Saturday, July 31, 2010
Friday, July 30, 2010
Some Scientists Say Initial Eco-Fears Seem Overblown
The BP Spill: Has the Damage Been Exaggerated?
President Obama has called the BP oil spill "the worst environmental disaster America has ever faced," and so has just about everyone else. Green groups are sounding alarms about the "catastrophe along the Gulf Coast," while CBS, Fox and MSNBC are all slapping "Disaster in the Gulf" chyrons on their spill-related news. Even BP fall guy Tony Hayward, after some early happy talk, admitted that the spill was an "environmental catastrophe." The obnoxious anti-environmentalist Rush Limbaugh has been a rare voice arguing that the spill — he calls it "the leak" — is anything less than an ecological calamity, scoffing at the avalanche of end-is-nigh eco-hype.
Well, Limbaugh has a point. The Deepwater Horizon explosion was an awful tragedy for the 11 workers who died on the rig, and it's no leak; it's the biggest oil spill in U.S. history. It's also inflicting serious economic and psychological damage on coastal communities that depend on tourism, fishing and drilling. But so far — while it's important to acknowledge that the long-term potential danger is simply unknowable for an underwater event that took place just three months ago — it does not seem to be inflicting severe environmental damage. "The impacts have been much, much less than everyone feared," says geochemist Jacqueline Michel, a federal contractor who is coordinating shoreline assessments in Louisiana.
Yes, the spill killed birds — but so far, less than 1% of the number killed by the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska 21 years ago. Yes, we've heard horror stories about oiled dolphins — but so far, wildlife-response teams have collected only three visibly oiled carcasses of mammals. Yes, the spill prompted harsh restrictions on fishing and shrimping, but so far, the region's fish and shrimp have tested clean, and the restrictions are gradually being lifted. And yes, scientists have warned that the oil could accelerate the destruction of Louisiana's disintegrating coastal marshes — a real slow-motion ecological calamity — but so far, assessment teams have found only about 350 acres of oiled marshes, when Louisiana was already losing about 15,000 acres of wetlands every year.
The disappearance of more than 2,000 sq. mi. of coastal Louisiana over the past century has been a true national tragedy, ravaging a unique wilderness, threatening the bayou way of life and leaving communities like New Orleans extremely vulnerable to hurricanes from the Gulf. And while much of the erosion has been caused by the re-engineering of the Mississippi River — which no longer deposits much sediment at the bottom of its Delta — quite a bit has been caused by the oil and gas industry, which gouged 8,000 miles of canals and pipelines through coastal wetlands. But the spill isn't making that problem much worse. Coastal scientist Paul Kemp, a former Louisiana State University professor who is now a National Audubon Society vice president, compares the impact of the spill on the vanishing marshes to "a sunburn on a cancer patient."
Marine scientist Ivor van Heerden, another former LSU prof, who's working for a spill-response contractor, says, "There's just no data to suggest this is an environmental disaster. I have no interest in making BP look good — I think they lied about the size of the spill — but we're not seeing catastrophic impacts." Van Heerden, like just about everyone else working in the Gulf these days, is being paid from BP's spill-response funds. "There's a lot of hype, but no evidence to justify it."
The scientists I spoke with cite four basic reasons the initial eco-fears seem overblown. First, the Deepwater oil, unlike the black glop from the Valdez, is unusually light and degradable, which is why the slick in the Gulf is dissolving surprisingly rapidly now that the gusher has been capped. Second, the Gulf of Mexico, unlike Alaska's Prince William Sound, is very warm, which has helped bacteria break down the oil. Third, heavy flows of Mississippi River water have helped keep the oil away from the coast, where it can do much more damage. And finally, Mother Nature can be incredibly resilient. Van Heerden's assessment team showed me around Casse-tete Island in Timbalier Bay, where new shoots of Spartina grasses were sprouting in oiled marshes and new leaves were growing on the first black mangroves I've ever seen that were actually black. "It comes back fast, doesn't it?" van Heerden said.
Van Heerden is controversial in Louisiana, so I should mention that this isn't the first time he and Kemp have helped convince me that the conventional wisdom about a big story was wrong. Shortly after Hurricane Katrina, when the Army Corps of Engineers was still insisting that a gigantic surge had overwhelmed its levees, they gave me a tour that debunked the prevailing narrative, demonstrating that most of the breached flood walls in New Orleans showed no signs of overtopping. Eventually, the Corps admitted that van Heerden and Kemp were right, that the surge in New Orleans was not so gigantic and that engineering failures had indeed drowned the city. But there was still a lot of resentment down here of van Heerden and his big mouth, especially after he wrote an I-told-you-so book about Katrina. He made powerful enemies at LSU, lost his faculty job, and is now suing the university. Meanwhile, he's been trashed locally as a BP shill ever since he downplayed the spill in a video on BP's website.
But van Heerden and Kemp were right about Katrina, and when it comes to BP, they're sticking to the evidence gathered by the spill-response teams — which all include a state and federal representative as well as a BP contractor. So far, the teams have collected nearly 3,000 dead birds, but fewer than half of them were visibly oiled; some may have died from eating oil-contaminated food, but others may have simply died naturally at a time when the Gulf happened to be crawling with carcass seekers. In any case, the Valdez may have killed as many as 435,000 birds. The teams have found 492 dead sea turtles, which is unfortunate, but only 17 were visibly oiled; otherwise, they have found only one other dead reptile in the entire Gulf. "We can't speak to the long-term impacts, but Ivor is just saying what all of us are seeing," says Amy Holman, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) director for Alaska who is working on van Heerden's assessment team in the Gulf.The shoreline teams have documented more than 600 miles of oiled beaches and marshes, but the beaches are fairly easy to clean, and the beleaguered marshes don't seem to be suffering much additional damage. Oil has blackened the fringes of the marshes, but most of it stayed within a few feet of the edge; waves from a recent tropical storm did carry more oil a few meters inland, but very little of it infiltrated the wetland soils that determine the health of the marsh.
LSU coastal scientist Eugene Turner has dedicated much of his career to documenting how the oil industry has ravaged Louisiana's coast with canals and pipelines, but he says the BP spill will be a comparative blip and predicts that the oil will destroy fewer marshes than the airboats deployed to clean up the oil. "We don't want to deny that there's some damage, but nothing like the damage we've seen for years," he says.
