I was sitting out on the front porch last night watching the folks in the neighbor- hood doing what folks do right around dusk in a small town. There were other folks sitting out on their porches as well, watching the kids riding their bikes in the street. The smell of someone frying chicken for dinner was wafting through the evening air. The laughter from a child floating on the breeze down the street, a baby crying softly in the distance and the birds chirping as they readied themselves for nightfall. Firefly's flickering in the trees.
I haven't heard those sounds or enjoyed porch sitting like that in years. It was quite comforting in a nostalgic sort of way.I can remember being that kid on the bike tearing down the street and skidding up into the yard, jumping off and letting the bike find its resting place all on its own! Back to a simpler style of living, without the hustle and bustle of the big city humming in the background. A little time out of the busy day to just relax and enjoy the small, yet finer things that life has to offer. We should all be blessed with a few of these moments more often. To stop and take the time to just sit back and rock on the porch ... and listen to the laughter of children playing, in that beautiful moment between dusk and dark.
I saw the most beautiful butterfly and it stayed around awhile and allowed me to take its picture. There is something special about butterflys. I have always felt they were a sign of good things. Maybe even better things to come in the near future. Hey.... I'm just sayin.....
We had a nice weekend here. It was Mushroom's birthday on Sunday and also their 49th wedding anniversary. Two of her daughters and her grandkid's came down to visit them. We had a wonderful dinner along with yummy cake and ice cream. The cake was a chocolate barley cake. I had never had a cake made with no flour before and I have to say it was delicious! We chopped up a boatload of veggies for a vegetable tray the other day and I learned how to make radish roses! I need more practice to be sure! Mine kind of turned out like .....well... lets just say they didn't really resemble roses. But it was fun!
Mars has been working in the yard around here cutting out those dastardly tree suckers that always seem to spring up where they are not wanted. In the process he accidentally cut down some elderberry bushes. Let's just say that now he knows what they look like!
I talked with my dad today which was nice. I wasn't able to get in touch with him on Father's Day due to circumstances beyond both of our control. He lives on the Gulf coast just this side of Galveston. Try as I might I cannot convince him of exactly how bad the oil spill is and what consequences it might hold in the future of the region. Oh well, its not for lack of trying. He said his garden has done really well this year and still has tomato's coming on like gang busters. As a matter of fact he said he had some in the dehydrator as we spoke. Like father like daughter I suppose!
Most of my day today seems to have been spent on the phone trying to get things "rearranged" yet again due to the unexpected move and trying to catch up on two weeks worth of laundry. Exciting stuff! LOL
I have been on the phone with Social Security as well today. I would think it is fair to say that since contacting my congressman my case worker has not been the most friendly person. Some of you had asked me to put a donation button on the blog. I did add it with some reluctance on my part. It sort of made me feel....well I don't know. I won't go into all that but... its there now!
I've been trying to soak up as much wisdom from my friend Mushroom as I can while we are staying here. The woman is a goldmine of information and has been prepping for most of her life. There is lots to learn and I am willing myself to be a "sponge". I hope to share some of that information here as it comes along. I'm also trying to learn to knit while I have a willing teacher! I'm working on a wash cloth as my first project. Right now it doesn't look like much of anything but I guess we will see how it comes out soon!
We pulled out of the place we had spent the last four months as "requested" on Monday evening. We didn't get everything we had wanted to accomplish done, but then given the time we were "allowed" it really doesn't surprise me. Mars decided not to ask for anymore time to finish up things as he had a bad feeling that if we didn't leave that night there was bound to be trouble. I am quite sure he was right. As crazy as things have been it would not have surprised either of us.
And so we headed out to the state park just down the road to spend the night and get some well deserved rest. After all the moving and packing and running back and forth to storage we were both hot, tired and sweaty. We got the trailer set up and were looking forward to finally being able to turn on the AC for the first time of the summer. The electricity at the place we had been staying was only wired for 20 amps and so running the AC was out of the question. Mars flipped on the AC switch and an awful noise came from the unit. Apparently the hail storm from a few weeks before had broken the AC fan. Bummer. So he plugged in the window fan we have been using and wouldn't you know it, the dang thing had decided to give up the ghost. By this time it was around 9PM and neither of us felt like driving into town. We spent a hot and muggy night with nothing but the open windows talking about what we were going to do next. It's not like we had planned on having to move anywhere for awhile yet. Sometimes life is like that I suppose. It doesn't make it any easier but you have to play the cards that are dealt to you.
The next morning I headed into town to find a wi-fi spot so I could make some calls (we only have Skype for a phone)and send off a couple of emails to let folks know we were still ok. While I was there I stopped at WallyWorld and spent a precious $15.00 for another box fan. Hey its summer and some things are necessary evils.
Our online friend Mushroom and her hubby Bud had invited us to come up and stay with them for awhile. We headed out on the 100+ mile trip to the north and made it about 40 miles and then the big bedroom window blew right off the trailer. Right behind it that brand new fan followed. Nothing we could do about it so we got back on the road. A few miles later we heard a noise.... the cat carrier blew out of the back of the truck bed. Thank goodness the cat wasn't in it!
We finally made it up to their house right around dark. Mars' air compressor was in the very back of the truck and to make a long story short while backing the trailer in the yard the compressor is now toast as well. What a freaking week!
I am happy to say that so far nothing else awful has happened. Mushroom and Bud are wonderful people and have made us feel right at home. A much welcome feeling especially after the cold shoulder we have had for the last four months.
BB (our catahoula cur) has had a nice big back yard to hang out in as well. Until yesterday that is. Mars was mowing the yard and took the mower to the other side of the fence. BB decided she wanted to go with him and so she jumped the fence. Shes been allowed to run free for the last few months and so I can't really blame her for trying but she is now sentenced to the tie-down unless she's being supervised. Silly dog!
Anyway, all is well right now. Plans are still a bit fuzzy but we will work things out. And so....the adventure, although changed, still continues....
I feel blessed. Through this blog and through the prepper network I have found compassionate and caring people. All your kind words and your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated. Some people think that "online" friends are not "real" friends. I disagree with that with all my heart. Although there are bad things that may happen, and people who really aren't who they portray themselves as, for the most part people are good hearted. The internet has been a helpful tool in finding like minded and good folks. I count myself lucky to have found you all.
I'm not sure what direction our lives will take from here. I do know the plan is still to try and obtain that piece of earth we can call our own. How we manage along the way.... I guess that's all up to the greater powers. But somehow we will. A wonderful couple has invited us to stay with them for awhile a little farther north than we were in Oklahoma. So for those of you who worry, just know that we are ok and hope to be back on track soon. I refuse to give up on the dream.
Thank you each and every one for your kind words of support. They have helped us through some pretty tough times in the last couple of weeks.
