Hi Everyone:
Lately I have read more and more articles about stupid people who did stupid things more then once and all without the help of any common sense. What am I talking about? I am talking about convicted criminals on parole, people with active warrants for their arrest and drug runners etc. What I am not talking about is how they got into trouble with the law the first time. Obviously if they had any common sense, they wouldn't have gotten into trouble in the first place and consequently the second half of what they did wouldn't be news worthy.
What a lot of these people, both men and women have in common, is what they did after getting into trouble the first time. So there they are, on parole or a fugitive running from the law or trying to deliver their illegal shipments of drugs and a lot of them do something that defies any common sense. They get caught for a seemingly minor traffic infraction of speeding. Yes speeding. Let's think about this one for a minute. If someone has a warrant for their arrest or on parole or running drugs, the last thing that they want or need is to get pulled over for speeding and then the cop finds out about their past and they are arrested.
It is obvious that these people also missed out both on brains and common sense since they got into trouble in the first place. Then they knowingly speed and get caught. What are these people thinking? They know that if they get caught by the police, they are in for double trouble. If I had law problems, I would make damn sure that I didn't do something that would get me caught. My common sense would kick in and I would make sure that I followed every speed limit, traffic control device and make sure that all my vehicle lights work, to try not to get caught. But that's me.
A good example is when last week, a Lake Peekskill, NY man wanted by Virginia authorities and had an outstanding warrant for his arrest for 4 counts each of robbery, abduction and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. So what did this brainiac do at 11:45 at night? He was speeding at 87 mph in a 55 mph zone. He got caught, pulled over and then arrested for the outstanding warrant.
Another example is when drug runners get caught speeding with their vehicle loaded with drugs. They obviously knew that they were running drugs and if they get caught, they are screwed for life. But they sped any way and got caught. The answer to what were they thinking is they weren't. Their damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead attitude just doesn't work.
If they had any common sense, they may not have gotten into trouble in the first place making the second infraction i.e.: speeding, a moot point. But nooooooooo, since they don't have any common sense, they will probably keep getting into trouble again and again. It is really very unfortunate that stupidity and a lack of common sense can so easily go hand in hand.
Common sense really does rule.
Til next week.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Sunday, June 13, 2010
A Two Legged Ostrich?
Hi Everyone:
Last week, while I was getting a dinner ready, I had the TV on and the evening news was on. At one point I thought I heard something about someone saying something so utterly stupid and upsetting, that I had to dig into the story for more details.
This is a true story and Don Young really, really said it. Just google Don Young and see for yourself. Don't know who Don Young is? Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) is a duly elected official with a serious problem. On June 3rd, 2010, Young had some things to say about the Gulf gusher disaster. After Congressional hearings he started by saying not to worry about the oil spilling into the Gulf, because the worst spill in U.S. history is "not an environmental disaster, just nature taking its course". My response to that is what the hell planet did you just come from?
Young continued by saying, "this is not an environmental disaster and I will say that again and again because it is a natural phenomenon." "Oil has seeped into this ocean for centuries and will continue to do it. During World War II there was over 10 million barrels of oil spilled from ships and no catastrophe.......... We will lose some birds, we will lose some fixed sea life, but overall it will recover."
Oh by the way, did you know the Rep. Young has notoriously close and longstanding ties with the oil companies? He even went on to criticize the Obama administration's stated moratorium on new offshore drilling permits, in the wake of the Gulf spill.
Rightfully so, the Alaska Republican has already taken heat for those comments from his challengers on both sides of the aisle. "The man is an ostrich," Democrat Harry Crawford said. "he has his head in the sand if he can't see that this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, man-made disaster in history." Republican challenger John Cox said, "we know there's a problem. We know that this is a major disaster."
How can a person supposedly smart enough to get elected, be so stupid by saying there is no disaster. Well you have to admit that here is another politician with absolutely no common sense what so ever! His lack of common sense knows no bounds. First of all, all you have to do is watch any TV news program and you will see the disaster unfolding and getting worse with each passing day. Secondly, how can anyone say that this is a natural phenomenon? This is a man-made disaster without any doubt about it. And thirdly, because this disaster occurred prior to the oil well going on line, it was correct to place a moratorium on any new permits. That is just plain old common sense.
