Tony Hayward, the chief executive officer of BP, offered another explanation for the fishermen's illness: spoiled food.
"Food poisoning is clearly a big issue," Hayward said Sunday. "It's something we've got to be very mindful of. It's one of the big issues of keeping the Army operating. You know, the Army marches on their stomachs."
An expert on foodborne illness cast doubt on Hayward's theory.
Named the Freedom Flotilla and led by the Free Gaza Movement and a Turkish organization, Insani Yardim Vakfi, the convoy was the most ambitious attempt yet to break Israel’s three-year blockade of Gaza.
About 600 passengers were said to be aboard the vessels, including the 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire of Northern Ireland, and a Holocaust survivor, Hedy Epstein, 85.
“What we have seen this morning is a war crime,” said Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator for the government in the West Bank. “These were civilian ships carrying civilians and civilian goods — medicine, wheelchairs, food, construction materials.”
Rep. Steve King (R-IA) issued a press release today that partially blames Muslims for the Department of Justice's attempts to challenge Arizona's controversial new immigration law.
"The ACLU, SEIU and the Muslim American Society are calling the shots at the Justice Department," the press release says
Internal documents from BP show that there were serious problems and safety concerns with the Deepwater Horizon rig far earlier than those the company described to Congress last week. The problems involved the well casing and the blowout preventer, which are considered critical pieces in the chain of events that led to the disaster on the rig.
The documents show that in March, after several weeks of problems on the rig, BP was struggling with a loss of "well control." And as far back as 11 months ago, it was concerned about the well casing and the blowout preventer.
The Republican candidate for President Obama's old Senate seat has admitted to inaccurately claiming he received the U.S. Navy's Intelligence Officer of the Year award for his service during NATO's conflict with Serbia in the late 1990s.
Rep. Mark Kirk, a Navy reservist who was elected to Congress in 2001, acknowledged the error in his official biography after The Washington Post began looking into whether he had received the prestigious award, which is given by top Navy officials to a single individual annually.
Fox News anchor Clayton Morris called himself the wrong name Friday -- twice!...
"Hey there everyone, I'm Steve Doocy, this is your Fox Flash," Morris said.
At the end of the segment, he did it again.
"That's your morning Fox Flash, I'm Steve Doocy," he said.
A Fox News insider says, "It was wishful thinking on Morris' part, and executives didn't find it amusing."
Sun., Dec . 10, 2006
WASHINGTON - Hours before adjourning for the year, the U.S. Congress on Saturday sent President George W. Bush legislation that would open 8.3 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico to oil and natural gas drilling and redistribute billions of dollars in royalties to four Gulf states...
Rep. Bobby Jindal, a Louisiana Republican and one of the drilling measure's main supporters, said Bush will sign the bill into law.
Hitler recruited around him homosexuals to make up his Stormtroopers, they were his enforcers, they were his thugs. And Hitler discovered that he could not get straight soldiers to be savage and brutal and vicious enough to carry out his orders
In a speech on July 13, Hitler alluded to Röhm's homosexuality and explained the purge as chiefly defence against treason.
The questions on the ads aren't subtle: Leaving Islam? Fatwa on your head? Is your family threatening you?
...Pamela Geller, who leads an organization called Stop Islamization of America, said the ads were meant to help provide resources for Muslims who are fearful of leaving the faith.
"It's not offensive to Muslims, it's religious freedom," she said
Justice Souter may be retired, but he still works
BP Plc Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said on Wednesday it appears drilling mud, not oil, was gushing from a ruptured undersea well six hours into an effort to halt a month-old oil spill.
"Once I got over the fact I may not have been looking at a creation of the Devil on this thing called the internet, I realized that not only was this the only blog I have ever looked at -- as I have no idea what a blog is - it is the greatest blog I have ever looked at. Hey look at me, understanding English and all.
Now, tell me what a blow job is."
- Martin Luther, 1483-1546
"I am pleased that I am still in the hearts of those countrymen who have heard of me, all 3% of you, except for the occasional black person -- my sincerest apologies. Nice job on the foreign entanglements by the way -- that is what you kids call "snark" I am verily informed, like that biography someone made of me (only 1 set of balls btw, I cannot tell a lie -- though I was hung like a goddamned horse!). And this "blog" thing seems to have, for the most part, legible words and phrases -- though this QWERTY thing should die.
