Posts from — July 2010

If you can control your gag reflex, the BBC tells us what happens when a CEO gets laid off:

BP is set to announce a record loss, having set aside an estimated £16bn-£19bn ($25bn-$30bn) to cover the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The loss is expected to be one of the biggest in British corporate history.

The BBC has learnt BP chief executive Tony Hayward will get an immediate annual pension worth about £600,000 ($930,000) when he leaves in October.
…

BBC business editor Robert Peston said that Mr Hayward’s pension entitlement was “bound to be hugely controversial”.

Our business editor said that because he was leaving by mutual agreement rather than being sacked, the BP board felt it had “to honour the terms of its contract with him”.

Mr Hayward will receive a year’s salary plus benefits worth more than £1m.

His pension pot is valued at about £11m and he will keep his rights to shares under a long-term performance scheme which could – depending on BP’s stock market recovery – eventually be worth several million pounds.

The corporation tanks under his watch and he gets more than $1.5 million in severance, and almost a million dollars per year in his pension, rather than any unpaid wages and an application for unemployment for 26 weeks.

Isn’t it touching how executive pensions are sacred, while the pensions of workers are for looting and elimination.

PBS is reporting that BP could begin the final procedure next week:

BP could begin taking the final steps to try to kill its blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico as soon as next week, Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said Monday. Allen gave the most specific timeline yet for the well kill procedure, a timeline that would have BP finishing the relief well and beginning the “bottom kill” by Aug. 7.

The company could start pumping mud and cement through the top of the well — the so-called “static kill” — even sooner: next Monday.

McClatchy provides some details on the “static kill”:

On Monday, BP should be able to resume drilling the relief well, the second part of the two-phase process to seal the well permanently.

Workers are simultaneously drilling a relief tunnel to reach two miles under the sea and pump in more cement and mud from the top of well, which could kill it right away. It could take as much as a week before crews begin pumping in the mud and cement, Allen said.

I’m guessing that BP thinks that there would be a problem if they attempted the “static kill” through the existing manifold at the bottom of the blowout preventer, which is why they are intercepting the well below the surface with the second relief well drilling rig. All of the seismic monitoring may have alerted them to a problem layer at the upper levels of the well.

The wording on the depth of the “relief tunnel” doesn’t make it obvious whether it includes or excludes the depth of the water, i.e. whether the tunnel will be intercepting the well at 5,000 feet [included] or 10,000 feet [excluded] below the floor of the Gulf.

The Mobile Press-Register editorial board seems to have forgotten a few things: All we want is a commitment to compensation

The federal government, for its part, has to come up with more ways to help coastal communities. Why not — as Mayor Craft and Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon have urged — declare the region a national disaster area? That could make all kinds of loans, grants and services available.

Mind you, nobody on the Gulf Coast asked to be the victim of BP’s sloppy drilling practices and the federal government’s failed oversight. And nobody is asking for handouts, either.

We only want the compensation we deserve — and we need it now.

First off, if you want the area declared a disaster area, don’t look to Washington, talk to Montgomery. I’m sure someone in Alabama remembers the concept of state’s rights, and part of that is the requirement that the states asked for assistance, the Federal government doesn’t just send it. The states also need to specify the type of assistance that’s needed. This isn’t a natural disaster, this is pollution caused by a corporation and the corporation, not the Federal government, is responsible.

Secondly, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas allow drilling off their coasts, and profit from it, so those states are not blameless.

Third, the lax oversight was and is encouraged by almost every major politician running for office in Alabama. Alabama voted for the President whose administration pretty much eliminated regulation of the oil industry, G.W. Bush.

Even now, after the mess that is the Well from Hell, McClatchy reports that politicians in the affected states are complaining about a six-month moratorium to get a handle on the problem.

Things are not going to get better until people in the coastal states acknowledge their own culpability in this mess. If voters won’t elect people who refuse to blindly trust corporations, and lately they won’t, those voters have no room to complain when they are harmed by the corporations.

Longjumeau – Paris

Distance: 102.5 kilometers.

This is the final stage and Alberto Contador is assured of the Yellow. There are, however, two sprints and three people separated by 16 points in the race for the Green Jersey.

