Showing posts with label Gulf Oil Spill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gulf Oil Spill. Show all posts
For a piece called "Blowout" 60 Minutes found a survivor of the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico. Mike Williams, however, isn't just a survivor. He jumped some 100 feet from the bridge of the rig, into the burning Gulf, and into a layer of oil.
Williams didn't think he was going to die. He thought he was dead.
But, even before the catastrophic events of late that evening, Williams knew that negligence had made an accident like this one possible.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Watch CBS News Videos Online
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Williams didn't think he was going to die. He thought he was dead.
But, even before the catastrophic events of late that evening, Williams knew that negligence had made an accident like this one possible.
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Watch CBS News Videos Online
The headline is obviously referring to the blog, which is currently under repair. I think the only thing showing right now are the actual posts. Spent most of the weekend working on it, but ran into some frustrations. Eventually (probably over the course of the week), you will see a new look, along with possibly a new URL. Stay tuned...
Lots to mention to get this week started, one that looms large in political circles. More on that later and probably in another post.
Let's start with a birthday, born of a $1.65 billion investment. That is how much Google paid for YouTube in 2007, considered a major risk at the time. Well, last October, the internet video powerhouse eclipsed some one billion page views per day, and just recently it announced that figured had doubled. Today, YouTube turns five.
It is almost amazing to think that YouTube didn't exist when I was in high school. In what is clearly a sign of the information age, it is so prevalent right now as to give the impression that it has always existed. Yes, I was born before computers were even that ubiquitous. When I was in elementary school the cool thing to do on a computer was play Oregon Trail." Now, well, on this browser alone, I have nine different tabs open (five of them are related to this blog actually).
Google as a corporation has revolutionized information, taking advantage of the internet in the same way Microsoft did the personal computer. There is no slowing this train down. What I find funny to remember is the man who is largely give credit for creating the internet (financially anyway), Al Gore, is now so widely criticized in his current endeavor (clean energy) as to think he's never successfully done any forward thinking. Even Gore could not have expected this. The internet, as you don't need to be told, has changed the foundation of just about everything in the world, including the family. Google has been by far the leader.
So happy birthday to one of its arms, YouTube.
Uplifting, yet sad at the same time, the University of Virginia women's lacrosse team opened up the NCAA tournament with a win yesterday, in its first game since the murder of one of their own, Yeardley Love. Love's mother and sister were in the stands as the entire team held up pieces of paper with the number "1" on them, a reference to the motto of both teams in the NCAA tournament, "One Love." The alleged killer was a member of the men's team, which returned to action with a win on Saturday.
BP is claiming some success today, after a pipe inserted into the 21-inch riser pipe was able to begin diverting oil to a tanker on the surface. The mile long pipe is just four inches wide, means its effect is minimal, but it marks the biggest positive step anyone has seen in stopping the leak. Late last week reports suggested that more than 10 times more oil was leaking that previously thought. At the original rate there would have been about 5.6 million gallons spilled up to today, in the fourth week of the spill. In the newer range that has been hypothesized, somewhere around 100 million gallons has already spilled. That would be about 10 Exxon Valdez spills, with the end still of in the distance.
A Rhode Island school that fired all of its teachers has reached a tentative agreement to rehire all of them, after a three month process. The school board of the district voted to fire every staff member, teachers and administrators, over low student performance. A new deal would allow the teachers to return to work in the fall without having to re-apply for their jobs.
After 40 years, the Boston University class of 1970 walked in a graduation ceremony this weekend, a chance the 3,000 graduates never got during the turmoil of the time. Final exams and the ceremony were canceled that year after the university, like so many others, became the site of strikes, sit-ins, building takeovers and fire-bombings. That spring saw President Richard Nixon invade Cambodia and National Guardsmen killing nine students at Kent State.
Attorney General Eric Holder gave the commencement speech to the entire graduating class, including the 2010 grads, saying, "I love you all," then gesturing toward the class of 1970, sitting in front him, "But these are my people."
--
Amazingly, I avoided Congress and politics for a while there, but no longer (I will be avoiding the Mariners, however, so if you want to be depressed, try the Seattle Times).
Despite being a higher seed at both the regional and the super regional last year, the Huskies were forced to travel because their stadium did not have lights, an NCAA requirement for hosting. The Huskies turned the lengthy road trip (which, unlike basically every school outside of the west coast, was in the middle of the academic quarter) into a positive and rode it the program's first national championship.
Along the way, their story was told over and over again on ESPN, leading to an influx of donations and the unveiling of lights to begin the 2010 at Husky Softball Stadium. The Huskies (45-6, 17-4) will host a regional starting Friday. Despite being the top-ranked team in the country for the entire season, unanimously for most of it, the Huskies are just the No. 3 overall seed. Alabama and Michigan are one and two, respectively.
A couple more things on this: The Huskies head into their 17th-consecutive postseason appearance coming off of the best regular season in school history. Washington missed out on the tournament in its first season of existence, 1993, but has been there in every year since.
And not only was this a big season for the team, but, as mentioned in previous posts, reigned National Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie has cemented her place as maybe the greatest pitcher to ever play the game and certainly one of the best athletes in UW history. She set the Pac-10 career strikeout record over the weekend. Lawrie heads into the postseason with, get this, a 35-2 record, 0.99 ERA and 407 strikeouts in 247.1 innings, while also hitting .322 with team highs of 14 homeruns and 55 RBI. Have the Mariners even scored 55 runs yet this season? Before last weekend she was almost out-homering that whole team.
Finally, if you can get past the blatant partisanship here, the way he presents this is absolutely hilarious. Obama was talking to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Yes, he is completely finger pointing, but tell me when he says, "No!", you didn't laugh.
Happy Monday
[More]
Lots to mention to get this week started, one that looms large in political circles. More on that later and probably in another post.
Let's start with a birthday, born of a $1.65 billion investment. That is how much Google paid for YouTube in 2007, considered a major risk at the time. Well, last October, the internet video powerhouse eclipsed some one billion page views per day, and just recently it announced that figured had doubled. Today, YouTube turns five.
It is almost amazing to think that YouTube didn't exist when I was in high school. In what is clearly a sign of the information age, it is so prevalent right now as to give the impression that it has always existed. Yes, I was born before computers were even that ubiquitous. When I was in elementary school the cool thing to do on a computer was play Oregon Trail." Now, well, on this browser alone, I have nine different tabs open (five of them are related to this blog actually).
Google as a corporation has revolutionized information, taking advantage of the internet in the same way Microsoft did the personal computer. There is no slowing this train down. What I find funny to remember is the man who is largely give credit for creating the internet (financially anyway), Al Gore, is now so widely criticized in his current endeavor (clean energy) as to think he's never successfully done any forward thinking. Even Gore could not have expected this. The internet, as you don't need to be told, has changed the foundation of just about everything in the world, including the family. Google has been by far the leader.
So happy birthday to one of its arms, YouTube.
Uplifting, yet sad at the same time, the University of Virginia women's lacrosse team opened up the NCAA tournament with a win yesterday, in its first game since the murder of one of their own, Yeardley Love. Love's mother and sister were in the stands as the entire team held up pieces of paper with the number "1" on them, a reference to the motto of both teams in the NCAA tournament, "One Love." The alleged killer was a member of the men's team, which returned to action with a win on Saturday.
BP is claiming some success today, after a pipe inserted into the 21-inch riser pipe was able to begin diverting oil to a tanker on the surface. The mile long pipe is just four inches wide, means its effect is minimal, but it marks the biggest positive step anyone has seen in stopping the leak. Late last week reports suggested that more than 10 times more oil was leaking that previously thought. At the original rate there would have been about 5.6 million gallons spilled up to today, in the fourth week of the spill. In the newer range that has been hypothesized, somewhere around 100 million gallons has already spilled. That would be about 10 Exxon Valdez spills, with the end still of in the distance.
A Rhode Island school that fired all of its teachers has reached a tentative agreement to rehire all of them, after a three month process. The school board of the district voted to fire every staff member, teachers and administrators, over low student performance. A new deal would allow the teachers to return to work in the fall without having to re-apply for their jobs.
After 40 years, the Boston University class of 1970 walked in a graduation ceremony this weekend, a chance the 3,000 graduates never got during the turmoil of the time. Final exams and the ceremony were canceled that year after the university, like so many others, became the site of strikes, sit-ins, building takeovers and fire-bombings. That spring saw President Richard Nixon invade Cambodia and National Guardsmen killing nine students at Kent State.
Attorney General Eric Holder gave the commencement speech to the entire graduating class, including the 2010 grads, saying, "I love you all," then gesturing toward the class of 1970, sitting in front him, "But these are my people."
--
Amazingly, I avoided Congress and politics for a while there, but no longer (I will be avoiding the Mariners, however, so if you want to be depressed, try the Seattle Times).
- Politico suggests that President Obama is rolling his sleeves up and taking a more hands-on approach with Congress right now, as financial reform and possibly energy work their way through. That can only be good for those efforts.
It probably also shows that, with some Democrats unwilling to campaign on a health care bill that was painted in such a negative light, the administration needs to give them something else. Cracking down on Wall Street should work every time. - Not necessarily political, but I absolutely loved this interview yesterday in the New York Times Magazine, with Alan Greenberg of JP Morgan Chase.
- Congressional hearings this week on the oil spill in the Gulf will focus on the federal response. Two things to watch:
- Are federal officials just as non-committal (or even finger-pointing) as their oil executive counterparts. After the speech Obama gave on Friday, for his administration to point fingers at oil companies would likely backfire.
- That said, expect to see the officials talk about how their response was appropriate and swift, even though there was very little the government could do initially. Quite frankly, what is often missed is that oil companies know best how to handle these sorts of things, which is why BP is still involved at all. If the hearing gets into how close the oil companies and their regulator are, or why BP was not required to do a full assessment before drilling the well, it could get ugly for the administration. - Here is a quick primer on what is going on in Pennsylvania, something my later post will cover. This one is far more interesting than the others, to me at least, simply because I really do think Arlen Specter is the only one that can win the general.
- Expect to see something from me on this as well, as questions loom over whether Governor Christine Gregoire will be nominated for the solicitor general position being vacated by Elena Kagan. That obviously has ramifications across Washington state politics. This next day or so of blogging is going to be fun.
Despite being a higher seed at both the regional and the super regional last year, the Huskies were forced to travel because their stadium did not have lights, an NCAA requirement for hosting. The Huskies turned the lengthy road trip (which, unlike basically every school outside of the west coast, was in the middle of the academic quarter) into a positive and rode it the program's first national championship.
