By slipping out of a fight between state Sen. Colleen Hanabusa and former U.S. Rep. Ed Case, Hawaii's Democrats are hoping for a November knockout against Republican U.S. Rep. Charles Djou.
Case stunned supporters and opponents alike yesterday by pulling out of the race for the 1st Congressional District.
He leaves the field open for Senate President Hanabusa, who has already won the backing of the party's leaders and most public and private unions.
"It helps tremendously because then there will not be a bloody primary. Hopefully it is a way to unify the party and regain the seat," said Randy Perreira, head of the state AFL-CIO and the Hawaii Government Employees Association.
Case made his surprise announcement during the closing day of the state Democratic Convention at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. He told the more than 830 delegates and party members that he wanted to stay in the race but that "there is room for only one standard-bearer for our party. Anything else would divide us. Anything else would compromise the values we hold so dear."
Supporters and friends said Case had been weighing his decision, but no one knew what he would say until he gave his speech.
Hanabusa, Case said, needs to listen to his supporters, who want change.
"We do have a deepening and spreading disillusionment with politics, at least how it is practiced in this state. Politics is too often about power rather than people, politics that divides rather than unifies," Case said.
"Listen, adopt and incorporate, espouse, motivate and commit and you will win. Don't and you will have a very difficult election," Case warned.
Hanabusa, still shocked as her primary fight against Case evaporated, said she would start listening, but did not announce any changes in policies.
"What you saw today was a most magnanimous gesture in dropping out of this race. With it comes to me a heavy burden to live up to his expectations and his faith," Hanabusa said.
"He is expecting me to listen to and appeal to his voting base. It is an amazing gesture and an amazing gift," Hanabusa added.
The party's leaders praised Case's decision.
"I was just happy and deeply moved. I think Ed assures us of a great victory this November," said U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, Hawaii's senior senator.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Friday, May 28, 2010
Mufi to run for governor
Mufi Hannemann made the long-expected announcement yesterday that he will skip his final two years as Honolulu mayor to run for governor.
"My intention is to serve a full four-year term," Hannemann said. "I want to be governor — that's the only thing on my radar screen, and my desire to serve the public is to be the governor of Hawaii."
He wasted no time in trying to separate himself from his main opponent in the Democratic primary, former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, in a rematch of a special election campaign for Congress in 1986.
"Neil has legislative experience. He does not have executive experience," Hannemann said. "Neil has been a citizen of the Beltway for 20 years. He's more familiar with Washington, D.C., than what happens at Washington Place (the governor's residence), so in many ways he is out of touch, out of step and out of place."
Abercrombie responded by seizing on Hannemann's declaration that if elected the governorship would not be his last job,
"I see the office as a cornerstone. The mayor sees it as a steppingstone," Abercrombie said. "The mayor sees politics entirely through the prism of his political career.
"He said today while he was running he's been listening to people and they want him. And all I can tell you is I've been listening to people and they want change."
Hannemann will have to resign as mayor before filing for the governor's race, but he has until a July 20 deadline to do so. He said he plans to remain on the job until then.
Hannemann heads into this primary with a significant advantage in money: $2 million in cash on hand, compared with $770,000 for Abercrombie.
On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and former state Sen. John Carroll have said they will run for governor.
Aiona issued a statement saying Hawaii "can't afford" Hannemann.
"I look forward to putting my support for Hawaii's working families and small businesses against his record of raising taxes and increasing the cost of living for our residents on Oahu," Aiona said.
Hannemann said the state cannot afford four more years of the status quo from the Republicans.
"Duke has been a silent partner," he said. "You can't come across as a breath of fresh air when this is the team that brought us Furlough Fridays. This is the team that derailed the Superferry. ... You can't have it both ways."
***
SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL VACANCY
Once Mufi Hannemann resigns as mayor, the City Council will have 10 days to call for a special election to fill the final two years of his term, said City Clerk Bernice Mau.
Because the vacancy occurs within 180 days of a regular election — the September primary — it can be held in tandem with that election.
Five notable candidates have declared their intent to seek the office: Kirk Caldwell, city managing director, who also would be named acting mayor once Hannemann resigns; Peter Carlisle, Honolulu prosecutor; Donovan Dela Cruz, City Council member from District 2 (Mililani Mauka-Temple Valley); Panos Prevedouros, a University of Hawaii engineering professor and anti-rail advocate; and Rod Tam, City Council member from District 6 (Downtown-Kalihi).
"My intention is to serve a full four-year term," Hannemann said. "I want to be governor — that's the only thing on my radar screen, and my desire to serve the public is to be the governor of Hawaii."
He wasted no time in trying to separate himself from his main opponent in the Democratic primary, former U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, in a rematch of a special election campaign for Congress in 1986.
"Neil has legislative experience. He does not have executive experience," Hannemann said. "Neil has been a citizen of the Beltway for 20 years. He's more familiar with Washington, D.C., than what happens at Washington Place (the governor's residence), so in many ways he is out of touch, out of step and out of place."
Abercrombie responded by seizing on Hannemann's declaration that if elected the governorship would not be his last job,
"I see the office as a cornerstone. The mayor sees it as a steppingstone," Abercrombie said. "The mayor sees politics entirely through the prism of his political career.
"He said today while he was running he's been listening to people and they want him. And all I can tell you is I've been listening to people and they want change."
Hannemann will have to resign as mayor before filing for the governor's race, but he has until a July 20 deadline to do so. He said he plans to remain on the job until then.
Hannemann heads into this primary with a significant advantage in money: $2 million in cash on hand, compared with $770,000 for Abercrombie.
On the Republican side, Lt. Gov. James "Duke" Aiona and former state Sen. John Carroll have said they will run for governor.
Aiona issued a statement saying Hawaii "can't afford" Hannemann.
"I look forward to putting my support for Hawaii's working families and small businesses against his record of raising taxes and increasing the cost of living for our residents on Oahu," Aiona said.
Hannemann said the state cannot afford four more years of the status quo from the Republicans.
"Duke has been a silent partner," he said. "You can't come across as a breath of fresh air when this is the team that brought us Furlough Fridays. This is the team that derailed the Superferry. ... You can't have it both ways."
***
SPECIAL ELECTION TO FILL VACANCY
Once Mufi Hannemann resigns as mayor, the City Council will have 10 days to call for a special election to fill the final two years of his term, said City Clerk Bernice Mau.
Because the vacancy occurs within 180 days of a regular election — the September primary — it can be held in tandem with that election.
Five notable candidates have declared their intent to seek the office: Kirk Caldwell, city managing director, who also would be named acting mayor once Hannemann resigns; Peter Carlisle, Honolulu prosecutor; Donovan Dela Cruz, City Council member from District 2 (Mililani Mauka-Temple Valley); Panos Prevedouros, a University of Hawaii engineering professor and anti-rail advocate; and Rod Tam, City Council member from District 6 (Downtown-Kalihi).
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Legislature passes civil unions bill
In a dramatic last-minute reversal, the state Legislature sent Gov. Linda Lingle a bill legalizing civil unions between any two consenting adults.
House Bill 444, written at the urging of the gay community, allows any adult couple the same rights and benefits the state provides to those who marry.
The House vote came yesterday evening after an afternoon spent in caucus and marked with procedural votes that showed supporters had a 31-vote majority with 20 opposed. Thirty-four votes are needed to override a veto.
When the final vote was tallied, again at 31-20, with two Republicans, Reps. Barbara Marumoto and Cynthia Thielen, joining the Democratic majority, the reaction from the packed House gallery was subdued. Supporters looked at each other; some cried.
Outside, they sang "We Shall Overcome" and hugged each other.
If Lingle signs the measure, Hawaii would be one of six states giving all the rights of marriage to same-sex couples, but without calling it marriage. She has not indicated whether she will sign or veto it.
House Bill 444, written at the urging of the gay community, allows any adult couple the same rights and benefits the state provides to those who marry.
The House vote came yesterday evening after an afternoon spent in caucus and marked with procedural votes that showed supporters had a 31-vote majority with 20 opposed. Thirty-four votes are needed to override a veto.
When the final vote was tallied, again at 31-20, with two Republicans, Reps. Barbara Marumoto and Cynthia Thielen, joining the Democratic majority, the reaction from the packed House gallery was subdued. Supporters looked at each other; some cried.
Outside, they sang "We Shall Overcome" and hugged each other.
If Lingle signs the measure, Hawaii would be one of six states giving all the rights of marriage to same-sex couples, but without calling it marriage. She has not indicated whether she will sign or veto it.
furloughs are over
After enduring a school year cut short by 17 Furlough Fridays, public school students and their parents, along with principals, teachers and other education officials, head into next year with a complete academic calendar once again.
"The bottom line is the furloughs are over," Gov. Linda Lingle declared yesterday at a news conference in her office.
Officials say they hope they can close the book on Furlough Fridays — an embarrassment for the state that drew criticism from national education officials and attracted further attention after a week of sit-in protests at the governor's office led to arrests.
The Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Department of Education and Board of Education reached a supplemental agreement in March to a contract that restored all furlough days. It was contingent on the Legislature approving the funds and Lingle releasing the money.
Lawmakers set aside $67 million from the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund to fund the agreement.
Lingle has agreed to release $57.2 million to cover 11 of the 17 furlough days scheduled for next year — an amount she says is needed to bring back "essential" employees. Teachers would convert six of their planning days — when students are not in school — to instructional time, to cover the remaining days.
