Arizona to Deport Arnold Swarchenegger

Wow. Just when you think Arizona can't get any more strange comes this. According to http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0524/arizona-cracks-teachers-accents/:


Arizona has been under fire for a controversial anti-illegal immigrant law and now its Department of Education is embarking on a course of action that many critics also believe is being enforced in a discriminatory fashion.

"The Arizona Department of Education recently began telling school districts that teachers whose spoken English it deems to be heavily accented or ungrammatical must be removed from classes for students still learning English," The Wall Street Journal reported.

Nearly half the teachers at Creighton, a K-8 school in a Hispanic neighborhood of Phoenix, are native Spanish speakers. State auditors have reported to the district that some teachers pronounce words such as violet as "biolet," think as "tink" and swallow the ending sounds of words, as they sometimes do in Spanish.

These teachers "are very good educators who understand the culture" of their students," said Ms. Agneessens, Creighton's principal. "Teachers should speak grammatically correct English," she acknowledged, but added, "I object to the nuance of punishment for accent."

"It doesn't matter to me what the accent is; what matters is if my children are learning," said Luis Tavarez, the parent of sixth- and eighth-graders at Creighton.

State School Superintendent Tom Horne denies the crackdown is based on teachers' accents. "We are not going after any accents including Spanish accents. It has to be faulty English. If students are being taught English and they're going to refer to a comma as a 'coma' people are going to misunderstand them," said Horne.

CNN anchor Kyra Phillips disagrees with the new policy. "Would a guy like the Governor of California be allowed to teach kids how to learn English? Arnold's Austrian accent is as thick as his biceps but his English seems to be just fine," remarked Phillips.

"I was also going to give a graduation speech in Arizona this weekend. But with my accent, I was afraid they would try to deport me," CBS News reported the Republican governor joked in his speech at Emory University.

Senator James Inhofe (R-Okl.) is Against Big Government Except When He is For It!

Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) introduced legislation on Tuesday afternoon that would fully eliminate any cap on the amount of economic damages that oil companies would have to pay for spills they've caused.


The New Jersey Democrat is revising an earlier version of legislation he introduced which would have raised the cap from $75 million dollars in liability to $10 billion. Now, the cap will be effectively unlimited, an aide said.

The revised legislation, which ups the ante a bit in the oil-spill debate, will get its first floor hearing on Tuesday afternoon as Senate Democratic leadership is expected to call for unanimous consent.

Senator James Inhofe (R-Okl.) blocked a unanimous consent agreement on Menendez's proposal Tuesday afternoon -- citing, among other things, the prohibitive effects it would have on smaller oil companies hoping to drill in the Gulf. Does anyone really believe that a mom and pop company is going to do off-shore drilling when the drilling rigs and other expenses run to a Billion Dollars? If you are going to make excuses, at least be creative and come up with a good one.

Twice already a Republican senator has objected forcing Democrats into another course of action. It should be noted, as well, that the Obama White House has refused so far to endorse an actual dollar figure for where they'd like a liability cap to be, though they have expressed support for raising it.

If BP (or whatever oil company causes a spill) doesn't cover the costs, guess who gets stuck with it. Yes, YOU AND ME. The GOVERNMENT.

So by pulling for business, Senator James Inhofe (R-Okl.) and his like, have decided to push a big government clean-up on us.  Against Big Government Except When He is For It! 

GOPers like Inhofe want corporations to enjoy unlimited profit with limited risk. For all the bellyaching by teabaggers about the financial bailouts, why are they silent about this sort of bailout?

Meghan McCain on Rand Paul

I have written here before on how I admire and respect Meghan McCain and her view points.  We don't always agree, but I find she is fair and balanced, but most importantly well reasoned in her opinions.

Today I wanted to share her report on Rand Paul, the controversial candidate for Senator about whom I have also reported.

In her column at http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2010-05-23/meghan-mccain-on-why-rand-paul-embarrassed-the-tea-party/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsL1 she writes:

Paul’s nomination could have been a moment of triumph for the Tea Party movement, as well as for Republicans, but instead it was an embarrassment. And I felt the disappointment firsthand, given that I agree with and support numerous things the Tea Party represents. Like many Americans, I’m angered by the intense spending going on under the Obama administration. But when the movement was given the opportunity to present specific solutions and answer real questions, its leaders nominated someone who—yet again—revealed weird, racist undertones, no matter how he wants to spin it.

