ONTARIO SALES TAX TRANSITION BENEFIT 06/18/10
http://www.rev.gov.on.ca/en/taxchange/index.html
Your Tax Cuts
Your first Ontario Sales Tax Transition Benefit payment is part of Ontario's plan for jobs and growth,which includes tax cuts and credits and the Harmonized Sales Tax (HST).
Did you know?
-Ontario's tax changes and the HST will help create nearly 600,000 more Ontario jobs over the next 10 years.
-About 83% of consumer purchases will see no new tax under the HST.
-Items like basic groceries,prescription drugs and municipal public transit will be exempt from the HST.
Learn more about tax benefits,credits and the HST at ontario.ca/taxchange.
OFFICIAL SALES TAX BENEFIT NOTICE I GOT 06/18/10
My Name:Date: Social Insurance number:Tax Year:Tax Center - Summerside PE CIN 5Z7 1-877-627-6645
Ontario's tax changes will help create 591,000 jobs,cut personal income taxes and make our province more attractive for new business investment. As part of that plan,on July 1,2010, federal and provincial sales taxes will be merged into a single sales tax--the HST.
To help you through this transition,you are recieving the Sales Tax Transition Benefit,with payments delivered in June 2010, December 2010 and June 2011. This is in addition to the personal income tax cuts that started this year.for more information, visit www.ontario.ca/taxchange. Sincerely,Dalton Mcguinty,Premier of Ontario
THIS WILL PROBABLY END UP BEING A CARBON TAX, CAP & TRADE, ENVIROMENTAL INVISIBLE SKY HOOK, INVISIBLE SMOKE TAX TO THE IMF WORLD GOVERNMENT - BANK OF THE WORLD TREASURY. HARMONIZED SALES TAX-GOOD DISQUISE NAME FOR IT,IF THATS WHAT IT ENDS UP BEING.IT SOUNDS LIKE WE WILL BE TAXED NOW ON ALMOST EVERYTHING.GET READY AMERICA THE CLIMATE CHANGE-CARBON TAX WILL TAX EVERYTHING ON USE TO.INTERESTING IT STARTS JULY 1,2010 JUST AFTER THE G-20 MEETING.
GRANT JEFFREY ON WORLD GOVERNMENT CONTROL AND THE ENVIROMENTAL RELIGION CULT SCAM OF GLOBAL WARMING UNDER FOR THE GOOD OF THE EARTH SCAM.CARBON TAX,INVISIBLE SKY HOOKS AND INVISIBLE SMOKE SCAM.
http://www.god.tv/video/play?video=1279
Saturday, June 19, 2010
EU TO URGE STIMULUS EXIT AT G-20
GRANT JEFFREY ON WORLD GOVERNMENT CONTROL AND THE ENVIROMENTAL RELIGION CULT SCAM OF GLOBAL WARMING UNDER FOR THE GOOD OF THE EARTH SCAM.CARBON TAX,INVISIBLE SKY HOOKS AND INVISIBLE SMOKE SCAM.
http://www.god.tv/video/play?video=1279
Europe to urge exit from stimulus schemes at G20: Merkel
By Sarah Marsh Sarah Marsh – JUNE 19,10
BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe will push for a swift exit from fiscal stimulus programs and a focus on budget consolidation at the G20 meeting next week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.European participants are of the opinion that this is urgently necessary to prevent such crises from happening again in the future, Merkel said in her weekly podcast.Leaders of the 20 biggest developed and developing economies meet on June 26-27 in Toronto, Canada.Merkel's stance contrasted with that of U.S. President Barack Obama, who this week said public finance problems should be addressed in the medium term -- a warning that clamping down budgets should not be done at the expense of recovery.European governments have been launching austerity measures to head off a spread of the debt crisis begun in Greece.Merkel's cabinet earlier this month unveiled Germany's biggest post-war austerity drive, with planned budget cuts and taxes amounting to 80 billion euros over the next four years.
Economic growth must be sustainable, environmentally friendly and oriented toward the future, Merkel said.She added that the European Union would push again for a global financial transaction tax at the G20 meeting.Germany and France have assembled support for the idea in Europe but most analysts expect next week's meeting to formally bury proposals for a single global bank tax and focus instead on advancing tough new capital rules and ways of winding up failing institutions without taxpayer help.Canada, who hosts next week's summit, has led resistance to the idea of a common levy.There will certainly be controversial discussions about this but I am happy the European council reached a common stance on this for the G20 meeting,Merkel said.A financial transaction tax is contentious because many believe such curbs in Europe would drive trading to other continents. France has supported the idea but Britain is opposed.In a separate interview with German weekly WirtschaftsWoche, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he hoped Britain would eventually support the tax, once the new government had settled down.I would much prefer to see a financial transaction tax introduced throughout the entire EU including Britain rather than simply in the euro zone, he told the magazine, in a pre-release of the article on Saturday.Merkel said progress had been made on regulatory issues, but further progress needed to be made for example on rules on derivatives in the EU.(editing by Patrick Graham)
Canada wants G20 to set tough new fiscal targets By David Ljunggren - Fri June 18, 3:27 pm ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will ask the G20 to agree to tough new fiscal targets at a summit next week, but said the job of tackling debt should only start once the global recovery is assured.Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent a letter to his G20 counterparts on Thursday proposing they agree to cut deficits in half by 2013 and stabilize or start reducing debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016, a senior aide to Harper told reporters on Friday.Canada, which hosts the G8 and G20 summits next week, said countries should fully implement their fiscal stimulus plans but should start the process of fiscal consolidation by next year at the latest.The proposed targets are mostly aimed at advanced countries and will require substantial effort by some, while many emerging economies are already well positioned, officials said in a briefing with reporters.The lesson here is that particularly the advanced countries with higher deficits need to get their fiscal houses in order, but there is a balance to be achieved here between sustained recovery and getting deficits down, the official said.
A lot of countries will get there sooner, including Canada,he said.Asked if some countries would not find Harper's targets too onerous, the official replied:They will have plans to end the stimulus, which will cut their expenditures. And furthermore our nations are recovering, so the revenues will climb and the expenditures will be cut.A unified position on sovereign debt levels is an attempt to soothe markets still on edge over the Greek debt crisis and big deficits elsewhere in Europe.After nearly two years of co-ordinated effort by governments to pour billions into the global economy and stave off an even worse recession, the crisis-forged unity appears to be weakening when it comes to agreeing on when to withdraw stimulus measures.Debt-wary Germany has been pressing for a swift clamp-down on public spending while the Obama administration has put more emphasis on protecting the still-fragile U.S. recovery.
AVOID FINGER-POINTING
Another thorny subject that Canada said will be raised at the G20 meeting, at least behind closed doors, is China's currency peg to the U.S. dollar.As the United States stepped up its pressure on China to move toward a market-based exchange rate and Beijing warned others not to meddle in its affairs, Canada said the issue would inevitably be discussed by the leaders but that no one country should be singled out.
China's foreign exchange policy is just one of several reforms needed across the G20 countries to ensure balanced global growth, he added.A key message here will be that across the G20 all countries have things they need to do to support strong, sustained, balanced growth,the official told reporters in a briefing.One of those things that I imagine will be discussed is the contribution a more flexible China exchange rate will make to that. But I think it's important to avoid finger-pointing here and to say this in the context of a broader framework where all G20 countries have responsibilities and have policies to pursue.(Reporting by David Ljunggren, writing by Louise Egan; editing by Mario Di Simine and Rob Wilson)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Tropical Storm Celia forms off Mexico's coast
JUNE 19,10
MIAMI – Tropical Storm Celia has formed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico, though forecasters say it is expected to remain well offshore.The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Saturday morning that Celia is about 355 miles (575 kilometers) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico. Winds are reaching about 40 mph (65 kilometers per hour).The depression is moving to the west-southwest at about 5 mph (7kilometers per hour).Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Blas was still swirling 455 miles (735kilometers) south of the southern tip of Baja California. Its winds were at about 65 mph (100 kilometers per hour), but forecasters say it will likely get weaker starting tonight.
More than a million evacuated in China over flood threat
JUNE 19,10
BEIJING (AFP) – More than a million people living along rivers in China's south have been evacuated with water rising to dangerous levels, state media said Saturday, as torrential rains left at least 88 dead.The government said more than 1.4 million residents living on river banks and in low-lying areas had had to move, according to the official China Daily.Zhang Zhitong, deputy director of the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said China's second-largest waterway, the Pearl River, which crosses the south, had breached warning marks on Thursday.
Torrential and virtually unrelenting rain has battered large swathes of China's south since Sunday, triggering devastating floods and landslides that have killed 88 people.The official Xinhua news agency reported that, in the southeastern province of Fujian alone, 31 people had died in rain-triggered landslides.Photos on China News Service showed people in Fujian's Gutian county wearing lifejackets and wading deep in water through flooded streets.State television broadcast images of a bridge in another Fujian town collapsing as water raged underneath it, and in neighbouring Guangdong province, houses were shown almost entirely submerged.Meanwhile, diggers in nearby Jiangxi were seen clearing roads of huge rocks caused by landslides and workers hung off poles, working at restoring electricity for residents.Rescue workers in another town in Jiangxi were seen throwing ropes across a raging river to help people cross to the other side, as they also fetched children stuck in a kindergarten and put them in a small boat.According to the latest statement from the nation's civil affairs ministry, 48 people were still missing in eight provinces and regions in the south and the cost of the disaster had now reached 11 billion yuan (1.6 billion dollars).A total of 155,000 houses had been damaged -- almost half of which had collapsed -- and more than 500,000 hectares of crops had been affected, the ministry said.Authorities have raised the level of their emergency response as rescue and flood-prevention work continues, it added.The National Meteorological Centre warned on Saturday of more rainstorms to come, a day after it issued an orange storm alert -- just one level lower than the nation's most serious red alert.
There will be heavy rain over the next three days, and flood-control work will face enormous challenges,it said in a statement, adding that some of the rainfall in the south was up to three times greater than normal years.
Storms nail Midwest, kill 1, damage skyscraper
Sat Jun 19, 6:51 am ET
DEXTER, Mich. – Severe thunderstorms sweeping through the Midwest have killed a motorist in Michigan, shattered windows in an iconic Chicago skyscraper and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people.Sheriff's officials say a driver was killed near Dexter, Mich., about 40 miles west of Detroit, when winds toppled a tree onto a vehicle.In Chicago, powerful winds and heavy rains broke windows in the 110-story Willis Tower. Witnesses say the debris looked like icicles falling from the skyscraper, formerly known as Sears Tower.Utility officials say power is out for about 215,000 Chicago-area customers and 150,000 in Michigan.In Indiana, winds gusts stronger than 75 mph knocked out power to about 60,000 customers. Storms left about 19,000 in the dark in Wisconsin.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Quake off India's Andaman islands
Sat Jun 19, 12:39 am ET
PORT BLAIR, India (Reuters) – A moderate earthquake of magnitude 5.9 struck in the ocean near India's Andaman islands early on Saturday, but no casualties were reported, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and local officials said. No tsunami warning was issued. But residents fled their homes in panic, with the tremors shaking buildings and rattling furniture on the island of Diglipur, 340 km (210 miles) north of capital Port Blair.We were sleeping, but felt the quake quite strongly and we ran out of our home,said resident Ashok Yadav.But initially we were not able to move out of our bed because it was shaking very badly.
Government officials said buildings on the island had developed cracks.There are also cracks on Diglipur roads. In fact in every private house and shop there is some loss of property,Sudeep Saha, an official, told Reuters.Saturday's quake had its epicenter 180 km north by northeast of Port Blair, at a depth of 27.2 km, according to the USGS.Quakes are frequent in the Andamans, a seismic region. A strong 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the region last Sunday, sparking off tsunami warnings which were later withdrawn.The islands were badly hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by a 9.15 quake off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia.(Reporting by Sanjib Kumar Roy; Editing by Ron Popeski)
POISONED WATERS
REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Anadarko points finger at BP on Gulf oil spill By EILEEN AJ CONNELLY, AP Business Writer – Sat Jun 19, 1:20 am ET
HOUSTON – Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which owns a quarter of BP PLC's blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, late Friday blasted BP reckless decisions and actions that led to the well's explosion.Anadarko Chairman and CEO Jim Hackett's statement came after some elected officials said Anadarko should help pay for the massive cleanup and spill-related claims. Company spokesman John Christiansen said the comments were in response to a week's worth of testimony and other information and data compiled on the disaster.The mounting evidence clearly demonstrates that this tragedy was preventable and the direct result of BP's reckless decisions and actions,said Hackett in the statement.We recognize that ultimately we have obligations under federal law related to the oil spill, but will look to BP to continue to pay all legitimate claims as they have repeatedly stated that they will do.The information disclosed this week indicates BP operated unsafely and failed to monitor and react to several critical warning signs during the drilling the statement continued. BP's behavior and actions likely represent gross negligence or willful misconduct.BP chief executive officer Tony Hayward said in a statement that the company strongly disagreed with the allegations
These allegations will neither distract the company's focus on stopping the leak nor alter our commitment to restore the Gulf coast,Hayward said. Other parties besides BP may be responsible for costs and liabilities arising from the oil spill, and we expect those parties to live up to their obligations.Anadarko had no employees on the well and was a non-operating partner in the project. A subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. Ltd. of Japan had a 10 percent stake. The rig was owned by Transocean Ltd. of Switzerland and operated by BP.Anadarko also hinted at potential legal action against BP.The statement said BP had a duty to perform the drilling in a good and workmanlike manner and to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.The contract also holds BP responsible to its co-owners for damages caused by its gross negligence or willful misconduct.Christiansen would not say whether Anadarko could be absolved of paying spill-related costs if lawmakers find BP negligent, or confirm that Anadarko intends to take legal action.We're looking at what's available to us under our contractual remedies,he said.Anadarko said any actions it takes to protect its rights relative to BP's performance will not shift the financial burden to taxpayers.Anadarko's statement came as BP's chairman said Hayward was on his way out of the day-to-day oversight of the oil spill crisis, a day after he was pummeled by lawmakers in an appearance on Capitol Hill. Hayward's refusal on Thursday to answer lawmakers' questions, claiming that he was out of the loop, left many members of a House committee furious.BP still has not said what caused the blast at the well.
As oil spews in Gulf, BP chief at UK yacht race By RAPHAEL SATTER, Associated Press Writer - JUNE 19,10
LONDON – BP chief executive Tony Hayward, often criticized for being tone-deaf to American concerns about the worst oil spill in U.S. history, took time off Saturday to attend a glitzy yacht race off England's Isle of Wight.Spokeswoman Sheila Williams said Hayward took a break from overseeing BP efforts to stem the undersea gusher in Gulf of Mexico to watch his boat Bob participate in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.The one-day yacht race is one of the world's largest, attracting hundreds of boats and thousands of sailors.In a statement, BP described Hayward's break as a rare moment of private time and said that no matter where he is, he is always in touch with what is happening within BP and can direct recovery operations if required.That is likely to be a hard sell in the slick-hit Gulf states struggling to deal with the up to 120 million gallons of oil that have escaped since April 20 from a blown-out undersea well operated by Hayward's company.
It was not clear whether Hayward actually took part in the race or attended as a spectator. Williams refused to comment beyond saying that the embattled chief executive was there with his son.Peta Stuart-Hunt, a press officer for the event, said Hayward wasn't listed on any of the crew list.If he is on the boat, he's in contravention of the rules, she said.Whatever the case, Hayward's appearance at the race is likely to draw outrage in the United States, where he has already been criticized for failing to answer questions from U.S. lawmakers.(This version CORRECTS to worst spill in U.S. history in first paragraph. )
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Measles outbreak kills more than 700 in Africa
Fri Jun 18, 7:52 am ET
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – A recent measles outbreak in eastern and southern Africa has killed more than 700 people, threatening to reverse gains made over several years to stem the disease, the United Nations said on Friday.As of mid-June 2010, the outbreak has affected 47,907 children in 14 countries, resulting in 731 deaths. The most recent confirmed measles outbreaks were reported from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, a statement said.The worst-hit country is Zimbabwe with 517 reported deaths.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation warned the outbreak has put recent gains in reducing mortality due to this highly contagious disease at risk of being reversed.The statement said that control strategies, including routine immunisations, recommended by the two UN agencies in recent years needed to be more rigorously implemented.The current wave of measles outbreaks comes as a result of gaps in the implementation of the control strategies. These gaps have been caused by inadequate financial commitments from governments and partners,it said.Measles are easily preventable. In order to sustain our efforts and successes in combating the disease, we urgently need to fill the funding gaps. Otherwise, we will again see more measles deaths in the near future,said UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Elhadj As Sy.Measles can cause severe complications such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and encephalitis.
Campbell Soup recalls 15M pounds of SpaghettiOs By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jun 18, 7:07 am ET
WASHINGTON – Campbell Soup Co. is recalling 15 million pounds of SpaghettiOs with meatballs after a cooker malfunctioned at one of the company's plants in Texas and left the meat undercooked.
The Agriculture Department announced the recall late Thursday. Campbell spokesman Anthony Sanzio said the company is recalling certain lots of the product manufactured since December 2008 out of an abundance of caution because officials don't know exactly when the cooker at the Paris, Texas, plant malfunctioned. Officials believe it happened recently but aren't sure, he said.The meatballs that went through the cooker did not get the requisite amount of heat, according to the company.Recalled are certain lots of three varieties of the pasta product often consumed by children: SpaghettiOs with Meatballs, SpaghettiOs A to Z with Meatballs, and SpaghettiOs Fun Shapes with Meatballs (Cars).The USDA said there are no reports of illnesses associated with the product and Sanzio said the company has received no customer complaints to date.The recalled products have EST 4K, as well as a use-by date between June 2010 and December 2011 printed on the bottom of the can. The products were manufactured between December 2008 and June 2010 and distributed to retail establishments nationwide.Sanzio said the company believes there are about 35,000 cases of SpaghettiOs subject to the recall on the market right now. He said USDA announced the recall of 15 million pounds because that is all of the product that has been manufactured since December 2008. Much of it has likely been consumed.
Consumers with questions about the recall can call Campbell's Hotline at (866) 495-3774.Online:USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/
Marie Callender recall after salmonella outbreak By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jun 18, 12:21 am ET
WASHINGTON – ConAgra Foods is recalling all Marie Callender's brand cheesy chicken and rice frozen meals after they have been possibly linked to a salmonella outbreak in 14 states.The company said it was recalling the meals after it was informed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a possible link between the meals and 29 illnesses. Eight of those sickened reported eating the product in April or May 2010.The Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service, which announced the recall late Thursday, said the most recent illness was reported May 22.The company is recalling all of the meals, which are labeled Marie Callender's Cheesy Chicken and Rice White Meat Chicken and Broccoli over Rice Topped with Rich Cheddar Sauce,regardless of production date.The product was distributed to retail outlets nationwide.The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight hours to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.
Egypt says will not alter Palestinian unity pact
By Marwa Awad Marwa Awad – JUNE 19,10
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will not amend a pact written to reconcile rival Palestinian movements and the Islamist Hamas should join Fatah in signing it, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Saturday.Hamas has objected to the proposal for a Palestinian national unity government, fearing its military wings used to seize control of Gaza in 2007 would be broken up and demanding guarantees of international recognition.
Forging Palestinian unity is regarded as crucial to reviving any prospect for a Palestinian state based on peace with Israel. Fatah, the mainstream movement until a 2006 election victory by Hamas, backs negotiated peace but the Islamists reject it.