An Unfortunate side effect of Young's statements is that there will be people who will believe what he says and continue to propagate his outright lies.
Til next week.
Last week, while I was getting a dinner ready, I had the TV on and the evening news was on. At one point I thought I heard something about someone saying something so utterly stupid and upsetting, that I had to dig into the story for more details.
This is a true story and Don Young really, really said it. Just google Don Young and see for yourself. Don't know who Don Young is? Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) is a duly elected official with a serious problem. On June 3rd, 2010, Young had some things to say about the Gulf gusher disaster. After Congressional hearings he started by saying not to worry about the oil spilling into the Gulf, because the worst spill in U.S. history is "not an environmental disaster, just nature taking its course". My response to that is what the hell planet did you just come from?
Young continued by saying, "this is not an environmental disaster and I will say that again and again because it is a natural phenomenon." "Oil has seeped into this ocean for centuries and will continue to do it. During World War II there was over 10 million barrels of oil spilled from ships and no catastrophe.......... We will lose some birds, we will lose some fixed sea life, but overall it will recover."
Oh by the way, did you know the Rep. Young has notoriously close and longstanding ties with the oil companies? He even went on to criticize the Obama administration's stated moratorium on new offshore drilling permits, in the wake of the Gulf spill.
Rightfully so, the Alaska Republican has already taken heat for those comments from his challengers on both sides of the aisle. "The man is an ostrich," Democrat Harry Crawford said. "he has his head in the sand if he can't see that this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, man-made disaster in history." Republican challenger John Cox said, "we know there's a problem. We know that this is a major disaster."
How can a person supposedly smart enough to get elected, be so stupid by saying there is no disaster. Well you have to admit that here is another politician with absolutely no common sense what so ever! His lack of common sense knows no bounds. First of all, all you have to do is watch any TV news program and you will see the disaster unfolding and getting worse with each passing day. Secondly, how can anyone say that this is a natural phenomenon? This is a man-made disaster without any doubt about it. And thirdly, because this disaster occurred prior to the oil well going on line, it was correct to place a moratorium on any new permits. That is just plain old common sense.
An Unfortunate side effect of Young's statements is that there will be people who will believe what he says and continue to propagate his outright lies.
Til next week.
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Stupidity At Its Best
Hi Everyone:
Just when I thought that I had heard it all about politicians and their idiotic decisions this story came to light. Both the Governor of New York State and the Mayor of the City of White Plains, New York made the same decisions without using any common sense what so ever!!!
The state of New York and the City of White Plains both have the same the financial problems. They both have deficits due to the "Great Recession" meaning not enough money coming in. So what is a politician to do in such a situation? Well you won't believe what these two men did. Besides making some cursory cuts, both politicians asked the multitude of unions for concessions to the existing contracts. Both politicians wanted the numerous unions to fore go upcoming raises to freeze wages and to cut employees work week to four days with a 20% decrease in pay. OK that sounds logical. I still think that both the state and the city could have and should have made major cuts in spending with heavy lay offs to accompany the cuts.
So what did these two morons, who call themselves politicians, do after requesting the union concessions? In their infinite wisdom and a total lack of common sense, they gave pay raises to their closest aides and appointed positions. Now these weren't raises that coincided with the union percentage of raises. No, these two idiots decided to give raises that ranged from about 5%up to 16%!? WHAT? Both men said that their aides and appointed positions employees deserved the raises. Anybody with any business sense and an ounce of common sense would not ask unions for concessions and then give raises to non-union appointed positions. This is just so wrong on every level.
The stupidity of their decisions is mind boggling. I just don't get how they could think it would be OK to give non-union appointed employees raises while asking for concessions from the union employees. The unions took both men to task, and rightfully so, for their unbelievably stupid decisions. It is common knowledge that the appointed positions are filled by friends or business associates of the politician in charge. If they thought that they could reward their friends and associates with unjustly pay increases, they were sorely wrong. Needless to say, all the unions said no to the concessions after learning of the non-union raises. So both the state's and the city's financial problems have gotten worse instead of better.
Making decisions without the use of common sense can make the decision maker look stupid, idiotic, moronic or any other derogatory adjective that you can think of. Maybe there should be a common sense test given to all potential politicians prior to running for any elected office, just to make sure that they actually do have some common sense. We can't go on like this without using common sense in each and every decision made.
FYI, my common sense approach would be to ask for the concessions from the unions and whatever is agreed upon would have to affect the non-union employees equally.
Enough said!
Til next week.
Just when I thought that I had heard it all about politicians and their idiotic decisions this story came to light. Both the Governor of New York State and the Mayor of the City of White Plains, New York made the same decisions without using any common sense what so ever!!!
The state of New York and the City of White Plains both have the same the financial problems. They both have deficits due to the "Great Recession" meaning not enough money coming in. So what is a politician to do in such a situation? Well you won't believe what these two men did. Besides making some cursory cuts, both politicians asked the multitude of unions for concessions to the existing contracts. Both politicians wanted the numerous unions to fore go upcoming raises to freeze wages and to cut employees work week to four days with a 20% decrease in pay. OK that sounds logical. I still think that both the state and the city could have and should have made major cuts in spending with heavy lay offs to accompany the cuts.
So what did these two morons, who call themselves politicians, do after requesting the union concessions? In their infinite wisdom and a total lack of common sense, they gave pay raises to their closest aides and appointed positions. Now these weren't raises that coincided with the union percentage of raises. No, these two idiots decided to give raises that ranged from about 5%up to 16%!? WHAT? Both men said that their aides and appointed positions employees deserved the raises. Anybody with any business sense and an ounce of common sense would not ask unions for concessions and then give raises to non-union appointed positions. This is just so wrong on every level.
The stupidity of their decisions is mind boggling. I just don't get how they could think it would be OK to give non-union appointed employees raises while asking for concessions from the union employees. The unions took both men to task, and rightfully so, for their unbelievably stupid decisions. It is common knowledge that the appointed positions are filled by friends or business associates of the politician in charge. If they thought that they could reward their friends and associates with unjustly pay increases, they were sorely wrong. Needless to say, all the unions said no to the concessions after learning of the non-union raises. So both the state's and the city's financial problems have gotten worse instead of better.
Making decisions without the use of common sense can make the decision maker look stupid, idiotic, moronic or any other derogatory adjective that you can think of. Maybe there should be a common sense test given to all potential politicians prior to running for any elected office, just to make sure that they actually do have some common sense. We can't go on like this without using common sense in each and every decision made.
FYI, my common sense approach would be to ask for the concessions from the unions and whatever is agreed upon would have to affect the non-union employees equally.
Enough said!
Til next week.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
You Won't Believe This One!
Hi Everyone:
So there I was this past week, minding my own business, reading my local Gannett newspaper, when I read this article that really shocked me at first then got me really MAD! The story goes like this:
Fifty-one New York City bus drivers took an average of two (yes 2!) months off last year with pay after being spat upon by upset riders. This indignity is considered an assault under their union contract, entitling them to the paid break. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said 83 drivers were spat on last year. Of those, 51 took paid time off averaging 64 days. One spat upon driver took 191 days of paid leave. The driver's union says the encounters cause psychological trauma.
I don't know about you, but taking 191 days off, for being spat upon, seems extremely absurd, way out of line and should never have happened. The whole idea that the union contract covers being spat upon as an assault is excessive. Union contract clauses such as this have become the epitome of what is wrong with unions and their gimmie, gimmie approach to contract negotiations. Having negotiated many union contracts, I am pretty sure how clauses like this get into a contract. The union asks for either some outrageous wage increase or some other entitlement and then will "settle" for a clause like this one.
When management (foolishly) agreed to this demand, little did they know much much it would cost them. If you say drivers earn an average of $25/hour (low ball amount, I think the wage would be closer to $40/hour) times 8 hours per day equals $200/day. Now multiply $200 times 51 drivers and that equals $10,200 for each paid day off. Now multiply the $10,200 times the average of 64 days and you have $652,800 that the MTA paid out for drivers being spat upon last year. That is a ridiculus amount. The MTA runs a deficit almost every year and they wonder why? If, as an example, the contract that this clause became effective is 3 years old, (I don't know when this clause became effective) then the MTA paid out almost $2 million dollars over the three years; just for being spat upon! Unfortunately, once a clause like this is agreed upon by both sides, then it is next to impossible to remove it and the MTA is stuck with it like dog poop on your shoes. Clauses like this stink and should have never been agreed to.
It is painfully obvious that management didn't use any common sense in negotiating and then incredibly agreeing to that clause. Those drivers that had to take on average 64 days of paid leave for being spat upon should be investigated for fraud, including the doctors, who are union paid. Who needs 64 days off to get over being spat upon? The answer is only union bus drivers.
Common sense rules and spitting literally drools.
Til next week.
So there I was this past week, minding my own business, reading my local Gannett newspaper, when I read this article that really shocked me at first then got me really MAD! The story goes like this:
Fifty-one New York City bus drivers took an average of two (yes 2!) months off last year with pay after being spat upon by upset riders. This indignity is considered an assault under their union contract, entitling them to the paid break. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) said 83 drivers were spat on last year. Of those, 51 took paid time off averaging 64 days. One spat upon driver took 191 days of paid leave. The driver's union says the encounters cause psychological trauma.
I don't know about you, but taking 191 days off, for being spat upon, seems extremely absurd, way out of line and should never have happened. The whole idea that the union contract covers being spat upon as an assault is excessive. Union contract clauses such as this have become the epitome of what is wrong with unions and their gimmie, gimmie approach to contract negotiations. Having negotiated many union contracts, I am pretty sure how clauses like this get into a contract. The union asks for either some outrageous wage increase or some other entitlement and then will "settle" for a clause like this one.
When management (foolishly) agreed to this demand, little did they know much much it would cost them. If you say drivers earn an average of $25/hour (low ball amount, I think the wage would be closer to $40/hour) times 8 hours per day equals $200/day. Now multiply $200 times 51 drivers and that equals $10,200 for each paid day off. Now multiply the $10,200 times the average of 64 days and you have $652,800 that the MTA paid out for drivers being spat upon last year. That is a ridiculus amount. The MTA runs a deficit almost every year and they wonder why? If, as an example, the contract that this clause became effective is 3 years old, (I don't know when this clause became effective) then the MTA paid out almost $2 million dollars over the three years; just for being spat upon! Unfortunately, once a clause like this is agreed upon by both sides, then it is next to impossible to remove it and the MTA is stuck with it like dog poop on your shoes. Clauses like this stink and should have never been agreed to.
It is painfully obvious that management didn't use any common sense in negotiating and then incredibly agreeing to that clause. Those drivers that had to take on average 64 days of paid leave for being spat upon should be investigated for fraud, including the doctors, who are union paid. Who needs 64 days off to get over being spat upon? The answer is only union bus drivers.
Common sense rules and spitting literally drools.
Til next week.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Putnam County Deputy Sheriff
Hi Everyone:
Over the past 16 months I have written about many topics that lack common sense. Today's blog is so unbelievable that you will think that it is not possible; but alas unfortunately, it is!
Here in Putnam County, New York, most towns have their own police departments, but there is also a Putnam County Sheriff's department. One of the Deputy Sheriff's is Barbara Dunn. Dunn was a Deputy Sheriff for 13 years. Dunn was also the president of the Putnam Humane Society. To make a very convoluted story short, Dunn was indicted in October 2009 after a three year investigation that included the FBI and the District Attorney's office. (As a side note, the District Attorney here in Putnam County is Adam Levy, who is the son of Judge Judy on TV lol).
After a trial, last Friday, Dunn was found guilty of seven counts of perjury, all of which were felonies. She was told to report to the Probation Department for an interview and return to court August 16 for sentencing. She faces 28 months to seven years in prison on each count of perjury in the first degree, a class D felony.
Now all of this seems fine, so what is the problem and why am I writing about this? Well, after the conviction was announced, Sheriff Donald B. Smith put Dunn on administrative suspension, pending a departmental hearing, that has not been scheduled yet. That means that Dunn continues to receive her $75,876 per year salary. WHAT????? Dunn is convicted of seven felonies and she gets to continue receiving her full salary? I mean how stupid is that? Even if the union contract states that is the procedure to follow; I believe that the contract should be changed asap to allow for immediate termination after being convicted of just one felony and then case closed.
Where is the common sense by allowing her to continue receiving her full salary? Yea, that's right, there is no common sense here. It just amazes me how stupid some union contracts are and how they are negotiated without using any common sense.
For your information, as a foot note, Dunn is awaiting a second trial on charges that she fraudulently collected $56,000 for a workplace injury that prosecutors say actually occurred while she was horseback riding. Wait there's more: Dunn is also awaiting a civil trial from the person who was wronged in the case where she was just convicted of perjury.
Common sense rules and lying drools.
Til next week.
Over the past 16 months I have written about many topics that lack common sense. Today's blog is so unbelievable that you will think that it is not possible; but alas unfortunately, it is!
Here in Putnam County, New York, most towns have their own police departments, but there is also a Putnam County Sheriff's department. One of the Deputy Sheriff's is Barbara Dunn. Dunn was a Deputy Sheriff for 13 years. Dunn was also the president of the Putnam Humane Society. To make a very convoluted story short, Dunn was indicted in October 2009 after a three year investigation that included the FBI and the District Attorney's office. (As a side note, the District Attorney here in Putnam County is Adam Levy, who is the son of Judge Judy on TV lol).
After a trial, last Friday, Dunn was found guilty of seven counts of perjury, all of which were felonies. She was told to report to the Probation Department for an interview and return to court August 16 for sentencing. She faces 28 months to seven years in prison on each count of perjury in the first degree, a class D felony.
Now all of this seems fine, so what is the problem and why am I writing about this? Well, after the conviction was announced, Sheriff Donald B. Smith put Dunn on administrative suspension, pending a departmental hearing, that has not been scheduled yet. That means that Dunn continues to receive her $75,876 per year salary. WHAT????? Dunn is convicted of seven felonies and she gets to continue receiving her full salary? I mean how stupid is that? Even if the union contract states that is the procedure to follow; I believe that the contract should be changed asap to allow for immediate termination after being convicted of just one felony and then case closed.
Where is the common sense by allowing her to continue receiving her full salary? Yea, that's right, there is no common sense here. It just amazes me how stupid some union contracts are and how they are negotiated without using any common sense.
For your information, as a foot note, Dunn is awaiting a second trial on charges that she fraudulently collected $56,000 for a workplace injury that prosecutors say actually occurred while she was horseback riding. Wait there's more: Dunn is also awaiting a civil trial from the person who was wronged in the case where she was just convicted of perjury.
Common sense rules and lying drools.
Til next week.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Cool Invention
Hi Everyone:
The blog that I was going to write today has been postponed due to the coolest invention/tool (?) that I saw in use today and I just had to write about it. I don't know how long this tool has been around, but today was the first time that I had seen it and I was impressed. Those of you who know me, know that it takes a lot to impress me.
So the story goes like this: our old refrigerator wasn't freezing so well anymore, so last night we went to Sears and bought a new one. The new refrigerator was delivered today, yes today, on a Sunday and it only cost an extra $10 to do so. There were 2 deliverymen. One was about 5'10" and the other was about 5'5". The truck was huge and had an electric lift gate on the rear. After lowering the refrig to the ground, they removed the cardboard box and placed a strap, that was about 4-5" wide, under the bottom of the refrig. Next they stood at opposite sides of the refrig and attached the strap ends to the other end of this cool invention while bending over some. Both guys had the same size width straps that crisscrossed over their shoulder blades and attached to a buckle at their mid section. The end of that section was where the strap that went under the refrig attached to. Then they stood up slowly and proceeded to walk the refrig right up to the door, at a fast paced clip if I say so myself.
I was amazed at how easily they were able to maneuver the refrig through the door. It was so much more easier then any other way I have seen or used, even when I have moved refrigerators. A very important fact here that I must add or I would be remiss, is the fact that both guys were always communicating with each other to make moving seem effortless. This is a well thought out tool to use to lift heavy objects. It is obvious that common sense was used in the inventing and designing of it. Both the guys said that they loved it. They said it was the best and easiest tool to use. It is called a shoulder harness and supposedly you can check it out at shoulderharness.com.
Til next week.
The blog that I was going to write today has been postponed due to the coolest invention/tool (?) that I saw in use today and I just had to write about it. I don't know how long this tool has been around, but today was the first time that I had seen it and I was impressed. Those of you who know me, know that it takes a lot to impress me.
So the story goes like this: our old refrigerator wasn't freezing so well anymore, so last night we went to Sears and bought a new one. The new refrigerator was delivered today, yes today, on a Sunday and it only cost an extra $10 to do so. There were 2 deliverymen. One was about 5'10" and the other was about 5'5". The truck was huge and had an electric lift gate on the rear. After lowering the refrig to the ground, they removed the cardboard box and placed a strap, that was about 4-5" wide, under the bottom of the refrig. Next they stood at opposite sides of the refrig and attached the strap ends to the other end of this cool invention while bending over some. Both guys had the same size width straps that crisscrossed over their shoulder blades and attached to a buckle at their mid section. The end of that section was where the strap that went under the refrig attached to. Then they stood up slowly and proceeded to walk the refrig right up to the door, at a fast paced clip if I say so myself.
I was amazed at how easily they were able to maneuver the refrig through the door. It was so much more easier then any other way I have seen or used, even when I have moved refrigerators. A very important fact here that I must add or I would be remiss, is the fact that both guys were always communicating with each other to make moving seem effortless. This is a well thought out tool to use to lift heavy objects. It is obvious that common sense was used in the inventing and designing of it. Both the guys said that they loved it. They said it was the best and easiest tool to use. It is called a shoulder harness and supposedly you can check it out at shoulderharness.com.
Til next week.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Blow Out
Hi Everyone:
Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the "drill baby drill" mantra now needs to be changed to "spill baby spill." The oil rig, called Horizon, out in the Gulf of Mexico, caught fire last week. Then it sunk and now is leaking oil at a rate of 200,000 gallons per day. British Petroleum who doesn't own the rig but owns the well and supervises the rig, originally stated that there was no leak from the well head. That then changed to: it was leaking about 1,000 gallons per day. Then that changed to 2,000 gallons per day. Now we are informed that the well head at the bottom of the gulf is leaking 200,000 gallons per day. In only a few weeks, this will become the biggest and more than likely, the worst environment catastrophe this country has seen since the Exxon Valdez split open and spilled some 11 million gallons of oil. That oil found its way to the pristine Alaskan shore line and did unbelievable damage not only to fish and game, but also the loss of tens of thousands of jobs connected to the fishing industry.
Today's blog is not about the fact the BP had tried numerous times to minimize the amount of oil leaking and any impact of environment damage due to a leak. Today' blog is about what BP did not do. What am I talking about? Well, no pun intended, (according to the Gannett paper), in 2009, BP filed a 52 page exploration plan with the federal Minerals Management Service for the Horizon well. In that plan, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill or do serious damage to the beaches, fish, mammals and fisheries. BP reiterated in another section of the plan that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities".
Well, well, well, those statements certainty turned out to be untrue. As I write this blog the oil has reached the outer marshes off Louisiana. In writing that plan, BP relied on 30+ years of off-shore exploration with no oil spills or leaks or any environmental damage. But what really pisses me off is that BP never planned for, in any way, shape or form for any oil spill of this magnitude. Even the unit that was suppose to turn off the well head failed which lead to this forth coming environment disaster. Since no oil spills had ever happened, BP probably thought why plan for something that hasn't occurred. So due to either: stupidity, ignorance, a bottom line mentality or just plain old lack of common sense, this country finds itself in the face of a man-made environmental disaster like we have never seen. As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20, but using common sense to be prepared for any kind of accidental oil spill is of the utmost importance.