Words cannot begin to explain the emotions that have been in play these last few days. I have written and written and backspaced over and over. I can come up with no explanations except ones that tend to make me angry. We came to Oklahoma with intentions of helping out a fellow prepper. Who, by the way, invited us here to do just that. We did not ask for anything more than a place to park the RV. Mars came here because he wanted to help and we needed a place to stay while my "stuff" is going through. We didn't ask for compensation although compensation was offered. It was offered in the vein of come on up here because we need help. The offerings were a place to park the trailer, utilities, internet and some groceries (which we didn't actually need and which are laughable when looking back) in exchange for work on their land. We just needed a place to hang out until I could get this stuff with SSD worked out. Mars has always worked. To be kicked off of their property without even a thought as to what we are supposed to do rightfully wrong. We didn't just show up here out of the blue... it took months of planning and a dedication to seeing things work out. Yet without even a notice of any kind we are supposed to move our home out and they haven't even given Mars an opportunity to look for another job. Almost four months we have been here. But there is no mercy in some peoples hearts. It took us a couple of weeks to get settled in here and yet we are expected to leave in less than 7? It would be one thing if we had just been doing nothing. But that has not been the case.
What they failed to mention was that somehow we were supposed to both work for hours upon end with nothing more than lot rent in return. And apparently that wasn't even enough. Mars worked hundreds of hours for the "right" to park our trailer on their land. And I am not even including what I have done out here. That was not enough. My husband feels used. I can't blame him at all. I think he has as well.
All the hard work is done now and they have no need for him. The tree removal from the field that had to be done before the fields could be planted cost him two tow straps and several lengths of good rope. Not to mention the weeks it took to get that job done. Or the wear and tear on his tools.
And once the field was ready he and I both were out there planting seed for the coming crops. When the hail storm came PL was ready to give up. Mars went out there and trimmed off all the broken plants knowing that they weren't beyond hope. To build the rabbit cages and nesting boxes took awhile because he had to tear down the old house on PL's property and rip old boards and make something work. And out of that old house also came the materials to build the vegetable stand (silly idea and a waste of time) that "she" wanted. Ever tried to rip boards to get to the ones you needed to build something? Its not something just anyone can do. Hours of weed pulling and picking vegetables, installing electric and digging septic and any other thing that our "host" needed attended to. And still it wasn't enough.
But to come to our door and tell us we have to "leave now" carrying guns? (oh and a video recorder - I hope they post that one to see who was acting a fool) because I wrote something on MY blog? No reason for that at all. Except it must have made them feel better to do so. There are tales I could tell but it doesn't really matter now. And I will chalk that up to the "blame game" that some folks are destined to play out. Wasted time is what we have done. Wasted hours and hours for no outcome that would be good for anyone but them.
And so not to as cause any more problems we got the hell out. Had to rent a storage shed for things that we could not carry with us. We didn't move out here in a week( it took months of preparation) No plans, no money, and all the sudden no job to speak of and here we are. Neither of us wanted them back on our doorstep with guns threatening us with trespassing. Guns? What the hell do you wanna bring guns to someones door for no reason? Like we were going to shoot them?
They asked that we be out by Monday.... we couldn't even finish our move. We had old boxes and things that we needed to take care of to make the place presentable. But the time given to us didn't allow a clean up job. We did leave the paving stones that "she" wanted to buy from us a month ago. That was about 100 bucks that we also lost in the deal. But hey, what were we supposed to do? We had been given no time to move...to look for another job... to do nothing more than GET OUT!
Had to spend money that we really didn't have to pay for storage and end up in a state park hoping for the kindness of strangers to help us out until either Mars can find a money job or my SSD comes in. And being angry isn't helping... it seems like there is a cloud over our head. All we have tried to do is to pass time until things can be made different. I promise I will try to make this my last rant about the unfairness of all this... There has been enough negative energy expended thus far to last for quite some time.
Please note the date here. Some things have changed but this was what we were confronted with when it went down.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Well to say it has been an interesting 24 hours would be quite an understatement. Apparently John didn't like my post . Well the ONE sentence anyway -about us not getting any of the squash from the seeds we gave him. Hey, I didn't even mention all the turnips (again OUR seeds) they sold. They were kind enough to give us two of those! He came down here yesterday raising hell and told us we had a week to "get the f*%k out". Mars tried to talk to him but he would have none of it. To say we were surprised would be an understatement. Stunned is more like it.
After all the work around here that Mars has done I just don't understand it. Well Mars got P.O'd and wrote out all the hours he had worked, what he had built, what they had been using of ours, all the tools (his own) he had used to get things done around here. Then took all the hours and added them up at $5.00 an hour (cheap yeah?) and deducted rent, electric, even the 5 dozen or so eggs we got from them over the last 3 months and still came up with over an additional $1,300.00 . Well he took his up to their house, handed it to them and walked away. I mean it was just to make a point . We have not been living here sucking off them.... we have both been working out here.
Next thing you know here comes John AND Carrie down here to the trailer raising hell and toting a video camera and both carrying sidearms.and WTF?? Guns? I could NOT believe it. Chalk it up to drinking I guess but it was totally uncalled for. Brought back our water hoses, extension cords, and the computer router( which he slammed on the concrete) tossed it all in the dirt and started screaming. They told us we had 24 hours to get out of here. And if we didn't like it they would call the sheriff and make a complaint against us for tresspassing. Trespassing? We have been living here for over 3 months! Mars and I were both like WTF is going on??? Stupid shit to be sure. Then they went back to their house and shut off the electricity and the water to our trailer.
Now I don't know if its just me or was that s#*t totally uncalled for? All because I actually posted to the internet about some stupid produce?
We left this morning to try and find a place to move the trailer too and before we left Mars went to their door to tell them we would be back... Check this out... Carrie's daughter was in the yard, saw us and ran like she was scared into the house. Carrie comes to the door holding a freaking gun. Come on... like we are killers or something? Just stupid.
This afternoon we came back to start packing and Mars went to talk to John to see if he would be reasonable and give us at least a few days to move. Hell it took more than a day to move in... how are we supposed to move out in one? Well to give John some credit he gave us till Monday. Such a nice guy!
I have to say after the time spent here and all the nasty things he has written online about this whole situation I won't be sorry to leave. And I'm certainly not going to miss either of them.
Well things certainly have a way of going to hell in a handbasket pretty quickly. Because I wrote something that our host considered offensive on my last garden update on Monday we have been asked to vacate the property by the first of the week. We have no destination, as we had no idea we would be kicked out on such short notice. We are also less than $300.00 from being destitute. I don't know what we are going to do.
We had thought that we could have made another six weeks or so with that money as we haven't had many expenses since being here. But to have to pack up and find another place to live, and the cost of fuel to move the trailer we are pretty much screwed. I just don't know what we are going to do. I can't even make phone calls (Skype) as they have shut off our internet access.
I hope to hear from Social Security within the next couple of weeks concerning my approval. I have an appointment for a blood test on Tuesday. I have to drive 130 miles to go have it done. Great system we have here right? After that it shouldn't take more than a couple of weeks to get an answer from Social Security as to my acceptance. Until then... I just don't know what we will do.
Sorry about the comment moderation... but for now it seems a necessary evil.
I am now limited to wi-fi hot spots and the library so I don't know how often I will be able to post. Prayers and good thoughts in our direction would be greatly appreciated right now.
There truly is something to be said for Little Towns. I have been living in big cities for so long that I had really forgotten what it was like to actually have someone take the time to just stop and chat for a few minutes without looking at their watch or having to hurry you through the check out line with barely a nod in your direction. Living like that truly seems to take a toll on people. And they have NO IDEA what they are missing. It's just business as usual... another day another dollar and all that.
