BP say capturing more oil from blown is out well

Energy giant BP Plc said on Tuesday it had sharply increased the amount of oil it was capturing from its blown-out Gulf of Mexico well, but U.S. officials want to know exactly how much oil is still gushing out.The London-based company’s share price fell 6 percent in London trading after U.S. President Barack Obama said he wanted to know “whose ass to kick” over the massive spill.He told NBC News’ “Today” show that if BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward worked for him, he would have fired him by now over his response to the 50-day-old spill, the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

BP already faces a criminal investigation and lawsuits over the April 20 explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that killed 11 workers and triggered the massive spill. Some 120 miles of U.S. coastline have been soiled in the disaster that threatens the Gulf Coast’s lucrative fishing industry.

The company said on Tuesday it had collected 14,800 barrels of oil on Monday, 33 percent higher than the amount collected on Sunday and the highest capture rate since it installed a new system to contain the oil spill last week.The latest attempt involves a containment cap placed on top of the gushing pipe on the ocean floor. The total amount of oil collected over four days was about 42,500 barrels, BP said.

“We continue to optimize production and make sure we can take much oil out of that stream as we can,” said Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, the top U.S. official overseeing the cleanup effort, speaking at a briefing in Washington.Allen said on Monday neither BP nor the government knew just how much oil was gushing out of the well in the first place. “That’s the big unknown right now,” he told a White House briefing on Monday.

BP has given conservative estimates of the oil flow that have been ridiculed by scientists and U.S. lawmakers. Even the government’s much higher estimates of 12,000-19,000 barrels a day seemed on the low side after Allen said the company planned to double its collection of oil from the well to 20,000 bpd (840,000 gallons/3.18 million liters).BP and government officials have said a definitive solution will not come until August when a relief well is drilled.

OBAMA HITS BACK AT CRITICS

The spill has fouled wildlife refuges in Louisiana and barrier islands in Mississippi and Alabama and also sent tar balls ashore on northwest beaches of Florida, where the $60 billion-a-year tourism industry accounts for nearly 1 million jobs.One-third of the Gulf’s federal waters, or 78,000 square miles (200,000 square km), remains closed to fishing, and the toll of dead and injured birds and marine animals is climbing.U.S. weather forecasters gave their first confirmation that some of the oil leaking from BP’s well has lingered beneath the surface rather than rising to the surface. Undersea oil depletes the water’s oxygen content and threatens marine life like mussels, clams, crabs, eels, jellyfish and shrimp.

Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said at the Washington briefing: “NOAA is confirming the presence of very low concentrations of subsurface oil.”Obama, who faces growing criticism that he has appeared detached from the economic and ecological catastrophe hitting four U.S. Gulf states, sharpened his criticism of BP in the NBC interview and hit back at his critics.”I was down there a month ago, before most of these talking heads were even paying attention to the Gulf,” he said.

“And I don’t sit around just talking to experts because this is a college seminar; we talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers, so I know whose ass to kick,” he added.Fadel Gheit, an analyst at Oppenheimer and Co, said it was “not a coincidence” that BP’s shares were down after Obama’s “kick ass” comment.

The European oils sector was down overall, however, on the back of lower oil prices due to economic worries. BP shares were trading down about 5 percent, against a drop of 2.13 percent in the STOXX Europe 600 Oil and Gas index at 1600 GMT.In New York, the company’s American depositary shares were down nearly 5 percent. BP shares have lost about a third of their value since the crisis erupted.

Away from the action in the Gulf, the political heat remained intense in Washington with yet another congressional hearing to bring BP and its peers under renewed scrutiny.The Senate Judiciary Committee was holding a hearing titled: “The Risky Business of Big Oil: Have Recent Court Decisions and Liability Caps Encouraged Irresponsible Corporate Behavior?”Democrats in Congress have been looking at lifting such caps.

The Senate hearing follows one in Chalmette, Louisiana, where two women who lost their husbands in the explosion that unleashed the crisis urged members of Congress to hold BP accountable.”I am asking you to please consider harsh punishments on companies who choose to ignore safety standards before other families are destroyed,” said Courtney Kemp, whose husband, Wyatt, was killed in the explosion.(Reuters)

illegal immigrant college student hopes case helps reform

ATLANTA When Jessica Colotl, an illegal immigrant college student, got arrested for a minor traffic violation at her suburban Atlanta campus, she became an accidental poster child for immigration reform.On Friday, after getting arrested and released from detention for the second time in just over a month, she told reporters at a news conference she hopes her ordeal can help persuade leaders to work for an overhaul of the country’s immigration laws.

