Does spill give Obama an excuse to expand oversight? 

I worked as an airline mechanic for 35 years. Each airline had to submit a maintenance plan for each type of aircraft they flew to the FAA and then when that plan was approved by the FAA, the airline was required to follow that plan or be penalized for violating that plan.

If that was oversight or government regulation that strangled the airline industry, then it might also be oversight which strangled the steel umbrella industry, for without (the FAA having an excuse for) oversight, it might have rained aircraft or aircraft parts.

With oversight of the oil industry, the makers of oil collecting booms might see their stock prices drop. Had the oil drillers been required to drill a relief well simultaneously with the oil collection well (as some countries require) and had the oil drillers been required to use the more expensive but more reliable sonic blow out protector (as some countries require), there would not have been the demand for oil collecting booms and dispersants that we have now. And had the oil drillers not ruined the Blow Out Protector seal or had they stopped drilling after the seal was destroyed, we would not even be discussing “Oversight”. If coal mines ventilate their shafts properly, there is very little need for oversight. And when I was a mechanic, there was a need for FAA oversight because we did not always want to follow our own rules because of our desire to get the plane out on time. We did (one time) go 5,000,000 flights without a crash (with loss of life) and we did lead the industry in “On Time Departures” for a few years in a row, but that required attention to detail and a healthy fear of the FAA’s oversight and penalties (not the least of which was being on the TV World News at 6:30pm).

Oversight does not equal either Socialism or fiscal strangulation. It is Capitalism’s best friend. Without oversight, some people might contend that the oil collection boom industry and dispersant industry might thrive, as would the (re)construction industry and new plane manufacturers thrive without FAA oversight, but let’s look at the industries which are being harmed by allowing oil and coal to control their governmental regulation rules. The fishing industry and tourism are being destroyed in the Gulf States, and the alternative energy manufacturers are being adversely effected, but why should alternative energy not have to pay for their spills, pipeline fires, mine explosions and damage to the environment? Maybe because only industries which are inherently unsafe and have the potential for causing great monetary and environmental damage need a great deal of oversight.

FreddieVee , email

Underwater Nuclear testing, 1958, courtesy Julia Ioffe, True/Slant

As BP prepares to lower a four-story, 70-ton dome over the oil gusher under the Gulf of Mexico, the Russians — the world’s biggest oil producers — have some advice for their American counterparts: nuke it.

Komsomoloskaya Pravda, the best-selling Russian daily, reports that in Soviet times such leaks were plugged with controlled nuclear blasts underground. The idea is simple, KP writes: “the underground explosion moves the rock, presses on it, and, in essence, squeezes the well’s channel.”

Yes! It’s so simple, in fact, that the Soviet Union, a major oil exporter, used this method five times to deal with petrocalamities. The first happened in Uzbekistan, on September 30, 1966 with a blast 1.5 times the strength of the Hiroshima bomb and at a depth of 1.5 kilometers. KP also notes that subterranean nuclear blasts were used as much as 169 times in the Soviet Union to accomplish fairly mundane tasks like creating underground storage spaces for gas or building canals.

These kinds of surgical strikes to shut off underground leaks, however, were carried out only five times, with the last one occuring in 1979. And there was only one misfire, near Kharkov, Ukraine, where a nuclear blast was unable to stanch a gas leak.

Happily, with a track record like that, “the chances of failure in the Gulf of Mexico are 20%,” KP writes. “The Americans could certainly risk it.”

via KP.ru, and the inimitable Kevin O’Flynn of The Moscow Times

_____________________________________________________________

Who in the Obama administration is getting paid off by BP to cover up the obvious solution the Russians have already used five times? By fixing this leak they would make radioactive the unharvested oil!

PLUG the HOLE

American Greed Kills the Gulf of Mexico

  © 2010 Rick Martin, Registered Patent Attorney

In 1985 I wrote a law school graduation thesis on how tort lawsuits focused on software bugs might kill the software industry. I argued for tort reform. The National Academy of Sciences invited me to lecture on the theory of mass tort creating the Next Depression.

