commentopia

 

 

MAY 24, 2010 -- MAY 30, 2010

PRIMARY LESSONS IN A LONG, HOT ELECTION SEASON

While I'm one who wants to "throw the bums out" and have been advocating that strategy for a very long time, I fear voters are choosing out of fear instead of informed consent.

When you take away the fringe, the Tea Partiers are most concerned about governmetn not taking away what they have in order to see others get some, too. It is for the first time a real look at how selfish the American Way of life has become.

Remember, this is the country where passerbys ignore a dying man on the sidewalk or opt "not to get involved' when someone is screaming for help or killed in their neighborhoods.

At one level I understand the fear of older folks, I will soon be one, who have worked hard, put up with a lot of crap and finally reached their "golden years." However, for many things aren't as golden as promised and the fear that they could get sick, go bankrupt and end up in some stinking nursing home is real.

They also see that their kids (despite being educated) are losing their jobs, college is incredibilty expensive, costs for medical care and health insurance are out of control, and their grandkids will not have the same opportunities or aspirations.

It's a mad, mad, mad world and they're pissed. Me, too. But while we need to weed out those legislators who kowtow to lobbyists, we also need to make sure the fix isn't worse than the problem.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/Three lessons from today's election

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Dear Conservatives,, Please explain to me how Republicans are fiscally responsible. We saw national debt increase

Under Reagan, it went from $930 billion to $2.62 TRILLION
Under George H.W. Bush, it went up to $4.2 trillion
Under George W. Bush, it went from $5.7 trillion to $10.6 trillion.

These are not a partisan questions. How do you justify and defend Republican borrowing and spending? Why did Republicans repeal pay as you go legislation in 2002, which was responsible for the budget surplus under Clinton? Given the huge increases of debt under Republican presidents, why do you still think that Republicans can manage our country's fiscal health?

You cannot use Obama's name or blame Democrats in your response to justifying Republican spending because Republicans controlled the House and Senate for six of the eight years of George W. Bush's administration.

BTW, I voted for each of the Presidents I listed..

You are sticking your head in the sand if you do not hold the GOP accountable for their borrow and spend habits. Our huge national debt did not start under Obama. It started under Republicans. Electing Republicans will not fix this problem. History is proving that.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/Three lessons from today's election

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Eighty-year-old, thirty- year senator Spector was part of the problem, not part of the solution. We need to take back this country and return to the days of people being self sufficient and taking care of their own problems instead of looking to the Fed and States to solve them.

We have completely lost the pioneer spirit that used to make this country GREAT. Now we are a bunch of whiners looking for a free dole at some other persons expense. I hope all the old timers in DC get a kick in the pants and voted OUT. Any senator or congressman who continues to vote in foolish programs like B.O.'s health care and bank bail outs and endless wars in Pakistan and so forth should be removed and plenty quick.

Now is the time for the Tea Party voters to exercise their muscle. Maybe then the rest of the bums in DC will get the message LOUD and CLEAR.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Specter defeat signals a wave against incumbents

"It's not left-wing Democrats versus right-wing Republicans. It's the "Mad-As-Hell" Party against both."

Well, yes and no, from my perspective.

I'm a left-wing Democrat, but I attended the Tea Party Express rally here in Boston -- not as a counter-protester with an anti-Palin sign, but as an issue advocate for Wall Street reform with a sign saying "abolish the Office of Thrift Supervision" and a pamphlet full of quasi-libertarian rhetoric. I've also donated and volunteered for a primary challenger to a Democratic incumbent (Mac D'Alessandro, challenging Stephen Lynch in MA9).

However, given a choice between an establishment Democrat and a Republican extremist, there's no question I'll be donating and volunteering for the establishment candidate over the insurgent.

Mad as hell? Yes -- over Bush v Gore, over extraordinary rendition, over indefinite detention of US citizens without due process, over marijuana prohibition, over two wars, over an activist right-wing majority on the Supreme Court, over across-the-board deregulation .... There's not a whole lot of room for non-partisanship here.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Robert Reich - The Mad-As-Hell Party scores as the anxious class stews

 

MAY 10, 2010 -- MAY 23, 2010

THE BIG SPILL -- THE LONG STRAW AND OTHER SOLUTIONS

 

The whole world is watching to see what will happen, now that the big spill everyone has feared is pouring into the Gulf and American waters. Environmentalists, fishermen and beach resort owners, local and national governments, and oil producers (and oil market speculators) are all watching to see where the chips will fall.

