Update: Brazil keeping Chevron’s feet to the fire over oil spill

Last week I wrote about the Chevron oil spill in the Frade Oil Field off the coast of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil, as well as how Brazil has held Chevron’s feet to the fire for the incident. Brazil is continuing to keep the pressure on Chevron. A couple updates:

Brazil says Chevron must come in line with Brazilian law as they claim Chevron has lied and hidden details of the spill:

Chevron, the second-largest U.S. oil producer after Exxon Mobil Corp., needs to comply with the country’s laws and coordinate activities with the country’s oil regulator, Minister Edison Lobao said in an interview in Brasilia today.

Brazil plans to offer exploration areas by the end of 2012 in the so-called pre-salt region in deep waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Brazil has made the largest oil discoveries in the Americas in more than three decades in the area, where oil deposits of up to four miles below the ocean floor are trapped under a layer of salt.

Chevron “needs to completely come into line with Brazilian law,” Lobao said. “From time to time there are gaps of information between them and the agency.”

Chevron has come under increased scrutiny in Brazil after it leaked 2,400 barrels of oil last month from an oil field in deep waters of the Campos Basin. Chevron underestimated the amount of pressure at an oil deposit it was exploring, and crude leaked from the reservoir for about eight days, George Buck, the head of Chevron for Brazil, said on Nov. 20. …

Brazil’s oil regulator, known as ANP, is investigating Chevron for only providing partial video clips of the Nov. 7 oil spill and not reporting the presence of hydrogen sulfide in an oil well at the Frade project where the spill happened, Magda Chambriard, a director at the agency, said Dec. 1.

The agency ordered Chevron to shut the well with hydrogen sulfide and is also investigating inconsistencies in Chevron’s plan to cement and abandon the well that caused the leak, she said. The agency has prohibited Chevron from drilling any new wells for at least three months until it finishes probing the spill, Chambriard said.

Chevron to be kicked out of Brazil if they do not comply:

BRASILIA – U.S.-based Chevron Corp. will have to leave Brazil if it fails to comply with the agreement it reached to deal with the damage caused by an oil spill last month off the coast of Rio de Janeiro state, Energy and Mines Minister Edison Lobao said.

“The company has already been given a very strong penalty for what it did and it has been suspended from engaging in new drilling in Brazil, even if it is the second-largest oil company in the world,” Lobao told reporters in Teresina, the capital of the northeastern state of Piaui.

Chevron must pay a fine of 50 million reais (about $28 million) levied by officials and took responsibility for the environmental damage caused by the spill, whose extent has still not been determined, the energy minister said.

Brazil holding its ground against the Oil Companies:

Speaking to the Financial Times, Carlos Minc, Rio’s environment secretary and the country’s former environment minister, says he is now pushing for tougher rules for companies looking to profit from Brazil’s oil boom.

“We may be a tropical country but we’re not a ‘banana republic’,” he says. “Everyone wants to come to Brazil and if we’re not strict with [Chevron], this place is going to turn into a pool of oil.” …

“If we let Chevron make an error, there will be a thousand more errors during pre-salt,” says Mr Minc. “We need to be hard now, especially on big companies such as Chevron, which has all the resources to do things the right way, but got it wrong,”

Last week ANP, Brazil’s oil and gas regulator, put further pressure on the company by shutting down another well at its Frade project after a safety audit found unreported hydrogen sulphide. The week before, ANP already said it would ban Chevron, which ranks as the country’s third-largest oil producer, from drilling wells in the country’s waters until the causes of the incident had been further clarified.

Ibama, Brazil’s environmental regulator, imposed the maximum fine it could on Chevron of R$50m ($28m), and Mr Minc says the company can expect at least another R$200m in fines from regulators and the state government.