I had to go to town yesterday so I could send a fax. I don't have a printer here so it entailed having to go to the library. No big deal really. So I talked to the librarian about using the computer. I suppose she didn't quite catch what I was needing to do. Anyway, she asked me for my I.D. and took the information. I told her I had just recently moved here. I still have my Texas license and so she asked me if I had something with my mailing address here on it. It just so happened that I had that exact information in my hand and so I gave it to her. I was thinking ... wow... all this just to use the computer? But I didn't say anything. She gave my my temporary password for the computer and I went ahead and took care of my business. When I went back to the counter to pay for the services she handed me my very own Library Card! Wooo Hoooo!! I hadn't even thought about getting one and so I was very pleasantly surprised. Too bad I hadn't stopped there before I stopped at the thrift store and spent my $2.00 on books!
I decided that since I was already going to have to be town I might as well take a look around.You know..see what this Little Big Town has to offer. Imagine my delight at finding three thrift shops without even having to actually look for them. And there are more of them too!! I hit a honey hole! I love thrift stores being the cheap skate err...being frugal and all. To bad we are on such a tight budget right now. But I did spend $2.00 on a few books which what I was looking for after all.
While in town I stopped at the WallyWorld to pick up some eggs and butter. While I was checking out I asked the cashier if they carried cigarette tubes. Mars and I both smoke. Bad habit I know, but one we have yet to put down. Being cheap err... frugal we have been rolling our own for a few years now. Until the government stepped in and banned the mailing of tobacco in the mail we have always ordered tobacco and the cigarette tubes online. The last time I ordered tobacco I ordered all I could afford to knowing that it was going to be the last time I would be able to order it online. Well I misjudged how many boxes of tubes we needed for the order and so we ran out way before the tobacco ran out. Leave it to me right? lol Anyway.... The cashier said they didn't carry them anymore. I asked her if there was a tobacco shop in town. Not only is there one.... its an Indian Smoke Shop. No taxes! Good news is they carry both the tubes and the tobacco. Another problem solved!
Everyone I talked to yesterday was just so nice. Everyone took the time to just act one on one with me. Such a wonderful thing that is. I know some of you probably think I'm nuts. But for me it is like a breath of fresh air to actually have a conversation with folks who say things like "Sure Hun, I can help". I think we might have escaped the big city just in time! I was becoming as jaded as they are and it's not something I want to be.
Some of you are aware that I have filed for Disability several months ago. I have not bitched about this here as I figured no one really wants to hear all that stuff. We all have our crosses to bear and this is mine. Suffice it to say it took a long time for me to actually admit to myself that I just couldn't work anymore. Hard pill to swallow for someone like myself. I have worked since I was 14. Heck I actually like working. I have been in customer service forever because I just like people. Even the butts! I can and do have a good time trying to make someone laugh or get a response from them every chance I get. To have to admit that I was giving up was and still is hard to admit. Much less to admit it here for the world to see.
I had to quit working about six months ago because it just got to be too much to handle. The pain from the scoliosis (curvature of the spine) has just become to much to be able to bear for an entire work shift. I can't sit or stand for more than a short amount of time in either position. The nerve damage has progressed to a point that working just isn't an option anymore. My feet and legs have become almost numb from the nerve damage. Not numb like I can't feel them... but like all I can feel is pain.I worked until I could not pull even a half a shift anymore without crying. If that were the only problem I guess I could see them trying to drag their feet on this.
But it was the diagnosis back in '06 that I have been ignoring. And I have done it well even if I have to say so myself. I didn't even allow myself to think about it. As long as I could focus on the back pain and the things related to it , well then I didn't have to acknowledge the rest of it right? And so I didn't. If you don't say it out loud then it doesn't count right? And I still find myself struggling with actually saying it. So I have been trying to figure out a way to try and relay this without having to say the C word.
I have thought long and hard about actually sharing this with you guys. I wasn't going to. But I was talking to my mom yesterday and she said something that struck me hard. She said she could tell just by reading this stupid blog that I was being dishonest (and she knows whats up) not only to myself but with the people who have taken the time to follow my life and thoughts for the last couple of years. I have always tried to be pretty honest here. Not about my "particulars" really but my thoughts and who I am as a person. Why should I be a hypocrite to myself or to you now?
Social Security has a few conditions that are considered to be automatically considered for what they call Compassionate Allowance. I have one of those. What it means is that one of those diagnoses is supposed to put you on the fast track to an ok for disability. The application process has been ridiculous. Not to mention the six months it has taken so far to find an answer. It has gone just as most people say it goes. Total disorganization. They have lost files and paperwork relevant to my case. And have chosen to disregard important information and tried to BS me along the entire way.
As I was diagnosed 4 years ago, the current thought is that my records are to "old" to consider. Hey I worked as long as I possible could. Isn't that what is expected of us?
The funny thing is that even though those blood tests are 4 years old they aren't going to change. Heck I wish they would. But it ain't gonna happen. So they set me up for a new blood test. Ok no problem I figure. I was scheduled t o go last week. My case worker canceled the blood test and was going to go with the old records (which apparently aren't any good now) and I threw a major fit. I called my Congressman! Did you know you can do that? Well ya can! He will be following my case from today forward. Nothing like a politician to freak out a different government office during an election year. We shall see...
I hope this doesn't put you off and I promise there won't be anymore said about the whole thing. I just don't want to feel like I have been dishonest anymore. So don't worry about this becoming a gloom and doom blog. That's just not who I am or what I am about. Life is to be lived with gusto and with a love of the world around us. I want to savor every minute that I am given here and hope all of you will do the same. I just figured I would get it out of the way now so I don't have to do it later on.
And so there you have it... My dirty little secret.
I still am going to have a place of my own out in the middle of nowhere with rabbits and chickens and a big garden and you can't make me believe any different!
Our little "herb" garden is happily growing everything except herbs! I don't know why I have such problems with them. I think it's that I just don't start them correctly and will be working to remedy that situation. Last year the only things I was successful with was basil, sage, oregano and cilantro. Same thing goes this year. I am determined to master the art of growing herbs if it kills me (or more seeds).
Some of you might remember that Mars made me a little herb garden a couple of months ago. As usual, his veggies sort of took over the spots where my stuff didn't come up. So we have had a few radishes, some little turnips, bell peppers and jalapeno's come up. The tomato's are coming back just fine after their near destruction in the hail storm. They look a little rough but have green tomato's and blooms all over them. We should have some ripe tomato's in a few days! I can hardly wait. There is absolutely nothing better in the whole world than vine ripe tomato's! Our yellow squash didn't come up which is a bummer. The seeds we gave our host all did well and they have harvested over 40 lbs already. We haven't been offered any but I am sure they are good. I thought we had some coming up in the "herb" garden but I got a big surprise!!! The squash coming up is Spaghetti Squash! And there are several getting almost ready to pick. Probably in about a week.
Mars also planted some cantaloupe and they are flowering too. MMMmmmm cold cantaloupe sounds yummy on a hot day! If we have an abundance I will probably dehydrate some. I dried some last year for the first time. They come out like little chewy cantaloupe candies and are pretty tasty.
