Going Dutch
[Guest post by DRJ]
What Obama should have done after the BP Oil Spill:
“Three days after the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico, the Dutch government offered to help.
It was willing to provide ships outfitted with oil-skimming booms, and it proposed a plan for building sand barriers to protect sensitive marshlands.
The response from the Obama administration and BP, which are coordinating the cleanup: “The embassy got a nice letter from the administration that said, ‘Thanks, but no thanks,’” said Geert Visser, consul general for the Netherlands in Houston.
Now, almost seven weeks later, as the oil spewing from the battered well spreads across the Gulf and soils pristine beaches and coastline, BP and our government have reconsidered.”
The Obama Administration also turned down Dutch plans and assistance to dredge sand bars to protect fragile coastlines, plans it is now trying to implement. And unlike the American government, the Dutch government actually has a plan:
“Many in the U.S., including the president, have expressed frustration with the handling of the cleanup. In the Netherlands, the response would have been different, Visser said.
There, the government owns the cleanup equipment, including the skimmers now being deployed in the Gulf.
“If there’s a spill in the Netherlands, we give the oil companies 12 hours to react,” he said.
If the response is inadequate or the companies are unprepared, the government takes over and sends the companies the bill.”
Nothing beats American manpower and ingenuity when it gets started, but it sure is hard to get started.
— DRJ
Not surprised at all. I previously posted that I thought some combination of CYA and pridefull turf-wars and blame-shifting were responsible for such a feckless response.
MD in Philly (5a98ff) — 6/9/2010 @ 11:04 pmThe Obama Administration also turned down Dutch plans and assistance to dredge sand bars to protect fragile coastlines
So exasperating and idiotic. How much so? Even if Obama were a down-to-earth conservative, I’d be pissed at him and his administration over that “why-me-worry?” response.
I don’t have confidence in his judgment and decisionmaking because he is of the left, if not ultra-left. But this goes beyond plain politics and basic ideology. This is a case of utter, total ineptitude. That and probably a lot of arrogance and hubris.
Mark (411533) — 6/9/2010 @ 11:28 pmThere has been a lot of talk about how the spill is Obama’s Katrina, and some talk that it is his Iranian Hostage Crisis (particularly when you have some, like Fox, leading in to every story on the Gulf with a “Day XX” banner).
Well, the Hostage Crisis lasted 444 days, which would put us to about July 4th, 2012!
Happy Independance Day, and how were your Presidential Primaries?
AD - RtR/OS! (f15c7c) — 6/9/2010 @ 11:41 pmi do: i’m confident he has none.
redc1c4 (fb8750) — 6/10/2010 @ 12:06 amNIH (not invented here) syndrome running rampant. Add that to the absolute lack of leadership, a bureaucracy that can only move glacially and try to make no decisions and lots of political posturing and you turn a serious problem into a disaster. Obama and his keystone cops haven’t gotten past “BP is bad, BP is going to pay.” They may well be right, but the tragedy is he hasn’t figured out that that doesn’t prevent one gram of oil from hitting the beach.
Bob (f79737) — 6/10/2010 @ 3:58 amThis person has no leadership abilities.He was forged by :”..I have a gift Harry…”, voting present and a media that was in adulalation of his oration.Paging David Brooks…ad nauseum.His is the era of Lectureship over Leadership,the man who knows everything but knows nothing.
mike191 (a974ad) — 6/10/2010 @ 4:31 amGod Bless the Dutch.
em (017d3c) — 6/10/2010 @ 4:51 amso, um, the guy who is always talking about the need to consult our allies, not to be all “go it alone” like that evil George Bushhitlerburton, refused international aid.
Just out of curiousity, would the answer have changed if it was cuba offering the help?
Aaron Worthing (e7d72e) — 6/10/2010 @ 6:44 amDear fellow Dutchmen,
Craig Morris (c6df73) — 6/10/2010 @ 7:30 amMy VanDerwerker family came over from the Netherlands in 1663 and offers for assistance to commonsensical problems still get thwarted by bureacracy. Need not worry mates your offers are true and dear which will never be forgotten. Thanks for your valiant and strident efforts. Friends and family alike you are some of our true heros. Our Earth is shared by all. Thanks Friends!
Some of you insensitive louts may be forgetting, those Dutch ships may have employed non-union labor. Don’t you think we’d have put our country at a terrible risk if we didn’t look for the union labor? Worse yet, they would be legal foreign workers! That means they’d potentially be displacing illegal aliens who could have done the job. How can you ask our president to betray his basic principles?