And that is also a point that I made.  I am not against libertarianism or the tea-party movement, its the extreme positions and racists undertones which bother me.  Meghan goes on to say:

I respect Paul’s ideological commitment to libertarianism, of which it’s quite obvious he’s a die-hard supporter, even if there are reasons there’s no real libertarian senator. And I, too, believe that the government should stay out of people’s lives as much as possible. Yet Paul seems to be taking these beliefs to an extreme, one that’s making even fellow Republicans uneasy.

He makes me uneasy.  He seems to believe that we should all just defend for ourselves and its just too bad if people want to discriminate.  If you are a rich white male, then it is not so bad for you.  But is you are female, black, handicapped or have beliefs that differ from the ruling white Protestant males, then watch out.  I just don't believe that our country was intended to be that way.  I want us to support one another, not tear us apart.

And when you decide to run for the Senate, shouldn't you be well versed in your opinions.  Meghan points out:

When someone runs for office, essentially, all he or she must do is answer questions about what he or she believes and why these beliefs will best serve the country. Yet anyone watching Paul’s interview with Maddow could see that he was unable to do that. Worse, he managed to confuse voters further about just where his libertarian ideals stand, raising new questions about his extreme libertarian view of how our country should be governed.

I suggest you read her whole article.  Her conclusion is one I share:

Paul’s role within the Republican Party (if any) has yet to be determined. But one thing I am sure of is that, until we start nominating candidates who have more realistic views of the complex world we live in and stop seeing things strictly in black and white (no pun intended), we are going to continue losing elections and becoming punch lines for late-night talk-show hosts.

As Much As Half of All Sunscreens May Be Accelerating Cancer

Almost half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer because they contain vitamin A or its derivatives, according to an evaluation of those products released today.

Whats is worse, AOL News reports that through documents and interviews that the Food and Drug Administration has known of the potential danger for as long as a decade without alerting the public, which the FDA denies.




The white goop, creams and ointments might prevent sunburn. But don't count on them to keep the ultraviolet light from destroying your skin cells and causing tumors and lesions, according to researchers at Environmental Working Group.

In their annual report to consumers on sunscreen, they say that only 39 of the 500 products they examined were considered safe and effective to use.


The industry includes vitamin A in its sunscreen formulations because it is an anti-oxidant that slows skin aging.


But the EWG researchers found the initial findings of an FDA study of vitamin A's photocarcinogenic properties, meaning the possibility that it results in cancerous tumors when used on skin exposed to sunlight.

"People don't get the high SPF they pay for," the report says. "People apply about a quarter of the recommended amount. So in everyday practice, a product labeled SPF 100 really performs like SPF 3.2, an SPF 30 rating equates to a 2.3 and an SPF 15 translates to 2."


The full list of the best and worst sunscreens can be found on the EWG's searchable database (http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/best-beach-sport-sunscreens/).
 
From the EWG:

The best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt. No chemicals to absorb through the skin, no questions about whether they work. But when you can’t get away from exposing your skin to the sun, use EWG’s top-rated sunscreens to provide broad-spectrum (UVA and UVB-sunburn) protection with fewer hazardous chemicals that penetrate the skin. Sunscreen makers are awaiting FDA approval for a wider selection of UVA-blocking chemicals. In the meantime, all top-rated products contain either zinc or titanium minerals to help cut UVA exposures for sunscreen users.

Choose from among our top-rated sunscreens for broad spectrum protection with fewer hazardous ingredients. And follow our sun safety tips to protect your skin for a lifetime.

Top Sunscreens

Our top-rated sunscreens all contain the minerals zinc or titanium. They are the right choice for people who are looking for the best UVA protection without any sunscreen chemical considered to be a potential hormone disruptor. None of the products contain oxybenzone or vitamin A and none are sprayed or powdered.

The Army Corps of Engineers - Otherwise Know as The BP Cover-Up Team

Frustrated Louisiana officials Sunday demanded the federal government approve their plans to dredge up walls of sand to protect delicate inland estuaries from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.


"Either the Coast Guard has to side with its American citizens and protect its communities, or it has to side with a major world corporation named BP and betray American citizens in that process," St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro told reporters.

With oil sloshing ashore along the state's barrier islands and seeping into marshes around the mouth of the Mississippi River, state and parish leaders want to use dredges to close channels between the Gulf and the coastal estuaries.

