A Tale of Two Explosions..

Two stories about bombs, one had the explosive capacity equivalent to Peter Brady's vinegar and baking soda volcano bomb that made a mess in the kitchen on The Brady Bunch. The other bomb packed more power than any non-nuclear bomb in the USA military arsenal.  The small bomb hurt no one and caused no damage.  The large bomb killed fourteen firemen and destroyed a good chunk of an entire city in Texas. One of the bombs led to an arrest of the person responsible.  The other led to shrugs of "Oh well, accidents happen.."  

16-Year Old Florida honour Student Charged With Two Felonies For Doing A Science Experiment

Kiera Wilmot was a typical 16-year-old honour student at Bartow Senior High School. She’s never been in trouble, has a reputation for being nice to everyone, gets straight As, and loves science.

What’s not typical is what went down after one of these “science experiments” went all so slightly wrong on school grounds.

At 7 am on Monday April 30, Wilmot and a yet-to-be-named friend mixed aluminium foil and toilet bowl cleaner in a small water bottle, and after about 30 seconds, the reaction created pressure inside the bottle, blowing the cap off with a pop that according to witnesses sounded like firecrackers going off...

No one was hurt by the “explosion,” but later that day Wilmot was handcuffed, arrested, and expelled from school. According to the police report, she has been charged with two felonies: “possession/discharge of a weapon on school grounds” and “discharging a destructive device.”..

She was also expelled for violating the school’s conduct code, which requires immediate expulsion for any “student in possession of a bomb (or) explosive device… while at a school (or) a school-sponsored activity… unless the material or device is being used as part of a legitimate school-related activity or science project conducted under the supervision of an instructor.”

And then this..

Officials: 14 Dead, 200 Injured in West, Texas Explosion

The number of people killed in a massive explosion at a fertilizer plant near Waco Texas still remains unknown. Law enforcement continues to search damaged homes and apartments for survivors. 

Waco Police Sergeant William Patrick Swanton spoke for the City of West early Thursday morning. "There was quite a bit of devastation," Swanton said of the blast radius surrounding the fertilizer plant. According to the Waco Police Department, homes are still being evacuated and there are firefighters still unaccounted for.

The explosion was caused by a fire at the plant yesterday evening. It occurred as firefighters were evacuating people from their homes—including some elderly residents at a nursing home. The blast gutted homes, along with a 50-unit apartment complex. The plant’s blast registered a 2.1 magnitude event, according to the U.S. Geological Service, and was felt 15 miles away are heard as far as Waxahatchie (45 miles away).

After West Fertilizer Explosion, Concerns Over Safety, Regulation and Zoning

Owner: Donald Adair has owned the West Fertilizer Co. for around seven years

 It will take time to determine the exact cause of the fire and explosion at the fertilizer plant in West, Texas. The disaster has cost at least 14 lives, caused 200 injuries and has destroyed at least 50 homes. The blast was so strong that it blew out windows for miles, and even registered as an earthquake. First responders said the aftermath looked like “a war zone.”

Yet even at this early stage of the investigation, there are signs that not all was right with the plant, like the fact that it had as much as 270 tons of ammonium nitrate (which can be explosive) at the site, but no sprinklers or fire barriers. It’s also brought up questions about regulation in Texas, and whether homes and schools should be so close to industry.

The NRA is sponsoring a NASCAR race in Texas (No firearms allowed)

It seems like a perfect marriage, fast cars and guns. A lot of crossover appeal there, right? Well, some people see it different.  WSJ: Nascar Faces Fallout From NRA Deal  

Nascar is trying to minimize the potential damage resulting from its sponsorship agreement with the National Rifle Association. This weekend’s race in the stock-car racing organizations premier Sprint Cup series at Texas Motor Speedway is called the NRA 500.

To many people the race title may sound like an attempt at a bad joke. It also seems like the timing of the sponsorship deal, in the wake of December’s mass shooting at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school, could not be worse. However, it might be difficult to say whose tone deafness regarding the situation is most severe.

Certainly Nascar should have known that giving the NRA top billing would not sit well with racing enthusiasts who happen to be gun-control advocates or are simply tired of gun violence. Nascar has not yet responded to requests for comment...

A couple insights:

1) The head of the NRA is a guy named Wayne LaPierre and anyone who is a fan of the movie "Talladega Nights" is probably not too keen about intermingling people with French sounding names and stock car racing. jes sayin..

2) Wayne LaPierre has been beating the drum for years that guns make people safer.

National Rifle Association CEO Wayne LaPierre on Thursday attacked Connecticut’s new gun-control laws, saying they are “making the law books thicker for the law-abiding people.”

“The problem with what Connecticut did, is the criminals, the drug dealers, the people that are going to do horror and terror, they aren’t going to cooperate,” LaPierre told Fox News.