Hamas members were quoted by independent Palestinian news agency Maan Friday as saying Egypt had accepted Hamas's proposal for amendments to the pact that, along with the Egyptian document, would become points of reference.Aboul Gheit responded: Such reports on the reconciliation process are inaccurate and do not represent Egypt's position which stands as it has always been: the existing document must be signed by Hamas as it has been signed by Fatah.Egypt has no inclination nor is it ready to allow for any amendments to this document either in the form of direct changes made to it or even as an appendix,Aboul Gheit told reporters.
PACT DETAILS
The pact also calls for restoring the security forces of the Palestinian Authority, the Fatah-led body created under 1990s interim peace deals, and planning for legislative and presidential elections in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Egypt, the main mediator in the internal Palestinian feud, drafted the pact in October 2009 after staging talks for six months between Fatah, Hamas and smaller Palestinian factions.Aboul Gheit was speaking after a meeting between President Hosni Mubarak and U.S. special envoy George Mitchell, who is mediating indirect talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority
The PA holds sway only in self-rule areas of the West Bank.The Egyptian document has not been changed and still stands, Aboul Gheit said.We invite our brothers in Hamas to sign the pact. As for their reservations, those can be directly discussed between Hamas and Fatah.Fatah signed the pact in October 2009 while Hamas refrained, demanding guarantees that it would be recognized internationally should it win in a future election and that no embargo would be imposed on it.After Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Fatah, Israel tightened its blockade of the impoverished coastal strip.Hamas and other factions also demand clarification over a clause in the pact banning the creation of military formations outside the authority of the new unity government, saying this clause could be used to dismantle their military wings in Gaza.Any reduction in military ranks for Hamas and smaller factions such as Islamic Jihad in Gaza would undermine their political clout in dealings with Abbas's Fatah.Mitchell called on all parties to avoid any unnecessary confrontations.Hamas refuses to recognize agreements Fatah signed with Israel and has been locked in a power struggle with the formerly dominant Fatah faction since it won an election four years ago.(Reporting by Marwa Awad; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran denies U.S. assertion its missiles menace Europe
Sat Jun 19, 8:16 am ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran's defense minister on Saturday denied U.S. assertions that its missiles posed a threat to Europe and said Washington was spreading propaganda.
Ahmad Vahidi accused U.S. counterpart, Robert Gates of engaging in psychological warfare when he said on Thursday U.S. intelligence showed Iran had scores or even hundreds of missiles it could use against Europe.Iran's missile capability has been designed and built to defend itself against any military aggression and it does not impose a threat to any country,Vahidi told the students' news agency ISNA.America creates propaganda with the aim of spreading its dominance over Europe and finding excuses not to eliminate its nuclear weapons in the region and to put pressure on Russia.The United States succeeded in persuading Russia, and fellow U.N. Security Council veto-holder China, to support a fourth round of sanctions earlier this month against Iran over its disputed nuclear energy program.Moscow later criticized the United States and the European Union for imposing sanctions going well beyond those approved by the U.N. Security Council, comments which Gates said showed Russia's schizophrenic approach to Iran.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad severely criticized Moscow last month when it became clear Russia would back Washington's push for widened U.N. sanctions , but Iranian rhetoric since then has softened.
Vahidi said the United States aimed to humiliate its former Cold War adversary, which has significant trade ties with Iran.America ... tries to humiliate Russia by creating regional disputes and straining regional relationships to undermine Russia's position in the region,he said.It is the consequence of trusting a government which is not trustworthy.Iran, the world's No. 5 oil producer, says its nuclear fuel enrichment program is a peaceful effort to generate more electricity for its rapidly growing population.But its refusal to stop refining uranium -- a process with both civilian and military uses -- in exchange for trade and diplomatic benefits on offer has led the West to suspect it is after nuclear weapons -- a concern which has brought about four sets of United Nations sanctions against Tehran since 2006.(Reporting by Ramin Mostafavi; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran warns Germany over EU sanctions
Sat Jun 19, 4:41 am ET
TEHRAN (AFP) – The new European Union sanctions against Iran will not deter its efforts to gain nuclear technology, deputy foreign minister has told German officials, state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.IRNA said that Ali Ahani warned during a recent meeting in Germany that the new (EU) decision taken to intensify sanctions... is destructive, coming at a time when Tehran is deciding whether to respond to an EU offer of talks.It said Ahani emphasised that EU sanctions will in no way affect the Iranian government and people's determination to seek their legitimate right to exploit nuclear technology under the supervision of the IAEA.Iran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN atomic watchdog. Western powers suspect it is aimed at making weapons.On June 9 the UN Security Council imposed a fourth set of sanctions on the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme. Soon after the UN move, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton offered to hold talks with Tehran.The UN measures were followed on Wednesday by a separate set of restrictions imposed by the United States and a day later by the European Union.
The EU sanctions include a ban on new investment, technical assistance and technology transfers to Tehran's huge gas and oil industry, particularly as regards refining and liquefied natural gas.They also target the transport, banking and insurance sectors and slap new visa bans and asset freezes on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).New US sanctions target insurance companies, oil firms and shipping lines linked to Iran's atomic or missile programmes as well as the IRGC and Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi.Before the EU move, parliament speaker Ali Larijani had warned that Tehran would retaliate if the new measures were adopted.
IRNA said that Larijani, speaking in the holy city of Qom on Thursday, said: If the European Union imposes sanctions, Iran will consider retaliation.
Regulators close Nev. bank for 83rd failure in 2010 By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon, Ap Business Writer – Fri Jun 18, 10:20 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Regulators on Friday shut down a Nevada bank, raising to 83 the number of U.S. bank failures this year.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Nevada Security Bank, based in Reno, with $480.3 million in assets and $479.8 million in deposits. Umpqua Bank, based in Roseburg, Ore., agreed to assume the assets and deposits of the failed bank.The failure of Nevada Security Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $80.9 million.In addition, the FDIC and Umpqua Bank agreed to share losses on $368.2 million of Nevada Security Bank's loans and other assets.With 83 closures nationwide so far this year, the pace of bank failures is more than double that of 2009, which was already a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 40 banks. The pace has accelerated as banks' losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development.The number of bank failures is expected to peak this year and be slightly higher than the 140 that fell in 2009. That was the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. The 2009 failures cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Twenty-five banks failed in 2008, the year the financial crisis struck with force, and only three succumbed in 2007.As losses have mounted on loans made for commercial property and development, the growing bank failures have sapped billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year, and its deficit stood at $20.7 billion as of March 31.The number of banks on the FDIC's confidential problem list jumped to 775 in the first quarter from 702 three months earlier, even as the industry as a whole had its best quarter in two years.
A majority of institutions posted profit gains in the January-March quarter. But many small and midsized banks are likely to continue to suffer distress in the coming months and years, especially from soured loans for office buildings and development projects.The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years.The agency mandated last year that banks prepay about $45 billion in premiums, for 2010 through 2012, to replenish the insurance fund.Depositors' money — insured up to $250,000 per account — is not at risk, with the FDIC backed by the government.
Europe won't let euro zone state fail: ECB's Trichet
Sat Jun 19, 7:42 am ET
BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe will not allow its weakest members to collapse under their debt burden, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said in an interview with German weekly Welt am Sonntag.According to the paper, Trichet ruled out the possibility of Greece, Spain or Portugal not being able to pay back their debt.We will not allow this to happen. We did not create the Maastricht Treaty in order to then go back again,he said in the interview due to be published on Sunday.
Trichet again defended the ECB's decision to buy back government bonds last month, in order to calm bond markets and bring down borrowing costs for heavily-indebted Greece and other financially strained euro zone members.The situation was dramatic. Europe was at the epicenter of the crisis at this time, he said.The controversial step to start buying government debt opened a deep rift at the ECB's top table, pitting Trichet against ECB and Bundesbank heavyweight Axel Weber. Weber has openly criticized the move, arguing it creates serious stability risks.In the last few weeks I understood one thing: in Germany, some things are interpreted differently, Trichet said.The no-bailout clause means that there is no duty to offer subsidies or transfer. But it does not mean that in exceptional circumstances, one country should not be allowed to offer support to another.The Maastricht Treaty, which paved the way for the euro single currency, says no euro zone country should bail out another. Germany has dismissed the idea of the EU becoming a transfer zone, where rich members subsidize poorer states.I wish the German public had reacted with the same indignation toward the breach of the European stability pact in 2004 as toward our decision to buy state bonds,said Trichet.(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; editing by Patrick Graham)
Factbox: Main features of China's currency system
JUNE 19,10
China will gradually make the yuan's exchange rate more flexible, the central bank said on Saturday a week before a G20 summit, strongly suggesting that it was ready to break the currency's 23-month-old dollar peg.A central bank statement was released following mounting pressure on Beijing to allow the yuan to appreciate in line with its economic strength since the global economy began to recover.
Here are the main features of China's currency system.
-- China revised the basic rules governing its foreign exchange system after it revalued the yuan, or renminbi, by 2.1 percent against the dollar on July 21, 2005.
-- China said it had shifted to a managed floating exchange rate based on market supply and demand with reference to a basket of currencies, to replace a single exchange rate system with the central bank announcing the yuan's value on a daily basis.
-- However, Beijing suspended the managed floating system in July 2008, effectively repegging the currency to the dollar to try to protect its economy from the global financial crisis.
-- Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao, had said they would continue yuan reforms initiated in 2005.
-- The yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 0.5 percent a day against the dollar from an opening mid-point set by the central bank at 9.15 a.m. (0115 GMT) based on quotes collected from market makers.
-- In actual trade, the yuan has almost always held within 0.15 percent of the dollar mid-point. Since mid-2008, the central bank has used the mid-point to keep the yuan within about 100 pips of 6.83 per dollar.
-- The yuan's daily trading band against other major currencies is set at plus or minus 3 percent from the daily mid-point.
-- The central bank has said the dollar, euro, yen and Korean won are the main currencies in its reference basket. Others include the Singapore dollar, sterling, the Malaysian ringgit, Russian rouble, Australian dollar, Thai baht and Canadian dollar. The weightings are kept secret.(Reporting by Lu Jianxin and Edmund Klamann: Editing by Neil Fullick)
POWER OUTAGE
REVELATION 16:10-11
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Zimbabwe, Zambia plunge into darkness
Fri Jun 18, 1:39 pm ET
HARARE (AFP) – Parts of Zimbabwe and most of neighbouring Zambia suffered a massive blackout for about 10 hours on Friday, as a fault crippled the hydro-electric dam that supplies most of the countries' power.A breakdown at Kariba dam disrupted the entire electrical grid and caused problems at secondary stations, said Fullard Gwasira, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA).We had a system disturbance this morning in Kariba leading to loss of power in the country," he told AFP.The systems disturbance has resulted in loss of power from Kariba North, South and Kafuwe gorge (in Zambia). This system disturbance resulted in the loss of 736 megawatts which has resulted in some parts of the country and Zambia not having electricity.Zimbabwe only generates a total of 900 megawatts of power, and needs about 2,100 megawatts to keep the lights on across the country.About 10 hours later, five of the six units at Kariba had been restored.One unit is still down until Sunday, so there will be continuous blackouts in some parts of the country, Gwasira said.Most of Harare lost power for the day, leading to gridlock throughout the city as traffic lights stopped working.All of the Zambian capital Lusaka lost power and national radio went off the air as electricity in most of the country disappeared for about 10 hours.There was a fault at Kariba dam power station, which affected almost the entire country, said Lucy Zimba of Zambia's state power company. She said engineers were still trying to determine what caused the fault.
The blackouts came one week after Zimbabwe authorities had assured the country that power would run continuously through the World Cup.Gwasira said engineers were attending to the problem and trying to find what led to this system disturbance.
Zimbabwe's ageing power generation stations have been facing growing technical problems as a result of neglect due to years of economic crisis.
Myanmar denies allegations it is seeking nukes
Sat Jun 19, 6:41 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar has sent a letter to the U.N. nuclear agency insisting it has no current or future plan to develop a nuclear program in the isolated country's second denial this month after reports emerged it may be seeking an atomic weapon.
Myanmar's military government has denied similar allegations in the past, but suspicions have mounted recently that the impoverished Southeast Asian nation has embarked on a nuclear program.Myanmar's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Win Tin, dismissed the allegations as groundless and unfounded in a letter sent Friday, according to a Saturday report in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper. The Foreign Ministry issued a denial on June 11.No activity related to uranium conversion, enrichment, reactor construction or operation has been carried out in the past, is ongoing or is planned for the future in Myanmar, the letter said, according to the newspaper which is a mouthpiece for the junta.The letter was sent in response to one from the IAEA dated June 14 that asked Myanmar to outline any nuclear-related activities or ambitions, the newspaper said.Earlier this month, the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, a Myanmar exile news service, charged that the junta, aided by North Korea, is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons program with the aim of developing a bomb and long-range missiles.It said its conclusions were based on a five-year study and revelations by a recent Myanmar army defector who smuggled out extensive files and photographs. The report also said that Myanmar is still far from producing a nuclear weapon.Win Tin's letter noted that Myanmar is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the agency's so-called safeguards agreement.As stated in the safeguards agreement, Myanmar will notify the agency if it plans to carry out any nuclear activities,the letter said.Last month, U.N. experts monitoring sanctions imposed against North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests said their research indicated it was involved in banned nuclear and ballistic missile activities in Iran, Syria and Myanmar, which is also called Burma.Documents that surfaced earlier showed that North Korea was helping Myanmar dig a series of underground facilities and develop missiles with a range of up to 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers).
http://www.god.tv/video/play?video=1279
Europe to urge exit from stimulus schemes at G20: Merkel
By Sarah Marsh Sarah Marsh – JUNE 19,10
BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe will push for a swift exit from fiscal stimulus programs and a focus on budget consolidation at the G20 meeting next week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.European participants are of the opinion that this is urgently necessary to prevent such crises from happening again in the future, Merkel said in her weekly podcast.Leaders of the 20 biggest developed and developing economies meet on June 26-27 in Toronto, Canada.Merkel's stance contrasted with that of U.S. President Barack Obama, who this week said public finance problems should be addressed in the medium term -- a warning that clamping down budgets should not be done at the expense of recovery.European governments have been launching austerity measures to head off a spread of the debt crisis begun in Greece.Merkel's cabinet earlier this month unveiled Germany's biggest post-war austerity drive, with planned budget cuts and taxes amounting to 80 billion euros over the next four years.
Economic growth must be sustainable, environmentally friendly and oriented toward the future, Merkel said.She added that the European Union would push again for a global financial transaction tax at the G20 meeting.Germany and France have assembled support for the idea in Europe but most analysts expect next week's meeting to formally bury proposals for a single global bank tax and focus instead on advancing tough new capital rules and ways of winding up failing institutions without taxpayer help.Canada, who hosts next week's summit, has led resistance to the idea of a common levy.There will certainly be controversial discussions about this but I am happy the European council reached a common stance on this for the G20 meeting,Merkel said.A financial transaction tax is contentious because many believe such curbs in Europe would drive trading to other continents. France has supported the idea but Britain is opposed.In a separate interview with German weekly WirtschaftsWoche, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said he hoped Britain would eventually support the tax, once the new government had settled down.I would much prefer to see a financial transaction tax introduced throughout the entire EU including Britain rather than simply in the euro zone, he told the magazine, in a pre-release of the article on Saturday.Merkel said progress had been made on regulatory issues, but further progress needed to be made for example on rules on derivatives in the EU.(editing by Patrick Graham)
Canada wants G20 to set tough new fiscal targets By David Ljunggren - Fri June 18, 3:27 pm ET
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada will ask the G20 to agree to tough new fiscal targets at a summit next week, but said the job of tackling debt should only start once the global recovery is assured.Prime Minister Stephen Harper sent a letter to his G20 counterparts on Thursday proposing they agree to cut deficits in half by 2013 and stabilize or start reducing debt-to-GDP ratios by 2016, a senior aide to Harper told reporters on Friday.Canada, which hosts the G8 and G20 summits next week, said countries should fully implement their fiscal stimulus plans but should start the process of fiscal consolidation by next year at the latest.The proposed targets are mostly aimed at advanced countries and will require substantial effort by some, while many emerging economies are already well positioned, officials said in a briefing with reporters.The lesson here is that particularly the advanced countries with higher deficits need to get their fiscal houses in order, but there is a balance to be achieved here between sustained recovery and getting deficits down, the official said.
A lot of countries will get there sooner, including Canada,he said.Asked if some countries would not find Harper's targets too onerous, the official replied:They will have plans to end the stimulus, which will cut their expenditures. And furthermore our nations are recovering, so the revenues will climb and the expenditures will be cut.A unified position on sovereign debt levels is an attempt to soothe markets still on edge over the Greek debt crisis and big deficits elsewhere in Europe.After nearly two years of co-ordinated effort by governments to pour billions into the global economy and stave off an even worse recession, the crisis-forged unity appears to be weakening when it comes to agreeing on when to withdraw stimulus measures.Debt-wary Germany has been pressing for a swift clamp-down on public spending while the Obama administration has put more emphasis on protecting the still-fragile U.S. recovery.
AVOID FINGER-POINTING
Another thorny subject that Canada said will be raised at the G20 meeting, at least behind closed doors, is China's currency peg to the U.S. dollar.As the United States stepped up its pressure on China to move toward a market-based exchange rate and Beijing warned others not to meddle in its affairs, Canada said the issue would inevitably be discussed by the leaders but that no one country should be singled out.
China's foreign exchange policy is just one of several reforms needed across the G20 countries to ensure balanced global growth, he added.A key message here will be that across the G20 all countries have things they need to do to support strong, sustained, balanced growth,the official told reporters in a briefing.One of those things that I imagine will be discussed is the contribution a more flexible China exchange rate will make to that. But I think it's important to avoid finger-pointing here and to say this in the context of a broader framework where all G20 countries have responsibilities and have policies to pursue.(Reporting by David Ljunggren, writing by Louise Egan; editing by Mario Di Simine and Rob Wilson)
STORMS HURRICANES-TORNADOES
LUKE 21:25-26
25 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity;(MASS CONFUSION) the sea and the waves roaring;(FIERCE WINDS)
26 Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Tropical Storm Celia forms off Mexico's coast
JUNE 19,10
MIAMI – Tropical Storm Celia has formed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Mexico, though forecasters say it is expected to remain well offshore.The National Hurricane Center in Miami said Saturday morning that Celia is about 355 miles (575 kilometers) south-southeast of Acapulco, Mexico. Winds are reaching about 40 mph (65 kilometers per hour).The depression is moving to the west-southwest at about 5 mph (7kilometers per hour).Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Blas was still swirling 455 miles (735kilometers) south of the southern tip of Baja California. Its winds were at about 65 mph (100 kilometers per hour), but forecasters say it will likely get weaker starting tonight.
More than a million evacuated in China over flood threat
JUNE 19,10
BEIJING (AFP) – More than a million people living along rivers in China's south have been evacuated with water rising to dangerous levels, state media said Saturday, as torrential rains left at least 88 dead.The government said more than 1.4 million residents living on river banks and in low-lying areas had had to move, according to the official China Daily.Zhang Zhitong, deputy director of the Office of State Flood Control and Drought Relief Headquarters, said China's second-largest waterway, the Pearl River, which crosses the south, had breached warning marks on Thursday.