It's true that oil spills can create long-term problems; in Alaska, for example, shorebirds that ate Exxon-tainted mussels have had diminished reproductive success, and herring fisheries have yet to fully recover. The potential long-term damage that underwater oil plumes and an unprecedented amount of chemical dispersants that BP has spread in the area could have on the region's deep-water ecosystems and food chains might not be known for years. Some scientists worry that the swarms of oil-eating bacteria will lower dissolved oxygen levels; there has been early evidence of modest reductions, though nothing approaching the dead zone that was already proliferating in the Gulf because of agricultural runoff in the Mississippi River basin. "People always fear the worst in a spill, and this one was especially scary because we didn't know when it would stop," says Michel, an environmental consultant who has worked spills for NOAA for more than 30 years. "But the public always overestimates the danger — and this time, those of us in the spill business did too."
It's easy to overstate the policy implications of this optimistic news. BP still needs to clean up its mess; federal regulation of deep-water drilling still needs to be strengthened; we still need to use fewer fossil fuels that warm the planet; we still don't need to use more corn ethanol (which is actually dirtier than gasoline). The push to exploit the spill to gain a comprehensive energy and climate bill in Congress has already stalled anyway — even though the planet still needs one.
The good news does suggest the folly of Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's $350 million plan to build sand berms and rock jetties to protect marshes and barrier islands from oil. Some of the berms are already washing into the Gulf, and scientists agree that oil is the least of the problems facing Louisiana's coast, which had already lost more than 2,000 sq. mi. of wetlands before the spill. "Imagine how much real restoration we could do with all that money," van Heerden says.
Anti-oil politicians, anti-Obama politicians and underfunded green groups all have obvious incentives to accentuate the negative in the Gulf. So do the media, because disasters drive ratings and sell magazines; those oil-soaked pelicans you saw on TV (and the cover of TIME) were a lot more compelling than the healthy ones I saw roosting on a protective boom in Bay Jimmy. Even Limbaugh, when he wasn't downplaying the spill, outrageously hyped it as "Obama's Katrina." But honest scientists don't do that, even when they work for Audubon.
"There are a lot of alarmists in the bird world," Kemp says. "People see oiled pelicans and they go crazy. But this has been a disaster for people, not biota."source: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2007202,00.html
source: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2007202-1,00.html
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Another Oil Spill... and Again, No Reporters Allowed
Michigan oil spill a replay of Gulf spill?
It’s looking like the oil spill from a pipeline into the Talmadge Creek in Calhoun County is going to be a replay of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in at least one respect — the companies, aided by the government, do not want the media to have access to take pictures and video of what is going on. The Michigan Messenger’s Todd Heywood is on the scene and was turned away from one of the primary sites by employees of Enbridge, the company that owns and operates the pipeline.
Heywood was at 12 Mile Rd. and C Avenue at a bridge over the Ceresco Dam when employees from Enbridge turned him away. The employee would only give his name as Mike, and when he noticed Heywood writing down the information he said, “I’m not telling you anything else” and walked away.
A sheriff’s deputy on the scene confirmed that he was not allowed to take pictures there of the oil spill or the wildlife. He then went to the Enbridge command center and was told by Enbridge spokesperson Lorraine Grymala that he would have to go to the Calhoun County Sheriff to talk to them about it.
At the Calhoun County offices, the desk clerk would not give him the contact information for the sheriff or a public information officer and said she was told only to give out an 800 number. That number went to Enbridge, but it is only an answering machine where one can leave messages.
Heywood reports that they are closing down roads all along the Kalamazoo River and there is a heavy smell of oil in the air. People have been pulling oil-covered animals out of the water, but at this point there is no place for them to go. A private company is being brought in to handle the wildlife cleanup but there is nothing in place yet for treating them.
We’ll have more as this story develops.
source: http://michiganmessenger.com/40133/michigan-oil-spill-a-replay-of-gulf-spill
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Iredescent Chemcloud Over Panama City Beach
While walking on the beach after dinner this evening, noticed this iridescent cloud at sunset. I've seen this before when living in California, so they are not real uncommon but for sure they are not natural. We never saw this in the sky befor the 1980's.
MORE:
http://sonomachemtrails.blogspot.com/2009/05/pretty-but-lethal-north-texas-sky-april.html
Jane Burgermeister Reports on Gulf Oil Spill
Toxicologists: Corexit “Ruptures Red Blood Cells, Causes Internal Bleeding”, “Allows Crude Oil To Penetrate “Into The Cells” and “Every Organ System”
Journalists covering Gulf oil spill intimidated by law enforcement and BP
Why did Kindra Arnesan get security clearance from BP when no one else did?
Petro-chemical-military-industrial complex is gassing Gulf Coast residents, reports Deborah Dupre
IS THE VOILCANO A FALSE FLAG OP TO FORCE EVACUATE THE GULF STATES?
Oil Industry Insider and CFR Member Predicts Gulf Evacuation
Methane and Martial Law in the Gulf of Mexico
Methane gas levels in Gulf up to a million times higher than normal
Oil flows unimpeded into Gulf after cap yanked off by BP
Friday, July 23, 2010
Alarm Disabled on Oil Rig
Williams also said the Deepwater Horizon was to be sent to a shipyard for extensive repairs. He said he was told the rig would be there for an extended time because "it was in very bad shape."
How 'convenient' for the thing to blow up rather than be repaired.
Rig worker: Alarm system partly disabled
July 23, 2010 12:22:00 PM
ALAN SAYRE, Associated Press Writer
KENNER, La. — An electronics technician aboard the ill-fated oil rig Deepwater Horizon told an investigative panel Friday that an alarm system was partially shut down on the day the rig exploded.
Mike Williams, who worked for rig owner Transocean Ltd., said a three-way alarm system to warn of fire, explosive gas and toxic gas was turned on to monitor conditions, but its sound and light alarms had been disabled.
He testified he knew the alarm settings from a computer monitor into which it fed. He said in 2009 he asked about the settings and was told the company "didn't want people looking up at 3 a.m. to a false alarm."
Williams said that if the system had been fully operational, an alarm likely would have sounded before the explosion, which happened late on the night of April 20.
Williams testified he had no warning of the blast before it occurred.
The rig's drilling room also had chronic computer problems, including one computer that carried the nickname "the blue screen of death," he said
Williams said the computer had a 1990s operating system and was subject to periodic failure.
Williams also said the Deepwater Horizon was to be sent to a shipyard for extensive repairs. He said he was told the rig would be there for an extended time because "it was in very bad shape."
The Deepwater Horizon was working in the Gulf of Mexico about 40 miles southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River when it exploded and burned.
The rig sank two days later. Since then, millions of gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf.
The Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and Enforcement will conclude a week of hearings on Friday, then resume Aug. 23-27 in Houston.
source: http://www.newsherald.com/news/system-85600-alarm-worker.html
--- end ---
Rig alarm system partly disabled at time of blast
source: http://www.9wsyr.com/news/local/story/Rig-alarm-system-partly-disabled-at-time-of-blast/DtE8e0iFcUG27Do6ecjU5Q.cspx
 KENNER, La. (AP) - An electronics technician aboard the ill-fated oil rig Deepwater Horizon told an investigative panel Friday that an alarm system was partially shut down on the day the rig exploded. Mike Williams said the system was turned on to monitor for fire, explosive gas and toxic gas but that its sound and light alarms had been disabled. Williams worked for rig owner Transocean Ltd. The rig was leased by BP PLC. Williams testified that he had asked before about the settings and was told the company didn't want a false alarm waking people at night. Williams said that if the system had been fully active, an alarm likely would have sounded before the explosion, which happened on the night of April 20. Since then, millions of gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf. |
COMMENTS
1. Isn't there anyone out there who can investigate this and see it for what it is? Doesn't anyone wonder why when the coal mines in Virginia collapsed or any other disaster in the US has occurred there is extensive media coverage. However, in this case, not one photo or mention of the actual crew or rig. Just coverage on the oil in the gulf. Now they are saying that the alarm system was partially disabled. I think that the government is covering up a terrorist attack. That is why the alarms were disabled, that is why there aren't any pictures up of the crew or any further coverage on the crew or the rig. Since when do we not have safety measures in place and the the safety valve shut offs disabled as well? Wake up, we are being lied to and this is being covered up. I think BP is just taking the fall because they cannot stand up to the United States.
2. This sounds like a cover-up. Sixty Minutes had a widow of that blast saying that her husband was sure safety procedures were being ignored (to increase profitability). On his last trip home he got his Will and other papers in order for his family. That was the last time he saw them.
BP Workers Down From 4,000 to 1,000 in Bay County... GOOD!
BP scaling back it's response in Bay County
After 93 days, with almost no damage, BP is scaling back their clean-up work-force and equipment in Bay County. Many local workers have been put on stand-by, while some from outside Bay and the surrounding counties are being phased out to make room for more locals.
Posted: 10:13 PM Jul 22, 2010
Reporter: Meredith TerHaar
Email Address: Meredith.terhaar@wjhg.com
BP Scaling Back Its Oil Spill Response In Panama City Area By 75%
Bay County- The only Deepwater Horizon Oil spill evidence to show up in our viewing area were some tar balls, a few small patches of oil, some oil-coated birds and animals and a couple of huge storage tanks that washed ashore. After 93 days, with almost no damage, BP is scaling back their clean-up work-force and equipment in Bay County. Many local workers have been put on stand-by, while some from outside Bay and the surrounding counties are being phased out to make room for more locals.
The vacuum trucks, front loaders, and huge Mack trucks that filled the Miracle Strip BP staging area just days ago, are gone. 90% of the large equipment has been moved to warehouses as BP prepares for any possible impact from the tropical depression. And the boom that's taken weeks to deploy, it's also coming out. "It poses a greater hazard by being in the water if it were damaged by wind, waves or any other type of activity. What we don't want is for that boom to cause any more damage by being in the way of a tropical storm," said Vani Rao, BP's public information officer for Bay County.
So how much boom will redeployed and when? "I'm confident that we are going to put the boom that is necessary back into the water. If there is any type of event, within 24 hours we will begin the re-entry process. But what if the panhandle escapes the tropical depression without any oil damage? Some believe once BP pulls out, they won't come back. Rao says that is not true, but does say the company is scaling-back. "We ramped up alot of resources preparing for any type of impact. What happened is the number of resources within the county were not commensurate with the impact that we received. So what we want to do is scale back the response, but keep people available so if the activity increases then we have the resources ready to support that impact," said Rao.
The clean-up workers, living in Bay and the surrounding counties, are being placed on stand-by until their services are needed again.
The stand-by workers are not receiving a check. BP is laying-off some of the out-of-town workers. "The only way you can create room for a local workforce is to create the space for that workforce to be hired, that means the people who aren't from here, have to be let go," said Rao.
That is something county commissioners have been pushing for for weeks. "We go through this every time we have a hurricane, people flood in throughout the frickin' United States to work here and take money back to wherever they come from. That is not right. These people are suffering, they deserve the opportunity," said Bay County Commissioner Jerry Girvin.
BP and it's sub-contractors had as many as 4,000 workers in Bay County alone. That's down to about 1,000 today.
source: http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/99099919.html
Bonnie
Tropical storm Bonnie may force evacuations of gulf shore communities
Tropical Storm Bonnie may be a weak storm in terms of wind speed but it does not take a lot for storm surges to barrel into the gulf coast shores and communities.Gov. Bobby Jindal says he has declared a state of emergency as Tropical Storm Bonnie moves toward the Gulf of Mexico and threatens to strike the Louisiana coast on Sunday. Mississippi, Alabama and Florida have not issued preemptive declarations of emergency. A state declared state of emergency begins the trigger for FEMA to be involved.
HIGH ANXIETY WITH COREXIT AND OIL STORM SURGES
The anxiety level is high even in the Twitter streams. Chatter is high asking what FEMA or the Unified Command is doing for the shoreline communities. Other than ordering the evacuation of all ships working in the disaster, the federal government and BP have been quiet about Tropical Storm Bonnie. There are no announcements on evacuation centers or evacuation transport for shoreline residents.
Individual parishes were also preparing similar declarations. Local parish leaders in coastal communities could call for evacuation of low-lying areas outside of levee protection systems as early as Friday morning even if Bonnie is not a hurricane.
Ordinarily gulf residents don't pay attention to tropical storms but the prospect of storm surges with oil sludge, sheen and the poison Corexit has increased the fear and anxiety level of shoreline communities. The storm surges will reveal all sorts of potential damage of Corexit and oil sludge to the inner marshes, land, plant life and near-shore ecosystems.
THE BOBBY-BILLY BERM TEST IS HERE
Governor Bobby Jindal and Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser will be surely be paying close attention to the rock and sand berms they constructed. I hope they have pictures. I predict the sand and rock berms will be eviscerated by Bonnie even if she does not become a full blown hurricane. The berms will just become part of the photographic history of the Louisiana coast. They will not withstand a 50 mph storm surge.
The National Hurricane Center so far does not expect the system to exceed tropical storm strength, or winds of 35 miles per hour but even a weak tropical storm can push seawater, oil and Corexit inland. The warm gulf waters can quickly create a hurricane.
Louisiana storm surge... Now imagine the surge with salt water, Corexit and oil sludge
Looking at the tropical storm map, Louisiana is in the center of Bonnie's target zone. Corexit, oil sludge, oil sheen surges are inevitable.
