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Offshore drilling has been pushed further onto Virginia's horizon. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar on Tuesday announced the oil and gas leasing plan for 2012-2017, and Virginia did not make the list. The proposed program includes 15 potential lease sales, with 12 in the Gulf of Mexico and three off Alaska. Virginia's lease sale was scheduled for 2011, but the federal government delayed it until at least 2017 after the April-July 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the worst offshore spill in U.S. history. Gov. Bob McDonnell, who wanted to use the millions that...

Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, is losing about $1 billion a year from drilling delays in the Gulf of Mexico since the 2010 Macondo disaster. Shell’s production in the region will be curbed by about 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent this year, similar to 2011, Chief Financial Officer Simon Henry said. The company expects to return to planned operations off the Gulf coast by 2014. “The cash flow implications are a billion dollars or more per year relative to where we want to be,” Henry said in London today. “We are catching up.” The company, which in...

Roughly 20,000 oil industry construction jobs are being thrown under Obama’s 2012 campaign bus, largely because the president needs to pump up his sagging support among the environmentalists. The pitch came Thursday when President Barack Obama put his leadership behind a State Department plan to study alternative routes for the pipeline, which is intended to bring oil from Alberta in Canada to oil refineries along the Gulf Coast. “We should take the time to ensure that all questions are properly addressed and all the potential impacts are properly understood,” said Obama’s afternoon statement. The construction jobs, and the revenue from...

Technical difficulties, dwindling participation and possible sabotage sap momentum of Freedom Flotilla 2; 350 people expected to participate, as opposed to 1,500 originally expected by organizers. Withdrawn insurance deeds, alleged sabotage and Greek bureaucracy have dealt a setback to organizers of Freedom Flotilla 2, who said on Tuesday that departure to the Gaza Strip might be postponed until next week. In addition, a mere 350 people are expected to participate in the flotilla, as opposed to the 1,500 originally expected by the organizers. “There have been many obstacles and complaints. Some boats are not ready and it is not clear...

WASHINGTON – A House panel approved a defense bill early Thursday that would delay President Barack Obama's new policy allowing gays to serve openly in the military and limit the commander in chief's authority on slashing the nation's nuclear arsenal. By a vote of 60-1, the House Armed Services Committee approved the broad, $553 billion defense blueprint that would provide a 1.6 percent increase in military pay, fund an array of aircraft, ships and submarines, slightly increase health care fees for working-age retirees and meet the Pentagon's request for an additional $118 billion to fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan....

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Environmental Protection Agency is delaying new rules that would impose stricter limits on two key pollutants—smog and mercury—drawing complaints from environmental groups who say the Obama administration appears to be caving in to political pressure from congressional Republicans. "It is hard to avoid the impression that EPA is running scared from the incoming Congress," said Frank O'Donnell, president of the advocacy group Clean Air Watch. Republicans took control of the House and gained in the Senate in the midterm elections, and many GOP lawmakers have vowed to target the EPA for what they call a series...

The Navy indicated Monday there would be a several-month delay in awarding a high-profile combat ship contract. The Navy was expected to announce the winner of the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) contract this summer. Instead, it will take several more months to weigh the competitors’ offers. Lockheed Martin, teamed with Wisconsin-based Marinette Marine and Alabama-based Austal USA, a unit of Australian Austal Ltd., are competing for the contract, which is initially worth about $5 billion for 10 shore-hugging combat ships and includes combat systems for five additional ships.

Doug Ross notes that this oil spill was not treated as earlier ones were: "On April 29th, Ron Gouget, who once managed Gulf spill response teams, publicly pilloried the administration's response to the tragic oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico. Gouget is an expert when it comes to these matters: he helped created the 1994 plan that allowed expedited burning of oil as soon as a major spill had occurred -- without having to wait for permission or approvals. Federal officials should have started burning oil off the surface of the Gulf last week, almost as soon as...

