commentopia

 

 

JUNE 14, 2010 -- JUNE 27, 2010

LIFE IN THESE UNITED STATES IN 2050

PEW REPORT - LIFE IN 2050

 

"71 percent said cancer will be cured"

Good news: Cancer will be cured by 2040. Bad news: A single treatment will cost $158,000 and the U.S. will have the economy of 1970s Argentina by then.

Good news: By 2040 alternate fuels will be providing the majority of our energy. Bad news: coal home furnaces make a comeback as fuel oil disappears.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Americans speculate about life in 2050

<>

So computers will converse with the survivors of the apocalypse as stranded space tourists repair to the space station to watch as health care is offered free to the nuke survivors of the terrorist attack that made the United States a Switzerland- like land where education became important as a tool to rebuild the blighted land. But where are the vampires?

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Americans speculate about life in 2050

<>

I'm a scientist and I think the world is going to end. About 4 billion years or so from now when our sun goes red giant! I'm having a hard time being too concerned about that.

Oh, and every single generation of Christians, since the earliest ones, have thought that we are in, or very near, the end days, and Jesus would be returning soon. I have little doubt that this generation is just as wrong about that.

Read the article HOUSTON CHRONICLE/Cancer cured, but world soon ends?

<>

Interesting. The people I want to meet are the ones who believe there will be another world war, and a nuclear terrorist attack, and are optimistic about the future. I need to smoke what they are smoking.

Telling that more people believe robots will be able to think than believe health care costs will go down, or schools will improve.

What fools these mortals be.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Americans speculate about life in 2050

MARCHING ORDERS: GENERAL MCCHRYSTAL RELIEVED OF COMMAND

 

Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal has challenged the basic - perhaps the most fundamental - rule of American democracy: civilian control over the military.

Truman fired MacArthur for doing about the same thing that McChrystal and his staff have done. McChrystal should be similarly fired and his staff reprimanded. No one is indispensable and a commander and staff who want the world to know they are better than the civilian leadership are in fact very dispensable.

As they say, there is nothing like an occasional hanging to focus the mind and clearly the military caste in Afghanistan need to be brought down to earth.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/McChrystal's fate unclear as Obama aides assail remarks

<>

As a former Infantry officer, I find McCrystal's behavior apalling; differences of policy and core direction are resolved PRIVATELY, not via speeches in London or interviews for Rolling Stone. If he did not have that kind of relationship with Obama, he should have built one with Gates, his champion with Obama in the first place. Of recent presidents, one might suspect that Obama would, at the very least, listen, in private, to almost anything McCrystal wanted to bring up.

I find Karzai's support of McCrystal to be downright scary. I think Karzai is not direct in his relationship with us, and I have no trust for him or his position. I want to know why Karzai supports McCrystal so much. (i.e. what is in it for him.......)

As for the bacKroom frathouse antics, they occur in almost any setting. However, they need to be kept in the frathouse, not prated around the world in an exclusive interview. And, it behooves any leader to make sure that frathouse bs does not color the execution of policy or dim clarity of action. Period. That is what leadership is about, not surrogate whining in the press because he doesn't like his Commander in Chief

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/McChrystal relieved of command

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems to me that if you are going to serve as General and top commander in Afghanistan, you should be in sync with the President you're serving under. I read a few of the other comments from people who feel that commanders need to have the opportunity to speak their minds, even in a situation like the one we face in Afghanistan. However, there's a difference between having a differing opinion and blatantly bad-mouthing not only the President but his top security staff.

My son hopes to enter the army as an officer by year's end, and I would feel more comfortable if the person commanding him were on the same side. As it stands now, I don't have much confidence in General McChrystal's ability to lead the troops; his judgment has been compromised.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/McChrystal's fate unclear as Obama aides assail remarks

Regretfully, Gen McChrystal will be held accountable for the contents of the Rolling Stone article, especially given that none of the article’s contents have been disputed by Gen McChrystal. I doubt Gen McChrystal will be the commander in Afghanistan much longer. I suppose that Pres Obama could take a star off of him and then send him back to finish the mission.

However, Gen McChrystal would probably simply retire as a general instead — clearly, Gen McChrystal made a terrible mistake in allowing this to happen while he is in the field under arms. In the mean time, we must all begin to ask some harder questions about the current status of the war itself — is the war going well or not — are we winning or losing — should we stay or leave — the answers to these questions are crucial to President’s next actions..