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 6/10/2010 @ 7:43 amoops – I mean “union LABEL”
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 6/10/2010 @ 7:43 amNorway offered similar proven technology and it was refused, too.
The excuse is that foreign ships are not permitted to do this type work in U.S. waters, due to the union protecting federal Jones Act. Oddly, after Katrina George Bush suspended the Jones Act to permit foreign vessels to aid in the recovery effort.
Apparent ineptness can be the manifestation of a passive aggressive personality. Sound like any President that we know?
in_awe (44fed5) — 6/10/2010 @ 7:44 amHere is your answer for the turn down:
“But the real victory went to Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV), which demands an end to immigration from Muslim countries and a ban on new mosques…..”More security, less crime, less immigration, less Islam – that is what the Netherlands has chosen,” Mr Wilders said.”
And if it isn’t the reason, it’s likely part of it.
Wonderin (895690) — 6/10/2010 @ 8:10 am#11 Gesundheit:
I rather liked it better the way it came out…
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 6/10/2010 @ 8:24 amActually, BP wanted the help and when the Dutch contacted them, they accepted the offer. But, of course, the US gov’t has to give permission.
The media here is attempting to diffuse the blame for turning down the Dutch by implying that BP + the gov’t said thanks but no thanks.
This isn’t to say that BP doesn’t have a lot to answer for in this disaster, but it was the Obama administration that told the Dutch to take a hike.
BP has accepted other oil companies’ offers of help too. When the news mentions BP working in Robert, LA, it’s at Shell’s training center in Robert. They turned it over to BP to use in the immediate aftermath of the blowout.
skink (a14371) — 6/10/2010 @ 9:52 amJust out of curiousity, would the answer have changed if it was cuba offering the help?
That’s a non – starter, simply because no totalitarian regime would have possessed the actual expertise needed for something like this. Dictatorships usually don’t invent anything technologically worthwhile, they just buy what they need from other democracies.
Dmac (3d61d9) — 6/10/2010 @ 10:09 amThere was an article in the online site of the local paper that says that BP is going to burn the oil collected from the cap. Why? If the oil can be separated from the seawater, why not send it on to a refining facility instead of just setting it all on fire and wasting it?
Blacque Jacques Shellacque (9fe4a5) — 6/10/2010 @ 10:44 amBlack Jack: Duh! If the oil is sent to a refining facility then it will just end up being… um… burned in people’s cars, which will contribute to Global Warming. It would probably even save a few jobs, which would only result in more people breathing out carbon dioxide. Whereas, if it is just plain burned up it will still release all that carbon dioxide, but at least no one will make any money off of it. (Shudder.) Dude, get your priorities straight.
Gesundheit (cfa313) — 6/10/2010 @ 12:36 pm/liberal-logic on
In defense of the President, the Dutch are no James Cameron.
What does a maritime people like the Dutch know about maritime industries anyway? Especially compared to the vast knowledge of a Hollywood director like Cameron?
The President knows what he is doing.
/liberal-logic off
We are so screwed.
Pons Asinorum (0ae484) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:12 pmI do wonder if some people who realize the potential to further cool our economy see that as a boon to the environment.
Then again, the worst offender of that, Gore, just built a castle very close to sea level after making nearly a billion dollars warning people that the sea was going to rise drastically. I don’t think they really care about the environment so much as just never letting a crisis go to waste. A whole lot of wealthy people know they have to somehow placate these Chicago thugs in order to continue their oil business. I wonder if BP is going to get off very easily and this current pose and repeated bizarre refusals to meet with BP are a preemptive defense.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:18 pmBuck science because Gore built a house. Brilliant Dustin.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:23 pmconsertative logic on
Obama is a moron because he’s a democrat. Ronald Reagan is the greatest president ever because he single handedly defeated communism
conservative logic off
You guys are morons.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:25 pmDid I say we should ignore “science”?
I said Al Gore made tremendous wealth warning people that an apocalyptic event would occur when the ocean’s rise. And then he spent that wealth on a huge house by the ocean.
In other words, he has contradicted himself. This method of refutation, pointing out an absurdity, is well regarded in the scientific community, btw.
I think we all know by now that democrat ‘science’ is really a corrupt religion that denies access to data, refuses to permit dissenting views being published, and even hides the decline in temperature.
