The melting of Polar Ice makes the Arctic much more accessible than it used to be and with accessibility comes the greed for oil. Some 30% of undiscovered gas reserves and 13% of undiscovered oil are thought to be under the arctic ice. Now the race has begun. The risk, however, is huge:
Any serious oil spill in the ice of the Arctic, the “new frontier” for oil exploration, is likely to be an uncontrollable environmental disaster despoiling vast areas of the world’s most untouched ecosystem, one of the world’s leading polar scientists has told The Independent.
Oil from an undersea leak will not only be very hard to deal with in Arctic conditions, it will interact with the surface sea ice and become absorbed in it, and will be transported by it for as much as 1,000 miles across the ocean, according to Peter Wadhams, Professor of ocean physics at the University of Cambridge. (read more)
The exploitation of oil reserves has become more and more frantic. Voices calling for getting renewable energy off the ground were ridiculed when oil was relatively easy to be had, now because those voices went unheard we do not have an alternative at the ready.
This is our Open Thread. Spill! Your thoughts on this and anything else are most welcome.
Good morning everyone. Have a wonderful day.
Good morning to all.
It seems like we have reached peak oil. Yet, the oil industry owned Republicans refuse to fund renewable, alternative energy sources. The oil and gas industry are squeezing the earth dry. There will be repercussions for this. It’s not nice to mess with mother earth.
+1
The pundits are fond of saying the ‘stone age didn’t end because we ran out of stone….’ but the oil age – well that’s different.
New Post below:
Monetary Wars – Switzerland pegs its currency to the Euro.
Amurkans need to wake and pay attention to this stuff…. there’s trouble under the surface of all this.
Good Morning!
What happened to the heat? Saturday it was 96, and today we’re not supposed to get above 60? Footballs.
Tropically Depressing Lee feathered out 5 inches of rain over about 36 hours, never really raining hard, and very little wind. If it’s headed your way, don’t panic, just take an umbrella.
We are expecting two days of rain, rain, and more rain. It’s is what is left of Lee. It’s not raining hard. It’s just continuous rain.
A rain squall with high winds sweep through here about 7:45 AM EDT. It was seemingly a fragment from Lee (No other recent storm fronts around). Current temp is about 80 F.
Last night I looked at the weather map and it was rain from Florida to Maine.
Where are the teabaggers when they are really needed? No tea bagger volunteers to help Texas.
You know what they say? Volunteering is for suckers.
Of course, that’s a truly shitty way of thinking, but it really does demonstrate the “me first” attitude of these un-American morans.
If the Koch brothers don’t pick up the transportation costs, then the teabaggers won’t travel. They are definitely an “all about me” group.
Tea Baggers are all talk.
And Ron Paul thinks communities should take care of themselves.
And Rick Perry wants Obama to declare a state of emergency in Texas so that Perry can get MORE federal funds.
But, we must make offsetting cuts first!
Time to let Texas be that independent, can-do state and for Rick Perry to ahve that small government he wants… as they say in Texas – “Handle it!”
Anyhow, isn’t ‘the Lord’ supposed to provide?
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From that blog:
Is this the equivalent to shoving coal in the furnace while your house is burning?
+1 er yes.
Okay, I’m off to take my son to work, and then will head to the coast. I’ll see all y’all when I see you!!!
((((hugs))))
hugs to you, too, Zooey
Drive carefully. Can’t wait to see you again. 😀
Take a sweater.
Obama at his all time lowest in the polls.
As much as I am unhappy with President Obama with his obsession with pleasing the republicans and lack of a backbone, it sure would be nice if the media or better yet the democratic leadership would start pointing to the republican majority in the house who ran on a jobs platform but have yet to bring any real job creation solutions to the table.
It would also be nice if the media would point out the poll numbers of congress, particularly the House, who have done very little for the average American since the republicans took control.
It’s time someone with a “D” after their name start pointing out the following:
* Republicans were against extending unemployment benefits for millions of unemployed workers, while fighting for tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.
* Republicans want to cut or eliminate Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
* Republicans are against ending subsides to multinational corporations and American businesses who outsource American jobs overseas.
* Republicans want to go back to the deregulation that led to our near collapse of our financial system and the BP oil spill in the Gulf.
* Republicans want to eliminate the minimum wage.
* Republicans want to take away a woman’s right to choose.
* Republicans got us into this massive debt by supporting two unfunded and unnecessary wars, supporting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans during a time of war and supporting the unfunded Medicaid Part D Prescription plan.
* Republicans were in complete control of our government when we saw the lowest domestic job creation in over 50 years.
