Halliburton May Be Culprit In BP Oil Rig Explosion

Giant oil-services provider Halliburton may be a primary suspect in the investigation into the oil rig explosion that has devastated the Gulf Coast, the Wall Street Journal reports.

Though the investigation into the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon site is still in its early stages, drilling experts agree that blame probably lies with flaws in the "cementing" process -- that is, plugging holes in the pipeline seal by pumping cement into it from the rig. Halliburton was in charge of cementing for Deepwater Horizon.

"The initial likely cause of gas coming to the surface had something to do with the cement," said Robert MacKenzie, managing director of energy and natural resources at FBR Capital Markets and a former cementing engineer in the oil industry.

The problem could have been a faulty cement plug at the bottom of the well, he said. Another possibility would be that cement between the pipe and well walls didn't harden properly and allowed gas to pass through it.


The possibility of Halliburton's culpability was first reported Monday by HuffPost's Marcus Baram.

According to a lawsuit filed in federal court by Natalie Roshto, whose husband Shane, a deck floor hand, was thrown overboard by the force of the explosion and whose body has not yet been located, Halliburton is culpable for its actions prior to the incident.

The suit claims that the company "prior to the explosion, was engaged in cementing operations of the well and well cap and, upon information and belief, improperly and negligently performed these duties, which was a cause of the explosion."

And Congressman Henry Waxman, the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sent a tough letter on Friday to Halliburton, asking for an explanation of its work on the rig, according to a spokesperson for the committee.

Last year, Halliburton was also implicated for its cementing work prior to a massive blowout off the coast of Australia, where a rig caught on fire and spewed hundreds of thousands of gallons into the sea for ten weeks.

In that incident, workers apparently failed to properly pump cement into the well, according to Elmer Danenberger, former head of regulatory affairs for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, who testified to an Australian commission probing that accident.

"The problem with the cementing job was one of the root causes in the Australian blowout," Danenberger told Huffington Post, adding that the rig crew didn't pick up on indications of an influx of fluids coming back in after they cemented the casing. "The crew didn't pick up on them and didn't take action."

Halliburton declined to return a detailed request for comment from Huffington Post.

The company did issue a press release responding to reports about its work on the rig:

As one of several service providers on the rig, Halliburton can confirm the following:

-- Halliburton performed a variety of services on the rig, including cementing, and had four employees stationed on the rig at the time of the accident. Halliburton's employees returned to shore safely, due, in part, to the brave rescue efforts by the U.S. Coast Guard and other organizations.

-- Halliburton had completed the cementing of the final production casing string in accordance with the well design approximately 20 hours prior to the incident. The cement slurry design was consistent with that utilized in other similar applications.

-- In accordance with accepted industry practice approved by our customers, tests demonstrating the integrity of the production casing string were completed.

-- At the time of the incident, well operations had not yet reached the point requiring the placement of the final cement plug which would enable the planned temporary abandonment of the well, consistent with normal oilfield practice.

-- We are assisting with planning and engineering support for a wide range of options designed to secure the well, including a potential relief well.

Halliburton continues to assist in efforts to identify the factors that may have lead up to the disaster, but it is premature and irresponsible to speculate on any specific causal issues.

Halliburton originated oilfield cementing and leads the world in effective, efficient delivery of zonal isolation and engineering for the life of the well, conducting thousands of successful well cementing jobs each year. The company views safety as critical to its success and is committed to continuously improve performance.

Letter tto Halliburton from Waxman

Gulf of Mexico oil spill called worst in U.S. history

There's no end in sight for the situation in the Gulf of Mexico. Anderson Cooper reports live tonight from the region as BP attempts to stop the leak. Watch "AC360°" tonight at 10 ET on CNN for the latest on stopping the leak.

Venice, Louisiana (CNN) -- The Gulf of Mexico undersea gusher has already spilled more oil than the Exxon Valdez disaster -- possibly more than twice as much, making it the largest oil spill in U.S. history -- government scientists said Thursday.

Scientists observed 130,000 to 270,000 barrels of oil on the water's surface on May 17, and think a similar amount had already been burned, skimmed, dispersed or evaporated.

That would mean 260,000 to 520,000 barrels had been leaked as of 10 days ago. The Exxon Valdez leaked about 250,000 barrels into Alaska's Prince William Sound in 1989.

The estimate came as an underwater tussle between oil and mud unfolded in BP's latest attempt to cap the runaway leak. But whether mud is able to defeat oil won't be known until later Thursday.


Federal authorities remained cautiously optimistic about the maneuver known as a top kill, which BP started Wednesday afternoon.




http://mfile.akamai.com/97892/live/reflector:45685.asx?bkup=49182

"The top kill procedure is going as planned, and it is moving along as everyone had hoped," said U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is leading the government's response to the oil spill.

