Coast Guard visits mysterious 'Google barge'

Go to article to see video: 
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/30/coast-guard-visits-mysterious-google-barge/3318347/


Natalie DiBlasio hosts NewsBreak covering the 'Google Barge' mystery.

Agency mum on trip and San Francisco vessel's purpose, citing "commercial confidentiality."



(Photo: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)

Story Highlights
Google refused to acknowledge any connection to the barge and three others like it
But a Treasure Island worker offered the barest of details
One observer thinks it may have something to do with Google Glass

SAN FRANCISCO — The Coast Guard on Wednesday visited the mysterious "Google barge" floating in San Francisco Bay, but the agency would not reveal anything about the tech giant's hush-hush vessel.

Google has refused to acknowledge any connection to the barge and three others like it. But it is zealously guarding its privacy around the four-story stack of containers docked at a pier on Treasure Island and a companion in Portland, Maine.

At least one Coast Guard employee has been required to sign a non-disclosure agreement with the company regarding the San Francisco project, Petty Officer 2nd Class Barry Bena told Reuters. An inspector with an unidentified California agency said he, too, had to sign such a document.

Bena told USA TODAY on Wednesday that he was later instructed by superiors to say nothing.

"Commercial confidentiality prohibits me from talking about this," said Bena, a spokesman with the Alameda district office. He added that he is not authorized to sign non-disclosure agreements.

Before the cone of silence fell on the Coast Guard's public affairs office, still another spokesman confirmed to the Portland Press Herald that Google "is involved or associated with the barge but there is a non-disclosure agreement in effect."

All the Coast Guard would say about its visit is that it was not for a fire or medical emergency, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

STORY: The mystery of Google's floating barges

The steel-hull barge belongs to By and Large LLC, of Wilmington, Del. Built in 2011 by C&C Marine in Belle Chasse, La., it is almost 250 feet long and 16 feet deep — significantly longer and deeper than a standard freight barge.

Its purpose remains shrouded in the fog of secrecy, however.

Tech site CNET has speculated that it might be a floating data center, while the local CBS TV affiliate points to a floating store for Google's wearable Glass computer.

The executive director of the Bay Conservation and Development Commission told the Mercury News that attorneys for the project said they planned on "using the vessel as a tool to teach about technology."

A Treasure Island worker offered the barest of details about what has been going on behind the shrouded scaffolding:
Bob Jessup, a construction company superintendent who works in a building across the street, said Google spent the past year working on the project. He said they fenced off a wide area and brought in at least 40 welders a day, who worked around the clock and refused to say a word.
"They wouldn't give up any of the information," Jessup said. "It was a phenomenal production. None of them would tell us anything."
He said they worked on the inside and the outside of the shipping containers, outfitting them with electronics — "very hush hush" — and then loaded them onto the barge with a crane. They put sides on the containers, with glass windows in some of them. They had to weld them very precisely so they could stack, Jessup recounted.

Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Joshua Dykman told the Mercury News that he had been ordered not to discuss the barges for "legal reasons." He said he had not signed a non-disclosure agreement.

"Once the project is completed, we will be releasing information," he said.

As for its Maine companion, work is not expected to begin until after the San Francisco job is finished, a local Coast Guard spokesman told the Portland newspaper.

Ensign Connan Ingham said that no non-disclosure agreements had been signed but that some local agency officials "have been asked by the owner not to talk about it."

"They are fully aware of what's on that barge," he said.


Source
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Coast Guard Working Gulf Platform Explosion

Posted: Nov 16, 2012 9:37 AM by Ian Auzenne
Updated: Nov 16, 2012 10:07 AM

The United State Coast Guard confirms to KATC that it is working a platform explosion at this hour in West Cote Blanche. The explosion took place at 9:00 on a rig in West Delta Block 32. The Coast Guard could not confirm any other information at this time. Once we receive more information, we will pass it along.
Source
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Coast Guard: No oil sheen from Gulf explosion

13 crew members rescued from water, Coast Guard says

KATC.com

Crew members float in the water, huddled together in survival outfits called "gumby suits."

updated 59 minutes ago

GRAND ISLE, La. — The Coast Guard is backing off its earlier report that an oil sheen about a mile long was spreading following a platform explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Coast Guard Cmdr. Cheri Ben-Iesau said Thursday afternoon that crews were unable to confirm the oil sheen. The Coast Guard says platform owner Mariner Energy reported a sheen about a mile long and 100 feet wide. But the company has said in a statement that an initial flyover didn't find an oil spill.

