This Blog is created to stress the importance of Peace as an environmental directive. “I never give them hell. I just tell the truth and they think it’s hell.” – Harry Truman
(I receive no compensation from any entry on this blog.)
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) -- Computer maker Dell Inc. has postponed the closing date for a North Carolina manufacturing plant a fourth time, now pushing the target date into next year.
Dell spokesman David Frink said Friday the Texas-based company has seen improved demand for personal computers and will keep production humming in Winston-Salem until early January.
The plant has 400 employees and a number of contract workers Frink wouldn't disclose.
The company announced last October it would close the plant within three months, eliminating 900 workers.
The massive computer assembly plant was offered more than $300 million in incentives to choose the North Carolina site in 2004. Most state incentives were never paid, and Dell repaid local governments $26 million in upfront incentives.
This is not the face of success as a Governor.This is an emergency coordinator, not an economic strategist.
This is exploiting the natural resources of a State beyond what is reasonable to pursue. This is answering to Wall Street and NOT Main Street.
This Governor has destroyed his tax base both from the potential of harvesting Natural Resources and preserving the vital areas of the marine environment.
Has he ever said, "We need a moratorium on drilling offshore?" No. He and his party has said, repeatedly and frequently, "Drill, Babe, Drill." When will the independent business owner, farmer and fisherman ever begin to realize where their best interest lies?
Whom exactly was the former President and Vice President that were the oil experts in the White House ? Oh, yeah, the CEOs that could never turn a profit. I am sure there was no 'bonding' issue with failed banks. But, then again, when was there never a failed something going on with Wall Street?
11 HUMAN BEINGS are dead, along with still more of the USA 'CRASHED ECONOMY.'
The success record of these folks just never seems to get better, now does it? Who was it that decided to leave the Republican Party in Florida? I don't blame him.
APRIL 28, 2010
Leaking Oil Well Lacked Safeguard Device
...U.S. regulators don't mandate use of the remote-control device on offshore rigs, and the Deepwater Horizon, hired by oil giant BP PLC, didn't have one. With the remote control, a crew can attempt to trigger an underwater valve that shuts down the well even if the oil rig itself is damaged or evacuated....
The Republicans have brought us nothing but destruction.
...illegal wars
...collapsed banking institutions
...and now collapsed food webs
...phytoplankton, algae produce 60% of Earth's oxygen
A livable environment requires regulation and active listening to people who know better than to give credence to plutocrats. Profit with abandon is not sound policy.
Oil spill reaches Louisiana shore (See link below)
State officials focusing on cleaning up coast
By Mike Hasten • mhasten@gannett.com • April 30, 2010
BATON ROUGE — Efforts to keep some of the millions of gallons of oil spewing from an offshore well from hitting the coast of Louisiana were unsuccessful as waves carrying raw crude moved overnight into delicate estuaries at the state's southernmost point, Pass a'Loutre in Plaquemines Parish....
...That includes seeking to call out the National Guard. Jindal sent letters to the head of the Department of Defense and Homeland Security seeking funding to pay up to 6,000 members of the Guard to help the state handle what could be a major disaster.
St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes, two areas still struggling to recover from Hurricane Katrina, each requested 75 miles of booms to try to corral as much oil as they can before it hits the coast.
Jindal, who declared an emergency Thursday calling for the state to take any action it can to protect the coastline, said the Coast Guard has made it clear that it has full authority in battling this disaster.
The state has taken some steps. It opened up two Mississippi River diversion projects to force more fresh water into the area in an effort to keep oil from penetrating deep into the marsh....
This tragedy is going to cost BP it's treasury, not several million. The company is now worthless and it will be the most destructive ? accident ? this planet has ever seen as the plankton communities shut down one by one by one.
Because once the oil makes its way around Florida into the Gulf Stream, its all over for the Atlantic circulation.
Dale Burkeen was a crane operator on the massive oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last Tuesday night and was trained to lower crew members to boats in such an emergency.
One hundred and fifteen workers escaped the inferno in the five minutes or so they had to evacuate, but Burkeen and 10 other men died.
Aaron Dale Burkeen, 37, of the Sandtown community, was remembered this week as faithful father, a hard worker, an avid outdoorsman and a good friend who showed compassion to those in need, even strangers.
It was Burkeen's responsibly to get his crew off of the rig and that's exactly what he did, family members said.
