Amusing and Informative, Your Lil' Sister Loves to Get the 'Scoop' on the Mainstream Media and To Present a Variety of Obscure, Under-Reported and Decidedly-More Newsworthy Items From Around The Globe; You'll Also Be Privy To Pieces of My Own Personal Paranormal Phenomena; and Frequently Hear of Things Your Parents, Clergy, Society and Uncle Sam didn't bother to tell you. But, I will...
In Other Words:
The Way This Grrrl Sees It!
"From Oil Gush To Oil Hushhhh" Or "Dudley-Do-Wrong"
CEO Bob Dudley, British Petroleum's New Tony Hayward, made a joyous announcement to the World, yesterday: "We haven't seen any oil flow into the Gulf since the 15th of July.".
No oil? Really? Wow, Bob... That's Terrific! Umm...It's not that we don't trust/believe you, but... Let's just take a look-see at BP's Live-Feeds online. Hmm... Uh, Bob... BP's Live-Feeds online are all down. The screens are black...
BP's Live-Feed of the DWH's broken well-head was down for 3 days. And would, in all likelihood, still be down if it weren't for the fact that some wonderful person asked Ret. Coast Guard Commander Thad Allen "Why?" (Allen had no answer). And then, Abracadabra! The Live-Feed came back up.
And, in regards to the veracity of Mr. Dudley's claim of being leak-proof and announcing that BP was scaling down its clean-up efforts...
Well, Mr. Dudley did his predecessor, Mr. Hayward, proud: Mr. Dudley looked right at the camera and - without blinking or twitching - lied to us.
BP lie? No way!
BP Way!
Don't be fooled by Mr. Dudley or any other BP Bobble-head...
The cap on the DWH well head IS leaking. It's not gushing like it was, mind you. But it is still leaking oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
And, why the heck is BP scaling down the clean-up?
Would someone please tell Bob a lesson he should have learned in early-childhood:
Early-childhood Lesson (Customized for BP Bob): Just because you can't see the oil floating in huge plumes or slicks on the surface of the water (or on the blank screen of the former Live-Feed)... That doesn't mean that it's not there - that doesn't mean that it no longer exists.
If that were true, then Tony Hayward suddenly stopped existing. (It's not magic, he's just been transferred to BP-Siberia.)
No, the Clean-Up's gonna be Long-Term, Bob. Put some divers in the water, will ya?
And, the whole Top-Kill Plan? Bad Idea. Very Bad. The well head is damaged/weakened enough.
But, that's the one good thing about British Petroleum: At least they are consistent. All of BP's Post-Disaster & Off-The-Tops-Of-Their-Heads Plans with Stupid Names have been Very Bad Ideas.
Just dig the relief wells, BP/Bob-Tony... And, please, do it carefully.
Media/America: Please Don't Ease the Pressure/Attention on BP or Bob Dudley.
As we've already seen and continue to see - They're a slick and slimy bunch.
Here's oil-industry expert, Bob Cavnar, to share his wise perspective...
Did you know... That the Wizards who were at the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency in 2001 had declared that the air at ground-zero was safe to breathe after the towers collapsed and disintegrated? (Remember that Dust/Debris Cloud?)
Heck, I knew the air at ground zero couldn't be anything other than Unsafe. How could the EPA think/say it was safe?
At least 20 cops have died of illnesses related to WTC exposure (9/11 Police Aid Foundation).
Firefighters who worked tirelessly on that enormous, smoking and dangerous debris pile have developed elevated levels of sarcoidosis, an inflammatory disease of the lymph nodes and other organs - which is often also accompanied by breathing difficulties.
There have been numerous cancer diagnoses and cancer deaths amongst First Responders, which many believe are a result of exposure to the toxins at ground zero (Thanks, again, EPA.)
And, 1000's of New Yorkers who were there have also developed breathing difficulties.
And now comes word that, in the House Of Representatives, all but 12 Republican Representatives did what they've gotten phenomenally good at over the last two years...
Saying "No.".
"No" on Health Care. "No" on a Public Option For Health Care. "No" on extending the Unemployment Benefits of Millions of Americans who lost their jobs and are looking for work. "No" on Wall Street Reform.
Their response to any and/or all timely, needed, beneficial legislation: "NO." "NO." "NO."
Basically, the GOP is tossing out "No's" with the rapidity and recurrence of a group of people who are suffering from (apparently) undiagnosed cases of Tourette's Syndrome.
Today, all but 12 card-carrying members of the "Grand Ol' Party Of No" in the House Of Representatives callously rejected and killed the Bill which would have given free health-care and compensation for those 9/11 First Responders and Rescue Workers.
And, they did it over a petty procedural issue.
The Democrats hadn't wanted the GOP members to drag out the discussion of the bill while trying to add unrelated or unnecessary amendments to it. So, they sped up the process and put it to a vote.
And, for that, the House Republicans said, for the umpteenth time, "No.".
Our Heroes from 9/11 are suffering and they are dying and the GOP said, "No.".
And, that's when Representative Anthony Weiner (D, NY) stood at the podium and laid into those House GOP'ers who'd rejected the bill and who, thereby, turned their backs on our 9/11 First Responders.
Bravo, Representative Weiner.
Thank you for calling them what they are... cowards.
On My Post About The 40-Ton Whale Off The Coast Of S. Africa That Propelled Itself Out Of The Water And Onto A 33ft. Yacht. The Whale Thrashed About; Knocked Down The Mast; Then Returned To The Water (W/ A Bit Less Skin & Blubber. Ouch.).
