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[Kobi]

Toughy,

I hear the view argument a lot....lol.

I would love to see us switch to green energy resources. And I dont believe I said I was against solar, wind or ocean wave energy. Heck if they could harness all the hot air coming out of the nations capital, we wouldnt need to worry about energy costs at all.

I do advocate going green in ways that make sense. We dont have to land on or take over the sun to use solar energy. We dont need to involve the ocean to harness wind.

If we were serious about going green, we would demand the technology be geared toward individual residences or businesses. If we can shrink satellite dishes, we can work to shrink the rest of the technology so it is affordable and easy to install for all homeowners.

I really dislike when profit overrides common sense.

[MsDemeanor]

Originally Posted by Kobi

I dont think mankind has the right to exploit natural resources for financial gain especially when the risks of doing so are not known in their entirety.

That's only possible if one is living in some remote shack and growing one's own food and clothing and never doing so much as bartering for supplies with anyone else. It pretty much rules out everything that most of us encounter in our lives, from electricity, oil, and gas to the basics of food, clothing, and shelter. If it comes out of the ground or lives off the earth, someone somewhere is using it for financial gain, and I'd guess that a fair portion of it is being done without risks being known in their entirety.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Is there any news on the cement and sand being pushed into the BP pipeline? I haven't heard anything on the news yet.

[Toughy]

I believe they are doing it tomorrow (wed)

[Jet]

Oil Disaster Update on "Top Kill" procedure
How does BP's 'top kill' work? (Updated)

BP has decided to proceed with what's called a "top kill" to try to stop oil from gushing into the Gulf of Mexico..more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/201005...s/ynews_sc2252

[Jet]

Public opinion turning against Obama on oil spill

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl2270

[Jet]

Gulf oil spill now bigger than Exxon Valdez

Associated Press
COVINGTON, La. – The Gulf oil spill has surpassed the Exxon Valdez as the worst in U.S. history, according to new estimates released Thursday, but the Coast Guard and BP said an untested procedure to stop it seemed to be working.

More including video....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill

[Jet]

House approves repeal of gay ban in military

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100528/..._gays_military

[Toughy]

It also passed the Senate. The House and Senate versions need to be reconciled and it will off to the President to sign.

Come December, the Pentagon will have the plan ready and it may just be that our xmas present this year will be one more step to full equal rights.

[Shadowboi2010]

Originally Posted by Jet

Gulf oil spill now bigger than Exxon Valdez

Associated Press
COVINGTON, La. – The Gulf oil spill has surpassed the Exxon Valdez as the worst in U.S. history, according to new estimates released Thursday, but the Coast Guard and BP said an untested procedure to stop it seemed to be working.

More including video....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gulf_oil_spill

I've been watching the top kill go on over the oil jet and what I "think" is happening is that now the oil still leaking, but its picking up particulate as it spills. They said they aren't done yet and that it will still be a couple of days till its complete. The fossil industry never anticipated that this could ever happen, that it would break at the base, or "shear."

I fully believe that if oil and coal were regulated, and design considerations were given like the nuclear industry, with its redundant and passive safety systems, this would not have happened.

Fortunately there is a new round of advanced nuclear reactors that will run even safer than they have for the past 30 years. The world has taken off without us in this particular technology where we used to lead the world. I personally believe we will never run out of oil, it will just get too expensive to get. Heck, even oil shale that was so incredibly not lucrative is being considered once again.

Solar and wind, just do not generate the kind of electricity to support the base load that is going to be required for the future because the need is going to increase, and these windmills and panels take up huge tracts of land and are not feasible for all areas of the country. Even battery technology is not where we need it to be...they are not power generators, they are a power reserves that are depleted. The materials in a lithium ion battery come from hostile countries (Russia, Columbia, etc) not to mention one rare earth metal.

We've only had one issue in the entire history of our nuclear past and even still, the safety measures WORKED. There was no breech in containment, no radiation was spilled, and no one died. In the last few months, 39 people have died from oil and coal compared to nuclear's "zero" in the past 30 years. My own great grandfather was killed in a coal mining accident working overtime to be sure his kids had a nice Christmas, only to leave them fatherless for it. As far as Chernobyl...thats comparing apples and oranges and doesn't even compare to a single reactor we have here in the US. The plant was built without regard for safety, and it was run without regard to procedure. It doesn't even have a containment building.

We need to get the Westinghouse AP-1000, the Kandu, and the ABWR's working for us. They are clean, safe, no carbon emissions, and if we get the law reversed that was set in place by the Carter administration we can reprocess spent fuel and use it again. Heck we are doing it for our military's nuclear subs, but we can't do it for a rector? Doesn't make sense! 93% of the fuel that is in dry storage can be recovered. Even better, Breeder Reactor Technology uses the spent fuel and keeps reprocessing itself. We have the technology to do it.