I lectured about two jet airliners colliding over New York City, killing thousands of people, and burning down several buildings. I theorized that a multibillion dollar class action lawsuit would kill the airline industry and create a domino effect on the American economy. Basically this all came true except the airliner crashes were not an accident. But for the federal government stepping in to prevent the giant class action lawsuit, the airline industry may well have ceased to exist. The feds paid off most victims in a short period of time. This reduced a potential fifteen year waiting period for a super large class action, appeals, and bankruptcies.

Fast forward to the current Gulf disaster. There is no stopping the 100,000 barrels a day polluting an entire ocean! Consider the tidal currents carrying this pollution up the Atlantic seaboard by Christmas. Yes, the Gulf spill will reach the New York City 911 shoreline by Christmas. No feasible plug the leak plan has been publicized. Already in a month the pollution is bigger than Long Island. That’s 120 miles by 5 miles. Now the cover-up is unfolding. Independent scientists estimate the flow at over 10 times the BP estimate. One Exxon Valdez every four days, incomprehensible!

What is your waterfront home worth with toxic oil at your dock? What about an entire fishing industry? What about the loss of one fifth of America’s seafood? What about tourism? What about the boating industry? What about entire cities collapsing under the economic loss? What about the utter catastrophe unleashed on the wildlife and coastal beaches – for a hundred years?

Now get out your calculator. First, BP, Halliburton and Trans Ocean are bankrupt. Next all existing wells are properly regulated to invest in a working plug. Now the federal regulators that had sex with Big Oil in Denver turn into magnificent whistle-blowers, and the United States of America has to finance a new ocean. Nothing to it for the rich, just another Middle Class tax about the size of Obama’s first year bailout averaging $75,000 per family.

Haven’t you read that at best only ten percent of an oil spill can ever be recovered? In less than a year, the Gulf of Mexico will become a Dead Sea and some of the Atlantic Ocean along with it. It’s a good thing hurricanes don’t hit the Gulf.

Hurricane “Drill Baby Drill” will create a 100 mile per hour toxic oil and chemical gas that will drive 20 million people inland to avoid asphyxiation. The good news? Short sell BP, Halliburton, Trans Ocean. Convert all your stocks to gold. Vote the bums out and pray for a cleaner crew holding political power.

America’s love of oil will bring down her economy in 2011. The only winners will be class action lawyers. Just like the tobacco class actions, they will earn $50,000 an hour after they pay their dues of five years working for free.

What will the dollar be worth when they receive their paychecks in 2015?

What will the price of gasoline be in 2015?

My solution is to ration gasoline and price control it until this disaster is under control and a super vacuum ship is in place. What’s your solution? Invade Iran?

Boulder County Business Report Daily – Dec. 21-27,2007

BOULDER – Califiornia based Turin Networks Inc. plans to acquire Boulder-based Carrier Access Corp. (Nasdaq:CACS) for $92.7 million in cash.

     It is uncertain whether the company will remain in Boulder.

     Carrier Access employs a little more than 100 people in Boulder and about 260 worldwide. It provides companies with technology to better access the communication network operations of wireless and cable carriers. The company has been in Boulder for 15 years and and purchased its 62,565-square-foot building at 5395 Pearl Parkway for $7 million in 2004.

     “An initial analysis indicates that a Colorado presence will be maintained, but the exact location depends on a number of factors, “Carrier officials said in a press release. Further details are expected to be available if the deal closes.

     Board of directors at both companies have approved the deal, and shareholders will vote in early 2008.

     The deal equates to$2.60 per share of Carrier Access common stock, about a 10 percent premium over the stock’s Dec. closing price, before news leaked out of a possible acquisistion.

     If approved, Carrier Access would become part of Turin Networks, which is a private company. Similar to Carrier Access, Turin Networks provides technologies to increase efficiency on wireless and cable networks.

     Rick Martin wrote their first patents, including U.S. Patent Nos. 5,740,241,  5,870,466 and 6,144,736.

One of our own clients was delivered this invoice billing for services due that may be picked up by you or your billing department. Stay informed. DO NOT pay this invoice. Our clients name and Trademark has been replaced to ensure confidentiality.

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We offer less than half the cost of a big firm for patent prosecution. Rick’s engine control patent is currently asserted against Harley Davidson. Quality is quality.

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