Issa Takes Truth Sayers (Mullen, Pickering and Benghazi) Behind Closed Doors! Why?

A former Admiral and
 MiKe Mullen

"The public deserves to hear your questions and our answers," wrote former Ambassador Thomas Pickering and former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, co-chairmen of the Accountability Review Board that was convened to investigate the September 11th attack.

Former high rankling US
Ambassador,
 Thomas Picker

Two national heroes and security officials who have served the nation like few others want to responded to an Oversight Committee subpoena from Darrel Issa via a public appearance with cameras operational live recording for all to see and hear. Issa has been nothing shy of overzealous in his quest to carefully and strategically hold public hearings for GOP members of Congress to profile and enact on-camera performances as they attack all things Democratic, progressive.liberal and fair.  Issa has also blocked testimony of potential witnesses who specifically requested opportunity to appear before his committee (e.g., Sandra Fluke and Thomas Pickering).   Perspective: GOP dominate House,  GOP (hit man) Chair of the Oversight Committee, Witnesses that support GOP agenda, blockage of people who wish to testify with counter views or information........ There seems to be a problem with the Oversight Committee that is overshadowed by the shady character of Darrell Issa. 

Small image of the day

What we have here is far from honest and productive appreciation of government oversight.  Moreover, we have exactly what the nation deserves when they do not vote in non-presidential elections. Your staying home in 2010 has contributed greatly to an America struggling under the dark clouds of GOP governance and agenda driven dogma.  

Issa has moved his surreptitious management of the Oversight Committee to a level of overt mal-practice.  He will allow Mullen and Pickering to testify, privately; literally behind closed doors.  Behind closed doors? Typically Issa and according to plan. If there is a prospect information will flow that will lessen  GOP opportunity to attack the Obama Administration the forum must be a 'closet', not a public hearing. Is there something about that picture that you find palatable?

On Issa and Pickering and Mullen testimony.

Darrell Issa Withdraws Subpoena For Thomas Pickering After He Agrees To Private Meeting By MATTHEW LEE  

05/22/13 03:24 PM ET EDT  

WASHINGTON -- A House committee chairman has withdrawn a subpoena to compel a retired diplomat to answer questions in private about an independent investigation of last year's attack in Benghazi, Libya. 

Rep. Darrell Issa (EYE'-suh) says he acted after Thomas Pickering agreed to meet with the House Oversight and Committee Reform Committee behind closed doors. 

Pickering and former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mike Mullen led the investigation into the Sept. 11 attack on the U.S. diplomat mission. Four Americans, including the U.S. ambassador, were killed.

Read more link via title above

Pickering and Mullen communicated their wish to testify both in writing and on television.  CNN has exclusively acquired a copy of a letter Mullen and Pickering forwarded to Issa. The letter telling as revealing as one could expect form high level security officials seeking opportunity to serve the nation in a fair and honest manner. The letter was met with a withdrawn subpoena and an agreement to meet in private.  How crass and obvious as to intent.  Why would the Chairman of the Oversight Committee want to prejudge Pickering's and Mullen's testimony? The question was a rhetorical question. We both know the answer. The Co-chairmen of the Accountability Review Board may testify such that Issa cannot fulfill his role as a facilitator of all things anti-Obama.  And, if the gentlemen testify publicly without opportunity to prepare well crafted responses, Issa also fails in his ability to delivery as follows. 

The Daily Kos via Joy Reid, The Grio

by ericlewis0 

Joy Reid at The Grio reports that the Heritage Foundation, the uber-rightwing think tank that Jim DeMint left the Senate to head up, just sent this letter to Speaker Boehner and Eric Cantor:

Dear Speaker Boehner and Leader Cantor:

For the first time, the activities of the Obama administration are receiving a sustained public vetting.  Americans’ outrage over Benghazi is amplified by the Internal Revenue Service’s intimidation of conservative grassroots organizations and a cascade of negative headlines.  There is the real sense the Obama administration has been less than forthright with the American people, the press and lawmakers.

Recent events have rightly focused the nation’s attention squarely on the actions of the Obama administration. It is incumbent upon the House of Representatives to conduct oversight hearings on those actions, but it would be imprudent to do anything that shifts the focus from the Obama administration to the ideological differences within the House Republican Conference.