Additionally, $2.2 million in federal stimulus funds is being allotted to cover charter schools.
"The bottom line is the furloughs are over," Gov. Linda Lingle declared yesterday at a news conference in her office.
Officials say they hope they can close the book on Furlough Fridays — an embarrassment for the state that drew criticism from national education officials and attracted further attention after a week of sit-in protests at the governor's office led to arrests.
The Hawaii State Teachers Association, the Department of Education and Board of Education reached a supplemental agreement in March to a contract that restored all furlough days. It was contingent on the Legislature approving the funds and Lingle releasing the money.
Lawmakers set aside $67 million from the Hawaii Hurricane Relief Fund to fund the agreement.
Lingle has agreed to release $57.2 million to cover 11 of the 17 furlough days scheduled for next year — an amount she says is needed to bring back "essential" employees. Teachers would convert six of their planning days — when students are not in school — to instructional time, to cover the remaining days.
Additionally, $2.2 million in federal stimulus funds is being allotted to cover charter schools.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Mufi on rail
We're on the cusp of a transformation of Honolulu's urban core not seen since the post-statehood boom years. It'll be a dramatic reshaping of the way we live, work, and play, stemming the retreat of urban living to the suburbs; producing opportunities for affordable housing closer to where we work; stimulating business and retail growth; widening open spaces; and creating a future only limited by our imaginations.
I speak of TOD, Transit-Oriented Development. TOD is what's happening along rail transit routes in cities across the nation. In places like Phoenix, Santa Clara, Calif., and Portland, Ore., rail systems have catalyzed urban development and rejuvenated the areas surrounding the transit stations.
The Urban Land Institute has stated that TOD is one of the best bets for investors because Americans' housing preferences are shifting toward an urban lifestyle offering proximity to jobs, shopping and entertainment; affordability; mobility; and open space — in short, a better quality of life.
I speak of TOD, Transit-Oriented Development. TOD is what's happening along rail transit routes in cities across the nation. In places like Phoenix, Santa Clara, Calif., and Portland, Ore., rail systems have catalyzed urban development and rejuvenated the areas surrounding the transit stations.
The Urban Land Institute has stated that TOD is one of the best bets for investors because Americans' housing preferences are shifting toward an urban lifestyle offering proximity to jobs, shopping and entertainment; affordability; mobility; and open space — in short, a better quality of life.
Toguchi calls Lingle's request ridiculous
State Board of Education Chairman Garrett Toguchi said Gov. Linda Lingle's request for teachers and principals to return to classrooms without pay for three Furlough Fridays left in this school year is "reckless" and "ridiculous."
"To ask them to come back to school voluntarily ... gives a false sense of hope to the parents," he said. "To open a school takes a coordinated effort."
Toguchi said other workers needed to ensure the health and safety of people at the schools are not included in the request—which could put people on campus in jeopardy.
"To ask them to come back to school voluntarily ... gives a false sense of hope to the parents," he said. "To open a school takes a coordinated effort."
Toguchi said other workers needed to ensure the health and safety of people at the schools are not included in the request—which could put people on campus in jeopardy.
Djou wins special election
Honolulu City Councilman Charles Djou punctured the Democrats' hold on the state's congressional delegation last night, winning a special election for Congress and becoming the first Republican in two decades to represent the Islands in Washington, D.C.
Djou earned 39.4 percent of the vote in the winner-take-all special election in urban Honolulu's 1st Congressional District and took advantage of a bitter split among Democrats between state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and former congressman Ed Case.
Hanabusa, who had been trailing in third in most public and private polls, finished second with 30.8 percent, positioning herself well for the September primary.
Case took 27.6 percent and will have to climb back against a wall of opposition from establishment Demo-crats and labor unions who will help Hanabusa in the primary.
The winner of the primary will take on Djou again in the November general election, when Djou will need to appeal to more independents and moderate Democrats if he is to stay in office.
"I think we sent a clear message to Washington, D.C., that we are spending too much money and that we need more fiscal responsibility, and I look forward to going to Washington, D.C., and Congress to do exactly that," Djou said outside the state GOP's headquarters.
Djou will fill out the remaining months of former congressman Neil Abercrombie's term, which expires in January 2011. Djou will have to run in the Republican primary in September, but is expected to win easily.
Djou becomes the third Republican — after former U.S. Rep. Pat Saiki and the late U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong — to represent Hawai'i in Washington since statehood.
Djou earned 39.4 percent of the vote in the winner-take-all special election in urban Honolulu's 1st Congressional District and took advantage of a bitter split among Democrats between state Senate President Colleen Hanabusa and former congressman Ed Case.
Hanabusa, who had been trailing in third in most public and private polls, finished second with 30.8 percent, positioning herself well for the September primary.
Case took 27.6 percent and will have to climb back against a wall of opposition from establishment Demo-crats and labor unions who will help Hanabusa in the primary.
The winner of the primary will take on Djou again in the November general election, when Djou will need to appeal to more independents and moderate Democrats if he is to stay in office.
"I think we sent a clear message to Washington, D.C., that we are spending too much money and that we need more fiscal responsibility, and I look forward to going to Washington, D.C., and Congress to do exactly that," Djou said outside the state GOP's headquarters.
Djou will fill out the remaining months of former congressman Neil Abercrombie's term, which expires in January 2011. Djou will have to run in the Republican primary in September, but is expected to win easily.
Djou becomes the third Republican — after former U.S. Rep. Pat Saiki and the late U.S. Sen. Hiram Fong — to represent Hawai'i in Washington since statehood.
Friday, May 21, 2010
BP oil leak in Gulf of Mexico
[4/22/10] A 1-by-5-mile sheen of crude oil mix has spread across the Gulf of Mexico's surface around the area where an oil rig exploded and sank, a Coast Guard lieutenant said Thursday.
"This is a rainbow sheen with a dark center," Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters Thursday afternoon.
Officials do not know whether oil or fuel are leaking form the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig and the well below, but BP Vice President David Rainey said "it certainly has the potential to be a major spill." BP PLC operates the license on which the rig was drilling.
***
[4/25/10] Efforts were under way Sunday to contain and stop oil leaking from a well after a rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Officials found oil was leaking Saturday from the well. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig was drilling when it exploded Tuesday night, the Coast Guard said. Rescuers on Friday suspended the search for 11 people missing after the blast and subsequent sinking of the rig.
***
[4/28/10] The estimated amount of oil spilling in an underwater leak from last week's oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has increased to 5,000 barrels a day, five times more than what was originally believed, a Coast Guard official said late Wednesday.
Rear Adm. Mary Landry said the increased estimate is based on analysis from the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She noted that there are "a lot of variables" in calculating the rate of the spill.
Additionally, a third underwater oil leak has been located in the pipeline that connected the rig to the oil well, said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP, who joined Landry at a news conference. Two other leaks were located within 36 hours of the April 20 explosion.
The head of BP Group told CNN's Brian Todd in an exclusive interview Wednesday that the accident could have been prevented, and he focused blame on rig owner Transocean Ltd.
CEO Tony Hayward said Transocean's "blowout preventer" failed to operate before the explosion. A blowout preventer is a large valve at the top of a well, and activating it will stop the flow of oil. The valve may be closed during drilling if underground pressure drives up oil or natural gas, threatening the rig.
"That is the ultimate fail-safe mechanism," Hayward said. "And for whatever reason -- and we don't understand that yet, but we clearly will as a consequence of both our investigation and federal investigations -- it failed to operate.
"And that is the key issue here, the failure of the Transocean [blowout preventer]," Hayward said, describing the valve as "an integral part of the drilling rig," which is operated by Transocean.
***
[4/29/10] Experts still hope to close a stuck valve that's let oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico for more than a week. But if those efforts fail, the next-best plans will take weeks more to stop the flow, officials say.
The undersea oil well, following a drilling rig's April 20 explosion 50 miles off Louisiana's coast, is spewing up to 210,000 gallons of light sweet crude a day into the Gulf, officials say.
Eleven workers from the rig are missing and presumed dead.
Part of the Gulf Coast was bracing for oily water to reach shore early Friday.
BP, the well's majority owner, has been trying to stop the flow by using remote-controlled submarines to activate a valve atop the well. But the valve, known as a blowout preventer, is not working.
A stopgap plan -- putting a chamber over the well area and sending the oil to a ship -- is unproven at that depth and could take four weeks before it's ready. And the ultimate plan -- drilling a different well to access the first and close it with concrete -- could take three months. Meanwhile, efforts to contain the spill and stop the leak are costing the well's owners about $6 million per day, BP says.
***
[5/5/10] A four-story containment vessel left Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on a barge Wednesday en route to the Gulf of Mexico's gushing oil well, where BP will attempt to lower the container onto a ruptured deep-water pipe in an unprecedented operation.
"If all goes according to plan, we should begin the process of processing the fluid and stop the spilling to the sea on Monday," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said Wednesday.
But he added: "It's very complex, and it will likely have challenges along the way."
The hope is that the container will collect the leaking oil, which would be sucked up to a drill ship on the surface. If the operation is successful, BP plans to deploy a second, smaller dome to deal with a second leak in the ruptured pipe, the company has said.
***
[5/10/10] BP is moving on to plan "B" today to try to contain a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A 40-foot high containment dome lowered into the water over the weekend failed to work.
