Is anyone else annoyed with our slow efforts in Libya? I understand we’re trying to be hip and cool to the world, but the tide is turning over there while we sit testing the political winds and make naive diplomatic efforts. Those glorious sons-of-bitches are fighting hard, begging for our help, while we sit – concerned – weighing our options.

Only now is the Obama brigade in support of a no-fly zone, just in time for the vote todayin the UN to authorizestrikes in Libya. Anyone think Russia and China will let it pass????

I heard part of an interview with Hillary Clinton yesterday. She was talking about needing to involve the national community, mainly the UN. Why are we pretending like this? And she also made the point that we can’t save everyone. Shit – I know that. People are dieing all over, and tyranny abounds – but this was a rare opportunity where we could have saved someone.

Obama wasn’t even behind the Libyan rebels until he thought they were winning. Now they’re losing. We don’t even have a carrier in striking rang, only some destroyers and a submarine. The Enterprise [carrier] was in the Red Sea, perfect striking position, but recently steamed off to the Arab see, out of range.

It’s times like this I miss having a cowboy in office, someone who would have dumped an aircraft carrier on Gadhafi’s big fuzzy head. Overnight we could have shut down his military, turning everyone against him. Now I see two probable outcomes: 1. Gadhafi’s inner circle kill him, and put another strong man in place. 2. This thing grinds down into a long bloody civil war.

Enterprise could have solved this weeks ago…

*sigh*

I’m exasperated by our current events. Obama… Yeah… He did another talk. He said a bunch of things he and his team determined would garner him support, based on their analysis. “I’m sticking a moratorium on offshore oil.”

Why? Because offshore oil is in the news and people are angry at it? No. Apparently we want to find out if there’s like – trouble – or something, with drilling.

I’ve been tempted to make the argument against a moratorium. You know, point out the chances of another exploding rig, the magnitude of difference between the cost of this spill and the much greater cost of the moratorium, the fact we’ll replace the offshore oil with imported oil, and the fact that the gulf coast economy is half fishing/tourism and half offshore oil. And don’t forget we NEED oil. A reality with 200 million electric cars running on wind-generated electricity is a little ways off, and we can’t get there without oil.

Obama tried telling us he’s got things under control – he’s doing the right stuff – everything’s being done right now. Yeah, Obama is like the flight attendant on Die Hard 2 who tells McClain’s wife they have plenty of fuel, but an hour later the pilots are attempting a desperate night landing on a terrorist controlled runway with no lights in the middle of the night during a blizzard without ground clearance.

And Obama is using the crisis as a stick to hit his opposition to the cap and trade bill. Not the best tactic if you ask me. To anyone directly affected by the disaster, it will seem cheap – a politician tapping us for political capital. To people already apposed to tricky taxes on energy, it will also look cheap. The only people buying the idea that an oil leak is a reason to tax carbon are the people already wanting to tax carbon.

- All this without talking about stopping the leak. All he said was that BP would be recovering up to 90% of the oil gushing out – soon. Up to? Seriously? Is this an ad for a weight loss program???

If I had to describe the address in a tweet, it would be thus: Obama trying to talk himself out of trouble.

As for Obama’s support regardless of the address, this one is just another bean for sorting. The same Democrats who were blaming anything and everything on Bush – and are still – are now defending Obama with the simple logic that eluded them so throughout most of this decade. And the same Republicans who were defending Bush are now content to let Obama drown in the sea of ignorant public perception, finding it a just irony.

British Petroleum’s busted well in the Gulf of Mexico is still leaking. “Top-Kill” didn’t work (thankfully). Originally what happened was, for whatever reason, the drilling platform exploded, dropping the mile long pipe into a messy pile down below. On top of the well, right near the floor of the ocean, was a device specifically designed for this occurrence. It was supposed to clamp down on the pipe and cut it or otherwise crush it shut. It was triggered but it didn’t crush the pipe shut.

PB’s next idea was to post-hast manufacture a big steel box to lure down onto the wreckage, with the idea that the leaking oil would be captured inside, allowing it to be leisurely pumped to surface ships. However, loads of natural gas is also spewing out of the well, which crystallized everywhere and clogged things up.

