Cell phone numbers up for sale

The idea of the last refuge of privacy with your cell phone is heading south into the distant horizon when third party companies like Intelius Inc begin offering your cell number for sale.

Intelius Inc., a company that offers personal and criminal background checks and other “predictive intelligence,” began offering cell phone numbers in July as part of its phone number search service. The company said it was the first offering of its kind.

Source: galvestondailynews.com via watermon

By Mark Collette
The Daily News

Currently a bill, the Wireless 411 Privacy Act  has been referred to the Senate Commerce, and Transportation Committee to be amended to the Communications Act of 1932, which will prevent companies like Intelius Inc. from marketing your private cell phone number.

Three U.S. senators are pushing a bill to protect more than 250 million consumers from having their cell phone numbers listed in a 411 directory similar to directories available for residential phone numbers.

Source: galvestondailynews.com via watermon

Intelius Inc seems to be banking on the idea of future corporate profits in the selling of private cell phone numbers when it recently filed for a $144 million IPO.

Intelius, which provides online background checks and sells cellphone directory information to consumers, filed papers on Thursday to go public.


 
The Bellevue company said it hopes to raise up to $143.8 million, and would trade under the symbol "INTL" on the Nasdaq, according to documents filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Source: seattletimes.nwsource.com via watermon

Thats make good business sense after reviewing the $60.2 million of revenues the company earned in selling private information over last three fiscal quarters of 2007,  a 40% increase from the previous year.

For November, it said its sites, including www.intelius.com, were collectively among the most-visited Web properties in the U.S., drawing 10.2 million unique visitors, according to comScore.


 
In the filing, Intelius said it recorded a profit of $6.1 million on revenue of $60.2 million for the nine months ended Sept. 2007. In the same period a year earlier, it earned $4.4 million on revenue of about $40 millio

Source: seattletimes.nwsource.com via watermon

Naveen Jain , the cofounder, President, and CEO of Intelius, Inc has been in the spotlight before with past corporate financial activities that might cast this present intial public offering into some question.

Intelius was cofounded by President and Chief Executive Naveen Jain, best known for previously starting InfoSpace, a high-profile Internet company that at its height was worth more than Boeing.


 
But the company unraveled, and Jain was fired from InfoSpace and named as an defendant in several lawsuits. Ultimately, he paid a multimillion-dollar settlement to the company amid allegations of insider trading. In its filing, Intelius said one lawsuit related to his activities as a former officer and director of InfoSpace is continuing.

Source: seattletimes.nwsource.com via watermon

Senate Committee Members Commerce, Science, and Transportation
Wireless 411 Privacy Act

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U.S Military Base Completed Adjacent to Pakistan Border

With the rising conflict occuring in the Pakistan tribal areas between governmental security forces and the Taliban jihadists the situation has gotten out of control for President Musharraf's Frontier Corps. Help is soon on the way.

Another piece of the United States' regional jigsaw is in place with the completion of a military base in Afghanistan's Kunar province, just three kilometers from Bajaur Agency in Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.

Source: atimes.com via watermon

It's been no secret that a military base was being constructed  in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan close to the Pakastani border as reported back in July 2007 by Syed Saleem Shahzhad, the Pakistan's Bureau Chief of Asia Times Online

As a result, a large US base is under construction on a mountaintop at Ghakhi Pass on the Pakistan-Afghanistan (Bajaur) border.


 
Militants believe this is in preparation for an operation inside Pakistan to clamp down on them as well as to renew the hunt for bin Laden and his associates. As a result, the militants have attacked the new base in an attempt to delay its construction.

Source: atimes.com via watermon

So we now move fast forward six months later and with additional pressure on the Islamabad administration to clamp down on the growing turmoil in the Pakistan Tribal Areas.

The top two American intelligence officials traveled secretly to Pakistan early this month to press President Pervez Musharraf to allow the Central Intelligence Agency greater latitude to operate in the tribal territories where Al Qaeda, the Taliban and other militant groups are all active, according to several officials who have been briefed on the visit.