They were supposed to be taking a direct flight from LAX to JFK -- but wound up on a 16-hour nightmare tour by air and bus of New York state. ... "One guy said he had a question, and the flight attendant started shouting at this guy, 'You are really getting on my freaking nerves! You need to shut the hell up!' " Martin said. He added, "Carrie Anne and I tried to bring cookies on the plane to the mothers with babies, and the flight attendants started snapping at us." ...

Barack Obama we are told is a smart man. He attended Columbia University and Harvard Law. He lectured Constitutional law at the University of Chicago, but does any of this qualify him to be Commander-in-Chief? On the campaign trail, candidate Obama famously called Afghanistan the “good war”. But the truth of the matter, Afghanistan was the stagnant war. The enemy shifted its focus to Iraq because that is where we chose to fight. The Taliban and al Qaeda where chased out of Afghanistan and into Pakistan and needed to be regrouped. So they called on Islamic “freedom fighters” to engage...

I saw the most effective commercial I've ever seen. The commercial, very quickly, puts forward the best argument against government-controlled health care. (snip) If this commercial gets a wider audience it could be the nail in the coffin.

The launch of US shuttle Endeavour is to be further delayed after a thunderstorm around Cape Canaveral, Nasa officials say. Blast-off has been postponed for 24 hours to allow technical teams to assess the effects of lightning strikes near the launch pad on Friday. Two previous launch attempts in June were scrapped because of a potentially hazardous leak in a hydrogen vent line. The craft is to take and install a last piece of Japan's space station lab. Lift-off had been scheduled for 1939 local time (2339 GMT). But on Friday evening, the area surrounding the launch pad was hit...

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is delaying by a week its release of an internal CIA report on the agency's Bush-era secret detention and interrogation program. The roughly 150-page report was expected to be released Friday, .. "We continue to review the document to see what additional material can be released in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act," said CIA spokesman George Little. The American Civil Liberties Union, .. said it was disappointed by the delay.

Much as I hate to be the bearer of bad news, I must report the shocking facts. Medical care is medical care. Nothing more and nothing less. This may not seem like a breakthrough on the frontiers of knowledge, but it completely contradicts what is being said by many who are urging universal health care because so many Americans lack health insurance. Insurance is not medical care. Indeed, health care is not the same as medical care. Countries with universal health care do not have more or better medical care. The bottom line is medical care - but the rhetoric...

Elena Kagan, the Obama administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, is passing up the chance to make her first high-court argument in a big case over minority voting rights. Instead, Kagan, confirmed by the Senate last month as solicitor general, will wait until the fall to make her debut, Justice Department spokeswoman Beverley Lumpkin said Tuesday

WASHINGTON — The nation’s top Social Security official says benefits for tens of thousands of people with severe disabilities are being delayed by furloughs and layoffs of state employees around the country. The official, Michael J. Astrue, the commissioner of Social Security, said Sunday that “governors are hurting their own states, their own citizens, and increasing the backlog of claims” by furloughing workers who make disability decisions.

Dust storms that fouled Kern County’s air in May could mean months of delay for two major Kern County freeway projects. A project to widen Highway 46 from Holloway Road west to Highway 33 at Blackwells Corner will almost certainly be delayed for five months or more, said Ron Brummett, executive director of the Kern Council of Governments. And the Westside Parkway in Bakersfield, a freeway that’s to run west from a point near Highway 99 to Heath Road, might also be delayed if dickering over air quality standards goes on too long. The Environmental Protection Agency, Brummett said, is...

Although The Boeing Co.'s 787 Dreamliner may be only 15 months or so behind schedule, delivery delays will be as much as twice that long for some customers that bought the fuel-efficient composite jet. The extent of the delivery delays, which likely will cost Boeing several billion dollars in penalty payments, became more apparent Thursday when two important 787 customers disclosed just how late their planes will be. In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the parent of International Lease Financial Corp., the biggest customer for the 787 with 74 on order, disclosed that its planes will be...