Along the way, their story was told over and over again on ESPN, leading to an influx of donations and the unveiling of lights to begin the 2010 at Husky Softball Stadium. The Huskies (45-6, 17-4) will host a regional starting Friday. Despite being the top-ranked team in the country for the entire season, unanimously for most of it, the Huskies are just the No. 3 overall seed. Alabama and Michigan are one and two, respectively.
A couple more things on this: The Huskies head into their 17th-consecutive postseason appearance coming off of the best regular season in school history. Washington missed out on the tournament in its first season of existence, 1993, but has been there in every year since.
And not only was this a big season for the team, but, as mentioned in previous posts, reigned National Player of the Year Danielle Lawrie has cemented her place as maybe the greatest pitcher to ever play the game and certainly one of the best athletes in UW history. She set the Pac-10 career strikeout record over the weekend. Lawrie heads into the postseason with, get this, a 35-2 record, 0.99 ERA and 407 strikeouts in 247.1 innings, while also hitting .322 with team highs of 14 homeruns and 55 RBI. Have the Mariners even scored 55 runs yet this season? Before last weekend she was almost out-homering that whole team.
Finally, if you can get past the blatant partisanship here, the way he presents this is absolutely hilarious. Obama was talking to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Yes, he is completely finger pointing, but tell me when he says, "No!", you didn't laugh.
Happy Monday
Wednesday morning, and a busy one here, as the Senator John Kerry and Senator Joe Lieberman will finally introduce the American Power Act this afternoon. You'll notice Senator Lindsey Graham was not mentioned, something I'll have more on in a minute.
First, a little redux from West Virginia last night. It reads like this: Incumbents Beware. Alan Mollohan, a 14-term congressman who ran unchallenged two years ago, was unseated in the Democratic primary last night, by State Senator Mike Oliverio. This is the first time since 1967 that the 1st seat will be held by someone outside the Mollohan family.
There were some external factors, such as ethics allegations and the fact that Oliverio ran to the incumbent's right, but the numbers don't lie: less than one in three people say they would vote to re-elect their congressman right now. Mollahan just became the first House victim.
That led to this post, by The Fix, entitled "Danger, Incumbents, Danger." Despite the fact that there were factors specific to the two races we've seen - every race has those - it is clear that incumbents are not safe. The key evidence is in the other, unknown challengers.
Take a look at some of the more recent polls available and you'll see that Specter and opponent Joe Sestak are within the margins. Scroll down to May 5 to see that Patty Murray is above 50 percent against everyone but Dino Rossi, who she is finally leading consistently. Washington state voters don't go to the polls until August 17, but filing date for Rossi is next month.
Want some more on elections? How about taking a trip across the Atlantic, to London, where the conservative party missed a majority by 20 seats. One of the more fascinating things to watch is how the British parliament has to remake itself when this happens, although it's been some time. For the first time since World War II, the country will be run by a coalition government, albeit an awkward one between conservatives and liberal democrats. What a novel idea.
David Cameron, head of the conservative party, was installed as Prime Minister, after Gordon Brown sped the process up by resigning. This literally all happened yesterday. Considering the immediate work that must be done, that is a good thing for a government that is trying to prevent the demise of the pound.
--
Speaking of demise, honor and civility took a pretty big hit yesterday, at Senate hearings looking into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Representatives from British Petroleum, Transocean, and Haliburton testified before two committees yesterday, almost immediately following a story suggesting Haliburton may really be to blame.
The executives raised their right hands to be sworn in, right before passing off all responsibility to someone else. Have you ever laughed at a situation where two kids are standing next to each other and when you ask them who did someone, they both point at the other one? I watched that for five hours yesterday. Grown men. BP said they didn't operate the machines that screwed up. Transocean said they thought the well was cemented (a way to seal the well, which would prevent a blowout). And both Transocean and Haliburton said, ultimately, the fault lies with the rig owner/lesser, BP.
There were no solutions. At one point, after the BP rep. had said about 25 times that the company would, "pay all legitimate claims" (without ever defining "legitimate"), Senator Maria Cantwell just went down a list of effects of the Exxon Valdez spill, asking after each one if BP would pay for it. The rep. caved and said he couldn't comment on specific cases.
And you know you've screwed up when Senator Jeff Sessions, whose Alabama accent is so thick I can rarely understand him, is chewing you out. And Sessions was relentless. He basically asked the Transocean rep. directly, "what do you know about what happened?" The rep. had nothing for him. He said it was BP's job to answer that type of question. Transocean operates the rig.
Quote of the day had to come from Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. Menendez pointed out that the hearing room they were in was the same one used to investigate the Titanic sinking, get this, almost 100 years ago (wow!). Both the Titanic and this rig were considered so technologically advanced as to be immune to failure. Actually watched the beginning of the James Cameron movie the other day and saw the line, "God himself could not sink this ship." Both failed. Both sank.
Said Menendez: "I don't get the sense that you were truly prepared. I get the sense that you are making things up as you go along."
Obviously this is a big deal. Today, however, it takes on a whole new meaning, as Kerry and Lieberman prepare to introduce their bill. A CBS News poll just showed up in my inbox, showing that more the 4-in-5 Americans have seen, heard or read about the oil spill. Only 46 percent favor new offshore drilling, while 41 percent see it as too great a risk. The former is a 16 percent decrease from previous polls, the latter a 13 percent increase.
Just watched Kerry on MSNBC say that the new bill does not allow new drilling, at least until after the cause of the the Gulf incident is known. As was pointed out in the hearing yesterday, this rig had plenty of redundancies designed specifically to prevent a blowout, including a thing called a blowout preventer. They all failed.
The Hill got a copy of the summary document on the American Power Act and released it yesterday.
Under the key provisions header are refunds to consumers to prevent increased energy costs (a central worry among opponents), a national carbon cap that would preempt any like policy unique to a state (though compensation is promised to states that would lose revenue), a specific price on carbon, financing for a transportation transformation (natural gas, highway, public transit updates), as well as giving states power to opt out of drilling within 75 miles of their shores, and more.
Yes, the bill includes carbon sequestration funding. It also only regulates the largest carbon emitters (about 7,500 factors and power plants). Here is the more detailed version. There is a press conference at 1:30 today. I'll be at it. Follow the Consequence Twitter page for my reactions.
If this bill gets an traction, prepare for a legislative fight like you've never seen before. Health care was just a warmup.
--
- My favorite politician, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, was re-elected last night. He also happens to be my favorite person I follow on Twitter. He won by about a 2-1 margin, in an election that appears to have had about 100,000 voters. That would be about a third of the total population of New Jersey's largest city. Booker, who is just 41, won his second term after significantly lowering the city's crime rates, while continuing to fight gun violence.
Here is his tweet from this morning:
- Got a chance to pay a visit to a freezing cold, windy and wet Camden Yards last night, to see Cliff Lee and the Mariners take on the Orioles. The M's are now 4-0 against the O's, 9-19 against everyone else. It was the visit out the warehouse, however, that made the trip worth it.
Yes, for those who guessed, that is the plaque on the spot where Ken Griffey Jr. (who was awake the whole game, I promise) nailed the warehouse at the 1993 All Star Game. He was the first and last to ever do so, with a majestic 465-foot blast to straightaway right field.
Beautiful ballpark by the way, though it is still built like the older ones with the concourse back behind the stands and not in full view of the field. Also, the location, literally right in downtown, makes it feel much smaller than reality. However, the standing room and fan-friendly seating make it worth the trip. As did getting a chance to see Lee pitch for the first time.
Lastly, in case you are missing this, take a minute to read about Danielle Lawrie. The fifth-year senior is having an absolutely dominating season, on the way to quite possibly becoming the greatest athlete in University of Washington history. She is in her fifth year not because of redshirting, but because she spent 2008 playing for the Canadian Olympic team, an organization that probably wish they had used her a bit more. Lawrie beat the U.S. National Team when she was 18 - yes, you read that right, has a national championship, National Player of the Year, and this year alone has been named national player of the week three times. This weekend she will set the Pac-10 career record for strikeouts, if she even pitches as her 33-2 record has helped the Huskies (43-5, 15-3) clinch the Pac-10 Championship already.
Lawrie holds just about every UW pitching record, while also being one of the top hitters on the team this year. She hit a walk-off homerun against Stanford on Saturday. Just think about these two numbers: Lawrie has 19 shutouts and 392 strikeouts.
Ridiculous.
Have a good one y'all.
[More]
First, a little redux from West Virginia last night. It reads like this: Incumbents Beware. Alan Mollohan, a 14-term congressman who ran unchallenged two years ago, was unseated in the Democratic primary last night, by State Senator Mike Oliverio. This is the first time since 1967 that the 1st seat will be held by someone outside the Mollohan family.
There were some external factors, such as ethics allegations and the fact that Oliverio ran to the incumbent's right, but the numbers don't lie: less than one in three people say they would vote to re-elect their congressman right now. Mollahan just became the first House victim.
That led to this post, by The Fix, entitled "Danger, Incumbents, Danger." Despite the fact that there were factors specific to the two races we've seen - every race has those - it is clear that incumbents are not safe. The key evidence is in the other, unknown challengers.
Last Tuesday, Indiana Republican Rep. Dan Burton won his party's nod with less than 30 percent of the vote while unknown and unfunded challengers to North Carolina Democratic Reps. Larry Kissell and Heath Shuler took more than a third of the vote.Next Tuesday should be even more fun, when both Senator Arlen Specter and Senator Blanche Lincoln face serious primary challenges. Specter has been running ads featuring President Obama, in an attempt to show voters he is loyal to the Democratic party. Remember, when switched parties last year, he made no secret that he knew he couldn't get re-elected as a Republican.
Take a look at some of the more recent polls available and you'll see that Specter and opponent Joe Sestak are within the margins. Scroll down to May 5 to see that Patty Murray is above 50 percent against everyone but Dino Rossi, who she is finally leading consistently. Washington state voters don't go to the polls until August 17, but filing date for Rossi is next month.
Want some more on elections? How about taking a trip across the Atlantic, to London, where the conservative party missed a majority by 20 seats. One of the more fascinating things to watch is how the British parliament has to remake itself when this happens, although it's been some time. For the first time since World War II, the country will be run by a coalition government, albeit an awkward one between conservatives and liberal democrats. What a novel idea.
David Cameron, head of the conservative party, was installed as Prime Minister, after Gordon Brown sped the process up by resigning. This literally all happened yesterday. Considering the immediate work that must be done, that is a good thing for a government that is trying to prevent the demise of the pound.
