Night Music Open Thread

Robert Cray - Poor Johnny

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BP may be fined over yet another pipeline spill in Alaska

So is this just business as usual for Big Oil or are they really that much worse? The Guardian:

In 2006, a corroded pipeline leaked 200,000 gallons of oil on to the tundra in the worst leak in the history of the North Slope. The company was sentenced to three years' probation and ordered to pay $20m (£12.5m) in criminal penalties and restitution.

The leak in 2009 occurred when a pipeline at the BP-operated Lisburne oil field burst, leaking nearly 46,000 gallons of crude and oily water near Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.

After roughly 165 days of low-temperature warnings, BP found ice in the pipe. Fifteen days later, operators discovered the rupture.

Investigators said BP operators had "failed to respond to the alarms and failed to investigate or troubleshoot the cause of the alarms" and argued that BP should have known better, as it had suffered a similar ruptures in other frozen pipelines as far back as 2001.

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Boehner and Congress exempt from TSA procedures

Let them go through the porno-scans and groping. All of them, plus their spouse and kids. Then let's see how long it takes for the security theater to change.

Representative John A. Boehner, soon to be the Speaker of the House, has pledged to fly commercial airlines back to his home district in Ohio. But that does not mean that he will be subjected to the hassles of ordinary passengers, including the controversial security pat-downs.

As he left Washington on Friday, Mr. Boehner headed across the Potomac River to Reagan National Airport, which was bustling with afternoon travelers. But there was no waiting in line for Mr. Boehner, who was escorted around the metal detectors and body scanners, and taken directly to the gate.

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Former first lady Barbara Bush thinks Sarah Palin should stay in Alaska

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New study blasts quality of California insurance customer service

Once again proving that privatizing everything isn't the answer. Their masters are the shareholders and their precious mega-pay deals. The industry will always have much more to gain by denying customers than by paying, which brings us back to the public option that was dropped by the White House and Democrats in Congress. Being afraid of a fight is no way to stand up for voters over the deep pockets of industry. LA Times:

Most major health insurers in California do a poor job of paying claims and providing customer service for members in preferred provider organization plans, according to a new state survey.

The evaluation by the California Department of Insurance comes as many workers assess their healthcare options this month before enrolling for another year of insurance benefits through PPO plans that serve 2.5 million people statewide.

In the quality report card, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California, Health Net Inc., UnitedHealthcare and Cigna Corp. received the lowest possible ratings — poor — for customer service. Aetna Inc. earned a slightly better rating of fair.

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TSA exempts pilots from porno-scan or gropes at airports

A very good first step.

The Transportation Security Administration agreed Friday to let uniformed airline pilots skip the body scans and aggressive pat-downs at the heart of a national uproar. The pilots must pass through a metal detector at airport checkpoints and present photo IDs that prove their identity.

The victory for pilots followed a 2-year lobbying campaign by their union leaders that reached a fever pitch in the past two weeks. Their bid was boosted by hero pilot Chesley Sullenberger, who said pilots should be treated as "trusted partners" in the fight against terrorism.

But just days before the hectic Thanksgiving holiday travel period, TSA chief John Pistole offered little hope of a similar reprieve for regular passengers, who have complained more loudly about the new measures. Some are urging travelers to refuse to go through full-body scanners, which produce a virtually naked image.

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Cancer surviving flight attendant forced to remove prosthetic breast during pat-down

Maybe things are going just a bit too far, no?

In early August Bossie was walking through security when she says she was asked to go through the new full body-scanners at Concourse "D" at Charlotte Douglas International.

She reluctantly agreed. As a 3-year breast cancer survivor she says she didn't want the added radiation through her body. But, Bossi says she did agree.

"The T.S.A. Agent told me to put my I.D. on my back," she said. "When I got out of there she said because my I.D. was on my back, I had to go to a personal screening area."

She says two female Charlotte T.S.A. agents took her to a private room and began what she calls an aggressive pat down. She says they stopped when they got around to feeling her right breast… the one where she'd had surgery.

"She put her full hand on my breast and said, 'What is this?'. And I said, 'It's my prosthesis because I've had breast cancer.' And she said, 'Well, you'll need to show me that'."

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Mother Jones on a Five Step Plan to Airport Security

It's definitely worth a read. The contributors to the plan are all security experts. And for those who still are impressed by the 80% approval ratings for the porno-scan or grope program, remember how high support was the Iraq war at the beginning. High support doesn't mean that something is right and are more a matter of better PR spin. Read the rest of this post...

The Jam - Town Called Malice

In theory, I should be out on the road by now, a few hours into a weekend ride. It's all a matter of how the weather works out. Or at least whether or not it rains. The weather is certainly going to get worse but it's still miserable getting used to the cold.

So how much Christmas stuff is everyone seeing? I've been seeing it for weeks and the local Monoprix filled out their toy section at least a week ago. Maybe more. Read the rest of this post...

Roubini warns on potential nightmare scenario in EU

Everyone is hoping it doesn't get to this point, but it's not a pretty picture. Ireland is the immediate headache but Portugal and even France (and Italy) could sneak into the picture soon.

Looking beyond France to the future trajectory of the crisis, Roubini says, "The next one in line is going to be Portugal. "Due to the severity of Portuguese debt problems, Portugal is going to lose market access—and that means they are going to require IMF support as well.

But the real nightmare domino is Spain. Roubini refers to the Spanish debt problems as "the elephant in the room".

"You can try to ring fence Spain. And you can essentially try to provide financing officially to Ireland, Portugal, and Greece for three years. Leave them out of the market. Maybe restructure their debt down the line."

"But if Spain falls off the cliff, there is not enough official money in this envelope of European resources to bail out Spain. Spain is too big to fail on one side—and also too big to be bailed out."

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Banks fighting to repeal provision that requires them to hold their own risky loans

There's nothing quite like turning back the clock and trying to create another economic crisis. ThinkProgress:

A provision of the Dodd-Frank financial reform law that is often overlooked is one requiring lenders to hold onto a portion of risky loans that they make. This addresses a key problem that contributed to the country’s economic meltdown, which was the ability for subprime lenders to securitize and sell off an entire loan, divorcing themselves from the risk of mortgage default.

As the Center for Public Integrity has pointed out, during the subprime bubble, “lenders were selling their loans to Wall Street, so they wouldn’t be left holding the deed in the event of a foreclosure.” Wall Street then sold the loans off to investors, moving the default risk even further down the road. This process fueled a dramatic decline in lending standards.

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