A BP official said it was too early to draw any conclusions about the success of the effort.

"We appreciate the optimism, but the top kill operation is continuing through the day today -- that hasn't changed," the official said. "We don't anticipate being able to say anything definitive on that until later today."


Meanwhile, government scientists said Thursday that the undersea gusher was spewing oil at a rate of 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day, more than twice the 5,000-barrel estimate given by BP.

The government had two different teams of scientists estimate the rate of flow using two different methods, U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt said.

Also Thursday, sources said that Minerals Management Service Director Elizabeth Birnbaum has been fired.

A senior Obama administration official said an official announcement will be made during the president's news conference scheduled for Thursday afternoon.

The decision to fire Birnbaum comes after a recently released report highlighting what many observers have characterized as widespread corruption at the Minerals Management Service, which is part of the Interior Department.

A dramatic video feed from the ocean floor showed enormous brown plumes billowing at the well. BP Managing Director Bob Dudley described it as a "titanic arm wrestling match" between the gushing oil and the thousands of pounds of drilling mud -- a thick, viscous fluid -- being pumped in to stop the flow.

So far, "that operation is proceeding like we would expect it," Dudley said.

If the mud succeeds in pushing back the oil, BP plans to seal the well with cement.


That response is sure to generate more questions for President Obama, who has come under fire for not doing enough.

Obama fought back the criticism Thursday by announcing that he is delaying oil exploration off the coast of Alaska, canceling the sale of a lease to drill off Virginia and extending the moratorium on permits to drill any new deepwater wells for six months, a White House official said.

He has also launched a presidential commission's safety review of offshore drilling in response to the incident.

He was expected to discuss other recommendations that came from a 30-day review he ordered shortly after the April 20 explosion aboard the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that triggered the leak and left 11 men missing and presumed dead.

"If it's successful, and there are no guarantees, it should greatly reduce or eliminate the flow of oil now streaming into the Gulf from the sea floor," Obama said after discussing the top kill procedure with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who was in Houston, Texas, at the command center. "And if it's not, there are other approaches that may be viable."

But he didn't elaborate on what he meant by "other approaches."

No fewer than four congressional hearings were scheduled Thursday regarding the spill. The committees were set to hear from oil rig workers and their families. Lamar McKay, chairman and president of BP America, and Steven Newman, president and CEO of Transocean, owner of the oil rig that exploded and sank, were also expected to testify.

Democratic Rep. Jim Moran, head of a key House appropriations subcommittee, told Interior Secretary Ken Salazar he "will be responsible" for ensuring there isn't a repeat of the oil spill "catastrophe" in the Gulf of Mexico.

Salazar said he remains "very confident and resolute that we will solve the problem."


Early Thursday morning, the Unified Command in Louisiana said it recalled all 125 commercial vessels in Breton Sound, Louisiana, after four crew members in three vessels involved in the oil recovery operations reported feeling sick.

Medics were going boat to boat to evaluate crew members as a precaution, Lt. Cmdr. Rob Wyman said.

The four crew members, who prompted the recall, reported feeling nauseated and dizzy, and complained of headaches and chest pains, the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center said.

The other crew members on those boats declined treatment at the dock.

"No other personnel are reporting symptoms, but we are taking this action as an extreme safeguard," Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Robinson Cox said.

All four crew members were taken to West Jefferson Medical Center outside New Orleans. Hospital spokeswoman Taslin Alfonzo said that in addition to the four, the medical center also received three other men who were working on the spill cleanup.

The vessels were involved in cleaning up oil that has been gushing into the Gulf of Mexico since the oil rig sank about 40 miles south of Louisiana.


If BP's top kill procedure fails, an attempt would be made to contain more of the flow than is currently being siphoned through a riser insertion tool, according to Doug Suttles, the company's chief operating officer.

That would likely be followed by an attempt to place another blowout preventer on top of the existing one, which failed, he said.

"Everyone has experienced a great deal of frustration that we're 30-some odd days into this oil spill and we haven't yet contained the flow," Suttles said. But, he added, "We're doing everything we can to bring it to closure."

Gulf Oil Spill: White House Covers Up Menacing Oil "Blob"

In an exclusive for Oilprice.com, the Wayne Madsen Report (WMR) has learned from Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sources that U.S. Navy submarines deployed to the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coast have detected what amounts to a frozen oil blob from the oil geyser at the destroyed Deep Horizon off-shore oil rig south of Louisiana. The Navy submarines have trained video cameras on the moving blob, which remains frozen at depths of between 3,000 to 4,000 feet. Because the oil blob is heavier than water, it remains frozen at current depths.

