News Olio

'Luxury' at $19 a night

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:04:00 +0000

Some luxury hotels have found a way to cope in the economic downturn by offering rooms with no luxuries. In fact, no bed, toilet paper, soap or air conditioning.

San Diego's Rancho Bernardo Inn is offering what it calls the "Survivor Package."

The most basic version: a room for $19 with no bed, toilet paper, towels, air-conditioning or "honor bar," and only a single light bulb in the bathroom for safety. The next level up adds in a bed -- sans sheets -- for $39 a night. For a bed plus toiletries and toilet paper, the rate is $59.

Maureen Carew, assistant general manager of the four-star inn, called the promotion "clever marketing in a downtime."

The usual rate for the room is $219 per night.

GM: Chevy Volt Will Get 230 MPG

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:07:00 +0000

GM's new Chevrolet Volt will notch a whopping 230 miles per gallon, the company claims.

WARREN, Mich. — General Motors said Tuesday that its Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicle, scheduled for release in 2011, would achieve a fuel rating of 230 miles a gallon in city driving.

The rating number, based on methodology drafted by the Environmental Protection Agency, is somewhat abstract, one auto specialist said, given that much of the city driving of electric vehicles will rely solely on the battery charge.

We'll just wait and see.

Loner Loser Kills 3 Women, Self; Wounds 9 Others

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:24:00 +0000

A Pennsylvania man walked into an aerobics class filled with women in Bridgeville, PA, pulled out two weapons, turned out the lights and sprayed the room with bullets killing three women, wounding nine others, then killed himself.

From the AP:

Neighbors described 48-year-old George Sodini as anti-social, and the Web page in his name showcased a resume setting forth his credentials as an unhappy loner. It listed his date of death — Aug. 4, 2009 — and his status of "Never married."

He complained of not having a girlfriend since 1984, not having a date since May 2008 and not having sex for 19 years.

"Women just don't like me. There are 30 million desirable women in the US (my estimate) and I cannot find one," he wrote. The page ended with the words "Death Lives!

His web page has been taken down.

Ohio Cops Facing Felony Charges

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:20:00 +0000

Two Ohio police chiefs are facing felony charges in a case involving the surrogate mother for Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick.

From the Associated Press:

Special prosecutor T. Shawn Hervey said the men conspired to take items from the woman's eastern Ohio home to sell to celebrity photographers.

At an arraignment Friday, Martins Ferry Police Chief Barry Carpenter was charged with two counts of burglary, one count of receiving stolen property, one count of theft in office, one count of unauthorized use of property or services and one count of tampering with evidence.

Bridgeport Police Chief Chad Dojack, 30, was charged with two counts of complicity to burglary and one count of complicity to receiving stolen property.

Both men pleaded not guilty and are free on their own recognizance. Neither of the men could be reached for comment. There are no residential telephone listings for them.

Housing Market Bouncing Back

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:55:00 +0000

With new home sales increasing 11 percent in June, economists are saying the housing market is bouncing back.

"The worst of the housing recession ... is now behind us," said David Resler, chief economist at Nomura Securities. "We're turning the corner toward increased activity in housing."

New home sales rose 11 percent in June to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 384,000, from an upwardly revised May rate of 346,000, the Commerce Department reported Monday.

Shares of big homebuilders soared on the news, with Beazer Homes USA up by more than 13 percent and Hovnanian Enterprises rising 8 percent in afternoon trading. But with home prices still falling, these companies won't be making much money anytime soon.

The median sales price of $206,200 was down 12 percent from $234,300 a year earlier and off nearly 6 percent from $219,000 in May.

In addition to lower prices, buyers are rushing to tax advantage of a federal tax credit that covers 10 percent of the home price or up to $8,000 for first-time buyers. Home sales need to be completed by the end of November for buyers to take advantage.

Switzerland Now in Recession

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:41:00 +0000

Although their economy has contracted less than 2 percent since late last year, Switzerland is now officially in a recession.

