Free Republic

What gives here? Conservative talk show host, Mark Levin, makes an excellent observation as well as ask an excellent question. First the Obaminator: "...and the Department of the Interior has announced that they will be sending Swat teamns to the Gulf to inspect all platforms and rigs." Mark Levin: "Swat teams from the Department of the Interior? When I was Deputy Secretary of the Interior Department (during the Reagan administration), I don't remember any Swat teams. Now you heard hims say that the Department of the Interior was going to send Swat teams, I didn't know that they had Swat...

Washington -- US President Joe Biden has said that he is convinced that one of the reasons why Hamas launched a terrorist attack on Israel was because of the recent announcement during the G-20 Summit in New Delhi on the ambitious India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor that integrates the entire region with a network of railroad. Israel has launched a massive counter-offensive against Hamas after unprecedented attacks by the militant group on October 7 killed more than 1,400 people. Biden told reporters at a joint news conference with the visiting Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that his analysis is based on...

"There is an effort... to employ security details composed of both Marines and Navy sailors on commercial tankers transiting in and near the Strait of Hormuz as an added layer of defense for these vulnerable ships," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. An invitation is needed to do so because the ships are private vessels, but "we are undergoing preparations to execute should final agreements be in place to do that," the official said. The United States is boosting its forces operating in the region, announcing last month that it would deploy a destroyer, F-35 and F-16 warplanes,...

A deadly bacteria that kills up to 50 percent of people it infects has now been listed as endemic along the US gulf coast. Dr Julia Petras, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) who made the warning, said Burkholderia pseudomallei was now likely lurking in soil and stagnant water across the 1,600 miles from Texas to Florida. People infected with the bacteria suffer melioidosis, a severe condition that can trigger pneumonia and sepsis and can be fatal. Doctors are now on alert for the disease, which can initially be misdiagnosed as another infection. The CDC...

A stampede at an event to distribute financial aid in Yemen's capital late Wednesday resulted in dozens of people being killed or injured, Houthi officials said. At least 78 people were killed and dozens more suffered injuries, a Houthi official said. The crush took place in the Old City in the center of Sanaa when hundreds of poor people gathered at the event organized by merchants without coordination with local authorities, according to the Houthi-run Interior Ministry.

The Biden administration was forced to offer up 2,600 square miles of federal oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico this week, following a deal made by West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin (D) in exchange for his support of the left’s climate legislation last summer. Major oil companies have offered bids on more than 2,600 square miles (6,700 square kilometers) of federal oil and gas leases in the Gulf of Mexico in a sale mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Wednesday’s auction was the first in over a year and was expected to draw interest from...

(KXAN) - A new study has found that surface waters in the Gulf of Mexico have warmed approximately twice as fast as the global ocean over the last 50 years. The study, published last month in the American Meteorological Society’s Journal of Climate and conducted by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Northern Gulf Institute (NGI), found “significant warming” of the Gulf’s sea surface temperature - a 1.8°F jump between 1970-2020. This works out to 0.34°F of warming per decade, equating to roughly twice the rate of warming observed in the global ocean as a...

The Biden administration has quietly approved plans to build a new crude oil terminal in the Gulf of Mexico off Texas, seemingly in contradiction to the president’s climate agenda.The Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration approved the application (pdf) for Enterprise’s Sea Port Oil Terminal, one of four proposed offshore oil export terminals, on Monday.According to the application, the port will be located offshore of Freeport, Texas. It will have 4.8 million barrels of storage capacity and add 2 million barrels per day to the U.S. oil export capacity.In its 94-page decision (pdf), the Maritime Administration said that it had approved...

The Biden administration doesn’t anticipate selling offshore drilling rights in the Gulf of Mexico through at least October 2023, effectively stretching a delay in that activity to a third year, according to economic projections included in its newly released budget proposal.

The leak near dawn Friday occurred about 150 yards (meters) from a drilling platform. The company said it had brought the gas leak under control about five hours later. But the accident gave rise to the strange sight of roiling balls of flame boiling up from below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.

