Effort to contain Gulf oil stalls with stuck saw

PORT FOURCHON, La. (AP) - The risky effort to contain the nation’s worst oil spill hit a snag Wednesday when a diamond-edged saw became stuck in a thick pipe on a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.

Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen said the goal was to free the saw and finish the cut later in the day. This is the latest attempt to contain - not plug - the gusher; the best chance at stopping the leak is a relief well, which is at least two months from completion.

“I don’t think the issue is whether or not we can make the second cut. It’s about how fine we can make it, how smooth we can make it,” Allen said.

If crews make the cut, they will try to place a cap on top of the oil spewing out. This cut-and-cap effort could temporarily increase the flow of oil by as much as 20 percent, though Allen said officials wouldn’t know whether that had happened until the cut could be completed.

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Effort to contain Gulf oil stalls with stuck saw

To paraphrase Shakespeare’s Richard III, A saw! A saw! My kingdom for a saw!

Engineers may have to bring in a second saw if the delay continues, and they are shooting chemical dispersants at the oil leaking out of the new cut. The cap could be placed over the spill as early as Wednesday.

I hope this works, for many reasons. My children and grandchildren live in South Louisiana. My son, his wife and my son-in-law are all deputies. My son is also recently separated from the 256th BCT La. Army National Guard, and now, he’s going to re-enlist. The 256th is a bit short handed right now, on the home front at least.

You see, when Katrina tore New Orleans to pieces, the 256th was in Kuwait City in the process gathering up to come home. But once they got home, they were still under federal orders for a while and weren’t tremendously involved in the aftermath of Katrina as a Guard unit. Now, as Louisiana faces the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster, the 256th BCT is in Baghdad.

I know, it’s merely a coincidence. And honestly, I don’t know what the 256th could actually do, so far there’s no civil insurrection. So far there are plenty of people working to respond to oil that comes ashore and to cleaning it up, but somehow, I can’t help but believe that the folks of Louisiana would feel a lot better if the La. Army National Guard was HOME, taking care of business on the HOME FRONT.

The Justice Department also has announced it started criminal and civil probes into the spill, although the department did not name specific targets for prosecution.

I believe that’s what’s called a reactionary effort? A scatter-gun response being prepared in an effort to cover ALL the bases, no matter who or where those bases may be. Yesterday, the story was Justice Dept. Called Unready for W.M.D. Attack, who knows, maybe the DOJ could start a few criminal and civil probes into terrorism too.

Fishermen received $5,000 from BP PLC, but it was quickly gone.

“I call that ‘Shut your mouth money,’” said Murray Volk, 46, of Empire, who’s been fishing for nearly 30 years. “That won’t pay the insurance on my boat and house. They say there’ll be more later, but do you think the electric company will wait for that?”

We’re not talking sport fishing here folks. These are commercial fishermen, they make their living on the water and supply this nation with Gulf fish, shrimp and oysters. These guys aren’t asking for a bail out, all they want to do is fish, just like they’ve done for generations.

The BP disaster has drastically affected them and their livelihood. BP should be held fully responsible. $5,000 is a drop in the bucket for commercial fishers.

The federal government also ramped up its response to the spill with President Barack Obama ordering the co-chairmen of an independent commission investigating the spill to thoroughly examine the disaster, “to follow the facts wherever they lead, without fear or favor.”

The president said that if laws are insufficient, they’ll be changed. He said that if government oversight wasn’t tough enough, that will change, too.

Many on the left have already accused Bush and Cheney of being responsible for this disaster. I have seen many posts and comments, all over the ‘net, saying that Cheney arranged for some very lax rules regarding offshore drilling. Maybe he did, maybe not. I honestly don’t know, all I can do is guess, and I don’t make statements based on guesses.

What I do know is this, millions of gallons of oil have poured into the Gulf of Mexico. This is a disaster like none we have ever faced. There’s plenty of time to point fingers, place blame and direct changes and penalties.