LIVE REAL-TIME INTERACTIVE TROPICAL STORM BONNIE TRACKER
REAL TIME STORM TRACKING TOOL (Turn on FORECAST MODEL on the upper right of the map to see possible tracks) Play around with the map. Thanks to my friends at StormPulse.
| July 23 2010 at 07:22 AM
More on Chemtrails...
by Zen Gardner
Alternative News Editor, BeforeItsNews.com
It’s been outright silence and denial concerning the chemtrail phenomenon since they started this insidious program in the early 90′s. While the aerosol spraying is ‘as plain as the nose on your face’, public discussion has been held off almost entirely so the vast majority would continue to not even notice.
While disinformation claiming these chemtrails are simply contrails from increased air traffic seems to have been a workable ‘dispersant’ on public perception, it’s remained buried in obscure articles or internet pages. A very few scientific TV shows have talked about them, but with the usual dismissive conclusions.
Divide, Demonize and Conquer
Usually, those concerned about ‘chemtrails’ are immediately stigmatized as ‘conspiracy nuts’ and effectively marginalized and lumped together with anything someone might consider a wingnut. Very effective mental electric fence: “don’t go there buddy, you’ll be one of them” And for the self-centered apathetic masses with no backbone or loyalty to truth, it works.
Even more insidious is the fascist control false choice mantra “you’re either with us or you’re with the terrorists”. Very clever, Herr Fascist. But those aren’t the only choices. But sure works to squelch dissent when enforced by draconian laws such as we have now.
Here's Wikipedia on false choice or false dilemma:
The logical fallacy of false dilemma (also called false dichotomy, the either-or fallacy) involves a situation in which only two alternatives are considered, when in fact there are other options. Closely related are failing to consider a range of options and the tendency to think in extremes, called black-and-white thinking. Strictly speaking, the prefix “di” in “dilemma” means “two”. When a list of more than two choices is offered, but there are other choices not mentioned, then the fallacy is called the fallacy of false choice, or the fallacy of exhaustive hypotheses.
False dilemma can arise intentionally, when fallacy is used in an attempt to force a choice (“If you are not with us, you are against us.“)
[The phrase "you're either with us, or against us" and similar variations are used to depict situations as being polarized and to force witnesses and bystanders to become allies or lose favor. The implied consequence of not joining the team effort is to be deemed an enemy.]
Here’s a recent CSI episode playing this card quite clearly:
Are they responding to our ‘wake up’?
People are becoming aware of what’s really going on at an exponential rate. It’s apparently reaching critical mass concerning this chemtrail issue, so it appears they’re starting to shift tactics.
It reminds me of the UFO cover up and the lack of ‘disclosure’ by our patronizing governments. That we need some enslaving, parasitic beast called government to acknowledge something before thinking something is real is pathetic, we must admit. But practically, if it’s a concern that we need to have mitigated, first it has to be acknowledged and identified. But in today’s totalitarian world we’ve become so powerless it seems that all they need to do is ignore us and simply not answer the question–or even let us publicly ask it.
But the word is getting out. Here’s an ad taken out in a California newspaper:
What this phenomenon highlights for me is the hijacking of reality by ‘the powers that be’ ultimately via the media, using false science, false education and misinformation–never mind enslaving economics and puppet politics. True information is power and cultivates intelligence spontaneously. False or hidden information cripples and starves a population. Hence today’s dumbed-down society. It’s that simple. (Thanks also to the assault on our bodies through drugged air, water, food and a drug-crazed medical system.)
The one-two punch: disinformation and legitimization through ‘science’
There recently was a round of scientific meetings held to discuss geoengineering in somewhat public forums. While there were demonstrations and the panels were challenged by those knowing the program was already in full swing, they were able to begin to seemingly ‘legitimize’ the subject into the public conscience. Following a similar conference in San Diego, the following took place in northern California just to give you an idea:
Concerns Abound as Geoengineering Conference Opens
Photo: Craig Miller
(Mar. 21) This week in Monterey, an international group of scientists and policymakers are are gathering to hash out some ground rules for experimenting with climate intervention, or “geoengineering”–what many are calling “Plan B” for dealing with climate change.
There are two main categories of geoengineering strategies: one focuses on blocking solar radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface, the other aims to remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The goal of both is to pull an emergency brake on global warming, using technology that is, in many cases, experimental.
Ideas for blocking the sun include science-fiction-sounding ideas like spraying sulfur aerosol into the stratosphere (which we explore in a radio feature on The California Report), launching reflectors into orbit, and spraying seawater at clouds to make them brighter and more reflective.
Because much of the technology remains untested, and because, given the complexities of the climate system there’s no real way to test them out in a lab, (not to mention the philosophical issue of interfering in such a direct way with the Earth), the very idea of geoengineering is controversial (watch this space for more about that in the week ahead) But as it turns out, this week’s conference in Monterey is shaping up to be controversial on its own. Source
"Simon...I mean, science says..do this!"
This is how the horrific fluoride scam was proffered. Dress it up in a white lab coat.
Very similar to these types of campaigns:
I know, it’s unabashed. But most only seem to see these things fully in hindsight. That they’re being manipulated with lies, inference and omission here and now in every walk of life is beyond most people’s comprehension in their dumbed-down state.
Keeping up the disinformation: here’s the “party line” at work
So now to today’s pusillanimous, psedo-scientific Daily Mail article on chemtrails:
Attack of the vapours – how jet trails block out the sunshine
(DailyMail) If you are jetting off for an exotic holiday this summer, spare a thought for those you leave behind.
Because it seems that sun-seekers are responsible for leaving the rest of us languishing under grey skies – thanks to the emissions from aircraft engines.
These vapour trails create clouds which, experts claim, can block out sunlight for millions. This is the reason that our skies appeared unusually blue when the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull was erupting, and all flights over Britain were banned.
Vapour trails create clouds which, experts claim, can block out sunlight for millions
The phenomenon occurs when aircraft fly above 25,000ft, where the air temperature is around minus 30C. This causes water vapour emitted by the engines to crystallise and form the familiar white streaks across the sky, known as contrails.
These can be short-lived. But if there is already a significant amount of moisture in the atmosphere they can linger for hours, as the excess water vapour from the engines tips the surrounding air past its saturation point.
This acts as a catalyst to speed up the natural process of cloud formation. Cirrus clouds – the wisp-like formations seen at high altitude – begin to form around the contrails.
Scientists say these grow into thin layers of cloud and can cover up to an astonishing 20,000 square miles of sky – or about a fifth of the UK.
The level of moisture in the air at high altitudes is unrelated to weather conditions at ground level, which is why it is possible to see contrails on a clear day.
Reading University’s Professor Keith Shine, an expert in clouds, said that those formed by aircraft fumes could linger ‘for hours’, depriving those areas under busy flight paths, such as London and the Home Counties, of summer sunshine.
The Jet clouds that can cover 20,000 square miles
‘People from abroad are amazed by the number of vapour trails in the skies over London,’ he said. ‘When the air is wet enough, the cloud formed by contrails can last for hours.’
