Koman Coulibaly- America's Favorite Referee- NOT!Most Americans had never heard of Mali until Koman Coulibaly disallowed a US goal in their World Cup match against Slovenia last week.  Koman Coulibaly gained fame (and quite possibly infamy) after the game- he refused to specify exactly how the US fouled or why exactly the goal was called back.

The call during the US-Slovenia match was not the only controversial call surrounding the World Cup and FIFA. According to Salon, Martin Hansson cried when he found out he missed the Thierry Henry hand ball that sent France to the World Cup over Ireland.


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Joe Barton isn't the only Republican who wants to fanny kiss BP. The core of the right-wing movement wants the government to go soft on BP. BP, whose negligence continues to cause great harm to the Gulf states fishing and tourist industries -- BP, whose executives have lied since day one about the extent and scope of the oil spill, and who chose profit over safety, and the protection of workers's lives --  BP -- The GOP wing-nuts want the Obama Administration to ease up on BP. 

Barton was following the talking points of the Republican Study Committee, (RSC), a group of right-wing members of the House,who released a statement last week calling the $20 billion BP escrow account a "Chicago-style political shakedown." When Barton made his infamous apology to BP, he was towing the right-wing line

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The British Queen should give British Petroleum's CEO, Mr. Tony Hayward at least a baronage. He acts the part of a high lord. The English Queen is up there in years and maybe, perhaps, awarding a title to Mr. Hayward may have slipped her mind. My mentioning of this obvious oversight by her Majesty of the United Kingdom is in no way meant to be a criticism of that high born lady. Who am I to criticize royalty? I am but an American peasant, from a country of over three hundred million peasants, none of whom have titles, and very few desires them. Britain, as we Americans are often reminded by the British press and the Anglo-American lobby, is our closest ally. And so, I have decided to assist our ally's queen, by referring to the BP CEO as Lord Hayward, the Baron Hayward of the Oil Slick. These posts are sent into the cybersphere and whether they reach English royal eyes -- well..

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The Associated Press reports, "Vast amounts of natural gas contained in crude escaping from the blown Gulf of Mexico oil well could pose a serious threat to marine life by creating 'dead zones' where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives."

I and about millions of other people are looking forward to the day when there is no more bad news coming from the Gulf of Mexico. A lot of us are sick and tired of hearing about British Petroleum. We don't want to see anymore pictures of dead and dying oil soaked wildlife, or listen to a fisherman tell his sad story about what has happened to fishing. We wish this story of the biggest oil spill and ecological disaster in recent US history would just go away.

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BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil leak is looming over everything that happens in the U.S. and international politics. People are angry, but can’t do anything tangible about it. Yes, you can donate money, or if you live along the shore you can become part of the cleanup effort, but the fact that the rest of us (unless you volunteer there) can’t do anything with our hands to help out is frustrating and makes us feel powerless. No matter how many blog entries I write about it, I can’t get BP to go back and do something about the safety standards, I can’t get the oil leak filled in with concrete, and I can’t bring back the dead animals or the destroyed wetlands. And while I have a strong urge to tell BP what’s what, no matter how much I do that, I can’t change the way things are at this very moment.

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Landon Donovan is also Curious About the FoulI’ve watching the World Cup from the United States and am realizing that my own ignorance of the game is no less than certain officials in the matches. As I watched the US take on Slovenia and make an AMAZING come-back from a two-zero lead in the second half of the game today, I realized how arbitrary many of the so-called official  calls are- there seems to be no standards for what exactly constitutes a foul as the players on the international stage take flop after flop and get calls for sometimes absolutely nothing.


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Democrat Representative Bart Stupak, a leader in the House Energy and Commerce Committee was not impressed with the rhetoric of BP CEO Tony Hayward during the CEO's testimony regarding the Gulf oil spill hearing.  Stupak characterized Hayward as "absurd and ridiculous," while being interviewed on CNN during "John King, USA."  He went on to say, "It was frustrating, not just to me but to the American people."  Hayward's testimony was hard to watch, that is for sure.  It seemed as though he was ill-prepared, didn't answer questions, and seemed to try with each sentence to limit his own fault.  Stupak, however, was really angered due to the fact that the committee had sent Hayward a letter outlining the questions that they wanted answers for, but it was all for not. 

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SvanbergOkay, BP has said okay to coughing up $20 billion for an escrow fund. But will put the money in over several years. The funds are supposed to pay compensation to people and businesses harmed by BP huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The details of the fund are yet to be worked out.

Okay, BP spokesman, its chairman, Svanberg, apologized. "We care about the small people. I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care, but that's not the case with BP. We care about the small people."

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Well, some U.S. lawmakers went ahead and said it. They accused BP of taking risky shortcuts on their well that, “increased the danger of a catastrophic well failure." On one hand I want to say, no kidding, like anyone had to actually come out and say that- it’s obvious that what is going on here is a systemic acceptance of not knowing the risks and just doing whatever had to be done to make sure the profits kept running in. But, on the other hand, I want to stand up and applaud some of our lawmakers for going out on a limb and accusing BP, publicly, of not only breaking the law but of making risky decisions that are now unmakeable and have damaged the U.S. shoreline and the Gulf of Mexico forever. They said:

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What is the latest with British Petroleum? The US Coast Guard has demanded, says the Associated Press, that BP step up its efforts to contain the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico by the end of the weekend, telling the British oil giant that its slow pace in stopping the spill is becoming increasingly alarming. Yeah.

The Brits this weekend, their Prime Minister, told our President to ease up. The President should have told that Brit to shut up. Well, the Brits are out allies, aren't they? So maybe the Pres should have told that Brit is a nice way to bug off. That's a nice British phrase, "to bug off, mates."

Oil is still fouling up our beaches, killing our wild life, posing a risk to the health of Americans, and to the economy. The Coast Guard is demanding? Asking? Pleading? Telling ? Suggesting? Begging with British Petroleum to please pick up the pace. Please, BP?

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