I’d Like To Put My Boot Heel On The Throat Of BP…Mine Would Be ‘Spiked’ Though
Posted by Michelle Moquin on May 26th, 2010
Thanks Doug for informing me of this article:
Rand Paul: Obama Sounds ‘Un-American’ For Criticizing BP Over Gulf Oil Spill (VID
In attempting to close the book on his controversial statements about the scope of the Civil Rights Act, Kentucky Senate candidate Rand Paul invited another round of intrigue and critique on an entirely unrelated front.
The Tea Party favorite, in an interview with ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Friday morning, accused the Obama administration of being too tough on BP — the oil company directly responsible for the massive spill in the Gulf.
“What I don’t like from the president’s administration is this sort of ‘I’ll put my boot heel on the throat of BP.’ I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business,” he said. “I’ve heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it’s part of this sort of blame game society in the sense that it’s always got to be someone’s fault instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen.”
From a sheer political standpoint, defending an oil company that has caused a massive amount of economic and environmental damage along America’s coast seems like a tricky proposition — even for a candidate from a landlocked state. (Though at least two Kentucky residents have suedthe oil company over the current spill).
Even BP itself wouldn’t go as far as Paul, declining to comment on its relationship with the Obama administration except to say, through spokesperson Mark Salt, that it continues “to work with the government on every aspect of the response.”
Substantively, Paul seems to be arguing that sharper regulatory oversight, or legislation that raises BP’s liability cap, are both redundant. BP, after all, has pledged to make full payments. And as for future spills, well, “accidents happen.”
It’s an element of libertarianism that may be ideologically pure but probably doesn’t prove all that comforting for those affected by the spill — or, for that matter, the national Republican Party. On Thursday, GOP officials largely skirted the issue of Paul’s controversial interpretation of the Civil Rights Act. In perhaps the comment that came closest to candor, National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman John Cornyn (R-Tex.) insisted that “Rand Paul, like every new candidate, is going to get better.”
Candidates, Cornyn added, in an interview with Bloomberg’s Al Hunt, “make mistakes and they misspeak.”
As for the oil spill remarks, Paul hasn’t taken much, if any, money from the oil and gas industry during his run for the Senate (under $8,000 total, according to Center for Responsive Politics). But it should be noted that BP does have major operations in his state.
Yeah, accidents do happen Paul, and sometimes it just isn’t about the money. But I’m not surprised that you would reference only that, and nay say a word about the dire damage and the relentless ruination of our ecosystem that will continue for years to come, from this ‘accident’, even after the gush is plugged. I am hopeful it will be soon.
Yes, BP should absolutely be footing the bill. But to me this isn’t an ‘accident’ – this is ‘negligence’. This wouldn’t have happened had BP been less greedy, and more caring and competent by putting a safety switch on the damn pipe in the first place. Not to mention whatever other safety measures that should’ve been taken to ensure that everything possible was done to prevent an ‘accident’ like this from ever happening. Only then would I feel okay to call it an ‘accident’ – anything less is ‘negligence’ in my book.
I’ve heard the back-up cut off switch would’ve costed $100,000 and I think I even read somewhere $500,000 – who cares; it is a measly sum for the protection of this ever happening. And in my opinion, it would’ve been money well spent. I’m sure BP is thinking that now too. But obviously BP didn’t care or see the need to take the precautions. Their greed cost them big time. And more importantly it came at a huge cost to our beloved planet and the sea life that we will never get the privilege to befriend.
So if Obama’s administration talks like they wants to put a heel on the throat of BP, they have my backing. In fact I’ll add the pressure of my spiked heel and accept and wear the label ‘un-American’, proudly too, if that’s what it takes. The administration has a right to be a little upset and demanding; many people are and I am too.
A lot of how we have operated in this country is reactionary – after the fact. What can we do now that we have totally polluted our oceans so that something like this doesn’t happen again? Instead of taking the precautions and putting things in place before these ‘accident’s’ happen. It’s really all about caring less about the bottom line, less about money, and caring more about the environment, our planet.