The most important job that America faces right now is stopping the flow of oil and getting this mess cleaned up! Anything else is, at this time, a secondary priority.

La. Gov. declares emergency ahead of hurricane Ida

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Hurricane Ida, the first Atlantic hurricane to target the United States this year, plodded Sunday toward the Gulf Coast with 100 mph winds, bringing the threat of flooding and storm surges.

A hurricane watch extended over more than 200 miles of coastline across southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Louisiana’s governor declared a state of emergency.

Authorities said Ida could make landfall as early as Tuesday morning, although it was forecast to weaken by then. Officials and residents kept a close eye on the Category 2 hurricane as it approached, though there were no immediate plans for evacuations.

At 1 p.m. EST, Ida was located 510 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moving northwest near 10 mph. The latest forecast from the National Hurricane Center shows Ida brushing near Louisiana and Mississippi, then making landfall near Alabama before continuing across north Florida.

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La. Gov. declares emergency ahead of hurricane Ida

The Dems in this nation need to pay very close attention here. A Cat 2 hurricane *may* hit S.E. Louisiana with a glancing blow and Gov. Bobby Jindal sets the wheels in motion BEFORE there is ANY kind of strike, BEFORE there is ANY death and/or flooding and the state goes into preparation mode. All for a Category 2 hurricane.

Hang in there Louisiana, you have GREAT leadership and the 256th BCT is still home!

If the Dems had done anything even remotely close to this when Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans, the state of Louisiana would have been much better off. But, they are Dems, you just can’t expect this kind of pre-staged planning when all they know is *victim mentality*.

Gustav holdouts turn to guns, knives and God

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - If the floodwaters rise and trap him in his home by the Mississippi River levee, carpenter Juan LeBoeuf plans to bust out through the roof with a knife.

Bar owner Joann Guidos has a cache of guns to protect her place from looters who roam a city emptied by evacuations ahead of Hurricane Gustav.

Window cleaner Julio Iglesia, who plans to stay in his rented home a block from the mighty Mississippi, is putting his faith in God.

They have been through the horrors of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, losing houses and health in the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

Yet they refuse to move under an evacuation order less than 24 hours before another dangerous hurricane is expected to make landfall down the watery coast.

“Katrina was here, but God won’t let that happen again,” said Iglesia.

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Gustav holdouts turn to guns, knives and God

I am NOT going to denigrate that guys belief or faith in God, but God gave man common sense, well, He gave it to some, apparently this guy didn’t get his share.

I am in constant touch with my Son, he’s at the Airport in Kenner with his National Guard contingent. They are staged and in place, ready to make a rapid response to the worst hit areas.

I’m feeding weather info to the troops via text email to their cell phones, they are not getting ANY real weather reports. The command is, but the troops are getting screwed, as per usual, troops are merely mushrooms on the info chain, kept in the dark and fed bullshit. Well, now they have a credible and reliable source for real info, hourly updates and reports from the National Hurricane Center and NOAA.

I’m retired, I’m old compared to these guys, I can’t go fight the wars and do the deeds anymore, but I can damn sure do a supportive mission with Intel. That is, after all, what I did best for many years.

Any real news that I get directly from NOLA will be posted, and it won’t be any of the BS like we saw from the Dem/Libbers and their Democrats Laughing About Hurricane Gustav Timing.

New Orleans has done 1,000 times more to prepare for Gustav than it did for Katrina, I don’t know if Nagin is that motivated or if Jindal built a fire under him. And honestly, I don’t care what the reasons are, the preparation for Gustav has been nothing less than astounding work, done by all the folks involved.

Sometimes a nation has to go through a trial by fire before they can really shine in a disaster. Maybe Katrina was our trial by fire!

It’s all in the hands of God now. Prayers and good thoughts are flowing from our household, I hope they are from yours as well. God Speed to ALL on the Mississippi and Louisiana Gulf Coast, America is going to be there for you!