To that end, we urge you to avoid bringing any legislation to the House Floor that could expose or highlight major schisms within the conference. Legislation such as the Internet sales tax or the FARRM Act which contains nearly $800 billion in food stamp spending, would give the press a reason to shift their attention away from the failures of the Obama administration to write another “circular firing squad” article.

Make no mistake, principled conservatives will still oppose bad policy if it comes to the floor.  Rather than scheduling such legislation for consideration, we urge you to keep the attention focused squarely on the Obama administration. As the public’s trust in their government continues to erode, it is incumbent upon those of us who support a smaller, less intrusive government to lead.

Sincerely,

Michael A. Needham
Chief Executive Officer
Heritage Action for America

(Daily Kos bold)

http://thegrio.com/...

And, there-in lies the real focus of your GOP, Heritage and other conservative political entities.  Obstruct, Obstruct, Obstruct!

We realize the vast majority of America's conservatives literally "hate" the president.  You would think, however, most of the majority would possess enough personal pride and decency to express contempt for the actions of Darrell Issa and the letter Jim DeMint's Heritage Foundation. 

Oregon Company Breaks The Mold On Harmful Landfills, Waste and The Environment

Enjoy while the caffeine kicks-in!!!!

"The World As 100 People,"  to go along with your Sumatra,  Kopi Luwak Indonesian, Kenya AA, Tanzanian, French Roast, Kona Coast, 'Black Ivory' [Thai Elephant Dong],  Jamaica Blue Mountain, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Costa Rican, Espresso,  Moyobama Peruvian Organic, Indonesian Blend, Coffee Latte, Kauai Blend (often bitter), Colombian Red Lips, or your Folgers 100% Colombian.

Coffees of the World

"The World As 100 People,"  to go along with your Sumatra,  Kopi Luwak Indonesian, Kenya AA, Tanzanian, French Roast, Kona Coast, 'Black Ivory' [Thai Elephant Dong],  Jamaica Blue Mountain, Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Costa Rican, Espresso,  Moyobama Peruvian Organic, Indonesian Blend, Coffee Latte, Kauai Blend (often bitter), Colombian Red Lips, or your Folgers 100% Colombian.

http://www.whatsmycarbonfootprint.com/event.htm

The graphic above represents a problem. If  35% of human household waste is organic and resources special disposal is a problem. If we add organic waste from food service companies we compound the problem.

The information below represents part of an article from Cleanair.org. The article is about waste and recycling. We have extracted information about waste and landfills.  

As depicted in the graphic above, humans create huge amounts of waste (refuse, garbage, and all that needs disposal).   The following information is dated by about three years but the data is still relevant as we know the problem has  not improved in fact, we can expect it has grown worse. 