.Read the article  REUTERS/Fate of top U.S. Afghan general in doubt

<>

I guess this is an acceptable interpretation of history if you only studied American History since 1972 but for the more intellectually rigorous can easily see the fallacy. One would appreciate that the civilian directed Military intended by our founds has been a point of contention since the founding of the Republic.

Washington was critiqued by his Vice President Adam for his favoritism to the Army claimed he over involved himself in the direction of the Military in the minutest detail. Harrison ran as a war hero while Andrew Jackson, Zachary Taylor and Franklin Pierce has difficulties with Generals becoming political throughout their administration. Winfield Scott ran for President as an active duty General and during War time Lincoln had General McClellan who ran for President on the (Copperhead pro-slavery) democrat peace party as a General after he refused direct orders from Secretary of War Stanton to return to duty. Truman had MacArthur as a political foil during the Korean War.

This is a trivial event and if Obama has an ounce of sense he will over look it and support his hand picked General.

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/General McChrystal apologizes for Rolling Stone profile

<>

What we are witnessing here is the fatigue of everyone, especially top commanders under tremendous pressure, with a war that has dragged on and on. We saw this during the Civil War, on both sides, where field commanders squabbled openly with civilian leadership. We saw it even in World War II, where on balance the allies made relatively few mistakes. This will have little effect on our troops. The danger is how it will be perceived amongst the enemy. It will be exploited as proof of a declining resolve on our part and embolden them.

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/General McChrystal apologizes for Rolling Stone profile

BP TAPS $20 BILLION TO FUND OIL SPILL CLAIMS

BP UPDATE JUNE 14

I think the president was mistaken on one important issue last evening. He said he believes that people in the "United" States of America have and always will work together to overcome the toughest obstacles facing the nation. Based on the hate, ignorance, rudeness and moronic statements many have posted here, this country no longer has the intellectual resources to handle this crisis in a coordinated, united manner. People always take sides and bash the other guy. It doesn't matter what open blog you read. It is, the "I'm always right, you're always wrong mentality."

There has been a massive mobilization of equipment and manpower since the beginning of this crisis. More of both has been deployed since BP's efforts to cap have failed. The military has been actively involved since the beginning, that is, "the Coast Guard". The industry, in general, admitted yesterday in congressional hearings, that it does not have the technology or the expertise to fix this. The best scientists and engineers around the world are working on solutions yet some posters believe the government, (without intervening business or in people's lives) should have magically stopped the oil flow and cleaned up all the oil by now. Oh yes, and washed off all the birds and fish.

The problem is that people have been culturally conditioned to fight. The whole American system has become adversarial and as a result, cooperation and civility has been lost. God help America.

Read the article CNN/No cap on BP's $20 billion compensation fund

<>

I don't think President Obama has mishandled the oil spill, but he certainly has mishandled the news media. The "Gotcha" mentality that passes for news reporting these days is more destructive than the oil in the Gulf.

Last I looked this was a Democracy and the President was not a dictator who could rule with a wave of his hand. What did we expect him to do, fly down to Louisiana and stick his finger in the pipe? Was he supposed to push the BP engineers and scientists aside to let the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard fumble the ball just as badly?

Everyone in America shares a portion of blame for this disaster. We want our cars, our central heating, our electricity -- all the luxuries of 21st Century living that depend on OIL and plenty of it. This disaster is the price is the devil's due. And neither Obama or anyone else can't put on a Superman suit, fly down and Fix It overnight.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/BP to suspend dividends and set up fund for oil spill claims

<>

It's still far too soon to establish where the fault lied that caused the disaster. There has been talk of failed valves, insufficient centralizers, laissez faire attitudes in the company et al, but the sorting out what actually happened will take much longer.

While American anger over the issue is understandable, I'm deeply unimpressed by the ridiculous reaction of a significant section of the American people and, in turn, Obama.

Firstly, I'm unclear why the American people disapprove of his handling of the situation. Given that highly experienced geologists and engineers have struggled to contain the leak thus far, I'm baffled as to what the American public think Obama should be doing.