“I just hope for the best and I hope that something positive comes out of this because we really need a reform to fix this messed up system,” the 21-year-old told reporters inside a shopping center that caters to metro Atlanta’s growing community of Hispanic immigrants. Colotl, who came close to deportation after the traffic arrest, looked overwhelmed by the crush of reporters shouting questions at her.Colotl is among hundreds of thousands of young people who have been brought into the U.S. illegally by their parents. She was 11 when her parents crossed the border with her from Mexico. Eventually, she graduated from high school in Georgia and entered Kennesaw State University in the fall of 2006. A sorority member who dreams of becoming lawyer, she was set to graduate with a degree in political science this fall.

Her first arrest came on March 30, the day after getting pulled over by university police for a minor traffic violation. She was charged with driving without a license and impeding the flow of traffic.Then, the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office turned her over to officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, who sent her to a detention center in Alabama. After lobbying by Kennesaw State officials and her sorority sisters, ICE released Colotl last week. Federal officials deferred action on her case for a year, allowing her to complete her classes.

But Cobb County Sheriff Neil Warren obtained a new warrant for her arrest on Wednesday, saying she lied about her address when she was booked into jail following her initial arrest. Making a false statement to law enforcement is a felony under Georgia law.Colotl turned herself in Friday morning and was released on $2,500 bond, according to sheriff’s office records.

Her criminal defense lawyer, Chris Taylor, said Friday that his client’s case is a perfect example of why U.S. immigration law needs reform.”Jessica may not have the documents that show that she’s an American citizen, but she’s an American,” Taylor said. “She’s an American in her heart because she believes in the values of this country.”U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which granted the deferral on her case last week, decided not to detain her again following Friday’s arrest, the agency said in a statement.

Taylor said he believes there is no merit to the sheriff’s charge that Colotl gave an incorrect address. The address she gave is a former address and her auto insurance and car registration still list it, he said. She also gave her current address to immigration officials and the sheriff’s office had access to that information, he said.Warren did not return calls Friday seeking comment and a spokeswoman for his office referred questions to a statement released Thursday. In it, the sheriff said Colotl knew she was in the country illegally and “further complicated her situation with her blatant disregard for Georgia Law by giving false information.”

The deferred action on Colotl’s case does not imply legal status but does authorize her to seek a work permit, ICE said.Colotl’s immigration lawyer, Charles Kuck, said he intends to seek an extension of that deferred status.

If Colotl is convicted on the felony charge of making a false statement, it will be virtually impossible to get a judge to agree to extend the deferral, Kuck said. But he said he is almost positive that the district attorney will dismiss those charges.Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head did not immediately return a call Friday seeking comment.Colotl is evaluating whether to return to Kennesaw State, but said she is certain she will graduate from college.

“I really believe that something positive should come out of this, probably an immigration reform or at least the DREAM Act,” she said.The DREAM Act, or Development Relief and Education for Alien Minors, would apply to illegal immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before the age of 16, have a high school diploma and have shown high moral character, among other requirements. The bill has been introduced many times in Congress but has yet to make it through.

It’s unclear how many people would qualify under the most recent version of the act, which could be folded into a larger immigration reform bill or pushed on its own.Both Taylor and Kuck are representing Colotl without charge.

Colotl and her lawyers were flanked by about a dozen representatives from civil liberties and immigrant rights groups at Friday’s news conference. They called for ICE to revoke the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office’s participation in a program known as 287(g), which allows local law enforcement agents to help enforce federal immigration laws.

