Thursday, March 22, 2012

What difference does it make if Hamm builds his pipeline in Oklahoma and Texas, there no environmental risk in a barren land!

The cattle have been sold.  The land is so parched that thunderstorms evaporate.  It makes do difference to a destroyed land if there are oil spills and gas explosions unless human beings are in the path and die.  Otherwise, what damage can a pipeline do?



APNewsBreak: Drought costs Texas $8B in ag losses (click title to entry - thank you)

March 21, 2012, 5:17PM ET 

The driest year in Texas history caused a record $7.62 billion in agriculture losses, billions more than previously estimated, the Texas AgriLife Extension Service said Wednesday.
The new total for 2011, provided to The Associated Press before its public release, is about $2.42 billion more than an August estimate that had already topped the 2006 record of $4.1 billion in drought-related losses.
Texas is the nation's No. 3 producer of agricultural products behind California and Iowa, so when crops and cattle fail in the Lone Star State, prices can be expected to rise nationally, said David Anderson, an agricultural economist at Texas A&M University....
Stupidity dies hard in the USA, especially when it is so obvious one sincerely worries about their lives!  Last year the summer in Texas and Oklahoma saw trains that could only crawl along their tracks because of the fear of warped, hot rails, sidewalks exploded and all forms of livestock were sold for fear they could not water the stock long enough to get them to market later.  Earth finally made an impression on oil men that denied they created their own hell!  Evidently, Hamm has't got the message his peers seem to be now clinging to.

Global warming a threat to Texas water supply (click here)

DINA CAPPIELLO, Houston Chronicle

The briefing represented a rare visit to the Texas Capitol for four of the state's foremost climate scientists who have spent more time speaking with legislators in other states and the U.S. Congress than lawmakers here.
The presentation shed some scientific light on the bills filed this session on climate change, an issue that until this year saw little legislative action in Texas.
The scientists said Texas has reached or exceeded its maximum annual average temperature and must adapt to changes that are inevitable but not predictable.

This was May of 2010. I am sure there are more states involved now.

Every state passing these bills have been lobbied by the National Rifle Association. 


Pennsylvania Governor Signs NRA-Backed Castle Doctrine into Law (click title to entry - thank you)

Published: Tuesday, June 28, 2011 
From the National Rifle Association 
Fairfax, Va. - Governor Tom Corbett has signed Pennsylvania Castle Doctrine legislation into law. This common-sense measure permits law-abiding citizens to use force, including deadly force, against an attacker in their home and any place where they have a legal right to be. It also protects individuals from civil lawsuits by an attacker or attacker’s family when force is used.

“Gov. Corbett and Pennsylvania lawmakers know that law-abiding citizens must have the right to protect themselves when criminals attack without fear of being second-guessed by an overzealous prosecutor,” said Chris W. Cox, executive director, National Rifle Association’s Institute for Legislative Action. “Crime victims don’t have the luxury of time when confronted by a criminal and must be able to count on the law being on their side. This new law accomplishes that by removing any mandate of forcible retreat.”...



Whenever we hear from Governors it is always the same dialogue, "This is a common sense measure..."  The Governors were given a SCRIPT to follow by the NRA for this bill.  All the NRA had to do was 'plug and play' the Republican Governors to establish these horrible laws.  The Republican Governors are like The Stepford Wives of the GOP.


That's not all.


Innate to guns, especially hand guns, is the understanding a person's danger of being shot increases when they are carrying, either Concealed Carry or otherwise.  When that reality is applied, the definition of the Castle Doctrine and Stand Your Ground, means any action by persons owning the gun as reasonable to prevent the gun from being removed from their possession.  


In other words, if Zimmerman BELIEVED Trayvon Martin was attempting to remove the gun from Zimmerman, then killing him to prevent use of the gun by Trayvon would be a reasonable resolve.  That, even though someone like Trayvon was trying to save his own life.  The owner of the gun, in the eyes of the law, would be given preference in such a scenario, regardless of the owner's intent to kill at all costs.  Murder.

The speculators have no reason to raise gas prices, but, given the integrity of Goldman Sachs we all know what is really going on here.

Going nowhere: (click title to entry - thank you) Sorties from the USS Carl Vinson are put on hold after a sandstorm covers fighter planes on the top deck in a sea of orange.



