There is no such thing as a controlled burn at sea. This is an abject environmental disaster, so why don't we just say so.

Even allowing drilling 42 miles offshore is asking for disaster.  It needs to be moved at least 150 miles away from the USA mainland!

'Controlled burn' of oil slick coming from exploded rig in Gulf is possibleSalazar and ...Napolitano signed an order Tuesday establishing the next steps for a joint investigation that began last week into the causes of the explosion of the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf. The U.S. Coast Guard and the Minerals Management Service share jurisdiction for the investigation.... (click title to entry - thank you)

By Chris Kirkham, The Times-Picayune

April 27, 2010, 3:57PM

Underwater vehicles have not been able to stop the flow of oil from a damaged pipe more than a mile below the surface of the Guilf of Mexico after the explosion of an oil rig.. U.S. Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said today that authorities are considering a controlled burn of the oil floating on the Gulf's surface.

The oil is coming from two damaged sections of pipe from the Deepwater Horizon rig which exploded and collapsed into the Gulf last week. The damaged pipe is more than 5,000 feet under water. The underwater vehicles have been trying to trigger the well's blowout preventer, a 450-ton device resting on the seabed that is intended to prevent such leaks.

But so far efforts to trip the blowout preventer have been a bust.

Landry and other officials who spoke during a Tuesday news conference said the controlled burn has been used before on spills. Crews would light the oil on fire within containment booms....

This slick is over 20 miles long and originated 42 miles offshore.  I dare anyone to control that.  The winds will take control and there will be a 20 mile long fire in the Gulf of Mexico that will make in to shore. 


NO !!!!

Besides that there is already another oil spill.  What is the Coast Guard going to do, let the two meet and really burn up the coast?  It would seem as though less and less of the 3% of the world's oil supply is actually making it to a refinery.

Crude oil spill fouls about a fifth of Delta National Wildlife Refuge

By The Associated Press

April 07, 2010, 10:50PM

...Nutting said the slick covered 16 square miles of the refuge, which comprises about 76 square miles of marshland between the Mississippi River and Breton Sound and the Gulf of Mexico. A 12-mile-wide slick stretched 10 miles into the Gulf of Mexico, he said.

Crews put 5,000 feet of containment boom around the slick and were putting out another 2,000 feet of boom around the environmentally sensitive area near Breton Island, Nutting said. He said skimmer boats had sucked up 600 gallons of oil.

A Berry Brothers General Contractors barge dredging for ExxonMobil U.S. Production Co. in the area notified the Coast Guard Tuesday about 1 a.m. that oil was spilling into a canal about 10 miles southeast of Venice, according to a news release.

About 18,000 gallons of oil spilled before Cypress could close the broken section.

The news release was distributed jointly by the Coast Guard, the state of Louisiana and the pipeline operator, Cypress Pipe Line Co. -- a joint venture between BP PLC and Chevron Pipe Line Co.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2010/04/crude_oil_spill_fouls_about_a.html

If these companies are this irresponsible what are they doing holding leases?


I want answers !!!!!!!


So much for the tourist industry.

"Gee my bed and breakfast overlooks the oil spill."


Wow, what a thrill.

I wish I was more of a sports fan, but, having the Yankees visit would thrill anyone.

President Barack Obama holds up an autographed New York Yankees jersey presented to him during an event to honor the 2009 World Series Champion Yankees, Monday, April 26, 2010, in the East Room of the White House in Washington.

 

 

 

Walter Reed visit tugs at Yankees' hearts »

April 26, 2010 10:42 PM 

By Mark Feinsand

There is little doubt that the Yankees’ visit to the White House will be something they treasure for the rest of their lives, but it was the trip to the Walter Reed Medical Center that really seemed to touch the players on Monday.
The Yankees split up and sent half of their players to Walter Reed to visit with wounded veterans, while the other half went to the Malone House, a housing facility for veterans and their families. Here’s a sample of the reaction from that visit:

Joe Girardi: “You go to thank the soldiers for what they’ve done. It really penetrates your heart to see the sacrifices that they make to serve our country and protect us. It’s amazing.”