Meanwhile, the federal police have launched their own investigation, which could even lead to the imprisonment of Chevron workers for environmental crimes. …

Mr Minc has also pushed regulators to ban Transocean, Chevron’s drilling partner on the project, which also operated the drill in the Gulf of Mexico spill. Transocean responded by saying it would fully co-operate with the authorities.

However, Mr Minc warns the industry of even stricter regulations, calling for the maximum fines to be doubled.

The difference between how the U.S. government coddled and protected BP for the much-larger Gulf of Mexico oil disaster and how Brazil is handling this incident could not be more striking.

-WKW

 

 

Chevron’s Brazil Oil Spill: What it looks like when no one defends oil company lies

There is something odd happening here in Brazil. There is an oil spill - courtesy of Chevron - off the coast here. That’s not the odd part. In fact, it increasingly seems like a normal occurrence. Chevron has thus far lied about the oil spill and has shown a lack of preparation in dealing with it. But there’s nothing strange about that, either.

No, the odd part is this - there are no sectors of Brazilian politics or the media that are rushing to defend Chevron on the oil companies for this spill, nor is the government working to help Chevron’s public relations team. In fact, the Brazilian government is working hard to make Chevron responsible for the spill, which is coming from a leak at more than 1,000 meters below the sea in the  Frade oil field off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Yesterday, the Brazilian government banned Chevron from drilling in Brazil (all of Chevron’s drilling activities are in the Frade oil field) while the government investigates the reasons for the spill. From Bloomberg:

The company needs to pay more attention to safety after its “negligence” contributed to the accident, Brazil’s oil regulator, the Agencia Nacional do Petroleo, said yesterday. The ban will remain in place until the regulator identifies the causes and considers it safe to resume drilling, it said.

’’This is a setback for Chevron in Brazil,’’ Gianna Bern, president of Chicago-based risk management adviser Brookshire Advisory and Research, said yesterday in a telephone interview from Buenos Aires. “It will be challenging for Chevron to emerge unscathed from the accident.”

Brazil is seeking to ensure foreign oil companies such as BP Plc, Statoil ASA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which are exploring in deep waters off the coast of Brazil, help the country maximize vast oil deposits located deep beneath the ocean while avoiding disasters similar to the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Brazil expects crude production to double during the next decade as it develops the largest oil finds in the Western Hemisphere since Mexico’s Cantarell in 1976.

In something that may come as a shock to Americans who watched Republican Rep. Joe Barton apologize to BP for the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster, it is Chevron that is eager to apologize and accept the punishments that have thus far been levied against the company.

Chevron said it “has not received any formal notice from” the Brazilian regulator suspending its drilling license, although it “acknowledges” the ANP posted a notice on the suspension on its website, according to a statement today.

The oil producer “will adhere to all the rules and regulations of the government of Brazil and its agencies,” Lloyd Avram, a spokesman, said in an e-mail. Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, continues production from the field, he said. The stock slid 2.8 percent to $93.75 at the close in New York yesterday.

Chevron hopes to continue operating in Brazil, George Buck, the head of Chevron’s Brazil operations, said in a Congressional hearing in Brasilia yesterday. “I ask sincere apologies to the Brazilian people and the Brazilian government,” he said.

On Monday, Brazil’s Environmental Department fined Chevron $50 million for the leak. The Minister of Environmental Department, Izabella Teixeira, said the company is likely to be fined more as investigation into the spill and response continues.

The leak began on Nov. 8, and Chevron’s PR department quickly began a BP-like assault. First, the company stated that recent drilling in the area was not the cause of the leak. They later admitted it was.

Also on Monday, Buck stated that the leak had been sealed. It isn’t.

“If there is still leaking? Yes, the leak is still ongoing. It was shown a video that shows the worst point of the stain on the seabed, and less than three barrels on the ocean surface, “he said. Shortly before, during the hearing, Buck had said the leak was contained and that there would be only “residual oil” - that statement was challenged by the coordinator of operational safety of the ANP, Raphael Moura.

