LOTTOMIKE's Blog

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Iran Welcomes Unconditional Talks on Nukes


TEHRAN, Iran (June 3) - A breakthrough in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program is possible, the republic's president told the U.N. chief Saturday while welcoming unconditional talks with all parties, including the United States.


President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said in a speech later Saturday that his government would not rush to judge an incentives package offered by Western countries to persuade Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program.


State television reported that Ahmadinejad spoke by phone to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and told him the crisis could be settled as long as the United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency preserved Tehran's right to use atomic energy.


A U.S. offer for negotiations is conditioned on Iran suspending uranium enrichment - a process that can produce both fuel for nuclear reactors that generate electricity and the material for atomic warheads - and allowing international inspections to prove it.


"A breakthrough to overcome world problems, including Iran's nuclear case, would be the equal implementation of the law for all," state TV quoted Ahmadinejad as telling Annan.


Ahmadinejad alluded to the fact that Iran has signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which allows signatories to pursue nuclear energy for peaceful uses while promising not to acquire atomic weapons.


The United States and other Western nations suspect Iran's nuclear program is intended to produce weapons. Tehran insists it is only for generating electricity.


In a major policy shift, the United States agreed this week to join France, Britain and Germany in talks with Iran, provided Tehran suspends all suspect nuclear activities. It would be the first major public negotiations between Washington and Tehran in more than 25 years.


Six world powers agreed Thursday to offer Iran a new package of incentives if it gives up uranium enrichment and to impose sanctions if it refuses. Washington warned Friday that Iran does not have much time to respond, suggesting the window could close and be replaced by penalties.


The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, is to hand deliver the proposal to Iranian officials in the next few days.


"We won't make any prejudgement about the proposal to be presented to us ... we won't be in haste to judge it," Ahmadinejad told thousands of people in Iran's capital, Tehran.


"We are after negotiations, but fair and just negotiations. They must be without any conditions," he said in a speech marking the anniversary of the death of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the founder of Iran's 1979 Islamic revolution.


The incentive package, agreed on by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany, carries the threat of U.N. sanctions if Iran remains defiant over continuing uranium enrichment.


"The Iranian nation won't give in to talks that contain threats or conditions that seek to deprive our definite right," Ahmadinejad said.


At an Asian security conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Washington was hoping for a positive Iranian response to the incentives package.


The Pentagon chief said he hoped Iran would "recognize the seriousness and substance" of the offer. He added that the United States agreed to the proposals because progress in talks involving Iran and Europe had gotten to a point where they did not seem to be moving forward.


The Vatican, meanwhile, insisted that diplomacy is the only option for resolving the crisis.


The Holy See "is firmly convinced that even the present difficulties can and must be overcome through the diplomatic path, using all means which diplomacy can avail itself of," Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls said in a statement.


Iran announced April 11 that it had enriched uranium for the first time, using 164 centrifuges. Enrichment can produce either fuel for a nuclear reactor or material for a warhead - but tens of thousands of centrifuges are needed to do either on a large scale.


Iran has said intends to move toward large-scale enrichment involving 3,000 centrifuges by late 2006 but also indicated it might suspend large-scale uranium enrichment to ease tensions.


?

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the 4858 could make an appearance in tennessee soon.

The Fight Against the Penny
Rep. Kolbe Wants to Do Away With the Coin



   
   
   
NEW YORK (June 2) - As the soaring price of zinc going into pennies pushes the cost of production above the coin's value, one congressman is rekindling plans to eliminate it. Representative Jim Kolbe, R-Arizona, told CNNMoney.com he plans to reintroduce legislation to eliminate the penny in the coming weeks.

"Most people still think the penny has no purpose and we should get rid of it," said Rep. Kolbe, who introduced legislation in Congress in 2001 that required the rounding of cash transactions to the nearest 5 cents. Although the Legal Tender Modernization Act did not pass, getting rid of the penny has taken on urgency for Rep. Kolbe, as the average price for zinc has shot up from 35 cents a pound in 2002 to 63 cents a pound in 2005 -- driven in large part by increased demand from China.

