Thursday, June 24, 2010
"We know who the real enemy is;...in the White House." It is unfortunate, but, the USA military post Bush/Cheney needed this reality check.
It is a relief to hear Admiral Mullens speak in such clear and concise terms regarding the LIMITS of the USA military. In recent months, including the issue with the EPA Secretary and her order to stop using the oil dispersant, has resulted in alarming responses by our military. The EPA Secretary was ignored. Virtually, ignored and then she back peddled and allowed BP and the Coast Guard to have their way. Eventually, the amount of the dispersant was cut back, but, the toxic chemical is still being used when it was ordered originally to stop it.
I sincerely believe during the Bush/Cheney years the USA military was elevated to a status that took the 'civilian' focus and 'neutrality' priority away while replacing it with a 'right to increased importance' over the citizen.
I am pleased the USA military is taking all this seriously. It is more than 'putting the skids' to participating in 'risky interviews' that bring 'shame' to the 'officer;' it is about 'the authority' of the military within this democracy.
It is especially unfortunate the 'issue' has resulted around General McCyrstal. There are many soldiers and officers under the Commander in Afghanistan. Many of those soldiers were placed in their positions during the Bush/Cheney years. A General cannot fight a war himself. There has to have been significant pressure on General McCrystal from many venues under his authority to allow him to believe such an outrageous interview appeared appropriate.
In his first interview with CBS after his assignment and promotion he portrayed a General with a clear strategy in front of him, but, he also was disappointed in the officers that surrounded him when he stated the Officers Club should be a firing range. That coming from their new Commander didn't go over well, I am sure. He was between a rock and hard place the entire time. He was not receiving support from any corner of his command and he began to find himself isolated in his priorities. He turned to ridicule of the White House and the comfort of the esteem showed him by NATO.
It was bound to happen that he would be demoralized from his value system and turn on those that were in his way of carrying out priorities from others surrounding him. He was probably harassed in more ways than one, in ways subtle but real. He, as a human being, also had to survive the pressures and seek cooperation where he could find it. His staff was probably a support and to a degree a comfort to him.
What is so astounding is that he turned to a radical news media to allow his frustrations to come to life. He also believed it would not touch him or his staff. I still believe he was a victim of the hideous environment in Afghanistan, the lack of cooperation by Karzai and the incideous enemy of 'cooperation' amoung the citizens of Afghanistan that escaped him, no matter how much he tried to 'reach out to them.'
His 'speciality' was to turn an insurgency into a functional arm of society in a country that has known nothing but war for decades and a neighbor with an ISI that is basically corrupt. I believe the corruption of Afghanistan was too mcuh to bring about effective results in his initiatives and it might be that the corruption never was going to be turned around and he was making decisions about such things as the Poppy Economy that insulted his values as an American more than he could himself cope with in the ways available to him.
I also believe this failure of the military to come to terms with the reality of Afghanistan is not the entire problem. I believe Karzai is a power icon that coerces the USA power into allowing corruption to exist. I do not believe Karzai is an ally, so much as a puppet to the Taliban. Given that as the truth the reality is that Afghanistan IS an enemy to the USA and NOT just al Qaeda and the Taliban. Turning the corner on an insurgency is one thing, but, turning an entire corrupt nation around is quite another.
When reflecting on 'the condition' of the USA military in their Officer Lounges rather than finding firing ranges, it is OBVIOUS the entire military was demoralized under Bush/Cheney. There is more than one way to surrender, espeically when there are no 'life choices' or options. When looking back of the previous administration, there were record number of resignations. Think about it.
I believe General McCrystal was the best choice. He had the correct strategy. No one worked harder at it then he did, placing his own life 'on the line' everyday when he strolled without armor or weapons among the people of Afghanistan. What he didn't have or still today does not exist is an ally within Afghanistan and a populous to defeat the Taliban and the Poppy Economy.
Acceptance of an insurgency only to allow it to result in 'a draw' is more than he was willing to accept in his own value system. I believe he felt defeated and projected his desire to expand his military force as a failure of his country to believe in him. That wasn't it. We believed in him. We just don't believe in Afghanistan anymore and aren't willing to commit more soldiers to die when the enemy surrounded them, including within the infrastructure of the Afghan government.
At this point General Petraeus has to be given all the support of the Upper Command structure to rid Afghanistan of its 'dysfunctional military' infrastructure. I am not comfortable with the idea of Karzai appreciating General McCyrstal while the dynamics within Afghanistan can only be stated as 'a draw.' There is something very, very wrong and I am not sure it can be solved by any Commander.
The Moronic Bush/Cheney Years, where did this policy come from the Halliburton School of Oil Business?
Now, everyone knows where Limbaugh gets his material, from top experts, government policy under Republicans, otherwise known as "Guaranteed Profits at Taxpayer Expense."
Related News : Energy Industry · Energy Markets.
BP's Gulf Oil Spill Response Based on Outdated Government Model, WSJ Says
By Vivek Shankar - Jun 23, 2010
BP Plc and other oil companies were required to base their approach to a potential spill in the Gulf of Mexico on U.S. government guidelines that were last updated in 2004, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The faulty government models expected oil to evaporate quickly or get broken up by waves or weather, the newspaper said. They also didn’t expect oil to reach the shoreline even in after much bigger spill than the current one, the Journal said.
Oil has hit 171 miles of coastline in the Gulf since the Deepwater Horizon accident on April 20, the Journal said.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-06-24/bp-s-gulf-oil-spill-response-based-on-outdated-government-model-wsj-says.html
Top Hat, Top Kill, Top Exec and now Top Robot
...In a major setback for the cleanup effort, a robot submarine bumped into the broken well, forcing the removal of the containment cap that was siphoning some of the oil....
