This weekend in Jesus Christ

Things Jesus didn’t do over the weekend:

Help Arizona-born U.S. citizen Amir Mirza Hekmati avoid being sentenced to death for being a spy in Iran.

Help millions of Iraqi refugees.

Keep Syrian protesters from being killed.

Keep Beyonce & Jay-Z from naming their daughter “Blue Ivy.”

Help 10 Pakistani soldiers avoid denogginization.

Help the two people killed in a bus crash in Montana.

Keep gas prices from rising.

Keep a young girl from being cyberbullied until she killed herself, and keep the cyberbullies from mocking her after she died.

Things Jesus did over the weekend:

Help Tim Tebow beat the Pittsburgh Steelers and throw for 316 yards, which is similar to a Bible verse.

–WKW

As Alec Baldwin turns

For those following the silly drama between Alec Baldwin and American Airlines, the 30 Rock actor has now quit his Twitter account, saying he would start a new one.

“Let’s play a game called Mass Unfollowing. I want to crash this acct and start again. But, tonight at 10 PM, NY time, unfollow me,” wrote Baldwin.

For those unawares, yesterday, Baldwin had been kicked off a flight by American Airlines and took to Twitter to complain. From US Magazine:

Alec Baldwin arrived safely at New York City’s JFK airport Tuesday night. Earlier in the day, the 30 Rock star was kicked off an American Airlines flight for continuing to use his iPhone while the plane was at the gate.

“The flight attendant on American reamed me out for playing Words with Friends while we sat at the gate, not moving,” Baldwin, 53, tweeted. (His account has since been deleted.) “No wonder American Air is bankrupt.”

Earlier today, American Airlines gave their version of the events on their Facebook page:

Since an extremely vocal customer has publicly identified himself as being removed from an American Airlines flight on Tuesday, Dec. 6, we have elected to provide the actual facts of the matter as well as the FAA regulations which American, and all airlines, must enforce. Cell phones and electronic devices are allowed to be used while the aircraft is at the gate and the door is open for boarding. When the door is closed for departure and the seat belt light is turned on, all cell phones and electronic devices must be turned off for taxi-out and take-off. This passenger declined to turn off his cell phone when asked to do so at the appropriate time. The passenger ultimately stood up (with the seat belt light still on for departure) and took his phone into the plane’s lavatory. He slammed the lavatory door so hard, the cockpit crew heard it and became alarmed, even with the cockpit door closed and locked. They immediately contacted the cabin crew to check on the situation. The passenger was extremely rude to the crew, calling them inappropriate names and using offensive language. Given the facts above, the passenger was removed from the flight and denied boarding.

And just a few hours ago, Baldwin – who had nearly 600,000 followers on Twitter, apparently abandoned the account. His account has now been renamed “Deactivated001.” Baldwin’s last Tweet, 13 hours ago, was video of Bernard Haitink and the Concertgebouw, performing the Mahler 9th, fourth movement. “I leave you with this …” Baldwin wrote.

Other Twitter celebrities have had their own Twitter dramas, as well. Pundit Keith Olbermann – a friend of Baldwin – has recently announced he will no longer reply to any of his followers on Twitter.

Update: Conservative SooperMexican – who has had some Twitter drama with Baldwin in the past – has more on the Baldwin story.

–WKW

Black Friday: America’s favorite blood sport

Next year’s Black Friday will officially begin with the ritual sacrifice of a poor mom who just wants to be able to afford to buy her kid a new school notebook.

(AP)  LOS ANGELES — A woman shot pepper spray to keep shoppers from merchandise she wanted during a Black Friday sale, and 20 people suffered minor injuries, authorities said.

The incident occurred shortly after 10:20 p.m. Thursday in a crowded Los Angeles-area Walmart as shoppers hungry for deals were let inside the store.

Police said the suspect shot the pepper spray when the coverings over the items she wanted were removed.

“Somehow she was trying to use it to gain an upper hand,” police Lt. Abel Parga told The Associated Press early Friday.

He said she was apparently after some electronics and used the pepper spray to keep other shoppers at bay.

Officials said 20 people suffered minor injuries. Fire department spokesman Shawn Lenske said the injuries to least 10 of them were due to ” rapid crowd movement.”