Obama has reacted to this irrational reaction by flailing around saying how he's going to 'kick BP's ass' and single-handedly taking huge chunks out of the companies badly affected value. It would be grimly amusing if he drove the company to collapse with his knee-jerk, populist rhetoric before they had a chance to start legal action.

Read the article BBC-HAVE YOUR SAY/What do you think of BP's actions?

<>

I love how people want to cut off their nose to spite their face.

BP should be held responsible for compensating not only all those that lost their ability to make a living in the gulf region but all those that will be involved with the clean-up. In order for BP to have the funds to compensate for this disaster they need to continue making profits.

Destroying BP will not only remove their ability to pay for this but will destroy over 20,000 jobs in the US....a ripple effect that will be far more reaching and thus far more burden on the tax payers.

This rig represents such a small part of BP's business that they can and should continue to operate....folks should not boycott their stations and they should be allowed to make obscene profits that should be temporarily 100% taxed until this debt is paid.

Why do you want to throw out the baby with the bath water? We need to be smart about this.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/BP downgraded by Fitch over concerns about spill cleanup

 

The Federal and State Governments need to take care that their demands for an escrow account doesn't force BP into bankruptcy.

BP market capitalization is around $96 billion, take $20 billion in assets and put them into and escrow account and the stock price will drop perhaps buy as much as $20 billion. Although everyone thinks BP is British about 35% of their shares (ADRs) are held by Americans, so of that $20 Billion around $6 or $7 billion could effectively come from America shareholders. One Texas state pension fund estimates that it has already lost $120 million due to the drop in BP's share value.

If I were BP I would be considering protecting the overall company by putting my American assets into chapter 11 bankruptcy and walking away from the mess. There is a legal standing for Bankruptcy - as far as I am aware there is no legal basis for forcing a company into putting assets into an escrow account. Read the article NPR/BP poised to create spill victims' fund

<>

Earlier today, on the Huffington Post, it was reported that the BP oil rig had been registered as a ship and was overseen by the Marshall Islands. Such outlandish actions taken by a corporation to avoid regulations and real oversight goes right to the heart of the matter of why we need to get not only our government but the international community to start regulating industries.

It seems that we've lost something essential in our free market mania and it is the understanding that it is laws that make civilizations work. We can't count on human beings or corporations to just regulate themselves believing that they'll act rationally and that the common good will be served as they act in their own self interest. To believe that is to go against a total understanding of human nature and to advocate anarchy.

We have to just face the fact that Reagan was wrong! Government wasn't the problem. Taking the cops off the beat have led us to a very dangerous place, not putting good laws in place, and not enforcing any laws has also led us to a very dangerous place. Let's all wise up and stop this government hatred nonsense.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/BP downgraded by Fitch over concerns about spill cleanup

<>

Oil spills happen, both naturally and otherwise. We know this, and we have known this for many years. But we still need to drive our cars to work, and make plastic, and heat our homes. No one is willing to give that up, no matter how many dead manatees make it onto the news. And so any reactionary measures are likely to cause more harm than good. The best we can do is minimize oil spills by imposing rigorous standards of procedure, multiple layers of oversight, and trying to reduce overall consumption of oil as much as possible.

Here's what we have to gain from getting out of oil (Middle Eastern or otherwise): (1) no more dependence on decadent dictatorships - we can't really go around preaching peace and freedom when we're forced to publicly make out with crime lords, opium barons, and people who consider themselves living gods; (2) significantly reduced greenhouse gas pollution; (3) we can stop getting ripped off by OPEC; (4) we can avoid coming tensions with Russia, Canada, and Greenland over access to Arctic oil deposits; (5) the exorbitant prices our citizens pay to meet their daily energy needs will no longer line the pockets of speculators, currency manipulators, and day-traders; (6) we will have incentives to develop new energy technologies, which we can then market to the rest of the world.

How to continue meeting our energy needs without oil is a difficult problem, and the solution is a widespread and gradual switch to nuclear power in as many areas as current technologies allow, with investments in other renewable energy forms as they pertain to various locations (for example, thermal energy for the ring of fire, solar power in the southwest, hydroelectric power for the Mississippi, and wind farms up and down the East Coast). Such a switch could provide jobs and incentives for science and technology training, both of which would have positive residual effects. We should put such a system in place in as minimally-invasive a way as possible: encourage the free market to take up the mantle, pass the torch from federal to state and local governments...

