Breaking News and Commentary from Citizens for Legitimate Government
12 May 2010
http://www.legitgov.org
All links are here:
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news
Transocean Ltd. Announces Exchange Rate in Proposed US$ 1.0 Billion Distribution to Shareholders
12 May 2010 Transocean Ltd. today announced the applicable exchange rate to determine the Swiss franc (“CHF”) amount of the proposed cash distribution to shareholders in the form of a par value reduction equal to USD 3.11 per issued share (including treasury shares) to be calculated and paid in four quarterly installments… Shareholders will have the opportunity to vote on the proposed cash distribution at the Annual General Meeting to be held in Zug, Switzerland, on May 14, 2010.
Gulf oil spill: firms ignored warning signs before blast, inquiry hears –Documents suggest BP, Transocean and Halliburton ignored tests indicating faulty safety equipment, says committee 12 May 2010 Oil executives ignored warning signs in the hours before the disastrous Deepwater rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico last month, a congressional hearing heard today. In a second day of hearings, the House of Representatives’ energy and commerce committee said documents and briefings suggested that BP, which owned the well; Transocean, which owned the rig; and Halliburton, which made the cement casing for the well, ignored tests in the hours before the 20 April explosion that indicated faulty safety equipment.
U.S. Coast Guard Led Big Oil Spill Exercise Prior to Rig Explosion 11 May 2010 Three weeks before the massive Gulf oil rig explosion, U.S. Coast Guard officials led an elaborate exercise in which they practiced their response to a major oil spill — one of four dry runs over the past decade that foreshadowed many of the weaknesses in coordination, communication, expertise and technology that are now hampering the federal response to the oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.
BP Releases Oil Spill Video After Pressure From White House and Media 12 May 2010 Twenty-three days after the explosion and under pressure from the White House and the media, BP today finally released a thirty second underwater video of the oil from its broken well spewing into the Gulf of Mexico. BP said the video was released only today because the it had not received a request for the video until Monday. In fact, ABC News and other news organizations made numerous requests over the past few weeks for the video.
‘U.S. officials said in interviews that the elaborate dry runs taught them important lessons.’ [Oh, I’m *sure* they did!] After Oil Rig Blast, BP Refused to Share Underwater Spill Footage –Message Control a Key Industry Focus During Oil Disaster Drills 12 May 2010 During a series of dry-run exercises, where the U.S. Coast Guard, other agencies and oil companies practiced their response to major oil spill disasters, industry executives repeatedly pressed federal regulators to give them more say on what information would be released to the public if disaster struck. Reports obtained in a joint investigation by ABC News and the Center for Public Integrity show oil companies targeted the potential release of “confidential” information as a key concern [whenever they’re caught ‘going live’].
Hydraulic Leak Cited as Possible Cause of Spill 12 May 2010 As crude oil gushes into the Gulf of Mexico for the fourth week, a Congressional investigation said that a safety mechanism that was supposed to seal an undersea well in the event of a sudden pressure release might have failed on April 20 because of a hydraulic leak. Lawmakers disclosed the findings at a hearing before a subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday, as the White House proposed a package of legislative changes meant to help people affected by the huge oil spill and to ensure that the companies involved pay more [should be *all*] of the cleanup bill.
BP Prepares to Lower ‘Top Hat’ on Oil Leak 12 May 2010 BP PLC has lowered a new containment device to the floor of the Gulf of Mexico and will deploy it on a leaking oil well in the next two days, an executive said Wednesday. BP is still deciding whether first to attempt to lower the device, known as a top hat, on the leak itself, or to divert oil by inserting a tube into the broken pipe that once connected the well to the Deepwater Horizon rig, which caught fire on April 20 and sank two days later. In both cases, oil would then be funneled up to a rig on the surface.
Kerry-Lieberman Climate Proposal a Disaster for Climate (Center for Biological Diversity) 12 May 2010 In the midst of what appears to be the worst offshore oil disaster in American history, U.S. Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) will today put forth a draft climate bill that will not solve the problems of global warming and continues pandering to the fossil fuel industry — including expanded offshore oil drilling — that created the problems in the first place.
Special thanks to Richard Charter