Petacchi held on to the Green, as Cavendish moved into second with his fifth stage win, and Thor Hushvodt settled for third.

Alberto Contador takes his third Yellow without winning a single stage, and Andy Schleck takes his third White.

Charteau won the Polka Dot, followed by Christophe Moreau of GCE, and Andy Schleck third.

Sylvain Chavanel was the winner of the most Combative rider on this years race. He won two stages and the Yellow twice.

The Lanterne Rouge [Red Lantern] goes to Adriano Malori of Lampre who finished 4 hours, 27 minutes, and 3 seconds after Contador.

Alberto Contador ( Esp – AST – 001 ) [Yellow] 91h 58m 48s
Alessandro Petacchi ( Ita – LAM – 208 ) [Green] 243 points
Anthony Charteau ( Fra – BBO – 153 ) [Polka Dot] 143 points
Andy Schleck ( Lux – SAX – 011 ) 2 [White]
Team: Radio Shack RSH ( 021-029 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Mark Cavendish ( GBr – THR – 111 )
Super Combative: Sylvain Chavanel ( Fra – QST – 131 ) [Red numbers]
Lanterne Rouge: Adriano Malori ( Ita – LAM – 207 ) +4h 27m 03s

They’ve gone 3,641.9 kilometers [2,263.0 miles] at an average speed of 39.6 kph [24.6 mph].

FINAL STANDINGS:

[Read more →]

“Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.” – old Italian proverb [as near as anyone can tell].

There is no doubt that Breitbart & company deserve all the blame for ACORN. The media should have done some fact checking, but things spun out of control quickly, and the GOP piled on in a flash.

This time, people held off. It would appear that while Bill O’Reilly featured it, the story about Shirley Sherrod did not appear on the “hard news” daytime schedule on Fox. Everyone seemed to be considering the source, after getting burned by the ACORN mess, and waiting for some confirmation.

They got their confirmation from the Obama administration and the NAACP, who attacked Mrs. Sherrod’s character without having the courtesy to listen to her side on the story.

Then the media ran with it, and didn’t halt until an elderly lady from Georgia called CNN and told them that the story was wrong.

Breitbart, O’Reilly, Beck, Limbaugh, et cetera ad nauseum are “scorpions”. That they manufacture stories to slander innocent people isn’t news, it’s “olds”. This is how they make their money, so they aren’t going to stop doing it. Even the M$M has figured it out.

The Beaten Dog Democrats™ in the White House need to have Alan Grayson teach them how to respond to attacks. Apologies after you defame and fire someone does not make that person whole, and does not give confidence to people who might vote for you.

CNN reports on the latest admitted safety violation on the Deepwater Horizon: Deepwater Horizon alarm had been ‘inhibited,’ technician testifies

Kenner, Louisiana (CNN) — An alarm system on the Deepwater Horizon had been “inhibited” for about a year before the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and started the worst oil disaster in the nation’s history, the platform’s chief electronics technician testified to a federal panel Friday.

An inhibited mode means sensors for toxic or combustible gases or fire are active and will alert the platform’s computer system, but the computer does not trigger an audible or visual alarm, technician Mike Williams told the six-member panel.

Supervisors on the Transocean rig were aware that the alarm system had been inhibited, Williams said.

“When I discovered about a year ago it was inhibited, I inquired as to why it was inhibited, and the explanation I got is that … they did not want people woke up at 3 o’clock in the morning due to false alarms,” Williams said.

While as a computer person I appreciate that the computer was given warning of its impending doom, I think it might have been more useful for people to know. If they were getting a lot of false alarms, the systems should have been fixed, but I don’t think they were getting false alarms. Based on the testimony of a number of people on the vessel, the Well from Hell was belching methane on a regular basis, and nothing was done about it.

This is like investigating a house fire and seeing the smoke alarms without batteries and pennies replacing fuses in the electrical box – it was a tragedy waiting to happen.

We have two members of the plutocracy attempting to buy elected positions in Florida.

Rick Scott is running against Bill McCollum for the Republican nomination for governor of Florida, and Jeff Greene is running against Kendrick Meek for the Democratic nomination for US Senator. Scott is a multi-millionaire while Greene is a billionaire. It is almost impossible to avoid the output from their self-financed campaigns.