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/06/23/2010-06-23_bp_comes_under_attack_from_all_sides_for_spill_after_containment_cap_breaks_thre.html
Why the $20 billion BP escrow account for the country? Because when investors finish suing the lousy company there won't be anything left. Not even the robot. President Obama will have at least secured some recovery funds for the 'small people.'
State to sue BP over investments (click title to entry - thank you)
Comptroller says state pension fund was misled about BP's drilling safety
By RICK KARLIN, Capitol bureau
First published in print: Thursday, June 24, 2010
ALBANY -- State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli on Wednesday said he was suing BP in the wake of the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, and would seek to make New York the lead plaintiff in a class action suit against the British petroleum giant....
The SPILL GIANTS become a team, all we need is a third partner in Exxon and the set will be complete.
BP And Chevron To Partner Over China Block
Muazzin Mehrban, June 2010
(24 June 2010)
Disgraced energy giant British Petroleum (BP) and its US rival Chevron Corp are set to put in a joint offer for an exploration block in the South China Sea. Reuters reports that the move is a clear signal that refiners are still willing to partner BP in deep water projects despite its failure to halt the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
Under the agreement, Chevron would have a 60 percent stake in block and act as operator, while BP will hold the remaining interest. According to Chinese sources, CNOOC, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp, has the right to a 51 percent share in the block should the companies make a commercial oil or natural gas discovery....
http://www.financierworldwide.com/article.php?id=6953
How convenient, let's isolate 'the problem' as BPs issue while everyone is up in arms at them as if it never, ever happened before! What genius, huh?
A CEO from a petroleum industry company is awaiting the report to the cause of the BP disaster, BUT, a Louisiana judge that lifted the moratorium, in all his wisdom, already knows!
This is NOT an isolated incident, everyone already knows that, it is NOT just a BP issue, the oil and GAS industry have been setting fire to rigs and causing explosions for decades, it has just NEVER hit the USA before.
In previous years, the petroleum industry never had to 'negotiate' with the natives, they simply slaughtered them.
Partner in well awaits 'root causes'
Anadarko chief says future work with BP open to question
By BRETT CLANTON Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
June 23, 2010, 10:27PM
It's too early to know if the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion was an isolated incident or symptomatic of broader safety problems at BP, "but it's clear we're paying a lot more attention to that issue," said the CEO of Anadarko Petroleum Corp., a minority partner in the doomed well.
If investigations point to the latter, Anadarko would need to evaluate whether it would again partner with the British oil giant.
"I think as we find out more about the root causes, we'll have to make a determination on that," James Hackett, CEO of The Woodlands-based Anadarko, said in an interview Wednesday. "We're definitely going to be cautious with regard to any operator we believe is not using best practices."
The remarks come after Anadarko on Friday accused BP of being reckless in drilling the deep-water Macondo well that blew out on April 20. Anadarko, with a 25 percent stake in the well, said Friday BP's actions "likely represent gross negligence or willful misconduct." As such, the company argues it should not have to pay a share of cleanup costs and other spill-related liabilities.
BP, however, said in a statement last week it strongly disagrees with Anadarko's position and expects well partners Anadarko and Japan's Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., with a 10 percent stake, to ante up....
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/energy/7077220.html
...Rig worker claims BOP problems flagged up 'weeks before blowout'
BP's oil collection system at the blown-out Macondo well had to be taken offline temporarily due to lightning in the area, dropping its take to about 23,290 barrels in the last 24 hours from more than 25,000 barrels per day, the head of the US response effort said Monday....
http://www.upstreamonline.com/live/article218301.ece;.upstream.dinar
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
It is unfortuante Afghanistan broke the spirit of one General, let's hope USA policy is clearly understood from here on.
General McCrystal was relieved of command, not forced into retirement or discharged. It is unfortunate the military campaign that promoted him also served to demoralize he and his staff. I like General McCrystal and while there is no one else to blame for the Rolling Stone mess, it is more a symptom than a character trait.I believe the USA still has a First Class General in McCrystal. He'll find his sea legs again.
It is also unfortunate General Petraeus has to move to Afghanistan from Central Command, but, I am sure the move is for the best. He is completely oriented to the Afghanistan theater and can balance NATO well when it comes to USA policy.
There was one time when Afghanistan as a country made sense. It doesn't anymore. Al Qaeda and the Taliban destroyed any sense of decency in Afghanistan. Afghanistan has become a cesspool of power from any bazaar facsimile of a regime. Karzai believes he has to appear to be as corrupt and bazaar as the warlords and Taliban in order to maintain his 'figure head' status. Karzai has no backbone.
There isn't any other way of describing it. It isn't a nation. In name only, perhaps. But, the 'power' that allows anarchy to rule the day to day lives of the citizens is hideous. It is as though generations of Afghans have lost their understanding of what comprises a civilized nation and the only thing that matters anymore is 'what can be gained by a day of bargaining with the chaotic infrastructure.'
It is astounding the Poppy Economy is still flourishing there. We are fighting a war in a country where we consent to an agricultural commodity of 'scheduled' drugs. That is amazing. I really believe we need flying missions that regularly burn the opium crops to the ground and bring the troops home. Once the opium is gone the Taliban have lost their ability to be international terrorists.
Afghanistan, POST BUSH AND CHENEY, would demoralize any General. It isn't a hopeless case, but, Afghanistan's government and infrastructure is playing the civilized world as fools while they make 'decency' impossible to 'take hold' in a country that wallows in poverty almost as a choice than an abhorence.
We know for a fact that al Qaeda thrives on and within poverty stricken people. Afghanistan has assigned itself to a 'poverty status' in its choices. It never seems to rid itself of the one element that would free its people forever. They rather bargain with the Taliban then defeat them. The Afghan people still don't place their futures ahead of their daily survival. They don't value their children over opportunity to be corrupt.