The issue "used to be an oddball thing that Kolbe had an obsession about," the congressman said of himself. "Now it will become a necessity. We'll be compelled to change."

Over half of the U.S. Mint's coin production comes in the form of pennies, which are made of 97.5 percent zinc. Since the Mint doesn't stockpile its inventory of materials, it is sensitive to fluctuations in zinc's price.

The cost of producing the coin has risen from .97 cent per penny in 2005 to 1.4 cent per penny. At that rate, the Mint would spend some $44 million producing pennies this year, nearly $14 million more than in 2005.

"When the price goes to 1.5 cents per cent then everybody will figure it out," said Kolbe. "Then everyone will hoard their pennies because the metal will be worth more than the coin." Kolbe, who is set to retire from Congress after this term, joked he should go into the business of buying people's pennies to sell them for their value.

Not everyone shares Kolbe's view, however.

"Kolbe is a good member of Congress but wrong on this issue," said Mark Weller, Executive Director of the pro-penny organization, Americans for Common Cents. "When he did this in 2001, he received no support. Not one co-sponsor. I think we'll see a similar response this time."

"Americans overwhelmingly want the penny," said Weller. "They also hate rounding."

Kolbe's 2001 legislation proposed that cash transactions ending in 1, 2, 6, or 7 cents should be rounded down to the nearest 5 cents, while transactions ending in 3, 4, 8, or 9 cents would round up. Credit and debit card transactions could still be valued to the nearest cent.

Americans for Common Cents (ACC) is an interest group that counts among its supporters coin and numismatic hobby groups, charitable organizations - and companies involved in zinc production.

The organization was formed in 1990 to counter earlier "rounding" legislation in Washington, it briefly went dormant afterwards and re-opened when Congress held hearings on the future of money in the age of electronic banking in the mid-1990s.

If Weller is dismissive of Kolbe's initiative, it should be noted ACC itself has been talking to Congress "about the dramatic increase in metals prices." Weller concedes lawmakers are aware of metals pricing in currency and concedes that if prices remain high for 18 months there could be more discussion of changing the make up of coins.

Although ACC has ties to zinc companies, Kolbe represents Arizona, the largest copper producing state in the nation. Copper is the main material of the nickel coin which, after the elimination of the penny, would benefit by becoming the lowest denomination of currency in circulation.

Is It Even Possible to Eliminate the Penny?

There is, however, some evidence that eliminating the smallest denomination of a nation's currency can be done without too much upheaval.

Australia eliminated its one and two cent pieces in 1992 after a surge in the country's consumer price index twenty years before eliminated their usefulness.

The change affected only cash transactions -- interest is earned and bills are paid to the cent.

At the time of the transition, according to Michael Skully, Professor of Banking at Monash University in Melbourne, the Australian government kept a close watch for profiteering associated with the elimination of the penny, while the nation's major retailers rounded totals down. The elimination of 1 and 2 cent pieces did not "disproportionately hurt the poor" as ACC asserts it would if rounding was imposed in the United States.

"I certainly don't recall any riots in the street when it happened," said Skully.

What's Next?

Due in part to China's growing demand, according to George Vary, executive director of the American Zinc Association, the cost of zinc has doubled on the London Metal's Exchange in the past year.

"Until several years ago, China was a net exporter of zinc," said Vary. In 2001, that country exported a net total of 522,000 metric tons. In 2003, as China's demand for materials surged with its emergence as a global manufacturing giant, it imported a net total of 388,000 tons.

Industry analysts predict zinc prices could ease in 2007 based on improved supply and smelting capacity worldwide. As for China, Lloyd Giles at London-based metals analysis group CRU Group thinks the country could soon be a net exporter again, once its improved smelting capacity allows it to process more zinc supplied both domestically and internationally.

