COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Sunday, May 16, 2010

A Silver Lining For Deepwater Horizon?


It's beginning to look as though the Deepwater Horizon disaster may not be the deathknell for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico. As long as no one overreacts and calls for drilling bans, as Florida Governor Charlie Crist did this week, our drilling efforts could soon resume. In the meantime though, the usual suspects are grasping at and amplifying any bit of bad news (ht: Quirk). If you read the link carefully, you'll see qualifying statements like this
While they have detected the plumes and their effects with several types of instruments, the researchers are still not sure about their density, nor do they have a very good fix on the dimensions.

Given their size, the plumes cannot possibly be made of pure oil, but more likely consist of fine droplets of oil suspended in a far greater quantity of water, Dr. Joye said. She added that in places, at least, the plumes might be the consistency of a thin salad dressing.

In any case, the pressure to extract that oil will be intense, maybe too intense for the enviro lobby to resist.

69 comments:

  1. I usually don't like re-posting but I posted the following late last night two streams back and I think this current post requires a little balance.

    "Scientists Find Giant Plumes of Oil Forming Under the Gulf"

    "Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots. The discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given...


    "The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf, worrying scientists, who fear that the oxygen level could eventually fall so low as to kill off much of the sea life near the plumes...


    "BP has resisted entreaties from scientists that they be allowed to use sophisticated instruments at the ocean floor that would give a far more accurate picture of how much oil is really gushing from the well.

    “The answer is no to that,” a BP spokesman, Tom Mueller, said on Saturday. “We’re not going to take any extra efforts now to calculate flow there at this point. It’s not relevant to the response effort, and it might even detract from the response effort...”



    More Unseen Damage?

    Sun May 16, 01:12:00 AM EDT


    I frankly don't believe anything coming out of the mouth of a BP spokesman and I am getting less confident about the government's comments.

    Like everyone else, I uess I'll just wait and see how much damage comes out of this thing.


    .

    ReplyDelete
  2. ROCKMAN on May 15, 2010 - 9:49pm


    Fellow TODers. I’m out of here for a while. Just wanted to you know in case you thought I suddenly turned rude by not answering questions directed at me. I almost bugged out early on…just too disturbing. But used an old mind trick I developed in my youth (compartmentalization) to not give a crap about any of it. Worked well for a while. But now I’ve hired a fellow who lost his son in an accident just a couple of weeks before he lost his nephew in the blow out. Too much to deal with so I’ll bug out for a while. Fortunately there’s HO, WT, the tool pusher and Alan who can handle it all quit well. I’m sure I’ll be back in a week…a month...whenever.

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  3. Coincidentally, I revised the post to link to your NY Times article.

    Here's another qualifying statement from the article:
    Dr. Joye said the findings about declining oxygen levels were especially worrisome, since oxygen is so slow to move from the surface of the ocean to the bottom. She suspects that oil-eating bacteria are consuming the oxygen at a feverish clip as they work to break down the plumes.

    While the oxygen depletion so far is not enough to kill off sea life, the possibility looms that oxygen levels could fall so low as to create large dead zones, especially at the seafloor.


    There's a lot of speculation and little evidence so far.

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  4. BP has screwed the pooch.
    Big Time

    ReplyDelete
  5. I thought Quirk's NYTimes article needed a little balance.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Two posts, back to back - One Answer.

    Cellulosic Ethanol.

    ReplyDelete
  7. "...“Failure to adopt a budget resolution when fiscal resolution is needed most would send the worst possible signal,” said Bob Bixby, head of the Washington-based Concord Coalition. “It would say to investors in Treasury securities, foreign and domestic, that the federal government is still in denial about its fiscal problems and has no plan to address the situation anytime soon.”

    Budget Bingo


    The government has shown its willingness to erode basic citizen's right with no qualms so why should it take its constitutional duty to put out an annual budget any more seriously? Especially in an election year?

    The budget was due April 15. Nancy Pelosi indicates that we may see some discretionary spending bills show up by the end of the month. However, after HCR, she also promised her caucus there would be no more hard votes before the elections. Evidently, passing a budget is a hard vote.

    Does anyone still believe the modest discretionary cuts suggested by Obama will ever see the light of day? Or that the cuts promised in the HCR bill will ever see the light of day?


    .

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  8. The lead time and expense, to the US treasury for this and future fiascoes, trying to separate oil from the water, immense.

