What one song defines whatever you may be?

Don’t respond emotionally; give it a few moments of thought.

What ONE song?

I will submit this for my devoted readers:

For me, it is King Crimson — and, with that, it is “Lark’s Tongues In Aspic.”

It floats, it exists.

Fornicalia Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger came out on Monday and killed all potential coastal drilling.

From the AP:

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday withdrew his support of a plan to expand oil drilling off the California coast, citing the massive oil spill that resulted from a drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

The announcement assures that no new drilling will take place off the state’s coastline in the foreseeable future because Schwarzenegger would have to include the drilling proposal in his May revision of the state budget.

Speaking at a news conference near Sacramento, the governor said television images of the oil spill in the Gulf have changed his mind about the safety of ocean-based oil platforms.

“You turn on the television and see this enormous disaster, you say to yourself, ‘Why would we want to take on that kind of risk?'” Schwarzenegger said.

The Republican governor had proposed expanding oil drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara County to help close the state’s $20 billion budget deficit. Democrats last year blocked a similar proposal, but Schwarzenegger renewed his support this year, saying it was a reliable way to increase revenue as the state grapples with an ongoing fiscal crisis.

Schwarzenegger now aligns himself with the rest of the Leftist Defeatists whose lives revolve around ZRT (Zero Risk Taking) — because someone might acquire a splinter and sue.

Let me attempt to put some things into perspective, Governor Schwarzenegger:

Fornicalia is not just competing with itself for jobs and economic survival, it is competing with other states. States whose tax structures and regulations are much more favorable, in general, to business.

Further, Fornicalia is not just competing with itself and other states in the union, it is competing with the rest of the world, economically. And the rest of the world, trust me, doesn’t much mind encompassing some risk in their business ventures. Fornicalia used to be the fourth largest world economy. It is now the eighth largest and falling. Under your stewardship, sir.

With Mr Schwarzenegger’s mindset, for example, one should not fly. Ever again.

Specifically, tens of thousands of aviation accidents have occurred since the beginning of flight, with — literally — thousands of persons killed as the result of stepping into, now, a thin aluminum or soon to be composite tube.

In 1977, the Tenerife disaster killed 583 people in only one incident, involving two aircraft.

In 1985, involving Japan Airlines Flight 123, 520 people were killed aboard a 747 following an explosive decompression. This was, to date, the highest loss of life resulting from a single aircraft event.

With Mr Schwarzenegger’s logic there would be no more flights.

Instead, in direct contravention of his so-called “logic,” aircraft are getting even larger and able to carry more passengers than a Boeing 747. The Airbus A380 has the “socially responsible” capability to carry, in a standard configuration, 555 passengers — or up to 853 passengers in an “all economy” variant.

With Mr Schwarzenegger’s logic there would be no more petroleum tankers built or utilized following the Exxon Valdez accident.

At 987 feet long and 30,000 tons empty, the Exxon Valdez is a midget compared to new oil tankers.

Now, the ULCC (Ultra Large Crude Carrier) Jahre Viking tapes in at 1,503 feet long and 565,000 tons laden.

With Mr Schwarzenegger’s logic we should never step foot into another car, considering — in the US alone — roughly 45,000 persons die in vehicle accidents per year (that’s about one “Vietnam” military action per year). Roughly 115 people die in car crashes daily.

With Mr Schwarzenegger’s logic France should totally abandon its nuclear electrical generation grid.

Mr Schwarzenegger has, in truth, no logic whatsoever.

Let me go one point further, if you will but humor me for another paragraph or three:

Yahoo News came out recently with the 20 most “economically stressed” counties in the nation.

Of those twenty, TWELVE were just in Fornicalia. To wit:

By The Associated Press – Mon May 3, 8:50 am ET
Here are the 20 most economically stressed counties with populations of at least 25,000 and their March 2010 Stress scores, according to The Associated Press Economic Stress Index:
1. Imperial County, Calif., 31.27
2. Merced County, Calif., 28.29
3. Lyon County, Nev., 27.96
4. San Benito County, Calif., 27.26
5. Sutter County, Calif., 26.41
6. Yuba County, Calif., 25.8
7. Stanislaus County, Calif., 25.46
8. Iosco County, Mich., 24.89
9. San Joaquin County, Calif., 24.78
10. Nye County, Nevada., 24.19
11. Lapeer County, Mich., 24.03
12. Cheboygan County, Mich., 23.89
13. Luna County, N.M., 23.82
14. Lake County, Calif., 23.78
15. Kern County, Calif., 23.62
16. Tulare County, Calif., 23.17
17. Madera County, Calif., 23.04
18. Fresno County, Calif., 22.72
19. Clark County, Nevada, 22.65
20. Boone County, Ill., 22.59

These, dear Governor Schwarzenegger, are called CLUES.