More Girardi: “Just to see the heart and the drive in these guys, it’s really pretty amazing. You really get a chane to see the sacrifices these ladies and men make for us, and it really tugs at your heart.”

Derek Jeter: “It was a privilege for us to go there. For them to come up to us and say thank you for winning a championship, it was mind-boggling. We were there to thank them. It really puts things in perspective; people always look at us and say that we’re heroes, but when you look at it, they’re the real heroes.”

Mark Teixeira: “We got much more out of the experience. They’re Yankees fans and baseball fans, so we signed some autographs, but to put our career in perspective, they do so much more for our country than we can ever do.”

More Teixeira: “These guys are serving our country and paying a pretty high price for it. It’s an emotional experience, but one that builds character for us. Any time that we feel sorry about a little injury, it doesn’t compare with what these guys are doing for us.”

Alex Rodriguez: “It was my first time (visiting the White House), and it was a real honor to be in front of the President. To achieve something and to come here, it was a big reward. But for me, the biggest reward of the day was going down this morning and spending time with those guys. I know they enjoyed it, but we enjoyed it as much if not more.”

http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/yankees/2010/04/walter-reed-visit-tugs-at-yank.html#ixzz0mLA858kv

The Colorado State Legislature has the right idea.

HOUSE SPONSORSHIP
Pace, Ferrandino, Frangas, Gagliardi, Labuda, Hullinghorst, Levy, Pommer

SENATE SPONSORSHIP
Carroll M.,

The bill requires any entity that receives public moneys for the
purpose of economic development to file an annual report, along with a
filing fee, to the Colorado economic development commission
(commission). The also bill specifies the contents of the report and
requires the commission to include any reports received in its annual presentation to the general assembly.
If the commission finds, in its discretion, that a recipient of an
economic incentive has not complied with the requirements of the
incentive, the commission has the authority to recapture any public
moneys expended on the economic incentive.

...(I) A STATEMENT OF THE NUMBER OF JOBS CREATED BY THE RECIPIENT;...

A feather in Secretary Gates' hat. Thank you. It has been a heck of a week, hasn't it?

Mohammed,, left, is embraced by his mother at Baghdad International Airport after returning from a year of medical treatment in the U.S., Tuesday, April 27, 2010. Mohammed, whose middle and last names are not being publicized, was brought to the U.S. and treated at the Michigan State University hospital thanks to the efforts of National Guard Maj. David Howell who met him in November 2008 in Ramadi, once an insurgent hotbed west of Baghdad.

...Caught in a house fire when he was only 2 years old in the city of Ramadi, once an insurgent hotbed west of Baghdad, Mohammed was severely scarred. Then three years ago, his father was gunned down by insurgents for working as translator for U.S. troops....

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126300944

Tuesday, April 27 2010

(Sanaa) -- Dozens of al-Qaeda suspects have been arrested by police in Yemen.
Seven Yemenis were among those taken into custody during the raids carried out after Britain's ambassador to Yemen was targeted by a suicide bomber.
All the men, including the bomber, had previously been arrested on suspicion of ties to al-Qaeda following the 9-11 attacks.
Wearing an explosive belt, Othman Ali al-Sulwi threw himself at the convoy that accompanied Ambassador Tim Torlot to work.
Torlot was unharmed, but two security personnel and a bystander were wounded in the attack.
The father of the 22-year-old bomber said he condemned his son's actions and had reported his disappearance about six weeks ago to authorities in Yemen.

Why do I get the idea that the regions of turmoil are coming together in very effective ways?  How come?  Where is that idea coming from?

Al-Qaida in Iraq Confirms Death of 2 Leaders

VOA News 25 April 2010

Al-Qaida in Iraq has confirmed that two of its leaders were killed one week ago in a joint operation by U.S. and Iraqi forces.