The company is scrambling to figure out how to clog a leak that's spewing more than 200,000 gallons of oil into the sea every day. Doug Suttles is BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production and he joined us on Monday's American Morning.
***
[5/12/10] The "top hat" oil containment device has reached the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico and should be in position over a leaking well head and operational by the end of the week, BP said Wednesday. Meanwhile, one man says while all that's going on, he's sitting on a potential solution to saving the wetlands, if they're over-run with oil.
Frank Pajaujis is a partner at Aabaco and says he has a product that could actually "eat" away at the oil and turn it into dirt. He showed us a demonstration of his product on Wednesday's American Morning.
***
[5/13/10] Oil company BP will attempt to insert a new section of pipe into the riser of its damaged undersea well to capture the gusher of crude now spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, a company spokesman said Thursday.
The operation could begin Thursday night, BP spokesman John Crabtree said. The goal is to use the new section of pipe, which is ringed with a gasket, to seal the 22-inch riser pipe -- the section that connects the well with the main pipe running to the surface -- then pump the oil up to a ship on the surface.
The new attempt is the latest plan by BP to seal the well that was uncorked when the drill rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 and sank two days later, about 50 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana, leaving 11 workers lost at sea. A previous effort to cap the gusher with a four-story containment dome failed when natural gas crystals collected inside the structure, plugging an outlet at the top.
[5/14/10] President Obama on Friday criticized executives from BP and two other companies for blaming each other for the continuing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
"I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into this matter," the president said after meeting with Cabinet members to discuss the situation. "You had executives of BP and Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else. The American people could not have been impressed with that display, and I certainly wasn't."
"I understand that there are legal and financial issues involved, and a full investigation will tell us exactly what happened. But it is pretty clear that the system failed, and it failed badly. And for that, there's enough responsibility to go around. And all parties should be willing to accept it," he said.
"It is absolutely essential that going forward, we put in place every necessary safeguard and protection so that a tragedy like this oil spill does not happen again.
"This is a responsibility that all of us share," he said. "The oil companies share it. The manufacturers of this equipment share it. The agencies in the federal government in charge of oversight share that responsibility. I will not tolerate more finger-pointing or irresponsibility."
[5/15/10] A mechanical problem prevented BP from inserting a tube into a ruptured pipe that would help siphon off oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, BP official Doug Suttles said Saturday.
Suttles said the device was hoisted back to the surface Friday for readjustments and the company expects to have it working by Saturday night. The plan is for the mile-long tube to collect the oil and send it to a surface vessel.
Millions of gallons of crude have gushed into the Gulf since the fiery explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig more than three weeks ago.
***
[5/16/10] Oil company BP says it has resumed pumping oil to a ship on the surface after a weekend setback that halted efforts to siphon off the crude spewing from a damaged well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Crews re-inserted the tube into the well's riser stack Sunday. The 4-inch pipe is now connected to a ship on the surface, 5,000 feet above the sea floor, and is pumping oil back to the surface, BP spokesman Mark Proegler told CNN.
If successful, the technique will capture most of the oil that is pouring out of the well. The well has been spewing an estimated 210,000 gallons, or 5,000 barrels, of light sweet crude a day into the Gulf since the sinking of the drill platform Deepwater Horizon in late April.
[5/17/10] For now, oil continues a-gush into the Gulf of Mexico. BP is attempting to stem the flow of oil using a "mile-long tube" to siphon the crude onto awaiting tanker ships, but even as that attempt gets underway, there's word of "giant oil plumes" forming under the water, which sounds -- let's say... menacing.
Against this backdrop, the Obama administration has escalated its efforts to resolve this crisis by assembling a "rag-tag band of big-think scientific renegades." It's a five-man group (no ladies, not in Larry Summers's America!) said by TPM's Zachary Roth to include Los Alamos veteran Richard Garvin, nuclear scientist Tom Hunter, MIT mechanical engineering professor Alexander Slocum, Lawrence Berkeley Labs engineer George Cooper, and Washington University physics professor Jonathan Katz. While so many aspects of these various "plug-the-leak" operations have come to resemble episodes of "Futurama" (Friendly robots! Shooting trash at the problem!), there's no indication that former Vice President Al Gore or chess-playing supercomputer Deep Blue have been asked to participate.
[5/17/10] After more than three weeks of efforts to stop a gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers achieved some success on Sunday when they used a milelong pipe to capture some of the oil and divert it to a drill ship on the surface some 5,000 feet above the wellhead, company officials said.
After two false starts, engineers successfully inserted a narrow tube into the damaged pipe from which most of the oil is leaking.
[5/27/10] BP shares were up 7% to $45.38 on reports that its "top kill" operation to stem the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was making progress.
[5/28/10] As BP labored for a second day Thursday to choke off the leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, dire new government estimates showed the disaster has easily eclipsed the Exxon Valdez as the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
[5/29/10] A BP executive says the company has yet to stop the oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and is considering other ways to plug the leak.
BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles told reporters in Grand Isle, Louisiana, Saturday that the top kill has not stopped the flow of oil and he doesn't know whether it will succeed. He says the company is already preparing its next option to cap the well.
[6/4/10] Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- On day 46 of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP, at last, began to siphon oil from the ruptured undersea well to the surface, where it was flowing onto the awaiting drill ship Discover Enterprise.
As the recovery process started Friday, BP said it would shut four vents on top of a containment cap from which oil was still escaping into the ocean. The company hoped that closing the vents would greatly reduce the amount of gushing crude, though there was still enormous uncertainty about the ultimate success of BP's latest effort to contain and recover the oil.
[6/8/10] NEW ORLEANS -- The cap on the blown-out well in the Gulf is capturing a half-million gallons a day, or anywhere from one-third to three-quarters of the oil spewing from the bottom of the sea, officials said Monday. But the hopeful report was offset by a warning that the farflung slick has broken up into hundreds and even thousands of patches of oil that may inflict damage that could persist for years.
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the crisis, said the breakup has complicated the cleanup.
"Dealing with the oil spill on the surface is going to go on for a couple of months," he said at a briefing in Washington. But "long-term issues of restoring the environment and the habitats and stuff will be years."
Allen said the containment cap that was installed late last week is now collecting about 460,000 gallons of oil a day out of the approximately 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons believed to be spewing from the well a mile underwater. In a tweet, BP said it collected 316,722 gallons from midnight to noon Monday.
The amount of oil captured is being slowly ramped up as more vents on the cap are closed. Crews are moving carefully to avoid a dangerous pressure buildup and to prevent the formation of the icy crystals that thwarted a previous effort to contain the leak. The captured oil is being pumped to a ship on the surface.
BP said it plans to replace the cap -- perhaps later this month or early next month -- with a slightly bigger one that will provide a tighter fit and thus collect more oil. It will also be designed to allow the company to suspend the cleanup and then resume it quickly if a hurricane threatens the Gulf later this season. The new cap is still being designed.
[6/12/10] (Reuters) - A top U.S. Coast Guard official has told BP Plc the company's plans to contain the gushing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico do not go far enough or contain enough back-up measures.
"BP must identify in the next 48 hours additional leak containment capacity that could be operationalized and expedited," Coast Guard Rear Admiral James Watson said in a letter to BP dated June 11.
Watson, the federal on-scene coordinator for spill response, noted estimates of the amount of oil leaking from BP's damaged well have been raised sharply. He did not suggest what actions could be taken if the 48-hour deadline was not met.
Watson's letter was a response to one from BP that described the company's multi-phase plans to contain the spill, involving several elements to be phased in by mid-July.
[7/15/10] BP stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday — 85 days and hundreds of millions of gallons after the crisis unfolded — then began a tense watch to see whether the capped-off well would hold or blow a new leak.
[7/28/10] The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than anyone expected, a piece of good news that raises tricky new questions about how fast the government should scale back its response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The immense patches of surface oil that covered thousands of square miles of the gulf after the April 20 oil rig explosion are largely gone, though sightings of tar balls and emulsified oil continue here and there.
Reporters flying over the area Sunday spotted only a few patches of sheen and an occasional streak of thicker oil, and radar images taken since then suggest that these few remaining patches are quickly breaking down in the warm surface waters of the gulf.
The dissolution of the slick should reduce the risk of oil killing more animals or hitting shorelines. But it does not end the many problems and scientific uncertainties associated with the spill, and federal leaders emphasized this week that they had no intention of walking away from those problems any time soon.
The effect on sea life of the large amounts of oil that dissolved below the surface is still a mystery. Two preliminary government reports on that issue have found concentrations of toxic compounds in the deep sea to be low, but the reports left many questions, especially regarding an apparent decline in oxygen levels in the water.
And understanding the effects of the spill on the shorelines that were hit, including Louisiana’s coastal marshes, is expected to occupy scientists for years. Fishermen along the coast are deeply skeptical of any declarations of success, expressing concern about the long-term effects of the chemical dispersants used to combat the spill and of the submerged oil, particularly on shrimp and crab larvae that are the foundation of future fishing seasons.
"This is a rainbow sheen with a dark center," Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry told reporters Thursday afternoon.
Officials do not know whether oil or fuel are leaking form the sunken Deepwater Horizon rig and the well below, but BP Vice President David Rainey said "it certainly has the potential to be a major spill." BP PLC operates the license on which the rig was drilling.
***
[4/25/10] Efforts were under way Sunday to contain and stop oil leaking from a well after a rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
Officials found oil was leaking Saturday from the well. The Deepwater Horizon oil rig was drilling when it exploded Tuesday night, the Coast Guard said. Rescuers on Friday suspended the search for 11 people missing after the blast and subsequent sinking of the rig.
