Primus Intra Pares's definitions
(CURRENT EVENTS) offshore oil drilling platform located off the coast of Louisiana and Mississippi. The platform was owned and operated by Transocean, LTD., under lease to British Petroleum (BP).
The well, which was in 1 mile of water, blew out (or ruptured) on 20 April 2010, and gushed millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. On 14 July, the main rupture appeared to have been capped. By then, probably 4 million barrels of crude had been released into a sensitive habitat, destroying the livelihood of tens of thousands of people.
According to some estimates, the Deepwater Horizon blowout was the worst peacetime oil well blowout in history.
The well, which was in 1 mile of water, blew out (or ruptured) on 20 April 2010, and gushed millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. On 14 July, the main rupture appeared to have been capped. By then, probably 4 million barrels of crude had been released into a sensitive habitat, destroying the livelihood of tens of thousands of people.
According to some estimates, the Deepwater Horizon blowout was the worst peacetime oil well blowout in history.
The Deepwater Horizon platform killed eleven crew members when it exploded. The operator and its lessor, BP, had been cited hundreds of times for major safety procedure violations.
by Primus Intra Pares July 15, 2010
Get the Deepwater Horizonmug. (US GOVERNMENT) Former agency of the US government responsible for the enforcement of immigration law, and the processing of visa/permit requests. After the attacks of 11 September 2001, Congress passed a bill creating the Department of Homeland Security (DHS); the INS was split up into its enforcement functions (which became part of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and its processing functions (Citizenship and Immigration Services, or CIS).
Prior to its dissolution in 2003, the INS was part of the Department of Justice. The CIS and ICE are both part of the DHS.
Prior to its dissolution in 2003, the INS was part of the Department of Justice. The CIS and ICE are both part of the DHS.
Because of its extraordinary power over the lives of millions of US nationals and residents, the Immigration and Naturalization Service gained lasting notoriety. Seven years after it was superseded by the CIS, most people associated visa regulations with the INS.
"Brother from Another Planet" was a brilliant parody of INS agent behavior.
"Brother from Another Planet" was a brilliant parody of INS agent behavior.
by Primus Intra Pares June 17, 2010
Get the Immigration and Naturalization Servicemug. (ECONOMICS) a shock to the industrial system caused by massive errors in investment decisions. In essence, financial crises are failures of the capital markets (stock exchanges, etc.) to do their job.
In the lead-up to a financial crisis, money entrusted to capital managers to invest is spent instead on bolstering the plutonomy. Then, when those same capital managers are overleveraged, it becomes obvious that the economy has been producing the wrong stuff; its corporations are therefore worth a lot less than everyone had supposed they were.
Then people sell their shares of stock, causing a liquidity crisis for many firms, which react by firing people and dumping anything of value at reduced prices.
This requires a lot of expensive genius to do well.
In the lead-up to a financial crisis, money entrusted to capital managers to invest is spent instead on bolstering the plutonomy. Then, when those same capital managers are overleveraged, it becomes obvious that the economy has been producing the wrong stuff; its corporations are therefore worth a lot less than everyone had supposed they were.
Then people sell their shares of stock, causing a liquidity crisis for many firms, which react by firing people and dumping anything of value at reduced prices.
This requires a lot of expensive genius to do well.
While there is little evidence so far that the 2008 financial crisis was engineered by any one perpetrator, the very same economic elites who caused it are now poised to benefit from it by imposing "disaster capitalism."
by Primus Intra Pares July 11, 2010
Get the financial crisismug. (ECONOMICS) Bank for central banks. It takes deposits from central banks and provides financial services, including underwriting bills of exchange. It is based in Basle, Switzerland and was founded in May 1930, for the purpose of facilitating reparations payments by Germany to the Allies.
The BIS also provides a forum for international coordination of monetary policy, conducts financial research, and acts as an agent or trustee for international financial settlements. About 140 central banks and international financial institutions have deposits with the BIS. As of June 2010, currency deposits totaled approximately $303 billion dollars, or about four percent of world foreign exchange reserves.
The BIS also provides a forum for international coordination of monetary policy, conducts financial research, and acts as an agent or trustee for international financial settlements. About 140 central banks and international financial institutions have deposits with the BIS. As of June 2010, currency deposits totaled approximately $303 billion dollars, or about four percent of world foreign exchange reserves.
The Bank for International Settlements (BIS) was created by the Dawes/Young Plan for coordinating the transfer of billions of Reichsmarks in reparations from Germany to the Allied powers after WW1. Almost at one, the BIS switched to managing international transactions of gold or hard currency. It also facilitated financial transactions between the Nazi regime and neutral countries during the War.
The BIS provides a very wide variety of specialized services, including underwriting and arbitration in fiduciary disputes.
The BIS provides a very wide variety of specialized services, including underwriting and arbitration in fiduciary disputes.
by Primus Intra Pares July 19, 2010
Get the Bank for International Settlementsmug. Tet Offensive
(VIETNAM HISTORY) Major effort by the National Liberation Front ("Viet Cong") and the PAVN to defeat the US-backed puppet regime in Saigon (the putative Republic of Vietnam"). The Tet Offensive began 31 January 1968 and was suppressed around 24 February.
In Saigon, NLF forces attacked the presidential palace, the airport, the ARVN headquarters, and US Embassy. The US and ARVN forces, who were caught off guard, quickly responded and within a week had recouped most of the lost territory. The NLF held out the longest in the pre-colonial capital of Hue, fighting back with great tenacity.
(VIETNAM HISTORY) Major effort by the National Liberation Front ("Viet Cong") and the PAVN to defeat the US-backed puppet regime in Saigon (the putative Republic of Vietnam"). The Tet Offensive began 31 January 1968 and was suppressed around 24 February.
In Saigon, NLF forces attacked the presidential palace, the airport, the ARVN headquarters, and US Embassy. The US and ARVN forces, who were caught off guard, quickly responded and within a week had recouped most of the lost territory. The NLF held out the longest in the pre-colonial capital of Hue, fighting back with great tenacity.
Prior to the Tet Offensive, the US military could claim it was well on its way to winning the war. Afterward, Gen. William Westmoreland admitted 200,000 more troops would be required to win the war, and US opposition to the war ballooned.
However, the NLF was nearly annihilated in the Offensive, with almost 60,000 killed.
However, the NLF was nearly annihilated in the Offensive, with almost 60,000 killed.
by Primus Intra Pares July 25, 2010
Get the Tet Offensivemug. (IRANIAN HISTORY) alternative spelling of Muhammad Mossadegh, democratically elected prime minister of Iran (1951-1953).
Because Iranian names are spelled with a modified version of the Arabic alphabet, there is some controversy over how to spell names like "Muhammad Mussadegh." Sometimes, for example, his name is spelled "Mohammed Mossadegh."
Muhammed Mussadegh struggled all his life to free Iran from colonial rule.
Muhammed Mussadegh struggled all his life to free Iran from colonial rule.
by Primus Intra Pares July 18, 2010
Get the Muhammad Mussadeghmug. 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
Get the SPLCmug.