To correct this problem, we don't necessarily need more regulation, as liberal birdsong calls for, nor do we necessarily need less regulation, as conservative hacks continue to chant, but we could use some smarter regulation with less of a focus on GDP growth and more of a focus on creating a happy, healthy, society. The word "regulate" originally meant "to keep regular". The Media's visceral coverage of the oil spill should show Americans that our times and our policies are anything but regular.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/Obama's next trick: Live from the Oval Office

DEEPWATER HORIZON RESPONSE

BP LIVE FEED

SHOULD OILED SEABIRDS BE CLEANED OR KILLED?

These oiled birds DO deserve a chance at life and SHOULD be cleaned and held in a safe location until it is appropriate to release them. As I understand it, there are several wildlife organizations in the area of the spill and who are working to remove the oil from these birds.

Even if the birds are never able to be reproductively competent again, they will serve as mentors to new birds that come to the area in future. Yes, there life may be shorter, but life should be the chance they are given, no matter the odds. They do deserve the chance of recovery, no matter the cost to BP.

Read the article SCIENCE BLOGS/Oiled seabirds: To kill or not to kill, what is the ethical thing to do?

<>

In this tragedy, I hope that the experts put their best efforts on rare bird species. I believe that the brown pelican population will regenerate itself as there are millions throughout the gulf area and all of Florida.

Birds like Roseate Spoonbills, Cranes, Herons and other more rare birds should be given priority. Many of these rare birds have never fully recovered from the feather hat craze of a century ago.

Pelicans are tough birds and their numbers will rebound. Thankfully, the rare white pelican flies directly from Yellowstone to the FL Keys and will not be impacted. If another person has a more expert opinion, please let us know.

Read the article NPR/Should oiled birds be cleaned?

<>

As a penguin specialist who worked as a rehabilitation manager during the rescue of 20,000 oiled African penguins from the Treasure oil spill in 2000, this is a topic near and dear to my heart. It's true that, in some cases, the most humane thing to do is to euthanise the most severely compromised birds - but this does not necessarily equate to the most heavily oiled birds.

The IBRRC [ International Bird Rescue Research Center] has stated that these birds are often in better physiological condition when rescued because, unlike lightly oiled birds, they cannot fly away to evade capture. So they are caught much earlier after becoming oiled, before the toxins in the oil have caused as much damage.

Also, every species is unique in its ability to survive oiling and rehabilitation - and the type of oil makes a difference as well - so you can't really make a blanket statement as to whether euthanasia or rehabilitation is the correct response.

Read the article SCIENCE BLOGS/Oiled seabirds: To kill or not to kill, what is the ethical thing to do?

<>

There is a world of difference between people suffering and animals suffering.  I don't enjoy seeing any kind of suffering but there is plenty to go around.  You could say that the money spent cleaning oily birds may affect the economy somewhat positively but the bird dying soon after is certainly not benefiting from these efforts.  I say spend the money where it will help the most and have long lasting benefit.

 
So many people's priorities are a bit skewed in my opinion.  From the National and State governments to the large corporations and family households, the stewardship of our finances should be scrutinized.  And all the monies spent on this oil mess should be prioritized to get the biggest bang for the buck until this catastrophe is over.

 
By the estimates in the article, washing 1,000 birds would cost $32 million.  If 1% of the birds survived (to probably die a painful death relatively soon after release anyway), $3.2 million would be spent on each of those 10 birds.  I'm sorry but that just sounds like a horrible investment unless maybe they were the last 10 birds of their kind on earth.

 
Tough decisions need to be made.  We can't have everything we want otherwise life for all living creatures would be perfect, a nice thought but not a realistic one.

Read the article DISCOVERY NEWS/Experts: Kill, don't clean oiled birds

<>

Oh, well if "serious studies" have shown this, then by all means, it must be true. What studies? How can you reference data like this and expect to be taken seriously? Who performed these studies and with what sort of control measures? The article also says that they die within 7 days of release. Is this if they are released immediately after cleaning, 2 hours after cleaning, 2 months after cleaning?

This is a serious matter, where is the supporting data? Do they have a higher survival rate if they're kept in rehabilitation facilities for a period before release? I realize they can't all be rehabilitated, but why not clean and rehabilitate those that either represent a species already threatened or those with a better possibility of survival and give at least some of them a chance?