Torrential and virtually unrelenting rain has battered large swathes of China's south since Sunday, triggering devastating floods and landslides that have killed 88 people.The official Xinhua news agency reported that, in the southeastern province of Fujian alone, 31 people had died in rain-triggered landslides.Photos on China News Service showed people in Fujian's Gutian county wearing lifejackets and wading deep in water through flooded streets.State television broadcast images of a bridge in another Fujian town collapsing as water raged underneath it, and in neighbouring Guangdong province, houses were shown almost entirely submerged.Meanwhile, diggers in nearby Jiangxi were seen clearing roads of huge rocks caused by landslides and workers hung off poles, working at restoring electricity for residents.Rescue workers in another town in Jiangxi were seen throwing ropes across a raging river to help people cross to the other side, as they also fetched children stuck in a kindergarten and put them in a small boat.According to the latest statement from the nation's civil affairs ministry, 48 people were still missing in eight provinces and regions in the south and the cost of the disaster had now reached 11 billion yuan (1.6 billion dollars).A total of 155,000 houses had been damaged -- almost half of which had collapsed -- and more than 500,000 hectares of crops had been affected, the ministry said.Authorities have raised the level of their emergency response as rescue and flood-prevention work continues, it added.The National Meteorological Centre warned on Saturday of more rainstorms to come, a day after it issued an orange storm alert -- just one level lower than the nation's most serious red alert.
There will be heavy rain over the next three days, and flood-control work will face enormous challenges,it said in a statement, adding that some of the rainfall in the south was up to three times greater than normal years.
Storms nail Midwest, kill 1, damage skyscraper
Sat Jun 19, 6:51 am ET
DEXTER, Mich. – Severe thunderstorms sweeping through the Midwest have killed a motorist in Michigan, shattered windows in an iconic Chicago skyscraper and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of people.Sheriff's officials say a driver was killed near Dexter, Mich., about 40 miles west of Detroit, when winds toppled a tree onto a vehicle.In Chicago, powerful winds and heavy rains broke windows in the 110-story Willis Tower. Witnesses say the debris looked like icicles falling from the skyscraper, formerly known as Sears Tower.Utility officials say power is out for about 215,000 Chicago-area customers and 150,000 in Michigan.In Indiana, winds gusts stronger than 75 mph knocked out power to about 60,000 customers. Storms left about 19,000 in the dark in Wisconsin.
EARTHQUAKES
MATTHEW 24:7-8
7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
MARK 13:8
8 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:(ETHNIC GROUP AGAINST ETHNIC GROUP) and there shall be earthquakes in divers places, and there shall be famines and troubles: these are the beginnings of sorrows.
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences; and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
Quake off India's Andaman islands
Sat Jun 19, 12:39 am ET
PORT BLAIR, India (Reuters) – A moderate earthquake of magnitude 5.9 struck in the ocean near India's Andaman islands early on Saturday, but no casualties were reported, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and local officials said. No tsunami warning was issued. But residents fled their homes in panic, with the tremors shaking buildings and rattling furniture on the island of Diglipur, 340 km (210 miles) north of capital Port Blair.We were sleeping, but felt the quake quite strongly and we ran out of our home,said resident Ashok Yadav.But initially we were not able to move out of our bed because it was shaking very badly.
Government officials said buildings on the island had developed cracks.There are also cracks on Diglipur roads. In fact in every private house and shop there is some loss of property,Sudeep Saha, an official, told Reuters.Saturday's quake had its epicenter 180 km north by northeast of Port Blair, at a depth of 27.2 km, according to the USGS.Quakes are frequent in the Andamans, a seismic region. A strong 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit the region last Sunday, sparking off tsunami warnings which were later withdrawn.The islands were badly hit by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, triggered by a 9.15 quake off the coast of Sumatra in Indonesia.(Reporting by Sanjib Kumar Roy; Editing by Ron Popeski)
POISONED WATERS
REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
Anadarko points finger at BP on Gulf oil spill By EILEEN AJ CONNELLY, AP Business Writer – Sat Jun 19, 1:20 am ET
HOUSTON – Anadarko Petroleum Corp., which owns a quarter of BP PLC's blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, late Friday blasted BP reckless decisions and actions that led to the well's explosion.Anadarko Chairman and CEO Jim Hackett's statement came after some elected officials said Anadarko should help pay for the massive cleanup and spill-related claims. Company spokesman John Christiansen said the comments were in response to a week's worth of testimony and other information and data compiled on the disaster.The mounting evidence clearly demonstrates that this tragedy was preventable and the direct result of BP's reckless decisions and actions,said Hackett in the statement.We recognize that ultimately we have obligations under federal law related to the oil spill, but will look to BP to continue to pay all legitimate claims as they have repeatedly stated that they will do.The information disclosed this week indicates BP operated unsafely and failed to monitor and react to several critical warning signs during the drilling the statement continued. BP's behavior and actions likely represent gross negligence or willful misconduct.BP chief executive officer Tony Hayward said in a statement that the company strongly disagreed with the allegations
These allegations will neither distract the company's focus on stopping the leak nor alter our commitment to restore the Gulf coast,Hayward said. Other parties besides BP may be responsible for costs and liabilities arising from the oil spill, and we expect those parties to live up to their obligations.Anadarko had no employees on the well and was a non-operating partner in the project. A subsidiary of Mitsui & Co. Ltd. of Japan had a 10 percent stake. The rig was owned by Transocean Ltd. of Switzerland and operated by BP.Anadarko also hinted at potential legal action against BP.The statement said BP had a duty to perform the drilling in a good and workmanlike manner and to comply with all applicable laws and regulations.The contract also holds BP responsible to its co-owners for damages caused by its gross negligence or willful misconduct.Christiansen would not say whether Anadarko could be absolved of paying spill-related costs if lawmakers find BP negligent, or confirm that Anadarko intends to take legal action.We're looking at what's available to us under our contractual remedies,he said.Anadarko said any actions it takes to protect its rights relative to BP's performance will not shift the financial burden to taxpayers.Anadarko's statement came as BP's chairman said Hayward was on his way out of the day-to-day oversight of the oil spill crisis, a day after he was pummeled by lawmakers in an appearance on Capitol Hill. Hayward's refusal on Thursday to answer lawmakers' questions, claiming that he was out of the loop, left many members of a House committee furious.BP still has not said what caused the blast at the well.
As oil spews in Gulf, BP chief at UK yacht race By RAPHAEL SATTER, Associated Press Writer - JUNE 19,10
LONDON – BP chief executive Tony Hayward, often criticized for being tone-deaf to American concerns about the worst oil spill in U.S. history, took time off Saturday to attend a glitzy yacht race off England's Isle of Wight.Spokeswoman Sheila Williams said Hayward took a break from overseeing BP efforts to stem the undersea gusher in Gulf of Mexico to watch his boat Bob participate in the J.P. Morgan Asset Management Round the Island Race.The one-day yacht race is one of the world's largest, attracting hundreds of boats and thousands of sailors.In a statement, BP described Hayward's break as a rare moment of private time and said that no matter where he is, he is always in touch with what is happening within BP and can direct recovery operations if required.That is likely to be a hard sell in the slick-hit Gulf states struggling to deal with the up to 120 million gallons of oil that have escaped since April 20 from a blown-out undersea well operated by Hayward's company.
It was not clear whether Hayward actually took part in the race or attended as a spectator. Williams refused to comment beyond saying that the embattled chief executive was there with his son.Peta Stuart-Hunt, a press officer for the event, said Hayward wasn't listed on any of the crew list.If he is on the boat, he's in contravention of the rules, she said.Whatever the case, Hayward's appearance at the race is likely to draw outrage in the United States, where he has already been criticized for failing to answer questions from U.S. lawmakers.(This version CORRECTS to worst spill in U.S. history in first paragraph. )
DISEASES
REVELATION 6:7-8
7 And when he had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.
8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse:(CHLORES GREEN) and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword,(WEAPONS) and with hunger,(FAMINE) and with death,(INCURABLE DISEASES) and with the beasts of the earth.(ANIMAL TO HUMAN DISEASE).
DRUG PUSHERS AND ADDICTS
REVELATION 18:23
23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries (DRUGS) were all nations deceived.
REVELATION 9:21
21 Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries (DRUGS), nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts.
Measles outbreak kills more than 700 in Africa
Fri Jun 18, 7:52 am ET
ADDIS ABABA (AFP) – A recent measles outbreak in eastern and southern Africa has killed more than 700 people, threatening to reverse gains made over several years to stem the disease, the United Nations said on Friday.As of mid-June 2010, the outbreak has affected 47,907 children in 14 countries, resulting in 731 deaths. The most recent confirmed measles outbreaks were reported from Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, a statement said.The worst-hit country is Zimbabwe with 517 reported deaths.
The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation warned the outbreak has put recent gains in reducing mortality due to this highly contagious disease at risk of being reversed.The statement said that control strategies, including routine immunisations, recommended by the two UN agencies in recent years needed to be more rigorously implemented.The current wave of measles outbreaks comes as a result of gaps in the implementation of the control strategies. These gaps have been caused by inadequate financial commitments from governments and partners,it said.Measles are easily preventable. In order to sustain our efforts and successes in combating the disease, we urgently need to fill the funding gaps. Otherwise, we will again see more measles deaths in the near future,said UNICEF Regional Director for Eastern and Southern Africa, Elhadj As Sy.Measles can cause severe complications such as pneumonia, diarrhoea and encephalitis.
Campbell Soup recalls 15M pounds of SpaghettiOs By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jun 18, 7:07 am ET
WASHINGTON – Campbell Soup Co. is recalling 15 million pounds of SpaghettiOs with meatballs after a cooker malfunctioned at one of the company's plants in Texas and left the meat undercooked.
The Agriculture Department announced the recall late Thursday. Campbell spokesman Anthony Sanzio said the company is recalling certain lots of the product manufactured since December 2008 out of an abundance of caution because officials don't know exactly when the cooker at the Paris, Texas, plant malfunctioned. Officials believe it happened recently but aren't sure, he said.The meatballs that went through the cooker did not get the requisite amount of heat, according to the company.Recalled are certain lots of three varieties of the pasta product often consumed by children: SpaghettiOs with Meatballs, SpaghettiOs A to Z with Meatballs, and SpaghettiOs Fun Shapes with Meatballs (Cars).The USDA said there are no reports of illnesses associated with the product and Sanzio said the company has received no customer complaints to date.The recalled products have EST 4K, as well as a use-by date between June 2010 and December 2011 printed on the bottom of the can. The products were manufactured between December 2008 and June 2010 and distributed to retail establishments nationwide.Sanzio said the company believes there are about 35,000 cases of SpaghettiOs subject to the recall on the market right now. He said USDA announced the recall of 15 million pounds because that is all of the product that has been manufactured since December 2008. Much of it has likely been consumed.
Consumers with questions about the recall can call Campbell's Hotline at (866) 495-3774.Online:USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/
Marie Callender recall after salmonella outbreak By MARY CLARE JALONICK, Associated Press Writer – Fri Jun 18, 12:21 am ET
WASHINGTON – ConAgra Foods is recalling all Marie Callender's brand cheesy chicken and rice frozen meals after they have been possibly linked to a salmonella outbreak in 14 states.The company said it was recalling the meals after it was informed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a possible link between the meals and 29 illnesses. Eight of those sickened reported eating the product in April or May 2010.The Agriculture Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service, which announced the recall late Thursday, said the most recent illness was reported May 22.The company is recalling all of the meals, which are labeled Marie Callender's Cheesy Chicken and Rice White Meat Chicken and Broccoli over Rice Topped with Rich Cheddar Sauce,regardless of production date.The product was distributed to retail outlets nationwide.The most common symptoms of salmonella are diarrhea, abdominal cramps and fever within eight hours to 72 hours of eating a contaminated product. It can be life-threatening, especially to those with weakened immune systems.
Egypt says will not alter Palestinian unity pact
By Marwa Awad Marwa Awad – JUNE 19,10
CAIRO (Reuters) – Egypt will not amend a pact written to reconcile rival Palestinian movements and the Islamist Hamas should join Fatah in signing it, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Saturday.Hamas has objected to the proposal for a Palestinian national unity government, fearing its military wings used to seize control of Gaza in 2007 would be broken up and demanding guarantees of international recognition.
Forging Palestinian unity is regarded as crucial to reviving any prospect for a Palestinian state based on peace with Israel. Fatah, the mainstream movement until a 2006 election victory by Hamas, backs negotiated peace but the Islamists reject it.
Hamas members were quoted by independent Palestinian news agency Maan Friday as saying Egypt had accepted Hamas's proposal for amendments to the pact that, along with the Egyptian document, would become points of reference.Aboul Gheit responded: Such reports on the reconciliation process are inaccurate and do not represent Egypt's position which stands as it has always been: the existing document must be signed by Hamas as it has been signed by Fatah.Egypt has no inclination nor is it ready to allow for any amendments to this document either in the form of direct changes made to it or even as an appendix,Aboul Gheit told reporters.
PACT DETAILS
The pact also calls for restoring the security forces of the Palestinian Authority, the Fatah-led body created under 1990s interim peace deals, and planning for legislative and presidential elections in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Egypt, the main mediator in the internal Palestinian feud, drafted the pact in October 2009 after staging talks for six months between Fatah, Hamas and smaller Palestinian factions.Aboul Gheit was speaking after a meeting between President Hosni Mubarak and U.S. special envoy George Mitchell, who is mediating indirect talks between Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority
The PA holds sway only in self-rule areas of the West Bank.The Egyptian document has not been changed and still stands, Aboul Gheit said.We invite our brothers in Hamas to sign the pact. As for their reservations, those can be directly discussed between Hamas and Fatah.Fatah signed the pact in October 2009 while Hamas refrained, demanding guarantees that it would be recognized internationally should it win in a future election and that no embargo would be imposed on it.After Hamas wrested control of Gaza from Fatah, Israel tightened its blockade of the impoverished coastal strip.Hamas and other factions also demand clarification over a clause in the pact banning the creation of military formations outside the authority of the new unity government, saying this clause could be used to dismantle their military wings in Gaza.Any reduction in military ranks for Hamas and smaller factions such as Islamic Jihad in Gaza would undermine their political clout in dealings with Abbas's Fatah.Mitchell called on all parties to avoid any unnecessary confrontations.Hamas refuses to recognize agreements Fatah signed with Israel and has been locked in a power struggle with the formerly dominant Fatah faction since it won an election four years ago.(Reporting by Marwa Awad; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran denies U.S. assertion its missiles menace Europe
Sat Jun 19, 8:16 am ET
TEHRAN (Reuters) – Iran's defense minister on Saturday denied U.S. assertions that its missiles posed a threat to Europe and said Washington was spreading propaganda.
Ahmad Vahidi accused U.S. counterpart, Robert Gates of engaging in psychological warfare when he said on Thursday U.S. intelligence showed Iran had scores or even hundreds of missiles it could use against Europe.Iran's missile capability has been designed and built to defend itself against any military aggression and it does not impose a threat to any country,Vahidi told the students' news agency ISNA.America creates propaganda with the aim of spreading its dominance over Europe and finding excuses not to eliminate its nuclear weapons in the region and to put pressure on Russia.The United States succeeded in persuading Russia, and fellow U.N. Security Council veto-holder China, to support a fourth round of sanctions earlier this month against Iran over its disputed nuclear energy program.Moscow later criticized the United States and the European Union for imposing sanctions going well beyond those approved by the U.N. Security Council, comments which Gates said showed Russia's schizophrenic approach to Iran.Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad severely criticized Moscow last month when it became clear Russia would back Washington's push for widened U.N. sanctions , but Iranian rhetoric since then has softened.
Vahidi said the United States aimed to humiliate its former Cold War adversary, which has significant trade ties with Iran.America ... tries to humiliate Russia by creating regional disputes and straining regional relationships to undermine Russia's position in the region,he said.It is the consequence of trusting a government which is not trustworthy.Iran, the world's No. 5 oil producer, says its nuclear fuel enrichment program is a peaceful effort to generate more electricity for its rapidly growing population.But its refusal to stop refining uranium -- a process with both civilian and military uses -- in exchange for trade and diplomatic benefits on offer has led the West to suspect it is after nuclear weapons -- a concern which has brought about four sets of United Nations sanctions against Tehran since 2006.(Reporting by Ramin Mostafavi; Writing by Robin Pomeroy; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
Iran warns Germany over EU sanctions
Sat Jun 19, 4:41 am ET
TEHRAN (AFP) – The new European Union sanctions against Iran will not deter its efforts to gain nuclear technology, deputy foreign minister has told German officials, state news agency IRNA reported on Saturday.IRNA said that Ali Ahani warned during a recent meeting in Germany that the new (EU) decision taken to intensify sanctions... is destructive, coming at a time when Tehran is deciding whether to respond to an EU offer of talks.It said Ahani emphasised that EU sanctions will in no way affect the Iranian government and people's determination to seek their legitimate right to exploit nuclear technology under the supervision of the IAEA.Iran maintains its nuclear programme is peaceful and under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN atomic watchdog. Western powers suspect it is aimed at making weapons.On June 9 the UN Security Council imposed a fourth set of sanctions on the Islamic republic over its nuclear programme. Soon after the UN move, EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton offered to hold talks with Tehran.The UN measures were followed on Wednesday by a separate set of restrictions imposed by the United States and a day later by the European Union.
The EU sanctions include a ban on new investment, technical assistance and technology transfers to Tehran's huge gas and oil industry, particularly as regards refining and liquefied natural gas.They also target the transport, banking and insurance sectors and slap new visa bans and asset freezes on the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).New US sanctions target insurance companies, oil firms and shipping lines linked to Iran's atomic or missile programmes as well as the IRGC and Defence Minister Ahmad Vahidi.Before the EU move, parliament speaker Ali Larijani had warned that Tehran would retaliate if the new measures were adopted.
IRNA said that Larijani, speaking in the holy city of Qom on Thursday, said: If the European Union imposes sanctions, Iran will consider retaliation.
Regulators close Nev. bank for 83rd failure in 2010 By MARCY GORDON, AP Business Writer Marcy Gordon, Ap Business Writer – Fri Jun 18, 10:20 pm ET
WASHINGTON – Regulators on Friday shut down a Nevada bank, raising to 83 the number of U.S. bank failures this year.The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over Nevada Security Bank, based in Reno, with $480.3 million in assets and $479.8 million in deposits. Umpqua Bank, based in Roseburg, Ore., agreed to assume the assets and deposits of the failed bank.The failure of Nevada Security Bank is expected to cost the deposit insurance fund $80.9 million.In addition, the FDIC and Umpqua Bank agreed to share losses on $368.2 million of Nevada Security Bank's loans and other assets.With 83 closures nationwide so far this year, the pace of bank failures is more than double that of 2009, which was already a brisk year for shutdowns. By this time last year, regulators had closed 40 banks. The pace has accelerated as banks' losses mount on loans made for commercial property and development.The number of bank failures is expected to peak this year and be slightly higher than the 140 that fell in 2009. That was the highest annual tally since 1992, at the height of the savings and loan crisis. The 2009 failures cost the insurance fund more than $30 billion. Twenty-five banks failed in 2008, the year the financial crisis struck with force, and only three succumbed in 2007.As losses have mounted on loans made for commercial property and development, the growing bank failures have sapped billions of dollars out of the deposit insurance fund. It fell into the red last year, and its deficit stood at $20.7 billion as of March 31.The number of banks on the FDIC's confidential problem list jumped to 775 in the first quarter from 702 three months earlier, even as the industry as a whole had its best quarter in two years.
