BEIJING — China's worst earthquake in nearly three decades killed nearly 9,000 people Monday. The Chinese government, sensitive to accusations it did not move quickly enough in previous disasters, immediately launched a massive relief effort.
The 7.8-magnitude quake trapped nearly 900 students under the rubble of their school and devastated a hilly region in Sichuan and nearby provinces. The official Xinhua News Agency said 8,533 people died in Sichuan and dozens of other deaths were reported elsewhere.
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao boarded a plane within hours of the quake and later arrived in the provincial capital of Chengdu. Thousands of army troops and paramilitary People's Armed Police carrying medical supplies were also headed to the region, state television said.
WASHINGTON CONCERNS: U.S. worried aid won't get where it's needed
VIDEO: Death toll from China earthquake rising
"My fellow Chinese, facing such a severe disaster, we need calm, confidence, courage and efficient organization," Wen said while en route to the disaster. "I believe we can certainly overcome the disaster with the public and the military working together under the leadership of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the government."
"This is one of the most decisive responses you will ...   more »

By Jim R. Schwiesow
Time is fleeting and every second, minute, hour and day hurtles this nation closer to a time of retribution, a time so horrific that the mind cannot comprehend the magnitude of the fiery fury that will descend upon this nation and the people in it. The Eternal is moving against this country with purpose and terrible resolve, like small fingers of flame the preliminary pestilences signal a rapidly advancing holocaust.
The worst of heathen have come to possess the offices of our government, the halls of our institutions and the minds of our people. The land is in the terminal stages of a great spiritual disease. We are an adulterous people and a scarlet A has been emblazoned upon our land.
With regularity one hears it parroted that God’s blessings are upon this nation, those who give lip service only to the God of all creation continually wring their hands in despair over the removal of God from our coins, prayer from our schools and the Ten Commandments from our public institutions. One can only wonder where these same people were when sexual perversity and the teaching of social filthiness invaded our schools. Where were they ...   more »

Is $120 oil even real? Not if you ask the Saudis, or even Lehman Bros.
The investment bank’s oil expert said this week that the oil boom is due to bust. Economic growth across the globe will slow just as new refineries kick in, raising supply.
Recession or not, a U.S. slowdown will slacken demand sharply, right as new oil hits the market. "Supply is outpacing demand growth,” said Michael Waldron, Lehman’s oil strategist.
"Inventories have been building since the beginning of the year. We have pretty significant projects starting soon in Saudi Arabia, and large off-shore fields in Nigeria,” he said.
Lehman is now predicting prices at $83 a barrel in 2009 and as low as $70 in 2010.
Although some years off, Brazil too has found as much as 8 billion barrels of light oil and gas offshore. The South American giant’s president says his country might well join OPEC when the Tupi field begins to pump, in 2011.

In addition, Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds have pushed up the oil price by investing billions of their oil gains, ironically, in commodities index funds.
Now they could be looking to get out, warns Waldron. He figures the money ...   more »

By: Phil Brennan   A full-scale civil war is raging in Mexico -- and few are paying attention.
Drug cartels seeking to keep control over huge swathes of Mexico have been on a rampage. In the past two weeks alone, at least 10 police officials have been murdered -- including the chief of Mexico's federal police, Edgar Millan.
Millan was gunned down outside his home Thursday morning. On Friday, the killings continued with the the shooting death of Esteban Robles Espinosa, commander of Mexico City's police detectives. His body was riddled with eight bullets.
President Felipe Calderon began taking on the cartels last year, deploying the nation's military to bolster police activities. So far, estimates say more than 3,000 Mexicans have been killed, with almost 1,000 deaths this year alone in a brutal struggle by the civilian government to reassert authority.
The engagements between cartels and the authoritied are getting more grisly by the day.
Earlier this month, dozens of armed gunmen dressed as police showed up at the home of a powerful political boss in Petatlan, a pacific coastal town. His name is Rogaciano Alba. Alba was not home, but the drug combatants decided to line up 10 of Alba's ...   more »