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Friday, July 2, 2010

The 12 largest oil spills in history

The 12 largest oil spills in history
The Gulf spill has surpassed the 11 million gallons spewed during the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, making it the worst oil spill in U.S. history. Here's a look at the largest spills in the world.
Mon, Jun 07 2010 at 12:00 PM EST

OILY LEGACY: Twenty-one years later, oil from the Exxon Valdez spill remains a few inches below the surface on many of Alaska's beaches. (Photo: ZUMA Press)
The most recent estimates of the Gulf oil spill put the rate of the leak at nearly 1 million gallons per day, and oil has now washed ashore on the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Since the spill began April 22, roughly 23-49 million gallons of oil have leaked into the Gulf of Mexico, meaning the spill likely ranks as one of the largest in history. Here's how it stacks up against the world's worst spills:

12. The Torrey Canyon Oil Spill
When: March 18, 1967
Where: Scilly Isles, UK
Amount spilled: 25-36 million gallons

The Torrey Canyon was one of the first big supertankers, and it was also the source of one of the first major oil spills. Although the ship was originally built to carry 60,000 tons, it was enlarged to a 120,000-ton capacity, and that's the amount the ship was carrying when it hit a reef off the coast of Cornwall.

The spill created an oil slick measuring 270 square miles, contaminating 180 miles of coastland. More than 15,000 sea birds and enormous numbers of aquatic animals were killed before the spill was finally contained.

Toxic solvent-based cleaning agents were used by Royal Navy vessels to try to disperse the oil, but that didn't work very well and instead caused a great deal of environmental damage. It was then decided to set fire to the ocean and burn away the oil by dropping bombs.

11. The Sea Star Oil Spill
When: Dec. 19, 1972
Where: Gulf of Oman
Amount spilled: 35.3 million gallons

The South Korean supertanker, Sea Star, collided with a Brazilian tanker, the Horta Barbosa, off the coast of Oman on the morning of Dec. 19, 1972. The vessels caught fire after the collision and the crew abandoned ship. Although the Horta Barbosa was extinguished in a day, the Sea Star sank into the Gulf on Dec. 24 following several explosions.

10. Odyssey Oil Spill
When: Nov. 10, 1988
Where: Off the coast of Nova Scotia, Canada
Amount spilled: 40.7 million gallons
This large oil spill occurred about 700 nautical miles off the coast of Newfoundland and spilled more than 40 million gallons of oil into the ocean.

9. M/T Haven Tanker Oil Spill
When: April 11, 1991
Where: Genoa, Italy
Amount spilled: 45 million gallons
This oil tanker exploded and sank off the coast of Italy, killing six people and leaking its remaining oil into the Mediterranean for 12 years. The source of the explosion was thought to be the ship's poor state of repair supposedly the Haven was scrapped after being hit by a missile during the Iran-Iraq War, but was put back into operation.

8. ABT Summer Oil Spill
When: May 28, 1991
Where: About 700 nautical miles off the coast of Angola
Amount spilled: 51-81 million gallons

This ship exploded off the coast of Angola, discharging massive amounts of oil into the ocean. Five of the 32 crew members on board died as a result of the incident.

A large slick covering an area of 80 square miles spread around the tanker and burned for three days before the ship sank on June 1, 1991. Subsequent efforts to locate the wreckage were unsuccessful.

7. Amoco Cadiz Oil Spill
When: March 16, 1978
Where: Portsall, France
Amount spilled: 69 million gallons

The massive Amoco Cadiz was caught in a winter storm that damaged the ship's rudder. The ship put out a distress call, but while several ships responded, none were able to prevent the ship from running aground. On March 17, the gigantic supertanker broke in half, sending its 69 million gallons of oil into the English Channel. The French later sunk the ship.

6. Castillo de Bellver Oil Spill
When: Aug. 6, 1983
Where: Saldanha Bay, South Africa
Amount spilled: 79 million gallons

The Castillo de Bellver caught fire about 70 miles north west of Cape Town, and drifted in the open sea until it broke in two 25 miles off the coast. The ship's stern sank along with the 31 million gallons of oil it was carrying. The bow section was towed and deliberately sunk later.

5. Nowruz Oil Field Spill
When: Feb. 10, 1983
Where: Persian Gulf, Iran
Amount spilled: 80 million gallons

The oil spill was the result of a tanker collision with an oil platform. The weakened platform was closed, and it collapsed upon impact, spewing oil into the Persian Gulf. The ongoing war between Iran and Iraq prevented the leak from being capped quickly.