“We are calling for an immediate termination of the 287(g) agreement in Cobb County,” said Azadeh Shahshahani of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia, adding that her office has contacted the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, and the U.S. Department of Justice, asking them to look into Cobb County’s use of the program.DHS spokesman Matt Chandler declined to comment and U.S. DOJ did not immediately return a call seeking comment late Friday. (AP)

Chronology of Gulf of Mexico oil spill

A drilling rig explosion on April 20 left 11 workers missing and presumed dead, and the rig’s subsequent collapse unleashed a major oil spill that threatens the ecosystems and economy of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.Also threatened is the heart of U.S. energy production, as a giant, unprecedented underwater leak spreads oil across the northern Gulf of Mexico, threatening areas from Florida to points west of the of the Mississippi River.

President Barack Obama’s plans to widen offshore drilling have been suspended, and energy giant BP Plc (BP.N) (BP.L) faces another blow to its reputation and a multibillion-dollar bill for cleaning up the mess and paying damages.

Below is a chronology of the spill and its impact:

* April 20, 2010 – Explosion and fire on Transocean Ltd’s (RIG.N) (RIGN.S) drilling rig Deepwater Horizon licensed to BP; 11 workers missing, 17 injured. The rig was drilling in BP’s Macondo project 42 miles (68 km) southeast of Venice, Louisiana, beneath about 5,000 feet (1,525 metres) of water and 13,000 feet (4 km) under the seabed. A blowout preventer, intended to prevent release of crude oil, failed to activate.

* April 22 – The Deepwater Horizon rig, valued at more than $560 million, sinks and a five-mile long oil slick is seen.

* April 23 – The U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for missing workers.

* April 25 – The Coast Guard says remote underwater cameras detect the well is leaking 1,000 barrels of crude oil per day. The agency calls the leak a “very serious spill” that threatens ecosystems along the Gulf Coast. It approves a plan to have remote underwater vehicles activate a blowout preventer and stop leak, but the effort fails.

* April 26 – BP’s shares fall 2 percent on fears the cost of cleanup and legal claims will deal the London-based energy giant a heavy financial blow.

* April 27 – U.S. departments of Interior and Homeland Security announce joint investigation. Coast Guard says leaking crude may be set ablaze to slow the spread of oil in the Gulf.

* April 28 – The Coast Guard says the flow of oil is 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) (210,000 gallons/795,000 litres) — five times greater than first estimated. A controlled burn is held on the giant oil slick.

* April 29 – Obama pledges “every single available resource,” including the U.S. military, to contain the spill, which Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano says is of “national significance.” Obama also says BP is responsible for the cleanup. Louisiana declares state of emergency due to the threat to the state’s natural resources.

* April 30 – An Obama aide says no drilling will be allowed in new areas, as the president had recently proposed, until the cause of the Deepwater Horizon accident is known.

* BP Chairman Tony Hayward says the company takes full responsibility and will pay all legitimate claims and the cost of the cleanup. The Interior Department orders safety inspections of all 30 deepwater drilling rigs and 47 deepwater production platforms.

* May 1 – Coast Guard says leak will affect the Gulf shore.

* May 2 – Obama visits the Gulf Coast to see cleanup efforts first hand. U.S. officials close areas affected by the spill to fishing for an initial period of 10 days. BP starts to drill a relief well alongside the failed well, a process that could take two to three months to complete.

* May 5 – A barge begins towing a 98-ton containment chamber to the site of the leak. BP says one of the three leaks has been shut off by capping a valve, but that would not cut the amount of oil gushing out.

* May 6 – Oil washes ashore on the Chandeleur Islands off the Louisiana coast, uninhabited barrier islands that are part of the Breton National Wildlife Refuge and important nesting and breeding areas for many bird species.

* May 7 – BP engineers use undersea robots to move the containment chamber over the larger of the two remaining leaks on the seabed. A fishing ban for federal waters off the Gulf is modified, expanded and extended to May 17.

* May 8 – BP’s containment dome hits a snag when a buildup of crystallized gas forces engineers to postpone efforts to place the chamber over the oil leak and siphon oil to the surface. “Tar balls” suspected to come from the leak wash up along a half-mile stretch of Dauphin Island, Alabama.

* May 9 – BP says it might try to plug the undersea leak by pumping materials such as shredded up tires and golf balls into the well at high pressure, a method called a “junk shot.”

* May 10 – Forecasts suggest the oil spill could move significantly west of the Mississippi River delta as brisk onshore winds prevail. BP announces plans to place a small containment dome, known as a “top hat,” over the blown out well to funnel oil to the surface.