A statement posted Sunday on Islamist websites says Abu Ayyub al-Masri and Abu Omar al-Baghdadi were attending a meeting when U.S. and Iraqi troops engaged them in a battle and launched an air strike.

The statement quotes a senior figure in the Islamic State of Iraq militant group as saying the two al-Qaida commanders were steadfast in the pursuit of jihad, or holy war.  The militant also urges the group's followers to keep fighting and transform the leaders' blood into "light and fire."

U.S. and Iraqi officials say Masri and Baghdadi were killed in a joint U.S.-Iraqi raid on a hideout near the northern city of Tikrit on April 18.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden called the deaths a "potentially devastating blow" to al-Qaida in Iraq....

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Al-Qaida-in-Iraq-Confirms-Death-of-2-Leaders-92039809.html

Iraq oil exports via Turkey resume after sabotage

April 26, 2010, 7:06AM ET

BAGHDAD

Iraq's Oil Ministry says it has resumed crude exports through the Turkish port of Ceyhan after repairing a key northern pipeline sabotaged last week.

Monday's statement by spokesman Assem Jihad says the damage was repaired in record time and that oil would be pumped at full pressure to make up for the four day interruption in service.

The pipeline to Turkey carried an average of 423,000 barrels per day last month -- nearly a quarter of the country's daily oil exports.

Militants blew the pipeline up in the early hours on Thursday morning in a deserted region 255 miles (400 kilometers) from Baghdad.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9FAN76O0.htm

Immigration Reform. Let me see I can put this nicely. Supposedly the Arizona law is a clone of the federal law. Just think about that a minute.

April 27, 2010 10:01 AM

Arizona Immigration Law Prompts San Francisco to Consider Boycott of State  (click title to entry - thank you)

...Activists and politicians in Arizona and elsewhere have vowed to continue fighting the law. While it is sure to face legal challenges, Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva (D) has also called for a boycott of his state's goods, services and tourism. In his call for the boycott, Grijalva cited an Arizona boycott in the 1990's that persuaded the state to recognize Martin Luther King Day.

Following that logic, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors today will consider a resolution that would call for the city to end any and all contracts with Arizona-based companies and to stop doing business with the state, the San Francisco Chronicle reports....

There is a human side to this story, so it is best not to lose sight of that.  The Mexican President has issued a travel advisory about Arizona because he fears violence against Hispanics.  So the Arizona law now has international implications.  Somehow the folks involved in the illegal immigration don't really have knowledge of the dangers involved anyway, so I doubt that will slow any activity toward the USA border.  The activity toward the USA border beside this side of it is about the drug cartels and munitions and that isn't going to stop no matter whom issues what.

The above picture is called a layup. As you can see trash, persoanl belongings, and clothing are discarded everywhere. What you can’t see are the women’s and girl’s underwear everywhere, literally everywhere. 

http://jacqui.instablogs.com/entry/faces-of-death-realities-and-images-of-illegal-immigration/

 

Once anyone has ingested that reality, there is THIS quote, "Those that cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

At hand there is failed immigration policy.  There are many, many reasons for that policy including the fact that Arizona never thought it was important to remove illegal workers from their jobs.  They left it alone as cheap labor was good for Arizona Conservatives.

Realizing that porous borders were ignored for decades if not a century, there are a lot of people in the USA that have crossed the borders between Mexico and Arizona, but, yet the USA isn't suppose to incorporate them into their populous.

That said, why would any State ever write laws to mimic federal laws on the books that have proven ineffective?

If Arizona FIRST raised their taxes to EMPLOY special investigative units that have an exclusive role in enforcing federal laws AND that initiative had proven to work, BUT, those investigative units need assistance to empower local law enforcement to complete 'round ups' then I could understand such a measure.

But, to simply pass laws that are already on the books, that have proven ineffective for whatever reasons they were ineffective is ridiculous. 

Enough said.  I think the Conservatives and their propaganda networks that seek power over love of country have done all the damage they can do at this point.  Yes?