“The NPA has identified small leak, but flowing,” said Moura. After being questioned by a deputy on the subject, Buck admitted that the leak continues and said that Chevron is “trying” to reset the oil leak.

Chevron originally stated the leak had spilled less than 600 barrels of oil, then said that the leak had released 2,400 barrels of oil into the water. Brazilian officials put that figure at closer to 8,000.

Brazilian authorities are also questioning whether Chevron has used illegal foreign workers in their Brazilian operations.

The Amazon Defense Coalition - highlighted in the documentary “Crude” has warned Brazil to not trust Chevron’s claims.

“Do not trust Chevron,” said Ecuadorian lawyer Pablo Fajardo, who led the lawsuit against the oil giant. “Chevron took our oil, polluted our rainforest, harmed and killed our people, committed fraud, and then tried to cover it up.”

Fajardo added, “Chevron’s handling of the oil spill in Brazil shows that the company has a systemic problem in failing to meet its environmental obligations to the communities where it does business.  From what we have observed in Latin America, Chevron officials simply lie about environmental problems as part of the company’s business model. ”

Humberto Piaguaje, an indigenous leader in the area of Ecuador where Chevron operated, said, “In Ecuador, we have lived with Chevron’s contamination for five decades, and the company has refused to pay for the damage and destruction it caused. All governments in Latin America should beware of these basic facts before they do business with Chevron,” said Piaguaje.

A recent court judgment, issued after an eight-year trial, found that Chevron intentionally dumped billions of gallons of toxic wastewater into the rainforest when it operated in Ecuador from 1964 to 1992.  The court found the company left more than 900 unlined waste pits that to this day contaminate groundwater and nearby rivers and streams, decimating indigenous groups and farmer communities who no longer have access to clean water.

While pointing out the deficiencies of the Brazilian government would take multiple posts, one thing the Chevron oil spill has shown us is that Brazilians of all parties and ideologies take it seriously when a foreign corporation comes to their land and wrecks havoc. Expect to see Brazil keep the pressure on Chevron to clean the mess they’ve created and to not lie about the situation.

-WKW

The Yes Men & Coal Cares to Peabody Energy & Coal Industry: Stop Killing Kids

Since my previous post on the satirical Web site CoalCares.org, there have been several interesting developments. First off, the infamous Yes Men have been outed as the masterminds behind the site.

Bravo to the Yes Men for using their satirical skills to bring to light the damage caused by coal companies, as well as for not backing down.

-WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning: You’ve Got the Touch

TSA has the touch. They have the power.

News/Politics

A Time of Cholera: When Cholera deaths explode in Haiti, no one will have been able to anticipate it.

TSA = Touching Some Ass: The TSA chief is about to have fingers wagged at him.

[Read more]

Needed: Non-Exploding Oil Platforms (updated)

I have a great respect for the intellect of my readers, so if one of you could maybe draw up some designs for an oil platform that won’t explode, that’d be just great.

Just E-mail me at [email protected] with the subject “Non-Exploding Oil Platform,” and your plans. Remember, if your plan involves an oil rig or platform that DOES explode, it will be disqualified.

I think we can make this happen.

Update: Astute Reader Dgun has used his engineering prowess to show off what he considers will be the perfect non-exploding oil platform:

Initial Examination: On the plus side, if you look to the left, you can see a fish, meaning this new, improved oil platform won’t harm sea life. This is good. But if you look more, you clearly see a specific plan for “Thing That Blows Up.”

Thus, while Dgun’s plan is engineered well, and protects fish, it includes the one flaw we were hoping to avoid. We will however share this plan with British Petroleum, because it seems to fit with their current engineering scheme.

Keep those plans coming!

-WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning - Dance, Tucker! Dance!

Tucker Carlson’s greatest journalistic achievement.

News/Politics

La Barbie Caught: One of Mexico’s most notorious drug lords has been caught! Also, applications now being accepted for Notorious Mexican Drug Lord. Apply at the FBI.