What is astounding is that the Taliban are amoral. They are criminals. Yet the poeple of Afghanistan aren't willing to rid themselves of these amoral criminals, but, rather choose to include them within their communities as if brothers of a different 'worship status.' It is the most hideous set of circumstanes and the global community continue to treat Afghanistan as if it is helpless rather than reticent.
I believe there were successful campaigns in Afghanistan under McCrystal, it is an aspect to this that adds to the unfortunate nature of his change in command. The Rolling Stone mess is 'over the top' to say the least, even for Rolling Stone.
Let's hope General Petraeus can continue to advance goals in Afghanistan and make the need for troops at all legitimate. If Afghanistan can't pull itself out of its 'funk' it is time to contain the influence of Afghanistan from an international perspective until the country has changed its methodology 'of power' to sincere values of civilized society.
I do not see the 'tone' of the war changing. Either it has success or we chock it up to a failure of the people of Afghanistan and go back to defending the USA and its allies without the troop involvement and fiscal drag on our countries.
Six NATO soldiers were killed in attacks in Afghanistan on Wednesday, alliance forces said, bringing to 75 the number of foreign troops who have died in the troubled nation this month.The deaths of one British marine and five other soldiers, whose nationalities were not released, made it nearly certain June would be the worst month for NATO casualties since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban.
The British marine was killed in a small arms fire in Helmand province, a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan, the UK defence ministry said in statement.
Four other soldiers died in homemade bomb attacks -- two in the south, one in the east and one in the west -- while one soldier died in an accident on patrol in western Afghanistan NATO announced in Kabul.
The deadliest month for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the nine-year war occurred in August last year, when 77 soldiers were killed.
So far 295 NATO troops have died this year, according to AFP tallies based on the independent icasualties.org website....
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/nato-troop-deaths-afghanistan-approach-grim-record
The British marine was killed in a small arms fire in Helmand province, a hotbed of the Taliban insurgency in southern Afghanistan, the UK defence ministry said in statement.
Four other soldiers died in homemade bomb attacks -- two in the south, one in the east and one in the west -- while one soldier died in an accident on patrol in western Afghanistan NATO announced in Kabul.
The deadliest month for NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in the nine-year war occurred in August last year, when 77 soldiers were killed.
So far 295 NATO troops have died this year, according to AFP tallies based on the independent icasualties.org website....
http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/nato-troop-deaths-afghanistan-approach-grim-record
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
U.N. to remove Taliban from blacklist: Karzai
Senior diplomats from the 15-nation U.N. Security Council were in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, following a call for a review of the names of Taliban figures on its sanction list at a peace conference in Kabul earlier this month.
"The president asked the U.N. delegates to remove Taliban members from their blacklist and the delegates agreed to do so gradually and provided the members had no links to al Qaeda or other terrorist groups," Karzai's palace said in a statement.
U.N. Security Council Resolution 1267 freezes assets and limits travel of senior figures linked to the Taliban, as well as al Qaeda, but recent Afghan efforts to engage some insurgents in diplomacy have raised doubts about who should be on the list.
At least five of those named on the 137-name list are former Taliban officials who now serve in parliament or privately mediate between the government and the insurgents battling NATO-led forces and their Afghan partners.
Earlier this month, Afghanistan held a three day peace "jirga," or conference, in a bid to find a national consensus on ways to end a violent insurgency that has dragged on for almost nine years.
A statement summarizing the June 2-4 meeting of 1,600 tribal and religious leaders in Kabul urged the Afghan government and foreign powers to "take serious action in getting the names of those in opposition removed from the consolidated blacklist."
So, let me get this right. There are peace council members that are all citizens of Afghanistan that will hold a meeting on whether or not the Taliban are going to be peaceful.
What?
Where are the international IMPARTIAL mediators that will hold peace negotiations with all the parties within Afghanistan?
Peace council members to be impartial: Kashaf
Rahmatullah Afghan - Jun 15, 2010 - 13:34
KABUL (PAN): Members of the high council which will mediate between Hamid Karzai's government and the Taliban will be impartial and acceptable to both sides, a senior official said on Tuesday.
Deputy Chief of the peace jirga, Qayamuddin Kashaf, told Pajhwok Afghan News the council would be established soon and that it would have provincial offices.
The 1,600-member jirga which took place on June 2-4 stressed that negotiations with the Taliban and other militant groups were the only solution for lasting peace, calling on the Taliban to lay down their arms and stop "killing your brothers".
On his visit to the southern province of Kandahar on Sunday, Karzai promised he would form the high council as soon as possible.
The Afghan president met Monday with the leadership of the peace jirga and heads of the gathering's 28 committees. Based upon their suggestions, a 16-article declaration was drawn up which included establishing a high council for peace to open negotiations with armed opposition groups.
Without mentioning a time-frame, Kashaf said the council would start working soon.
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96278
Karzai issued fresh warning on cabinet
Abasin Zaheer - Jun 21, 2010 - 12:46
KABUL (PAN): Setting a Wednesday deadline for President Hamid Karzai to introduce his remaining cabinet picks, the Wolesi Jirga on Monday warned it would stop debating bills if the introduction was further delayed.
The Jirga's annual vacations, starting June 5, have been postponed till the introduction of the rest of the ministers by the president.
However, the speaker Younus Qanuni told the meeting on Monday that they could not postpone their vacations for a long period.
He said he had talked to the president about the introduction of the ministers this morning and the president assured him that the ministers would be introduced till Wednesday.
He said the jirga would take a decision if the ministers were not introduced by Wednesday. His decision was approved by the ministers as well.
Under the Afghan Constitution, the working period of the Wolesi Jirga would be nine months in a year. However, the jirga could increase the period if it likes so.
Some members insisted the vacations should be postponed till the introduction of the rest of the ministers. Attaullah Ludin, from Nangarhar, said they could not wait further for the introduction of the ministers.