I made bread this morning and then made about three dozen tortilla's. I have to admit I am finally getting pretty darn good at the tortilla thing! After that I helped Mars cut down and strip bamboo stakes for the blackeyed peas in the host's garden. They are growing nicely and seriously needed to be staked. Mars said he picked about 4 pounds of them this morning. He also picked about 2 pounds of purple hull peas as well this morning for our host's. That reminds me... I still have some black-eyed peas in the freezer from last year. I think I will cook them tonight. Just talking about them makes my tummy say yummy!
Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts and words of wisdom on my last post. The little bunny who "flipped" out of the cage did indeed come back! For that I am grateful.
I know its been a couple of days since I posted anything here. I guess I must be hitting a wall with my writing. That and I've not been feeling all that great the last few days. Nothing I can put my finger on really....just kinda ...off.
I had to go into the new and improved Little Big Town yesterday. There are two of them that are almost exactly the same distance from here. In opposite directions. One to the east and one (of course) to the west. I wish now I had taken the second choice way before now. This one is far better than the LBT I have been going to. They actually have a Tractor Supply and what looks like several thrift stores. Along with a WallyWorld that has a much better grocery section. I haven't been able to check it out much yet but from now on that's the town I will be shopping in. I even found a "real" grocery store! Don't laugh!! A "real" grocery is a real find around here!! All there is in the one to the west is a WallyWorld and a Save-A-Lot. (which is a misnomer if ever there was one)
I was out this evening feeding and watering the rabbits and a horrible thing happened. When I opened up the cage with the Mama and the little bunnies in it... The little ones spooked and started doing the "tornado" dance round and round the cage. Before I could slam shut the cage door one flipped out and landed on the ground. I tried to catch him but he got away. I looked and looked and John came out and looked for him as well. I feel horrible about it and am guilt ridden that that little bunny is out there all by himself tonight. It doesn't help that he was going to be dinner somewhere down the line either. Double guilt served up tonight.
I made some Snickerdoodles to try and make myself feel less guilty. That didn't work out either since I ended up eating about a dozen of them. Guilt x 3 I'm OUT!
I have posted the article below "in full" because it makes some excellent points about what has been going on in and around the events in the Gulf of Mexico . It by no means covers all the information that I have been finding myself. Please check out the links provided. They don't want us to actually uncover what is becoming quite apparent to me. The utter destruction of the Gulf Coast.
Are you aware that there is a No Fly order over the Gulf of Mexico?
"(B) WITH THE EXCEPTION OF AIRCRAFT CONDUCTING AERIAL CHEMICAL DISPERSING OPERATIONS ;NO FIXED WING AIRCRAFT ARE AUTHORIZED BELOW 1000 FEET ABOVE THE SURFACE UNLESS FOR LANDING AND TAKEOFF. "
Excuse me? The spraying of the extremely toxic dispersant Corexit was supposed to have been suspended a full three weeks ago and yet is continuing even today. It is killing aquatic life and making people ill. BP knows this, yet refuses to use safer and/or more effective methods. The use of Corexit is banned in England.
More links here A Smoking Gun... , Haliburton involvement, Illness in workers doing the clean up. There are tons more, but I am sure that many will not share my belief that this is a well orchestrated plan, with dire results for the citizens of the Gulf Coast region.
There are rumors that troops are being sent into the area as well. The actions (non-actions) of our government have been laughable to say the very least. Why are we playing a "blame game" here? The one thing everyone should be agreeing on is that this "spill" (gusher) must be stopped and the waters and the coastlines cleaned up as best we can. So do YOU have questions about all this? My mind has been besieged by the enormity of the disaster we find ourselves facing.
Evidence Points To BP Oil Spill False Flag Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones Prisonplanet.com Tuesday, Jun 8th, 2010- Sales of shares and stocks in days and weeks beforehand
- Halliburton link, acquisition of cleanup company days before explosion
- BP report cites undocumented tampering with well sealing equipment
- Government uses disaster to push for Carbon Tax, Nationalization talk
Troubling evidence surrounding the Deepwater Horizon explosion on April 20th suggests that the incident could have been manufactured.
On April 12th, just over one week before the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, Halliburton, the world’s second largest oilfield services corporation, surprised some by acquiring Boots & Coots, a relatively small but vastly experienced oil
well control companies.
The company deals with fires and blowouts on oil rigs and oil wells. It was responsible for putting out roughly one third of the more than 700 oil well fires set in Kuwait by retreating Iraqi soldiers during the Gulf War.
The deal itself is still under scrutiny with Boots and Coots facing an ongoing investigation into “possible breaches of fiduciary duty and other violations of state law”
Where this information gets really interesting is with the fact that Halliburton is named in the majority of some two dozen lawsuits filed since the explosion by Gulf Coast people and businesses who claim that the company is to blame for the disaster.
Halliburton was forced to admit in testimony at a congressional hearing last month that it carried out a cementing operation 20 hours before the Gulf of Mexico rig went up in flames. The lawsuits claim that four Halliburton workers stationed on the rig improperly capped the well.
As the New York Times noted on May 26th, “BP officials chose, partly for financial reasons, to use a type of casing for the well that the company knew was the riskier of two options,”
Workers from the rig and company officials have said that hours before the explosion, gases were leaking through the cement, which had been set in place by the oil services contractor, Halliburton. Investigators have said these leaks were the likely cause of the explosion.”
According to a 2007 study by Minerals Management Service, cementing was a factor in 18 of 39 rig blowouts in the gulf between 1992 and 2006.
Another intriguing connection Boots and Coots has to the Deepwater Horizon explosion comes via Pat Campbell, the man BP has employed to cap the well beneath the ruined rig. Campbell worked for Boots and Coots as general manager for many years.
BP has admitted to buying Yahoo and Google keywords in an attempt to control publicly available information in the wake of the catastrophe. It seems that the company is taking all the flack for the spill while the Halliburton link is being roundly ignored. BP’s prepared testimony briefing, which has since leaked online, also intriguingly notes that the Hydraulic Control System on equipment designed to automatically seal the well in an emergency was modified without their knowledge sometime before the explosion.
“the extent of these modifications is unknown at this time” states the report on page 37.
Possible prior knowledge of the explosion is also evident via huge dumping of stocks and shares in the weeks and days prior to the incident. Goldman Sachs dumped 44% of its shares in BP Oil during the first quarter – shares that subsequently lost 36 percent of their value, equating to $96 million.
Other asset management firms also sold huge blocks of BP stock in the first quarter. Though the amounts pale in comparison to Goldman’s holdings, Wachovia, owned by Wells Fargo, sold 98% of its shares in BP and Swiss bank UBS sold 97% of its BP shares.
Furthermore, as reported by the London Telegraph on June 5th, Tony Hayward, the chief executive of BP, sold £1.4 million of his shares in the fuel giant weeks before the spill.
In the days before the Deepwater explosion, Obama had announced a new effort to explore for and lease new drilling locations in the deep Gulf and in Alaska. In the wake of the disaster, these plans have been cancelled and BP is taking a PR bashing.
All of which has been capitalized on by the Obama administration to reinvigorate talk of a carbon tax and has created the opportunity to reintroduce the idea of nationalizing oil, which the Democratic leadership has long sought.