Now, tell me what a blow job is."
- George Washington, 1732-1799
"Who gives a shit about your blog. They burned me motherfuckers! Suck on that one Lindsay Lohan!"
- Joan d'Arc, 1412-1431
"It seems a pretty awesome blog, but then again, I thought it was just a big fucking wooden horse."
- King Priam
"He needs to take a Valium before he comes in and talks to Republicans," Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., told reporters. "He's pretty thin-skinned."
"The US is a big and important market for BP, and BP is also a big and important company for the US, with its contribution to drilling and oil and gas production," Svanberg said. "So the position goes both ways."
Staff members at an agency that oversees offshore drilling accepted tickets to sports events, lunches and other gifts from oil and gas companies and used government computers to view pornography, according to an Interior Department report alleging a culture of cronyism between regulators and the industry.
...a new government report reveals that some high-level regulators have spent more time looking at porn than policing Wall Street...the report says most of these cases began in 2008, just as the financial system began to collapse.
In Hoke County divorce records, his wife said in 1995 that D'Annunzio had claimed to be the Messiah, had traveled to New Jersey to raise his stepfather from the dead, believed God would drop a 1,000-mile high pyramid as the New Jerusalem on Greenland and found the Ark of the Covenant in Arizona. A doctor's evaluation the following month said D'Annunzio used marijuana almost daily, had been living with another woman for several months, had once been in drug treatment for heroin dependence and was jailed a couple times as a teenager.
The doctor concluded that his religious beliefs were not delusional. A judge wrote in a child support ruling a few years later that D'Annunzio was a self-described "religious zealot" who believed the government was the "Antichrist." The judge said he was willfully failing to make child support payments.
D'Annunzio was the leader in a Republican primary earlier this month but didn't get enough votes to avoid a runoff. He faces former television sportscaster Harold Johnson in a runoff vote June 22 for the 8th District, which extends from Charlotte to Fayetteville.
Ronnie Long, a Harrisburg businessman who is president of We the People NC and part of the tea party movement, said he was disappointed to see Republican officials resort to personal attacks against D'Annunzio.
Long said his group and others are backing D'Annunzio because he has the integrity and fortitude to make decisions for the people and not the party.
"He's not the kind of person the parties can rule over and manipulate," he said.
Troll in the USA:Massey used codes to warn workers when regulators showed up, said Gary Quarles, whose son Gary Wayne Quarles died in the explosion.
"When an MSHA inspector comes onto a Massey mine property, the code words go out, 'we've got a man on the property,"' Quarles testified. "Those words are radioed from the guard gates and relayed to all working operations in the mine."
After that, workers are expected to do everything possible to quickly correct problems or divert the inspectors' attention from any issues, Quarles said.
"Largely decorated by Limbaugh himself, [his Palm Beach house] reflects the things and places he has seen and admired. A massive chandelier in the dining room, for example, is a replica of the one that hung in the lobby of New York's Plaza Hotel. The vast salon is meant to suggest Versailles. The main guest suite, which I didn't visit, is an exact replica of the Presidential Suite at the Hotel George V in Paris. There is a full suit of armor on display, as well as a life-size oil painting of El Rushbo. Fragrant candles burned throughout the house, a daily home-from-the-wars ritual."
In the days since President Obama announced a moratorium on permits for drilling new offshore oil wells and a halt to a controversial type of environmental waiver that was given to the Deepwater Horizon rig, at least seven new permits for various types of drilling and five environmental waivers have been granted, according to records.
An American-Yemeni cleric whose Internet sermons are believed to have helped inspire attacks on the U.S. has advocated the killing of American civilians in an al-Qaida video released Sunday.
Anwar al-Awlaki has been singled out by U.S. officials as a key terrorist threat and has been added to the CIA's list of targets for assassination despite his American citizenship.
The National Park Service granted the white supremacist group Aryan Nations a permit to hold a rally next month on the hallowed grounds of Gettysburg National Military Park.