Fourteen members of the cabinet had been approved by the jirga, with remaining nine yet to get the trust vote.
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96680
Danish PM vows continued help for Helmand
Zainullah Stanikzai - Jun 21, 2010 - 19:29
LASHKARGAH (PAN): Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen on Sunday arrived in Lashkargah, capital of southern Helmand province, where he met with troops from his country and local Afghan officials.
After meeting the governor, Gulab Mangal, the two officials addressed a joint press conference at the office of the Danish provincial reconstruction team.
Rasmussen said his brief visit to the province was aimed at assessing the security situation and discussing the ongoing development schemes with provincial officials.
He said he was satisfied with the security in Lashkargah.
"Our assistance is not only confined to security in Helmand. We will continue to support the civil sector, more importantly education and reconstruction of Helmand," he said.
Denmark had pledged to reconstruct a power station in Greshk district and a road connecting the district to Lashkargah two years ago, but so far, the work has not been completed.
Although Denmark is a small country, it had given a lot of aid to the province for improvement of security and the implementation of reconstruction projects, Mangal said.
Over the past two years, Denmark had assisted with education and other projects in Greshk, the governor said.
Around 750 Danish soldiers are serving under NATO's command in Helmand. So far 33 Danish soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan.
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96674
UN report on Afghan police opposed
Lalit K Jha - Jun 18, 2010 - 20:11
WASHINGTON (PAN): Afghanistan has strongly objected to a UN report that places the country's police among a list of organisations which recruit children as soldiers and subject them to sexual harassment.
"Such a listing undermines the good work being done by the Afghan National Police in protecting the people and maintaining the law and order," the Afghan ambassador to the United Nations told a special debate of the Security Council on Children and Armed Conflict.
In its report on Children and Armed Conflict submitted to the Security Council, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, listed six organisations from Afghanistan that recruit or use children, kill or maim children and or commit rape and other forms of sexual violence against children in situations of armed conflict. These are Afghan National Police, Haqqani network, Hezb-i-Islami, Jamat Sunat al-Dawa Salafia, Taliban forces and Tora Bora Front.
My government is disturbed by the decision of enlisting the Afghan National Police Force in the Annex of the present report, Tanin said as he talked about the steps taken by the Karzai administration to address the particular needs of children in armed conflict....
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96446
Turkey donates $3 million to ANA
Pajhwok Report - Jun 15, 2010 - 18:00
KABUL (PAN): The Turkish Armed Forces has donated more than $3 million in weapons and equipment to the Afghan National Army at a ceremony at Camp Dogan in Kabul.
The donation included mortars, machine guns, boots and travel bags as well as sewing machines, the Turkish army said in a statement on Tuesday.
Lt. Gen. Baz Muhammed Javhari, ANA deputy minister for logistic affairs, thanked the Turkish Armed Forces for the contribution and expressed his desire for the friendship between the two nations to continue.
Since 2003, Turkey has donated more than $71 million in weapons and equipment to the ANA. In addition, Turkish military personnel have trained more than 1,200 ANA soldiers, according to Col. Can Bolat, Turkey's military attach to Afghanistan.
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96262
The tribes in Afghanistan are using the Taliban to blackmail their government?
Oh?
I guess if villagers use the right words, such as rape and sexual abuse of women and children they can intimidate nearly anyone.
I see.
No trials for these grievances?
Oh.
So, the 'charged' police officers are simply fired. No charges, no trials, no jail, just fired. I see.
Barakzai tribesmen demand removal of police chief
Ahmad Umeed Khpalwak - Jun 15, 2010 - 22:41
TIRINKOT (PAN): Nearly 200 residents of central Uruzgan province demonstrated in the provincial capital on Tuesday, demanding the removal of the provincial police chief who they said was discriminating between two tribes.
Police chief, Brig. Gen. Juma Gul Himmat, had dismissed police at four check-posts in an area populated by the Barakzai tribe, protesters said.
"Even though we supported President Hamid Karzai against Taliban insurgents, today the police of our tribe have been disarmed," a tribal elder, Mirakhan, said.
"I am an official policeman, but still the police chief disarmed me," another protester, Attiqullah, said.
The police chief and his associates took all items and money from the checkpoints, he said.
The protesters threatened to allow the Taliban to openly operate in their village if officials did not remove the police chief.
Another tribal elder, Abdul Khaliq, said, the police chief was trying to fuel a dispute between Barakzai and Popalzai tribes. "The police chief handed the police checkpoints to the Popalzai tribe, so we are supposed to fight against them," he said.
But Himmat, the police chief, rejected the accusations and said he had dismissed police at the four checkpoints on the orders of the Ministry of Interior.
He said the fired police men had violated human rights by sexually abusing a woman.
"I don't support a particular tribe and neither is tribal discrimination involved in this issue as there are still Barakzai in five police checkpoints," he added
http://www.pajhwok.com/viewstory.asp?lng=eng&id=96273
It would be unfortunate if General McCrystal left his command in Afghanistan. I believe he is a good man. Joe Biden isn't Dick Cheney if that was the 'measure' for Veeps. Thank God he isn't Cheney.
It is unfortunate the dynamics of Afghanistan has been so blastedly disgusting after nearly a decade of neglect by the previous Executive Branch.
But, there are issues of sorts with the esteem General McCrystal holds his Commander and Chief. I don't know why exactly, but, I believe it has a lot to do with NATO and their focus of Afghanistan.
There have been comments made in Europe by the General at times that are a bit out of line with the current methodology of this White House and it may be out of step with the State Department's efforts as well. But, they are 'soldiers comments' and show a more aggressive approach to the combat theater. Sometimes, to allow such 'dissonance' is simply respect for the 'four stripes' on the General's sleeve.
