Palin Fan Fail

Palin Supporters Showcase Their Desire to Make Sarah Palin Look Like She Is Knowledgeable About Something, Anything, and Fail Yet Again!

Sarah Palin was recently a guest on the Bill O'Reilly show, and she once again allowed her ignorance to shine bright on national television due to her inescapably obvious jealousy of the President of the United States.  Her anger at him has been obvious, and while her supporters like to portray it as being something that is expected due to his inexperience, it is really an emotion she has a hard time controlling due to her inability to accept she did not succeed in the last presidential election.  She pit herself not against Joe Biden with whom she was actually running against, but against the top spot on the presidential ticket because that is the title she covets.

So, onto the Bill O'Reilly show.  Bill did a marvelous job of showing her to be the ignorant and ranting fool that she is, and all he had to do was ask her questions.  The fact is he didn't even ask tough questions, instead questions like, "what would you do", and she couldn't even answer that.  She ranted about stopping the leaking well in the gulf and yet when Bill pointed out that no one knew how to stop the well, she did not let that deter her from continuing her anger filled diatribe against President Obama.   She claimed that the Dutch were never called back and that both they and the Norwegian had offered to help but "couldn't even get the proverbial call back".

You can watch the entertaining exchange if you'd like.




Now as expected many started immediately laughing at Sarah for her Dutch Dike image and why not, as she is known for not being accurate in her claims. In fact more than a few people were willing to show how easily Sarah stretches the truth to embellish her own record.
Palingates did a story about part of this interview: Sarah Palin, still lying about her record regarding the oil industry in Alaska; Sarah Palin, in her attempts to undermine President Obama, continues to make wild claims about her tough stance when she dealt with the oil companies in Alaska before she quit the office of governor. They did quite a good job showing just how far Sarah tends to go in order to try and smear President Obama and make herself seem important.


Now Palin Supporters are doing some serious twisting of the facts in order to attempt to make Sarah's claims seem accurate and it truly is a sight to behold, especially in light of the actual facts.

The blog "Conservatives4Palin" posted this commentary yesterday:

FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 2010

Guess What? The Dutch Want to Build a Sand Dike to Help with the Obama Oil Spill

By Ian Lazaran 

....................
The left should probably ask themselves why nobody in the mainstream media in America has criticized Palin for her comments about the Dutch. They haven't done so probably because they know that Governor Palin is absolutely correct. Barack Obama rejected assistance from the Dutch untilvery recently and he has failed to accept all the help that the Dutch have offered. What help from the Dutch has Barack Obama failed to accept?

The government is also making it difficult for the Dutch to provide assistance in creating sand barriers to prevent the spilled oil from reaching the gulf shores. Van Oord, a Dutch company and Deltares, a Dutch research institute provided plans to build 60 mile sand dikes and the government rebuffed their offer of assistance. The government has now changed it’s tune and has accepted the plan, but the Jones Act prevents the Dutch from operating in America’s coastal waters.

This article tells us that Barack Obama's failure to waive the Jones Act has prevented the Dutch from implementing its plan to build a.....sand dike, which is exactly the type of expertise that Governor Palin claimed the Dutch would bring. The article also tells us that Governor Palin is correct that Obama has only accepted some, but not all, of the help that the Dutch has offered due to his failure to waive the Jones Act.

It's pretty telling that Yglesias is the only liberal willing to come forward and concede that Governor Palin was "right" (his characterization of what Palin said, not mine). And liberals have the gall to claim that the right is suffering from epistemic closure?

**********************************************************************************
(I did not copy the entire article, only the truly relevant portions when taken into consideration what Sarah Palin was stating in her interview with Bill O'Reilly. )

Let's tackle the main points and go from there shall we?   Sarah claimed "The Dutch could not even get a proverbial call back" and that they have expertise in Dikes.

Now The Dutch did get a call back. Even they admitted as such:

Three days after BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, the Netherlands offered to help. Ships could have set about clearing the oil using Dutch sweeping arms, but the US government didn’t take up the offer. Dutch Consul General Geert Visser in Houston told Radio Netherlands Worldwide he was disappointed.