* Republicans only represent the fetus, the wealthy and the corporations NOT the middle class, the poor, the elderly, the disabled, the unemployed, children, the American working class.
Buy George, I do believe you just outlined the entire Republican Jobs Creating Platform!
In case you missed it, you might want to check out this article on Truthout.org by (apparently former) Republican Mike Lofgren who rips the GOP and its insidious agenda a new one.
Here’s something to lighten the morning..
Homosexuality and the Bible
Here’s the first two questions asked:
There are ten questions in all.
Brilliant.
That was really good.
Excellent, muse… things like this remind me of the West Wing.
Damn… I should have watched that show when it was on TV.
That was great – bookmarked for the next time I hear some bigot spout off about the Bible
Congress came back into session today and the Dow is down nearly 300. Connection?
You’re going to make Boehner cry. 🙂
Tears of joy no doubt. They want to the economy to tank.
When Boehner cries, does he leave orange streaks on his cheeks?
And the King has returned! The end times are near, hallelujah!
HOFFA: Everybody here’s got to vote. If we go back and keep the eye on the prize, let’s take these son of a bitches out and give America back to America where we belong! Thank you very much!
Fox edited tape to make it look like Hoffa was calling for violence. Because he didn’t out of office they’re suggesting he meant murder apparently. And the theme was belabored on “Morning Joe” for the almost the entire show. And of course they’re blaming Obama who wasn’t there yet for not calling Hoffa out for his “violent rhetoric”. The Ministry of Truth is very busy these days.
Sounds more like projection on the part of the Repubs.
Classic GOP strategy. Do something, and then accuse the other side of doing it.
My take is when Palin et al apologize for their rhetoric prior to the Giffords shooting, then HOFFA should consider apologizing for his rhetoric.
(But Obama has nothing to apologize for in this case.)
Republicans are such whiners. They can dish it out, but they can’t take it. I am sick of their feigned outrage, and their hypocrisy, and their faux-victimhood.
Here’s a good assessment of the GOP, what they are doing and what they represent, by Josh Marshall over at TPM:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/2011/09/assessing_the_problem.php?ref=fpblg
It’s said that when a bell rings, and angel gets its wings. However, when John Boehner cries a _______________ gets _____________.
kleenex…wet?
bartender…busy?
shot…downed?
all good… I was also thinking something like:
middle class American … screwed
That was my first thought, but I decided to go with:
Cantor…little bitty stiffy
zxbe, would he cry for a middle class American ?
He would cry at their misfortune.
I should clarify – tears of joy at their misfortune…
It’s said that when a bell rings, and angel gets its wings. However, when John Boehner cries a President gets to rearrange his schedule.
President…….to wash his balls.
Choot-spa / Lack of Irony Alert:
“Like you, I’m not for sale,” – Sarah Palin.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/09/03/palin_on_crony_capitalist_politicians_im_not_for_sale.html
She may not be for outright sale, but she is for rent.
Does that make her a prostitute? Just asking.
Literally, no. Figuratively, yes.
Quote of the Day:
“If Democrats are going to accept Republican premises, they shouldn’t be surprised if a majority of people eventually conclude that Republicans ought to be in charge of government policy,” – Bruce Bartlett.
Honey anyone? Yes, but leave out GMO says the European top court.
Nice 🙂
Another good and healthy kick in Monsanto’s nuts from Europe. We do not want this shit here.
Good lead post BTW EV – the talk is all about the policitics of ‘how and who’ for the Arctic, not the ‘why’…..
That oil is going to be bloody expensive to get…. why are we not investing in something else?
And the answer to that…. the politics of big Oil… corporations are sociopaths.
They are trying to squeeze out all the oil and gas that they can get from this planet. My question is, what replaces the empty hole left after all the oil and gas are removed?
Well, here’s the thing. All that extraction will lighten the planet considerably, see, and what that means is that when the earth is not so heavy it’ll rise up, drift further into space and away from the sun. And the good news is that if there’s any global warming from burning all that oil and coal and gas and stuff, when the earth moves farther from the sun it’ll get less warming, and that will counter everything and keep things cool. So all in all, it’s a good thing to do. Burn more oil and gas and stuff.
Explanation brought to you by Exxon-Mobil (more or less).
Terry, Germany is up to 20% of renewables when it comes to energy production. Guess what gave it a huge boost. Government (yes the evil ones) decided to close down all nuclear reactors, people still want their internets, investments (private and corporate) in renewables are up. That’s what effective government can do for you. We (as in “We The People”)had them in a stranglehold, however, they would like to get reelected and we told them they won’t if they stick to nuclear. Even took to the streets.