***
[4/28/10] The estimated amount of oil spilling in an underwater leak from last week's oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico has increased to 5,000 barrels a day, five times more than what was originally believed, a Coast Guard official said late Wednesday.
Rear Adm. Mary Landry said the increased estimate is based on analysis from the federal National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She noted that there are "a lot of variables" in calculating the rate of the spill.
Additionally, a third underwater oil leak has been located in the pipeline that connected the rig to the oil well, said Doug Suttles, chief operating officer for BP, who joined Landry at a news conference. Two other leaks were located within 36 hours of the April 20 explosion.
The head of BP Group told CNN's Brian Todd in an exclusive interview Wednesday that the accident could have been prevented, and he focused blame on rig owner Transocean Ltd.
CEO Tony Hayward said Transocean's "blowout preventer" failed to operate before the explosion. A blowout preventer is a large valve at the top of a well, and activating it will stop the flow of oil. The valve may be closed during drilling if underground pressure drives up oil or natural gas, threatening the rig.
"That is the ultimate fail-safe mechanism," Hayward said. "And for whatever reason -- and we don't understand that yet, but we clearly will as a consequence of both our investigation and federal investigations -- it failed to operate.
"And that is the key issue here, the failure of the Transocean [blowout preventer]," Hayward said, describing the valve as "an integral part of the drilling rig," which is operated by Transocean.
***
[4/29/10] Experts still hope to close a stuck valve that's let oil flow into the Gulf of Mexico for more than a week. But if those efforts fail, the next-best plans will take weeks more to stop the flow, officials say.
The undersea oil well, following a drilling rig's April 20 explosion 50 miles off Louisiana's coast, is spewing up to 210,000 gallons of light sweet crude a day into the Gulf, officials say.
Eleven workers from the rig are missing and presumed dead.
Part of the Gulf Coast was bracing for oily water to reach shore early Friday.
BP, the well's majority owner, has been trying to stop the flow by using remote-controlled submarines to activate a valve atop the well. But the valve, known as a blowout preventer, is not working.
A stopgap plan -- putting a chamber over the well area and sending the oil to a ship -- is unproven at that depth and could take four weeks before it's ready. And the ultimate plan -- drilling a different well to access the first and close it with concrete -- could take three months. Meanwhile, efforts to contain the spill and stop the leak are costing the well's owners about $6 million per day, BP says.
***
[5/5/10] A four-story containment vessel left Port Fourchon, Louisiana, on a barge Wednesday en route to the Gulf of Mexico's gushing oil well, where BP will attempt to lower the container onto a ruptured deep-water pipe in an unprecedented operation.
"If all goes according to plan, we should begin the process of processing the fluid and stop the spilling to the sea on Monday," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said Wednesday.
But he added: "It's very complex, and it will likely have challenges along the way."
The hope is that the container will collect the leaking oil, which would be sucked up to a drill ship on the surface. If the operation is successful, BP plans to deploy a second, smaller dome to deal with a second leak in the ruptured pipe, the company has said.
***
[5/10/10] BP is moving on to plan "B" today to try to contain a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A 40-foot high containment dome lowered into the water over the weekend failed to work.
The company is scrambling to figure out how to clog a leak that's spewing more than 200,000 gallons of oil into the sea every day. Doug Suttles is BP's chief operating officer for exploration and production and he joined us on Monday's American Morning.
***
[5/12/10] The "top hat" oil containment device has reached the sea floor in the Gulf of Mexico and should be in position over a leaking well head and operational by the end of the week, BP said Wednesday. Meanwhile, one man says while all that's going on, he's sitting on a potential solution to saving the wetlands, if they're over-run with oil.
Frank Pajaujis is a partner at Aabaco and says he has a product that could actually "eat" away at the oil and turn it into dirt. He showed us a demonstration of his product on Wednesday's American Morning.
***
[5/13/10] Oil company BP will attempt to insert a new section of pipe into the riser of its damaged undersea well to capture the gusher of crude now spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, a company spokesman said Thursday.
The operation could begin Thursday night, BP spokesman John Crabtree said. The goal is to use the new section of pipe, which is ringed with a gasket, to seal the 22-inch riser pipe -- the section that connects the well with the main pipe running to the surface -- then pump the oil up to a ship on the surface.
The new attempt is the latest plan by BP to seal the well that was uncorked when the drill rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 and sank two days later, about 50 miles off the southeast coast of Louisiana, leaving 11 workers lost at sea. A previous effort to cap the gusher with a four-story containment dome failed when natural gas crystals collected inside the structure, plugging an outlet at the top.
[5/14/10] President Obama on Friday criticized executives from BP and two other companies for blaming each other for the continuing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
"I did not appreciate what I considered to be a ridiculous spectacle during the congressional hearings into this matter," the president said after meeting with Cabinet members to discuss the situation. "You had executives of BP and Transocean and Halliburton falling over each other to point the finger of blame at somebody else. The American people could not have been impressed with that display, and I certainly wasn't."
"I understand that there are legal and financial issues involved, and a full investigation will tell us exactly what happened. But it is pretty clear that the system failed, and it failed badly. And for that, there's enough responsibility to go around. And all parties should be willing to accept it," he said.
"It is absolutely essential that going forward, we put in place every necessary safeguard and protection so that a tragedy like this oil spill does not happen again.
"This is a responsibility that all of us share," he said. "The oil companies share it. The manufacturers of this equipment share it. The agencies in the federal government in charge of oversight share that responsibility. I will not tolerate more finger-pointing or irresponsibility."
[5/15/10] A mechanical problem prevented BP from inserting a tube into a ruptured pipe that would help siphon off oil leaking into the Gulf of Mexico, BP official Doug Suttles said Saturday.
Suttles said the device was hoisted back to the surface Friday for readjustments and the company expects to have it working by Saturday night. The plan is for the mile-long tube to collect the oil and send it to a surface vessel.
Millions of gallons of crude have gushed into the Gulf since the fiery explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig more than three weeks ago.
***
[5/16/10] Oil company BP says it has resumed pumping oil to a ship on the surface after a weekend setback that halted efforts to siphon off the crude spewing from a damaged well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Crews re-inserted the tube into the well's riser stack Sunday. The 4-inch pipe is now connected to a ship on the surface, 5,000 feet above the sea floor, and is pumping oil back to the surface, BP spokesman Mark Proegler told CNN.
If successful, the technique will capture most of the oil that is pouring out of the well. The well has been spewing an estimated 210,000 gallons, or 5,000 barrels, of light sweet crude a day into the Gulf since the sinking of the drill platform Deepwater Horizon in late April.
[5/17/10] For now, oil continues a-gush into the Gulf of Mexico. BP is attempting to stem the flow of oil using a "mile-long tube" to siphon the crude onto awaiting tanker ships, but even as that attempt gets underway, there's word of "giant oil plumes" forming under the water, which sounds -- let's say... menacing.
Against this backdrop, the Obama administration has escalated its efforts to resolve this crisis by assembling a "rag-tag band of big-think scientific renegades." It's a five-man group (no ladies, not in Larry Summers's America!) said by TPM's Zachary Roth to include Los Alamos veteran Richard Garvin, nuclear scientist Tom Hunter, MIT mechanical engineering professor Alexander Slocum, Lawrence Berkeley Labs engineer George Cooper, and Washington University physics professor Jonathan Katz. While so many aspects of these various "plug-the-leak" operations have come to resemble episodes of "Futurama" (Friendly robots! Shooting trash at the problem!), there's no indication that former Vice President Al Gore or chess-playing supercomputer Deep Blue have been asked to participate.
[5/17/10] After more than three weeks of efforts to stop a gushing oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, BP engineers achieved some success on Sunday when they used a milelong pipe to capture some of the oil and divert it to a drill ship on the surface some 5,000 feet above the wellhead, company officials said.
After two false starts, engineers successfully inserted a narrow tube into the damaged pipe from which most of the oil is leaking.
[5/27/10] BP shares were up 7% to $45.38 on reports that its "top kill" operation to stem the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico was making progress.
[5/28/10] As BP labored for a second day Thursday to choke off the leak at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, dire new government estimates showed the disaster has easily eclipsed the Exxon Valdez as the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.
[5/29/10] A BP executive says the company has yet to stop the oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico and is considering other ways to plug the leak.
BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles told reporters in Grand Isle, Louisiana, Saturday that the top kill has not stopped the flow of oil and he doesn't know whether it will succeed. He says the company is already preparing its next option to cap the well.
[6/4/10] Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- On day 46 of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, BP, at last, began to siphon oil from the ruptured undersea well to the surface, where it was flowing onto the awaiting drill ship Discover Enterprise.
As the recovery process started Friday, BP said it would shut four vents on top of a containment cap from which oil was still escaping into the ocean. The company hoped that closing the vents would greatly reduce the amount of gushing crude, though there was still enormous uncertainty about the ultimate success of BP's latest effort to contain and recover the oil.
[6/8/10] NEW ORLEANS -- The cap on the blown-out well in the Gulf is capturing a half-million gallons a day, or anywhere from one-third to three-quarters of the oil spewing from the bottom of the sea, officials said Monday. But the hopeful report was offset by a warning that the farflung slick has broken up into hundreds and even thousands of patches of oil that may inflict damage that could persist for years.
Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the crisis, said the breakup has complicated the cleanup.
"Dealing with the oil spill on the surface is going to go on for a couple of months," he said at a briefing in Washington. But "long-term issues of restoring the environment and the habitats and stuff will be years."
Allen said the containment cap that was installed late last week is now collecting about 460,000 gallons of oil a day out of the approximately 600,000 to 1.2 million gallons believed to be spewing from the well a mile underwater. In a tweet, BP said it collected 316,722 gallons from midnight to noon Monday.
The amount of oil captured is being slowly ramped up as more vents on the cap are closed. Crews are moving carefully to avoid a dangerous pressure buildup and to prevent the formation of the icy crystals that thwarted a previous effort to contain the leak. The captured oil is being pumped to a ship on the surface.
BP said it plans to replace the cap -- perhaps later this month or early next month -- with a slightly bigger one that will provide a tighter fit and thus collect more oil. It will also be designed to allow the company to suspend the cleanup and then resume it quickly if a hurricane threatens the Gulf later this season. The new cap is still being designed.
[6/12/10] (Reuters) - A top U.S. Coast Guard official has told BP Plc the company's plans to contain the gushing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico do not go far enough or contain enough back-up measures.
"BP must identify in the next 48 hours additional leak containment capacity that could be operationalized and expedited," Coast Guard Rear Admiral James Watson said in a letter to BP dated June 11.
Watson, the federal on-scene coordinator for spill response, noted estimates of the amount of oil leaking from BP's damaged well have been raised sharply. He did not suggest what actions could be taken if the 48-hour deadline was not met.
Watson's letter was a response to one from BP that described the company's multi-phase plans to contain the spill, involving several elements to be phased in by mid-July.
[7/15/10] BP stopped the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday — 85 days and hundreds of millions of gallons after the crisis unfolded — then began a tense watch to see whether the capped-off well would hold or blow a new leak.
[7/28/10] The oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico appears to be dissolving far more rapidly than anyone expected, a piece of good news that raises tricky new questions about how fast the government should scale back its response to the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
The immense patches of surface oil that covered thousands of square miles of the gulf after the April 20 oil rig explosion are largely gone, though sightings of tar balls and emulsified oil continue here and there.
Reporters flying over the area Sunday spotted only a few patches of sheen and an occasional streak of thicker oil, and radar images taken since then suggest that these few remaining patches are quickly breaking down in the warm surface waters of the gulf.
The dissolution of the slick should reduce the risk of oil killing more animals or hitting shorelines. But it does not end the many problems and scientific uncertainties associated with the spill, and federal leaders emphasized this week that they had no intention of walking away from those problems any time soon.
The effect on sea life of the large amounts of oil that dissolved below the surface is still a mystery. Two preliminary government reports on that issue have found concentrations of toxic compounds in the deep sea to be low, but the reports left many questions, especially regarding an apparent decline in oxygen levels in the water.
And understanding the effects of the spill on the shorelines that were hit, including Louisiana’s coastal marshes, is expected to occupy scientists for years. Fishermen along the coast are deeply skeptical of any declarations of success, expressing concern about the long-term effects of the chemical dispersants used to combat the spill and of the submerged oil, particularly on shrimp and crab larvae that are the foundation of future fishing seasons.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
South Korea accuses North Korea of torpedo attack
SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - South Korea accused the reclusive North on Thursday of torpedoing one of its warships, heightening tensions in the region and drawing a warning from Washington that Pyongyang must face consequences.
Jittery South Korean financial markets and its currency fell as Seoul vowed to take "firm" measures against its neighbor. Nuclear North Korea, furiously denying the charge, warned it was ready for war if fresh sanctions were imposed.
The United States, which has about 28,000 troops stationed in the South following the 1950-53 Korean War, said it stood ready to help South Korea defend itself against any further "acts of aggression.
Seoul has made clear it has no plans for a retaliatory strike but will press the international community to take action, probably more sanctions, against the North.
***
President Barack Obama supported South Korea's charges against North Korea this morning, saying the U.S. will help South Korea defend itself against any further "acts of aggression," according to the White House.
South Korea said an international investigation showed that a North Korean submarine fired the torpedo that hit the South Korean ship in March, killing 46 sailors.
But North Korea denied attacking the South Korean ship, threatening that any sanctions or retaliation would be met with "tough measures, including an all-out war," the Yonhap News said today, citing a statement from North Korea's National Defense Commission, MarketWatch reported.
The communist country offered to dispatch an "inspection group" to verify South Korea's claim, the report said.
***
[5/26/10] Earlier today, North Korea issued threatening rhetoric to South Korea, a day after South Korea laid out penalties against North Korea for allegedly torpedoing a Southern patrol ship in late March.
The North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity group said on its website that the country’s military was put on alert, warning that it will take military action to defend its western sea border. North Korea said dozens of South Korean warships had crossed into its sovereign territory in the Yellow Sea between May 14 and Monday.
U.S. promised "unequivocal" military support for South Korea and announced new joint U.S.-South Korean naval exercises on Monday.
***
[5/26/10] SEOUL, South Korea - Relations on the divided Korean peninsula plunged to their lowest point in a decade Tuesday when the North declared it was cutting all ties to Seoul as punishment for blaming the communists for the sinking of a South Korean warship.
The announcement came a day after South Korea took steps that were seen as among the strongest it could take short of military action. Seoul said it would slash trade with the North and deny permission to its cargo ships to pass through South Korean waters. It also resumed a propaganda offensive — including blaring Western music into the North and dropping leaflets by balloon.
North Korea said it was cutting all ties with the South until President Lee Myung-bak leaves office in early 2013, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch monitored in Seoul late Tuesday.
Jittery South Korean financial markets and its currency fell as Seoul vowed to take "firm" measures against its neighbor. Nuclear North Korea, furiously denying the charge, warned it was ready for war if fresh sanctions were imposed.
The United States, which has about 28,000 troops stationed in the South following the 1950-53 Korean War, said it stood ready to help South Korea defend itself against any further "acts of aggression.
Seoul has made clear it has no plans for a retaliatory strike but will press the international community to take action, probably more sanctions, against the North.
***
President Barack Obama supported South Korea's charges against North Korea this morning, saying the U.S. will help South Korea defend itself against any further "acts of aggression," according to the White House.
South Korea said an international investigation showed that a North Korean submarine fired the torpedo that hit the South Korean ship in March, killing 46 sailors.
But North Korea denied attacking the South Korean ship, threatening that any sanctions or retaliation would be met with "tough measures, including an all-out war," the Yonhap News said today, citing a statement from North Korea's National Defense Commission, MarketWatch reported.
The communist country offered to dispatch an "inspection group" to verify South Korea's claim, the report said.
***
[5/26/10] Earlier today, North Korea issued threatening rhetoric to South Korea, a day after South Korea laid out penalties against North Korea for allegedly torpedoing a Southern patrol ship in late March.
The North Korea Intellectuals Solidarity group said on its website that the country’s military was put on alert, warning that it will take military action to defend its western sea border. North Korea said dozens of South Korean warships had crossed into its sovereign territory in the Yellow Sea between May 14 and Monday.
U.S. promised "unequivocal" military support for South Korea and announced new joint U.S.-South Korean naval exercises on Monday.
***
[5/26/10] SEOUL, South Korea - Relations on the divided Korean peninsula plunged to their lowest point in a decade Tuesday when the North declared it was cutting all ties to Seoul as punishment for blaming the communists for the sinking of a South Korean warship.
The announcement came a day after South Korea took steps that were seen as among the strongest it could take short of military action. Seoul said it would slash trade with the North and deny permission to its cargo ships to pass through South Korean waters. It also resumed a propaganda offensive — including blaring Western music into the North and dropping leaflets by balloon.
North Korea said it was cutting all ties with the South until President Lee Myung-bak leaves office in early 2013, the official Korean Central News Agency said in a dispatch monitored in Seoul late Tuesday.
health care tab to increase
President Barack Obama's health care overhaul law will increase the nation's health care tab instead of bringing costs down, government economic forecasters concluded Thursday in a sobering assessment of the sweeping legislation.
A report by economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department said the health care remake will achieve Obama's aim of expanding health insurance — adding 34 million Americans to the coverage rolls.
But the analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs. It also warned that Medicare cuts may be unrealistic and unsustainable, driving about 15 percent of hospitals into the red and "possibly jeopardizing access" to care for seniors.
The report acknowledged that some of the cost-control measures in the bill — Medicare cuts, a tax on high-cost insurance and a commission to seek ongoing Medicare savings — could help reduce the rate of cost increases beyond 2020. But it held out little hope for progress in the first decade.
A report by economic experts at the Health and Human Services Department said the health care remake will achieve Obama's aim of expanding health insurance — adding 34 million Americans to the coverage rolls.
But the analysis also found that the law falls short of the president's twin goal of controlling runaway costs. It also warned that Medicare cuts may be unrealistic and unsustainable, driving about 15 percent of hospitals into the red and "possibly jeopardizing access" to care for seniors.
The report acknowledged that some of the cost-control measures in the bill — Medicare cuts, a tax on high-cost insurance and a commission to seek ongoing Medicare savings — could help reduce the rate of cost increases beyond 2020. But it held out little hope for progress in the first decade.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Arizona illegal immigration bill criticized
PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed the nation’s toughest bill on illegal immigration into law on Friday. Its aim is to identify, prosecute and deport illegal immigrants.