I've grown up with a father who has been in the nuclear industry for over 40 years and I have grown up with a love for the industry and a willingness for push it forward. In my opinion in the nuclear industry the word "Safety" and the word "quality" should always be interchangeable.

[Rook]

Sounds very similar to what Penn & Teller discussed in their bullsh*t episode 9, season 5 involving Hybrids, Nuclear Energy and Lesbians on a blind date {the lesbian part was amusing, almost funny..but then, most of their episodes give facts with a serious dose of humor/cynicism}

[Rook]

BP says Gulf oil leak is 'environmental catastrophe'

BP's top official, who had previously said the environmental impact on Gulf of Mexico would be modest, upgraded his assessment Friday to an "environmental catastrophe."

Also Friday, engineers in the Gulf tried the "junk shot" method in an attempt to stop a massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, BP's chief executive Tony Hayward said.

The procedure involved shooting debris such as shredded rubber tires, golf balls and similar objects into the blowout preventer in an attempt to clog it and stop the leak. The goal of the junk shot is to force-feed the preventer, the device that failed when the disaster unfolded, until it becomes so plugged that the oil stops flowing or slows to a relative trickle.

The company plans to resume its "top kill" method, pumping heavy mud into the leak, later Friday, he said.

President Obama is scheduled to visit Louisiana on Friday for the second time since an oil rig explosion sent a historic amount of oil gushing into the Gulf.

Obama's visit comes as his administration has been criticized for its response to the massive underwater gusher that is now estimated to be twice the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster.

"I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down," Obama said Thursday at a White House news conference. "That doesn't mean it's going to be easy. That doesn't mean it's going to happen right away or the way I'd like it to happen. That doesn't mean we aren't going to make mistakes."

The president even said his 11-year-old daughter, Malia, weighed in on the issue on Thursday.

"You know, when I woke up this morning and I'm shaving, and Malia knocks on my bathroom door and she peeks in her head and she says, 'Did you plug the hole yet, Daddy?'" he said.

BP attempted to cap the spill using the "top kill" method Thursday.

The "top kill" involves pumping heavy drilling fluid into the head of the leaking well at the sea floor. The manufactured fluid, known as drilling mud, is normally used as a lubricant and counterweight in drilling operations. Officials hope the drilling mud will stop the flow of oil. Cement then would be pumped in to seal the well.

"This whole operation is very, very dynamic," said Doug Suttles, the company's chief operating officer "When we did the initial pumping [Wednesday], we clearly impacted the flow of the well. We then stopped to monitor the well. Based on that we restarted again. We didn't think we were making enough progress after we restarted, so we stopped again."

The light-brown material that was seen spilling out of the well throughout Thursday was the previously pumped fluid from the top kill procedure mixed with oil, he said.

"I probably should apologize to folks that we haven't been giving more data on that," Suttles said when asked why it took so long for BP to announce it had suspended the top kill. "It was nothing more than we are so focused on the operation itself."

Suttles said part of the problem is that too much of the muddy fluid is leaving the breach instead of going down the well.

"So what we need to do is adjust how we are doing the job so that we get more of the drilling mud to go down the well," Suttles said.

He said one solution would be to introduce solids -- known as "bridging material" or its variant "junk shot" -- into the mix.

The revelation that BP suspended the "top kill" effort for 16 hours before it was restarted late Thursday afternoon troubled some.

Neither Obama nor Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is leading the government's response to the oil spill, appeared to be aware of the break when they addressed reporters at separate news conferences Thursday.

A White House official told CNN that people inside the White House knew about the temporary halt in the "top kill," but it wasn't clear if Obama was aware of it.

Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser, who has been critical of the federal response to the spill, said the delay in information from BP was "par for the course."

"We've been dealing with this from day one, and the information has not flowed on anything," he said.

Stopping the leak took on even more urgency after government scientists released spill estimates that far exceed the previous 5,000-barrel-a-day number given by BP.

The burst well is spewing oil at a rate of at least 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day, U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt told reporters Thursday, meaning 260,000 to 540,000 barrels had leaked as of 10 days ago -- larger than the 250,000 barrels spilled when the tanker Exxon Valdez ran aground in Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989.

The spill erupted April 20, when the drilling platform Deepwater Horizon exploded and burned about 40 miles off Louisiana. The rig sank two days later, taking 11 of its crew of 125 with it.