The full story of what is happening in the Gulf of Mexico is yet to emerge, there are rumours of more spills and an ongoing coverup. The site represents a $2.2 trillion source of wealth and power, a motive along with a plethora of suspicious activity that needs to be investigated further.
This was posted over at Rural Revolution and I just felt a need to share it with my readers as well. Thanks Patrice.
This was forwarded to me by a friend who is a Marine veteran. Get a tissue. ________________________
An airline captain writes: My lead flight attendant came to me and said, “We have an H.R. on this flight." (H.R. stands for human remains.)
"Are they military?" I asked.
“Yes,” she said.
”Is there an escort?” I asked.
”Yes, I already assigned him a seat.”
”Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck? You can board him early," I said..
A short while later, a young army sergeant entered the flight deck. He was the image of the perfectly dressed soldier. He introduced himself and I asked him about his soldier. The escorts of these fallen soldiers talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us.
”My soldier is on his way back to Virginia,” he said. He proceeded to answer my questions, but offered no words.
I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I told him that he had the toughest job in the military and that I appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his hand. He left the flight deck to find his seat.
We completed our preflight checks, pushed back and performed an uneventful departure. About 30 minutes into our flight I received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. “I just found out the family of the soldier we are carrying, is on board,” she said. She then proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and two-year old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home. The family was upset because they were unable to see the container that the soldier was in before we left. We were on our way to a major hub at which the family was going to wait four hours for the connecting flight home to Virginia.
The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable to see him was too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see him upon our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier being taken off the airplane. I could hear the desperation in the flight attendants voice when she asked me if there was anything I could do. “I'm on it,” I said. I told her that I would get back to her.
Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of e-mail like messages. I decided to bypass this system and contact my flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio. There is a radio operator in the operations control center who connects you to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the dispatcher. I explained the situation I had on board with the family and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he would get back to me.
Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I saved the return message from the dispatcher and the following is the text: “Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy on this now and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the remains with a secondary van for the family. The family will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the terminal where the remains can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family only. When the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the ramp and plane side to watch the remains being loaded for the final leg home. Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans. Please pass our condolences on to the family. Thanks.”
I sent a message back telling flight control thanks for a good job. I printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told me, “You have no idea how much this will mean to them.”
Things started getting busy for the descent, approach and landing. After landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway. It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to enter and exit. When we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were told that all traffic was being held for us.
'There is a team in place to meet the aircraft,” we were told. It looked like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the copilot to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the gate to make an announcement to the passengers. He did that and the ramp controller said, “Take your time.”
I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public address button and said, “Ladies and gentleman, this is your Captain speaking I have stopped short of our gate to make a special announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and respect. His name is Private XXXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private XXXXXX is under your feet in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is Army Sergeant XXXXXXX. Also, on board are his father, mother, wife, and daughter. Your entire flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank you.”
We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit the aircraft.
When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly started to clap his hands. Moments later more passengers joined in and soon the entire aircraft was clapping. Words of God Bless You, I'm sorry, thank you, be proud, and other kind words were uttered to the family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane. They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with their loved one.
Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I had made. They were just words, I told them, I could say them over and over again, but nothing I say will bring back that brave soldier.
I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event and the sacrifices that millions of our men and women have made to ensure our freedom and safety in these United States of America.
Foot note: As a Viet Nam Veteran I can only think of all the veterans including the ones that rode below the deck on their way home and how they were treated. When I read things like this I am proud that our country has not turned their backs on our soldiers returning from the various war zones today and give them the respect they so deserve.
I know every one who has served their country who reads this will have tears in their eyes, including me. Prayer for our soldiers: Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect us. Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in our time of need. Amen.
Michael Wayne Infowars.com June 4, 2010 The latest revelations in the British Petroleum gulf drilling disaster indicate that international banking firm Goldman Sachs sold over 4.68 million shares of British Petroleum stock just two days prior to the explosion of the British Petroleum drilling platform. This sell-off of petroleum stock is now recognized as the largest single liquidation of petroleum stocks in the history of modern markets. With this liquidation taking place just 48 hours prior to the gulf explosion which now looms as America’s worst ever ecological disaster, any intelligent mind must ask these questions, “Was this sell-off an act of insider trading? Did someone at Goldman Sachs have foreknowledge of this disaster? Could the disaster have been man-made? If so, who would be the ultimate beneficiary of this event?”
TA remotely operated undersea vehicle works on the leaking riser pipe at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil leak.
Noticing that President Barak Obama’s administration is now calling for new petroleum taxes to cover the colossal expenses of potential future drilling disasters, it becomes obvious that those within and behind the environmental movement and the global warming movement stand to profit from new taxes on an enormous scale. But ultimately the true beneficiaries of this disaster will be the international banking corporations which have controlling interests in the World Bank (WB), Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is this banking triad and its controlling interests, with their neck-deep involvement in the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), which stand to collect many trillions of dollars over the coming decades. LOST is a United Nations treaty that went into effect in 1994. It defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine resources. Whereas the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution has become the king’s X for the United States Federal Government to govern and override all activities of the fifty states, LOST stands to become the mechanism by which the United Nations will govern and override all activities of the 300 nations of the world. It is through LOST that all nations will “lose” their sovereignty to a One World Government. LOST is set to become the funding instrument behind the arising New World Order. This recognition brings our attention to a statement recorded in the Bible’s book of Revelation. In this passage a worldwide governmental system is prophetically pictured as a beast “rising out of the sea.” That was written around 90 A.D. And now, some 1900 years after it was written we see the efforts by international banking elites to finance a one world government by collecting carbon taxes through the regulations of a Law of the Sea Treaty. Their government is arising out of the sea. The environmental cap and trade taxes that are being promoted by the U.N.’s IPCC are taxes on carbon dioxide emissions. The U.N. is pushing for these taxes to be collected by the WB, IMF, and BIS through regulations established under LOST. Incidentally, the regulations of LOST do not stop at a nation’s shorelines. Any navigable rivers, like the Mississippi, are equally governed. The U.N., having been created with capital and real estate donations from the world’s leading international banking families/corporations, has already established plans for the banking triad of the WB, IMF, and BIS to collect cap and trade taxes from the several 300 nations of the world. These banks will then funnel these funds to the U.N. for dispersement as it chooses, but