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British Petroleum announced this week that it had identified a drilling area capable of producing 1 billion barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. The discovery was made thanks to what the company referred to as “recent BP breakthrough in seismic imaging” used for oil exploration. And the announcement came only days after Bloomberg reported that the United States had become became a net exporter of oil for the first time in decades. In a news release, BP announced it expected to grow its gulf production to around 400,000 barrels of oil per day in the next decade. “BP’s...

I am a petroleum geologist/geophysicist with about 36 years of experience in oil & gas exploration mostly in the Gulf of Mexico. In light of Andy May’s recent post, Oil – Will we run out?, I thought I might post an essay on oil formation. Over the past six years, I have been fortunate to have the opportunity to write guest posts for Watts Up With That thanks to Anthony Watts. Many of my posts have been about issues related to oil production and each of these posts usually triggers comments from Abiogenic Oil advocates. So, this post’s main thrust...

Every bird alive today can trace its ancestry to creatures that lived about 95 million years ago on a chunk of land that split off from the supercontinent Gondwana, a new study suggests. The new family tree, compiled using information from fossils and from genetic analyses of modern birds, also reveals that this lineage underwent a major burst of evolution after an asteroid slammed into Earth about 66 million years ago and killed off the rest of their dinosaurian kin. "This is one of the most comprehensive studies that attempts to date when these evolutionary divergences happened," says Luis Chiappe,...

From the onset, it appears that they do. Obama and fellow Dems have little to nothing to run on. Bad economy, no jobs, and Obama did not keep his promises to the Democratic base about GITMO, the Patriot Act, wiretapping laws, a public option being a necessity within the health care reform bill (or else Obama would not sign it) and so on. Obama and fellow Dems did not make Card Check and amnesty for illegals (along with the rest of the aforementioned) their first priorties, even though Obama ran on these promises. And so they must get the base...

I normally don't like vanity post but last night I watch Joe Manchin acceptance speech. If anyone think that this guy really want to work on both sides of the aisle, they should know that his election to the Senate is just for two years to finish up Senator Byrd's turn. After that he will be able to compete for the full six years. In other words, I think that he is more likely to cross over with the Republicans to get things done. That started me to thinking, given the vast changes in the House, has anyone drawn up...

Republicans are now leading in 47 congressional districts held by Democrats. (This is up 8 just since last week.) There are another 5 seats held by retiring Democrats in significantly Republican-leaning districts which have not been polled. That's a total of 52 seats, almost equal to the number gained by Republicans in the 1994 election (54). There are another 20 where Republicans have pulled very close to Democrats, and the Democrats are polling well below 50%, normally a sign of grave danger this early in the election season. And of course, although the media tend to poll the races where...

A dozen House of Representatives Democrats opposed to abortion are willing to kill President Barack Obama's healthcare reform plan unless it satisfies their demand for language barring the procedure, Representative Bart Stupak said on Thursday. "Yes. We're prepared to take responsibility," Stupak said on ABC's "Good Morning America" when asked if he and his 11 Democratic allies were willing to accept the consequences for bringing down healthcare reform over abortion. "Let's face it. I want to see healthcare. But we're not going to bypass the principles of belief that we feel strongly about," he said. The Michigan Democrat held up...

Democracy: In a little-noted agency hearing, the CIA admitted that Venezuela's Hugo Chavez rigged his recall referendum in 2004. So why does he still merit global recognition as a democratically elected leader?Anyone who steals an election has no claim to democracy. But somehow there's an exception for Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who's still recognized as a "democratically elected" leader by the U.S. and others. It now comes to light that the CIA cybersecurity experts know he fixed his 2004 recall referendum. Two weeks ago, at a field hearing before the U.S. Election Assistance Commission in Orlando, Fla., CIA's Steve Stigall...

SURFSIDE - Democrat Joe Lieberman, campaigning among Jewish voters in South Florida for fellow senator John McCain, said today he won't be the Republican presidential candidate's running mate. "I had the opportunity to run in 2000," said Lieberman, a self-described "independent Democrat" from Connecticut. Lieberman, who was Al Gore's Democratic vice presidential running mate, said he's looking forward to staying a U.S. senator and working with McCain in the White House to build a coalition of Democrats, Republican and independents.

I just got an automated call from RINO ex-Governor Pete Wilson to tell Californians how tough John McCain would be ON OUR NATIONAL SOVEREIGNTY. Oops. CORRECTION. What he *actually* said was how tough John McCain would be on illegal alien issues.... And I hung up the phone in scoffing disbelief. WE THE PEOPLE have from now until November to find and boost another GOP candidate regardless of the outcome of this senselessly-FRENETIC primary. I'm not taking any candidate's polling spin as fait accompli until the fat thighed lady sings a concession speech. Slow and steady, no need for panic. HALP...