FEMA and Corps of Engineers employees are upset that the White House and the Pentagon remain tight-lipped and in cover-up mode about the images of the massive and fast-moving frozen coagulated oil blob that is being imaged by Navy submarines that are tracking its movement. The sources point out that BP and the White House conspired to withhold videos from BP-contracted submersibles that showed the oil geyser that was spewing oil from the chasm underneath the datum of the Deep Horizon at rates far exceeding originally reported amounts. We have learned that it was largely WMR's scoop on the existence of the BP videos that forced the company and its White House patrons to finally agree to the release of the video footage.

The White House is officially stating that it does not know where the officially reported 10 miles long by 3 miles wide "plume" is actually located or in what direction it is heading. However, WMR's sources claim the White House is getting real-time reports from Navy submarines as to the blob's location. We have learned that the blob is transiting the Florida Straits between Florida and Cuba, propelled by the Gulf's Loop Current, and that parts of it that is encountering warmer waters are breaking off into smaller tar balls that are now washing ashore in the environmentally-sensitive Florida Keys and Dry Tortugas.

Corps of Engineers and FEMA officials are also livid about the cover-up of the extent of the oil damage being promulgated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its marine research vessel in the Gulf, RV Pelican. NOAA stands accused by the aforementioned agencies of acting as a virtual public relations arm for BP. NOAA is a component of the business-oriented Department of Commerce.

Similarly, the Coast Guard, which takes its orders from the cover-up operatives at the Homeland Security Department, is denying the tar balls washing up on the Florida Keys are from the oil mass. WMR has been told the Coast Guard is lying in order to protect the Obama administration, which has thoroughly failed in its response to the disaster. The White House's only concern is trying to limit political damage to its image in the electorally-important state of Florida while the Pentagon has spent between $25 and $30 billion on oil spill operations in the Gulf and the Atlantic to date.

WMR sources also report that the oil mass has resulted in dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico that have cut off oxygen and killed massive numbers of marine creatures and plant life. Seafood wholesalers from the Gulf Coast to New Jersey and New York have been told that the supply of shrimp, oysters, and other seafood from the Gulf is severely in short supply and that they can expect a possible total cut-off as the situation worsens. The shortage will also affect the supply of seafood, especially shrimp, to national seafood restaurant chains like Red Lobster and Long John Silver's.

There is also evidence that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean sank a drill to a depth of 35,000 feet at the Deep Horizon site some six months ago without the required permits from the federal government. WMR has learned from U.S. government sources that the drilling at 35,000 feet caused a major catastrophic event that required the firms' oil rig personnel to quickly pull up the drill and close the drill hole.

However, the Deep Horizon re-sank the drill some six months after the unspecified "catastrophe," resulting in another, more destructive chain of events following the explosion that destroyed the rig, killing eleven workers. When the Deep Horizon blew up, WMR has been told it also "blew down," cracking the the sub-seabed pipe that may have been re-drilled to a depth of between 25,000 to 30,000 feet, again, without a government permit.

Government sources also report that BP is intent on recovering as much oil as possible from the undersea geyser rather than simply plugging and capping the well, which would then place it off-limits to further drilling. The Corps of Engineers reports that BP is playing a game with Obama, convincing him of the feasibility of "shooting junk" into the subterranean pipe, which would stop up the pipe with a manufactured chemical compound called "MUD." However, WMR has been informed that BP actually intends to shoot cement into the pipe in an attempt to cap the well with the later intention of digging a trench for side drilling from the pipe to recover as much oil as possible. The technology that would be employed by BP is the same technology that was used by Kuwait to conduct slant drilling of Iraq's Rumallah oil field -- an event that helped trigger Iraq's invasion of Kuwait.

Corps of Engineers and FEMA sources also give a failing grade to both Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who stands accused of being woefully incompetent in handling the disaster, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. Government sources say both secretaries should immediately step down or be fired.

Gulf oil spill: firms ignored warning signs before blast, inquiry hears

Gulf oil spill: firms ignored warning signs before blast, inquiry hears
Documents suggest BP, Transocean and Halliburton ignored tests indicating faulty safety equipment, says committee


The Deepwater Horizon oil rig burning last month. Photograph: KPA/Zuma/Rex Features

BP was aware of equipment problems aboard the Deepwater Horizon rig hours before the explosion pumped millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, a congressional hearing was told yesterday .

In a second day of hearings, the House of Representatives's energy and commerce committee said documents and company briefings suggested that BP, which owned the well; Transocean, which owned the rig; and Halliburton, which made the cement casing for the well, ignored tests in the hours before the 20 April explosion that indicated faulty safety equipment.