Experts have warned that, as a result, the amount of sunlight hitting the ground could be reduced by as much as ten per cent. Professor Shine added: ‘Over the busiest areas in London and the South of England, this high-level cloud could cover the sky, turning bright sunshine into hazy conditions for the entire area. I expect the effects will get worse as the volume of air traffic increases.’ (source)
There you have it..after all, “scientists say” and “Professor Shine” knows–and he says it’s gonna get worse–I bet it will!
And how about that childish, patronizing illustration he used. Think this might be closer to what’s going on?
Explain this, doc:
The chemtrails vs contrails debate (excerpt)
The former Mayor of Evergem, Belgium doesn’t go for it. (Nor do millions of others.)
Former Mayor of Evergem, Belgium, Peter Vereecke:
Chemtrails are clouds of chemicals and disease causing germs that are deliberately sprayed on us to manipulate our behaviour. “ I have already filed two complaints with the local police, but they don’t to anything with it”, said Vereecke.
“I’m only saying that the chemtrails have provable effects on our health and that they are being conducted by hidden power structures behind the veil of the official political world. Don’t make any illusions: what we see are merely puppets. Even Barack Obama is a puppet. The real powers are hidden under the lee.”Can you be more specific? Who are the people that are really pulling the strings?
Peter Vereecke: “Those are the so-called Illuminati, the enlightened ones. They are members of secret societies like the Bilderberg group, but are also active in business and global organisations like the United Nations and NATO. It’s not about one certain group but about a type of person with a certain DNA that is common in higher levels of power: people that do not care about the value of human life and are obsessed with power, money and control.
Names, give us a few names.
“Take Al Gore for example. He is member of the illuminati. His message about global warming only has one purpose: money. Because worldwide we will have to pay for the coming measures. That will result in higher taxes and higher food prices and environmental measures in business. That will result in a massive cash-flow. Meanwhile it is confirmed that human activity only accounts for 3% of the global warming.”
They certainly play a role in this because the spray planes are being used more intensively the last few years. You can observe the phenomenon in our country at least 10 days per month.”
No one takes action…
“Because our thinking processes are being conditioned. Look at the eyes of the people in the street, they are medicated and walk around like zombies. A dull look without “joie de vivre” and without an outlook on life. Hence my crusade: people wake up, open you eyes, act before it is too late…” (source)
Research for yourself. Decide for yourself. But be aware…be very aware. -Zen www.zengardner.com
source: http://beforeitsnews.com/story/87/417/Chemtrail_War_Shifting_Tactics.html
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Another Thinks Gulf Oil Spill is a Hoax
by Doc Velocity
source: http://www.abovetopsecret.com/forum/thread567720/pg1
I was born in Texas in 1959 and lived on the Texas Gulf Coast for about 30 years. Waay back in the 1960s, I remember wandering along the beach at Galveston, collecting shells and shark teeth, and often stepping into globs of sticky tar, which would stain my skin brown for days afterwards. When we went swimming in the surf, we'd come back with brown globs on our skin and swim trunks — and that stuff did not wash out of fabric.
When we went crabbing along the Gulf Coast, we'd bring back hundreds of big, male Blue Crabs in our massive cooler, which we filled with seawater to keep the crustaceans alive as long as possible. As the crabs glowered up at us through the water, we could see that they were exhaling thick, brown globs that would rise up and spread out in a rainbow on the surface.
I asked my Dad what the hell this stuff was, and he'd tell me it was crude oil. Pointing out to the horizon, he brought my attention to the various oil rigs that were barely visible in the Gulf of Mexico, and he explained that there were hundreds of those rigs out there, many miles off the Texas and Louisiana coast, and that they leaked crude oil like a sieve.
All the time.
He knew. He had fished the oil rigs, went right out there and tied off to them and watched the oil bubbling up, spreading out in millions of blobs, and creating a rainbow sheen across the surface of the deep blue water.
This was back in the 1960s.
As an adult on the Gulf Coast, I fished the surf and offshore myself, and saw the same exact crude oil slicks, the never-ending tide of brown blobs and the petroleum sheen. This was in the 70s, the 80s and 90s. The leakage was ONGOING, those rigs had been leaking for my entire life.
Check this out: (blog note: photo was not available)
That's a satellite shot of the Gulf of Mexico off the Texas and Louisiana coast. You're probably looking at an area of 100 miles across, depicting a considerable number of offshore oil rigs (and gas rigs). Each of the dark trails you see stretching for tens of miles across the surface is an oil slick generated by each rig.
That's just normal spillage that occurs every minute of every day, year-in, year-out, for decades. Unchecked and unreported (to the public). But anybody who lives on the Gulf KNOWS the truth of the matter.
Offshore oil rigs EACH leak HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF GALLONS OF CRUDE OIL into the Gulf of Mexico every year, for as long as I can remember. That's millions of gallons annually. You've been living with it and swimming in it and eating it all your lives.
And that's why it's my firm opinion that this "catastrophic" oil leak in the Gulf is a bunch of hogwash. Another environmental hoax being perpetrated in order to advance the Green Agenda — The Global Warming Hoax has fallen through, it failed to touch the heart of the public, so now they're going to hit you where it hurts — they're going to USE THIS "catastrophic" leak to drive up your gas prices, drive up your seafood prices and everything else.
Gee, I wonder why Obama's FEMA team isn't jumping all over this to head off the "potential catastrophe"? Why haven't they tried burning off the oil slick as they vowed to do several days ago?
It's because crude oil floating around in the Gulf doesn't burn. If there was any chance of an oil slick in the Gulf catching fire, it would have burned out the offshore oil industry decades ago. Look at the picture above and tell me that wouldn't be a catastrophe IF IT WAS POSSIBLE for a crude oil slick to catch fire.
They're offering SNIP solutions for a SNIP emergency, because the public doesn't know the difference. And Obama's Emergency Management team isn't mobilized because they KNOW there's no emergency.
— Doc Velocity
Tar Balls
By Kevin Spear
Orlando Sentinel
source: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/news/state/tests-no-crude-oil-in-tar-balls-found-797362.html
Posted: 10:03 p.m. Sunday, July 11, 2010
Florida's shoreline was apparently untouched by any raw petroleum before the Deepwater Horizon disaster smothered the western Panhandle with crude oil in June. That's according to what authorities consider to be the most exhaustive detective work yet on tar balls found along the state's 1,260 miles of coast.
U.S. Coast Guard lab findings defy the longstanding belief that a regular ingredient of at least some of the tar balls that for years have turned up occasionally on state beaches is either crude spilled during offshore drilling or oil that seeped from natural vents under the Gulf.