    Time and money better spent, as rufus says, doing what the US does best.
    Farming.
    Distilling.

    Becoming as self-sufficient as we need to be.
    The lead time to self-sufficiency, lower with ethanol than any other option, even deep sea drilling.

    It's an economic security issue, more than a price at the pump one.

    Neither Federal solution, deep sea drilling or subsidized corn ethanol are truly viable solutions, long term.

    Farming is, a long term solution. It is renewable.
    Oil fields peter out, they all do, oil is not a replenishable resource.

    ReplyDelete
  9. If the environmental impact of the ultimate catastrophic blowout can be minimized, the pressure for drilling in the gulf will greater than ever. While I am 100% in favor of sustainable technologies that work (like ethanol, constructed wet lands for water treatment and reuse, recycling, organic foods, etc) I don't think we're at a point where we can ignore oil reserves in the Gulf of Mexico.

    As to the ultimate damage of this spill though, I agree that it's too early to tell.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Farming crops specifically suited for distilling, that's the real answer, to the energy challenge.

    Switch Grass, Sweet Sorghum .

    ReplyDelete
  11. "If the environmental impact of the ultimate catastrophic blowout can be minimized, "
    ---
    How?

    ReplyDelete
  12. " whit said...
    I thought Quirk's NYTimes article needed a little balance."



    From his revised post:

    ”In the meantime though, the usual suspects are grasping at and amplifying any bit of bad news (ht: Quirk).”

    The usual fair and balanced editorializing we can expect at the EB.

    :)



    .

    ReplyDelete
  13. The political pressure, to leave Iraq, has been immense, too.

    We're still there.
    Even when the anti-war candidate won.

    Maybe you're right, whit.

    It'll be shame if you are.

    Infrastructure development wasted, with no long or sustainable gain.

    Prolonging the addiction, not curing it. As if anyone really thinks methadone is a cure for heroin.

    The greens of the elite, they are not on the ethanol bandwagon, because they want to limit vehicle usage, not make it clean or sustainable.

    In this regard the environmental wackos side with the oil companies. Presenting a united front against the most viable solution to the liquid energy challenge.

    ReplyDelete
  14. What would be the point to the US banning drilling while the Chinese, Russians, Mexicans and Venezuelans will be drilling in the same pond?

    Do we tell them that they cannot drill either?

    The only point to banning drilling is to believe that safety measures cannot be improved. That would apply to everyone drilling. The US would end up with no revenue, no oil and still the potential of grave environmental damage caused by other drillers.

    Gentleman, that makes no sense.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Forever Blowing Bubbles?

    High coal prices and "clean coal" don't mix. China's insatiable hunger for more coal will drive up coal prices everywhere. China can't keep up coal-powered industrial expansion for much longer, nor can the global economy accelerate without the engine of China. The evidence on these scores couldn't be clearer: the numbers we have discussed are fairly uncontroversial, and the math of compounded steady growth is easy. Still, none of these realities has entered our public discourse.

    This fact in itself is really peculiar and disturbing. We are participating in a slow-motion train wreck, yet all we can manage to discuss is the quality of the food in the dining car.

    Maybe this is because acknowledging the train wreck would require us to confront a slew of contradictions at the core of the entire modern industrial project. Without clean coal, there is no solution to the climate crisis—unless we are willing to contemplate giving up economic growth. But further growth may be unattainable anyway, as the world approaches fundamental resource limits. Nobody wants to think about these things, much less talk about them. Not China's leaders, nor economists elsewhere, nor many environmentalists, nor politicians, nor journalists.

    But we can't wish these limits away. Impossible things (like unending economic growth) won't happen just because people want them to. And awful things (like the wreck of the China train) won't be averted just because acknowledging them makes us uncomfortable.

    There are of course steps that Chinese officials—everyone, in fact—could take to make the situation better. We should be developing and deploying renewable energy as fast as possible, with a wartime mentality in terms of priority and commitment. And we should be planning for the end of growth, indeed for economic contraction. These things will be difficult, there's no getting around it. Still, they are possible in principle. But we will fail for sure if we remain sunk in denial and do not even make the effort.

    China's economic bubble in some ways represents a microcosm of the entire industrial period—itself a relatively brief era of urbanization, fossil-fueled expansion, technological innovation, and unprecedented explosion of consumption. China has taken only two or three decades to accomplish what some other nations did over the course of a couple of centuries. This suggests that, for that country, implosion may come just as quickly.

