Tag: Gulf Oil Spill

Recipe for Disaster: Deep Water Drilling

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Getting Wise to the Dangers of Drilling

Rachel Maddow notes that as the awareness of the inadequacies of the safety improvements in deep water drilling is growing, the Department of Interior had decided to stop issuing press releases when they grant drilling permits.

Experts fear another oil disaster

NEW ORLEANS (AP) – With everything Big Oil and the government have learned in the year since the Gulf of Mexico disaster, could it happen again? Absolutely, according to an Associated Press examination of the industry and interviews with experts on the perils of deep-sea drilling.

The government has given the OK for oil exploration in treacherously deep waters to resume, saying it is confident such drilling can be done safely. The industry has given similar assurances. But there are still serious questions in some quarters about whether the lessons of the BP oil spill have been applied.

The industry “is ill-prepared at the least,” said Charles Perrow, a Yale University professor specializing in accidents involving high-risk technologies. “I have seen no evidence that they have marshaled containment efforts that are sufficient to deal with another major spill. I don’t think they have found ways to change the corporate culture sufficiently to prevent future accidents.”

He added: “There are so many opportunities for things to go wrong that major spills are unavoidable.”

Regulation of Offshore Rigs Is a Work in Progress


By John M. Broder and Clifford Krauss

WASHINGTON – A year after BP’s Macondo well blew out, killing 11 men and spewing millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, the much-maligned federal agency responsible for policing offshore drilling has been remade, with a tough new director, an awkward new name and a sheaf of stricter safety rules. It is also trying to put some distance between itself and the industry it regulates.

But is it fixed? The simple answer is no. Even those who run the agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service concede that it will be years before they can establish a robust regulatory regime able to minimize the risks to workers and the environment while still allowing exploration offshore.

“We are much safer today than we were a year ago,” said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, who oversees the agency, “but we know we have more to do.”

Oil industry executives and their allies in Congress said that the Obama administration, in its zeal to overhaul the agency, has lost sight of what they believe the agency’s fundamental mission should be – promoting the development of the nation’s offshore oil and gas resources. Environmentalists said the agency, now known as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, has made only cosmetic changes and remains too close to the people it is supposed to regulate.

Blow Out Over the Blowout Preventer

Cross posted from The Stars Hollow Gazette

Somehow, I have a feeling that BP will use this as a defense to stop any liability suits. Meanwhile the Obama regime, ever bowing to their corporate masters, continues to issue permits for deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico with absolutely no safe guards.

Tests on BP Well Blowout Preventer Confirm Redesign a Necessity

By Bob Cavnar at The Daily Hurricane

Yesterday, the Department of Interior released Det Norske Veritas’ (DNV) report on the forensic testing that it conducted on the blowout preventer (BOP) that failed to shut in BP’s blown out Macondo well almost a year ago.  I’m still going through the 500-plus page report to find answers to my many questions about the failed BOP, but I do agree with the over riding recommendation to the industry from DNV:

   “The finding of these studies should be considered and addressed in the design of future Blowout Preventers and the need for modifying current Blowout Preventers.”

DNV was addressing a recommendation to the industry that it study the causes and results of “elastic buckling” of the drill pipe within the Macondo BOP that pushed it to the side of the wellbore, preventing the blind shear ram, or the ram that is supposed to cut the pipe and seal the well, from doing so.  During the time of the blowout, the forces within the well were so strong that it lifted the drill pipe, causing it to buckle and push over to the side of the BOP bore, positioning it outside of the shearing faces of the rams.

BP Can Do More Tests on Deepwater Horizon Blowout Preventer, Court Rules

By Laurel Brubaker Calkins and Allen Johnson Jr. at Bloomberg News

BP Plc (BP/) can conduct additional tests on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig’s blowout prevention equipment now that government examiners have finished their own forensic testing, a judge ruled.

“The additional BOP testing shall be performed in a manner that preserves the evidence to the maximum extent possible,” U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier said in his order, referring to the blowout prevention equipment. He ruled that other companies involved in the disaster could also now run additional tests, so long as everyone is allowed to monitor the procedures and share in the results.