"Yet it appears the companies did not suspend operations, and now 11 workers are dead and the gulf faces an environmental catastrophe," Henry Waxman, the chair of the energy and commerce committee, said, demanding to know why work was not stopped.

The committee heard testimony from oil executives suggesting multiple failures of safety systems that should have given advance warning of a blowout, or should have promptly cut off the flow of oil.

The failures included a dead battery in the blowout preventer, suggestions of a breach in the well casing, and failure in the shear ram, a device of last resort that was supposed to cut through and seal the drill pipe in the event of a blowout.

"Already we have uncovered at least four significant problems with the blowout preventer used on the Deepwater Horizon drill rig," said Bart Stupak, a Democrat from Michigan who chairs the oversight subcommittee.

The examination was far tougher on the oil companies than the Senate hearings on Tuesday. BP also faced a financial sting as the White House asked Congress to approve $118m in recovery costs, to be passed on to the oil company.

While the committee accused the oil industry of failing to anticipate the dangers of offshore drilling, senators John Kerry and Joe Lieberman unveiled a climate and energy bill that for the first time will put a price on carbon and require American cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

Kerry said he believed the oil spill would give impetus to the American Power Act. "This a bill for energy independence after a devastating oil spill, a bill to hold polluters accountable, a bill for billions of dollars to create the next generation of jobs and a bill to end America's addiction to foreign oil."

But after eight months of careful courtship of industry and political opposition, the bill has no Republican backers after Senator Lindsey Graham, a co-author, withdrew his support last month and the immediate response from industry groups and mainstream environmental groups was guarded.

Passage of the law is seen as crucial to a global deal on climate change. The 987-page bill was carefully positioned to secure support from industry and moderate Republicans, making the final product far weaker than environmental organisations wanted.

In response to the oil disaster, the bill moderated its original support for offshore drilling, giving states veto power over projects in waters 75 miles from their shores. States that go ahead will be able to keep a bigger share, 37%, of federal revenues from drilling.

Otherwise the bill calls for 12 nuclear plants and sets aside $2bn for research into clean coal. Greenpeace condemned it as a "dirty energy bailout", with director Phil Radford adding: "It seems that after a year and a half wrangling, the only people who can be happy with this bill are the fossil fuel industry lobbyists."

The bill aims for a 17% cut in emissions over 2005 levels, the same weak target enshrined in a bill passed by the House in June last year. But the Senate version would apply to a smaller share of the US economy. Heavy industries would not be required to cut emissions until 2016.

The bill would stop the Environmental Protection Agency regulating greenhouse gases and would scrap region cap and trade systems now underway in two dozen states and Canadian provinces.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/12/deepwater-gulf-oil-spill-hearing

US Dollar in Major Decline

In today's fast market action, the U.S. dollar has continued its historic decline, falling still further on world markets.

That puts the dollar just an eyelash away from breaking through its all-time low!

Meanwhile, the prices we pay for gold, oil, food and many other critical natural resources are hopping:

Oil has jumped to over $79 per barrel, its highest level this year and nearly DOUBLE its March low.

Copper has just surged by a whopping 4% today.

And gold is back up to $1,061 per ounce, poised for ANOTHER major surge.

Chavez in $2bn Russian Arms Deal

Russia has agreed to lend Venezuela over $2bn (£1.2bn) to buy weapons, President Hugo Chavez has said.

The credit will be used to purchase nearly 100 tanks and a series of anti-aircraft rocket systems from Russia.

In his weekly TV address, Mr Chavez said the weapons were intended to boost Venezuela's defensive capacity.

The deal comes as tensions grow between Venezuela and Colombia over Bogota's plan to allow the US access to several military bases there.



Colombia says the US forces will help in the war against drugs and left-wing guerrillas, and will not destabilise the region.

Russian tour

"The Russian government approved financing of $2.2bn for the cost of the weapons," Mr Chavez said on his weekly programme "Alo Presidente".

The money would be used to buy arms including 92 T-72 tanks and an S-300 rocket launch system, he said.

Mr Chavez suggested that Colombia's decision to grant the US access to seven military bases was a threat to Venezuelan security.

He said the anti-aircraft rockets systems would make it difficult to be attacked.

"With these rockets, it is going to be very difficult for them [the US] to come and bomb us. If that happens, they should know that we will soon have these systems installed, [and] for an enemy that appears on the horizon, there it goes," he said.



Mr Chavez said that the country's vast reserves of oil and gas demanded military protection.

"Venezuela has no plans to invade anybody, nor attack anybody," he said. "These arms are necessary for our national defence."

He also reiterated that his government was committed to developing nuclear power with Russia's help.

"With Russia we have created an atomic energy commission and I tell the world - Venezuela is going to start developing nuclear energy, but we are not going to make an atomic bomb," Mr Chavez said.