    It is all a remarkable spectacle. Sit back, watch, and marvel if you wish. But know one thing: unless we collectively wake up, engage the brakes on this runaway train (and here I am speaking not just of China), and start discussing how we will adjust to the end of economic growth as we have known and defined it, none of this will end well.

    ReplyDelete
  16. That, Deuce, is why we maintain 11 carrier battle groups, to defend US interests in our home waters.

    Yes, all deep sea drilling in the Gulf should end, at least until blowout technologies catch up to the deep water challenges.

    The Environmental Security of the US coastline, fisheries and oil refining in LA demand it. If this or another blowout were to close the shipping lanes, as this one threatened to do, economic disaster descends upon US.

    Why have 11 carrier battle groups, if we will not use them to defend our coastline from foreign threats?

    ReplyDelete
  17. Preemption being key to success.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Especially when, in the same time line, we can develop clean and renewable, biological energy sources.

    Liquid energy from the sun.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Doug:
    "If the environmental impact of the ultimate catastrophic blowout can be minimized, "
    ---
    How?


    Disperants, containment. So far, the coastal impact has been relatively little. Our worst fears have not been realized. I'm not trying to completely discount the threat of the disaster but I heard on the radio yesterday that so far, thirty oil coated birds had died. So far, this is no Exxon Valdez.

    We are not in a position to give up oil. We should be. After 9-11, that should have been one of our top three national priorities. I'll believe we will eventually get there but in the meantime let's not needlessly cripple ourselves.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Growth needn't stop. It will slow for awhile, at some point, until we complete our transition. As we become more advanced, we become more "Efficient" in our energy use. BTUs used per unit of GDP have been steadily falling in the U.S. for several decades.

    A couple of very important things have happened in just the last few months.

    1) GM announced that the new, hyper-efficient Direct Injected, Turbocharged 2.0L coming out this fall in the new Buick Regal will get within one, or two the same miles per gallon on E85 as on gasoline. The second iteration will get the same.

    2) Fiberight started producing ethanol from paper. Their top executives all came from Waste Management, and Distilling. They state that when they reach full production they will be producing ethanol from Municipal Solid Waste for $1.65/gal.

    3) Novozymes, Poet, Genera, and Dupont Danisco are stating the cost for ethanol from corn cobs, and switchgrass is now approx. $2.00/gal.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I'm seriously thinking of buying into AEHI, they did get the zoning change in Payette County, and they got them on the run in Elmore County too. It's fun to watch. You don't want us in Elmore, hell we'll go to Payette, fuck you. So, they got them both, in the final upshot. The people are for it. They know what to do. It's like, here in Latah, they passed some stupid ordinance against big box stores, so Wal-Mart goes to Pullman, closes the store here, and now the fucking stupid city council wonders where all the tax money is going to come from. ??? So, they pass a resolution, begging Wal-Mart, please, please, please don't close your Moscow store. It's hilarious. It's like the wolves. Now we are hiring some professional hunters, hit men, to knock the wolves out of areas 10 and 12, cause they are ruining the elk herds, just like us old fools said they would. VOTE OUT ALL THE INCUMBENTS!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Here is a shocker:

    BMW owners were regarded as the worst drivers, a poll by used-car website Compucars.co.uk showed.

    The biggest faults motorists found with BMW drivers were unawareness of others and a lack of concentration.

    They were also seen as aggressive, rude and prone to road rage and often tended to drive too close to the car in front.

    ReplyDelete
  23. <a href="http://www.wallowalakeresort.com/PhotoGalleryWilderness/HurricaneSacPeak.jpg<The Wallowas</a>

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  24. Wallowas----http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.lclark.edu/dept/ccps/objects/wallowa-lake.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.lclark.edu/dept/ccps/readinglandscape.html&h=236&w=300&sz=55&tbnid=F0vBQBjFX0yQgM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=116&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpictures%2Bof%2Bthe%2Bwallowas&hl=&usg=__yo4bgk_BIR13qj1TEwfEfyPoC5Q=&ei=swjwS--0MY3usQO78cT2Dw&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=4&ct=image&ved=0CBwQ9QEwAw

    ReplyDelete
  25. ah hell, just look up the Wallowas, they are on my mind cause I was down there last week--beautiful mountains.

