Good News About America

BP announced today that it has made the initial $3 billion deposit into the $20 billion recovery fund, nearly two months ahead of the September 30th due date. No final cost estimate has been offered, but the company’s expenses due to the spill have already exceeded six billion dollars.

BP drilling crews have also nearly finished a relief well that should allow them to permanently plug up the formerly leaking well; drilling temporarily stopped so engineers can check that it is still correctly aimed at the broken well. The well was previously sealed by pouring thousands of gallons of mud and cement through the containing cap that has been containing the oil since mid-July, but that is considered a temporary fix; the new well, which should intersect next weekend, will allow the leak to be permanently sealed.

I have a backlog of things I want to write about, but they’re all going to have to wait because of my personal good news: I’m getting married today!

Posting to resume after the honeymoon.

Well, good news fans, I have a small backlog of things to write about, so expect to see several articles coming up next week! I’ve decided to just post a couple times a week rather than every day, so I’d suggest subscribing to the RSS feed to be notified of new posts.

During the year-long debate over health care reform, one of the biggest problems was a lack of information; people were constantly attacking the bill over things that weren’t even in it, for allowing things it specifically prohibited, etc. While much of that was deliberate misinformation put out by Fox News and the republican party, there wasn’t really a good place to see all the relevant information collected in one spot, either.

This week, as required under HCR, the Department of Health and Human Services launched HealthCare.gov, with the purpose of helping people understand their options and rights under the new law. I clicked around the site a bit and found it informative and easy to use. Even the HTML code seems nice and clean, so I’m going to have to say “good job!” to whoever was responsible for building it.

Want to know how the law affects you this year? This site seems like a good place to start.

I’ll be fist in line to defend anybody’s right to free speech, regardless of whether or not I agree with it; indeed, I would argue that one of the things that makes this country great is its tolerance for unpopular speech. But I was very glad to hear that President Obama accepted General McChrystal’s resignation, because it’s important for the effectiveness of our military.

Our government is specifically set up so that the military is always subservient to civilian authorities; the president being commander in chief of the armed forces is one of the ways we avoid the possibility of a military coup. Military leaders SHOULD be encouraged to voice their disagreements concerning military policy IN PRIVATE, and if they feel they can’t in good conscience carry out their orders, then resigning is an honorable response. For an active duty officer to be attacking his commander-in-chief, though, is completely unacceptable, and to allow McChrystal to remain in his position after undermining the chain of command would pose an unacceptable risk to the country.

This isn’t the first time the general has undermined the president’s authority. It’s time for him to go.

I’ve been avoiding writing much on the oil spill lately; while there’s been news, it mostly boils down to “wait and see if the latest thing works”. So what’s been happening?

Long story short, BP is now collecting over 20,000 barrels of oil per day from the well, which is leaking at a rate of between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels per day. By late June or early July, another ship is expected to be hooked up to the well, giving BP the capacity to collect over 50,000 barrels per day. The first relief well is expected to be completed the second week of August; the relief wells will be used to pump cement into the leaking well, hopefully ending the leak.

BP is expected to try to raise $50 billion to cover the full costs of the oil spill: $10 billion from a bond sale, $20 billion from a loan, and $20 billion from asset sales over the next two years. The company has been moving quickly over fears that their ratings could be downgraded further, making it more expensive to borrow money; BP partner Anadarko Petroleum Corp has already had its long-term debt rating cut to junk status, and BP’s rating was downgraded on Thursday for the second time this month.

In Florida, Gov. Christ visited Osprey Biotechnics, which makes an oil-eating bacteria, and is expected to to mention the product to President Obama in their weekly conference call. Osprey calculates that a 55-gallon drum of their bacteria, called Munox, could treat 36.5 square miles of water in the Gulf. Munox, which was developed in 1985 and has been used to clean up contaminated soil and groundwater, leaves behind carbon dioxide and water. One concern is how the compound would affect sea life.

To sum it up: the oil is still leaking, but more of it is being captured, the percentage of oil being captured is expected to continue to increase, the well will hopefully be sealed in the next couple of months, and there is a possibility of being able to clean up a lot of the oil that’s already leaked. Here’s hoping it all works out..

You probably know about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which works to improve health and education around the globe, and how Warren Buffett has pledged the majority of his fortune to the foundation.

Now, Gates and Buffett are challenging other American billionaires to give at least half of their wealth to charity, either during their lifetimes or at the time of their death. They’re asking each individual or couple who makes the pledge to do so publicly, with a letter explaining their decision.

So far four wealthy couples have announced their pledges. More details are available at the Giving Pledge website; in particular, I recommend Warren Buffett’s letter.

The big news from today’s match will be how the last-second goal was disallowed, costing the US a win in the World Cup.

On the other hand, we started out  down two points, so it was a nice comeback, and we still have a shot at winning the tournament (or at least making it to the second round).

The simulated odds at fivethirtyeight.com, last updated just a few hours ago, currently have the US with a 59.1% chance of advancing to round two.

Over the last few weeks in the Washington DC area, 14 people got new kidneys in the largest donor swap so far.

In these swaps, one person has a willing donor but the blood types and compatibility factors don’t match, so they  coordinate with another pair in the same position; in this case you have a group of 14 patients who each got a kidney from whichever donor is the best match.

CBS News has the details.

Ever gone over your limit or missed a payment on your credit card? If so, you’re probably still paying for it; you likely got hit with a $39 fee and a higher interest rate…pretty expansive for miscalculating by a day or a dollar! This week, the Federal Research released new rules aimed at protecting credit card customers.  Under the new rules:

• The maximum penalty for a first offense is $25
• Fees cannot exceed the dollar amount associated with the violation – being late on a $20 payment, for example, cannot result in a fee over $20
• The same activity cannot trigger multiple fees
• Customers cannot be charged for not using their cards

Card issuers who have raised rates since January of last year, ahead of the new regulations that Congress passed going into effect, are also required to evaluate whether the reasons for the increase changed and reduce APRs if appropriate.

With millions of Americans attempting to pay down their credit cards but getting clobbered by fees and dirty tricks, it’s nice to see sensible regulations that protect the customer.

In 2006, Luke Robinson’s dog Malcolm died of bone cancer. In 2008, he sold his truck, leashed up his other two dogs, and started walking from Austin to Boston. His nonprofit, 2 Million Dogs, raises money towards comparative oncology research.

You can read Luke’s story here.