The loan announcement came days after Mr Chavez returned from a 10-day tour of Africa, Asia and Europe, during which he held two days of talks in Moscow.

Over recent years the country has signed over $4bn worth of weapons contracts with Russia, including the purchase of 24 Sukhoi fighter jets, numerous combat helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles.

Last November, the two states held joint exercises in the Caribbean Sea, close to US territorial waters.

Tampa, FL - Kathy Castor Town Hall Meeting Riot

In Tampa, FL on Aug. 6th Kathy Castor held a town meeting to discuss the Obama Health Care Bill. The meeting quickly erupted into a near riot over the issues surrounding this controversial Bill.



A town hall meeting to discuss President Obama's health care reform descended into shouting and violence in a Tampa, Fla., suburb Thursday as angry opponents clashed with event organizers.

Close to 1,500 people came to Ybor City to attend the town hall-style meeting on health care and insurance reform featuring Democratic State Rep. Bette Reed and U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor before the event exploded into a near riot.

According to local media reports, the larger-than-expected crowd gathered outside the Hillsborough County Children's Board building where several hundred people, mostly in opposition to government health care, began to loudly chant and scuffle with organizers posted at doorways after the auditorium filled to capacity.

A freelance videographer was roughed up in an altercation, which damaged his camera equipment and glasses, and at least one man was treated for minor injuries after a scuffle left his shirt partially torn from his body.
"That's the most violent anyone has been towards me," Mark Bishop told WTSP-TV.
"It was surprising to say the least."

Video shot outside the auditorium showed several people holding signs and posters while banging on doors and windows, while others argued face-to-face and were seen screaming at one another in the parking lot as police looked on.

Inside, democratic lawmakers had a difficult time delivering their opening remarks as they were met with shouts of "You work for us!'' "Tyranny! tyranny! tyranny!'' and "Read the bill!" the Tampa Tribune reported.

As tensions rose further, Rep. Castor was escorted out of the town hall by police after Reed encouraged her to leave.
"They're hiding from their constituents. She works for us and needs to listen,'' Karen Jaroch, a homemaker and organizer for the 9-12 Project told the Tribune.
"We said all along our role was to come and give an update on the bill in Congress. That's what Betty Reed asked us to do ... and that's what we did," Castor spokeswoman Ellen Gedalius was quoted as saying.

Opponents said liberal organizers had attempted to allow early admission to those who were seen as favorable to health care plans making their way through Congress, but Reed denied the accusations, saying those brought in were organizers helping to set up the town hall.
"I represent a number of people who ask questions about what's going on with health care, so I thought it would be good to put on a meeting and have the congresswoman come in and give an update," Reed told the Tribune. "When you get to the point of possible violence, you've gone over the edge."
Top White House officials counseled Democratic senators Thursday on coping with disruptions at public events on health care this summer, officials said, and promised the party and allies would respond with twice the force if any individual lawmaker is criticized in television advertising.
In the week since the House began its break, several town hall-style meetings have been disrupted by noisy demonstrators. These episodes have drawn widespread media attention, and Republicans have seized on them as well as polls showing a decline in support for President Obama and his agenda as evidence that public support is lacking for his signature legislation.

About 20 protesters gathered in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., Thursday to let Democratic Rep. Scott Murphy know they oppose the health care plans in Washington.
They carried signs saying: "Obamacare Seniors beware! Rationing is here," and "If socialized medicine is best ... why didn't Ted Kennedy go to Canada?" Motorists honked as they drove by.

So far, three House committees have approved health care legislation, and a measure is expected on the floor this fall. One committee has acted, and a bipartisan group of senators on the Finance Committee has been at work for weeks trying to draft a compromise plan.Additional reporting and video at MyFoxTampa.com

State Investigating ACORN.

The Louisiana Attorney General has opened an investigation into the community-organizing organization ACORN.

“All we can say is we are investigating,” wrote Tammi Arender, a spokeswoman for Attorney General Buddy Caldwell’s office.
“We can't say much else since it's open.”

She encouraged anyone with credible information about ACORN to call investigators at (225) 326-6120.

Gov. Bobby Jindal has been under pressure to investigate the nationwide organization, which is based in New Orleans. The chief complaints involve a case of a nearly $1 million embezzlement by the brother of the group’s founder which was never reported to authorities; the lack of accountability for the millions of dollars in taxpayer dollars that ACORN and its related groups have received over several years; and the potential for public money to be used by partisan affiliates of ACORN.

ACORN and its related Project Vote, a nationwide voter-registration drive, have earned the scorn of commentators and critics, who say the effort was a thinly veiled effort to push Democratic candidates and recruit new dues-paying ACORN members. ACORN workers in several states have been arrested in connection with voter-registration fraud, but the organization itself has not been charged with a crime.

