Obama Mans Up on the Keystone Pipeline Decision

Maybe it is the threat of thousands of protestors circling the White House this weekend. Or maybe he’s sick of being pushed around by Big Oil .  Or maybe he just gets it.

Whatever his motive, President Obama has signaled that he’s gonna man up on the Keystone XL pipeline decision, suggesting that he, and not some political hack in the State Department, will make the final decision about whether or not it is in "the national interest" to permit the construction of a $7 billion pipeline that will bring dirty crude from the Alberta tar sands down to Gulf Coast refineries.

This is a big change.  Just a few days ago, White House press secretary Jay Carney suggested that Obama has better things to do than think about whether or not America should allow the construction of what amounts to a giant hypodermic needle for our oil addiction.  “This is a decision that will be made by the State Department,” Carney said.

No it ain’t. Obama said.  “[The State Department] will be giving me a report over the next several months and, you know, my general attitude is, what is best for the American people? What’s best for our economy both short-term and long-term?  But also, what's best for the health of the American people?" Obama said in a Nebraska TV interview. "Because we don’t want for example aquifers . . . adversely affected. Folks in Nebraska obviously would be directly impacted, and so we want to make sure we’re taking the long view on these issues."

Nebraskans, understandably, are getting riled up about the idea of the proposed pipeline possibly rupturing like a cheap beer can and dumping toxic bitumen into the Ogwalla aquifer, where Nebraskans get more than 80 percent of their water supply.  They are also not happy that the pipeline cuts right through the Sand Hills, one of the most fragile and environmentally-sensitive regions of the state.  This week, the Nebraska legislature began a special session which anti-pipeline activists hope will result in new land use laws that will force TransCanada, which will build the pipeline to – at the very least – re-route the pipeline around the Sand Hills and the Ogwalla aquifer.

In his interview, Obama made it clear that he has heard the concerns of Nebraskans: “We need to encourage domestic natural gas and oil production. We need to make sure that we have energy security and aren’t just relying on Middle East sources. But there’s a way of doing that and still making sure that the health and safety of the American people and folks in Nebraska are protected, and that’s how I’ll be measuring these recommendations when they come to me.”

Asked if the potential for jobs from the project will affect his decision, Obama replied, "You know it does, but I think folks in Nebraska like all across the country aren’t going to say to themselves, we’ll take a few thousand jobs if it means that our kids are potentially drinking water that would damage their health, or if rich land that is so important to agriculture in Nebraska ends up being adversely affected, because those create jobs, and you know, when somebody gets sick that’s a cost that the society has to bear as well. So these are all things that you have to take a look at when you make these decisions."

Of course, there are other things that you have to take a look at when you make these decisions.  Like how burning 830,000 barrels per day of dirty, carbon-intensive tar sands oil will increase the risks of climate change, and why, after vowing during the campaign to “end the tyranny of oil,” Obama would consider signing off on a project that will only increase our dependency on it.

Still, for activists who have long complained about Obama’s failure to engage on climate and energy issues, his latest remarks about the pipeline are good news.  If nothing else, it is a sign that he is paying attention.  How much attention is another question. For that, they’ll have to wait for his decision on the pipeline permit itself, which is expected to come before the end of the year.

‘Time to pack up... and leave’

A confrontation with a knife-wielding junkie at Occupy Boston and rampant thefts have tensions simmering between the protesters and the homeless, prompting Mayor Thomas M. Menino’s predecessor to say it’s high time for police to clear the tent city.

“It’s causing disruptions to public order,” former Mayor Raymond L. Flynn told the Herald. “They should have been given one day — 24 hours and that’s it. They have to be removed.”

Asked how he’d handle the encampment — which Menino has been willing to tolerate so far — Flynn said: “I’d walk down there with the police commissioner and I’d say, ‘Look, you’ve done your thing, but please respect the laws of this city. It’s time to pack up, clean up and leave.’”

Flynn’s tough talk comes amid the reported rape of a 19-year-old female college student at an Occupy camp in Cleveland and the knife play in Dewey Square in Boston on Sunday.

According to a Boston police report, a disgruntled homeless man got into an argument at 6:15 p.m. with Occupiers because he “had nowhere to stay.” The man urinated on a tent and then allegedly pulled a knife on a group of 10 shocked protesters. No one was stabbed but several protesters later told cops they felt “threatened” by the incident.