--
Speaking of demise, honor and civility took a pretty big hit yesterday, at Senate hearings looking into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Representatives from British Petroleum, Transocean, and Haliburton testified before two committees yesterday, almost immediately following a story suggesting Haliburton may really be to blame.
The executives raised their right hands to be sworn in, right before passing off all responsibility to someone else. Have you ever laughed at a situation where two kids are standing next to each other and when you ask them who did someone, they both point at the other one? I watched that for five hours yesterday. Grown men. BP said they didn't operate the machines that screwed up. Transocean said they thought the well was cemented (a way to seal the well, which would prevent a blowout). And both Transocean and Haliburton said, ultimately, the fault lies with the rig owner/lesser, BP.
There were no solutions. At one point, after the BP rep. had said about 25 times that the company would, "pay all legitimate claims" (without ever defining "legitimate"), Senator Maria Cantwell just went down a list of effects of the Exxon Valdez spill, asking after each one if BP would pay for it. The rep. caved and said he couldn't comment on specific cases.
And you know you've screwed up when Senator Jeff Sessions, whose Alabama accent is so thick I can rarely understand him, is chewing you out. And Sessions was relentless. He basically asked the Transocean rep. directly, "what do you know about what happened?" The rep. had nothing for him. He said it was BP's job to answer that type of question. Transocean operates the rig.
Quote of the day had to come from Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey. Menendez pointed out that the hearing room they were in was the same one used to investigate the Titanic sinking, get this, almost 100 years ago (wow!). Both the Titanic and this rig were considered so technologically advanced as to be immune to failure. Actually watched the beginning of the James Cameron movie the other day and saw the line, "God himself could not sink this ship." Both failed. Both sank.
Said Menendez: "I don't get the sense that you were truly prepared. I get the sense that you are making things up as you go along."
Obviously this is a big deal. Today, however, it takes on a whole new meaning, as Kerry and Lieberman prepare to introduce their bill. A CBS News poll just showed up in my inbox, showing that more the 4-in-5 Americans have seen, heard or read about the oil spill. Only 46 percent favor new offshore drilling, while 41 percent see it as too great a risk. The former is a 16 percent decrease from previous polls, the latter a 13 percent increase.
Just watched Kerry on MSNBC say that the new bill does not allow new drilling, at least until after the cause of the the Gulf incident is known. As was pointed out in the hearing yesterday, this rig had plenty of redundancies designed specifically to prevent a blowout, including a thing called a blowout preventer. They all failed.
The Hill got a copy of the summary document on the American Power Act and released it yesterday.
Under the key provisions header are refunds to consumers to prevent increased energy costs (a central worry among opponents), a national carbon cap that would preempt any like policy unique to a state (though compensation is promised to states that would lose revenue), a specific price on carbon, financing for a transportation transformation (natural gas, highway, public transit updates), as well as giving states power to opt out of drilling within 75 miles of their shores, and more.
Yes, the bill includes carbon sequestration funding. It also only regulates the largest carbon emitters (about 7,500 factors and power plants). Here is the more detailed version. There is a press conference at 1:30 today. I'll be at it. Follow the Consequence Twitter page for my reactions.
If this bill gets an traction, prepare for a legislative fight like you've never seen before. Health care was just a warmup.
--
- My favorite politician, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, was re-elected last night. He also happens to be my favorite person I follow on Twitter. He won by about a 2-1 margin, in an election that appears to have had about 100,000 voters. That would be about a third of the total population of New Jersey's largest city. Booker, who is just 41, won his second term after significantly lowering the city's crime rates, while continuing to fight gun violence.
Here is his tweet from this morning:
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it's the courage to continue that counts.” Winston Churchill - Thank you Newark! Lets continue!Everything you need to know about this guy can be found in the documentary from his first attempt to run for mayor of the city, as a 32-year old in 2002. Booker, a Rhodes Scholar and Stanford grad, moved into one of the city's worst neighborhoods. Four years later he became mayor.
- Got a chance to pay a visit to a freezing cold, windy and wet Camden Yards last night, to see Cliff Lee and the Mariners take on the Orioles. The M's are now 4-0 against the O's, 9-19 against everyone else. It was the visit out the warehouse, however, that made the trip worth it.
Yes, for those who guessed, that is the plaque on the spot where Ken Griffey Jr. (who was awake the whole game, I promise) nailed the warehouse at the 1993 All Star Game. He was the first and last to ever do so, with a majestic 465-foot blast to straightaway right field.
Beautiful ballpark by the way, though it is still built like the older ones with the concourse back behind the stands and not in full view of the field. Also, the location, literally right in downtown, makes it feel much smaller than reality. However, the standing room and fan-friendly seating make it worth the trip. As did getting a chance to see Lee pitch for the first time.
Lastly, in case you are missing this, take a minute to read about Danielle Lawrie. The fifth-year senior is having an absolutely dominating season, on the way to quite possibly becoming the greatest athlete in University of Washington history. She is in her fifth year not because of redshirting, but because she spent 2008 playing for the Canadian Olympic team, an organization that probably wish they had used her a bit more. Lawrie beat the U.S. National Team when she was 18 - yes, you read that right, has a national championship, National Player of the Year, and this year alone has been named national player of the week three times. This weekend she will set the Pac-10 career record for strikeouts, if she even pitches as her 33-2 record has helped the Huskies (43-5, 15-3) clinch the Pac-10 Championship already.
Lawrie holds just about every UW pitching record, while also being one of the top hitters on the team this year. She hit a walk-off homerun against Stanford on Saturday. Just think about these two numbers: Lawrie has 19 shutouts and 392 strikeouts.
Ridiculous.
Have a good one y'all.
I am cross-posting this from the blog I write at my office, Consequence. It may be one of the best I've written.
Also, you should really follow me on Twitter, so you can get links like the one I just tweeted. Apparently, the Phoenix Suns will where uniforms in Game 2 of their playoff series (meaning on national television), that say "Los Suns." Yes, it is Spanglish. But it is also a direct protest of a state law by one of its biggest businesses. The Major League Baseball Players' Union has come out against the last as well, for obvious reasons.
Gulf Coast Catastrophe: We Already Have the Answers
Two weeks ago, while much of the Southeast settled into bed, the U.S. Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico was just beginning its night. As they responed to a fire on a Transocean oil rig 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, no one could have been prepared for what would happen next.
An explosion on the rig left the platform engulfed in flames. Dozens were rescued, but 11 were missing. None have been found.
Make a Mess or Make Progress
The Coast Guard spent the night trying to put out the fire, only to watch the Deepwater Horizon rig capsize and sink some 5,000 feet to the sea bed two days later. On that same day, Thursday, an oil slick was spot on the surface.
Initial estimates pegged the leak, originating at the head of the oil well, at 1,000 barrels a day (about 40,000 gallons). Several days later, that estimate was raised to 5,000 barrels a day and continued to grow. With 210,000 gallons of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day, the situation quickly threatened to become catastrophic.
British Petroleum (BP), the company leasing the rig, along with President Barack Obama and members of his administration, promised every possible resource, while at the same time deflecting blame. The president postponed new drilling plans and BP continued to point the finger at Transocean, the rig’s operator.
In the days and weeks ahead, many will blame BP, Transocean, Haliburton, the administration and many others. Lost in the outrage though is what didn’t happen last Monday.
No comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation was introduced in the US Senate.
Almost a year ago, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would impose a price on carbon emissions and invest heavily in clean energy. Mainly it would cut our dependence on dirty, 19th century energy solutions like oil and coal.
Since then, in April alone, 31 coal miners died in two separate incidents, both of which brought into question the safety records of one of the industry’s largest producers, Massey Energy. Three weeks later, a state-of-the-art oil rig, with a supposedly fail-safe system, failed, sinking into the Gulf. The immediate results were 11 lost lives. The long-term results may not be known for decades.
A hard hat covered in oil found off the coast of Louisiana.
And yet, the Senate sits idly by. So many members of Congress have been outspoken about drilling, both pro and con. Florida Senator Bill Nelson immediately called for reinstating a moratorium on offshore drilling. Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who once called drilling safe, said that while no one thinks drilling comes without risks, drilling must continue nevertheless.
What neither said was that we can cut our addiction to oil if they step up and pass clean energy legislation. BP may be a perpetrator, but the solution lies in Congress.
President Obama has so often said that, “we’ve been talking about our energy problems for decades.” If that is truly the case — and it is — that means we have now been having this conversation through two devastating oil spills. In both cases, the fishing industry will take mammoth hits. Fishing has been completely suspended off the Gulf Coast, meaning the livelihood of much of the region is at stake.
That is thousands of jobs hanging in the balance, while blame is spread from Big Oil, to the Obama administration. Congressional hearings are not the solution.
Congress needs to look in the mirror. This was one of thousands of oil rigs, and by itself, it has crippled the Gulf Coast region.
Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation can replace many of those rigs with wind turbines. It can take advantage of the huge amounts of sunlight that heats the Southeast and many other regions in the US. It can cut dependence on oil, both foreign and domestic, helping our national security, safety in the workplace, and the environment many parts of our economy relies on.
President Obama said in eulogizing 29 coal miners that no worker in America should leave for work not knowing whether they will come home.
That happened two weeks ago. It happens everyday in this country when we take advantage of thousands of workers on oil rigs and in coal mines, so we can enjoy the comforts of heat and light. It happens despite the fact that we know we have a better, cleaner, safer way.
Fishing boats sit idle as all commercial fishing has been suspended.
More than 100,000 coal miners have died on the job alone in this nation’s history. That not include the many more who suffered, and died from, black lung disease.
Clean energy is not some far off technology reserved for future dreams and visionary people. It is reality. It is here. It is waiting for us to invest in it. It doesn’t take a visionary person to realize that we cannot keep sending American workers into these conditions, and continue to threaten so many sectors of our economy because, a decade into it, we refuse to step into the 21st century.
The solution rests in Congress. No longer is the Senate’s deliberate pace only creating higher prices at the pump or minor incidents here and there. It is costing lives. It is costing jobs in the thousands. It is threatening to devastate the Gulf Coast region, again.
Where are our leaders? When will they listen? If, as Texas Governor Rick Perry said yesterday, this truly is an “act of God,” how does everyone in the country see the message except for Congress? We know, however, that it was not an act of any God, but one of negligence.
A failure to use reasonable care that results in harm or injury to others. In one month, that failure has led to more than 40 deaths and untold billions in damages to the environment and the economy.
Solutions sit in Congress, awaiting action. For years they have waited. We can’t wait anymore. Congress can no longer be negligent.