Only last year did most of the 51-member governing board of ACORN learn of nearly $1 million in inappropriate charges to an ACORN credit account by Dale Rathke, brother of ACORN founder and then-leader Wade Rathke. Rather than report the incident to authorities, Wade Rathke worked with a smallgroup of ACORN leaders to arrange for a repayment schedule by his brother. After more than $200,000 was repaid, an outside donor stepped in and repaid the balance.

Even so, news of alleged crime and the quiet handling of the repayment rocked the organization. A splinter of the governing board has broken off and is demanding that the group open its books to public inspection. The Acorn 8 says it wants to return the group to its roots of giving a voiceto and empowering low-income people.

They’re concerned that the organization has moved away from that mission and is improperly getting involved in politics.
The Project Vote effort is a tax-exempt charity, and is not allowed to participate in partisan politics. But an internal report by an ACORN attorney raised questions about whether the registration drive was kept separate from other allowable political activities by ACORN.

According to an October story in The New York Times, the lawyer, Elizabeth Kingsley, “found that the tight relationship between Project Vote and Acorn made it impossible to document that Project Vote’s money had been used in a strictly nonpartisan manner. Until the embezzlement scandal broke last summer, Project Vote’s board was made up entirely of Acorn staff members and Acorn members. Ms. Kingsley’s report raised concerns not only about a lack of documentation to demonstrate that no charitable money was used for political activities but also about which organization controlled strategic decisions.”

Alternatively referred to by critics as “radical” and “mob-like” in its tactics, ACORN bills itself as the nation’s largest grassroots movement, with more than 400,000 members in 110 cities. Its Web site says its membership consists of “low- and moderate-income families, working together for social justice and stronger communities.”

Rarely shy in their tactics, ACORN members have made headlines by storming corporate meetings and board rooms, as well as picketing in front of the homes of politicians, to demand action on their programs they say are aimed at social justice. Before its workers drew attention by submitting bogus voter registrations in the name of Mickey Mouse and the like, the groups was best known for pushing “living wage” ordinances in various cities. Those efforts called on governments and their contractors to pay more than the national minimum wage.

Such an effort in New Orleans resulted in voters approving a first-in-the-nation minimum wage citywide in 2002, setting the bottom at $1 above the national minimum. That measure, however, was struck down in court.

Obama Joker

There is a new poster going around that is depicting Barack Obama photo shopped to look like The Joker, from the Batman comic, and has the word Socialism underneath the picture. It is becoming very popular and is showing up on blogs and news sites around the net. So, with out further ado, here is the picture that has everyone talking or yelling, in some cases...

Selling of U.S. Treasuries

Brazil and Canada were among big sellers of Treasurys in the latest month for which data is available and the previous year, catching analysts off guard and raising speculation that quieter nations may be concerned about investing in the U.S.

Brazil and Russia, which along with India and China are part of the so-called BRIC countries, have expressed concern with the strength of the U.S. dollar. It was therefore not so surprising that the two countries reduced their holdings of Treasurys in May, according to the latest data available from the Treasury International Capital report released last week. The two are among the largest holders of Treasurys.

But Canada, the biggest trading partner for the U.S., has publicly said nothing of the sort. Taiwan and France were also notable sellers of Treasurys in the latest month.

"It's a bit like friendly fire," said Michael Woolfolk, senior currency strategist at The Bank of New York Mellon. "We saw some record selling of long-term Treasurys and that's exactly the kind of thing Wall Street and the government have been worried about for years, and it came from some unexpected places."

Markets, especially currencies, took comfort that China - the largest holder of U.S. Treasurys - continued adding to its holdings despite repeated commentary from officials that it may do otherwise. Japan, the second largest holder, reduced its Treasury portfolio in the latest month but has increased it substantially in the previous 12 months.

Obama's Birth Certificate ??

Why won’t Michele Bachmann come clean about her views on President Obama’s birth certificate? For a congresswoman who flaunts suspicions about the U.S. Census, foreign currencies, the Federal Reserve and Obama’s allegedly “anti-American views,” she’s been strangely silent on the rampant (and roundly disproven) rumor spread by so-called “birthers” that Obama was born outside the United States.

Bachmann isn’t yet, for example, counted among the 10 Republican co-sponsors of U.S. Rep. Bill Posey’s H.R. 1503, a bill requiring presidential candidates to provide copies of their birth certificates. But a lot of her friends are, as Daniel Nichanian at Campaign Diaries points out:

Interestingly, [U.S. Reps. Dan] Burton and [Kenny] Marchand’s [sic] addition to the list means that a majority of the Posey bill’s sponsors are now also co-sponsors of Michele Bachmann’s paranoid foreign currency-banning constitutional amendment (the other 3 are Posey, [U.S. Reps. Marsha] Blackburn and [John Abney] Culberson). We are here talking about the congressmen who are closest to movement conservatives.