The next idea was Top Kill which involved forcing mud into the well through special ports in the shutoff device. But the pressure was too great and people started to get worried about corking such a high pressure well. If you plug this hole it might come out somewhere else, or a lot of places. It could have compromised the well and caused a serious gusher. That idea almost seems stupid now…

Today they managed to cut off the messy pipe for their next idea, which is to seat a larger diameter fitting around the well and draw the oil up to surface ships. This would hopefully last as long as it will take to get a relief well drilled, as early as August, which will – hopefully – draw the unreasonably high pressure out of this ill fated shale.

Before discussing this any further, I need to get three things out of the way first.

1. All of you engineers, scientists, and otherwise expert non-oil-worker idea-men (hence forth referred to as stupid people) – STOP CALLING RADIO STATIONS AND POSTING ONLINE ALL YOUR INGENIOUS IDEAS! This is one area where open-source community solutions are useless and irritating.

Seriously. The crap being proposed either includes impossible to manufacture equipment (ok, maybe possible with a few years of lead time), a gross misunderstanding of the magnitudes involved, or, even in the most rational cases, miss one or more of the big harry primary or secondary problems/consequences. Problems like temperature, pressure, secondary reactions, distance, currents, and so on. And reactions like brittle steel, expanding water-ice, leaks, and God knows what else.

It’s like that old riddle about how to get a fox, duck, and bag of corn across a lake in a small row boat. You can’t leave the fox with the duck, he’ll eat it, likewise the duck with the grain, and there’s only room for one thing in the boat.

2. All you idiot Conservatives who give the rest of us a bad name, when Obama does finally take over this disaster and take control of the US subsidiary of BP, don’t cry Socialism.

3. All you idiot Liberals who have been worrying your yourselves about those cries of socialism, and you idiot Liberals who like to pretend you’re smart by trying to dress up Conservative views to look contradictory – they want small small government until something happens then all of a sudden they want big government action – shut the hell up and think things through for 15 seconds.

No one with a brain is calling it socialism for the Fed to take over a multi billion dollar company that has caused amulti billion dollar disaster any more than they’ll call it socialism for the fire department to take over a burning building in an attempt to save the whole damn neighborhood.

And this – this – is the type of thing Conservatives like to keep government reserved for. Disasters are similar to war in that way. Do you call Conservatives big-government-lovers when they call for a big strong military? No, of course not. You call them baby-killers, war-mongers, and racists.

Conservatives think government should only do the things only government can do or can certainly do MUCH better. This is one of those things. Running health insurance isn’t. Running banks and factories ISN’T. Telling us what to eat, where to live, and how to invest ISN’T. As a matter of fact, this whole disaster more than likely would have been prevented if currently existing regulation had been properly implemented. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t because that whole bureaucracy, like all bureaucracies, is inefficient. They’re never capable of the lofty challenges we assume they can are.

Ok, with that out of the way let’s talk political strategy. Everyone is worried/hopping that this is Obama’s “Katrina”. And, of course, it is. Presidents get blamed for the problems fair or not. So, in this case, is it fair?

I’ll tell you one thing that is fair. Obama took every cheap shot he could at Bush over Katrina. It’s fun seeing someone get his Karmactic retribution in the current life. Hey Barack, how do you like whinny Liberals now that YOU’R in charge???

Bush didn’t realize how bad New Orleans was right away. When he did, it didn’t matter right away because the disaster area was under state domain, and once the Fed did get involved FEAMA was useless and the only guys doing their job was the military – and even with their incredible efforts they couldn’t – like – rain down bottles of water, tepees, and lunchables anyway.

Likewise, Obama couldn’t have imagined this clusterfuck. He laid low at first, as he usually does, pondering the best symbolic presentation of himself and positive angle for his agenda. And, he had just uncharacteristically supported off-shore oil drilling in an attempt to win Republican support for Cap n’ Trade. So I bet he was hoping BP would do a quick fix before people started asking what he was doing about what and when and who and how much and why, why not and where.

Since then Obama’s strategy has changed direction multiple times, sometimes oddly. Holder is preparing a criminal case. First BP was bad – then they were good, then bad again. But in Obama’s press conference he did make two things clear.

1. He was with the crisis from day one: On day one he had a meeting and the cost guard was in the Gulf. Of course, he has a meeting every day about everything in the news. And the cost guard – they were in the Gulf on day -1.