Scott made his money the old-fashioned way, from Medicare and Medicaide as the CEO of HCA [formerly Hospital Corporation of America]. Despite record fines for his corporation’s billing practices, HCA made enough money to reward Scott with tens of millions of dollars in compensation.

While one of the secrets of HCA’s huge profits was cutting costs by eliminating jobs, Scott keeps saying he is going to cut taxes and the jobs will magically appear, i.e. another supply-side true-believer with nary a clue as to how the economy works. Of course he opposes the Federal government, not realizing that the stimulus is about to end and Florida is in dire financial straits, making tax cuts irrelevant as no one has any money for taxes anyway.

I know more about what Greene was up to because I was in California when he made his stake in the 1980s during the over-heated real estate market by flipping properties. He bought distressed properties, did some rehab, and re-sold them. He says that he has a proven record of job creation, but hiring day-labors to do some rehab work isn’t creating permanent jobs.

Greene left when the bubble deflated and made the big money with credit default swaps. One of the few big winners in the global financial melt-down thinks that he has the skills to create jobs, after destroying tens of thousands of jobs with his Wall Street gambling.

There’s no telling what the people of Florida will do, but these guys are part of the problem with our economy, not the solution.

At this point in time, the Democrat Alex Sink looks good for the position of governor, and Charlie Crist is running ahead in the Senate race. These guys are doing a lot of damage to their primary opponents, and that isn’t good for the chances of their supposed parties in November.

Bordeaux – Pauillac

Distance: 52 kilometers.

This is a time trial and Andy Schleck’s last chance to make up the 8 seconds that Alberto Contador has on him.

Fabian Cancellara has won the second time trial stage, just as he won the first, and Andy lost 31 seconds to Alberto.

With Thor Hushovd only 10 points behind Alessandro Petacchi in the battle for the Green, the sprints will dominate tomorrow as Alberto parades into Paris.

Alberto Contador ( Esp – AST – 001 ) [Yellow] 89h 16m 27s
Alessandro Petacchi ( Ita – LAM – 208 ) [Green] 213 points
Anthony Charteau ( Fra – BBO – 153 ) [Polka Dot] 143 points
Andy Schleck ( Lux – SAX – 011 ) 2 [White]
Team: Radio Shack RSH ( 021-029 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Fabian Cancellara ( Sui – SAX – 013 )

They’ve gone 3,539.4 kilometers [2,199.3 miles] at an average speed of 39.6 kph [24.6 mph].

OVERALL STANDINGS:

[Read more →]

Position: 28.5N 87.6W [ 4 PM CDT 2100 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [300°] near 14 mph [22 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 30 mph [50 kph].
Wind Gusts: 40 mph [65 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1011 mb ↓.

Bonnie was systematically pulled apart by wind shear and dry air from an upper level low pressure area and is now a remnant low pressure area.

All Tropical Storm Warnings have been discontinued. Bonnie is “pining for the fjords” and no further advisories will be issued.

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 BBC reports that the ‘Eternal plane’ returns to Earth

The UK-built Zephyr unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) has confirmed its place in aviation history as the first “eternal plane”.

The solar-powered craft completed two weeks of non-stop flight above a US Army range in Arizona before being commanded to make a landing.

The Qinetiq company which developed Zephyr said the UAV had nothing to prove by staying in the air any longer.

It had already smashed all endurance records for an unpiloted vehicle before it touched down at 1504 BST (0704 local/1404 GMT) on Friday.
…

Zephyr is set to be credited with a new world endurance record (336 hours, 24 minutes) for an unmanned, un-refuelled aircraft – provided a representative of the world air sports federation, who was present at Yuma, is satisfied its rules have been followed properly.

Its fortnight in the sky easily beats the 30 hours, 24 minutes, set by Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4A Global Hawk in 2001.

Zephyr has also exceeded the mark set for a manned, non-stop, un-refuelled flight, set in 1986 by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, who stayed aloft for nine days (216 hours), three minutes. Their flight in the Voyager craft went around the world.

With the ability to maintain flight at 60,000 feet, above the weather, and to generate its own power for instruments, this really is a great stride for long term monitoring of, say, oil spills, hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and other disasters.