Of the 192 batches of Florida tar-ball samples sent since mid-May to a Coast Guard laboratory in Connecticut, the vast majority have turned out to be lumps of heavy fuel oil, dark and syrupy as molasses and commonly used to power oceangoing ships.
None of the samples was identified as containing unprocessed, crude oil; a few samples proved to be nothing more than hardened mud; and nearly 20 samples had been severely altered by sunlight, oxygen and bacteria and were thought to be many months or years old, said Wayne Gronlund, manager of the Coast Guard Marine Safety Laboratory in Connecticut.
Those aging tar balls "were so heavily weathered, we couldn't make a declaration about whether they were crude or heavy fuel," said Gronlund, who described them as similar to chunks of asphalt.
Gronlund said his chemists, when examining fresher samples, can easily distinguish between the chemical fingerprint of crude oil and those of refined petroleum products such as heavy fuel oil, diesel and various lubricants.
The search for tar balls along Florida shores took on heightened urgency two months ago when dozens of blobs of oily tar began to wash up in Big Pine Key, Key West and the Dry Tortugas.
Authorities then thought it unlikely that crude oil could have drifted so quickly across 500 miles of open Gulf from the BP PLC oil-well blowout, which began April 20 with an explosion and fire on the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon nearly 50 miles south of Louisiana.
A day after those tar balls first appeared in the Keys, a Coast Guard jet carried what was deemed to be "samples of national significance" to the service's laboratory, which determined within hours that they were composed of heavy fuel oil. The source was never identified.
Still, the Keys event triggered a statewide surge of concern about the potential for crude oil to ride currents to any spot along Florida's coast.
"People's awareness for tar balls has been heightened because of the spill so they went out looking for tar balls and lo and behold they found tar balls," said David Palandro, a scientist with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Advocates of drilling for oil in waters near the Florida coast have argued that the state has already learned to tolerate the occasional landfall of crude in the form of tar balls created not by drilling or tanker-ship accidents but by seepage from natural vents that connect petroleum reservoirs deep underground to the seafloor.
"Natural seepage accounts for virtually all perceived 'oil spills' in the Gulf," stated a glossy brochure with the subtitle, "It's time for facts, not fear," that was widely distributed in Florida last year by drilling supporters lobbying the public and the Legislature.
"They try to draw the conclusion that any oil found on the beaches is actually from these natural causes," said Eric Draper, executive director of Audubon of Florida. "Their argument is if most of the oil comes from seeps, then most of the oil on beaches must come from seeps."
David Mica, executive director of the pro-drilling Florida Petroleum Council, said he doesn't "recall ever asserting that they [tar balls] were all naturally occurring."
The vast majority of tar balls collected and tested during the past two months were found in the Keys and Southeast Florida, where the shipping lanes, including some of the nation's busiest, pass within miles of the coast.
Experts say the tightening of environmental laws and enforcement efforts have reduced the amount of such oil discharged from ships in recent years.
"It certainly appears to all of us who work on east Florida beaches, and have been for years, that we've gotten some control over that problem," said Lew Ehrhart, a longtime sea-turtle scientist. "For the last five, six, seven years, we haven't seen nearly as many, and the people who walk on the beach and people who live on the beach haven't seen much in the way of tar balls on the beach."
Along the coast in the far-western Panhandle, where oil from the BP well began to arrive in late May, regular testing of tar balls was soon suspended because local authorities quickly had little doubt about the source of the oil that is blackening their famous white-sand beaches.
The ruptured BP well, under nearly a mile of seawater, continues to spew as much as 35,000 barrels — or nearly 150 million gallons — of crude into the Gulf each day.
BP Flotel
Oil cleanup workers protest ‘flotel’ housing
One of the logistical difficulties in combating the Gulf oil disaster has been finding housing for the thousands of workers brought in by BP and its contractors to work on cleanup and containment operations. Many of the coastal communities, especially in oil-soaked Louisiana, are sparsely populated and don't have the ability to accommodate a sudden influx of people. Enter "flotels."
Many workers have been housed in floating hotel/motels — structures similar to trailers or shipping containers stacked on top of each other on a barge.
[Photos: Latest from the Gulf oil spill]
BP told a New Orleans Fox affiliate that the flotels were useful for keeping workers close to cleanup sites, thereby eliminating travel time.
But some aren't happy about it. In fact, a group of fishermen decided to go on strike in protest of their accommodations, and some workers have expressed concerns about safety.
"We're on strike, so we're not going to work," Jules Dag told WDSU, an NBC affiliate in New Orleans. "I'm not living on no quarterboat," Dag said. "When I signed up, the agreement was we lived at a motel or somewhere they supplied us to live."
Dag said that some workers have no choice but to accept lodging at a flotel because they've yet to be paid and have depleted whatever savings they had as a result.
"We ain't been paid yet," Dag said. "We've used almost everything we got to live out here already. Forty days, we ain't seen nothing yet. What we supposed to do for money?"
One worker compared the living conditions to jail, saying, "If I wanted to be in prison, I would break the law and go to jail." Privacy is scant, typically limited to little more than a retractable curtain, with common areas for showers, eating and leisure activities. The flotels are powered by generators, with each pod holding 12 bunks. The close quarters made another worker concerned about disease.
A fire even broke out inside a flotel in Plaquemines Parish on Tuesday night, injuring five cleanup workers. A spokesman for the local sheriff's office said the injuries were minor, though — mostly smoke inhalation.
BP did not respond to The Upshot's requests for comment on the latest developments.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Chemtrails Over the Ganges
|
W
Are They Spraying Us With Chemical Weapons for Mass Destruction?
Human Rights Examiner
by Deborah Dupre'
Chemical warfare white cloud of death
Chemtrailing humans with Corexit based poison is burning people with a 'nepalm-like substance.' Reports abound of the poison attack burning plant life, therefore poisoning the food supply as the new Youtube video below documents.
Filmmaker and Renewable Energy UN Ambassador of Goodwill, Josh Tickell, who is director of FUEL, writes from South Louisiana that the Gulf situation is deteriorating for humans.
"The use of the deadly and toxic chemical Corexit continues at an undisclosed rate per day. With our group of eight people standing on the beach, 100 feet from the surf of the Gulf, our eyes were burning and as we approached the water our skin was affected," reports Tickell.
"Most people walked off the beach with rashes. This is not from the oil, it is from the napalm-like substance that is being manufactured in conjunction with BP and put into the Gulf of Mexico with enough quantity to effect the air. (Emphasis added)
"Tests reveal that this chemical compound is becoming an aerosol and traveling, as a cloud, across the beach communities," stated Tickell.