* May 11 – Executives with BP, Transocean and Halliburton appear at congressional hearings in Washington, where Senators criticize their safety records. The executives blame each other’s companies for the explosion. The oil slick washes ashore on a third land mass: Louisiana’s Port Eads area, on the southern edge of the Mississippi Delta.(Reuters)

Federal regulators have got to address the "casino environment" on Wall Street where computerized high-frequency trading can trigger market-shaking turmoil

WASHINGTON Federal regulators have got to address the “casino environment” on Wall Street where computerized high-frequency trading can trigger market-shaking turmoil, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Chris Dodd said Sunday.Dodd, D-Conn., pointed to the new phenomena of computers buying and selling stock in nanoseconds as a possible cause of last Thursday’s meltdown. The market fell nearly 1,000 points within minutes before rebounding.The top Republican on the committee, Sen. Richard Shelby of Alabama, joined Dodd on CBS’ “Face the Nation” to agree that something must be done about a situation in which technology has gotten ahead of the regulators. “You’ve got a high risk in the market place that something could go wrong and once it really goes wrong it could be catastrophic,” Shelby said.

Dodd said his committee will hold hearings on last Thursday’s events. But he said that for now the priority is for the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to come up quickly with answers for dealing with high-frequency trading marked by a lack of marketwide circuit breakers to prevent the market from spiraling out of control.

Dodd said he did not see a need for new legislation. The financial overhaul bill now being debated in the Senate does have early warning systems to detect problems such as having circuit breakers at only one exchange, he said.”You shouldn’t have a crisis like this happen before noticing that,” he said.

Dodd noted that the freefall on Wall Street occurred when there was good economic news: a sharp growth in jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector. “So you are getting sort of this casino environment that’s appearing in our markets,” he said. “It does not reflect what’s going on in the real economy.”

Shelby said he had no information on speculation that the meltdown may have been the result of a cyber attack. White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan said on “Fox News Sunday” that there was no evidence that a cyber attack was behind the market shake-up.(AP)

Hurricane Tornado Kill 10 People in Mississippi

MISSISSIPPI Hurricane Tornado ripped through four Southern states in the United States, Saturday resulted in broken cross in front of a church which has been flat to the ground, destroying homes, overturning cars and killing 10 people including three children.One of the worst affected areas is Yazoo City, where the Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour was raised. He called the disaster a “destruction” that occurs among the beautiful hills abruptly from the plains of the Mississippi Delta.

More than 15 other cities in Mississippi also suffered damage. Tornadoes also were reported in areas of Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama, and the bad weather continues to move towards the East.”The storm was very bad and cause of death,” said Barbour told CNN on Saturday (24 / 4) evening local time.

In the United States Civil War Begins

On April 12, 1861, the Civil War which broke out a sheet of dark history in the United States (U.S.). War that lasted four years was a site of a duel between Union forces (government) from the northern region with the Confederate troops from the South. The History Channel television station revealed that the Civil War began when Confederate forces launched an assault cannon fire into the fort through the Union troops at Fort Sumter, Charleston Bay, North Carolina. After a 34-hour firefight, the fort had been won of the Confederacy, but two days later, President Abraham Lincoln to announce the call to recruit 75,000 volunteers to help government forces to combat the rebellion of the southern region.

This war is motivated by a conflict between the government in the North region with the landowners in the South on the issue of slavery. At that time, Lincoln decided that it was time for the practice of slavery was abolished. The policy is opposed by the South.

South rulers and plans to secede from the U.S. government. In 1860, the majority of countries that still practice slavery openly would be separated from the U.S. if the Republican Party, known as anti-slavery party, win elections (elections). Lincoln, who brought the Republican party, ended up winning this election and to invite a strong reaction from the South. The state of South Carolina and then took the initiative passed legislation that states broke away from the U.S. government.