The 300-ton stack of valves failed to seal off BP’s runaway well last April, triggering a fatal rig explosion and the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP asked Barbier for permission to partially dismantle and conduct laser scans on the blowout preventer, which was recovered from the sea floor off the Louisiana coast last year.

BP is clearly looking for any liability they can pin on the BOP,” said Houston lawyer Brent Coon, one of the lawyers marshalling evidence for the consolidated oil-spill damages lawsuits against BP and other companies involved in the failed drilling operation, referring to the blowout preventer.

(emphasis mine)

Deep Water Permits Issued With No Lessons Learned

In an exclusive investigation Rachel Maddow shows how the Department of the Interior is issuing deep water drilling permits despite a report finding the blow-out preventer design is flawed and despite drilling companies submitting emergency response plans that pre-date the Deep Water Horizon spill and therefore reflect none of the lessons of that disaster

‘Be the One’

Unexpected Environmental Alliances Amidst The Oil Spill: ‘Jesus Will Rip Your Head Off’

In the wake of the BP disaster, we’ve heard powerful stories from fishermen whose livelihoods may have been destroyed for decades or longer. However long it takes for the Gulf’s fish, oyster and shrimp harvests to recover, those who’ve made their livelihoods harvesting them will need to create a powerful common voice if they’re not going to continue to be made expendable. A powerful model comes from Seattle and Alaska salmon fisherman Pete Knutson, who has spent thirty-five years engaging his community to take environmental responsibility, creating unexpected alliances to broaden the impact of their voice, and in the process defeating massive corporate interests.

“You’d have a hard time spawning, too, if you had a bulldozer in your bedroom,” Pete reminds us, explaining the destruction of once-rich salmon spawning grounds by commercial development and timber industry clearcutting. Pete could have simply accepted this degradation as inevitable, focusing on getting a maximum share of dwindling fish populations. Instead, he’s gradually built an alliance between fishermen, environmentalists, and Native American tribes, persuading them to work collectively to demand that habitat be preserved and restored and to use the example of the salmon runs to highlight larger issues like global climate change.

The cooperation Pete created didn’t come easily: Washington’s fishermen were historically individualistic and politically mistrustful, more inclined, in Pete’s judgment, “to grumble or blame the Indians than to act.” But together, with their new allies, they gradually began to push for cleaner spawning streams, rigorous enforcement of the Endangered Species Act, and an increased flow of water over major regional dams to help boost salmon runs. They framed their arguments as a question of jobs, ones that could be sustained for the indefinite future. But large industrial interests, such as the aluminum companies, feared that these measures would raise their electricity costs or restrict their opportunities for development. So they bankrolled a statewide initiative to regulate fishing nets in a way that would eliminate small family fishing operations.  

Want To Help? 10 Ways To Start Making Change

Effective activism’s a long-haul process, not “save the Earth in 30 days, ask me how.” But there are some principles that seem to reoccur for people addressing every kind of challenge from the Gulf Oil spill to inadequate funding for urban schools to how to deal with Afghanistan and Iraq. They give us clues on how to reach out to engage our fellow citizens and help us get past our own barriers, not to mention burnout and disappointment. When I was updating my Soul of a Citizen book on citizen activism, an activist rabbi who was teaching the book at a Florida university suggested I gather together a Ten Commandments for effective citizen engagement. Calling them Commandments seemed presumptuous, but I did draw together ten suggestions that can make engagement more fruitful. Some I’ve already explored in various Soul of a Citizen excerpts. I’ll flesh out others in coming weeks.  But pulling them together in one place seemed useful.

My Solution to the Gulf Oil Disaster: Sequestering the Oil INSIDE Floating Tubes

When life give you lemons, you really should make lemonade. In this case, we’re getting lots of black goo, and so we should make…..black goo sausages! Allow me to explain. I’m not talking about booms…

After reading this, today, I’m leaning towards believing that the oil flow will not be stopped, not until whatever underground cavern it’s tapping is mostly emptied. So, the question becomes, what to do with all that oil?

My answer is to basically store it in balloons, which are made of the ‘same’ material used to create inflatable buildings. (Yes, there really are such things. Back in the day, the ‘Busch Bubble’ housed a gymnasium for Rutgers University.)

