me Brawny: Iran defends tankers alias game

LONDON (Reuters) - New names for Iran's oil tankers are part of its national tanker company NITC's defense against tighter United States sanctions which target it, the company says.

NITC ships are taking to the seas with colorful new identities, swapping Farsi names for those that cover a range of human virtues.

Freedom, Truth, Honesty, Justice and Leadership should resonate nobly in international waters; Brawny, Valor and Mars carry with them a hint of steel.

"The change of flags of the fleet was a transparent and pre-emptive action to avoid breaching the new sanction law which was intended to be implemented in the concerned flag state," the National Iranian Tanker Company said in a statement.

The ruse, in a cat-and-mouse game with Washington and Brussels over sanctions against its nuclear program, is unlikely to work.

"Anyone who is in the business is going to know the real identity of a specific vessel and renaming is not going to fool anyone," a former oil tanker captain said. A tanker can still be tracked by its unique identification number.

Another ship industry source said: "It seems more of a subconscious move to gently steer people away from the Iranian identity of the ship. It's at best making it less obvious that it's Iranian."

NITC has also reflagged most of its tankers, swapping Malta and Cyprus flags for those of Tanzania and the tiny South Pacific island of Tuvalu.

"We therefore hereby strongly refute any allegation of being a governmental entity or a property of the government of Iran and reiterate that the vessels within the fleet have always been operated legally and in accordance to the applicable national international laws and regulations," NITC said.

The U.S. Congress passed new measures this week aimed at further restricting Iran's oil revenues. The bill includes requiring President Barack Obama to determine whether NITC has links to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which would lead to sanctions.

NITC has already been in the firing line and on July 12, the U.S. Treasury identified 58 of its vessels and 27 of its affiliates as extensions of the state, which would undermine Iran's attempts to use renamed, disguised vessels to evade sanctions, the department said.

A senior NITC official, who declined to be named, said the group would challenge the sanctions, but did not elaborate.

"NITC has always been transparent in its activities and has honored international laws and treaties to their fullest," it said.

Founded in 1955, NITC went private in 2000. Its main shareholders are three Iranian pension funds.

"Accordingly its beneficiaries are over 5 million retired people," NITC said. "There is no single budget allocated to NITC by the government and it is not a property of the government of Iran."

Nevertheless, there have been growing questions over who is running NITC. In late January, Hamid Behbahani, formerly Iran's road and transportation minister, took the helm.

Behbahani is a close ally of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and there has been speculation in the shipping industry that his arrival was linked to moves by the Iranian president to entrench his authority in strategic sectors, notably transportation and energy.

Ahmadinejad's rivals impeached Behbahani for mismanagement in February 2011.

"Having Behbahani there does not signal the type of independence that NITC is seeking," the shipping industry source said.

Behbahani told Reuters in February 2012 that it was NITC's board of directors who decided on the appointment of the chairman and CEO, and believed he had the "required qualifications as well as the capability".

TRACKING, TANZANIA AND TUVALU

As sanctions on Iran have gathered pace, including an EU embargo on the Islamic Republic's oil, NITC is increasingly playing a major role in transporting Iranian crude with the tanker group having to adapt.

Earlier this year, tracking transponders on many NITC vessels were switched off, making it harder to monitor ship movements.

There is nothing to stop the renaming or re-flagging of a vessel and specific regulations are at the discretion of individual flag states.

Tanzania said earlier this month it was looking into the reflagging of some NITC tankers to the Tanzanian flag, while prominent U.S. lawmaker Howard Berman urged Tuvalu to stop reflagging Iranian tankers and warned its government of the risks of falling foul of U.S. sanctions.

Officials from Tuvalu, whose estimated population is under 15,000, could not be immediately reached for comment.

"It's not easy being NITC at the moment and they are trying to do whatever they can to stay in business," another ship industry source said. "It's a cat-and-mouse game and they cannot continue the way they could even a couple of months ago, let alone two years ago."

(Editing by William Hardy, Richard Mably)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/call-brawny-iran-defends-tankers-alias-game-142442407.html

james randi wargames blake griffin dunk florida primary full force odd fellows eli whitney

Self Improvement And Achievement Come Together ...

How do you understand in a case where a individual is willing to attain self improvement? This is a question with no definite answer. It will most of count on the individual.