A majority of institutions posted profit gains in the January-March quarter. But many small and midsized banks are likely to continue to suffer distress in the coming months and years, especially from soured loans for office buildings and development projects.The FDIC expects the cost of resolving failed banks to grow to about $100 billion over the next four years.The agency mandated last year that banks prepay about $45 billion in premiums, for 2010 through 2012, to replenish the insurance fund.Depositors' money — insured up to $250,000 per account — is not at risk, with the FDIC backed by the government.
Europe won't let euro zone state fail: ECB's Trichet
Sat Jun 19, 7:42 am ET
BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe will not allow its weakest members to collapse under their debt burden, European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said in an interview with German weekly Welt am Sonntag.According to the paper, Trichet ruled out the possibility of Greece, Spain or Portugal not being able to pay back their debt.We will not allow this to happen. We did not create the Maastricht Treaty in order to then go back again,he said in the interview due to be published on Sunday.
Trichet again defended the ECB's decision to buy back government bonds last month, in order to calm bond markets and bring down borrowing costs for heavily-indebted Greece and other financially strained euro zone members.The situation was dramatic. Europe was at the epicenter of the crisis at this time, he said.The controversial step to start buying government debt opened a deep rift at the ECB's top table, pitting Trichet against ECB and Bundesbank heavyweight Axel Weber. Weber has openly criticized the move, arguing it creates serious stability risks.In the last few weeks I understood one thing: in Germany, some things are interpreted differently, Trichet said.The no-bailout clause means that there is no duty to offer subsidies or transfer. But it does not mean that in exceptional circumstances, one country should not be allowed to offer support to another.The Maastricht Treaty, which paved the way for the euro single currency, says no euro zone country should bail out another. Germany has dismissed the idea of the EU becoming a transfer zone, where rich members subsidize poorer states.I wish the German public had reacted with the same indignation toward the breach of the European stability pact in 2004 as toward our decision to buy state bonds,said Trichet.(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; editing by Patrick Graham)
Factbox: Main features of China's currency system
JUNE 19,10
China will gradually make the yuan's exchange rate more flexible, the central bank said on Saturday a week before a G20 summit, strongly suggesting that it was ready to break the currency's 23-month-old dollar peg.A central bank statement was released following mounting pressure on Beijing to allow the yuan to appreciate in line with its economic strength since the global economy began to recover.
Here are the main features of China's currency system.
-- China revised the basic rules governing its foreign exchange system after it revalued the yuan, or renminbi, by 2.1 percent against the dollar on July 21, 2005.
-- China said it had shifted to a managed floating exchange rate based on market supply and demand with reference to a basket of currencies, to replace a single exchange rate system with the central bank announcing the yuan's value on a daily basis.
-- However, Beijing suspended the managed floating system in July 2008, effectively repegging the currency to the dollar to try to protect its economy from the global financial crisis.
-- Chinese officials, including President Hu Jintao, had said they would continue yuan reforms initiated in 2005.
-- The yuan is allowed to rise or fall by 0.5 percent a day against the dollar from an opening mid-point set by the central bank at 9.15 a.m. (0115 GMT) based on quotes collected from market makers.
-- In actual trade, the yuan has almost always held within 0.15 percent of the dollar mid-point. Since mid-2008, the central bank has used the mid-point to keep the yuan within about 100 pips of 6.83 per dollar.
-- The yuan's daily trading band against other major currencies is set at plus or minus 3 percent from the daily mid-point.
-- The central bank has said the dollar, euro, yen and Korean won are the main currencies in its reference basket. Others include the Singapore dollar, sterling, the Malaysian ringgit, Russian rouble, Australian dollar, Thai baht and Canadian dollar. The weightings are kept secret.(Reporting by Lu Jianxin and Edmund Klamann: Editing by Neil Fullick)
POWER OUTAGE
REVELATION 16:10-11
10 And the fifth angel poured out his vial upon the seat of the beast; and his kingdom was full of darkness; and they gnawed their tongues for pain,
11 And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds.
Zimbabwe, Zambia plunge into darkness
Fri Jun 18, 1:39 pm ET
HARARE (AFP) – Parts of Zimbabwe and most of neighbouring Zambia suffered a massive blackout for about 10 hours on Friday, as a fault crippled the hydro-electric dam that supplies most of the countries' power.A breakdown at Kariba dam disrupted the entire electrical grid and caused problems at secondary stations, said Fullard Gwasira, a spokesman for the Zimbabwe Electricity Supply Authority (ZESA).We had a system disturbance this morning in Kariba leading to loss of power in the country," he told AFP.The systems disturbance has resulted in loss of power from Kariba North, South and Kafuwe gorge (in Zambia). This system disturbance resulted in the loss of 736 megawatts which has resulted in some parts of the country and Zambia not having electricity.Zimbabwe only generates a total of 900 megawatts of power, and needs about 2,100 megawatts to keep the lights on across the country.About 10 hours later, five of the six units at Kariba had been restored.One unit is still down until Sunday, so there will be continuous blackouts in some parts of the country, Gwasira said.Most of Harare lost power for the day, leading to gridlock throughout the city as traffic lights stopped working.All of the Zambian capital Lusaka lost power and national radio went off the air as electricity in most of the country disappeared for about 10 hours.There was a fault at Kariba dam power station, which affected almost the entire country, said Lucy Zimba of Zambia's state power company. She said engineers were still trying to determine what caused the fault.
The blackouts came one week after Zimbabwe authorities had assured the country that power would run continuously through the World Cup.Gwasira said engineers were attending to the problem and trying to find what led to this system disturbance.
Zimbabwe's ageing power generation stations have been facing growing technical problems as a result of neglect due to years of economic crisis.
Myanmar denies allegations it is seeking nukes
Sat Jun 19, 6:41 am ET
YANGON, Myanmar – Myanmar has sent a letter to the U.N. nuclear agency insisting it has no current or future plan to develop a nuclear program in the isolated country's second denial this month after reports emerged it may be seeking an atomic weapon.
Myanmar's military government has denied similar allegations in the past, but suspicions have mounted recently that the impoverished Southeast Asian nation has embarked on a nuclear program.Myanmar's envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, Win Tin, dismissed the allegations as groundless and unfounded in a letter sent Friday, according to a Saturday report in the New Light of Myanmar newspaper. The Foreign Ministry issued a denial on June 11.No activity related to uranium conversion, enrichment, reactor construction or operation has been carried out in the past, is ongoing or is planned for the future in Myanmar, the letter said, according to the newspaper which is a mouthpiece for the junta.The letter was sent in response to one from the IAEA dated June 14 that asked Myanmar to outline any nuclear-related activities or ambitions, the newspaper said.Earlier this month, the Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, a Myanmar exile news service, charged that the junta, aided by North Korea, is actively pursuing a nuclear weapons program with the aim of developing a bomb and long-range missiles.It said its conclusions were based on a five-year study and revelations by a recent Myanmar army defector who smuggled out extensive files and photographs. The report also said that Myanmar is still far from producing a nuclear weapon.Win Tin's letter noted that Myanmar is a signatory of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the agency's so-called safeguards agreement.As stated in the safeguards agreement, Myanmar will notify the agency if it plans to carry out any nuclear activities,the letter said.Last month, U.N. experts monitoring sanctions imposed against North Korea over its nuclear and missile tests said their research indicated it was involved in banned nuclear and ballistic missile activities in Iran, Syria and Myanmar, which is also called Burma.Documents that surfaced earlier showed that North Korea was helping Myanmar dig a series of underground facilities and develop missiles with a range of up to 1,860 miles (3,000 kilometers).
Friday, June 18, 2010
P-10 OIL SPILL NEWS UPDATE
PESTILENCES (CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS)
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(CHEMICAL,BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
POISONED WATERS
REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
LIVE BP OIL FEED
http://interactive.foxnews.com/livestream/live.html?chanId=2&openAIR=true
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/26/bp-oil-spill-live-feed-vi_n_590635.html
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/
homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html
OBAMA ON OIL SPILL-VIDEO
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/deepwater-bp-oil-spill-presidential-press-conference
PART 1-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/05/oil-still-gushing-as-of-645pm.html
PART 2-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/05/p-2-oil-slick-news-nay-29.html
PART 3-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-3-oil-spill-news-update.html
PART 4-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p4-oil-spill-news.html
PART 5-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-5-oil-spill-news-update.html
PART 6-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-6-oil-remembering-dead-from-rig.html
PART 7-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-7-oil-spill-news-update.html
PART 8-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-8-oil-spill-update-news.html
PART 9-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-9-oil-spill-news-update.html
ITS DAY 59 THU JUNE 17,2010 12:00AM AND ED (LUNATIC LEFT NUTCASE)SCHULTZ OF MSNBC IS KISSING OBAMAS BUTT.HE THINKS OBAMA IS THE GREATEST THING SINCE THE CHICAGO MOB FOR FORCING BP TO PAY $20 BILLION PLUS AND FOR SOETORO THE MUSLIM FROM KENYA IN OFFICE ILLEGALLY FORCNG BP TO APPOLOGIZE.YOU CAN TELL THE MUSLIM OBAMA HAS MSNBC KISSING BUTT TO WHATEVER HE SAYS,THEY WORSHIP ON HANDS AND KNEES LIKE OBAMAS WELLBOY MAHDI TO THE WELL.AND MSNBC IS GLADLY PROPAGANDIZING AMERICANS TO ACCEPT CAP & TRADE-CARBON TAXES BY THE QUADRILLIONS ON INVISIBLE SKY HOOKS AND INVISIBLE GAS AND SMOKE.BETWEEN CIA AGENT MARXIST CHRIS MATTHEWS AND BUTCH RACHEL MADDOW AND LUNATIC SCHULTZ AND GLASSES AT THE TIP OF THE NOSE KEITH OLBERMANN-OBAMA HAS GOT THESE PEOPLE IN HIS POCKET.SCHULTZ EVEN HAD VAN JONES ON HIS SHOW TO BLEND RIGHT IN WITH THE REST OF THE RADICALS AT MSNBC.I'M SUPRISED EDDY BOY NEVER HAD BILL AYRES ON TO GIVE TIPS HOW TO BOMB GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.AND THESE NUT CASES (NUT JOBS) SAY THE RIGHT-CONSERVATIVE-TEA PARTIERS ARE DANGEROUS.WITH CONTROL FREAK FREINDS LIKE JONES,AYRES,OBAMA AND MSNBC ALL PARTNERS WHO NEEDS ENEMIES.
I LOVE WHAT DICK ARMEY SAID MSNBC IS NOT A NEWS NETWORK ITS A POLITICAL HACK.
ITS 10:08 AM DAY 59 JUNE 17,2010 AND HAYWARD IS GETTING GRILLED ABOUT THE INCOMPITANCE AND FOOLISHNESS BP DID BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE OIL SPILL.THIS WILL GET UGLY I WILL KEEP USE UP TO DATE ABOUT IT.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS IN CONGRESS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524175210&play=1
BP IN DEBT DISCUSSIONS WITH BANKS-GOLDMAN SACHS LIKELY,NO OTHER
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524228150&play=1
TO MUCH GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524220672&play=1
ITS 11:24AM AND A WOMEN AT THE HEARING JUST GOT ARRESTED FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE OIL DISASTER.NOW WHO IS THE SMALL PERSON BUT TONY HAYWARD AT A GIGANTIC TABLE ALL BY HIMSELF WHILE THE COMMITTEE GRILLS HIM FROM EVERY SIDE ON THE OIL POISONOUS DISASTER NOT JUST SPILL.
HEARING OPENING STATEMENTS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524182005&play=1
HAYWARD ON THE HILL-COMMENTS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524165454&play=1
http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip314629
HAYWARDS SO CALLED SORRY REMARKS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524193242&play=1
WILL ANADARKO SUE BP
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524228138&play=1
REMARKS ON OIL DISASTER
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524245266&play=1 (2)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524247354&play=1 (3)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524247367&play=1 (4)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524279582&play=1 (5)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524299071&play=1 (6)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524300611&play=1 (7)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524324750&play=1 (8)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524356284&play=1 (9)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524356344&play=1 (10)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524368560&play=1 (11)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524393690&play=1 (12)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524396194&play=1 (13)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524410527&play=1 (14)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524440966&play=1 (15)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524440982&play=1 (16)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524440994&play=1 (17)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524462951&play=1 (18)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524445284&play=1 (19)
ITS 3:10PM JUNE 17,10 REPORTS HAVE IT CITIZENS IN FLORIDA ARE HAVING SERIOUS ILLNESS WITH RESPIRATORY TROUBLES AND OTHER SERIOUS ILLNESSES DUE TO THE POISONOUS CHEMICALS COMING FROM THE DISASTEROUS OIL SPILL.THE POISONS ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO TAKE EFFECT AFTER 59 DAYS,JUST THINK OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK AND THE SYMPTOMS ARE JUST NOW SHOWING UP.
ITS 5:37PM AND COLORADO CONGRESS WOMEN ASKED HAYWARD IF LONG TERM HEALTH CARE WOULD BE PAID TO SICK PEOPLE.HIS RESPONSE IF THE MEDIATOR SUGGESTS IT.FOR 5 MINUTES HE WOULD NOT FLAT OUT SAY THAT HE WOULD BE WILLING TO PAY FOR LONG TERM HEALTH CARE FROM POISONING AND CHEMICALS THE PEOPLE ARE INHALING.EVERY BODY GET OUT OF BP STOCKS QUICK,THEY WANT YOUR MONEY AND WILL NOT COVER LONG TERM HEALTH CARE POISONING BILLS.THIS IS JUST REDICULAS.
ITS 1:00 AM DAY 60 FRI JUNE 18,10 AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE SCAM CARBON TAXES IS IN FULL GEAR LIKE I PREDICTED.ITS ALL OVER ALL MEDIA SOURSES.
ITS 9:40AM JUNE 18,10 AND THEIR FINALLY TALKING ABOUT THE METHANE POISON IN THE OIL.
I WAS SAYING IN ONE OF THE OTHER OIL UPDATES THAT THIS COULD BE THE BEGGINING OF THE FOREVER FLOWING SMOKE TORMENTS FROM HELLS CITIZENS.
REVELATION 14:11
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
WELL LETS GO ONE FURTHUR AND SAY IF THIS WAS HELL THAT BP HIT WE COULD PUT ANOTHER PROPHECY INTO PLAY HERE.
REVELATION 9:1-6
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.(IN HELL)
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.(ITS FROM AN EXPOSION,COULD BE A NUKE THOUGH TO)
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
I WONDER IF THIS METHANE POISON WOULD EXPLODE FROM THE SPILL AREA AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN AND CAUSE A GIGANTIC TSUNAMI AS WELL AS CAUSING SMOKE TO GO IN THE AIR FOREVER AS THE OIL LINE COULD NOT BE REPAIRED AND WHO KNOWS HOW MANY MILES DOWN THE EXPLOSION WOULD GO.IF FROM THIS EXPLOSION IT WOULD HIT THIS PLACE IN HELL WERE THESE DEMONIC LOCUSTS ARE AND CAUSE THEM TO COME TO THE SURFACE FROM THE EXPLOSION AND IF IT IS THE SMOKE FROM THE TORMENTS OF HELLS CITIZENS THIS UNSTOPABLE SMOKE DISASTER IT COULD POSSIBLY FULFILL THE BEGINING OF THIS PROPHECY OF THE DEMONIC LOCUSTS COMING FROM THE SMOKE OF HELLS CITIZENS TORMENTS TO TORMENT GOD(KING JESUS) AND ISRAEL HATERS FOR 5 MONTHS.THIS IS JUST MY THOUGHTS BUT WE KNOW ALL THE PROPHECIES WILL BE FULFILLED LITERALY BY GOD(KING JESUS) LIKE HIS WORD SAYS.
Methane Explosion JUNE 18,10 8:15PM
At the ocean floor lies a sleeping monster, one that millions of years ago devastated the Earth, causing a mass-extinction, and today could be released again. It is silent, invisible and deadly, and contains double the energy of the entire world's fossil fuels combined. It is the frozen methane reserves at the bottom of the sea; capable of causing massive rises in global temperatures and igniting the atmosphere.
Has frozen methane ever been released before?
55 million years ago, 20% of the world's frozen methane reserves melted. This sparked cataclysmic changes in the atmosphere: global temperatures rose by 13 degrees Fahrenheit, melting the ice caps and forcing many species to extinction. 80% of all deep-sea creatures became extinct, and there were severe consequences for land animals. If vast amounts of methane were released, the highly explosive gas would be ignited by lightning, scorching huge area in a fiery hell-on-earth.
What is methane?
Methane is an extremely flammable and explosive gas. At the bottom of the ocean it is found in a form called 'methane hydrate', when the particles are locked in a lattice with water. When this melts, it releases methane gas with 160 times this volume. Methane hydrate is found deep in the oceans, more than 350m down. It is estimated that there is more than 200,000 trillion cubic feet of this gas at the bottom of the ocean; 80,000 times conventional natural gas reserves.
How is it released?
Small bursts of methane hydrate can be released by sudden events that break the lattice, such as landslides and earthquakes on the ocean floor. This releases a large amount of methane from the local area. This has been suggested as a possible explanation for the Bermuda Triangle - an area of ocean in the South Atlantic where dozens of ships and planes have disappeared without trace. The theory goes that landslides release the methane, which explodes on contact with, for example, a plane's engines. This shows how dangerous even small bursts can be.It would take a bigger event than an earthquake or landslide to start releasing vast quantities of methane hydrate. The current fear is that global warming would increase the ocean temperature to the point where frozen methane starts to melt all over the world.
What would be the effects if the gas was released?
If a large proportion of the gas were released the effects would be devastating. If hundreds of thousands of trillions of tons were released into the atmosphere, the rate global warming would skyrocket. Methane is 20 times more powerful a gas at raising global temperatures than carbon dioxide, so a release of a vast quantity of gas would cause huge temperature rises around the world. If temperatures rose by the 13 degrees Fahrenheit they did during the last release, ice caps would start to melt flooding large areas of the Earth. Worse, the gas would be ignited by lightning, leaving huge fires over areas of land, with coastal areas at especially great risk of destruction. Many cities that escaped the rising sea levels would not be spared the fire.
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Obama Plans To Sneak Through Carbon Tax By Stealth
Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Friday, June 18, 2010
President Obama is planning to sneak through his job-killing, economy wrecking carbon tax by stealth according to the Washington Post, by passing a weakened bill and then adding in cap and trade provisions after the heat is off following the November elections.Described as the lame duck climate strategy, Obama is planning to secure enough votes in the Senate to pass a weakened energy bill and then drag out the conference long enough to ensure the stronger provisions contained in the original House version are added after lawmakers have faced voters in November, thereby cushioning the vote’s political impact.Several sources familiar with the administration’s thinking confirmed it has started pressing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to bring up a slimmed-down energy and climate bill next month. Such a measure would pass more easily than a comprehensive climate bill, and could still be negotiated with the broader bill the House passed a year ago,reports the Washington Post.Knowing that the energy bill represents nothing less than another massive plunder of the American taxpayer and is widely unpopular, Senators will only stab their constituents in the back and vote for the more nightmarish aspects of the legislation, including a tax on the very substance they exhale, after they have secured their seats in November.As we highlighted last week, plans to impose a carbon tax on American citizens appeared to fade after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham shockingly reversed his views on climate change, telling a press conference that the science behind man-made global warming is in question and those pushing it are alarmists who have oversold the problem.
