(US GOVERNMENT) Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement; agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service (MMS). Some minor reorganization supposed to reduce incentives for corruption.
The original MMS was created in 1982 to manage offshore drilling and other forms of mineral exploitation of the ocean coastal shelf (OCS). It had every incentive to take the money of corporations and give them license to do what they wanted. In 2010, due to scandals from gross corruption and lax oversight, the White House reacted by...changing the agency's name.
The original MMS was created in 1982 to manage offshore drilling and other forms of mineral exploitation of the ocean coastal shelf (OCS). It had every incentive to take the money of corporations and give them license to do what they wanted. In 2010, due to scandals from gross corruption and lax oversight, the White House reacted by...changing the agency's name.
The BOEMRE had to change its name from the "Minerals Management Service" because its reputation was utterly ruined by constant corruption scandals.
by Primus Intra Pares July 25, 2010
Get the BOEMRE mug.(US GOVERNMENT) Department of Homeland Security; cabinet level position created by the Bush Administration in 2003. One of the most costly and poorly executed reorganizations in US history, it essentially blew hundreds of billions of dollars on unrelated and pointless government projects intended to reward members of congress who sided with the president.
The DHS budget's largest line items are:
*the Customs and Border Protection (CBP)-20%;
*the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-19%;
*the Coast Guard (USCG; formerly part of the Department of Transportation {DOT})-18%;
*the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)-12%;
*Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-10%;
*Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)-5%.
(Percentages are of the FY 2011 DHS Budget--$57 billion
The DHS budget's largest line items are:
*the Customs and Border Protection (CBP)-20%;
*the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)-19%;
*the Coast Guard (USCG; formerly part of the Department of Transportation {DOT})-18%;
*the Transportation Security Administration (TSA)-12%;
*Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)-10%;
*Citizenship and Immigration Services (CIS)-5%.
(Percentages are of the FY 2011 DHS Budget--$57 billion
The DHS was created to bring most federally-controlled law enforcement bodies into one single, union-free, whistle-blower-free, department. Riders to the Homeland Security Act cost taxpayers billions in useless programs.
by Primus Intra Pares June 21, 2010
Get the DHS mug.(US HISTORY) sector of the Gulf of Mexico seabed in which the Deepwwater Horizon was drilling. The name, assigned long before the platform was erected, is an example of dramatic irony. On 20 April 2010, the Deepwater Horizon blew out*, killing eleven crew members; over the next 12 weeks the wreckage spewed some 4 million bbls of crude oil into the ecologically sensitive region off the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi.
Properly known as the Macondo Prospect, or MC 252 (for "Mississippi Canyon"). Name comes from the fact that major rivers have large, deep underwater canyons on the ocean floor beyond their deltas. Macondo Prospect is formally owned by the Federal Bureau of Land Management (US BLM), and leased to British Petroleum by the {former} Minerals Management Service.
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* "blew out" = past tense of "blow out"; rupture of an oil well, particularly at the well head.
Properly known as the Macondo Prospect, or MC 252 (for "Mississippi Canyon"). Name comes from the fact that major rivers have large, deep underwater canyons on the ocean floor beyond their deltas. Macondo Prospect is formally owned by the Federal Bureau of Land Management (US BLM), and leased to British Petroleum by the {former} Minerals Management Service.
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* "blew out" = past tense of "blow out"; rupture of an oil well, particularly at the well head.
The name Macondo is the same name as the fictitious cursed town in the novel *One Hundred Years of Solitude* by Colombian ... writer Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Oil companies routinely assign code names to offshore prospects early in the exploration effort. This practice helps ensure secrecy during the confidential pre-sale phase, and later provides convenient names for casual reference
Wikipedia entry, "Macondo Prospect"
Wikipedia entry, "Macondo Prospect"
by Primus Intra Pares July 24, 2010
Get the Macondo mug.(U.S. GOVERNMENT) successor to the investigations and processing arm of the former Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) of the USA. In 2003, the INS was dissolved and its enforcement arm transferred to the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The INS had formerly been part of the Justice Department; the CIS is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The CIS is responsible for incarcerating hundreds of thousands of people each year, mostly for petty paperwork filing errors or traffic stops.
The CIS is responsible for incarcerating hundreds of thousands of people each year, mostly for petty paperwork filing errors or traffic stops.