Read the article TREEHUGGER/Less than 1 per cent of oil-soaked birds survive

JUNE 7, 2010 -- JUNE 13, 2010

GULF DISASTER: DRAWING A LINE IN THE OIL

Richard Griffith, told The Associated Press. “Unilateral action against BP over its U.S. operations, be it unreasonable or illegal, hangs over BP.”

What about the millions of barrels BP spilled into the Gulf illegally, Mr. Griffith? Or the laws it broke when 11 oil workers died on that fateful day? Or the numerous safety infractions that led to this incident?

BP deserves all the heat it is getting. They have destroyed an ecological and historical feature of our country - I think their tone would be much different if this happened along the coast of Wales. They have imperiled countless number of lives because they can't make a living. They continue to withhold timely payment of compensation for claims of lost revenue and lost livelihood.

It sickens me that these business analysts talk about the danger the US Govt is putting on BP and can't pay dividends to socially unconscious investors!

Give me a break, Mr. Griffith. Maybe you should visit the Gulf and then report back to me on the dividend payments and how they should go to Gulf Coast residents whose life has been taken from them by a wreckless, selfish and FOREIGN company.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Push for BP to halt dividends hits resistance in Britain

<>

A good article, it seems worrying that much of the justifiable anger in the US is being directed solely at BP, almost as a means of distracting from the wider reality that dependency on oil is a global issue with global implications, going far beyond one company. BP have undoubtedly behaved appallingly, but it wouldn´t be hard to find examples of other oil companies who have behaved as badly.

Surely, therefore, the real issue is the the combination of peaking production of conventional oil reserves as well as climate change inevitably means that oil companies will behave "badly" from the point of view of the broader public interest. Check out the behaviour of the Peruvian state and oil companies in the Peruvian Amazon, for example (http://www.iied.org/sustainable-markets/blog/blunt-instruments-crude-addictions). Oil dependency is the real issue, and simply blaming BP will not solve the problem.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Has bloodlust for BP gone too far?

<>

Anthony Weiner, a usually sensible Democratic congressman, declared: "Whenever you hear someone with a British accent talking about this on behalf of British Petroleum, they are not telling you the truth."

And like his President, deliberately and obtusely referring to the company by a name it has not used for over a decade. It's BP, stupid.

BP is the name of a merged company comprising the old British Petroleum (British) and the old Amoco (American). There are roughly the same number of shared held in each country. There are 24,000 US employees and 10,000 British employees. Many thousands of other jobs in supply chains in turn depend on these jobs.

Many millions of pension funds on both sides of the Atlantic also rely heavily on BP shares and dividends - to a material extent.

Obama is also taking some significant risks with US energy security if he brings that lot down in flames in a fit of scapegoating righteous indignation.

That said, BP should dump its invisible, ineffective chairman tomorrow, and also replace its CEO with an American national who will be perceived to be more empathetic to the genuine concerns of Americans.

Read the article GUARDIAN/Has bloodlust for BP gone too far?

 

"POLI-TECH!" FORMER SILICON VALLEY CEO'S WIN PRIMARIES

The defeat of Campbell to Fiorina shows that real world business experience is now being preferred to the ivory tower. Lots of people have been taught to view businessmen and women as greedy, and professors as wise. The recent perceived poor performance of President Obama, a man with superb academic credentials, but light executive experience may have pushed this one along.

Everyone makes mistakes. For someone with real world business experience, they've probably made plenty, and learned from them. For someone without the experience, they have yet to make them. I think voters on the right have shown they prefer the former in this primary.

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Two tech chiefs triumph

<>

The only lesson I see coming from this primary is that only the super rich can win an election and that the people now trust business executives to run things. Too bad BP's Hayward is British, I'll bet he could pony up billions to spend on his own election.

The more expensive it becomes to win an election, the fewer can afford to run. And worse yet, if you don't have your own pile of cash to put up, you will have to make yourself beholden to the moneyed class to get those TV ad buy dollars. Yes, rich people sure know how to run things and pay themselves extremely well for doing so. Yet when they screw up the entire economy, export formerly good paying jobs overseas and steal, it is "unforeseen" and certainly not their fault.