They said those plans have been held up by the Army Corps of Engineers and the agencies in charge of the spill response, including the Coast Guard and BP, the company responsible for the spill.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry, the federal on-scene coordinator for the response effort, told reporters the barrier island project was still under review. Environmental and wildlife officials "are weighing in on the impact to endangered and threatened species and other impacts this large-scale project could have," she said.

But Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser pointed to pictures of an oil-covered pelican nesting ground and asked reporters, "Is it affected now?"

Gov. Jindal said his state needs "a greater sense of urgency" from those in charge of the cleanup, or for them to delegate authority to regional officials. He said the state is already doing preparatory work for dredging and could begin operations immediately on receiving approval.

"I don't have a crystal ball," said St. Bernard Parish President Craig Taffaro. "But if I were a betting man, I would be betting that the plan is to let us die, then come back and do $75 million worth of cleanup and close the book."


He said some officials had even suggested setting oil-soaked marshes ablaze, a step he called "not an option for us."

"That kills our hurricane protection. It wipes out our species, our ecosystem and everything we've been fighting to protect," he said

New Offshore Drilling Projects Forge Ahead

President Obama may have called for a moratorium on new offshore drilling since the Deepwater Horizon blast, but at least seven new permits have been granted since the announcement, The New York Times reports (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/24/us/24moratorium.html) potentially violating the president’s orders. And at least five environmental waivers—also banned by the president—have been given as well. When confronted about the drilling, officials at the Department of the Interior and the Minerals Management Service stressed public comments by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, “reiterating that the agency had no intention of stopping all new oil and gas production in the Gulf,” and arguing that the moratorium was only intended to stop permits for new wells, not permits for different types of drilling on existing projects. Critics, however, feel it’s been violated, inviting the possibility of another devastating accident.

OK, what the fuck???

Shown the data indicating that waivers and permits were still being granted, Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, Democrat of Maryland, said he was “deeply troubled.”


“We were given the clear impression that these waivers and permits were not being granted,” said Mr. Cardin, who is a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, where Mr. Salazar testified last week. “I think the presumption should be that there should be stronger environmental reviews, not weaker.”

At least six of the drilling projects that have been given waivers in the past four weeks are for waters that are deeper — and therefore more difficult and dangerous — than where Deepwater Horizon was operating. While that rig, which was drilling at a depth just shy of 5,000 feet, was classified as a deep-water operation, many of the wells in the six projects are classified as “ultra” deep water, including four new wells at over 9,100 feet.

“The moratorium does not even cover the dangerous drilling that caused the problem in the first place,” said Daniel J. Rohlf, a law professor at Lewis & Clark Law School, adding he was not certain that the Interior Department was capable of carrying out the needed reforms.

BP - Potential Major News - "Casing wall has finally worn through."

Breaking news story regarding the BP well leak.  From http://monkeyfister.blogspot.com/:

I've been watching the live Spillcam, and discussing it with folks, here all day long. About 5pm last night, we all started taking note of gas bubbling out of the seabed floor. It started earlier than that, actually-- see pic a few posts down. About 1am this morning, the eruptions began to increase in spew volume. At about 8am, CDT, as I watched, things started changing rapidly. Where the water around the two major gush points used to be very clear, it is now super turbid, and detritus is flying everywhere in a chaotic manner. seabed venting is obvious to see when ROV cameras pan around.


Yet-to-be-confirmed rumors are that the casing wall has finally worn through, about 300 feet below seabed, at an annulus (coupling), and the gas and oil are now finding a new way out to the seabed.

Not good news, as it will make the Top-Kill/Junk Shot nearly ineffectual... At the least, it means that more pressure and mud/cement is going to be required.

UPDATE 5:45pm CDT: A brand new MAJOR eruption is happening. tune into the SpillCam at BP.com . It's black, all you can see is a cable. It started with yet another GUSH plume/tornado.


Oh, dear-- now, we can see that that is a LOT of oil-- and a BLIZZARD of Hydrates..

UPDATE 6:03pm CDT: The current eruption is way, way worse than the several that occured earlier. I think this might be a "Main Event" situation.

UPDATE 6:45pm CDT: An hour after the start of this most recent eruption, and it is still just a wall of oil, methane crystals, and gack.

WAY, WAAAY worse than the first event.