It would have been better if this General and this President were able to speak 'on message' to achieve the goals of the best outcomes in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan and its Poppy Economy has to be an irritant to General McCrystal, but, in his judgement to rattle that apart in order to achieve some idea of 'moral content' to that country would be to cause greater gaps in loyalties to the current government by citizens and place soldiers in greater danger.
The 'side effect' may be an Afghan soldier sadly unable to protect Afghanistan due to substance abuse.
Permitting a Poppy Economy is Anti-American and in some corners of the military and possibly the administration that may be ridiculed. We don't know if General McCrystal and his staff have been putting up with 'sore comments' either. It could be there are many 'aggravations' to the comments by General McCrystal's staff and him as well. It seems completely obvious the 'culture' currently at work within and about the Afghanistan War isn't good for anyone. Unfortunately, it might be enough to destroy the relationship between the General and the President.
General McCrystal is a remarkable military officer. It might be the hubris has taken on a life of its own. The question is, will the President find any prolonged 'difference' between the two more than he is willing to tolerate. It might be that General McCrystal might see it the same way.
What does anyone expect it is Louisiana where they put oil ahead of citizens. Corruption rules.
The Plutocracy must be served. Judge Feldman ruled knowing the Executive Branch would appeal the decision.
His operative words were "explicitly justify." It is corruption. Feldman doesn't read the newspapers or watch the news? He doesn't know what is going on? No, sure he does, but, he is going to make the Executive Branch of the USA 'dance on the head of a pin' with the verbiage of the moritorium.
..."We will immediately appeal to the 5th Circuit," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "The president strongly believes, as the Department of Interior and the Department of Justice argued yesterday, that continuing to drill at these depths without knowing what happened…potentially puts the safety of those on the rigs and safety of the environment in the gulf at a danger that the president does not believe we can afford right now."...
The argument that employment is being lost and oil companies are losing income is completely irrelevant. BP is liable for all those losses. All of them, including the losses of other oil companies. This is ridiculous and outrageous. There are eleven people dead and those deaths mean absolutely nothing to Feldman. To Feldman this is all a game of who types better and more explicitly.
It's Louisiana, where corruption is a way of life.
President Obama did what was correct to protect lives and secure the understanding of what occurred.
You know, the petroleum industry is required to drill a relief well at the same time they are drilling the main well. Why? Because the North Atlantic has FREQUENT fires on their rigs. FREQUENT. By that MEASURE ALONE, the Petroleum Industry is putting lives at risk. Their neglegence in this instance is OBVIOUS and yet a Louisiana District Judge has no backbone to stand up to them.
The worst oil disaster in the North Seas was the Piper Alpha which was operated by Occidental Petroleum. The disaster occurred in 1988 after the platform began to pump methane in greater quantities than oil. There were 167 human lives lost with a financial loss of $3.4 billion, without the gushing oil.
There is a very long history of explosions and deaths of people working the rigs. BP has an abysmal safety record. It is a fact. These explosions happen frequently enough to say the Petroleum Industry does not care or do they even want to care about what ACTUALLY occurs when these rigs explode WHEN there is HIGH METHANE content from the drilling.
For a USA Judge to simply dismiss the Executive Branch concerns regarding poor safety track records and eleven deaths while an entire coastline becomes economically handicapped for decades to come, in my opinion is gross malpractice by Feldman.
Another Example:
BP's Disaster: No Surprise to Folks in the Know
Andrew B. Wilson: Anyone Who Understood the Corporate Culture Could See This Coming a Million Miles Away
...Only it wasn’t an explosion. A gas line had ruptured-allowing thousands of pounds of pressurized gas to escape at supersonic velocity. That caused a thunderous sonic boom. Debris from the burst pipe and its cladding rained down, adding to the impression that “an artillery shell had just hit the platform.” The escaping gas quickly formed a huge and potentially lethal cloud around the rig. Now the threat of an actual explosion was very real. The smallest spark would detonate more than a ton of methane gas.
No one died or was even hurt that day on Forties Alpha, thanks in part to high winds that helped to disperse the gas after about 20 minutes of extreme danger to the platform and its crew of 180 people. But Houston, the number two in command aboard Forties Alpha, knew full well what could have happened. “Unlike a similar incident on the ill-fated Piper Alpha platform,” he observes, referring to an earlier accident in the North Sea, “the gas did not ignite, so what could have been a major disaster for myself and everyone else on board was averted by sheer luck.”...
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/06/22/opinion/main6605248.shtml
Immediately after the Deepwater Horizon blew up, there was another platform in Venezuelan waters that was pumping nothing but methane and it exploded and sunk as well. The Petroleum Industry is out of control. The disaster of the BP rig is the event to stop the clock on 'luck' in order to come to understand the devastating consequences of poor insight and management by these companies. Feldman is completely "W"rong. He removed the purpose of the moritorium and sought to place Executive Authority as a 'volley' to the order. It is pure unadulterated corruption.
Feldman's words are hideous in their content as well.
...Judge Martin Feldman called the Deepwater Horizon spill "an unprecedented, sad, ugly and inhuman disaster."...
He tries to cover up his 'bate and switch' routine by appearing to understand the 'human tragedy' better than anyone else. Please, this is such garbage, the ruling belongs in the nearest land fill.
Rig: ODECO Ocean Odyssey Semi-Sub
Date: 22 September 1988
Location: Shearwater Field, Block 22, UK Continental Shelf
Operator: Arco (now a subsidiary of BP)
...At around 1130 hours, a rapid rise in casing pressure was seen, with substantial mud returns and the presence of gas vapour at the rotary table. With the bit at 13200 feet, the circulating pressure was not great enough to prevent a gas influx into the well and the well began to flow. The control room operator was then alerted to a gas kick and all rig crew were ordered to lifeboat stations as a precautionary measure. At around 1255 hours, the first explosion occurred and the four remaining crew on the drillfloor evacuated to lifeboats. The well was not shut in completely with the lower rams. At around 1305 hours, catastrophic choke hose failure caused by the uncontrolled flow of aggressive fluids through the choke hose led to the release of large quantities of gas and caused fires both on the rig and on the surface of the sea beneath the rig....
http://home.versatel.nl/the_sims/rig/o-odyssey.