(Nichanian may mean to say that half the sponsors of the birther bill also back Bachmann’s, but that’s still a swell segment.)

Bachmann’s fans, such as one who left this comment at Bachmann’s YouTube channel, are begging her to probe the whereabouts of Obama’s birth certificate:



She’s ordinarily got an appetite, not a weak stomach, when it comes to her fans’ more fringey causes. In a video from a recent Minnesota Republican gathering, she finds common cause with a group pushing DVDs about “The Obama Deception” and 9/11 controlled-demolition conspiracies that make former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman shy away.

You’d think a foreign correspondent like Bachmann would be as interested in the problem of foreign U.S. presidents as she is in the problem of foreign cats and dogs. U.S. funds being spent on domesticated animals that, well, aren’t domestic is a pet peeve of Bachmann’s from her first term. She was still bitching about it last Friday on local radio, straying from the topic of health care reform:

We voted on a bill that would send millions of dollars to foreign countries to pay for foreign cats and foreign dogs. … Then the next day, as if that was to add insult to injury, we voted on another bill that spent millions on foreign birds in foreign countries.

David Weigel, a reporter at our sister site The Washington Independent, has been tracking birtherism closely. Asked if he has seen signs of any Bachmann involvement in the birther movement, Weigel says “Not yet.”

Glaxo Limiting Swine Flu Testing

(Bloomberg) -- The swine flu shot that GlaxoSmithKline Plc is developing will be tested on a limited number of people.“The total population studied in clinical trials will be limited due to the need to provide the vaccine to governments as quickly as possible,” the London-based company said in a statement today.

Swine Flu - The Real Deal !!

I have been closely following MSM published and broadcast pieces as well as GLP posted articles on the swine flu pandemic, and, as you know, there has been a mountain released with such velocity it is often difficult to keep the pace. Frequency (and volume) strategy is used when one wants to get a message out. Marketing 101. The speed of release can be attributed to a fast-changing environment, a well-oiled communication machine (established pipeline…when it suits them) as well as good strategy.

However, there were three elements that raised the red flags :

1. Certain H1N1 flu information is being stressed/promoted over equally or more important H1N1 information (instead of informing the public on all data, one main message is being pushed AND it is emotionally based rather than quantitative)
2. The message has reached fervor pitch indicating a level of desperation to get this primary message out and
3. I started to notice discrepancies in reports.