3) Word to all the NASCAR fans who also happen to be NRA members and who plan to travel to the Texas Motor Speedway to attend the NRA 500 this weekend.   Leave your guns at home.  You can't bring them into the Speedway. Rules for Race Fans

 

Funny how Wayne LaPierre rants and raves about how we need to have guns in schools, churches, bars, businesses, in order to keep people safe by allowing them to protect themselves and their families with their guns, but in an environment with tens of thousands of fans in close quarters, the NRA is spending huge money to sponsor a race where no one is allowed to exercise their beloved 2nd Amendment rights.

Google Search: Pipeline Leak

The Keystone Pipeline aka KXL is intended to be a superhighway to transport oil extracted from tar sands in Canada all the way down to Houston Texas from where it can either be refined and/or loaded directly onto tankers and exported to foreign markets in order to take advantage of higher prices outside of North America.  I am not going to delve into an economic analysis or predict how the pipeline will affect market prices to consumers but I want to point out the tremendous technical difficulty maintaining a leak-proof pipeline thousands of miles long.  It is not a question of will there be leaks, but how disastrous the leaks will be and how often leaks will happen.

Start with the Google search "Pipeline leak"   

Exxon to excavate Pegasus crude pipeline to find cause of leak

Exxon Mobil Corp.’s Pegasus crude oil pipeline, which was shut on Friday after a leak was detected in Arkansas, will need to be excavated as the company looks to determine what caused the breach, a spokeswoman said.

“I can’t speculate on when excavation will happen,” Kimberly Brasington, a spokeswoman for the company, said in an e-mail. “Excavation is necessary as part of an investigation to determine the cause of the incident.”

The 20-inch pipeline, which originates in Patoka, Illinois, and carries crude oil to the Texas Gulf Coast, was carrying Wabasca Heavy Crude from Western Canada, she said.

About 12,000 barrels of oil and water have been collected so far near Mayflower, Arkansas, after “a few thousand barrels were observed in the area,” the Mayflower Incident Unified Command Joint Information Center, which includes Exxon, Faulkner County and the city of Mayflower, said in a statement Sunday.

Utah governor upset at Chevron pipeline leaks

The pipeline ruptured last week at Willard Bay State Park, spilling diesel fuel into marshes. It was Chevron's third pipeline leak in Utah in the last three years.

Another pipeline leak sent crude oil rushing into a Salt Lake City creek in 2010. Months later, the same pipeline ruptured again.

Each pipeline leak involved a spill of 21,000 or more gallons of crude oil or fuel.

Exxon fined $1.7M for Yellowstone River pipeline leak

Irving-based Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) has been fined $1.7 million by the The U.S. Department of Transportation over pipeline safety violations relating to a 2011 oil spill in the Yellowstone River.

Reuters reported that the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration said Exxon's Silvertip pipeline leaked roughly 1,500 barrels of oil into the river in July 2011 following heavy flooding in the region. The pipeline carries 40,000 barrels per day of crude in Montana.

Pipeline leak pollutes major Michigan river

Crews were working Tuesday to contain and clean up more than 800,000 gallons of oil that poured into a creek and flowed into the Kalamazoo River in southern Michigan, coating birds and fish.

Authorities in Battle Creek and Emmett Township warned residents about the strong odor from the oil, which leaked Monday from a 30-inch pipeline built in 1969 that carries about 8 million gallons of oil per day from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.

Crews waded in oily water as they worked to stop the oil's advance downstream. Oil-covered Canada geese walked along the banks of the Kalamazoo River, and photos showed dead fish floating in the spill. The Kalamazoo River eventually flows into Lake Michigan, but officials didn't expect the oil to reach the lake.

Here is the proposed route of KXL through the American heartland, the breadbasket of the USA and the world.

Tar sand oil is a thick substance with viscosity that is much higher than crude oil.  Tar sand oil at room temperature is similar in viscosity to molasses and it has to be mixed with light crude oil to create a mixture that can be pumped at all.  Because of the high viscosity of the material the pipeline will have to operate at higher fluid pressure than would be required for thinner viscosity crude oil.  Or the flow rate will have to be reduced below the production level that was projected to sell the project.

The pressure required to push a fluid through a pipe is a function of  viscosity of the fluid, the length and diameter of the pipe, the smoothness of the pipe interior, and the velocity of the fluid. In the formula pressure is directly proportional to viscosity, so if viscosity doubles, the pressure requirement doubles as well.  In the case of tar sands oil, the viscosity is more than ten times thicker than light crude oil.  This means that the KXL pipeline will have to operate at higher pressure and employ more pumping stations than would be required for light crude oil.