As highlighted in Part I of this series, chemical warfare (CW) involves toxic properties of chemical substances as weapons. In chemical warfare terms, "dispersion" is placing the chemical agent upon or adjacent to a target immediately before dissemination, so that the material is most efficiently used. Dispersion is the simplest technique of delivering an agent to its target. (See Censored Gulf dispersant news: Aerial spraying act of war Part I, Examiner, Dupre, June 2010)
In attempt to prevent such atrocities and hold perpetrators responsible, on April 29 1997, the Chemical Weapons Convention - CWC) entered into force. It is the Convention on prohibition of the development, production, stockpiling and use of chemical weapons and on their destruction, of 13 January 1993 and reinforcing the 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibiting chemical and biological weapons by banning development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons.
Under the banner of "pesticide research," the US Do, EPA and petrochemical-military-industrial complex continued its research and development chemical weapons of mass destruction, testing them on plant and animal life, including humans. (See Part II of this series)
Chemical weapons of mas destruction (WMDs) are what President Bush accused Iraq of having, lying to justify murdering millions of people there for its resources, while developing and stockpiling such WMDs on American soil, now using them on Americans. At least one known foreign country, Britain, is an enemy in this war.
Tickell advises that this "aerosol spraying is illegal and could be fatal for multiple life forms," a statement to be welcomed by many leaders, such as AC Griffith (heard in the chemtrail video below), thousands of citizens and organizations across the US, such as Geo-engineering Watch, plus organizations overseas - all battling for years to raise awareness about the act of war on the people and genuine national security issue of chemtrails.
Only a year ago, Tickell was skeptical about chemtrails and decades of research and development to apply them to the human population by the petrochemical-military-industrial complex that includes private companies, such as airlines, spraying them. Like most people, he found this human rights violation too difficult to face or believe: that geophysical weapons, under the sophisticated science of geoengineering, includes spraying the human population with deadly chemcals, authorized by the US government.
Geoengineering, the artificial modification of the earth's climate systems, is an environment modification (ENMOD) science for the "deliberate manipulation of natural processes - the dynamics, composition or structure of the Earth, including its biota, lithosphere, hydrosphere and atmosphere, or of outer space that can be applied as a weapon of mass destruction."
Geoengineering projects range from declassified experimentation, such as dumping particles into the oceans to attract algae that sequesters carbon and theoretically slows "global warming," to highly classified experimentation such as aerosol spraying. (See:Geoengineers at annual conference to face human rights defenders, Dupre, Examiner, 2009)
Denial by intelligent people of integrity of all walks of life has been a major frustration for those exposing new, high-tech weapons, including chemical weapons. DoD obcene funding plus black budgets helped open the gate wide open for even heavier aerial poisoning of humans and all other life forms, as experienced and witnessed along the Gulf coast today.
Aside from the odorless poison destined to be the cause of human injury and deaths from breathing it, in a new video (below), a Floridian showing his burned yard plants says, "If its killing our plants, its killing our food. If we can’t have food we die.
"Don’t you see that?"
He urges the public to read the Constitution and Bill of Rights, but the backbone of both were shredded with enactment of the USA PATRIOT ACT during the Bush administration. That set the stage for events unfolding today.
The Floridian now questions, "We let a foreign company come in and tell us what we can and can't do?"
Controversial post-9/11 expansions of executive branch powers prompted the Bill of Rights Defense Committee, BORDC to urge local showings of a video about dangers threatening Americans. It hoped for subsequent nationwide dialogue about whether the power needs to be curbed to protect U.S. residents' constitutional rights.
Instead, the citizenry was succesfully pacified with TV and mainstream newspapers, and Congress maintained the USA PATRIOT ACT instead of restoring Constitutional rights through the JUSTICE ACT.
ACLU called the USA PATRIOT ACT a "minefield for American rights."
The same corpocracy that designed and supported the USA PATRIOT ACT dictating the nation's people has now ruthlessly stepped on a deep water minefield.
It is using its decades of sinister, secret and torturous research and development paid by the taxpayers to kill them in an act of war using a chemical weapon of mass destruction while its Attorney General, Eric Holden ponders: Is this a civil or a criminal case?
Copyright July 13, 2010 Deborah Dupre. All rights reserved.
Contact the author at mailto:%20info@DeborahDupre.com
source: http://www.examiner.com/x-10438-Human-Rights-Examiner~y2010m7d14-Gulf-spraying-act-of-war-Pt-III-Chemical-warfare-white-cloud-of-deathBP Neighbor Not Happy
July 19, 2010 06:59:00 AM
JENNIE HOBBS / Florida Freedom Newspapers
MIRAMAR BEACH — Every since a BP cleanup crew moved in next door, “my privacy is toast,” said Kelly Thomas of Miramar Beach.
“I had no clue, no one told me a thing, I still don’t know anything, except for they are out there,” Thomas told The Sun. “I came home from work one day and they’re putting up power poles, and it just continues to grow with more people. Then a couple of days later, at 5:45 a.m., they’re parking outside my bedroom window. I can’t sleep because my house is shaking so bad from the entourage of busses, bulldozers and four-wheelers.”
CrowderGulf, one of five companies in the county subcontracted to clean up the beaches in the wake of the oil rig blowout, has taken residence in Thomas’ once quiet neighborhood. The camp, located across the street from the Jehovah’s Witness church, boasts more than 425 workers, four large circus-type tents, a battery of ATV and earth moving vehicles, roll-off trash canisters, and stationary and travel trailers.
The cleanup staging area on Hatchew Road is one of many taking shape around Walton County in the last couple of weeks. They are part of BP’s plans to streamline cleanup and coordination efforts. In Destin, a command center is based out of Henderson Beach State Park. In Walton County, a cleanup crew outpost is located on Hwy. 331, just north of the Choctawhatchee Bay Bridge. They also have satellite staging areas in state parks around Walton County.
“I’ve called everyone … the commissioner, Code Enforcement, and even the governor, and no one can tell me who is responsible for this,” Thomas said.
Nicolas Morlino, community support coordinator for BP in Walton County, said the companies were given "free range" to choose the locations, but not for long.
Cecilia Jones, commissioner for District 5, told The Sun she does not know what process was used to decide on where to set up the staging areas.
"The commissioner's office has had no communication with BP on this," Jones said. "I wish they had, then the planning office could have helped avoid this problem. Most of the locations are OK, with good roads and not in a residential area."
But Rick Stabler, project manger with CrowderGulf, said county leaders were kept in the loop.
“We selected the site, met with EOC people, got permits and power,” he said. “It was not an arbitrary decision.”
He said he would work with Thomas to resolve the situation.
“We absolutely want to be a good neighbor,” he said.
But for Thomas, it has been tough getting answers.