September 14, 2005 12:00 AM (Published in the July 2005 issue)
LOCATION: TEXAS CITY, TEXAS
EVENT: OIL REFINERY EXPLOSION
DATE: MARCH 23, 2005
...As workers restarted a component of the unit, abnormal pressure built up in the production tower, and so three relief valves opened to allow highly volatile gasoline components to escape to the 10 x 20-ft. "blowdown" drum. But so much fuel flooded into the drum that its capacity was rapidly exceeded. Liquid and vapor shot straight up the 113-ft. vent stack, into the open air.
Witnesses saw a cloud of vaporizing fuel geyser out of the stack and cascade to the ground. One person reported hearing a desperate call crackle over a handheld radio. "What is this? Stop all hot work! Stop all hot work!"
But too much equipment was running to shut it all down. As vapors were sucked into its engine, an idling pickup at the base of the tower began to rev up, according to witnesses. A worker raced to turn it off, but he was too late. Somewhere in the cloud of fumes, perhaps in the truck's engine, a spark touched off the gas and ignited a firestorm....
...BLOWDOWN
Texas City knows industrial facilities and their dangers. Often referred to as "Toxic City," it is home to four chemical plants and three refineries. The sprawling BP complex, built in 1934, is the third largest of 149 petroleum refineries nationwide. At night it glows like a forested landscape of steel Christmas trees, strung with flickering safety lights. Since records were kept in 1971, there have been at least nine other accidents at the refinery that injured or killed workers, but the explosion on March 23 was by far the most destructive....
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/1758242
Fifth anniversary of BP Texas refinery explosion-have we learnt any lessons?
By Sam
Mar 24, 2010
Mar 24, 2010- Five years ago, terrible explosions rocked BP’s Texas refinery complex that resulted in several fatalities and injuries. The question that is now being raised is, whether any lessons were learned from this by manufacturing companies in general and hydrocarbon processing companies in particular? Apparently not many, as evidenced by the several accidents that took place in refineries and chemical complexes after this accident....
...The CSB issues the following statement from CSB Chairman John Bresland:
Five years ago today, at about 1:20 p.m., a series of explosions rocked the BP Texas City refinery during the restart of a hydrocarbon isomerization unit.
Fifteen workers were killed and 170 others were injured. Many of the victims were working in or around work trailers located near an atmospheric vent stack. The explosions occurred when a distillation tower flooded with hydrocarbons and was over- pressurized, causing a geyser-like release from the vent stack. The hydrocarbons found an ignition source and exploded.
I urge everyone in the oil refining industry to take a moment today and think about that tragic loss of life and the severity of so many injuries which continue to afflict workers five years later.
Today would be an appropriate time for company management to pause and personally pledge to do everything in their power to prevent this kind of catastrophic accident from happening at their refineries. And in my view it would also be appropriate for BP to recommit to safety in a way that builds on the steps it has taken in the aftermath of the Texas City tragedy.
In the CSB’s final investigation report issued two years after the accident, we found organizational and safety deficiencies at all levels of the BP Corporation. It was the most comprehensive and detailed investigation the CSB has ever done. Our investigation team turned up extensive evidence showing a catastrophe waiting to happen. that cost-cutting had affected safety programs and critical maintenance; production pressures resulted in costly mistakes made by workers likely fatigued by working long hours; internal audits and safety studies brought problems to the attention of BP’s board in London, but they were not sufficiently acted upon. Yet the company was proud of its record on personnel safety.
I urge everyone involved in operations and safety programs at refineries to take time to visit the CSB’s BP investigation web page, review the key findings in the report, and ask “Is any of this happening at my facility?” I also recommend taking a lunch hour to view with your colleagues the CSB Safety Video “Anatomy of a Disaster”, an extensive examination – with computer animation – of the factors that caused the BP tragedy.
http://industrialplantsafety.com/anniversary-bp-texas-refinery.html
The point is, the Petroleum Industry does not care, nor do they want to care. They make so much money that fines and bad publicity means nothing to them. The only entity standing the way of citizens' deaths and this industry is the government and Feldman is a prime example of corruption at the core of the power of industries that are allowed to control economic dynamics. Money is truely more important than human life and this is more proof of it.
Feldman is well bought and paid for whether it is 'stupid ideology' over economics or some 'moronic idea' that the President is supposed to have the power to protect citizens over their right to work. That is an oxymoron considering Louisiana is a 'will to work state' whereby employees have to rights anyway. The entire situation is pure corruption from top to bottom and it is CULTURAL CORRUPTION at its worst.
"Cultural Corruption" is what Republicans rely on to achieve elections and re-elections.
BP Faces Record Fine for ’05 Refinery Explosion
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE
Published: October 30, 2009
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced the largest fine in its history on Friday, $87 million in penalties against the oil giant BP for failing to correct safety problems identified after a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at its Texas City, Tex. refinery....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/30/business/30labor.html
$87 million in fines is just a 'speed bump' in the bonus scale to any CEO. It means absolutely nothing to the Petroleum Industry or their stockholders.
THINK GREEN, THINK LOCAL and save your lives. It is up to us !!!!
Monday, June 21, 2010
Actions speak louder than words. Senator Kyl needs an ethics review for his lies about the President. It goes to prove that Republicans are a 'regime' that cannot be trusted.