Since we know people don’t police themselves, and we are witness to what happens when there are no regulations in place, in order to protect ourselves, literally from ourselves, we must have regulations. The true bottom line is, if we can’t get people to do what is best and right for the planet, and not just for them and theirs, we must enforce it through regulations, or we will continue to destroy that which sustains us.
Readers: But…back to Paul Rand. He has got to be defeated. Thoughts? You know what to do.
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Charles: What a horrific experience for all. That young girl was very lucky.
Lastly, greed over a great story is surfacing from my ‘loyal’(?) readers. With all this back and forth about who owns what, that appears on my blog, let me reiterate that all material posted on my blog becomes the sole property of my blog. If you want to reserve any proprietary rights don’t post it to my blog. I will prominently display this caveat on my blog from now on to remind those who may have forgotten this notice.
Gratefully your blog host,
michelle
Aka BABE: We all know what this means by now :)
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May 26th, 2010 at 11:57 am
I didn’t know you had spiked boots…why haven’t I seen those!
May 26th, 2010 at 6:35 pm
can I put my spike heeled and very sexy pointy toed boot up their tush whilst you stand on their throat, mine are Donald Pliners, which ones are you hiding from Doug? : )
Tilly, right on, keep up the good work. Your words about the praise I hear daily got me thinking about how much I actually get (a lot more than I think I deserve to hear, I think) and friends often comment about how total strangers will just come up to me offering up compliments (how strange) on my height, build, face, attitude, etc…it’s all nice but I never let anyone else’s idea of me affect how I feel about me. I did have a honey of a hunk tell me I was ‘a pretty woman in every way…’ yesterday and I thanked him and then indulged myself in a little fantasy that involved him, me, that desk he was sitting behind and his tie was somewhere but not on his neck ; ) delightfully yummy…all while he finished some stupid paperwork I needed, a well spent half hour for me, I wonder what he was thinking about…
Women of MM blog, the sit up challenge is still on, 100 a day (or more, like Tilly) now let’d my own personal challenge, I’ve got decent arms but I really want buff triceps, so 3x’s a week or every other day, pick up that 10
lb weight and hold it over your head in your right hand, bend the elbow down and straighten, 3 sets of 12 or 4 sets of 15 for the ambitious, switch hands and same on left side, good luck, I’ve been at it for 10 days (5X’s so far) in addition to 2 other tricep exercises and I seee the diff, very cool. If you are at this point you may want to consider dividing your days, Mon/th I do biceps, back and shoudlers, Tu/Fri I do triceps, chest and lower/mid back, weds/sat is legs and butt, sat is triceps and cardio/social day : ) everyday is 100 sit up’s and M/T/Th/Fri are cardio for 20-30 minutes. Make a schedule that works for you and allows muscles to rest for 48 hours in between workouts, that’s it for now. Wear a red lace thong under your gym gear just for kicks ; ) for a real kick, put your ben wa balls in before doing sit up’s on a large plastic ball, oh yeah…it’ll give a whole new meaning to your workout.
Caio, Zen Lill
May 27th, 2010 at 1:12 am
Michelle;
My life has changed because of this blog. I have days when I read it and I want to scream at what has happened to my country.
I get frustrated when I try to post my reaction to something someone comments on or your opening monologue.
I don’t know if this will get in but I’ll keep trying.
Howard
May 27th, 2010 at 1:25 am
Senator Lisa Murkowski (R- AK), is blocking legislation to make BP pay the full clean up costs for the disaster in the Gulf.
She wants BP to only be responsible for the first $75 million of the spill. But the real cost is more than $650 million, and the bill goes up another $12,000 every minute.2
May 27th, 2010 at 1:37 am
Hafa adai
Guamanians stand up before our island goes the way of Hawaii.
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Guam’s Chamorros push for status change, says academic
Posted at 07:14 on 27 May, 2010 UTC
A Guam academic says an increasing number of Chamorros people are pushing for a change in the US territory’s political status.
Michael Lujan Bevacqua, a doctor of ethnic studies, says the transferral of 8,000 US marines to Guam by 2014 has the potential to shatter the traditional Chamorros way of life once and for all.
He says the build-up looms as such a threat because the Chamorros people have no real say in the process.