[More]
Also, you should really follow me on Twitter, so you can get links like the one I just tweeted. Apparently, the Phoenix Suns will where uniforms in Game 2 of their playoff series (meaning on national television), that say "Los Suns." Yes, it is Spanglish. But it is also a direct protest of a state law by one of its biggest businesses. The Major League Baseball Players' Union has come out against the last as well, for obvious reasons.
Gulf Coast Catastrophe: We Already Have the Answers
Two weeks ago, while much of the Southeast settled into bed, the U.S. Coast Guard in the Gulf of Mexico was just beginning its night. As they responed to a fire on a Transocean oil rig 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, no one could have been prepared for what would happen next.
An explosion on the rig left the platform engulfed in flames. Dozens were rescued, but 11 were missing. None have been found.
Make a Mess or Make Progress
The Coast Guard spent the night trying to put out the fire, only to watch the Deepwater Horizon rig capsize and sink some 5,000 feet to the sea bed two days later. On that same day, Thursday, an oil slick was spot on the surface.
Initial estimates pegged the leak, originating at the head of the oil well, at 1,000 barrels a day (about 40,000 gallons). Several days later, that estimate was raised to 5,000 barrels a day and continued to grow. With 210,000 gallons of oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico every day, the situation quickly threatened to become catastrophic.
British Petroleum (BP), the company leasing the rig, along with President Barack Obama and members of his administration, promised every possible resource, while at the same time deflecting blame. The president postponed new drilling plans and BP continued to point the finger at Transocean, the rig’s operator.
In the days and weeks ahead, many will blame BP, Transocean, Haliburton, the administration and many others. Lost in the outrage though is what didn’t happen last Monday.
No comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation was introduced in the US Senate.
Almost a year ago, the House of Representatives passed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, which would impose a price on carbon emissions and invest heavily in clean energy. Mainly it would cut our dependence on dirty, 19th century energy solutions like oil and coal.
Since then, in April alone, 31 coal miners died in two separate incidents, both of which brought into question the safety records of one of the industry’s largest producers, Massey Energy. Three weeks later, a state-of-the-art oil rig, with a supposedly fail-safe system, failed, sinking into the Gulf. The immediate results were 11 lost lives. The long-term results may not be known for decades.
A hard hat covered in oil found off the coast of Louisiana.
And yet, the Senate sits idly by. So many members of Congress have been outspoken about drilling, both pro and con. Florida Senator Bill Nelson immediately called for reinstating a moratorium on offshore drilling. Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu, who once called drilling safe, said that while no one thinks drilling comes without risks, drilling must continue nevertheless.
What neither said was that we can cut our addiction to oil if they step up and pass clean energy legislation. BP may be a perpetrator, but the solution lies in Congress.
President Obama has so often said that, “we’ve been talking about our energy problems for decades.” If that is truly the case — and it is — that means we have now been having this conversation through two devastating oil spills. In both cases, the fishing industry will take mammoth hits. Fishing has been completely suspended off the Gulf Coast, meaning the livelihood of much of the region is at stake.
That is thousands of jobs hanging in the balance, while blame is spread from Big Oil, to the Obama administration. Congressional hearings are not the solution.
Congress needs to look in the mirror. This was one of thousands of oil rigs, and by itself, it has crippled the Gulf Coast region.
Comprehensive clean energy and climate legislation can replace many of those rigs with wind turbines. It can take advantage of the huge amounts of sunlight that heats the Southeast and many other regions in the US. It can cut dependence on oil, both foreign and domestic, helping our national security, safety in the workplace, and the environment many parts of our economy relies on.
President Obama said in eulogizing 29 coal miners that no worker in America should leave for work not knowing whether they will come home.
That happened two weeks ago. It happens everyday in this country when we take advantage of thousands of workers on oil rigs and in coal mines, so we can enjoy the comforts of heat and light. It happens despite the fact that we know we have a better, cleaner, safer way.
Fishing boats sit idle as all commercial fishing has been suspended.
More than 100,000 coal miners have died on the job alone in this nation’s history. That not include the many more who suffered, and died from, black lung disease.
Clean energy is not some far off technology reserved for future dreams and visionary people. It is reality. It is here. It is waiting for us to invest in it. It doesn’t take a visionary person to realize that we cannot keep sending American workers into these conditions, and continue to threaten so many sectors of our economy because, a decade into it, we refuse to step into the 21st century.
The solution rests in Congress. No longer is the Senate’s deliberate pace only creating higher prices at the pump or minor incidents here and there. It is costing lives. It is costing jobs in the thousands. It is threatening to devastate the Gulf Coast region, again.
Where are our leaders? When will they listen? If, as Texas Governor Rick Perry said yesterday, this truly is an “act of God,” how does everyone in the country see the message except for Congress? We know, however, that it was not an act of any God, but one of negligence.
A failure to use reasonable care that results in harm or injury to others. In one month, that failure has led to more than 40 deaths and untold billions in damages to the environment and the economy.
Solutions sit in Congress, awaiting action. For years they have waited. We can’t wait anymore. Congress can no longer be negligent.
"In a New York minute, everything can change. In a New York minute, things can get pretty strange. In a New York minute, everything can change. In a New York minute."
This is one of those introductions that seemingly can only be written using the words of someone else. Inevitably you cannot find any of your own, no matter how long or how hard you search. Larger events happen in the world, with far-reaching ramifications, but it always seems like the smaller ones that really get to you. Maybe the big things are just too big to fathom.
Or maybe it is just that I went to college and worked in a large athletic department that can quickly be made to seem so small. I can't imagine that wasn't the case yesterday news broke that a men's lacrosse player, George Huguely, had been charged with the murder of a women's lacrosse player, Yeardley Love.
Love was and Huguely is a 22-year old senior.
It appears that no weapons were used, and Love's roommates originally thought she was suffering from an alcohol overdose when they called 911 Sunday night.
"It was quickly apparent to them that this young lady was the victim of something far worse," Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said.
Charlottesville is a gorgeous town about 2 1/2 hours south of Washington, DC. Home to the University of Virginia, the college started by Thomas Jefferson, and one of the nation's best, it is also relatively crime-free, especially violent crime. I considered applying for a job late last year, which would have reunited me with my former boss at UW, Jim Daves. He is currently the director of athletic communications.
You can read all of the details in the ESPN story linked above. Apparently the two had some sort of relationship, but I am staying away from any sort of speculation. What I will wonder aloud about is the fate of these two programs. Obviously this immediately brings to mind the very widely publicized incident with the Duke lacrosse team a few years ago. Both are ACC programs and not very far apart.
The similarities end there. This was a murder. It happened mid-season for two top-5 programs. The NCAA tournament begins in a couple of weeks, with the men's team ranked No. 1 and the women five. Discussions have begun about not participating in the tournament. Young people are resilient, but the murder of a teammate would test the wills of even the strongest individual.
Especially when the murderer may have been one your own.
--
- A naturalized US citizen from Pakistan, and a resident of Connecticut, was arrested last night
as he tried to board a flight to Dubai. He is the suspected owner of the explosive-filled vehicle left in Times Square Saturday night. Experts are saying that, since the bomb did not explode, investigators are left with ample evidence to work with, both to help identify a suspect and pinpoint motive.
- A bill in the senate has a record number of co-sponsors, but one man, a former Navy captain (and former maverick), has been block the name change of Department of the Navy to Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. Yes, the Marine Corps is under the umbrella of the Navy.
- "The nation so nice, it's been devastated twice." Jon Stewart's take on the Gulf oil spill. It is good that he included Obama in the clip of those who called drilling "safe."
As this situation plays out, however, there is an important dynamic that should be noted: BP should not be the enemy. Frankly, this really may turn out to not be BP's fault. They lease the rig, but they don't operate it. Inevitably it is the company's responsibility, but it probably wasn't their screw up that caused all of this.
That said, the blame lies in my current town. For almost a decade now, the legislature has introduced and rejected legislation that would cut America's dependence on oil. I am not saying that we don't need oil. We do. Nor am I saying that we should not drill off our shores. I am not that naive and I'd rather us do that than buy oil from the middle east. Drilling is dirty, disgusting, and dangerous. So is coal mining. But so is playing football. Okay, so I may have severely limited the scope of how dangerous drilling is there, but the point is that we're going to do it anyway and it isn't going to get a whole lot cleaner.
However, it can become a whole lot less necessary. With clean energy and climate legislation we can invest in clean energy and energy efficiency, both of which would reduce our oil demand. By capping carbon emissions, oil becomes a little more expensive, which take together with investment in clean energy, will make newer, cleaner, safer forms of energy a cheaper alternative. This effort is stalled on Capitol Hill yet again. You want someone to blame, try Washington. It is long past time for us to stop pretending that oil companies could make their billions in profit without our help.
- A former teammate of mine in Seattle is tearing the cover off the ball at Virginia Tech, with his sights set on grander things
- And one more note. Remember when financial reform was the leading issue of the day? Well, as one of my morning reading's remind us, in this town, anything can happen at any time.
[More]
This is one of those introductions that seemingly can only be written using the words of someone else. Inevitably you cannot find any of your own, no matter how long or how hard you search. Larger events happen in the world, with far-reaching ramifications, but it always seems like the smaller ones that really get to you. Maybe the big things are just too big to fathom.
Or maybe it is just that I went to college and worked in a large athletic department that can quickly be made to seem so small. I can't imagine that wasn't the case yesterday news broke that a men's lacrosse player, George Huguely, had been charged with the murder of a women's lacrosse player, Yeardley Love.
Love was and Huguely is a 22-year old senior.
It appears that no weapons were used, and Love's roommates originally thought she was suffering from an alcohol overdose when they called 911 Sunday night.
"It was quickly apparent to them that this young lady was the victim of something far worse," Charlottesville Police Chief Timothy Longo said.
Charlottesville is a gorgeous town about 2 1/2 hours south of Washington, DC. Home to the University of Virginia, the college started by Thomas Jefferson, and one of the nation's best, it is also relatively crime-free, especially violent crime. I considered applying for a job late last year, which would have reunited me with my former boss at UW, Jim Daves. He is currently the director of athletic communications.
You can read all of the details in the ESPN story linked above. Apparently the two had some sort of relationship, but I am staying away from any sort of speculation. What I will wonder aloud about is the fate of these two programs. Obviously this immediately brings to mind the very widely publicized incident with the Duke lacrosse team a few years ago. Both are ACC programs and not very far apart.