Additionally, the tar sands oil has suspended particles of clay and sand in the mixture and these will continually abrade the interior of the pipe particularly at locations where the pipeline changes direction or slope. As the oil slurry abrades the interior surfaces of the pipe, the frictional losses will increase,  driving higher pump pressures or lower flow rates.  As the pipeline weakens from years of abrasion, more locations will rupture and leak, and because the pipeline will be buried below ground, leaks will not be simple to detect or locate.  The high viscosity and pressure losses will limit the effectiveness of the control systems used to detect minor leaks before they become major leaks.

If completed, this pipeline will become a source of ongoing leaks that will grow in magnitude over time.  Eventually the rising maintenance, cleanup, legal and liability insurance costs will drive the Canadian corporation that owns the pipeline to go bankrupt or simply abandon their responsibilities and leave the US taxpayers with the bills for the leaking pipeline.

The Keystone pipeline is bad for the environment and is a bad business deal for the US government and America consumers as well.  

Update: April 1: 
I came across this report from Priceofoil.org  that points out how tar sand oil pipeline operators are exempt from paying into the trust fund that covers the costs of cleaning up oil spills. So the corporations profiting by transporting tar sands oil across America don't have to pay to clean up the spills they created.  A perfect example of corporate welfare.      


Priceofoil.org:  Irrational Exemption, Tar sands pipeline subsidies and why they must end

Neither Congress nor the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) considers tar sands‐derived oil as “crude oil.” In a January 2011 memorandum, the IRS determined that to generate revenues for the oil spill trust fund, Congress only intended to tax conventional crude – not tar sands or other unconventional oils.  This exemption remains even though the United States moves billions of gallons of tar sands oil through its pipeline system every year. The trust fund is liable for tar sands oil spill cleanups without collecting any revenue from tar sands transport. If the fund goes broke,the American taxpayer foots the cleanup bill.

Complimentary breakfast with a side order of hate.

So I have been in Arlington Texas since last Friday on assignment for work.  I picked Hawthorn Suites for a hotel because it seemed like a decent place in a good location at a good price.  And oh by the way, there is the much coveted complimentary breakfast offered to all the guests.. mmm. Can you say scrambled eggs, sausage patties, toast, and OJ for free?  I'm in dude! 

Except for one minor detail.  At the Hawthorn Suites Arlington Hotel, your breakfast comes with a side order of Fox News AM blasting on the TV in the breakfast room, every fucking day.  For those of you unfamiliar with Fox News at 6:00 AM, it is pretty much the TV version of the comments section at Free Republic.   One story after another of how Obama is Hitler.. No, strike that, it's worse than that, he is actually Satan.. And by the way, so is Diane Feinstein. and so is that liberal unionized teacher from the Blue State up north, and hey there, did you see how AWESOME Sarah Palin was at CPAC!  Boy she really gave it to Satan er.... Hitler er .. Obama!

So me being the non-morning person who also happens to be an ex-Republican who has already had it up to here with the Fox News propaganda salad shooter, I ate my breakfast in peace shaking my head at the bold willful ignorance on display in HD.  So I stop at the lobby on the way out and ask them if they really need to show politics at breakfast, like can't you guys put on ESPN or the History Channel?  I really just want to eat breakfast without the political BS.  The guy says oh sure!  I'll take care of that!

So the next day, its the same thing at breakfast.  Texas zombies all in a room not speaking to each other, chowing down on the free breakfast while the same Fox News crew dumps one story after another about how horrible Obama is blah blah blah.. So I see the same guy at the desk on my way out and I'm like Dude? you're still blasting the same Fox News bullshit in the breakfast room..  He seemed surprised this time, ORLY??

Next day, which was yesterday, same thing.  More Obama hate at 6:00 AM.  I walk out and see the same guy and I'm like Really?? More of that crap in the breakfast room?  He seemed surprised yet again..  No kidding?? well I'll go change the channel right now!

No thanks guy.  I'll just go to McDonalds and pay $5 for breakfast and eat my oatmeal in peace without the side order of bullshit from Fox News.

I sent a terse comment to the Hawthorn Suites home page that because it is apparently corporate policy to blast Fox News in the room that serves the complimentary breakfast then I'll just stay at a different hotel next time I come to town.  A few hours later I got a conciliatory call from the manager who seemed surprised that anyone would complain about being subjected to Fox News and how he would let me pick whatever channel I wanted to watch tomorrow morning.  Ha. No thanks Tex.   I hope it ruined his day to be told by the corporate office that a customer actually took a couple minutes of time online to complain about being force-fed right wing propaganda as the main course for breakfast.

William Hilton Paul, chip off the old blockhead.

I had a short discussion with another Twitter user last night about whether or not the legal issues of a 19 year old son of a politician was fair game for discussion.  I say yes because the politician in question is an Holier than thou type who loves to claim moral high ground based on his Christian faith and patriotism and he never misses an opportunity to lash out and insult others who do not live up to his ideals.  

