Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Headlines - Wednesday July 14

Day 86 of the oil gusher.
 
 
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USA is #1
 
ACLU releases torture report
 
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Just when you honestly thought things couldn't get any worse for BP. This is disgusting, if true. From Mother Jones:
Is there a connection between BP and the terrorist convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103? Four senators want to know what sway the oil giant may have had in securing the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in exchange for a $900 million offshore oil drilling deal with Libya.

Megrahi, the only person convicted of bombing that killed 270 people in 1988, was released from prison in Scotland last August. A Scottish court granted the release after doctors claimed that Megrahi was terminally ill from prostate cancer and had only three months to live. The release, of course, prompted plenty of outrage. The bomber is still alive, and just this week one of the doctors that gave that dire prognosis last year came forward to assert that the Libyan government paid him to make that claim. Now four senators–Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY)—are calling on the State Department to investigate whether the oil giant was involved in the deal-making, and whether "BP might use blood money" to pay for damages in the Gulf of Mexico.
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TPM must have a guy who just looks for weird Repug shit. I think I found him.

GOP Candidate: Obama And Carnahan Want To Take Away Your Chance To Find The Lord (AUDIO)

Unbelievable, but people'll fall for it.
 
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Can we use both dumb diaper pictures today? YES WE CAN.
 
 
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I consider myself fairly cynical about the Forty Years' War Against the Middle Class, but I hadn't previously heard of this particular strategem to help (some) Americans build an aristocracy:

... Congress is feeling pressure to deal with taxes on inherited wealth, which have fallen to zero this year thanks to lawmakers' inaction. In the process, it should address the more pernicious problem of dynasty trusts.

This type of trust is new because until very recently most states had a "rule against perpetuities," which limited the term of any family trust to about 90 years, after which time the family members would own the property outright. This rule derived from the idea that property is best controlled by the living. In the mid-1990s, however, many states repealed the perpetuities rule, and now any wealthy American can set property aside for his heirs forever, simply by hiring a trustee from one of these states.
[...]

Dynasty trusts can grow much larger than the $3.5 million exemption amount would suggest. A couple can, for example, put $7 million (their two $3.5 million exemptions) into a life insurance policy owned by the trust. They apply their exemption at the start, and the trust is forever free from taxes — even when, after the death of the second spouse, the life insurance policy pays off at $100 million. Alternatively, a trust can use the $7 million as seed money for a profitable business that the trust then owns.

An ordinary trust dissipates as money is distributed to the beneficiaries. But a dynasty trust can avoid this by discouraging outright distributions and instead encouraging trustees to buy, for the use of the beneficiaries, things like houses, artwork, airplanes and even businesses. Because the trust retains ownership, the assets can pass tax-free and creditor-proof to the next generation. Beneficiaries don't pay taxes on the use of this property. In contrast, a worker whose employer provides housing or other benefits is taxed on those benefits.

But tax breaks are not the only special advantages that dynasty trusts provide. Even more troubling, they commonly include a "spendthrift clause," which provides that trust assets cannot be reached by a beneficiary's creditors. If a beneficiary causes a car accident, for example, the victim cannot be compensated with assets from the trust, even if they are the driver's only resources. So beneficiaries are free to behave as recklessly as they like, knowing that their money is forever protected for themselves and their heirs…

Jonathan Swift sensibly asserted that his Struldbrugs, those born immortal but not ageless, were forbidden to own property:

As soon as they have completed the term of eighty years, they are looked on as dead in law; their heirs immediately succeed to their estates; only a small pittance is reserved for their support; and the poor ones are maintained at the public charge. After that period, they are held incapable of any employment of trust or profit; they cannot purchase lands, or take leases; neither are they allowed to be witnesses in any cause, either civil or criminal, not even for the decision of meets and bounds… Otherwise, as avarice is the necessary consequence of old age, those immortals would in time become proprietors of the whole nation, and engross the civil power, which, for want of abilities to manage, must end in the ruin of the public.

But to look on the lighter side, if our new "aristocracy" is successful in their long campaign to reduce America into a banana republic, at least we'll have some properly feudal entertainment—the Grey Lady is pleased to report that jousting is making a comeback!

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A tale of two oil giants

First there is British Petroleum, which pretty much fits the definition of a "rogue company."[1] They take lots of risks with safety and good practices and, when things go wrong, they don't learn a fucking thing. BP's management is a toxic stew of both arrogance and stupidity. As much as they proclaimed that safety was their number 1 priority, that was just lip service. Safety, in practice, was about the very last thing that BP cared about. Four years after a refinery explosion that killed 15 workers (and which earned BP $21 million in fines), the safety inspectors went back to the same refinery, found even more safety problems than existed at the time of the explosion and fined BP $87 million. It is clear that the institutional attitude towards safety at BP is "well, shit happens".

Then there is Exxon, now ExxonMobil. The Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska 21 years ago and dumped over ten million gallons of oil into the water. The environmental damage is being felt even today. Exxon's reputation took a well-justified beating.
Exxon's brass decided that they did not want to be a part of a similar catastrophe and Exxon changed. They set a goal of making the company into the gold standard of safety in the oil industry.