Cops assigned to the site grabbed the man, searched him and found a hypodermic needle and a knife. The blade was seized, but the alleged victims would not provide their names to police, so the man was not arrested, police said.

“Vigilant officers intervened in the situation and quickly de-escalated it,” Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll said.

Menino yesterday downplayed the problems, repeating that the demonstrators can stay as long as they are peaceful. He said he’s not concerned about police costs. “It is not right now a drain on resources,” he said.

The incident highlights an emerging rift between the Occupiers and homeless, who have moved into the tent city to feast on freebies. Occupy protesters and a law enforcement source said cellphones, laptops and other items have been swiped from tents, but Driscoll said the department has received no reports of robberies.

“The homeless people are down there lurking around,” a law-enforcement source told the Herald. “Some of them are mentally ill and criminally insane. The potential is there for problems.”

Demonstrator Andrew Warner, 36, said homeless people are hijacking tents, getting drunk, “passing out” and stealing.

“It’s turning into us against them,” Warner said. “They come in here and they’re looking at it as a way of getting a free meal and a place to crash, which is totally fine, but they don’t bring anything to the table at all. It gets really frustrating.”

Jackson Bush, manning the Occupy information tent yesterday, said some homeless people have been hoarding free items, including donated coats.

“We do have homeless people and people addicted to drugs who need to steal things,” Bush said. “They’re getting more than they need and trading it off. What we noticed is all the new jackets are disappearing quickly.”

Crime Report: Home Depot Thefts

Michael Gabriellini, 25, of Melville, was arrested Oct. 3 in East Farmingdale and charged with petty larceny. Reports indicate Gabriellini stole copper wiring and drill bits from Home Depot located in East Farmingdale.  

Raymond Pacheco, 48, of Kissimmee, was arrested Oct. 3 in East Farmingdale and charged with fourth degree grand larceny. Reports indicate Pacheco stole mostly plumbing products and other merchandise from Home Depot.

Antonia Petrizzo, 27, of Huntington Station, was arrested Oct. 3 in Farmingdale and charged with petty larceny. Reports indicate Petrizzo  stole copper wiring and tiling from Home Depot.  

Earli Perdomo, 36, of Amityville, was arrested Oct. 2 in East Farmingdale and charged with petty larceny. Reports indicate Perdomo was arrested for the theft of assorted clothing and merchdise from a store in East Farmingdale. 
 
Jill Russo, 26, of Oceanside, was arrested Oct. 1 in East Farmingdale and charged with first degree drug impairment while operating a motor vehicle, two counts of seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and possession of a hypodermic needle. Reports indicate Russo possessed a hypodermic needle, and operated a 2005 Honda at approximately 2:33 p.m. on New Highway, East Farmingdale.

Renee Pearson, 32, of Amityville, was arrested Sept. 30 and charged with seventh degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, unlawful possession of marijuana, and traffic violations.  Reports indicate Pearson was stopped in her gray Nissan Altima for alleged speeding on the westbound side of the Southern State Parkway near Exit 30. Reports indicate Pearson was found to be in possession of marijuana, and paraphernalia.

William Wrenn, 41, was arrested Sept. 29 in East Farmingdale and charged with third degree criminal trespassing. Reports indicate Wrenn was arrested for entering a fenced storage yard owned by Cerco Service Products, and stayed inside a trailer. 

Jose Ramos, 29, of Bayshore ,was arrested Sept. 28 in East Farmingdale and charged with fifth degree criminal possession of marijuana. Reports indicate Ramos was arrested for the possession of marijuana in the door handle of a 1992 Honda.   

Aresh Saqib, 23, of Farmingdale, was arrested Sept. 28 in Farmingdale and charged with unlawful fleeing a police officer, reckless driving, and third degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle. Reports indicate Saqib was operating a 2006 BMW on Grand Boulevard, Deer Park and allegedly drove excessive speeds, crossed the double yellow lines, ran a red light and attempted to flee an officer.     