Another Philadelphia man, Stenson Roark, was on the rig and escaped, The New York Times reported....
I haven't been able to turn up anything under Mr. Roark's name at the archives of the NYTs.
The Environmental Movement is never taken seriously and is chronically used as a scapegoat to Republican politics. All the time. Unfortunately, this is the result.
When in the USA will the scientists, environmentalists and conservationists ever be regarded as important?
“While BP is ultimately responsible for funding the cost of response and cleanup operations, my administration will continue to use every single available resource at our disposal,” President Barack Obama said in remarks at the White House.
Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Spill (click title to entry - thank you)
While the spill is located within miles of the Louisiana wetlands, the environment and economy is already starting to feel the dense, pungent effects of the spill.
The German reinsurer Hannover Re said they are expecting more than $52.7 million in losses as a result of the oil rig spill, as reported by the Associated Press. As economic data becomes available, other companies are sure to report losses as well.
"We are scared to death because the rig is still leaking," Lanctot said. "There are reports that the oil is already reaching the shoreline."
Louisiana is one the largest seafood producers nationwide and has some of the richest oyster beds and shrimping waters in the lower 48 states.
"Louisiana is the largest producer of the Blue Crab," he said. "We also harvest oysters and shrimp and these economies are going to be greatly effected."
Shrimp harvest usually takes place in the early parts of May, but Louisiana fishing authorities opened the waters early, hoping fisherman could get the most out of the harvest before the spill moves into shore.
Other wildlife at risk live along the 3 million acres of Louisiana wetlands. Game fish, as well as various bird species, that call the marches home have the potential to be killed or displaced by the spill....
They put millions of Americans in the unemployment line and we have been picking up after them ever since, while their profits and RIGHTS are extended beyond the citizens and country they occupy.
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of 56 national and international labor.
BATON ROUGE (click title to entry - thank you) --The Nature Conservancy will use $4 million in federal money to create oyster reefs along more than three miles of Louisiana coast.
Officials say the reefs will be placed along the shorelines of Grand Isle and in the St. Bernard Parish marshes that are vulnerable to wave erosion. It's all part of an effort to protect shorelines, create jobs and restore the ecosystem.
Cindy Brown, director of Mississippi River and delta conservation for the Louisiana chapter of The Nature Conservancy, says the agency received $4 million to build the reefs using a process successfully employed in Texas....
Considering this is the Gulf of Mexico and it enters the Gulf Stream, the entire globe can be in for a real awakening.
Biloxi braces for possible oil arrival
by Katie Moore / Eyewitness News
wwltv.com
Posted on April 28, 2010 at 6:00 PM
Updated yesterday at 6:24 PM
BILOXI, MS. - Residents and government leaders on the Mississippi Gulf Coast say the impact of the oil spill will be catastrophic if the oil makes its way to their white, sandy beaches.
BP Contractors positioned booms around the barrier islands Wednesday.
Meantime, Biloxi residents Gary Stephen and Eric Maldonado tried to catch the best the gulf water has to offer.
“Off time, we're here. Even on time we're here,” Maldonado laughed, about their favorite fishing pier in Biloxi.
Even though there wasn’t a cloud in the sky Wednesday, something loomed over their favorite fishing spot....
Now if Americans can find a way to look BEYOND their borders they might realize that LOCAL USA FISHING is the least of the problem. The peasants along the entire Gulf Coast will have their food source destroyed by the oil industry.
That is only the beginning. There are species such as Manatee and Dolphin that are endangered species that will breath in the oil and receive certain death as it enters their lungs.
Considering how few jobs actually exist due to offshore oil drilling COMPARED to the money recreational fishing brings to the USA in the way of tourism that also means hotels, amusement parks, etc., why are we still doing this mess? Oil has social value? No.
Offshore drilling exists because the USA government IGNORED the FACTS regarding the FINITE amounts of oil as an energy source for FIVE DECADES.
IGNORED IT. Therefore, it became a desperate search ANYWHERE to find it.
Should we still be pumping oil out of the ground?
NO!
Do we need oil in our daily lives?
NO!
Why then? Because Wall Street profits from exploitation of energy and I am not just referring to gasoline for the car. Wall Street does not know what 'conservation of energy' is and doesn't care to know.
This NEED for documenting the 'mechanisms' of Human Induced Global Warming all seems a little silly to me, but, if it has to be, then it has to be.