    ReplyDelete
  26. rat's hero..

    http://gatewaypundit.firstthings.com/

    LA High School Teacher Ron Gochez Calls Cops “Apes” Says They Are Only Here to Serve the Rich in “Occupied Mexico” (Video)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Here in occupied Idaho (I just got done voting my absentee ballot, as did my wife) we voted again for the Basque, Ben Ysura, one of a long line, as Secretary of State. The Basques here have had a lock on the office all my life, and I keep voting for them here in occupied Idaho, as they are honest, and have done a wonderful job, running the Sec. of States office.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Before Ysursa, we had Pete T. Cenarrusa (born December 16, 1917 in Carey, Idaho) a Republican politician from Idaho. He served continuously for over half a century in elective office, first as a member of the Idaho Legislature and then as Secretary of State, here in occupied Idaho. The early Basques here were sheep herders, then they got into politics. You can do a lot worse, I'll tell you. My daughter had a boyfriend that was Basque, and she let him go, she the fool.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Not my hero, amigo. Now you are flat out lying, again.

    You are the one that supports La Raza' claim that US has no legitimate right to rule the Southwest, why you've posted the links to videos, in support of that view.

    Moral equivalency or some such, on your part. I don't claim to know your motivations, but your hypocrisy meter is ever raising.

    ReplyDelete
  30. If what I heard on talk radio last week is right, BP gave lots of money to the dems, and got a waiver on some drilling procedure regs. Same old, same old. But I don't care much, as I appreciate the big oil companies, they get me to Albertson's and back, and to do my business. Nature will clean it up, if we can't, eventually, but we ought to do it right, not having waivers on procedures, for campaign contributions, and the dems ought to come clean. I'm almost ready to buy into this nuclear energy company here in Idaho, just need to do some more research. They got the zone change, now they got the feds to deal with. I'm starting to think they are legitimate, but you never know. Sam, you wanted a stock hint, it's just a guess, but you might check it out AEHI. Grandfather got rich on Washington Water Power. You may go broke on this.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Blogger trish said...

    "Oh, shut up, Ash.

    You simply do not appreciate how difficult even such seemingly minor admissions are when you've emotionally invested in the, um, Redheaded Stepchild of Wars"



    Actually I do appreciate how difficult such a 'minor' admission can be and I'm impressed with your intellectual honesty. That Afghan nut sure is a tough one to crack and to realize the virtual impossibility of it after what has transpired (From the near unamious backing for the initial assault, to the NATO involvement, the early 'victory' to where we now are) still makes me say "Who woulda thunk?"

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  32. Actually, trish, what is even more amazing to me is that you would reach such a conclusion given your life steeped the military.

    ReplyDelete
  33. I've had a bottle of wine, my jaw hurts like hell, my back is tormenting me, my letters remain unreturned, and the post by Ash has convinced me to take a sleeping pill, and knock it off for the rest of the day, and dream of the Wallowas, and the billowing clouds, so strenuous,, and the fishing I am going to do this summer, and dream of the impossible too...as we might create our after life, with our thought, don't laugh, you know nothing.. the book BioCentrism..so there....from occupied Idaho. We voted, my wife and I, she is more conservative than I, for Vaughn Ward, two tours in Iraq, three generations in occupied Idaho, I think he is the best we can put forward.

    ReplyDelete
  34. Whit and Deuce are the only two people in this post exhibiting basic common sense. DR is in his usual disrupt-every-conversation mode and the rest of full of climate change/environmental crisis BS.

    Oil is a natural substance. Oceans are the earth's equivalent of washing machines. Why else do ships require so much maintenance - because they corrode as nature works its decompositional magic on them. See Deuce's link for details.

    I think Whit's basic premise is dead on, much to the chagrin of those "progressives" who also know that environmental hysteria is nothing but an indulgence of weakminded people that they can use to further their agenda of power accumulation. If this oil spill does in fact prove that nature CAN deal with human fuckups without much help from humans, the world demand for oil will overwhelm the wailing and gnashing from the power hungry and weakminded.

    My money is on nature.

    ReplyDelete
  35. I had no problem, in late 2003, seeing it in Iraq. But by that time, the jig was clearly up on the affair - I mean, the impressive ad campaign that got us there had just collapsed. And no one was more surprised than me. I couldn't warm up to it again until Le Surge was fully unpacked. By that time I was in Bogota and that had its affect, too. I began looking at COIN differently. From the one place on earth we were winning. (Not in any way to be confused with 'won.' 'Won' remains a long way off.)

