Lewis Black’s spill solution: Declare war, invade BP

Lewis Black’s spill solution:

 Declare war,

 invade BP

Comedian Lewis Black has a solution for dealing with the oil company responsible for spilling millions of barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Black believes the U.S. should put the same effort into plugging the leak and cleaning up the spill that was put into attacking the oil-rich country of Iraq.

"I have a theory I've been postulating and I think you'll like this," Black told MSNBC's Keith Olbermann Wednesday.

"We went into Iraq because there was supposedly these nuclear weapons there.
Now -- and that we might get attacked. Might. Now, we have BP,
 which is a multinational corporation, and they act like countries.
 I mean they basically are countries," said Black.

"They, as far as I can tell, are attacking us with oil.
And so I propose we declare war and invade them," Black suggested.

"They've got no standing army. We take over their buildings.
 We put the workers, their folks in internment camps and
 we just get their checks and do what we can with the
 money to solve the problem down there," Black said.

The Religious Right Targets Glee For Making Homosexuality Normal

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Walk into any given house on a Tuesday night, and there's a good chance you'll find Jane Lynch, Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Chris Colfer and the rest of the cast of Gleesinging to Van Halen or Barbra Streisand or Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

(Talk about a Mötley Crüe! Oh, music puns ...)

But if you walk into Brent Bozell's house on a Tuesday night, don't expect to see Glee on the tube. Bozell is a conservative blogger over at Townhall ("Where your opinion counts." So long as it's a little more Glenn Beck than Glenn Greenwald). Bozell is also a founder of a conservative media outfit known as the Media Research Center, where he watches hours upon hours of television and then determines which shows will earn you a direct flight ticket right into the underworld.

Glee happens to be one of those shows, though forget a direct ticket to the underworld — Glee is practically a rocket ship of damnation. And for Bozell, there's one primary reason why Glee gets Satan salivating: it makes the practice of homosexuality normal.

Bozell wrote a treatise on Glee this past week, in the wake of a highly publicized episode where the father of Kurt (the show's openly gay character) confronts some homophobic language directed at his son, namely that three letter f-word that many of us have heard at least once in our life. Bozell gets on the Fox network's case for making this show what he considers a megaphone for the homos.

"This show has presented gay as the 'new normal,'" Bozell writes, "and has not suggested, butpresented that the abnormal people are the ones who adhere to apparently outdated Christian morality." Bozell goes on to gripe that the show only portrays people who are against homosexuality as "vicious school bullies," or giant meanies who would rather bust open the heads of many a queer kid.

As they say, "Earth to Bozell: The truth hurts." It's 2010, and yes, we're heading for a time where thankfully it's going to be abnormal to adhere to a belief system that says someone's sexual orientation or gender identity ought to be judged and condemned.

Perhaps Bozell isn't aware of the fact that nearly nine out of ten LGBT high school students report some sort of harassment (either emotional or physical) inside the classroom. And maybe Bozell isn't aware that LGBT youth are up to four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers, in large part because of the ridicule they get from their peers (or their parents or teachers) because of their real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.

Because if Bozell was clued in to these harrowing statistics, perhaps he wouldn't view homophobes with such rose-colored glasses. Nonetheless, Bozell issued a challenge to the creators of Glee: can you create a character that loves the homosexual, but hates the homosexual sex? As if the "love the sinner, hate the sin" version of homophobia is somehow less destructive toward LGBT youth than the mean school bully version.

But here's hoping Glee listens to him, though, and does bring on someone who believes that homosexuality is biblically icky. And then here's hoping that Glee's creators take that character, and march her or him through the epiphany process that so many people have as they meet queer people, befriend queer people, and heck, even grow to love queer people.

After all, we already know that among 18-29 year-old evangelicals, close to 60 percent believe that gay men and women deserve the right to have their relationships recognized. There's no reason thatGlee can't feature one of these fine voices. And who knows, maybe some hearts and minds in middle America will change, too

Gov. Brewer expert at running over LGTB Rights

 Long before Brewer was running over the rights of people of color and huffing and puffing about immigration, she was also targeting Arizona's gay and lesbian population. Right after taking over for former Governor Napolitano, Brewer signed legislation that dismantled a domestic partnership program in Arizona that allowed state employees to extend benefits to their domestic partners, as well as their children. She did this by switching up the word "dependent," so that it meant only those spouses or children that were products of straight folks (or, in other words, "traditional marriage").

The move drew outrage from many around the state, including folks from the University of Arizona, which were dramatically impacted by Brewer's decision to redefine family. Liz Sawyer, an employee at the school and a spokesperson for a staff group, OUTReach, that works on behalf of LGBT rights, called Brewer's move "deplorable" and "tragic." After all, this was a callous move by Brewer to swipe benefits away from men, women and children.