Within weeks, five countries in the region south to join the South Carolina – that is, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana. In February 1861, the representatives from the states that agreed to form the Confederate States America. The first president was chosen, which is Jefferson Davis. When Lincoln was inaugurated as president on March 4, 1861, a total of 7 states (including Texas) have declared themselves separate from the U.S.. Conflicts of two camps finally unbearable so that finally broke out firefight, which began with the Confederates attack Fort Sumter. The war ended in 1865 that killed at least 620,000 soldiers from both camps, but the number of civilian casualties from this war is incalculable, so is remembered as the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history.

airlines that leave passengers stranded on a tarmac in a delayed plane for three hours or more can face a hefty fine under new rules adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation

airlines that leave passengers stranded on a tarmac in a delayed plane for three hours or more can face a hefty fine under new rules adopted by the U.S. Department of Transportation.If carriers don’t let passengers out of the plane before the three-hour mark, the agency can fine them up to $27,500 per customer.

At least three domestic airlines have announced plans to avoid the penalties. But that won’t necessarily cut down on delays.US Airways and Continental Airlines have both unveiled procedures to return the plane to the gate if it can’t take off before the three-hour limit.American Airlines Chief Executive Gerard Arpey said his carrier the nation’s second-largest has modified a previous plan to unload passengers stranded four hours or longer.

US Airways, the sixth-largest domestic carrier, announced its plans in an employee newsletter last week.For example, if a US Airways flight is delayed 90 minutes, the crew offers drinks and snacks to avoid a fine that applies if fliers are delayed for two hours without food and water.

After 2 1/2 hours, the airline’s operations center makes a decision: Either return the plane to the gate or, if a takeoff is imminent, keep it in line on the tarmac.In 2009, US Airways alone had 193 flights that were delayed more than three hours. If each had an average of 200 passengers, under the new rules the fines could add up to more than $1 billion.It is unclear what happens to a flight after it returns to the gate, but American’s Arpey predicted bad news for passengers: “Most certainly, it will result in more cancellations.”

Costliest city is still New York

If you can afford to stay in New York, you can afford to stay anywhere.The 2010 rankings for the most expensive cities for business travelers put New York at the top again, with the average daily cost for food, hotel and a car rental totaling $622.The results came from the annual survey of hotel, restaurant and car rental costs by the Business Travel News, a publication for business travel managers, of 100 U.S. travel destinations. New York topped the list last year and in 2008 as well.

White Plains, N.Y., and Detroit inched up in the list, with hotel and car rental prices rising in both cities.Las Vegas, on the other hand, dropped on the list.Last year, Sin City ranked as the nation’s 30th most expensive city to visit. It fell to 45th this year, below such cities as Oakland, Cleveland and Pittsburgh.Honolulu ranked ninth in the 2009 survey but dropped to 20th this year, below Minneapolis, Austin and Detroit.

Most hospitality experts blame what they call the “AIG affect” for the drop in hotel and restaurant prices at cities with a reputation for luxury and frivolity.After the insurance giant American International Group Inc.took a federal bailout in 2008, it hosted a junket for senior executives at the St. Regis Monarch Beach resort and was then stung by public outrage. Since then, image-conscious executives have avoided holding corporate meetings in places known for fun and opulence.

“There is still a huge residual from the AIG affect,” said Carl Winston, the director of the hospitality and tourism management program at San Diego State University.Los Angeles dropped to 16th on the list this year from 13th in 2009, based on cheaper car rental rates.Prank tells guests to break windowYou are asleep in a hotel room, and a frantic caller warns you that the building is on fire, instructing you to pull the fire alarm and break the window.

The American Hotel & Lodging Assn. has issued a warning, telling hotel guests to think twice before following such instructions. Prank callers have been victimizing hotel guests in California, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida and Nebraska, the trade group warned.The group advises hotel guests who get such a call to phone the front desk to see if the emergency is legitimate.In Orlando, Fla., the victim of such a prank busted a hotel window with part of a toilet after his wife took the call. “When I broke the window, I got suspicious,” the hotel guest told the Orlando Sentinel. “It didn’t seem right, but she was panicking, so I continued.”

difficult situation for Democrats in Congress is worsening as the 2010

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

WASHINGTON An already difficult situation for Democrats in Congress is worsening as the 2010 political season opens.To minimize expected losses in next fall’s election, President Barack Obama’s party is testing a line of attack that resurrects George W. Bush as a boogeyman and castigates Republicans as cozy with Wall Street.Four House Democrats from swing districts have recently chosen not to seek re-election, bringing to 11 the number of retirements that could leave Democratic-held seats vulnerable to Republicans. More Democratic retirements are expected.