The rally will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. June 19 near the old Cyclorama Center, in sight of the spot where Confederate Gen. George Pickett's division collided with Union forces on the third day of the fateful Civil War battle.
The rally will focus speeches and discussions on issues like immigration and homosexuality.
One month before an Ohio contingent of Aryan Nations is set to march in Gettysburg Memorial Park, we get this news: a shootout in Arkansas ends with West Memphis Police Officers Brandon Paudert and Bill Evans dead and policelearning that the van in this picture was registered to an Aryan Nations associate.
Fox News Sunday: Rand Paul Sarah Palin. Then, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Tim Kaine, and the Chairman of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele. Fox News AllStars: Brit Hume, Mara Liasson, Bill Kristol, Kirsten Powers. Power Player of the Week: Ginni Thomas, Founder of Liberty Central /Wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
(AP) WASHINGTON – The White House's leading candidate to replace Dennis Blair as national intelligence director is James R. Clapper, the Pentagon's top intelligence official, current and former U.S. officials said Friday.
Which brings us to another point. I'm not at all clear how much or whether any of this stuff is going to hurt Paul in the Kentucky Senate [race]."This stuff" being all of Paul's crazy Civil Rights Act/NAFTA Superhighway beliefs that have come to light over the last few days.
As always, please add your suggestions in comments.
Maybe it's the unexpectedly bad jobs numbers. financial reform bill. Maybe it's Europe. But whatever it is, with the jobs data today and news of rising foreclosures, it's possible that we are looking at a double dip recession. And that is very bad news in an environment in which the entire political establishment is fouling its trousers over deficits...The administration has (stupidly) allowed itself to be backed into a corner in which it can't spend now that it's thrown in with Peter Peterson and the deficit scolds.
"Meet the Press" fell to its second-lowest ratings under David Gregory this past Sunday.
Survivors of the catastrophic explosion of the Deepwater Horizon were held incommunicado for 40 hours then forced to sign statements that they did not witness the explosion and were unharmed by the explosion they did not witness.
INTERVIEWER: But under your philosophy, it would be okay for Dr. King not to be served at the counter at Woolworths?
RAND PAUL: I would not go to that Woolworths, and I would stand up in my community and say that it is abhorrent, um, but, the hard part—and this is the hard part about believing in freedom—is, if you believe in the First Amendment, for example—you have too, for example, most good defenders of the First Amendment will believe in abhorrent groups standing up and saying awful things
In an interview with NPR today, Paul was asked three times about his position on the Civil Rights Act, but each time he dodged giving a declarative answer. “A lot of things that were actually in the bill I’m actually in favor of,” said Paul. Hinting at what he doesn’t “favor,” Paul added that “a lot of things can be handled locally.”
“Rand Paul certainly represents that change that is needed”
Sheriff Joe Arpaio has sent letters to current and former attorneys in the Maricopa County Attorney's Office warning them to watch their words if they speak to investigators looking into possible unethical conduct by former County Attorney Andrew Thomas.
The letter threatens the attorneys with criminal charges if they reveal "confidential" information about the sheriff's inquiries into county Supervisors Don Stapley and Mary Rose Wilcox and Superior Court Judge Gary Donahoe.
Romley fired off a letter to Arpaio citing case law and informing him that the relationship between the two offices is not attorney and client but law enforcement
and prosecutor. Citing case law, Romley said that the County Attorney's Office "does not render legal services to the investigators."
As for the threat to file criminal charges against anyone who testifies to the Bar, Romley wrote, "This threat is not only inappropriate but is a clear abuse of your authority as sheriff of Maricopa County. Thereby, I shall be forwarding your letter" to the U.S. District Attorney's Office.
Toddlers who tell lies early on are more likely to do well later, researchers claim.
The complex brain processes involved in formulating a lie are an indicator of a child's early intelligence, they add.
"I'll tell you what is new," he said. "There is this thing called the federal government. It's big and intimidating, and it's out of control."
...they watched on television as Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi forced an unusual Sunday session of the House of Representatives to push through an amended version of the Obama administration's health-care bill. "It was a Sunday, which is a very special day for me and my fellow Mormons," Bennett said. "And it was really a display of partisan political muscle."
