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New Media and Politics - News From The Gulf: Top-Kill
The name BP decided upon - ""top-kill" - for their attempt at stopping the oil and gas from continuously spewing into the Gulf of Mexico is thick with dark irony. There are no laughs here sadly, merely devastation. As for what they've killed so far, no one can tell - other than the livelihoods of fisherman in the Gulf.
Scientists took a trip aboard a research vessel called the F..G. Walton Smith, and what they found is ominous as far as long-term consequences of the spill are concerned: Still uncertain are the fates of deep coral reefs that live in the gulf, as well as the condition of a unique cluster of bottom-dwelling organisms only nine miles from the damaged well. The ultimate impact the spill will have on commercially important fish like tuna and snapper is anyone’s guess.
First reports of the gigantic plumes of oil were of course met with skepticism by BP and the government. It's hard not get a little angry because when I first saw these reports and linked them to the many credible reports that the spill was far greater than BP was claiming, it made perfect sense. The oil had to be somewhere - even with the massive campaign of dispersant use.
There are now credible reports that other plumes have been located: ...word would come that a separate university vessel, the Weatherbird II, had discovered a giant plume stretching in the other direction from the broken well, toward Mobile Bay. That one threatens some of the finest fishing territory in the gulf.
This morning come reports that say the "top kill" procedure is not working.
While people seem to have come rather quickly to the realization that BP does not have anyone but their own best interests at heart and it is having an effect on their bottom line that has not stopped the whores in thrall to big oil from doing their daily dirty work on behalf of the industry. Rayola Dougher speaking on behalf of the American Petroleum Institute (API) proves herself a truly abominable person - I guess big fat bank accounts make it easy to sleep at night while you're f***ing up the planet and people's lives. As recently as April the API were busy fighting new fuel standards and claiming the EPA were deluded. Profit Uber Alles!
There are signs that this disaster, while not unprecedented, is making people think about alternatives to endless fossil fuel use - call it a sheen covered lining.
Unlike the previous president, when faced with a crisis Obama takes charge immediately and when things don't go swimmingly he takes responsibility. Today Obama spoke about the ongoing gusher in the Gulf and answered the toughest questions he could get from a hostile press corps. He chose his questioners knowing exactly what he'd get. I know the names so well myself that I could have predicted the kinds of questions he'd be asked. No one said change was easy - in fact I do believe it was he previous guy in charge who said, "presidentin' is hard work!"
This is how he concluded his opening statements: “In the meantime, my job is to get this fixed. And in case anybody wonders — in any of your reporting, in case you’re wondering who’s responsible, I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down.
“That doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy. It doesn’t mean it’s going to happen right away or the way I’d like it to happen. It doesn’t mean that we’re not going to make mistakes. But there shouldn’t be any confusion here. The federal government is fully engaged, and I’m fully engaged.”
Go watch the entire presser on youtube here. (I'm having a tough time posting videos here - sorry for having to send you elsewhere - even if it is to my site.)
He took some concrete steps about future drilling today: He suspended planned exploratory drilling in the Arctic Ocean off of Alaska until at least 2011. Canceled a pending lease sale in the Gulf of Mexico and a proposed lease sale off the Virginia coast. Continued an existing moratorium on any new offshore drilling and suspended the issuance of new deepwater well permits for six months. He also suspended action on 33 deepwater exploratory wells being drilled in the Gulf of Mexico.
So make of it what you will. There are massive risks in owning this BP disaster - if oil keeps spilling it will be him who takes the blame; not the incompetent and greedy who are actually responsible. It could be a defining moment for him, and whether or not that's fair is unimportant.
Personally, I believe Obama is a thoughtful and pretty conservative man who is doing the toughest job in the world. My only criticism (and it's small beer) is that he hasn't been forceful enough in standing up for his beliefs and those that elected him. But then he's President of the entire US not just those who voted for him. Still, he got a health care reform bill passed and today they repealed don't ask don't tell to count among his accomplishments and he is just getting started. Sadly the spill in the Gulf doesn't have that kind of time to be made right and it could derail the rest of his agenda. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
In a previous post about the BP Valdez I talked about the 1979 spill of more than 126 million gallons of oil in the Gulf by the Ixtoc I - here's an interesting scientific article on the difference between the spills and why the results will probably not mirror one another. A couple of interesting notes in the article, one being that the Exxon spill was probably far greater than the oft reported figure of 11 million barrels. and was more likely upwards of 24 million and he debunks the ""no oil was spilled during Katrina" myth.
News May 28 2010
News Produced by Drew Pascoe, read by Erica Fisher
Stories by Alina Gotcherian, Jose Espinoza, and Jonothan Moore.
The Canadian Senate Gets Busy and Other Unlikely Stories
If you're rubbing your eyes or you're sitting there thinking to yourself, "Good one Karl! Always room for more sarcasm when discussing Canada's sleepy Senate." Well, think again. Members of the Senate are unhappy with Harper's omnibus style budget that is loaded with crap that has nothing to do with the budget and are getting ready to carve it up. They even have the support of Progressive Conservative Senator Lowell Murray.