“Unless you have a wildlife or oil spill incident to report the response is ‘oh, we’ll get back to you’ or ‘do you want to make a claim?’ ” Thomas said of her repeated attempts to find answers from BP’s call center. “I didn’t have a claim, but I have started to get bids on a privacy fence.”
The bids may not be necessary. The Sun raised the issue at a Wednesday meeting with BP’s Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles, who was in Destin touring the outpost at Henderson Beach.
“If that’s a problem we need to go and fix it,” Suttles said of Thomas’ predicament. “This is where working together with local officials, the public and community comes in — to see how do we constantly make this response as effective it can be and mitigate the impact.”
He told an assistant about the situation, and they vowed to fix it. But he called for patience in what has become the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.
“Its horrible, this thing is terrible, but we can work together to at least try to minimize how bad it is. That’s where getting feedback from the community is critical,” Suttles said.
source: http://www.newsherald.com/news/beach-85485-cleanup-miramar.html
BP Worker with Criminal Record Arrested
Bay County Commission Oil Update
Panama City - Bay county commissioners had some strong words for b-p and the local public information officer Vani Rao. They say they want b-p to hire more bay county citizens for beach clean-up jobs. B.P. considers anyone from Florida to be local, but commissioner Jerry Girvin said he doesn't believe someone from Miami hits the definition of local. Commissioners also pointed to a Largo, Florida, worker, with a criminal record, who was arrested over the weekend on robbery charges. Rao said she will discuss the issue with B.P. contractors.
Posted: 5:52 PM Jul 20, 2010
Reporter: Amber Southard
Email Address: amber.southard@wjhg.com
ORIGINAL STORY
Panama City - Bay county commissioners had some strong words for b-p and the local public information officer Vani Rao. They say they want b-p to hire more bay county citizens for beach clean-up jobs. B.P. considers anyone from Florida to be local, but commissioner Jerry Girvin said he doesn't believe someone from Miami hits the definition of local. Commissioners also pointed to a Largo, Florida, worker, with a criminal record, who was arrested over the weekend on robbery charges. Rao said she will discuss the issue with B.P. contractors.
Bay County emergency management director Mark Bowen had good news and bad news regarding the spill. The good news is the oil is the farthest from our coastline it's been in weeks. The bad news is a tropical depression in the gulf could push the oil in out direction. "If it came into the gulf and came into where the oil is it could really create a lot of havoc I’m afraid. But there's a lot of models out there right now and I’ve watch them but I’m certainty no expert. But we need to watch it close, but I don't think it will be a danger in the next few days", said Bay County Commissioner Jerry Girvin.
If the tropical system heads this way, Bowen says the county will have to remove the special boom system from the St. Andrews pass. Workers completed the boom yesterday, but it still has to be tested.
source: http://www.wjhg.com/home/headlines/98876119.html
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BP oil spill contract worker in Panhandle charged with armed robbery
Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 11:43 AM
Updated: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 11:46 AM
Name: Jeremiah Jordache Wynn
Address: 1315 Crosby Street, Largo, FL
Age: 28
Race: B
Date: 7/17/2010
larceny, robbery - with firearm, possession of weapon - or ammo by convicted fla felon
LINK
Panama City Beach Police Department officials told the News Herald of Panama City that Wynn confessed to taking a wallet and cell phone from 2 juveniles on the beach Saturday behind the Summit Condominiums. They said he also confessed to stealing from a Summit condo several days earlier.
COMMENT:
The P-R staff elected to omit a curious bit of information from their blurb: "Jeremiah Wynn, 28, was charged with two counts of armed robbery, grand theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Panama City Beach Police Department."
source: http://blog.al.com/live/2010/07/bp_oil_spill_contract_worker_i.html
--- end ---
BP cleanup contractor charged with robbery
July 19, 2010 09:23:00 PM
PANAMA CITY BEACH — An armed robbery on the beach this weekend behind Summit Condominiums ended with the arrest of an out-of-town BP contractor, but the Panama City Beach Police Department said contractors are not presenting a persistent crime problem.
At 3:30 a.m. Friday, two juveniles visiting Panama City Beach with their families reported they were robbed at gunpoint while walking on the beach behind the Thomas Drive condos. The juveniles said the man, described by witnesses as a black man with dreadlocks and a goatee, bumped into them and said, “Give me all your stuff,” while pointing a handgun at their chests.
The suspect took a wallet with $3 and a Samsung Rugby cell phone from the boys. The total value of the items was $58.
Witnesses said the man fled the beach by jumping a fence between the condos and Spinnaker Beach Club & Paradise Grill.
Witnesses at The Summit Condos recognized the suspect and gave officers a variety of aliases including “Marcus,” “Douglas,” “T,” “Jay,” “James,” “Juice,” and “Taiwan.” They said the suspect was thought to have stolen property from Unit 1001 of The Summit the previous day, and they believed he was staying at Coconut Grove Motel.
Officers were unable to locate the suspect; a chance second sighting by one of the victims of the armed robbery led police to him in a motel room registered to another person. When investigators questioned the suspect, later identified as Jeremiah Wynn, 28, of Largo he admitted to both crimes, according to the incident report.
Wynn was one of more than 1,200 people employed by contractors working to clean up the BP oil spill in Bay County.
Although preference is given to county residents, the clean up has brought in people from across the state.
Several things made this case difficult for officers, Maj. Dave Humphreys said. They had no name or address for the suspect and because he was from out of town, few people knew him.
“It presents a challenge for law enforcement to get your key players in hand quickly,” he said.
The influx of contractors is challenging for law enforcement, but Humphreys said most of the obstacles they present are familiar to Panama City Beach Police officers, who are accustomed to patrolling a resort town full of out-of-towners.
The beach community has seen an uptick in crime this summer, but Humphreys was hesitant to attribute the increase directly to BP contractors.
“Obviously, when you have more people you have more crime and more crime victims,” he said.
Humphreys said there is no evidence that there have been a disproportionate number of crimes involving BP workers.
An earlier version of this report:
A Largo man in town working on the BP oil spill cleanup effort has been charged with armed robbery after he held two juveniles at gunpoint, police said.
Jeremiah Wynn, 28, was charged with two counts of armed robbery, grand theft and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to the Panama City Beach Police Department.
Investigators said Wynn confessed to robbing two juveniles on the beach Saturday behind the Summit Condominiums, taking a wallet and a cell phone. They said he also confessed to stealing from a Summit condo several days earlier.
Beach police also arrested an Orlando man this weekend on charges he slashed another man during an altercation over a stolen guitar.
Christopher M. Blackwood, 36, was charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon in the Sunday incident behind Reggae J’s. The victim, Daniel Lott, was treated at Bay Medical Center for a small laceration on his left arm.
source: http://www.newsherald.com/news/charged-85506-beach-police.html