As for the chances for Kolbe's legislation to pass, Josh Kurtz, politics editor at Washington, DC-based Roll Call said, "It's a noble effort, doomed to defeat. Congress is pretty reluctant to tinker with the nation's monetary system."

And in terms of cost savings, why should they? After all, the national debt stands at $8.3 trillion. The prospect of reaping $13 million in saving in pennies seems like mere pocket change.

But if the cost of zinc does keep rising, the change could really add up

i'm wondering if anything bad will happen on june 6,2006?   666

look for 5784 to show up in tennessee soon.......

·


World Powers Agree on Proposal for Iran


VIENNA, Austria (June 1) - Six world powers agreed Thursday on a "significant" package of incentives to convince Iran to halt its uranium enrichment program, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Becket said.

   


"I am pleased to say we have agreed (on) a set of far-reaching proposals," she said. "We believe they offer Iran the chance to reach a negotiated agreement based on cooperation."

She added that "if Iran agrees not to engage in negotiations, further steps will have to be taken."

After a meeting by France, Britain, Germany, the United States, Russia and China, Becket said "we urge Iran to take the positive path" and promised to suspend Security Council action against Tehran if it agreed to halt enrichment.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with the foreign ministers from the European nations that led stalled talks with Iran last year, and also with representatives of Russia and China. Russian and Chinese support is crucial to attach the threat of United Nations sanctions or other punishment to the package of incentives.

At the White House, President Bush warned that the confrontation would end up at the U.N. Security Council if Iran continues to enrich uranium.

"If they continue their obstinance, if they continue to say to the world `We really don't care what your opinion is,' then the world is going to act in concert," Bush said after meeting with his Cabinet at the White House.

Bush said he got a "positive response" in a telephone conversation on Tuesday with Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding, "We expect Russia to participate in the United Nations Security Council. We'll see whether or not they agree to do that."

   


   
Bush also spoke about Iran on Thursday with Chinese President Hu Jintao. He said little about that conversation, saying, "They understood our strategy." The U.S. would need cooperation by Russia and China, Security Council members, before that body could act.

On Wednesday, the United States announced it is now willing to join the European talks if Iran suspends suspect activities and returns to the table.

Iran's foreign minister welcomed the idea of direct talks, but rebuffed the U.S. condition that Tehran first must suspend uranium enrichment.

"Iran welcomes dialogue under just conditions but won't give up our rights," the state-run Iranian television quoted Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki as saying Thursday.

The shift in U.S. tactics was meant to offer the Iranians a last chance to avoid punishing sanctions. "We hope that in the coming days the Iranian government will thoroughly consider this proposal," Rice said before leaving Washington for Vienna.

Mottaki's statement issued at about the time Rice was arriving in Austria was the country's first direct reaction to the U.S. offer.

"We won't negotiate about the Iranian nation's natural nuclear rights but we are prepared, within a defined, just framework and without any discrimination, to hold dialogue about common concerns," he said.

The package outlined Wednesday by Rice would be on the table for any new talks including the United States. Previous talks among Iran, Britain, France and Germany foundered last year. Iran insists its nuclear work is peaceful and aimed at developing a new energy source.

The U.S. shift came with pressure growing on the Bush administration from European allies and others to talk directly to Iran. It also came on the eve of the six-nation meeting in Vienna that focused on finishing the package and ending months of disagreement between the United States and Russia on how to persuade Iran to stop uranium enrichment. That process can make fuel for nuclear power reactors or the fissile core of warheads.

The U.S. offer for talks is conditioned on Iran suspending its enrichment of uranium and related activities and allowing inspections to prove it. European nations and the Security Council have demanded the same thing, but Iran has refused to comply.

Iran's oil minister said late Wednesday in Caracas, Venezuela, that his country won't negotiate on its nuclear research program with the United States, and he blamed the U.S. for pushing oil prices higher through threats against his government.

"We're never going to negotiate the cycle of nuclear fuel that we have been able to achieve with the efforts of our country's scientists," Sayed Kazem Vaziri Hamaneh told the Venezuela-based TV station Telesur, according to a partial transcript of his remarks.