. . . official figures showed that the country's economy shrank by 0.8% in the first three months of 2009.
The decline came after a contraction of 0.3% in the last quarter of 2008.
Switzerland's economic woes have been led by its major banks which, like lenders around the world, have reported significant losses linked to bad debts.
A country is generally considered to be in recession following two successive quarters of economic decline.

Who Killed the Newspaper?

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:43:00 +0000

Traditional newspapers are dropping like flies -- the Rocky Mountain News, the Tucson Citizen -- and many more are laying off staffers and cutting costs wherever they can. Who killed the newspaper?

According to the late John Waller, once executive editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and a founding editor of USA Today, the blame rests squarely on three people: A.J. Liebling, a layout editor at The (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal named Arnold (first or last name is not clear in Waller's essay), and Al Neuharth.

Read Waller's essay published at Poynter Online for the details.

Bailed Out Bank Buys Jets

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 20:40:00 +0000

From ABC News:

Embattled bank JPMorgan Chase, the recipient of $25 billion in TARP funds, is going ahead with a $138 million plan to buy two new luxury corporate jets and build "the premiere corporate aircraft hangar on the eastern seaboard" to house them, ABC News has learned.

The financial giant's upgrade includes nearly $120 million for two Gulfstream 650 planes and $18 million for a lavish renovation of a hangar at the Westchester Airport outside New York City.

No word yet if Chase will offer rides to taxpayers.

Call Center Workers Take A Stand

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 15:37:00 +0000

TPM reports:

Some three dozen workers at a telemarketing call center in Indiana walked off the job rather than read an incendiary McCain campaign script attacking Barack Obama, according to two workers at the center and one of their parents.

Nina Williams, a stay-at-home mom in Lake County, Indiana, tells us that her daughter recently called her from her job at the center, upset that she had been asked to read a script attacking Obama for being "dangerously weak on crime," "coddling criminals," and for voting against "protecting children from danger."

Williams' daughter told her that up to 40 of her co-workers had refused to read the script, and had left the call center after supervisors told them that they would have to either read the call or leave, Williams says. The call center is called Americall, and it's located in Hobart, IN.

"They walked out," Williams says of her daughter and her co-workers, adding that they weren't fired but willingly sacrificed pay rather than read the lines. "They were told [by supervisors], `If you all leave, you're not gonna get paid for the rest of the day."

Judges Order Voting in Georgia

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:52:00 +0000

Federal judges have taken the side of the voters in Georgia:

The state of Georgia must allow persons whose citizenship has been questioned in a new voter verification system the opportunity to cast a ballot in the Nov. 4 elections, a three-judge court ruled Monday.

The state must also notify the voters that their registrations may have a discrepancy.

New Web Site To Fight Bailout

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 16:20:00 +0000

A new web site has sprung up to oppose the proposed taxpayer funded bailout of the banking system.

Check out VoteNoBailOut.org.

From their site:

Demand that the Bailout Legislation Be Rejected
We are witnessing a bankers' coup d’etat. In the name of saving the economy from a crisis created by their own greed and immense profits, the biggest bankers have taken a country and a people hostage.
“Give us your money and tear up what’s left of your Constitution or we will sink your economy,” is the message from Wall Street and the Bush Administration. “Give us the power and money we demand or you will be left jobless from a new economic depression."
Under the pretext of the banking crisis, the Bush Administration is changing the way this country operates. This is not simply taking trillions of dollars from the people and giving it to the richest bankers to do with as they see fit.
Click here to send your letter to Congress
Congress is poised to vote to give the Executive Branch of government, and specifically the White House’s political appointees in the Treasury Department, the absolute right to take our money and give it to domestic and foreign banks and corporations without any oversight of elected officials, from the courts, or from the people.
The new legislation states: “Decisions by the Secretary [of the Treasury] pursuant to the authority of this Act are non-reviewable and committed to agency discretion, and may not be reviewed by any court of law or any administrative agency.” The Legislation allows the Treasury Department to appoint the same bankers who created the crisis to administer and dictate the use of trillions of our tax dollars.
We will not stand by and let the Bush Administration formalize its vision of a “government of, by and for the richest bankers."
The new system institutionalizes theft on a grand scale. Lehman Brothers bankers will receive $2.5 billion in bonuses after their company went bankrupt last week, but the new dictatorial authority under the White House and Treasury Department has ruled out any relief for the millions of working families who are being foreclosed.

