Mr. Fix-It Has The Answer

Senator Frank Lautenberg, D-NJ, has introduced a bill that would REQUIRE oil companies to drill relief wells at all new drilling sites offshore. Pre-emptive drilling, he calls it.

What a crock! Another know-nothing thinks he has the solution to something that might happen. Where exactly did Sen. L. get his engineering degree in sub-sea geology? Has he years of experience in this highly technical field?

Nope.

But that doesn't stop him, and others of his ilk from taking any opportunity to get their mugs on the news. Just political posturing, expulsion of more hot air from small minds.

Not only would this plan be very costly, not just to the oil producers, but the consumers(us), but it would INCREASE the risks of a blowout, since multiple wells would be drilled into unknown geological formations. That's the reason they call them "discovery wells", Senator.....not just to find out if the deposits are present, but to learn about the geologic structure they are penetrating. What do you think they do with those core samples, huh? Use them for fishing weights? What do you think they use the samples they examine while drilling the wells? Your answer, Senator?

That's what I thought. You know less about this field than the guy who delivers your heating oil.

Passing laws to fix engineering problems is just plain stupid. You can't legislate engineering.

Demanding that companies try your inane ideas without any data to support such a position means you aren't using your head, except to hold your ears apart. Logic, reason, testing, the scientific method....ever hear of it?

I don't pretend to have the solutions to any of this, I'm no engineer. But, many of YOU are. Many of you are working hard to mediate the impact of this event and are working on practical solutions. Keep it up. We are a smart, innovative bunch here in America. Show us your stuff, boys.

The Obama administration's idea to create an "escrow" account administered by a "third party"(government cronies) is a really bad idea. It would just disappear into the bank accounts of lawyers and other slush-fund pigs. I hope BP is smart enough to realize that.

ClearYourBrainZ !

Science and engineering will cap this well, and what is learned from this accident will be applied

across the industry. Rational thought, logic, and hard work cannot be replaced by words on a piece of paper. Yes, we have a big mess in the Gulf. It will be cleaned up.

What about the ships, mostly foreign flagged, who dump their wastes overboard near our coasts?

That needs to be addressed as well. We have laws in place for this. Enforce them. We might look at requiring any vessel who comes here to be equipped with waste recovery/retention systems, and make them keep a log of it. Surprise inspections would be a good way to keep them honest.

Just some thoughts.

Remember.....reality won't be affected by blustering and posturing. Only hard work and logical

thought, calm assessment of the facts, and methodical experimentation will produce results.

We should be about it.

Your comments, please.

He Said, They Said--Say What?

White House energy adviser Carol Browner on Friday rejected accusations from a panel of experts who claim the administration misrepresented their views to justify a six-month ban on offshore drilling in response to the BP oil rig disaster.

"A blanket moratorium is not the answer," they wrote in a letter claiming Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar's report "misrepresents" their position. "A blanket moratorium will have the indirect effect of harming thousands of workers and further impact state and local economies suffering from the spill. We do not believe that punishing the innocent is the right thing to do. We encourage the secretary of interior to overcome emotion with logic," the experts, picked by the National Academy of Engineering, wrote. --Fox News

Lawmakers in the Gulf Coast region are saying the same thing, arguing against the moratorium imposed by the Obama administration.

Salazar has acknowledged that the moratorium was his decision, not theirs(the expert panel). Browner argued that the administration did nothing wrong.

Why did they(the administration) bother to consult the experts? Anyone know? To cover their butts?

Back to the show....

So, our illustrious Secretary has decreed that we shall not drill, pump, maintain, or explore. I'm sure that will solve everything, aren't you?

Let's just put tens of thousands more Americans out of work, shall we? That will make everything better, won't it?

What our "officials" are really doing is frantically trying to cover their butts after being caught with their pants down. Nothing makes an august functionary more angry than being tagged out for not doing their job. Look at Salazar now, "rallying the troops" down on the Gulf(at our expense, flown there by private Air Force jet, complete with 5-star service. You didn't think he was staying at the Motel 6, did you?).

Let us ClearOurBrainZ !

What are the facts?

The MMS failed to do their job. Witness the recent abrupt departure of the head of MMS. Who ya gonna call?

BP and the other companies involved dropped the ball big-time. They certainly didn't want this spill to happen, but somewhere, someone cut some corners. Now their chickens have come home to roost. You can bet that heads will roll, those who weren't barbecued in the explosion and fire on the doomed rig. A whole sequence of bad or poorly-considered decisions were made, snowballing into disaster.

The government is more in the way than assisting in the efforts to stop the leak and clean up the mess. Mostly they are just churning the water with rhetoric and demands, while being capable of actually doing little to solve the problem. Not just at the Federal level, but at the state and local level as well. Lot's of hot air, but not much accomplished. Unless, of course, you count the political grandstanding and sound bite opportunities they are indulging in at every opportunity.

Remember, the best people aren't in government, just the politically connected ones. The real talent works in the private sector, where the money is. We don't need over-rated government clerks and bean counters trying to tell engineers how to solve a problem. Oversight? Sure. Keeps them(industry) honest. Control? Nope. We need to make a profit to stay in business. The government is only good at loosing money. And wasting it.