Waste and Recycling Facts Waste The average American office worker uses about 500 disposable cups every year.[1] Every year, Americans throw away enough paper and plastic cups, forks, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times.1 Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, Westchester NY, Berkeley, and Malibu California have all banned Styrofoam foodware. Laguna Beach and Santa Monica have banned all polystyrene (#6) foodware.[2] During 2009’s International Coastal Cleanup, the Ocean Conservancy found that plastic bags were the second-most common kind of waste found, at 1 out of ten items picked up and tallied.[3] Over 7 billion pounds of PVC are thrown away in the U.S. each year. Only 18 million pounds of that, about one quarter of 1 percent, is recycled.3 Chlorine production for PVC uses almost as much energy as the annual output of eight medium-sized nuclear power plants each year.[4] After Ireland created a 15-cent charge per plastic bag in 2002, bag consumption dropped by 90 percent. In 2008, the average person in Ireland used 27 plastic bags, while the average person in Britain used 220. The program has raised millions of euros in revenue.[5] The state of California spends about 25 million dollars sending plastic bags to landfill each year, and another 8.5 million dollars to remove littered bags from streets.[6] Every year, Americans use approximately 1 billion shopping bags, creating 300,000 tons of landfill waste.6 Plastic bags do not biodegrade. Light breaks them down into smaller and smaller particles that contaminate the soil and water and are expensive and difficult to remove.6 Less than 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled each year. Recycling one ton of plastic bags costs $4,000. The recycled product can be sold for $32.6 When the small particles from photodegraded plastic bags get into the water, they are ingested by filter feeding marine animals. Biotoxins like PCBs that are in the particles are then passed up the food chain, including up to humans.[7] The City of San Francisco determined that it costs 17 cents for them to handle each discarded bag. 7 In 2003, 290 million tires were discarded. 130 million of these tires were burned as fuel.[8] In 2004, the Rubber Manufacturers Association estimated that 275 million tires were in stockpiles. Tires in stockpiles can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and a habitat for rodents. Because they retain heat, these piles easily ignite, creating toxin-emitting, hard-to-extinguish fires that can burn for months.8 The oil from just one oil change is enough to contaminate one million gallons of fresh water. Americans who change their own oil throw away 120 million gallons of reusable oil every year.[9] More than 2 billion books, 350 million magazines, and 24 billion newspapers are published each year. [10] The average American uses about the equivalent of one 100-foot-tall Douglas fir tree in paper and wood products each year.10 The average office worker in the US uses 10,000 sheets of copy paper each year. That’s four million tons of copy paper used annually. Office workers in the US generate approximately two pounds of paper and paperboard products every day. 10 Airports and airlines recycle less than 20 percent of the 425,000 tons of passenger-related waste they produce each year.[11] The estimated 2.6 billion holiday cards sold each year in the U.S. could fill a football field 10 stories high.[12] Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s, an extra million tons of waste is generated each week.12 38,000 miles of ribbon are thrown away each year, enough to tie a bow around the Earth.12 In 2008, Paper and paperboard made up 31% of municipal waste. Plastics were 12%.[13] In 2008, only 23.1% of glass disposed of was recycled, and only 7.1% of plastics and 21.1% of aluminum.13 About 31% of MSW generated in the US in 2008 was containers and packaging, or 76,760 thousand tons. Only 43.7% of that was recycled.13 In 2008, the average amount of waste generated by each person in America per day was 4.5 pounds. 1.1 pounds of that was recycled, and .4 pounds, including yard waste, was sent to composting. In total, 24.3% of waste was recycled, 8.9% was composted, and 66.8% was sent to a landfill or incinerated. 13 The average American employee consumes 2.5 cans of soda each day at work.[14] The beverage industry used 46 percent less packaging in 2006 than in 1990, even with a 24 percent increase in beverage sales in that time.[15] Landfill Although the EPA reports that approximately 33% of municipal waste is recycled, municipal waste makes up only a small portion of all waste generated. These waste statistics also leave out waste that is burned or landfilled in unpermitted landfills and incinerators, like burn barrels.[16] The barriers of all landfills will eventually break down and leak leachate into ground and surface water. Plastics are not inert, and many landfill liners and plastic pipes allow chemicals and gases to pass through while still intact.16 In 2008, a survey of landfills found that 82 percent of surveyed landfill cells had leaks, while 41 percent had a leak larger than 1 square foot.16 Newer, lined landfills leak in narrow plumes, making leaks only detectable if they reach landfill monitoring wells. Both old and new landfills are usually located near large bodies of water, making detection of leaks and their cleanup difficult.16 Incinerators are a major source of 210 different dioxin compounds, plus mercury, cadmium, nitrous oxide, hydrogen chloride, sulfuric acid, fluorides, and particulate matter small enough to lodge permanently in the lungs. 17 In 2007, the EPA acknowledged that despite recent tightening of emission standards for waste incineration power plants, the waste-to-energy process still “create significant emissions, including trace amounts of hazardous air pollutants.”[17] Only 30% of people in the Southern region of the United States had curbside recycling collection in 2008. Eighty-four percent of people in the Northeast had curbside recycling. The South also has the most landfill facilities – 726, in contrast with 134 in the northeast.13 Alaska has 300 landfill facilities, while the entire northeastern region of the United States only has 134.13 In 1960, each person in the US only generated 2.68 pounds of waste. In 1970, the figure was 3.25. However, Americans’ recycling has improved since 2000, when the average American generated 4.65 lbs of waste per day, and only 29% was recycled. Also, in 1980, 89% of Americans’ waste went to a landfill, while only 54% met that fate in 2008.[18] While landfill gas is a good fuel, most landfills are not efficiently collecting it. The EPA estimates 75% gas collection efficiency, but some landfills are as low as 9 percent. The 2006 IPCC report used an estimated recovery efficiency of just 20 percent. Even Waste Management, the largest waste company in the United States, has admitted that it is impossible for them to reliably measure methane emissions at their landfills or develop a general model for estimating them.[19] Waste incinerators create more CO2 emissions than coal, oil, or natural gas-fueled power plants.17

In addition to the data in the table,  I want to point out a few terms. Terms that we as lay people should have proper knowledge: odor,  leachates (solution or product obtained by leaching , waste incinerators, public general health.