Last Great American Whale

They say he didn’t have an enemy

His was a greatness to behold

He was the last surviving progeny

The last one on this side of the world

He measured a half mile from tip to tail

Silver and black with powerful fins

They say he could split a mountain in two

That’s how we got the grand canyon

Last great american whale

Lou Reed

Last Great American Whale

$$$ 10 MILLION DOLLAR REWARD $$$ for Sarah Palin to eat a ‘Drill here, drill now’ Shrimp Cocktail

Full title:  $$$ 10 MILLION DOLLAR REWARD $$$ for Sarah Palin to eat a ‘Drill here, drill now’ Shrimp Cocktail announced! (With a nod to Chris Hedges)

(A ‘Drill here, drill now’ Shrimp Cocktail is one made from a delightful blend of authentic, freshly killed Gulf of Mexico shrimp, Gulf Crude, and BP-approved dispersants. All served in a decorative shrimp cocktail glass, with an anti-corrosive long spoon.)

I’m pleased to announce a $$$ 10 MILLION DOLLAR REWARD $$$ for Sarah Palin to demonstrate her faith in her “Drill here, drill now” religion! For a woman like Sarah Palin, who would never recommend such a course of action unless her it was also a rational belief, based on knowledge of the state of regulation of the oil industry, and knowledge of their true liability, it’s important to demonstrate that all her deeds are consistent with those beliefs. After all, she might be a candidate for POTUS, and we certainly wouldn’t want a hypocrite for POTUS, would we?

We want Sarah Palin to eat a Drill Here, Drill Now shrimp cocktail, so as to inspire the residents of the US and Mexico with her deeply held faith; you know, that she really was right, after all. Yes, in spite of the spin that the liberal media is giving that silly Gull spill. After all, some folks in the liberal media think that the livelihoods of people in the Gulf – fishermen, tourist trade, etc., are going to be RUINED. And in an economy which is dipping back into recession, at that. (For which we can thank Obama more than Palin, but that’s off topic, here.) And others actually think that dumping toxic dispersants might kill humans who eat fish which absorb chemicals.

What is wrong with these people? Don’t they know about the wonders of the free market? Don’t they have faith in America, and in the free enterprise system? When they read “The Jungle” in high school (probably inserted into the curiculum by America-hating liberals, BTW), didn’t they realize that this book is complete fiction, and the Meat Inspection Act that it inspired was just because of the hysteria created by the liberal, America-hating media?

Because of the dangers of socialized first aid squads, when Sarah is richly rewarded for demonstrating her failth in America’s greatness, we can promise not to call any socialized first aid squad if she has any adverse reaction to our special shrimp cocktail. No!, we’ll let Sarah’s private healthcare plan deal with any tummy ache she may develop, so Sarah, please bring your health insurance contact info with you, along with your deeply held faith.

So, to Sarah Palin I say: eat our special ‘Drill here, drill now’ shrimp cocktail, and claim your $10 million dollars!!! Inspire us with your deeds, not just your words!!!

Acting Effectively in Ambiguous Times

When people hesitate to take a stand on issues from the Gulf oil spill to the horror show off the coast of Gaza, it’s often because they’re unsure of the outcomes of their actions. The issues themselves can be complex and overwhelming. I’ve talked in an earlier Soul of a Citizen excerpt about the trap I call the perfect standard, where we feel we need to know every conceivable answer before we start to take a stand. But we also hold back because all our actions seem fruitless or compromised and because we’re uncertain just how they’ll will play out. Yet acting despite this ambiguity is often the most effective way to make change.

Heartfelt social involvement inevitably leads us into uncertain spiritual and emotional terrain. Theologian George Johnson amplifies this point in Beyond Guilt and Powerlessness. “Most of us,” he says, “are more comfortable with answers than with questions. When faced with a problem we generally approach it with the assumption that information, insights, and proper action will bring satisfactory solutions. We want to fix things right now.”

But as Johnson explains, “the reality of a broken world” often leads to ambiguity rather than certainty. “What we thought, believed, assumed, or followed is suddenly brought into question …. Receiving more information unsettles us rather than making things clear and easy …. It should not surprise us that our journey into the lives of those who cry for help will be discomforting.”