The Couple On The Boat, Ralph Mothes and Paloma Werner, Have Repeatedly Denied Doing Anything To Provoke The Whale In Any Way.
(This Was One Of Two Questions I'd Raised In My Blog).
Sadly, We Aren't Able To Ask The Whale For It's Side Of The Story.
But, Something Has 'Surfaced' That Is Almost As Good.
Something That Refutes The Couple's Claims Of Being Nothing More Than Innocent Bystanders:
It Is A Video That Successfully Captured Not Only The Shocking Event, From Start To Finish, Itself... It Also Captured The Loud, Clear & Very Telling Remarks Of Those Who Were Watching The Events Unfold.
The Telegraph.co.uk website (where I first watched this video) certainly seemed excessively sympathetic to the couple in the total of three (3) sentences they printed about the story under the video.
After Watching The Video Myself, It Is Apparent That the Telegraph.co.uk or whomever wrote the three lines of copy under the video never bothered to watch & listen to the video that the very brief, three-line article is about.
*Guess What They Say About The Pair? Just Guess...
Here's a hint:
The person speaking begins with, "They don't listen. They don't listen..."
Hmm...
Perhaps the couple's insurance company has told them that it won't pay out a claim to replace the destroyed yacht, if the pair provoked, harassed and/or in some way brought the wrath of the whale on themselves?
Monday, July 26th, 2010 Haight-Ashbury, San Francisco, California
The World or - at the very least - my beloved Haight-Ashbury District was still slowly awakening and still gloriously peaceful at around 9:30am this Monday morning.
As for me, I was awake and sitting in front of my computer, scanning the internet in search of unique and/or under-reported national/international news stories. Photo Courtesy of L.A. S.F.,CA
At one point, my focused headline-reading was suddenly interrupted by a cacophony of sounds which - if you live in a wooden building that is also surrounded by other wooden buildings - you prefer not to hear.
Living on Haight Street - a busy place with or without the perpetual influx and parade of tourists (many of them shockingly discourteous photo-bugs) - demands that you either adapt to your surroundings by developing the finely-tuned ability to block out the (frequently raucous) street noises or simply re-locate.
Being a long-time resident, I've developed such skills.
Even so, there remain certain sounds which you never would want to filter out.
This... the shrill, wailing, high-decibel sirens emanating from fire-trucks, ambulances and police cars, was one of those sounds.
The increasing volume and density of the unsynchronized sirens told me two things: 1.)There were four or five fire-trucks behind those sirens and... 2.)The emergency vehicles firing on all cylinders were speeding directly toward my neck of the urban jungle.
I wasn't overly-worried, but I feel that events like this call for taking a few moments to further investigate.
When I opened my windows, the first thing I saw was an ambulance parked across the street - facing the wrong way. The two well-trained EMTs had already set their gear atop a gurney and had positioned it alongside their vehicle.
A glance down the street confirmed the presence of (at least) four San Francisco Fire Deparment (SFFD) trucks already on scene half a block away - with numerous firefighters suited up (some approaching the entrance to a building and others drawing out fire-hoses). I could still hear more sirens approaching from the distance, so it wasn't looking promising for the situation to turn out to be a false alarm.
I'd also noted the presence of several workmen on the sidewalk in front of The Wasteland Vintage Clothing Store (located at 1660 Haight Street); I watched as one of them scaled a precariously-perched (as no one held onto it at the bottom, when someone climbed it moved and rattled a lot) aluminum ladder leading up to the roof; there were also workers on the roof.
By the time I'd gotten my keys and purse in hand and looked out the window again, police cars had pulled into position on the corners to prevent civilian vehicle traffic, MUNI buses and those damned double-decker tourist buses from getting too close to the operation.
As my Faithful Companion and I reached the street, the officers were lighting flares and placing them in the road.
Thankfully, as I neared the focus of all the activity, there were no flames nor billowing smoke to be seen.
As we walked past the structure at 1654 Haight Street, above the El Balazo Restaurant, I saw that the other Fire Department vehicles I'd heard had arrived. Seeing movement on Wasteland's roof, I glanced up and saw that several firefighters were now up there and were hard at work removing a number of long, wooden planks from the exterior wall of two of the flats located above the restaurant - most likely to confirm that there were no flames or hot-spots within the exterior wall.
A friend of mine who lives in the affected building was standing across the street. He informed me that the fire was apparently started, accidentally, by the group of workmen who had been toiling on the roof of The Wasteland... with blowtorches.
My guess is that, most-likely, they were re-tarring the roof.
According to my friend, the upper and lower apartments on that side of the building were damaged by fire, smoke and water. Hopefully, the concrete building that is home to The Wasteland is undamaged.
*If I may offer a suggestion to anyone working with a blowtorch and potentially flammable materials (like tar, wood): It may be prudent to bring along a fire-extinguisher or two... just in case.
Coincidentally, the last significant fire I'd personally witnessed broke out only a few doors down from this event, on Dec. 22, 2009. The result of that blaze: the three-alarm fire burned through the street-level Tikka Masala Restaurant; through two flats of apartments above the restaurant and did extensive damage to Villain's Clothing Store. All of the residents escaped safely, but the businesses remain closed today.
The Wasteland Vintage Clothing Store, being constructed of concrete, suffered only smoke damage and re-opened after several days.
*Many Thanks To The San Francisco Fire Department. I Know Our Beautiful City, Our Neighborhoods And Our Citizens Are In The Best Hands With You.
Post Exxon Valdez disaster, oil companies formed The Marine Spill Response Corp. and said that it would give them the ability to respond to the next disaster with effective, state-of-the-art measures.
