Friday, April 30, 2010

Gee, do you think the Stimulus and the Health Care Bill are working?

Dell postpones NC plant closure to early 2011
The Associated Press
Friday, April 30, 2010

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.

Prevention and Preparedness is what needs to be electable, not SCRAMBLING RESPONSE.

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?




I believe it was Murdoch's visual media again that lied by stating the safety device failed. Well, only if it had one.

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....

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704423504575212031417936798.html

This is not a joke. They simply don't care and that is what makes this serious. They are all about money and nothing else.

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....

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20100430/NEWS01/4300311/Oil-spill-reaches-Louisiana-shore

If the world intends to place oil booms around the entire Sargasso Sea, it should begin now.





























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.

Thursday, April 29, 2010

I also haven't seen any mention of memorial services for those that died.

4/28/2010 1:05:00 PM
Dale Burkeen, left, with his father, Roger Burkeen, center, and cousin Claudie Embry

Neshoba man who died in oil rig blast was lowering crew to boats  (click title to entry - thank you)

By DEBBIE BURT MYERS
Managing Editor

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.  

Drill, Babe, Drill

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?

If the military is successful in stopping the leak in the Gulf there is still significant oil already in the water.

“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....

Neil Cavuto can join the long line of journalists at Murdoch with absolutely no respect for President Obama

He sent not ONE MINUTE, no one covering any of the President's activities today.

Fair and Balance.

Nonsense.

The Unions are exactly correct. The investment banks destroyed the economy of the USA.

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.

http://www.livestream.com/aflcio

Oyster reefs to be established in St. Bernard Parish, Grand Isle

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.
The money comes from $167 million the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration received in funding in late June.
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....

Why not simply torpedo the lousy oil leak and seal it FOREVER !

These were once the species of fish in the Gulf of Mexico that peasants made a livelihood catching and SELLING.

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....

http://www.wwltv.com/news/local/biloxibracesforpossibleoilarrival-92357594.html

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.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

The weather at Glacier Bay National Park (Crystal Wind Chime) is warming :

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....

Posted by Picasa


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....

http://www.montrealgazette.com/business/wants+Arctic+Ocean+global+accord/2950968/story.html

The Three Muskateers



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....

Posted by Picasa

Third Strike for Senate Republicans.



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....
Posted by Picasa

The Regulator Culture



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.
Posted by Picasa

The Goldman Seven are really not very bright people. Sorry, they just aren't. They live with the word "risk" at the center of their work.



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.

Posted by Picasa

Voting for the Bailout has nothing to do with these hearings.



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." 

Posted by Picasa

The Supreme Leader himself. Remember that movie "V is for Vendetta?"




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.

Oil Microbes - I suggest the University of California be consulted and some microbes imported from their site !

I remind, HURRICANE  SEASON IS COMING.  That is something that troubles California far less than the Gulf of Mexico.  When was the last time a Cat 3 to 5 storm hit Los Angeles?

Christopher Farwell, left, and David Valentine (original picture is rather small, but, these are the folks.)
 
 
...In an earlier paper published in 2008, Valentine and Reddy documented how microbes devour many of the compounds in the oil emanating from the seeps. The new study examines the final step in the life cycle of the oil.
"One of the natural questions is: What happens to all of this oil?" Valentine said. "So much oil seeps up and floats on the sea surface. It's something we've long wondered. We know some of it will come ashore as tar balls, but it doesn't stick around. And then there are the massive slicks. You can see them, sometimes extending 20 miles from the seeps. But what is really the ultimate fate?"
Based on their previous research, Valentine and Reddy surmised that the oil was sinking "because this oil is heavy to begin with," Valentine said. "It's a good bet that it ends up in the sediments because it's not ending up on land. It's not dissolving in ocean water, so it's almost certain that it is ending up in the sediments."...

The oil seep in the Gulf of Mexico is far larger than the "Coal Point Oil Field" in California.  The reason is it worse is because of 'so called progressive technology' by oil companies whereby they drill vast number of wells that are then routed to ONE oil rig.  


So the leak in the Gulf of Mexico is not just leaking ONE drill site, it is leaking many !!!!!!!!!

The oil companies do this to CUT DOWN ON OVERHEAD and then fraudulently sell it as environmental protection.  


NOT !


The oil access only takes 'one crew' and 'one oil rig.'

So much for increased job rate. 

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

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 »

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.”

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?

(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
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/

The Death of Josseline: Immigration Stories from the Arizona-Mexico Borderlands 

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

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
...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....

Monday, April 26, 2010

The Yazoo City Tornado - the video of the tornado itself is remarkably like the High Point tornado. Low to the ground, extremely wide. Same dynamics. More vorticity/power. At least an F3 if not an F4.



Mentone Tornado Damage is the title to the picrure.  In my opinion it is more than damage, it is devastation.  
April 25, 2010
Mentone, Alabama
Photographer states :: CR 106, Mentone, Alabama

... (National Weather Service) - click title to entry - thank you)  Their initial findings indicate three storms for North Alabama that produced a total of four tornados. The storm that moved through Albertville produced a second tornado near Mentone in Dekalb County....
 F3 - trees uprooted but no solid structures.
...This section of the tornado touched down about three to four miles southeast of Mentone between County Road 106 and 117. The most significant damage occurred to a trailer park, Morning Glory Court, where several single wide manufactured homes were destroyed. Large trees were also snapped or uprooted.

Several injuries occurred with this tornado, but an exact number is unknown at this time....

Meet Paul Michael Robertson. Good looking and young. Yes? Should have a promising life I would hope. No so.

Just on the first page of the Googled word 'murder' there are two reported in the past 3 hours and an arraignment of another murder in the USA. 

This seems to be the only police murder of the day, in Miami-Dade.

An ex-con with a history of violence beat a Miami-Dade detective in the head with a cinder block, kicked him in the head and chest and ran him over with his unmarked police car, police said Saturday.
Miami-Dade Police Department Director James Loftus called the beating ``horrific.''
``Don't ask me to explain this, and don't ask me to understand this,'' Loftus told reporters at a press conference Saturday afternoon. ``Because I don't get it. It should horrify us all.''
Michael Paul Robertson was arrested Saturday morning for the attack Friday evening in Liberty City, which left Carlos Castillo with severe head and brain injuries and several broken bones. Robertson's girlfriend was arrested as an accomplice....