Archive for July 2010
Yes, let’s look at those number again.
July 6, 2010 by mike.
So the Fish and Wildlife Service signed off on the Deepwater BP drilling plans and found the risk to wildlife to be low from this activity.
Can we fire somebody at Fish and Wildlife? Let’s give them their life back for monstrously, incompetent decisions.
| Agency Agreed Wildlife Risk From Oil Was ‘Low’ |
Oil was washed off a laughing gull in Louisiana on Monday. A report claimed that the chance of oil reaching critical habitat for endangered species was about 27 percent. |
The federal agency charged with protecting endangered species like the brown pelican and the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle signed off on the Minerals Management Service’s conclusion that deepwater drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico posed no significant risk to wildlife, despite evidence that a spill of even moderate size could be disastrous, according to federal documents.
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“We all know an oil spill is catastrophic, but what is the likelihood it will happen?” Ms. Fuller asked. She said her office had considered that any likelihood under 50 percent would not be enough to require the protections of her office.
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“Obviously, we are going to relook at all these numbers for upcoming consultations,” she said.
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When Does a Miscalculation Become Fraud?
July 6, 2010 by mike.
So, BP said in their filing to drill the disastrous Gulf well that they could skim more than 490,000 barrels of oil a day in the event of a disaster, but it turns out that in 77 days of skimming they have only been able to collect a little more than 67,000 barrels of oil. According to my math, that’s less than 1,000 barrels per day instead of the 490,000 that BP said they could manage.
This disparity seems beyond belief. I favor criminal investigation of the BP filings to determine if fraud charges should be brought against the company and the individuals responsible for the filings.
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Recovery effort falls vastly short of BP’s promises
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In the 77 days since oil from the ruptured Deepwater Horizon began to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, BP has skimmed or burned about 60 percent of the amount it promised regulators it could remove in a single day. |
The disparity between what BP promised in its March 24 filing with federal regulators and the amount of oil recovered since the April 20 explosion underscores what some officials and environmental groups call a misleading numbers game that has led to widespread confusion about the extent of the spill and the progress of the recovery. |
“It’s clear they overreached,” said John F. Young Jr., council chairman in Louisiana’s Jefferson Parish. “I think the federal government should have at the very least picked up a phone and started asking some questions and challenged them about the accuracy of that number and tested the veracity of that claim.”In a March report that was not questioned by federal officials, BP said it had the capacity to skim and remove 491,721 barrels of oil each day in the event of a major spill.
As of Monday, with about 2 million barrels released into the gulf, the skimming operations that were touted as key to preventing environmental disaster have averaged less than 900 barrels a day.
Skimming has captured only 67,143 barrels, and BP has relied on burning to remove 238,095 barrels. Most of the oil recovered — about 632,410 barrels — was captured directly at the site of the leaking well. |
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Hey, Hillary, How about Support for Citizen Action on G20?
July 4, 2010 by mike.
The neoliberals are great at hanging on to a semblance of principle by giving an important principle lip service when is politically convenient.
So, Hillary thinks it is important to support citizen action in places like China, North Korea, Iran, and Cuba. Hmm, no mention of the suppression of citizen action in places like Toronto or Seattle.
Principles are convenient at times, aren’t they?
What do the Brits mean when they call someone a wanker?
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In Poland, Clinton pledges support for citizen action worldwide
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KRAKOW, POLAND — Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton expressed alarm Saturday about what she called a growing crackdown on citizens groups around the world and announced a fund to help them fight back. |
In what aides called her most important speech in a four-day swing through former Soviet-bloc countries, Clinton said the repression symbolized by the Iron Curtain had given way to government pressures that were often more subtle. |
“We must be wary of the steel vise in which many governments around the world are slowly crushing civil society and the human spirit,” Clinton told an international meeting of democracies.”We must be wary of the steel vise in which many governments around the world are slowly crushing civil society and the human spirit,” Clinton told an international meeting of democracies.In her speech, Clinton bluntly accused U.S. adversaries such as Cuba, North Korea and Iran of pressuring or outlawing civil-society groups. But she also chided Russia and China, with whom the Obama administration has sought to build closer ties. |
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Toronto Police Engage in PR Fraud
July 1, 2010 by mike.
In the aftermath of the Toronto G20 Meeting and what may come to be seen as a police riot and conspiracy, the Toronto PD engaged in a little PR campaign to make the G20 protesters look more dangerous than they were. Case in point?
Look at the fantasy, role-playing gear that they seized from a person on his way to a role playing event that Toronto PD puts on display to show how dangerous the protesters were.
The real story here is the amount of money that the PD got to prepare for and handle the G20. This looks like a shakedown of the first order. The militarization of local police agencies should not be taken lightly.
Taxpayers should be asking themselves why they are paying for the fantasy role-playing games of domestic police agencies and whether they really want police agencies heavily armed and armored to deal with a restive public.
‘Weapons’ seized in G20 arrests not what they seem
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Toronto —
Globe and Mail Update
Published on Tuesday, Jun. 29, 2010 10:38AM EDT
Last updated on Wednesday, Jun. 30, 2010 2:16PM EDT |
Toronto Police staged a display of weaponry to demonstrate “the extent of the criminal conspiracy” among hard-line G20 protesters, but several of the items had nothing to do with the summit. |
Facing criticism for their tactics, police invited journalists on Tuesday to view a range of weapons, from a machete and baseball bat to bear spray and crowbars. |
Chief Bill Blair, who told reporters the items were evidence of the protesters’ intent, singled out arrows covered in sports socks, which he said were designed to be dipped in a flammable liquid and set ablaze. |
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However, the arrows belong to Brian Barrett, a 25-year-old landscaper who was heading to a role-playing fantasy game when he was stopped at Union Station on Saturday morning. Police took his jousting gear but let Mr. Barrett go, saying it was a case of bad timing.
In addition to the arrows – which Mr. Barrett made safe for live-action role playing by cutting off the pointy ends and attaching a bit of pool noodle covered in socks – police displayed his metal body armour, foam shields and several clubs made of plastic tubing covered with foam and fabric.
Mr. Barrett said he was “appalled” at the placement of his chain-mail beneath a machete. He regularly takes public transit from his Whitby, Ont., home to Centennial Park to play the game, called Amtgard, while wearing the 85-pound armour and is worried people will think: “Oh my God, that’s one of the terrorists from G20.”
Police also displayed a crossbow and chainsaw seized in an incident on Friday that they said had no ties to the summit. When asked, Chief Blair acknowledged they were unrelated, but said “everything else” had been confiscated from demonstrators.
On Wednesday, however, Michael Went and Doug Kerr e-mailed a letter to Chief Blair saying their bamboo poles may have been included in the exhibit. As they headed to a picnic to commemorate the 1969 Stonewall riots on Sunday morning, police seized seven or eight of the long poles, citing the G20 summit. The couple had planned to use the poles to fly a rainbow flag and decorate the park.
“It makes you wonder what are the other things that they’ve displayed [that] were taken from people on the street that weren’t doing anything wrong?” asked Mr. Kerr, a 42-year-old management consultant.
Julian Falconer, a Toronto lawyer representing four independent journalists in summit-related police complaints, called the display of unrelated objects a “public-relations exercise [that] borders on the absurd.” |
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