Shell's "Kulluk" rig aground off the Alaskan coast (Photo from KTUU)
HAS THE WORST CASE SCENARIO FOR ARCTIC DRILLING BEEN REALIZED IN ALASKA?
Warnings from scientists and environmental activists that unchecked oil drilling in the Arctic could lead to a potential disaster may have come to some semblance of fruition after a massive Shell Oil rig became grounded in a remote section of the pristine Alaskan coast. The Kulluk, which became snagged on rocks while being towed to Seattle for repairs, is part of Shell’s multi-billion dollar venture to carry out aggressive drilling in the Arctic region. Shell’s project had been stalled by opponents who predicted an ecological disaster if a spill were to occur, but federal approval has been granted and Shell had been drilling a number of test wells with the Kulluk and another rig when the incident happened.
(New York Times)
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PENTAGON GETS PLENTY OF EXTRA PADDING FOR LEAP OFF “FISCAL CLIFF.”
While the question of taxes has been at the heart of much of the debate concerning the “fiscal cliff” confusion brought on by congressional bickering, of almost equal billing for press coverage and political rhetoric has been the “devastating” series of cuts that may be forced on U.S. military spending through failure to reach a deal. Lawmakers have been trading proposals that impose greater austerity on the poor and middle class in exchange for eliminating Pentagon cuts. But a closer examination of spending restraints included in the so-called “sequester” by Congress finds that the Pentagon alarmists are off the mark in their dire warnings. As they stand now, any hit to military spending will only come in a reduction in the amount the Pentagon’s budget is allowed to increase; there aren’t any spending “cuts” at all. Even Defense Secretary Leon Panetta admits that sequestration would not “dramatically” change the daily operations of the Pentagon.
(Antiwar.com)
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VICTIMS OF “SUPERSTORM SANDY” FACE NEW STORM OF CONGRESSIONAL AUSTERITY.
Sandy victims and lawmakers that represent districts hit hard by the October “superstorm” are expressing outrage and disbelief after Congress drops plans to vote on a major aid package. Opposition from “Tea Party” conservatives within the GOP led House Speaker John Boehner to scuttle plans to vote on a $60 billion measure that still would not have covered the estimated $80 billion in total damage caused by the powerful hurricane hybrid. With a new Congress convening this week, any deal on Sandy aid will have to wait at last another month before being considered by a new batch of lawmakers on Capitol Hill. This has prompted a bipartisan anger among congressional representatives along the East Coast, claiming that it is “unprecedented for the United States Congress to walk away from a natural disaster,”
(USA Today)
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ARE YOU GAY? ARE YOU MARRIED? FORGET ABOUT RIDING THE ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND WEDDING COACH…
Same-sex marriages became legal in Maryland on the first of the year, with dozens of new couples celebrating the chance to attain official recognition and rights for their partnerships. But not all Marylanders are prepared to accept the idea of marriage equality. An operator of trolley tours in Annapolis is shutting down his lucrative wedding-themed business rather than be forced to give tours to gay newlyweds. Activists and gay couples hounded Discover Annapolis Tours over the owner’s “bigotry,” but anti-equality organizations have praised the move as a “bold and noble” protest of the state’s new law.
(Baltimore Sun)
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“NEARLY A HALF-MILLION DOLLARS FOR WHAT TURNED OUT TO BE TWO PASTEL-BLUE OUTHOUSES.”
This is what Miami Beach taxpayers received as one of many failures in provision of public services after the director of procurement for the city was arrested for racketeering operations through his office that left many funded projects in the hands of people and companies which did not deliver the contracted public services.
(Miami New Times)
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Quote of the day…
The most ominous part of the deal is what was left out. The deal makes no provision for lifting the debt ceiling. It postpones the sequester (automatic cuts in domestic and military spending) for only two months. It is a smaller deficit reduction package than that originally sought by the president. It therefore sets up the right-wing House zealots to hold the economy hostage once more, while demanding deep cuts in public services (known as cuts in domestic spending), backed by a media frenzy about deficits. And while Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid escaped unscathed in this deal, they will be the prime targets in the coming debate.
Robert Borosage, on the just-passed deficit reduction bill.
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