Science isn’t an authority… it’s a method. Use the scientific method to show me some hypo that you tested and proved using logical methods. You can’t… so you insult me.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:26 pmNo, he didnt contradict himself. And hypocrisy by the scientist does not negate sound science. By the way, Gore did not come up with the theory, he was just the mouthpiece. Idiot.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:29 pmNo, silly.
Obama is a Democrat because he’s a moron.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:31 pmBy they way, this guy is clearly not a South Carolina Staunch Conservative. Why would you lie about your views, pretending to be a conservative when you aren’t?
Why are these astroturfers and mobies always being so obnoxious and demanding attention in threads that point out Obama’s terrible mistakes, costing Americans their livelihoods and economy? It will be a generation before we can even possibly recover from just this one mistake of President Obama.
Is it too much to ask that mobies and astroturfers permit us to discuss Obama? If you don’t think that’s acceptable to his prospects, for goodness’s sake, stop supporting Obama! He should have been on the ball, and knew by the time he got the Dutch request that we had a major crisis. Obama chose to risk economic and environmental damage in order to minimize the short term political crisis of admitting we were in trouble from his lax regulation of a hardcore democrat company. I don’t call that corruption: I call that a serious lapse of leadership that betrays a lack of experience.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:32 pm25: That is the tragic flaw of ‘you people’. You think you have the monopoly on intelligence and logic when actual intelligence and logic proves you to be dead wrong. And you’re not smart or literate enough to fully realize what you don’t know.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:32 pmJust another obnoxious Moby troll.
JD (f9a94f) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:34 pmStrange reasoning. Al Gore said the oceans were going to rise and kill us. Sure, he was the mouthpiece. Then Al Gore used the wealth this claim earned him and built his castle by the ocean.
That’s an obvious absurdity. And of course, having carefully read and listened to and watched Al Gores argumentation, I know he does claim to be an expert and he does rely on the sources that have famously been proven to be extremely corrupt and dishonest. Because I can tolerate views I don’t agree with being discussed. I don’t try to drastically change the subject, such as this moby ‘South Carolina Staunch Conservative’ does.
Why don’t you want us to talk about Obama’s leadership with the Dutch?
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:35 pmAh, the old “I’m a liberal, so I have to be smarter than you!” line.
The ‘tragic flaw’ you indulge is that you don’t think.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:35 pmThis site bores me.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:37 pmWhat does this mean? Are you saying liberals fully realize the knowledge they also do not know? That’s pretty awesome.
BTW, EW1 is one of the smartest commenters here. I commend your tactic of simply insulting him, because that’s going to work better than engaging him in reasonable debate.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:37 pmI get the feeling some people are trying harder and harder to get banned, so they can prove this site isn’t tolerant. they don’t realize they have to go farther and farther overboard because no one really gives a crap that they are liberal.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:39 pmComment by Dustin — 6/10/2010 @ 1:18 pm
Actually, he bought an existing house that is inland from Pacific Coast Hwy, and is on a ridge with an ocean view – probably at least 100′ above Sea Level!
AD - RtR/OS! (e78fff) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:48 pmSomeone needs to give this Moby a sign.
JD (df4ec8) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:48 pm#32 Dustin:
Dustin, it isn’t that I wouldn’t engage it in debate, I just don’t think that you can.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:48 pmThis site isn’t tolerant, but I’m not trying to get banned. This site sucks. It is a bunch of really dumb conservatives stroking each others’ egos.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:48 pmOh, I dunno.
You’re still here, and I can’t think of any good reason why, so that in itself is evidence of some amount of tolerance.
You, on the other hand, have shown none toward your host or his other guests. So basically, you tend to project your faults on others.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:55 pmEW1 – this one is aggressively ignorant, or willfilly obtuse. Lying about its political affiliation in its name is a pretty clear signal of its fundamental dishonesty, and lack of desire for any good faithed discussion.
JD (df4ec8) — 6/10/2010 @ 1:59 pmDo you have a single example?
AD, that sounds pretty sweet. I admit, though, that you’ve materially ruined my point. Geez.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:03 pmThe troll shows up out of the blue, lies in its moniker, lies in everything it says, is quickly caught, and it has the audacity to declare us intolerant and stupid? Are you kidding me?
Let’s see now. Who else lies about who they are?
PRC
PDRK
GDR
That’s just a start.
But this “new” troll is likely not all that new, anyway. Just an old troll with a new moniker.