Air Canada will have to wait at least two years longer than originally expected to take delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner, the airline revealed on Thursday. The Boeing Co. has told Air Canada that it will deliver the first of the 37 aircraft it has on order at least 24 to 30 months later than the carrier had previously expected, at the earliest in January 2012. Air Canada will be seeking compensation from Boeing for the delays, Montie Brewer, Air Canada chief executive, told a conference call on Thursday. In April, Boeing announced that the first deliveries of the...

Journal readers tend to get around, so there's a good chance that the person reading this editorial has been among the hundreds of thousands of travelers stuck on a tarmac or waylaid in a hotel by the recent wave of flight cancellations. And if you're wondering where to point the finger, we'd suggest Capitol Hill. Allow us to explain. After the Federal Aviation Administration fined Southwest Airlines more than $10 million last month for inspection lapses, Congress rounded up the usual scapegoats for some hearings. FAA officials told the House Transportation Committee that the Southwest situation was "an isolated problem,...

WELLINGTON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Airlines lined up on Thursday for compensation after Boeing Co announced a further six-month delay for its new 787 Dreamliner plane, with Air New Zealand, Air India and Japan's two big carriers eyeing redress. The U.S. plane maker announced the third major delay for the revolutionary plane on Wednesday, promising first delivery in the third quarter of 2009, more than a year after the original target of May this year -- with an indefinite delay for a short-range model favoured by the Japanese carriers. Air New Zealand and Air India AI.UL said they would seek compensation. All...

Driving winds and rain ground flights in Houston and Dallas after a massive weather system rolls across Texas. The stranded traveler syndrome was repeated hundreds of times at Bush Intercontinental Airport where airlines reported cancellations and delays of more than six hours. American Airlines diverted some flights from Dallas to Houston to avoid thunderstorms. Travelers weren't pleased with the outcome. "[We] landed in Houston. We taxied around burning fuel for about 15 minutes -- went to to the gate, the hangar refuel [with] still no information whether Dallas was gonna open or not," one woman said. At Dallas-Fort Worth International...

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - Heavy snow and slush has forced officials at Kansas City International Airport to close and cancel numerous flights. Airport spokesman Joe McBride says the runways were closed around 6:30 a.m. Sunday when testing showed conditions were too slick to safely operate planes. The airport sees about 440 flights a day. Four inches of snow had fallen at Kansas City International as of 10 a.m. Forecasters predict snow will continue well into the afternoon.

More election clerks are heading to Benson to help relieve long lines and wait times at the polls. Callers to the News 4 Newsroom have complained of two to three hour waits. Elections Officer Tom Shelling tells News 4, two more clerks have been added to the staff there, with two more on the way. That's a grand total of ten clerks. New voting regulations require polling places to have at least 2,000 registered voters each under their jurisdiction, says Shelling. That means many smaller polling places had to consolidate, and Shelling says they weren't quite ready for the rush....

The Texas Department of Transportation says it can't afford to build new roads without more funds, but a Panhandle lawmaker called the move an attempt to hold projects for ransom. TxDOT argues costs have skyrocketed and federal and state lawmakers have diverted millions to other priorities, Amarillo District Engineer Mark Tomlinson said. State legislators moved more than $1.5 billion from the 2008-09 state highway fund for other missions, he said. So TxDOT must cut $1.1 billion from its 2008-09 construction budget and focus on maintenance of the state's 79,000 miles of existing roadways, Tomlinson said. Next week, Tomlinson will list...

A federal judge canceled plans to tour California's new execution chamber later this month and temporarily halted proceedings in a lawsuit challenging the state's death penalty. U.S. District Court Jeremy Fogel (FOE-gol) in San Jose delayed litigation in the federal lawsuit filed by condemned killer Michael Morales because a state court judge on Oct. 31 invalidated the state's death penalty on administrative grounds. The U.S. Supreme Court has also been halting executions nationwide while it considers a challenge to Kentucky's lethal injection execution method. Fogel ordered lawyers to return to his courtroom in Jan. 17 to consider the next steps.