Since Bill C-9 is a confidence matter that could bring down the government if it is defeated, the Conservative government has stacked it with measures that the opposition finds unpalatable. They are unlikely to act on this as the political parties are all led by not so brave men who spend all their time reading polls and do not want to go to the polls right now.
One of its more egregious proposals would exempt a wide range of commercial projects from rules designed to protect the environment - does this idea make you think of the Deepwater Horizon? And the cabinet would have the right to sell off the country’s nuclear corporation, Atomic Energy of Canada, without parliamentary approval. Top it all off with Harper's law and order obsession - Harper seems intent on sending more Canadians to prison at a time when crime in Canada is decreasing - and and it's altogether a nasty sh** sandwich they're serving up to Canadians.
Good for the Senate!
You're going to love this: Mexican president Felipe Calderon, embarrassed his host Stephen Harper at a joint press conference, stating, "We cannot wait for the developed countries to make a decision. Some of them, like the U.S., could take another eternity to decide on what they had decided since the Kyoto Protocol. We know that the quality of life, and the future, is at risk. And I mean the future of a great deal of humanity.”
Mexico will host the next round of UN-sponsored climate change talks in Cancun at the end of November, and in a speech to the House of Commons earlier in the day, Calderon that stressed the need for Canadian leadership on climate change.
Needless to say, asking for Harper to lead on anything other than American ass-kissing is a long shot at best.
Here's what our MP's do in Parliament most every day - one of the main issues of the day was nyah-nah-nah nyah-nah!
This is a problem all across North America and even sexy, urbane Montreal is not exempt - black youths get targeted unfairly by Montreal police and are more than twice as likely to be arrested as white teens.
The one billion dollar plus pricetag of the coming G8 and G20 summits are on everyone's mind and so the Liberals have asked for an audit. I don't believe that's going to change much. The real problem is these events are staged - it's all pro-forma - and everything has already been agreed to in advance. This meet-up is entirely for show and at these prices it's a shameful waste.
Were you aware that by 2021 the elderly will outnumber kids? The number of people over 65 will more than double, from 4.7 million in 2009 to between 9.9 million and 10.9 million by 2036. Seniors will surpass children aged 14 and under between 2015 and 2021.
To close with a bit of good news, the Nature Conservancy of Canada has bought 14 square kilometres of land in an environmentally sensitive area of southwestern Ontario that is home to dozens of endangered species of animals and plants. The land will help fill in gaps between areas that are already protected, giving the threatened wildlife more terrain to live in and increasing its chance of survival.
New Media and Politics - The Promised Land!
Okay, that's a bit of a reach but tonight for the first time since the Deepwater Horizon blew up and the spill in the Gulf began I read the words I've been longing to hear from those in power. The Democratic leader of the Senate, Harry Reid: "This is an opportunity for us as a country to move away from fossil fuel, to do a better job of looking at renewable energies that are available to us all over this country." Hallelujah!
It's more than just the ongoing spill, we know that in our mad efforts to burn cheap fossil fuels more accidents of this nature will happen - read an interesting analysis of how and why at Discovery News which includes a look at how much longer we can continue down this path (hint: It ain't for long!). Global carbon emissions are predicted to increase by 43% by 2035. The emissions rise will be driven by a 49 per cent increase in the world’s energy consumption over the same period. Developing Asia will account for 35 per cent of the increase. That's not a sustainable path.
There's a report today that Arctic ice is shrinking faster now than in it did in 2007 and is on pace to break dubious records. This, from the above link, caught my eye: True multi-year ice - the thick, hard stuff that stops ships - now comprises 18 per cent of the Arctic ice pack. In 1981, when Prof. Barber first went north, that figure was 90 per cent.
Maybe a 1 in a 1,000 year events like that which recently hit Tennessee will make people sit up and take notice that something is out of kilter? Or the longest drought in Northwest Africa in 900 years? Nah!
Sadly we do not face our climate tipping points alone - we manage to imperil every living thing around us as well.
Tonight On Hooked On Sonics!
NXNE Managing Director Andy McLean calls in to Hooked on Sonics to talk about NXNE, how it started, where it's going, the lineup, and what this year's fest is gonna do to your sleep routine. Also, Omar Goodness will be giving away one NXNE wristband!
And stay tuned for the Sonics Selection, Track from Way Back, and 90's Classique segments!
Hooked on Sonics *now THURSDAYS* 6-8pm ET www.cjlo.com
News May 26th 2010
Read and produced by Lachlan Fletcher.
Stories written by Emily Brass, Matthew Phelps and Gareth Sloan.
New Media and Politics - Why Aren't Canadians Pissed Off?
The more I sift through the Canuck news on a daily basis the more frustrated I become. I don't understand why that frustration is not shared and why complacency is the order of the day. Near as I can tell both the Liberals and the NDP have been given the gift of Harper, an obfuscating idealogue whose policies do not reflect how most Canadians feel on... pick a topic!
They should be eager to go to the polls and run against the policies of the Conservatives, yet clearly they are not. Do they feel unable to articulate these differences and afraid run stictly on matters of policy and principle - as opposed to personality? If so, both Iggy and Layton should retire immediately then and let people with courage take their place.