Kyl took advantage of a private meeting with President Obama to 'set up lies' to defame his Presidency. President Obama cannot meet with Republicans alone from today forward. They are not trustworthy and the nation knows it. They use words to manipulate not communicate....Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona told a Tea Party gathering in North Phoenix, Ariz., on Friday of his recent private meeting with Obama in the Oval Office. Kyl, the Senate's second-ranking GOP leader, said he pressed Obama to secure the border against illegal immigrants....
The Republicans are evasive in their commitment to citizens while they use power to benefit Wall Street. That is simply the truth. They apologize to oil companies that don't belong anywhere near the borders of the USA and now this. It never stops. They scream liar at the State of the Union Address and this is simply an extension of the same hatred of the Preasident.
Barack Obama meets Mexican leader
Page last updated at 01:45 GMT, Tuesday, 13 January 2009
Mexico's violent drugs war, immigration and trade have dominated talks between US President-elect Barack Obama and Mexico's President Felipe Calderon.
Monday's meeting in Washington DC was Mr Obama's first with a foreign leader since his election in November.
His transition office said the talks highlighted the importance of the relationship between the US and Mexico....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7823862.stm
Obama: Mexico drug war ‘sowing chaos’
U.S. president signals he won't seek reinstatement of assault weapons ban
msnbc.com news services
updated 7:15 p.m. ET, Thurs., April 16, 2009
MEXICO CITY - Acknowledging a Mexican drug war that is "sowing chaos in our communities," President Barack Obama signaled Thursday he will not seek the reinstatement of a U.S. assault weapons ban but instead step up enforcement of existing laws against taking such weapons across the border....
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30232095/
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
___________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release August 10, 2009
PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENT OBAMA,
PRESIDENT CALDERÓN OF MEXICO,
AND PRIME MINISTER HARPER OF CANADA
Cabanas Cultural Center
Guadalajara, Mexico
11:15 A.M. (Local)
PRESIDENT CALDERÓN: (As translated.) Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of the media, national as well as international. The leaders from the United States, Canada and Mexico have completed two fruitful workdays for the benefit for our co-nationals. The leaders for North America share the vision and insight for the regional community that is safe, secure, and competitive, that can face successfully the challenges of the present and the future.
We coincide in pointing out that in an age marked by globalization, the challenges can only be overcome jointly -- thus the importance of keeping the dialogue, trust and cooperation amongst our three countries. Americans, Canadians, and Mexicans have reiterated that the values upon which our societies are founded are democracy, freedom, justice, and respect of human rights.
Our three nations have reiterated our decision to combat in the struggle of the transnational organized crime in order to bring about more security to our communities. The struggles we have led in Mexico for the rule of law and the security of our Mexican people forces us to stop the traffic of weapons and of money that go from north to south that strengthen and nourish organized crime gangs. The notion of responsibility, co-responsibility, accountability, the exchange of information, and the building of our institutions should be the guidelines for our cooperation....
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Press-Conference-by-President-Obama-President-Calderon-of-Mexico-and-Prime-Minister-Harper-of-Canada/
Bomb Damages US Consulate in Mexico
04/10/10 08:27 PM
MEXICO CITY — An attacker threw an explosive device over the wall around the U.S. consulate in the border city of Nuevo Laredo, breaking windows and startling employees inside but causing no injuries, the U.S. Embassy said Saturday.
The attack, which took place about 11:30 p.m. Friday, is under investigation, embassy spokesman Claude Young said.
Young said the consulate and the consular agency in the border town of Piedras Negras would be closed Monday pending a review of security measures.
Mexican federal prosecutors in the capital said they were reviewing evidence from the scene, including video feeds from security cameras at the consulate.
Nuevo Laredo, across the Rio Grande River from Laredo, Texas, and other cities have seen increased violence in recent weeks as powerful Mexican drug cartels battle over control of lucrative trafficking along the border.
U.S. State Department employees in the area had not been victimized until last month. That's when gunmen separately chased down and killed an American woman who worked at the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez along with her husband in their SUV and another man married to a Mexican consulate worker in a similar vehicle. All three had been at the same party....
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/10/bomb-damages-us-consulate_n_533059.html
Mexico gunmen kill three American consulate members
REUTERS, Mar 15, 2010, 03.01am IST
MEXICO: Gunmen in the drug war-plagued Mexican city of Ciudad Juarez killed two Americans and a Mexican linked to the local US consulate, an attack US President Barack Obama said "outraged" him.
An American woman working at the consulate in Ciudad Juarez, just over the border from El Paso, Texas, and her US husband were fatally shot by suspected drug gang hitmen in broad daylight on Saturday as they left a consulate social event, US and Mexican officials told Reuters.
A Mexican man married to another consulate employee was killed around the same time in another part of the city after he and his wife left the same event, a US official said....
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/Mexico-gunmen-kill-three-American-consulate-members/articleshow/5683948.cms
President Obama to send more National Guard troops to U.S.-Mexico border
By Michael D. Shear and Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
...President Obama will deploy 1,200 National Guard troops and request an extra $500 million to secure the Mexican border, his administration said Tuesday, a move dismissed by Republicans as insufficient to win their cooperation on an overhaul of the nation's immigration system.
By reinforcing the 340 Guard members already monitoring border crossings and analyzing intelligence, the initiative echoes 2006's Operation Jump Start, in which President George W. Bush devoted 6,000 guardsmen to a two-year commitment in support of the Border Patrol....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/25/AR2010052503227.html
Previous to the President's inauguration, President Obama has been sincerely concerned regarding the fluid border between Mexico and the USA. From before his inauguration he has sought a relationship with Mexican leadership to solve the problems of that border.
There is absolutely NO BASIS for the statements by Kyl from Arizona, whom's state currently is being reviewed by the US Justice Department for a suit against the laws they pass for the purpose of political fervor. Laws that violate human rights as well as citizens' civil rights.
It is completely obvious the Republicans are doing NOTHING to resolve the issues of the USA in regard to illegal immigration and the movement of weapons across the border from the USA into Mexico. They are USING the issue for NOTHING but political maneuvering and fiscal support of their cronies.