She spent months struggling with the wretched, burned-out bureaucracy of the Citizenship and Immigration Services, wondering how anyone could enter the country legally without violating the laws of physics.
by Primus Intra Pares September 04, 2010
Get the Citizenship and Immigration Services mug.(MULTILATERAL GOVERNMENT) International court based in the Hague, the Netherlands; founded in 1889; oldest multilateral court. In some respects, a precursor to the International Court of Justice (also in the Hague--in the same building, the Peace Palace).
The PCA differs from the ICJ in that only national governments may be respondents in the ICJ (which operates like a civil court). The PCA settles disputes that may arise between a private party (such as RCA, in RCA vs. China-1935) and a national government, or between national governments. Parties submit to the PCA when the dispute is a nuisance to both, but relevant laws are uncertain.
The PCA differs from the ICJ in that only national governments may be respondents in the ICJ (which operates like a civil court). The PCA settles disputes that may arise between a private party (such as RCA, in RCA vs. China-1935) and a national government, or between national governments. Parties submit to the PCA when the dispute is a nuisance to both, but relevant laws are uncertain.
The Permanent Court of Arbitration has a three-part organizational structure consisting of an Administrative Council that oversees its policies and budgets, a panel of independent potential arbitrators known as the Members of the Court, and its Secretariat, known as the International Bureau, headed by the Secretary-General.
by Primus Intra Pares July 19, 2010
Get the Permanent Court of Arbitration mug.(1) Citizenship and Immigration Services; the successor to the investigations and processing arm of the former Immigration and Naturalization Services (INS) of the USA. In 2003, the INS was dissolved and its enforcement arm transferred to the new Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The INS had formerly been part of the Justice Department; the CIS is part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
(2) Center for Immigration Studies, a thinktank founded by John Tanton as a project of FAIR. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists the CIS as a racist nativist organization with extensive connections with other rightwing organizations.
(2) Center for Immigration Studies, a thinktank founded by John Tanton as a project of FAIR. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) lists the CIS as a racist nativist organization with extensive connections with other rightwing organizations.
(DEF1) She spent the better part of a week struggling through the CIS website, trying to imagine how anyone could get a work permit without violating the laws of physics.
(DEF2) Some at CIS have also written for a nativist hate site, VDARE.com, which is named after Virginia Dare, said to be the first English child born in the New World. They include CIS Fellow John Miano and board member Carol Iannone.
(Heidi Beirich, "CIS: The 'Independent' Think Tank," Feb 2009)
(DEF2) Some at CIS have also written for a nativist hate site, VDARE.com, which is named after Virginia Dare, said to be the first English child born in the New World. They include CIS Fellow John Miano and board member Carol Iannone.
(Heidi Beirich, "CIS: The 'Independent' Think Tank," Feb 2009)
by Primus Intra Pares June 17, 2010
Get the CIS mug.(MULTILATERAL GOVERNMENT) International court created in 2002 to try criminal cases (as opposed to civil cases) in international law. Criminal charges may include: genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Ultimately, the ICC is supposed to be able to try crimes against the peace (or aggression), something it presently cannot do.
The three basic categories of international crimes were defined in the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi officials. However, because the Nuremberg Tribunals only tried citizens of Axis nations for crimes against Allied or neutral states, their moral authority was greatly weakened.
The ICC complements the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which tries civil cases.
The three basic categories of international crimes were defined in the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi officials. However, because the Nuremberg Tribunals only tried citizens of Axis nations for crimes against Allied or neutral states, their moral authority was greatly weakened.
The ICC complements the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which tries civil cases.
Even before the International Criminal Court commenced operations in 2002, it was critically weakened by the vociferous opposition of China, the USA, Israel, Iraq (then under the rule of Saddam Hussein), and Libya. These countries went so far as to vote against the Treaty of Rome (1998). The US government subsequently signed the treaty (December 2000), but "unsigned" it in May 2002.
One other country to do this has been Sudan.
India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and China have never signed the treaty; Russia, Egypt, and Israel have signed it, but not ratified it.
One other country to do this has been Sudan.
India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and China have never signed the treaty; Russia, Egypt, and Israel have signed it, but not ratified it.
by Primus Intra Pares July 19, 2010
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