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."

Thursday, June 17, 2010

'You know the president is drowning — in oil this time — when he uses the Oval Office.'



Can The One Drop the Buzzer-Beating No. 23 Act?
By MAUREEN DOWD NY Times
Published: June 15, 2010

Of the many exciting things about Barack Obama’s election, one was the anticipation of a bracing dose of normality in the White House.

America had been trapped for eight years with the Clintons’ marital dysfunction disastrously shaping national events and then trapped for another eight with the Bushes’ Oedipal dysfunction disastrously shaping international events. And before that, L.B.J. and Nixon had acted pretty nutty at times.

President Obama was supposed to be a soothing change. He had a rough childhood. Michelle once told a friend that “Barack spent so much time by himself that it was like he was raised by wolves.” But he seemed to have come through exceptionally well adjusted. “His aides from the Senate, the presidential campaign, and the White House routinely described him with the same words: ‘psychologically healthy,’ ” writes Jonathan Alter in “The Promise,” a chronicle of Obama’s first year in office.

So it’s unnerving now to have yet another president elevating personal quirks into a management style.

How can a man who was a dazzling enough politician to become the first black president at age 47 suddenly become so obdurately self-destructive about politics?

President Obama’s bloodless quality about people and events, the emotional detachment that his aides said allowed him to see things more clearly, has instead obscured his vision. It has made him unable to understand things quickly on a visceral level and put him on the defensive in this spring of our discontent, failing to understand that Americans are upset that a series of greedy corporations have screwed over the little guy without enough fierce and immediate pushback from the president.

“Even though I’m president of the United States, my power is not limitless,” Obama, who has forced himself to ingest a load of gulf crab cakes, shrimp and crawfish tails, whinged to Grand Isle, La., residents on Friday. “So I can’t dive down there and plug the hole. I can’t suck it up with a straw.”

Once more on Tuesday night, we were back to back-against-the-wall time. The president went for his fourth-quarter, Michael Jordan, down-to-the-wire, thrill shot in the Oval Office, his first such dramatic address to a nation sick about the slick.

You know the president is drowning — in oil this time — when he uses the Oval Office. And do words really matter when the picture of oil gushing out of the well continues to fill the screen?

As Obama prepared to go on air, a government panel of scientists again boosted its estimate of how much oil is belching into the besmirched gulf, raising it from 2.1 million gallons a day to roughly 2.5 million.

The president acknowledged that the problems at the Minerals Management Service were deeper than he had known and “the pace of reform was just too slow.” He admitted that “there will be more oil and more damage before this siege is done.”

He appointed a “son of the gulf” spill czar and a new guard dog at M.M.S. and tried to restore a sense of confident leadership — “The one approach I will not accept is inaction” — and compassion, reporting on the shrimpers and fishermen and their “wrenching anxiety that their way of life may be lost.” He acted as if he was the boss of BP on the issue of compensation. And he called on us to pray.

Testifying before Congress on Tuesday, Rex Tillerson, the chief of Exxon Mobil, conceded that the emphasis is on prevention because when “these things” happen, “we’re not very well equipped to deal with them.”

Robert Gibbs on Tuesday continued the White House effort to emote, saying on TV: “It makes your blood boil.” But he misses the point. Nobody needs to see the president yelling or pounding the table. Ronald Reagan could convey command with a smile; Clint Eastwood, with a whisper. Americans need to know the president cares so they can be sure he’s taking fast, muscular and proficient action.

W. and Dick Cheney were too headlong, jumping off crazy cliffs and dragging the country — and the world — with them. President Obama is the opposite, often too hesitant to take the obvious action. He seems unable to muster the adrenalin necessary to go full bore until the crowd has waited and wailed and almost given up on him, but it’s a nerve-racking way to campaign and govern.

“On the one hand, you have BP, which sees a risky hole in the ground a couple miles under the sea surface and thinks if we take more risk, and cut some corners, we make millions more. In taking on more risk, they’re gambling with more than money,” said Richard Wolffe, an Obama biographer. “On the other hand, you have Obama, who is ambivalent about risk. What he does late is to embrace risk, like running for president, trebling troops in Afghanistan and health care. But in deferring the risk, he’s gambling with his authority and political capital.”

By trying too hard to keep control, he ends up losing control.




Obama, clueless, paralyzed, inept and vindictive, with no idea as to how to stop 2,500,000 gallons of oil leaking into the gulf comes up with the answer.

He has a picture of green trees and windmills on his private website,
Obama.com web site


142 comments:

  1. USA TODAY's Susan Page mentioned findings from a new USA TODAY/Gallup Poll in today's analysis of President Obama's Oval Office address, including a widening "enthusiasm gap" between Democrats and Republicans looking at the November elections.

    Here's more detail from Susan about those results:

    Midterm elections, when turnout is traditionally low, are all about getting voters engaged enough to actually go the polls and vote. In the USA TODAY survey taken Friday through Sunday, there's sobering news on that front for Democrats. Just 35% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters said they were "more enthusiastic than usual" about voting in November. That's down eight percentage points from May and a precipitous 22-point drop from the poll we took in March.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Are you Fired up?

    Below is a chronology of the oil spill and its impact:

    April 20, 2010 - Explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd drilling rig Deepwater Horizon licensed to BP; 11 workers missing, 17 injured. The rig was drilling in BP's Macondo project 42 miles southeast of Venice, Louisiana, beneath about 5,000 feet (1,525 metre) of water and 13,000 feet under the seabed. A blowout preventer, intended to prevent release of crude oil, failed to activate.

    Where is Obama?

    April 22 - The Deepwater Horizon rig, valued at more than $560 million, sinks in 5,000 feet (1,525 meters) of water. A five-mile long oil slick is seen.

    Where is Obama?

    April 23 - The U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for missing workers, all thought to have been near the site of the blast, and are presumed dead.

    Where is Obama? Ths Coast guard has been on a rescue mission, SOP, but no federal activity directed at control or burning of the oil.

    April 25 - The Coast Guard says remote underwater cameras detect the well is leaking 1,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd). The agency calls the leak a "very serious spill" that threatens on-shore ecosystems along the Gulf Coast. It approves a plan to have remote underwater vehicles activate blowout preventer and stop leak. Efforts to activate the blowout preventer fail.

    Where is Obama? Ths Coast guard has been on a rescue mission, SOP, but no federal activity directed at control or burning of the oil. They are not Fired UP.

    April 26- BP's shares fall 2 percent on fears the cost of cleanup and legal claims will deal the London-based energy giant a heavy financial blow.

    Where is Obama? Ths Coast guard has been on a rescue mission, SOP, but no federal activity directed at control or burning of the oil. They are not Fired UP.