Many men and women have goals, dreams or ambitions yet don?t know the way you can go about achieving them. They may have thought about what would make up self improvement and their ideal life, however have no idea how to even begin to put into action the programs and take the actions required to help make them a reality. If this is you, then visit www.startinganewday.info to understand steps to start improving yourself.

A handful of men and women have a vague idea on tips on how to go about self improvement. These are the ones which believe which if only they had a a lot better job, or had been given far better opportunities, or met the love of their life, or whatever else, everything could be fine and they could be happy.

They feel that their happiness or lack of happiness is decided by external factors and their thoughts and actions are of little consequence.

Some believe that if only they had a lot more money they may have anything they want and be on their way to self improvement.

They may have spent little time thinking about what they actually want from life, and tend not to really believe there is anything they?re able to implement to design their fuzzy version of utopia anyway, apart from getting more lottery tickets. Don?t fall into this trap. Visit www.newworldtoexplore.info to learn how to begin improving yourself.

Other people do not even understand what they actually want from their lives and might have little idea what might really make them satisfied. They seem to simply drift from day to day, week to week, month to month, and year to year, and achieve little more than simply getting by.

They may have seemingly secure jobs and be earning enough to live relatively comfortable lives. They seem happy enough and have no great ambition to achieve anything more from their lives than they already have got.

Is self improvement necessary? You?d better believe it! Take a look at www.startingabetterlife.info to understand how to begin improving yourself.

The reality is that throughout our everyday life we are all are constantly growing and developing. Circumstances make us grow and develop, even if we really don?t make the conscious decision to do so.

Up to a certain age, we learn through formal education and we continue to learn throughout our experiences for the rest of our lives. We have to understand and grow to deal with everything which life throws at us. We all have to go through self improvement.

Modern-day life moves at a drastically quicker pace than at anytime in history. For anyone living in modern society there are a whole lot more opportunities to complete anything which you want to implement with your life than any other time.

However there is also a whole lot more competition than in the past, and ever changing technologies signifies that there actually are few, if any jobs for life anymore. It really is now normal not only to change jobs frequently all through our working lives, but even to completely change careers and industries.

Due to the fact that the workplace is so cut-throat, many people who are ambitious and hungry for success learn they really need innovative skills and knowledge to always keep in front of the pack. To realize this, self improvement is needed.

These are the people that will be most likely to always keep their jobs, or progress inside their preferred field of study, or which will be immediately employable in unique businesses or market sectors.

Dedication to self improvement and personal growth could well be the deciding component in just how a person?s long term future will turn out.

Source: http://www.alaskabikehub.com/self-improvement-and-achievement-come-together/

weather dallas pat summitt real housewives of atlanta colton bo ryan the last waltz earth day activities

Source: http://burkshoward40.typepad.com/blog/2012/08/self-improvement-and-achievement-come-together.html

bachelorette penn state ufc Ernie Els Teen Choice Awards 2012 Aurora victims usher

Schwarzenegger twins movies, global policy after governor stint (reuters)

Share With Friends: | | Politics - Top Stories Stories, RSS Feeds and Widgets via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/238717073?client_source=feed&format=rss

kim kardashian flour bomb hunger games box office xavier joan crawford joan crawford john goodman kendall marshall

Fitness kit I've tested this week: Nova Detox health supplements ...

Morning! As I?m sitting here sipping on a green drink packed with superfoods, I thought I?d tell you about it in the form of this week?s Fitness kit I?ve tested?

Health supplements company Nova Detox offered to send me a couple of products to test. Nova?s nutrition products and alternative health supplements looked to be really good quality, with many of them being made from organic ingredients (and the prices are great too), so I said sure!

The first thing I tried out was their organic green superfood powder, GreeNourish. Now, I love me a good greens powder and have become a convert over the past year or so. So I was excited to test this one. What I liked about the description is that it?s not just a greens powder (with all the nutrients and vitamins you get from greens) but it?s also a protein powder too ? ideal as a dietary supplement.