only after the banks have collected their commissions and fees. This brings us back to the issue at hand– the looming ecological disaster created by the explosion of the British Petroleum drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, and our question of who stands to benefit. It is the international banking triad of the WB, IMF, and BIS that will collect trillions of dollars in taxes levied under the auspices of LOST. Any ecological disaster that occurs on the open seas expands the perception that there is a need for a massive regulatory mechanism to prevent such disasters from occurring. That mechanism is LOST. And the greater the perceived magnitude of any such sea-based ecological disaster, the greater will be the perceived need for that regulatory mechanism. It thereby becomes obvious that the entities which stand to gain under the auspices of LOST would want to magnify the public perception of immense destruction caused by any sea-based disaster. Understanding this fact, we now turn our attention to the one topic that has been reported more than any other in the main stream media’s coverage of the British Petroleum gulf oil disaster: the multiple, giant “plumes” of underwater oil. On Sunday, May 16th researchers aboard the Pelican research vessel working for the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology (NIUST) revealed that their research data identified multiple, gigantic undersea “plumes” off the Louisiana coastline that might be composed of crude oil released from the collapse of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. One plume was stated to be over a thousand feet under the ocean surface and was 10 miles long, 3 miles wide, and 300 feet thick at one point. Over the ensuing two weeks since this discovery, several more gigantic plumes have been discovered and reported in the media. As this information has made its way into the worldwide news media, public fears have exploded in equal magnitude to the enormous size of the undersea plumes or blobs of crude oil. The reported size of these plumes of oil truly makes the magnitude of the disaster appear to be unbelievably enormous. These reports in the media certainly serve to feed the public perception that this ecological disaster is enormous beyond imagination, and the inaction and / or inability of the U.S. Government to stop the ongoing disaster is clear evidence that we need some mechanism to regulate our seas to prevent this from happening again. Low and behold, LOST is the ready-made solution to the problem… much like the ready-made Patriot Act was the instant solution to flaws evidenced in the American governmental system on September 11th. So it is here that we are forced to ask the questions, “Are these enormous plumes of oil real? Are they even possible? Or are they simply hype being promoted by the main stream media in order to facilitate the adoption of LOST, and thereby finance a New World Order controlled by an international banking elite for their own purposes?” Let’s examine two aspects of the largest of several oil plumes as reported by NIUST. First let’s examine the reported size. And second let’s examine the time available to create such a large plume. The examination that follows was made on May 20th, exactly 30 days after the explosion of the rig, and just days after the first plume was discovered. The largest “plume” was declared to be 10 miles long by 3 miles wide by up to 300 feet thick. As the plume was not uniform in depth, let’s be conservative and calculate the volume of a plume that is only an average of 50 feet thick:
Length = 10 miles (at 5,280 feet per mile) = 52,800 feet Width = 3 miles (at 5,280 feet per mile) = 15,840 feet Depth = 50 feet Total volume of plume = Length X Width X Depth = 52,800 X 15,840 X 50 = 41,817,600,000 cubic feet
As seen in the calculation above, the plume of leaked crude oil is an estimated 41.8 billion cubic feet in volume. With each cubic foot containing 7.48 gallons, that gives us a plume containing 312.6 billion gallons of crude oil. Now think about that. Over 300 billion gallons of crude oil. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was an estimated 10.8 million gallons of crude oil. That means this one oil plume discovered by NIUST is 28,888 times as large as the volume of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. And that’s only considering a plume that is 50 feet thick as opposed to 300 feet thick as reported.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Let’s look at that another way. In the worldwide trade of crude oil there are roughly 500 super-tankers in service, and each super-tanker can carry two million barrels of oil. Two million barrels (at 42 gallons each) equates to 84,000,000 gallons of crude oil in each super-tanker. To produce this plume of crude oil discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, each ship within the total world fleet of 500 super-tankers would have to journey to the coast of Louisiana and then completely disgorge the two million barrels of oil in each tanker. And all 500 tankers would have to repeat this process seven and one-half times. This one reported plume of crude oil off the coast of Louisiana is the volume of over 3,700 super-tankers. Is it realistic to believe that this much crude oil has spilled into the gulf in a period of 30 days? The volume of 3,700 super-tankers? Can you picture that? America’s worst oil spill, the Exxon Valdez disaster, only spilled one eighth of one super-tanker. Here’s another relevant piece of information– the Deepwater Horizon well was drilled into the Macondo Prospect oilfield located in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 of the Gulf of Mexico. It is estimated that the total volume of crude oil held in the Macondo field is only 50 to 100 MILLION barrels. That’s the entire field. By contrast, the volume of our one plume of spilled oil as calculated above is 312 BILLION gallons. And since there are 42 gallons in a barrel, we divide by 42 and find that this plume contains 7.4 BILLION barrels of spilled crude oil. Look at that again. The reported ten mile long oil plume is calculated to contain 7.4 BILLION barrels of crude oil, but the Macondo undersea oilfield is only estimated to contain a maximum of 100 MILLION barrels of crude oil. The size of this one reported oil plume is 75 times the maximum projected size of all the crude oil held in the entire Macondo field. This information begs a question, “How can this one oil plume be composed of crude oil from the Macondo Prospect field when the plume is estimated to be 75 times greater than the total volume of the crude oil contained in the entire Macondo field?” Does that make sense? Or perhaps does it make more sense that the media, influenced by the powers at hand, are greatly hyping the size of these reported oil plumes in order to flame the fires of public unrest and push for greater regulation which feeds right into the hands of LOST? Now let’s look at our second point: the time available to produce the reported plume (this examination was made on May 20th, 14 days ago, just days after the plume was first reported in the media). News sources have reported that the source of the oil spill is a pipe that is approximately 21 inches in diameter. But British Petroleum is reported to be using a tube with only a 6-inch diameter inserted into the larger pipe to siphon off the leaking oil. A 6-inch tube has an opening of 27 square inches. This is key because we want to make a calculation as to how fast the oil would have to be exiting this pipe in order to create the massive plume of oil that has been reported . To make our calculation simple, let’s increase the size of our opening from 27 square inches to 144 square inches, which is one square foot (12 inches X 12 inches). A pipe that is 14 inches in diameter will have an opening that is approximately equivalent to one square foot or 144 square inches. Using these dimensions we can visualize a pipe with a mouth that is 14 inches across. The opening or mouth of the pipe is therefore one square foot in area. Now we ask the question, “How fast does the oil have to be exiting this pipe in order to create our plume?” To arrive at this answer we first calculate the amount of time that the oil has been spilling into the gulf. The spill reportedly began on April 20th. So it has now been 30 days (May 20th) since the beginning of the spill. So we multiply 30 days X 24 hours X 60 minutes X 60 seconds , and that gives us 2,592,000 seconds. Now we take our previously calculated 41.8 billion cubic feet of crude oil found in the plume, and we divide that by the 2.592 million seconds, and that gives us 16,126 cubic feet per second. If the oil plume were to be created in 30 days as reported, which is a time interval of 2.592 million seconds, then just over 16,000 cubic feet of oil would have to spill out each second. Using our theoretical 14-inch pipe with an opening of one square foot, that means our pipe would have to BLAST out a column of oil 16,000 feet long every second in order to release 16,000 cubic feet per second. Think a moment about that velocity… 16,000 feet per second. There are just over 5,200 feet in a mi
Michael Wayne
Infowars.com
June 4, 2010
The latest revelations in the British Petroleum gulf drilling disaster indicate that international banking firm Goldman Sachs sold over 4.68 million shares of British Petroleum stock just two days prior to the explosion of the British Petroleum drilling platform. This sell-off of petroleum stock is now recognized as the largest single liquidation of petroleum stocks in the history of modern markets. With this liquidation taking place just 48 hours prior to the gulf explosion which now looms as America’s worst ever ecological disaster, any intelligent mind must ask these questions, “Was this sell-off an act of insider trading? Did someone at Goldman Sachs have foreknowledge of this disaster? Could the disaster have been man-made? If so, who would be the ultimate beneficiary of this event?”
TA remotely operated undersea vehicle works on the leaking riser pipe at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil leak.