    April 27 - The U.S. Departments of Interior and Homeland Security announce plans for a joint investigation of the explosion and fire. The Coast Guard said the leaking crude may be set ablaze to slow the spread of oil in the Gulf.

    After Seven critical days, Obama's reaction is to do what Obama does best, blame someone. Obama sends in the lawyers, Ths Coast guard has been on a rescue mission, SOP, but no federal activity directed at control or burning of the oil. They are not Fired UP.

    April 28 - The Coast Guard says the flow of oil is 5,000 bpd, five times greater than first estimated. Controlled burns begin on giant oil slick, but shifting winds are expected to push crude ashore.

    After Eight critical days, Obama wakes up and does what should have been done seven days earlier.They are still not Fired UP.

    April 29 - U.S. President Barack Obama pledges "every single available resource" including the U.S. military, to contain the spreading spill, which Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says is of "national significance." Obama also says BP is responsible for the cleanup. Louisiana declares state of emergency due to threat of state's natural resources.

    After Nine critical days, Obama is in full political and panic mode. They are still not Fired UP.

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  3. April 30 - A top Obama aide says no drilling will be allowed in new areas, as Obama had recently proposed, until the cause of the Deepwater Horizon accident is known. The U.S. Justice Department said a team of lawyers was monitoring the spill. BP Chairman Tony Hayward said the company took full responsibility for the spill and would pay all legitimate claims and the cost for the cleanup. The Interior Department orders safety inspections of all 30 deepwater drilling rigs and 47 deepwater production platforms.

    After Ten critical days, Obama blames private industry. All lawyers are on deck. No mention of federal dereliction of duty. Talk about having their foot on the back of BP's neck as Obama realizes this is a political problem. They are still not Fired UP.

    May 1 - The Coast Guard says the leak will affect the Gulf shore.

    After Eleven days the obvious. They are still not Fired UP.

    May 2 - Obama visits the Gulf Coast to see cleanup efforts first hand. U.S. officials close areas affected by the spill to fishing for an initial period of 10 days.

    After Twelve critical days, Obama goes to visit the catastrophe claiming he was on top of it sice day one..

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  4. Fact of the matter is - and here I echo Unqualified Offerings - Republicans have not yet spent enough time in the wilderness to gain back the House.

    And the Senate - well, that is completely out of the question.

    I'm looking for Republicans to fall a few seats shy of a House majority.

    Under the circumstances, it's entirely appropriate.

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  5. I also agree with Charlie Cook that the real uphill Congressional battle for Democrats is 2012 and 2014.

    ReplyDelete
  6. At a minimum, you expect a CEO, with unlimited resources, to put together an action team of skilled experienced professionals.

    Has Obama done that? No. Obama has left this in the hands of BP while at the same time he has brow beat them with de facto nationalization.

    How does that illegal act by an American President affect the performance of BP?

    The very fact that BP has allowed itself to agree to be pressured to a $20 billion payout, without knowing the facts and cause of the spill and or for that matter the amount of the spill is an indication of the destruction of the BP management.

    The US Federal Government is knee deep in the regulation and control of all off-shore oil drilling. They set the rules, provided the supervision and extracted their taxes from the operation.

    BP is a broken demoralized company led by broken demoralized shell shocked generals.

    Obama is the head of the federal government. His solution to the ever expanding leak is to propagandize for windmills.

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  7. I can only repeat and emphasize: Not enough time in the wilderness.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I would not bet on that Red.

    Look at the chronology:

    April 25 - The Coast Guard says remote underwater cameras detect the well is leaking 1,000 barrels of crude oil per day (bpd). The agency calls the leak a "very serious spill" that threatens on-shore ecosystems along the Gulf Coast. It approves a plan to have remote underwater vehicles activate blowout preventer and stop leak. Efforts to activate the blowout preventer fail.

    How could they not have noticed 32,000 gallons of oil was actually 2,500,000 million gallons?

    The rate today is 75 X higher than first reported by the Coast Guard!

    No one can make that mistake. This thing is expanding. What happen if it doubles again?

    That will be 5,000,000 gallons. There is nothing to compare to this.

    ReplyDelete
  9. "I would not bet on that Red."

    Are you questioning the Magic 8 Ball?

    I may end up wildly wrong.

    Not for the first time.

    So there's some hope for you unrepentant GOPers.

    Hang in there.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Could this thing be building to a complete blow out where the entire field of oil comes to the surface?

    Are we prepared to isolate the surface and remove the oil with tankers or fire?

    We are into hurricane season and we have a leader muttering about windmills.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am not a GOPer. I am a NoWhereElseToGoer.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I am saddened to see the US so demoralized that they turned to an obvious fraud and deeply flawed man like Obama.

    It confirms my reading of history that any government is ultimately at the mercy of sick flawed craven narcissistic sociopathic freaks.

    ReplyDelete
  13. "Could this thing be building to a complete blow out where the entire field of oil comes to the surface?"

    Well. That certainly would be bad.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It is a cosmic joke that we designed a system where the only sick mother fuckers that would even take the job are just that, the sick mother fuckers that get the job.

    ReplyDelete
  15. "I am not a GOPer. I am a NoWhereElseToGoer."

    Fair enough.

    I don't see him as a fraud, though. I see him as any other POTUS. Trying to live up to what Gene Healy referred to as the cult of the presidency.

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  16. After 55 days every extra piece of machinery and tanker on the planet should be on site at this time, ready for anything.

    Are they on the way?

    ReplyDelete
  17. "I don't see him as a fraud, though..."

    Adding that I know that here we part ways.

    Alas.

    Sigh.

    There's just nothing to be done about it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Instead of mobilization for any possibility, we have an academic not tilting at windmills, he is dreaming about them running around bragging the check is in the mail.

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  19. Obama is and has allowed the US to become hostage to an expanding oil leak. He did not cause the leak, but has the power to over mobilize resources and be prepared for the worst case scenario.

    He is paralyzed by his own self doubt and lack of any relevant experience.

    Pray to the goddess of oil that she stops the bleeding.

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  20. "Obama is and has allowed the US to become hostage to an expanding oil leak."

    Between you and whit, who emphasizes the spill's relative lack of impact, one hardly knows where to go.

    There has been some discussion of very late regarding indecision among Republicans on the appropriate response narrative.

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  21. And don't mean that in any way as swipe at whit.

    ReplyDelete
  22. The latest numbers reflect an increase in the flow that scientists believe happened after undersea robots earlier this month cut off a kinked pipe near the sea floor that was believed to be restricting the flow of oil, just as a bend in a garden hose reduces water flow. BP officials has estimated that cutting the kinked pipe likely increased the flow by up 20 percent.