The sandstorm is about air traffic, not sea going vessels.


Turner Relentless on Keystone Pipeline (click here)

By Colin Campbell  
Congressman Bob Turner’s Senate campaign is sure the Keystone XL oil pipeline is a winner.
In addition to hosting their first public event at a gas station and previously pumping the gas price issue, they’ve been repeatedly pushing the issue in the last fourteen hours alone....
Turner won the Congressional seat resigned by Anthony Weiner.  That seat is closed out after the most recent census.  So, Turner wants to be Senator now after a political career of less than a year.  New York is lucky, it seems all it has to worry about is gas prices.  It appears the #Occupy Wall Street movement is not making an impression on Rep. Turner.  Oh, well.  No surprise there, he is a Republican after all.

Are USA Ports up to the "Wind Farm" challenge?

...“This is an exciting (click title to entry - thank you) but very demanding project and we are working closely with PD Ports to ensure that the work proceeds according to plan. An offshore wind farm requires much closer integration of design, construction and materials supply activities than an onshore wind farm because of the additional challenges of operating at sea and the vagaries of the weather. The supply base established at Hartlepool is therefore central to our construction programme.”...

The Port of Hartlepool is a smaller seaport, but, it has significant warehousing space to accommodate these ocean operations.

Port of Hartlepool main hub for windfarm project (click here)

Over the next seven months, the Port of Hartlepool will be the focal point for all materials and components to be installed in the new wind farm being developed by EDF Energy Renewables.
Over 100 people are involved in the offshore construction programme and will be operating out of the project supply base established at Hartlepool.
The turbines for the new wind farm will be supplied by Siemens. Van Oord UK, a Sustainable EPC and Marine Contractor, will supply and install the turbine foundations and sub-sea cables and will manage the installation operations for the turbines....

Speaking of RENEWABLES, the shipping industry is seeking biofuels as an answer to higher fuel prices.

25.10.2011 (October 25, 2011)
In Virginia, WRSystems will supply its Emsys laser-based Emissions Monitoring System (EMS) for the purpose of emission verification for an ongoing fuel trials on-board the AP Moller-Maersk vessel Maersk Kalmar, Biofuelsdigest reports. WRSystems was asked to provide the Emsys system installation as part of a wider project between Maersk Line Limited and the US Navy to test biofuels for their long-term suitability for maritime applications.
Data collected will include Nitrogen Oxides (NOX), Sulfur Oxides (SOX), Carbon Dioxide (CO2), and PM. Additionally the report will detail findings o the effects of biofuels on the engine’s fuel system performance and normal wear and tear. 



15.02.2012, 12:40  (February 1`5, 2012)

Maersk leads shipping industry developing fuels to cut emissions (click here)

A.P. Moeller Maersk A/S, the world’s biggest container ship owner, is leading its industry in developing biofuels made from organic waste that could cut its carbon emissions and reduce a $6 billion-a-year fuel bill, Bloomberg reports. Maersk is conducting tests with companies including Man Diesel & Turbo SE and two Danish universities to develop clean fuels tailored for ships and has worked with the U.S. Navy to run vessels using fuel produced from algae, encountering “very few problems,” said Jacob Sterling, head of climate and environment at Maersk, which is based in Copenhagen....


The picture on the right:

Support columns and other wind turbine parts wait assembly in Harland & Wolff's shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Sixty wind turbines will be installed at the Robin Rigg offshore wind farm in the Solway Firth on the border of England and Scotland. The wind farm will produce 180 megawatts of electricity -- enough to power 117,000 homes. Photographer: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images 

...Robinson isn't alone as port managers (click here) across Britain weigh up the offshore wind sector as a source of revenue and jobs. A rush of development is expected through 2020, driven by government ambitions to install over 2,500 turbines capable of producing as much as 18,000 megawatts of electricity, up from 1,500 megawatts today. The government describes the target as ambitious but nonetheless expects installations to pick up once subsidy policy debates are settled. Offshore wind accounts for just over one percent of the country's energy mix today and is expected to rise to about 12 percent by the end of the decade.
Preparing ports for offshore wind development isn't as easy as clearing away shipping containers and buying bigger cranes. The foundation for an offshore wind turbine alone can weigh as much as 600 tons, a little less than a World War II German U-Boat submarine. The turbines themselves weigh about 400 tons....