Ben-lesau says the fire on the platform has been put out. All 13 crew members were rescued from the water.

Patrick Cassidy, a spokesman for Mariner Energy, told Reuters that the fire was extinguished shortly before 3 p.m. CDT and all crew members have been brought ashore in Houma, La. There were no injuries, he said, although Ben-Iesau said one person was injured.

Video: Oil platform explodes off Louisiana coast

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38973757/#slice-2


The platform, which produces oil and gas, caught fire early Thursday. The scene is west of the site of the massive BP spill.

Cassidy said that the seven wells, which last week produced 1,400 barrels of oil per day and 9.2 million cubic feet per day of natural gas, were shut in.

"The facility is still standing. The fire was contained" to the upper of two decks, Cassidy said. He disputed descriptions of the fire as a blast. "It wasn't a blowout, it's not an explosion," he told Reuters. "The fire appears to have been in or near the living quarters on the upper deck."



But Coast Guard Petty Officer Bill Coklough said the sheen, about 100 feet wide, was spotted near the platform.

The company that owns the rig, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the blast, which was reported by a helicopter flying over the area.

Crew members were found floating in the water, huddled together in survival outfits called "gumby suits."

"These guys had the presence of mind, used their training to get into those gumby suits before they entered the water. It speaks volumes to safety training and the importance of it because, beyond getting off the rig, there's all the hazards of the water such as hypothermia," Coast Guard spokesman Chief Petty Officer John Edwards said.

msnbc.com Seven Coast Guard helicopters, two airplanes and three cutters were dispatched to the scene.

The platform is in about 340 feet of water and about 100 miles south of Louisiana's Vermilion Bay. Its location is considered shallow water, much less than the approximately 5,000 feet where BP's well spewed oil and gas for three months after the April rig explosion.

Responding to any oil spill in shallow water would be much easier than in deep water, where crews depend on remote-operated vehicles access equipment on the sea floor.

The rig is a fixed platform that was in production at the time of the fire, according to a homeland security operational update obtained by The Associated Press.

The update said the platform was producing 58,800 gallons of oil and 900,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The platform can store 4,200 gallons of oil.

Story: Mariner may be facing BP-style crisis Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal said Mariner Energy officials told him there were seven active production wells on the platform, and they were shut down shortly after the fire broke out.

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said President Barack Obama was in a national security meeting at the time of the accident.

"We obviously have response assets ready for deployment should we receive reports of pollution in the water," Gibbs said.

Story continues below More below Sponsored links Advertisement ad infoAdvertisement ad info.A company report said the well was drilled in the third quarter of 2008.

There are about 3,400 platforms operating in the Gulf, according to the American Petroleum Institute. Together they pump about a third of the America's domestic oil, forming the backbone of the country's petroleum industry.

Platforms are vastly different from oil rigs like the Deepwater Horizon. They are usually brought in after wells are already drilled and sealed.

So? .."A production platform is much more stable," said Andy Radford, an API expert on offshore oil drilling. "On a drilling rig, you're actually drilling the well. You're cutting. You're pumping mud down the hole. You have a lot more activity on a drilling rig."

In contrast, platforms are usually placed atop stable wells where the oil is flowing at a predictable pressure, he said. A majority of platforms in the Gulf do not require crews on board. Federal authorities have cited Mariner Energy and related entities for 10 accidents in the Gulf of Mexico over the last four years, according to safety records from the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement.

The accidents range from platform fires to pollution spills and a blowout, according to accident-investigation reports from the agency formerly known as the Minerals Management Service.
In 2007, welding sparks falling onto an oil storage tank caused a flash fire that slightly burned a contract worker. The Minerals Management Service issued a $35,000 fine.

Mariner Energy Inc. focuses on oil and gas exploration and production in the Gulf. In April, Apache Corp., another independent oil company, announced plans to buy Mariner in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $3.9 billion, including the assumption of about $1.2 billion of Mariner's debt. That deal is pending.

On Friday, BP was expected to begin the process of removing the cap and failed blowout preventer, another step toward completion of a relief well that would put a final seal on the well. The Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20, killing 11 people and setting off a three-month leak that totaled 206 million gallons (780 million liters) of oil.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38973757/

P.S. The Oder is really busy at work! Next?