That will determine how much it will cost to continue producing oil in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico and else where in the world. That will determine the engineering and management schemes that will become the new standard, and the kind of regulatory oversight needed to ensure that the new 'best management practices' are actually in place everyday, day upon day where these kinds of bets are placed.

Now it will be clear that the wager includes the potential to damage thousands of miles of shoreline, thousands of miles of living ocean, the livelihoods of millions and the credibility and perhaps the survival of the global corporate giants who place these bets that risk destruction on a global scale.

I believe those who say that the world and the US in particular cannot do without the oil, and that deep off-shore drilling will continue. We went to the moon - we keep a hand full of folks at work in outer space - activities much more risky and difficult than this is. How do we sustain the level of commitment to do these complex terrestrial things safely? I hope this forces us to figure that out.

Read the article BBC/Mark Mardell's America: Maintaining the oil pressure

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A lot of really big words and armchair quarter backs. Whether anyone likes it or not, oil makes the world go around. Petroleum is used in virtually every aspect of our lives and day to day activities.

I am always amazed when I see the "Ban offshore drilling" bumper sticker....on a car that runs on oil products......and is built using petroleum based products. Parked in a garage built with materials hauled by fuel burning vessels from trans to planes.

So before everyone jumps on the 'I hate big oil band wagon'....try and visualize how difficult life would be without it.

Read the article YAHOO NEWS/Worry that Gulf oil spreading into major current

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"The point is, if you're going to be drilling in 5,000 feet of water for oil, you should have the ability to control what you're doing,"

FINALLY somebody says something intelligent. This is so ridiculous that a project of this size, with the potential to do so much harm, simply didn't have the protocols in place, or any reliable (apparently) safety nets for a catastrophe of this magnitude. Something like this should have a playbook as elaborate and disaster-paranoid as a NASA space launch.

Read the article YAHOO NEWS/Worry that Gulf oil spreading into major current

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......."We've never seen anything like this before. It's impossible to fathom the impact.".......
We should make sure the impact on those responsible is equally unprecedented.

Read the article NPR/BP says tube is diverting some oil from well

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The government needs to ensure that there are no caps on the amount of money required to clean up this spill. Additionally, laws need to be changed so that when a company has a significant impact on the environment or a local economy, they must provide all data. They can't have ownership of the tapes from the underwater recordings or ownership of the files, which indicate they were aware of old batteries or didn't have the required maintenance on machinery or didn't follow safety protocols.

We basically allowed the oil companies to run the game, just like we did with the financial companies and look at the mess both have gotten us into!!! Less government, Tea Party? Less government, Republicans? I think not! More efficient government - YES!!!

Read the article DAILY BEAST/Oil spill reaches major current

SUPREME COURT GIVES SOME YOUNG HOODLUMS A BREAK

Courts systems in general in this country are run by people who are so far removed from the society that generates citizens like Mr Graham.

While I hate to stereotype, Mr Graham probably doesn't have a father figure in his life, reads at a very low level, and doesn't have much of a future in mind. The court system today is a way to avail ourselves from the social inequalities that exist today. Instead of looking at ways and spending tax dollars to improve the things that make a difference for young people like Mr. Graham, we spend money on keeping them locked up.

To then add insult to injury, once we have someone like Mr. Graham off the streets, we do nothing to prepare this person to re-enter society.

The SC's decision is a step in the right direction, but it will take much political will to make any changes to this system. Because prisons = jobs, jobs = votes, and votes = status quo.

Read the article ECONOMIST/Life without parole for juveniles: Mercy for young thugs

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I did some pretty stupid stuff as a teenager. Things that I would never do today. To hold me fully accountable for that stuff would have destroyed my life. Thankfully I was able to afford a good lawyer, or things might have been a lot different.

I hit a bunch of mailboxes and was later arrested for mushroom possession, neither of which should really be jailable offenses, but nonetheless I faced around 40 years of sentencing had it gone to trial. Pretty absurd for some stuff that caused no physical harm to any person. I did repay the people for their mailboxes.

Read the article CNN/Life "cruel and unusual punishment for teens, court rules"

 

IS NEW SPACE PLAN ONE GIANT LEAP BACKWARD?