But Dr Bevacqua says the fact the military received almost 10,000 local submissions on its draft Environmental Impact Statement shows people are rising up.
“And one of the most important things that should be happening now, and thankfully a lot of people are pushing for it, is that Guam should have a political status change.
This build-up takes advantage of us because we’re not a state in the US and we’re not an independent country. The relationship with the US is ambiguous.
The US holds all the cards. We don’t have any sort of power in it.”
Michael Lujan Bevacqua
News Content © Radio New Zealand International
PO Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand
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If you do not want to be just another casualty of the white man’s greed, act now.
Peter
May 27th, 2010 at 1:57 am
HEALTHIER MEATS — ARE YOU GAME?
I don’t know whether it qualifies as a trend, officially, but I’m noticing more game and exotic meats on restaurant menus. My husband sometimes orders boar or buffalo, and I know that many diners enjoy venison, pheasant, ostrich and even alligator. But now I’m seeing more evidence that these unusual choices are actually more healthful than conventional meats. I hope you agree that we should look into them…
All game available at restaurants has been raised on farms or ranches. Most of these animals are fed a fairly natural diet, free of the processed feed, antibiotics and hormones used in the industrial factory farms that provide most of America’s livestock. This alone would make the meat better for you than typical supermarket fare — but game meat is better for you in other ways, too. Exotic meats usually have much less fat than beef, lamb, chicken and turkey — and fewer calories, too. For example, seven ounces of buffalo (bison) meat has, on average, five grams of fat and nearly 300 calories, versus beef with almost 19 grams of fat and 425 calories… venison has about the same amount of fat as bison and even fewer calories. Venison and bison are high in iron and B vitamins.
HOW TO COOK ’EM
Taste can be a barrier for many people, since these meats and fowl tend to have a far more intense flavor than the tamer meats that we’ve become used to. In part it will depend on where an animal is raised, says Karen Adler, author of The Everything Wild Game Cookbook and other game cookbooks. “These are creatures of the natural land,” she says. “Taste depends on the region of the country the animals live in and the foods they forage or are fed.”
Whatever the animal, how you cook it is critical to creating appealing flavor and texture. Since game meats have less fat, overcooking quickly dries them out — Adler advises serving them as rare as you can while still being safe. “Certainly don’t go past medium, because with so little fat, the meat will get tough,” she says.
TO COOK NON-FOWL GAME MEATS…
Try slow cooking or stews. A Crock-Pot on low is a good way to prepare wild game because it retains juices and cooks slowly at a low heat. Here’s one recipe: Season a small roast with herbs, salt and pepper, along with one or two cups of beer or wine. Add chopped onion and garlic and, after the meat has cooked for several hours, add other chopped vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, turnips and celery. Continue cooking for another hour or two until the vegetables are done the way you like them.
Grilling is fine, and you can marinate the meat first if you want to tone down the gamey flavor (although Adler describes these meats — elk, in particular — as having a “wonderful, clean, red-meat taste”).
Roasting works well — however these meats should cook a long time at a very low temperature (even just 290°F). Adler likes to braise roasts with liquid in the pan, perhaps beef or chicken broth or wine, to keep the meat moist.
Game meats also can be ground and are delicious in dishes like tacos and chili, but Adler says not to stop with those. “Have fun with soups, pot pies, lasagna and rich ragout sauces,” she urges.
TO COOK GAME FOWL…
To Adler’s educated palate, pheasant is the most wonderful of all fowl to eat. She describes the taste as lean and mild and suggests preparing it the way you would a chicken — one pheasant is usually sufficient to serve four people. Adler likes to slice the breast into scallops (you can also pound it into paillards if you wish) and sauté with capers and white wine. It can be grilled, but keep the heat relatively low so the meat doesn’t get tough. Pheasant can also be roasted whole in the oven.
Adler also likes the delicate flavor of quail — they’re fed on grains and flower buds. Quail is small, so one bird typically serves just one person — you may need even two for big eaters. Adler’s favorite quail recipe: Dredge in seasoned pepper and sauté until lightly browned… add sautéed onions deglazed with white wine or vermouth, one can of mushroom soup and enough chicken broth or beef broth to almost cover. Simmer for an hour or two until the legs twist easily and the meat is tender.