The similarities end there. This was a murder. It happened mid-season for two top-5 programs. The NCAA tournament begins in a couple of weeks, with the men's team ranked No. 1 and the women five. Discussions have begun about not participating in the tournament. Young people are resilient, but the murder of a teammate would test the wills of even the strongest individual.
Especially when the murderer may have been one your own.
--
- A naturalized US citizen from Pakistan, and a resident of Connecticut, was arrested last night
as he tried to board a flight to Dubai. He is the suspected owner of the explosive-filled vehicle left in Times Square Saturday night. Experts are saying that, since the bomb did not explode, investigators are left with ample evidence to work with, both to help identify a suspect and pinpoint motive.
- A bill in the senate has a record number of co-sponsors, but one man, a former Navy captain (and former maverick), has been block the name change of Department of the Navy to Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. Yes, the Marine Corps is under the umbrella of the Navy.
- "The nation so nice, it's been devastated twice." Jon Stewart's take on the Gulf oil spill. It is good that he included Obama in the clip of those who called drilling "safe."
As this situation plays out, however, there is an important dynamic that should be noted: BP should not be the enemy. Frankly, this really may turn out to not be BP's fault. They lease the rig, but they don't operate it. Inevitably it is the company's responsibility, but it probably wasn't their screw up that caused all of this.
That said, the blame lies in my current town. For almost a decade now, the legislature has introduced and rejected legislation that would cut America's dependence on oil. I am not saying that we don't need oil. We do. Nor am I saying that we should not drill off our shores. I am not that naive and I'd rather us do that than buy oil from the middle east. Drilling is dirty, disgusting, and dangerous. So is coal mining. But so is playing football. Okay, so I may have severely limited the scope of how dangerous drilling is there, but the point is that we're going to do it anyway and it isn't going to get a whole lot cleaner.
However, it can become a whole lot less necessary. With clean energy and climate legislation we can invest in clean energy and energy efficiency, both of which would reduce our oil demand. By capping carbon emissions, oil becomes a little more expensive, which take together with investment in clean energy, will make newer, cleaner, safer forms of energy a cheaper alternative. This effort is stalled on Capitol Hill yet again. You want someone to blame, try Washington. It is long past time for us to stop pretending that oil companies could make their billions in profit without our help.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Beyond Awful | ||||
| ||||
- A former teammate of mine in Seattle is tearing the cover off the ball at Virginia Tech, with his sights set on grander things
- And one more note. Remember when financial reform was the leading issue of the day? Well, as one of my morning reading's remind us, in this town, anything can happen at any time.
The Times Square bombing plot and the Gulf oil spill prove once again that external events can completely take over the political conversation at a moment's notice.Have a wonderful Tuesday everybody.
"This is 10 percent luck, 20 percent skill, 15 percent concentrated power of will. Five percent pleasure, 50 percent pain, and 100 percent reason to remember the name."
It is hard to differentiate between spring and summer here, but I'd say the latter has definitely arrived with a bang this weekend. Saturday it was 88, perfectly clear and beautiful. Yesterday, closer to 90 and clouding over. Today, raining and brutally humid. If I ever leave this place, that is one thing I will absolutely not miss.
On to the news.
The city of New Orleans swears in a new mayor today, Mitch Landrieu, its first white mayor in more than three decades. The last white mayor in city, about two-thirds black, was Landrieu's father, Maurice. For those political types like me, who immediately said "I recognize that name," yes, he is the brother of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.
Are his views on offshore drilling on par with his sister's, who got a bill opening up 8.3 million acres in the Gulf to oil exploration? Well, probably not today. Talk about walking into a beehive. Landrieu assumes his role of mayor amidst a natural disaster, though those are coming one after the other in the region these days.
Right now, according to someone in the area (couldn't figure out just who said it), the best case scenario is another week of what Florida Governor Charlie Crist called a, "volcano of oil." That said, I've been paying very close attention to this, as you can imagine, and I've yet to see someone definitively say that any one thing they are doing is actually going to stop the flow of oil. I'm guessing we'll still be dealing with the flow for quite some time, after which the cleanup will begin.
That cleanup may well extend all the way to the east coast.
Said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Meet the Press yesterday: "We are already preparing a campaign for a major restoration of the Gulf Coast." Again.
Now, I realize I ask this question pretty much every week, but no one ever answers. When, if ever, have we seen a time period where disasters hit with such frequency? Earthquakes are shaking the planet every day it seems. There was on in Arkansas last week. Arkansas. The Gulf Coast has been getting absolutely tortured by natural disasters, mostly hurricanes. Now, what is poised to be the worst oil spill in US history creeps toward the coastline by day. Tornadoes and other storms killed about a dozen people in Tennessee and Mississippi over the weekend. Two coal miners were killed last week, just three weeks after 29 were trapped in a West Virginia mine, all dying.
Someone apparently forgot to tell two car bombers that it wasn't April anymore, when they hastily parked near Times Square. The idea that these oft-used insurgency tactics could land on the busiest street in America is plenty to get your attention, I would think.
But seriously, who even remembers that Haiti is still digging itself out from an earthquake? We used to get breaks to recover and prepare for the next thing. Not anymore. There is no need to remember "where you were when that happened." Just pull out your calendar; chances are something happened today.
I am not trying to create fear amongst all my readers, Fox News does that just fine. This is just an honest question: has there ever been a time period like this? Where each day is so unpredictable, and each catastrophic event as devastating as the last? Or do we just sensationalize each thing more? Usually, I would say the latter. However, at least 42 people have died in energy disasters in the last month. More oil is going to be spilled in the Gulf that the total average in the US in 1990. If this spill hits the Exxon Valdez number, it will 10 times the average spill total in the US today. Port au Prince is destroyed, as are parts of Chili. Oh, and let's not forget that the Ninth Ward is still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina. And that is just the Western Hemisphere.
All of this and I have yet to mention the recent horrifying details of men in China going into schools and stabbing children. Sadly, the most frustrating part of the story in China isn't even the children (that is more terrifying), it is the way the Chinese government covers it up.
Maybe this is sad, or just a reflection of how frequent these types of headlines have become, but I have come to expect these things everyday. Which is why I ask, when was the last time the world was like this? The Cold War? Ever? Or is my being an American and living here shielding me from the fact that many other places have been like this forever?
It was almost fitting that last night I sat down to watch "The West Wing". It is by far my favorite television show ever, and the episode I watched last night is why. In September of 2001, the show was preparing to open its third season, complete with the president announcing he was going to run despite never disclosing to the public that he has MS. Then September 11th happened. Many people channeled their emotions through different skills they have, and Aaron Sorkin, the show's writer, was no different. He sat down and pulled off the most clutch, masterful piece of writing I've maybe ever seen.
"Isaac and Ishmael" was the title of the special episode that aired in place of the season premiere. It was a play, done specifically to talk about terrorism. Now, you might say that terrorism is not what I've been talking about this entire post, but that isn't the point. This is: about midway through the episode, a group of kids is peppering Sam Seaborn (played by Rob Lowe) about why he thinks terrorism has a 100 percent failure rate. A girl then say to Lowe, "they still do it. Their failure hasn't stopped them." You can tell she is stuck in this American principle that, when something doesn't work, you stop trying it (ah, if only more Americans actually lived by this policy). Lowe is unrelenting, however, and just says that's how it is. So the girl, all of 17 maybe, asks Lowe, "what do you call a place where the pizza place your sitting in could just blow up at anytime?" Without missing a beat, Lowe responds: "Israel."
So yes, maybe we are simply getting a small taste of what many places in the world already face everyday. And maybe we should recognize that our lives, while unpredictable and often frustrating, are still relatively safe and free of worry. My biggest problem this weekend was staying cool as the temperature rapidly increased. My life is not difficult, even compared to those who live in the same relative comfort I do. It's like Josh Lyman (played by Bradley Whitford), says in the same episode: "My government salary may not be much, but I still make more than the guy whose job it is to stand in front of the bullet. How do I tell him I quit?"
I'm going to work for that guy.
Links:
- I was honestly going to link the video from the Correspondents dinner, where everyone gives funny speeches and Washington talks about how awesome it is. However, Jay Leno (who I considered not even bolding) was so not funny that I refuse to put it on my blog. Adamantly refuse. Obama's best joke was something like: "Unfortunately, John McCain couldn’t make it. Recently he claimed that he had never identified himself as a maverick. And we all know what happens in Arizona when you don’t have ID."
Obama also joked that, while his star may have fallen some in the past year, so has the media's, and said that Senator Scott Brown is a special kind of politician, since rarely do you find one with nothing to hide. He was obviously referring to the nude centerfold piece Brown once did. Finally, he referred to RNC Chairman Michael Steele as the Notorious GOP. Too bad Leno was awful after him.
- After blowing another fantastic pitching performance (8 innings of shutout ball), that Mariners made some organizational moves last night. In the serious against Texas they scored a grand total of three runs in 32 innings. The Phillies scored nine in one inning last night.
- Pay attention to what is going on with Charlie Crist in Florida. It matters. He would certainly be a moderate voice in the senate, possibly voting with Dems on energy issues (though hopefully they get that done before he arrives) and a few other things, such as education.
- This continued sentiment, however, could derail energy in congress. Amazing that a drilling disaster could be what stops us from passing legislation designed to move us away from oil.
That's all I've got time for this morning. I'll certainly be back. No mom, I didn't proofread it again. My apologies.
[More]
It is hard to differentiate between spring and summer here, but I'd say the latter has definitely arrived with a bang this weekend. Saturday it was 88, perfectly clear and beautiful. Yesterday, closer to 90 and clouding over. Today, raining and brutally humid. If I ever leave this place, that is one thing I will absolutely not miss.
On to the news.
The city of New Orleans swears in a new mayor today, Mitch Landrieu, its first white mayor in more than three decades. The last white mayor in city, about two-thirds black, was Landrieu's father, Maurice. For those political types like me, who immediately said "I recognize that name," yes, he is the brother of Louisiana Senator Mary Landrieu.
Are his views on offshore drilling on par with his sister's, who got a bill opening up 8.3 million acres in the Gulf to oil exploration? Well, probably not today. Talk about walking into a beehive. Landrieu assumes his role of mayor amidst a natural disaster, though those are coming one after the other in the region these days.
Right now, according to someone in the area (couldn't figure out just who said it), the best case scenario is another week of what Florida Governor Charlie Crist called a, "volcano of oil." That said, I've been paying very close attention to this, as you can imagine, and I've yet to see someone definitively say that any one thing they are doing is actually going to stop the flow of oil. I'm guessing we'll still be dealing with the flow for quite some time, after which the cleanup will begin.