Hurricane Earl: It’s coming. And it looks pissed.

Scotland Takes the Lead: Now that Scotland has come up with a wind turbine that can supply energy to 1,000 homes, maybe someone else will step up.

Afghanistan Update: Death!

An Independent Iraq: Iraq has announced it is now independent. This means all hell should break loose any minute.

ObamaCare Already Paying Off: Paying off or scammers, at least. It was nice of the media to help everyone get informed on the subject, eh?

Investigating America: Remember when Republicans spent two solid years wasting time and money on investigating every last move Clinton made? And then the U.S. was attacked by al Qaeda and they blame Clinton for being investigated so much? Yeah, we’re going to try that again.

Random Thought

Being as the rest of the U.S. mainstream media refuses to call out Fox News for their false reporting and demagoguery, from here on out, I say we just lump them all in together. Example: Led by Glenn Beck, the Mainstream Media recently held a big rally about Jesus.

Entertainment

Dance, I Say!: The new stars for Dancing with the Stars have been announced. They include: Bristol Palin, Grover from Sesame Street, Mandrake the Magician, Jean Harlow, Erik Estrada, Emo Phillips, Lindsay Lohan and veteran porn star Christy Canyon. Oh, ok, for the real stars click here.

Paris Chews GREAT Gum: Paris Hilton was busted for cocaine possession. Her excuse - she thought it was gum. Cocaine-gum, just another thing that makes the rich better than you.

Palin-Land Defined

In a perfect world, Sarah Palin would be Queen and surrounded by a bunch of gun-toting Jesus Babies.

-WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – July 28, 2010

Humans - the cure for a tranquil planet.

News/Politics

Oil Spills for All!: It seems few things are more American that having oil spew out of the ground uncontrollably. It happened in the Gulf of Mexico. It happened in the Gulf of Mexico again. And it happened in Michigan.

Static Kill!: If oil companies spent as much money protecting their product as they did in creating spectacular names for how to stop it when it starts spilling, this would be a far less oily nation.

War Supplemental Passes: Another $37 billion is heading to Afghanistan, where things continue to be quite deadly.

[Read more]

Louie Psihoyos: From “The Cove” to the Gulf and beyond

Director and photographer Louie Psihoyos captures images from the Gulf of Mexico.
(image, Gina Papabeis, OPS)

After the unprecedented success of his first film, the Oscar-winning documentary “The Cove,” director and photographer Louie Psihoyos has turned his attention from the the wholesale slaughter of Dolphins in Taiji, Japan to the plight of humanity. Of course, that’s been his focus all along.

“The path that we’re on is so destructive for the future and humanity,” said Psihoyos in a telephone interview. “It’s like a perfect storm going on in the ocean right now.”

[Read more]

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – July 16, 2010

Satellite imagery of today’s 3.6 earthquake in Washington D.C.

News/Politics

Capping the Well: Yes, British Petroleum’s oil geyser is currently capped. But this is all far from over.

Finance Reform Passes: Obama gets his financial reform. But will voters care?

Reid and Angle: Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid opens up a seven-point lead over former state Assemblywoman Sharron Angle in Nevada. If you’ve heard Angle, this is still WAY too close.

Middle (out)classed: A bunch of stats to help you see how the U.S. middle class has been getting wiped out.

Headline of the Day

“Buzz from kombucha health drink is probably the alcohol, say US inspectors”

Blogs

Left Brain, Right Brain: The latest in anti-vaxxing.

Bob Cesca: It’s quite possible that Tea Party leader Mark Williams has issues with race. Just saying it’s a possibility.

Jamison Foser: What exactly is the value of a publication that calls itself “Politico” if it is blind to such obvious realities about politics?

Inverse Candlelight: Just let it flow.