Source: nytimes.com via watermon

It's a fine line that President Musharraf must walk between the pressure he is recieving from fellow Muslim countrymen in contrast to American military efforts to rid the region as  haven for future terrorists.

"American special forces have carried out clandestine operations in the past, and Pakistan was not informed. The Taliban and al-Qaeda also did not realize what was happening with the quick-as-a-wink hit-and-run operations in the tribal areas. Pakistani intelligence only knew of the operations after they happened.

Source: atimes.com via watermon

It's like two sides of a coin, on one side  anti-American sentiments with roots of past British imperialism coupled with centuries of historical invasions going all the way back to Alexander the Great and then on the other side the ideals of democracy and liberty for all.  To add more fuel on the fire is the upcoming Pakistani elections with over a dozen political parties jockeying for position

Map of Tribal Areas and Districts

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Texan Crowned as Nigerian Tribal Chief

Overhelming distances of over 6,500 miles across the Atlantic Ocean between the Nigerian village of Achalla  and Beaumont Texas are no barrier to ancient  tribal customs that still endure in todays fast changing technological world. Ben Okadigbo, a highway engineer with the Texas Department of Transportation and son of Chief Meraife was recently crowned new chief of Achalla, Nigeria after a five day festive ceremony.

Okadigbo -the eldest of 72 siblings fathered by his late dad and his 18 wives -was crowned the new chief of Achalla, a village in his native Nigeria, this month. His wife, Francisca, was crowned the "iyom," or queen, during the ceremony as his four children looked on

Source: beaumontenterprise.com via watermon

Twenty-five years ago, Chief Ben Okadigbo immigrated to Texas in 1983 where he eventually completed his undergraduate and graduate studies.

After he received a bachelor's degree in industrial engineering from Texas A&M in 1985 and a graduate degree from Lamar University in 1988, Beaumont became the African immigrant's new home.

Source: beaumontenterprise.com via watermon

Achalla is located in the state of Anhambra, Nigeria, which is the initial region where massive oil exploration was conducted in Nigeria. Today Nigeria is the fifth largest importer of global crude oil to the United States.

Video of Ceremony

 

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Pakistan and the USA Military Differences

It's quite diverse how media reports can be perceived and received. For instance, in a Voice of America news dispatch, President Musharraf of Pakistan seems to take offense of America's offer to send American soldiers into Pakistan to chase terrorists.

President Musharraf quickly rejected any notion that his government would accept an offer from Washington to send U.S. combat troops into parts of Pakistan to help fight extremists.

Source: voanews.com via watermon

In contrast with a report in the Washington Post, where the Pentagon is "ready, willing, and able to send U.S. troops

Gates and Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, left little doubt yesterday that they believe U.S. troops -- whether in combat or as trainers -- can bolster the efforts of Pakistan's military in the rugged and lawless Federally Administered Tribal Areas,

Source: washingtonpost.com via watermon

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Texas Supreme Court sides with Big Oil

The after effects of the castasrophic BP refinery explosion in Texas City are still being felt in the court room since the tragic event occurred nearly three  years ago on March 23, 2005.

Former BP PLC chairman Lord John Browne cannot be questioned without limits about the oil giant's deadly 2005 Texas City refinery accident, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday.

Source: biz.yahoo.com via watermon

BP was aware of the problem with the blowdown drum, three years earlier,  in the unit which overflowed flammmable petroleum products and ignited .

BP executives rejected a $150,000 budget request in 2002 that would have piped flammable hydrocarbons to a flare instead of the blowdown drum, which could have prevented the 2005 explosion that killed 15 people

Source: chron.com via watermon

Other Big Oil companies such as Exxon Mobile endorse the actions of the Texas Supreme Court.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and several business groups filed a brief in support of BP, arguing such depositions would hurt corporate management and would discourage companies from moving to Texas.

Source: biz.yahoo.com via watermon

It seems that the whole case is now evolving into an us against them attitude with the Big Oil Companies having a difference in opinion with labor organizations that provide the workers for the refineries here on the Gulf Coast.