Basically, having to 'chase down' the OBVIOUS is a waste of valuable fiscal assets that could be used elsewhere in any conservation effort to push back against 'the melting curve.'
...Lead author Dr James Screen of the School of Earth Sciences at the University of Melbourne says the increased Arctic warming was due to a positive feedback between sea ice melting and atmospheric warming.
"The sea ice acts like a shiny lid on the Arctic Ocean. When it is heated, it reflects most of the incoming sunlight back into space. When the sea ice melts, more heat is absorbed by the water. The warmer water then heats the atmosphere above it. "
"What we found is this feedback system has warmed the atmosphere at a faster rate than it would otherwise," he says.
Using the latest observational data from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasting, Dr Screen was able to uncover a distinctive pattern of warming, highly consistent with the loss of sea ice.
"In the study, we investigated at what level in the atmosphere the warming was occurring. What stood out was how highly concentrated the warming was in the lower atmosphere than anywhere else. I was then able to make the link between the warming pattern and the melting of the sea ice."
The findings question previous thought that warmer air transported from lower latitudes toward the pole, or changes in cloud cover, are the primary causes of enhanced Arctic warming.
Dr Screen says prior to this latest data set being available there was a lot of contrasting information and inconclusive data....
Local Time :: 9:10 AKDT (GMT-08)
Lat/Lon :: 58.8 N and 137.0 West
Elevation :: 33 feet
Temperature :: 46 F
Conditions :: Overcast
Windchill :: 45 Fahrenheit
Humidity :: 87%
Dew Point :: 43 Fahrenheit
Wind :: 4 mph from the SSW
Pressure :: 29.61. inches (Falling)
Visibility :: 10.0 miles
UV :: 1 out of 16
FEW 1700 feet
Clouds :: Overcast 3000 feet
(Above the ground)
...A World Wildlife Fund report (click link below) detailing "serious gaps" in global governance of the Arctic Ocean calls for a new international accord to regulate commercial development in the rapidly transforming region.
The WWF study identified"loopholes" in maritime law, pollution regulation, shipping rules, fishing zones and other spheres of activity "that could allow irreparable damage to the marine environment, its biodiversity and indigenous peoples."
The report claims there are "no clear responsibilities and mechanisms keeping marine resource extraction within sustainable limits, or for preventing and responding to pollution accidents and shipping disasters."
The WWF's proposed Arctic Ocean Framework Convention, to be administered largely by the eight-nation Arctic Council, would challenge the more exclusive "Arctic 5" grouping of coastal states, championed by Canada, that has recently asserted the special rights and responsibilities of states directly bordering the Arctic Ocean....
The three Senators are having fun in a battle ground state. Harry's friends aren't usually so challenged, so it is really interesting to see the senior members of the Senate bond over a challenge.
...That's the stuff of palace intrigue (click title to entry - thank you) in the Senate these days. Why? Because both Durbin and Schumer, the second- and third-ranking Democrats there, seem to want to take over Reid's job if he loses in November. Which means just about anything -- including attempts to help Reid keep the gig -- is starting to be viewed by the media as an undercover maneuver designed to position his would-be successors for a leadership race-in-waiting....
He reminds me of Tricky Dick Nixon with his victory sign. That sums it up, the Senate Republicans ONLY hope for election come November is if they remain obstructionists.
The failure of the Senate Republicans on Finance Reform is that they are ASHAMED of open debate on the Senate floor. IF they could go COVERT something might work out.
...BOCA RATON, Fla. (The Street - Click title to entry - thank you) -- Warren Buffett, a big and vocal supporter of President Obama, is adding his veteran voice to the opposition to financial reform. In what seems like an about-face, Buffett is now attacking the administration for trying to regulate the very derivatives he has decried on many occasions....
When realizing the culture that Regulators existed under in 2008, it was developed over nearly a decade of loose and fast financial environment. The 'idea' was that huge financial institutions were able to discern their own best interests. So, when the banks want to point a finger at Regulators, that is simply scapegoating. There are absolutely no other parties responsible for the collaspe except the investment banks themselves. And what did they do in order to receive TARP funds? They had to change their legal standing. Yes? So, the Regulators were nothing but 'toys' to the investment banks. The banks didn't have to take anything they stated seriously, besides, there were almost instructed to get out of the way of ? progress ? !
And the "Stress Test?"
It is NOT a mechanism to stop the idiocy of Wall Street. It only monitors it. It has no authority to control, but, only to measure. It is empty policy.