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JFK Special VII

(Last Minute program change?)

JFK Special VII
(on Coast to Coast AM)



Date:
11-22-09

Host:
George Knapp
Guests:
Jim Marrs, John Barbour, Kenn Thomas

George Knapp presided over the 7th annual JFK Special, featuring three acclaimed Kennedy assassination researchers. He was joined by award-winning journalist Jim Marrs along with TV producer and critic John Barbour in the first half of the program, as well as conspiracy expert Kenn Thomas in the latter half of the show. "It only seems controversial," Marrs said of the Kennedy assassination, because there is a such a glaring difference of opinion between those who believe the government's version of events and "those who have actually studied the case."
Barbour and Marrs cited a myriad of suspicious elements involving the Kennedy assassination, such as the FBI's handling of evidence following the murder and issues with the veracity of the gunpowder tests administered to Lee Harvey Oswald. Barbour noted that the spent shell casings, allegedly from the shooting, were found sitting on the book depository's 6th floor windowsill, "one inch apart and facing the street." An amused Marrs observed that such a scenario would be impossible because, when discharging a spent shell from that type of gun, "it flings it over your right shoulder."

They also discussed the nature of the enduring mystery surrounding the murder of Kennedy. Marrs explained that much of the confusion about the event has been created on purpose. "The cover-up has been based on obfuscation," he observed, noting that all the various suspects and factions blamed for the assassination only serve to make the case harder to truly solve. "All the facts were there, they were just never investigated," Barbour concurred. Ultimately, Marrs mused, the true story of what happened on that day in Dallas will never be "officially" known because it is simply too troubling to be revealed by the government.

In the second half of the program, Kenn Thomas focused on the connection between the JFK assassination and infamous esoteric figure Fred Crisman. Thomas detailed how the enigmatic Crisman was named as the prime suspect for being the Grassy Knoll shooter by two independent sources, one of which was prosecutor Jim Garrison. Potentially placing him at the scene of the crime, Thomas said, is the "three tramps" photo where the character known as "Frenchie" is a "spitting image of Crisman." Thomas also addressed various theories which tied JFK's murder to mind control, UFOs, and even Nazi scientists imported via Project Paperclip.

Website(s):
jimmarrs.com
steamshovelpress.com


Book(s):
Crossfire: The Plot That Killed Kennedy
Parapolitics: Conspiracy in Contemporary America
Secret and Suppressed II

The JFK Assassination: Recommended Reading List

In anticipation of the JFK Special, we polled Jim Marrs, John Barbour, and Kenn Thomas for their recommended reading list of books related to the JFK assassination. The result was a veritable cornucopia of conspiracy tomes covering not only the assassination itself, but also Lee Harvey Oswald's life as a spy, the story of a man who may have been set up to be the 2nd patsy on November 22nd, 1963, and some recent examinations of America's most infamous parapolitical mystery.


Jim Marrs:
Anyone who wants to really delve into the Kennedy assassination should start with the Warren Commission Report (1964). Most of the information in this report is valid. The problem is not with what they reported but with what they failed to report. Then read my 1989 book Crossfire: The Plot that Killed Kennedy to take up the slack. These two books should give the reader a good background in the case.

Then, for more up-to-date thoughts and the broad perspective, I would recommend:
David Talbot's Brothers (2005)
James Douglass', JFK and the Unspeakable (2008)
John F. Kennedy: History, Memory, Legacy (2009)
Revisiting Dealey Plaza: What Happened to JFK? - a compendium of various researchers edited by James H. Fetzer