Now, 20yrs. later, the BP DWH disaster has exposed the simple fact that Big Oil hasn't developed a single effective or state-of-the-art disaster response measure.
Now, Big Oil has announced that it is creating yet another special oil spill response organization called: The Marine Well Containment Company.
TMWCC is tasked with the same goals as the MSRC was 20 yrs. ago: Research and Develop state-of-the-art oil spill response measures to ensure a swift and effective response to the next big disaster.
Hmm...
As I listened to this latest announcement from Big Oil, one single and simple piece of wisdom came to mind:
"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice...".
Personally, I see this as nothing more than a blatant attempt by oil companies at damage control and improving their image...
"The Marine Well Containment Company"? Wow, what a great idea! I want them to be able to respond quickly to a disaster.
Common Sense dictates that We Don't Believe Them.
This latest move by the oil companies is a virtual carbon-copy of the action they took following the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.
Deja Vu?
Carbon-Copy... As was discovered in the days following the BP/DWH disaster, this term describes in full not only BP's Gulf Oil Spill Response Plan - the one which was a virtual carbon-copy of their Arctic Response Plan... but also the official Oil Disaster Response Plan on file for each of the various oil companies. They were discovered to be utter Carbon-Copies of each other - minus the logos on the letterhead. Even down to each company's plan listing - as the company's go-to scientific expert in the event of a disaster - the name of a man who has been dead for several years.
I humbly offer that our Earth and our oceans are far too precious, fragile and irreplaceable to risk putting our trust in those who've proven themselves to be utterly untrustworthy.
By Wednesday, the facts of the Shirley Sherrod video had been made public and it had become absolutely clear that the video posted online by Mr. Breitbart and cycled and recycled through various Fox "News" shows had been intentionally cut-and-pasted to make it appear that Ms. Sherrod was a racist.
The video was of Ms. Sherrod speaking at a NAACP meeting.
At the time that the video was made and up until a short while after Breitbart posted the misleading mash-up and Fox "News" picked it up and ran with it, Ms. Sherrod had been a long-time employee of the US Department of Agriculture.
Sadly, Breitbart's and Fox "News" politically-motivated, baseless and spineless attack of Ms. Sherrod led to her being summarily fired from her job.
This was only the latest in a string of Fox "News"-championed, right-wing, politically-motivated, and virtually fact-free hatchet jobs. It was the second operation in which Fox saturated its "news" programs with clips from a video that had been heavily-edited to create the appearance of something that wasn't the least bit true (I believe it's called "Fraud".).
The previous one was also heavily-edited and shown repeatedly on Fox to manufacture belief in a lie. The "ACORN 'Pimp and Ho'" video was quickly followed by much indignant bluster from the GOP and lead - in the blink of an eye - to ACORN being de-funded and utterly destroyed.
Since then, that same video has since been found to have been edited so as to be intentionally misleading. And, various government investigations into ACORN found that ACORN and its employees had done absolutely nothing illegal.
In the latest scam, Breitbart edited the (nearly 3yr. old) NAACP video so that it gave the appearance that Ms. Sherrod was a racist.
Fox "News" picked up the story and paraded it over the airwaves, repeatedly. Fox's intellectually-challenged talking heads all voiced their shock and outrage at what the video appeared to show.
And, just to make sure that Fox's viewers understood their (manufactured)message, they made sure to call Ms. Sherrod a "racist" on-the-air, as well.
An important point here: Ms. Sherrod is, decidedly, not a racist.
What Mr. Breitbart had edited out of the video were the parts of Ms. Sherrod's speech where she spoke about helping - through her resources at the Department of Agriculture - some poor, white farmers. (He couldn't leave those parts in the video, of course, because then it wouldn't support the lie that they were manufacturing.)
Well, tonight, Rachel Maddow calmly took Fox "News" to task for it's continuing, deceit-filled, deplorable, politically-based and damaging tactics.
Tactics which Fox has been carrying out with reckless abandon and with absolutely no regard for those who are harmed as a direct result of them. For example: All the employees of ACORN who - due the the intentional Fox smear campaign - lost their jobs and Ms. Sherrod; etc. (IMHO, Fox should have to take the "News"-part out of their name.)
Turns out, over at Fox last night... Bill "Snidely" O'Reilly had to allow some time during his show to respond to what Rachel had said about his network.
O.K., Mr. Bill... Let's hear your explanation/excuses/denials...
Snidely O'Reilly's response to Rachel Maddow's fact-based, clear and concise criticism of Fox "News" was simply this... that his ratings are bigger than hers.
I kid you not. That was pretty much the beginning and the end of his rebuttal.
Oddly enough, Ol' Bill failed to mention that a cartoon: Sponge Bob Squarepants, a cable-based wrestling show and The Closer all get better ratings than he does... thankfully, Rachel thought of it, though.
Somehow, I'm not the least bit surprised that Billy is one of those "mine's bigger than yours"-kind of guys.
Sure Bill... regardless of the situation, just keep telling yourself that yours is bigger and maybe - if you're real good - it'll come true.
Nah. It won't.
Mr. O'Reilly offered no explanation. No, "Listen, Rachel, you're taking it out of context." nor a "Perhaps we at Fox made an unintentional mistake or two." (like they'd ever admit to that).
In fact, even after replaying a clip of Rachel's statements about Fox - on his show - Mr. O'Reilly didn't even attempt to deny what Rachel had said about Fox "News" and its unabashed snake-oil shenanigans.
Then again, how could he deny it, when it's all true?
That said, it is Fox of which I'm speaking and they're all about fabricating lies to appear as truth - dishonesty.
Neither did Mr. O'Reilly attempt to defend Fox's unseemly activities, either.