The Obama Administration seeks to protect Small Businesses that are legitimate and not counterfeit.

Paul J. Fishman, (click title to entry - thank you) U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey shows pictures of counterfeit Ugg boots that were seized and describes how 29 were charged in New Jersey for an international scheme to import counterfeit goods and drugs and launder profits. (Jerry McCrea/The Star-Ledger)


NEWARK — The brown suede boots from China (click here) looked as if they were made by UGG Australia, but the label was missing an “i” — a dead giveaway that these “Australa” boots were counterfeit. The boots, and millions of dollars of other fake merchandise were stopped at New Jersey ports, federal officials said Friday.


A New Jersey resident and 28 other people have been charged with offenses ranging from smuggling enormous quantities of counterfeit items through Port Newark and Port Elizabeth to money laundering.


The estimated retail value of the items — more than $325 million if they were legitimate — makes it one of the largest cases of its kind ever prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice, officials said....

Economic STRANDING ...

... is a strategy to insure Wall Street profits. 


The Republicans INSURE profits, NOT OPPORTUNITY to Wall Street.  That is a huge difference.


It is governments responsibility, especially at the federal level, to move the country forward and not be exploited.  Republicans have no ideas and no solutions for the USA.  They leave Americans ECONOMICALLY STRANDED and victim to Wall Street profits!


An entire generation of Americans have been economically stranded by Republican policy from the past four decades!


If Republicans are willing to strand an entire generation of Americans, they are willing to do anything.

STRANDED ! "Addicted to Oil" Bush was the beginning of the death of the Gulf of Mexico. This is when



The oil exploration ship Western Neptune pulls streamers, sensors that stretch four miles behind the ship and record data from the ocean floor.  

Don't even try to state there haven't been existing attempts to drill in the USA.  That is all Bush lusted after with the excuse "Americans are addicted to oil."  Sure, but, other than seeking deeper drilling, Bush did dearly nothing to remove the burden of the oil addiction!

STRANDED.  The Bush/Cheney White House and the Republican majority STRANDED the American people, NOW VICTIM to the RHETORICAL answer still today!

Drilling Deep in the Gulf of Mexico (click title to entry - thank you)


...The Neptune and three other ships are on a three-month mission to map one of the most remote regions of theUnited States. The data they collect from the vibrations set off by the guns in the gulf’s deepest waters will help engineers form a picture of some of the world’s newest petroleum prospects.

As oil consumption grows and access to most oil-rich regions becomes increasingly restricted, companies are venturing farther out to sea, drilling deeper than ever in their quest for energy. The next oil frontier — and the next great challenge for oil explorers — lies below 10,000 feet of water, through five miles of hard rock, thick salt and tightly packed sands.

“It’s not a place for the timid,” said Paul K. Siegele, the vice president for deepwater exploration at Chevron, which commissioned a survey by the Neptune. “It’s a place where a lot of people have lost their shirts.”...

The petroleum industry is lying about drilling in the USA

The fact of the matter is that over 30 years of Republican leadership, the citizens of the USA are left STRANDED and victim to Wall Street. There are many alternatives, especially biofuels, but there was little to no investment sought by any Republicans leadership in nearly four decades.


STRANDED.  


Up to the leadership of President Obama there has been no US President willing to push alternative energies on all fronts!


...according to an Associated Press (click title to entry - thank you) statistical analysis of 36 years of data....


..."Drill, baby, drill has nothing to do with it," said Judith Dwarkin, chief energy economist at ITG investment research. Two other energy economists said the same thing and experts in the field have been making that observation for decades.
The statistics directly contradict the title of GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's 2008 book "Drill Here, Drill Now, Pay Less," as well as the campaign-trail claims from the GOP presidential candidates.
Earlier this month, GOP front-runner Mitt Romney said of his solution to higher gas prices: "I can cut through the baloney ... and just tell him, 'Mr. President, open up drilling in the gulf, open up drilling in ANWR (the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge). Open up drilling in continental shelf, drill in North Dakota, drill in Oklahoma and Texas.' "...