Salies de Béarn – Bordeaux

Distance: 198 kilometers.

Back on the flat with a couple of sprints. Tomorrow will be time-trials and then it’s the parade to Paris, so this is the last stage for the sprinters and non-climbers to make a move.

Mark Cavendish made his move and won his fourth stage, but a withdrawal is the only reason he moved up. The finish involved the bottom of the list from 149 down at the front of the pack, but no real change in their overall standings. Alberto Contador hasn’t won a single stage but he is wearing Yellow.

Alberto Contador ( Esp – AST – 001 ) [Yellow] 88h 09m 48s
Alessandro Petacchi ( Ita – LAM – 208 ) [Green] 213 points
Anthony Charteau ( Fra – BBO – 153 ) [Polka Dot] 143 points
Andy Schleck ( Lux – SAX – 011 ) 2 [White]
Team: Radio Shack RSH ( 021-029 ) [Yellow numbers]
Stage winner: Mark Cavendish ( GBr – THR – 111 )
Combative: Daniel Oss ( Ita – LIQ – 046 ) [Red numbers]

They’ve gone 3,487.4 kilometers [2,167.0 miles] at an average speed of 39.6 kph [24.6 mph].

OVERALL STANDINGS:

[Read more →]

Position: 26.4N 83.4W [10 PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West-Northwest [295°] near 17 mph [27 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 35 mph [55 kph].
Wind Gusts: 45 mph [70 kph].
Minimum central pressure: 1010 mb ↑.

It is 395 miles [635 km] East-Southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River, and 85 miles [135 km] Southwest of Sarasota, Florida.

It is 345 miles [555 km] East-Southeast of the Well from Hell.

The center of Bonnie is over the Gulf near the East Coast of Florida and has weakened to a Depression.

A Tropical Storm Warning has been issued for the northern Gulf Coast from Destin, Florida to Morgan City, Louisiana including Lake Pontchartrain.

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.]

Too Hot To Move

Zzzzzz…zzzzz…

[Editor: A rerun because everyone is in hiding in a dark if not terribly cool place. The heat index was 117° on Thursday, and while only 108° on Wednesday, the inside cats are recovering from the replacement of the air conditioner that gave up the ghost on Tuesday morning. While the new unit is more efficient, it achieves that by being a steady performer, not an instant cooler. Everyone is a bit cranky around here.]

Friday Ark

The Local Puppy Trainer is carrying a story that originated with the Pensacola News Journal: Panhandle legislators left off state oil spill response committees

TALLAHASSEE — Flatly rejecting Gov. Charlie Crist’s order to put an offshore drilling ban on the November ballot in Tuesday’s aborted special session, House Speaker Larry Cretul is forging ahead with his own response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.

But while tar balls are staining Northwest Florida beaches, none of the six legislative working groups Cretul assigned to the task is led by a Panhandle legislator.

Three of the lead lawmakers on the groups are from Southwest Florida, as is the chief coordinator they will answer to, Rep. Gary Aubuchon, a Republican from oil-free Cape Coral.

Three of the leads, including Aubuchon, serve on a committee that spent months laying the groundwork to lift Florida’s 20-year offshore drilling ban.

The working group membership is sprinkled with Northwest Florida legislators — including Republicans Clay Ford of Pensacola, Jimmy Patronis of Panama City and Marti Coley of Marianna and Democrat Leonard Bembry of Greenville — and the region’s voice will be heard, insists Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Fort Walton Beach.

First off, Greenville is East of Tallahassee in Madison County on the Georgia line which is a long ways from a beach. Marianna is in Jackson County on the Alabama line, and while it is at least in the Central Time Zone, again, a long way from a beach. That leaves two people who are actually concerned with the problem, and neither is in charge of anything.

Aubuchon thinks that listening “to more than 30 hours of testimony” justifies putting the cabal that was trying to open the coast to drilling in charge. Sorry, but the time equivalent of a two-credit-hour course, doesn’t even qualify those people as interested amateurs. The bulk of that testimony was telling the legislators about how wonderful it would be to have drilling rigs in Florida’s coastal waters, which has just been shown to be garbage – poisonous, sticky garbage strewn on our beaches.