18,000 MILE TRIP ADDS ANOTHER GIANT OIL RIG TO DRILLING IN THE GULF OF MEXICO.
Operation owned jointly by Royal Dutch Shell and BP brings a huge platform from South Korea, to be assembled at a port in Texas, then to join a slew of rigs seeking to extend the producing life of the Mars Field in the Gulf. The platform is so massive that it will be possible to “process” the oil on board. Is anyone worried about the oil spill potential of a floating refinery?
(Fuel Fix)
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NEW U.S. DRONE BASE IN NIGER NEAR MALI BORDER WILL JOIN A “CONSTELLATION” OF SUCH BASES ACROSS NORTH AFRICA AND THE ARABIAN PENINSULA.
The new military base is to “support” the French intervention in fighting “terrorists” in Mali, as this “constellation” has operated in other countries, apparently not so much to combat terrorism as rising Chinese influence in these countries.
(Antiwar.com)
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VIOLENCE IN PHILLY: JUST ONE SYMPTOM OF THE NATIONAL NERVOUS BREAKDOWN.
Linh Dinh surveys current instances of gratuitous violence in a city of not-so-brotherly love and finds in them a mirror to the dysfunctions of a society in which mass entertainment includes such offerings to disturbed psyches as the terrorist torture movie Zero Dark Thirty. Actually it’s rather a quiet January in Philly, as there have been “only” 16 murders in the city this month.
(Dissident Voice)
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WITH POLAR ICE CAPS MELTING AND SEA LEVELS RISING, IT’S ONLY A QUESTION OF WHEN NOT IF STORM SURGE BARRIERS WILL BE ERECTED TO PROTECT NYC FROM FUTURE SANDY’S.
13.8 foot water surges in lower Manhattan are convincing even skeptics that a barrier like that which protects London will have to be constructed. Current plans speak of building off-shore earthen barriers, the cost of which might be paid by constructing on them a toll highway for a shortcut route from New England to the mid-Atlantic.
(In These Times)
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NEW TYPE OF MYSTERY DINING IS POPPING UP IN ORLANDO TO CATER TO THE TASTES OF THE LOCAL WELL-TO-DOES.
The ClandesDine restaurant is but one of a string of such “pop up” establishments in Orlando for those with enough disposable income to enjoy the adventure of buying (pricey) tickets to eat who-knows-where and who-knows-what. Just the thing for a date night out for a couple who are squeamish about causal dining and bored with the stuffiness of fine dining.
(Orlando Sentinel)
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Quote of the day…
The crisis hasn’t affected people who were already homeless, but instead those who were just keeping their heads above water and have now gone under.
Rosa Martinez, head of the municipal reception center for the homeless in Malaga, Spain, reflecting the growth in number of homeless in the country.
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These greedy fuckwads already destroyed the Gulf… I guess they figure they might as well do more damage since it is almost lifeless now. They forgot to mention that not one drop of oil goes to American markets…. it’s sold to the highest bidder in Asia.