Sarah Palin to Avoid Reporters

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 11:12:00 +0000

John McCain's presidential staff will attempt to keep Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential candidate, away from taking direct questions from reporters.

From Jay Carney of Time magazine:

According to Nicole Wallace of the McCain campaign, the American people don't care whether Sarah Palin can answer specific questions about foreign and domestic policy. According to Wallace -- in an appearance I did with her this morning on Joe Scarborough's show -- the American people will learn all they need to know (and all they deserve to know) from Palin's scripted speeches and choreographed appearances on the campaign trail and in campaign ads.

Why?

I bet there are a lot of undecided voters out there who were intrigued by Sarah Palin last night, but who don't yet know enough about her -- what she believes, what she knows -- to be comfortable with the idea of her as vice president of the United States. It's important to them to know if Palin can handle herself in an environment that isn't controlled and sanitized by campaign image makers and message mavens. Maybe she can, maybe she can't. As far as Wallace is concerned, it's none of their -- or your -- business.

After eight years of failure, Republicans still think they know what is best for America, so just shut up and vote.

A liberal who won't take sh*t from anyone

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 14:22:00 +0000

U.S. Rep. Robert Wexler is an unapologetic liberal who tells it like it is in his book Fire-Breathing Liberal: How I Learned To Survive (and Thrive) in the Contact Sport of Congress.

Read this BuzzFlash interview for more.

Interview excerpt:

BuzzFlash: They ran away from the so-called "L" word because the right wing has defined that as though there's something wrong with it, instead of that being a positive word, and embracing a secular society that respects the Constitution. You embrace it.

You were the first co-sponsor of the recent Dennis Kucinich 35 Articles of Impeachment against Bush. You were a co-sponsor and are a co-sponsor of the impeachment resolution submitted by Congressman Kucinich against Cheney last year. You're extremely forceful in terms of FISA and the abuse of our trust -- this Administration -- in terms of the Iraq war. Is that coming directly from you, or is this just representative of your district? Because there aren't many Congresspeople -- Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey, Dennis Kucinch, other members of the Progressive Caucus -- but not a whole lot who are willing to go out that far. If you were in another district, would you be able to do that?

Rep. Robert Wexler: This is representative of what I believe in my heart and soul, and the good news from me is I have been fortunate to have the support of an overwhelming majority of my constituents. My book, Fire-Breathing Liberal, is a liberal call to action, and it proudly says that the liberal agenda, the progressive agenda, is the best agenda for America. That's what will put us on track both domestically and in terms of our foreign policy. That's what's going to help us. With respect to our health care, with our jobs, with our housing, with our schools -- that's what's going to enable us to relieve our dependency on foreign oil. We need to invest in alternative energy sources. What we don't need to do is open up pristine beaches in Florida and throughout the country to oil drilling. We've got to invest tens of billions of dollars here in America on solar energy, wind power, clean coal technology, wave currents, nuclear power, if it's safe, like they do in France.

How ridiculous -- pathetic -- it was when we were begging the Saudis last week to just pump a little bit more oil so that we could possibly have more of this addiction, like Tom Friedman said in The New York Times the other day. We need to end that dependency. That's how we begin to bring America back. This is a liberal call to action. It's time for progressives to have their surge in America, and the time is right for that. And I'm proud to call myself a liberal.

More Bad News for The GOP

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:28:00 +0000

Uh-oh. President Bush plans to campaign for the Republican Party this year. That can't be good news.

The White House on Monday sidestepped a question about how much Bush will campaign with McCain but said the president would actively hit the trail in support of Republican candidates despite his low approval ratings and questions about whether his presence would help or hurt the likely GOP nominee.

"The president believes very strongly that, if we get out and take our message to voters, that we can be successful," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.

What message is that? More unprovoked invasions of other countries. More tax breaks for the super rich at the expense of the rest of Americans? Continual depletion of the Treasury?