Bible Verse of the Day

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (Timothy 6:10)

Tweet of the Day

“All I’m saying is that it’s POSSIBLE that Gangs of Lesbian Black Panther Jihadist Monkeys will overthrow the U.S.”

Finally

It’s Friday, let’s all just be friends.

-WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – July 13, 2010

Yes, they survived. See Boing Boing for more on a Holocaust Survivor, his daughter & Grand children dancing at concentration camps and memorials throughout Europe.

News/Politics

British Petroleum’s New Cap: BP announced it had successfully attached a new cap on its oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico. This may be great news, may be nothing. Hard to tell with this anymore.

Brown Says Yes to Financial Reform: The Tea Party seemed to forget that Scott Brown has a large liberal base to appease if he wants any shot at re-election. So it appears Financial Reform, such that it is, is a go.

McCain’s Fights: New York Magazine takes an in-depth look at John McCain. And let’s be quite honest, psychologists would have a field day with this Maverick.

Mel Gibson - Douche: The man some wanted canonized unleashed insults, racial slurs, threats and admits to domestic assault like a good Christian.

The Chase Continues: The U.S. says they aren’t finished with Roman Polanski.

Sports

Paul the Octopus: Ok, nothing to report here. Just thought you needed to be slowly weaned off the famed cephalopod.

Home-Run Derby: Maybe it’s a surprise that Major League Baseball still holds the home-run derby, but in any case - David Ortiz Wins!

Blogs

The Political Carnival: The clean-up crews for the British Petroleum Oil Disaster are being placed in harm’s way, says a source.

True Slant: It’s a new world. After years of hiding its nuclear program, Israel sees one of its bases pop up on Facebook.

Bad Astronomer: Phil points out some division with “Under God” in the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance.

Think Progress: The Birthers have slowed to a crawl, so a new conspiracy emerges - Obama started the BP Oil Spill.

Gawker: Canadians pick their battles well, as some of them have declared war on Facebook.

Interesting

We Will Survive: As a matter of fact, no, a giant methane bubble won’t kill us all.

Tweet of the Day

“The #TeaParty Legacy - Claim you won the election for Scott Brown, watch him vote with liberal constituency, then lose to Dem.”

-WKW

Sea Turtles: Crazed Death Machines That Should Be Burned

If a Sea Turtle could, it would murder you with its bare hands. And liberal environmentalists would like nothing more than to allow this ancient species to gain the power they’ve always slowly plotted.

Sea Turtles are often portrayed as wise, harmless keepers of the deep. But such a description couldn’t be further from the truth. The fact is this - Sea Turtles are monstrous man-eaters that make Great White Sharks look like otters.

It is with this view of protecting the human race from the scourge of Sea Turtles gone mad with blood lust that British Petroleum has taken the bold and courageous stance to burn these Sea Turtles alive.. Did you know that 95 percent of the nutrition a Sea Turtle gets is via human blood? Well now you do.

Little Timmy Johnson of Tupelo, Miss., was one of those people who had been misinformed about Sea Turtles. Just 7, Johnson was playing with a Sea Turtle when he disappeared. After hours of searching, little Timmy was found - with a really surprised look on his face - inside the stomach of the Sea Turtle.

British Petroleum wants to see no more Timmy Johnsons lose their lives to these evil creatures. This is why all Americans must stand behind BP and against anarchist environmentalists. They are trying to SAVE these monsters of the deep.

Political correctness has always sided with the sea turtle, so this is your chance to let the facts do the talking and help BP burn Sea Turtle’s and their eggs. Don’t let the murderous environmentalists win. They are already crowing about their latest victory. But will they crow when an angry Sea Turtle rips them limb from limb?

Let BP save the world from this menace. Let them burn Sea Turtles alive. For America.

-WKW

This post written due to a generous grant from British Petroleum.

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – June 24, 2010

Remembering Mike & Christine.