The ingredients (which include pre-sprouted barley, wheatgrass, barley grass, quinoa, spirulina, kelp, acai, flaxseed, alfalfa and spinach ? holy nutritional powerhouse!) are certified organic and this powder is almost completely gluten-free (0.28% gluten). It contains all of the 8 essential amino acids and it?s got lots of lovely soluble fibre and fatty acids. Greens powders are a great way to get a high dose of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants in a highly bio-available form.

Yes but what about the taste! Truly? It?s lovely. I eat it off the spoon. It?s gentle, and almost creamy. Yes it?s ?green? but that?s not a bad thing. I recommend it ? give it a try. It?s ?19 for the tub (and believe me it will last for ages because you don?t need much).

Nutritional stats per 10g:
38.5kcals
7.2g carbs (1.2g sugars)
1.2g protein
0.8g fat
1.3g fibre

I also tried the Dietary Fibre Complex. I?m a big fan of taking fibre as a supplement, in capsule or powder form, and I tend to rotate the fibre I take every week or so. It definitely makes a difference to my fat loss when I?m prepping for contest and I know a lot of other competitors use this approach too. What I liked about Nova?s high fibre supplements is that it contains a great blend of lots of different fibres, including psyllium husk and seed, flaxseed powder, fenugreek powder and apple pectin (amongst other colon-friendly ingredients!) I can report that, yes, this fibre supplement works and that I?d recommend you follow the suggestion about taking it before bed! I?m used to fibre supps but I can imagine this one ? effective as it is ? might be quite strong for some people and you?d want it to be doing its thing whilst your body is resting in bed. Having said that, the dosage instructions do advise a low dose to begin with.

Yours, with a healthy colon?

Fitness kit I?ve tested this week: Nova Detox health supplements is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce ? the Fit Writer ? is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 1st, 2012 at 9:40 am and is filed under fitness kit, nicola joyce, nutrition, review, thefitwriter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Post navigation

? Previous Post Next Post ?

Source: https://thefitwriter.wordpress.com/2012/08/01/fitness-kit-ive-tested-this-week-nova-detox-health-supplement/

brad pitt and angelina jolie brad and angelina herniated disc sacramento kings luke scott tom benson royals

Back to School Shopping Easy on the Wallet at Sweet Repeats Thrift ...

?

The cost of an Urban Outfitters top can range form $39 to $50.

At Sweet Repeats Thrift Shoppe, you can find an Urban Outfitters top for $4.

A new outfit for back to school can cost under $10 at the Huntley resale shop.

?It?s quite expensive to get things ready for back to school,? said Barb Volpe, of Marengo. ?But it?s nice to have a resale shop like this.?

Volpe liked the shoppe so much that she?s now a volunteer.

The shop, located at 10514 Route 47, gets donated items with labels like Children?s Place, Justice, Baby Gap and Old Navy for children and Urban Outfitters, Apostrophe and MAXrave for teens and adults.

Sweet Repeats gets 15 to 50 bags of donations a day. People living in Huntley and the surrounding areas have been very supportive of the shop, said Colleen Hale, store supervisor. She added Sweet Repeats is grateful for the support.

?People are starting to know our quality,? Hale said. ?I think people are really appreciative of the quality of resale shops. Our main goal here is to keep top quality at a retail price. We keep a boutique shop.?

Resale shops like Sweet Repeats have a lot to offer parents shopping for back to school clothing.

Recently, Hale picked out sample outfits and had a few children _ relatives and children of volunteers_ chose which one to model.

Blake Shallenbarger, 12, of Woodstock, picked a Zoo York shirt and a pair of shorts.? He got hooked on Zoo York shirts when a friend loaned him a shirt to go out and play. ?I like Zoo York for what it says,? Blake said, adding it brings out his personality.

His black Zoo York T-shirt was paired with some Urban Pipeline shorts. He wears shorts to school whenever he can, he said. The outfit cost $8.

?If I could, I would wear shorts everyday of the year,? Blake said.

The models represented preschool, grade school, middle school and high school ages.

Erin Daily, 17, chose a Self Esteem T-shirt with the words ?Love, Peace, Rock?, a plaid shirt over it and some Lee jeans that she said she really liked. While other teens are focused on brand names and expensive clothing, Daily is more down-to-earth about what she wears.

?I just pick things I like and things that suit my personality,? the Wonder Lake teen said. Her aunt, Hale, runs Sweet Repeats so Daily shops there often. The outfit she picked out cost under $15.