Who ya gonna call? Even the Coast Guard admiral said the same on more than one occasion. He really made the "journalist" who asked that question look like an idiot, didn't he? I'll be he made some enemies in the press that day. They(the media) don't like it, either, when THEY get tagged as idiots, even though many of them obviously are.

BP is not liable, or should not be, for losses incurred because the Obama administration decided to kill all offshore drilling, the exact opposite of what their own experts recommended. The experts DID NOT recommend that. The Secretary of the Interior did, most likely at his boss's direction. It is ludicrous to expect BP to pay for losses they did not cause, but were caused by the stupid actions of our government. This kind of blame game politics is what we have come to expect from this administration. They are incapable of rational thought and actions. THEIR OWN EXPERTS told them NOT to shut down everything, but "Father Knows Best!", so they disregarded the information and advice they themselves asked for. Now we will all pay for their stupidity.

Your comments, please.

Indoctrination Of Our Children:By Our Teachers!

So, we have teachers who are telling our children that the US is evil and Mexico is good? That California is occupied Mexico and doesn't belong to the United States?

Using their position as a platform for politics?

Telling students to ignore or refuse to obey the law?

No wonder California is full of crooks and gang-bangers. They learn it in school. And it's all funded by our tax dollars! What a deal!

I guess that kind of work is a good deal, if you can stomach it....and have no scruples.

"A video posted on YouTube shows LA social studies teacher Jose Lara interviewing teachers and students on May 28 at the headquarters of an organization calling for a Mexican revolution on U.S. soil. Soon after he shot the video, many in the group left for an overnight "freedom ride" to Phoenix to protest what Lara tells the camera is a "racist and outrageous" law."

"Four days later, the school board president implored the superintendent of schools to ensure that students in the district be taught that Arizona's law is "un-American" and Jim Crow-like. The law, passed in April, empowers law enforcement officials to question the immigration status of people they think may be in the country illegally."

"Lara, who made the video, teaches at the Unified School District's Santee Education Complex with Ron Gochez, another social studies teacher who came under fire last month after he was identified making incendiary remarks in a widely circulated YouTube video that shows him speaking at a 2007 rally for La Raza, a revolutionary group calling for Mexican revolt inside the United States."

"In that video, Gochez referred to Americans as "frail, racist, white people, and to California as "stolen, occupied Mexico." The video's posting led to a groundswell of anger and a flood of calls for Gochez's firing, but a school district investigation found him fit to continue teaching history to public school students."

"Both Lara and Gochez are active in numerous revolutionary groups, including Union Del Barrio, a La Raza organization that Gochez helped establish across the street from Santee High School."--Fox Nation

For you fact-checkers, I did research this story across many sources, from the mainstream media to the tinfoil hat crowd. The reports on the basic story were all the same, after I subtracted the usual bias and slant inherent in those kinds of sources.

So, this self-professed Marxist, racist, reconquistadore, fifth-columnist, communistic socialist pillar of the community, is just exercising his right to free speech. That's okay. We can exercise our right to ignore him. At least, until he tries to put his words into deeds. THEN, we can judge him....according to the law for which he has such contempt. I don't see anyone holding a gun on him to make him live here. If you, as a US Citizen, cross the line to become a revolutionary, a traitor to your country, the USA, Sir, you will have to be ready to pay the price. If you are lucky, you will just be found guilty of treason and sent away for a long stay in a comfortable prison.

If you're lucky.

Whew! That was quite a rant, you say. Yes, it was written that way on purpose. I wanted to get your attention, to show how easy it is to veer off into emotional rhetoric. Did it work?

This situation in California is but one example of the kind of things happening in our schools today. I'm sure any of you could cite many more. This example above is just one of the most visible and blatant. They can't even discipline or fire the guy! What a system!

For the ClearBrainZ:

To the (hopefully) concerned Parents of children in this school system: You could bulldoze these idiots right out of your schools, and your school boards and administrations, by following some simple rules.

Leave out the emotion.

Get the facts.

Face the reality.

Determine the solution(s).

Try again if you fail, until you get it right.

Be relentless, but patient.

Repeat as necessary.

They wouldn't stand a chance.

Your comments, please.

TH5CS6JS38DZ

They Must Think We Are Stupid.

TH5CS6JS38DZ

A small excerpt to illustrate the contempt and disregard some of our officials and politicos have for us.

The Secretary of the Interior "modified" a report by a panel of experts the Administration asked to look into the subject of offshore drilling. They did their job, but the Secretary chose to modify their report, most likely at the direction of his boss, to reflect the results he and the Administration wanted.

"The experts, recommended by the National Academy of Engineering, say Interior Secretary Ken Salazar modified their report last month, after they signed it, to include two paragraphs calling for the moratorium on existing drilling and new permits."

"Salazar's report to Obama said a panel of seven experts "peer reviewed" his recommendations, which included a six-month moratorium on permits for new wells being drilled using floating rigs and an immediate halt to drilling operations."--Fox News

They also said that because the floating rigs are scarce and in high demand worldwide, they will not simply sit in the Gulf idle for six months. The rigs will go to the North Sea and West Africa, possibly preventing the U.S. from being able to resume drilling for years.