Now, with Brewer's law set to go into effect October 1, the University of Arizona has responded by setting up a program that will allow University employees to extend certain benefits to their same-sex partners, including vision, dental and medical care. That has Sawyer and OUTReach smiling.

"It's really nice to know that even though the state is not committed to equality, our university is. This administration has been so supportive of the LGTB (lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual) community. We're just all breathing a huge sigh of relief," Sawyer said, according to the Arizona Daily Star.

Kudos to the University of Arizona for showing that Gov. Brewer's homophobia didn't have to be the last word on this subject. The new plan at the University doesn't rely on state funding, either, so there's likely little Brewer can do to prevent this from taking shape.

Back when Brewer dismantled the domestic partnership program, she also went on record saying that God had pre-destined her to be Governor of Arizona, so that she could help the state "weather its troubles." Hey, who knows, maybe that bodes well for Brewer. Because the last politician to say that God pre-destined them for office became the 43rd President of the United States. And we all know how that works out for everybody...

Missing Bodies At Arlington Cemetery

Missing Bodies Plague Arlington National Cemetery, Probe Finds        

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(Credit: CBS)

The scandal at Arlington National Cemetery is one of those "say it ain't so" stories. 

The investigation by the Army's Inspector General which will be released later today reveals a dysfunctional management system behind what is arguably America's most sacred ground - everything from missing remains to lying under oath to sexual harassment. A handful of cases, about five, have already been identified in which remains were misplaced - a casket found in what was thought to be an empty grave, a burial urn dumped in a landfill, remains moved without the knowledge or permission of the next of kin, among them. 

But a review of Arlington's antiquated paper filing system has identified 200 cases in which the paper trail fails to account for the whereabouts of remains. Now the Army will have to inspect each of those grave sites using ground penetrating radar.

Superintendent Jack Metzler, who was scheduled to retire on July 2, is being stripped of his authority but asked to stay on because after 19 years as superintendent (his father was superintendent before him), he is the institutional memory of Arlington. His deputy Thurman Higgenbotham is being suspended pending the outcome of a criminal investigation into whether he lied to investigators during a probe of hacking into the e-mail of an employee who was exposing some of the mismanagement at Arlington.

Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, officials say it is extremely unlikely Higgenbotham will ever return to the cemetery where he managed the day-to-day operations involved in the 125 burials that take place there each week.

Access Denied: Chris Brown Denied UK Visa For Tour After Rihanna Assault

Access Denied: Chris Brown Denied UK Visa For Tour After Rihanna Assault

posted by: Ximena Ramirez 

Just days before kicking off his tour in the UK Chris Brown received some unfortunate news. His visa had been denied and the R&B singer would be unable to enter the country.

The reason? Being guilty of a serious criminal offense.

Need I remind you that last February Brown assaulted his ex-girlfriend, pop star Rihanna, and was sentenced to 6 months of community service and 5 years of probation. He was also required to attend a domestic violence program and told that he must stay at least 100 yards away from her for the next 5 years.

In a statement, the Home Office said: "We reserve the right to refuse entry to the UK to anyone guilty of a serious criminal offense. Public safety is one of our primary concerns."

"Each application to enter the UK is considered on its individual merits," it added.

Brown was no exception.

After the attack last February many wondered whether Brown's career would feel the impact of the assault, but his music continued to sell tickets. This set back though is a reminder that his actions have real consequence and will never be forgotten.

I for one will never support the career of a man who:

"...opened the car door and attempted to force her out."

"...took his right hand and shoved her head against the passenger window of the vehicle..."

"...punched her in the left eye with his right hand..."

"...continued to punch her in the face..."

"...placed her in a head lock with his right hand and continued to drive the vehicle with his left hand."

"...bit her on her left ear."

"...began punching her in the face and arms."

"...placed her in a head lock (again) positioning the front of her throat between his bicep and forearm."

"...continued to punch her on the legs and feet, causing several contusions."

And said things like:

"I'm going to beat the s--t out of you when we get home! You wait and see!"

"You just did the stupidest thing ever! Now I'm really going to kill you!"

Maybe his fans should re-read the affidavit from the night of the attack the next time they listen to one of his songs.

Will the Gulf Oil Spill Ever Be Cleaned Up?

Will the Gulf Oil Spill Ever Be Cleaned Up?

by Marc Seelinger, The Swamp School

The recent events associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill seem to be in need of a bit of explanation. What we the public have been told is at best misleading and at worst an outright lie. We are facing the worst environmental disaster in the history of this country.  Never before have so many been affected by a single point source event.   To help understand the implications of this mess I offer a few observations.