The article also went on to state:

Not only capricious US decision-making has made life difficult for the Dutch companies, but also protective US legislation. Consul General Geert Visser’s pet hate is the Jones Act: “It means that Dutch ships, or whatever other ships not under a US flag, can’t operate in US waters.” According to the Jones Act, all goods in US waters have to be transported by US ships.

Dutch Counsel Slams Foot Dragging by U.S. In Oil Spill

Now clearly the Dutch got a call back as they are complaining that their offer was not accepted on the 3rd day after the rig explosion. It also sounds like the Dutch have a bit of a problem with the Jones Act itself so perhaps they are more than willing to show their displeasure with that "thanks but no thanks" by taking a bit of a pot shot at the U.S. with regards to the oil spill simply because of their anger with the Jones Act?

So Sarah lied about that, and her supporters even prove it by linking to the article that shows they did indeed get a call back. They are obviously unwilling to admit to that part though. Why point out the obvious when it is much easier to just go with her lie and pretend like her claims are truthful.


Now, as to the response to the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion and collapse, the Dutch claim that they offered to send help 3 days after the rig explosion, but it wasn't until the 4th day that the oil started showing up as leaking out of the riser pipe below the surface, prior to that there was simply oil from the platform, and based on those on scene, additional help was not really needed.  Now lets just give them the benefit of the doubt and say that they are talking about 3 days after the initial explosion took place, that puts the date at the 24th, which is when the first signs of oil was leaking out of the riser pipe, but it was not known at that point that it was going to be the huge or long lasting gusher that it has become.  BP was still the ones calling the shots at that point as they were "the responsible party" and therefore the ones  who were responsible for all efforts.  So, instead of being angry at President Obama, the anger should be directed at BP for their refusal of aide, but the Palin crowd can't let a chance to screech at the President go to waste.

April 20, 2010: 9:45 p.m. CDT - Deepwater Horizon catches fire.
April 21, 2010  Coast Guard rear admiral Mary Landry named Federal On Scene Coordinator
April 22, 2010  10:21 am - Rig sinks.
April 23, 2010  Coast Guard rear adm. Mary Landry tells CBS "At this time, there is no crude emanating from that wellhead at the ocean surface, er, at the ocean floor...There is not oil emanating from the riser either
April 24 - BP reports a leak 1,000 barrels (42,000 US gallons; 160 cubic metres) a day.


Here is the Response Timeline:
Deepwater Horizon Response

Here is the Timeline of events:
Wiki: Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon Events

So, despite the anger by the Dutch at the fact that the response team didn't need their help on the 3rd day as there was no noticeable leaking at that point, it was the correct response to make at the time.  It should also be mentioned that since that time, the Dutch have again offered their help by way of skimmers and that help has been accepted, and with no waiver of the Jones Act needed.   Now if you want to argue that the Unified Command was late in accepting that help, I will have no problem admitting that fact.  The Coast Guard was simply stupid to allow BP to make the final call on these decisions for as long as they have.  When it was obvious that BP was not putting the needed effort into the clean up of the spill, the Coast Guard should have taken total control of the clean up effort, but it didn't and still hasn't.

You will also notice that there is a constant reference to the Jones Act. The Jones Act was set up to protect the American worker.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (P.L. 66-261) is a United States Federal statute that regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports.

Section 27, also known as the Jones Act, deals with cabotage (i.e., coastal shipping) and requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents. The purpose of the law is to support the U.S. merchant marine industry, but agricultural interests generally oppose it because, they contend, it raises the cost of shipping their goods, making them less competitive with foreign sources.

In addition, amendments to the Jones Act, known as the Cargo Preference Act (P.L. 83-644), provide permanent legislation for the transportation of waterborne cargoes in U.S.-flag vessels.

(The cabotage provisions restrict the carriage of goods or passengers between United States ports to U.S. built and flagged vessels. In addition, at least 75 percent of the crewmembers must be U.S. citizens. Moreover foreign repair work of U.S.-flagged vessels' hull and superstructure is limited to 10 percent foreign-built steel weight.[2] This restriction largely prevents American shipowners from refurbishing their ships at overseas shipyards.)