The statement that literally spells out the problem clearly was this one, "Customers came to us and wanted risk, we gave it them."
The Goldman Sachs 'model' for investment was to take any request and treat it seriously regardless of the fact it would run the company into insolvency.
It is a scam and they literally banked on AIG to 'bail them out of trouble,' WHILE they never checked to realize that AIG was unable to bailout any of the huge investment banks out of trouble, yet alone, one of them.
Not only that, but, AIG was not insuring companies that were PLANNING on bankruptcy, they were insuring companies that were supposed to be well run and able to produce a good product. The reason why there was so much pressure on AIG to bailout their 'insured' was because the citizens of the USA were scared and other countries were either scared to using the opportunity to literally get money into their treasuries.
AIG was covering the investment banks from 'market fluctuations' that were somewhat unpredictable, such as, a war within Saudi Arabia that would imperil oil shipments or a revolution in China that would stop its economic engine.
THAT was AIG's responsibility, but, not this. This was all premeditated. It was a poor risk in the beginning, it continued to be a poor risk throughout its market and then all of a sudden and to no surprise from those that were watching it, there was collapse. It was easy from that vantage point to demand the government to let them fail, but, they had no clue and they weren't watching the mess from day to day.
In all honesty, it isn't the government's job to be pre-occupied with private industry, in this case the financial markets. Up to the collapse of 2008, the laws that were governing such potential were wiped off the books. So, the government really had no PART in the way of oversight. It is highly questionable with the removal of those regulations if 'regulators' had any authority either.
When all the regulations were removed it was with the understanding that the 'genius' of Wall Street could exceed the potential it had to make the global economy HUM. All it did was to seek higher and higher risk taking and the only people that profited were the CEOs themselves. Surprise.
It is not the sovereign authority of any country to 'take the part' of corruption and these dynamics are loaded with it.
The financial institutions are guilty as sin and they don't care. They don't have to care, it is up to us to care.
The 'Powers that Be' in 2008 were issuing the propaganda that demanded immediate attention to the problems that were soon to be owned by the USA citizens. There was no time for hearings and while the vote was sadly misdirected and citizens in the country knew it, the majority of the electorate were screaming out of fear and there was little that could be done to stop it.
It was all premeditated and if there is a single person in this country that doesn't understand that they are definitely fools. CEO of Goldman Sachs was the USA Treasurer, what else does anyone need to know? Only a minor conflict of interest.
These are the hearings that should have started in 2007 when the first signs of failure became evident, which in actuality began before then in 2006 or so. If one knows the 'real timeline' it began with the resignation of Snow whom was completely inept. "Good job Brownie and all that mess." Same thing.
When Paulson came forward to take the Secretary's position it was believed he would be advocating a lot of action that would stem the incompetents that preceded him. That isn't what occurred. He simply spent most of his time in China, smiling and trying to make deals and preparing for what would occur before he left office with the Bush White House.
It is pure unadulterated corruption to the core. All this should have occurred LONG BEFORE there was a financial collapse of the entire global economic system. For the 'boys' at Goldman Sachs that are fondly thought of as 'Junior Executives' there is such a thing called "Whistle Blower Protection."
They live in their own glory, okay? I have said it and said it and said it. They have an alternate universe and they don't care about the people of the USA or any other country. They actually think what they do is valuable.
Yesterday, President Obama was touring Alternative Energy plants and it was REAL. Okay? This is all garbage. I don't want to hear how they are 'in touch' with reality because they have trashed the global economy including that of the USA.
Should Goldman Sachs still be in business?
NO !
While the President was making the rounds to see where exactly the future of energy is going in the USA, Blank-en-Bozo stated, "We were part of a SYSTEM that OVER LEVERAGED the blah, blah, blah, market and then the bubble burst."
No clue.
But, see, Mr. Blank-en-Bozo seems to think he can talk his way out it by IMPLYING that others are the issue and somehow poor Goldman Sachs simply was running with the pack or is it 'the herd' as they love to 'masculate' themselves.
Mr. Blank-en-Bozo doesn't 'get it.' Or so he wants everyone to think.
The financial market HAS TO DISCLOSE the instruments they are selling and Goldman Sachs doesn't even understand them.
THAT is FRAUD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
End of Discussion and if these folks feel 'disoriented' to the questions and concerns of the nation, they can sort it all out in a minimum security prison.