Noticing that President Barak Obama’s administration is now calling for new petroleum taxes to cover the colossal expenses of potential future drilling disasters, it becomes obvious that those within and behind the environmental movement and the global warming movement stand to profit from new taxes on an enormous scale.
But ultimately the true beneficiaries of this disaster will be the international banking corporations which have controlling interests in the World Bank (WB), Bank for International Settlements (BIS), and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is this banking triad and its controlling interests, with their neck-deep involvement in the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST), which stand to collect many trillions of dollars over the coming decades.
LOST is a United Nations treaty that went into effect in 1994. It defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in their use of the world’s oceans, establishing guidelines for businesses, the environment, and the management of marine resources. Whereas the Interstate Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution has become the king’s X for the United States Federal Government to govern and override all activities of the fifty states, LOST stands to become the mechanism by which the United Nations will govern and override all activities of the 300 nations of the world.
It is through LOST that all nations will “lose” their sovereignty to a One World Government. LOST is set to become the funding instrument behind the arising New World Order. This recognition brings our attention to a statement recorded in the Bible’s book of Revelation. In this passage a worldwide governmental system is prophetically pictured as a beast “rising out of the sea.” That was written around 90 A.D. And now, some 1900 years after it was written we see the efforts by international banking elites to finance a one world government by collecting carbon taxes through the regulations of a Law of the Sea Treaty. Their government is arising out of the sea.
The environmental cap and trade taxes that are being promoted by the U.N.’s IPCC are taxes on carbon dioxide emissions. The U.N. is pushing for these taxes to be collected by the WB, IMF, and BIS through regulations established under LOST. Incidentally, the regulations of LOST do not stop at a nation’s shorelines. Any navigable rivers, like the Mississippi, are equally governed. The U.N., having been created with capital and real estate donations from the world’s leading international banking families/corporations, has already established plans for the banking triad of the WB, IMF, and BIS to collect cap and trade taxes from the several 300 nations of the world. These banks will then funnel these funds to the U.N. for dispersement as it chooses, but only after the banks have collected their commissions and fees.
This brings us back to the issue at hand– the looming ecological disaster created by the explosion of the British Petroleum drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico, and our question of who stands to benefit. It is the international banking triad of the WB, IMF, and BIS that will collect trillions of dollars in taxes levied under the auspices of LOST. Any ecological disaster that occurs on the open seas expands the perception that there is a need for a massive regulatory mechanism to prevent such disasters from occurring. That mechanism is LOST.
And the greater the perceived magnitude of any such sea-based ecological disaster, the greater will be the perceived need for that regulatory mechanism. It thereby becomes obvious that the entities which stand to gain under the auspices of LOST would want to magnify the public perception of immense destruction caused by any sea-based disaster.
Understanding this fact, we now turn our attention to the one topic that has been reported more than any other in the main stream media’s coverage of the British Petroleum gulf oil disaster: the multiple, giant “plumes” of underwater oil.
On Sunday, May 16th researchers aboard the Pelican research vessel working for the National Institute for Undersea Science and Technology (NIUST) revealed that their research data identified multiple, gigantic undersea “plumes” off the Louisiana coastline that might be composed of crude oil released from the collapse of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. One plume was stated to be over a thousand feet under the ocean surface and was 10 miles long, 3 miles wide, and 300 feet thick at one point. Over the ensuing two weeks since this discovery, several more gigantic plumes have been discovered and reported in the media.
As this information has made its way into the worldwide news media, public fears have exploded in equal magnitude to the enormous size of the undersea plumes or blobs of crude oil. The reported size of these plumes of oil truly makes the magnitude of the disaster appear to be unbelievably enormous. These reports in the media certainly serve to feed the public perception that this ecological disaster is enormous beyond imagination, and the inaction and / or inability of the U.S. Government to stop the ongoing disaster is clear evidence that we need some mechanism to regulate our seas to prevent this from happening again. Low and behold, LOST is the ready-made solution to the problem… much like the ready-made Patriot Act was the instant solution to flaws evidenced in the American governmental system on September 11th.
So it is here that we are forced to ask the questions, “Are these enormous plumes of oil real? Are they even possible? Or are they simply hype being promoted by the main stream media in order to facilitate the adoption of LOST, and thereby finance a New World Order controlled by an international banking elite for their own purposes?”
Let’s examine two aspects of the largest of several oil plumes as reported by NIUST. First let’s examine the reported size. And second let’s examine the time available to create such a large plume. The examination that follows was made on May 20th, exactly 30 days after the explosion of the rig, and just days after the first plume was discovered.
The largest “plume” was declared to be 10 miles long by 3 miles wide by up to 300 feet thick. As the plume was not uniform in depth, let’s be conservative and calculate the volume of a plume that is only an average of 50 feet thick:
Length = 10 miles (at 5,280 feet per mile) = 52,800 feet
Width = 3 miles (at 5,280 feet per mile) = 15,840 feet
Depth = 50 feet
Total volume of plume = Length X Width X Depth =
52,800 X 15,840 X 50 = 41,817,600,000 cubic feet
As seen in the calculation above, the plume of leaked crude oil is an estimated 41.8 billion cubic feet in volume. With each cubic foot containing 7.48 gallons, that gives us a plume containing 312.6 billion gallons of crude oil. Now think about that. Over 300 billion gallons of crude oil. The Exxon Valdez oil spill was an estimated 10.8 million gallons of crude oil. That means this one oil plume discovered by NIUST is 28,888 times as large as the volume of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. And that’s only considering a plume that is 50 feet thick as opposed to 300 feet thick as reported.
A d v e r t i s e m e n t
Let’s look at that another way. In the worldwide trade of crude oil there are roughly 500 super-tankers in service, and each super-tanker can carry two million barrels of oil. Two million barrels (at 42 gallons each) equates to 84,000,000 gallons of crude oil in each super-tanker. To produce this plume of crude oil discovered in the Gulf of Mexico, each ship within the total world fleet of 500 super-tankers would have to journey to the coast of Louisiana and then completely disgorge the two million barrels of oil in each tanker. And all 500 tankers would have to repeat this process seven and one-half times. This one reported plume of crude oil off the coast of Louisiana is the volume of over 3,700 super-tankers. Is it realistic to believe that this much crude oil has spilled into the gulf in a period of 30 days? The volume of 3,700 super-tankers? Can you picture that? America’s worst oil spill, the Exxon Valdez disaster, only spilled one eighth of one super-tanker.
Here’s another relevant piece of information– the Deepwater Horizon well was drilled into the Macondo Prospect oilfield located in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 of the Gulf of Mexico. It is estimated that the total volume of crude oil held in the Macondo field is only 50 to 100 MILLION barrels. That’s the entire field.
By contrast, the volume of our one plume of spilled oil as calculated above is 312 BILLION gallons. And since there are 42 gallons in a barrel, we divide by 42 and find that this plume contains 7.4 BILLION barrels of spilled crude oil. Look at that again. The reported ten mile long oil plume is calculated to contain 7.4 BILLION barrels of crude oil, but the Macondo undersea oilfield is only estimated to contain a maximum of 100 MILLION barrels of crude oil. The size of this one reported oil plume is 75 times the maximum projected size of all the crude oil held in the entire Macondo field. This information begs a question, “How can this one oil plume be composed of crude oil from the Macondo Prospect field when the plume is estimated to be 75 times greater than the total volume of the crude oil contained in the entire Macondo field?”
