Seems that if anyone in a position of authority was doing their jobs and/or paying attention, they would have seen BP's pattern of disregard for the safety of their workers and the integrity of the environment.
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A 2001 report noted that BP had neglected key equipment needed for emergency shutdown, including safety shutoff valves and gas and fire detectors similar to those that could have helped prevent the fire and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf.
A 2004 inquiry found a pattern of intimidating workers who raised safety or environmental concerns. It said managers were shaving maintenance costs with the practice of "run to failure," under which aging equipment was used as long as possible. Accidents resulted, including the 200,000-gallon Prudhoe Bay pipeline spill in 2006, the largest ever spill on Alaska's North Slope.
During the same period, similar problems surfaced at BP facilities in California and Texas.
In 2002, California officials discovered that BP had falsified inspections of fuel tanks at a Los Angeles-area refinery and that more than 80 percent of the facilities didn't meet requirements to maintain storage tanks without leaks or damage. Inspectors were forced to get a warrant before BP allowed them to check the tanks. The company eventually settled a civil lawsuit brought by the South Coast Air Quality Management District for more than $100 million.
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While we on the Left are all concerned about keeping the wall between church and state intact, it's time to build a wall between corporations and state because this sleazy partnership will lead to our downfall long before the theocrats get a chance to do it.
It's been more than five months since the Obama administration missed its self-imposed deadline for the closure of the detention center at Guantanamo Bay. And as things stand now, one key member of Congress says, the White House is showing little to no willingness to continue pursuing one of the more high-minded promises made by the president before entering office.White House? Check.
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...Congress? Check.
The senator, who is a leading proponent of Gitmo's closure, acknowledged (more implicitly than explicitly) that the issue was, for all intents and purposes, off the table -- at least for the noticeable future. It was not the president's fault per se, he said. Though a bit of lobbying on the matter wouldn't hurt. Simply put, the congressional skepticism has been too steep to overcome.
"The majority of my committee voted basically to keep it open indefinitely. Because they took away from the money for the alternative," said Levin. "You can't close it unless you have some other place to take people and put people. I happen to think it should be closed. Our military leaders think it should be closed... I think it is dangerous to America to keep that symbol there. But as long as you have the majority of Congress that oppose closing it, all the Republicans and some Democrats, it won't be easy to close it."
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Oh, that Gitmo. We're workin' on it.
I think, between the White House and Congress, they're all hoping whoever is still there will die off and solve the whole problem before any of them have to put their political ass on the line any further.
Now that Helen Hitler Thomas has been forcibly retired, more video of the interview miraculously has become available for viewing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nc4OeRu7cfs&feature=player_embedded
Clearly, this woman is evil beyond words. The way she smiled at those Jewish kids while giving them friendly advice to enter careers in journalism so they can have fulfilling lives of learning and accomplishment when secretly, I have been assured by liberals and others, what she really wants is to transport them back to the gas ovens of the Holocaust (for the morons- see the update).
You guys got played. And by this jackass, running around doing Mexican impressions in his spare time. Does anyone still want to try to pretend she was suggesting people be time-warped back to Auschwitz? Or that her pleasantly offering advice to Jewish students was horrifying anti-Semitism at work? Anyone?
On the upside, no one is talking about the unpleasantness with the flotilla anymore.
*** Update ***
For the folks with comprehension problems, the sarcasm employed regarding her chatting with the students is directed at the foolish notion she was implying folks should head off to the ovens, not to deflect from what I have repeatedly stated were her idiotic and obnoxious remarks. There seems to be some desire in every one of these pile-ons to turn stupid remarks by someone into something altogether unforgivable. I'm reminded of the time I spent days arguing that no, Republican Bill Bennett wasn't actually suggesting that all black babies be aborted in order to lower the crime rate.
Grow up.
Helen Thomas never accused anyone of being a terrorist simply for showing concern for the mass slaughter of innocent Arabs. She also never grossly misquoted anyone.
Helen Thomas never wished for the President to fail.
Helen Thomas never broke her own personal rule to never go after the President's children.
Helen Thomas never beat the war drums for any administration and spreading rumors about fictional WMD's.
Helen Thomas never outed a covert CIA agent with impunity.
I could go after every right wing lunatic and pro-Israel apologist for much more despicable remarks that were made with complete impunity, remarks that stood unchallenged by the Obama White House and the ten other administrations covered by Helen Thomas in her half century of covering our nation's seat of power. But time forbids.
The redoubtable Thomas, once a person who commanded respect from all until Obama's brain-damaged predecessor held his last presser, is now herself behind a redoubt of another sort. She's now replaced Jim Joyce, Tony Hayward and Lloyd Blankfein as the most hated person in America for simply speaking the truth: That the Israelis ought to leave Palestine and stop using Hamas as an excuse for committing war crimes and starving the Palestinians to death in their slow-motion genocide. The woman who provided America with countless Gotcha moments has now been toppled from her hard-won perch with a single Gotcha moment from a group of pro-Israeli amateurs.
And there's something very, very disturbing and infuriating about that.
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Since its contractors infamously shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians, Blackwater has rebranded itself, trying to insist that it's a reformed company. It even changed its name to "Xe" last year. But at this year's NRA convention, ThinkProgress discovered that the corporation was still marketing the Blackwater brand on merchandise like baseball hats, shot glasses, beach towels, and guns, which could be bought online. Now the site Soldier Systems reports that Blackwater enthusiasts will be able to buy their goods in persons, at two new stores opening in Fayetteville, NC and Salem, CT: http://thinkprogress.org/2010/06/08/blackwater-pro-shops/
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Senator Diaperman David Vitter who should be in prison because he wore diapers with hookers - and prostitution is illegal, says Obama's temorary moratorium on on deepwater drilling causes more devastation than BP's oil spill.
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