TUCSON, Ariz. – Defense contractor Boeing Co. has told the government it believes it has solved most of the problems that have delayed use of the first section of a high-tech “virtual fence” along the nation's borders for months. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials, however, said they'll wait until acceptance testing now set for late October is done before passing judgment. The 28-mile section of fence along the U.S.-Mexico border in southern Arizona is the first of thousands of miles planned on the nation's southern and northern borders. Boeing personnel who briefed federal officials “sounded real optimistic” about the...

No one who has traveled by plane recently needs to be told that our commercial air-travel system is overstretched. Statistics support the anecdotal evidence of crowded airspace, taxiways and airports. FAA Administrator Marion Blakey recently noted that 2006 was the worst year on record for delays and cancellations and that 2007 bids to be worse still. On one day this past week, fewer than half the planes at JFK in New York City were on time. Nationwide for the month of June, more than 30% of all flights were delayed. It's enough to make you think they should just add...

A major US weapons deal to Saudi Arabia and other regional allies has been delayed due to Israeli objections, the New York Times reported.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has postponed his first official visit to Tehran for "technical reasons," officials said Sunday. Al-Maliki was supposed to visit Iran Monday. It was unclear how long his trip would be delayed. Iraq's ambassador to Iran, Mohammad Majid al-Sheikh, and Ali al-Adeeb, a legislator and senior member with al-Maliki's Dawa party, confirmed that the trip had been postponed, with both citing "technical reasons." They did not elaborate. Meanwhile, iran's state-run Islamic Republic News Agency quoted unidentified Foreign Ministry officials as saying that talks were still under way with Iraqi officials to set a...

The city of Hazleton agreed Friday to delay enforcing one of the toughest crackdowns of illegal immigrants by a U.S. city. The law fines landlords $1,000 for renting to illegal immigrants, denies business permits to companies that give them jobs, and makes English the city's official language. Enforcement was to begin Sept. 11. The delay came after the city reached an agreement with plaintiffs in a lawsuit _ Hispanic groups and the American Civil Liberties Union, who wanted the law declared unconstitutional. Under the agreement, Hazleton must give the plaintiffs at least 20 days' notice before it begins enforcing either...

The judge in the federal pension fraud case has postponed the February trial date until May 15, 2007, after defense attorneys requested more time to prepare. U.S. District Judge Roger T. Benitez said the delay was reasonable because of the complex nature of the case, which involves five defendants and more than a million pages of documents, and because one of the defense attorneys has just been retained – eight months after indictments. The government did not oppose the delay. Defense attorney Michael Pancer was hired this month by Loraine Chapin after her previous lawyer was disqualified by Benitez over...

LONDON - British authorities said Thursday they thwarted a terrorist plot to simultaneously blow up several aircraft heading to the U.S. using explosives smuggled in carry-on luggage. Security was raised to its highest level in Britain, and carry-on luggage was banned on all flights. Huge crowds backed up at London's Heathrow airport as officials searching for explosives barred nearly every form of liquid outside of baby formula. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said the terrorists planned to use liquid explosives disguised as beverages and other common products and set them off with detonators disguised as electronic devices. The extreme...

Blair delays holiday as fighting goes on By George Jones, Political Editor (Filed: 05/08/2006) Tony Blair bowed to pressure yesterday and delayed his summer holiday to continue working with other world leaders in an "all-out effort" to secure a ceasefire in Lebanon. Downing Street said the Prime Minister, who was due to leave for Barbados, believed that the next few days would be "crucial''. An Israeli air attack hit farm workers in the Bekaa Valley The violence continued unabated as Israel launched more than 150 air strikes and continued its cross-border ground offensive. Hizbollah rained rockets on northern Israel, killing...

Traffic was disrupted once again in a key Big Dig tunnel after inspectors found loose bolts in a ceiling panel the same sort of problem that is believed to have killed a motorist earlier this month. The $14.6 billion Big Dig project, the most expensive in U.S. history, buried much of the city's highway network in tunnels. It took over a decade to complete and has since been plagued by leaks, falling debris, cost overruns, delays and problems linked to faulty construction.

