Tea Gift Set

Bertrand Russell's "China Teapot"

My apologies for yet another recorded essay. Work is getting in the way of my video making lately. This is from an essay written by Bertrand ...

World's largest oil trader flouts Iran sanctions

22.05.13

Vitol has said previously it is in compliance with sanctions against Iran, but has declined to say whether or not it would follow the strict EU regulations rather than Switzerland's.

Rival Swiss-based traders Glencore and Trafigura said in July they had halted all Iranian oil trade, even though the Swiss government opted against following measures imposed by Washington and Brussels.

The measures have halved OPEC member Iran's crude oil export revenues, devaluing the rial currency and bringing financial hardship to millions of Iranians.

On top of the EU ban, Iran's four biggest oil buyers - China, India, Japan and South Korea - have reduced their imports by at least a fifth to secure exemptions from the threat of U.S. financial sanctions on their companies.

Vitol last year earned record revenue of $297 billion, a near-five-fold increase since 2004. It does not reveal profits.

Fuel oil is a small part of its trading portfolio, accounting for $24 billion of revenue last year compared to $105 billion from crude and $100 billion from other refined products.

Source: NBCNews.com (blog)

china teapot - News


The Daily Pic: Reinventing the wheel, Meissen potters copied Chinese masters.
Daily Beast (blog) - May 22, 2013
The Daily Pic: Reinventing the wheel, Meissen potters copied Chinese masters. This teapot was made in about 1730, and is now on display in the Portico Gallery that opened this morning at the Frick Collection in New York – its first new display space in decades. The light-filled gallery, made by glassing-in a garden colonnade,

China's "teapot" refiners say able to ease diesel shortages
Reuters - May 22, 2013
China's giant state-run refiners had blamed their independent counterparts, called teapots because of their relatively small size, for a recent diesel shortage in the world's second largest oil market. Diesel supplies, which have been tight for several

Serious Teapots for Serious Drinkers
New York Times - May 22, 2013
A plain-looking 1948 Zisha teapot by the grand master Gu Jingzhou, adorned with calligraphic engravings, sold for a record of nearly $2 million at a China Guardian auction in Beijing last year. “This price really reflected the teapot's maker,

Value depends on several variables
StarNewsOnline.com - May 22, 2013
Children's tea sets are basically miniatures of adult products, so a teapot, cups and saucers, perhaps some dessert plates and/or a sugar bowl and creamer are the norm. Tea sets are popular collectibles because they have crossover appeal. China

Emma's eccentric Britain: Teapot Island, Kent
The Guardian - May 22, 2013
Emma's eccentric Britain: Teapot Island, Kent They own Teapot Island and, until this year, had the world's largest collection of teapots. "We didn't get the Guinness World certificate this year," Luke says with a shrug. "There's some bloke in China claiming he's got over 30000 teapots.