John Hitchcock (9e8ad9) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:04 pmGive it time and I’ll get banned.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:12 pmObviously that’s what you want, or you wouldn’t have nakedly mobied (didn’t even think that was possible) and refused to discuss the thread topic (how Obama’s leadership was terrible when he refused what the USA needed badly).
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:20 pmWhat an idiot. Anyone can get banned if they try. If you’re not going to make a point or try to convince others of your position, why are you here? Honestly, I should just save everyone time and aggravation and make an exception to my own rule this once for the sake of this child. It’s easy to see he’ll just escalate the nonsense until there is no choice but to ban him.
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:21 pmThey are nothing if not predictable, stashiu.
JD (d9926c) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:24 pmThere is only room for one pet liberal here, and that quota has been filled.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:25 pmComment by Dustin — 6/10/2010 @ 2:03 pm
If you Google “gore montecito home” you’ll come up with a whole bunch of selections, but over at HuffPo they have a nice selection of pix (interior and exterior) of the home. It’s nice, with the backyard pool and spa looking South out over the Pacific Ocean/Santa Barbara Channel from what appears to be an altitude in excess of 1500-2000′ above Sea Level. I’m sure Tipper will enjoy her time there, especially with Al paying the taxes/maint/etc.
AD - RtR/OS! (e78fff) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:25 pmFoul smell wafting by,
Machinist (497786) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:29 pma new troll stirring the pot.
Childish whining.
“I’m sure Tipper will enjoy her time there, especially with Al paying the taxes/maint/etc.”
LOL
L Ron Hubbard said that the best way to get truly rich is to start a religion. Al Gore has certainly applied that reasoning to tremendous results.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:30 pmconsertative logic on
And hypocrisy by the scientist does not negate sound science
You guys are morons.
“…and I am EDUMACATED!”
Brilliant stuff.
There is only room for one pet liberal here, and that quota has been filled.
Yes, but we still have an opening for Village Idiot. Still interested? You’re definitely in the lead for that plum job.
Dmac (3d61d9) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:39 pmGive it time and I’ll get banned.
Nah, giving you giant atomic wedgies is much more fun than just banning your silly arse – please give us some more material, we’re just getting started.
Dmac (3d61d9) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:41 pmI’m sure it’s pure coincidence, but a troll who used to masquerade as a concern troll signed off “until July” and a troll who tried to masquerade as a moby signed on. Congruent intellectual prowess.
John Hitchcock (9e8ad9) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:45 pmAnd he was pretty ridiculous about South Carolina Conservative outrage, too, John. I honestly am not smart enough to figure out who is which sockpuppet. I was completely blindsided when Ellison turned out to be Greenwald, and that was one of the most obvious examples.
But one point: the best proxy services will host from countries that have terrible policies on free speech. Such as Qatar. Smart astroturfing would probably come from places like that sometimes.
Something was really odd about that person’s motivations.
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 2:50 pmThis site only gets people to comment on it regularly or with passion when people like me show up on it. You should be thankful.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 3:01 pmBut you’re not talking about Obama’s leadership with relation to the Dutch or even the oil spill. You’re just calling us idiots.
Do you have any kind of defense for that? Are you really a staunch conservative (lol)?
Why would you expect thanks when you’re not contributing anything?
Dustin (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 3:05 pmPresident Obama may or may not be a moron (your words). If he is then it is not likely because he is a Democrat, but a leftist.
Former President Reagan is a great President, but he may or may not be the greatest and he did not defeat communism (single-handedly or otherwise) — but did contribute to the elimination of a failed socialist nation-state (called the Soviet Union) which resulted in the end of the Cold War.
Insults are funnier if they have a colonel of truth: President Obama really did prevent the Dutch from helping us and he really did
Pons Asinorum (0ae484) — 6/10/2010 @ 3:55 pmconsult with Cameron. Your statements are simple falsehoods.
Pons…Pons…
“…a colonel of truth…”?
Are you sure it wasn’t a major of truth?
AD - RtR/OS! (e78fff) — 6/10/2010 @ 4:08 pmOr a lt.col.?
AD, you caught me — how about “kernel of truth…”.
Guess I cannot make fun of the President and his use of the term “corpse-men”.
Pons Asinorum (0ae484) — 6/10/2010 @ 4:15 pmWell, “corpse-man” in relation to the President would be appropriate, since he seems to be well on his way to “Dead Man Walking” status.
AD - RtR/OS! (e78fff) — 6/10/2010 @ 4:17 pmPons Asinorum:
Oh, hell, I would! Besides, the O!ne has a Colonel of Truth: his name is “South Carolina Staunch Conservative,” or something like that, anyway.