    I've always had a soft spot for the South Asia campaign. I know this is due in part to my husband's earlier involvements there, his thoughts on the culture and his sense of necessity. There's also that aspect of it as the long-neglected theater. Though, in some respects, it was a helluva lot easier when it was being neglected - ignored, even. There was no highly political, nor politicized, element to it and it was much more straightforward.

    Well, in any event here we are and it's not looking good. Stan McChrystal knows, from his end, why it's not looking good.

    Question is, can anything of significance be done about it?

    This was riskier than Iraq but the president hammered away at it during his campaign and was compelled to carry through in some fashion.

    In my book, he's obligated to throw himself and the entire admin behind it. You wanted to be War President. Well, god dammit, health care's behind us. Get out there and be one.

    ReplyDelete
  36. My. My.

    J. Willie's got his mad on.

    A vote for management.

    .

    ReplyDelete
  37. "Question is, can anything of significance be done about it?"


    I admit to little or no knowledge of the art of war; however, I figured Afghan was fully down the tubes when it was announced we would be pulling out next year.

    The surge is only half implemented. When it is fully implemented (late August) there will be less than 11 months before we are scheduled to start pulling out.

    It matters little if we don't actually pull out at that time, our intent is obvious.

    If you an afghan peasant, who do you throw your loyalties to, the side that is leaving or the side that will remain?

    Add to that the lack of support from the government and the best you can hope for is the fewest amount of casualties before we are gone.


    .

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  38. "The surge is only half implemented."

    And we do not have, halfway in, the right mix of people. And without it, will not be able to fully implement it.

    We do not have the necessary resources. Or the means to draw upon them.

    (That's likely to come back to haunt as a due diligence jaw-dropper.)

    There's the distinct prospect of bad-to-worse - in the midst of a high profile, highly political salvage.

    The admin is entering its oh-shit-what-did-we-get-ourselves-into moment.

    ReplyDelete
  39. trish wrote:

    "This was riskier than Iraq but the president hammered away at it during his campaign and was compelled to carry through in some fashion."

    He certainly did I projected upon him the hope that he was 'just sayin'' for domestic politics. Unfortunately what you the wrote is also most likely true:

    "There's the distinct prospect of bad-to-worse - in the midst of a high profile, highly political salvage.

    The admin is entering its oh-shit-what-did-we-get-ourselves-into moment."

    ReplyDelete
  40. Aiding the Muzzies against the Ruskies was one our all-time biggest F... Ups.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Any of you oil optimists wish to guess the economic fallout of the disaster on shrimping, fishing, shipping, tourism, real-estate?

    ReplyDelete
  42. desert rat said...
    Not my hero, amigo. Now you are flat out lying, again.

    You are the one that supports La Raza' claim that US has no legitimate right to rule the Southwest, why you've posted the links to videos, in support of that view.



    No, that's your lie.. I point out the fact that you deny Jews a right to their homeland in the middle east... You call them a colony, euro-trash..

    I simply point out that the same bullshit logic that you use to support the fake national claims of "palestinians" mexicans will copy and employee here...

    Jews predate arabs by 1600 years in Israel, they also never left the middle east aside from being driven from their homes by the modern day squatters, the arabs.

    Your embrace of the Palestinians and your questioning the right of Jews to settle in their historic homeland tells me you are a supporter of fake nationalistic claims, the palios and la raza, 2 sides from the same coin.

    If Jews are euro-trash in the middle east, what makes America?

    Your point Jews have no rights to a nation in Israel suggests that Americans are the same euro-trash that have no rights to southwest America

    Mexicans, as a race are no more entitled to live as a nation, as Americans are...

    AND Israelis are entitled to their nation whether you approve or not..

    True original Americans do have tribal rights and passports that America (the nation) as accorded it...

    If Jews have no right to settle in Israel, Rat, you are a squatter with LESS rights than the Jews.. After all you are Euro-trash (or what ever you are) squatting on someone else's land...

    La Raza is the natural offspring of those who hate Israel...

    I can only enjoy the day when a bunch of La Raza thugs loot your sorry ass calling you gringo..

    Enjoy the illegals, the anchor babies, the welfare and the civil war you are about to have, you brought it on yourself by supporting the palestinians

    If you want to know when Rat lies? he's moving his lips....