4. Kolva River Oil Spill
When: Aug. 6, 1983
Where: Kolva River, Russia
Amount spilled: 84 million gallons

A poorly maintained pipeline caused this massive oil spill. The pipeline had been leaking for eight months, but a dike contained the oil until sudden cold weather caused the dike to collapse. Millions of gallons of accumulated oil were released that spread across 170 acres of streams, fragile bogs and marshland.

3. Atlantic Empress Oil Spill
When: July 19, 1979
Where: Off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago
Amount spilled: 90 million gallons

This Greek oil tanker was caught in a tropical storm off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago when it collided with the Aegean Captain. The damaged ship started losing oil and continued to leak it into the ocean while it was towed. The oil tank finally sunk into deep water on Aug. 3, 1979, where the remaining cargo solidified.

2. Ixtoc 1 Oil Spill
When: June 3, 1979
Where: Bay of Campeche off Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico
Amount spilled: 140 million gallons

Like the current Gulf oil spill, this spill involve a tanker, but rather an offshore oil well. Pemex, a state-owned Mexican petroleum company was drilling an oil well when a blowout occurred, the oil ignited and the drilling rig to collapse. Oil began gushing out of the well into the Gulf of Mexico at a rate of 10,000 to 30,000 barrels a day for almost an entire year before workers were finally able to cap the well.

1. Arabian Gulf/Kuwait
When: Jan. 19, 1991
Where: Persian Gulf, Kuwait
Amount of Oil Spilled: 380-520 million gallons

The worst oil spill in history wasn't an accident it was deliberate. During the Gulf War, Iraqi forces attempted to prevent American soldiers from landing by opening valves at an offshore oil terminal and dumping oil from tankers. The oil resulted in a 4-inch thick oil slick that spread across 4,000 square miles in the Persian Gulf.

How does the Exxon Valdez oil spill compare?
When the Exxon Valdez supertanker hit a reef off the Alaskan coast, 11 of its cargo tanks ruptured, dumping 11 million gallons of crude into Prince William Sound. But the spill could have been much worse the Valdez was carrying 53 million gallons.

In terms of sheer volume, the Exxon Valdez spill ranks as the 36th worst oil spill in history; however, the spill was far from small. Despite attempts to use dispersing agents and oil skimming ships, oil washed onto 1,300 miles of Alaskan coastline. Today, oil remains a few inches below the surface on many of Alaska's beaches.

Responders found carcasses of more than 35,000 birds and 1,000 sea otters, which was considered to be a fraction of the animal death toll because carcasses typically sink to the seabed. It's estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales died along with billions of salmon and herring eggs.

The repaired Exxon Valdez was renamed the SeaRiver Mediterranean, and, although it is banned from Alaskan waters, the tanker still carries oil around the world.

(MNN editors Caitie Leary and Laura Moss contributed to this story.)

Photos: NOAA, ZUMA Press; MNN homepage photo: Deepwater Horizon Response/Flickr

http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/wilderness-resources/stories/the-12-largest-oil-spills-in-history-0

Re: Obama Risks a Domestic Military Intervention

Travis.

Throw in the possibility of a MAJOR TERRORIST incident of the MEXICAN BORDER......

ONE they had OPENLY WARNED WOULD OCCUR before the MID TERMS.......

The incident causes at LEASE 4,000- 5,000 deaths during a major soccer game.

can you see the military taking NO ACTION THEN?????

From: Travis <baconlard@gmail.com>
Sent: Thu, July 1, 2010 4:14:24 PM
Subject: Obama Risks a Domestic Military Intervention

Obama Risks a Domestic Military Intervention

By: John L. Perry

There is a remote, although gaining, possibility America's military will
intervene
as a last resort to resolve the "Obama problem." Don't dismiss it as
unrealistic.

America isn't the Third World. If a military coup does occur here it will be
civilized. That it has never happened doesn't mean it wont. Describing
what may be
afoot is not to advocate it. So, view the following through military eyes:

# Officers swear to "support and defend the Constitution of the United
States
against all enemies, foreign and domestic." Unlike enlisted personnel,
they do not
swear to "obey the orders of the president of the United States."

# Top military officers can see the Constitution they are sworn to defend
being
trampled as American institutions and enterprises are nationalized.

# They can see that Americans are increasingly alarmed that this nation,
under
President Barack Obama, may not even be recognizable as America by the 2012
election, in which he will surely seek continuation in office.