/And I am not even going to make too much fun of you sticking your period outside your closing quote. After all, wouldn’t want the Colonel of Truth thinking that we’re unedumacated hicks who cain’t spell or nothing.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 6/10/2010 @ 4:33 pmI have NEVER liked that rule. I used to consistently put a period on each side which drove my teachers crazy. I told them one period ended the quote, the other ended the sentence. Now, I do whatever I feel like (unless it’s with Machinist or sillyblindharper… then I follow the rules because Mac will taunt me or harper will stomp her foot). 😉
Stashiu3 (44da70) — 6/10/2010 @ 4:40 pm#60 Stashiu3:
Fortunately, Pons is just too nice a guy to give me the comeuppance I deserve. 😉
/I hope…
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 6/10/2010 @ 5:11 pmI told them one period ended the quote, the other ended the sentence.
What do you do when you are making a statement that ends with a quote that is a question?
Example: I couldn’t believe he was serious when he asked, “I’m going to miss EricPWJ’s posts while he’s gone, when will he be back?”.
There, “the question mark ended the quote, the period finished the sentence”.
And the South Carolina Staunch Conservative thought this blog was boring, sheesh…
MD in Philly (5a98ff) — 6/10/2010 @ 6:03 pmAl Gore was not merely a “mouthpiece”, SCSC, he claimed to understand the scientist more than his opponents as well.
Which was especially hilarious given how many stupid errors he put in his film, and how many gaffes he makes speaking on the topic.
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/10/2010 @ 6:22 pmPajamas profiled a businessman’s factory in Maine who offered the government and/or BP miles of oil containment boom back in May. Senators Snowe and Collins also wrote letters to the secretary of the Interior, the administrator of NOAA, and the commandant of the Coast Guard informing them of the Maine resident’s company, Packgen, and the much needed product he produced. They informed the entities of his boom supply and demonstrated ability to make more.
He was visited by a BP rep at his factory, who inspected his product. The governor of Maine also visited the plant and even made a video to promote it. Unfortunately he too was a Thanks but no thanks‘ recipient.
The other important aspect to this story is that Maine’s unemployment numbers are high so this company was not only able to add two shifts a day to produce 40,000 feet of boom a day, but also to increase employment in Maine. Perhaps if they had been contracted way back in May to produce the necessary amounts of boom, it would have helped with the cleanup that much sooner as well as help employ Maine residents needing the work.
I don’t know enough about the issue to know how much of an impact the businessman from Maine’s product could have had, and I don’t know that the administration knows either.
My impression is if it’s not the President himself having the epiphany, idea, or idea himself, then the answer is Thanks, but no thanks.
Dana (1e5ad4) — 6/10/2010 @ 6:25 pmEh. Should be: My impression is if it’s not the President himself having the epiphany, idea, or
Dana (1e5ad4) — 6/10/2010 @ 6:28 pmideainspirationhimself, then the answeriswill be Thanks, but no thanks.#60 Stashiu3,
Machinist (497786) — 6/10/2010 @ 6:45 pmHeh! Fear teh foot!
“The buck stops with me.”
– Barack Hussein Obama
It’s becoming increasingly obvious with every passing day that this guy couldn’t lead a scout troop, let alone the U.S. of A.
GeneralMalaise (57a85b) — 6/10/2010 @ 6:53 pma colonel of truth
ColonelHaiku (57a85b) — 6/10/2010 @ 8:06 pmdeserves corporal punishment
generally speak… ing
Comment by EW1(SG) — 6/10/2010 @ 5:11 pm
Heh! EW (must stand for Electronic Warfare and English Wizard!), no comeuppance for you; I had to look this up. I always thought the period should go after the quote if it is not part of the quote. I am completely wrong. (For a weak defense I will offer that MicroSnot Word also failed to detect a problem.)
Stash, your logic is my logic, but at least you know what the rule is. I have no excuse save ignorance (I feel like the proverbial liberal who has just been mugged).
This reminds me of when my English-major wife and I had a thirty-minute “discussion” on the correct use of proper-name and I versus proper-name and me. (I lost — and the worst part is, English isn’t even her native language) 🙂
I’m just glad she hasn’t seen this thread!
Pons Asinorum (0ae484) — 6/10/2010 @ 9:09 pmComment by ColonelHaiku — 6/10/2010 @ 8:06 pm
I’m still going to call it six on that last line despite the ellipsis, but it still made me laugh — even harder!