BZ

On Tuesday, April 20th there was an explosion on the BP (British Petroleum) oil rig Deepwater Horizon. Eleven workers were immediately killed by this explosion.

Deepwater Horizon is a Reading & Bates Falcon RBS8D design, built by SoKo’s Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2001, a semi-submersible drilling unit capable of operating in harsh environments and water depths up to 8,000 ft (upgradeable to 10,000 ft) using 18¾in 15,000 psi BOP and 21in OD marine risers. BP owns the rig but it is operated by Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor, which has roughly 18,000 employees on offshore drilling units.

The CEO of Transocean wrote:

On April 20, a fire and explosion occurred onboard our semisubmersible drilling rig Deepwater Horizon, working approximately 41 miles offshore Louisiana on Mississippi Canyon block 252. Of the 126-member crew, 115 were safely evacuated. Despite exhaustive rescue efforts, eleven crew members lost their lives, nine of which were Transocean employees. Our entire Transocean family has been saddened by this tragic event and our thoughts and prayers remain with all who have been affected by this horrible tragedy. Join us in leaving your condolences to the families of those who were lost at our Deepwater Horizon Condolences Website.

As we continue to work on recovery and control efforts, and to understand the cause of this incident, this page has been established as a central point for updated information on status and activities. It also includes contact information for families, media, and others who need additional information.

Steven Newman
President and CEO
Transocean Ltd.

On Thursday, April 29th — NINE days after the incident — Mr Obaka made the following statement:

Earlier today, DHS Secretary Napolitano announced that this incident is of national significance and the Department of Interior has announced that they will be sending SWAT teams to the Gulf to inspect all platforms and rigs. And I have ordered the Secretaries of Interior and Homeland Security as well as Administrator Lisa Jackson of the Environmental Protection Agency to visit the site on Friday to ensure that BP and the entire U.S. government is doing everything possible, not just to respond to this incident, but also to determine its cause.”

Let us “contrast and compare,” as my university professors were wont to say:

Regarding Katrina, former President Bush signed a $10.5 billion relief package within four days of the hurricane. Within 1–2 days of the hurricane, The State of Louisiana National Guard troops arrived with relief packages, and participated in security and rescue operations.

However, members of the United States Congress and others charged that the relief efforts were slow because most of the affected areas were poor. There was also concern that many National Guard units were short staffed in surrounding states because some units were deployed overseas.

In the Deepwater Horizon event, it has taken the current Obaka Administration nine days to even realize there was a threat indicating a federal response.

Mr Obaka believes it’s BP’s responsibility to mitigate all coastal areas. He has specifically said so. Why did he send SWAT teams and admin wonks?

As if to cut off mounting criticism, on Saturday White House spokesman Robert Gibbs posted a blog entitled “The Response to the Oil Spill,” laying out the administration’s day-by-day response since the explosion, using words like “immediately” and “quickly,” and emphasizing that Obama “early on” directed responding agencies to devote every resource to the incident and determining its cause.

A comparison anticipated for lack of response?

I submit so. Four days vs nine days. But, of course, you won’t hear or read of this in the American media. Unless you read BZ or other “traitorist” blogs.

P.S.

Great coverage here.

I can’t tell you how many times I watched Hot Tuna play on the West Coast and the Bay Area.

Hot Tuna:

A spin-off from the original Jefferson Airplane (back when Grace Slick sang vocals), Jorma Kaukonen played guitars and sang lead vocals. Jack Casady played bass guitar and contributed some vocals. And the inimitable Papa John Creach (at the age of 53!) played violin, viola and provided vocals.

Above, Hot Tuna play “Hesitation Blues” from 1970.

Electric and acoustic blues. Hot Tuna had it all.

Jack and Jorma still play. Find them.