"Curiosity is the essence of human existence. Who are we? Where are we? Where do we come from? Where are we going? ... I don't know. I don't have any answers to those questions. I don't know what's over there around the corner. But I want to find out. It's within our hearts and souls and desires to find out and seek knowledge. Discovery is what it's all about."

             -- Eugene Cernan, Time

The Hubble Space Telescope as an argument for manned space flight, just doesn't add up. The HST cost around $2.5B to construct (this cost was probably raised by the need for the telescope to be serviceable in orbit).

Each Shuttle launch has cost around $1.3B. So two Shuttle launches could buy at least one HST.

For the total cost of the Shuttle program, around 64 HSTs could have been launched on unmanned vehicles (that's based on Ariane 5s launch cost of $180M). And that's without assuming any economy of scale from building multiple telescopes, nor the savings from the simplified, non-serviceable design.

Obviously the Shuttle has done a lot more than just launch and service the HST, but Hubble is used as one of the major arguments in support of the program. When if anything, it's probably reduced the amount of science performed by space telescopes by eating up so much of the budget.

I'm not opposed to manned space flight. I just don't like it when poor logic and economic reasoning are used to justify it.

Sorry Mr. Armstrong! But don't worry, you are still one of my greatest heroes.

Read the article NEW SCIENTIST/Neil Armstrong criticizes new space plan in Congress

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I think it's pointless to rely on any government anymore for an initiative in space. The space was never important to politicians, even for JFK, who said that if he had a cheaper and Earth-based alternative to space race with the Russians he would much prefer that one then push for the Moon.

When the first bunch of people succeeds to land on an asteroid and become very rich owners of a huge mountain of almost pure Fe and Ni or something similar - that's when the real space race will kick in.

Read the article THE REGISTER/Neil Armstrong renews attack on Obama space vision.

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It's not as though the United States does not have several heavy lift rockets that are in production, have proven records, and could be adapted to human launch.

Besides, what we really need is a infrastructure system to get to the Moon, and Mars. Think "Transcontinental Railway" instead of "Lewis and Clark Expedition.

Read the article THE REGISTER/Neil Armstrong renews attack on Obama space vision.

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The Russians and Chinese aren't taking over space.

The US still has the finest space program in the world. The best communications, reconnaissance, weather, GPS, astronomical, research, and exploration packages ever. All supported by a variety of reliable lift vehicles.
And we still have astronauts living and working in space. Doing outstanding science and research programs. They just need a lift to work until commericial spaceflight takes off.

The Chinese have no moon program and the Russians abandoned theirs decades ago. Even so, if they want to go to the moon, let them.
We've been there, done that. And we've got bigger and better things on the horizon.

Read the article FLORIDA TODAY/Space pioneers criticize budget

 

ELENA KAGAN: A NOMINEE FROM OUTSIDE THE "JUDICIAL MONASTERY"

 

Many of the finest justices have never previously been judges. Think of John Marshall, Salmon P. Chase, Hugo Black, and, most important, Earl Warren, widely regarded as our greatest Chief Justice and a man responsible for shepherding a unanimous decision on Brown v. Board.

The trend, and it's only a recent trend, of appointing sitting judges has in no way been an improvement. The quality of the individual justices has fallen and the quality of the high court as a group and its opinions have declined precipitously. There is now a narrow ideological rigidity that didn't exist previously.

Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/ Elena Kagan chosen by Obama for Supreme Court

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There is a serious problem brewing with the nomination of Supreme Court Justices. It's not a conservative v. liberal issue, nor is it Democrat v. Republican. It's not even about abortion rights.

It's about geography. With Ms. Kagan's pending appointment, all sitting justices will have their roots tied to the northeast corridor. This was not the intent of the founding fathers, and it is not healthy for the court or our nation.
Read the article SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/ Elena Kagan chosen by Obama for Supreme Court

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 Her arguments in the Rasul v Rumsfeld made me sick to my stomach.

She WILL move the court to the right on the things I care about most - executive power grabs and separation of powers.  I could care less about her hiring record at Harvard.

An awful pick.  The right gets Alito and Roberts, two unapologetic right wingers, when they had a 54-46 majority.  We get Kagan when there were other excellent choices, especially Judge Wood, and we have a 59-41 majority.  But nominating and confirming Wood would have taken some spine, something Democrats, with a few exceptions, don't have.