Does that make sense? Or perhaps does it make more sense that the media, influenced by the powers at hand, are greatly hyping the size of these reported oil plumes in order to flame the fires of public unrest and push for greater regulation which feeds right into the hands of LOST?
Now let’s look at our second point: the time available to produce the reported plume (this examination was made on May 20th, 14 days ago, just days after the plume was first reported in the media).
News sources have reported that the source of the oil spill is a pipe that is approximately 21 inches in diameter. But British Petroleum is reported to be using a tube with only a 6-inch diameter inserted into the larger pipe to siphon off the leaking oil. A 6-inch tube has an opening of 27 square inches. This is key because we want to make a calculation as to how fast the oil would have to be exiting this pipe in order to create the massive plume of oil that has been reported . To make our calculation simple, let’s increase the size of our opening from 27 square inches to 144 square inches, which is one square foot (12 inches X 12 inches). A pipe that is 14 inches in diameter will have an opening that is approximately equivalent to one square foot or 144 square inches. Using these dimensions we can visualize a pipe with a mouth that is 14 inches across. The opening or mouth of the pipe is therefore one square foot in area.
Now we ask the question, “How fast does the oil have to be exiting this pipe in order to create our plume?” To arrive at this answer we first calculate the amount of time that the oil has been spilling into the gulf. The spill reportedly began on April 20th. So it has now been 30 days (May 20th) since the beginning of the spill. So we multiply 30 days X 24 hours X 60 minutes X 60 seconds , and that gives us 2,592,000 seconds. Now we take our previously calculated 41.8 billion cubic feet of crude oil found in the plume, and we divide that by the 2.592 million seconds, and that gives us 16,126 cubic feet per second.
If the oil plume were to be created in 30 days as reported, which is a time interval of 2.592 million seconds, then just over 16,000 cubic feet of oil would have to spill out each second. Using our theoretical 14-inch pipe with an opening of one square foot, that means our pipe would have to BLAST out a column of oil 16,000 feet long every second in order to release 16,000 cubic feet per second. Think a moment about that velocity… 16,000 feet per second. There are just over 5,200 feet in a mi
Where and when did we lose our sense of caring for our fellow man? How did we come to the point that all we seem to care about is "What's in it for me?" I long for and miss the days of my youth. Yeah, I'm old enough to remember them but those times have faded quickly. I fear that those days are just a memory that some of us haven't given up on quite yet. We seem to have lost it somewhere. Always worried about ourselves and what is in front of us at this moment. People don't stop and think about others anymore. It seems to be a "quaint" idea these days.
The idea of helping out our fellow man in this struggle we call life appears to be a distant memory. In the mind of a vast majority of the people in these modern times caring for anyone other than yourself is more a novelty than an actual thing that happens. Caring used to be a part of our nature as human beings. There was a time in the not so distant past that if a neighbor was in need, his community could and would gladly step up and come to his door and offer a hand. When you would, without a second thought, share the bounties of your garden or your kitchen or your labor. Not one thought of what's in it for me or I don't have time for this or screw them...let them take care of it their selves.
Back when when you had a good day with your chickens having a "good laying day" nothing was thought about sending one of the kids over to the neighbors with a few extra eggs just because they might not have had such a spectacular day in the hen house. Or sending that scruffy kid from across the street home with a dozen cookies because he/she helped you haul in the laundry from the line just before the the bottom fell out of the sky.
Back then if you knew your neighbor was struggling to put clothes on that kid that just seemed to keep growing out of his pants, you went through your closets just to see if there might be something that might fit those long legs that had a summer growth spurt. You didn't think twice about it.. you just did it.
If you were headed off to town you actually thought about it. You asked your neighbor if there might be something they needed from town while you were there since you were going to be there anyway. Or even offered a ride in case they might have some errands that you might not be able to do for them.
If your friend down the road was having a tough time making Wednesday stretch into that Friday paycheck you didn't think twice about inviting them over for dinner. And then you would send them home with those leftovers because "you just don't have anyplace for them". Ya might be able to make a couple of lunches out of it... and I just don't have the room in the fridge.
If you needed a hand with canning all those extra tomato's or beans it was no problem... your neighbor would just step up to the plate and because she knew that if she was in a bind you would do the same for her even if neither of you ever asked.
I fear we have lost most all of these "values" in the troubled times we live in. We are all so worried about "us" that we have lost the very fabric that once held us together. Face it. Most of us can't even say that we know our neighbors..much less their kids names. We are too involved with "us" to look beyond our own front yards.
I had a dream last night about a dear friend that passed away two years ago in August. All the dream was about was one little flash... he passed by my front door, looked in, and asked ... Ya need a hand with that?
Summer time and Iced Tea.... One of the all time best combination's there ever was! We drink lots of iced tea around here and go through about a gallon of tea a day. Until it starts getting hot that is. The ante goes up to at least two gallons a day! I'm also happy to report that I am almost completely off of the sodas. It was harder to give up than I thought it would be though. I like carbonated beverages. ALOT...lol.
Things are rolling right along at the Poser'sHomestead. The garden is starting to produce and they are going to be opening the vegetable stand on June 7th. Mars and John are putting some of the finishing touches on the stand.
The zucchini is coming on like gang busters and the yellow squash should be right behind it.
Cucumbers, potato's, carrots,and lettuce as well.
I picked a few pinto beans today....not enough to do much with but it looks like within a few days there will be tons of them too. The butternut squash is starting to give up some fruit as well.
Some of the tomato's are producing but it will be awhile before the majority are ready due to the late planting because of the hail storm we had here.
Mars finished up the new rabbit hutch this weekend.
This one is for the up and coming "dinner" rabbits. John has 3 does bred so there should be new babies in about a month! He also taught me how to "sex" the rabbits this weekend. I really want rabbits when we finally get our place so I'm trying to learn all I can about them. Nothing like hands on training!
I found an old cherry tree behind the RV. I had noticed the blooms a few weeks ago but I had no idea what sort of tree it was. Imagine my surprise to see cherries on it yesterday! Being from Texas I suppose I just never have been around them. I sure am going to miss the peaches this year though. And it looks like I won't be putting up any strawberry preserves this year either. Oh well, there's always next year right?
Well I guess I ought to cut this short as I still need to make a batch of tortillas up before heading into another Little Big Town this afternoon. I have a doctor's appointment over there so I might as well do a little "sight seeing" while we are there. I have no idea what all is there but hey... I love checking out new places.
I hope everyone had a nice Memorial Day weekend and that friends and family all enjoyed the time together. These days we should all be thankful for good times with our loved ones. Things are ugly out in the world... lots of bad things happening. Take time to make memories. They "keep" forever you know!
I was sitting out on the front porch last night watching the folks in the neighbor- hood doing what folks do right around dusk in a small town. There were other folks sitting out on their porches as well, watching the kids riding their bikes in the street. The smell of someone frying chicken for dinner was wafting through the evening air. The laughter from a child floating on the breeze down the street, a baby crying softly in the distance and the birds chirping as they readied themselves for nightfall. Firefly's flickering in the trees.