Sadly, Canadians lost another soldier in Afghanistan on Monday - Trooper Lary Rudd. The 26-year-old Brantford, Ont., native was killed when an improvised explosive device went off underneath him on Monday. He was on patrol near the village of Salavat in Afghanistan’s Panjwai district, about 20 kilometres southwest of Kandahar City. Heartfelt condolences.
Our brave MP's who have not experienced an audit of their expenses in 20 years are doing everything possible to avoid one now. Sheila Fraser is quite right in suggesting that if they've nothing to hide there really should be no problems. As it's Canadian taxpayers money at stake here, there really should be an audit every five years or so - anything else just encourages corruption.
Of course we are dealing with a government that does everything in their power to fight transparency - in fact, it looks like they are gunning for another showdown with Parliment as there's new Tory policy that says only cabinet ministers and not their political staff can appear as witnesses before parliamentary committees. House leader Jay Hill pathetically blamed the opposition and decried the "tyranny of the opposition majority." Conservatives the world over are consistent - whenever they disagree with the rule of law and don't like what's happening, they claim victimhood. In a democracy that tyranny of the majority will get you every time!
Speaking of tyranny of the majority, someone should tell Cardinal, Marc Ouellet that Canadians have had the debate and favour choice by a 2 -1 margin. Maybe he'd like a debate on whether or not churches should retain their tax free status I'm against it, especially if they're going to get involved in politiics. Still, you won't catch me shoving my opinion down his throat. It'd be nice if he'd reciprocate, but I'm not holding my breath.
Bad news on infant mortality in Canada - we've dropped from 6th to 24th. The main causes cited by researchers were poverty, isolation, premature births and to some degree, the way the data are collected. Finally, good news about teenage birth and abortion rates across Canada, which have dropped by 36.9% as a result of progressive policies that include sex-ed and acceptance of adolescent sexuality.
New Media and Politics - BP's Folly
As a strategy, being arrogant jerks hasn't worked out very well for BP. Tony Hayward has quickly weasled his way into the top ten most hated people on the planet (conjecture) and he's made his company massively unpopular. There's talk of debarment and boycotts but there's something else going on. You can feel it in the news reports and the comments written at the news sites - people are disgusted by BP's behaviour since the spill.
ABC's Good Morning America sent Sam Champion and Phillipe Cousteau to dive right into the affected area in the Gulf. It's pretty disgusting and alarming and yet as much as I'm sure BP doesn't want you to see that video (posted below), I do believe that the images of an imperious Tony Hayward barking directions on a public beach are far more damaging to their reputation. Have a listen and the reasons become clear. There's more than hubris and arrogance here - this guy has a sense of entitlement beyond all understanding.
For all the discovery by Americans of how terrible BP's safety record has been in the past -In just the last few years, BP has paid $485 million in fines and settlements to the US government for environmental crimes, willful neglect of worker safety rules, and penalties for manipulating energy markets. - and the series of failures that led to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon and oil gushing into the Gulf at estimated rates of somewhere between 25,000 and 95,000 barrels per day - it is their behaviour since that threatens their very existence the most. Blowouts and spills have happened before - Exxon screwed everyone in and around Prince William Sound and that didn't create anger on the level we're now witnessing. Their constant lying about the spill rate may be one reason - turns out BP may be charged by the barrel. But I think there's something else - it's the sociopathic manner in which they've conducted themselves since. As if only they mattered, not the delicate eco-systems and marine life upon which so many are dependent for their livelihoods.
Stephen Harper - Assalogue!
A question was posed here on the site some time ago was, Stephen Harper, ass or idealogue? The answer we (NM&P editorial staff) came up with, after much debate, was both! That required a new word and the word we felt most appropriate was assalogue (sancithole was a close 2nd).
Today, news from Parliment revealed itself to us and we dust that word off and scream it from the rooftops, ASSALOGUE!
The Globe & Mail is reporting that on the issue of the maternal health care initiative, Harper and his fellow sanctiholes ignored the advice of their own civil servants when they excluded funding from organizations that include providing abortion as part of their overall programs to assist women in the developing world. The numbers are staggering and damning from the standpoint of human decency. - The Globe and Mail reports:
Each year, some 500,000 women die during pregnancy or while giving birth, and 9 million children die before they reach the age of five, according to CIDA statistics compiled for the minister.
The document, approved by CIDA president Margaret Biggs, also highlights the fact that about 2.5 million teenagers have unsafe abortions each year and tend to be more seriously affected by complications.
The Harper government chose to target child and maternal health during the upcoming G8 meetings and then behave like the only constituency they answer to in Canada are the Christian right. Canadians favour choice by a margin of 2 -1. As PM of all of Canada it is Harper's duty to respect their wishes and views on such issues - when so many lives are at stake you'd think common decency would triumph over ideology. Maybe assalogue is the wrong word... how's coward sound?
News May 24 2010
Read by Emily Brass
Produced by Emily Brass and Nicholas Fiscina
Stories written by Chris Hanna, Sarah Deshaies, and Jose Espinoza
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