Justice seeks end to delays in review of documents seized in raid WASHINGTON The Justice Department today opposed further delays in the bribery investigation of Representative William Jefferson, saying the agency should be allowed to review documents seized in a search of the congressman's office. On Monday, Chief U-S District Judge Thomas F. Hogan rejected requests from Jefferson and fellow lawmakers seeking the return of the material from the May raid on Capitol Hill. Jefferson is now seeking to delay the judge's ruling while he appeals. Hogan dismissed arguments by Jefferson and a bipartisan group of House leaders that the...

SAN DIEGO – While taking a tour of the U.S.-Mexico border, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger chided Congress on Wednesday for stalling federal legislation to curb illegal immigration. Republican leaders in the House of Representatives announced Tuesday their plans for more hearings next month on immigration, a move that could doom any hope of passing a comprehensive immigration reform bill this year. “It would be totally inexcusable,” Schwarzenegger told reporters during a whirlwind tour of the border, during which he met with National Guard troops assigned to the international boundary as part of the Bush Administration's Operation Jump Start. National Guard soldiers...

  Courting Chaos: Senate Proposal Undermines Immigration Lawby Kris W. Kobach WebMemo #1083 May 17, 2006 |   | Once again, the Senate Judiciary Committee has rolled out a massive amnesty for more than 11 million illegal aliens. Rewarding aliens who have violated federal law is bad enough. However, the Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act (CIRA, S.2611) does much more than that. Buried deep inside the bill—beginning at page 540—are provisions that would radically alter our immigration courts, making them far less likely to enforce and implement the law faithfully. Not surprisingly, these items have not caught the attention of...

The recent spotlight on the impending execution of multiple-murderer Stanley “Tookie” Williams has once again highlighted the flaws in California’s death penalty law. Williams was put to death at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday, after he was denied clemency by Governor Schwarzenegger. Williams was convicted in 1981 of murdering four people and sentenced to death. Yet 26 years after his victims took their final breaths, the killer still lives. His lawyers have continued to maneuver to thwart the sentence duly handed down by a jury of his peers until the very end. Williams’s case demonstrates just how dysfunctional the death penalty...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Eating fish at least once a week slows the toll aging takes on the brain, while obesity at midlife doubles the risk of dementia, a pair of studies concluded on Monday. Omega-3 fatty acids contained in fish have been shown to boost brain functioning as well as cutting the risk of stroke, and eating fish regularly appears to protect the brain as people age, the six-year study of Chicago residents said. "The rate of (mental) decline was reduced by 10 percent to 13 percent per year among persons who consumed one or more fish meals per week...

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.S. federal court judge Tuesday extended for the fourth time an order barring a former investigator for the U.N. oil-for-food probe from turning over documents to two U.S. congressional committees. The delay, until July 6, was granted by U.S. District Judge Ricardo Urbina in Washington. All parties have asked for repeated delays while they try to work out an agreement. The restraining order, first issued on May 9, blocks Robert Parton, a former FBI agent, from handing over boxes of documents to two congressional committees that subpoenaed them after he resigned from the U.N.-appointed Independent...

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Land-access disputes between oil firms and northern Canadian native groups must be solved in six to 12 months or the companies may drop plans for a C$7 billion ($5.6 billion) gas pipeline to focus on U.S. liquefied natural gas projects, a top analyst said Wednesday. Of the two major Arctic gas projects being proposed in North America, the Mackenzie Valley pipeline faces the biggest risk of being canceled due to its high-profile delays, said Tristone Capital analyst Chris Theal, author of a new 50-page report on the prospects for northern frontier gas. Mackenzie partners Exxon Mobil,...

Mofaz cites failure to disarm 52 wanted terrorists and the smuggling of Strella missiles into Gaza by PA intelligence agents as reasons for the delay. But preparations for handover are continuing. Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz has ordered the IDF to delay transferring the city of Kalkilya to PA armed forces. Mofaz accused the PA of failing to fulfill their promises to seize weapons held by 52 terrorist fugitives hiding out in Jericho and Tulkarem, cities that were recently handed over to PA control as part of an agreement reached between Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and PA leader Mamoud Abbas in...

Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata on Friday postponed a confirmation hearing for a state official tapped by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to carry out the overhaul of the California workers' compensation system. Influential labor and legal organizations are pressuring Democratic lawmakers to oust Andrea Hoch, the administrative director of the Division of Workers' Compensation. Her critics, including Perata and other Democratic legislators, assert that new formulas she crafted to determine permanent disability benefits would cut payments by up to 70 percent and reduce medical care for severely injured workers. Hoch declined comment Friday. A Schwarzenegger spokesman indicated the governor will...

Free Republic 2001http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3a70b8577a8c.htm Clinton's Costly Vietnam Trip -- More than $63.5 MillionSource: Far Eastern Economic Review Published: 2-1-01 Clinton's Costly Vietnam Trip The massive cost of airlifting Bill Clinton and his entourage to Vietnam last year has ruffled some feathers in the U.S. military. The former president paid historic visits to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, the former South Vietnamese capital Saigon, in November. Informal research conducted by officers and staff of the Strategic Assessment Centre and the School of Advanced Airpower Studies says 74 U.S. Air Force aircraft, including 26 giant C-5 Galaxy transports, were used to ferry...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use. Midwest group points to holiday travel problems SOUTH BEND -- On Monday, airlines were trying to comfort angry passengers. Drivers were digging their cars out of snow-covered ditches in the Midwest. And the Indiana High Speed Rail Association made its customary appeal to the federal government -- develop high-speed rail, sooner than later. The association sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta on Tuesday, suggesting the department make high-speed rail development in the Midwest "the centerpiece" of its transportation policy. Speedy trains could have lessened the blow to air...

Spending Bill Held Up by Tax ProvisionSurprise in Measure Spurs Criticism of Legislative Process A $388 billion government-wide spending bill, passed by Congress on Saturday, was stranded on Capitol Hill yesterday, its trip to the White House on hold as embarrassed Republicans prepared to repeal a provision that could give the Appropriations committees the right to examine the tax returns of Americans. Top GOP lawmakers disavowed the provision, expressed surprise that it was in the bill, and blamed both the Internal Revenue Service and congressional staffs for incorporating it into the omnibus spending package funding domestic departments in 2005. But...

Dean Esmay writes: I just got off the phone with Karol Sheinin. It's 4:45 Eastern. She's on a plane on her way home, and they're on the ground at O'Hare in Chicago. They just told the passengers that no flights are being allowed into New York right now. They aren't saying why. I just turned on the news and I see nothing. UPDATE: The FAA status page for LaGuardia says: Delays by Destination: Due to WEATHER, TSTMS, departure traffic destined to The William B Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta, GA (ATL) is currently experiencing delays averaging 1 hour and 19 minutes....

The familiar sounds of partisan gridlock overtook the Capitol Friday, as efforts to get a state budget agreement broke down with Democrats and Republicans choosing sides over a plan to revise how local governments are financed. The air of optimism that had characterized negotiations all week has all but dissipated. And expectations that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger could still step in like a kindergarten cop and settle the flare up seem far fetched as the governor struggled with his own difficulties. "At this point, this budget is being held up and it isn't by Democrats," said Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los...

Kuwait Sandstorms Tough for U.S. Soldiers (THE SADISTIC UN IS COUNTING ON THIS!!!) Fri Mar 7, 8:09 PM ET CAMP NEW JERSEY, Kuwait - Pfc. Charles Bryant got lost for three hours on the way back to his tent, disoriented by thick clouds of sand swirling at 50 mph in this desert camp near the Iraqi border. Sandstorms, a gritty and miserable fact of life in the Persian Gulf region this time of year, are making things uncomfortable for troops waiting for a possible war with Iraq (news - web sites). They also present major problems for U.S. war planners....