    The pipe was removed so BP could install a containment cap that is trapping leaking oil and drawing it a ship waiting on the ocean surface.
    MSNBC News


    "It is a cosmic joke that we designed a system where the only sick mother fuckers that would even take the job are just that, the sick mother fuckers that get the job."

    heh, my grandfather was a Royalist and my aunt was half way there. There is no answer to this problem except to be born at a time and place when and where there aren't a lot of people around. The Idaho Legislature used to meet every two years, and then only for a month or so. And Unca Sam was far away.

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  23. Deuce: Could this thing be building to a complete blow out where the entire field of oil comes to the surface?

    Revelation 16:3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.

    Just saying...

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  24. In the beginning ...

    BP was operating at the "Edge" of technology. Or so the story went.

    That turns out to be a falsehood. The Deepwater Horizon was not at the "Edge" of technological advance, but mired in cost saving to the point that safety was discounted.

    If the leakage is expanding, then there is even less that anyone can do, to staunch it.

    As was reported, yesterday, the US Has excepted help, equipment and the like, from Mexico, the Dutch and another EU participant.

    Their assistance was not "turned away" as was reported, here at the EB.

    I read that a centrifuge is "all it would take", to clean the Gulf, and make a profit at the same time ...
    Only to discover that BP, the Federals and Kevin Costner were already out there, spinning away.

    Or was it those that were trying to discredit the clean-up efforts, that were spinning?

    Hard to tell, sometimes.

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  25. ... the US HAS accepted help ...

    Where's that morning Joe?

    ReplyDelete
  26. We might be just as well off to be a lottocracy. Just have a lottery drawing every four years, and let it go at that.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Deuce: We are into hurricane season and we have a leader muttering about windmills.

    Used to be, if there was so much as a tropical depression in the middle of the Atlantic approaching the Gulf, they'd jack up the price of gas five cents. If some Ubangi spearchuckers did their tribal war cry near a Nigerian oil well, they'd raise it ten cents. If we went into the summer driving season they'd raise it a quarter. Here it is, Armageddon, and pump prices are just $2.70. The crisis is masking the underlying fact that we are now in a double-dip recession.

    ReplyDelete
  28. New York Times -

    JERUSALEM - Weeks after its commandos killed nine people aboard an aid flotilla trying to breach its blockade of Gaza, Israel on Thursday announced what it called a liberalization of the three-year-old restrictions, ...

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  29. Hope and Change, Baby!

    Hope and Change!

    ReplyDelete
  30. By Ora Koren and Haaretz Service -

    Turkey has frozen billions of dollars worth of defense deals with Israel in the wake of the Israel Navy's deadly raid on a humanitarian bound flotilla to the Gaza Strip, according to Turkish media.

    Some of the 16 scrapped projects include a $5 billion deal in which Ankara was to receive 1,000 Merkava Mark III tanks from Israel, a $50 million plan to upgrade Turkish M-60 tanks, and a $800 million agreement to buy two Israeli patrol aircrafts and an Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft.


    So, that little pirate raid, costs the Israeli over $5 billion in defense sales, to Turkey.

    That's gotta pinch.

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  31. Foreign Ministry warned Israel Navy not to raid Gaza flotilla in international waters


    In preparatory discussions, government cautioned that such an action would hamper Israel on the diplomatic and public relations front worldwide.


    By Barak Ravid - Haaretz

    ReplyDelete
  32. Great interview of Bing West on Bennet show.

    Every Battalion has a lawyer.
    He and 3 troops were under machine gun fire from a Mosque, called for air drop.

    Reply was they would have to get clearance further up the chain.

    Reply came back:
    Can you withdraw?
    They said no, they'd be hit.
    Ended up in a conversation with FIVE people before finally getting approval.
    Finally got air support.

    1 million dollars per day per soldier.
    Bing wants a lighter footprint.

    Nation building where there is no nation:
    Would be like expecting Apaches, Sioux, and Navajo to form a Democracy.

    Can't leave the hellhole to the Taliban.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Anishinaabe ("original people")

    Today the Anishinaabe have two tribes:

    Ojibway/Ojibwe/Chippewa

    (Algonquian Indian for "puckered," referring to their moccasin style)

    and Algonquin (probably a French corruption of either the Maliseet word elehgumoqik,
    "our allies,"
    or the Mi'kmaq place name Algoomaking,

    "fish-spearing place.")

    ReplyDelete
  34. Geeze, Buddy has a complete offshore tutorial @ BC.
    Hope I have time to check it out.

    I just reacted to this:

    136. buddy larsen...

    "no, the orders were really really bad, i’ve never seen nor heard of anything anywhere near so f**ked up, and neither has any other offshore hand, anywhere i can find. And on this cadillac rig, too, on this hot deep bronco wildcat –not Joe’s Rig drilling a water well in aunt molly’s backyard."

    I "joked:"

    While BP Bigwigs were onboard:
    Maybe a suicide mission by the inexperienced BP Man in Charge getting OJT, getting even with the boss?

    Reminds me of an impact near our farm after an aggrieved employee overpowered the cockpit, pushed the stick forward, and reduced a four engine airliner to 1 square inch confetti.
    ...plus whatever remained of the souls on board.

    Hard to imagine the thoughts/states of mind of the men at the tip of the spear, knowing damn well fate was being tempted beyond all reason.

    ReplyDelete
  35. We criticized Obama's lack of attention to the oil spill since day 7.

    My early observation to Ash was that the reported spill rate of 30-50,000 gallons per day was the contents of a suburban residential swimming pool.

    I further observed that if any decent surveillance or analysis was done, that estimate could not be correct.

    Obama accepted that analysis, despite he has the power to gather it in 1000 different ways.

    At the time Obama was more concerned about his vacations, White House concerts , 747 trips in AIr Force One and the Arizona immigration laws.

    Obama is a commander in chief that doesn't command. He has no strategy to deal with an ongoing crisis. He still is more interested with the politics than the event itself.

    We are almost 60 days into this and Obama is talking about windmills.

    Defend Obama and protect him as a good master sergeant does for a new 1st Lieutenant except Obama is not a first, he is a six star general.

    He should be relieved of command. He is incompetent and a disgrace to his office. He is a liar and is covering up his incompetence with the help of his admirers.

    Any military officer worth his pay, when faced with a disaster would ask obvious questions:

    How bad is it?

    How bad can it get?

    What are our options?

    What assets do we have?

    What assets do we have access to?

    What do we do?

    What happens if that does not work?

    When Kennedy made the commitment to get to the moon by 1970, it was obvious to the planners, scientists and engineers that it could be done but because of the time constraints a linear approach to decision making was not advisable.