The Senate is expected to try and push a watered down bill with the hope of moving towards a carbon tax later on, we reported on June 10, which is exactly the approach now being adopted by Obama.The elite are still desperate to impose a consumption tax on Americans as part of the move towards a post-industrial revolution and the kind of nightmare green economy that has left Spain with a 20 per cent unemployment rate. In a so-called green economy, over 2.2 jobs are lost for every green job created.The EPA has been busy floating propaganda about how Obama’s cap and trade legislation would cost Americans an average of $79 to $146 per year. In reality, as we have documented, the stronger provisions of the bill would see around $2.9 trillion shaved off the economy by the year 2050 if enacted. The legislation would also reduce GDP by 6.9 percent – a figure comparable with the economic meltdown of 1929 and 1930.A carbon tax would impact almost every aspect of Americans’ lives, from higher gas prices, to soaring utility bills, to exorbitant excesses related to the energy efficiency of their homes. It would be enforced by an army of environmental regulators and green police poking their noses into the private affairs of citizens.
The government has aggressively exploited the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to manufacture an artificial urgency in an effort to speed the passage of cap and trade, an agenda firmly supported by the transnational oil corporations Obama is claiming to be reigning in. British Petroleum is one of the founding members of the cap and trade lobby, and has consistently lobbied for tax hikes, greenhouse gas restraints, the stimulus bill, the Wall Street bailout, and subsidies for oil pipelines, solar panels, natural gas and biofuels.Yesterday, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt invoked the oil spill disaster to justify passage of the carbon tax bill.
The tragedy in the gulf underscores the need to move quickly, and the president is committed to finding the votes for comprehensive energy legislation this year,said LaBolt.Obama himself even went to the extreme of comparing the oil spill to 9/11, proving that he is perfectly willing to exploit the horror of nearly 3,000 dead Americans in a completely unrelated event nine years ago to underhandedly push his political agenda.
Gulf oil full of methane, adding new concerns By MATTHEW BROWN and RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writers – Fri Jun 18, 5:32 am ET
NEW ORLEANS – It is an overlooked danger in oil spill crisis: The crude gushing from the well contains vast amounts of natural gas that could pose a serious threat to the Gulf of Mexico's fragile ecosystem.The oil emanating from the seafloor contains about 40 percent methane, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits, said John Kessler, a Texas A&M University oceanographer who is studying the impact of methane from the spill.That means huge quantities of methane have entered the Gulf, scientists say, potentially suffocating marine life and creating dead zones where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives.This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history, Kessler said.Methane is a colorless, odorless and flammable substance that is a major component in the natural gas used to heat people's homes. Petroleum engineers typically burn off excess gas attached to crude before the oil is shipped off to the refinery. That's exactly what BP has done as it has captured more than 7.5 million gallons of crude from the breached well.
A BP spokesman said the company was burning about 30 million cubic feet of natural gas daily from the source of the leak, adding up to about 450 million cubic feet since the containment effort started 15 days ago. That's enough gas to heat about 450,000 homes for four days.But that figure does not account for gas that eluded containment efforts and wound up in the water, leaving behind huge amounts of methane.BP PLC said a containment cap sitting over the leaking well funneled about 619,500 gallons of oil to a drillship waiting on the ocean surface on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a specialized flare siphoning oil and gas from a stack of pipes on the seafloor burned roughly 161,700 gallons.Thursday was focused on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers chastised BP CEO Tony Hayward.Testifying as oil still surged into the Gulf at between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons a day, coating more coastal land and marshes, Hayward declared I am so devastated with this accident,deeply sorry and so distraught.But he also said he was out of the loop on decisions at the well and disclaimed knowledge of any of the myriad problems on and under the Deepwater Horizon rig before the deadly explosion. BP was leasing the rig the Deepwater Horizon that exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the environmental disaster.BP blew it, said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House investigations panel that held the hearing. You cut corners to save money and time.
As for the methane, scientists are still trying to measure how much has escaped into the water and how it may damage the Gulf and it creatures.The dangerous gas has played an important role throughout the disaster and response. A bubble of methane is believed to have burst up from the seafloor and ignited the rig explosion. Methane crystals also clogged a four-story containment box that engineers earlier tried to place on top of the breached well.Now it is being looked at as an environmental concern.The small microbes that live in the sea have been feeding on the oil and natural gas in the water and are consuming larger quantities of oxygen, which they need to digest food. As they draw more oxygen from the water, it creates two problems. When oxygen levels drop low enough, the breakdown of oil grinds to a halt; and as it is depleted in the water, most life can't be sustained.The National Science Foundation funded research on methane in the Gulf amid concerns about the depths of the oil plume and questions what role natural gas was playing in keeping the oil below the surface, said David Garrison, a program director in the federal agency who specializes in biological oceanography.This has the potential to harm the ecosystem in ways that we don't know, Garrison said.It's a complex problem.
In early June, a research team led by Samantha Joye of the Institute of Undersea Research and Technology at the University of Georgia investigated a 15-mile-long plume drifting southwest from the leak site. They said they found methane concentrations up to 10,000 times higher than normal, and oxygen levels depleted by 40 percent or more. The scientists found that some parts of the plume had oxygen concentrations just shy of the level that tips ocean waters into the category of dead zone — a region uninhabitable to fish, crabs, shrimp and other marine creatures. Kessler has encountered similar findings. Since he began his on-site research on Saturday, he said he has already found oxygen depletions of between 2 percent and 30 percent in waters 1,000 feet deep.Shallow waters are normally more susceptible to oxygen depletion. Because it is being found in such deep waters, both Kessler and Joye do not know what is causing the depletion and what the impact could be in the long- or short-term.In an e-mail, Joye called her findings the most bizarre looking oxygen profiles I have ever seen anywhere.Representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration acknowledged that so much methane in the water could draw down oxygen levels and slow the breakdown of oil in the Gulf, but cautioned that research was still under way to understand the ramifications. We haven't seen any long-term changes or trends at this point, said Robert Haddad, chief of the agency's assessment and restoration division. Haddad said early efforts to monitor the spill had focused largely on the more toxic components of oil. However, as new data comes in, he said NOAA and other federal agencies will get a more accurate read on methane concentrations and the effects. The question is what's going on in the deeper, colder parts of the ocean, he said. Are the (methane) concentrations going to overcome the amount of available oxygen? We want to make sure we're not overloading the system.BP spokesman Mark Proegler disputed Joye's suggestion that the Gulf's deep waters contain large amounts of methane, noting that water samples taken by BP and federal agencies have shown minimal underwater oil outside the spill's vicinity. The gas that escapes, what we don't flare, goes up to the surface and is gone, he said.Steven DiMarco, an oceanographer at Texas A&M University who has studied a long-known dead zone in the Gulf, said one example of marine life that could be affected by low oxygen levels in deeper waters would be giant squid — the food of choice for the endangered sperm whale population. Squid live primarily in deep water, and would be disrupted by lower oxygen levels, DiMarco said.Brown reported from Billings, Mont.
BP chief says he wasn't in loop, enraging Congress By CALVIN WOODWARD and FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writers - JUNE 18 12:50AM
WASHINGTON – Channeling the nation's anger, lawmakers pilloried BP's boss in a withering day of judgment Thursday for the oil company at the center of the Gulf calamity. Unflinching, BP chief executive Tony Hayward said he was out of the loop on decisions at the well and coolly asserted,I'm not stonewalling.That infuriated members of Congress even more, Democrats and Republicans alike.Testifying as oil still surged into the Gulf of Mexico and coated ever more coastal land and marshes, Hayward declared I am so devastated with this accident,deeply sorry and so distraught.Yet the oil man disclaimed knowledge of any of the myriad problems on and under the Deepwater Horizon rig before the deadly explosion, telling a congressional hearing he had only heard about the well earlier in April, the month of the accident, when the BP drilling team told him it had found oil.With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells a year around the world, Hayward told Republican Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas.Yes, I know, Burgess shot back. That's what scaring me right now.Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., told the CEO: I think you're copping out. You're the captain of the ship.Democrats were similarly, if more predictably, livid.BP blew it,said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House investigations panel that held the hearing. You cut corners to save money and time.
The verbal onslaught had been anticipated for days and unfolded at a nearly relentless pace. Hayward had one seemingly sympathetic listener, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who apologized for the pressure President Barack Obama had put on BP to create a compensation fund. Hours later, after criticism from Republicans and Democrats as well as the White House, Barton backed off and apologized for his apology.With multiple investigations continuing and primary efforts in the Gulf focused on stopping the leak, there was little chance the nation would learn much from Hayward's appearance about what caused the disaster. Yet even modest expectations were not met as the CEO told lawmakers at every turn that he was not tuned in to operations at the well.He said his underlings made the decisions and federal regulators were responsible for vetting them.Hayward spoke slowly and calmly in his clipped British accent as he sought to deflect accusations — based on internal BP documents obtained by congressional investigators — that BP chose a particular well design that was riskier but cheaper by at least $7 million.I wasn't involved in any of that decision-making,he said.Were bad decisions made about the cement? I wasn't part of the decision-making process, he said. I'm not a cement engineer, I'm afraid.Also, I am not a drilling engineer and I'm not an oceanographic scientist.What about those reports that BP had been experiencing a variety of problems and delays at the well? I had no prior knowledge.At one point a frustrated Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, interrupted the CEO. You're kicking the can down the road and acting as if you had nothing to do with this company and nothing to do with the decisions. I find that irresponsible.Hayward quietly insisted: I'm not stonewalling. I simply was not involved in the decision-making process.Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., voiced the committee's frustrations as the afternoon wore on. You're really insulting our intelligence,he said.I am thoroughly disgusted.
Waxman told the BP executive that in his committee's review of 30,000 items, there was not a single e-mail or document that you paid even the slightest attention to the dangers at this well.Burgess slammed both the CEO and the government regulators for a risky drilling plan that he said never should have been brought forward. Shame on you, Mr. Hayward, for submitting it, Burgess said, but shame on us for accepting it, which is simply a rubber stamp.In a jarring departure that caught fellow Republicans by surprise, Barton, the top GOP member of the panel, used his opening statement to apologize — twice — for the pressure put on the company by President Barack Obama to contribute to a compensation fund for people in the afflicted Gulf of Mexico states. Barton said the U.S. has a due process system to assess such damages, and he decried the $20 billion fund that BP agreed to Wednesday at the White House as a shakedown and slush fund. He told Hayward,I'm not speaking for anybody else. But I apologize.He later retracted his apologies to BP, then apologized anew — this time for calling the fund a shakedown.BP should bear the full financial responsibility for the accident, he said, and fully compensate those families and businesses that have been hurt by this accident.Barton's earlier remarks were clearly an embarrassment for the party. House Republican leaders John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Mike Pence issued a statement asserting: Congressman Barton's statements this morning were wrong. BP itself has acknowledged that responsibility for the economic damages lies with them and has offered an initial pledge of $20 billion dollars for that purpose.Since 1990, oil and gas industry political action committees and employees have given more than $1.4 million to Barton's campaigns, the most of any House member during that period, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. As Hayward began to testify, a protester disrupted the hearing and was forcibly removed from the room by Capitol police. The woman was identified as Diane Wilson, 61, a shrimper from Seadrift, Texas, near the Gulf Coast. Her hands stained black, she shouted to Hayward from the back of the room: You need to be charged with a crime.
Stupak, the subcommittee chairman and a former Michigan state trooper, noted that over the past five years, 26 people have died and 700 have been injured in BP accidents — including the Gulf spill, a pipeline spill in Alaska and a refinery explosion in Texas. Hayward argued that safety had always been his top priority and that is why I am so devastated with this accident. When he became CEO in 2007, Hayward said he would focus like a laser on safety, a phrase he repeated on Thursday. Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., questioned BP's commitment to safety. BP had 760 safety violations in the past five years and paid $373 million in fines, Sullivan said. By contrast, Sunoco and ConocoPhillips each had eight safety violations and ExxonMobil just one, Sullivan said. How in the heck do you explain that? he asked Hayward. Hayward said most of those violations predated his tenure as CEO.We have made major changes in the company over the last three to four years, he said. An estimated 73.5 million to 126 million gallons of oil has come out of the breached wellhead, whether into the water or captured. The reservoir that feeds the well still holds about 2 billion gallons of oil, according to the first public estimate Hayward has given of the size of the undersea oil field. That means the reservoir is believed to still hold 94 percent to 97 percent of its oil. At the current flow rate, it would take from two years to nearly four years for all the oil to be drained from it.Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Matthew Daly, H. Josef Hebert, Seth Borenstein, Matt Apuzzo, Eileen Sullivan and Ben Feller in Washington and Harry Weber in Houston contributed to this report.
Gulf spill could swing Obama's power play on energy policy
Thu Jun 17, 9:54 pm ET By John Carey, environmental writer
Will the Gulf oil spill finally lead to a more aggressive energy policy to wean America from oil — or to more far-reaching measures to reduce the risks of climate change? A bill that would do both has been stalled before Congress for months, as Republicans and even some Democrats claim it would raise energy costs and lead to lost jobs. But outrage over the black tendrils of oil spewing from BP’s broken well in the Gulf is creating new opportunities for the once moribund legislation.A new poll from the Pew Research Center shows widespread public support for more renewable energy, tougher energy efficiency standards, and climate policies that would limit the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that are the source of global warming — even if such action would raise the price of energy. Surprisingly, a majority of Republicans in the poll supported taking steps to reduce climate change and protect the environment. That’s the kind of support that Congress may find hard to ignore — and that President Obama is hoping to exploit.
In his June 15 Oval Office speech, the president made an impassioned plea to finally end America’s addiction to fossil fuel. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now,” he said. The next day Obama followed up, calling key senators such as John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) to begin a push for legislation to reduce America’s dependence on oil. The president also summoned Scott Brown (R-Mass.) to the White House in a bid for bipartisan support. There’s plenty of reason for skepticism — presidents have been making such promises for decades. So much so, in fact, that Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart did a skit Wednesday mocking the fact that every president since Richard Nixon has proclaimed the need for energy independence — in virtually identical terms. Yet the shifting mood could finally create momentum for Washington to act. The oil spill is a classic example of the way that policy windows open up when there is an event that really captures the attention and concern of the American, says Steve Corneli, senior vice president for market and climate policy at NRG Energy, a major utility based in Princeton, New Jersey.Because people care, politicians can respond in ways they couldn’t before.
After months of frustration, some environmentalists are cautiously hopeful that progress is possible.The oil spill has really made it absolutely certain that there will be an energy bill brought to the Senate floor,says Steve Cochran, director of Environmental Defense Fund's National Climate Campaign. What the legislation would actually entail, however, remains murky. The president is inviting a bipartisan group of senators to the White House next week in hopes of kick-starting negotiations, with the aim of beginning to work on a bill in the Senate following the Fourth of July break. Broad support exists for boosting investment in nuclear energy, renewable power and energy efficiency — measures that exist in bills already introduced by Senators Lugar and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). But going further will be a fight. Much will depend on how strong the public call for action really is. Republicans opposed to climate change are counting on Americans not being willing to pay higher prices to drive their cars or heat their homes. Obama himself was clearly testing the political waters in his June 15 speech. He praised the Waxman-Markey climate legislation passed by the House of Representatives last summer, which puts firm limits on the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants, cars, and other sources. By making it more expensive to emit carbon, and thus to burn fossil fuels, the House bill finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses,Obama said.
But to the dismay of environmentalists, Obama failed to push for a similar Senate bill, proposed by John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), that would also put a cap on emissions. Instead, he said: I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches — as long as they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) darkly warned that Obama is trying to exploit the oil spill to push a radical agenda.The tangled politics means that, even though the window for legislation has cracked open, the odds are still long. Environmentalists say it’s currently hard to imagine finding 60 votes in the Senate for a measure that puts a limit on carbon emissions. But without a cap, then progressives will not swallow more nuclear and drilling,says former Energy Dept. official Joseph Romm. A cap would also enable the government to sell permits to utilities and other manufacturers for the right to emit carbon; without one, Uncle Sam won’t have any revenue to pay for energy provisions like increased wind and solar power. One possibility, Romm believes, would be an energy bill that includes a cap on emissions for just one sector — power plants. That’s relatively easy because the utility industry already supports emissions limits.There’s still hope, supporters of a bill say. It is easy to imagine some constructive legislation passing, whether it just supports clean technology investments or is a bigger bill that addresses the elephant in the room — climate change, says NRG’s Corneli. The latter prospect — which would mean putting a price on carbon emissions — is the fastest way to jump-start the key technologies and industries we need to reduce dependence on oil,he says.Whether Congress agrees or not will show just how much impact the oil spill will ultimately have in Washington.
BP Aware Of Cracks In Oil Well Two Months Before Explosion - Former BP Chairman and current BP CEO both dumped stocks in weeks before disaster Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:25PM
BP was aware of cracks appearing in the Macondo well as far back as February, right around the time Goldman Sachs and BP Chairman Tony Hayward were busy dumping their stocks in the company on the eve of the explosion that led to the oil spill, according to information uncovered by congressional investigators.The Mining and Mineral Services agency released documents to Bloomberg indicating that BP was trying to seal cracks in the well about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast,according to the report.The fissures, which BP began to attempt to fix on February 13, could have played a role in the disaster, though this is a question still being explored by investigators. Improperly sealed, the cracks cause explosive natural gas to rush up the shaft.The company attempted a cement squeeze, which involves pumping cement to seal the fissures, according to a well activity report. Over the following week the company made repeated attempts to plug cracks that were draining expensive drilling fluid, known as mud,into the surrounding rocks,states the report.As we previously highlighted, eyewitness evidence indicates that Deepwater Horizon managers knew that the BP oil rig had major problems before its explosion on April 20. A crew member who rescued burning workers on the rig told Houston attorney Tony Buzbee of a conversation between Deepwater Horizon installation manager Jimmy Harrell and someone in Houston. According to the witness, Harrell was screaming, Are you f---ing happy? Are you f---ing happy? The rig’s on fire! I told you this was gonna happen.
The fact that BP managers were aware of problems with the rig and were seemingly unconcerned about fixing them only lends more weight to the already startling indications of some having foreknowledge of the disaster.As we highlighted last week, on page 37 of British Petroleum’s own investigative report into the oil spill, it is stated that the Hydraulic Control System on equipment designed to automatically seal the well in an emergency was modified without BP’s knowledge sometime before the explosion.Highly suspicious stock and share trades by people connected to BP before the explosion indicate some extent of foreknowledge.Goldman Sachs dumped 44% of its shares in BP Oil during the first quarter of 2010 – shares that subsequently lost 36 percent of their value, equating to $96 million. The current chairman of Goldman Sachs is Bilderberg luminary Peter Sutherland, who is also the former chairman of British Petroleum.Furthermore, as reported by the London Telegraph on June 5th, Tony Hayward, the current BP CEO sold £1.4 million of his shares in the fuel giant weeks before the spill.On April 12th, just over one week before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, Halliburton, the world’s second largest oilfield services corporation, surprised some by acquiring Boots & Coots, a relatively small but vastly experienced oil well control company.Halliburton is named in the majority of some two dozen lawsuits filed since the explosion by Gulf Coast people and businesses who claim that the company is to blame for the disaster.
Halliburton was forced to admit in testimony at a congressional hearing last month that it carried out a cementing operation 20 hours before the Gulf of Mexico rig went up in flames. The lawsuits claim that four Halliburton workers stationed on the rig improperly capped the well.
BP oil exec accused of kicking can down the road By FREDERIC J. FROMMER and MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writers - 2:10PM JUNE 17,10
WASHINGTON – Chastened by heavy criticism, a grim-faced BP chief executive Tony Hayward insisted Thursday he was devastated with this accident in the Gulf of Mexico and denied shunning tough questions from Congress on the nation's worst oil spill.