Illinois Early landfills (click for larger view)

Illinois EPA employee
measuring
 depth of leachate pit.

 

40' x 500' wall of
exposed trash

leachate seep

Erosion gully with visible
leachate

Pig seen drinking creek
water contaminated
with leachate

The poor pig in the last image could very well end-up on your breakfast or dinner table. Better yet, it could end-up on the plate of your child in the school lunchroom. The sad animal knows no better; it is satisfying a life sustaining need. The people who own and manage landfills,  know better.

Now a real life drama in a state the borders Illinois: Missouri.

Missouri Attorney General's Office Looks Into Bridgeton Landfill Lawsuit 

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources asks the attorney general's office to check into the controversial landfill. 

The director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources has asked the state's attorney general’s office to look into legal action against Republic Services, which owns the landfill. This could mean another lawsuit against the owners of the Bridgeton Landfill could soon be in the works, according to a report by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.  

Excerpt

The Bridgeton Landfill has been a point of controversy and concern as a strong odor has been emitting from the site. In addition, an underground fire has been discovered at the site, and it sits opposite of the West Lake Landfill, which has radioactive contaminants at its site.

The odor of the Bridgeton, Missouri landfill is "not dangerous."  OK, I suppose the area residents feel a lot better if they trust the environmental specialist. Now, for another and possibly bigger danger. I read above there is an underground fire in the landfill and the landfill is next to a Cold War nuclear waste facility.  WOW!  I can only think of five words. Fire, bio-degradable and self fueling waste, and nuclear waste.

We use examples from Illinois and Missouri to illustrate the need to move waste management to higher levels of technology based ingenuity. each state has such landfills and , of course, the landfills near major metro areas have great potential for organic oozing of leachates and other unpleasing side effects. 

   

Yale Scientific Dot Org. published a piece this past April, that is worthy of additional reading. Arlington , Oregon has the distinction of one of the nation's largest landfills: the 700-acre Columbia Ridge Landfill. 

"Each week, 35,000 tons of mostly household trash arrives here from Seattle, Portland, and other communities."

Yale Scientific reports that landfill management is using a plasma purification process to turn much of the waste into gas. 

 Developed in part by Jeff Surma and S4 Energy Solutions, the plant converts municipal household garbage into syngas, a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Unlike conventional waste processing methods such as incineration, the process does not produce harmful byproducts like dioxins; instead, the syngas produced can be used as fuel or sold to industry, a groundbreaking recycling feat that has brought plasma gasification increased attention nationwide. 

Here is a step-by-step overview of the process:

From the Wired article (http://www.wired.com/magazine/2012/01/ff_trashblaster/all/) 

1. Gasification: The waste is shredded and travels to the top of a large tank, mixing with steam and oxygen and falling into a 1,500 degree Fahrenheit furnace. This gasification transforms a majority of the waste into a mixture of gases that heads to the syngas chamber. 

2. Plasma Blasting: The undestroyed material enters another specially insulated cauldron where two electrodes create an electric arc (akin to a bolt of lightning) that produces a stream of plasma, breaking down the gases into their constituent atomic components and producing more syngas. 

3. Hazardous Material Collection: A joule-heated melter sits at the bottom of the second cauldron and traps any hazardous material left over from the plasma-blasting in a slurry with molten glass. 

4. Recycling: The slurry is drawn out of the system and becomes inert. In this state, the molten glass can be converted into low-value materials like road aggregate. Any metals are also captured here and later recycled into steel and other products. 

5. Fuel Capture: The syngas captured consists mostly of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. After purification, it can either produce electricity or be sold and converted to fuels.

Read more 

The deployment of technological to alleviate problems with human generate household waste and commercial waste is the domain of waste management professionals who care about the environmental and are not in the business to grab profits and simply bulldoze over a landfill 'cap'.

The company that is using the Plasma Purification process should be commended and should serve as a model for other landfills (and its owner).  Actually, image a world free of overwhelming national debt and critical deficits, where our federal government could help subsidize development of other conversion processes.

Now,  that would be comparable to a federal government unencumbered by debt which could also help fund a rapid transit continental rail system. 

Alas, the lingering horror of being Reaganized, Bush'd and a partner in a economy battling Obama.