The move unleashed immediate protests and reignited the divisive battle over immigration reform nationally.
Even before she signed the bill at an afternoon news conference here, President Obama strongly criticized it.
The law, which proponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status.
Hispanics, in particular, who were not long ago courted by the Republican Party as a swing voting bloc, railed against the law as a recipe for racial and ethnic profiling. “Governor Brewer caved to the radical fringe,” a statement by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said, predicting that the law would create “a spiral of pervasive fear, community distrust, increased crime and costly litigation, with nationwide repercussions.”
Ms. Brewer acknowledged critics’ concerns, saying she would work to ensure that the police have proper training to carry out the law. But she sided with arguments by the law’s sponsors that it provides an indispensable tool for the police in a border state that is a leading magnet of illegal immigration. She said racial profiling would not be tolerated, adding, “We have to trust our law enforcement.”
***
[5/21/10] In her police mug shot, the doe-eyed cartoon heroine with the bowl haircut has a black eye, battered lip and bloody nose. Dora the Explorer's alleged crime? "Illegal Border Crossing Resisting Arrest."
The doctored picture, one of several circulating widely in the aftermath of Arizona's controversial new immigration law, may seem harmless, ridiculous or even tasteless. But experts say the pictures and the rhetoric surrounding them online, in newspapers and at public rallies, reveal some Americans' attitudes about race, immigrants and where some of immigration reform debate may be headed.
For about a decade, the pint-sized Latina character has taught millions of children the English alphabet, colors and Spanish phrases on a Nickelodeon TV show and through a global empire. Her smiling cherub face is plastered on everything from backpacks to T-shirts to fruit snacks.
But since the passage of the Arizona law – which requires authorities to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally – Dora's life and immigration status have been scrutinized and mocked.
Several websites, including The Huffington Post, have narrated Dora's mock capture by immigration authorities. One picture circulating on Facebook shows an ad for a TV show called "Dora the Illegal Immigrant." On the Facebook page "Dora the Explorer is soo an Illegal Immigrant," there are several images showing her sailing through the air over the U.S.-Mexican border.
***
[11/29/12] Latinos are religious, morally conservative and tend disproportionately to join the military. They also tend to be hard working and entrepreneurial. Do we really have too many of them?
After all, what’s wrong with amnesty? The idea has a well-worn legal tradition, one strongly associated with the Christian faith. It means forgiveness. After the Civil War, Lincoln offered amnesty to rebel soldiers. Was he wrong to do so? They had taken up arms against their own government; they had killed hundreds of thousands. But Lincoln (as opposed to the radical republicans) had the wisdom to offer forgiveness. What about runaway slaves after emancipation? They had broken the law, shouldn’t they have had to pay the price even after the laws were changed? Of course not. Why should immigration laws be any different? If we liberalize them, which seems well overdue, should we still punish the people who violated the law which we later deemed too harsh?
Ronald Reagan saw it, even if alleged ‘Reaganites’ don’t. He signed amnesty into law in 1986, inviting three million ‘illegals’ to become ‘legals.’ He even defended the idea in his 1984 Debate with Fritz Mondale: “I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.” Would he do otherwise now?
Reagan was influenced by free-market thought in this regard. Milton Friedman believed that immigration, even illegal immigration, was good for freedom. His argument, which was in this regard identical to Austrian economists like Ludwig Von Mises, was that human capital should be free to cross borders just like financial capital should be. Forcible interventions into immigration were really just forcible interventions into the labor market designed to restrict wage competition, just like unionism, just like mandated 30-hour work weeks or forced retirement or wage floors. Von Mises saw that “There cannot be the slightest doubt that migration barriers diminish the productivity of human labor.” – Ludwig Von Mises, Liberalism.
The move unleashed immediate protests and reignited the divisive battle over immigration reform nationally.
Even before she signed the bill at an afternoon news conference here, President Obama strongly criticized it.
The law, which proponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime and give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have called it an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status.
Hispanics, in particular, who were not long ago courted by the Republican Party as a swing voting bloc, railed against the law as a recipe for racial and ethnic profiling. “Governor Brewer caved to the radical fringe,” a statement by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund said, predicting that the law would create “a spiral of pervasive fear, community distrust, increased crime and costly litigation, with nationwide repercussions.”
Ms. Brewer acknowledged critics’ concerns, saying she would work to ensure that the police have proper training to carry out the law. But she sided with arguments by the law’s sponsors that it provides an indispensable tool for the police in a border state that is a leading magnet of illegal immigration. She said racial profiling would not be tolerated, adding, “We have to trust our law enforcement.”
***
[5/21/10] In her police mug shot, the doe-eyed cartoon heroine with the bowl haircut has a black eye, battered lip and bloody nose. Dora the Explorer's alleged crime? "Illegal Border Crossing Resisting Arrest."
The doctored picture, one of several circulating widely in the aftermath of Arizona's controversial new immigration law, may seem harmless, ridiculous or even tasteless. But experts say the pictures and the rhetoric surrounding them online, in newspapers and at public rallies, reveal some Americans' attitudes about race, immigrants and where some of immigration reform debate may be headed.
For about a decade, the pint-sized Latina character has taught millions of children the English alphabet, colors and Spanish phrases on a Nickelodeon TV show and through a global empire. Her smiling cherub face is plastered on everything from backpacks to T-shirts to fruit snacks.
But since the passage of the Arizona law – which requires authorities to question people about their immigration status if there's reason to suspect they're in the country illegally – Dora's life and immigration status have been scrutinized and mocked.
Several websites, including The Huffington Post, have narrated Dora's mock capture by immigration authorities. One picture circulating on Facebook shows an ad for a TV show called "Dora the Illegal Immigrant." On the Facebook page "Dora the Explorer is soo an Illegal Immigrant," there are several images showing her sailing through the air over the U.S.-Mexican border.
***
[11/29/12] Latinos are religious, morally conservative and tend disproportionately to join the military. They also tend to be hard working and entrepreneurial. Do we really have too many of them?
After all, what’s wrong with amnesty? The idea has a well-worn legal tradition, one strongly associated with the Christian faith. It means forgiveness. After the Civil War, Lincoln offered amnesty to rebel soldiers. Was he wrong to do so? They had taken up arms against their own government; they had killed hundreds of thousands. But Lincoln (as opposed to the radical republicans) had the wisdom to offer forgiveness. What about runaway slaves after emancipation? They had broken the law, shouldn’t they have had to pay the price even after the laws were changed? Of course not. Why should immigration laws be any different? If we liberalize them, which seems well overdue, should we still punish the people who violated the law which we later deemed too harsh?
Ronald Reagan saw it, even if alleged ‘Reaganites’ don’t. He signed amnesty into law in 1986, inviting three million ‘illegals’ to become ‘legals.’ He even defended the idea in his 1984 Debate with Fritz Mondale: “I believe in the idea of amnesty for those who have put down roots and lived here, even though sometime back they may have entered illegally.” Would he do otherwise now?
Reagan was influenced by free-market thought in this regard. Milton Friedman believed that immigration, even illegal immigration, was good for freedom. His argument, which was in this regard identical to Austrian economists like Ludwig Von Mises, was that human capital should be free to cross borders just like financial capital should be. Forcible interventions into immigration were really just forcible interventions into the labor market designed to restrict wage competition, just like unionism, just like mandated 30-hour work weeks or forced retirement or wage floors. Von Mises saw that “There cannot be the slightest doubt that migration barriers diminish the productivity of human labor.” – Ludwig Von Mises, Liberalism.
Tea Party criticism false
Lately, many letter writers have derided the Tea Party phenomenon as right-wing extremism, but, after watching many of these gatherings, the falseness of the criticisms is obvious. Attackers of the Tea Party are responding to a growing awareness that sweeping political change often comes from such movements.
To paraphrase Saul Alinsky, when one revolutionary movement ends, another begins. Although the liberal/ progressive movement hasn't yet ended, its end is definitely in sight. Even as the current political regime works furiously to complete the New Deal and Great Society transformation of the U.S. into a social welfare state, the failure and destructiveness of that model grows increasingly clear.
When more of the electorate wakes up, as many Tea Partyers have, to this fact, the choices will be two: continue to feed an impossibly expensive, ineffective entitlement culture leading to the decline of the nation, or sweep aside the political mentality that created it. It will be painful, but I believe that Americans will choose the latter.
Jeff Pace
Kapahulu
To paraphrase Saul Alinsky, when one revolutionary movement ends, another begins. Although the liberal/ progressive movement hasn't yet ended, its end is definitely in sight. Even as the current political regime works furiously to complete the New Deal and Great Society transformation of the U.S. into a social welfare state, the failure and destructiveness of that model grows increasingly clear.
When more of the electorate wakes up, as many Tea Partyers have, to this fact, the choices will be two: continue to feed an impossibly expensive, ineffective entitlement culture leading to the decline of the nation, or sweep aside the political mentality that created it. It will be painful, but I believe that Americans will choose the latter.
Jeff Pace
Kapahulu
Monday, May 17, 2010
governors against Djou
Showing a united front in a party that has been described as divided, Hawaii's last three governors, all Democrats, warned yesterday that the election of Republican Charles Djou to the U.S. House would be a setback for Hawaii.
John Waihee, who served as the fourth governor of Hawaii from 1986 to 1994, described the possible election of the city councilman as "a nightmare."