Merchant Marine Act of 1920


Now there has been constant complaints that we are not able to get help due to the fact that the Jones Act has not been officially waived, and yet that rates as a 'true but barely" on the Truth O'Meter scale.

Thad Allen sets up accelerated Jones Act waiver process

National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen today announced the development of specific guidance to ensure accelerated processing of requests for Jones Act waivers should they be received as a part of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill response.

Currently, though 15 foreign-flagged vessels are involved in the response, but no Jones Act waivers have been granted nor required for the operations in which they are engaged.

However, in order to prepare for any potential need, Admiral Allen has provided guidance to the Coast Guard Federal On-Scene Coordinator, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), and the U.S. Maritime Administration to ensure any Jones Act waiver requests receive urgent attention and processing.

"While we have not seen any need to waive the Jones Act as part of this historic response, we continue to prepare for all possible scenarios," said Admiral Allen. "Should any waivers be needed, we are prepared to process them as quickly as possible to allow vital spill response activities being undertaken by foreign-flagged vessels to continue without delay."

To date, the administration has leveraged assets and skills from numerous foreign countries and international organizations as part of this historic, all-hands-on-deck response, including Canada, Germany, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, the United Nations' International Maritime Organization and the European Union's Monitoring and Information Centre. In some cases, offers of international assistance have been turned down because the offer didn't fit the needs of the response.

Generally, federal law prohibits a foreign-flagged vessel from transporting merchandise between points in the United States encompassed by the Coastwise laws. CBP makes determinations as to whether or not the Jones Act applies to the activities of a foreign-flagged vessel operating within U.S. waters.

Even if the Jones Act applies, a foreign flagged vessel can still conduct certain planned operations as part of the BP oil spill response if the vessel is an oil spill response vessel and meets the requirements of 46 USC section 55113.

The guidance provided by Admiral Allen would route waivers related to the BP oil spill response through the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, who will forward requests immediately through the National Incident Commander for expedited clearance.

A Jones Act waiver can be submitted by any interested party, either inside or outside the U.S. government.

Marine Log

So as has been reported repeatedly and more often ignored, there has been no need to waive the Jones Act, and by not doing so it has not stopped any help from being offered or accepted in the Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Containment & Clean Up.   Color me surprised that this is ignored by those who are desperate to find anything they can to complain about when it comes to the current administration, even if it means making things up which seems to be about all they have nowadays, when as I see it there are plenty of legitimate things you can complain about.

Now lets move onto these claims that the Dutch want to build 60 mile Sand Dikes to help protect the wetland.

What about these Sand Berm's or Dike's?

Are they the best option? Will they work?

The U.S. Army Corps had objected to parts of the plan, saying too many berms would alter tidal movements and send oil spilling onto neighboring Mississippi.The approved berms make up about half of an 86-mile network considered a last-ditch attempt to keep oil out of the state's fragile marshes.

"Rather than just say 'No way' the prudent thing to do was start a pilot project and keep asking questions," Allen said Thursday during a news conference in Venice.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said BP PLC, which is responsible for the spill's cleanup, would pay for the first section to be built, at Scofield Island. He said the oil company would pay for the other five if the Army Corps deems the Scofield berm successful.

Shreveport Times

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is desperate: millions of gallons of BP’s crude are launching an amphibious assault on his beaches and wetlands. So let’s do the math: desperation + a pol’s “do something” mentality = a loony decision to build 14-foot sand berms to protect the state’s coastline—a decision that bodes ill for the many others the state will face as BP’s oil gushes at least until August.

Before this, Jindal was known to scientists as the governor who in 2008 signed a law allowing the state’s public schools to teach creationism (excuse me! “intelligent design”) in their classrooms. The difficulty he has distinguishing science from faith reared its ugly head again when he cast about for a way to hold back BP’s oil. Emissaries from Jindal’s office have made regular pilgrimages to the Netherlands to consult with engineers about protecting the state’s coasts from the next Katrina. Van Oord, a marine engineering and dredging company that is constructing the artificial Palm Islands for Dubai, proposed building what amounts to artificial sandbars. “If you ask a Dutch company that builds artificial islands in Dubai how to protect marshlands and barrier islands,” says coastal geologist Rob Young of Western Carolina University, “of course they’ll say, ‘Let’s make an offshore island!—and shall we put a palm tree on it for you?’