John Barbour:
On The Trail Of the Assassins by Jim Garrison. Garrison's view of the killing as a result of his investigations, and the book bought by Oliver Stone as the basis for the film.
Rush To Judgement by Mark Lane. Forced to go outside the country to get his critique of The Warren Commission published,(being paid only $1,200.00,) this is the book that really brought wide attention to the shabbiness of the Government's non-investigation.
The Man Who Knew Too Much by Dick Russell. It's a long book but an unbelievable read about Richard Case Nagell,the man assigned to kill Oswald, but who felt he was being set up as the alternate patsy, and to save himself walked into a bank just weeks before Nov. 22nd., 1963, shot bullets into the ceiling and when arrested said, 'I don't want to be in Dallas on Nov. 22nd!'
Crossfire by Jim Marrs. Another well-written, solid taking apart of the Government's case against Oswald, and another book used by Oliver Stone for his film.
Post Mortem by Harold Weisberg. Weisberg is a former Intelligence Officer who self-printed a number of books called 'Whitewash' in which he very meticulously shreds the myths surrounding the government's view of Kennedy's killing.
Sons And Brothers by Richard Mahoney. Mahoney, who ran for the Senate in Arizona, started out wanting to just write a book about Bobby Kennedy, but the more he delved into the material the more he realized there had been a major conspiracy at the very highest levels.
Deep Politics And The Death Of JFK by Richard Dale Scott. The title is self-explanatory and shows just how deep the conspiracy went.
Conspiracy by Anthony Summers. This English Investigative Journalist is the British version of Jim Marrs, and shows just how international is the disdain for The Warren Report.
A Farewell To Justice by Joan Mellen. The best book written about Jim Garrison's case against New Orleans businessman Clay shaw, and probably the best book written about Garrison himself.
Heritage Of Stone by Jim Garrison. This book about the Clay Shaw trial received rave reviews by John Leonard in the morning edition of The New York Times, but didn't appear in the late edition. Evidently the Times didn't think it was News Fit To Print!


Kenn Thomas:
NASA, Nazis & JFK ... yes, one of mine, but it has the indispensable Torbitt Document
Rush To Judgment by Mark Lane ... since it was the first (and has a movie documentary)
Plausible Denial by Lane ... covers the E. Howard Hunt trial story
Spy Saga by Phil Melanson ... covers Oswald's life as a spy
Oswald and the CIA by John Newman ... also covers Oswald's life as a spy
Crossfire by Jim Marrs ... for best overview of the case
Best Evidence by David Lifton ... covers the "body switch" theory and "wink" photo
Legend, The Secret World of Lee Harvey Oswald ... has a photo of John Wayne and Oswald together
Destiny Betrayed by Jim DiEugenio ... covers the Garrison case
On The Trail of the Assassins by Jim Garrison


Source: http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2009/11/22
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The Dollar Meltdown

Monday, November 09, 2009
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/dollar-meltdown-book-review.html

The Dollar Meltdown: Book Review

I had the pleasure of reading a final finished copy of The Dollar Meltdown by Charles Goyette this past week.

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Congressman Ron Paul offers an opinion on the front cover to which I certainly concur: "Goyette does a great job explaining why America faces a looming financial crisis and outlines commonsense strategies for individuals to protect themselves and their families. This book truly is a must read."

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Before publication, I read a preliminary copy which explains this quote on the back jacket "The Dollar Meltdown is the definitive guide to where we are, how we got here, and what the best investment opportunities are looking ahead, regardless of one's personal views on the raging inflation/deflation debate" - Mike "Mish" Shedlock

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Others on the back jacket endorsing the book include Jim Rogers, Lew Rockwell, and Peter Schiff.

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Step by step Goyette outlines Where we are, How we got here, and What to do. The book is a nice blend of facts, humor, and practicality. It is easy reading and very difficult to put down.

Each chapter begins with a few thought provoking quotes on which Charles expounds. Here is the kickoff to Chapter 7, How It Comes Down.

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"Don’t ask me where we’re going to find the money. I’m going to get it where Paulson found it”. - Charles Rangel, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman

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Today was Presidents’ Day. Congress commemorated George Washington’s throwing a dollar across the Potomac by throwing $780 billion down a rat hole. - Jay Leno, The Tonight Show

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Chapter 8, Toppling the Dollar, Your New World Order Is Waiting! begins with the following quotes for discussion.

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"We have in many ways humiliated ourselves as a nation with some of the problems that have taken place here." - Henry Paulson, U.S. Treasury Secretary

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"I think there is a question mark over the durability of any power that relies as heavily as the United States on importing capital and borrowing from abroad." - Niall Ferguson

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I started to write more excerpts but the problem was I ended up with pages from every chapter.

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Doug French writing for LewRockwell.Com had this to say:
"Charles Goyette provides a roadmap for survival with his newly released book, The Dollar Meltdown: Surviving The Impending Currency Crisis With Gold, Oil, And Other Unconventional Investments. The former Phoenix radio talk-show host has learned from some of the brightest minds in economics and investing. It's the rare book that engagingly teaches sound economic theory, provides the history of how we got in this mess and then provides solid investment advice that considers the precarious times we live in. As ambitious as this sounds Goyette's fast-paced book gets it all done."