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Two tech chiefs triumph

<>

"Meg-A-Bucks W]hitman" (a rich political hit-woman with a big dose of W up front) and Carly "She's So Vain" Fee Arena ... gads, what an excessive splash of cash these two are going to be.

Anyone else here tired of seeing self-absorbed bored ex-CEOs who shipped thousands of jobs overseas to keep shareholders rich at the expense of the working man and woman, look at the political arena and say, "Yeah, I'd like to try that... so I'll BUY that!"

I'm normally a fiscal conservative and a social moderate, but these two don't even adhere to the basic principles of participatory and responsible citizenship. They just want more power, and they'll spend every last dollar they have in order to get it.

Reject this eBay-style "Buy-It-Now" politics or our government will become nothing more than a puppet state run by overlords who will do anything they can to foil public opinion. That's how dictatorships get started.

I haven't heard a single original idea from either of them.

Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/Whitman easily defears Poizner

 

MAY 31, 2010 --JUNE 6, 2010

"WELL" OF SISYPHUS: BP AIMS FOR 20,000 BARRELS A DAY FROM CAPPED WELL

DEEPWATER HORIZON RESPONSE

BP LIVE FEED

 

So, if they try something it's not worth a damn, if they don't try something it's not worth a damn. What are your suggestions? Blow it up. Every interview I saw last night was very apprehensive about that idea. Something about maybe ending up with 100 gushers instead of 1, or in the case of using a nuclear device, adding radiation to the oil problem.

Anyone can plainly see that the one entity with the most incentive to stop the oil flow would be BP. Every day that this goes on is one day closer to bankruptcy. You can rant all you want about what we should've done, would've done or could've done but none of that noise is going to stop the flow of oil. All of your blather will not turn back the clock.

We can only hope that there will be lessons learned from this disaster and applied to future methods to prevent this from ever happening again.

As far as the cap is concerned it is my understanding that this is still a work in progress and they are working slowly to prevent what happened with the first capping attempt 9the ice crystal formation) from happening again.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/BP caps spill but results still unclear

<>

There's the Russian approach of bombing the well closed, and the Saudi approach, sucking the water up into supertankers, cleaning it, and releasing it back into the gulf. Both methods have worked in the past. The Russians used a nuclear device which I'd hope we could avoid, and the Saudi's only had to deal with 700 million gallons. There's two options, and I'm no expert.

Instead, we're appointing commissions, and a week later deciding who's the freaking chairman. I want him to get his down there, take charge, attend ALL the meetings, and put the boot to BP's neck like Salazar said they already had. Over a month, and all we've done is make hotel reservations for a blue ribbon panel? Gimme a break. I voted for Obama, but this is certainly his Katrina. He has dropped the ball, allowing the wetlands to be killed while he's off making commencement speeches.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/Jindal frustrated with Feds over spill

<>

All this finger pointing is getting on my last nerve. If BP new what to do to stop this, it would have been done it yesterday. The last thing they want is something like this to go on this long. Our government isn't prepared for something like this either, and if they take charge, it will probably be even slower.

We have a huge problem, and the people responsible for it are taking care of it to the best of their ability. The big problem is that they, or any one else, do not have the ability to deal with this type of emergency. And the bigger problem is, that it could happen again, with any company drilling out there, and they do not have emergency procedures ready to deal with the catastrophes that might happen, and WE allow it!

Read the article NPR/EPA pressures BP to reduce toxic decontaminant

<>

The Great Gulf Oil Catastrophe is a prime example of the double standard for risk-taking applied to Big Business and to regular citizens and small businesses.

If I drive my car without liability insurance, I get a ticket. Why? Because the risk of driving uninsured is simply too great. We've all heard versions of the kind of damage that " 2000 lb weapon" can do. So, for safety's sake if not in order to keep our traffic tickets to a minimum and our insurance premiums down, most of us try hard to drive in a safe manner.

Yet as we've seen these last weeks and months, BP and other Big Oil is allowed to operate in the Gulf, sans any real assurances they will do it in a safe and reliable manner.

Big Oil has no "liability insurance" which begins to cover the degree of damage possible given the nature of their activities.

And, because no traffic cop is on the oil beat, Big Oil cuts safety and environmental corners to the point of the Deep Horizon catastrophe.