    ReplyDelete
  43. Obviously the place for rat is Rome, and not occupied Arizona. We that have been concerned about him have mentioned this before. And I've offered to buy a one way plane ticket. How anyone can live two lives, as an occupier and a moral man is beyond me. I offer to ship him back so his broken ethical situation is solved.

    ReplyDelete
  44. So, let's review the bidding. We're down to about $2.00 gal to produce ethanol from cellulosic feedstocks (switchgrass, corn cobs, Municipal solid waste.)

    The new engines will, for all practical purposes, get equal mileage with ethanol as gasoline (with a bit more power.)

    We will, within a year, be getting about 15 Billion gal/yr from corn.

    Within 5 years we will be getting another 5 Billion from corn cobs.

    Municipal solid waste will give us 9 Billion gal/yr.

    We will need about 110 billion gpy from all sources.

    We can probably figure on 50 Billion gal/yr from domestic oil for well into the future.

    All we really need from switchgrass/miscanthus, etc is about 30 Billion gal/yr, or about 10 Million gpy from each county.

    This is like falling off a log. Figure a fairly low 500 gal/acre. We need 20,000 acres in each county. That would require an area with a radius of 3.15 miles with a distillery in the middle.

    A little less than 3% of available land in the county (the average county is about 1,100 sq miles.) And, of course, largely made up of the marginal land.

    No Imports. No shipping of ethanol through pipelines, or on trains. No fossil fuels used in the processing (virtually, none in the farming.) Locally produced, locally used.

    Wonderful for everyone except Exxon, Wall Street, the Muzzies, and, of course, the Politicians.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Unless I am wrong, Obama does not have the integrity to support a position that is not supported by his core constituency.

    Obama cannot bring himself to say the Islamic word. He is more stubborn than GWB.

    Obama is too impressed with Obama, maintaining his maximum cool, and his scam of the century.

    Obama latched onto Afghanistan to tweak Bush over not capturing bin Laden. He used Afghanistan to prove he was right over Iraq. He claimed the resources used in Iraq should have been used in Afghanistan.

    Obama has no core belief about Afghanistan. The military getting maimed and killed there are getting played by a punk ass community organizer scaminator extraordinaire.

    ReplyDelete
  46. Do we KNOW what rat?

    DO we know his race, his people's history?

    I doubt he is "native American"

    So since his family, like most Americans, must have COME to America as an immigrant

    Why does he only point out Israel as a repository or "euro-trash" when the truth?

    Australia, America, Canada, Mexico, Most all of central and south America for that part, New Zealand and many more nations have formed from from the same stock...

    Are all these nations "occupiers"?

    When Rat gleefully debases the right of Israel to be, he elevates the radical, west hating fake nationalistic movements like the Palestinians, La Raza et al...

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  47. Deuce

    Obama has no core belief about Afghanistan. The military getting maimed and killed there are getting played by a punk ass community organizer scaminator extraordinaire.


    I agree he is a punk ass community organizer, but I do think his strategy is to cripple America's self esteem.

    That's why the change in ROE that's why he's floating a "Courageous Restraint" Medal in the armed forces, that's why he refuses to call islamic terror, ISLAMIC TERROR...

    ReplyDelete
  48. rat's italian and swede, I think. Since I don't want him in Sweden, I've offered to buy a one way ticket to Italy, for him. But he has to stay, not come back.

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  49. Any of you oil optimists wish to guess the economic fallout of the disaster on shrimping, fishing, shipping, tourism, real-estate?

    No, would you?

    ReplyDelete
  50. I carry a blue passport, it says United States of America.

    That's where I'm from.

    Always has been.

    Always will be.

    A true blue, red blooded American.

    ReplyDelete
  51. As for enjoying the illegal migrants, they do not really bother me.

    They tend to be polite folk, the migrant workers.

    The coyotes and drug runners, I do not live near their tansit routes.

    I am not in Law Enforcement and have a good fence, flood lights and large dogs.

    Along with Lawyers, Guns and Money.

    Few worries, living on the sunny side of life.

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  52. The funny thing, it was just a few days ago that Mr Obama was raked over the coals, for not taking drastic, immediate action.

    Now, those that were complaining of inaction, consul waiting for mother nature to take her course.

    That Team Obamerica will take action, shutting down deep water drilling, that's not what you fellas expected, from the President?

    He continues to surprise you?

    The ocean is a washing machine and Mr Obama is the Maytag Repairman?