Four-year-old Varon Swanson, of Gilberts, wore a red Old Navy shirt but his favorite color is yellow. He picked out a pair of shorts and a backpack with superheroes like Spiderman. His favorite is Spiderman.

Lily Volpe, 4, had a cute pink T-shirt with butterflies. She was a bit shy about modeling but smiled brightly for her photo shoot.

Trey Shallenbarger, 9, will be in fourth grade. He wore a striped Urban Pipeline shirt and shorts. Each cost $4.

Grade school students put on whatever and just go with it, Blake Shallenbarger said. Now that he?s going into middle school, he?s a little more conscientious about his clothing.

Blake found another T-shirt, one with the words "New Orleans" in colorful letters on it for 50 cents. He changed shirts right away.

When Daily searched the racks, she found a few cute tops. While she doesn?t look for labels, she did find a few top brands.

?I look for things that would suit me. I try not to care what people think about how I dress,? Daily said, as she looked through the clothes rack. She found an American Eagle shirt for $4 and a MAXrave shirt for the same price. ?There?s a lot of nice things here. It?s affordable.?

?

Sweet Repeats is owned and operated by Pioneer Center for Human Services. The proceeds support Pioneer Center?s programs including McHenry County PADS, Youth Service Bureau, Children?s Center for Autism, VOICE Sexual Assault Services, Traumatic Brain Injury, Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities.

Source: http://huntley.patch.com/articles/back-to-school-shopping-easy-on-the-wallet-at-sweet-repeats-thrift-shoppe

lance armstrong george lopez bedtime stories micron susan g komen kenyon martin kenyon martin

Japanese interest in Russian radio-teletype, radio-fax ... - blog*spot

Another aspect of the ?Russian Fish? story is available from a decoded Japanese message. This message from 1943 shows that the?Japanese signal intelligence agency was interested in the use of radio-teletype, radio-fax and radio-telephone by the Soviet Union.

The military attach? in Bucharest was ordered to investigate the interception of these kinds of traffic in Axis countries.

Some of his findings are mentioned in later messages.

Source: HW 40/29 ?Exploitation of Russian Civil communications by Axis Powers?

Source: http://chris-intel-corner.blogspot.com/2012/07/japanese-interest-in-russian-radio.html

colcannon dystonia tourettes gonzaga rosie o donnell soda bread recipe vanderbilt

100% The Invisible War

All Critics (41) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (41) | Rotten (0)

"The Invisible War" makes all too clear that the military isn't very good at justice.

One hearing noted that the victim was dressed provocatively. In her official uniform.

For sheer infuriation value, you can't do much better than Kirby Dick's quietly scathing documentary on rape in the US military.

Dick, whose films include a revealing expose about the movie industry's film ratings board, has created yet another galvanizing call to action with "The Invisible War."

What happened to these women after the rape often shocks and disturbs them as much as the physical act itself.

It is far too difficult to watch. Which means we must.

Kirby Dick has again shown great restraint in presenting such inflammatory material, betting a clear-eyed approach will have an inflammatory effect on his audience -- and it does.

Basically, the message from the military to potential rape victims is: if you get raped, it's your own fault...

One of those documentaries that you watch both fascinated and repulsed - and one of those films that you sense just might be instrumental in helping to change an utterly unacceptable status quo.

...totally serious but, still, incredibly informative and quite shocking with his plethora of data.

In the end there is something to cheer about - vindication for some victims, and proof that a film can make a difference.

We learn that a military court has determined that rape is 'an occupational hazard' of serving in the military.

If this enrages you, it should.

If it doesn't make you angry, you're not human.

Agonizing, infuriating - and effective.

The film is persuasive and infuriating without leaving much hope for change.

[P]owerful rage against system carried by victims who detail sexism, harassment, stalking, rape, reprisals, and rebuffed complaints [whose] attackers haven't been punished.

Convincing look at how the military ignores rape and sexual assault within its ranks.

Powerful, provocative and deeply moving. One of the most vital and enraging documentaries of the year.

More Critic Reviews

No quotes approved yet for The Invisible War. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_invisible_war/

kevin youkilis Tropical Storm Debby Lolo Jones fox news legend of korra lebron james magic mike trailer