No, he just made a play to avoid explaining Fox's blatant and unethical practices by creating a diversion...
Don't look at/think about/ask why Fox is intentionally fabricating and then broadcasting utterly false information and presenting it as factual... No, instead, think about the fact that my ratings are much better than hers (hehe)."
O'Reilly's "My ratings kick your ratings a**" sounded a lot like the immature, boastful, stick-your-tongue-out-as-you-sit-in-the-sandbox response of a child.
You've got higher ratings? Well, bully for you, Bill.
Now, if you can focus your attention for just a moment... Talk to us about those knowingly fraudulent videos Fox broadcast and the on-the-air slander/libel that Fox employees participated in on-the-air that cost people their jobs... And also about Fox's intentional attempts - through these fraudulent smear campaigns - to ignite the fires of racial tension in America?
In the brief TRMS clip, below, Rachel responds to Snidely O'Reilly.
The difference between them is that Rachel responds to O'Reilly with Truth, Intelligence, Integrity and Grace (as well as humility and humor).
Truth, Intelligence, Integrity and Grace are four priceless characteristics which Fox "News" is painfully and obviously without.
Not only that, they are also four things which not even the most skilled fraud-makers at Fox can manufacture.
I will admit that I have been rather annoyed with some members of the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD).
Not with all of them, mind you.
Just those individual officers who go above and beyond the call when it comes to cruelty, harassment, and/or brutality...
Especially officers like you, Officer Gabriel Gallaread... now, apparently, wreaking havoc out of the Mission Station.
Hallelujah! Good Riddance to Bad Rubbish!
I do offer our Beloved Mission District my deepest sympathy and encourage those who live there to avoid this particular officer - especially if you are out alone at night.
I Saw What You Did, Gabriel, And I Know What You Are... You are Nothing... But a Thug... With a gun and a badge.
But, I digress...
The Great News:
Yesterday afternoon, as I walked my loyal companion around The Haight, I observed one Park Station-based SFPD officer on a SFPD bike going to speak with a business-owner.
The officer has short, blond hair. I do not know his name, but he's been in the neighborhood for a while. And, from what I've observed in the past, he does a commendable job. (I haven't seen him beat anyone to a bloody mess who was already in handcuffs and not resisting.)
On my return, on the other side of the street, I noticed the officer's bike parked against a shop. There was also an empty black-and-white parked at the curb a short distance away from the bike. I was curious where the officers had gone. I glanced into a few shops, to no avail.
Then, I looked across Haight Street...
And, there they all were.
The young, blond officer and two female officers - a blonde and a brunette (I gather that they were in the squad car) - were talking to three young men.
Well, actually, they looked like three boys, young teenagers - all in dark clothing and one had a new-skool skateboard.
My dear dog wanted to go to the Park, but I've learned the importance of being observant and, although I didn't believe any of these officers would do anything wrong, someone needs to be paying attention to these types of interactions - just in case.
What I then observed absolutely warmed the shreds of what used to be my heart:
One of the female officers picked up three yellow aerosol canisters... the kind used by artistically-gifted mural artists and turd-ball taggers, alike.
The officers were taking turns talking to the three boys, asking them questions and explaining what will happen to them each time that they are caught tagging public and/or private property... up to and including being ordered to do a long-stint of community service (hopefully removing graffiti) and - if I heard correctly - not being allowed to get their driver's licenses for a while (yes, they were that young).
Individually, the two women each looked at me, briefly, while they spoke to the boys.
I made the effort to look harmless and smile.
I didn't want to interrupt something I'd never seen happen before and might never see again.
You see, it's often a rare thing to catch the little scrawling, tagging rug-rats in action.
The ones I often see come out at night - after leaving mommy and daddy at home, blankly staring at the tv... "Have fun, dear. Don't be home too late!" - go out with a buddy or two to deface the world and create eyesores galore.
The daylight ones often carry paint-pens and glance around before scrawling something on homes, businesses, buses, gates, trash cans, windows, mailboxes, doors, etc. (you get the picture). The simple act of looking around = they know that they shouldn't be doing it.
The night-scrawlers can be observed meandering back and forth across the streets - no particular destination in mind - seeking targets that call out to them.
Usually, one or two of them plays "look-out", while the other does his asinine excuse for "art".
The three junior juvee-wannabees I now observed had been flat out busted in flagrante... with the tools of their tagging trade on their persons and - likely - with paint on their clothes/hands.
Bwahahahahahahaha!
When the young, blond officer glanced across the street at me with a curious look - he probably knows I live in the 'hood by now - I simply gave him a subtle smile and a thumbs-up... "You guys rock!", I said under my breath.
Seeing that, he smiled back at me.
I think he was a bit surprised.
He needn't be. I abhor taggers.
The City will cite and heavily-fine property owners if their property is tagged by the little losers and the scrawl isn't quickly removed.
I happen to love and respect my landlord. He's an angel. He happens to live elsewhere. So, when our building gets tagged, I'm the person who paints over it.
For a while, I was keeping a can of paint and a paint-brush just inside our front door - it was that bad.
But, despite the looming threat of losing police officers due to budget cuts, I've noticed a consistent and visible presence of officers in our neighborhood... and it makes a Big Difference.
Not just with the taggers, either.
There also seems to have been fewer fights breaking out in the street.
Yeah, when the bars close, there's usually at least one drunken fool shooting off his mouth at someone else.
Thankfully, of late, it seems to stop there... Just words... Just yelling... Or, maybe even a little shoving... But, it tends to stop there.
At least, there hasn't been the kind of violent assaults that - for a while - ended with people bleeding and ambulances being called.
