There's no place like Nome - by Richard... Friday, January 13, 2012

There's no place like Nome - by Richard... Friday, January 13, 2012

After all the drama, the Russian tanker Renda is reported to be a mere six miles from Nome. Coast Guard official Adam De Rocher says the ship reached the area early Friday but was waiting until daylight before advancing further. Daylight doesn't come to that part of Alaska until 11:30 a.m. local time.

De Rocher says crews are waiting for light because it will be safer going through the ice and they will have a better idea of where to anchor to start unloading fuel. The Renda does not need to enter the port to unload, being equipped with a mile-length hose so that it can stand-off an ice-choked harbour to make deliveries.

Whether the tanker intends then to make an immediate return journey, or lay up for the remainder of the ice season has not been disclosed. Not a great deal of sense could be gained from the crew, other than a cheery rendition of "Nome sweet Nome".

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Call me (not) - by Richard...

The Government is unlawfully using late-payment penalty fines against tens of thousands of small firms who do not file their tax returns on time as a "cash-generating scheme" for the Exchequer, reports the Independent.

And John Williams, the man who took the issue to court, said dealing with the Revenue had become "very much worse". "In the past you had tax inspectors who had the power to look at a case and make a reasonable and fair decision. But now you're left dealing with call centres where nobody takes ownership of an issue".

Why are we not surprised?

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So sad - by Richard...

Worldwide, renewable-energy companies are reeling from overcapacity and plunging prices caused by an explosion in manufacturing and competition from low-cost producers in China and other countries. Some big US and European solar companies have gone bankrupt, with more failures expected.

The tears do flow.

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Pragmatic politics? - by Richard...

You have to smile. One minute, the EU is breathing hellfire and fury, threatening to do such things to Iran … and just a few days later it does this (above).

Here we have a foreign policy initiative that is supposed to be sending a political signal to Iran and then, because the measures would inconvenience Greece, Italy and Spain, they are put on hold for six months. What sort of signal does that send to Iran?

That said, anyone who anticipated this move could have made a great deal of money. Merely on the rumours that the EU was going to take this action, oil prices dropped below the $100-per-barrel mark or the first time this year. On the New York market, benchmark crude plunged from $101 a barrel to $99 in just eight minutes.

But it doesn't even stop there. Not only is there to be a delay in mounting the embargo, there is also likely to include an exemption for Italy, so crude can be sold to pay off debts to Rome-based Eni SpA (ENI), Italy’s largest oil company.

At any time, it is more than a little difficult to take the EU's foreign policy ambitions seriously. It just got even more difficult.