Gulf oil spills much more common than previously reported

Those pesky facts keep getting in the way of a touching love story by friends of Big Oil. Washington Post:

Many policymakers think that the record before the BP oil spill was exemplary. In a House hearing Thursday, Rep. John J. "Jimmy" Duncan Jr. (R-Tenn.) said, "It's almost an astonishingly safe, clean history that we have there in the gulf." Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the industry's "history of safety over all of those times" had provided the "empirical foundation" for U.S. policy.

But federal records tell a different story. They show a steady stream of oil spills dumping 517,847 barrels of petroleum -- which would fill an equivalent number of standard American bathtubs -- into the Gulf of Mexico between 1964 and 2009. The spills killed thousands of birds and soiled beaches as far away as Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula. Altogether, they poured twice as much as oil into U.S. waters as the Exxon Valdez tanker did when it ran aground in 1989.

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Shirley Sherrod's background in civil rights

This turned up as a reference in a story John did earlier, but I wanted to expand on it. The Atlanta Journal Constitution had a nice piece this week on Shirley Sherrod's background in the fight for justice. Patricia Harris-Lacewell alluded to it in her comments on Countdown this week — saying basically that the NAACP only needed to look at her last name to know who she and her family were.

The whole piece is important for the information it provides, and a great read. A taste:

Shirley Sherrod shaped by father's slaying

Shirley Sherrod’s 17th year probably did more to mold her personality and set her on a path that traveled through the dangerous, volatile world of race.

That year, 1965, her father was shot and killed by a white man in a dispute over cows, the family says.

That year, she was one of the first black students to integrate the high school in Baker County in rural southwest Georgia.

That year, she decided to become involved in the civil rights movement in that area of the state.

And in later years, like some of the farmers she helped when she worked for a non-profit, Sherrod and her husband lost a group farm to bankruptcy.

The expanded story of her father's death, told later in the article, is especially striking. She's been on quite a trajectory, partly intentional and partly due to forces outside herself. Looks like she's still on that mixed path.

She's another fighter, and a considered one. It will be interesting to see what her next move is.

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Harry Reid on DADT and ENDA

Joe Sudbay got a chance to ask Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid about "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" and ENDA at the Netroots Nation conference in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 24, 2010. Nothing earth-shattering in his response - just wanted to let folks know we're still pushing our congressional leaders.

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Harry Reid at Netroots Nation

Reid began his opening statement with a shout out to Lt. Dan Choi who was discharged from the Army on Thursday. That generated a standing ovation.

The Q&A; is being moderated by Joan McCarter from DailyKos.

Reid attended the first Netroots Nation, then known as YearlyKos, back in 2006.

UPDATE @ 6:56 PM. Joan McCarter began the Q and A by handing Senator Reid the West Point ring of Dan Choi. Reid said he didn't deserve it and wanted to give it back. After some shouts from the audience, Reid said he would hold on to it til the DADT repeal is signed. Dan got on the stage and hugged Reid. It's was pretty intense. Also, my tweets on the speech are here. Read the rest of this post...

Vibration power

It currently only works for small appliances such as TV remote control but it's still early days. BBC:

The idea behind the technology is to remove the need for toxic rechargeable batteries and other disposable batteries that can harm the environment, said the company.

So far, two of the AA sized prototypes developed produce a voltage of 3.2V or lower, which is just enough to charge low power consumption device such as TV remote controls.

Despite the low power, Carl Telford an analyst at electronics business consultants Strategic Business Insights, says the batteries are a significant break through with much potential.

"It's great because they will work OK in a low-power application for AA batteries that one can shake without breaking; a remote control, for example," he told BBC News.

"Of its size, it is small, compact, and directly compatible with existing power sources. Brother says that it can produce enough power at reasonably low frequencies, around 4-8Hz - this is impressive.

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Judy Woodruff looks at why there's a lack of enthusiasm among Dems.

This is definitely worth watching. Excellent analysis featuring Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-AZ) and Kerry Eleveld from The Advocate. The video is here, too.

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Livestream of Speaker Pelosi at Netroots Nation

Video clips at Ustream Read the rest of this post...

Another GOP gubernatorial candidate warns of secession

Why do so many Republicans hate America and openly talk about treason? Good luck with prying away that economic juggernaut away from the rest of the country. How ever could the country survive without Tennessee? The state - like most of the red states - receives much more federal money than they pay into the system. Those states who pay more would probably be glad to unload the freeloading state of Tennessee.

Rep. Zach Wamp, one of three candidates seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination in Tennessee, told Hotline OnCall that Perry had the right idea. Wamp argued that mandates forced on the states by the Obama administration's health care bill have put secession on the table.

"I hope that the American people will go to the ballot box in 2010 and 2012 so that states are not forced to consider separation from this government," Wamp told Hotline OnCall Friday.

Wamp said he hopes voters send a message in November that the federal government should "strictly adhere" to the Constitution.

"Patriots like Rick Perry have talked about these issues because the federal government is putting us in an untenable position at the state level," he told OnCall.

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Oil trading company fined for exporting toxic waste to Africa

While the financial penalty sounds light, it is encouraging that finally that industry is being held accountable for the damage inflicted in Africa.

The oil trader Trafigura has been fined ¤1m (£840,000) for illegally exporting tonnes of hazardous waste to west Africa. It is the first time the London-based firm has been convicted of criminal charges over the environmental scandal, in which 30,000 Africans were made ill when the toxic waste was dumped in Ivory Coast.

A court in the Netherlands also ruled today that the firm had concealed the dangerous nature of the waste when it was initially unloaded from a ship in Amsterdam.

Eliance Kouassi, president of the victims' group in Ivory Coast, said: "Finally Trafigura has been called out in a court of law. It's a real victory for us." The fine is, however, only half the amount sought by the Dutch prosecutors.

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My train to Spain

I'm jumping on an overnight train to Madrid this evening so am getting into the spirit with a bit of Paco de Lucia. (BTW, is that bongo drum percussionist great or what?) From there I head down to Andalusia in the middle of nowhere. We're spending the month at a little house far that is a few kilometers from a small village. The plan is to get in lots of cycling, a bit of hiking in the national park and eating local food. It's a completely new region for me so I look forward to seeing some of the sites and Jojo is brushing up on her Spanish. Have a great summer. Read the rest of this post...

Deepwater oil rig alarms turned off prior to crisis

It's important to get your full eight hours of sleep in each night. The last thing anyone needs is some stinking emergency alarm going off warning of potential disaster. What could possibly go wrong?

The revelation that alarm systems on the rig at the centre of the disaster were disabled – and that key safety mechanisms had also consciously been switched off – came in testimony by a chief technician working for Transocean, the drilling company that owned the rig.

Mike Williams, who was in charge of maintaining the rig's electronic systems, was giving evidence to the federal panel in New Orleans that is investigating the cause of the disaster on 20 April, which killed 11 people.

Williams told the hearing today that no alarms went off on the day of the explosion because they had been "inhibited". Sensors monitoring conditions on the rig and in the Macondo oil well beneath it were still working, but the computer had been instructed not to trigger any alarms in case of adverse readings.

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Over 4 million views since late March

On the surface it seems hard to believe, but then you read this. Read the rest of this post...