The giant oarfish, also known as “the king of herrings” (Regalecus glesne), is the world’s largest bony fish (“teleost”), and can grow up to 11 meters (36 feet) long! It’s rarely photographed because it lives in the deep sea, but one just washed up on the coast of Sweden, where it hasn’t been seen for 150 years. They eat plankton.
Physicists at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory are reporting that they have discovered a new clue that could help unravel one of the biggest mysteries of cosmology: why the universe is composed of matter and not its evil-twin opposite, antimatter. If confirmed, the finding portends fundamental discoveries at the new Large Hadron Collider outside Geneva, as well as a possible explanation for our own existence.
Today, the National Journal reported that Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) signed on to the plan, which could represent an enormous tax break for his family. Grassley is worth between $2.1 and $5.2 million, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, so his entire estate could be exempted under a $5 million exemption.
Eight-term Rep. Mark Souder will announce his resignation Tuesday after it came to light that he was conducting an affair with a female staffer who worked in his district office, Fox News has learned.
Multiple senior House sources indicated that the extent of the affair would have landed Souder before the House Ethics Committee.
Elected as a family values conservative as part of the Republican revolution in 1994, Souder survived a tough re-election challenge in 2008 and survived a contested primary two weeks ago.
A Taliban suicide car bomber struck a NATO convoy in Kabul Tuesday, killing six of its service members, five of them American, officials said. Twelve Afghan civilians also died — many of them in a public bus in rush hour traffic.
A Washington-based research group says two BP refineries in the U.S. account for 97 percent of "egregious willful" violations given by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
While JUSTICE THOMAS would apparently not rule out a death sentence for a $50 theft by a 7-year-old . . ., the Court wisely rejects his static approach to the law. Standards of decency have evolved since 1980. They will never stop doing so.
Q: Do you think Americans, based on the 2nd Amendment, do you think they have a Constitutional right to violently overthrow the government?
PAUL STAFFER: Alright, we’ll have to stop recording.
Elena Kagan is straight...however, she's Trig Palin's biological mother!
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) said Sunday that President Barack Obama should withdraw the nomination of Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court.
Rush Limbaugh isn't the only one calling Sonia Sotomayor a racist. Newt Gingrich is, too -- and he's demanding that Obama's pick to the Supreme Court withdraw her nomination. [...]
If the leaders of groups like AIPAC and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations do not change course, they will wake up one day to find a younger, Orthodox-dominated, Zionist leadership whose naked hostility to Arabs and Palestinians scares even them, and a mass of secular American Jews who range from apathetic to appalled. Saving liberal Zionism in the United States—so that American Jews can help save liberal Zionism in Israel—is the great American Jewish challenge of our age.
Late credit card payments fell sharply in the first quarter, and at least part of the drop can be attributed to the law that kicked in Feb. 22 curbing interest rate hikes and various fees...Average credit card debt also fell in the first quarter, to $5,165. That's down 10.6 percent from $5,776 at the start of last year.
Fox News Sunday: Book Promotions. Laura Bush, Former First Lady. Newt Gingrich,“To Save America: Stopping Obama's Secular-Socialist Machine.” Fox News AllStars: Brit Hume, Nina Easton, Stephen Hayes, Juan Williams.
I don't know if Elena Kagan is gay or not, but I'll spend some more time talking about what I don't know...it is after all, what I do.
Pope Benedict XVI on Thursday called abortion and same-sex marriage some of the most "insidious and dangerous" threats facing the world today
1. Drinking and driving is a gross misdemeanor or possibly a felony.
2. But, drinking and driving while armed is totally awesome via the Second Amendment.
3. Glenn Reynolds will still say it's always the not attractive enough woman's fault anyway.
The Louisiana House passed a bill yesterday that will enable places of worship to allow congregants with permits to carry concealed guns
BP PLC continues to stockpile and deploy oil-dispersing chemicals manufactured by a company with which it shares close ties, even though other U.S. EPA-approved alternatives have been shown to be far less toxic and, in some cases, nearly twice as effective.
Rising Hegemon