In a joint statement, leaders of various labor and consumer groups expressed disappointment in the ruling.


 
"In Texas, the value of personal responsibility is sacrosanct. No one should be above having to answer fully and completely for their actions," said the statement from the Texas AFL-CIO, Texas Watch, Texans for Public Justice and Texas Progress Council.

Source: biz.yahoo.com via watermon

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Corn for Ethanol Raising Food Prices

Theres been quite a bit of controversy, both positive and negative, surrounding  the production of corn as an alternative fuel source instead of a food source. A recently released report states the ongoing problem on the negative side.

The nation's fascination with ethanol is pushing food prices upward and raising the specter of potential shortages, according to a report released on Thursday by a Washington-based policy group.

Source: businessweek.com via watermon

Added to the problem of creating high food prices there is the problem of reducing the water  quality in addition to lowering the aquifier levels.

increases in the use of corn for ethanol production occur, the harm to water quality could be considerable, and water supply problems at the regional and local levels could also arise, says a new report from the National Research Council.

Source: www8.nationalacademies.org via watermon

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Economic Stimulus Plan Creating High Oil Prices

Tax rebates for 2008 are great but not when this incentive causes additional demand for global oil resources while Americans continue fueling their gas guzzling SUV's and  pick-up trucks. The  $150 billion stimulus plan that Congress has created would be put to better use in developing regional mass transportation solutions.

investors believe the government's $150 billion stimulus plan and the Fed's rate cuts will stave off a serious economic slowdown, rate cuts also tend to weaken the dollar, giving investors another reason to buy oil futures.

Source: ap.google.com via watermon

So now oil future prices are the rise again creating an additional burden on the consumer with fuel purchases eating more and more into their descretinary income.

Energy futures prices posted the biggest gains in 3 weeks with crude futures jumping more than $2/bbl Jan. 24 after President George W. Bush and Congressional leaders agreed to an economic stimulus package that will give tax rebates to most US taxpayers.

Source: ogj.com via watermon

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Chinese Taking Lead in Obtaining Limited Global Oil Resources

An alarming global trend is occuring with Chinese national oil companies projecting an overhelming presence in obtaining a finite amount of crude oil around the world.. PetroChina, a subsidary of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) the world's biggest company by market value has surpassed Exxon in market capitalization according to a recently released  PFC 50 Energy Report.

PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) 's market capitalistion on the basis of its Shanghai stock exchange listing, was $723.2bn, versus $511.9bn for Exxon, whose share price rose only 22 per cent over the year.

Source: us.ft.com via watermon

China is the world’s third-largest  net-importer of crude oil

trailing behind the United States and

Japan. According to EIA data ,the leading importers of crude oil to China are Angola, Saudia Arabia, Iran, Russia, Oman, Equatorial Guineau, and Yemen. Two weeks ago the Chinese General Administration of Customs reported crude oil imports rose 12.4 percent in 2007 over the previous year annual total to 1.1 billion barrels, or approximately 2.73 million barrels a day.

CNPC, the parent company of PetroChina has oil and gas assets in 27 countries, many of the same countries where the United States receives crude oil imports. PetroChina's widening  footprint market capitalization concerning  global exploration, development, and production will eventually effect American energy security with China's exponentially increasing demand for global oil supplies. 

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Foul Weather Closes Mexican Crude Oil Terminals Effecting Oil Supply

A weather system of high air pressure forming a cold air mass brought high seas and heavy winds to the Gulf of Mexico which on Saturday afternoon. A weather bulletin issued from Mexico's Secretary of Transportation and

Communication (SCT) stated  the Mexican crude oil terminals of Cayo Arcas, Dos Bocas, and Pajaritos were closed due to 45 knot winds and 8-10 ft seas.

These important Mexican ports provide the majority of the 1,483,000 million barrels a day of crude oil the United States receives from Mexico. Monday morning, oil traders on the New York Mercantile Exchange will take note of this small oil supply disruption, which could possibly have an effect on the price of oil.

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