That cleanup may well extend all the way to the east coast.
Said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Meet the Press yesterday: "We are already preparing a campaign for a major restoration of the Gulf Coast." Again.
Now, I realize I ask this question pretty much every week, but no one ever answers. When, if ever, have we seen a time period where disasters hit with such frequency? Earthquakes are shaking the planet every day it seems. There was on in Arkansas last week. Arkansas. The Gulf Coast has been getting absolutely tortured by natural disasters, mostly hurricanes. Now, what is poised to be the worst oil spill in US history creeps toward the coastline by day. Tornadoes and other storms killed about a dozen people in Tennessee and Mississippi over the weekend. Two coal miners were killed last week, just three weeks after 29 were trapped in a West Virginia mine, all dying.
Someone apparently forgot to tell two car bombers that it wasn't April anymore, when they hastily parked near Times Square. The idea that these oft-used insurgency tactics could land on the busiest street in America is plenty to get your attention, I would think.
But seriously, who even remembers that Haiti is still digging itself out from an earthquake? We used to get breaks to recover and prepare for the next thing. Not anymore. There is no need to remember "where you were when that happened." Just pull out your calendar; chances are something happened today.
I am not trying to create fear amongst all my readers, Fox News does that just fine. This is just an honest question: has there ever been a time period like this? Where each day is so unpredictable, and each catastrophic event as devastating as the last? Or do we just sensationalize each thing more? Usually, I would say the latter. However, at least 42 people have died in energy disasters in the last month. More oil is going to be spilled in the Gulf that the total average in the US in 1990. If this spill hits the Exxon Valdez number, it will 10 times the average spill total in the US today. Port au Prince is destroyed, as are parts of Chili. Oh, and let's not forget that the Ninth Ward is still in ruins from Hurricane Katrina. And that is just the Western Hemisphere.
All of this and I have yet to mention the recent horrifying details of men in China going into schools and stabbing children. Sadly, the most frustrating part of the story in China isn't even the children (that is more terrifying), it is the way the Chinese government covers it up.
Maybe this is sad, or just a reflection of how frequent these types of headlines have become, but I have come to expect these things everyday. Which is why I ask, when was the last time the world was like this? The Cold War? Ever? Or is my being an American and living here shielding me from the fact that many other places have been like this forever?
It was almost fitting that last night I sat down to watch "The West Wing". It is by far my favorite television show ever, and the episode I watched last night is why. In September of 2001, the show was preparing to open its third season, complete with the president announcing he was going to run despite never disclosing to the public that he has MS. Then September 11th happened. Many people channeled their emotions through different skills they have, and Aaron Sorkin, the show's writer, was no different. He sat down and pulled off the most clutch, masterful piece of writing I've maybe ever seen.
"Isaac and Ishmael" was the title of the special episode that aired in place of the season premiere. It was a play, done specifically to talk about terrorism. Now, you might say that terrorism is not what I've been talking about this entire post, but that isn't the point. This is: about midway through the episode, a group of kids is peppering Sam Seaborn (played by Rob Lowe) about why he thinks terrorism has a 100 percent failure rate. A girl then say to Lowe, "they still do it. Their failure hasn't stopped them." You can tell she is stuck in this American principle that, when something doesn't work, you stop trying it (ah, if only more Americans actually lived by this policy). Lowe is unrelenting, however, and just says that's how it is. So the girl, all of 17 maybe, asks Lowe, "what do you call a place where the pizza place your sitting in could just blow up at anytime?" Without missing a beat, Lowe responds: "Israel."
So yes, maybe we are simply getting a small taste of what many places in the world already face everyday. And maybe we should recognize that our lives, while unpredictable and often frustrating, are still relatively safe and free of worry. My biggest problem this weekend was staying cool as the temperature rapidly increased. My life is not difficult, even compared to those who live in the same relative comfort I do. It's like Josh Lyman (played by Bradley Whitford), says in the same episode: "My government salary may not be much, but I still make more than the guy whose job it is to stand in front of the bullet. How do I tell him I quit?"
I'm going to work for that guy.
Links:
- I was honestly going to link the video from the Correspondents dinner, where everyone gives funny speeches and Washington talks about how awesome it is. However, Jay Leno (who I considered not even bolding) was so not funny that I refuse to put it on my blog. Adamantly refuse. Obama's best joke was something like: "Unfortunately, John McCain couldn’t make it. Recently he claimed that he had never identified himself as a maverick. And we all know what happens in Arizona when you don’t have ID."
Obama also joked that, while his star may have fallen some in the past year, so has the media's, and said that Senator Scott Brown is a special kind of politician, since rarely do you find one with nothing to hide. He was obviously referring to the nude centerfold piece Brown once did. Finally, he referred to RNC Chairman Michael Steele as the Notorious GOP. Too bad Leno was awful after him.
- After blowing another fantastic pitching performance (8 innings of shutout ball), that Mariners made some organizational moves last night. In the serious against Texas they scored a grand total of three runs in 32 innings. The Phillies scored nine in one inning last night.
- Pay attention to what is going on with Charlie Crist in Florida. It matters. He would certainly be a moderate voice in the senate, possibly voting with Dems on energy issues (though hopefully they get that done before he arrives) and a few other things, such as education.
- This continued sentiment, however, could derail energy in congress. Amazing that a drilling disaster could be what stops us from passing legislation designed to move us away from oil.
That's all I've got time for this morning. I'll certainly be back. No mom, I didn't proofread it again. My apologies.
That phrase, "a picture is worth 1,000 words," rings true every time. So before exalting in it being Friday, I recount how I woke up this morning, stumbled up to the door with my eyes half open, picked up the newspaper, and saw this:
The goal for that was to make the image as large as it possibly could be, so you could understand the magnitude of what we're talking about. In this age, everything is sensationalized. The result of that is that nothing is really ever, "major". I read a story about John Edwards this morning and thought, "oh yeah, remember that guy?" The story lasted a month or so during the campaign and his mistress keeps popping up half-dressed in magazines (now on Oprah), but it's no big deal. Everything is seemingly that way, because everything is blown up so much.
Which is why I am underlining this, because you need to understand: this is a big deal. Sorry Joe Biden, profanity excluded.
This oil spill, which is the result of a state-of-the-art oil rig blowing up and sinking into the Gulf of Mexico, is more than a week old. In that time, the estimates of the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf have gone from 1,000 barrels a day to 5,000. That is roughly 210,000 gallons of oil sinking into the ocean every day. As a means for comparison, through every activity an American does that consumes water (including how products they use are made), each person uses a little over 700,000 gallons in a year. Twice that much oil has already leaked into the Gulf. I don't even want to get into how many times you'd have to fill up your car to get to this much oil.
However, that is not the truly scary part about this "spill". This is: it isn't a spill. As a story in a New Orleans paper pointed out, this isn't some tanker or pipeline with a finite amount of oil that will eventually dry up or be shut off. In fact, despite mammoth ocean floor efforts (at 5,000 feet) they haven't been able to close the state-of-the-art hydraulic valve designed specifically fail-safe to prevent blowouts like the one that caused this whole debacle in the first place. And the resource isn't finite, not be a long shot. That story called this a "river of oil." Oil will continue pouring into the Gulf until we find a way to stop it, which we haven't, and every plan we have right now will take considerable time.
Time we don't have. This morning the oil reportedly reached the Gulf coast.
The worst oil spill in the history of the US was obviously the March, 1989 crash of the Exxon Valdez, when more than 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound. (Interesting side note: the Exxon Valdez and I share the same birthday, as the ship went into service December 11, 1986). Obviously, being from the west coast, the story of the Exxon Valdez is well known. When I moved to Washington, I walked past a gas station every single day, multiple times, when going to and from home. It took me about four months to realize that it was an Exxon station. Those don't exist in Seattle. After that spill, people drove by Exxon stations.
At a rate of 210,000 gallons each day (and already nine days in), it would take about 41 more days to hit 11 million gallons. Your first though is obviously, "we'll have it stopped by then, no problem." Problem. Outside of shutting off the value, unsuccessful so far, every other solution is predicted to take weeks. BP is commencing drilling of relief wells to somehow block the leaking well. It should be noted that those will most likely end up as for profit wells down the road. And all of the oil that is vacuumed from the surface will also be refined and sold at some point down the road, to BP's profit. The timetable for drilling these well is three months. Do the math.
The next question inevitably is: it's just the environment, what's the big deal? Where were you on August 29, 2005? For me, it was the day after I started my job working for the University of Washington athletic department. It was also the day a hurricane slammed into the Louisiana coast, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. The region has yet to, and may never, recover from that. The environmental damage done by a spill of this magnitude would be nothing short of catastrophic. That said, the real issue is an economic one. As the region continues rebuilding its economy, few things are as important as the shrimping industry. The state of Louisiana had considered opening a special season, so owners could get their boats out and get whatever they could before the oil came.
Now it is too late. Lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of shrimpers, fishermen and the many injured workers from the rig. Every had oil-coated shrimp in your gumbo? If you need a good primer on how lucrative (and supportive of the local economy) shrimping is, I would suggest Forrest Gump. Bubba Gump Shrimp is a real company (although based on California).
Anyway, the point of all that, rambling is it may have seemed, is to stress how big of a deal this is. The ramifications or completely unknown at this point, other than that the cleanup will cost both BP and the federal government hundreds of millions if not billions. The front page of the New York Times Business section has a story talking about how bad this could be for BP. It will most certainly ripple into climate legislation negotiations and the president's new offshore drilling plan. In short: it's a big mess.
--
What a happy way to start the day, huh? How about some other highlights.
- After weeks of speculation and, "come on just get it over with," moments, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, the one-time frontrunner for the Republican nomination in his state's senate race, is turning in his "Republican" moniker for "Independent." That is what happens when a Tea Party-backed, 39-year old, ultra conservation state legislator is whooping you up and down the state. The big winner here? Quite possibly Democrat Kendrick Meek. Some are calling Crist's move a "Hail Mary."
Thing about Charlie Crist is, he is a gay, clean energy-supporting, teacher-protecting conservative. And they love him in Florida. Just saying. Pretty much everyone is predicting that this could be one of the nastiest races we have seen in a long time.
- Jay Leno is playing the White House Correspondents Dinner, for like the 20th time. You would think they might like actual funny people at these things. Last year it was Wanda Sykes. Couldn't we go the Chris Rock route this year?