Wolfrum’s Word

June is LGBT Pride Month. I, like many, have often overlooked the Transgender part of that equation, even though I’m well aware of the violence and intolerance directed toward them. I wrote down some of my thoughts on that issue in my latest post at Alan Colmes’ Liberaland - Mike and Christine.

News

McChrystal’s Ouster: Gen. Stanley McChrystal is out and Gen. David Petraeus is in. But that doesn’t change the fact that things are still out of control in Afghanistan.

Still Gushing: For a time, yesterday, British Petroleum’s oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico was going full force. But with the cap back on and new plans in the works, BP is anticipating the gusher to be stopped … some day.

Health Care Woes: Remember when Republicans argued that the U.S. had the world’s best health care system? They were lying.

Odd News

Twitsky: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has now entered the world of Twitter. Lenin weeps.

Jesus Returns: Forty percent of Americans believe that Jesus will return by 2050. If they really read the Bible, they’d be terrified.

Sports

USA! USA!: Nearly 24 hours after Landon Donovan’s World Cup-saving goal against Algeria, no referee has come forward to disallow it. So I think the U.S. is safely into the Final-16. Looking forward and dreaming: The U.S. could find itself in the semi-finals with wins over Ghana and South Korea if things play out right. But it’s all gravy from here on out for the boys in Red, White & Blue.

Still Playing: At Wimbledon, John Isner and Nicolas Mahu played for 10 hours until darkness forced them to stop - with the fifth-set tiebreaker at 59-59.

Blogs

Bad Astronomy: Whooping cough is now an epidemic in California. Another victory for Jim Carrey and his merry band of ant-vaxxers.

Campaign for America’s Future: Every way you measure it, it’s been downhill for all but the wealthy since Ronald Reagan took office in 1981.

Trini Salt Like: The U.S. may have destroyed Trinidad’s World Cup dreams 20 years ago, but here’s one transplanted Trinidadian who has learned to love U.S. soccer football.

Tweet of the Day

“If Italy can beat Slovakia by three or more goals in #worldcup tomorrow, McChrystal gets his job back. FIFA has weird rules.”

-WKW

God & the Oil Spill: A lack of leadership

On April 20, 2010, British Petroleum’s Deep Water Horizon oil rig exploded, killing 11 men and allowing millions of gallons of oil to gush into the Gulf of Mexico. Almost immediately the call went out to him. Yet there was no reply.

Since then, the call to him has been made by many, from President Barack Obama to ex-Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin. And still no response. God, it appears, is refusing to take a leadership position when he’s needed the most.

Yes, in the two months since the oil began destroying the livlihoods of fisherman and the Gulf of Mexico, God has had no comment. This despite incessant pleas for help from the Louisiana Senate, from U.S. Bishops and Gulf pastors, as well as hundreds of thousands of Americans.

But God has turned a blind eye.

Some have chastised God’s unwillingness to help, claiming he has spent far too much time helping soccer players score goals in the World Cup (they all thank him after scoring). Others were irked at his appearances at the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach. Yes, while the Gulf of Mexico is being destroyed, God golfs.

Others have been sharper in their criticism, stating that God caused the oil spill in order to pass comprehensive energy legislation, or to force Americans off their addiction to fossil fuels. Some have even gone so far as to suggest God is punishing America for gorging on shellfish.

At this point, all arguments must be considered. Because while the nation is being implored to reach out to God for help, God - who thousands of years ago couldn’t shut up - has been silent. There has been no strategic oil spill clean-up plan coming from God and no plans on helping fisherman. There has been nothing but silence.

The time for leadership is now. If God is unwilling or unable to help America out in its great time of need, perhaps he’s just not the God we thought he was. Perhaps now is the time to look to Allah, or Satan, or some other supernatural being with engineering know how.

The clock is ticking. Oil is still spewing. And God is showcasing an incredible lack of leadership, if not outright incompetence in helping the situation. This is America and results matter, and if God can’t take control of this situation, then maybe it’s time we stopped looking to the heavens for a miracle.