Over the holiday break, another Democrat, freshman Rep. Parker Griffith of Alabama, defected to the GOP. “I can no longer align myself with a party that continues to pursue legislation that is bad for our country, hurts our economy, and drives us further and further into debt,” said Griffith, who voted against Democrats’ three biggest initiatives in 2009: health care, financial regulation and reducing global warming.

In the Senate, at least four Democrats – including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and five-term Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd – are in serious trouble. The party could also lose its grip on seats Obama held in Illinois and Vice President Joe Biden long occupied in Delaware.

Going into 2010, Democrats held a 257-178 majority in the House and an effective 60-40 majority in the Senate, including two independents who align themselves with Democrats.But they face an incumbent-hostile electorate worried about a 10 percent unemployment rate, weary of wars and angry at politicians of all stripes. Many independents who backed Democrats in 2006 and 2008 have turned away. Republicans, meanwhile, are energized and united in opposing Obama’s policies.

The one thing that heartens Democrats is that voters also don’t think much of the GOP, which is bleeding backers, lacking a leader and facing a conservative revolt.House Democrats began an ad campaign in December assailing Republicans for opposing legislation restructuring federal financial rules and recalling the final days of the Bush presidency, when the economy tanked.

“Remember? We all know we should never let this happen again,” the ad says. It lays into Republicans for voting “to let Wall Street continue the same risky practices that crippled retirement accounts and left taxpayers on the hook for $700 billion.”Maryland Rep. Chris Van Hollen, who heads the House Democrats’ campaign arm, said his party wants to remind voters who was on their side at a difficult time. “The Republican Party in Washington today is no different than the Republican Party that ran the Congress before,” he said.

But that was three years ago. Democrats have been in control since, and Bush is long gone. This is Obama’s country now. Democrats tried to use Bush against Republican Chris Christie in the New Jersey governor’s race in November – and Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine still lost.A top Democratic priority is minimizing losses among nearly four dozen seats the party now holds in moderate-to-conservative districts that Republican John McCain won in the 2008 presidential race. The most vulnerable in that group include Democratic Reps. Mary Jo Kilroy in Ohio, Harry Teague in New Mexico, Frank Kratovil in Maryland, Tom Perriello in Virginia and Travis Childers in Mississippi.

Reps. Bart Gordon and John Tanner, both of Tennessee, were in that group until they chose to retire. So was Griffith, before he switched to the GOP. Retirement announcements from Reps. Dennis Moore of Kansas and Brian Baird of Washington put two more Democratic seats in swing-voting districts on the GOP’s target list.

Democrats insist that Gordon, Tanner, Moore and Baird are leaving for personal reasons and are not the first ripple in a wave of retirements akin to 1994 when 28 Democrats chose not to run, and Republicans won control in part by winning 22 of those seats.”Democrats are beginning to see the writing on the wall, and instead of choosing to fight in a difficult political environment, they are taking a pass and opting for retirement,” said Ken Spain, a spokesman for the House GOP’s campaign arm.

The GOP will be defending at least a dozen open seats because of retirements, with several lawmakers leaving the House to run for higher office.The situation for Democrats in the Senate is nearly as grim as it is for them in the House.Democrats crowed after six Senate Republicans – four from swing states Florida, Ohio, Missouri and New Hampshire and two from GOP-leaning Kansas and Kentucky – announced retirements.

Spirited GOP challenges are now expected in all six states, and Republicans say they are optimistic they can retain the seats. An emboldened GOP also is looking to put a pair of senior Senate Democrats out of office.Reid, who is seeking a fifth term, is faring poorly in surveys in a hypothetical matchup with Nevada GOP chairwoman Sue Lowden, one of several Republicans competing for a chance to challenge him.

Dodd, the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee chairman who has taken heat for a discounted VIP mortgage loan he got from a subprime lender, has been consistently behind potential GOP challenger Rob Simmons in Connecticut polls. Simmons, a former House member, has his own challenger in World Wrestling Entertainment co-founder Linda McMahon, who also is seeking the Republican nomination for Dodd’s seat.