A major “realignment” of US defense priorities is resulting in a new extended drawdown of troops, aircraft, and anti-aircraft missiles from the Middle East, The Wall Street journal says in a new report, especially a prior missile battery build-up under Trump in Saudi Arabia. “The Pentagon is pulling approximately eight Patriot antimissile batteries from countries including Iraq, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, according to officials,” the report details. “Another antimissile system known as a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or Thaad system, is being withdrawn from Saudi Arabia, and jet fighter squadrons assigned to the region are being reduced, those...

<p>Fire. That's a reoccurring theme with Iranian assets. I'm thinking the Israelis have a weapon that starts fires. Could be a laser or some kind of computer virus that causes electronic equipment to malfunction and overheat or it could simply be Drew Barrymore. Who knows, but it's very interesting.</p>

WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. energy company says a cyberattack forced it to temporarily halt all operations on a major pipeline that delivers roughly 45% of all fuel consumed on the East Coast. Colonial Pipeline said the attack took place Friday and also affected some of its information technology systems. The company transports gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil from refineries primarily located on the Gulf Coast through pipelines running from Texas to New Jersey. The Alpharetta, Georgia-based company said it hired an outside cybersecurity firm to investigate the nature and scope of the attack and has also...

Plans were announced today to dig a 245-mile long canal from the northern Gulf of California into southwestern Arizona to flood the region with sea water creating new economic opportunities and beach-front housing across thousands of square miles of mostly uninhabited desert. The City of Phoenix could become one of America’s busiest seaports under the plan.

The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane epidemic continues for the Gulf of Mexico. Delta is currently forecast to reach hurricane strength in the Gulf of Mexico. Wearily and warily, we are once again looking at potential dueling storms in the Gulf of Mexico. There is a possibility we witness a Fujiwhara effect between Delta and Gamma. Delta is expected to be the dominant storm system. Meanwhile, Gamma moved much further northeast than previously anticipated. Mash the graphics below to enlarge. All links and images are self-updating. Gamma Delta Gamma Public Advisory Delta Public Advisory Gamma Forecast Discussion Delta Forecast Discussion Florida Radar...

The United States could witness a rare “Fujiwhara effect” as two storm systems are expected to come in close proximity in the Gulf of Mexico next week. All eyes are on the gulf coast as the 2020 hurricane season nears its most active month. The National Hurricane Center (NHC) is currently tracking two storm systems. Tropical Depression Fourteen is moving northwestward over the northwestern Caribbean Sea and is expected to develop into a named storm and reach hurricane strength. Tropical Storm Laura is moving toward the U.S. from the Atlantic, prompting warnings for the Northern Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico...

Another offshore vessel attacked in Gulf of Mexico NIKOLAY TORKIN News April 17, 2020 8:16 am Offshore accommodation vessel TELFORD 28 was attacked in the evening Apr 14 at Cuidad Del Carmen Anchorage, Mexico, Gulf of Mexico, according to Offshore Engineer news website oedigital.com. Understood it was a robbery, pirates looting both staff and vessel’s valuable items, and escaped. One crew was injured and taken to hospital, his life is not in danger. Pirates attacks in this area have become regular. Offshore accommodation vessel TELFORD 28, IMO 8769638, GT 13062, built 2007, flag Gibraltar, owner Telford Offshore.

Offshore vessel provider Telford Offshore's offshore accommodation and hook-up unit Telford 28 was attacked earlier this week while anchored in Mexico. One crew member was injured.

MAERSK offshore supply tug attacked in Gulf of Mexico Erofey Schkvarkin News April 15, 2020 1:51 pm Offshore tug, supply ship MAERSK TRANSPORTER was attacked and boarded by armed pirates at night Apr 12 in Gulf of Mexico off Cuidad Del Carmen, Mexico, roughly in the same area where 3 days earlier Italian supply ship REMAS was attacked. Attack was carried out in same manner, too. http://www.maritimebulletin.net/2020/04/14/italian-offshore-ship-boarded-by-armed-pirates-in-mexico-waters-video/ Pirates took several crew as hostages and looted the ship, taking with valuable items. Crew luckily, weren’t hurt. Offshore tug, supply ship MAERSK TRANSPORTER, IMO 9388649, GT 4678, built 2009, flag Denmark, manager...

Two crew members on an Italian-flagged ship were injured when the vessel was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Mexico, the Mexican navy said Tuesday. One crew member aboard the "Remas" had a bullet wound and the other suffered a concussion, officials told Reuters.