Sen. Lindsey Graham: Arizona immigration bill may be unconstitutional

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0410/36418.html#ixzz0mKBdRJyt

By MANU RAJU | 4/27/10 1:00 PM EDT

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that the tough new Arizona immigration law will probably be struck down by the courts on constitutional grounds.

"In my view it's all uphill under the law," Graham told reporters. "I think they'll have a hard time upholding this law, that's my view."

Graham, who quipped that he was "not the brightest lawyer in town," said he had a "reasonable suspicion if it comes down to the color of your skin or the ethnic background as the dominant reason, it shouldn't hold up."

His position creates some daylight with his close friend Sen. John McCain, who is facing a tough primary challenge in Arizona but has supported comprehensive immigration reform in the past.

McCain has called the Arizona law a "step forward" and a "good tool" but his office says it does not represent an endorsement....

Arizona immigration law puts police in 'impossible situation'

A new Arizona anti-illegal immigration law asks police to perform tasks that are often contradictory, critics say – enforcing immigration law and criminal law.

...Police face contradicting missions, critics argue. “This obviously puts police in an impossible situation because it requires them to pursue two goals simultaneously: to enforce the immigration laws; and to enforce the criminal laws, keep the peace, provide assistance, and all the other ordinary tasks of police officers,” says Joel Jacobsen, assistant attorney general, criminal appeals division for New Mexico. “Which goal should they pursue?... 

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0426/Arizona-immigration-law-puts-police-in-impossible-situation

"Can you at least answer that question yes or no?" Senator Carl Levin

 I never hear the Right Wing complain about the Fifth Amendment.  The 16th, 17th, but, never the 5th.

“We have an email from the CFO that talks about people who had lost money that says, “Tells you what might be happening to people who don’t have the big short,” and we have an internal presentation saying Goldman was starting to take a short position. and yet we have representatives telling this panel Goldman was just trying to ‘get to home.’ How can you explain all these references to the big short?”

There were other hearings that had the same 'issue.'  Cooperation.  That is what the Senate Hearings with Goldman Sachs reminds me of.

Being an ambassador can be a little rough. Sometimes, then again, you have to wonder what they don't know as ambassadors.

...A convoy carrying Ambassador Timothy Torlot was headed to Britain's embassy in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, on Monday morning when the assailant detonated his explosives-laden vest. The assailant died, but no one else was killed in the attack. Torlot was not harmed....

Al qaeda seems to have become this 'punk' organization that can't get anything done anymore.  What I want to know is how did the assailant know the ambassador was going to be coming that way in a convoy?

This isn't the first time such a thing has happened.  In reports about a visit to Indonesia, the Secret Service reported averting a bomb under a bridge.

Then there is that whole thing with Musharraf and assassination attempts by him.  To top it off, everyone in Asheville knew Obama was coming.

So like, what goes on that should not go on?

And given the circumstances, one must ask 'whom is in on it?'  I mean if you expect us to take all this seriously, yes? 

The peasants to Wall Street pay monies to the government, send our young to war and seek to try to civilize countries in the name of peace and this mess goes on.  In a Muslim asylum of all places. 

And if the bomb worked, then do what?  Launch an invasion over a pissed off misguided Islamic nobody that wanted to find a 'cause' to place his spirit among some virgins?
 

I don't think so.

Call it a crime and get it over with !  Find the conspirators, if there are any and execute the bunch for murder, al Qaeda or no al Qaeda.

The mistress: Jennifer Steil and Oxford-educated Tim Torlot who has been Her Majesty's Ambassador in Yemen, where the couple met

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1228102/Our-man-Yemen-pregnant-mistress-wife-fled-Britain.html#ixzz0mIZWWhPY

Given the location of his first ambassadorial posting, it has the potential to become a diplomatic nightmare for our man in Yemen.
For in a country where adultery is punishable with death by stoning...

...Quite what Mrs Torlot, 51, who is in the process of getting divorced, thinks of her marriage break-up being used to sell a book is something over which she, at least, is maintaining a diplomatic public silence....