Also vulnerable are Sen. Blanche Lincoln, a moderate Democrat in GOP-leaning Arkansas, and Sen. Michael Bennet in Colorado, who was appointed when Ken Salazar became Obama’s interior secretary.

Republicans have high hopes for picking up Senate seats in Illinois and Delaware that were held by the president and vice president, respectively. Neither of their appointed successors is seeking election to the seats.

Early polling shows GOP Rep. Mark Kirk leading among Republican candidates in Illinois. Veteran GOP Rep. Mike Castle, a former two-term governor, is running for the Senate in Delaware. Biden’s son, Democratic state Attorney General Beau Biden, is considering whether to challenge Castle. (AP)

The number of miners killed on the job in the United States fell for a second straight year to 34

mining machine breaks through a wall of coal

FRANKFORT, Ky. The number of miners killed on the job in the United States fell for a second straight year to 34, the fewest since officials began keeping records nearly a century ago.That was down from the previous low of 52 in 2008.U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration documents show 18 of the deaths occurred in coal mines, down from 29 in 2008; and 16 were in gold, copper and other types of mines, down from 22 in 2008. Most involved aboveground truck accidents on mine property, though some of the deaths resulted from rock falls and being struck by machinery.Obama administration mine safety czar Joe Main said the numbers are encouraging, but he won’t be satisfied until no miners are killed on the job.”I think that’s accomplishable, if you look at where we came from, and where we’ve come to,” Main said.The latest statistics are vastly improved, he said, from a century ago when hundreds, sometimes thousands of miners were killed each year.The deadliest year in recorded U.S. coal mining history was 1907, when 3,242 deaths were reported. That year, the nation’s most deadly mine explosion killed 358 people near Monongah, W.Va.Main credits the decrease in deaths over the past year to beefed-up enforcement and stricter regulations in the wake of a series of mining disasters over the past four years in Kentucky, Utah and West Virginia.

In 2006, 73 miners were killed, including 12 who died in a methane explosion at the Sago Mine in West Virginia and five who died in a similar explosion at the Darby Mine in Kentucky. In 2007, 67 miners died, including six who were killed in the collapse of the Crandall Canyon mine in Utah.Coal states reacted by revamping their mine safety laws, and Congress toughened federal rules that that brought a variety of advances. Among the improvements are caches of oxygen stashed in underground mines in case miners are trapped, refuge chambers to provide shelter in emergencies, and a communications system to allow underground miners to talk with colleagues on the surface.

Steve Earle, United Mine Workers of America international vice president for the Midwest, said while those were important improvements, getting inspectors into the field is the key.”I can say without reservation that the safest day coal miners have is when inspectors are in the mines,” he said. “The more we can put our inspectors in the mines, the safer those mines will become and the closer we will come to zero fatalities.”

Mine safety advocate Tony Oppegard, who has successfully lobbied to triple the number mine inspections conducted in Kentucky, said mining remains a dangerous occupation.”Everyone who’s involved in mine safety has to be extremely vigilant,” he said. “There’s very small margin for error in coal mining. The smallest mistake can cost a miner his life.”Kentucky led the nation in mining deaths last year with six in coal mines and one in a limestone quarry. That was followed by West Virginia and Alabama, each of which had three coal miners killed.

Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas each had two miners killed in coal, salt, alumina, zinc or sand and gravel operations. Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, Virginia and Puerto Rico had one miner killed in either clay, copper, gold, lime or sand and gravel operations.

“It’s never positive when you have numbers like that, but it could have been worse,” said David Moss, spokesman for the Kentucky Coal Association. “We’re always striving for that goal of zero. That’s what we work toward every single day.”Main credited cooperation between regulatory agencies, coal companies and miners with making mines safer, which led the decrease in workplace deaths.”It is historic,” he said. “And it does tell us we can achieve a point in time when we have no fatalities.”(AP)

Scanners force trade-off between privacy, security

the security gate at San Francisco International Airport in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO  As Ronak Ray hunted for his flight gate, he prepared for the prospect of a security guard peering through his clothes with a full body scanner. But Ray doesn’t mind: what he gives up in privacy he gets back in security.”I think it’s necessary,” said Ray, a 23-year-old graduate student who was at San Francisco International Airport to fly to India. “Our lives are far more important than how we’re being searched.”Despite controversy surrounding the scans, Ray’s position was typical of several travelers interviewed at various airports Wednesday by The Associated Press.Airports in five other U.S. cities are also using full body scanners at specific checkpoints instead of metal detectors. In addition, the scanners are used at 13 other airports for random checks and so-called secondary screenings of passengers who set off detectors.