2. He has been doing everything possible to fix the problem: Of course this is crap. He and BP have been incrementally increasing their response this whole time as the scale of the problem has become more and more apparent.

Currently Obama is on the attack. In his last speech he was giving guff to everyone on the list and sighting the crisis as a reason to pass Cap n’ Trade. That’s probably the best strategy for him now. It’s so hard to say though. In the game of democracy, the arbitrary flow of public opinion shifts with the oil plum. Think how hard Obama would be hammering Bush if Bush were in Obama’s place doing the exact same things – minus the poetic speeches of course.

Seriously though, I’ve got the feeling this is one of those things that changes society. You never see those coming. They start small and seep into life.

Here are the three best live feeds of the oil leak. They’re rather interesting to watch – soothing yet terrifying. 47 days, 50 million gallons.

PB’s own feed

The military suicide rate has always been lower than the civilian rate. Only until recently and I think during part of the Vietnam war has it been greater. As of February 4, 2009 the military rate was 20.2 per 100k and the civilian rate was 19.5 per 100k. LOL And I got that from World Socialist Web Site wsws.org. Wow hu? What’s the military doing to people that makes them .0007% more likely to kill themselves during two controversial wars?????? Such a crisis!!! Whoa is us – whoa – is – us!!!

The thing about the military is you are part of a team – it’s like a big extended family. You’re part of a much larger and greater system, which is fulfilling generally. Yeah, one in 14 in a shooter and they have to deal with killing. That’s their job and honor. Others give up as much freedom in becoming a doctor and other professions. These professions don’t require a legal contract to serve but you don’t have the support system either – and you have a SHIT LOAD of debt (student loans).

The reason the Fort Hood shooting was so bazaar, besides the whole Islam possibility, is that a primary part of training is working together regardless of color and creed in one cohesive unit. In other words, you have to be a real ass-wrinkle to not get along socially in the military, because you have to. When you’re forced to rely on the character of your team mates you start to forget about everything else.

And half the offensive stuff we get away with in civilian life ends a military career. Take part in discrimination, show racism? Boom – permanent current rank. Have sex with a co-worker? Crack – permanent current rank. And that’s at best. You very well might be discharged. Regardless, when someone needs to be promoted, and there’s a complaint on your record about you calling someone a camel-jockey, you’ll likely get passed over. So the frat-house idea of the military is just one more of those hippy ideas people tend to propagate.

I love the media’s excuse they were making up for this asshole at the time though: Contagious PTSD. LOL

Some were saying when this happened that if there were more Islamic fundamentalist terror attacks in the military, that they would start baring Muslims. I disagree with this. More Islamic Fundamentalist Terror attacks within the military won’t mean baring Muslims. That’s ridiculous. We need the type of people that are usually Muslim now more than ever. We’ll just have to stop being so damn shy about screening people’s backgrounds. And well have to go about those screens in an unobtrusive enough was as to not discourage Arabic and Farsi speaking Muslims from joining our all volunteer army and defending their home from enemies not only trying to destroy their society, but who are also destroying the image of Islam in the world’s eyes.

Oil Spill
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is probably going to do some serious and horrible damage to one of the most productive estuaries on the planet, the place that feeds the US 2/3 of its seafood, and provides a living to millions of people. This spill is truly horrible, leaking 5000+ barrels per day, an example of poor Failure Mode and Error Analysis. A collar on the head of the well was supposed to close on the pipe if the oil flowed over a certain rate, crushing the pipe close. But there was other equipment inside the pipe, so it didn’t close all the way. Since then BP has been struggling to find solutions.

So now what? Political grandstanding anyone? Time to score some political points? What did the Obama administration do when they heard of the leak? Well, nothing of substance. Obama had just finished promoting offshore drilling or they would have immediately drilled the drill-baby-drill agenda. And in this case, such offshore disasters are in the Federal reaction domain – unlike the hurricane Katrina disaster which was in the State’s reaction domain.

The Obama talking point this past week was, “from day one,” but that’s BS. Obama’s brigade was focused on other things and figured it was a small leak soon to be capped, something that would blow over, something to ignore while the Obama-oil wake settled down. The head of the EPA went to the Grand Canyon three days after the leak began. When the Obama administration realized the spill was huge and making it to shore, they suddenly sent a helicopter to rush the EPA head southeast. That’s not “day one.”

So now people see a massive oil slick on TV and the country is suddenly against offshore oil.