Oh, the mind boggles.

Realtors in the News

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 15:17:00 +0000

With all the recent reports focusing on the mortgage crisis and the impending doom and gloom for the real estate industry we have decided to post a few briefs of realtor news.

If we get a lot of interest, will make our Realtor News Section a regular feature at News Olio. If you're interested, be sure to let us know.

Realtors: Median home price up ever so slightly
Bizjournals.com, NC - 16 hours ago
The median home price in metro Portland in March was $286500, an increase of $300 from a year ago. While local home prices are holding their own against a gloomy national backdrop, news from the Regional Multiple Listing Service noted that both pending and closed sales have tanked. Closed sales dropped nearly 40 percent and pending sales dropped nearly 37 percent, the Realtor group said Tuesday.

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Washington REALTORS endorse Dino Rossi for governor

The Washington Association of REALTORS, the state’s largest professional organization of 25,000 members, has endorsed Dino Rossi for governor. The endorsement follows interviews of both Rossi and Gov. Christine Gregoire by a 17-member Statewide Candidate Interview Team. Good news for him.

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Prudential Parks & Weisberg Realtors sold
Louisville Courier-Journal, KY - 21 hours ago
Prudential Parks & Weisberg Realtors has been sold to two children of president and managing partner Pat Parks, the firm announced in a news release.

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Local realtors discuss increase in housing market activity
Log Cabin Democrat, AR - Apr 15, 2008
By RACHEL PARKER DICKERSON Last week, news from the Arkansas Realtors Association showed Faulkner County's home sales in February were down only 1 percent from the same month in 2007.

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For up-to-the-minute reports, check out National Realty News.

Accompa Offers Free Trial

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:40:00 +0000

All product development managers must keep track of the various requirements of the products on which their teams are working, and until recently this has been an ominous task of juggling spreadsheets, emails, memos and Post-It notes.

Accompa, a Silicon Valley company founded by people who managed requirements for products and projects at some of the most successful high-tech companies, has developed software to make that job much easier.

And the best thing of all is that Accompa is offering a Free Trial of their On-Demand Requirements Management Software.

Accompa's software is different from others in that it is web-based, thus it can be accessed from any computer with an Internet connection. (It works in both Internet Explorer and FireFox.) Their product is also customizable to meet the individual needs of each company. They offer unlimited custom fields, custom reports to extract just the data needed, and custom views to assist in the management of requirements for multiple products or projects.

If you are a product, project or program manager trying to keep track of requirements using paper and pencil, you should take advantage of the free trial offer from Accompa.

Bailout Could Signal Worse Times Ahead

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 13:52:00 +0000

The Federal Reserve's emergency loan to Bears Stearns may signal that things are getting worse for the economy.

. . . with Friday's surprise announcement that the Fed would temporarily inject its own money into tottering brokerage giant Bear Stearns Cos., many Wall Street pros say they have little confidence that the move is a prelude to better times for beleaguered markets and the economy.

Indeed, some experts say Bear Stearns' woes warn of potentially larger calamities that will severely test the Fed, the economy and, ultimately, taxpayers as the government gets more deeply involved in fixing the markets' troubles.

"We will lose, in some form, several major financial institutions before this is over," said veteran economist Allen Sinai of Decision Economics Inc. in New York.

The heart of the problem is that the nation is living through an unwinding of a 25-year-long, consumer-led borrowing binge. Bear Stearns was a key player in financing that binge, most notably in high-risk mortgages.

Wall Street in recent years designed ever more creative ways to transform loans into bonds and sell them to investors who were hungry for interest income. That alchemy reached its zenith with sub-prime mortgages -- loans to people with dubious credit.

Canada's Economy Booming

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:25:00 +0000

The Canadian economy added five times as many jobs as expected in February, surprising nearly everyone.

Statistics Canada said on Friday that the economy added 43,300 jobs last month, defying market forecasts of a more tepid gain of 8,000 amid signs of softer growth. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at a 33-year low of 5.8 percent.