President Obama moved USA troops into place after the USA Consolates were attacked and had NOTHING to do with bargaining for comprehensive immigation reform, yet, the OUT OF TOUCH Republican Regime sought to ridicule the legitimate actions of a deeply concerned President.
They are adversarial to this President for all the "W"rong reasons and they are obstructing appropriate legislation the nation needs. They are hostile entities to the government and nothing sort of it. Their demeanors are OUT of LINE with the facts and their ethics are grossly out of step with reality.
Consumer awareness - How does this stuff get made and on the market? As a joke it isn't very funny either !
I don't think so !
...The device - with a beam 1,000 times stronger than sunlight on the skin - is touted by makers as "the most dangerous laser ever created"....
Link:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Lightsabres-Lasers-Compared-To-Star-Wars-Weapon-Sold-On-Web-To-The-UK/Article/201006315649563?lpos=World_News_News_Your_Way_Region_1&lid=NewsYourWay_ARTICLE_15649563_Lightsabres%3A_Lasers_Compared_To_Star_Wars_Weapon_Sold_On_Web_To_The_UK
UNISYS Water Vapor Satellite show a Midwest that could receive severe weather today and a hurricane attempting to form near Venezuela. Click for 12 hour loop.
Don't take my word for it. The Accuweather forecast for the Midwest:More severe storms capable of producing tornadoes will target the Plains and the Midwest through tonight. During the day, some communities from Iowa to Illinois and eastern Montana to West Texas will get hit by these potentially damaging and life-threatening storms.
Severe storms will shift east across Iowa, southern Wisconsin and Illinois today, while another round of severe weather will unfold this afternoon and evening over the High Plains, from eastern Montana and North Dakota southward to New Mexico and West Texas.
http://www.accuweather.com/blogs/news/story/32999/more-severe-storms-tornadoes-t.asp
Summer Solice, beginning of the real hurricane season, June 21, 1020 at 11:28 AM
20,000 people attended traditional gatherings at Stonehedge.
The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (crystal wind chimes) is:
Local time :: 3:10 AM ADKT (GMT -08)
Lat/Lon :: 58.8° N 137.0° W Elevation :: 33 feet
Temperatures :: 48 F
Conditions :: Scattered Clouds
Windchill :: 47 F
Humidity :: 87%
Dew Point :: 45 F
Wind :: 4 mph from the South
Pressure :: 30.06 inches (steady)
Visibility :: 10 mph
UV :: 0 out of 16
Clouds :: 6000 ft above ground level
Alaskans Celebrate Midnight Sun
June 19, 2010
For people who live near the Arctic Circle, summer days get so long that nighttime almost disappears. So, if you were living in Nome, Alaska, you'd live through an eye-popping 22 hours of daylight Saturday. To get a sense of what it's like to live with nearly constant daylight, host Guy Raz speaks with Nome resident and tour operator Richard Benneville.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=127955950
Coldest day of the year in Antarctica with longest hours of darkness.
Current Conditions across the continent show a high of 34 F on the Peninsula and a low of -93 at Vostok at the highest point of the ice. (click here)
Winds range from calm to Northeast at 69 mph, and conditions range from clear to snow.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Costner Oil - Water Separation Machine should be deployed first where the oil is only now arriving.
There might be half a chance to stop the deteriorating Gulf Coast if the oil is interceded by such a technology.
What happens to the people stuck between the two fences in Arizona? Do they know there is an opening some place else? Who gives them directions?
Local rancher Glenn Spencer stands by a vehicle barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border in Arizona. (Courtesy of American Border Patrol)
Pat Shannahan/ The Arizona Republic
Border fences like this one may help deter illegal immigration, but no measures are an absolute deterrent.
Mr. Krentz's death had nothing to do with politics. He got in the way of an illegal crossing, even if by accident. Illegals, in some instances, carry guns evidently. If that is the case and they come armed then what indeed is this?
By Daniel B. Wood, Staff writer / March 31, 2010
Los Angeles
The killing of Arizona rancher Robert Krentz has prompted the state’s governor, its most influential senator, and its farming community to say that Washington is not doing enough to prevent illegal immigration and secure the border with Mexico.
Mr. Krentz was found Saturday, fatally shot and slumped over in his all-terrain vehicle, which still had its lights and engine on. Law enforcement officials tracked footprints from the scene back to the border, raising speculation that the killer is an illegal immigrant....
http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0331/Robert-Krentz-killing-stokes-fears-of-rampant-illegal-immigration
The Political Right can blame the political Left and so on, but, no one is going to stop illegal immigration.
The answer is to solve Mexico's problems. We don't have this issue with Canada. It is the poverty and now FAMILY that drives them north across the USA border.
I don't see anything stopping this, not even a poor economy.
The only thing that changed since time beginning in that region 'of the continent' is the USA border and the right of the USA to expand West. Nothing else has changed. Basically, the white man fought for the right to occupy the land and claim land rights and mineral rights. The people have always moved back and forth across that border.
Illegals were always considered welcome as cheap labor for centuries. Now, because the political right of the USA decided they want their southern border secured that is going to make it happen.
Mexico ruling party: Federal police for elections
By MARK STEVENSON (AP) – 10 hours ago
MEXICO CITY — The leader of President Felipe Calderon's conservative party said Saturday he wants federal police to patrol 14 Mexican states that are holding local elections this year.
National Action Party leader Cesar Nava charged that state governors from the old ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party are planning to use local police in favor of their candidates.
"Recent history shows us that some PRI governors are preparing to use police to make it easier to round up voters for their party and impede the free movement of our supporters," Nava said at a gathering of his party's leadership in Mexico City.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h3HsghO9eeYbwqsn_rMPKhmzYegQD9GEMKN80
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