–WKW

Chevron’s Brazil Oil Spill: What it looks like when no one defends oil company lies

There is something odd happening here in Brazil. There is an oil spill – courtesy of Chevron – off the coast here. That’s not the odd part. In fact, it increasingly seems like a normal occurrence. Chevron has thus far lied about the oil spill and has shown a lack of preparation in dealing with it. But there’s nothing strange about that, either.

No, the odd part is this – there are no sectors of Brazilian politics or the media that are rushing to defend Chevron on the oil companies for this spill, nor is the government working to help Chevron’s public relations team. In fact, the Brazilian government is working hard to make Chevron responsible for the spill, which is coming from a leak at more than 1,000 meters below the sea in the  Frade oil field off the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro.

Yesterday, the Brazilian government banned Chevron from drilling in Brazil (all of Chevron’s drilling activities are in the Frade oil field) while the government investigates the reasons for the spill. From Bloomberg:

The company needs to pay more attention to safety after its “negligence” contributed to the accident, Brazil’s oil regulator, the Agencia Nacional do Petroleo, said yesterday. The ban will remain in place until the regulator identifies the causes and considers it safe to resume drilling, it said.

’’This is a setback for Chevron in Brazil,’’ Gianna Bern, president of Chicago-based risk management adviser Brookshire Advisory and Research, said yesterday in a telephone interview from Buenos Aires. “It will be challenging for Chevron to emerge unscathed from the accident.”

Brazil is seeking to ensure foreign oil companies such as BP Plc, Statoil ASA and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which are exploring in deep waters off the coast of Brazil, help the country maximize vast oil deposits located deep beneath the ocean while avoiding disasters similar to the BP Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Brazil expects crude production to double during the next decade as it develops the largest oil finds in the Western Hemisphere since Mexico’s Cantarell in 1976.

In something that may come as a shock to Americans who watched Republican Rep. Joe Barton apologize to BP for the Gulf Coast Oil Disaster, it is Chevron that is eager to apologize and accept the punishments that have thus far been levied against the company.

Chevron said it “has not received any formal notice from” the Brazilian regulator suspending its drilling license, although it “acknowledges” the ANP posted a notice on the suspension on its website, according to a statement today.

The oil producer “will adhere to all the rules and regulations of the government of Brazil and its agencies,” Lloyd Avram, a spokesman, said in an e-mail. Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, continues production from the field, he said. The stock slid 2.8 percent to $93.75 at the close in New York yesterday.

Chevron hopes to continue operating in Brazil, George Buck, the head of Chevron’s Brazil operations, said in a Congressional hearing in Brasilia yesterday. “I ask sincere apologies to the Brazilian people and the Brazilian government,” he said.

On Monday, Brazil’s Environmental Department fined Chevron $50 million for the leak. The Minister of Environmental Department, Izabella Teixeira, said the company is likely to be fined more as investigation into the spill and response continues.

The leak began on Nov. 8, and Chevron’s PR department quickly began a BP-like assault. First, the company stated that recent drilling in the area was not the cause of the leak. They later admitted it was.

Also on Monday, Buck stated that the leak had been sealed. It isn’t.

“If there is still leaking? Yes, the leak is still ongoing. It was shown a video that shows the worst point of the stain on the seabed, and less than three barrels on the ocean surface, “he said. Shortly before, during the hearing, Buck had said the leak was contained and that there would be only “residual oil” – that statement was challenged by the coordinator of operational safety of the ANP, Raphael Moura.

“The NPA has identified small leak, but flowing,” said Moura. After being questioned by a deputy on the subject, Buck admitted that the leak continues and said that Chevron is “trying” to reset the oil leak.

Chevron originally stated the leak had spilled less than 600 barrels of oil, then said that the leak had released 2,400 barrels of oil into the water. Brazilian officials put that figure at closer to 8,000.

Brazilian authorities are also questioning whether Chevron has used illegal foreign workers in their Brazilian operations.

The Amazon Defense Coalition – highlighted in the documentary “Crude” has warned Brazil to not trust Chevron’s claims.

“Do not trust Chevron,” said Ecuadorian lawyer Pablo Fajardo, who led the lawsuit against the oil giant. “Chevron took our oil, polluted our rainforest, harmed and killed our people, committed fraud, and then tried to cover it up.”