Very clever, thanks ColonelHaiku
Pons Asinorum (0ae484) — 6/10/2010 @ 9:18 pmYawn. Get a life fellas.
South Carolina Staunch Conservative (d0020f) — 6/10/2010 @ 10:19 pm________________________________________________
Buck science because Gore built a house. Brilliant Dustin.
Comment by South Carolina Staunch Conservative — 6/10/2010 @ 1:23 pm
And prior to the house referred to by Dustin, Al Gore, the epitome of a limousine liberal, was guilty of this…
Mark (411533) — 6/10/2010 @ 10:24 pmI mean, I mean, the people have spoken. The people of South Carolina have spoken. The people of South Carolina have spoken. We have to be pro-South Carolina. The people of South Carolina have spoken. We have to be pro-South Carolina.
South Carolina Staunch Liberal Alvin Greene (b54cdc) — 6/10/2010 @ 10:25 pmI love how Clyburn is calling for an investigation as to how his SC Dems nominated an unemployed dude with obscenity charges on the way.
JD (ffe6ea) — 6/10/2010 @ 10:30 pmGet a life? What does that say about you? So embarassed and self-loathing that you have to lie about your political affiliation in your name. That suggests a rich, full life, no?
JD (ffe6ea) — 6/10/2010 @ 10:34 pm#70 Pons Asinorum:
Uh oh, I certainly hope I haven’t opened a can of worms that I’ll later regret!
To be fair and honest, it is an obscure rule and your general erudition shows great facility with the language~you never have any problem communicating eloquently. It was a preemptive comment in case the troll was tempted to say, “See, y’all are a bunch of rubes because you cain’t grammar right!”
Now, the place where it all falls apart of course, is parentheses. But that is an area only a pedant could love, and I just don’t give a sit.
EW1(SG) (edc268) — 6/11/2010 @ 4:57 amColor me ignorant (I’ll let you decide what color that is…), but I’ve only been a reader here for a few months.
Can someone define “moby” for me?? I’m obviously missing something….
rtrski (336865) — 6/11/2010 @ 6:58 amrtski – Moby refers to the musician Moby, who famously suggested that liberals pose as conservatives on websites, and make outrageous and inflammatory remarks, so as to discredit conservatives in general. The classic into is “as a concerned christian conservative”, followed by blather. Or, another common way is to declare oneself a concerned christian conservative who is not supporting leftist ideals because of the racism etc … of Bush or conservatives.
JD (de02cc) — 6/11/2010 @ 7:31 amrtrski, you can get a decent understanding of a moby here.
John Hitchcock (9e8ad9) — 6/11/2010 @ 7:33 ammoby grape rocked
ColonelHaiku (57a85b) — 6/11/2010 @ 7:34 am“Omaha” kicked buttocks
new Moby sucks much
But that works too, JD.
John Hitchcock (9e8ad9) — 6/11/2010 @ 7:35 amThe Jones Act requires that all vessels plying between two US ports without an intervening foriegn stop be flagged in and crewed by the US. It is considered a major protection for US maritime unions. The Obama admin has not yet considered even a single waiver of the act to enable a foriegn flagged vessel to assist in this action. Adm. Thad Allen was just on FOX to state that he has not had a request to waive it and that he can waive it himself. Carol Browner on the other hand states that Allen has not called her to ask for a waiver, which implies that she believes that the request must go through her. So the Obama admin does not have a procedure at this point, far less than actively welcoming or even seeking out foriegn flagged resources.
Have Blue (854a6e) — 6/11/2010 @ 8:02 amOuch. I wish I didn’t know that. I liked his music.
But mucho thanks for the explication. {sic}
rtrski (336865) — 6/11/2010 @ 8:43 amThe Obama admin has not yet considered even a single waiver of the act to enable a foriegn flagged vessel to assist in this action.
Have Blue — that’s because we don’t need any help. The President has everything under control (he can stop the oceans from rising, you know). Besides, he already consulted with the best.
(Boy-oh-boy, can’t wait for ObamaCare to strike the nation — will make this Oil Spill see like the good-ole days of government competence.)
Pons Asinorum (0ae484) — 6/11/2010 @ 12:53 pmComment by EW1(SG) — 6/11/2010 @ 4:57 am
Thanks EW — coming from you that is a big compliment.
Pons Asinorum (0ae484) — 6/11/2010 @ 12:56 pm