What goes through my my mind when I read the news with my morning coffee. …Or for the Simon's Rockers in the group, this is my response journal.
Salazar: Latest Effort to Stop Oil Leak Hits Snag – ABC News
“The company also received word that federal regulators had approved spraying chemical dispersant’s beneath the sea, a contentious development because it has never been done underwater.”
Awesome. Now we are wantonly adding untested chemicals to the mix, because the Gulf’s ecosystem isn’t going to have enough problems to come back from.
Fucking incompetent assholes.
What are oil dispersants? – CNN.com
Granted, I’m not a scientist but wouldn’t it be better to collect the satuff than disperse it?
Seems like it would be a wonderful way to blur the ability of anyone to tell how much oil has been spilled though.
Palestinians turn to boycott in West Bank
“All of these efforts are seen by the Israelis as an effort by the Palestinians to isolate Israel,” the diplomat said.
I’m sorry, who is trying to isolate who again?
The government of Israel’s capacity for doublespeak continues to amaze me.
Episcopal church in Calif. to ordain 2nd gay bishop – USATODAY.com
Suck it Canterbury. Let the Conservatives run to other continents for leadership. American Episcopals are the future of the Anglican Church.
While I’m picking on Google: Um, Duh…
Google “mistakenly collecting …data.” Um, sure.
The Associated Press: New clashes in central Bangkok after 16 killed
I wonder how long they will last.
Palestinian Youth Shot Dead in West Bank – NYTimes.com
Not a good sign. Violence of this kind has actually gone down in recent years.
Because it always comes down to the voters.
Miss., La. govs contrast in responses to oil spill – Yahoo! News
U.S. Said to Allow Drilling Without Needed Permits – NYTimes.com
Lookey here. The Regulatory Body has a name!
BP Oil Spill: After Oil Rig Blast, BP Refused to Share Underwater Spill Footage – ABC News
Clearly I’m just speculating here but why were they the only ones with footage to begin with?
Was this why every government agency and media outlet was telling us, with the gravitas of certainty, that there was no spill for days afterwards? …Because no one else had access to the information?
Why the hell doesn’t the government agency that is supposed to be regulating this sort of thing have the ability to check it out for themselves? Others have covered the fact they were really that stringent with their inspections. Am I really supposed to infer from the fact that apparently no one else has any evidence of what is going on other than BP that they didn’t have the ability to investigate in the first place?
Really? Really!
(As in…)
(Yeah, I’m usually lazy to link but as the Super Secret Project point out about at about 0:42….
Ya gotta give the sense of humor props.
For the sake of argument let’s just say this government regulatory agency doesn’t have the ability to get down to the site and scope things out for themselves. That’s established. Even so, these guys operate in a vacuum and are unable to ask some other government entity for a hook-up? Like, I dunno, the Coast Guard? Apparently they weren’t really looking into things for themselves either so they definitely had the time. Really?!
I thinking somebody, somewhere, has to know somebody either in the military or at some high-level research facility with access to a freaking sub! Why does only BP have the pictures?
Let’s assume for the sake of argument that the Board over at BP is composed of some of the nicest, most compassionate, fair people you will ever want to meet. Let’s even suppose that – apart from the whole drilling for oil thing – they are greenest environmentalists you could ever hope to meet. Even in that situation there’s gotta be somebody in that scenario that follows up on a guilty, “Ooops, we fucked up” reflex and starts to cover it up out of pure instinct.
It’s pretty absurd with people’s lives and livelihoods at stake that there isn’t a more pro-active regulatory force in place.
Turns out that movie W. was right.
Laura Bush is a liberal Democrat with a taste for bad boys in white hats after all.
Is sexual identity our business, or are we a nation of busybodies?
Is that really a question?
Ummm? We’re a nation of busybodies.
I can not begin to describe how sick I am of hearing about politicians’ sex lives.
I’m voting for them, not marrying them.