Ben Cayetano, chief executive from 1994 to 2002, said Djou's election would blunt the congressional delegation's effectiveness because he is "walking lock step with the national Republicans against everything that (President Barack) Obama is trying to do."
And George Ariyoshi cast Djou as a wild card.
Djou's campaign is based on negatives, Ariyoshi said, "but you don't know what he stands for."
Jonah Kaauwai, chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party, called the former governors' news conference "a last-minute attempt to hold onto power by people who have shown us how bad things can be when they have it."
[posted 6/13/10)
John Waihee, who served as the fourth governor of Hawaii from 1986 to 1994, described the possible election of the city councilman as "a nightmare."
Ben Cayetano, chief executive from 1994 to 2002, said Djou's election would blunt the congressional delegation's effectiveness because he is "walking lock step with the national Republicans against everything that (President Barack) Obama is trying to do."
And George Ariyoshi cast Djou as a wild card.
Djou's campaign is based on negatives, Ariyoshi said, "but you don't know what he stands for."
Jonah Kaauwai, chairman of the Hawaii Republican Party, called the former governors' news conference "a last-minute attempt to hold onto power by people who have shown us how bad things can be when they have it."
[posted 6/13/10)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Earthquake hits Western China
A series of strong earthquakes has struck China's western Qinghai province.
Officials say at least 400 people have been killed, and 10,000 others have been injured. It is not known how many are still buried.
The earthquake, measured at magnitude 6.9, hit the remote county of Yushu near the Tibetan border, in the south of mountainous Qinghai.
***
Soldiers and civilians used shovels and their bare hands to dig through collapsed buildings in search of survivors after strong earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan region of China on Wednesday, killing at least 589 people and injuring more than 10,000.
The series of quakes flattened buildings across remote western Yushu county and sent survivors, many bleeding from their wounds, flooding into the streets of Jiegu township. State television showed block after devastated block of toppled mud and wood homes. Local officials said 85 percent of the structures had been destroyed.
Residents and troops garrisoned in the town used shovels and their hands to pull survivors and bodies from the rubble much of the day. Several schools collapsed, with the state news agency saying at least 56 students died. Worst hit was the Yushu Vocational School, where Xinhua cited a local education official as saying 22 students died.
***
BEIJING (AP) — Earthquake survivors shivered through a second night outdoors in a remote Tibetan corner of western China with rescuers fighting altitude sickness and dealing with a lack of supplies as the death toll rose to 760.
People with broken arms or legs cried in pain as medical teams could offer little more than injections. A doctor at the Qinghai provincial hospital, where the severely injured were being flown, said she had no idea how many were being treated because there was no time to count them all.
Stunned survivors wandered the dusty streets of Jiegu, where relief workers estimated 70% to 90% of the low-slung town of wood-and-mud housing had collapsed. Hundreds gathered to sleep in a plaza around a 50-foot (15-meter) tall statue of the mythical Tibetan King Gesar, wrapped in blankets taken from homes shattered by Wednesday morning's quakes.
Officials say at least 400 people have been killed, and 10,000 others have been injured. It is not known how many are still buried.
The earthquake, measured at magnitude 6.9, hit the remote county of Yushu near the Tibetan border, in the south of mountainous Qinghai.
***
Soldiers and civilians used shovels and their bare hands to dig through collapsed buildings in search of survivors after strong earthquakes struck a mountainous Tibetan region of China on Wednesday, killing at least 589 people and injuring more than 10,000.
The series of quakes flattened buildings across remote western Yushu county and sent survivors, many bleeding from their wounds, flooding into the streets of Jiegu township. State television showed block after devastated block of toppled mud and wood homes. Local officials said 85 percent of the structures had been destroyed.
Residents and troops garrisoned in the town used shovels and their hands to pull survivors and bodies from the rubble much of the day. Several schools collapsed, with the state news agency saying at least 56 students died. Worst hit was the Yushu Vocational School, where Xinhua cited a local education official as saying 22 students died.
***
BEIJING (AP) — Earthquake survivors shivered through a second night outdoors in a remote Tibetan corner of western China with rescuers fighting altitude sickness and dealing with a lack of supplies as the death toll rose to 760.
People with broken arms or legs cried in pain as medical teams could offer little more than injections. A doctor at the Qinghai provincial hospital, where the severely injured were being flown, said she had no idea how many were being treated because there was no time to count them all.
Stunned survivors wandered the dusty streets of Jiegu, where relief workers estimated 70% to 90% of the low-slung town of wood-and-mud housing had collapsed. Hundreds gathered to sleep in a plaza around a 50-foot (15-meter) tall statue of the mythical Tibetan King Gesar, wrapped in blankets taken from homes shattered by Wednesday morning's quakes.
Nuclear Security Summit
WASHINGTON — President Obama completed a first meeting of world leaders on combating nuclear terrorism with a list of specific commitments from dozens of nations to eliminate or lock down nuclear materials, in what he called a “bold and pragmatic” program to finish the task in the next four years.
But in a news conference after leading the conversation among 47 presidents, prime ministers and senior officials, Mr. Obama acknowledged that tough choices lay ahead on many of the far more politically volatile issues in stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
He issued a specific warning to Iran, which was not represented at the conference, saying that after four years of failed efforts on sanctions, the penalties he was trying to win at the United Nations Security Council had to be significant enough to get the attention of the Iranian leadership.
The meeting that Mr. Obama convened, and to a great degree stage-managed, was unlike any negotiations over arms control with the Soviets during the cold war or, more recently, the so-far fruitless talks to get North Korea to disarm. This was a far broader effort to persuade African, Latin American, Asian and European nations to agree on steps to deny terrorist groups the two materials necessary to make a bomb: plutonium and highly enriched uranium.
But in a news conference after leading the conversation among 47 presidents, prime ministers and senior officials, Mr. Obama acknowledged that tough choices lay ahead on many of the far more politically volatile issues in stopping the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
He issued a specific warning to Iran, which was not represented at the conference, saying that after four years of failed efforts on sanctions, the penalties he was trying to win at the United Nations Security Council had to be significant enough to get the attention of the Iranian leadership.
The meeting that Mr. Obama convened, and to a great degree stage-managed, was unlike any negotiations over arms control with the Soviets during the cold war or, more recently, the so-far fruitless talks to get North Korea to disarm. This was a far broader effort to persuade African, Latin American, Asian and European nations to agree on steps to deny terrorist groups the two materials necessary to make a bomb: plutonium and highly enriched uranium.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Democrats' ad on Djou deemed false
A TV commercial by a national Democratic group attacking Republican Charles Djou in the special election for Congress is false, according to a nonpartisan research Web site.
Factcheck.org reported on the ad yesterday, declaring, "A Democratic ad claims a GOP House candidate pledged to protect breaks for sending jobs abroad. He didn't."
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which sponsored the 30-second spot airing on Hawaii airwaves, stood by the ad as "entirely accurate and supported by the facts."
Factcheck.org reported on the ad yesterday, declaring, "A Democratic ad claims a GOP House candidate pledged to protect breaks for sending jobs abroad. He didn't."
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which sponsored the 30-second spot airing on Hawaii airwaves, stood by the ad as "entirely accurate and supported by the facts."
Kinau offramp project
Work will begin April 26 on a $8.8 million highway project that will add a third lane to the H-1 Kinau Street offramp, allowing motorists to turn right to head downtown.
The project grew out of a 1999 agreement between the City Council and Queen's Medical Center. The hospital promised to pay for road improvements that would ease traffic congestion on Punchbowl Street, where Queen's wanted to build a five-story parking garage and entrance to its emergency room.
Les Chinen, Queen's Medical Center vice president for corporate development, said 80 percent of the improvements will be paid by the federal government with funds secured by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. Queen's will pay for the rest of the improvements to one of the busiest offramps on Oahu.
Chinen said the improvements "will provide another access point to the hospital rather than just the Pali Highway and Punchbowl Street offramps."
He said construction will take a year, with no weekend or night work planned.
There will be at least one lane from the H-1 kept open throughout the construction period, which will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The third right-turn lane will be built on the makai side of the Kinau offramp.
The project grew out of a 1999 agreement between the City Council and Queen's Medical Center. The hospital promised to pay for road improvements that would ease traffic congestion on Punchbowl Street, where Queen's wanted to build a five-story parking garage and entrance to its emergency room.
Les Chinen, Queen's Medical Center vice president for corporate development, said 80 percent of the improvements will be paid by the federal government with funds secured by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye. Queen's will pay for the rest of the improvements to one of the busiest offramps on Oahu.
Chinen said the improvements "will provide another access point to the hospital rather than just the Pali Highway and Punchbowl Street offramps."
He said construction will take a year, with no weekend or night work planned.
There will be at least one lane from the H-1 kept open throughout the construction period, which will run from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The third right-turn lane will be built on the makai side of the Kinau offramp.
Friday, May 07, 2010
the theft of Lani Moo
Meadow Gold says the search is on for its beloved Lani Moo.
Lani Moo, who symbolizes the state's largest dairy, was taken from an employee's vehicle at the Meadow Gold plant on Cedar Street at about 7:20 p.m. Wednesday.
The costume was in a black-and-blue Samsonite bag that was taken by the cow-stealing bandits along with other personal items. The company hopes the burglars unwittingly took Lani Moo and will discard her after opening the suitcase.