# They can see that the economy -- ravaged by deficits, taxes,
unemployment, and
impending inflation -- is financially reliant on foreign lender governments.

# They can see this president waging undeclared war on the intelligence
community,
without whose rigorous and independent functions the armed services are
rendered
blind in an ever-more hostile world overseas and at home.

# They can see the dismantling of defenses against missiles targeted at
this nation
by avowed enemies, even as America's troop strength is allowed to sag.

# They can see the horror of major warfare erupting simultaneously in two,
and
possibly three, far-flung theaters before America can react in time.

# They can see the nation's safety and their own military establishments
and honor
placed in jeopardy as never before.

So, if you are one of those observant military professionals, what do you
do?

Wait until this president bungles into losing the war in Afghanistan, and
Pakistan's
arsenal of nuclear bombs falls into the hands of militant Islam?

Wait until Israel is forced to launch air strikes on Iran's nuclear-bomb
plants, and
the Middle East explodes, destabilizing or subjugating the Free World?

What happens if the generals Obama sent to win the Afghan war are told by
this
president (who now says, "I'm not interested in victory") that they will
be denied
troops they must have to win? Do they follow orders they cannot carry out,
consistent with their oath of duty? Do they resign en masse?

Or do they soldier on, hoping the 2010 congressional elections will
reverse the
situation? Do they dare gamble the national survival on such political
whims?

Anyone who imagines that those thoughts are not weighing heavily on the
intellect
and conscience of America's military leadership is lost in a fool's fog.

Will the day come when patriotic general and flag officers sit down with the
president, or with those who control him, and work out the national
equivalent of a
"family intervention," with some form of limited, shared responsibility?

Imagine a bloodless coup to restore and defend the Constitution through an
interim
administration that would do the serious business of governing and
defending the
nation. Skilled, military-trained, nation-builders would replace
accountability-challenged, radical-left commissars. Having bonded with his
twin
teleprompters, the president would be detailed for ceremonial speech-making.

Military intervention is what Obama's exponentially accelerating agenda for
"fundamental change" toward a Marxist state is inviting upon America. A
coup is not
an ideal option, but Obama's radical ideal is not acceptable or reversible.

Unthinkable? Then think up an alternative, non-violent solution to the Obama
problem. Just don't shrug and say, "We can always worry about that later."

In the 2008 election, that was the wistful, self-indulgent, indifferent
reliance on
abnegation of personal responsibility that has sunk the nation into this
morass.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/09/full_text_of_newsmax_column_suggesting_military_co.php

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Pelosi: Unemployment Checks Fastest Way to Create Jobs

Scotty Starnes | July 1, 2010 at 3:48 PM | Tags: Nancy Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi is an idiot, Obama's economy, Progressive, Progressivism, unemployment, unemployment checks, unemployment checks are the fastest jobs creator | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/pvnFC-1I8

The Idiot Savant of Progressivism

Has it really come to this? The House Speaker actually believes that UNEMPLOYMENT CHECKS are the fastest ways to create jobs. Maybe for those who print the checks but I don't think any economist would vouch for Nancy Pelosi's job creating theory.

Unemployment benefits are creating jobs faster than practically any other program, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

Talking to reporters, the House speaker was defending a jobless benefits extension against those who say it gives recipients little incentive to work. By her reasoning, those checks are helping give somebody a job.

"It injects demand into the economy," Pelosi said, arguing that when families have money to spend it keeps the economy churning. "It creates jobs faster than almost any other initiative you can name."

Pelosi said the aid has the "double benefit" of helping those who lost their jobs and acting as a "job creator" on the side.

"It's impossible to think of a situation where we would have a country that would say we're not going to have unemployment benefits," Pelosi said.

Are you fucking kidding me? This dipshit wants Americans to believe that being unemployed and collecting unemployment checks is a jobs creator? I guess the more unemployment checks the government prints, the more ink it will have to use, thus creating enough jobs to make up for the 8 million we have lost since 2008.

Progressives are idiots and Pelosi is their idiot savant. Unemployment checks cannot stimulate the economy since someone else is paying for it. When will progressives learn that their SPREAD THE WEALTH ECONOMY will never work? Stealing from the productive to give it to the unproductive doesn't create jobs.

So, by using Nancy's logic, the more people who are unemployed, and collecting more unemployment checks, creates jobs faster.

Folks, please remember these words when November arrives.