Read the article DAILY KOS/Obama to announce Kagan pick

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President Obama's proposed nomination of Solicitor General Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court is a fine choice. As the article stated, she is a well-regarded - as well as well-rounded - attorney, having worked in all 3 branches of government. Although she has no prior judicial experience, she also has not been cloistered as a sitting judge.

Ms. Kagan was the first female dean of Harvard Law School, not an easy position when surrounded and confronted by the many clashing egos of the esteemed law professors teaching there. And she was also the first female Solicitor General. Ms. Kagan is battle-tested, and it will be interesting to see how persuasive she can be to push back against the positions of Chief Justice Roberts and Associate Justices Scalia, Thomas and Alito, the most conservative members of the Court. Well, we'll see over the next 30 years - at age 50, Ms. Kagan should have a very long tenure on the Court.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Obama chooses Kagan, scholar but not judge, for court seat

$10 MILLION A DAY OIL SPILL BATTLE FALTERS IN THE DEEP

COAST GUARD GALLERY

 

Where is Red Adair when you need him?

The method the BP came up with was not going to work in the first place. First, the water temperature at 5,000 feet is near freezing. Second, there is the pressure. It is quite possible that the "dome" structure would have been compromised, anyway.

There are subs, diving suits, that can go to 5,000 feet, but these devices have been for research purposes, not for commercial diving operations.

Of course, it is possible to use torpedoes or depth charges to seal the well. However, these devices may not be able to sustain 5,000 foot depth to be effective. That is, they may explode long before reaching the target zone.
Then there is the nuclear option, but that will fix one problem, but create a horrific new problem.

So, after all these years of drilling offshore, no one has ever encountered this scenario. A gusher that can't be controlled (or contained), because it is too deep underwater to safely get to in order to cap the well. This situation is the basis of 1970s style, Irwin Allen, science fiction/disaster movies. It also has taken on comical overtones of "The Three Stooges": BP, The US Government and greed oil barons being a modern version of Moe, Larry and Curly.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Problem for containment dome in Gulf

This is a time tested approach, the only problem is, it has never been attempted, much less tested at this depth. The same technique has been used many times before, at much lower depths, and for the most part results were good.

This particular situation is actually almost a worst case scenario. The depth is such that it is almost at the limit of what current technology can accomplish, and the pressure in this natural gas/oil reservoir is also clearly greater than what anyone ever expected.

Best case scenario, the dome will slow down the leak, relieve the pressure, and allow a more complete solution to take place.

There is also the possibility that they won't be able to lower, or secure it properly, or relieve the pressure in time. Just imagine this dome popping off like a champagne cork, seems preposterous, but quite possible.

Regardless, a lot of damage has been done already. Let's hope it works.

Read the article CNN/Containment dome arrives at gushing oil well site

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Gas hydrates are methane (natural gas) surrounded by water molecules in a gel-like slush. At higher temperatures and lower pressures the explosive methane is freed. (Methane hydrate thawing is occuring in the arctic, contributing to accelerated atmospheric warming. Methane is much worse than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas.) So BP is between a rock and a hard place. The hydrates are messy and explosive. (Rapid hydrate decomposition may have been the reason for the initial explosion.) The crude petroleum is nasty, smelly stuff in it's own right. But it is clear that the "Drill, baby, drill" chorus needs to cease until the technology catches up with the chemistry, physics, and engineering. Meanwhile, where are Exxon, Shell and the rest? Can't they help?

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Problem for containment dome in Gulf

 

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It seems to me that nobody really knows how much pressure this deposit is under. Some industry experts are claiming that the blowout preventer failed open because the valve simply cannot handle the wellhead pressure, which may be substantially higher than anticipated.

I've been reading that this deposit is enormous, stretching north underneath much of MS and AL, but predominantly contains natural gas. The wellhead is located as far to the south of the deposit as they can reach with deep water rigs, since that's where they can tap into the liquid oil at bottom (like a gravy separator), but there's an enormous amount of natural gas pressurizing the oil from higher elevations within the geological formation.

This could be the highest pressure petroleum deposit in the world, and I don't think that BP and their contractors were expecting this when they drilled into it. If they succeed in plugging the existing leak, the back pressure might just bust a new leak at the weakest point.