    Mr Lester Crown, el premiro Obama moneyman, being the past CEO of Maytag, as well. Funny political tie-ins and ethnic jokes on yourselves, even when you all are trying to be serious.

    ReplyDelete
  53. desert rat said...
    I carry a blue passport, it says United States of America.
    That's where I'm from.
    Always has been.
    Always will be.
    A true blue, red blooded American.


    You may be citizen, you also may be a felon...

    If you are a felon your guns could land you in jail.

    But we do know you are a jew hating, zionist hating, israel hating, self confessed criminal...

    ReplyDelete
  54. Maybe its time for a citizens arrest. We own it as a duty to our fellow citizens. We need some charges, though.

    ReplyDelete
  55. I can just see it now - THE POSSE composed of WiO and a boobie marching upon Rat's camp attempting to exact justice...




    ...woooooweeeeee!!!

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  56. aaacccctuallly the proper image is one of WiO complete with an eye-patch and a boobie on his shoulder...

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  57. It's funny someone mentioned road rage today because I was just talking about it with a friend the other day and he asked me if I thought I fit in that category.

    This self-assessment was developed by traffic psychologist Leon James, Ph.D.

    Do you...

    *Mentally condemn other drivers.

    *Verbally denigrate other drivers to your passengers.

    *Close ranks to prevent someone from getting in your lane.

    *Give another driver the “stink eye” to show disapproval.

    *Speed past another car or rev the engine as a sign of protest.

    *Prevent another driver from passing because you’re mad.

    *Tailgate to pressure a driver to go faster or get out of the way.

    *Fantasize physical violence against another driver.

    *Honk or yell out of the window.
    Make obscene gestures.

    *Use your car to retaliate with sudden, threatening maneuvers.

    *Chase another driver because of a provocation or insult.

    *Get out of the car and engage in a verbal dispute.

    *Carry a weapon in the car in case you need it for a driving incident.

    *Deliberately bump or ram another car.

    *Try to run another car off the road to punish the driver.

    *Get out of the car and beat or batter someone after a road exchange.

    *Try to run someone down who angered you.
    Shoot at another car.

    *Kill someone.


    1 to 3: The Unfriendly Zone, mental and verbal acts of unkindness.

    4 to 7: The Hostile Zone, visibly communicating resentment with the desire to punish.

    8 to 11: The Violent Zone, carrying out an act of hostility in fantasy or deed.

    12 to 16: The Lesser Mayhem Zone, epic road rage contained within personal limits

    17 to 20: The Major Mayhem Zone, uncontained epic road rage, the stuff of newspaper stories

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  59. Ash said...
    I can just see it now - THE POSSE composed of WiO and a boobie marching upon Rat's camp attempting to exact justice...



    not hardly..

    but if Rat decides to become violent against jews, zionist or israelis that is when we will see how well MY guns, lawyers and money will work..

    I am a defensive person...

    Rat can live forever in his bunker with posters of Hitler for all I care...

    If he attacks me or mine? I wouldnt bet on a high survival rate...

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  61. I had a guy in a big pickup truck follow me for about 10 miles, right on my bumper. Four lane road he could have easily passed me. So when I got to town I pulled into the police station and that got him away. Don't know what his problem was, I was going the speed limit.

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  62. Renegade Thai general, Khattiya Sawasdipol, who was shot on Thursday as he backed protesters in Bangkok, has died, hospital officials have said.

    ...

    The fresh fighting overnight along a street of upscale hotels saw the first death among the soldiers, officials said.

    ...

    A state of emergency has now been declared in 22 provinces across the country - mostly in the protesters' northern heartlands - in a bid to stop more demonstrators heading to the capital.


    General Dies

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  63. They're cowards, ash.

    Unwilling to argue the merits of their case, they drop to NAZI like threats of violence.

    Maybe that is what intimidates them, so they think it'll intimidate others.

    Those two, they bathe in rain barrels, the both of them.

    One allows rapists to run free in their home town, the other fantasizes about his Arab cousins fucking little boys and goats.

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  64. Hey Bob, this post is for you.

    I noticed that the New York Times is setting up a new Opinionator Forum called The Stone. It is being opened to discuss all things philosophical.

    I'm posting the first two articles.

    The first explains the site.

    The Stone

    The second discusses

    What is a Philosopher?

    Thought there might be something interesting for you down the road.


    .

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