The news sent the Canadian dollar flying to a one-week high against the U.S. dollar and left economists scratching their heads.

"Mind boggling," said Derek Burleton, senior economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank. "I'm obviously a little shocked right now," he told Reuters.

KBR Water Sickens Soldiers

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 13:54:00 +0000

Water supplied by Halliburton subsidiary KBR, is responsible for illnesses reported by U.S. troops in Iraq.

A report obtained by The Associated Press said soldiers experienced skin abscesses, cellulitis, skin infections, diarrhea and other illnesses after using discolored, smelly water for personal hygiene and laundry at five U.S. military sites in Iraq.

The Pentagon's inspector general found water quality problems between March 2004 and February 2006 at three sites run by contractor KBR Inc., and between January 2004 and December 2006 at two military-operated locations.

It was impossible to link the dirty water definitively to all the illnesses, according to the report. But it said KBR's water quality "was not maintained in accordance with field water sanitary standards" and the military-run sites "were not performing all required quality control tests."

"Therefore, water suppliers exposed U.S. forces to unmonitored and potentially unsafe water," the report said.

The problems did not extend to troops' drinking water, but rather to water used for washing, bathing, shaving and cleaning. Water used for hygiene and laundry must meet minimum safety standards under military regulations because of the potential for harmful exposure through the eyes, nose, mouth, cuts and wounds.

Does Cell Phone Use Disrupt Sleep?

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 14:37:00 +0000

Cell phone use will disrupt sleep, says a study conducted by Sweden's Karolinska Institute and Wayne State University in Detroit.

The study of 35 men and 36 women between 18 and 45 years old was funded by the Mobile Manufacturers Forum, the trade group for the industry. At this writing, however, its site has not posted a news release or the study results.

But a spokesman for British mobile phone operators called the findings inconclusive, according to Telecoms.com He said on BBC radio this morning that using a phone before or in bed was no worse than having a cup of coffee before turning in. The report also said manufacturers called into question the size of the study sample.

Explanation of the Writers Strike

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 19:42:00 +0000

If you wonder what the writers strike is all about, check this explanation.

Howard A. Rodman offers an excellent explanation of the strike by the Writers Guild of America in terms everyone can understand. Like everything else in this world it involves money and the greed of those who have it and want more at the expense of those whose efforts provide it.
As re-runs and syndication dry up, and a decent formula is replaced by an indecent one, our members stand to lose roughly 80% of their residual income--of what tides them over.

This is why we're asking for four cents more for every DVD. And that's why we're asking that the DVD rate--calculated when cassettes were in their infancy, when DVDs were a gleam in no-one's eyes, when the internet was still ARPANET and closed to commercial interests, when George Michael was in Wham!--not be the determinant of how we're compensated for downloads in this brave new world.

In simplest terms: the costs of manufacturing videocassettes were relatively substantial. The costs of DVDs (stamped rather than spooled) were much less. The costs of internet downloads are smaller still: no box, no disc, no shrinkwrap, no warehouse, no inventory, no shipping, no rackjobbers, no damaged merchandise, no returns. Yet the media giants want to compensate us at the same fraction-of-a-fraction rate.

As you know, the media conglomerates are not charitable. If you believe Fox wants to compensate writers fairly, you probably believe that The No Spin Zone is a no spin zone. And just as in other industries, the gap between what the CEO makes and what the lowest-paid worker makes has multiplied exponentially. The fact that we create the intellectual property, that none of their earnings would be possible absent what we being to the table, is not a matter of large concern to them. It is truly a new Gilded Age, no less so in the IP industry than in real estate or hedge funds.

Affiliate Elite Promises 'Unfair Competition'

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 13:38:00 +0000

Now, here's something new. It's called Affiliate Elite and it promises to show you how to find the best affiliates to promote your product through "unfair competition." No, it's not cheating, it just gives you a leg up on your competition by making your research easier.

Got a great piece of software you want to promote to the masses, or a new widget you are taking to the market? This appears to be the program for you.