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Tenn: Congressional Candidate Receiving Death Threats for Opposing Mosque

creeping | July 1, 2010 at 9:00 AM | Tags: Creeping Sharia, fbi, islam, Jihad, Life, Media, Muslim, News, Politics, Random, Religion, Sharia, terrorism, travel | Categories: Alerts, Creeping Sharia, Legal, Media, News, Politics, Religion, Sharia, Tennessee | URL: http://wp.me/pbU4v-5ZJ

Jihad is picking up at a feverish pace in Tennessee. Now, the ummah is attempting to strike fear into the hearts of the unbelievers, in this case a politician who has spoken against one Tenn. mosque. by Nick Beres via Congressional Candidate Says She's Target Of Death Threats - NewsChannel5.com. MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Murfreesboro detectives [...]

Saudi Security Establishes FEMALE EXTREMISM RESEARCH TEAM

FEMALE EXTREMISM RESEARCH TEAM

► http://www.saudigazette.com.sa/index.cfm?method=home.regcon&contentID=2010061875630

► Saudi Gazette [Jeddah, Saudi Arabia]

► Stringer: Martin Rudner [ret.] / Carleton University / Ottawa / www.carleton.ca/cciss

Jun 18 2010 ► Jun18. The Supervisor of the Prince Naif Chair for Intellectual Security Studies at King Saud University has said that a female team has been set up to research ―signs of intellectual extremism in women‖.

Khaled Al-Durais told Al-Watan Arabic daily on Tuesday that the move would represent a ―practical study of a sample of families who have among them ideological extremists‖ and that it came in response to ―recent events revealing the role of women in Al-Qaeda‖.

The government announced earlier this month the arrest of Saudi woman Haila Al-Suqayyer in Buraidah on charges of funding and recruiting for Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. FRINGE INTELLIGENCE - year 10 - no.207 – July 1 – 2010 - page 39

The Prince Naif Chair team is to be led by Latifa Al-Sumairi, a professor of curriculum and teaching methodology, with other members being women professors of Social Studies, Psychology, Islamic Studies and Education. ―The research will attempt to uncover general indicators of extremism and will focus on the characteristics of extremists,‖ Al-Durais said.

Abdul Mun'im Al-Mushawwah, the supervisor of the ―Al-Sakeena‖ – ―Tranquility‖ – program to combat terrorism through the internet, meanwhile, has said that 80 percent of terrorist recruitment is conduct-ed through the worldwide web and that the medium represents a ―particular threat‖ to women.

―Women are the most easily influenced by extremist websites, but at the same time they are the most likely to go back on deviant ideology, because of their high emotions,‖ Al-Mushawwah told Okaz.

According to Al-Mushawwah, the percentage of women turning their back on the ideology is much higher than men ―because of their emotionalism and easily-influenced nature compared to men‖.

―Fifty percent have rejected it through internet advice, which is double the rate for men,‖ he said.

Al-Mushawwah said that 70 percent of persons who had been given advice by the Al-Sakeena program were women from ―the families of extremists‖.

―The program has a team of female specialists, and the rate of women turning their back on extremism is very high,‖ he said. ―A lot of families have voiced fears over extremism exhibited by their women relatives, which goes to show the families' appreciation of the importance of awareness and of protection from being dragged into this ideology.‖

The Al-Sakeena program, Al-Mushawwah said, was looking to enlist ―anyone capable of carrying out its work‖ to ―widen the circle of moderation and ostracize extremism‖. ―We are seeking to recruit male and female volunteers from various facets to transfer the issue of intellectual security from the elite to the ordinary people. We are extremely keen to enlist qualified women given the rise in female extremism on the internet,‖ he said.

The Al-Sakeena internet program, which is part of the wider Al-Munasaha terrorist advisory and rehabilitation campaign, has a 13-member department of women qualified in Shariah and other academic subjects. Al-Mushawwah describes the team as ―extremely successful‖.

―We hope to expand it if the need arises,‖ he said.

Saudi Gazette reported last Saturday that courses run by the Al-Munasaha anti-terrorism advisory and rehabilitation program at colleges in six regions of the Kingdom had revealed a worrying extent of extremist influence on Saudi women.

Al-Munasaha member Ibrahim Al-Maiman, said that committees had been met with questions concerning the legitimacy of ―sheltering and hiding husbands who belong to those of deviant thought‖ and maintaining silence over ―sons who frequent suspect internet sites‖.

―The current situation represents a significant development in the role of women in the ideology,‖ Al-Maiman said. ―They are funding, recruiting, harboring, and hiding, and in some regions the role has turned into actual participation in carrying out acts of terrorism.‖

The situation, he said, required a strategy to ―target female circles‖