BP says there are only "tens of millions of barrels" of oil in this deposit (global consumption is 93 million barrels per day), but if they can't stop the flow, then the wellhead will begin to spew mostly gas (methane, hydrogen sulfide, etc.) through the ocean and into the atmosphere from a reserve that could be absolutely massive.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/100-Ton-concrete-and-steel contraption hauled to well

ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION -- LOOKING AT THE BROADER ISSUES

I am a longtime resident of Phoenix, Arizona. About a third of my neighbors are of some degree of Hispanic origin. Much more than ten percent of my neighbors are gay. My barber is from Iraq. My cardiologist is Pakistani, my General Practitioner is a born again Christian woman. My closest friend is Jewish, another is a Christian Navajo, and I am an Atheist.

How dare you try to lecture residents of Arizona about getting along with people different than them. This state has a long tradition of being a melting pot. This state, also, has a long tradition of people getting along with each other. We just want the never-ending stream -- no river -- of people , coming here illegally and staying, to stop.

Now, if your Governor, Frank, says that we can provide illegal immigrants with a one-way ticket to New York; then maybe our problem will be resolved. But, frankly, we can't handle the overload anymore. President Obama needs to stop campaigning and playing golf long enough to do the job for which he was elected. Once the borders are sealed and protected, then we, in Arizona, can go back to living our very tolerant and diverse lives in peace.

Read the article  NEW YORK TIMES/Frank Rich -- "If Only Arizona Were the Real Problem"

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The 5000 pound gorilla in the room is the "illegal employer" aspect of this very real problem.

While all the right wingers are busy parroting their meme "The federal government (i.e., Obama)isn't doing their job!" they seem to be ignorant of all the laws, federal and state, that are not being enforced on the state and local levels. These laws have always included very clear restrictions against HIRING undocumented workers.

Then in 2008 Bush signed E-Verify into law, which requires employers to use a simple federal government internet link to verify that their employees or applicants' papers/SSAN are legal. Less than 6% of our fine American employers have done so.

A few years ago (I think it was 2007) the state of Arizona passed a law requiring that EMPLOYERS can have their businesses dissolved if convicted of hiring illegals. So far, less than 1% of all Arizona businesses have even registered.

We need to change the direction of this dialogue, and do it FAST. Every time we hear "illegal immigrant", we should counter it with the above.

Read the article  NEW YORK TIMES/Frank Rich -- "If Only Arizona Were the Real Problem"

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Reform is needed...in Mexico! I do mission work in very poor areas of Mexico. Mexicans are not proud about fleeing North. They want an effective government, and safe streets, they do not want to be forced to flee their own country. Protesting on the streets of the U.S. is myopic at best...the protest should be on the streets of Mexico City. Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Arizona immigration law spawns panicky exaggerations.

 

The notion that anyone living on the U.S.-Mexico border would think a person was in the United States illegally simply because they look Hispanic is ludicrous.

The border is Hispanic. The population of large border cities like El Paso, with a population of about 750,000, is about 85 percent Hispanic-American. Anglo-American, not Hispanic-Americans, look out of place. The police forces are overwhelming Hispanic.

They suspect people may be illegal aliens when they don't speak English, are wearing clothes manufactured in Mexico, speak Spanish with a South American or Central American accents, and have no drivers' license or other form of identification. Read the article

HUFFINGTON POST/Arizona immigration lawsuits:Tucson, Flagstaff councils vote to sue

 

MAY 3, 2010 -- MAY 9, 2010

REFLECTIONS ON THE PLOT TO BOMB TIMES SQUARE

 

THE CRIMINAL COMPLAINT U.S. VS SHAHZAD

I have always tried to be tolerant of other people's beliefs. From the conservative Jewish father who was upset when his daughter was living with me after college, to a friend down in Georgia whose family tried to get me "saved" when he took me home for a hunting trip; to a current Mormon neighbor who advises me to stock up a year's worth of food..

I try to respect what other people believe and just go on with my life. So, I also respect Muslims, in general. But my tolerance for that group is starting to grow thin. They are the only group spawning followers who are actually trying to maim and kill people just like me.

I really hope to hear from some mainstream Muslims today. Some of us need to know that this violent faction really is an aberration.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/N.Y. bomb suspect said to implicate self

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Many other nations, including developed nations like Spain and the UK, have dealt with multiple terrorist attacks per decade. The first thing Americans need to realize is that the US is not special for coming under attacks. We have enemies, they have an agenda, and they recruit crazy people to blow things up.