They also said the best and most advanced rigs will be the first to go, leaving the U.S. with the older and potentially less safe rigs operating in the nation's coastal waters.

Right on the money. Literally.

Time to ClearOurBrainZ !

So, what is the problem here?

Well, first, the Secretary added two paragraphs calling for the moratorium on existing drilling and new permits. THE REPORT RECOMMENDED EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE!!! Why did they (the Administration and their minions) even bother to commission the report if they already had decided what they wanted to do? To cover their butts?

Secondly, the Secretary LIED, saying that a panel of seven experts "peer reviewed" his recommendations. A flat-out lie. What is his excuse? He offers none. He doesn't have to. He's the big cheese and we are just the serfs. Back to the fields, serfs, and be quiet about it.

We can't trust you, Mr. Secretary. Resign. You now have zero credibility and cannot be trusted to take care of our business. Even your own subordinates refuse to disclose their plans to our elected Representatives.(see my earlier post on this)

Mr. President, you hired this bozo. It's time to cut your losses, and ours, and correct your mistake. Are you a leader, or not?

Your comments, please.

TH5CS6JS38DZ

Disconnecting the BrainZ

TH5CS6JS38DZ

BP's oil spill in the Gulf region continues to dominate the news.

Knee-jerk reactions and wild-eyed hyperbole continue on all fronts. From the demand by Sen. Robert Menendez to raise the federal Oil Pollution Act of 1990 damage liability cap from $75 million to $10 billion, to the feeding frenzy of the lawyers gorging on the well-chummed waters in the Gulf and surrounding areas, hysteria and strident calls to "do something" abound.

The line of folks standing with their hands out, wanting BP to compensate them(give them money) stretches beyond the event horizon. Everyone wants a piece of the action. Demands by many to "do something" are shouted at every opportunity.

The trouble is, "doing something" without getting the facts, and carefully considering the effects of any actions taken, is a recipe for failure.

The fact is, BP doesn't have a bottomless wallet. They can't pay everyone who makes a demand without performing due diligence to ensure the claims are valid and just. They have a fiduciary responsibility to their shareholders to insure that the company survives and moves beyond this event.

They also owe the public the task of ensuring that future risks of environmental damage are minimized in the future. I think they have done a good job so far, being responsible and doing their best to mitigate the damage. It's a complex engineering problem, as well as a severe blow to their reputation as a respected company. They have a lot of work to do.

That will take a long time. Exxon is still dealing with their spill in Alaska, and that was 20 years ago.

Of course, that doesn't faze any politician bent on maximizing the exposure he/she can get by spouting off at the mouth. The media gleefully pours gasoline on the fire.

Many in the media, especially in the coverage of the spill in the Gulf, have become actors rather than reporters. The story yesterday of the intrepid, brave journalist swimming in the spill with just the top of his head showing was really funny. What was this supposed to accomplish, besides showing us how stupid he was to be swanning around in a toxic sludge?

That was acting, Sir, not journalism.

I'll bet he sues BP if he gets ill. What do you think?

On our southern border:

The furor continues over the death of the young man on the border in El Paso, TX.

The killing of the Mexican by U.S. authorities — the second in less than two weeks — has exposed the distrust and rage of the Mexicans. They believe this was an act of murder.

Chihuahua state Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza blamed the two killings on racism fueled by Arizona's law.

"We believe that this killing, the second in recent days in the border between the two countries, is due to xenophobia and racism, derived from the approval of Arizona's anti-immigration law," Reyes said.--Fox News

The race card is played again....isn't it getting a bit worn?

We almost had an act of war occur regarding this incident:

Shortly after the boy was shot, Mexican soldiers arrived at the scene and pointed their guns at the Border Patrol agents across the riverbank while bystanders screamed insults and hurled rocks and firecrackers, FBI spokeswoman Andrea Simmons said. She said the agents were forced to withdraw.

"It pretty quickly got very intense over on the Mexican side," she said, adding that FBI agents showed up later and resumed the investigation, even as Mexican authorities pointed guns at them from across the river.--Fox News MSNBC

To the rescue, ride the noble heroes in the White Hats:

Amnesty International has joined the ranks of those criticizing the U.S. Border Patrol, calling for a "full, impartial and transparent investigation" into a shooting this week that left a 14-year-old Mexican boy dead.--CNN

Isn't that special? Of course, AI long ago lost any credibility they might have once had, having degenerated into a self-serving pig trough of big salaries and perks for their "workers". Where does their funding come from? How "transparent" are they?

Too many questions, but few answers.

ClearYourBrainz !

Try to ignore the "noise" coming from the media, and get the facts. It won't be easy. We are mostly spoon-fed what the media wants us to hear, and what will boost their readership/viewership. We should try, however.

Ignore the loudmouths with the small brains. They are too numerous already. Hopefully they won't reproduce too much.

Look at the data, consider the consequences of any actions we might take. Face reality.

No shouting. Calm analysis of the facts. That will produce the optimum results.

Your comments, please.

TH5CS6JS38DZ