What did Sarah Palin have to say in this sudden anti-offshore-oil storm? Well she stuck to her gun, she still openly supports expanding US oil production and that includes off shore. What would you call that? Stupid? Stubborn? Idealistic?

Call it what you want. But the fact is: She’s right. Stopping US offshore oil will increase oil spills just like Cap and Trade will increase carbon release. For every barrel the US stops pumping another barrel or more is pumped in South America or overseas, where regulations are MUCH lower. Hell, many non-US oil rigs just plain leak. They have spills all the time too, but when there’s no spill they just sit there and leak. They destroy the ecosystems they’re in just by being there spill or no spill.

I’d like to know exactly what went wrong to cause this leaking, but it looks like Obama’s people are going to drag BP into a “let’s get’m” hearing like they did Goldman Sacks, so BP will probably stay buttoned up.

Oh yeah, Janet Napolitano didn’t know the military has oil spill equipment.

Time Square Bomber
Another failed attack? NO… We don’t hear about the failed attacks until months later. Like the ones we stopped when Bush was in charge, sending people to Gitmo and listening in on our phone conversations. Oh wait, Obama is doing that now too!

The goal of a terror attack is to effect policy – this one has. The terrorists’ method for effecting change is terror – this one terrorized. This was a successful attack with a botched detonation, just like the Burnt Balls Bomber (aka Underwear Bomber).

At least the reaction to this one was mildly saner than with Burnt Balls. They actually questioned this guy for a little while after catching him before Marandizing, as if perhaps he might possibly not be a lone fool. These goofballs though… We’re going to be lucky to get through this administration without another deadly attack similar to or worse than Fort Hood.

This pansy attitude I think has given our enemy new found confidence that they can attack without repercussions. The Obama charm apparently didn’t sweeten up Jonny-Jihad.

Greece
So Greece has gone bankrupt and needs a bailout. It had way too much spending that was reliant on high boom-time tax revenue. So, like California, when things get a little rough, the generous government pay, entitlements, and fat bureaucracies begin to starve. Now Europe has to bail them out.

So what’s happening over there? Are the Greeks breathing a sigh of relief that the Euro was set up so that no one could get out, so no one would willingly leave, effectively compelling other Euro standard countries to bail them out? No. They are rioting because they don’t want spending cut. I hope this isn’t the future for the US.

Oh yeah, they killed three people by throwing Molotov Cocktails in a bank. Mommy Government…

New Arizona Immigration Enforcement Law
People are still protesting it – using TOTALLY uninformed arguments. Seriously people, the law doesn’t legalize racial profiling. It doesn’t really do anything but sort of help AZ police check citizenship status. It’s already a Federal law that non-citizens carry ID inside the US. No one is checking anyone’s ‘papers’. If you sincerely appose this law you basically are in support of illegal immigration, which I think is the case with most of the opposition.

Obama’s Predator Drone Joke
Yeah, another Obama joke fell flat and offended some whiny little wimps. Who’s been coaching him on humor? Biden?
*sigh* He just needs to stop… You’re not funny Mr. President. It’s not your style. When you try it’s awkward and seems contrived. Take some advice: People think this blog is funny. I don’t try to make it funny. I just try to honestly communicate my ideas, usually while watching TV. I’m just weird and the way I think throughout the day is somewhat humorous, especially when I get frustrated.

We will get healthcare reform. If Congress can’t destroy it first, the market will destroy healthcare for us. Something will happen.

I used to think doctors would be the ones to fix it, but I’m realizing we’re a big part of the problem.  We’re human like everyone else. However, not all of us use our intellect for the greater good. Some of us are content to work hard to become good physicians, and use that skill base to help people and make an above average income. However, there are others who look for ways to make money. They’re smart, so they find ways. There are lots of ways to make money…lots of money…like a million dollars a year or more. Mohs surgeons (who perform microscopically controlled surgery) are a great example. The details of what they do are a bit complicated, but overall, they do  skin surgeries in a way that achieves cosmetically improved results, but costs volumes more than the procedure would cost if done differently. Mohs surgeons can make like a million dollars a year. Patients want improved cosmetic results; they get Mohs; insurance companies pay for it; premiums go up. That’ only one example.

Doctors need to be the ones controlling healthcare, but doctors are human. Damned being human.