The rush of oil has taken its toll on Louisiana's sensitive coastal marshes. Heavy oil has been killing plant life and fouling local wildlife and fisheries. On Thursday, the eve of the Memorial Day holiday weekend, the beaches of Grand Isle were empty.

"If only it gets stopped, if what they did yesterday works, that's the beginning of the end," Grand Isle Tourism Commissioner Josie Cheramie said. "We can clean up what's already been put out there, but we just really need to get it stopped. That's the main thing."

[Jet]

Arresting images of oil spill help drive story
Debacle of Debacles

Includes latest video from ABC

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100528/...il_spill_video

[Fancy]

Here's a personal interest story from NPR...For everything there is balance.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=89164759

March 28, 2008
Julio Diaz has a daily routine. Every night, the 31-year-old social worker ends his hour-long subway commute to the Bronx one stop early, just so he can eat at his favorite diner.

But one night last month, as Diaz stepped off the No. 6 train and onto a nearly empty platform, his evening took an unexpected turn.

He was walking toward the stairs when a teenage boy approached and pulled out a knife.

"He wants my money, so I just gave him my wallet and told him, 'Here you go,'" Diaz says.

As the teen began to walk away, Diaz told him, "Hey, wait a minute. You forgot something. If you're going to be robbing people for the rest of the night, you might as well take my coat to keep you warm."

The would-be robber looked at his would-be victim, "like what's going on here?" Diaz says. "He asked me, 'Why are you doing this?'"

Diaz replied: "If you're willing to risk your freedom for a few dollars, then I guess you must really need the money. I mean, all I wanted to do was get dinner and if you really want to join me ... hey, you're more than welcome.

"You know, I just felt maybe he really needs help," Diaz says.

Diaz says he and the teen went into the diner and sat in a booth.

"The manager comes by, the dishwashers come by, the waiters come by to say hi," Diaz says. "The kid was like, 'You know everybody here. Do you own this place?'"

"No, I just eat here a lot," Diaz says he told the teen. "He says, 'But you're even nice to the dishwasher.'"

Diaz replied, "Well, haven't you been taught you should be nice to everybody?"

"Yea, but I didn't think people actually behaved that way," the teen said.

Diaz asked him what he wanted out of life. "He just had almost a sad face," Diaz says.

The teen couldn't answer Diaz — or he didn't want to.

When the bill arrived, Diaz told the teen, "Look, I guess you're going to have to pay for this bill 'cause you have my money and I can't pay for this. So if you give me my wallet back, I'll gladly treat you."

The teen "didn't even think about it" and returned the wallet, Diaz says. "I gave him $20 ... I figure maybe it'll help him. I don't know."

Diaz says he asked for something in return — the teen's knife — "and he gave it to me."

Afterward, when Diaz told his mother what happened, she said, "You're the type of kid that if someone asked you for the time, you gave them your watch."

"I figure, you know, if you treat people right, you can only hope that they treat you right. It's as simple as it gets in this complicated world."

Produced for Morning Edition by Michael Garofalo.

[Andrew, Jr.]

Gary Coleman died today. He fell from having a seizure, and hit his head. He had an intercranial bleed and was on life support until he died.

[Ms. Tabitha]

Originally Posted by Andrew, Jr.

Gary Coleman died today. He fell from having a seizure, and hit his head. He had an intercranial bleed and was on life support until he died.

He will be in peace now. He has had a lot of health issues recently, not to mention turmoil in his personal life.

http://www.etonline.com/news/2010/05/87762/index.html

[Toughy]

Originally Posted by Toughy

It also passed the Senate. The House and Senate versions need to be reconciled and it will off to the President to sign.

Come December, the Pentagon will have the plan ready and it may just be that our xmas present this year will be one more step to full equal rights.

I mis-spoke. The Senate has not passed the Defense Authorization Bill with the amendment to allow the repeal of DADT. That should happen within a couple of weeks.

DADT is still in effect and folks can and will continue to be discharged under it.

I'm still hoping for a xmas present.

[UofMfan]

Dennis Hopper DEAD: Died Aged 74

First Posted: 05-29-10 01:37 PM | Updated: 05-29-10 01:37 PM HuffPo

Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper has died after a long bout with prostate cancer, according to reports. He was 74.

[Martina]

Originally Posted by UofMfan

Dennis Hopper DEAD: Died Aged 74

First Posted: 05-29-10 01:37 PM | Updated: 05-29-10 01:37 PM HuffPo

Hollywood actor Dennis Hopper has died after a long bout with prostate cancer, according to reports. He was 74.

Oh my. That makes me sad.

[UofMfan]

Why Misogynists Make Great Informants: How Gender Violence on the Left Enables State Violence in Radical Movements.

http://www.truthout.org/why-misogyni...nformants59966