Summing it up: The streets’ the place to be these day.
Read a fun book this weekend that introduced me to something I had never heard of before. Abiotic oil. Something about how oil isn’t dead dinosaurs but made deep in the earth’s crust like diamonds and if we wait long enough many oil fields will get refilled. Sort of calls for an old Artie Johnson response.
Verrry Interesssttttingggggg!
By Jerome Corsi – I lasted 3 chapters before I fell about laughing and took it back to Library where I challenged the librarian on whether it was correctly filed in the Non-fiction section.
Other works by Jerome Corsi – “Swift Boat Veterans for Truth” – now you get the idea.
I frequently refer to GOPers because its short and reminds me of “gomers”. I’ve been thinking about the wisdom of that, since the abbreviation is from Grand Old Party. Fuck that. There’s nothing grand about them, from top to bottom. Maybe I’ll go back to “Republics”.
A friend sent me this from governmentgonewild.org, and it tells me to forward it to everyone I know.
It’s interesting in that it’s apparently one of those 3 minute spots aimed at scaring the crap out of folks who see money as that stuff that jingles in your pocket when you walk fast. Guaranteed, Paul Krugman was NOT asked to contribute to the piece.
And it looks like God loves the Carolinas after all. Hurricane Katia is taken an abrupt right turn and heading up the middle of the ocean.
God must love Pennsylvania, too. I appreciate that Katia is not heading up the coast. We are getting bombarded with rain and we don’t need another hurricane which acts like a No’reaster dumping on more rain.
Pests jump to new spot
Untapped pools of treasured blood;
Earth needs flea collar
Perfect 🙂
That’s a good one. How you can come up with those excellent haikus all the time beats me.
As predicted, the Reichwhiners are manufacturing a crisis over James Hoffa’s, deceptively edited, remark that we need to “take these SOBs out”.
Oops! Here’s the link.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/fox-news-concerned-about-hate-speech-obama-s
.
Priorities. Priorities.
It’s really important to edit/cut&paste to rile the bleating sheep that follow Faux. (It’s quite evident those ovine have no thought process of their own).
I heard some moron complaining on the radio that some bookstore had displayed Cheny’s book next to a book that contained the words “Kill Me” in the title. Here’s a link to the Post story that prompted the idiot’s outrage:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cheneys-recall-is-selective-with-in-my-time/2011/09/03/gIQAoiG54J_story.html?hpid=z5
Rice marching band mocks Rick Perry:
http://www.rawstory.com/rawreplay/2011/09/rice-university-marching-band-mocks-rick-perry/#.TmWQduU7Tpx.facebook
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Ya just have to love a school who’s mascot is an Owl!
[Owls are smarter than Aggies. WaltTheMan would certainly be the
exception – I’m raising the horns to you Walt!]
**whose
Mascots: Scottsdale (AZ) Community College’s mascot is the Artichoke. It was originally (circa 1970, give or take a few) something else, a warrior, chief, redskin, whatever, but the student body rejected it and voted in the Artichoke. Been that way ever since.
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Artichoke’s right up there with the UCSC Banana Slug!
The ’70s ‘allowed’ innovation that has since been stifled, it would seem.
Artichoke’s right up there with the UCSC Banana Slug!
Badmooddaughter’s alma mater!
My youngest sibling is a Slug (’89)!
One of the commenters sums it:
A 2.4 GPA in a degree program in animal science? That makes Rick Perry the perfect Republican candidate. Who could possibly be better to finish off the story of the once-Great Republic?
Amen.
Tom Hartman on why the Post Office is growing broke and on Texas wildfires.
Thom. Oops.
Hartmann with two Ns. Oops oops.
All those dang silent letters. Those libruls just do that to confuse everyone. 😉
Re: 9/11
Not everyone is suffering. I came across this today and it may be a repeat.
I’ll see your “SOB” and raise a “Saddam Hussein”. For some reason I don’t think that the “librul media” will explode in outrage over a Koch calling the President “Saddam Hussein”.
http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/charles-koch-tells-big-donors-president-oba
Yup, I was just digging into that one….. Greenpeace says that Mother Jones has some audio….
Seemed like all the sock-puppet-wanna-bes like Rick Perry, Scott from Florida and maybe Gov Wankpot of Wisconsin were there, sucking it up to the fat-fascist-bastards with the deep pockets.