In Tehran on Wednesday, the official Iranian news agency initially criticized the U.S. offer as "a propaganda move."

The resolution being considered in Vienna, as outlined to the AP by diplomats familiar with a draft version of the text, calls for imposing sanctions under the U.N. Charter. But it avoids any reference to a specific article of the charter that can trigger possible military action to enforce any such resolution.

The proposal also calls for new consultations among the five permanent Security Council members on any further steps against Iran. That is meant to dispel complaints by the Russians and Chinese that once the screws on Iran are tightened, the council would move automatically toward military involvement.

The possible sanctions include a visa ban on government officials, freezing assets, blocking financial transactions by government figures and those involved in the country's nuclear program, an arms embargo and a blockade on the shipping of refined oil products to Iran.

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look for 5446 or 5448 in tennessee soon....

·


North Korea Invites U.S. Nuclear Envoy to Pyongyang

   


   
SEOUL, South Korea (June 1) - North Korea on Thursday invited the chief U.S. nuclear envoy to visit the communist nation if Washington proves its commitment to an agreement last year in which the North pledged to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill has previously expressed a desire to visit the North if it would help restart the six-nation arms negotiations, although he has said many factors would determine if such a trip could be made.

"If the United States has made a political decision to truly carry out the joint declaration, (we) again invite the head U.S. delegate in the six-party talks to visit Pyongyang and directly explain (it) to us," an unnamed spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.

The joint declaration refers to a September agreement in which the North pledged to abandon its nuclear development in exchange for aid and security guarantees. No progress has since been made on implementing the pact, and the arms talks haven't been held since November.

The two sides have made other contacts, including meetings between diplomats in New York and encounters in China and Japan.

Pyongyang has refused to return to talks until Washington lifts financial restrictions against the communist nation for alleged illegal activity, including counterfeiting. The United States says the issues are unrelated and that the North should return without conditions.

In its statement, Pyongyang accused the United States of "shunning contacts" with the North, and repeated its call for a relaxation of U.S. financial restrictions as a condition for the country's return to the six-nation talks.

"If the United States increases pressure while antagonizing us, we cannot but take super hardline steps to safeguard our right to survive and sovereignty," the North said.

Top U.S. State Department officials were in Austria on Thursday for meetings on the Iranian nuclear crisis and were unavailable for comment.

   


   
The United States engaged in direct talks with North Korea that led to a 1994 agreement on halting the North's nuclear development in exchange for acquiring two nuclear reactors and other aid. Then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright also visited the North in October 2000 _ the highest-level American official ever to travel to the country.

The two nations don't have formal diplomatic relations.

But U.S. officials say the North admitted in late 2002 to a new secret uranium enrichment program, prompting Washington to abandon the earlier nuclear deal. Since then, the United States has pursued diplomacy with the North through nuclear talks hosted by China that include Japan, Russia, the United States and the two Koreas.

On Wednesday, the United States, South Korea, Japan and the European Union formally shut down a New York-based reactor project from the 1994 deal.

The South Korean Unification Ministry, which is in charge of dealings with the North, lamented the end of the project to build the light-water reactors, which are believed to be difficult to divert for the production of weapons-grade uranium.

But Japan blamed North Korea, saying it violated the spirit of the program long ago.

"I think we can say the significance of the project was already lost," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said at a regular news conference in Tokyo.

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President Bush to Host 'United 93' Screening

WASHINGTON (May 30) - President Bush invited relatives of some of the 40 passengers and crew members who are portrayed in "United 93" to join him for a screening of the film at the White House



Bush and his wife, Laura, planned to watch the film about the attacks in the family theater. The film focuses on the tragic drama aboard United Flight 93, the plane that crashed in rural Pennsylvania after passengers fought back against their hijackers.


"The president has always said that those who were on the flight, that the passengers and crew members of the flight, were heroes," said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino.