Oil Containment Boom Sitting in Warehouses - Miles and miles of Floating Booms Stashed

Miles of oil containment booms are sitting in the Packgen warehouse in Auburn, Maine. Miles more can be produced quickly...but someone has to order them, pay for them, come get them and tote them to the Gulf. Does it surprise you, that as the oil washes up on the shores of beautiful beaches and treasured marshes, no one seems to be interested in oil containment booms? See a video below.

Wildlife in Gulf Oil Spill

This from PajamasMedia via Larwyn's Linx and GatewayPundit:

He’s [John LaPoint of Packgen] already had a representative from BP visit his factory and inspect his product. The governor of Maine, John Baldacci, visited the facility and made a video plea to no one in particular to close the deal. Maine Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins wrote a letter on May 21 to the secretary of the Interior, the administrator of NOAA, and the commandant of the Coast Guard to alert them to the existence of Packgen, their supply of boom, and their demonstrated capacity to make more. I have no idea if those are the correct persons and agencies to notify about the manufacturing capacity and the availability of boom. One wonders if the senators know.

So, BP knows, the Maine governor knows, both of Maine's senators know, and thanks to the Senators, Ken Salazar, the Secretary of the Interior knows, the commandant of the Coast Guard knows, and the administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) knows.

It's obvious President Obama has been too busy to read the memo about Packgen's oil containment booms. He is looking for some asses to kick, and now he has a list ready-made for him. Take a look at Packgen's website where their oil containment booms practically sell themselves on their homepage.

Here are a some interesting points by Gregory Sullivan at PajamasMedia (linked above):

A lot of people have been suggesting many ways to deal with the oil, and the ideas generally range from the comical to plain counterproductive. A fetish for sending hair from barbershops to the Gulf Coast has swept various pockets of the country. Booms are mainly non-absorbent, because the last thing you want to do is congeal the stuff and contaminate it. Oil collected against a boom is fairly easy to process and recycle. Sorbent booms, designed to collect oil at the water’s edge, are made from materials that absorb oil but not water — unlike hair. Oil full of hair or straw lapping against a shoreline is a HazMat nightmare. And sorbent boom is not in short supply anyway.

This report says that as early as May 27th, two miles of oil containment boom was on its way to Louisiana from Portland, Maine (apparently not from Packgen). So, TWO miles? Only two miles? What's up with that?

The DEP says it does take time to coordinate an effective response to a spill of this magnitude....Maine says its list of available assets is long...and ready to follow the booms to Louisiana whenever they get the call.

From the same May 27th article, I read that "BP has signed a deal with Maine agreeing to replace the boom within two years." Is the boom on loan to BP? BP isn't paying? About Packgen, maybe additional booms are not needed, or other suppliers are being used? Do we really have all the oil containment booms needed in the area? The video has more details.

Maine has Miles of Oil Containment Booms available video

Hal Rogers Calls for Clean Wartime Bill: Olympia Snowe Balks at $200B Spending Extender

Unbelievable, as America chokes on it's own self-serving debt and promises to drown it's children, a $200 billion spending billin the name of Defense is awaiting passage. Funds for Haiti relief, reparations to black farmers, and land claims for American Indians are entwined with funds for our soldiers and for the VA. How do legislator's vote against the troops? Rep. Hal Rogers has a suggestion and even Senator Olympia Snowe is balking at the gigantic $200 billion extender bill.

Hal Rogers

Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY-5th) has called for showing respect for the coming Memorial Day observance by "passing a clean supplemental bill:"

It is ironic...that with hundreds of thousands of our brave warfighters in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the globe pursuing an enemy who attacks innocent civilians and crowded subways, Congress is all but failing to do it's duty. Congress needs to put our troops first, protect our citizens, and pass a clean, wartime supplemental spending."

Read the excellent opinion piece by Rep. Rogers at The Daily Caller. Thank you Rep. Rogers.

Nevertheless, continuing the charade of the recent Democrats PayGo resolution calling for every dollar of new spending to be covered by cuts somewhere else, Democrats blithely move the country toward destruction.

New spending can also be offset by tax increases under what is known as pay-as-you-go rules, but republicans oppose tax hikes most of the time and say the problem is too much spending.

Behind the $200 billion, $23 billion for funds to the nation's schools is waiting for it's share of the garish Democrat sunlight.

Olympia Snowe

Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) saidid "At some point you have to draw some lines." Astonishing coming from this RINO who so often grabs the hand of a "friend across the aisle" and is willingly led to do their bidding.

I think they should limit it, "Snowe said. "They're using it as one of these catch-all bills. They're sort of trying to score political points by adding everything in there and then say, "Well, we'll force them to cast a vote because it's election time, rather than doing what's right for the country."

Is there a retort against a clean wartime spending bill?

Telegraphs Most Influential Conservatives In the Time of Obama

The Telegraph UK is releasing their list of the 100 most influential Conservatives, and the 100 most influential Liberals, while Barack Obama sat in the Oval Office - In the Time of Obama. The lists will be revealed, a few at a time, over the next few days, with the top 20 coming out on January 15th.

The Telegraphs says they view those chosen as "identifiably" conservative, although not "always self-described" as such (dittos Liberals).

These are not lists that rank ideological purity – the number one liberal will not necessarily be any more liberal than number 100 – but they will inevitably discriminate against centrists, technocrats, independents and fence-sitters.

The first Telegraph List covered 2007-2008. If the Conservative was on the previous list, I've put the ranking in parentheses.

The list of Top Conservatives revealed today covers Nos. 61 through 100. I've listed a few that interest me. See the Telegraph article.

Dang! Mark Sanford comes in at No. 100 (91).

Some commentary here - if Mark Sanford is still on this list, what a waste of space. How about Senator Jim Inhofe, who has been a true thorn in the side of Liberals and has thwarted many of their plans, mainly by speaking clearly to the press every opportunity he has. He should at the least be below the 50 mark. Of course, maybe he is. That list has not yet been released.

96) Liz Cheney (Liz is greatly underestimated at No. 96, in my opinion)
93) Charlie Crist, Governor of Florida and candidate for U.S. Senate
92) Clifford May
89) Fred Thompson
88) Patrick Ruffini - Political Strategist
87) Eric Odom - Tea Party organizer
85) Bill O'Reilly
84) Thomas Sowell
83) Lindsay Graham
82) (55) Jack Keane U.S. Army General
81) Marco Rubio - running against No. 93 - Charlie Crist for US Senate Florida
80) Michelle Bachmann - Congresswoman for Minnesota
79) Lou Dobbs

77) Joe Wilson - Congressman from S.C. - that's what speaking about Obama will do for ya' - get you on the right list!

76) (86) Jeb Bush
75) (26) James Dobson
74) (84) Ann Coulter
72) Tucker Carlson (who knew?)
70) (87) Michael Barone
69) Olympia Snowe - Senator from Maine. Dang!
67) Joe Scarborough (hardly conservative enough to be tagged a conservative)
66) (58) Victor Davis Hanson
65) (69) Erick Erickson from RedState.com
64) Chris Ruddy - founder and CEO of Newsmax.com
63) Jim DeMint - Senator South Carolina
63) (17) Frank Luntz



Some notes of interest: In the Telegraph's list of the most influential conservatives in 2007, which was published in October '07, Rudy Giuliani was No. 1, General Petraeus No. 2, Matt Drudge No. 3, Newt Gingrich No. 4, Rush Limbaugh No. 5, Dick Cheney No. 6, Robert Gates No. 7, Chief Justice John Roberts No. 8, John McCain No. 9 and Mitt Romney No. 10.

Olympia Snowe Mary Landrieu: Obama schools Snowe: Landrieus $300 million bribe

Senator Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), is still receiving schooling at the knees of Barack Obama. As recently as this past week, Snowe was chatting-it-up with Obama while he was in Asia.

Olympia Snowe

He restated his intention of working with me on this issue," Snowe told a group of reporters. She said that there "there are still fundamental issues that still need to be confronted" before she would considering voting for the bill during later votes.

 RINO Snow supposedly opposes the public option in the Reid proposed legislation, but says she would support a trigger-induced-public option,' should a state cave, and refuse to provide what Obama demands.

Needless to say, Snowe is okay with the penalty tax that will be levied against such a state, and obviously okay with the penalty an individual or business will be assessed if they choose not to have health care.

The centrist Republican said that attracting bipartisan support for the bill would be critical for a "historic endeavor" such as healthcare reform, saying it would be the "first time in half a century" that a piece of major legislation passed without bipartisan support. 

Snowe did not define how many Republican senators would be needed to call the bill bipartisan, but said "I hope it is more than just me." She also called on the president to attract more Republicans to vote for the bill.

 Who gets the next $300 million bribe?

Mary Landrieu

And so it came to pass that Landrieu walked onto the Senate floor midafternoon Saturday to announce her aye vote -- and to trumpet the financial "fix" she had arranged for Louisiana. "I am not going to be defensive," she declared. "And it's not a $100 million fix. It's a $300 million fix." 

Via The Hill via Michelle Malkin.

To Fairness Doctrine Naysayers: Support from RINOs

Graphic courtesy of CityPages
 

We now have the first Republican, Senator Richard Lugar, showing support for a Fairness Doctrine. Will Senators Olympia Snow, Chuck Hagel, and Susan Collins follow suit, and abandon any semblance of Conservatism? If ever there was an issue to be defended by Congress, Republican or Democrat, free speech is it. We have one thing to remember and to fight for: a Fairness Doctrine is diametrically opposed to the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. It's that simple:

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment (enactment, endowment, formation, setting-up) of religion, or prohibiting (forbidding, preventing, suppressing) the the free exercise (pursuit) thereof; or abridging (abbreviating, compressing, curtailing, decreasing, lessening, omitting) the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition (ask, call upon, request, seek, urge) the government for a redress (adjustment, amendment, rectification, reformation) of grievances (damages, injustices)

Senator Dennis Kucinich is on record saying that a Fairness Doctrine will aid in:

...achieving a free exchange and a multiplicity of ideas," and finally, with a new law, we will be able to determine "if there is a balanced and fair representation"

The First Amendment does not guarantee "balanced and fair representation." "Fair and balanced" has nothing to do with the First Amendment. If Congress actually respects the First Amendment and makes "no law," but relies on the Federal Communications Commission to, again, institute a Fairness Doctrine - which would also abridge the First Amendment - is not law, but is a "regulation," what can we do about it? Take the FCC to court? For my activist readers, let's attempt to find out where Snowe, Collins and Hagel stand on this issue.

If you are a constituent of one of the three and get a statement, please leave it here in comments or blog about it and send a link.

Email Senator Lugar: (R-IN) Phone: 202-224-4814, Fax: 202-228-0360 (R-ME) Phone: 202-224-2523, Fax: 202-224--2693

Email Senator Snowe (R-ME) Phone: 202-224-5344 and 800-432-1599, Fax: 202-224-1946

Email Senator Hagel (R-NE) 202-224-4224, Fax: 202-224-5213

Visit VoteSmart for all the pertinent information and background about you Congressman Please read the following excellent report from Martin at Blogbat who was sitting at the table with Senator Richard Lugar:

*****

Senator Lugar Hints at Support for "Fairness Doctrine" by Martin at Blogbat.com Last week I [and] other World Affairs Council members had the chance to meet with Indiana Senator Richard Lugar at the Capitol.

During our visit with the Indiana Republican on 7 November, he seemed to offer his support for a revived “Fairness Doctrine” tailored to target only one viewpoint – that of the comparatively modest talk radio industry. On the topic of such legislation, Lugar seemed sympathetic to the significant hostility among the left towards what he called “irresponsible” “right wing” radio, using catch-phrases right out of the Idiots Guide to Liberalism, intimating that talk radio was somehow a rogue entity that merely stirred up the common people to the consternation of all-knowing legislators. (Never mind the rogue entity on Capitol Hill that is attempting to usurp the Constitution.) Senator Lugar first greeted each of us and was extremely friendly and cordial, before taking his usual seat (now that the Democrats are in power) in the Senate Foreign Relations committee room, as we each grabbed a chair – I wound up with the honor of holding down the chair of genuine conservative Louisiana Senator David Vitter.

Senator Lugar then gave us a quick run-down of things like the international financial crisis, his own biography, and the in-coming administration before taking questions. During much of this, much that was said was nothing notable or new. The senator is indeed truly likable man and I must say I can see why, politics aside, he has been as successful in the Senate as he has been. However, unfortunately, beyond personality and congeniality, the Senator and millions of Americans part ways – and do so on numerous issues.

However, Lugar, who voted in favor of an amendment in the 2007 Defense Authorization bill sponsored by Minnesota Senator Norm Coleman that would have killed such a censorship doctrine’s revival, is also known, as a Rockefeller Republican for among other things most recently ganging up with Ted Kennedy against the American people during the Amnesty war of 2006. Now that it seems safe for him to do so, he appears to be reversing his position on the so-called “Fairness Doctrine” as well. Lugar’s language was strong and even harsh as he laid out the argument in favor of conservative radio censorship, as if he were a schoolmaster educating his children about the danger of alligators and why we need to trap them. As he sat in his seat sipping water from a glass with an emblem that read, “United States Senate”, Senator Lugar seemed to offer what was hardly a fair and balanced assessment of the state of media bias of his own. Instead, he seemed to ape the utterly false meme that talk radio was some giant politically unified monster for which there was no real counterweight. Read more from Martin at Blogbat.us

*****

Related:
The Fairness Doctrine: What You May Not Know

Background: What the FCC and the Media Has in Mind for You and TheFairness Doctrine: A Chilling Effect, and then a brush-up on the The Fairness Doctrine, The First Amendment and all that.