-WKW

Oiled Glory

This is your America on Oil:

A researcher captured this image. A discarded flag (or one that has fallen from one of the many vessels in the area) rests on the ocean floor amid the oil and the bodies of dead crabs.
A two-inch layer of submerged oil is coating portions of the Gulf seafloor off the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge: a week after a smothering layer of floating crude washed ashore there. This scenario is being played out all along the Gulf shoreline.

Collecting in pockets and troughs in waist-deep water, the underwater oil is looser and stickier than the tarballs that cover the beach. The consistency is more like a thick liquid, albeit one made up of thousands of small globs. Unlike tarballs, which can often be picked up out of the water without staining the fingers, the submerged oil stains everything that it touches. If you passed your hand through the material it would emerge covered in oily smears.

There are a number of patches of submerged oil 40 to 100 feet off the beach, apparently collecting along rip currents and sandbars. The carcasses of sand fleas, speckled crabs, ghost crabs, and leopard crabs are spread throughout the oil, a thick layer of the material caking the bodies of the larger crabs – their claws looking as if they been turned into clubs made of oil.

(Via Naked Capitalism)

-WKW

William K. Wolfrum’s Morning – June 18, 2010

Ron Artest enjoys his first NBA Championship as the Lakers finally beat the Celtics in a Game 7.

Wolfrum’s Word

History and polls tell us that the Republicans will pick up seats in both the House and Congress in the November elections - and they will. But with each day, the GOP falls deeper into Obama Derangement Syndrome. With Republicans like Joe Barton and Michelle Bachmann defending British Petroleum just to go against President Obama, the GOP has now entered the point where they are cutting off their head to spite their neck. And registered voters and the “small people” will remember that come November. See the rest of my thoughts on this in my latest post at Alan Colmes’ Liberaland.

News

Ethnic Cleansing in Kyrgyzstan: 400,000 people have been displaced by ethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan, the United Nations announced.

British Petroleum Speaks: As BP CEO Tony Hayward was barraged by Congress, we learned two things - Joe Barton feels BP’s pain and BP didn’t follow safety regulations because they weren’t forced to follow them.

Energy Evils: Right now, the energy bill is languishing in Congress, as political courage is nowhere to be found in an election season. After the election? Maybe then we’ll see a push to get it through.

Gaza Blockade: Israel says they’ll ease the blockade of Gaza. The Arabic media isn’t falling for it.

More: Supreme Court again sides against privacy, the Times Square car bomb suspect gets indicted.

Wolfrum’s Word II

Never have so many sacrificed so much and worked so diligently to make Joran van der Sloot a national story we should care about.

Sports

Lakers Are NBA Champions: For years, Kobe Bryant had a penchant for distrusting his teammates. But in Game 7 of the NBA Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, it was Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Lamar Odom and gang that lifted a poor-shooting Bryant, and the Lakers to an NBA championship. Title No. 16 came with an incredibly hard-fought, exciting 83-79 victory. It’s Kobe’s fifth title, and coach Phil Jackson’s record 11th.

Viva La France: If there’s one thing the French hate more than American, it’s their national soccer team. In an incredibly poor performance, France lost 2-0 to Mexico, leaving the Blues with a tough road to advance in the World Cup.

U.S. On The Line: A victory over Slovenia should give the U.S. a spot in the next round. But beware the Green Dragons.

More: Argentina torches South Korea, Pebble Beach frustrating for Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson in the U.S. Open.

Blogs

Roubini: How to avoid a double-dip recession (Free to subscribe).

Democratic Underground: Dick Armey has spoken - it’s time for “Tea Party” members to become “Republicans” again.

The Brad Blog: It’s official - Alvin Greene and electronic voting machines are both winners in South Carolina.

Tweet of the Day

“Tea Party members have been pretty quiet about the #oilspill because they’re convinced it started in Kenya.”

-WKW

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