Affiliate Elite is part of the family of "Elite" programs developed by Brad Callen, but it's not yet quite ready. However, you can get a sneak preview on how it works through a series of videos developed by Shawn Pringle.

These videos demonstrate several features of the software, including a list of all the profitable affiliate programs, a reverse Google search, analyzing Adwords competition and how to find "Super" affiliates, those sites that successfully promote products.

Oh, yeah. Those taking advantage of Pringle's review of the the software are eligible for an exclusive tips and tricks interview of Callen by Pringle not available elsewhere.

If you've been trying to "wing it" by setting up your own affiliate network, but are not having the success you deserve, try it out.

The software will be ready in early November, but you can preorder. Callen products are proven to work well, so check it out. Like everything else he promotes, it does come with a money-back guarantee.

Iraq Says Blackwater Guilty of Murder

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:58:00 +0000

From Common Dreams:

BAGHDAD - The Iraqi prime minister’s office said Sunday that the government’s investigation had determined that Blackwater USA private security guards who shot Iraqi civilians three weeks ago in a Baghdad square sprayed gunfire in nearly every direction, committed “deliberate murder” and should be punished accordingly.

Iraqi investigators, supported by Iraqi witness accounts, have said unofficially that they could not find evidence of any attack on the Blackwater guards that might have provoked the shooting on Nisour Square, which the Iraqis say killed 17 and wounded 27. But the statement by Ali al-Dabbagh, a spokesman for the prime minister, is the first indication that the government considers its investigation completed and the shootings unprovoked.

“This is a deliberate crime against civilians,” Mr. Dabbagh said. “It should be tried in court and the victims should be compensated.”

Those conclusions contradict Blackwater’s original statement on the shooting, which said that a convoy operated by the company’s guards “acted lawfully and appropriately in response to a hostile attack.” The Iraqi findings are also at odds with initial assertions by the State Department that the convoy had received small-arms fire.

Real Estate Sales See Benefit From Virtual Reality

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 20:55:00 +0000

It's true.

The use of virtual reality tours of homes from real estate does increase sales. The home buyers searching online and taking the virtual tours are more likely to visit the homes and are more ready to buy than their more traditional counterparts.

This is especially true if the sites include real estate video virtual tours. In fact, web visitors stay on a site 78 percent longer when the site includes video, according to information from Real Networks.

In addition, nearly 90 percent of visitors will watch the videos on the site. It's probably closer to 100 percent if it's a real estate site offering video tours. What potential home buyer wouldn't want to see a video of the property before calling the agent?

Just look at the popularity of sites like YouTube to see how effective video has become on the Internet.

If you have a real estate site and are not offering video virtual reality tours you are missing out on the hottest thing on the Web.

Let's face it. If buyers want to look at pictures of house they can get the local paper or pick up a free magazine at the convenience store.

Don't be left out, Ms. Real Estate Agent. Invest a little and join the 21st Century.

Mexican Gas Pipelines Attacked

noreply@blogger.com (newsollie) — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 15:19:00 +0000

Explosions hit natural gas pipelines owned by Pemex, the Mexican oil monopoly, causing fires and forcing evacuations. The explosions were deliberate, according to a statement released by Pemex.

Mexican state oil monopoly Petroleos Mexicanos, or Pemex, issued a statement saying it believed the explosions, which happened about 2 a.m. and forced the evacuation of 12,000 people, were deliberate.

In July, a small, left-wing guerrilla group claimed to have attacked a major Pemex gas pipeline extending from central Mexico City to Guadalajara, the industry-rich capital of the western state of Jalisco.

Those attacks forced at least a dozen major companies, including Honda Motor Co., Kellogg Co. and The Hershey Co., to suspend or scale back operations, and sent the Mexican government scrambling to increase security at "strategic installations" across Mexico.

At the time, the group pledged to continue its attacks against government installations.

Four of the explosions Monday produced fires, which Pemex said were under control.

It was not clear what security measures were in place at the pipelines that exploded Monday. Except for small businesses prevented from opening by the evacuations, there did not appear to be any major effect on area businesses.

Pemex said at least five pipelines were affected, but said it had no reports of deaths or injuries.