BP oil spill: 'seep' detected on ocean floor BP's claims to have successfully capped its leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico have been questioned after a potential leak was discovered on the seabed nearby
The US government ordered BP to submit an emergency plan for reopening its capped Gulf of Mexico oil well after experts detected seepage from the surrounding seabed.
"Admiral Allen... warned earlier that "ultimately, we must insure no irreversible damage is done which could cause uncontrolled leakage from numerous points on the sea floor"."
(*Please see the brief video clip, included below. Thank you.)
Dear Admiral Allen:
PLEASE Don't trust BP to be completely honest and transparent - as they've certainly proven themselves to be completely incapable of such things.
And, yes, a successfully-capped well-head would be Great. Terrific. Awesome.
But, an Exploding Sea Floor leading to a multi-point oil and gas leak would be Bad...
The sport of Lacrosse was invented by the Iroquois.
And, being as the Iroquois Confederacy is recognized as a sovereign nation, the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team has been traveling, internationally, to the World Lacrosse Championship on their own Iroquois Nation passports since @ 1990.
In spite of this glaring fact, Great(?) Britain recently made the boorish decision to neither honor the Iroquois' passports nor their sovereignty. They deemed them "too controversial".
Could the Brit's decision have anything to do with the fact that, at the 2006 World Lacrosse Championships in London, Ontario, the Iroquois Nationals defeated England 13-10?
Could they really be that petty?
The Final Decision: The Iroquois Nationals were denied entry into Great Britain to compete in the World Championships for a sport which their ancestors created.
That's decidedly petty.
That's the Bad News.
The Good News: Today, the U.S. Lacrosse team decidedly trounced the British team 17-5.
Black-market multi-million dollar dealing of both nuclear bomb-making materials and the highly-radioactive substance(s) which are meant to fill them?
If you're like me, you've spent a small amount of time considering such unsettling scenarios... and probably did so only during either a big budget, Hollywood spy vs spy blockbuster or Fox's incredibly tense (and often nuclear terror-related) TV show "24".
Well...
It now appears that truth/reality has taken a cue from these frightening fictional performances.
Last week, in Pretoria, South Africa, a (thankfully) successful police "sting" operation was carried out after a group of men attempted to sell both highly-radioactive Cesium 137 and an "industrial nuclear device" to a man who happened to be an undercover police officer.
This conclusion of the "sting" involved a great many police officers, a foot-chase of one suspect through a busy Pretoria intersection and a shoot-out between the police officers and the suspects.
In the end, five men - all South African citizens - were arrested (with the lead-encased Cesium on them). Unfortunately, the so-called "industrial nuclear device" has yet to be located, but officials believe that it does exist and are actively searching for it.
Yikes.
Too bad Jack Bauer is a fiction...
Or is he?
The July 9th events haven't had much coverage here (Why is that?), but here's a brief clip from TRMS.
I came across this Trailer for the HBO Documentary "Gasland" on YouTube.
As I understand it, this stunning Documentary is also available via On Demand.
Now, I don't have HBO nor On Demand (that I know of), but I am determined to find a means of seeing this documentary and I sincerely hope that you do as well.
I'd watched a terrific interview with director Josh Fox on The Daily Show With Jon Stewart before seeing the Trailer on YouTube.
When I glanced down into the Comments Section under the GASLAND Trailer, one of them caught my eye... and the attention of my insta-rage...
Some dork-among-us had whined on and on about Gasland's director, Josh Fox, being a "... an ultra left-wing, eco-extremist who wants to bring our reliance on fossil fuels to a complete halt and replace them with environmentally-sound, renewable energy sources." (or something to that effect).
Considering that such actions are not, in any way, a bad idea - particularly in the face of the continuing BP/DWH eco-pocalypse in the Gulf of Mexico and surrounding states ...
Here is my response to that dorky comment(er) and the GASLAND Trailer is below it.
Enjoy!
"It doesn't matter where Gasland's Josh Fox is on some dumb scale of L-to-R. If companies like Halliburton are are offering large payouts to lease land w/out informing people that they'll leave a toxic wasteland with indoor plumbing that's highly-flammable behind and they're using methods of natural gas extraction which poison the air we breathe & our precious, finite, potable water sources... Then, not only must they be stopped, they must clean the messes they've left and pay for damages."
Here's what she wished President Obama had said in his Oval Office Speech: (And, I agree with her 1000%!)
President Obama: Enough rhetoric. Enough blah blah blah. It's time for Effective, Lifestyle-Changing, Planet-Saving ACTION. I hope to God that You are Listening to This!
The Oil Giant Is Being Widely Criticized For Its Handling Of The Massive Gulf Spill - B0th Before And After The Blowout.
Here's Why...
It is now clear that the disastrous Deepwater Horizon oil spill was eminently preventable. And even since the April 20 rig fire, experts have cited many examples of how poor choices by BP have worsened an already dire situation.
Here are eight particularly unfortunate errors that experts say contributed to the biggest oil spill in U.S. history:
1. BP never had a realistic plan to deal with a spill The oil giant's official plan for dealing with a potential Deepwater Horizon spill, and its more general plan for any spill in the Gulf, both wildly overestimated its preparedness and seriously lowballed the potential damage, according to an AP analysis. The plan — approved by the Interior Department in 2009 — lists a dead scientist among its wildlife experts and a defunct Japanese home-shopping website among its equipment suppliers. Portions of it are written in pencil.