Exxon also drilled a very deep well in the Gulf of Mexico, one that was six miles deep. They spent over 18 months doing it and over $150 million. But when Exxon's drillers thought the conditions were too severe and that the risk was too high, Exxon's management ordered them to cap the well and Exxon walked away.

BP seemed to believe, and may still do, that with a few pronouncements about safety from their corporate tower in London, that magical managerial fairy dust would be dispensed throughout the company and everyone would follow safety rules. But it is clear that whatever BP's stated safety policies may be, their actions and practices on the ground had little regard for it.

There is way to make safety work in a company. But it takes a hard-nosed attitude and even harder enforcement. BP is even now basically letting OSHA do the safety inspections and discover the problems. But if BP wants to truly change, then they have to find their own problems and fix them on their own.

BP won't ever be a safe company until they break the code on that.

UPDATE: And neither will
TransOcean.

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I can't tell you how excited I am at the prospect of a debate over birth control in the year 2010. Do these religious nuts not have anything better to do than to fight battles they lost decades ago? How about a stirring debate on heliocentrism or phlogiston?

Although I guess we should appreciate the irony that the wingnuts spent the last two years screaming that Obamacare would cut your benefits and lead to rationing, and then after it passes, the first thing the religious nutters try to do is… cut the benefits of half the nation.

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At what point are their taxes cut enough that they start creating jobs? http://brilliantatbreakfast.blogspot.com/2010/07/at-what-point-are-their-taxes-cut.html

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Accountability for official murder

It is happening in New Orleans, where more cops and former cops were charged with killing people in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

But if the DoJ is serious about stuff like this, then isn't it high time that they also look into the killings and torturing done by officials following the 9-11 attacks? The justification for the Danziger Bridge shootings and Bush's pro-torture policy are pretty much identical: "Things were chaotic." we need to clean up our own mess here. Otherwise, outsiders are going to do it for us, just as is now happening in New Orleans, where the state of Louisiana largely turned a blind eye to the killings by the NOPD.

And why doesn't the NY Times post a link to the Federal indictment on its web page?
They have the one for the cops charged with shooting and killing Henry Glover and then burning his body inside of his car, which was another post-Katrina murder.
 
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A billboard, erected in Mason City, Iowa and funded by the North Iowa Tea Party, which depicts President Obama between Hitler and Lenin has "crossed the line", according to other Tea Party activists in the state.

Imagine how batshit crazy you have to be for the Teabaggers to think you've crossed the line.

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Awwwww. Bionic kitteh.
 
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Chuck Norris is hot on the trail of Obama's Boy Scout conspiracy

Makes more sense than an episode of Walker, Texas Ranger at least.

Martial artist and famed Mike Huckabee supporter Chuck Norris has some sort of column on WorldNetDaily, and in the past few weeks he has exposed Barack Obama's secret hatred of the Boy Scouts. Obama, you see, refuses to acknowledge the Boy Scouts, who are apparently very important in public policy and global affairs, and he also refuses to attend their anniversary jamboree thing. BUT THAT IS JUST THE TIP OF ICEBERG. MORE »

And speaking of bad hair pieces ......
 
In a long story about potential candidates to replace RNC chair Michael Steele, Politics Daily closes with this:
Maybe the GOP just wants to forget questions such as color and gender and pick the Republicans Party's resident bad-ass. I'm talking, of course, about arch-conservative author, actor, and martial arts champion Chuck Norris. If you have high school kids, you've heard them: Chuck Norris jokes. [Sample: "When Chuck Norris does push-ups, he doesn't push himself up, he pushes the Earth down." Or, "Some people wear Superman pajamas. Superman wears Chuck Norris pajamas."] My favorite: "Chuck Norris ordered a Big Mac at Burger King -- and got one." Isn't that the kind of leader the Republicans need? In 2008, Norris endorsed Mike Huckabee for president, an endorsement Huckabee announced with a straight-faced Chuck Norris joke of his own: "My plan to secure the border? Two words: Chuck Norris." The Huck didn't win the White House, but it wasn't Norris' fault. Or as the teenagers might say: "Chuck Norris doesn't need Mike Huckabee. Mike Huckabee's party needs Chuck Norris."
World Net Daily, where Norris writes foaming-mouthed Christian-right screeds, seems to be taking the satire seriously.###
 
Herbert: Outside the Casino
 
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The hillbilly wedding's back on! I'm already getting my barbecued moose-flavored popcorn ready for this, because there's a "mama grizzly" who must be really pissed off:

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston reveal exclusively in the new Us Weekly that they are getting married.

And, they tell Us Weekly, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been kept in the dark about their plans ... until now.

"We got engaged two weeks ago," Bristol, 19, tells Us Weekly. "It felt right, even though we don't have the approval of our parents."

