Category: Local Interest,

Coast Guard orders massive 14-year oil spill to be cleaned up

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Environment,, Gulf Coast Region,, Money, Class, and Poverty,Leave a comment

The Coast Guard has ordered the company responsible for an oil spill that has been leaking into the Gulf of Mexico for 14 years to clean up the environmental catastrophe or face a $40,000 per day fine.

…Taylor allowed a broken oil platform off the coast of southeast Louisiana to leak an estimated 10,500 gallons to 29,000 gallons of oil per day, five to 13 times larger than the government’s initial estimates.

…Taylor’s oil spill has been a source of concern for some time. The site — Mississippi Canyon-20, which lies south of the Mississippi River delta — took a hit from Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The storm wrecked Taylor’s platform and triggered the massive spill, resulting in years of legal back-and-forth between the company and the Interior Department, which has contended that Taylor has an obligation to fix the oil wells at the site.

…Taylor no longer produces oil and a trust account was established in 2008, which the government required in order to allow the company to decommission its wells. Nine of the 28 wells at the Mississippi delta site have been plugged and Taylor says it can’t reach the others without risking more spillage. The company now wants the rest of the $666 million trust to be returned to it, arguing it has done everything it can, but the Interior Department says Taylor needs to finish plugging the remaining wells.

Coast Guard orders massive 14-year oil spill to be cleaned up – ThinkProgress

Disgusting this was allowed to go on for 14 years. George Bush may not have liked black people but (sadly) BHO didn’t give a flying fuck about the Gulf Coast either.

$40,000 a day is chump change com paired to the long-term costs of cleaning it up. There should be criminal charges filed by this point.

Pluggin nine of twenty-eight well is not even close to “everything it can” do  and it sure as shit doesn’t even get close to resolving the problems the company created by themselves. Make a mess? Clean it up. All up. Completely. Or face much more dire consequences than a fine to a trust fund should be the rule of law.

‘Unwanted subject’: Kirkland yogurt shop employees called 911 because they and (unless Kirkland fires them and comes out against their actions) their employer are racist AF

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Local Interest,, Race,Leave a comment

Ragland, 31, is both a court-appointed special advocate and a visitation supervisor, so his job is to oversee meetings between kids and the parents who have lost custody of them.

That’s what he was doing at the store — he was supervising an outing between a mother and her 12-year-old son. The boy wanted ice cream, so the three drove to Menchie’s, arrived together and had been sitting there for about half an hour, visiting, when Ragland looked up to find two police officers standing at the table.

‘Unwanted subject’: What led a Kirkland yogurt shop to call police on a black man | The Seattle Times

Speaking of….
Shame on you Seattle Times! That headline was apologist AF!!!!

Nancy Pelosi is too old and too unpopular to be speaker. She’s also too good at the job to pass over

On By peanutgallerynhIn Domestic Affairs,, Granite State,, Local Interest,Leave a comment

Some Democrats are trying to stop the nomination and election of current party leader Nancy Pelosi. Their reasons are understandable, but not persuasive.

…In part, her unpopularity stems from her issue positions. Conservatives think she’s too progressive. Some among her caucus think she’s not progressive enough.

…Congress is unpopular. The institution has a 21% approval rating, while Republicans, Democrats, Speaker Paul D. Ryan (R-Wis.), and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) are all way underwater in the public opinion surveys. Which not only puts Pelosi’s rating into context, but also raises a pertinent question: How much more popular would another Democrat be?

…Despite her occasional stumbles, the Democrats have plenty of evidence that Pelosi is up to the task of leadership. Notice that she just led her party to massive gains in the midterm elections.

…She is the Democrat best equipped to handle the institution’s main job, the crafting of laws.

The Affordable Care Act is the prime example. Pelosi shepherded it to passage when many thought that it was dead. Whoever takes the gavel in January will need that kind of skill. The presidency and the Senate are in the hands of the opposite party. Negotiating with Senate Majority Leader McConnell will be a particularly daunting challenge. He may be unpopular, but he is formidable: An inexperienced newcomer would be at risk of being eaten alive.

Nancy Pelosi is too old and too unpopular to be speaker. She’s also too good at the job to pass over – Los Angeles Times

hmmm….

…Not for nothing but some of the younger, more inexperienced Congresspeople who want the job don’t strike me all that savvy. Take Seth Moulton for example. It takes a special kind of idiot not to have any idea how badly a particular individual’s campaign will be received in the state right next door to you. …And make no mistake,  he was a big part of the colossal mistake that was his school chum’s carpetbagger campaign for congress in New Hampshire this cycle. If he wasn’t aware of how poorly that would be received in his own backyard, what does that say about his ability to assess what is and what is not feasible in DC? I’ll answer that one for you. Not frigging much.

White Kansas official tells black woman he belongs to ‘master race’

On By peanutgallerynhIn Local Interest,, Race,Leave a comment

A white county commissioner in northeast Kansas who told a black city planner that he belongs to “the master race” as he rejected her proposed development plan is coming under pressure from fellow commissioners to resign.

…”I don’t want you to think I’m picking on you because we’re part of the master race,” Klemp told Penelton — claiming that the fact that both he and she had “gaps” in their teeth meant they were part of a master race. He then said he didn’t like any of the land use options that she had presented to the commission.

…Last December, while the commission was discussing holiday schedules, Klemp suggested Robert E. Lee, the commander of the Confederate Army in the Civil War, should be honored.

White Kansas official tells black woman he belongs to ‘master race’

Mmmmmm, no.

Point of fact? Fucked up teeth are pretty far from being from a quality possessed by members of anything resembling a  master race.

NH sued over involuntary psychiatric boarding

On By peanutgallerynhIn American Injustice System,, Granite State,Leave a comment

American Civil Liberties Union has filed a class action lawsuit on behalf of psychiatric patients being involuntarily held in hospital emergency departments.

State law requires involuntary psychiatric patients to get probable cause hearings within three days of admission. Under the state’s interpretation, the clock starts when someone is admitted to an inpatient facility, but the lawsuit points to a Merrimack County court ruling that said the clock starts with emergency room admission.

The lead plaintiff is a 26-year-old man who was held involuntarily at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center for nearly a week without a hearing.

NH sued over involuntary psychiatric boarding

hmmmmmm