Deepwater Horizon Fiasco; "It's The Other Guy's Fault"

On Day Two of Congressional hearings with principles involved in the blowout of the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico and the subsequent oil spill that is polluting the waters and threatening the shorelines of the Gulf States, we've managed to learn one thing; it was the fault of the guy sitting to the other guy's right.

So said the representatives of the companies involved in this environmental and economic disaster. Except for the the guy at the end of the table- he started blaming the guys on his left. The representatives and speakers at the hearing included Lamar McKay of British Petroleum (BP), Tim Probert of Halliburton, and Steven Newman of Transocean.

And the situation gets even more interesting because the Swiss rig was flagged not by the United States or Great Britain or Switzerland (offshore drilling in Switzerland?), but by the Marshall Islands, which has less stringent safety standards than do the US or the UK.

Click here for an in depth report from the Los Angeles Times.

Below, videos from Keith Olbermann of COUNTDOWN and from Rachel Maddow, both on MSNBC>

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

For an account of Day One of the Congressional hearings on the oil spill, click here.

Valentine's Day- Saudi Style!

If you are a cynical sort who thinks Valentine's Day is only a money grab for florists and candy makers, and that it often puts more strain a relationship than warms it.....you might have a group of friends out there.

"There" is Saudi Arabia.

And "they" are the Commission for Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, aka the religious enforcement police in Saudi Arabia.

This morning I was having a leisurely late breakfast while watching RELIGION AND ETHICS on PBS, and the story came up about how the religion cops in Saudi Arabia are going around busting retailers who are selling Valentine cards, hearts, candies...and even warned about selling anything RED this Sunday.

Meris Lutz wrote this story in The Los Angeles Times about the situation. Below are a few paragraphs.

A spokesman for the Saudi virtue commission, Sheik Ali Qarni, defended the ban on celebrating Valentine's Day on the grounds that Muslims know the true meaning of love -- the love of God -- and behave accordingly throughout the year.

"Muslims are people of love, as evidenced by the fact that this word appears in [the Koran] 83 times," Qarni told the newspaper Al Watan.

The newspaper said Valentine's Day is outlawed based on a fatwa against "pagan holidays."

The commission ran ads this week warning shop owners against selling any merchandise related to Valentine's Day, which is Sunday.

Another newspaper, Al Riyadh, ran articles with headlines such as, "A fifth of adults prefer to spend Valentine's Day with their pets instead of their partners," and "Valentine's Day flavored with cocaine in the Netherlands this year."

Well that does it- I was thinking about spending a relaxing couple of weeks in Saudi Arabia....but if I can't bring my extensive Rutgers Scarlet Knights wardrobe, then I'm afraid that's out.

And I used to think that the Republican "purity test" was repressive!