So if I had any say in what is currently happening, the following would be my common sense approaches to this problem:
1) No new off-shore oil rigs would go online until the company has a plan for "giant" oil spills/leaks.
2) A better emergency, fail safe well head unit that automatically turns off the spigot due to any abnormal occurrence, must be installed in each and every oil rig, new and old.
3) Big oil companies together should devise and build some kind of "thing" that would capture the oil in either a minor or major leak. I have heard that right now a company is building a very large dome structure that would sit over the well head. This dome would capture the leaking oil, since oil is lighter then water. A pipe is attached to the top of the dome where the oil is pumped up and loaded into a tanker ship. Wow, what a great idea and it uses common sense to find a logical and practical solution.
Since the dome isn't fully manufactured yet, we can only hope that BP and/or the federal government can figure out a way to stop the uncontrolled flowing oil and to be able to clean up all of the oil that has leaked.
Til next week.
Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the "drill baby drill" mantra now needs to be changed to "spill baby spill." The oil rig, called Horizon, out in the Gulf of Mexico, caught fire last week. Then it sunk and now is leaking oil at a rate of 200,000 gallons per day. British Petroleum who doesn't own the rig but owns the well and supervises the rig, originally stated that there was no leak from the well head. That then changed to: it was leaking about 1,000 gallons per day. Then that changed to 2,000 gallons per day. Now we are informed that the well head at the bottom of the gulf is leaking 200,000 gallons per day. In only a few weeks, this will become the biggest and more than likely, the worst environment catastrophe this country has seen since the Exxon Valdez split open and spilled some 11 million gallons of oil. That oil found its way to the pristine Alaskan shore line and did unbelievable damage not only to fish and game, but also the loss of tens of thousands of jobs connected to the fishing industry.
Today's blog is not about the fact the BP had tried numerous times to minimize the amount of oil leaking and any impact of environment damage due to a leak. Today' blog is about what BP did not do. What am I talking about? Well, no pun intended, (according to the Gannett paper), in 2009, BP filed a 52 page exploration plan with the federal Minerals Management Service for the Horizon well. In that plan, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude oil spill or do serious damage to the beaches, fish, mammals and fisheries. BP reiterated in another section of the plan that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities".
Well, well, well, those statements certainty turned out to be untrue. As I write this blog the oil has reached the outer marshes off Louisiana. In writing that plan, BP relied on 30+ years of off-shore exploration with no oil spills or leaks or any environmental damage. But what really pisses me off is that BP never planned for, in any way, shape or form for any oil spill of this magnitude. Even the unit that was suppose to turn off the well head failed which lead to this forth coming environment disaster. Since no oil spills had ever happened, BP probably thought why plan for something that hasn't occurred. So due to either: stupidity, ignorance, a bottom line mentality or just plain old lack of common sense, this country finds itself in the face of a man-made environmental disaster like we have never seen. As the saying goes, hindsight is 20/20, but using common sense to be prepared for any kind of accidental oil spill is of the utmost importance.
So if I had any say in what is currently happening, the following would be my common sense approaches to this problem:
1) No new off-shore oil rigs would go online until the company has a plan for "giant" oil spills/leaks.
2) A better emergency, fail safe well head unit that automatically turns off the spigot due to any abnormal occurrence, must be installed in each and every oil rig, new and old.
3) Big oil companies together should devise and build some kind of "thing" that would capture the oil in either a minor or major leak. I have heard that right now a company is building a very large dome structure that would sit over the well head. This dome would capture the leaking oil, since oil is lighter then water. A pipe is attached to the top of the dome where the oil is pumped up and loaded into a tanker ship. Wow, what a great idea and it uses common sense to find a logical and practical solution.
Since the dome isn't fully manufactured yet, we can only hope that BP and/or the federal government can figure out a way to stop the uncontrolled flowing oil and to be able to clean up all of the oil that has leaked.
Til next week.
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