    For example, if there were four possible solutions and the odds were that there existed a 90% probability that one solution would work and two additional possible solutions would increase the possibility of success to 98%, the decision was made to attack all six possible solutions simultaneously. That is what a competent president would do today.

    Obama is not competent. He does not deserve to be defended.

    ReplyDelete
  36. BHO:

    Barrack Hugo Obama

    Obama Oil Inc.

    ReplyDelete
  37. previous post:

    It has now come out that a group tasked with addressing such disasters forwarded a NOAA estimate of 50 to 80 THOUSAND Barrels Per Day on day 3.
    ...ingnored by POTUS and Company.

    Current estimates mirror NOAA's, yet the admin's line all along is that we had no estimates to rely on other than BP's.

    ReplyDelete
  38. Another repost:

    Why is Obama refusing to waive the Jones Act? He's aiding in the destruction of the Gulf

    Obama has refused to waive the Jones Act. His Administration keeps putting the blame on the Coast Guard who puts the blame on others for not requesting the Jones Act be waived.

    The Dutch offered their help 3 DAYS after the Gulf Oil Spill yet the Administration said:

    "..While there is no need right now that the U.S. cannot meet, the U.S. Coast Guard is assessing these offers of assistance to see if there will be something which we will need in the near future."

    Are they serious? This country helps every country in the world when they need it. We are always at the front line for offering aid. The one time we need expertise and equipment that we do not have in this country, Obama rejects it? Why would the President of the United States allow the Gulf to continue to be destroyed rather than getting the help here that EXISTS and is desperately necessary? By Obama refusing to waive the Jones Act, he is aiding in the destruction of the Gulf Coast.


    Thad Allen:
    Shit for Brains
    Government considering moving more assets to Gulf to fight oil

    "We are more than willing to consider Jones Act waivers," Allen said. "Nobody has come to me for a Jones act waiver yet, but I am prepared to consider that. ...

    That's a change from a month ago, when Allen said on a visit to the Times-Picayune that one of his biggest concerns in fighting the oil disaster was not to leave another area of the country vulnerable should a problem occur elsewhere.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Finally:

    GIBBS:

    "There are no requests for Waivers of the Jones Act Pending.

    If there were they would be granted immediately."


    True, but unmentioned is the fact that Royal Dutch offered their superior skimming vessels on day 3, but were turned down, or ignored by this Administration.

    AND OBAMA IS STILL ALLOWING NEEDLESS DESTRUCTION AND JOB LOSSES TO OCCUR rather than cutting our loses and inviting in foreign vessels forthwith.

    ...to do that would be to admit imperfection and upset unions.
    Can't have that.

    ReplyDelete
  40. GM will forego usual Summer shutdown. Decision driven by Consumer Demand. Will build an extra 56,000 vehicles.

    On the other hand: Jobless Claims Up 12,000.

    Winnebago showed a profit. First in 1 1/2 years.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Gallegher STILL nuts about compensating firemen for injuries involved in cleanup.

    Like many here:

    IT WAS CONCRETE DUST not asbestos that (needlessly) destroyed their lungs. (silicon)

    Proper particulate masks would have protected them.

    ...yet EPA folks weee claiming cloud was not a health rish.

    Asbestos-wise, I suppose,
    but concrete dust is LETHAL.

    ReplyDelete
  42. ...yet EPA folks weRe claiming cloud was not a health rish.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Countries are built upon "Dreams." We love those who offer us a Dream. FDR, JFK, RWR.

    Obama ended his address on a Reaganesqe note. He will be rewarded for that.

    Reagan had clay feet on Lebanon, but spoke of a "City on a Hill." We loved him.

    Barack Obama's response to the spill was slow, and uninspired, but his promise of a "clean" future will be remembered.

    His critics will be remembered for "Drill, Baby, Drill," and ankle-biting. No one likes a whiner.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Good old Rufus:
    STILL betting on the loser.
    STILL hallucinating about the outcome of Obamacare.

    Liberal Polls must be manufacturing BHO's cratering support out of whole cloth.

    WTF?

    Is it Hydrocarbon fumes now Ruf?

    ReplyDelete
  45. Good to have a stoolmate offering an alternate reality for entertainment.

    ReplyDelete
  46. BHO, the Reaganesqe Alinskyite.

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  47. Absolute Fucking Crap.

    ...must be taking lessons from our Rodent on how to stir the pot.

    ReplyDelete
  48. It is not Obama that is being defended, Deuce.

    It is the United States of America and its' elected and appointed government, that is being rationalized. If bringing the rationale for the decisions made is considered defending Obama...

    Well then, you must think that Obama really does personify the United States of America, which is something I'd not admit the reality of, even if I thought it true.

    He may personify the Federal Government, but that means that all those in the Government, like Admiral Allen a life long careerist, are as inept and incompetent as you consider Mr Obama to be.

    Even if I thought that true, which I do not, I would not be shouting it from the roof tops, for all the whirled to see and hear.

    I would be proposing an alternative route.

    Oh yeah, I've been doing just that, for quite a while.

    The rationale behind turning down those Dutch skimmers, they did not meet US regulatory standards.
    They did not work to the Federal Socialist specifications.
    Not quite up to snuff.

    Now, I am not sure when, where, why or who wrote the EPA regulations, or when they were last revised, but they are the Law of the Land.

    If Mr Obama had approved using these inefficient skimmers, which violate EPA Standards, there'd have been calls for impeachment, likely as not. Because a violation of Federal Regulations, that'd have be considered a misdemeanor, at least.

    ReplyDelete
  49. 11 percent of BHO's 40 percent approval ratings are Blacks who will give him thumbs up if he fucks Mother Teresita.

    ...meaning for everyone else, support is in same territory as GWB in year 7.

    Jeezua

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  50. "If Mr Obama had approved using these inefficient skimmers, which violate EPA Standards, there'd have been calls for impeachment, likely as not. Because a violation of Federal Regulations, that'd have be considered a misdemeanor, at least."

    More alternative universe reality from the R and R brothers.

    (Rufus and Rodent)

    ReplyDelete
  51. We are on an unsustainable path. We all know that. No use getting all faux-apoplectic on the one who brings it back to our attention.

    Drill, Baby, Drill will, fairly soon, put us into Depression.

    Fossil Fuels are finite. Those that would rape the earth, and leave our children defenseless to the cold are not our friends. We must start making arrangements.

    Obama is right. We know he is right. We should work "with him" to get the "mix" right. We should develop a "plan."

    The time for prancing around on a stage, chanting "Drill, Baby, Drill" is over. The time for "Renewable" Energy is Now.

    ReplyDelete
  52. What kept those Dutch tankers off the job, was not the Jones Act, but EPA Regulations.

    Seems that as of 14JUN10, the Federals have waived the EPA Regulation that prohibited the deployment of those Dutch ships.

