Archive for April 30, 2010
Massey Energy Offers Hush Money — $3 Million to the Victims’ Families
“Massey Energy CEO confirmed the company has offered families [sic] some of the 29 victims of the Upper Big Branch Mine explosion a settlement of $3 million.”
(My emphasis.)
I was a paralegal in my former life. A “settlement” means it’s over, done. gone. You can’t talk about what happened.
Massey’s looking out for Massey.
Illegals are Terrorists — Arizona’s Republican Governor Jan Brewer
Governor Jan Brewer (R-AZ) today on Fox: Arizona has been under, ah, terrorists attacks, if you will, ah, with all of this illegal immigration that has been taking place on our very, very porous border.
The Gulf Oil Spill is “Obama’s Katrina?”
Righties want us to believe the Gulf oil spill is “Obama’s Katrina.” Nice try. Let me count the ways that that’s a ridiculous statement, this being the first:
Creepiest Thing Ever
Motorcycle enthusiast is shot and killed. He gets embalmed and his body is placed on his Honda motorcycle for his wake.
Ugh.
Halliburton’s “Cementing Process” May Be At Fault in Gulf Oil Rig Disaster
The Wall Street Journal reports today that Halliburton’s “cementing process” may be at fault in the Gulf oil rig disaster:
An oil-drilling procedure called cementing is coming under scrutiny as a possible cause of the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico that has led to one of the biggest oil spills in U.S. history, drilling experts said Thursday.
The process is supposed to prevent oil and natural gas from escaping by filling gaps between the outside of the well pipe and the inside of the hole bored into the ocean floor. Cement, pumped down the well from the drilling rig, is also used to plug wells after they have been abandoned or when drilling has finished but production hasn’t begun.
In the case of the Deepwater Horizon, workers had finished pumping cement to fill the space between the pipe and the sides of the hole and had begun temporarily plugging the well with cement; it isn’t known whether they had completed the plugging process before the blast.
Regulators have previously identified problems in the cementing process as a leading cause of well blowouts, in which oil and natural gas surge out of a well with explosive force. When cement develops cracks or doesn’t set properly, oil and gas can escape, ultimately flowing out of control. The gas is highly combustible and prone to ignite, as it appears to have done aboard the Deepwater Horizon, which was leased by BP PLC, the British oil giant.
Concerns about the cementing process—and about whether rigs have enough safeguards to prevent blowouts—raise questions about whether the industry can safely drill in deep water and whether regulators are up to the task of monitoring them.
The scrutiny on cementing will focus attention on Halliburton Co., the oilfield-services firm that was handling the cementing process on the rig, which burned and sank last week. The disaster, which killed 11, has left a gusher of oil streaming into the Gulf from a mile under the surface.
Federal officials declined to comment on their investigation, and Halliburton didn’t respond to questions from The Wall Street Journal.
No wonder the righties are invoking the name of the Earth Liberation Front in order to divert attention from these criminals.
Break Time — Secluded Houses
Look at these houses (if you can find them) in the most amazingly secluded settings ever.
Like this:
The Earth Liberation Front Caused the Oil Spill?
Yes ladies and gentlemen, some wacko righties out there are so eager to protect BP and Halliburton and the other corporations involved in the explosion and collapse of the Gulf oil platform that they are making the wild accusation that the Earth Liberation Front caused what will likely be a huge catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.
That, according to Victoria Jones who reports from Washington for the Thom Hartmann radio program.
You gotta hand it to them. They sure have vivid imaginations.
The Major League Baseball Players Association Opposes Arizona’s “Immigration” Law
The MLB Players’ Association has issued a statement regarding Arizona’s new “immigration” law. The full text is here, the money quote is below:
The recent passage by Arizona of a new immigration law could have a negative impact on hundreds of Major League players who are citizens of countries other than the United States.
[...]
All of these players, as well as their families, could be adversely affected, even though their presence in the United States is legal. Each of them must be ready to prove, at any time, his identity and the legality of his being in Arizona to any state or local official with suspicion of his immigration status.
[...]
The Major League Baseball Players Association opposes his law as written. We hope that the law is repealed or modified promptly. If the current law goes into effect, the MLBPA will consider additional steps necessary to protect the rights and interests of our members.
Very well said.
Amazing and Horrifying Photos of the Gulf Oil Platform Explosion
Look at these pictures of the explosion and fire on the oil platform that lead to the oil slick raking the coast of Louisiana right now.
It’s amazing that anyone survived. It looks like hell on Earth.
Here’s one of them:
“The Wildlife in Four States is in Peril”
That would be a headline I heard on CNN about the oil slick in the Gulf.
Take a minute to think: The wildlife — the helpless, vulnerable wildlife — in four states – FOUR states — is in peril.
Yep. We’re the “greatest nation on Earth.”
Laura Bush as Publicity Hound
In a new book, “Spoken from the Heart,” Laura Bush claims she thought she, her husband, and some of their staff might have been poisoned while on a trip to Germany for a G8 summit. But, the
German hotel where then US President George W. Bush stayed in 2007 angrily rejected Thursday claims by his wife Laura Bush of possible poisoning, accusing her of a publicity stunt for her memoirs.
“We see absolutely no evidence to support (these allegations) at all,” said Christian Ploeger, a spokesman for the Fundus Group that owns the Grand Hotel Heiligendamm in northern Germany where the Bushes stayed for a G8 summit.
“The food was checked by security staff,” Ploeger told AFP.
“I suspect that this may be just to try and sell more copies of the book.”
In her upcoming autobiography “Spoken from the Heart,” a copy of which was obtained by the New York Times, Laura Bush writes that she, her husband and staff members may have been poisoned when they fell ill during their stay.
So, undoubtedly our “liberal media” will be all over this…?
Good Morning
It’s a good morning because I’m waking up to this picture of water, dogs and play. What could be better?