Puncture is in Vein

Having barely folded up his campy Captain America comic book costume in the box labeled “Burn This,” Chris Evans returns to prove he has enough kilowatts to shine in a script chosen for something besides money. In Puncture, he gets a real workout. It’s a harrowingly grim true story about a functioning Houston attorney named Mark Weiss, who was also a functioning playboy addicted to drugs and prostitutes while running a personal-injury law firm with his responsible, straight-laced best friend and married business partner, Paul Danziger (played by Mark Kassen, who co-directed the film with his brother Adam) when, in 1998, they took on a case defending an E.R. nurse who was pricked by a needle and contaminated with H.I.V. while on the job.

It seemed like a viable, by-the-books case until it backfired, exposed the corruption and wrath of the health care industry, and turned into a David and Goliath story that made headlines, wrecked their health and nearly destroyed their careers.

Uncovering the shocking statistics (800,000 medical workers in 1998 were suffering from hypodermic needle accidents resulting in hepatitis C and AIDS), Mark Weiss was aghast to discover a safety needle that prevents such catastrophes from ever happening, yet which hospitals refused to buy because of the purchasing contracts they signed with pharmaceutical suppliers. Battling corporate greed, price fixing and the elimination of legal competition, Mark Weiss found himself targeted by powerful drug companies that got a kickback for every conventional needle sold.

 He went to court, lobbied the U.S. Senate, and tried a case that challenged the antitrust laws, all while hopped up on cocaine himself. When he finally found a sympathetic senator (Kate Burton) who agreed to support his demand for law reform, the organized, politically grounded drug merchants headed her off by making sizeable contributions to her re-election campaign. Devastated and facing ruin, Weiss sapped his energy and bankrupted his partner, but Chris Evans shies away from nothing in the raw-emotions department. Trying to clean up his act, the withdrawal scenes are especially grueling.

This is a thinking man’s film, meticulously researched and assembled by people who actually lived through the events it depicts, raising issues that impact the viewer on several levels at once. Puncture is about an abuse for profit that endangers the lives of everyone who has ever entered a hospital for treatment of even the most minor illness. It is also a responsible and dramatically implosive human drama about one man with the courage to stand up for a just cause, saving people’s lives while combating the demons in his own. Chris Evans is as dynamic in the small scenes as he is in the crashing melodramatic ones.

 After he crosses over to the dark side and dies of an overdose, his partner, who opposed the safety needles and begged to have the case dropped, changes his focus and takes the monolithic drug industry to court. The result changed the medical industry, and thanks to one afflicted man’s persistence, safety needles have now saved thousands of lives. Still, as the film’s coda points out, some daunting facts remain: safety needles are still unpopular with drug suppliers because they cannot be sterilized for reuse, and are therefore too expensive to manufacture. Some hospitals still use the old needles, resulting in the spread of disease.

And plastic needles are still used in poor countries with epidemics to save money. Like any good cautionary tale, Puncture tells a suspenseful story responsibly, creating food for thought and leaving the audience both enlightened and entertained.

Ritocchi last minute: subito in perfetta forma

It's never too late: so says the old adage about the great themes of life: change, true love ... Well, also applies to plastic surgery and in particular that the threshold of summer, when the inevitable arrives 'Last call for the test suit. And to see that happen again, slimming and firming creams, diets and exercise have not yielded the desired results. Worse: while most of the round from the waist down are still present, the upper body is thinner, as "empty."

To run for cover in a hurry, the main tool is liposuction , which removes localized deposits of fat forever . In the mini version, then, the recovery is even shorter and the conquest of the "perfect shape" almost immediately.


"There can be subjected to the intervention up to 2-3 weeks to get in costume , "said Mark Klinger, a professor of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery at the University of Milan - Istituto Clinico Humanitas, Rozzano (Milan). Obviously, however, intervention is not for everyone. "The ideal situation is to undergo liposuction, however, to be closer to your ideal weight - says Klinger -. Not to spoil the intervention, then it is important that the patient is committed to maintain this weight . Gaining weight significantly, in fact, new deposits, however, tend to settle in the same places, not for effect or because of the intervention, but just for a matter of constitution. "

How is the procedure? Under local anesthesia, when the points to be treated are not more than two per side (eg the inside of the knee and the upper and outer thighs) is basically a ' incision of about 4 mm , which is inserted through a small suction cannula . Eliminated the excess fat, wear a containment sheath helps to join the superficial tissues more rapidly than deep, and then to design the best new "contours". Last shrewdness, to avoid making the scar (however small) permanent, it is then that of sun exposure with only a cream with sun block , at least in the first 6-8 months.