| Chemical Industry 1991-2000
Vladimir Sergeenkov, the governor of Kirov Region, publicly opposed plans for the sale of the state shareholding in the combine. The RF Ministry of Property owned 25.3% of the voting shares (administered by the Ministry for Atomic Energy); the Kirov Region Property Management Committee owned 25.3%; and 29.5% belonged to the Interkhiminvest investment and finance company (part of the Interkhimprom group) and its partner, the Solvalub trading company, one of the world's three largest nitrogen fertilizer dealers. The dispute is still going on, and so far, Interkhimprom is winning.
LUKOIL announced in April that it was willing to buy a controlling block of shares in AO NORSI-Oil, but only on condition of the return to NORSI of the EP-300 ethylene production installation and an ethylene oxide and glycol plant now belonging to OAO SIBUR-Neftekhim.
Shake It Now, Hillary!
The 2008 campaign will be a test of the relative strength of these various differently-informed electorates. Of those who follow politics (Skurnick's first group) how many follow the "undernews" and how many merely watch Brian Williams? Of those who don't follow politics (Skurnick's second group) how many bone up in the end by madly googling the candidates, and how many just read the editorial endorsements in their local papers? The non-MSM Enquirer will be in the checkout aisles all over Iowa, but will it have an impact? At the moment it looks as if Edwards has the most at stake in this great experiment, but others will have a stake soon enough. . Much of the anti-"amnesty" immigration movement has been consigned to the Undernews simply because the MSM consensus in favor of some kind of "comprehensive" legalization has been so strong.
In India's Huge Marketplace, Advertisers Find Fair Skin Sells
The trend reflects deep cultural preferences for fair skin in this predominantly brown-skinned nation of more than 1 billion people. But analysts say the fondness for "fair" is also fueled by a globalized economy that has drawn ever more models from Europe to cities such as Mumbai, India's cultural capital. "Indians have a longing for that pure, beautiful white skin. It is too deep-rooted in our psyche," said Enakshi Chakraborty, who heads Eskimo India, a modeling agency that brings East European models here. "Advertisers for international as well as Indian brands call me and say, 'We are looking for a gori [Hindi for white] model with dark hair.' Some ask, 'Do you have white girls who are Indian-looking?' They want white girls who suit the Indian palate." Indians' color fixation is also evident in classified newspaper ads and on Web sites that help arrange marriages.
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