The only tactic that has ever worked to stop attacks is to stick to ideals about human rights and justice, and when you are attacked it becomes clear who are the bad guys. Look at North Ireland: many years ago a bomb killed many children. It was a tragic event, but soon after the Irish public support shifted from violence to peace talks. Why? Because blowing up children is horrible, and the attack is against people who are offering peace instead of more bombs, it becomes clear who the bad guys are, the terrorists.

Read the article NPR/Bomb suspect nabbed while trying to leave U.S.

CLICK FOR LARGER IMAGE

The blame game on here is a sad statement regarding our society. If someone wants to fall off the radar screen and do something, it isn't that hard. We want our freedoms and we want to be safe, these 2 things are often in conflict with each other. There is a balance to it all. Guy spends years functioning in our society, and then things go South and he goes off the deep end.

There is a balance to it all, and we are truly blessed as a society that it doesn't happen more often, and at the same time we all retain a modicum of freedom. So stop blaming Obama, the CIA, Bush, the FBI, etc. We are lucky this guy was borderline incompetent at creating a b0mb. I doubt we will be as lucky next time, and yet I am sure we will all rush to blame someone all the while developing some type of conspiracy theory.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/How Faisal Shahzad was caught

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Pretending that somehow this is a great success of the DOJ, Homeland Security and the FBI is absurd. A slight more intelligent terrorist and a few more seconds of time are all it would have taking to make this "foiled attack" a huge success. The government had no role whatsoever in preventing this act of senseless violence against the civilian populace.

It was private citizens who discovered the activity and reported it. Blaming the airlines is just another sad example of this administration's blame-storming and abdication of responsibly. The American people deserve better.

Read the article NEW YORK TIMES/Lapses allowed suspect to board plane

"PREPARE FOR THE WORST" --FACING A REAL AND PRESENT CATASTROPHE IN THE GULF

NASA IMAGES

 

Considering the record profits oil companies have been making for the last several years it shouldn't be any hardship at all for them to pay into this fund, but you just know they'll be screaming about how poor they are as soon as this becomes law. It will be interesting to see how forthcoming BP will be with funding the clean up of their mess.

Meanwhile the massive oil slick gets nearer to the Louisiana & Florida coastlines. Entire industries, such as shrimping, fishing, and raising oysters will be devastated for decades to come. Will BP compensate the people who made their living on the now ruined waterways of the Gulf States? How about the tourism industries? Can the economic impact of this disaster even be determined and what compensation will those hurt by the oily beaches & water get? How's that "Drill baby Drill" chant sound now?

Read the article CNN POLITICAL TICKER/ Senator: 'BP says it'll pay for this mess. Baloney.'

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I live on the west coast of Florida in an old fishing village, Tarpon Springs. In 1993, there was an oil spill (223,000 gallons of #6 crude) off St Pete Beach, 25 miles south of here. It took several years to clean up the mess and even 5-10 years later, after a storm on the Gulf, tar balls would wash up on the beach. This leak is 210,000 gallons PER DAY.

They say proudly that they have already removed "a quarter million gallons of 'oily water'".. oil mixed with water.. They are not even staying even with the leak. The economy of Florida is largely dependent upon tourism and fishing. The lack of preparation and cavalier attitude of BP shows their disregard for the people in the quest for the almighty $. Our government allows, even promotes that thinking.

The "Drill, baby, drill" mentality promoted by some politicians would allow drilling as close as 10 miles from shore. One cannot even imagine the disaster if this had happened 10 miles offshore.

Read the article BBC-HAVE YOUR SAY/Is enough being done to prevent environmental disasters?

I am not a member of the Sierra Club and I am in favor of drilling offshore and I oppose Cap & Trade. That information notwithstanding, if this oil continues to flow uninterrupted and continues to spread toward the shores of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Northwest Florida, this will be a disaster of epic proportions. This is NOT a political debate.

If you believed the initial reports coming out last week (which I did not) that there was no evidence of an oil leak and now we hear that as many as 1,000 barrels of oil a day are spewing into the Gulf, I think this may well qualify as an environmental disaster. Consider alone the costs of clean up. How would you like to be the CFO of the company that has to foot the bill for this little project???

