Yeah, I guess they really did say that …

In its 2009 exploration plan for the Deepwater Horizon well, BP PLC states that the company could handle a spill involving as much as 12.6 million gallons of oil per day, a number 60 times higher than its current estimate of the ongoing Gulf disaster.

(BP told feds it could handle oil spill 60 times larger than Deepwater Horizon, al.com (Alabama Live), 05/19/10)

Also quoted: “the spill has stayed about the same size or even shrunk on the water as a result of our response efforts.”

According the article SkyTruth.org stated that according to satellite imagery the spill doubled in size from last Friday to Monday (follow this link for interactive map).

I just know that gosh darned Titanic is still cruising the world’s oceans.

Oh yeah … that quote in the title? (my emphasis)

A safety data sheet about the principal dispersant that [BP] has reported using during the ongoing spill says “no toxicity studies have been conducted on this product,” and labels “the potential human hazard: High.”

(BP told feds it could handle oil spill 60 times larger than Deepwater Horizon)

And lest we forget the see no evil dangers of hidden oil plumes

(or how to creep even Stephan King out)

The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is an area of hypoxic (link to USGS definition) (less than 2 ppm dissolved oxygen) waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Its area varies in size, but can cover up to 6,000-7,000 square miles. The zone occurs between the inner and mid-continental shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico, beginning at the Mississippi River delta and extending westward to the upper Texas coast.

(paper posted on site hosted by Carlton College of Minnesota)

The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf, worrying scientists, who fear that the oxygen level could eventually fall so low as to kill off much of the sea life near the plumes.

(Giant Plumes of Oil Found Forming Under Gulf of Mexico, NY Times, 05/15/10)

Oh, sorry … those plumes referred to above? Below.

Scientists are finding enormous oil plumes in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, including one as large as 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick in spots. The discovery is fresh evidence that the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given.

(Giant Plumes of Oil Found Forming Under Gulf of Mexico)

Oil plumes that are causing new hypoxic circumstances + previous hypoxic zones … doesn’t bode well for much of anything beyond hypoxia.

Some interesting and worth watching scientific conjecture in the NYT article regarding the connection between the deep water applications of toxic oil dispersants and the plumes.

“It appears that the application of the subsea dispersant is actually working,” the article quotes Doug Suttles, BP’s chief operating officer for exploration and production, “The oil in the immediate vicinity of the well and the ships and rigs working in the area is diminished from previous observations.”

Our current (and hopefully temporary) national anthem:

Oh no I can’t see

The oil bright and shiny

For dispersants we use

Keep the mess in the deep blue.

Because I know success when I see it … and when I don’t

( – promoted by GMD)

G. Norman of Vermont Tigger starts this short post with:

According to this survey of business people in the state, taxes are

   … the number one factor that could cause companies to leave Vermont.

The ‘this survey’ Norman is referencing being one discussed at VermontBiz.com in an article titled Survey: Best and worst of doing business in Vermont (the link came from Norman’s post as the reference for the quote in italics above).

Too bad ol’ G didn’t bother reading the article.

Oh sure, the quote about “the number one factor” is in the article … first sentence as a matter of fact, and it appears that is where our Vermont Tigger commentator stopped reading.

I say this because the very next sentence reads

Conversely, there was consensus among survey respondents that Vermont’s quality of life acts as a powerful incentive for businesses to settle and stay here.

(ibid)

According the Arno Group, their survey has no statistical validity, but let us pretend a bit just to give the Tiggers their due:

Less than half the respondents ranked the “pain” they feel from labor costs as a three or higher on a scale of seven. Energy costs may also not be a source of acute pain for many Vermont companies, the survey suggests.

Whatever the relative tax burden borne by Vermont businesses, most of those taking part in the Arno Group survey said they would not consider leaving the state because of the issue of taxes.

Arno Group Partner David Rocchio said, “The survey suggests to me businesses are in Vermont because of the state’s culture and societal structure and landscape.

**Sigh** too bad Norman didn’t get past that first sentence. The “I hate Vermont” duo of Dubie/Douglas won’t appreciate the bulk of this piece either.

Anyway the article is an interesting read even if based upon a survey that is more speculation than representative self selecting rather than random.

The radioactive water leaks were found just days after the plant got a new 20-year license in 2009 that environmentalists had bitterly fought for four years. Those problems followed corrosion that left the reactor’s crucial safety liner rusted and thinned.