    A response time that has to be considered breakneck, from the Federal Regulatory Leviathan.

    A complete turn-around, in 45 days.

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  53. This is theatre.......

    BP is being used.....

    The "spill" is bad, but I bet Obama is pissed that there are no major beaches destroyed..

    Just news snippets of folks in haz-mat suits picking up quarter size tar balls..

    Now we have ACORN types calling for checks for the tar ball pickerupers... "health care claims"

    Just write a check...

    Obama has accomplished several things..

    Redistributing BP's profits FROM shareholders (evildoers) to those that really NEED it..

    Stopped new drilling...

    Slowed COAL production...

    Obama has had 2 MONTHS to start rallying the USA to clean up the mess...

    but he doesnt want to clean it up...

    he wants a crisis....

    Be HE is the CRISIS....

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  54. "Obama is right. We know he is right. We should work "with him" to get the "mix" right. We should develop a "plan.""
    ---

    ...like Obamacare.
    Heaven on Earth.
    MORON.

    ReplyDelete
  55. The "PLANS" are always "comprehensive"

    Always thousands of pages of bureaucratise designed to drag this nation to a sickening, screeching, halt.

    And we should,
    "work with them."

    ReplyDelete
  56. "A response time that has to be considered breakneck, from the Federal Regulatory Leviathan.

    A complete turn-around, in 45 days.
    "

    Where are the Dutch Ships?

    ReplyDelete
  57. Obama is the President of the United States. We Elected Him. If he's a left-wing kook, he's OUR left-wing kook. He's What we've Got.

    He came in at a tough time. The World was teetering on the edge of The Great Depression II. His response might not have been "inspired," but it was adequate. We got a severe recession, instead. J. Christ couldn't, and shouldn't, have avoided that.

    Our problems are not over. They won't be for quite some time. This will be the last year that New Production of Oil will balance Decline in Existing Production. The liquid fuel upon which our free-market economy depends will continue getting more expensive through the rest of our lifetimes, and, probably, for ALL time.

    We have to make a transition. We know that. The Republicans, by ignoring, and denying, that fact leave us vulnerable to those that want to take us down an unworkable, and unaffordable "electric-vehicle" path.

    The people of Mississippi, Arizona, and Texas have to have a Liquid fuel. Batteries won't get the job done for "us." We need to ENGAGE. If we don't get in the game we're not going to like the "outcome."

    ReplyDelete
  58. David Cameron confronts Barack Obama in battle to protect BP

    But the US president last night made it clear that BP's payments could be just the start, warning that the company could still face lawsuits from individuals and American states.

    On Wednesday, in his strongest show of support since the oil began leaking two months ago, Mr Cameron said the company should not be exposed to a string of future damages claims.

    "BP is an important company," he said. "It is an important company for people's pensions, it employs thousands of people in the UK, it pays a lot of tax.

    "It's important to try to give some level of clarity and certainty so that the company can actually continue and be financially stable," he said.

    "They do need a level of certainty, and this is BP's worry, that there won't be claims entertained that are three or four times removed from the oil spill. This shouldn't be about going after BP for the sake of it."

    ---

    Pay workers out of work because BHO ORDERED THEM OUT OF WORK.

    ...as the Brazilians, et al, continue on in the REAL WORLD.

    ReplyDelete
  59. Where arethe Dutch ships?

    I have no idea, you'd have to ask the Dutch. But that they have been granted a waiver, that is all over the Google response to "dutch oil skimmer gulf coast".

    ReplyDelete
  60. "We need to ENGAGE. If we don't get in the game we're not going to like the "outcome.""

    WRONG:

    We oppose until Nov 1, then we DEFUND this insanity.

    Show us one bit of evidence that Obama Pelosi Reid are honestly interested in co-operative collaberation.

    ReplyDelete
  61. What the "Brazilians" do is of no interest to us, whatsoever. Nor is it of any particular interest what some fucking Brit thinks. We fought a War over that. Remember?

    ReplyDelete
  62. BP has fouled the Gulf Coast for 50, or 100 years.

    ReplyDelete
  63. And so was Mr Bush, exemplified by the communications he had with Mr Bremmer, concerning disbanding the Iraqi Army.

    The entire Federal System is incompetent. The problem is not Obama, he is but a symptom, not the primary disease.

    He fully represents the interests of General Dynamics and the rest of established status que. Just as Mr GW Bush and his father before him, did.
    Just as Mr Clinton did.

    Banking - Defense - Energy/OIL


    The three pillars of political corruption.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Great Link Rat:

    Says they've reconsidered, but not Dutch skimmers employed yet.


    "The Dutch offered to fly their skimmer arm systems to the Gulf 3 days after the oil spill started. The offer was apparently turned down because EPA regulations do not allow water with oil to be pumped back into the ocean. If all the oily water was retained in the tanker, the capacity of the system would be greatly diminished because most of what is pumped into the tanker is sea water.

    As of June 8th, BP reported that they have collected 64,650 barrels of oil in the Gulf. That is only a fraction of the amount of oil spilled from the well. That is less than one day’s rated capacity of the Dutch oil skimmers.

    Turning down the Dutch skimmers just shows a total lack of leadership in the oil spill. To just leave the oil in the water because regulations do not allow you to pump slightly polluted oil back into the ocean is just plain stupid. The small amount of oil pumped back into the ocean with the Dutch system is tiny droplets of suspended oil that will be quickly broken down by naturally occurring bacteria."

    ReplyDelete
  65. I regard you as hopelessly out of touch with reality, Rufus.

    An alternative Green-Tinted "reality" rules.

    ReplyDelete
  66. hint:
    This country and the Whirrled are a supertanker, not a child's toy.

    Change does not occur almost immediately, no matter how much you and BHO may argue otherwise.

    ReplyDelete
  67. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  68. Being "Important" is not a defense for criminal behavior.

    To the investors in BP:
    "Caveat Emptor"

    It is the "Capitalist Way"

    Who cares what the socialists in "Greater Britain" do, let them call Colonel Q, they can complain to him.
    He'll want to discuss the healing properties of the waters in Tripoli, I'm sure.
    Drinking Tripoli water, it cures Lockerbie induced cancer, you know.

    ReplyDelete
  69. If you liked that $4.30/gasoline in June of '08 you're going to Positively, Love the "Nex" Step Up.

    Being "Out of Touch," I would define, as "thinking you could drink on the same milkshake, Forever."

    ReplyDelete
  70. How many "Wake Up Calls" do we need?

    ReplyDelete
  71. For Criminitely, the Clean-up costs from This spill, alone, would build enough ethanol plants to replace the GOM Oil, Forever.

    ReplyDelete
  72. In watching the BP hearings (thru my third eye) a few things have struck me.

