BP Partner Balks at Blame — and the Bill

BP sent Anadarko Petroleum a bill for $272 million, a quarter of Gulf oil spill cleanup costs to date. Anadarko is a 25 percent partner in the Deepwater Horizon drilling project. Another 10 percent of the disaster is owned by Japan’s Mitsui, so that company got a $111 million invoice.

Anadarko CEO Jim Hackett issued a statement last month blaming the oil spill on “BP’s reckless decisions and actions,” so expect some resistence from the junior partner. Mitsui merely says it has until July 12th to reply. Corporate and maritime lawyers everywhere are on alert.

Other sources claim oil spill cleanup costs to date exceed $3 billion and may rise to $6 billion. Damages are something else again. BP has established a $20 billion fund to meet preliminary claims.

More:

“BP Wants Partners to Help Shoulder Spill Cost,” John Schwartz, New York Times.

“BP Passes the Buck to Oil Well Partners,” Dana Chivvis, AOL News.

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Dr. Demento

Radio is changing. For the first time in 40 years, it won’t have Doctor Demento. 

As Barry Hansen, Dr. D.  studied music at Reed College and earned an MA in Folklore and Ethnomusicology from UCLA, where he was a classmate of musician John Fahey. The good Doctor began working at KPPC-FM in Los Angeles in 1970, and developed a following for his highly-devloped taste in … unusual pop music of many eras.  Look up “Novelty Song” in Wikipedia and the entry notes “See also: Dr. Demento.” His weekly show began syndication in 1974, a weekly two-hour program of “novelty” records and plain wierdness. It ceased last month.

The end of the broadcast probably says more about the state of radio and recording than the popularity of the Doctor’s … musical specialty. The Dr. Demento Show will continue as an online-only streaming audio feature.

More:

Terrorist Bomber Babies!

Pregnant terrorists are infiltrating America to give birth to baby bombers, reports Congressman Louie Gohmert (R, TX-1). Mr. Gohmert, ranking Republican on the subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security, announced this on the House floor: 

Gettysburg Gambling?

A new monument to America’s Civil War history is proposed for Gettysburg: a gambling casino. The Mason-Dixon Resort & Casino would be located a half mile from Gettysburg National Military Park on what was known as South Cavalry Field, scene of fighting on July 3, 1863.

Historians are not pleased. On the 147th anniversary of the bloody Civil War battle, 276 American historians sent a letter to the state gaming control board, protesting the project. “This ground is as hallowed as any other part of the Gettysburg battlefield, and the idea of a casino near the fields and woods where men of both North and South gave the last full measure of devotion is simply outrageous,” said Pulitzer Prize winner James M. McPherson. 

DC Fourth of July Travel Advisory

The Fourth of July will be celebrated in the District of Columbia with the traditional street closings and detours. Travel into and around Washington DC will be slow tomorrow as tourists jam the District to watch fireworks on the National Mall. Be careful who you cut off on the Wilson and Memorial bridges on your way in, though, because no one likes pyrotechnics more than the pistol-packing patrons of Champps sports bars in Northern Virginia.

Virginia’s new law permitting concealed weapons in saloons went into effect Thursday, and patrons of Champps celebrated with Glocks and iced tea. There are good reasons to pack heat in Virginia’s sports bars. You certainly need a semiautomatic firearm at Champps to defend your family against those dangerous Loaded Chips appetizers (cheddar, pepperjack, mozzarella, Asiago cream sauce, bacon, green onions, sour cream).

Have a safe and sane Independence Day.

 

Image by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.

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Acute Angle

In Nevada’s recent Republican primary, Tea Party sweetheart Sharron Angle played chicken with Sue Lowden and won the senatorial candidacy. When Ms. Angle visited Washington to meet with RNC chief Michael Steele and other GOP leaders. She avoided the press but made news anyway, as colorful aspects of her biography become known.

Ms. Angle, a former Democrat, was once a member of the Independent American Party, “a Protestant Christian theocratic political party” with affiliations to George Wallace and the Constitution Party. She is against water fluoridation and for armed insurrection.

Ms. Angle wants to de-regulate Big Oil and keep women in the kitchen. Christian Reconstructionists are raising funds for the candidate, who has promoted Scientologist programs in Nevada’s prisons. The candidate wants to “personalize” Social Security, “transitioning” it out of existence along with the VA, and seeks to abolish the Department of Education. She is – or is not – an Oath Keeper militia member, depending on when you ask her.