As a result, those of us who work for social justice often have no choice but to pursue our fundamental goals by approaches that are sometimes unclear, ad hoc, and seemingly contradictory. I remember one Vietnam-era demonstration in San Francisco that focused on the role of major oil companies in promoting the war. My friends and I drove the 35 miles to get there. As we stopped to fill up at a gas station, we felt more than a little absurd, but there was no other reasonable way to get there. I experience a similar disjunction when flying across the country to give climate change talks that I hope will move people to act, while contributing to the very greenhouse gases I’m aiming to reduce.  

We’re used to dealing with contradictory situations in our personal lives. We love family and friends despite their flaws and missteps, sometimes major ones, while trying to help steer them do what’s right. A lonely few wait indefinitely for partners who match their romantic ideal in every possible way, but most of us take the leap of falling in love with people who, like ourselves, fall well short of faultlessness; then we do our best to love them for who they are. Anyone who has children knows that they are the very embodiment of unpredictability. We can influence, but surely not control them. To all those who are dear to us we can only respond, moment by moment, as lovingly and mindfully as possible, improvising as we go. We embrace these necessarily uncertain human bonds, because the alternative is a life of isolation.

Effective public involvement demands a similar tolerance for our own doubts and mixed feelings, and for the inevitably partial nature of almost all of our victories. Think of our relationship to political leaders we have supported. We work for their campaigns knowing that it may take at least as much effort to convince them to act with courage and vision once in office as it did to help them get elected to begin with. The Gulf oil disaster is an example. The Minerals Management Service, the Federal agency that bent the rules to allow the drilling to begin with, was riddled with Bush/Cheney appointees who’d spent their entire careers taking lavish gifts from the oil industry while granting them every favor they’d wanted. If McCain and Palin were in charge, we’d have “drill baby drill” until the shores of the Potomac were soaked with oil.

But many of us are also profoundly frustrated that Obama hasn’t been tougher in responding to this immensely challenging crisis. We want him to put the government in charge of the efforts to plug the leak. We want him and Congress to remove the oil-drilling liability cap so the costs of the disaster will be borne by BP, Halliburton and Transocean, instead of the taxpayers and the ordinary citizens whose lives and livelihoods are being destroyed.  We want him to lead on shifting our economy away from coal and oil.  We need to speak out on all of these issues and more, and find ways of pressuring Obama to lead, as when he recently advocated rolling back “billions of dollars in tax breaks” for oil companies and using the money for clean energy research and development. Yet the magnitude of the crises we face and the ambivalencies of his responses make it easy to write off the very possibilities of our doing this. By dismissing them because we want all our victories to be pure, we end up dismissing our own power.

When we do act, others may view us as heroic knights riding in to save the day, but we’re more like knights on rickety tricycles, clutching our hesitations along the way. Gandhi called his efforts “experiments in truth,” because successful approaches could be discovered only through trial and error.  As I’ve explored, Gandhi himself was once so literally tongue-tied he could not get a single sentence out while advocating for his clients in court, and consequently lost all his cases.  So we grow into our involvements and strengths, taking action despite all our uncertainties.

We might therefore characterize the citizens who make the most difference in this difficult time as people of imperfect character, acting on the basis of imperfect knowledge, for causes that may be imperfect as well and in circumstances they’d rarely have chosen. I think that’s a profile any of us could match. If the change we need occurs, it’s those who act for justice despite their doubts, limitations, and uncertainties who will ultimately bring it about.

Adapted from the wholly updated new edition of “Soul of a Citizen: Living with Conviction in Challenging Times” by Paul Rogat Loeb (St Martin’s Press, $16.99 paperback). With over 100,000 copies in print, “Soul” has become a classic guide to involvement in social change. Howard Zinn calls it “wonderful…rich with specific experience.” Alice Walker says, “The voices Loeb finds demonstrate that courage can be another name for love.” Bill McKibben calls it “a powerful inspiration to citizens acting for environmental sanity.”

Loeb also wrote “The Impossible Will Take a Little While: A Citizen’s Guide to Hope in a Time of Fear,” the History Channel and American Book Association’s #3 political book of 2004.