Nothing like this has ever been tried, and the potential problems are legion. For starters, the 45 miles of berms the Army Corps of Engineers has OK’d will take six months to build, and “is going to start to erode and disappear immediately,” says Young. “I wouldn’t be surprised if by the time they get to the end the beginning is gone—and that’s without a storm.” (Scientists predict this hurricane season will be one of the worst in years.)

But heck, it’s BP’s money ($360 million for the berms alone, to be constructed by The Shaw Group Inc. of Baton Rouge, though the feds and state would have to front it and hope to be repaid), so who cares if the berms have to be rebuilt over and over? The real problem could be if they last long enough to block inlets that carry water to the wetlands on shore. If that happens, notes Young, “organisms that need to move in and out with tidal flushing won’t. You could kill the wetlands without the oil ever reaching them.” If they don’t block the inlets, then oil will reach the wetlands, and they’ll be toast. (If you think it’s tough to clean oil from a bird or beach, try cleaning it from the roots and stems of a wetland’s grass and reeds.) Altering tidal currents could also cause erosion of the natural barrier islands that protect the coast from hurricanes. “This could do more environmental harm than good,” says Young.

Newsweek: Don't Just Do Something



Dallon Weathers, noted coastal geologist at the University of New Orleans. Dr. Weathers compiled his concerns about the concept, perhaps in response to my May 10 post. His thoughts are summarized as follow:
• The planned area of dredging 1 mile from the shoreline will provide very little usable sediment.
• The proposed location and geometry of the designed berm ensures a rapid erosion timetable.
• The trench left at dredge site will modify wave patterns and rob sediment from the coastal system for years to come.
• Closing inlets would wreak havoc on the natural functioning of estuaries and inlets which make up our coastal ecosystem.
• Dredging along our coast could sever oil and gas pipelines.
• Precious offshore sand resources will be spread diffusely and haphazardly.
• Plugging inlets will cause channel scouring and potential inlet relocation.
• Waste of money and sentiment for others to give to future restoration.
• The (proposed sand) berm won’t be ready to help with this oil spill, or last for another.

LA Coast Post

There seems to be a general consensus that these berms or dikes are a bad idea.  Why invest so much into a project that is doomed to not only fail, but in all likelihood make matters worse?  Is it really just a desire to do anything over doing something right?    Bobby Jindal has wanted these berms put in place long before the oil spill and now he has an even better excuse to use to attempt to get them put up, and what's worse is that BP will be paying for them.   I have no qualms about the fact that BP should pay for doing everything they can to not only clean up the mess, but to help find ways to prevent the disaster from becoming worse, but it seems really ignorant to have them spend that money on something that isn't going to work, when the money could go towards some other idea that will work, or someone who has lost everything due to this disaster.

When we demand that they just throw away money, then we become as reckless as they have been, and that makes us no better than they are.


So the basis for this whole article that Sarah Palins' fans have written is false.  She was not right about the fact that the Dutch did not get the proverbial phone call back, because they did.  The Jones Act is not something that is a concern, as that has been taken care of already, it has not stopped or prevented help from coming into the Gulf of Mexico to help with the oil spill.   She lied about her record, unless of course she wants to come forward and admit that she did not do what she claimed instead she simply renamed an organization that was set up by the previous administration, and then admit that despite her claims of making sure that the Oil & Gas companies were working safer, they weren't and there is documented evidence of that fact.

Detailed History, both Past & Present, of BP's Safety Violations, Spills, Fines, & Corrective Measures

We've gotten sporadic reports of BP's history of safety violations, but ProPublica has put out a new piece that covers the very detailed and egregious history that BP has with safety violations and the deliberate attack on anyone who dares to report those violations.  It is an incredibly good read and should be passed along to everyone you know.

I'll post some excerpts of it to give you an idea on what we are up against in fighting to make BP do what is right in the wake of the damage they are causing to the Gulf, its inhabitants and our country as a whole.

