Posts from — June 2010

In case you don’t read comments I’m going to pull these links out to share the insanity. I don’t actually recommend that you click on them, as sane people might need to flush their mind after reading. These were collected by Painted Jaguar, a neighbor on the Gulf Coast.

Why did the Gulf Gusher happen? It was an attack by:

• Environmental Terrorists;
• North Korea; or
• Hugo Chavez.

That’s right, because there is no way an oil company would ever cut corners to save money and increase profits, so it must be DFHs or enemies of the USA that caused the problem.

These people are probably registered voters, which helps to explain Michele Bachmann, Steve King, and Peter King being in Congress.

WALA, the Fox affiliate in Mobile, Alabama uses that term to describe the Gulf Gusher.

Thanks to BP and Hurricane Alex the Local Puppy Trainer reports 8-inch oil blobs on Navarre Beach. None of that chocolate colored stuff for Navarre, this is black crude oil in large “patties”.

Meanwhile McClatchy reports that Oil hitting Mississippi beaches by the ton. Literally they are picking up oil-soaked sand at quantities greater than 2,000 pounds.

But, not to worry, because, according to the Pensacola News Journal, BP has such efficient claims service:

You’d think folks at the BP claims center and Escambia County government officials would be on a first-name basis by now.

Judging by a letter the county received Monday: Not so much.

The letter, addressed to “Dear Sirs,” stated: “We have not been able to contact you regarding your claim as we do not have a working phone number to reach you.”

County Commission Chairman Grover Robinson IV was incredulous.

I guess someone missed all of the numbers on the official letterhead that was used to submit the claim, and the column of numbers for the county in the phone book.

If they do this to Escambia County, what do you think happens to Joe’s Bait Shop, or individual fishermen? Why do I hear this song in the background when BP talks about their claims process?

Position: 24.3N 97.7W [ 9 PM CDT 0200 UTC].
Movement: West [260°] near 10 mph [17 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 105 mph [165 kph].
Wind Gusts: 115 mph [185 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 205 miles [335 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 947 mb ↓.

It is 35 miles [55 km] North of La Pesca, Mexico.

“National Weather Service Doppler radar from Brownsville Texas and Air Force Reserve unit hurricane hunter observations indicate that the eye of Hurricane Alex made landfall around 9 PM CDT…0200 UTC along the coast of Mexico in the municipality of Soto La Marina about 110 mi…180 km south of Brownsville. Maximum sustained winds at landfall were estimated to be 105 mph…165 km/hr…a category two hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.”

Hurricane Warnings have been issued from South of Baffin Bay on the Texas coast to La Cruz on the coast of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Warnings from Baffin Bay North to Port O’Connor, Texas and from La Cruz South to Cabo Rojo, Mexico.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

So, Hurricane Alex is going ashore around the Mexico-Texas border, so there’s no problem, right? Wrong, there are already problems.

This is a gulf. Water enters and exits around Cuba, either the Yucatan Strait or the Florida Strait. Alex is big enough and moving slow enough that it is affecting the northern Gulf Coast with wind, waves, and surge. The skimmers have already left for port because they don’t work in 4-foot seas, and the booms are worthless, as the oil will push over the top. Tropical storms spin in a counter-clockwise motion around the center, so the winds will be from the South and Southeast, depending on how far East of the storm you are. That will add wind to the surge and wave action to push oil further inland.

Platforms working off the Texas coast are already being evacuated, but it probably won’t be necessary for those working directly on the gusher.

The US is accepting international help, not, as some people [Republican politicians] have claimed, rejecting it. The only thing not accepted so far has been dispersants from France, because they aren’t on the approved list. Some of the aid, like booms from Mexico, is free, but other assistance is going to have to be paid for, which means BP approval under the present stupid system. If the aid doesn’t come, it isn’t because the Feds blocked it, it’s because BP refused to pay for it.

CNN reports on the great Russian “spy” arrests:

The U.S. Justice Department announced Monday that 10 people were arrested on charges of being Russian agents involved in a long-term mission in the United States.

The Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed Tuesday that the suspects are Russian citizens. In a statement posted on its website, the ministry said the suspects did not commit any actions directed toward American interests and asked for a guarantee that they will be given access to Russian consular officials and lawyers.
…

The Justice Department said the suspects were supposed to recruit intelligence agents, but were not directly involved in obtaining U.S. secrets themselves. They were charged with acting as agents of a foreign government, and nine also were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The charges include conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without notifying the U.S. attorney general, a crime that carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, the Justice Department said. Conspiracy to commit money laundering has a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

This is embarrassing, What if people think that the Soviets did stuff like this? How much credibility can “Cold Warriors” get when this is the opposition. Some of them had accents! What kind of spycraft is that – deep agents with accents?! The Russian Foreign Ministry admitting they’re Russians?!

The “trade” has really gone downhill [….. hey, you commies, get off my lawn!!]

The last of the qualifiers for the Quarter Finals.

Paraguay wins on penalty shots after both teams failed to score in the game or extra time. Japan’s third penalty shot struck the crossbar while Paraguay netted all five.

Spain – Portugal is later this afternoon.

