The Gulf's fine. BP told us so

Oh, yeah?

Officials remain baffled over source of oil slick as Louisiana coastline is oiled again

Suckers.

Link to original story:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110322/ts_yblog_thelookout/officials-remain-baffled-over-source-of-oil-slick-as-louisiana-coastline-is-oiled-again

Dolphin deaths on the Gulf Coast

Scientists are doing the work now on dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico--it seems 53 of them have washed up on beaches dead when the norm is far lower at 2 per year, from what I've read.

Scientists scrutinize rise in baby dolphin deaths

NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Scientists are trying to figure out what killed 53 bottlenose dolphins - many of them babies - so far this year in the Gulf of Mexico, as five more of their carcasses washed up Thursday in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.

It's likely to be months before they get back lab work showing what caused the spontaneous abortions, premature births, deaths shortly after birth and adult deaths said Blair Mase, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's stranding coordinator for the Gulf Coast.

Moby Solangi, director of the Institute for Marine Mammal Studies in Gulfport, said he'd never seen anything like the calf deaths, or found word of anything like it in 30 years of records from his area - Alabama, Mississippi and east Louisiana.

I have to say, however, that, given the whole oil spill ordeal and the dispersants put on the Gulf, it seems difficult to believe that there wouldn't be a correlation between these deaths and the nightmare that was the oil spill. 

No conclusion, for sure and no "presumed guilty" but it sure seems highly likely, don't you think?

For now, we'll stay tuned.

Links:  http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEAD_DOLPHINS?SITE=JRC&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/scientists-investigating-dolphin-deaths-in-gulf-say-bp-oil-spill-is/1153647

Things we need to remember from 2010

Sure, it's one thing to "move on" and get on with the new year and that's fine but there are things from this year just past we need to remember, in part so they're handled and the people are not forgotten.  In part, too, so people who are responsible aren't let "off the hook" for their responsibilities.

Herewith, then, are some of the biggest:

--In January of last year, the desperately poor people of Haiti were struck by a devastating earthquake, from which they are still recovering.  They deserve to not be forgotten;

--The BP oil disaster which began at the end of April.  We certainly can't forget this happened.  We can't forget the devastation, both natural and economic, at least, that it reeked on the Gulf region.  We can't forget that so many millions of barrels of oil gushed into the area and we can't forget that it's still down there, doing more harm.  We have to hold BP responsible for all the damage inflicted, and truly for years;

--We can't forget the April earthquake that struck the island Sumatra in Indonesia and the devastation that wrought.  These people need our help--the help of all of us in the world;

--We can't forget the October earthquake on that same island of Sumatra and for the same reasons as above;

--Then there was the October tsunami that struck--again--Indonesia.  These people had a rough, rough year;

--Then there was Hurricane Tomas that then struck already-hurting Haiti.  It's crucial we don't forget--and so, abandon--the Haitian people.

--We need to remember that our health care system is badly, badly broken and needs fixing.  Too many big businesses are sucking far too much money out of our personal, individual accounts and out of the national budgets.  That and too many people are either going without care or simply, worst case scenario, dying.  It's badly fixed and needs fixing and as soon as possible.  What little remedy we got this year with the Health Care Reform Act of 2010 should absolutely not be revoked and should, instead, be augmented with more stipulations, beginning with a "public option" for insurance;

--Finally, we need to remember that we're all Americans and that we're in a bit of one heckuva bad economy right now and that we need to be Americans and work together to solve our problems.  And for you and me, the "person on the street", if you will, that's all well and good but what we really need to get in this new year is representatives in government--particularly in the US House of Representatives--that want and need our government to work for all of us, the people, and not just for the representatives and not simply against the opposing political party.  We don't have enough time on our clock to waste with in-fighting between these political parties.

There is no doubt more but I thought these the "biggest of the big" and things that needed to be kept in mind, in case we can help any or all of these people in the new year.

It seems crazy that we fight all these obscene wars around the world when we should be taking all that manpower, materiel and just plain money and start just helping each other with all the natural disasters we face each year, let alone the poverty, homelessness, disease and starvation.

But that would make too much sense, right?

Let's hope it's a happy new year, indeed.

Links:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Tomas_(2010)
http://yearinreview.yahoo.com/2010/us_natural_disasters#Natural Disasters
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:2010_natural_disasters
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100905151748AAONyZk
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE69P0QN20101026
http://sickothemovie.com/checkup/

Quote of the day--on the Gulf oil spill

You really can't truly grasp the magnitude of it until you're out here. This thing has been gushing oil for over a month now. And it's been nonstop. I think that it's just beginning. This oil is starting to come ashore. And what you're seeing now, it is going to keep impacting for some time.

And it's got everyone on this coast frightened -- frightened and angry. One oyster fisherman I was out with, he said, you know, this is not just the fish and the fishermen. It's our whole culture. All of Southern Louisiana is affected by this. --Gerald Herbert, AP Photographer



Link to original post:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/environment/jan-june10/oil3_05-26.html

Brilliant silver linings to ugly, ugly clouds

The "clouds" I'm speaking of?

The first is Arizona's law against the illegal immigrants, creating their ability to profile and arrest at will.

The silver lining to that one is that it has solidified the immigrants, Hispanics, Liberals and the Left against this law and its tactics and has even now moved the Federal Government to address the situation.

The second "cloud" is the whole mess down in the Gulf of Mexico, with the oil spill.

This just out :

Reuters is reporting that another offshore drilling rig has overturned in the gulf coast, this time in inland waters close to Morgan City, LA.

This has already been predicted to be possibly another of the worst environmental disasters in the country's history, before this 2nd rig went down.

Now?

Fugghedaboudit.

It's going to be one raging, bloody mess.

The "silver lining" to this environmental cloud is you can pretty much forget about expanding drilling for oil off the coasts of the US for the forseeable future.

There's more, too--another beautiful lining to this, I think, because it's believed right now that Halliburton may be culpable for the cementing on the first oil rig that blew.

Sorry, but if someone's to blame for this and it turns out it's Halliburton, that's just the best scenario I can imagine.

Well, it is unless somehow Dick Cheney's signature is on the sign-off for it.


Have a great weekend, y'all.

Cheers

Today, as you've likely heard, is the day of the final burial and memorial service for Senator Ted Kennedy, along with the 4th annual anniversary of Hurricane Katrina coming onshore in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.

Raise a glass, sometime today, to the working class, the little men and women of our society--and the people who work for them, however few there are.




Have a great weekend, y'all.