Meadow Gold is warning the public not to approach Lani Moo if she is not at an official Meadow Gold event. The company is worried the culprits who stole the costume will use it to commit a crime.
"Who knows what they might do in the costume," said Meadow Gold spokeswoman Mia Inoshita. "Our concern is she might be misrepresented."
The head of Lani Moo will be returned to Meadow Gold Dairies today.
But the 32-year-old Ala Moana man who discovered part of the costume for the milk company's bovine mascot Wednesday night in a parking lot on Atkinson Drive didn't recognize it.
"I collect weird things ... kind of kitschy," said Marc Cooper, who thought it was quite a find. "I like to keep my eye out for stuff like that. My friends came by, and it was just sitting on the counter. They said, 'Where'd you get this? It's like perfect for you.'"
Cooper said he and his friends posed for photos wearing Lani's head.
It was not until yesterday morning -- when his friend's roommate read the Star-Bulletin article and called to say it was in the paper -- that he realized he had the head of Lani Moo sitting on his kitchen counter.
Meadow Gold spokeswoman Mia Inoshita said, "We're extremely happy somebody found her and called us and let us know. She is our ambassador and the face of Meadow Gold. Without her, we feel lost."
She noted, however, that "he only found her head, so we're still on the lookout for the rest of her."
Lani Moo, who symbolizes the state's largest dairy, was taken from an employee's vehicle at the Meadow Gold plant on Cedar Street at about 7:20 p.m. Wednesday.
The costume was in a black-and-blue Samsonite bag that was taken by the cow-stealing bandits along with other personal items. The company hopes the burglars unwittingly took Lani Moo and will discard her after opening the suitcase.
Meadow Gold is warning the public not to approach Lani Moo if she is not at an official Meadow Gold event. The company is worried the culprits who stole the costume will use it to commit a crime.
"Who knows what they might do in the costume," said Meadow Gold spokeswoman Mia Inoshita. "Our concern is she might be misrepresented."
The head of Lani Moo will be returned to Meadow Gold Dairies today.
But the 32-year-old Ala Moana man who discovered part of the costume for the milk company's bovine mascot Wednesday night in a parking lot on Atkinson Drive didn't recognize it.
"I collect weird things ... kind of kitschy," said Marc Cooper, who thought it was quite a find. "I like to keep my eye out for stuff like that. My friends came by, and it was just sitting on the counter. They said, 'Where'd you get this? It's like perfect for you.'"
Cooper said he and his friends posed for photos wearing Lani's head.
It was not until yesterday morning -- when his friend's roommate read the Star-Bulletin article and called to say it was in the paper -- that he realized he had the head of Lani Moo sitting on his kitchen counter.
Meadow Gold spokeswoman Mia Inoshita said, "We're extremely happy somebody found her and called us and let us know. She is our ambassador and the face of Meadow Gold. Without her, we feel lost."
She noted, however, that "he only found her head, so we're still on the lookout for the rest of her."
Thursday, May 06, 2010
coup in Kyrgyzstan
Opposition leaders in Kyrgyzstan announced today that they had toppled the Government and taken power after a day of rioting that left as many as 100 dead and hundreds wounded.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, has in effect recognised the new leadership and the opposition this morning took control of the country's armed forces.
They also demanded the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has fled to the city of Osh, in his southern heartland, after demonstrators set fire to government buildings and fought running battles with riot police in the capital Bishkek.
The opposition leader, Roza Otunbayeva, said that she would head a caretaker government for six months until new elections could be called under a revised constitution.
All eyes were on Mr Bakiyev to see if he intended to try to regain control of the capital. A rally was scheduled to take place in Osh today.
Hundreds of people were gathered on the street outside the government headquarters this morning, which were unguarded by police, while others walked freely through the building. Almost every government building had been damaged and looters could be seen making off with stolen computer equipment past shops and cars that had been set on fire.
“The whole country is on fire,” said Nurlan Aslybekov, an unemployed man who travelled to Bishkek from Talas, where the first anti-government protests broke out.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, has in effect recognised the new leadership and the opposition this morning took control of the country's armed forces.
They also demanded the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, who has fled to the city of Osh, in his southern heartland, after demonstrators set fire to government buildings and fought running battles with riot police in the capital Bishkek.
The opposition leader, Roza Otunbayeva, said that she would head a caretaker government for six months until new elections could be called under a revised constitution.
All eyes were on Mr Bakiyev to see if he intended to try to regain control of the capital. A rally was scheduled to take place in Osh today.
Hundreds of people were gathered on the street outside the government headquarters this morning, which were unguarded by police, while others walked freely through the building. Almost every government building had been damaged and looters could be seen making off with stolen computer equipment past shops and cars that had been set on fire.
“The whole country is on fire,” said Nurlan Aslybekov, an unemployed man who travelled to Bishkek from Talas, where the first anti-government protests broke out.
riots in Greece
Greece is facing social unrest as the people get more frustrated with the government and this could change the way society work throughout Europe. The government faced riots as large groups of people attacked government building and security forces killing workers at a bank which caught fire during the riot.
Greek is facing a financial crisis and the timing of the social unrest could not be worse as the financial situation only adds to the frustration of the people.
“This really represents a game change in what’s happening in Greece, Greeks and the rest of the world will ask, ‘Why on earth are you firebombing your own?’” said Jens Bastian of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy in Athens.
“I think Greece will rise up against these people, because now the conversation isn’t about austerity measures, but about a murderous rampage against innocent people,” Bastian added.
The strike for the paralysis for public transportation saw a large part of the city gather for the protest. The crowd was ddressed in black, mostly the youth, with masks, helmets and other tools. The crowd tried to take their protests into the Parliament shouting “thieves, thieves.” The crowd attackedsecurity personel and were stopped with tear gas by the police.
***
Stock markets around the world took a beating today due to fears about Greece’s latest financial and credit woes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted roughly 1,000 points and snapped back; other financial indicators are shaky, as well.
As riots explode in Greece, pictures and videos are flying around the social web, shared from news sources and folks on the ground. The images and videos we’re seeing are nothing short of otherworldly and terrifying. Riot police don gas masks, violent protesters take over the streets, gun shots ring out and open flames burn in the streets.
Greek is facing a financial crisis and the timing of the social unrest could not be worse as the financial situation only adds to the frustration of the people.
“This really represents a game change in what’s happening in Greece, Greeks and the rest of the world will ask, ‘Why on earth are you firebombing your own?’” said Jens Bastian of the Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy in Athens.
“I think Greece will rise up against these people, because now the conversation isn’t about austerity measures, but about a murderous rampage against innocent people,” Bastian added.
The strike for the paralysis for public transportation saw a large part of the city gather for the protest. The crowd was ddressed in black, mostly the youth, with masks, helmets and other tools. The crowd tried to take their protests into the Parliament shouting “thieves, thieves.” The crowd attackedsecurity personel and were stopped with tear gas by the police.
***
Stock markets around the world took a beating today due to fears about Greece’s latest financial and credit woes. The Dow Jones Industrial Average plummeted roughly 1,000 points and snapped back; other financial indicators are shaky, as well.
As riots explode in Greece, pictures and videos are flying around the social web, shared from news sources and folks on the ground. The images and videos we’re seeing are nothing short of otherworldly and terrifying. Riot police don gas masks, violent protesters take over the streets, gun shots ring out and open flames burn in the streets.
Monday, May 03, 2010
Toyota faces $16.4 million fine
The government accused Toyota of hiding a "dangerous defect" and proposed a record $16.4 million fine on Monday for failing to quickly alert regulators to safety problems in gas pedals on popular models such as the Camry and Corolla.
The proposed fine, announced Monday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is the most the government could levy for the sticking gas pedals that have led Toyota to recall millions of vehicles. There could be further penalties under continuing federal investigations. The Japanese automaker faces private lawsuits seeking many millions more.
Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled more than 6 million vehicles in the U.S., and more than 8 million worldwide, because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius hybrid.
Documents obtained from the automaker show that Toyota knew of the problem with the sticking gas pedals in late September but did not issue a recall until late January, LaHood said. The sticking pedals involved 2.3 million vehicles.
"We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations," LaHood said in a statement. "Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families."
The proposed fine, announced Monday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, is the most the government could levy for the sticking gas pedals that have led Toyota to recall millions of vehicles. There could be further penalties under continuing federal investigations. The Japanese automaker faces private lawsuits seeking many millions more.
Toyota Motor Corp. has recalled more than 6 million vehicles in the U.S., and more than 8 million worldwide, because of acceleration problems in multiple models and braking issues in the Prius hybrid.
Documents obtained from the automaker show that Toyota knew of the problem with the sticking gas pedals in late September but did not issue a recall until late January, LaHood said. The sticking pedals involved 2.3 million vehicles.
"We now have proof that Toyota failed to live up to its legal obligations," LaHood said in a statement. "Worse yet, they knowingly hid a dangerous defect for months from U.S. officials and did not take action to protect millions of drivers and their families."
coal mine disaster
An explosion Monday afternoon rocked the remote coal mine with a history of safety problems. Massey Energy says 25 workers have been killed in a West Virginia coal mine explosion in the worst U.S. mine disaster since 1984.
Though the cause of the blast was not known, the operation about 30 miles south of Charleston has a history of violations for not properly ventilating highly combustible methane gas, safety officials said.
Though the cause of the blast was not known, the operation about 30 miles south of Charleston has a history of violations for not properly ventilating highly combustible methane gas, safety officials said.
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