Years of Internal BP Probes Warned That Neglect Could Lead to Accidents

A series of internal investigations over the past decade warned senior BP managers that the company repeatedly disregarded safety and environmental rules and risked a serious accident if it did not change its ways.


Similar themes about BP operations elsewhere were sounded in interviews with former employees, in lawsuits and little-noticed state inquiries, and in e-mails obtained by ProPublica. Taken together, these documents portray a company that systemically ignored its own safety policies across its North American operations - from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico to California and Texas.

A 2001 report noted that BP had neglected key equipment needed for emergency shutdown, including safety shutoff valves and gas and fire detectors similar to those that could have helped prevent the fire and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf.

A 2004 inquiry found a pattern of intimidating workers who raised safety or environmental concerns. It said managers were shaving maintenance costs with the practice of "run to failure," under which aging equipment was used as long as possible. Accidents resulted, including the 200,000-gallon Prudhoe Bay pipeline spill in 2006, the largest ever spill on Alaska's North Slope.

During the same period, similar problems surfaced at BP facilities in California and Texas.

In 2002, California officials discovered that BP had falsified inspections of fuel tanks at a Los Angeles-area refinery and that more than 80 percent of the facilities didn't meet requirements to maintain storage tanks without leaks or damage. Inspectors were forced to get a warrant before BP allowed them to check the tanks. The company eventually settled a civil lawsuit brought by the South Coast Air Quality Management District for more than $100 million.

In 2005, an emergency warning system failed before a Texas City refinery exploded in a ball of fire. BP's investigation of that deadly accident -- conducted by a committee of independent experts -- found that "significant process safety issues exist at all five U.S. refineries, not just Texas City." It said "instances of a lack of operating discipline, toleration of serious deviations from safe operating practices, and apparent complacency toward serious process safety risk existed at each refinery." BP spokesman Odone said that after the accident the company adopted a six-point plan to update its safety systems worldwide. But last year the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined BP $87 million for failing to make safety upgrades at that same Texas plant.

It is difficult to compare safety records among companies in industries like oil exploration. Some companies drill in harsher environments. And bad luck can play a role. But independent experts say the pervasiveness of BP's problems, in multiple locales and different types of facilities, is striking.

......

In August 2006, just five months after the spill at Prudhoe Bay, a pipeline safety technician for a BP contractor in Alaska discovered a two-inch snaggle-toothed crack in the steel skin of an oil transit line. Nearby, contractors were grinding down metal welds, sending a fan of sparks shooting across the work site. The technician, Stuart Sneed, feared the sparks could ignite stray gases, or the work could make the crack worse, so he ordered the contractors to stop working.

"Any inspector knows a crack in a service pipe is to be considered dangerous and treated with serious attention," Sneed told ProPublica. "The crack could have created a hellacious leaker with people grinding on it."

But instead of receiving compliments for his prudence, Sneed -- who had also complained that week that pipeline inspectors were faking their reports -- was scolded by his supervisor for stopping the work. According to a report from BP's internal employer arbitrators, Sneed's supervisor, who hadn't inspected the crack himself, said he believed it was superficial.

The next day, according to multiple witness accounts and the report, that supervisor singled out Sneed and harassed him at a morning staff briefing. Within a couple of hours, the supervisor sent emails to colleagues soliciting complaints or safety concerns that would justify Sneed's firing. Two weeks later, after a trumped up safety infraction, he was gone.

During the investigation BP inspectors substantiated Sneed's concerns about the cracked pipe. The arbiter also investigated Sneed's account of what happened when he reported the problem. Not only did the report confirm his account, but it determined that he was among the best at his job.

"They say it's your duty to come forward," said Sneed of BP's corporate policies and public statements, "but then when you do come forward, they screw you. They'll destroy your life."

"No one up there is ever going to say anything if there is something they see is unsafe," he added. "They are not going to say a word."
.........

For years the BP subsidiary that refined and stored crude oil was allowed to inspect its own facilities for compliance with emission laws under the South Coast Air Quality Management District, the agency that regulates air quality in Los Angeles. The thinking was that companies had the technical knowledge and that self-inspection was cheaper and more efficient.