Nice relationship you have with your mom, Bristol:

Now comes the hard part: Getting the blessing of Sarah Palin, who has made no secret of her feelings for Levi.

...

Says Bristol, "It is intimidating and scary just to think about what her reaction is going to be. Hopefully she will jump on board."

THIS is gratitude? After Sarah went ahead and built the biggest, fugliest house in Alaska so you could have a separate room for Trig Tripp? And then had to build a fence with her own French-manicured hands so that certain impertinent investigative reporters couldn't look down her your clinging tank top?

And if Snowzilla doesn't approve, is she going to fire her PR company? And THEN what will you do all day, Bristol? There are only so many $30K speaking engagements you can get when the world now knows how . . . wooden . . . your public speaking skills are.

I hope Bristol and Levi have a money manager (who isn't named Sarah or Cletus) who is going to wisely invest the cash US Weekly threw at the couple for that "exclusive". Sadly, they'll probably blow it on booze for the wedding or a new super-tricked out snowmobile for Levi.

Okay: Wedding gifts. What would you get them?

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Wisco: Torture, murder, and other crimes

I've got something important for you to take a look at. Clear just 11:43 minutes from your schedule to watch something that is really no fun at all: http://griperblade.blogspot.com/2010/07/torture-murder-and-other-crimes.html
 
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Pastor Anderson goes pro

It's hard being a part-time preacher in today's wicked secular culture. A pastor calls for the death of the President and the execution of homosexualists or rebukes the men in his flock for blaspheming God by urinating from a sitting position and the next thing you know, Keith Olbermann is calling him a psychopath. Before long, demonic tolerance mobs frighten his church into schism and send his fire alarm clients fleeing into the arms of the sit-pissing competition.

According to an email I received from Pastor Steven L Anderson, that's what happened to him:

Unfortunately, my fire alarm business has taken another huge hit because of my preaching. In the midst of persecution last September, our largest customer canceled all of our contracts, and I had to lay off all of my employees. Now, my other large customer that was keeping the company afloat has apparently decided to stop doing business with me because they found out "who I am."

Maybe this is God showing me that it is time to go full time as pastor since I keep losing business due to my preaching and all of the media/internet attacks on our church. I have some extra money that I have earned over the last few months that I can support my family on temporarily since at this point the church cannot afford to pay me a full time salary. During that time, I plan to work harder than ever w i n n i n g souls and reaching people, and pray that the church will grow to the point where I can continue to serve God full time.

Please pray for me and for our church during this time of possible transition. The good thing is that I will be w i n n i n g more souls than ever since that will be my full time job! Please pray that the church will grow and that the finances will be there for me to continue doing so and still be able to support my family of 7 (soon to be 8!).

God bless you all!

Your friend,
Pastor Anderson
I think it's a blessing. Pastor Anderson can now preach the gospel in its fullness, without self-censorship.

 
Update: Pastor Anderson says 'Jesus ain't no cross-dressing hippy!'
 
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Saying it could have a "chilling effect" on freedom of speech, today a federal appeals court struck down the FCC's policies about language indecency. Interestingly, the ruling came not in a case involving Howard Stern or other radio shock jocks.
 
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Magic Underwear Inc has sent a letter to its members in Argentina, calling for opposition to same-sex marriage.
 
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"Newt Gingrich planning to run for President or commit adultery in 2012."
 
Serial adulterer and defender of marriage Newt Gingrich says he's seriously considering running for president in 2012.
 
Not excited about Newt? Try President Glenn Beck.
 
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We hope they're wrong For the first time in the history of storm forecasts, experts are predicting 23 hurricanes and named storms during this year's Atlantic hurricane season, based on record warm ocean temperatures. And complicating things is all that oil in the waters of the gulf.
 
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The Israeli military says it has begun efforts to try to stop a Libyan aid ship from reaching Gaza. The navy has made contact with the vessel, but its commandos have not boarded the ship, a spokeswoman said. The Amalthea is expected to reach Gaza's territorial waters on Wednesday, Palestinian and Israeli reports said. The Moldovan-flagged ship, chartered by a charity run by the son of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, left a Greek port on Saturday. The executive director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, told Reuters news agency by telephone from Tripoli that the ship was "still heading to Gaza and there has been no decision to change course". He added: "The ship has received an ultimatum from the Israelis that we have to leave the area by tonight. We are not going to do that." It is the latest attempt to break the naval blockade on Gaza, and comes six weeks after a deadly Israeli operation which left nine Turkish activists dead."
 
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Bullshit. Every move was deliberate and everybody knows it. "An Israeli military inquiry into the naval raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla says commandos were under-prepared and mistakes were made at a senior level. The report says the operation suffered from flawed intelligence-gathering and inadequate planning. But it also praised the commandos involved and found the use of force had been the only way to stop the flotilla. Eight Turks and one Turkish-American died in the naval raid in international waters, which provoked a major outcry. The report criticised the operation's planners for not having a back-up plan in the event of violence. But it also said the mission had not been a failure and did not recommend any dismissals."