For more information, to hear Loeb’s live interviews and talks, or to receive Loeb’s articles directly, see www.paulloeb.org. You can also join Paul’s monthly email list and follow Paul on Facebook  at Facebook.com/PaulLoebBooks

From “Soul of a Citizen” by Paul Rogat Loeb. Copyright © 2010 by the author and reprinted by permission of St. Martin’s Griffin. Permission granted to reprint or post so long as this copyright line is included.

BP, the government, or Phillippe Cousteau, Jr.? Who would you believe?

Phillippe Cousteau, Jr., the grandson of French explorer and ecologist Jacques-Yves Cousteau:

BP’s oil spill is humanity’s latest strike against against the World’s oceans, according to Phillippe Cousteau Jr., an explorer and host for Animal Planet and Planet Green.

Phillipe Cousteau, Jr., actually dove into the oil, dispersants of this BP soup mix.

Phillippe Cousteau, Jr. was on “Real Time with Bill Maher” this past Friday and spoke of what the country’s worst in oil spill in history will mean for oceans that are already suffering from pollution and overfishing.



This video is not embeddable — see it here.

Philippe Cousteau, Jr., the ecologist grandson of Jacques, joined Bill Maher on Real Time last night to give his assessment of the Gulf of Mexico, where he has been working to help clean up the oil washing ashore from the the open offshore oil well. While he seemed confident that there was a way to fix the problem, he stressed that the ocean ecosystem will not fix itself. . . . .

Maher asked about the situation in Louisiana, where Cousteau had been working for the past weeks- his answer was not incredibly optimistic. He did have a direct answer for people who believe the ocean is strong and healthy enough to fix itself:

“I could cut my leg off, I could cut my arm off, I could gouge my eye out, I’d still probably survive, but not very well, and that’s what we’re doing to the ocean. It’s the life support system of this planet. We’ve been dumping in it, we’ve been polluting it, we’ve been destroying it for decades, and we’re essentially maiming ourselves… ”

Speaking about massive annual dead zones just off the U.S. Coast, Cousteau lets us know that we have exceeded the tipping point:

Today Daily Kos officially jumped the shark.

There used to be a time when the Daily Kos was the place to go for reality-based content.  When quality writers like Emptywheel, Buhdydharma and Toquedeville could be found regularly.  Then came the Democratic Primaries and things got really ugly, really fast.  It was as if the place became infested with wingnuts, the way you were attacked for being progressive.  Many fled, never to be seen again.

Don’t get me wrong, there are still quality writers to be found at Daily Kos.  Guys like MinistryofTruth and Crashing Vor.  It’s just that the site has been steadily drifting away from being reality-based for quite a few years now.

And today, they officially jumped the shark.

North Korea on brink of war-Is this distracting Obama from oil spill?

We remain preoccupied with criticizing Obama for not personally overseeing a oil spill.  Maybe Obama has been paying attention to other immediate crises.

Evidently, the Obama supporters will now desperately grasp for any straw to explain why Obama isn’t getting the job done in the Gulf.

Now, it’s not that some diarist made some pathetic excuse for Obama’s weak handling of the Gulf disaster that makes this an official Daily Kos Jumps the Shark event.  No. It’s that this diary actually reached the reclist without a smidgeon of actual, you know, reality-based content.  It’s rise to reclist glory was based soley upon the fact that it was a lame attempt to make excuses for Obama – and a subtle attempt to push for war with North Korea.  Because THAT, my friends, would be the real distraction.  A second Korean war would distract Americans from the Gulf disaster.

First off, the diarist gives us the MSM condensed version of the showdown developing on the Korean peninsula:

Yesterday, North Korea cut off diplomatic ties to South Korea.  That is right, a nuclear power has aggressively attacked their major military rival, killing and injuring dozens and now it is escalating.

Ohhhh scary!  Not a word of context.  No explanation as to why North Korea suddenly attacked a South Korean warship, why North Korea cut off diplomatic ties.  No mention of what motivated either side in this latest showdown.

Instead, the diarist feeds us disinformation:

A sick old man is thought to be creating this crisis so his son can take over when he dies.  Kim Jong-il has enough atomic fuel for 8 weapons and is trying to bolster the credentials of his designated heir, Kim Jeong-un, 27

Ohhh, more WMD talk, I’m scared!  Yes, there’s a link to this totally unfounded assumption, but the link doesn’t even suggest that Kim is creating this crisis to bolster his son.  It’s like the diarist pulled that idea wholly out of his own ass.

