Category Archives: Intelligence

Regulation Wrecking Ball: The Gulf & The Jones Act

Energy, Hollywood, Human Accomplishment, Intelligence, Regulation, Science, Technology

REGULATION WRECKS. The point was made in “When Palin Agrees With Olbermann,” with reference to the Federal law limiting liability under which BP was operating. The regulation wrecking Ball is still swinging over the Gulf. In particular, The Jones Act. The scandal is beyond the grasp of such stupidity as is exhibited by “Hollow-Wood”:

“Foreign companies possessing some of the world’s most advanced oil skimming ships say they are being kept out of efforts to clean up the oil spill in the Gulf because of a 1920’s law known as the Jones Act — a protectionist law that requires vessels working in US waters be built in the US and be crewed by US workers.

Joseph Carafano of the Heritage Foundation has been studying the matter and wonders, ‘Are we accepting all the international assistance in the maritime domain that we can, and is the Jones Act an impediment to that?’

The Coast Guard and the Administration are quick to point out that some foreign technology is being used in the current cleanup effort. Including:

– Canada’s offer of 3,000 meters of containment boom

– Three sets of COSEQ sweeping arms from the Dutch

– Mexico’s offer of two skimmers and 4200 meters of boom

– Norway’s offer of 8 skimming systems

But that is largely technology transferred to US vessels. Some of the best clean up ships – owned by Belgian, Dutch and the Norwegian firms are NOT being used. Coast Guard Lt. Commander, Chris O’Neil, says that is because they do not meet ‘the operational requirements of the Unified Area Command.’ One of those operational requirements is that vessels comply with the Jones Act.

‘Yes, it does apply,’ said ONeil, ‘I have heard no discussions of waivers.'”

READ ON.

[SNIP]

“A Jones Act waiver” is not something the state workers involved in the pitiful clean-up—his Admiralty Thad Allen included—are eager to obtain.

The We-Are-The-Best-In-The-World chauvinists ought to take note: America is no longer cutting edge. But The Golden Calf will get us there again, right?

Update III: Thomas Tomfoolery (& Jewish Stupidity)

Anti-Semitism, Democracy, Human Accomplishment, Intelligence, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Judaism & Jews, Political Correctness, Pop-Culture

“Press passes can’t be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president.”
~Ann Coulter, February 23, 2005

Ms. Coulter got called a racist for that mild dig at Thomas. And she’d be called an anti-Semite if she came out with this Thomas tomfoolery:

UPDATE I (June 6): I don’t know what is more pathetic, Thomas or the organized Jewish response to her. More later.

UPDATE II (June 7): The reason the weak, uncharismatic Democrat Lanny Davis is so popular with Demopublicans is that he is, well, weak and inconsequential.

Now he wants to muscle the outlets that make use of this ancient idiot Thomas’ output. (Why does he not petition her syndicator to drop her, and hire this Jewish Woman–your host? Thomas has had a good run. It’s time for new blood.).

Of course the the old sow is apologizing; the public apology is a ritual as meaningful as are tears on Oprah.

Why extract this meaningless muttering from this woman?

As I once wrote, “It’s bad form to coerce or manipulate people into liking, hiring, renting, or apologizing to you. So long as haters keep their mitts to themselves, insulted parties should, if anything, rise above the fray, act graciously—even turn the other cheek. Subjecting people who don’t like you to reeducation programs smacks of busybody social engineering.”

Thomas may be a fool, but Davis and Ari Fleischer are incorrigible, pushy purveyors of political correctness.

UPDATE III: Robert Glisson is sad to see a woman who had it all blow it away. Sympathies here are misplaced.

And why on earth? Although I liked some of Thomas’ anti-war sentiment—has it been up to snuff with Obama?—I’m thrilled that the cow has been put out to pasture. She’s had a good run. When else, but in the age of mass mediocrity, would such a banal bitch obtain such iconic stature?

Update III: Thomas Tomfoolery (& Jewish Stupidity)

Anti-Semitism, Democracy, Human Accomplishment, Intelligence, Israel, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Judaism & Jews, Political Correctness, Pop-Culture

“Press passes can’t be that hard to come by if the White House allows that old Arab Helen Thomas to sit within yards of the president.”
~Ann Coulter, February 23, 2005

Ms. Coulter got called a racist for that mild dig at Thomas. And she’d be called an anti-Semite if she came out with this Thomas tomfoolery:

UPDATE I (June 6): I don’t know what is more pathetic, Thomas or the organized Jewish response to her. More later.

UPDATE II (June 7): The reason the weak, uncharismatic Democrat Lanny Davis is so popular with Demopublicans is that he is, well, weak and inconsequential.

Of course the the old sow is apologizing; the public apology is a ritual as meaningful as are tears on Oprah.

Why extract this meaningless muttering from this woman?

Thomas may be a fool, but Davis and Ari Fleischer are incorrigible, pushy purveyors of political correctness.

UPDATE III: Robert Glisson is sad to see a woman who had it all blow it away. Sympathies here are misplaced.

UPDATED: Cameron’s Categorical Confusion

Business, Environmentalism & Animal Rights, Government, Hollywood, Human Accomplishment, Intelligence, Science, Technology

Off-shore oil driller and acclaimed scientist and inventor James Cameron, who “has worked extensively with robot submarines,” is annoyed that the film directors running BP have not used his know-how to plug the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Reverse that; Cameron is the filmer; BP the explorer. But you get how ridiculous Cameron’s puff is; how inflated Hollywood’s sense of itself is.

What matters is that the public get an idea of how crucial to life itself are the hard sciences, although a whole lot will have to change before the youth, streaming into law, health care and finance for the obvious reason (it begins with a “g”) change course, and those with the aptitude do hard science.

UPDATE (June 4): The images of immobilized pelicans weighed down by oil are heartbreaking. In the animal rescue and clean-up efforts we ought to begin to see the strength of private initiative.

The political Idiocracy continues to make hay of this environmental nightmare. Insisting Big Daddy O was supposed to clean up, show more rage, froth at the mouth more.

The fact that the POTUS and the FLOTUS like to live it up is perhpas unseemly. But the idea that if Obama were not so self-absorbed, or more unhinged emotionally, he’d do what’s right to save our ravaged coast—this is misguided.

This is so sad. (Here are my birdies.)

In “Regulation Encourages Recklessness” I spoke to what I think is at the root of environmental despoliation:

• Regulations, which are the culmination of agreements between the regulated and the regulators, to the detriment of those left out the loop: wild life and the rest of us.

• The tragedy of the commons, i.e., the absence of property rights: “Government-controlled resources go to seed because there is no private ownership of the means of production. Entrusted with the management of assets you don’t own, have no stake in; on behalf of millions of people you don’t know, don’t care about, are unaccountable to, and who have no real recourse against your mismanagement except to whine like wimps—how long before your performance plummets?”

• The modern corporate colossus resembles government in many ways.

My smart readers can think over the last point—have at it. I’ll be back to mark your pixelated papers.