I'm not stonewalling,Hayward told a House investigations subcommittee, responding to repeated suggestions that he was dodging questions.Hayward said he was deeply sorry for the spill gushing now for more than eight weeks.I understand the seriousness of the situation, the frustrations and fears that continue to be voiced,he said.Even before he began testifying, Hayward had to endure more than an hour of mostly unrelenting criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.We are not small people, but we wish to get our lives back,Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., the subcommittee chairman, told Hayward, throwing back at the oil giant comments made the day before by BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg — about how BP sympathized with the small people of the Gulf — and Hayward's earlier remark that he wanted his life back.Later, Hayward appeared unflappable during a tense exchange with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee. Speaking slowly and calmly in his clipped British accent, he sought to deflect accusations — based on internal BP documents obtained by congressional investigators — that BP chose a particular well design that was riskier but cheaper by $7 million to $10 million.
Hayward repeatedly said that he didn't make those design choices as CEO. I'm not stonewalling. I simply was not involved in the decision-making process,Hayward told Waxman, adding that the well's engineering team clearly grappled with such issues.What's clear to me,Waxman interrupted,is that you don't want to answer our questions.You're not taking responsibility,the congressman added.You're kicking the can down the road and acting like you have nothing to do with ... this company. I find that irresponsible.Waxman told the BP executive that in his committee's review of 30,000 items, there was not a single e-mail or document that you paid even the slightest attention to the dangers at this well.A day after BP agreed to pay for a $20 billion victims' compensation fund, Hayward said under oath to lawmakers that I feel a great deal of responsibility for the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the giant spill.The fire and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon never should have happened,Hayward said. And, while we need to know what went wrong Hayward also said that it was still too early to say what caused the incident. There is still extensive work to do.As he began to testify, a protester disrupted the hearing and had to be forcibly removed from the room by Capitol police. The woman was identified as Diane Wilson, 61, a fisherman from Seadrift, Texas, near the Gulf Coast. Her hands stained black, she shouted to Hayward from the back of the room: You need to be charged with a crime.She was grabbed by Capitol police and taken from the room.
While most of the opening statements by members contained harsh criticisms of BP, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, turned the tables and apologized to BP, accusing the White House of conducting a $20 billion shakedown by requiring BP to establish the fund to compensate those hurt by the spill.I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House on Wednesday, said Barton, who has received at least $100,470 in political contributions from oil and gas interests since the beginning of 2009, the second-highest amount among all the committee members.White House press secretary Robert Gibbs responded: What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction.The $20 billion fund was finalized during a four-hour meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
President Barack Obama and other White House officials did not question BP leaders about those shortcuts during that meeting, administration officials said Thursday.
That's because the session was focused on finalizing the damages fund, not on the investigation of what went wrong, Carol Browner, Obama's top energy adviser, told The Associated Press. Obama has set up an independent commission to investigate the oil spill disaster.Internal BP documents show the company made a series of moneysaving shortcuts that dramatically increased the risks of danger on the deepsea rig.Stupak, the subcommittee chairman, noted that over the past five years, 26 had died and 700 were injured in BP accidents — including the Gulf spill, a pipeline spill in Alaska and a refinery explosion in Texas. Shouldn't the government ban drilling by companies with such poor safety records? Hayward sidestepped the question but insisted safety had always been his top priority and that is why I am so devastated with this accident.When he became CEO, Hayward said he would focus like a laser on safety, a phrase he repeated on Thursday.But Stupak suggested BP had cut corners instead of focusing on safety.Meanwhile, a rig drilling a relief well meant to help plug the gushing blown-out well is ahead of schedule and could reach its target over the next three to four weeks, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, Obama's point man on the spill response. Allen said Thursday that a drill from a rig near the ruptured well is nearly 10,000 feet below the seafloor and should come within 10 feet of the existing well in the next few weeks.
He also said that the final push of drilling is the most difficult. The relief drilling was originally slated for completion in mid-August. Once the drill reaches its target, BP will pump heavy mud down the relief well in an attempt to stop the flow.At the hearing on the Hill, Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, played a heart-wrenching video from a committee session on the Gulf Coast in which two widows whose husbands were killed in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion suggested that BP had put profits before safety.They are the symbols and the faces of this disaster,Braley said. Rep. Michael Burgess, a Texas Republican, said that BP appears to have taken their eye off the ball.He expressed surprise at Hayward's claim that he didn't know anything about the well in question, including safety issues that had been raised internally, until he was told in April that drilling had confirmed an oil discovery. But you're the CEO of the company,Burgess said. With due respect,shot back Hayward, We drill handreds of wells around the world.Yeah, that's what scares me right now,said Burgess.Hayward received $4.7 million in 2009 in total salary, performance bonus and other non-cash compensation, roughly 27 percent higher than the $3.7 million he received a year earlier, according to an AP review of filings available on BP's Web site Hayward sipped a beverage and jotted notes as one lawmaker after another scorched him.But Rep. Parker Griffith, R-Ala., a retired oncologist, offered some counterpoint. He suggested that cigarette smoking, not the BP oil spill, was the nation's worst environmental disaster.This is not going to be the worst thing that's ever happened to America,Griffith said.As of Thursday morning, the BP well has gushed between 66 million and 120 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, based on government daily spill rate figures.
Meanwhile, newly disclosed documents obtained by the AP show that after the Deepwater Horizon sank, BP made a worst-case estimate of 2.5 million gallons a day flowing into the Gulf of Mexico — far more than the company had said publicly until this week, when the government released its own worst-case estimate of about that amount.The undated estimate by BP, apparently made sometime last month, reflected the actual situation as it was understood by BP at the time, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is also probing the spill.Certainly Americans have a right to know that BP made these estimates, the date these estimates were determined and why they were not disclosed at that time,Grassley said.Associated Press writers H. Josef Hebert, Seth Borenstein, Matt Apuzzo, Eileen Sullivan and Ben Feller in Washington and Harry Weber in Houston contributed to this report.
BP CEO tells Congress he's devastated by spill By FREDERIC J. FROMMER and MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writers - JUNE 17,10 10:08AM
WASHINGTON – In an atmosphere of high tension, a House panel has opened Congress' first hearing with BP CEO Tony Hayward answering questions about the catastrophic Gulf Coast oil spill.Hayward, sitting by himself at the witness table, is expected to be interrogated sharply by lawmakers about BP's preparedness for such a massive spill and its failure to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf.Lawmakers also want assurances that BP will compensate Gulf coast residents and businesses for oil spill damage.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after agreeing to a $20 billion victims' compensation fund, BP's chief executive is ready to tell Congress that he was personally devastated by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and understands the anger that Americans feel toward him and his company.CEO Tony Hayward's contrition isn't likely to save him from a bruising Thursday on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are preparing to channel constituent outrage over the worst environmental disaster in the nation's history. Hayward, the panel's single witness, was surrounded by a flock of photographers as he entered the committee room and chatted with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.Earlier, a dozen Capitol police officers gathered outside the hearing room and a line of spectators snaked down the hallway.In prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press, Hayward said the explosion and sinking of the BP-operated rig never should have happened — and I am deeply sorry that they did.Newly disclosed documents obtained by the AP show that after the Deepwater Horizon sank, BP made a worst-case estimate of 2.5 million gallons a day flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. That figure is far higher than the company had said publicly until this week, when the government released its own worst-case estimate of about that amount.The undated estimate by BP, apparently made sometime last month, reflected the actual situation as it was understood by BP at the time, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, obtained the documents as part of an investigation into the oil spill and its aftermath.Grassley said it was not clear when exactly BP made the calculation. Certainly Americans have a right to know that BP made these estimates, the date these estimates were determined and why they were not disclosed at that time,he said Wednesday.
In a letter to BP America President Lamar McKay, Grassley asked BP to explain when it calculated a worst-case scenario of 2.5 million gallons a day and to provide documents justifying the figure.In the course of the crisis in the Gulf, Hayward has irritated some with comments like I'd like my life back. He strikes a more deferential tone in remarks prepared for the congressional hearing.To be sure, neither I nor the company is perfect,he said.But we are unwavering in our commitment to fulfill all our responsibilities.He said the company has spent nearly $1.5 billion so far and won't stop spending until the job is done.Hayward was to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on oversight and investigations, which is looking into the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed a flood of oil that has yet to be stopped. He called it a complex accident, caused by an unprecedented combination of failures.It's unlikely, however, that lawmakers — especially in an election year — will adopt President Barack Obama's more conciliatory tone toward BP. After accusing the company a day earlier of recklessness,Obama and top advisers met Wednesday with BP officials, including Hayward and board chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg. After the meeting, Obama announced BP concessions to pay a $20 billion fund. He said BP was a strong and viable company,and its stock price rebounded.Still, in perhaps a pointed snub, Obama on Wednesday described a constructive meeting with Svanberg but didn't mention Hayward. Last week, the president said he would have fired Hayward for comments such as when Hayward said he wanted his life back.Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee, and the full committee chairman, California Democrat Henry Waxman, wrote Hayward this week to expect questions on documents showing company decisions before the explosion that increased the risk of a blowout to save the company time or expense.Ahead of the session, Stupak said of Hayward's appearance, I expect him to be sliced and diced.Associated Press writers Matt Apuzzo and Eileen Sullivan contributed to this report.
I WONDER IF SMALL PEOPLE ARE USELESS EATERS TO GET RID OF US AS THE NEW WORLD ORDER NUTCASES WANT TO DO TO US.
BP small people comment causes anger along Gulf By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Writer JUNE 17,10 12:00 AM
VENICE, La. – The small people of the Gulf Coast have a humongous message for oil giant BP: They're tired of the company's big-time executives making insensitive comments.On Wednesday, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told reporters in Washington: I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care, but that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people.He later said he was very sorry for speaking clumsily.Orange Beach, Ala., Mayor Tony Kennon laughed when he heard Svanberg's remark.They can call me small, miniature, they can call me anything they want. Just write the check and send it to us, he said.
But Justin Taffinder of New Orleans was not amused.We're not small people. We're human beings. They're no greater than us. We don't bow down to them. We don't pray to them,Taffinder said.Svanberg is Swedish, and his comments — in English — may have been an unintentional slight. He uttered the remark to reporters following a joint press conference with President Barack Obama — who had spoken of the small business owners, the fishermen and the shrimpers affected by the spill.What I was trying to say — that BP understands how deeply this affects the lives of people who live along the Gulf and depend on it for their livelihood — will best be conveyed not by any words but by the work we do to put things right for the families and businesses who've been hurt,Svanberg said in a statement.But coastal residents already were angry over the oil spill disaster and at BP CEO Tony Hayward's earlier comments that he wants his life back.Lyn Ridge, 47, ferried reporters to see oil clean up operations Wednesday in a bay at Plaquemines Parish. He just shook his head when told about the small people comment.Ridge describes himself as commercial contractor that can't find work and driving boat trying to make a living.To make matters worse, Ridge figures his house on the water in Myrtle Grove has lost half it's value due to the oil spill.
They can say he didn't mean it that way, but that's how they think of us, Ridge said. They can't keep their foot out of their mouth,he added referring to Hayward's comments.In Alabama, Terry Hanners, who owns a small construction company in Gulf Shores, said the chairman's remark revealed something about BP's frame of mind.These BP people I've met are good folks. I've got a good rapport with them,said Hanners, 74. But BP does not care about us. They are so far above us. We are the nickel-and-dime folks of this world.Kennon said he is relieved that BP agreed to put $20 billion in an escrow fund, and joked, They better be lucky I called off the invasion of 10,000 rednecks with their rifles headed toward England anyway.Associated Press writers Jay Reeves in Orange Beach, Ala., Harry R. Weber in Houston and AP Radio correspondent David Melendy in Washington contributed to this report.(This version CORRECTS Minor edit to correct verb tense to spoken. Moving on general news and financial services.)
LUKE 21:11
11 And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences;(CHEMICAL,BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS) and fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.
POISONED WATERS
REVELATION 8:8-11
8 And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood;
9 And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed.
10 And the third angel sounded, and there fell a great star from heaven, burning as it were a lamp, and it fell upon the third part of the rivers, and upon the fountains of waters;
11 And the name of the star is called Wormwood:(bitter,Poisoned) and the third part of the waters became wormwood; and many men died of the waters, because they were made bitter.(poisoned)
REVELATION 16:3-7
3 And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea.(enviromentalists won't like this result)
4 And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood.
5 And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus.
6 For they(False World Church and Dictator) have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
LIVE BP OIL FEED
http://interactive.foxnews.com/livestream/live.html?chanId=2&openAIR=true
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/26/bp-oil-spill-live-feed-vi_n_590635.html
http://www.bp.com/liveassets/bp_internet/globalbp/globalbp_uk_english/
homepage/STAGING/local_assets/bp_homepage/html/rov_stream.html
OBAMA ON OIL SPILL-VIDEO
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/video/deepwater-bp-oil-spill-presidential-press-conference
PART 1-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/05/oil-still-gushing-as-of-645pm.html
PART 2-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/05/p-2-oil-slick-news-nay-29.html
PART 3-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-3-oil-spill-news-update.html
PART 4-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p4-oil-spill-news.html
PART 5-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-5-oil-spill-news-update.html
PART 6-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-6-oil-remembering-dead-from-rig.html
PART 7-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-7-oil-spill-news-update.html
PART 8-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-8-oil-spill-update-news.html
PART 9-OIL SPILL NEWS
http://israndjer.blogspot.com/2010/06/p-9-oil-spill-news-update.html
ITS DAY 59 THU JUNE 17,2010 12:00AM AND ED (LUNATIC LEFT NUTCASE)SCHULTZ OF MSNBC IS KISSING OBAMAS BUTT.HE THINKS OBAMA IS THE GREATEST THING SINCE THE CHICAGO MOB FOR FORCING BP TO PAY $20 BILLION PLUS AND FOR SOETORO THE MUSLIM FROM KENYA IN OFFICE ILLEGALLY FORCNG BP TO APPOLOGIZE.YOU CAN TELL THE MUSLIM OBAMA HAS MSNBC KISSING BUTT TO WHATEVER HE SAYS,THEY WORSHIP ON HANDS AND KNEES LIKE OBAMAS WELLBOY MAHDI TO THE WELL.AND MSNBC IS GLADLY PROPAGANDIZING AMERICANS TO ACCEPT CAP & TRADE-CARBON TAXES BY THE QUADRILLIONS ON INVISIBLE SKY HOOKS AND INVISIBLE GAS AND SMOKE.BETWEEN CIA AGENT MARXIST CHRIS MATTHEWS AND BUTCH RACHEL MADDOW AND LUNATIC SCHULTZ AND GLASSES AT THE TIP OF THE NOSE KEITH OLBERMANN-OBAMA HAS GOT THESE PEOPLE IN HIS POCKET.SCHULTZ EVEN HAD VAN JONES ON HIS SHOW TO BLEND RIGHT IN WITH THE REST OF THE RADICALS AT MSNBC.I'M SUPRISED EDDY BOY NEVER HAD BILL AYRES ON TO GIVE TIPS HOW TO BOMB GOVERNMENT BUILDINGS.AND THESE NUT CASES (NUT JOBS) SAY THE RIGHT-CONSERVATIVE-TEA PARTIERS ARE DANGEROUS.WITH CONTROL FREAK FREINDS LIKE JONES,AYRES,OBAMA AND MSNBC ALL PARTNERS WHO NEEDS ENEMIES.
I LOVE WHAT DICK ARMEY SAID MSNBC IS NOT A NEWS NETWORK ITS A POLITICAL HACK.
ITS 10:08 AM DAY 59 JUNE 17,2010 AND HAYWARD IS GETTING GRILLED ABOUT THE INCOMPITANCE AND FOOLISHNESS BP DID BEFORE THE BEGINNING OF THE OIL SPILL.THIS WILL GET UGLY I WILL KEEP USE UP TO DATE ABOUT IT.
CONFLICT OF INTERESTS IN CONGRESS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524175210&play=1
BP IN DEBT DISCUSSIONS WITH BANKS-GOLDMAN SACHS LIKELY,NO OTHER
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524228150&play=1
TO MUCH GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524220672&play=1
ITS 11:24AM AND A WOMEN AT THE HEARING JUST GOT ARRESTED FOR SPEAKING OUT AGAINST THE OIL DISASTER.NOW WHO IS THE SMALL PERSON BUT TONY HAYWARD AT A GIGANTIC TABLE ALL BY HIMSELF WHILE THE COMMITTEE GRILLS HIM FROM EVERY SIDE ON THE OIL POISONOUS DISASTER NOT JUST SPILL.
HEARING OPENING STATEMENTS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524182005&play=1
HAYWARD ON THE HILL-COMMENTS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524165454&play=1
http://watch.bnn.ca/#clip314629
HAYWARDS SO CALLED SORRY REMARKS
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524193242&play=1
WILL ANADARKO SUE BP
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524228138&play=1
REMARKS ON OIL DISASTER
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524245266&play=1 (2)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524247354&play=1 (3)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524247367&play=1 (4)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524279582&play=1 (5)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524299071&play=1 (6)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524300611&play=1 (7)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524324750&play=1 (8)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524356284&play=1 (9)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524356344&play=1 (10)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524368560&play=1 (11)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524393690&play=1 (12)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524396194&play=1 (13)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524410527&play=1 (14)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524440966&play=1 (15)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524440982&play=1 (16)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524440994&play=1 (17)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524462951&play=1 (18)
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1524445284&play=1 (19)
ITS 3:10PM JUNE 17,10 REPORTS HAVE IT CITIZENS IN FLORIDA ARE HAVING SERIOUS ILLNESS WITH RESPIRATORY TROUBLES AND OTHER SERIOUS ILLNESSES DUE TO THE POISONOUS CHEMICALS COMING FROM THE DISASTEROUS OIL SPILL.THE POISONS ARE JUST NOW STARTING TO TAKE EFFECT AFTER 59 DAYS,JUST THINK OF ALL THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SICK AND THE SYMPTOMS ARE JUST NOW SHOWING UP.
ITS 5:37PM AND COLORADO CONGRESS WOMEN ASKED HAYWARD IF LONG TERM HEALTH CARE WOULD BE PAID TO SICK PEOPLE.HIS RESPONSE IF THE MEDIATOR SUGGESTS IT.FOR 5 MINUTES HE WOULD NOT FLAT OUT SAY THAT HE WOULD BE WILLING TO PAY FOR LONG TERM HEALTH CARE FROM POISONING AND CHEMICALS THE PEOPLE ARE INHALING.EVERY BODY GET OUT OF BP STOCKS QUICK,THEY WANT YOUR MONEY AND WILL NOT COVER LONG TERM HEALTH CARE POISONING BILLS.THIS IS JUST REDICULAS.
ITS 1:00 AM DAY 60 FRI JUNE 18,10 AND THE CLIMATE CHANGE SCAM CARBON TAXES IS IN FULL GEAR LIKE I PREDICTED.ITS ALL OVER ALL MEDIA SOURSES.
ITS 9:40AM JUNE 18,10 AND THEIR FINALLY TALKING ABOUT THE METHANE POISON IN THE OIL.
I WAS SAYING IN ONE OF THE OTHER OIL UPDATES THAT THIS COULD BE THE BEGGINING OF THE FOREVER FLOWING SMOKE TORMENTS FROM HELLS CITIZENS.
REVELATION 14:11
11 And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.
WELL LETS GO ONE FURTHUR AND SAY IF THIS WAS HELL THAT BP HIT WE COULD PUT ANOTHER PROPHECY INTO PLAY HERE.