These combined elements prompted me to research the actual numbers and events to determine if I should be as concerned as the media and health agencies seem to want me to be and to answer a few questions nagging me. In other words, do the numbers and the evidence really support this massive push, especially to the point of justifying the removal of my health decision rights for “the good of society’?
Following is what I gathered and found:
Can I Trust the WHO Numbers?
WHO is now recommending that countries STOP testing for H1N1 and “assume” that all flu cases are H151. Yes, that’s right. Lump all cough, sore throat and fever symptoms into the H1N1 reporting numbers. How much are - or will - these numbers be inflated with this methodology?[link to www.upi.com]
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Can I Trust the CDC Numbers?
CDC is reporting aggregate cases of both confirmed and unconfirmed (suspected). They are collecting the data separately. Fair enough. But they are not reporting the numbers separately to the people. Why not?:
[link to www.godlikeproductions.com]
But, further, the CDC also admits the reported numbers include ALL flu not just swine flu, which is clearly indicated on their website and interactive maps; however, the media obviously pay little attention to this quite important differentiation and tend to identify all as “swine flu”:
“The flu activity map includes both novel H1N1 flu and seasonal flu because both novel H1N1 and seasonal flu viruses are still circulating. Illnesses caused by seasonal and novel H1N1 flu infections have similar symptoms and can’t be differentiated from one another without specific laboratory tests.”
[link to www.cdc.gov]
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Is H1N1 a ‘Super Spreader?
I found that it has been scientifically shown that this H1N1 strain “spreads from person to person less effectively than other seasonal flu viruses” and that it “binds human receptors much less effectively than other flu viruses that infect humans”.
[link to www.upi.com]
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What are the H1N1 numbers to date compared to the historical regular, seasonal flu numbers?Even though my confidence in the CDC numbers is in question, let’s review what they do report…Flu mortality stats per CDC, which include all forms/strains of flu as well as pneumonia, (referred to as the P&I Index):2005 = 63,001 people died2006 = 56,000 people died“2007-08 season, the proportion of deaths due to pneumonia and influenza was higher than the previous two years, but was similar to the 2004-05 season.”Between 1993 to 2003, an average of 36,171 people died each year of flu[link to www.cnsnews.com] [link to www.cdc.gov] Compared to…H1N1 current 2009 stats per CDC as of July 17th:
Jan to July 17 = 263 deaths
Jan to July 17 AGGREGATE confirmed AND suspected infected = 40,617
We have less sickened to date than all who died each year in 2005, 2006 and possibly 2007-2008.
Additionally, to reach the 2006 mortality number (chosen in absence of 07-08), based on calendar months (not seasonal), would require a 9,824% mortality increase. This is a very loose, extrapolated number to give a general idea only; seasonal variables are not available for proper calculations.
[link to www.cdc.gov]
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Pandemic? Epidemic?
Well, H1N1 is not even an epidemic according to the CDC historical charts…even when H1N1 is combined with all other flu and pneumonia deaths. Take a peek. We haven’t crossed the epidemic threshold, and, per the chart, mortality rates were much worse in 2007-2008 . Where was the gov and health agency panic then?? Did I sleep through it? These numbers include ALL flu and pneumonia, in which swine flu (H1N1) is a SUBSET[link to www.cdc.gov] The chart piqued my curiosity, so I then compared the current P&I morality rates to the first week of flu season the previous four years – the first week of flu season because the CDC either does not track from June – Aug each year (hardly) or they are not exposing the data. Interesting it is that this is all unfolding when we don’t have historical comparative data. Even more interesting is the mortality chart indicates the data do exist.Additionally, mortality rate was chosen because the CDC does not report raw numbers for P&I illnesses either confirmed or suspected except this year. Again, why?
2009Week ending July 11, 2009 = 6.5%
Epidemic Threshold = 6.6%
2008Week ending Oct 4, 2008 = somewhere around 5.8% *only a chart was provided; no raw data
Epidemic Threshold = unknown
2007Week ending Oct 6, 2007 = 5.9%
Epidemic Threshold = 5.8%
2006Week ending Oct 7, 2006 = 6.26%
Epidemic Threshold = 6.31%2005
Week ending Oct 8, 2005 = 5.5%
Epidemic Threshold = 6.7%
The mortality rate is comparable to the first week of flu season to epidemic threshold ratio in 2006 and 2007, did we have this level of hype in those years? If not, then why not?
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What are the WHO Pandemic Numbers?
As of July 6th, the WHO reports less than 100,000 confirmed cases of swine flu illness WORLDWIDE. Only 100,000 globally sickened when in the US we have an average of 36K regular flu deaths on average per year? But we have a pandemic?What is that global infection rate? .00148%Yes, that is one one-hundredth of one percent of the entire population, but it’s a pandemic?
[link to www.who.int]
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What numbers are the media reporting?
Yet media are getting away with inflating the numbers to “over a million” Americans sickened”:[link to www.sfgate.com] What else is the media reporting?At every turn, there are swine flu stories in the news of people dying and contracting H1N1, and thousands of articles on swine flu as a general topic. A “H1N1” search in Google news alone resulted in 204,998 articles
[link to news.google.com] Comparatively, a “healthcare plan” search in Google news resulted in only 8,536 articles.[link to news.google.com] It is not my intent in any way to minimize those deaths and illnesses, but these events, unfortunately, happen every year with regular flu. We just don’t hear about it in the media. In fact, 83 children in the US died from the flu in the 2007-2008 season. It is harsh, but it’s factual. Look again at the CDC numbers and specifically the mortality chart above. At minimum, why aren’t the actual historical numbers being reported with these emotional stories for perspective to prevent public overreaction?
[link to www.cdc.gov]
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Will the Vaccine Be Safe? Effective?
Well, the US gov has been advised to accept the vaccine without the safety and efficacy tests.[link to www.webmd.com]
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If the Vaccine Is not Safe or Effective, Will the Makers be Held Accountable for Damage?
No. Congress has made them legally “immune” (pun fully intended), and Kathleen Sebelius, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, reinforced this with a recent, signed document from her office.
[link to apnews.excite.com]
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Summation
My summation is brief because I believe the data and evidence above speak without needed explanation: I’m not stating that people are not ill; rather, I am presenting the actual numbers, which indicate this is a mis- and dis-information fear campaign perpetrated on the people. The numbers do not warrant the emotional hype.I welcome any additional evidence and certainly corrections if needed.Oh, and on another note, have you noticed that: From 2003 – to date, the Military Industrial Complex made off like bandits…
From 2007 – 2008, it was Big Oil’s turnFrom 2008 to date, the BankersNow it appears it is Big Pharma and Big MedHas all the money been transferred to the intended recipients? FFS, there isn’t any money left. Is this it?