What Exactly Happened at Deepwater Horizon?

Oil is a significant hazardous material.  The Federal EPA guidelines state that oil in water in excess of 10 parts per million (ppm) is hazardous.  To put this in perspective 1 ppm is about 30 seconds out of a year.  It does not take much oil to create a hazardous situation.  What we are currently looking at is a massive amount of fuel oil in an almost 100% concentration.

How this spill is being handled is a bit mind blowing.  First, it is required by Federal law that the oil company (BP) prepare and submit a spill containment and control plan before even contemplating a drilling project.  This would include all contingencies, including a massive failure such as what happened with the Deepwater Horizon rig.  The countermeasures would be put into action immediately and then clean-up could begin.  Obviously, this did not happen.

The oil was allowed to continue to pump into the Gulf.  It seems the BP’s only strategy was to come up with a way to continue harvesting the oil.  The first attempt would have sealed the leak so that they could keep pumping more oil out.  When this failed, they tried to insert a straw into the broken pipe so that they could transfer it to a ship.  That did not work either.  Now we are finally looking to plug the pipe.  This should have been done on day one.

Using the principle of the solution to pollution is dilution, BP decided that a dispersant should be applied.  The idea was to disperse the oil so that it would result in a safe level of pollution (i.e. <10 ppm).  The problem with this idea is that the dispersant is even more toxic than the oil.  The EPA guidelines for the dispersant state that levels in excess of 2 ppm are hazardous.  To add insult to injury is the fact that a dispersant disperses the oil. The last thing we want to do is disperse the oil. Now the darn stuff is so well dispersed that we in North Carolina are looking to see if it shows up on our beaches.

Where Did It All Go Wrong?

I have no political agenda in writing this.  However it seems that there is a failure in leadership on many levels.  The agency responsible for the protection of our water (EPA) seems to not have a say in what is going on.  BP has demonstrated that it has its own agenda: Spend as little money as possible and keep the flow of oil coming.

The implications to the wildlife and coastal ecosystems are horrific.  The scientific community has no benchmark to compare this too.  The parallels to the Exxon oil spill in Alaska are obvious.  However, the rocky coastline of Alaska is very different from the wetlands of the Gulf coast.  You can steam clean a rock.  How do you clean a marsh?

Of course, BP did have a solution.  Lets burn the marshes to the ground.  It’s a quick fix.  Thankfully, this seems to have been taken of the table for now.

We are now being told that the oil will have to naturally work its way through the ecosystem.  That is a complete fallacy.  Oil does not naturally exist in the ecosystems of the Gulf Coast.  What it will do is kill whatever it comes in contact with.  If you want an example of this go visit the oil laden coastal marshes of New Jersey.  Many of the marshes along the eastern rivers are devoid of life due to petroleum contamination.   We are still waiting for the oil to clean itself up.  It’s not happening.  The stuff even kills the microbes.

So What Do We Do Now?

So how do you clean a marsh?  First, keep as much of the oil out as possible.  This is done by not dispersing, but rather concentrating the slick using booms and other physical barriers and then harvest the oil.  There are a number of new textile technologies that could be put into play.  Second, put people on the shoreline to manually harvest the oil that gets past the barriers.  Oil does float and it can be scooped up.  This will require many people, but last time I checked there are bunches of folks looking for work.

If the oil does get into the marsh this presents huge problems.  But, not insurmountable ones, just expensive.  I have been doing marsh restoration projects for nearly 25 years.  I have pulled PCB’s out of marshes, as well as all kinds of fun heavy metals and organics.  We know how to do this.  It is not quick, but it is effective.  Quite frankly, unemployment in the wetlands business should be a thing of the past.

The scientific and engineering community have a lot to offer in solving this problem.  What we need now is leadership to take charge of the cleanup and restoration effort.  There is a cost for further delays.  We need to address the fact that this thing is not a quick fix and that it needs to be fixed.  At this point it is not clear that this is even agreed upon.  The focus has been on the “pipe cam” and not what the oil is doing to the ecosystem.  BP plug the darn pipe and let us see those clean-up contracts get people back to work.

Marc Seelinger of the Swamp School is a Professional Wetland Scientist, certified by the Society of Wetland Scientists (SWS), and is recognized as a Certified Wetland Delineator by the Baltimore District US Army Corps of Engineers.  This post first appeared on B Lab, the blog of the B Corporation community.  He has conducted hundreds of environmental assessments and provided consultation for major municipal watershed planning projects throughout the U.S.