“”We have Saddam Hussein,” declared billionaire industrialist Charles Koch, apparently referring to President Barack Obama as he welcomed hundreds of wealthy guests to the latest of the secret fundraising and strategy seminars he and his brother host twice a year. The 2012 elections, he warned, will be “the mother of all wars.”
Bastards, all of them
How deep does the NewsCorp hacking scandal go? Who knows where the bodies are buried? Will anyone in this country ever face a charge? And, on a related note, is it not likely that the “climategate” emails were stolen by someone on Rupert’s payroll?
http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2011/09/06/300323/exclusive-questions-surround-grassley-staffer-given-whistleblower-tip-regarding-news-corp-hacking-scandal/
Americans need to wake up to the fact that this upcoming election will be the testing ground for how much money the Kochfueled Reichwing can throw at people in an effort to get them to vote against their self interest.
A ‘how stupid are you’ index should have people logging the number and length of infomercials against progressive candidates and blatant lies for teabaggers. As the number of hours of exposure increases, people should get turned off to the message proportionally.
I wish.
Goebbelsian is the word to describe the current situation and project exactly the dilemma truth is facing these days. Funny how it is that the more fascism changes, the more it stays the same.
I’m thinking we need to add an incentive to vote. If you want to file a tax return you need to have voted in the last election. If not, you obviously don’t care what the government does with your money so no return. Too bad, so sad.
Gonna try this and see how it works
Good reason to go to church
I’m surprised that they didn’t place a scarlet “A” on her when she “apologized to the congregation for getting pregnant.”
Shameful actions on the part of the preacher and he got what he deserved. I hope the girl (now 29 and living in AZ) has gotten the appropriate mental help to help her through this.
I just hope he learns the joys of ‘consensual’ sex in prison.
Robert Fisk writes in the Independent about what has never been asekd about 9-11
I doubt that we’ll hear much about that this week either.
OBL is on record for the reasons.
1. US soldiers in Saudi Arabia
2. Sanctions on Iraq
3. Israeli occupation of Palestine.
Why is it, one might ask, that the major investigations of major political events in the last 50 years or so by the US government have generated a massive cottage industry in conspiracy theories? From Roswell through the assassinations of the 60’s to 911 the weasels seem to be able to convince the chickens that it was PFM and nothing to do with the weasels.
They read 1984 and understood the lessons – it’s profitable to be at war with Eurasia, or was it Eastasia…. or?
LibYemIraqistan?
They can convince some of the people some of the time, and some of the people all of the time.
Me, I ain’t part of neither of them groups.
Just got an email from Alan Grayson, which I’m passing along for its entertainment value — and because it’s so bizarre to think of a Member of the House (former) who wasn’t essentially a coward.
I got the same email. Right after the one from Debbie Wasserman Schultz that said she wanted me to be in Charlotte. While I am sure Charlotte is a nice woman, I have to say I need to have at least a social introduction before I have the equivalent of a social introduction.
Kidding aside, it is encouraging that they are beginning to speak up. Even if they are preaching to the choir.
That’s funny.
I hope he runs for President in 2016. We need a truth teller in there.
Perry’s Texas has 27.2 percent of its population without health insurance – the worst record in America. Massachusetts has an uninsured rate of 5.2 percent – the best. And yet Romney is still apologizing for this achievement.
So is it actually a Republican goal that people cannot have decent access to healthcare? Do they have any proposals to help? So far, the answers seem to be yes and no.
That’s a stupid question. Obviously, if we lower corporate taxes everyone will have great health care. Sheesh.
More than 1000 homes destroyed by fire in Texas. Will any Republic entertain the idea that the drought and the storm driving the fire have anything to do with, gasp shudder, climate change?
I think it’s more to do with Perry’s approach to ‘faith-based firefighting’
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/texas-cut-fire-department-funding-75-percent
You can call 9-11 but you are far better off just getting on your knees and praying in Texas.
I also got an email from someone in the Obama camp asking if I could organize for him here. My delete finger hit it too quickly. I should have written back, Why? I’m hoping Hillary resigns and primaries his ass. I’m tired of his weak sister compromising. I’ll vote for him in 2012 but only because he is less obnoxious than the others. Tell him for me…How does it feel to think your chances at a 2nd term are only good because the opposition is totally nuts. Wouldn’t you rather have people vote for you because you are doing a good job?
I still haven’t heard any fundies claim that the Texas fires are God’s way of telling us to combat global warming. In fact, they seem to be silent on the subject. I guess that it wouldn’t do to blame a very Christian/Republican state for their misfortune but the Northeast is fair game.