No thanks...

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Oil spill likely to reach land in days

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As an avowed environmentalist, I have come to support increased drilling as an element of our overall strategy, combined with increased efficiency, use of renewable energy, natural gas and nuclear. This is based on the repeated assertions of the pro drilling contingent that we can now drill safely and cleanly and we should loosen the restrictions.

I feel like a fool now - at least 10 people have lost their life, and the coasts of Florida and Louisiana may soon be blanketed with oil, which would be an economic and environmental disaster (not yet but we'll know in a few days). Are our SUVs and insatiable energy needs really worth this?

By the way, no environmentalist wishes for this to prove a point. But it would be good if those who support increased offshore drilling took these risks into their calculations. Maybe we should reconsider the belief that we are entitled to limitless energy usage, no matter the human, economic and environmental costs?

Read the article WALL STREET JOURNAL/Oil spill likely to reach land in days

The obvious aside, who's going to pay for all of this? Not just the cost of plugging the hole, cleaning the spill, wildlife rescue, and lawsuits, but all of the little costs, to the little guy and the small business owners that operate in the resort communities along the coast? What about all of the lost revenue to the local government budgets? Who's going to pay for that? These people are already stretched thin.

I guess the federal government will have to step in, and cover the oil companies and their insurance companies at the taxpayer's expense, right? This is why I say end limited liability laws for management and major shareholders. Hold them personally responsible.

I'm not talking about widows and pension funds, I'm talking about the shareholders who have a vote in management decisions. That would definitely make people think long and hard about their decisions. If individuals are not held responsible, then reckless behavior will continue, especially when the taxpayer is footing the bill.

Read the article DAILY BEAST/Gulf oil spill to reach land

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As a former news reporter who covered South Louisiana and wrote stories on offshore oil rig blowouts, I am absolutely amazed over how British Petroleum has been able to spoon-feed their version of the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Further, I am amazed over how the White House, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Environmental Protection Agency and NOAA have allowed British Petroleum to woefully minimize this catastrophe for so long a time.

Case in point: we just "learned" late yesterday that there was "a second leak" from the floor of the Gulf, and that the outflow into the Gulf is 5,000 barrels instead of 1,000 barrels per day. This morning we read where apparently there is "a third leak" from the floor of the Gulf. Now how can this be? Simply because these types of platforms are used to drill multiple wellheads on the ocean floor--as many as a dozen or more for obvious reasons: to extract the oil more quickly and economically and increase profits.

So, Associated Press, New York Times, Washington Post, CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, etc. , please ask your reporters why they haven't "discovered" this fact, and demand that they get off their butts and begin doing some legwork instead of relying on British Petroleum's "spoon-fed news"!

Read the article TIMES-PICAYUNE/Five times as much oil spilling into Gulf of Mexico as first thought

X-37B -- U.S. AIR FORCE LAUNCHES "MINI-ME" SHUTTLE

 

Space has been militarized for decades with communication and reconnaissance satellites and a few outright weapons. Deal with it.

This is a long duration pilotless spaceplane. It has a very flexible mission. Yes it can deliver bombs, but so can nearly any military plane. I doubt that it will be used much in that capacity since what is the point compared to a cruise missile or bomber.

The most likely missions for this craft are supplemental reconnaissance/communications in a war zone and protection/replacement of critical communications and reconnaissance satellites.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Boeing X37 launches on secretive Air Force mission

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For all the wild-eyed ranters:

1. X37 is the latest in a series of efforts to explore more efficient lifting bodies (the science of semi-winged vehicles into and out of space) as a follow on to a) the Shuttle program, b) space exploration in the future, and c) other, commercial capabilities of lifting bodies. This has been around since the 60s (anyone remember the intro to the "6 Million Dollar Man" where the hero crashes in the desert at Edwards? That was a first generation lifting body - cost the life of the pilot then to test it).

2. For the love of Pete - this ain't a Dick Cheney/GW Bush thing. Geez...read, get a life, look outside.

3. There may well be military application, but we are in such early stages as not to know yet. This launch is a way to test an experimental vehicle through telemetry without getting people killed.

This is something I actually know quite a bit about. It is fascinating stuff, really, and not part of a conspiracy of the left or the right.

Read the article HUFFINGTON POST/Boeing X37 launches on secretive Air Force mission

 

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