But many more air travelers may have to get used to the idea soon. The Transportation Security Administration has ordered 150 more full body scanners to be installed in airports throughout the country in early 2010, agency spokeswoman Suzanne Trevino said.Dutch security officials have said they believe such scanners could have detected the explosive materials Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab of Nigeria is accused of trying to ignite aboard a Detroit-bound Northwest Airlines flight Christmas Day.Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has 15 full body scanners, but none were used to scan Abdulmutallab when he boarded. In Europe and the U.S., privacy concerns over the scanners’ ability to see through clothing have kept them from widespread use.

The technology was first used about two years ago to make it easier for airport security to do body searches without making physical contact with passengers.The idea of an electronic strip search did not bother Judy Yeager, 62, of Sarasota, Fla., as she prepared to depart Las Vegas. She stood in the full-body scanner Wednesday afternoon and held her arms up as a security official guided her through the gray closet-sized booth.”If it’s going to protect a whole airplane of people, who gives a flying you-know-what if they see my boob whatever,” Yeager said. “That’s the way I feel, honest to God.”George Hyde, of Birmingham, Ala., who was flying out of Salt Lake City with his wife, Patsy, on Wednesday after visiting their children and grandchildren in Park City, Utah.”I’d rather be safe than be embarrassed,” Hyde said. Neither he nor his wife had been through a body scanner before.”We’re very modest people but we’d be willing to go through that for security.”

Trevino said the TSA has worked with privacy advocates and the scanners’ manufacturers to develop software that blurs the faces and genital areas of passengers being scanned. In all cases, passengers are not required to be scanned by the machine but can opt for a full body pat-down instead.At Salt Lake City International Airport, fewer than 1 percent of passengers subjected to the scanner chose the pat-down since the machine was installed in March, said Dwane Baird, a TSA spokesman in Salt Lake City.On Tuesday, some 1,900 people went through the scanner and just three chose not to, he said.Critics of the scanners said the option to opt out was not enough.”The question is should they be used indiscriminately on little children and grandmothers,” said Republican U.S. Rep. Tom McClintock of California. McClintock co-sponsored a bill approved by the House 310-118 in June prohibiting the use of full body scanners for primary screenings. The bill is pending in the Senate.

He said the devices raised serious concerns regarding constitutional protections against unreasonable searches.”There’s no practical distinction between a full body scan and being pulled into a side room and being ordered to strip your clothing.”To further protect passenger privacy, security officers looking at the images are in a different part of the airport and are not allowed to take any recording devices into the room with them, Trevino said. The images captured by the scanners cannot be stored, transmitted or printed in any way.But the TSA still has some public relations work ahead of it, judging by the reactions of passengers in Albuquerque, N.M., who were worried about what would happen to their images once they were scanned.”Are they going to be recorded or do they just scan them and that’s the end of them? How are these TSA people going to be using them? That’s a real concern for me,” said Courtney Best-Trujillo of Santa Fe, N.M., who was flying to Los Angeles on Wednesday.

The six airports where full body scanners are being used for what TSA calls “primary screenings” are: Albuquerque, N.M.; Las Vegas, Nev.; Miami, Fla.; San Francisco; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Tulsa, Okla.The remainder of the machines are being used for secondary screenings in Atlanta, Ga.; Baltimore/Washington; Denver, Colo.; Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas; Indianapolis, Ind.; Jacksonville and Tampa, Fla.; Los Angeles; Phoenix, Ariz.; Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Ronald Reagan Washington National; and Detroit, Mich.

Though most passengers interviewed by The Associated Press felt security trumped other concerns, Bruna Martina, 48, a physician from the coast of Venezuela, said the scanners still made her feel uncomfortable.”I think there has to be another way to control people, or to scan them, but not like this,” she said as she headed back home after a vacation in Miami with her husband and two sons. She also does not think the scanners will thwart another attack.”They’ll find another way,” Martina said. “There is always somebody cleverer than the rest.”(Ap)