Ostrich, another option (albeit an expensive one) is low in calories, and its taste has been described to me as being “halfway between beef and chicken.” Adler suggests grilling steaks quickly over a hot fire, pan-sautéeing over high heat or broiling — all to medium rare.
WHERE AND HOW TO BUY GAME
You can buy game from some butchers and high-end supermarkets, but it will be farm-raised and fattier than wild. You also can buy farm-raised game in specialty stores and online — but be prepared, as these outlets charge a pretty penny. Buy only wild game that is USDA- or state-inspected (look for a seal or state license number on the packaging).
Source(s):
Karen Adler, author of The Everything Wild Game Cookbook (Adams Media) and other outdoor cooking cookbooks. Her company, Pig Out Publications, is based in Mission, Kansas. http://www.pigoutpublications.com.
May 27th, 2010 at 2:41 am
The republicans will say anything to get reelected.
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Dear Friend,
America is facing a mortal threat from our president and his Secular-Socialist Machine—a corrupt bureaucracy, which is actively using manipulation, bribery, and dishonesty to demolish our core values and replace them with their own.
If left unchecked, their lethal combination of high tax, big bureaucracy, radically secular policies and machine-politics will radically transform our country into something we barely recognize.
That’s why I wrote my new book To Save America: Stopping Obama’s Secular-Socialist Machine, to explain precisely how we can dismantle this machine and replace it with policies and institutions that work. But I need your help.
So today I’m asking you to take two simple actions to help me save America:
First: Click below to watch my video about the threats we face.
Second: Send the video URL to your family and friends to spread the message.
Saving America is the greatest challenge we face today. Together, you and I can restore this great nation to our Founding Fathers vision. But we must act quickly, or our children will inherit a country transformed beyond recognition.
Sincerely,
Newt Gingrich
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It is terrible how this President is being maligned.
Mike
May 27th, 2010 at 2:58 am
Those of you out there using sun screen with vitamin A as one of its additives should read this.
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Sunscreens With Vitamin A May Accelerate Skin Cancer: FDA Knows Danger, Doesn’t Report
WASHINGTON (May 24) — Almost half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread…
May 27th, 2010 at 3:14 am
Peter are we getting ready to confront the aliens? I read this a few days ago. I tried to post here but I couldn’t get in. It seems that only Zen Lill is allowed in every day.
Here is the article.
US Air Force deploying F-22s to Guam, Japan
Associated Press – May 24, 2010 9:15 AM ET
HONOLULU (AP) – The Air Force plans to deploy the world’s most advanced fighter jet to Guam and Japan this month.
The Air Force said it will send a dozen stealth F-22s from Virginia to Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.
It will deploy another 12 New Mexico-based Raptors to Kadena Air Base on Okinawa in southern Japan.
Both units are expected to stay for about four months. They’re due to leave for their missions in late May.
The U.S. military first deployed the jets to Japan and Guam in 2008.
F-22s have unrivaled ability to fly at supersonic speeds for long periods and travel undetected by radar.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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The way I see it is just because it is our most advanced aircraft that doesn’t mean it is advanced to the aliens
Leah
May 27th, 2010 at 3:28 am
What’s with you people on Guam? Cooperate with the Census takers. Guam needs the revenue.
The Census is way behind.
Hafa adai
Anna
May 27th, 2010 at 4:05 am
Anna & Peter, Hafa adai
How about the fact that Continental is adding 77 more flights to Guam.
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Guam – Continental Airlines announced today its decision to operate 77 extra section Narita-Guam (round-trip) flights during this year’s peak summer travel season.
The extra flights will be operated on a daily basis between Friday, July 16th and Thursday, September 30th.
In combination with the recently announced 72 (round-trip) Haneda-Guam charter flights for this summer’s peak travel season, a total of 149 additional flights will be added toContinental’s regular scheduled flights linking Tokyo (Haneda & Narita) and Guam for this summer.
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Why all that many people coming to Guam?
Wendy