Oil production damage in the Gulf from Rita

Rita may have landed at Sabine Pass as a category 3 hurricane but she plowed through Gulf of Mexico offshore oilfields at a Category 5 level knocking down jackup rigs and setting deepwater floating rigs adrift. As storm generated seas…

Oil rises on concern refineries to shut longer than expected

Crude oil and gasoline futures rose for a second day in New York on speculation that hurricane- damaged refineries near the Texas-Louisiana border may be shut longer than expected, straining U.S. fuel supplies. Valero Energy Corp., the nation’s largest refiner,…

Criticism without grasp of facts

Sue responds to a silly comment to a post here saying the ANSWER Coalition, primary organizer of the nationwide Sept. 24 antiwar rallies, has a “heavy male emphasis.” Huh? “Heavy” meaning predominantly? ANSWER has a 50:50 split as to the…

Pigs at the trough. No-bid contracts, cost overruns, shoddy work

New OrleansMore than 80 percent of the $1.5 billion in contracts signed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency alone were awarded without bidding or with limited competition, government records show, provoking concerns among auditors and government officials about the potential…

A new day in Northern Ireland

IRA arms decommissioned. All remaining weapons have been decommissioned, ending the IRA’s military struggle against the British, watchdog confirms.

Sharply higher oil and natural gas coming?

Dr. Michael Economides, well-known oil expert (and hardcore neocon) predicts $100 a barrel oil and $20 per McF of natural gas by Christmas. He called $65 a barrel oil correctly a while back… Reasons: Katrina and Rita clobbered production, increasing…

Global warming? You better believe it

As the media screams about the one-two punch of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the question becomes how many more times does America need to be knocked to the canvas before we answer the bell on global warming.