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At first glance it may seem that Goyette's opinion and mine on the US dollar are dramatically different. However, I would like to point out that he gives no timeline for the collapse, only that a collapse will eventually occur if the US stays on this economic path. That is an idea I hope everyone agrees with.

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Monday Night, 10 p.m. PST. Charles will be on Coast to Coast AM George Noory to discuss his book and the coming currency crisis. The program will be broadcast live in every major city in the country.

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Please click here for a list of Coast To Coast Affiliate Stations.

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George Noory is a fabulous talk show host as is Charles Goyette himself. This is one interview you will not want to miss.

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Mike "Mish" Shedlock

http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/
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Did the Coast Guard or CNN cause the 9/11 panic on the Potomac?

A US Coast Guard boat patrols the Potomac River near Washington, DC on September 11, 2009. (Haraz N. Ghanbari/AP)

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Did the Coast Guard or CNN cause the 9/11 panic on the Potomac?

Most of the criticism for erroneous reports of gunshots is aimed at the Coast Guard exercise. But news organizations take hits too for going live with unconfirmed reports reminiscent of Chicken Little.

By Brad Knickerbocker Staff writer/ September 12, 2009 edition

The United States Coast Guard continues to take flak for its exercise on the Potomac River in Washington Friday. Critics say it should have been more sensitive to the mental atmosphere on the anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

“The anxiety caused by this situation on such a solemn day is extremely disturbing,” said Sen. George Voinovich of Ohio, senior Republican on a homeland security subcommittee. “It sounds very much like the left hand didn’t know what the right hand was doing.”

Senior Coast Guard officials promise a “thorough review” of the incident in which there was a simulated attack on a “suspicious vessel” involving a radio broadcast of mock gunfire but no actual shots being fired.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs pushed back against suggestions that this week’s episode was somehow like one earlier this year when the Air Force conducted an unannounced photo op over New York City in which Air Force One appeared to be chased by fighter jets. Since many New Yorkers immediately remembered the day when hijacked airliners slammed into the World Trade Center, it seemed insensitive to say the least.

Gibbs pointed out that the initial breathless report on CNN was based on what someone heard on a radio scanner — unconfirmed by the Coast Guard, which in essence had said it didn’t know what the CNN reporter calling for comment was talking about. Based on what CNN had reported but without doing its own checking, Reuters and then Fox News went with the story as well.

“Before we report things like this, checking would be good,” Gibbs said. To which many media experts could only say, “Duh!”

“The higher the stakes, the more careful you have to be to make sure you are correct,” Tom Fiedler, dean of Boston University’s College of Communication, told the Los Angeles Times. “Unfortunately, this is one of those examples of ready-fire-aim journalism.”

Al Tompkins, a faculty member at the Poynter Institute, a journalism center in St. Petersburg, Fla., also told the LA Times: “It’s a really dangerous practice to use radio traffic as your principal source of information, because it so often turns out to be incorrect.”

Listening to the police radio scanner for stories to chase has been common practice in newsrooms for decades. But with cell phone texting and Twitter tweets, it brings to mind something Winston Churchill said: “A lie gets half way around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.”

In this case, it was a half hour — eternity in an age of Internet communication — before CNN corrected its first report.

It’s not an isolated problem, Tompkins writes on PoynterOnline.org:

“Reputable news organizations reporting bad information appears to be a growing problem in the American news media. Some newsrooms are cutting corners by not verifying information. Others are recycling incorrect information by simply reposting the work of others on their Web sites.

“Although cable news programs face a certain pressure to be first and fill a lot of time with breaking news, all newsrooms can stumble in the race to be first. The skill of verifying facts is more important than ever. And it may be the only thing that elevates journalism above the rest of the noise on the Internet.”

There are lessons in all of this, especially for young journalists in an increasingly competitive profession.

“As an editor, I forbade reporting off the [police] scanner, tempting though it is,” writes Dean Miller, director of the Center for News Literacy at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in an email to reporters and columnists. “CNN’s 9/11 debacle this week is a perfect teaching moment.”Did the Coast Guard or CNN cause the 9/11 panic on the Potomac?
Most of the criticism for erroneous reports of gunshots is aimed at the Coast Guard exercise. But news organizations take hits too for going live with unconfirmed reports reminiscent of Chicken Little.

Source: http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/09/12/did-the-coast-guard-or-cnn-cause-the-911-panic-on-the-potomac/

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