- Opening Day in Seattle is tomorrow, and if you haven't been paying attention (which I bet you haven't), there is some history in town. As always, the Windermere Cup attracts a marquee program from somewhere in the world for the big event. This year it is one of rowing most historic: Oxford. In a shocking development, it is supposed to rain all day. What else for the opening day of boating season? (In case you were wondering: it's 81 and perfectly clear in Washington).
What that also means is the beginning of an experiment at UW. The football program hosts Friday Night Lights tonight, the annual spring game, but with the twist of being a week later and on Friday. Check it out. Apparently there are a lot of fun things planned.
- New abortion bills are sweeping across the nation, from Arizona to Oklahoma, and now shutting down government in Florida.
- The last Catholic hospital in New York City, St. Vincent's, closed at 7 am this morning.
- In sports new, Seahawks Pro Bowl left tackle (the position so famously profiled in The Blind Side) Walter Jones announced his retirement.
Happy Friday!
[More]
Which is why I am underlining this, because you need to understand: this is a big deal. Sorry Joe Biden, profanity excluded.
This oil spill, which is the result of a state-of-the-art oil rig blowing up and sinking into the Gulf of Mexico, is more than a week old. In that time, the estimates of the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf have gone from 1,000 barrels a day to 5,000. That is roughly 210,000 gallons of oil sinking into the ocean every day. As a means for comparison, through every activity an American does that consumes water (including how products they use are made), each person uses a little over 700,000 gallons in a year. Twice that much oil has already leaked into the Gulf. I don't even want to get into how many times you'd have to fill up your car to get to this much oil.
However, that is not the truly scary part about this "spill". This is: it isn't a spill. As a story in a New Orleans paper pointed out, this isn't some tanker or pipeline with a finite amount of oil that will eventually dry up or be shut off. In fact, despite mammoth ocean floor efforts (at 5,000 feet) they haven't been able to close the state-of-the-art hydraulic valve designed specifically fail-safe to prevent blowouts like the one that caused this whole debacle in the first place. And the resource isn't finite, not be a long shot. That story called this a "river of oil." Oil will continue pouring into the Gulf until we find a way to stop it, which we haven't, and every plan we have right now will take considerable time.
Time we don't have. This morning the oil reportedly reached the Gulf coast.
The worst oil spill in the history of the US was obviously the March, 1989 crash of the Exxon Valdez, when more than 11 million gallons of crude oil spilled into Prince William Sound. (Interesting side note: the Exxon Valdez and I share the same birthday, as the ship went into service December 11, 1986). Obviously, being from the west coast, the story of the Exxon Valdez is well known. When I moved to Washington, I walked past a gas station every single day, multiple times, when going to and from home. It took me about four months to realize that it was an Exxon station. Those don't exist in Seattle. After that spill, people drove by Exxon stations.
At a rate of 210,000 gallons each day (and already nine days in), it would take about 41 more days to hit 11 million gallons. Your first though is obviously, "we'll have it stopped by then, no problem." Problem. Outside of shutting off the value, unsuccessful so far, every other solution is predicted to take weeks. BP is commencing drilling of relief wells to somehow block the leaking well. It should be noted that those will most likely end up as for profit wells down the road. And all of the oil that is vacuumed from the surface will also be refined and sold at some point down the road, to BP's profit. The timetable for drilling these well is three months. Do the math.
The next question inevitably is: it's just the environment, what's the big deal? Where were you on August 29, 2005? For me, it was the day after I started my job working for the University of Washington athletic department. It was also the day a hurricane slammed into the Louisiana coast, leaving nothing but destruction in its wake. The region has yet to, and may never, recover from that. The environmental damage done by a spill of this magnitude would be nothing short of catastrophic. That said, the real issue is an economic one. As the region continues rebuilding its economy, few things are as important as the shrimping industry. The state of Louisiana had considered opening a special season, so owners could get their boats out and get whatever they could before the oil came.
Now it is too late. Lawsuits have already been filed on behalf of shrimpers, fishermen and the many injured workers from the rig. Every had oil-coated shrimp in your gumbo? If you need a good primer on how lucrative (and supportive of the local economy) shrimping is, I would suggest Forrest Gump. Bubba Gump Shrimp is a real company (although based on California).
Anyway, the point of all that, rambling is it may have seemed, is to stress how big of a deal this is. The ramifications or completely unknown at this point, other than that the cleanup will cost both BP and the federal government hundreds of millions if not billions. The front page of the New York Times Business section has a story talking about how bad this could be for BP. It will most certainly ripple into climate legislation negotiations and the president's new offshore drilling plan. In short: it's a big mess.
--
What a happy way to start the day, huh? How about some other highlights.
- After weeks of speculation and, "come on just get it over with," moments, Florida Governor Charlie Crist, the one-time frontrunner for the Republican nomination in his state's senate race, is turning in his "Republican" moniker for "Independent." That is what happens when a Tea Party-backed, 39-year old, ultra conservation state legislator is whooping you up and down the state. The big winner here? Quite possibly Democrat Kendrick Meek. Some are calling Crist's move a "Hail Mary."
Thing about Charlie Crist is, he is a gay, clean energy-supporting, teacher-protecting conservative. And they love him in Florida. Just saying. Pretty much everyone is predicting that this could be one of the nastiest races we have seen in a long time.
- Jay Leno is playing the White House Correspondents Dinner, for like the 20th time. You would think they might like actual funny people at these things. Last year it was Wanda Sykes. Couldn't we go the Chris Rock route this year?
- Opening Day in Seattle is tomorrow, and if you haven't been paying attention (which I bet you haven't), there is some history in town. As always, the Windermere Cup attracts a marquee program from somewhere in the world for the big event. This year it is one of rowing most historic: Oxford. In a shocking development, it is supposed to rain all day. What else for the opening day of boating season? (In case you were wondering: it's 81 and perfectly clear in Washington).
What that also means is the beginning of an experiment at UW. The football program hosts Friday Night Lights tonight, the annual spring game, but with the twist of being a week later and on Friday. Check it out. Apparently there are a lot of fun things planned.
- New abortion bills are sweeping across the nation, from Arizona to Oklahoma, and now shutting down government in Florida.
- The last Catholic hospital in New York City, St. Vincent's, closed at 7 am this morning.
- In sports new, Seahawks Pro Bowl left tackle (the position so famously profiled in The Blind Side) Walter Jones announced his retirement.
Happy Friday!
And maybe throwing all of Wall Street into it. Okay, so maybe that is an exaggeration, but two big stories today, one much bigger than the other (despite the fact that it ought to be the reverse), one involving fire, one involving being under fire.
Republicans caved yesterday, finally allowing a cloture vote on financial reform to pass. It actually was just a unanimous consent motion instead of a vote this time, with no objection. No one is really saying they got much, other than an open debate and the ability to offer amendments. Now, that could be quite a bit if the number of amendments allowed is unlimited, but it seems that even the GOP realizes it would look bad to be on the wrong side of financial reform.
As one observer said, it is hard to justify participating in a hearing lambasting Goldman Sachs executives actions on Wall Street, then going next door and voting against financial reform.
One thing we tend to forget, with all of this focus on the Senate, is that the House has already passed financial reform. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (a job title I held in my congressional simulation class) has said that a conference is expected once the Senate completes its work.
--
To the lead story, which has actually gotten worse in the moments I have been writing this. Over the weekend, experts found two different leaks on the sea floor, related to the sunken oil rig from last week. It was estimated at the time that about 42,000 gallons of oil were spilling into the Gulf of Mexico every day. The good news was, due to the bends in the pipe caused by the sinking (imagine bending a hose too far), the leak was not as flowing as it could've been. The bad new is that workers have been unable to shut of the valve, meaning they are working on other ways to stop the leak.
Excuse me while I seemingly vent for a moment. I have taken quite a bit of time in the last few days learning about this. We are talking about BP (British Petroleum), which fought tighter federal safety regulations tooth and nail in the last few years. The rig in question was fairly new, about the size of a football field and state of the art. It was one-of-a-kind, drilling deeper than we've ever drilled before. While the clear point of the first part of the paragraph was to understate how something like this should never happen, the last sentence should illustrate just how ill-prepared we are to deal with it.
Just how ill-prepared are we? We (or BP - it's hard to tell really) can't even figure out how big the leak is yet. Late yesterday a third leak was discovered, with the Coast Guard estimating that five times the amount of oil is spilling into the ocean than previously thought. While yesterday it was an estimated 42,000 gallons each day, that number is now around 210,000 gallons. Put in simpler numbers, in just 52 days this would be larger than Exxon Valdez. Think that isn't possible? It is. With today's measures, 52 days would seem like forever, but workers have tried just about ever short term solution they can think of, which was one thing: shut off the valve. They've failed.
Initially yesterday, the plan was to burn off some of the oil, literally setting the surface on fire, but bad weather prevented that. They will try again today. It can't all be done this way, but from their experience, a significant amount can. However, one member of the Coast Guard had a telling statement: "this isn't something we do every day." No, it isn't. Stay tuned, as this will only get worse before it gets better.
--
And speaking of getting worse before getting better, how about Arizona. Oh, Arizona. Couple things. It appears that the DOJ - that's Department of Justice people - will be suing the state of Arizona, I suppose for privacy infringement. Not really sure. But still a positive development.
Last night I actually watched some evening news shows, which, if you can take even every breath with a grain of salt, can be entertaining to say the least. My favorite had to be Frank Luntz on Hannity. I learned about Luntz way back in high school. He is an expert Republican pollster and damn good at it. He creates messaging based on focus groups and polling, something everyone does now. But last night, to listen to him say, "most Americans are against financial reform," absolutely blew me away. Not only was he blatantly lying without even changing his expression, but he knew just how dishonest he was being probably more than anyone else. It was unreal. And of course it was on Fox (yes all of my conservative friends, I also watched Maddow and, ugh, parts of Olbermann last night. Fox is more entertaining though.)
Anyway, back to immigration. Hannity also had a debate on immigration. I have never seen Michelle Malkin so angry. Thought she might punch her opponent through the television screen. Here is something everyone needs to recognize about illegal immigration: it isn't illegal. The bill in Arizona made it illegal, in Arizona. Everywhere else in the country, illegal immigration is a civil offense. We don't throw you in jail, we send you home. That's it. Which is why I found it so interesting that Hannity and Malkin were screaming about following the letter of the law, since it is two-fold against them. One, it isn't illegal. Two, the biggest fears when profiling someone is that police ignore the law of needing another reason to stop someone (criminal activity) and just do it anyway. I don't want to get into the economic argument, even though there is one. I understand where Arizona is coming from. Watch as I represent both sides at the same time.