    1. BP is a bad actor and has to be taught a lesson lest this happen again. The lesson should be punitive and substantial.

    2. The idea of killing the BP golden goose instead of milking it like a cash cow until it is dry and the majority of the cleanup costs have been born by them instead of us (even if it takes decades) doesn't seem like a good idea to me.

    3. How can a government that authorized drilling in the gulf and now orders all drilling to stop (laying off 46,000 oil related workers) now ask BP to pay for it? Absolutely insane and/or just your typical Washington-think.

    4. I tend to think WiO is right about Obama's intentions. I'm sure his mismanagement of the spill initially came to him naturally. However, with the elections coming up in a few months and the need for "something big" to change the dynamic, it wouldn't suprise me if Rahm hadn't convinced him that this was a crisis too big to pass up in terms of pushing energy legislation.



    On a more important issue:

    From the last blog stream did someone mention a "quickie" or was that part of my chakra induced meditation as I sit here naked on Boyne Mountain?


    .

    ReplyDelete
  73. Yep, and the fact that Bill Gates or Warren Buffet has not saved the World and started the conversion has only to do with some dark conspiracy preventing them from doing so.

    Likewise, the Chi-Coms, and in spades wrt coal.
    Methinks they are pursuing cheap, abundant energy.

    ...ignoring your future, tending mostly only to today's reality.

    Personally, I'd like a realistic middle way, but so far, no luck.

    ReplyDelete
  74. The investors in BP should be happy that they are protected from being personally accountable for BP's actions.

    The beauty of the corporation, the invstor is not at risk for more than he or she invests.
    The owners are not held responsible for the crimes of the management.

    ReplyDelete
  75. I missed the last thread, Quirk.
    We were having a Nooner.

    ReplyDelete
  76. The point is, Doug: in America we get to the middle through a War between the "Extemes."

    ReplyDelete
  77. y'all would probably enjoy Jon Stewart's show of last night.

    ReplyDelete
  78. Obama is right. We know he is right. We should work "with him" to get the "mix" right. We should develop a "plan."

    yep, close down Yucca Mountain, first thing out of the gate. Get that 'mix' right.

    WRONG:

    We oppose until Nov 1, then we DEFUND this insanity.

    Show us one bit of evidence that Obama Pelosi Reid are honestly interested in co-operative collaberation.


    RIGHT

    Casino time.

    ReplyDelete
  79. Wait until a hurrican hits and us Texans will get a nice blend of crude and water on our heads,streets, cars, roads. Well, you get the picture.....

    ReplyDelete
  80. Big Tobacco paid 368 billion to the feds and states. I was wrong, 20 billion IS chump change.

    ReplyDelete
  81. But you've told us a number of times gag that "its natural".

    ReplyDelete
  82. Maybe it'd make landfall in Cuba.

    ReplyDelete
  83. In Cuba, that socialist paradise. They torture the hell out of them in those Cuban prisons, according to an article I read the other, by a guy who'd been through it. Got wonderful medical care, too.
    ---

    The wheels are coming off the tricycle--




    Republican John Boozman now holds a near two-to-one lead over Democratic incumbent Blanche Lincoln in Arkansas’ U.S. Senate race, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in the state.

    Boozman earns 61% of the vote, while Lincoln, coming off her Democratic Primary runoff win last week, picks up 32% support. Four percent (4%) favor some other candidate in the race, while just three percent (3%) remain undecided.

    Lincoln, who is seeking a third term in the Senate, was reelected in 2004 with 56% of the vote. But she has been struggling politically at home since late last year following her procedural vote that kept the national health care bill alive in the Senate.

    ReplyDelete
  84. Hinderaker at Powerline:


    ...collecting money from BP won't restore the way of life that many on the Gulf fear is slipping away. Second, while human error no doubt played a role in the disaster, there is no evidence that BP was "reckless." As I noted yesterday, BP's market capitalization has declined by around 50 percent--$100 billion--as a result of the spill. By any rational measure, BP has been harmed more by the spill than anyone else...



    Or as one blogger sarcastically put it, "In fact, Gulf residents should be compensating BP!"





    Josh Marshall said today what I was getting at last night:

    "I would be remiss not to note my longstanding nausea at much of what goes on at this and so many other congressional hearings where members of Congress grandstand against the guy or gal sitting in the dock over the obvious and shameful wrongness of their actions, even though the member of Congress in question often wasn't even familiar with the topic at hand until a few days before or just as often was voting more or less in support of whatever shamefully wrong action they're talking about until something went wrong."

    Though I'd even leave out the "obvious and shameful wrongness" part because, well, there are cases where the "obvious and shameful wrongness" exists only in a Congressperson's head.

    But I sure didn't anticipate Barton swinging in the other direction entirely - for all intents and purposes making the DCCC's week.

    ReplyDelete
  85. "Drill, baby, drill will get us in a depression"????

    That sounds ass backwards and someone here is quite the Obama apologist....

    ReplyDelete
  86. This was in fed waters. They were supposed to be overseeing the whole deal. BP screwed up, but where was Unca Sam, where were the overseers? There's a lot of blame to go around.


    The wife and I have found what we think might be water Hemlock out on the farm, in a wet ditch. But we are not sure. Anyone want to try it? Ash?

    ReplyDelete
  87. Thu Jun 17, 05:32:00 PM EDT

    Say it ain't so!

    He's STILL at it?

    Nooooooooo!!!

    ReplyDelete
  88. Rufus wants us to Piddle through a War between the "Extemes."

    ...on ourselves.

    ReplyDelete
  89. That's just the way we do it, right?

    ReplyDelete
  90. Today's Official Report from Florida:
    38 oiled birds have been recovered by FWC to date, 2 were released.

    ReplyDelete
  91. Yes, Drill, Baby, Drill has already landed US in a major recession.

    The greater financial meltdown, was triggered by a normal economic slowdown, caused the increase in gasoline prices, at the pump.
    If you'll recall the pre-TARP era.

    U.S. Recession Started in 2007, Longest Since 1980s ...

    Dec 1, 2008 ... The US economy entered a recession a year ago this month, the panel that dates American business cycles said today, making this contraction ...
    www.bloomberg.com


    Which just happens to coincide with this piece of history:

    Gas prices hit record high - May. 6, 2007

    May 7, 2007 ... The price of gasoline has hit a new record high, averaging $3.07 for a gallon of self-serve regular in the United States, a survey reported ...
    money.cnn.com


    Yep, ever rising gasoline prices, ever dependent upon oil resources, at higher and higher prices, will cause a depression.

    Exemplified by the historical results that the impact of those 2007 gasoline prices had on the subsequent economic performance of the United States and the rest of the whirled.