But in 2002, eight years after the program began, inspectors with the management district thought BP's inspection results looked too good to be true. Between 1999 and 2002, BP's Carson Refinery had nearly perfect compliance, reporting no tank problems and making virtually no repairs. The district began to suspect that BP was falsifying its inspection reports and fabricating its compliance with the law.

The management district sent its own inspectors to investigate, but when they tried to enter BP's plant, the company turned them away. According to Joseph Panasiti, a lawyer for the management district, the agency had to get a search warrant to conduct inspections required by state law.

When the regulators did finally get in, they found equipment in a disturbing state of disrepair. According to a lawsuit the management district later filed against the company, inspectors discovered that some tanker seals had tears that were nearly two feet long. Tank roofs had gaps and pervasive leaks, and there were enough major defects to lead to thousands of violations.

"They had been sending us reports that showed 99 percent compliance, and we found about 80 percent noncompliance," Panasiti told ProPublica. "It was clear that no matter what was said, production was put ahead of any kind of environmental compliance."

.....

Final design drawings, called "as-built" drawings, are considered an essential safety component. They prove that a piece of equipment -- say a shutoff valve or an engine winch -- was built the way it was supposed to be. Those drawings are thus the final checks to make sure the equipment operates properly. They also serve as instruction manuals for emergencies. If there is a fire on deck or a blowout, for example, operators under extreme stress and danger can use the design drawings to find the hidden kill lever that can shut an engine down before it explodes.

Abbott told ProPublica that as-built documents had been issued for only 274 of more than 7,100 pieces of equipment, the equivalent of constructing a house without having an architect or engineer sign off on the blueprint.

ProPublica Report on the Extensive History behind BP's Deliberate & Willfully Egregious Safety Violations


With the reporting we have seen on how deeply ingrained the safety violations are within the entire BP company is, on every level, it is surprising to me that they have been allowed to continue to operate.  It also shows that simply fining this company means absolutely nothing to them and they see these fines as simply the cost of doing business, rather than an attempt to get them to follow the rules and regulations set in place.


We also know that just recently.    How recently?  Tuesday, May 25, 2010.  Yes just 2 weeks ago.  This spill didn't get any real publicity due to the ongoing spill in the Gulf but it happened, and no doubt will continue to happen as long as BP is allowed to operate, as they have proven time and time again that safety is low on the list of priorities for them in scheme of things.

Oil spill shuts down Alaska pipeline

A power failure at a pump station along the trans-Alaska pipeline caused up to several thousand barrels of crude to spill into a containment area Tuesday morning. The station, which has failed before during maintenance operations, is located near Delta Junction, about a hundred miles south of Fairbanks.

The trans-Alaska pipeline is operated by Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., a consortium of five oil companies. BP, which is currently dealing with a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, owns a majority interest of 47 percent.

Alaska Dispatch Report

The 'other' spill BP will be keeping quiet

Few in the US know that BP owns the controlling stake in the transalaska pipeline. Unlike with the Deepwater Horizon rig, BP keeps its name off the big pipe.

There's another reason for the company to keep its name off the pipe - its management of it stinks. The pipe is corroded, undermanned and "basic maintenance" is a term BP has never heard of.

How does BP get away with it? The same way the Godfather got away with it, bad things happen to folks who blow the whistle. BP has a habit of hunting down and destroying the careers of those who warn of pipeline problems.

In one case, BP's CEO of Alaskan operations hired a former CIA expert to break into the home of whistleblower Chuck Hamel, who had complained of conditions at the pipe's tanker facility.

BP tapped his phone calls with a US congressman and ran a surveillance and smear campaign against him. When caught, a US federal judge said BP's acts were "reminiscent of nazi Germany."

This was not an isolated case. Captain James Woodle, once in charge of the pipe's Valdez terminus, was blackmailed into resigning from the post when he complained of disastrous conditions there. The weapon used on Woodle was a file of faked evidence of marital infidelity. Nice guys, eh?