2. BP went with a risky type of blowout preventer — and then didn't maintain it The blowout preventer is a giant valve that is supposed to be the last line of defense against a damaged well becoming an ecological catastrophe. But for the Deepwater Horizon project, BP chose a model — made by U.S.-based Cameron International — with well-documented design flaws. To make matters worse, according to a congressional investigation, the Deepwater's blowout preventer was in terrible shape: It had a dead battery, debilitating hydraulic-system leaks, and "shutoff shears" that weren't strong enough to seal the well. BP also opted not to install a voluntary $500,000 acoustic shutoff switch that could have sealed the well by remote control in the event the blowout preventer failed, reports the WSJ.
3. The well's critical plumbing was shoddy and poorly designed Days before the blowout, BP decided to use a type of single-wall well casing that it knew increased the risk of gas leaks like the one that ultimately caused the deadly fire on the rig, according to The New York Times. Why? To save money. Drilling experts also say that BP's design for the casing pipe from the sea floor to the oil reservoir has a baffling design flaw that made it essentially impossible to create effective cement seals, the primary guards against natural gas leaks.
4. BP and rig workers ignored or misread clear warning signs As Halliburton contractors were lowering the final cement plug down the well, rig workers conducted several tests for gas leaks — and in what an internal BP postmortem calls a "fundamental mistake" — they misinterpreted a "very large abnormality." When they decided, wrongly, that the test results were acceptable, they replaced the heavy drilling mud in the well with lighter seawater, allowing the pockets of natural gas below to explode upward and, ultimately, set the rig ablaze.
5. A "company man" overrode explosion concerns of well cementers BP sent home the contractor it had hired to test the cement plug inside the well 11 hours before the explosion, without ever having him conduct the "gold standard" test on whether the seal was secure, according to the testing firm. A BP "company man" also overruled other safety concerns, including replacing the drilling mud with seawater, says another partner company.
6. BP hasn't fessed up about how much oil is really spilling Experts tend to agree that, in order to prepare for containment and cleanup efforts, federal and state officials need to know how much oil they're dealing with. But the oil company has been slippery on that point: BP said two days after the explosion that no oil was leaking; three days later, it said 1,000 barrels per day (bpd) were leaking; three days after that, it was 5,000 bpd — even after a "confidential" company memo said that up to 14,266 bpd was gushing out. BP no longer gives estimates, but government scientists Thursday said the true leak rate is has been between 20,000 to 40,000 bpd.
7. BP's "solutions" may be making the spill much, much worse The company's string of failed attempts to seal or contain the leak — top hat, top kill, junk shot — may, in fact, be intensifying the problem. A flow-rate expert on the government panel looking into the leak rate, Dr. Ira Leifer of the University of California at Santa Barbara, says that both the top kill and containment cap strategies have damaged the well and dramatically increased the amount of oil spurting into the ocean. He suggests that, following BP's decision to install a containment cap, the leak may now be 100,000 barrels per day.
8. BP needs a bigger boat While the containment cap strategy may have made the overall situation worse, the company is finally collecting sizable quantities of oil from the wellhead. The problem? There's no place to store it all, reports the WSJ. The tanker now floating above the wellhead can process about 18,000 barrels per day, while BP has a stated goal of collecting 50,000 bpd. The company is scrambling to bring in more ships, and will begin burning off as much as possible.
Several months ago, following Fox News's barrage of reports on those ACORN "pimp-and-ho sting" videos by some far-right wingers... the GOP's impassioned, indignant cries to "De-fund ACORN" could be heard echoing throughout the halls of Congress. One after another, Republican Congressmen stood at the podium and demanded that the US government end all contracts with ACORN. That, basically, since ACORN had some employees who looked to be (in the heavily-edited video) breaking the law by helping law-breakers, ACORN should not receive any government funding... not any American taxpayers' money. Some GOP Governors and Mayors even jumped on the bandwagon, ordering their people to stop all funding of ACORN... even though none of them had anything to do with funding ACORN. (Everybody's gotta get into the act...)
The result of the Republican fire and brimstone brouhaha?
Although we now know that the sting videos were very-heavily edited and, therefore misleading, as of April 1st of 2010, ACORN no longer existed as a business entity. ACORN wasn't a perfect organization but, it helped a lot of people after the nation-wide housing disaster. And, besides, there's no such thing as a "perfect organization".
That was on April Fool's Day...
Nineteen days later, BP's oil rig, the Deepwater Horizon, exploded - killing 11 workers - and sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Keeping in mind the above-mentioned, media-frenzied, witch-hunt aimed at all things ACORN by the GOP, here's a run-down on BP's known and verified"sins":
Despite the fact that BP's cost-cutting measures meant that they consistently chose to use parts and materials in the design and building of the oil rig which were known to have flaws and/or be unsafe (BP not only went with a risky type of blowout-preventer — they didn't maintain it).
Despite BP's initial claims that the disaster was no big deal and the amount of oil leaking out - if any - was negligible (a big, fat, ludicrous lie).
Despite BP's refusal for (days and days) to allow access to the live footage - and later, the HD live footage - of what was going on at the broken well head to government scientists and other experts, so that the scope of the disaster could be assessed and the urgency of the necessary response could be known (BP wasn't saying).
Despite not only BP's pitiful - if not criminal - foot-dragging, "Aww... do I have to?", piss-poor response to the disaster, but also BP's utter criminal negligence as shown in their absolute refusal to have invested any of their $Billions in profits in researching and developing effective, state-of-the-art means, methods and technologies to minimize ecological destruction or to in any way deal with such a huge disaster.
Despite BP (in Alaska) having recently been fined $200 Million by the DOJ.
Despite BP's being fined many millions of dollars in recent years by government agencies for repeatedly breaking the law.