    ReplyDelete
  92. While the longer the Federals and the rest of the tax eating, subsidized economy clings to the oil teat, the further behind the curve the producing economy will fall.

    Until we end up, right behind that ever famous 8 Ball.

    Even if Deep Horizon had come on line, even if all the permited wells came on line, we'd still be sending $1 Billion USD a day, to the Wahabbi of the Middle East.

    What is the liquid energy alternative to the Wahhabi oil, other than ethanol?

    Riddle me that ...

    ReplyDelete
  93. Drill baby drill came about because of high gas prices which came about during the period of "irrational exuberance" aka the longest running bull market in history.

    High gas prices hurt but the housing bubble and credit collapse landed us in our current predicament. We can blame the Democrats in Congress for pressuring Fannie Freddie and US Banking. The Democrats did it!

    ReplyDelete
  94. The democrats also made us drill far offshore.

    ReplyDelete
  95. There's no way this country can go cold turkey. Sorry, you can't unwind it that quickly but we can certainly go quicker than we are.

    We need a comprehensive energy policy but Cap and Trade is a massive tax based on global warming baloney.

    ReplyDelete
  96. Global trade lifted 35 billion people out abject poverty and brought about record demand for oil. That is why the oil prices went higher and higher. When the whirled economy collapsed so did oil, back down to $32 per barrel.

    Our fearless leaders could not bring themselves to formulate a real National Energy Policy but that might be a good thing.

    ReplyDelete
  97. A challenge to each and every one of you fellas, that cling to the idea that the US and the West is at "War with Islam".

    How do we staunch the flow of the $1 Billion USD that is spilling into the sectarian Islamic regimes of the Middle East?

    Cash flow from the United States that helped to fund Pakistani nuclear development.

    Cash that filtered back to US, to build that Mosque in NYCity, in what would have been the shadow of the Twin Towers.

    Cash flow that funded the bin Laden family in mega-millionaire status for the past fifty years.

    If you believe that the US is at "War with Islam" defend US doing finance and trade with the "Enemy".

    Then, give US an alternative.
    Rufus and I have.

    Match the play, with a politically and technically viable alternative.

    To replace the 1.15 million barrels of crude we imported EACH DAY, from the Saudi alone, in March of 2010.

    That is tantamount to treason, by the US economy, if our culture is at war with Islam.

    Propose a practical remedy for that.

    Rufus and I have.

    ReplyDelete
  98. BP Oil Spill: Against Gov. Jindal's Wishes, Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard

    ...the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges.

    This is UNBELIEVABLE!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  99. Whit, the world is producing the same amount of oil, now (a tisch over 73 Million barrels/day,) as it was in the Fall of 2004.

    Almost 6 Years with No increase in Supplies. That is why prices will increase until they put us into recession, and then repeat, ad infinitum, until we find a replacement.

    ReplyDelete
  100. This seems to be an emerging complaint:

    The governor said the problem is there's still no single person giving a "yes" or "no." While the Gulf Coast governors have developed plans with the Coast Guard's command center in the Gulf, things begin to shift when other agencies start weighing in, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

    ReplyDelete
  101. If we really wanted to we could make fuel from coal, we could use natural gas in the trucking industry, we could get cracking on the tar sands,shale, etc. we could build nuclear plants and power Mat's electric cars. We could do away with the restrictions all over on drilling.

    I'm certainly not against ethanol, though, hope it works out.

    ReplyDelete
  102. What Team Obamamerica was going to do, was forecast, right here, oh ...
    50 some days ago.

    Of course they're going to demonize the oil industry.
    That is part of their plan to curtail the US economy. To level the Global playing field.

    And the Wahhabi are right in there, part and parcel.

    The Mexican elites:
    MEXICO CITY - A new kind of Mexican immigrant is making it big in the United States: huge Mexican corporations that are snapping up U.S. brand names, opening U.S. factories and investing millions of pesos north of the border.

    From Thomas' English muffins to Borden milk, Saks Fifth Avenue department stores to the New York Times newspaper, Mexican investors have taken advantage of low interest rates and depressed prices during the economic crisis to quietly expand their holdings in "el norte."


    New investment in the United States by Mexican companies rose to nearly $8 billion in 2008 from $3.6 billion in 2005, according to the latest statistics from the U.S. Department of Commerce. Mexican companies employ about 59,000 people in the United States.
    ...
    Newcomers include Grupo Lala, Mexico's largest dairy company, which is based in Gómez Palacios in the northern state of Durango.

    Lala bought a yogurt plant in Omaha, Neb., in 2007. In 2009, it purchased Dallas-based National Dairy Holdings, which controls the Borden brand and 18 regional dairies selling milk under the names Flav-O-Rich, Dairy Fresh, Velda Farms, Sinton's, Cream O' Weber, Goldenrod and others.

    Grupo Bimbo, Latin America's largest baked-goods company, has also expanded its U.S. operations.

    In 2009, Mexico City-based Bimbo bought the U.S. baked-goods operations of Weston Foods Inc. for $2.4 billion, taking over 22 industrial bakeries and 4,000 distribution routes. In all, the Mexican company has 35 bakeries in the United States turning out everything from national brands such as Entenmann's pastries, Boboli pizza crusts and Thomas' English muffins to regional brands like Brownberry bread and Mrs. Baird's snack cakes. About 43 percent of Bimbo's 2009 sales were in the United States.
    ...

    Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has also been expanding his empire into the United States. In March, Forbes Magazine ranked him as the world's richest person, beating out Americans Bill Gates and Warren Buffett with a net worth of $53.5 billion.

    In 2008, Slim bought a 6.9 percent share in the New York Times Co., making him the largest shareholder after the Ochs-Sulzberger family. He also increased his stake in the Saks Fifth Avenue department stores to 18 percent from 10.9 percent.

    On Tuesday, Slim entered the Manhattan real-estate market, buying an office building on Fifth Avenue for $140 million.

    Meanwhile, América Móvil, a cellphone company controlled by Slim, has increased its U.S. subscribers 26 percent since 2008, to 15 million from 11 million. The company sells no-contract cellphone service under the names TracFone, Straight Talk and Net10.


    Read more:

    ReplyDelete
  103. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

    They're just a big Idaho Fish and Game Department.


    ah, shit, with that, it's time to head to the Casino again.

    ReplyDelete
  104. I know that, Ruf, but that doesn't mean we stop drilling in the gulf or in ANWR or elsewhere. We can search for our own domestic supply of oil and move to alternative energy at the same time. What we can't do is one or the other. Gotta be both.

    ReplyDelete
  105. Exactly boob.

    You did not produce a politically viable list. There is no possible constituency for "cracking" tar sands. It is a dirty business.