Spain [La Furia Roja] 1-0 Portugal [Selecção]

This means that the Quarter Finals will be:

July 2^nd
Netherlands [Oranje] – Brazil [Canarinho]
Uruguay [La Celeste] – Ghana [Black Stars]

July 3^rd
Argentina [La Albiceleste] – Germany [Die Mannschaft]
Paraguay [La Albirroja] – Spain [La Furia Roja]

Position: 23.1N 94.8W [10 PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [280°] near 9 mph [15 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 75 mph [120 kph].
Wind Gusts: 85 mph [135 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Hurricane Wind Radius: 15 miles [25 km].
Minimum central pressure: 973 mb ↓.

It is 255 miles [415 km] Southeast of Brownsville, Texas.

It is on track to come ashore around the mouth of the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande late Wednesday night and is the first June hurricane since 1995.

Hurricane Warnings have been issued from South of Baffin Bay on the Texas coast to La Cruz on the coast of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Warnings from Baffin Bay North to Port O’Connor, Texas and from La Cruz South to Cabo Rojo, Mexico.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

Both NPR and the New York Times are discussing the the posting of a PDF of the complete Rolling Stone McChrystal article without even a link to the magazine’s web site. It wasn’t done by some guy in a basement, it was done by Time and Politico.

Rolling Stone hadn’t posted the story on their web site because they want print subscribers to get their stories first. My Local Puppy Trainer does the same thing, posting on the web a day after it is delivered.

The story was going to be published, so this isn’t a matter of putting something that was going to be hidden on the web in the public interest, this was merely a matter of scooping Rolling Stone on their own story.

This wasn’t breaking news, it was an in-depth article. There is no excuse for what Time and Politico did, and it was a clear violation of copyright law, as well as the supposed ethics that separate “the real media” from “bloggers”.

You have to wonder what Mississippi officials have been doing for the last two months. It has been obvious from the early days that until the pictures start showing up in the media, BP won’t do anything. It has also been obvious that the Feds are the junior partner in the Unified Command because BP controls the checkbook.

McClatchy reports that Mississippi officials slam Coast Guard as BP oil hits shores

GULFPORT, Miss. — What South Mississippi officials had been fearing for weeks came true Sunday when large, gooey globs of weathered oil, chocolate-colored oil patties and tar balls washed ashore in quantity along the Mississippi Coast.

Emergency managers scrambled to win approval for stronger protection of inland waterways, more skimming equipment in Mississippi waters and installation of absorbent material, also to keep oil out of inland waterways.

Local officials were livid that the oil had made it ashore.

Maybe if Mississippi has stopped kissing up to corporations they wouldn’t be awakening to the smell of crude oil on their beaches. Maybe if a few Mississippi politicians had supported effective oversight of the oil and gas industry, instead of blocking all attempts to do it, they wouldn’t be cleaning oily muck off their jon boats. Maybe if they had supported funding for the Coast Guard, there wouldn’t have been such a reduction of in the service along the Gulf Coast.

Welcome to the club. If you don’t want to pay for service, don’t complain when you don’t get any.

The Oranje are through to the Quarter Finals: Netherlands 2-1 Slovakia

They face the winner of Brazil – Chile which takes place later this afternoon. To say that it will probably be Brazil, is not exactly a risky prediction.

As expected Brazil took it: Canarinho 3-0 La Roja of Chile.

Of course I back the Oranje, but, now they face the Canarinho in the Quarter Finals, so they really need to get their stuff together.

Position: 21.0N 91.6W [10 PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: North [360°] near 5 mph [ 7 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 65 mph [100 kph].
Wind Gusts: 75 mph [120 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 70 miles [110 km].
Minimum central pressure: 985 mb ↓.

It is 505 miles [810 km] Southeast of Brownsville, Texas.

It is strengthening and moving slowly North. It should be a hurricane tomorrow. The current path predicts landfall around the Texas-Mexican border Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.

Hurricane Warnings have been issued from South of Baffin Bay on the Texas coast to La Cruz on the coast of Mexico.

Tropical Storm Warning from Baffin Bay North to Port O’Connor, Texas.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

The Black Stars of Ghana are the only English speakers left in the Cup: Germany 4-1 England.

You get the feeling that England psyches itself out every time it plays Germany. Germany plays a great game of football, but the Premier League is not for amateurs. For whatever reason, almost every time England faces Germany on a pitch, they forget where the net is [disallowed goals not withstanding and the fact that the new ball is crap].

Argentina v. Mexico later today.

CONCACAF is out as El Tri fall to La Albiceleste: Argentina 3-1 Mexico.

Position: 19.4N 91.3W [10 PM CST 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [300°] near 7 mph [11 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 45 mph [ 75 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 175 miles [280 km].
Minimum central pressure: 991 mb ↓.

It is 470 miles [755 km] East-Southeast of Tampico, Mexico.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]

I’ve referred to it as the Well from Hell or Gulf Gusher almost from the beginning, and know that it is officially recorded as Mississippi Canyon block 252, but from time to time someone would use another name, and I kept forgetting to write it down. The thing is, the name was familiar, but I didn’t associate it with the Gulf or oil.

Finally, Mary at Pacific Views and Left Coaster made the connection on the Macondo Prospect, BP’s internal name for the well.

If you have never read Colombian novelist and Nobel laureate. Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, you should. If you know about the history of Colombia it will be a richer experience, but it isn’t necessary to enjoy the novel.

Naming an oil well for Macondo, “a city of mirrors”, is only slightly better than naming your new nuclear power plant Chernobyl, or building a resort near a volcano and calling it Pompeii.