June is Adamfoxie.blog FIRST Anniversary

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY: With well over 4,000 hits and over 1400 posts as of today, adamfoxie's blog is been able to keep it's promise. To Post anything that affects Our Community, Family, Friends and Supporters.
If you read the blog, not only the headlines,  you will see that every post is formatted in a very comprehensible way.
Per year and per the order the blogs have been written. You can comment on any post and follow the blog, email or have the blog email to you(This depends on how many requests are sent to the blog for this service)
Upon visiting the blog you should feel proud of this free service to the community.
The blog is a commercial blog. What does this mean? There are commercials; But they are posted in between each blog and at the end of any particular post. There are none in any particular post, so your reading will not be interrupted or distracted.
Why Commercials? They pay for the service. The commercials try to follow what ever topic is being blog. The commercials are censored by the Administrator (Adam Gonzalez)
During this anniversary month, visit the adamfoxide and better yet follow and make your self be heard by commenting on any particular post. The blog is read by people of all ages.
If you do a google search or bing on 'adamfoxie' you will see that the blog is listed, which account for a good number of hits. But FaceBook has been the foundation for the blog.
Thank You for your support and keep us posting by visiting the blog!!!!
Adam

This is so Romantic: Far Away Boyfriend Finally Gets his Lover, inspite

Tim Coco, 49, of Haverhill, Mass., left, sits with his husband Brazilian-born Genesio Oliveira, 31, at their home, in Haverhill, Friday, June 4, 2010. The couple were reunited this week after U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., pressed immigration officials to temporarily allow the gay man back into the country on humanitarian grounds. The couple were married in 2005 but separated after Oliveira was denied asylum in the U.S. (AP Photo/Steven Senne A Brazilian man was reunited with his Massachusetts husband this week after U.S. Sen. John Kerry pressed federal officials to temporarily allow the 31-year-old gay man back into the country on humanitarian grounds. Brazilian-born Genesio Oliveira (heh-NEH'-see-oh oh-lee-VEH'-ih-uh) rejoined Tim Coco, 49, of Haverhill, at an emotional reunion at Boston's Logan International Airport. Gay rights and immigrant advocates declared the case a rare victory for gay, married asylum seekers. "I'm delighted," said Oliveira, who married Coco in 2005 in Massachusetts where gay marriage is legal. "I've been waiting for this to happen. I never really undid my bags since returning to Brazil." Nearly three years ago, the couple split when Oliveira, nicknamed "Junior," was forced to return to Brazil after being denied asylum in the U.S. because the federal government does not recognize same-sex marriages. The pair maintained contact through online video chats and sporadic visits during holidays. The case gained international attention from gay rights and immigrant advocates who criticized U.S. officials for separating the couple who were legally married. Last year, Kerry asked Attorney General Eric Holder to grant Oliveira asylum on humanitarian grounds. Then in March, Kerry wrote Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano asking her to issue Oliveira "humanitarian parole" based on his fear of persecution in Brazil. Humanitarian parole is used sparingly to bring someone who is otherwise inadmissible into the U.S. for a temporarily because of a compelling emergency, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Last month, Kerry called Coco to inform him that Oliveira had been granted humanitarian parole and would be allowed to stay in the U.S. for at least a year. "Obviously we'll work on a permanent solution, but for right now I just couldn't be happier that the system worked and Tim and Junior are reunited," Kerry said. "This is a very sweet moment, long overdue, but sweeter because they decided it was worth the wait." Oliveira said he will again try for permanent residency in the U.S. either on the basis of his marriage or as an asylum-seeker who feels threatened by anti-gay violence in his country. Although Brazil is one of Latin America's most tolerant countries toward gays, a number of Brazilian gays have convinced U.S. judges to grant them asylum on the grounds they would face persecution if sent home. Federal immigration officials held Oliveira for three hours for interrogation following his landing Wednesday in Atlanta. He missed his connecting flight to Boston and caught a later one. "It was a very difficult journey with a lot of hopeful leads that didn't pan out," Coco said. "Kerry's office never gave up. We're glad he didn't." Coco said he hopes their case helps other married gay couples who are in immigration limbo. Victoria Neilson, Legal Director of Immigration Equality, a New York-based nonprofit group that helps gay clients with immigration cases, said she believes Oliveira's successful re-entry was an isolated case and doesn't reflect any new trends in immigration law. "It's still an open question on what happens to gay couples separated by current immigration laws," Neilson said. She said the only way the uncertainty can be addressed is for Congress to include married gay couples in any proposed comprehensive immigration reform.