    There are no batteries, for mat fantasy cars. And electricity will never fuel the existing fleet.

    None of your proposals begin to staunch the $1 Billion Dollars leaking into the Persian Gulf each and every day!

    ReplyDelete
  106. While the economic and national security challenges present by the US "addiction" to foreign oil, that has been well known ...

    FOR THIRTY FIVE YEARS!!!

    ReplyDelete
  107. But the REALITY is that we have stopped drilling, whit.

    The fight to start it up again, misspent political energy.

    John McCain stood strong against drilling in ANWAR.
    Did in 2007, does still today.

    He is the "Face" of the GOP, until they can nominate another National Candidate, in 2012.

    ReplyDelete
  108. whit wrote:

    "We need a comprehensive energy policy "

    hee hee, I tell ya, you really should watch Jon Stewart's Daily Show from last night. He's got the presidents saying just that going back to, well, Nixon. Everyone of them.

    Really, y'all should check it out. It is online.

    http://watch.thecomedynetwork.ca/the-daily-show-with-jon-stewart/#clip313197

    ReplyDelete
  109. Hey Mel, have you been following the Van Der Sloot case?

    ReplyDelete
  110. Obama, and Co are putting the squeeze, hard, on Chuck Grassley, and the other Corn State Republican lawmakers.

    The EPA was supposed to (by law) have the decision on authorizing E15 for standard vehicles in December, 2009. They delayed the decision until June, 2010. This afternoon they announced they're delaying again until December.

    They've had the biodiesel tax credit shut down since Jan 1st. Most of the Biodiesel Producers are now out of business.

    They're forcing Grassley, and crew, to vote for their various bills (right now they're aiming for the Cap and Trade,) or vote against a bill that contains their biofuel initiatives. NO DEALS. Brutal.

    ReplyDelete
  111. Nearly 6 in 10 Americans disapprove of the way President Obama has handled the massive oil spill and two-thirds say he has not been tough enough on BP despite his success in getting the oil giant to commit to a $20 billion fund to pay damages to individuals and businesses harmed by the disaster, according to a CNN/Opinion Research poll conducted June 16 after his Oval Office speech.

    BP Concessions

    ReplyDelete
  112. Muhammad Wada, Secretary-General of the Hamas government, dismissed the Israeli move as an attempt to “bypass” internal pressure on Israel to lift the blockade.

    He said that the region would remain in a state of “stress” and “instability” as long as the blockade on the Gaza Strip continued.

    The Hamas official also called for reopening the safe passage between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to allow Palestinians to travel freely.


    Halt to Closure

    ReplyDelete
  113. Kyrgyzstan interim leader Roza Otunbayeva has flown to Osh in the south of the country after the worst ethnic violence in two decades.

    ...

    About 300,000 people have fled their homes, while another 75,000-100,000 people - not counting children - are thought to have taken refuge in Uzbekistan.

    ...

    The ICRC says its workers have reached refugees in the areas around Osh.


    Osh Visit

    ReplyDelete
  114. Japan's finance minister said Friday he will take the prime minister's suggestion that the nation's sales tax be doubled from 5% to 10% into consideration while working on an overhaul of the tax system.

    Finance Minister Yoshihiko Noda made the comments following surprise remarks by Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday suggesting he would hike the consumption tax rate to 10% in the coming years--a politically risky proposal ahead of an Upper House election scheduled for July 11.

    ...

    In February 1994, then Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa suddenly announced plans to push the rate up to 7% from 3%. But Hosokawa dropped the plan the next day after his failure to explain the rationale for the increase set off a public backlash.


    Sales Tax

    ReplyDelete
  115. As far as I'm concerned, I'm for Francisco Franco, there was a MAN.

    mee'mi

    Pronounced me-me

    I am the image you want in your mirror.

    O Quirk, can't you see me. Me-me?

    ReplyDelete
  116. Osh Kosh bygosh does not pertain in the 'Stans.

    ReplyDelete
  117. Doug, it's all bs. Now we've got a guy willing to testify, and he was in a position to know, there ain't no birth certificate, and everybody knows it.

    And that don't even touch the issue of if he is a "Natural Born Citizen", or not.

    We are being had.

    ReplyDelete
  118. "The governor said the problem is there's still no single person giving a "yes" or "no." While the Gulf Coast governors have developed plans with the Coast Guard's command center in the Gulf, things begin to shift when other agencies start weighing in, like the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "

    Alabama's Guv says they must answer to 13 federal agencies.

    Each with the power to veto their proposal!!!

    So they spend days getting the Coast Gaurd's approval, only to have the EPA veto the plan.

    Return to Go, and start over, do not collect $200.

    ReplyDelete
  119. Jesus Christ, the guy ran the records of voting department, in Hawaii, and he swears, up and down.

    Get your ass in gear, Pinneapple!

    It's up to you!

    ReplyDelete
  120. GWB replaced Brownie with the magnificent General Honore, and granted a blanket waiver to the Jones Act.

    BHO callously continues to cater to his constituencies, the unions,
    no matter what the cost to people and the environment.

    ReplyDelete
  121. I am a loyal subject of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

    Far be it for me betray my lowly status.

    ReplyDelete
  122. Get your ass in gear, Pinneapple!


    grrrrrrnifgt, night, Doug.

    ReplyDelete
  123. Chickenshit.

    Goodnight Doug, we all have to protect our own.

    ReplyDelete
  124. And some do a better job of it, than others.

    ReplyDelete
  125. Gaza, June 18 (Xinhua) -- A senior official of the Gaza-ruling Islamic Hamas movement announced Friday that the Palestinian National Authority and Egypt have agreed to the ideas raised by the movement to complete the reconciliation and ending internal division.

    ReplyDelete
  126. I'll fight for my Pineapple armorial bearings, but little else.

    Pineapple Juice runs deep and wide.

    ReplyDelete
  127. Damn! and here I thought you were my 'hero'.

    Say, I've been reading a book my wife brought home called "Ghost Soldiers" about the death march from Bataan, and a rescue mission, and, it's a little different than we usually think. The Jap Genneral, Humma or Homma? USA educated, kinda pro British in a way, cheater on his cheating wife, wasn't that bad a guy, they had overestimated, way big, the number of captives they would have to move, and things broke down. Not to excuse the Nip, but the chain of command broke down. Pretty interesting book. The Jap General had been educated in the USA, wrote poetry, and, if he'd have had a computer, would have fallen in love over the internet. Our guys never did call it the death march, that was our press, they called it 'the hike'.

    Wasn't a lot of fun.

    ReplyDelete
  128. Right, a close family friend, Basil Quizon, survivor of the march refered to it as a walk in the park, supervised by misunderstood Japs.

    WTF?

    ReplyDelete