...“One member of Congress, (click here) who shall remain unnamed, called these jobs ‘phony.’ Called them ‘phony jobs.’ Think about that mindset, that attitude, that says because something is new it must not be real. You know if these guys were around when Columbus set sail, they’d be charter members of the flat earth society.”
Obama was referring to Rep. John Fleming, R-La., who during a speech in the House chamber last year criticized the clean energy subsidies the administration favored, saying the benefits were not what they claimed?
“POTUS uses flat earth society line again. Witty, but no help for folks paying $4/gal thanks to his failed energy policy. #phonygreenjobs,” Fleming retorted in a post to his Twitter account following Obama’s speech....
$4.00 per gallon didn't happen due to lack of POLICY by President Obama, it is due to LACK OF ACTION to invest in alternatives by Republicans for four decades now!  The Republican Rhetoric does NOTHING to change the STRANDING of the USA consumers of petroleum!  
Republicans have no ideas!
Just because there are leases offered, doesn't mean there is going to be drilling on every lease !  

The Republicans just can't take a stand about Wall Street.

The JOBS Act is not about jobs, it is about Wall Street and gives a complete pass on Dodd-Frank on companies with INCOME of $1 billion per year.  A billion!


Any company with a billion a year income doesn't need a pass on Dodd-Frank.  Those companies are already well established and employ the employees they need.  This act is a giveaway to Wall Street.  It will create more spin off companies of existing corporations and will provide SHELTER from laws.


...introducing a new category of publicly-held companies known as an “emerging growth companies”, the bill seeks to exempt businesses with under $1 billion in revenue from certain regulations associated with going public. Notably, companies governed under this category only need to produce two years of audited financial statements when filing for an IPO (normal rules require three years); they are exempted from Dodd-Frank rules giving shareholders a non-binding vote on executive compensation; and are freed from the requirement of  hiring an outside auditing firm to check internal financial controls....


The exact words from the bill:


… the SEC and any registered national securities association from adopting or maintaining any conflict-of-interest rule or regulation in connection with an initial public offering of the common equity of an emerging growth company that restricts: (1) which associated persons (based on functional role) of a broker, dealer, or member of a national securities association may arrange for communications between a securities analyst and a potential investor; or (2) a securities analyst from participating in any communications with the management of an emerging growth company that is also attended by any other associated person of a broker, dealer, or member of a national securities association whose functional role is other than as a securities analyst. 



It removes portions of The Sarbanes-Oxley Act (click here)

The bill seeks to be POPULOUS by turning 'crowd funding' into a commodity.  Does Crowd Funding really need to becomes a commodity?  Crowd Funding is, in many instances, tax deductible and not a commodity.


In my opinion, the bill victimizes Crowd Funding and seeks to affiliate Wall Street IPOs with these opportunities.  I do not believe any company sprouting out of Crowd Funding needs an IPO, quite the opposite actually.  Crowd Funding is a trust relationship and not one of opportunity.  That is unique and should not be destroyed.  Wall Street just can't leave it alone, can they?


It changes reporting as if a company doesn't have to have an accounting department or firm to keep balance sheets.  Amazing.


There are only one or two aspects of The JOBS Act that actually are worthwhile.  I suggest the Senate 'break it down' and pass the ONE provision worthwhile and that is raising the requirements of a company with 500 investors to 2000 investors before going public.  It is THE ONLY provision of the bill worth passing!

In a second WHIMP OUT by the Republicans the "STOCK" Act is watered down and it is the only version the Senate Republicans will consent to pass.



...Reid and McConnell (click title to entry - thank you) want to move forward on the House version of the legislation. Two significant provisions were dropped by the lower chamber, angering some Democratic and Republican lawmakers in both chambers. The House also expanded the bill to cover executive branch agencies.

One deleted provision would require “political intelligence consultants” firms to register, bringing new transparency to a shadowy yet booming sector of the Washington influence industry. This provision was sponsored by Sen. Chuck Grassley, and the Iowa Republican, along with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), are fighting to restore it.

The House also scrapped Senate-passed language to expand federal prohibitions against bribery, theft of public money and other public corruption offenses. That provision was authored by Leahy (D-Vt.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas).

Upset over the House moves, Grassley, Leahy and other senators have pressed Reid and McConnell to set up a House-Senate conference committee to review the bill — a move that would allow the senators to push their House colleagues to restore the amendments...