Wedge Issues Posted by: “Common Tator” in FreeRepublic.com April 16, 2002 The one thing that amazes me on this site is the belief by some that the conservative position is the majority position. Mostly people tend to believe it could be the majority position if the right candidate ran, or if it weren't for the media or RINOs or etc, etc. They really don't have a clue. Roughly 2/3 of the public has firm views. They have made up their minds and do not change them. This group is nearly equally split between the left and the right. There are...

Rep. Nancy Pelosi plans to sideline colleagues who are hawkish on national security in the Democratic leadership in the House. Democratic Party sources said as House Speaker, Ms. Pelosi plans to block moves that would place hawks into important chairmanships. The sources said a key casualty would be Rep. Jane Harman, a six-term member of Congress who has cooperated with Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee. "Nancy Pelosi wants total party discipline," a source in the Democratic Party leadership said. "If you played ball with the Republicans during this session, then you're not going to be given an important chair...

Source: Geological Society of America Date: October 24, 2006 Far More Than A Meteor Killed Dinos, Evidence Suggests There's growing evidence that the dinosaurs and most their contemporaries were not wiped out by the famed Chicxulub meteor impact, according to a paleontologist who says multiple meteor impacts, massive volcanism in India, and climate changes culminated in the end of the Cretaceous Period. Cottonmouth Creek waterfall over the event deposit with reworked Chicxulub impact spherules. The original Chicxulub ejecta layer was discovered in a yellow clay layer 45 cm below the base of the event deposit. The yellow clay represents a...

(CNSNews.com) -- A liberal advocacy group that consistently opposes both the conservative agenda and conservative Republicans may also target conservative Democrats in the upcoming election cycle. MoveOn.org, in an email message to supporters, said it is considering a plan to support "progressives" who challenge "right-wing Democrats" in primary races. "We think this makes sense, but it's a big decision so we wanted to check with you and other MoveOn members. What do you think?" The message allows readers to register their opinions by clicking on the appropriate link. MoveOn.org is telling supporters its top goal in 2006 is to break...

Should we challenge right-wing Democrats? Our top goal is ending right-wing Republican control of Congress but to make progress on core issues we think MoveOn should challenge right-wing Democrats in primary elections. What do you think? Give us feedback. Dear MoveOn member, This year our top goal is breaking the right-wing Republican stranglehold on Congress. That is our main focus every day. It is also part of our work together to hold Democrats to their Party's highest values on issues like foreign policy, economic prosperity and good government. That sometimes means grappling with specific right-wing Democrats who consistently side with...

REPUBLICAN MODERATES, only two dozen or so strong, believe they now hold a pivotal position in the House of Representatives and can influence legislation and internal Republican affairs as never before. Oddly enough, House Democrats have put them in this key position.With Democrats in lockstep opposition to all Republican proposals, the votes of moderates are now critical to the passage of any Republican-backed legislation. "This the moderates' moment," said Rep. Sherry Boehlert of New York. He said the "power" of moderates is still "emerging."Boehlert and Rep. Chris Shays of Connecticut, leaders of the moderate Mainstream Partnership, met with reporters Thursday...

Behold: We have entered the Age When Dinos and Rinos rule the Earth. See them battle each other for absolute dominion! While this might sound like a cool monster mash of the "Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla" variety, it's a good deal less exciting and more depressing, like a taste test between 2 percent milk and soy milk. What we are witnessing is the dawn of the Boring Phase of the Great Republican Realignment, and it promises to have liberals and conservatives alike going bonkers. I should back up. Dinos, of course, are "Democrats in name only." Rinos are their GOP counterparts....

Papers have been flapping with new headlines about the latest in a long line of alleged dinosaur ancestors of birds. This one is claimed to be a sensational dinosaur with feathers on its hind legs, thus four ‘wings’.1 This was named Microraptor gui—the name is derived from words meaning ‘little plunderer of Gu’ after the paleontologist Gu Zhiwei. Like so many of the alleged feathered dinosaurs, it comes from Liaoning province of northeastern China. It was about 3 feet (1 meter) long from its head to the tip of its long tail, but its body was only about the size...

Increasing numbers of Pennsylvanians who register to vote are identifying themselves as members of third parties, despite a closed primary system that permits only major party members to cast ballots in Pennsylvania's primary elections. Voters are asked to select a party affiliation when they register to vote. And an analysis of voter rolls in Westmoreland County shows that some people are choosing historic -- even eccentric -- political parties. Four county voters, for example, are registered as Whigs. The party last held serious sway in 1856, before it was absorbed into the newly organized Republican Party. "Obviously, the Whigs, it's...