Unless, of course, they have really over-bearing in their criticism of other’s behaviors and they are exposed as total hypocrites. That’s always solid entertainment.
I read this article:
Oil spill investigators find critical problems in blowout preventer
Thankfully, Jon Stewart saves me from having to say it:
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
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Crazy shit’s going down in Thailand right now.
Thai General Linked to Protests Is Shot in Head During Interview – NYTimes.com
The Crib Notes version:
The “Red Shirts” are supporters of an elected Prime Minister that was ousted in a military coup. The political party that they belong to won a number of elections but was disbanded by the government so they never got to use any of the power that they were elected to.
Eight weeks ago, the Red Shirts took over a ritzy section of Bangkok and set up camp. Skirmishes have characterized the protests so far with a death toll of around thirty. The Red shirts say the government and the “elite” have stolen power for themselves at the expense of the people.
A leader of the movement who had been kicked out of the military for disobeying orders was shot in the head by a sniper bullet during an interview yesterday.
Chaos will no doubt follow.
The headline:
Gulf Oil Spill May Far Exceed Government, BP Estimates : NPR
Immediate Reaction:
No Kidding? The same sunken oil platform that everyone said wasn’t leaking for the first five days it was down there is spewing more oil that BP says it is?
Can that even be considered news??
Gaza surfers ride on wave of goodwill from Israel – CNN.com
Despite working with the surfers of Gaza, Rashkovan has never met any of them. He has never been across the border.
“They cannot get out of Gaza and I cannot get in,” said Tel Aviv-based Rashkovan. “Hopefully, one day we will meet and go surfing together.”
Random bit from the sur-reality show that is the Gaza Strip.
New York Minorities Frisked 9 Times as Often, Data Find – NYTimes.com
First line say it all:
Blacks and Latinos were nine times as likely as whites to be stopped by the police in New York City in 2009, but, once stopped, were no more likely to be arrested.
“May I see your papers?” Big Apple style.
I caught a Bill O’Reilly, Sarah Palin lovefest the other day:
YouTube – Palin: America Is a Christian Nation
Dipshit starts off with saying that government can not impose religion but calling for a day of prayer was in no way an imposition so 18 seconds into this my brain hurt from the gymnastics you have to do to keep up with what apparently passes for logic in O’Reilly mind.
Then we have Sarah Palin. I like charisma as much as the next person but Jeezus F’ing-A Fisher-of-Men it really doesn’t even begin to make up for how fucking ignorant this woman is.
Can someone please teach her to read? Please? Anyone?
“The Founding Fathers’ were quite clear that this was to be a Christian nation. The early documents of this country are clearly based on the God of the Bible and the ten commandments” bit? It just kills me.
If I was ever trapped in an elevator with her I seriously hope the following would not come out of my mouth. “Seriously Sarah? How the hell would you know? You clearly haven’t read the Declaration of Independence or Constitution and the more you yap on about Christianity the more convinced I become that you’re not that too familiar with the actual text of the Bible either.” I seriously hope not. That would be a shame. Because that would be rude. I’d wait until she got off the elevator and mumble under my breath to myself.
Sarah Simpleton can take heart in the fact that she isn’t alone in that though. Christian Conservative say some crazy shit about the Bible. Ironically, some of those who eschew science in the name of a literal reading of the Bible have very little idea of what the book actually says.
***Yes, I have read the Bible cover to cover. I had three classes at school that sort of demanded it.***
Breaking news. An unbelievable story.
Whistleblower Claims That BP Was Aware Of Cheating On Blowout Preventer Tests
Shocking. What’s next corporate types hiding losses in the balance sheet somewhere regulators can’t find them so their stocks become over-valued??? I am under-whelmed with shock.
On another note, Why do I think this will be the last we hear of this?
Some Indian villages prefer to put women in power – CSMonitor.com
I would titled this one something like, “Villagers in India Surprised and Pleased to Realize that Women Don’t Suck at this Sort of Thing,” but that’s probably splitting hairs.