Time to put Big Oil traffic cops back on the beat. If we can't exist without having to insure against all the possible damage we could cause as individuals or small businesses, then so should they.

No more double standard!

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Gulf drilling regulators let oil companies fill out their own inspection reports

<>

I think we all agree that first that ell has to be stopped from further leaking. I invite those of you who pray to pray now that BP's effort accom-plishes that.

Then the clean up.

Then, figuratively, heads must roll. While human errors do occur, it seems BP suspected a problem but would not stop production to check it out- a gross violation of common sense given the stakes, as time has shown.

For those interested in the blame game, the Horizon rig has been operating in the Gulf since 2002, so all the regulations and all the enforcement prior to 01/20/2009 belong to Bush-Cheney. I am not sure what continuations or new things were approved for them after 01/20/09, but those would belong to Obama-Biden. What actually happened apparently relates to work recently completed by Haliburton, but when that work was approved I don't know.

From the fact that I don't know who approved what actually blew up, you may correctly infer that laying blame is not my first priority. As others have noted, there will be time for that later.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/BP ignored warning signs on rig

REMEMBERING AMERICA'S VETERANS ON MEMORIAL DAY 2010

My last year in the service ('00), I finally built up the courage to visit Normandy, which wasn't far away from where I was stationed in Germany, where my Dad, a paratrooper with the 101st, dropped in the early hours of June 6th, 1944 and fought hand to hand combat all night in order to stay alive. Even though my Dad lived through the war (he was later wounded at the Battle of the Bulge), he died 33 years ago depriving me of the opportunity to really experience what he went through and properly honor him.

I visited Normandy alone 10 years ago in the hope that it would bring closure. And today as we memorialize our fallen from wars recent and wars past I, again, think of my dad and wish I could have had the chance to hear, from him, more of his magnificent exploits.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Memorial day: How to Get Involved

<>

One of the great WWI poems, by a soldier who was one of those who did not go home.

Alan Seeger. 1888–1916

. "I Have a Rendezvous with Death"
.

I Have a rendezvous with Death
At some disputed barricade,
When Spring comes back with rustling shade
And apple-blossoms fill the air—
I have a rendezvous with Death
When Spring brings back blue days and fair.

It may be he shall take my hand
And lead me into his dark land
And close my eyes and quench my breath—
It may be I shall pass him still.
I have a rendezvous with Death
On some scarred slope of battered hill,
When Spring comes round again this year
And the first meadow-flowers appear.

God knows 'twere better to be deep
Pillowed in silk and scented down,
Where love throbs out in blissful sleep,
Pulse nigh to pulse, and breath to breath,
Where hushed awakenings are dear...
But I've a rendezvous with Death
At midnight in some flaming town,
When Spring trips north again this year,
And I to my pledged word am true,
I shall not fail that rendezvous.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Memorial day: How to Get Involved

<>

Because my work hours are so flexible, I'm able to regularly volunteer at a homeless shelter. Many of the residents are Vietnam era veterans. They have paid a very heavy price for serving in the military. They are good men and after they get to know me and trust me they will tell me about their fallen friends.

They always mention how young they were...18, 19, 20, 21 years old. I think that all of those young men who never got a chance to become old deserve to be honored today.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Memorial day: How to Get Involved

I wanted to tell the people of the Kansas City area how much I appreciate the outpouring of support shown to those of us in the military. It makes me feel so good when I am at a restaurant or in the supermarket and a total stranger walks up and says, “Thank you for your service.

There is one thing that does bother me: what, or who, has been forgotten — the families we must leave behind. It is not just the ones who don the uniforms who are making sacrifices. In my opinion, the families make the bigger sacrifice. They must carry on with their lives and take care of all that their deployed loved ones used to do.

I have often said to my wife that she deserves much more credit for the multiple deployments than I do. I am very grateful for all of the care and concern that the people of America show to us in uniform, but I ask that we not forget the ones who are also asked to make a sacrifice so that their soldier is allowed to go off and protect their freedoms. - Dale C. DeStefano, Major, U.S. Army, Fort Leavenworth

Read the article KANSAS CITY STAR/Don't Forget Families of Military Veterans

 

back to home page

read more comments from THE INDEX

© 2009-2010 Commentopia