(US GOVERNMENT) Agency of the US Department of the Interior. The name has since been changed to "Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement" (BOEMRE). The laws related to minerals management in the United States are possibly the most poorly thought-out in the developed world, and were largely designed as a strategy to launder money through crooked politicians. The MMS was created manage the oceanic coastal shelf (OCS) resources, and naturally it became one of the most notorious dens of corruption seen in the entire world.
The MMS is set up so that the temptation to be sleazy is almost impossible to resist; indeed, taking bribes is practically standard operating procedure in this agency. That's because the MMS was responsible for enforcing environmental and safety regulations on things like offshore drilling platforms, and yet made its income from revenues from the lessors it was regulating.
MMS officials would actually let oil company staff fill out inspection checklists in pencil, so that MMS inspectors would then fill them out as the operators wanted.
The MMS is set up so that the temptation to be sleazy is almost impossible to resist; indeed, taking bribes is practically standard operating procedure in this agency. That's because the MMS was responsible for enforcing environmental and safety regulations on things like offshore drilling platforms, and yet made its income from revenues from the lessors it was regulating.
MMS officials would actually let oil company staff fill out inspection checklists in pencil, so that MMS inspectors would then fill them out as the operators wanted.
Given Minerals Management Service pencil whipping in the Gulf prospects*, it was a miracle that Transocean was ever cited for safety violations at all.
MMS is famous for parties in which executives of oil companies went drabbing with federal managers.
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*Here, a prospect is an area where oil prospecting occurs
MMS is famous for parties in which executives of oil companies went drabbing with federal managers.
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*Here, a prospect is an area where oil prospecting occurs
by Primus Intra Pares July 24, 2010
(US GOVERNMENT) a person who may be deported for any reason. Removable aliens include
*people who entered the USA unlawfully, such as crossing the border without documents;
*people who entered the USA lawfully but overstayed their visas, or else did something that violated the terms of their visa (usually, working for a living);
*people who are lawful resident immigrants, but who committed a felony (US law classifies many petty crimes as a felony, including giving incorrect information on a federal job application);
*people who are lawful residents and who have scrupulously obeyed other US laws, but who have suffered the misfortune of contracting a dangerous illness (including while in the USA);
*people who are lawful refugees and legally entitled to sanctuary, but whose presence under US protection is diplomatically embarrassing.
The term "removable alien" seems to have been coined in a 2005 addendum to the federal code (Title 8, CFR 241.14), which is where this information comes from.
*people who entered the USA unlawfully, such as crossing the border without documents;
*people who entered the USA lawfully but overstayed their visas, or else did something that violated the terms of their visa (usually, working for a living);
*people who are lawful resident immigrants, but who committed a felony (US law classifies many petty crimes as a felony, including giving incorrect information on a federal job application);
*people who are lawful residents and who have scrupulously obeyed other US laws, but who have suffered the misfortune of contracting a dangerous illness (including while in the USA);
*people who are lawful refugees and legally entitled to sanctuary, but whose presence under US protection is diplomatically embarrassing.
The term "removable alien" seems to have been coined in a 2005 addendum to the federal code (Title 8, CFR 241.14), which is where this information comes from.
The Service shall continue to detain a removable alien where the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General has certified in writing that:
(i) Without regard to the grounds upon which the alien has been found inadmissible or removable, the alien is a person described in section 212(a)(3)(C) or section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Act;
(ii) The alien's release is likely to have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States
(Title 8, CFR 241.14)
(i) Without regard to the grounds upon which the alien has been found inadmissible or removable, the alien is a person described in section 212(a)(3)(C) or section 237(a)(4)(C) of the Act;
(ii) The alien's release is likely to have serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States
(Title 8, CFR 241.14)
by Primus Intra Pares June 21, 2010
(US GOVERNMENT) Agency of the Department of Homeland Security tasked with the enforcement of US border protection and with the investigation of violations.
Created in 2003 from the former US Customs Service (Homeland Security Act); accounts for approximately one-fifth of the DHS's total budget. Budget is greater than the entire defense budget of Colombia, Taiwan, or Iran. It employs 52,000 people, including 17,000 border patrol agents, 1000 air and marine agents, and 22,000 port inspectors.
Created in 2003 from the former US Customs Service (Homeland Security Act); accounts for approximately one-fifth of the DHS's total budget. Budget is greater than the entire defense budget of Colombia, Taiwan, or Iran. It employs 52,000 people, including 17,000 border patrol agents, 1000 air and marine agents, and 22,000 port inspectors.
The Villarreal investigation is among scores of corruption cases in recent years...
...Department of Homeland Security officials have reconstituted an internal affairs unit at Customs and Border Protection, one of the largest federal law enforcement agencies, overseeing both border agents and customs officers.
When the Homeland Security Department was created in 2003, the internal affairs unit was dissolved and its functions spread among other agencies...
(NY Times, "Border Agents, Lured by the Other Side"--27 May 2008)
...Department of Homeland Security officials have reconstituted an internal affairs unit at Customs and Border Protection, one of the largest federal law enforcement agencies, overseeing both border agents and customs officers.
When the Homeland Security Department was created in 2003, the internal affairs unit was dissolved and its functions spread among other agencies...
(NY Times, "Border Agents, Lured by the Other Side"--27 May 2008)
by Primus Intra Pares June 19, 2010
Civil rights organization that collects information about hate groups. SPLC-affiliated lawyers also file lawsuits to enforce the constitutional rights of Americans who are denied them by the authorities.
As the name implies, beneficiaries of the SPLC include people who are poor, and require legal protection from either racist violence or abusive, indifferent agents of the state.
As the name implies, beneficiaries of the SPLC include people who are poor, and require legal protection from either racist violence or abusive, indifferent agents of the state.
Bernard Monroe Sr., an elderly black man, was shot to death on his front porch by a white police officer who had entered his house in Homer, La., without apparent justification or a warrant. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a wrongful death lawsuit that alleged two white officers created a volatile situation when they entered Monroe's property during a gathering of his family and friends on Feb. 20, 2009.
by Primus Intra Pares June 19, 2010
(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
(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
Civil rights organization that collects information about hate groups. SPLC-affiliated lawyers also file lawsuits to enforce the constitutional rights of Americans who are denied them by the authorities.
As the name implies, beneficiaries of the SPLC include people who are poor, and require legal protection from either racist violence or abusive, indifferent agents of the state.
As the name implies, beneficiaries of the SPLC include people who are poor, and require legal protection from either racist violence or abusive, indifferent agents of the state.
Bernard Monroe Sr., an elderly black man, was shot to death on his front porch by a white police officer who had entered his house in Homer, La., without apparent justification or a warrant. The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) filed a wrongful death lawsuit that alleged two white officers created a volatile situation when they entered Monroe's property during a gathering of his family and friends on Feb. 20, 2009.
by Primus Intra Pares June 19, 2010