With the Gulf Coast dying of oil poisoning, there's no space in the press for British Petroleum's most recent spill
(H/T Regina @ Palingates for this link)

BP's Cost Benefit Analysis 
The Daily Beast has obtained a document—displayed below—that goes to the heart of BP procedures, demonstrating that before the company’s previous major disaster—at a moment when the oil giant could choose between cost-savings and greater safety—it selected cost-savings. And BP chose to illustrate that choice, without irony, by invoking the classic Three Little Pigs fairy tale.

The BP spokesman, Scott Dean, tells The Daily Beast: “Those documents are several years old,” and that since then, “we have invested $1 billion into upgrading that refinery and continue to improve our safety worldwide.”

The Daily Beast Uncovers Shocking Memo re: BP's Cost Saving Analysis

So BP spokesperson Scott Dean states that they "continue to improve our safety worldwide", yet as we've seen from the ProPublica article that is just not true.  Perhaps in other parts of the world they have tried to improve safety but certainly not here and in fact they, along with others in the Oil & Gas Industry are working very hard to ensure that regulations do not get tougher for them, and are willing to spend a lot of money to see that come to fruition.

Oil Companies Weigh Strategies to Fend Off Tougher Regulations

The oil and gas industry is a formidable presence in Washington. It spent more on federal lobbying last year than all but two other industries, with $174.8 million in lobbying expenditures, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan research group.

Political action committees set up by the oil and gas producers contributed an additional $9 million last election cycle to Congressional candidates, with Koch Industries, ExxonMobil, Valero Energy and Chevron leading the way, the data showed. (BP ranked 19th, with $75,500 in contributions, most to Republicans.)

Oil & Gas Industry will Spend Millions To Help Them Fight Tougher Regulations



NASA has been keeping track of the spill and has some pretty amazing pictures of the spill and how it is spreading.  They do have an "Oil Spill Page" which you can visit and see some of the unique and varied images they offer.

This is but one example of the pictures that they have:

Ribbons and patches of oil that have leaked from the Deepwater Horizon well offshore appear silver against the light blue color of the adjacent water. Vegetation is red.





It can seem overwhelming taking in all this information, and I know first hand how distressing it can be to think of this stuff day in and day out, but we have to stay informed, we have to know what we are facing, both in terms of the damage that is happening now, and the damage we can expect to see in the future from the effects of this spill, but we also need to know and understand why & how this happened as well as what we can to to prevent this from happening again.  We will never make the Oil & Gas industry 100% safe, but we can make it safer, we can force them to follow tougher regulations, we can work towards ending our own oil addiction that has allowed these companies to get to this point of power and control over us and our environment, and we can change how we think about allowing our politicians to fight for these companies over what is best for this country as a whole.

Sarah Palin Says "Drill Baby Drill" & Look What We Get!

Sarah Palin, darling of the lunatic fringe and the GOP has been screeching for the United States to "Drill Baby Drill" .

She even wrote a piece for the NRO (National Review Online) and had this to say.....

Many Americans fear that President Obama’s new energy proposal is once again “all talk and no real action,” this time in an effort to shore up fading support for the Democrats’ job-killing cap-and-trade (a.k.a. cap-and-tax) proposals. Behind the rhetoric lie new drilling bans and leasing delays; soon to follow are burdensome new environmental regulations. Instead of “drill, baby, drill,” the more you look into this the more you realize it’s “stall, baby, stall.”

Sarah Says "Drill Baby Drill" not Stall Baby Stall

So she doesn't like the idea of "burdensome new environmental regulations"

Oil from massive Gulf spill reaching La. coast

Faint fingers of oily sheen have reached the mouth of Mississippi River

Oil Spill in Gulf is 5 Times Worse Than First Reported by BP


This photo/graph represents the anticipated & projected path of the oil spill for tonight and into tomorrow:

 This could go on for months!  Yes MONTHS!  Because it can take that long to cap the well and there is no way to know how much damage is going to happen before it can be brought under control.

Let's revisit some images from past oil spill disasters to see what we are in store for in the coming days, weeks and perhaps even months..........

But it is safe right Sarah?  Just Drill Baby Drill and damn those environmental protections!  