A few years ago I watched a movie called the Thin Blue Line. I remember it very well because we were watching in a class at UW during the same week that Virginia Tech happened. It was about a black man being profiled in Dallas for a murder he never admitted to committing. If I recall correctly, there was proof he didn't do it, but he was convicted anyway. People look at that as profiling. Sure, profiling was involved, but so was a racist jury. The problems go much deeper than saying, "he's black, let me pull him over."
Not too long after that I had a lengthy conversation with a black police officer in Seattle. His words to me: profiling helps me do my job. Surprisingly, I wasn't surprised. He's right. We make this big deal out of profiling, just like we do out of mandatory minimums, but ignore that in the majority of cases, the people actually committed crimes. This isn't the 1960's. If you have drugs in your car and you're mad that a cop made up a phony reason to pull you over, that doesn't change the fact that you have drugs in your car. You're worried about the wrong thing. I do believe that profiling probably does help police work. Does that make it right? No. But what neighborhood would you feel safer walking through, the poorer black neighborhood or the richer white one? Let's not act like police are the only profilers out there. Stereotypes exist for a reason.
Now, with that said, there is this thing about a right to privacy and profiling that is great about the Republican party. They are all for forfeiting some privacy in the name of security, unless it is there own. And they are all for profiling, which makes sense, because they are vastly white. No money trail is necessary. Just look at their faces.
It is unclear what is going to happen with this immigration law, except that it doesn't appear congress will take it up soon. The ball might be squarely in the DOJ's court right now and that is fine. Gives me more time to do more learning about immigration law. What I know right now is what I've previously mentioned, and that it is a lot like gun law: fairly strict, but grossly under-enforced. Also, as was pointed out last night, drug smugglers aren't walking across borders. As long as Americans have a drug problem, smugglers will find a way to get it to us. And that is where the crime comes from.
However, above all of this, if you really want to curb illegal immigration, I've got three words: punish the companies. But that will never happen, because that would be against free market policies, right Republicans? Make up your minds. Oh one more note: Malkin yesterday said that border security is no safer than it was on September 11, 2001 and that is the fault of Democrats. Ummm....
--
Notes:
- Two coal miners are missing after a wall collapsed in Kentucky. This is not a Massey mine and it is a developing story.
- I refuse to link it, but I should mention that Tiger Woods is playing again today. No word on whether anyone else is involved. Real question though: should there be a fantasy league, just like a sports one, that takes bets on who is "meeting" Tiger at each tournament? Too soon?
- The Washington Capitols pulled a major choke job in game seven of their first round series last night, losing to Montreal. As Bill Simmons said, it is quite possible that Washington has surpassed Seattle as the nation's most depressed sports town. Also as Simmons said, at least the Emerald City has Pete Carroll for comedic value.
- Finally, in a surprising development, a formula created to identify the most despised team in baseball came up, not with the New York Yankees, but the Cleveland Indians. As they said on SportsCenter, "wait, what?"
- A late addition: a New York subway train was stopped, and all passengers fine, after an operator died in the cab yesterday during rush hour. The "Dead Man Feature" (its real name) was employed, the first time anyone can recall it being used, to stop the train. It is a lever that motormen hold throughout the day, that when released will stop the train. It is designed to prevent runaway trains. Sadly, it was proven yesterday that it works.
[More]
Republicans caved yesterday, finally allowing a cloture vote on financial reform to pass. It actually was just a unanimous consent motion instead of a vote this time, with no objection. No one is really saying they got much, other than an open debate and the ability to offer amendments. Now, that could be quite a bit if the number of amendments allowed is unlimited, but it seems that even the GOP realizes it would look bad to be on the wrong side of financial reform.
As one observer said, it is hard to justify participating in a hearing lambasting Goldman Sachs executives actions on Wall Street, then going next door and voting against financial reform.
One thing we tend to forget, with all of this focus on the Senate, is that the House has already passed financial reform. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (a job title I held in my congressional simulation class) has said that a conference is expected once the Senate completes its work.
--
To the lead story, which has actually gotten worse in the moments I have been writing this. Over the weekend, experts found two different leaks on the sea floor, related to the sunken oil rig from last week. It was estimated at the time that about 42,000 gallons of oil were spilling into the Gulf of Mexico every day. The good news was, due to the bends in the pipe caused by the sinking (imagine bending a hose too far), the leak was not as flowing as it could've been. The bad new is that workers have been unable to shut of the valve, meaning they are working on other ways to stop the leak.
Excuse me while I seemingly vent for a moment. I have taken quite a bit of time in the last few days learning about this. We are talking about BP (British Petroleum), which fought tighter federal safety regulations tooth and nail in the last few years. The rig in question was fairly new, about the size of a football field and state of the art. It was one-of-a-kind, drilling deeper than we've ever drilled before. While the clear point of the first part of the paragraph was to understate how something like this should never happen, the last sentence should illustrate just how ill-prepared we are to deal with it.
Just how ill-prepared are we? We (or BP - it's hard to tell really) can't even figure out how big the leak is yet. Late yesterday a third leak was discovered, with the Coast Guard estimating that five times the amount of oil is spilling into the ocean than previously thought. While yesterday it was an estimated 42,000 gallons each day, that number is now around 210,000 gallons. Put in simpler numbers, in just 52 days this would be larger than Exxon Valdez. Think that isn't possible? It is. With today's measures, 52 days would seem like forever, but workers have tried just about ever short term solution they can think of, which was one thing: shut off the valve. They've failed.
Initially yesterday, the plan was to burn off some of the oil, literally setting the surface on fire, but bad weather prevented that. They will try again today. It can't all be done this way, but from their experience, a significant amount can. However, one member of the Coast Guard had a telling statement: "this isn't something we do every day." No, it isn't. Stay tuned, as this will only get worse before it gets better.
--
And speaking of getting worse before getting better, how about Arizona. Oh, Arizona. Couple things. It appears that the DOJ - that's Department of Justice people - will be suing the state of Arizona, I suppose for privacy infringement. Not really sure. But still a positive development.
Last night I actually watched some evening news shows, which, if you can take even every breath with a grain of salt, can be entertaining to say the least. My favorite had to be Frank Luntz on Hannity. I learned about Luntz way back in high school. He is an expert Republican pollster and damn good at it. He creates messaging based on focus groups and polling, something everyone does now. But last night, to listen to him say, "most Americans are against financial reform," absolutely blew me away. Not only was he blatantly lying without even changing his expression, but he knew just how dishonest he was being probably more than anyone else. It was unreal. And of course it was on Fox (yes all of my conservative friends, I also watched Maddow and, ugh, parts of Olbermann last night. Fox is more entertaining though.)
Anyway, back to immigration. Hannity also had a debate on immigration. I have never seen Michelle Malkin so angry. Thought she might punch her opponent through the television screen. Here is something everyone needs to recognize about illegal immigration: it isn't illegal. The bill in Arizona made it illegal, in Arizona. Everywhere else in the country, illegal immigration is a civil offense. We don't throw you in jail, we send you home. That's it. Which is why I found it so interesting that Hannity and Malkin were screaming about following the letter of the law, since it is two-fold against them. One, it isn't illegal. Two, the biggest fears when profiling someone is that police ignore the law of needing another reason to stop someone (criminal activity) and just do it anyway. I don't want to get into the economic argument, even though there is one. I understand where Arizona is coming from. Watch as I represent both sides at the same time.
A few years ago I watched a movie called the Thin Blue Line. I remember it very well because we were watching in a class at UW during the same week that Virginia Tech happened. It was about a black man being profiled in Dallas for a murder he never admitted to committing. If I recall correctly, there was proof he didn't do it, but he was convicted anyway. People look at that as profiling. Sure, profiling was involved, but so was a racist jury. The problems go much deeper than saying, "he's black, let me pull him over."
Not too long after that I had a lengthy conversation with a black police officer in Seattle. His words to me: profiling helps me do my job. Surprisingly, I wasn't surprised. He's right. We make this big deal out of profiling, just like we do out of mandatory minimums, but ignore that in the majority of cases, the people actually committed crimes. This isn't the 1960's. If you have drugs in your car and you're mad that a cop made up a phony reason to pull you over, that doesn't change the fact that you have drugs in your car. You're worried about the wrong thing. I do believe that profiling probably does help police work. Does that make it right? No. But what neighborhood would you feel safer walking through, the poorer black neighborhood or the richer white one? Let's not act like police are the only profilers out there. Stereotypes exist for a reason.
Now, with that said, there is this thing about a right to privacy and profiling that is great about the Republican party. They are all for forfeiting some privacy in the name of security, unless it is there own. And they are all for profiling, which makes sense, because they are vastly white. No money trail is necessary. Just look at their faces.
It is unclear what is going to happen with this immigration law, except that it doesn't appear congress will take it up soon. The ball might be squarely in the DOJ's court right now and that is fine. Gives me more time to do more learning about immigration law. What I know right now is what I've previously mentioned, and that it is a lot like gun law: fairly strict, but grossly under-enforced. Also, as was pointed out last night, drug smugglers aren't walking across borders. As long as Americans have a drug problem, smugglers will find a way to get it to us. And that is where the crime comes from.
However, above all of this, if you really want to curb illegal immigration, I've got three words: punish the companies. But that will never happen, because that would be against free market policies, right Republicans? Make up your minds. Oh one more note: Malkin yesterday said that border security is no safer than it was on September 11, 2001 and that is the fault of Democrats. Ummm....
--
Notes:
- Two coal miners are missing after a wall collapsed in Kentucky. This is not a Massey mine and it is a developing story.
- I refuse to link it, but I should mention that Tiger Woods is playing again today. No word on whether anyone else is involved. Real question though: should there be a fantasy league, just like a sports one, that takes bets on who is "meeting" Tiger at each tournament? Too soon?
- The Washington Capitols pulled a major choke job in game seven of their first round series last night, losing to Montreal. As Bill Simmons said, it is quite possible that Washington has surpassed Seattle as the nation's most depressed sports town. Also as Simmons said, at least the Emerald City has Pete Carroll for comedic value.
- Finally, in a surprising development, a formula created to identify the most despised team in baseball came up, not with the New York Yankees, but the Cleveland Indians. As they said on SportsCenter, "wait, what?"
- A late addition: a New York subway train was stopped, and all passengers fine, after an operator died in the cab yesterday during rush hour. The "Dead Man Feature" (its real name) was employed, the first time anyone can recall it being used, to stop the train. It is a lever that motormen hold throughout the day, that when released will stop the train. It is designed to prevent runaway trains. Sadly, it was proven yesterday that it works.