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ohhh, I’m beginning to worry about you petelngh – that’s fundie logic and it flows so easily from your fingers to the comment box!/
Tuesdays are my “think like an idiot” day.
I’m torn. Either Texas is a modern day Sodom and Gomorrah or pRick hasn’t found the right burning bush to talk to for guidance.
Who could have guessed? SaudiFAUX “News” has demonized Muslims in just about all coneivable ways and, big surprise, their worshipers think Muslims aren’t “real Americans”.
http://thinkprogress.org/security/2011/09/06/312784/poll-fox-news-islamophobic/
Batscat Bachmann’s campaign manager quit. When one views her record of losing people important to her staff one is forced to conclude that those who know her best are the most eager to leave her company.
Bachmann claims this was the plan all along. Suuuuuuuuuure it was.
zxbe on September 6, 2011 at 8:07 am said:
It’s said that when a bell rings, and angel gets its wings. However, when John Boehner cries a middle class American gets phucked….
The Preamble to the Republican/Koch Constitution.
We the Rich People of the United States, in Order to form a more profitable Union, establish Just us, insure domestic Dominance, provide for the profitable defence, promote the general corporate Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and no one without a bank account in 6 digits and our Profitablity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
(psst – don’t you have to invoke God or Jesus? At least use the word christian – you know, to make it all neat and tidy with the lord?)
Rich people don’t believe in God. They just sell that snake oil to the people who think they want to be rich and think for some strange reason God agrees.
I will even go so far as to say there is not a single rich Christian on the planet. It is a contradiction in terms. It is impossible to be a true Christian and rich at the same time.
Now that you mention it – it is notable the nation doesn’t really care about the rich attending church; yet go nuts if the President isn’t seen in a christian house of worship.
There is no place in the NT where Jesus said, give away part of your money but not enough that you won’t still be rich. But there are places where he said, give it all away.
…I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eye_of_a_needle
And the rich people laugh! “There is no God so more money for me.”
Automatic weapon strikes again.
And it seems that witnesses had their own weapons but couldn’t stop the asshole.
The Reichwhiners are all over the local paper with their “guns don’t kill people” crap. It pains me to no end that we can’t even have a discussion about better gun regulation in this country. I haven’t seen anything about the legal status of the shooter but most of these incidents are committed with legally purchased firearms. If existing law isn’t keeping deadly weapons out of the hands of psychopaths, should not the laws be examined and/or changed?
Any federal standard would be helpful and we need a national database of those who are ineligible to own firearms. It would be even better if we followed the whole 2nd Amendment. Being part of a “well regulated militia” would entail periodic inspections and would, hopefully, help us determine if someone is mentally, emotionally, and morally fit for the responsibility of gun ownership. Alas… Any time anyone so much as mentions an examination of gun laws we are beset by a shrieking horde of nutbags. I can only conclude that the shriekers are afraid that they are not mentally, emotionally, and morally fit to own firearms.
1000 homes lost in Texas. No problem Rick says, we can tax the poor a little more so that the rich people whose homes were lost can rebuild with no money down.
Perry has been praying away the drought for months. God hates him. 🙂
1000 homes and 3.5 million acres – that represents about $3 billion in losses for just the current year. Add to that the effects of the drought and Texas is looking at one hell of a loss without even accounting for the toll in human lives.
Speaking of gun control: I find myself wishing that someone would punch pRick Perry in the nose.
http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/david/perrys-gun-control-policy-use-both-hands
Gretchen Carlson vs. Debbie Wasserman-Schultz. I liked the way that Debbie deflected the stuff about Hoffa and really enjoyed the wild-eyed screen shot of Gretchen. I don’t think that we need any more comment about her assertion that she’s criticized the teabaggers “plenty”.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/06/fox-news-gretchen-carlson-wasserman-schultz_n_950194.html
And as noted, Michelle Bachmann used the exact words in April 2010. Oh, wait. That’s different!
Seriously, has there have been such a bunch of whiny crybaby victims ever? “Yah, 2nd amendment! Blood of patriots. Kill the fucking liberals! Wah! !!! Pelosi hurted our feelings!”
Life is so damn difficult for the Repugnant party. Attempting to weave a satin garment from straw is impossible- just ask Gretchen as she attempted to bait Debbie into the ‘big bad Hoffa’ debate.
Wasserman-Schultz showed aplomb – Carlson a screeching rodent.
Oh the irony:
Drought in Texas has energy companies on their toes. Lack of water means no more fracking!
http://blogs.calgaryherald.com/2011/09/06/calgary-energy-firms-monitor-texas-drought/