Despite BP CEO Tony Hayward's impatient, unconscionable and whiny declaration: "I want my life back.". (Want some cheese with that whine, Tony?)
Despite the fact that all those thousands of feet of "absorbent booms" (which BP crows about putting on the water on the website's homepage) are utterly ineffective and useless when put out on open water due to winds and waves - particularly if they aren't constantly tended and maintained by people.
Despite BP currently holding over $9 Billion (Billion with a "B") in lucrative government contracts with the US government.
Despite the fact that BP has been repeatedly evasive and has repeatedly lied both to the US government and to the American people about everything: BP fabricated their Gulf of Mexico "Emergency Response" plan. It acknowledges that walruses and sea otters - arctic sea mammals - are in the area (The Gulf of Mexico?). BP lied and continues to lie about the amount of oil spewing out:
"BP said two days after the explosion that no oil was leaking; three days later, it said 1,000 barrels per day (bpd) were leaking; three days after that, it was 5,000 bpd — even after a "confidential" company memo said that up to 14,266 bpd was gushing out. BP no longer gives estimates, but government scientists Thursday said the true leak rate is has been between 20,000 to 40,000 bpd." (From: theweek.com.)
Despite the fact that... Eleven people lost their lives in the completely-preventable explosion. Their families lost their loved ones. Their children lost their fathers. Thousands of fishermen have lost their livelihoods. All of those businesses/restaurants/seafood markets who were dependent upon the fishermen are likely going to lose theirs as well. The Gulf states will now be losing their marshlands and outer islands (the ones which protect them from the deadly storm-surges of hurricanes) at a much greater rate. Countless fish, crustaceans, sea birds have died/are dying. The (only-recently off the Endangered Species List) brown pelican's sole nesting sites are getting oil-soaked... and so are the brown pelicans.
Despite the fact that we are all facing what is and will be (hopefully none worse will follow) the single-greatest, man-made environmental disaster of all time. All courtesy of British Petroleum.
(I say "hopefully", because Shell Oil - in spite of this ecological, economic and ongoing disaster - has been issuing self-congratulatory announcements about it's "Perdido" oil rig project, located 200 miles off the coast of Texas, in 8000 feet of water. Apparently, Shell Oil is unaware that the word "Perdido" translates to: "lost; in trouble; done for; hopeless".)
In spite of all of this, I haven't heard any of that good old, Grand Ol' Party Fire and Brimstone.
Hmm... Aren't they angry with BP? With Tony Hayward? With being lied to?
Aren't you angry? Haven't you been angry? I'm angry. I've been getting angrier and angrier.
Surely, all of those brave Republican Senators and Representatives who took ACORN to task, withdrew all funding and brought about it's swift demise... Surely they, too, are mad as hell and are taking their outrage to the podium in both Houses of Congress. Surely, they are demanding that we "De-Fund BP Effective Immediately!"
(If I could wield their power, I would.)
But, this is the "Drill, Baby Drill!" Party. The GOP?... Punish Big Oil?
Yeah, right. "Dream, Baby Dream." And, whilst dreaming, enjoy this great TRMS clip on the topic.
Just prior to this Tuesday's Primary in Cali, I'd been blogging and posting items around the 'net to emphasize the importance that voters in our beloved California understand the Truth behind Proposition 16 and, hopefully, upon learning said Truth... vote against it.
CA Proposition 16 was framed, written and financially-sponsored - to the tune of $46 Million (In the words of sarah palin: "I kid you not.") - by that big ol' monopolizing, corporate parasite: PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric).
And, although the shockingly expensive campaign's goal - with it's targeted, shiny & colorful mailings that resembled Green Party mailings and contained references to "Green Energy" (which PG&E has shown virtually no genuine interest in developing voluntarily) and it's endless barrage of TV commercials with their over-the-top sense of urgency and indignant cries from the actors, babbling about "... government taking away our rights!" - was to sell Prop. 16 as (get this): "The Voter's Right To Choose Act"... This legislation, if passed, would have actually taken away Californians Right To Choose/opt for Public-Owned Power/Green Energy suppliers instead of PG&E by changing the CA State Constitution so that it would require a 2/3 majority ballot vote - something PG&E well knew would have been impossible to achieve - and thereby cementing their fossil fuel-focused, power-supplying monopoly across the state for perpetuity.
Recent events in our beloved Marin County undoubtedly contributed to lighting a fierce fire under PG&E's sizable buttocks and motivating them to do whatever was necessary to achieve their goal of maintaining their monopoly of supplying energy in California.
Thousands of those fine folks unceremoniously dumped PG&E... Opting, instead, to answer the door when Opportunity came a'knocking.
My Warmest Welcome and Greetings to: "Marin Clean Energy", California's First Public Power Agency.
"Marin Clean Energy, a Community Choice Aggregation Program, is an alternative to PG&E and other utility companies. It allows electricity consumers to choose nonpolluting, renewable energy.
The Community Choice Aggregation program was established by the State Legislature in 2002 to give cities and counties the ability to procure electricity on behalf of its customers." (From:ktvu.com)
Despite Marin County's achievement, needless to say, fighting Prop. 16 looked to be an uphill battle from the start...
It was going be PG&E's not just deep, but bottomless pockets VS a truly rag-tag pseudo-assemblage of citizens across California, many of whom immediately - upon hearing the "Yes on 16" TV ad for the first time - smelled a big, fossil-fueled, money-lusting rat... namely PG&E.
The No On Prop. 16 Campaign wasn't nearly as well-organized as the mega-bucks corporate monopoly... Still, there were countless individuals and small groups of Californians whom passionately spread the Good Word/The Real Truth about Prop. 16.
