Effort to Plug Well Faces Another Setback
By Clifford Krauss and Leslie Kaufman
As BP engineers failed again to plug the gushing oil well on Saturday … BP made a third attempt Friday night at what is termed the “junk shot,” a procedure that involves pumping odds and ends like plastic cubes, knotted rope, and golf balls into the blowout preventer, the five-story safety device atop the well.
The technician working on the project said Saturday pumping had again been halted and a review of the data so far was under way. “Right now, I would not be optimistic,” the technician [said].
If these options are not successful, it may take until August to drill a relief well, the option experts say is most reliably going to stop the current catastrophe.—Clifford Krauss and Leslie Kaufman
Read the entire NY Times story at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30spill.html?hp
Critics say removal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ would advance radical agenda, hurt military
Critics say Brother O and the Democrat Party’s plan to eliminate the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy for homosexuals serving in the military is a radical social experiment that will adversely affect military readiness and the welfare of those in the armed forces.
“[The] hard left of the Democratic Party [put] a political constituency with a radical agenda – the homosexual lobby – ahead of the well-being of our men and women in uniform. …
[House Democrats] ignored the pleas of the military, including all four service heads — those who lead the men and women who actually understand what it means to selflessly serve. …
[T]he liberal majority chose to advance the social agenda of a radical special interest group without giving an opportunity for the military to finish its own study of the issue.”—Family Research Council (FRC) president Tony Perkins,
“Despite the professional views of our highest-ranking military leaders, congressional Democrats and the White House have decided to … brazenly force a vote on repeal at the eleventh hour to pay off their gay-activist political allies.”—Tommy Sears, executive director of the Center for Military Readiness
A recent FRC report found that homosexuals in the military are three times as likely to sexually assault someone and that many of the homosexuals discharged under DADT policy were dismissed for sexual assaults.
Read the entire Catholic News Agency story at http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/critics-say-removal-of-dont-ask-dont-tell-would-advance-radical-agenda-hurt-military
No anti-establishment outlet for California GOP voters’ anger
“I see no sign that this anti-establishment thing is going to have an effect in any race. I cannot think of a single incumbent in either party who is threatened in this primary for the Legislature.”—Tony Quinn, editor of the California Target Book, which analyzes state and federal races.
The GOP candidates for senator include corporate insider Carly Fiorina, current assemblyman and former corporate executive Chuck DeVore, and former congressman Tom Campbell.
And in the governor’s race there’s Meg Whitman, another corporate insider, and Steve Poizner, a state insurance commissioner.
“Everybody’s claiming to be an outsider, and when everybody’s an outsider, nobody is. It’s pretty evident they’re not.”—Jack Pitney, political science professor at Claremont-McKenna College.
According to the Rothenberg Political Report, so far this year incumbents have won 124 of 127 primaries, a 98 percent winning rate.
While angry voters may have no outlet for their frustration in the primary election, Pitney said the anti-establishment mood could affect November results. More incumbents will be on the ballot, albeit in districts skewed to favor sitting officeholders.
Read Hotakainen’s entire story at http://www.sacbee.com/2010/05/29/2785116/no-anti-establishment-outlet-for.html
Soda, sweet drinks tax passes in D.C.
D.C. lawmakers on Wednesday approved a controversial soda tax as part of their preliminary approval of Mayor Adrian Fenty’s fiscal 2011 budget plan.
Lawmakers … signed off on adding sodas, sports drinks and other sweetened nonalcoholic beverages to the long list of items subjected to the city‘s 6 percent sales tax. The tax is vehemently opposed by retailers large and small across the city, including delicatessens and liquor stores.
The council is scheduled to take a final vote on the fiscal 2011 budget in June before sending it to the mayor and Congress.— Deborah Simmons
Read the entire Washington Times story at http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/26/soda-sweet-drinks-tax-passes-dc/
Judge Decides In US Paedophile Shooting
By Robert Nisbet
A case involving vigilante justice is about to be decided. On June 14 a judge will hand down his ruling whether to free Aaron Vargas who shot dead Darrell McNeill, an alleged paedophile, for two decades of alleged sexual abuse.
On February 9th 2009, he [Vargas] went to McNeill’s trailer with a black powder antique revolver and shot McNeill in the chest, telling his wife Liz not to call emergency services until he was sure his molester was dead.
Then, Vargas drove to his parents’ house and told them what he had done, revealing for the first time the abuse he had suffered for 20 years. He surrendered to police at the end of his family’s driveway.
“He went from being a happy-go-lucky kid who was always out playing and got along with everyone, to being very withdrawn. He was sad and angry and just wanted to sit in his room and be left alone all the time.”—Mindy Galliani, Vargas’ sister
Vargas faces a sentence that ranges from probation up to 10 years imprisonment.
Signs Point to Administration Plan to Lock Up 13M Acres of Federal Land
By Brian Wilson
A leaked partial document produced by the Bureau of Land Management and obtained by Fox News suggests the Obama administration is considering a plan to lock up 13 million acres of land — and the Department of Interior is refusing to answer questions. …
Republicans on the House Natural Resources Committee were unable to garner Democratic support for a resolution requiring the Department of Interior to produce some 2,000 documents it has on this matter. …
Western state governors are worried that the Obama administration is going to do this quickly and quietly — without public hearings.—Brian Wilson
Read the entire Fox News story at http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/05/27/signs-point-administration-plan-lock-m-acres-federal-land/