Fajardo added, “Chevron’s handling of the oil spill in Brazil shows that the company has a systemic problem in failing to meet its environmental obligations to the communities where it does business.  From what we have observed in Latin America, Chevron officials simply lie about environmental problems as part of the company’s business model. ”

Humberto Piaguaje, an indigenous leader in the area of Ecuador where Chevron operated, said, “In Ecuador, we have lived with Chevron’s contamination for five decades, and the company has refused to pay for the damage and destruction it caused. All governments in Latin America should beware of these basic facts before they do business with Chevron,” said Piaguaje.

A recent court judgment, issued after an eight-year trial, found that Chevron intentionally dumped billions of gallons of toxic wastewater into the rainforest when it operated in Ecuador from 1964 to 1992.  The court found the company left more than 900 unlined waste pits that to this day contaminate groundwater and nearby rivers and streams, decimating indigenous groups and farmer communities who no longer have access to clean water.

While pointing out the deficiencies of the Brazilian government would take multiple posts, one thing the Chevron oil spill has shown us is that Brazilians of all parties and ideologies take it seriously when a foreign corporation comes to their land and wrecks havoc. Expect to see Brazil keep the pressure on Chevron to clean the mess they’ve created and to not lie about the situation.

–WKW

Today in Portland …

… a young protester found out the price of protest.

–WKW

Fox, CBS contributor brags about pirating Pacquiao-Marquez

Sportswriter Lyle Fitzsimmons recently wrote a piece about the Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez fight. While doing so, he bragged about watching the fight for free via an online site.

 

Rather than making the trip to see it in person or gathering collateral to bankroll the pay-per-view, I instead endeavored to wake up Sunday morning, stay insulated from contact that’d spoil the result — and find an online feed to let me watch the fight “live,” 12 hours later.

I happily found success courtesy of a site called www. (oh, wait…sorry Bob, can’t reveal my sources, right?), which was rebroadcasting the as-it-happened UK feed from Primetime, including blow-by-blow by ex-NFL kicker Benny Ricardo and color from Pacquiao stablemate Amir Khan.

Truth told, I’d have preferred Tim Ryan and Gil Clancy…but pirates can’t be choosers.

 

Giants fall

New York City is doing its best job to shut down the original Occupy Wall Street site at Zucotti Park, and are doing so in such a way as to only uplift the movement in general, even if it slows it down in the short term.

Whatever anyone may say about OWS – that they were not organized, that they have no end game in mind, etc. – they have managed to change the dialog in the U.S. and get the focus on wealth inequality. This is a major accomplishment. Regardless what happens with OWS, what matters is that a step was taken to stop corporate domination of the financial and legal systems of the United States and the globe. But in a time of instant gratification, it’s important for patience to hold sway.

It took a long time to get where we are, and it will take a long time to get back. But giants do fall.

 

–WKW

Kotex tampons recalled for potential health risks

Here’s some news that needs to be passed around. It seems Kotex has recalled some of its tampons due to health risks:

 

If you’ve got Kotex tampons at home, check your boxes: Kimberly-Clark, Kotex’s parent company, has recalled the brand’s Natural Balance Security Unscented Tampons (Regular Absorbency) in both the 18- and 36-count boxes, reports the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The recalled tampons were sold at select Walmart stores in Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas; select Fry’s stores in Arizona; and select Smith’s stores in Utah and Arizona.

During the manufacturing process, the tampons were contaminated with the bacterium Enterobacter sakazakii, which can cause UTIs, pelvic inflammatory disease, and potentially life-threatening vaginal infections. There is also a chance that the bacteria can be transmitted between individuals.

Consumers should stop using the tampons immediately and contact a physician if you have used them, or if you experience unusual vaginal discharge, rash, fever, headache, vomiting or abdominal pain, particularly if you have AIDS, are HIV-positive, are pregnant or have cancer or any other existing serious illness.

Consumers should also contact Kimberly-Clark’s Consumer Services Division at 1-800-335-6839 so the necessary information and arrangements can be made to retrieve the unused product.

HT Deeky

 

–WKW

Overstock.com’s “Libel Factory” Deep Capture shut down by Canadian court

It appears Canada doesn’t abide a CEO inventing crimes against one of it’s own. Vancouver’s Altaf Nazerali has won a court order to – least temporarily – shut down the deepcapture.com website.