And, as it turned out, the "No on 16" Campaign utilized the proven tools of the internet effectively: Groups of concerned citizens of many sizes posted videos on YouTube: Groups like: "BayLocalize" - a rocking group whom posted the Fabulous Music Video you'll find below, which they'd filmed on the steps of the PUC (Public Utilities Commission) - it's a catchy "NO on Prop. 16" message in song and an adaptation of Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive") and "NoOnProp16" - whom posted a number of videos with footage of local and network news attention... my favorite of theirs being the $30-Budgeted Mash-up video of "man-on-the-street" real people conversations about Prop. 16, which is also below.
Some groups built pages on Facebook... "Vote No On Prop 16" for example, and they soon discovered that someone had hacked into their Facebook account, commandeered their Facebook ID's and then falsely and fraudulently posted their individual names followed by the statement: "Likes Prop. 16". (Those Bastards!).
And a variety of people - myself included - posted the Truth About Prop. 16 whenever and wherever the opportunity arose.
BayLocalize's "I Will Survive - No On Prop 16":
NoOnProp16's "Mash-Up People On The Streets Interview":
All of You Guys and Grrls Against Prop. 16 Rocked... and You Rocked The Vote!
Heading towards the Finish Line, the "No on 16" Campaign had raised a total of no more than $90,000 to fight the evil, entrenched, energy empire. Unlike PG&E, they couldn't afford a barrage of slick TV ads all across California. Nor could they afford to print and send out many thousands of targeted, shiny, multi-colored mailings on photographic paper.
But the No On 16 Campaign had The Truth on its side.
Thankfully, those against Prop. 16 had a healthy amount of internet access/savvy and know-how.
Individually and in groups, we were all committed to working - when we could - to get the word out about PG&E's lies.
To tell our friends and neighbors and communities about how PG&E was blowing the equivalent of the Gross National Product of a small country to spread their lies and deceit... to incessantly hammer their B.S. across the airwaves.
And, do you know WHY they dumped so much damn money into Prop. 16?
PG&E sank $47 Million into Prop. 16 because that mega-bucks, money-grubbing monopoly thinks so little of all of their hard-working customers that they are convinced that we Californians are Stupid.
PG&E thinks we Californians are so stupid, in fact, that they were sure that if they constantly flashed their lies at our eyes and blasted them at our ears enough times... that we'd start to believe that the lies they were telling were the truth.
Kinda makes one a bit... I dunno... Angry?
Many citizens also began to pressure some better-known CA elected officials to get them to speak out against Prop. 16 (which, in some cases, finally worked - although they sent their representatives... but, hey, they're busy people, too.)
And, heck, at this point... I'd even say we had The Force on our side.
These were only "Primaries" and only being held in 12 states, so many talking heads on TV repeatedly mentioned "low voter turnout" as a real possibility... which might not bode well for the "NO on 16" Campaign.
And, it wasn't really what some mis-labeled as a "Super Tuesday", a term historically used for Presidential Elections.
Pointing this out, Rachel Maddow (Love Her), instead, called it "Really Good/Pretty Good Tuesday" throughout her coverage.
I voted. (Hope you did, too!)
Then, I stayed up late watching Rachel's election results coverage. The last local mention I'd seen was that Prop. 16 was losing... though not by much.
The next morning, on "Bleary-Eyed Wednesday"... I hopped out of bed and onto the internet in search of the Prop. 16 Official Results...
Strangely enough... the results of the vote didn't pop-out right away. They weren't on the homepages for a few local news station websites - well, at least not the Propositions.
And then, I found it...
Oh Beautiful, Happy Day!
Somewhat remarkably, PG&E's deceitful, democracy-damaging, $46 Million Proposition 16 Campaign had gone down in Flames of Defeat!
Approximately... The No Votes: 52%. The Yes Votes: 48%.
(I later found out that the vast majority of the more TV ad gullible folks live in Southern and Central CA. ie - San Bernardino County. Thanks, CA Dept. of Elections website.)
This, my fellow Californians, was an upset of Biblical Proportions!
"David Slays Goliath... Again!"
That said, in the Republican Primary for the Governor's Race, the choice was, unfortunately, between two evils.
And, one of those two evils, Meg Whitman - unqualified, unsuitable, inexperienced and unPR-savy as she could be - sank $71 Million (not a typo) of her own fortune into a barrage of attack ads against her opponent, Steve Poizner, the CA State Insurance Commissioner.
And, Whitman won. (Ugh.)
But, hey... No worries whatsoever!
November's a long way's away.
And, the Honorable Mr. Jerry Brown will be the Democratic Party's candidate for Governor.
He's experienced... Heck, he's already been Governor of California... you can't get more qualified/better experience for the office than that!
Also... Let's remember: One battle at a time.
In the big picture, in This Battle... Californians Won!
As I had stated in a variety of items that I posted:
"PG&E can take their $46 Million and shove it!"
"You (PG&E and anyone else) cannot buy our Democracy!"*
*Unless you're Meg Whitman, have $100's of Millions in a vast personal fortune, are bound and determined to buy your way into elected office and are damn lucky.
Albeit such an unfortunate result is only a one-time thing.
And, putting all her eggs (and her $71 Million) into this Primary was Meg's one-shot, Thankfully.
We can all hope...
We can also actively organize; volunteer; contact friends, family, neighbors; form groups in our communities; post videos; create webpages; dig up dirt on ol' Meg...
We can do Everything we Californians did to Successfully Defeat PG&E, Defend our State Constitution and our Democracy from a corrupt, corporate take-over, and then some.