REVELATION 9:1-6
1 And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.(IN HELL)
2 And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.3 And there came out of the smoke locusts upon the earth: and unto them was given power, as the scorpions of the earth have power.
4 And it was commanded them that they should not hurt the grass of the earth, neither any green thing, neither any tree; but only those men which have not the seal of God in their foreheads.(ITS FROM AN EXPOSION,COULD BE A NUKE THOUGH TO)
5 And to them it was given that they should not kill them, but that they should be tormented five months: and their torment was as the torment of a scorpion, when he striketh a man.
6 And in those days shall men seek death, and shall not find it; and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them.
I WONDER IF THIS METHANE POISON WOULD EXPLODE FROM THE SPILL AREA AT THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN AND CAUSE A GIGANTIC TSUNAMI AS WELL AS CAUSING SMOKE TO GO IN THE AIR FOREVER AS THE OIL LINE COULD NOT BE REPAIRED AND WHO KNOWS HOW MANY MILES DOWN THE EXPLOSION WOULD GO.IF FROM THIS EXPLOSION IT WOULD HIT THIS PLACE IN HELL WERE THESE DEMONIC LOCUSTS ARE AND CAUSE THEM TO COME TO THE SURFACE FROM THE EXPLOSION AND IF IT IS THE SMOKE FROM THE TORMENTS OF HELLS CITIZENS THIS UNSTOPABLE SMOKE DISASTER IT COULD POSSIBLY FULFILL THE BEGINING OF THIS PROPHECY OF THE DEMONIC LOCUSTS COMING FROM THE SMOKE OF HELLS CITIZENS TORMENTS TO TORMENT GOD(KING JESUS) AND ISRAEL HATERS FOR 5 MONTHS.THIS IS JUST MY THOUGHTS BUT WE KNOW ALL THE PROPHECIES WILL BE FULFILLED LITERALY BY GOD(KING JESUS) LIKE HIS WORD SAYS.
Methane Explosion JUNE 18,10 8:15PM
At the ocean floor lies a sleeping monster, one that millions of years ago devastated the Earth, causing a mass-extinction, and today could be released again. It is silent, invisible and deadly, and contains double the energy of the entire world's fossil fuels combined. It is the frozen methane reserves at the bottom of the sea; capable of causing massive rises in global temperatures and igniting the atmosphere.
Has frozen methane ever been released before?
55 million years ago, 20% of the world's frozen methane reserves melted. This sparked cataclysmic changes in the atmosphere: global temperatures rose by 13 degrees Fahrenheit, melting the ice caps and forcing many species to extinction. 80% of all deep-sea creatures became extinct, and there were severe consequences for land animals. If vast amounts of methane were released, the highly explosive gas would be ignited by lightning, scorching huge area in a fiery hell-on-earth.
What is methane?
Methane is an extremely flammable and explosive gas. At the bottom of the ocean it is found in a form called 'methane hydrate', when the particles are locked in a lattice with water. When this melts, it releases methane gas with 160 times this volume. Methane hydrate is found deep in the oceans, more than 350m down. It is estimated that there is more than 200,000 trillion cubic feet of this gas at the bottom of the ocean; 80,000 times conventional natural gas reserves.
How is it released?
Small bursts of methane hydrate can be released by sudden events that break the lattice, such as landslides and earthquakes on the ocean floor. This releases a large amount of methane from the local area. This has been suggested as a possible explanation for the Bermuda Triangle - an area of ocean in the South Atlantic where dozens of ships and planes have disappeared without trace. The theory goes that landslides release the methane, which explodes on contact with, for example, a plane's engines. This shows how dangerous even small bursts can be.It would take a bigger event than an earthquake or landslide to start releasing vast quantities of methane hydrate. The current fear is that global warming would increase the ocean temperature to the point where frozen methane starts to melt all over the world.
What would be the effects if the gas was released?
If a large proportion of the gas were released the effects would be devastating. If hundreds of thousands of trillions of tons were released into the atmosphere, the rate global warming would skyrocket. Methane is 20 times more powerful a gas at raising global temperatures than carbon dioxide, so a release of a vast quantity of gas would cause huge temperature rises around the world. If temperatures rose by the 13 degrees Fahrenheit they did during the last release, ice caps would start to melt flooding large areas of the Earth. Worse, the gas would be ignited by lightning, leaving huge fires over areas of land, with coastal areas at especially great risk of destruction. Many cities that escaped the rising sea levels would not be spared the fire.
OZONE DEPLETION JUDGEMENT ON THE EARTH DUE TO SIN
ISAIAH 30:26-27
26 Moreover the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days, in the day that the LORD bindeth up the breach of his people, and healeth the stroke of their wound.
27 Behold, the name of the LORD cometh from far, burning with his anger, and the burden thereof is heavy: his lips are full of indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire:
MATTHEW 24:21-22,29
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.
22 And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake (ISRAELS SAKE) those days shall be shortened (Daylight hours shortened)
29 Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken:
REVELATION 16:7-9
7 And I heard another out of the altar say, Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.
8 And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire.
9 And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory.
Obama Plans To Sneak Through Carbon Tax By Stealth
Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Friday, June 18, 2010
President Obama is planning to sneak through his job-killing, economy wrecking carbon tax by stealth according to the Washington Post, by passing a weakened bill and then adding in cap and trade provisions after the heat is off following the November elections.Described as the lame duck climate strategy, Obama is planning to secure enough votes in the Senate to pass a weakened energy bill and then drag out the conference long enough to ensure the stronger provisions contained in the original House version are added after lawmakers have faced voters in November, thereby cushioning the vote’s political impact.Several sources familiar with the administration’s thinking confirmed it has started pressing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to bring up a slimmed-down energy and climate bill next month. Such a measure would pass more easily than a comprehensive climate bill, and could still be negotiated with the broader bill the House passed a year ago,reports the Washington Post.Knowing that the energy bill represents nothing less than another massive plunder of the American taxpayer and is widely unpopular, Senators will only stab their constituents in the back and vote for the more nightmarish aspects of the legislation, including a tax on the very substance they exhale, after they have secured their seats in November.As we highlighted last week, plans to impose a carbon tax on American citizens appeared to fade after Republican Senator Lindsey Graham shockingly reversed his views on climate change, telling a press conference that the science behind man-made global warming is in question and those pushing it are alarmists who have oversold the problem.
The Senate is expected to try and push a watered down bill with the hope of moving towards a carbon tax later on, we reported on June 10, which is exactly the approach now being adopted by Obama.The elite are still desperate to impose a consumption tax on Americans as part of the move towards a post-industrial revolution and the kind of nightmare green economy that has left Spain with a 20 per cent unemployment rate. In a so-called green economy, over 2.2 jobs are lost for every green job created.The EPA has been busy floating propaganda about how Obama’s cap and trade legislation would cost Americans an average of $79 to $146 per year. In reality, as we have documented, the stronger provisions of the bill would see around $2.9 trillion shaved off the economy by the year 2050 if enacted. The legislation would also reduce GDP by 6.9 percent – a figure comparable with the economic meltdown of 1929 and 1930.A carbon tax would impact almost every aspect of Americans’ lives, from higher gas prices, to soaring utility bills, to exorbitant excesses related to the energy efficiency of their homes. It would be enforced by an army of environmental regulators and green police poking their noses into the private affairs of citizens.
The government has aggressively exploited the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to manufacture an artificial urgency in an effort to speed the passage of cap and trade, an agenda firmly supported by the transnational oil corporations Obama is claiming to be reigning in. British Petroleum is one of the founding members of the cap and trade lobby, and has consistently lobbied for tax hikes, greenhouse gas restraints, the stimulus bill, the Wall Street bailout, and subsidies for oil pipelines, solar panels, natural gas and biofuels.Yesterday, White House spokesman Ben LaBolt invoked the oil spill disaster to justify passage of the carbon tax bill.
The tragedy in the gulf underscores the need to move quickly, and the president is committed to finding the votes for comprehensive energy legislation this year,said LaBolt.Obama himself even went to the extreme of comparing the oil spill to 9/11, proving that he is perfectly willing to exploit the horror of nearly 3,000 dead Americans in a completely unrelated event nine years ago to underhandedly push his political agenda.
Gulf oil full of methane, adding new concerns By MATTHEW BROWN and RAMIT PLUSHNICK-MASTI, Associated Press Writers – Fri Jun 18, 5:32 am ET
NEW ORLEANS – It is an overlooked danger in oil spill crisis: The crude gushing from the well contains vast amounts of natural gas that could pose a serious threat to the Gulf of Mexico's fragile ecosystem.The oil emanating from the seafloor contains about 40 percent methane, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits, said John Kessler, a Texas A&M University oceanographer who is studying the impact of methane from the spill.That means huge quantities of methane have entered the Gulf, scientists say, potentially suffocating marine life and creating dead zones where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives.This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history, Kessler said.Methane is a colorless, odorless and flammable substance that is a major component in the natural gas used to heat people's homes. Petroleum engineers typically burn off excess gas attached to crude before the oil is shipped off to the refinery. That's exactly what BP has done as it has captured more than 7.5 million gallons of crude from the breached well.
A BP spokesman said the company was burning about 30 million cubic feet of natural gas daily from the source of the leak, adding up to about 450 million cubic feet since the containment effort started 15 days ago. That's enough gas to heat about 450,000 homes for four days.But that figure does not account for gas that eluded containment efforts and wound up in the water, leaving behind huge amounts of methane.BP PLC said a containment cap sitting over the leaking well funneled about 619,500 gallons of oil to a drillship waiting on the ocean surface on Wednesday. Meanwhile, a specialized flare siphoning oil and gas from a stack of pipes on the seafloor burned roughly 161,700 gallons.Thursday was focused on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers chastised BP CEO Tony Hayward.Testifying as oil still surged into the Gulf at between 1.47 million and 2.52 million gallons a day, coating more coastal land and marshes, Hayward declared I am so devastated with this accident,deeply sorry and so distraught.But he also said he was out of the loop on decisions at the well and disclaimed knowledge of any of the myriad problems on and under the Deepwater Horizon rig before the deadly explosion. BP was leasing the rig the Deepwater Horizon that exploded April 20, killing 11 workers and triggering the environmental disaster.BP blew it, said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House investigations panel that held the hearing. You cut corners to save money and time.
As for the methane, scientists are still trying to measure how much has escaped into the water and how it may damage the Gulf and it creatures.The dangerous gas has played an important role throughout the disaster and response. A bubble of methane is believed to have burst up from the seafloor and ignited the rig explosion. Methane crystals also clogged a four-story containment box that engineers earlier tried to place on top of the breached well.Now it is being looked at as an environmental concern.The small microbes that live in the sea have been feeding on the oil and natural gas in the water and are consuming larger quantities of oxygen, which they need to digest food. As they draw more oxygen from the water, it creates two problems. When oxygen levels drop low enough, the breakdown of oil grinds to a halt; and as it is depleted in the water, most life can't be sustained.The National Science Foundation funded research on methane in the Gulf amid concerns about the depths of the oil plume and questions what role natural gas was playing in keeping the oil below the surface, said David Garrison, a program director in the federal agency who specializes in biological oceanography.This has the potential to harm the ecosystem in ways that we don't know, Garrison said.It's a complex problem.
In early June, a research team led by Samantha Joye of the Institute of Undersea Research and Technology at the University of Georgia investigated a 15-mile-long plume drifting southwest from the leak site. They said they found methane concentrations up to 10,000 times higher than normal, and oxygen levels depleted by 40 percent or more. The scientists found that some parts of the plume had oxygen concentrations just shy of the level that tips ocean waters into the category of dead zone — a region uninhabitable to fish, crabs, shrimp and other marine creatures. Kessler has encountered similar findings. Since he began his on-site research on Saturday, he said he has already found oxygen depletions of between 2 percent and 30 percent in waters 1,000 feet deep.Shallow waters are normally more susceptible to oxygen depletion. Because it is being found in such deep waters, both Kessler and Joye do not know what is causing the depletion and what the impact could be in the long- or short-term.In an e-mail, Joye called her findings the most bizarre looking oxygen profiles I have ever seen anywhere.Representatives of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration acknowledged that so much methane in the water could draw down oxygen levels and slow the breakdown of oil in the Gulf, but cautioned that research was still under way to understand the ramifications. We haven't seen any long-term changes or trends at this point, said Robert Haddad, chief of the agency's assessment and restoration division. Haddad said early efforts to monitor the spill had focused largely on the more toxic components of oil. However, as new data comes in, he said NOAA and other federal agencies will get a more accurate read on methane concentrations and the effects. The question is what's going on in the deeper, colder parts of the ocean, he said. Are the (methane) concentrations going to overcome the amount of available oxygen? We want to make sure we're not overloading the system.BP spokesman Mark Proegler disputed Joye's suggestion that the Gulf's deep waters contain large amounts of methane, noting that water samples taken by BP and federal agencies have shown minimal underwater oil outside the spill's vicinity. The gas that escapes, what we don't flare, goes up to the surface and is gone, he said.Steven DiMarco, an oceanographer at Texas A&M University who has studied a long-known dead zone in the Gulf, said one example of marine life that could be affected by low oxygen levels in deeper waters would be giant squid — the food of choice for the endangered sperm whale population. Squid live primarily in deep water, and would be disrupted by lower oxygen levels, DiMarco said.Brown reported from Billings, Mont.
BP chief says he wasn't in loop, enraging Congress By CALVIN WOODWARD and FREDERIC J. FROMMER, Associated Press Writers - JUNE 18 12:50AM
WASHINGTON – Channeling the nation's anger, lawmakers pilloried BP's boss in a withering day of judgment Thursday for the oil company at the center of the Gulf calamity. Unflinching, BP chief executive Tony Hayward said he was out of the loop on decisions at the well and coolly asserted,I'm not stonewalling.That infuriated members of Congress even more, Democrats and Republicans alike.Testifying as oil still surged into the Gulf of Mexico and coated ever more coastal land and marshes, Hayward declared I am so devastated with this accident,deeply sorry and so distraught.Yet the oil man disclaimed knowledge of any of the myriad problems on and under the Deepwater Horizon rig before the deadly explosion, telling a congressional hearing he had only heard about the well earlier in April, the month of the accident, when the BP drilling team told him it had found oil.With respect, sir, we drill hundreds of wells a year around the world, Hayward told Republican Rep. Michael Burgess of Texas.Yes, I know, Burgess shot back. That's what scaring me right now.Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., told the CEO: I think you're copping out. You're the captain of the ship.Democrats were similarly, if more predictably, livid.BP blew it,said Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the House investigations panel that held the hearing. You cut corners to save money and time.
The verbal onslaught had been anticipated for days and unfolded at a nearly relentless pace. Hayward had one seemingly sympathetic listener, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, who apologized for the pressure President Barack Obama had put on BP to create a compensation fund. Hours later, after criticism from Republicans and Democrats as well as the White House, Barton backed off and apologized for his apology.With multiple investigations continuing and primary efforts in the Gulf focused on stopping the leak, there was little chance the nation would learn much from Hayward's appearance about what caused the disaster. Yet even modest expectations were not met as the CEO told lawmakers at every turn that he was not tuned in to operations at the well.He said his underlings made the decisions and federal regulators were responsible for vetting them.Hayward spoke slowly and calmly in his clipped British accent as he sought to deflect accusations — based on internal BP documents obtained by congressional investigators — that BP chose a particular well design that was riskier but cheaper by at least $7 million.I wasn't involved in any of that decision-making,he said.Were bad decisions made about the cement? I wasn't part of the decision-making process, he said. I'm not a cement engineer, I'm afraid.Also, I am not a drilling engineer and I'm not an oceanographic scientist.What about those reports that BP had been experiencing a variety of problems and delays at the well? I had no prior knowledge.At one point a frustrated Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, interrupted the CEO. You're kicking the can down the road and acting as if you had nothing to do with this company and nothing to do with the decisions. I find that irresponsible.Hayward quietly insisted: I'm not stonewalling. I simply was not involved in the decision-making process.Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., voiced the committee's frustrations as the afternoon wore on. You're really insulting our intelligence,he said.I am thoroughly disgusted.
Waxman told the BP executive that in his committee's review of 30,000 items, there was not a single e-mail or document that you paid even the slightest attention to the dangers at this well.Burgess slammed both the CEO and the government regulators for a risky drilling plan that he said never should have been brought forward. Shame on you, Mr. Hayward, for submitting it, Burgess said, but shame on us for accepting it, which is simply a rubber stamp.In a jarring departure that caught fellow Republicans by surprise, Barton, the top GOP member of the panel, used his opening statement to apologize — twice — for the pressure put on the company by President Barack Obama to contribute to a compensation fund for people in the afflicted Gulf of Mexico states. Barton said the U.S. has a due process system to assess such damages, and he decried the $20 billion fund that BP agreed to Wednesday at the White House as a shakedown and slush fund. He told Hayward,I'm not speaking for anybody else. But I apologize.He later retracted his apologies to BP, then apologized anew — this time for calling the fund a shakedown.BP should bear the full financial responsibility for the accident, he said, and fully compensate those families and businesses that have been hurt by this accident.Barton's earlier remarks were clearly an embarrassment for the party. House Republican leaders John Boehner, Eric Cantor and Mike Pence issued a statement asserting: Congressman Barton's statements this morning were wrong. BP itself has acknowledged that responsibility for the economic damages lies with them and has offered an initial pledge of $20 billion dollars for that purpose.Since 1990, oil and gas industry political action committees and employees have given more than $1.4 million to Barton's campaigns, the most of any House member during that period, according to the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics. As Hayward began to testify, a protester disrupted the hearing and was forcibly removed from the room by Capitol police. The woman was identified as Diane Wilson, 61, a shrimper from Seadrift, Texas, near the Gulf Coast. Her hands stained black, she shouted to Hayward from the back of the room: You need to be charged with a crime.
Stupak, the subcommittee chairman and a former Michigan state trooper, noted that over the past five years, 26 people have died and 700 have been injured in BP accidents — including the Gulf spill, a pipeline spill in Alaska and a refinery explosion in Texas. Hayward argued that safety had always been his top priority and that is why I am so devastated with this accident. When he became CEO in 2007, Hayward said he would focus like a laser on safety, a phrase he repeated on Thursday. Rep. John Sullivan, R-Okla., questioned BP's commitment to safety. BP had 760 safety violations in the past five years and paid $373 million in fines, Sullivan said. By contrast, Sunoco and ConocoPhillips each had eight safety violations and ExxonMobil just one, Sullivan said. How in the heck do you explain that? he asked Hayward. Hayward said most of those violations predated his tenure as CEO.We have made major changes in the company over the last three to four years, he said. An estimated 73.5 million to 126 million gallons of oil has come out of the breached wellhead, whether into the water or captured. The reservoir that feeds the well still holds about 2 billion gallons of oil, according to the first public estimate Hayward has given of the size of the undersea oil field. That means the reservoir is believed to still hold 94 percent to 97 percent of its oil. At the current flow rate, it would take from two years to nearly four years for all the oil to be drained from it.Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Matthew Daly, H. Josef Hebert, Seth Borenstein, Matt Apuzzo, Eileen Sullivan and Ben Feller in Washington and Harry Weber in Houston contributed to this report.