If a politician scores political points by kicking dirt on other people for being immoral and not displaying good Christian moral family values, than that politician is fair game for criticism when their own family proves itself to be dysfunctional. If you aren't a good parent yourself, then stop ranting about how other people aren't good parents. 

Children tend to mimic their parents' behavior more than they take heed of their parent's words.  And when it comes to treating airport employees with respect, Rand Paul hasn't provided much of an example for his children.  Rand Paul detained: Rep. refuses airport patdown after alarm

Republican Senator Rand Paul was stopped at an airport on Monday for setting off an alarm and refusing a patdown, prompting his father, U.S. presidential candidate Ron Paul, to accuse security officials of being part of an "out of control" police state.

In a harshly worded attack on the Transportation Security Administration, which handles security screenings at U.S. airports, Ron Paul, known for his strident libertarian views, said the TSA "gropes and grabs our kids and our seniors and does nothing to keep us safe."

So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Rand Paul's oldest son William Hilton Paul doesn't show respect for airport personnel either. He's a chip off the old blockhead.  Senator Rand Paul's Son Arrested at Charlotte Airport

According to Lt. Blake Hollar with the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, Paul was intoxicated when he arrived at the airport and said "he was possibly served alcohol on the flight."

The teenager was arrested by police and booked into the Mecklenburg County Jail, charged with three misdemeanors: underage consumption, disorderly conduct, and being intoxicated and disruptive...

"Sen. Paul is a national public figure and subject to scrutiny in the public arena, however, as many parents with teenagers would understand, his family should be afforded the privacy and respect they deserve in a situation such as this," the statement said.

Fat chance of that Rand Paul you hypocrite ass.  In fact I thought I would post screenshots of the information about William Hilton Paul's upcoming April 4th court date in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.  William is facing four misdemeanor charges. "Assault on a Female" was added to the list after the first three offenses listed in the story.  Yeah yeah, she was probably some overbearing TSA Brownshirt hell bent on trampling young William's civil rights.

Fine young man you are raising there Rand Paul.  Bravo for being a great dad.  

Hiatus..

I haven't given up, I've just been hanging out on Twitter when I have free time.  When I feel inspired to write more posts I will be back, but for now its all about dropping 140 character nuggets of wisdom and snark.

My user name on Twitter is 71LesPaul .  Dive in, the water is fine.

Depraved gun nuts heckle grieving parent at Connecticut hearing

The right wing loves to hate Fred Phelps and the parishioners from his fundamentalist Westboro Baptist Church in Topeka Kansas for travelling around the country to heckle and protest at funerals of American soldiers who were killed in combat.  In Fred's twisted point of view, God is extracting revenge on the military and American soldiers because the military has officially ended the "Don't Ask Don't Tell" policy that made being gay in the military a taboo. The specter of haters protesting at a funeral in front of grieving family members and friends is sickening and revolting to anyone with a sense of decency and a functional conscience.

So when I read this story earlier today it made me realize how close the mainstream gun nuts really are to the Fred Phelps extremism.  These disgusting jerks actually heckled a parent of child who was murdered in the Sandy Hook massacre during a hearing in the Connecticut legislature while he calmly pleaded for some common sense reforms to prevent more incidents like this one.

Connecticut Post: Father of Newtown victim heckled at hearing

Neil Heslin, of Shelton, holds a portrait of himself and his son, Jesse Lewis, one of the children killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting, during testimony before the Gun Violence Prevention Working Group at the Legislative Office Building in Hartford on Monday, January 28, 2012.Photo: Brian A. Pounds | Buy This Photo

"The Second Amendment!" was shouted a couple of times by as many as a dozen gun enthusiasts in the meeting room as Neil Heslin, holding a photo of his slain 6-year-old son, Jesse Lewis, asked why Bushmaster assault-style weapons are allowed to be sold in the state.

"There are a lot of things that should be changed to prevent what happened," said Heslin, who said he grew up using guns and was undisturbed by the interruption of his testimony.

"That wasn't just a killing, it was a massacre," said Heslin, who recalled dropping off his son at Sandy Hook Elementary school shortly before Lanza opened fire. "I just hope some good can come out of this."

The Gun Nuts are just like Fred Phelps.  The only difference is the flavor of the extremism. Actually, the gun nuts who heckled a grieving parent are even more despicable than Fred Phelps and his band of haters.  Adults who voluntarily enlisted in the military knew beforehand all of the risks involved.   On the other hand, parents who dropped off their 7 year old children at Sandy Hook Elementary school could have never imagined the horror waiting for their children and their families thanks to the tireless efforts by the NRA to increase gun sales and gun manufacturers' profits at any cost.