Remember what she said at the SRLC just a few short weeks ago? Some Don't! 

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Much, much worse than first reported:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Fishing Communities Fear the Effects of this Spill:

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So what is the potential impact?  How bad could this be?  Worse than you can imagine:

It's not just birds that could be affected, although they are usually the first to feel the effects, said Gregory Bossart, chief veterinary officer for the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. The birds are right at the surface, get covered in the oil and swallow it, causing liver and kidney problems.

"They need to be rescued and cleaned," he said.

But the coastline of Louisiana, with its barrier islands and estuaries, "is a very unique ecosystem. It's very complex," Bossart said.

Plankton found in the estuaries nourish organisms all the way up the food chain. Crabs, mussels, oysters and shrimp feed on the plankton, he said. Oil smothers the plankton, meaning they cannot eat.

Also, "the estuaries here are a nursery ground, literally a nursery ground, for the entire fish population in this area," Bossart said.

River otters in the region eat mussels and other animals. And "we know, in this area right now, that there are sperm whales. There are dolphins right in the oil slick," he said.

If an oil spill is small enough, animals can leave the area.

"Some of them can get away," Bossart said. "It's totally dependent on the size of the slick, and this is huge."

Exposure to the oil for a prolonged period of time can result in a toxic effect on the skin, and mammals can suffer lung damage or death after breathing it in, Bossart said.

"When the oil starts to settle, it'll smother the oyster beds. It'll kill the oysters," he said.

The Audubon Society, which is affiliated with the Louisiana Coastal Initiative, is recruiting volunteers in Florida and making its Center for Birds of Prey available for bird cleansing and rehabilitation. Elsewhere, Audubon said it was gearing up to mobilize volunteers and provide assistance as the oil reaches land.

The spill also threatens the Louisiana and Mississippi fishing industry, as crab, oysters and shrimp along the coast could be affected, along with numerous species of fish. Gulf shrimp are in their spawning season.

More than 400 species are threatened by the spill, the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported Thursday, citing the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

"When you stop and begin considering everything that this could impact, it really is stunning," Karen Foote, biologist administrator with the department, told the newspaper.

A handful of "Important Bird Areas" -- designated because of their value to bird species -- face immediate threat from the oil, the initiative said. They include the Chandeleur Islands and Gulf Islands National Seashore areas in Louisiana and Mississippi, along with the Active Delta area in Louisiana, which includes Delta Island National Wildlife Refuge and the Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area.

Several species of birds are cause for special concern, the Louisiana Coastal Initiative said. They include the brown pelican, the state bird of Louisiana, which nests on barrier islands and feeds near shore. The brown pelican's breeding season just began, according to the Initiative, and "many pairs are already incubating eggs."

The species was taken off the federal endangered species list last year, but "their relatively low reproductive rate means any disruption to their breeding cycle could have serious effects on the population."

More than 800 brown pelicans died when a smaller oil spill hit Louisiana's Breton Island National Wildlife Refuge a few years ago, MacKenzie said.

Species of beach-nesting terns and gulls, beach-nesting shorebirds, large wading birds, marsh birds and ocean-dwelling birds are also at risk, along with migratory shorebirds and songbirds, the Initiative said.

The migratory songbirds move across the Gulf during a two-week period from late April to early May, for instance.

"The journey across 500 miles of open water strains their endurance to its limits," the Initiative said. "They depend on clear skies and healthy habitats on both sides of the Gulf in order to survive the journey."

According to a 1998 study by Louisiana State University, more than 500 million birds fly over the Gulf and enter the United States along coastal areas in Louisiana and Texas each spring.

The barrier islands east of Louisiana's Lake Pontchartrain have still not recovered from the blow dealt by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, Bossart said, and a spill such as this one could seriously threaten their recovery.

Oil spill could be disaster for animals, experts say


But none of this matters to Sarah Palin and her ilk. They don't want you to think about the dangers, or the potential cost to all of us should a spill happen, so we should forget about regulations, let the private industry regulate themselves, and we should be damning the environmentalists who are for tougher regulations, no, we should not Stall Baby Stall but instead    LISTEN TO SARAH AND DRILL BABY DRILL!