(Tritium tainted nuke water reaches N.J. aquifer, Times Argus, 05/08/10)

‘Nuff said.

If school mergers are so cost effective, why does the state have to offer financial incentives to make them happen?

The Orange County Register, in a story titled Petitioners conned voters into switching to the GOP, has uncovered some bona-fide voter registration fraud perpetrated by the Republican Party.

Petitioners prowling parking lots and community college campuses tricked dozens of young Orange County voters into registering to vote as Republicans, an Orange County Register investigation has found.

. . .

In all, the Register called 348 registered Republicans in central Orange County and reached 90 of them. Of those, only 16 said they wanted to be Republicans. The rest told stories of fast-talking petitioners, some advertising free sunglasses if they signed.

So weasel welch … when are you and your radical right wing Republican …. ooops … that’s right … wouldn’t want to chase after real criminality when you can focus your rage on the likes of ACORN who did nothing more than empower so many folks our governments have worked so hard to dis-empower.

Oh yeah … where is that apology to ACORN? weasel welch … I’m still waiting.

“We always knew about them,” he said. “They were not unknown at all to us.”

(NRC knew about underground pipes at VY, Brattleboro Reformer, 04/26/10)

That quote is attributed to Jim Noggle, “NRC Region 1’s senior health physicist” according to the paper. Mr. Noggle is referring to those non-existent underground pipes that were found to be leaking last year.

Actually we already knew this as previous reports have detailed a 2005 underground tritium leak that was duly reported to the NRC (but not Vermont) by Louisiana Entergy.

So what have we? Louisiana Entergy lies to all of Vermont by claiming there are no underground pipes carrying radio nuclides, and our federal government’s own Nuclear Regulatory Agency is fully aware of this lie … BUT … the NRC won’t speak up on behalf of the people of the United States of America.

Oh, and what is the reaction from our advocates in Vermont state government?

Sarah Hoffman, the director of public advocacy for the Vermont Department of Public Service, said while it would have been nice if the NRC had corrected the statements made by Yankee representatives, it wasn’t their responsibility.

(ibid)

Yeah … that’s right … a great big yawn!

Entergy lies, NRC covers up and our state government couldn’t give a shit … nice.

and I thank him for that too!

Brock also said any bill [providing incentives to encourage school district consolidation] the Senate writes, “has to include that the plans the districts come up with include a cost-benefit analysis. What savings? What improved educational outcomes?”

(School merger incentives are still a possibility, Burlington Free Press, 04/21/10)

Those are the questions everybody in Vermont’s General Assembly should be asking … so why aren’t they? And what say you who want to be governor and provide information to this web site?

Hey … add your own!

My gripe with CNN’s Sanchez in the above is how he actually ends up soft peddling the story by not using the word ‘spick’ himself. Yes, the word would be heard as offensive .. and that would have been a great illustration.

If you’re a normal human being, and you’ve associated yourself with this “movement” (actually a small minority group that has had it’s importance way overblown by an obsequious libral media) … you’ve been suckered … you’ve done the equivalent of responding to a Nigerian email offering you ten million dollars.

On taxes? We’re there ….

Just ahead of Tax Day, a new New York Times/CBS News poll finds that most Americans regard the income taxes that they will have to pay this year as fair, regardless of political partisanship, ideology or income level.

(Poll: Most Find Their Income Tax Fair, NY Times, 04/14/10)

That ‘most Americans’ figure comes out to 62% of the poll respondents.

On public option in medical health insurance? We’re there …

(Thanks to Think Progress for the pointer.)

Many have assumed that those advocating for repeal wanted Congress to take no further action on health care reform.  However, this survey found that 48 percent of Americans actually would like for Congress to continue working on health care system reforms as opposed to focusing on other topics.  In fact, the survey found that 63 percent of those individuals who supported repealing the legislation also were in favor of Congress continuing to work on health care system reforms.

(Indiana University’s Center for Health Policy and Professionalism Research)

Full survey here. (Previous link has the pretty graphics)

Yeah, so despite these results being in line with poll after poll … tell me .. why didn’t the surrender monkey DC Dems step up and do the right thing? Is it they really don’t disagree on the big picture with the radical right wing Republicans?

PS. I’m still waiting for weasel welch to apologize for joining his radical right wing buddies in their based on manufactured evidence assault on ACORN (who’s only real crime was trying to empower those our governments have helped to dis-empower).