Then the diarist ends on a subtle warmongering note.

We are on a precipice and one of our loyal allies needs our support.  But while we really don’t want a war on three fronts, Obama may be forced to do something dramatic in the near future.  Today South Korea conducted antisubmarine drills off the coast of North Korea, and the agreement to end accidental attacks was officially abandoned by South Korea (North Korea abandoned it yesterday.)

Want to know what’s REALLY going on in the Korean peninsula and find out the REAL reason North Korea sank a South Korean naval vessel?  You know, a Reality-Based discussion of what is happening over there?  I’ll even give you an alternative to sanctions and sabre rattling and WAR that would probably satisfy both sides and make the peninsula a far more peaceful place for years to come.

This is the diary I posted at Daily Kos in response:

To understand why North Korea sank a South Korean navy vessel, one must be aware of the circumstances surrounding the Battle of Daecheong.  Likely, few, if any, on this website has ever heard of it.

The Battle of Daecheong took place in November 10, 2009 near Daecheong Island at the Northern Line Limit.  The Northern Limit Line was set by U.S. forces in 1953 but has never been recognized by North Korea nor is it mentioned in the 1953 Armistice Agreement.  Initially, it was drawn to prevent South Korea from crossing north, but has since been changed to prevent North Korea from crossing south.

Over the last half century, North Korean fishing boats have routinely crossed the line, many times escorted by N.K. patrol boats.  Prior to the Battle of Daecheong, there had been two minor skirmishes along the border, the first and second Battles of Yeonpyeong, in 1999 and 2002 respectively.

Here is a description of the Battle of Daecheong:

The incident began around 11:27 am when a North Korean navy patrol boat crossed down through the NLL even though boats from the South Korean navy warned them twice. After one more warning announcement, one of the South Korean patrol boats fired a warning shot. In response, the North Korean boat began firing upon the South Korean ship. This resulted in a short exchange of fire between the sides. The North Korea vessel expended approximately 50 rounds, and the South Korean craft returned fire with 200 rounds.

The Korean Central News Agency, the official news agency of North Korea, accused the South Korean Navy of provoking the confrontation, reporting that “the North side let a patrol boat of the Navy of the KPA on routine guard duty promptly go into action to confirm an unidentified object that intruded into the waters of its side. When the patrol boat was sailing back after confirming the object at about 11: 20 a group of warships of the South Korean forces chased it and perpetrated such a grave provocation as firing at it. The patrol boat of the North side, which has been always combat-ready, lost no time to deal a prompt retaliatory blow at the provokers. Much flurried by this, the group of warships of the South Korean forces hastily took to flight to the waters of their side.”

Aftermath

After the battle, the South Korea patrol boat had suffered only superficial damage (reportedly 15 bullet marks on the ship’s side) with no casualties, while the North Korea patrol boat was left partially destroyed. Though there was no official announcement from North Korea, a news agency in South Korea reported a rumor that North Korea suffered four casualties (1 KIA / 3 WIA).[6] On the other hand, a defector said about 10 North Korean sailors were killed in action.

Not to justify the North Koreans, but simply to give this situation the proper context, one could just as easily claim that these waters are in North Korea as South Korea.  In fact, one can better understand the domestic pressures upon Kim Jong-il if one considers that from the North Korean perspective the Battle of Daecheong represented the attack of one of their vessels in their own territory.

This is why it was theorized afterwards that General Kim Myong-Guk was demoted after the battle.

The JoongAng Daily published photos of General Kim Myong-Guk released last June and this week. The earlier picture showed Kim with the four stars of a full general, while this week’s photos showed just the three stars of a colonel-general….

…One theory is that General Kim was demoted over North Korea’s beating in the last naval clash with the South.

Now spring forward to March 26,2010.  The Chenoan goes down near the Northern Limit Line near the South Korean island of Baengnyeong.  A torpedo attack is suspected.