From Stockwatch:

The order came the same day that Mr. Nazerali filed a notice of claim against the site and its operators. He claimed that deepcapture.com linked him with Mafia figures and an associate of Osama bin Laden, among others. The defendants included naked short-selling conspiracist Patrick Byrne, who is the publisher of the site. (Mr. Byrne is also the chief executive officer of Internet retailer Overstock.com Inc.) Also a defendant was Illinois resident Mark Mitchell, who the suit identified as the author of much of the material that Mr. Nazerali complained of.

According to the suit, deepcapture.com posted the defamatory material in a series of chapters. One, dated July, 2011, stated that Mr. Nazerali was an important figure at Bank of Credit and Commerce International, “the massive criminal enterprise that did business with everyone from La Cosa Nostra and the Russian Mafia to Colombian drug cartels.” His business partners, as listed in the passage, included Mufti al Abbar, “chief market manipulator for Muammar Qadaffi,” and “an impressive number of securities traders who are also narco-traffickers (such as Paul Combs, until Combs was whacked by Nazerali’s mobster friend Egor Chernov).”

Another chapter claimed that Mr. Nazerali’s associates included Yasin al Qadi, “Osama bin Laden’s favorite financier.” It also linked with other Middle Eastern figures. “Nazerali, recall, has working relationships with … members of Al Qaeda’s Golden Chain, the regime in Iran, Pakistan’s ISI, the chief of Saudi intelligence, the ruler of Dubai, the royals of Abu Dhabi, La Cosa Nostra, the Russian Mafia, and others in the Milken network.”

Look for Byrne & cronies to decry this to be an attack on his first amendment rights. The problem for Byrne – who recently got Current TV’s Young Turks to praise him for attending Occupy Wall Street – is that Canada doesn’t appear to accept that blatantly lying about people to be a right.

Gary Weiss opines:

It will be interesting to see what happens next. I presume the website was shut by its web host, and of course there’s nothing to prevent Byrne from moving the content to Iran or wherever, all the while bleating about how his right to make stuff up about people has been infringed by dastardly Canadians. The judge is just going to love that.

Yes, this most definitely will be interesting.

–WKW

Netflix now to offer only Beta-Max movies

After getting hammered for a recent plan to break the company in two parts – one for DVDs, one for streaming video – Netflix has now decided to go back to the way it was, plus the healthy fee increase. Also, they announced they will only rent Beta-Max movies, because they are a business and businesses do things, so look, they did something else.

–WKW

The infamous Sam Antar joins Occupy Wall Street

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On his way to visit his son who works nearby, former Crazy Eddie’s fraudster Sam Antar stopped by and visited the protesters at Occupy Wall Street.

“It was a refreshing experience to see peaceful protests and people exercising their freedom of speech. The cops were OK with it, too,” said Antar.

–WKW

A deficit of ideas

Whether it’s President Barack Obama or Jon Huntsman, any “jobs plan” that leans heavily on “Reduce the Deficit!” and “Cut Taxes! will neither create jobs nor be especially serious. Economic stimulus is serious and works. But it won’t be part of any “plan.”

–WKW

Where’s the liberty?

It’s getting so Steven Seagal can’t even drive a tank into a house to kill a dog.

–WKW

The U.S. is the Greatest Country in the World™ – except for babies

There can be no doubt that the U.S. the richest, most powerful nation in the history of the world.  But a baby has a better chance of survival in Malaysia. From USA Today:

The study shows that newborn babies in countries including Malaysia, Cuba, and Poland now have a better chance of survival than those born in the United States. “It’s not that things are worse in the United States than before, it’s that the U.S. isn’t making progress like other countries,” Lawn said.

Because of improvements in infant care in some countries, newborns in Qatar, Croatia and the United Arab Emirates now die at about the same rate as those in the United States, the figures show.

The United States now trails 40 other countries when it comes to risk of newborn death with a newborn death rate of 4.3 per 1,000 live births. In 1990 the United States had the 28th lowest risk.

Zygotes matter in the U.S. Babies seems to be on their own.

–WKW

Leezza, Leezza, Leezza

Now that everyone seems horribly grossed out about Muammar Gaddafi’s puppy love for Condoleezza Rice, I think now may be the time to quietly dismantle my shrine to Madeleine Albright.

–WKW

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