Gulf spill could swing Obama's power play on energy policy
Thu Jun 17, 9:54 pm ET By John Carey, environmental writer
Will the Gulf oil spill finally lead to a more aggressive energy policy to wean America from oil — or to more far-reaching measures to reduce the risks of climate change? A bill that would do both has been stalled before Congress for months, as Republicans and even some Democrats claim it would raise energy costs and lead to lost jobs. But outrage over the black tendrils of oil spewing from BP’s broken well in the Gulf is creating new opportunities for the once moribund legislation.A new poll from the Pew Research Center shows widespread public support for more renewable energy, tougher energy efficiency standards, and climate policies that would limit the harmful greenhouse gas emissions that are the source of global warming — even if such action would raise the price of energy. Surprisingly, a majority of Republicans in the poll supported taking steps to reduce climate change and protect the environment. That’s the kind of support that Congress may find hard to ignore — and that President Obama is hoping to exploit.
In his June 15 Oval Office speech, the president made an impassioned plea to finally end America’s addiction to fossil fuel. The tragedy unfolding on our coast is the most painful and powerful reminder yet that the time to embrace a clean energy future is now,” he said. The next day Obama followed up, calling key senators such as John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) to begin a push for legislation to reduce America’s dependence on oil. The president also summoned Scott Brown (R-Mass.) to the White House in a bid for bipartisan support. There’s plenty of reason for skepticism — presidents have been making such promises for decades. So much so, in fact, that Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart did a skit Wednesday mocking the fact that every president since Richard Nixon has proclaimed the need for energy independence — in virtually identical terms. Yet the shifting mood could finally create momentum for Washington to act. The oil spill is a classic example of the way that policy windows open up when there is an event that really captures the attention and concern of the American, says Steve Corneli, senior vice president for market and climate policy at NRG Energy, a major utility based in Princeton, New Jersey.Because people care, politicians can respond in ways they couldn’t before.
After months of frustration, some environmentalists are cautiously hopeful that progress is possible.The oil spill has really made it absolutely certain that there will be an energy bill brought to the Senate floor,says Steve Cochran, director of Environmental Defense Fund's National Climate Campaign. What the legislation would actually entail, however, remains murky. The president is inviting a bipartisan group of senators to the White House next week in hopes of kick-starting negotiations, with the aim of beginning to work on a bill in the Senate following the Fourth of July break. Broad support exists for boosting investment in nuclear energy, renewable power and energy efficiency — measures that exist in bills already introduced by Senators Lugar and Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.). But going further will be a fight. Much will depend on how strong the public call for action really is. Republicans opposed to climate change are counting on Americans not being willing to pay higher prices to drive their cars or heat their homes. Obama himself was clearly testing the political waters in his June 15 speech. He praised the Waxman-Markey climate legislation passed by the House of Representatives last summer, which puts firm limits on the emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases from power plants, cars, and other sources. By making it more expensive to emit carbon, and thus to burn fossil fuels, the House bill finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America’s businesses,Obama said.
But to the dismay of environmentalists, Obama failed to push for a similar Senate bill, proposed by John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), that would also put a cap on emissions. Instead, he said: I’m happy to look at other ideas and approaches — as long as they seriously tackle our addiction to fossil fuels. Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) darkly warned that Obama is trying to exploit the oil spill to push a radical agenda.The tangled politics means that, even though the window for legislation has cracked open, the odds are still long. Environmentalists say it’s currently hard to imagine finding 60 votes in the Senate for a measure that puts a limit on carbon emissions. But without a cap, then progressives will not swallow more nuclear and drilling,says former Energy Dept. official Joseph Romm. A cap would also enable the government to sell permits to utilities and other manufacturers for the right to emit carbon; without one, Uncle Sam won’t have any revenue to pay for energy provisions like increased wind and solar power. One possibility, Romm believes, would be an energy bill that includes a cap on emissions for just one sector — power plants. That’s relatively easy because the utility industry already supports emissions limits.There’s still hope, supporters of a bill say. It is easy to imagine some constructive legislation passing, whether it just supports clean technology investments or is a bigger bill that addresses the elephant in the room — climate change, says NRG’s Corneli. The latter prospect — which would mean putting a price on carbon emissions — is the fastest way to jump-start the key technologies and industries we need to reduce dependence on oil,he says.Whether Congress agrees or not will show just how much impact the oil spill will ultimately have in Washington.
BP Aware Of Cracks In Oil Well Two Months Before Explosion - Former BP Chairman and current BP CEO both dumped stocks in weeks before disaster Paul Joseph Watson Prison Planet.com Thursday, June 17, 2010 3:25PM
BP was aware of cracks appearing in the Macondo well as far back as February, right around the time Goldman Sachs and BP Chairman Tony Hayward were busy dumping their stocks in the company on the eve of the explosion that led to the oil spill, according to information uncovered by congressional investigators.The Mining and Mineral Services agency released documents to Bloomberg indicating that BP was trying to seal cracks in the well about 40 miles (64 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast,according to the report.The fissures, which BP began to attempt to fix on February 13, could have played a role in the disaster, though this is a question still being explored by investigators. Improperly sealed, the cracks cause explosive natural gas to rush up the shaft.The company attempted a cement squeeze, which involves pumping cement to seal the fissures, according to a well activity report. Over the following week the company made repeated attempts to plug cracks that were draining expensive drilling fluid, known as mud,into the surrounding rocks,states the report.As we previously highlighted, eyewitness evidence indicates that Deepwater Horizon managers knew that the BP oil rig had major problems before its explosion on April 20. A crew member who rescued burning workers on the rig told Houston attorney Tony Buzbee of a conversation between Deepwater Horizon installation manager Jimmy Harrell and someone in Houston. According to the witness, Harrell was screaming, Are you f---ing happy? Are you f---ing happy? The rig’s on fire! I told you this was gonna happen.
The fact that BP managers were aware of problems with the rig and were seemingly unconcerned about fixing them only lends more weight to the already startling indications of some having foreknowledge of the disaster.As we highlighted last week, on page 37 of British Petroleum’s own investigative report into the oil spill, it is stated that the Hydraulic Control System on equipment designed to automatically seal the well in an emergency was modified without BP’s knowledge sometime before the explosion.Highly suspicious stock and share trades by people connected to BP before the explosion indicate some extent of foreknowledge.Goldman Sachs dumped 44% of its shares in BP Oil during the first quarter of 2010 – shares that subsequently lost 36 percent of their value, equating to $96 million. The current chairman of Goldman Sachs is Bilderberg luminary Peter Sutherland, who is also the former chairman of British Petroleum.Furthermore, as reported by the London Telegraph on June 5th, Tony Hayward, the current BP CEO sold £1.4 million of his shares in the fuel giant weeks before the spill.On April 12th, just over one week before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, Halliburton, the world’s second largest oilfield services corporation, surprised some by acquiring Boots & Coots, a relatively small but vastly experienced oil well control company.Halliburton is named in the majority of some two dozen lawsuits filed since the explosion by Gulf Coast people and businesses who claim that the company is to blame for the disaster.
Halliburton was forced to admit in testimony at a congressional hearing last month that it carried out a cementing operation 20 hours before the Gulf of Mexico rig went up in flames. The lawsuits claim that four Halliburton workers stationed on the rig improperly capped the well.
BP oil exec accused of kicking can down the road By FREDERIC J. FROMMER and MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writers - 2:10PM JUNE 17,10
WASHINGTON – Chastened by heavy criticism, a grim-faced BP chief executive Tony Hayward insisted Thursday he was devastated with this accident in the Gulf of Mexico and denied shunning tough questions from Congress on the nation's worst oil spill.
I'm not stonewalling,Hayward told a House investigations subcommittee, responding to repeated suggestions that he was dodging questions.Hayward said he was deeply sorry for the spill gushing now for more than eight weeks.I understand the seriousness of the situation, the frustrations and fears that continue to be voiced,he said.Even before he began testifying, Hayward had to endure more than an hour of mostly unrelenting criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike.We are not small people, but we wish to get our lives back,Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., the subcommittee chairman, told Hayward, throwing back at the oil giant comments made the day before by BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg — about how BP sympathized with the small people of the Gulf — and Hayward's earlier remark that he wanted his life back.Later, Hayward appeared unflappable during a tense exchange with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the full House Energy and Commerce Committee. Speaking slowly and calmly in his clipped British accent, he sought to deflect accusations — based on internal BP documents obtained by congressional investigators — that BP chose a particular well design that was riskier but cheaper by $7 million to $10 million.
Hayward repeatedly said that he didn't make those design choices as CEO. I'm not stonewalling. I simply was not involved in the decision-making process,Hayward told Waxman, adding that the well's engineering team clearly grappled with such issues.What's clear to me,Waxman interrupted,is that you don't want to answer our questions.You're not taking responsibility,the congressman added.You're kicking the can down the road and acting like you have nothing to do with ... this company. I find that irresponsible.Waxman told the BP executive that in his committee's review of 30,000 items, there was not a single e-mail or document that you paid even the slightest attention to the dangers at this well.A day after BP agreed to pay for a $20 billion victims' compensation fund, Hayward said under oath to lawmakers that I feel a great deal of responsibility for the April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that triggered the giant spill.The fire and explosion on the Deepwater Horizon never should have happened,Hayward said. And, while we need to know what went wrong Hayward also said that it was still too early to say what caused the incident. There is still extensive work to do.As he began to testify, a protester disrupted the hearing and had to be forcibly removed from the room by Capitol police. The woman was identified as Diane Wilson, 61, a fisherman from Seadrift, Texas, near the Gulf Coast. Her hands stained black, she shouted to Hayward from the back of the room: You need to be charged with a crime.She was grabbed by Capitol police and taken from the room.
While most of the opening statements by members contained harsh criticisms of BP, Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, turned the tables and apologized to BP, accusing the White House of conducting a $20 billion shakedown by requiring BP to establish the fund to compensate those hurt by the spill.I'm ashamed of what happened in the White House on Wednesday, said Barton, who has received at least $100,470 in political contributions from oil and gas interests since the beginning of 2009, the second-highest amount among all the committee members.White House press secretary Robert Gibbs responded: What is shameful is that Joe Barton seems to have more concern for big corporations that caused this disaster than the fishermen, small business owners and communities whose lives have been devastated by the destruction.The $20 billion fund was finalized during a four-hour meeting at the White House on Wednesday.
President Barack Obama and other White House officials did not question BP leaders about those shortcuts during that meeting, administration officials said Thursday.
That's because the session was focused on finalizing the damages fund, not on the investigation of what went wrong, Carol Browner, Obama's top energy adviser, told The Associated Press. Obama has set up an independent commission to investigate the oil spill disaster.Internal BP documents show the company made a series of moneysaving shortcuts that dramatically increased the risks of danger on the deepsea rig.Stupak, the subcommittee chairman, noted that over the past five years, 26 had died and 700 were injured in BP accidents — including the Gulf spill, a pipeline spill in Alaska and a refinery explosion in Texas. Shouldn't the government ban drilling by companies with such poor safety records? Hayward sidestepped the question but insisted safety had always been his top priority and that is why I am so devastated with this accident.When he became CEO, Hayward said he would focus like a laser on safety, a phrase he repeated on Thursday.But Stupak suggested BP had cut corners instead of focusing on safety.Meanwhile, a rig drilling a relief well meant to help plug the gushing blown-out well is ahead of schedule and could reach its target over the next three to four weeks, said Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, Obama's point man on the spill response. Allen said Thursday that a drill from a rig near the ruptured well is nearly 10,000 feet below the seafloor and should come within 10 feet of the existing well in the next few weeks.
He also said that the final push of drilling is the most difficult. The relief drilling was originally slated for completion in mid-August. Once the drill reaches its target, BP will pump heavy mud down the relief well in an attempt to stop the flow.At the hearing on the Hill, Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, played a heart-wrenching video from a committee session on the Gulf Coast in which two widows whose husbands were killed in the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion suggested that BP had put profits before safety.They are the symbols and the faces of this disaster,Braley said. Rep. Michael Burgess, a Texas Republican, said that BP appears to have taken their eye off the ball.He expressed surprise at Hayward's claim that he didn't know anything about the well in question, including safety issues that had been raised internally, until he was told in April that drilling had confirmed an oil discovery. But you're the CEO of the company,Burgess said. With due respect,shot back Hayward, We drill handreds of wells around the world.Yeah, that's what scares me right now,said Burgess.Hayward received $4.7 million in 2009 in total salary, performance bonus and other non-cash compensation, roughly 27 percent higher than the $3.7 million he received a year earlier, according to an AP review of filings available on BP's Web site Hayward sipped a beverage and jotted notes as one lawmaker after another scorched him.But Rep. Parker Griffith, R-Ala., a retired oncologist, offered some counterpoint. He suggested that cigarette smoking, not the BP oil spill, was the nation's worst environmental disaster.This is not going to be the worst thing that's ever happened to America,Griffith said.As of Thursday morning, the BP well has gushed between 66 million and 120 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, based on government daily spill rate figures.
Meanwhile, newly disclosed documents obtained by the AP show that after the Deepwater Horizon sank, BP made a worst-case estimate of 2.5 million gallons a day flowing into the Gulf of Mexico — far more than the company had said publicly until this week, when the government released its own worst-case estimate of about that amount.The undated estimate by BP, apparently made sometime last month, reflected the actual situation as it was understood by BP at the time, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, which is also probing the spill.Certainly Americans have a right to know that BP made these estimates, the date these estimates were determined and why they were not disclosed at that time,Grassley said.Associated Press writers H. Josef Hebert, Seth Borenstein, Matt Apuzzo, Eileen Sullivan and Ben Feller in Washington and Harry Weber in Houston contributed to this report.
BP CEO tells Congress he's devastated by spill By FREDERIC J. FROMMER and MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Writers - JUNE 17,10 10:08AM
WASHINGTON – In an atmosphere of high tension, a House panel has opened Congress' first hearing with BP CEO Tony Hayward answering questions about the catastrophic Gulf Coast oil spill.Hayward, sitting by himself at the witness table, is expected to be interrogated sharply by lawmakers about BP's preparedness for such a massive spill and its failure to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf.Lawmakers also want assurances that BP will compensate Gulf coast residents and businesses for oil spill damage.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A day after agreeing to a $20 billion victims' compensation fund, BP's chief executive is ready to tell Congress that he was personally devastated by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig and understands the anger that Americans feel toward him and his company.CEO Tony Hayward's contrition isn't likely to save him from a bruising Thursday on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers are preparing to channel constituent outrage over the worst environmental disaster in the nation's history. Hayward, the panel's single witness, was surrounded by a flock of photographers as he entered the committee room and chatted with Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.Earlier, a dozen Capitol police officers gathered outside the hearing room and a line of spectators snaked down the hallway.In prepared testimony obtained by The Associated Press, Hayward said the explosion and sinking of the BP-operated rig never should have happened — and I am deeply sorry that they did.Newly disclosed documents obtained by the AP show that after the Deepwater Horizon sank, BP made a worst-case estimate of 2.5 million gallons a day flowing into the Gulf of Mexico. That figure is far higher than the company had said publicly until this week, when the government released its own worst-case estimate of about that amount.The undated estimate by BP, apparently made sometime last month, reflected the actual situation as it was understood by BP at the time, said Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. Grassley, the senior Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, obtained the documents as part of an investigation into the oil spill and its aftermath.Grassley said it was not clear when exactly BP made the calculation. Certainly Americans have a right to know that BP made these estimates, the date these estimates were determined and why they were not disclosed at that time,he said Wednesday.
In a letter to BP America President Lamar McKay, Grassley asked BP to explain when it calculated a worst-case scenario of 2.5 million gallons a day and to provide documents justifying the figure.In the course of the crisis in the Gulf, Hayward has irritated some with comments like I'd like my life back. He strikes a more deferential tone in remarks prepared for the congressional hearing.To be sure, neither I nor the company is perfect,he said.But we are unwavering in our commitment to fulfill all our responsibilities.He said the company has spent nearly $1.5 billion so far and won't stop spending until the job is done.Hayward was to appear before the House Energy and Commerce Committee's subcommittee on oversight and investigations, which is looking into the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers and unleashed a flood of oil that has yet to be stopped. He called it a complex accident, caused by an unprecedented combination of failures.It's unlikely, however, that lawmakers — especially in an election year — will adopt President Barack Obama's more conciliatory tone toward BP. After accusing the company a day earlier of recklessness,Obama and top advisers met Wednesday with BP officials, including Hayward and board chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg. After the meeting, Obama announced BP concessions to pay a $20 billion fund. He said BP was a strong and viable company,and its stock price rebounded.Still, in perhaps a pointed snub, Obama on Wednesday described a constructive meeting with Svanberg but didn't mention Hayward. Last week, the president said he would have fired Hayward for comments such as when Hayward said he wanted his life back.Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the oversight and investigations subcommittee, and the full committee chairman, California Democrat Henry Waxman, wrote Hayward this week to expect questions on documents showing company decisions before the explosion that increased the risk of a blowout to save the company time or expense.Ahead of the session, Stupak said of Hayward's appearance, I expect him to be sliced and diced.Associated Press writers Matt Apuzzo and Eileen Sullivan contributed to this report.
I WONDER IF SMALL PEOPLE ARE USELESS EATERS TO GET RID OF US AS THE NEW WORLD ORDER NUTCASES WANT TO DO TO US.
BP small people comment causes anger along Gulf By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Writer JUNE 17,10 12:00 AM
VENICE, La. – The small people of the Gulf Coast have a humongous message for oil giant BP: They're tired of the company's big-time executives making insensitive comments.On Wednesday, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told reporters in Washington: I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care, but that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people.He later said he was very sorry for speaking clumsily.Orange Beach, Ala., Mayor Tony Kennon laughed when he heard Svanberg's remark.They can call me small, miniature, they can call me anything they want. Just write the check and send it to us, he said.
But Justin Taffinder of New Orleans was not amused.We're not small people. We're human beings. They're no greater than us. We don't bow down to them. We don't pray to them,Taffinder said.Svanberg is Swedish, and his comments — in English — may have been an unintentional slight. He uttered the remark to reporters following a joint press conference with President Barack Obama — who had spoken of the small business owners, the fishermen and the shrimpers affected by the spill.What I was trying to say — that BP understands how deeply this affects the lives of people who live along the Gulf and depend on it for their livelihood — will best be conveyed not by any words but by the work we do to put things right for the families and businesses who've been hurt,Svanberg said in a statement.But coastal residents already were angry over the oil spill disaster and at BP CEO Tony Hayward's earlier comments that he wants his life back.Lyn Ridge, 47, ferried reporters to see oil clean up operations Wednesday in a bay at Plaquemines Parish. He just shook his head when told about the small people comment.Ridge describes himself as commercial contractor that can't find work and driving boat trying to make a living.To make matters worse, Ridge figures his house on the water in Myrtle Grove has lost half it's value due to the oil spill.
They can say he didn't mean it that way, but that's how they think of us, Ridge said. They can't keep their foot out of their mouth,he added referring to Hayward's comments.In Alabama, Terry Hanners, who owns a small construction company in Gulf Shores, said the chairman's remark revealed something about BP's frame of mind.These BP people I've met are good folks. I've got a good rapport with them,said Hanners, 74. But BP does not care about us. They are so far above us. We are the nickel-and-dime folks of this world.Kennon said he is relieved that BP agreed to put $20 billion in an escrow fund, and joked, They better be lucky I called off the invasion of 10,000 rednecks with their rifles headed toward England anyway.Associated Press writers Jay Reeves in Orange Beach, Ala., Harry R. Weber in Houston and AP Radio correspondent David Melendy in Washington contributed to this report.(This version CORRECTS Minor edit to correct verb tense to spoken. Moving on general news and financial services.)
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