Then in April, North Korea celebrates the 78th Anniversary of the Korean People’s Army

The training well showed the decisive resolution and merciless striking force of the KPA soldiers replete with the fighting spirit to annihilate the aggressors at one stroke, if they dare intrude into the inviolable land, sea and sky of the DPRK even an inch, and take thousand-fold revenge upon them.

and who is in attendance and sporting a fourth star again?  General Kim Myong Guk.

A key general in the North Korean Army has been returned to four-star rank after a demotion earlier this year, and South Korean government and intelligence officials are scrambling to find out why.

It is not until May that the Chenoan Report comes out:

The South Korean corvette Cheonan was split in two by the shockwave and bubble-jet effect resulting from the underwater explosion of a 250 kg torpedo.

The parts dredged up from the sea floor where the Cheonan was sunk match the schematics of a weapon offered for sale by North Korea, the CHT-02D torpedo.

A hand-written Korean inscription, translating to “No. 1,” was found on one such part. The same marking appears on a North Korean torpedo found by the South seven years ago.

A few small submarines and a mother ship supporting them left a North Korean naval base in the West [i.e., Yellow] Sea 2-3 days prior to the attack and returned to port 2-3 days after the attack.”

No other country had a submarine in the area at the time.

It becomes obvious that North Korea was behind the attack on the Chenoan, that the Battle of Daecheong was seen by North Korea as an attack on a NK vessel in NK waters and that Gen. Kim Myong Guk was given a chance to redeem himself by avenging that attack.

The key to resolving this issue peacefully is not to ratchet up sabre rattling on both sides.  The key to resolving further incidents like this is to resolve the boundary dispute created by the U.S. unilaterally imposed demarcation of the Northern Limit Line.  Until both sides agree upon who controls these disputed waters, confrontations like this are going to continue and war, not peace, will be the outcome.  Ideally, a buffer zone should be set up.  One that keeps both navies away from each other but would allow fishing vessels to safely operate within it.

Now obviously, President Obama knows everything I have just detailed above.  His intelligence sources would have told him what was really happening.  He knows that the sinking of the Chenoan was simply tit for tat, not the first move of a nuclear confrontation.

And Obama knows that the South Korean response – blasting propaganda across the DMZ and enforcing new sanctions – was an act of escalation that was met in kind by the North.

Of course, spreading word that there is no cause for war with Korea, that there are solutions available to prevent war and that this attack didn’t come out of the blue, as the MSM would have Americans believe, doesn’t interest the inhabitants over at Daily Kos.  Reality-based reporting only proves that, no, this isn’t a distraction to Obama, in fact, at best, it’s only going to serve as a distraction FOR Obama by taking the focus off the worst manmade disaster in human history.

And as if to rub salt in Daily Kos wounds, on this same day Obama tells reporters that:

“I take responsibility. It is my job to make sure that everything is done to shut this down,” Obama declared at a news conference in the East Room of the White House.  Obama said many critics failed to realize “this has been our highest priority.”

“My job right now is just to make sure everybody in the Gulf understands: This is what I wake up to in the morning, and this is what I go to bed at night thinking about. The spill.”

“There shouldn’t be any confusion here. The federal government is fully engaged,” he said, underscoring his central point.

Funny, how differently the world looks when your feet are firmly planted in reality – instead of jumping over a shark.

Stories Of Impact Will Push Us To Fix The Oil Spill, Homelessness, And Other Big Problems

While I was on a recent radio show, a student called in from a campus “Rally Against 1070,” that challenged Arizona’s draconian immigration law. The rally was a great idea, part of the public outcry that’s needed. But I wish they’d called it something like “Rally Against the Show Us Your Papers Law.” Headlining it with a bill number gave people nothing to respond to emotionally.

Over nearly forty years that I’ve spoken out on various causes and written about citizen movements, I’ve come to believe that people work for justice when their hearts are stirred by specific lives and situations that develop our capacity to feel empathy, to imagine ourselves as someone else. New information–the percentage of people out of work or children in poverty, the numbers behind America’s record health care costs, the annual planetary increases in greenhouse gases–can help us comprehend the magnitude of our shared problems and develop appropriate responses. But information alone can’t provide the organic connection that binds one person to another, or that stirs our hearts to act.  

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