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Update (1 pm ET): With Nate expected to strengthen into a category 2 storm by the time it makes landfall in southeastern Louisiana late Saturday, the NHC has expanded its storm warnings to include the part of the Florida panhandle east of the Okaloosa/Walton County Line to Indian Pass Florida, which is now under a tropical storm warning. Meanwhile, mandatory evacuations are set to begin in Port Fourchon, Louisiana at 12pm local time Saturday for remaining staff at the port, according to storm update by the Greater Lafourche Port Commission. This follows mandatory evacuation ordered by Lafourche Parish, La., President Jimmy Cantrelle for areas below floodgates in Golden Meadow, La. In addition, the US Coast Guard has suspended marine traffic activity as of 8 am local time for sector Mobile, which includes the ports of Gulfport and Pascagoula in Mississippi, Mobile, Ala., and Pensacola, Fla., in preparation for Hurricane Nate, according to an agency bulletin.

Staff at offshore oil rigs in the Gulf were ordered to evacuate, leaving nearly three-quarters of US Gulf of Mexico oil production was offline ahead of the storm. American Midstream Partners LP’s Destin gas pipeline and Enbridge Inc.’s Nautilus and Manta Ray lines are evacuating staff from Gulf platforms.

Thanks to Harvey, and now Nate, natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico has plunged to the lowest level in three years. Gulf gas output may drop as much as 1.4 billion cubic feet a day, while 1.1 million barrels a day of offshore oil production and 3 million barrels of refining capacity are at risk, according to Shunondo Basu, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

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Virgin Islands Authorizes National Guard To Confiscate Guns, Property, And Supplies

September 5, 2017

Virgin Islands Authorizes National Guard To Confiscate Guns, Property, And Supplies

With the devastation of Harvey still fresh in the public’s memory, stores in southern Florida are already running out of necessities like bottled water, and the Mayor of Miami is telling reporters to expect an evacuation order on Wednesday. But outside of the US mainland, the US Virgin Islands, which has activated the national guard as the storm approaches. However, Mapp’s order differed from the order signed by Texas Gov. Mike Abbott with one concerning twist: guardsmen can “appropriate” guns, ammunition, explosives and property needed to respond to Hurricane Irma. The order was signed by Virgin Islands Gov. Kenneth Mapp on Monday.

Irma’s eye is expected to pass just north of the heart of the U.S. Virgin Islands on Wednesday and bring four to eight inches or rain and 60-mile-per-hour wind gusts, though the gusts in the most powerful areas of the storm have been as fast as 185 mph, the Daily Caller reported.

Mapp signed the order Monday in preparation for Hurricane Irma. It allows the Adjutant General of the Virgin Islands to seize private property they believe necessary to protect the islands, subject to approval by the territory’s Justice Department. Mapp issued an emergency declaration Tuesday and mobilized National Guard units to prepare for the massive storm.

“This is not an opportunity to go outside and try to have fun with a hurricane,” Mapp said. “It’s not time to get on a surfboard.”

Because of its location in the middle of the Pacific, it’s understandable that the Virgin Islands would need to take extraordinary measures to ensure its response to the storm is successful. However, the order too closely resembles an expansion of US civil asset forfeiture powers adopted by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Florida Declares State Of Emergency As Category 4 Hurricane Irma Barrels Straight For Miami

September 4, 2017

Florida Declares State Of Emergency As Category 4 Hurricane Irma Barrels Straight For Miami

With Florida already bracing for a hit from Hurricane Irma, which according to some models may attain “monster” Category 5 winds as it nears land prompting locals to store up on everything from water to food to gas and various other housing supplies, late on Monday afternoon Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a state of emergency ahead of potential landfall, just hours after the governor of Puerto Rico did the same.

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Chris Merryman @realmerryman

BREAKING: @FLGovScott has declared a state of emergency in Florida ahead of Hurricane #Irma #LaborDay

5:25 PM – Sep 4, 2017

At roughly the same time, the NHC announced that Irma’s top sustained winds have reached 130mph (215 kph), which prompted an upgrade to a Category 4 stormfor Irma. According to the latest update, Irma was moving west at 13mph, and was currently located about 490 miles east of Leeward Islands.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, St. Kitts, and Nevis, Saba, St. Eustatius, and Sint Maarten, Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy.

Puerto Rico is expected to be hit at 2pm on Wednesday.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Which is Worse: A Busted Pipeline or a Politician with a Case of the Do-Somethings?

September 22, 2016

Which is Worse: A Busted Pipeline or a Politician with a Case of the Do-Somethings?

Economists have a grumbling and cynical stereotype. This might be because even the most basic economic principles are ignored by those who should know better and vehemently denied by those who don’t.

Case in point: a restricted supply of gasoline is expected across the Eastern United States because of a busted pipeline, and state governors enact price ceilings to keep the price of gasoline artificially low.

In Alabama, Governor Bentley forbade “unconscionable prices for the sale of any commodity” in his State of Emergency proclamation.

Governor Deal did the same in Georgia. The Georgia Consumer Protection Bureau even has a Price Gouging Form, for citizens to tattle on other citizens for providing a good that is in more limited supply than usual. The website says, “Businesses may not sell motor fuel products, including gasoline, at prices higher than the prices at which those same products were offered before the declaration of the State of Emergency.”

Even first-year economics students know that when the price of a good is set arbitrarily low by government decree, the quantity demanded is greater than the quantity supplied. In other words, a shortage emerges.

The Function of Market Prices

Market prices are the result of an agreement between buyers and sellers of a good. All of the information deemed relevant by those buying and selling is incorporated into their preferences for the good. Sellers want higher prices and buyers want lower prices, but both are constrained. Buyers must outbid other buyers if they want it enough and sellers must underbid other sellers to attract buyers.

If the total stock of some good increases, buyers are only willing to pay lower prices and sellers, too, are willing to accept lower prices. This is because of the law of diminishing marginal utility. Additional units of a good must necessarily go toward the satisfaction of less urgent ends.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Alabama, Tennessee, & Georgia Declare States Of Emergency As Gas Shortages Loom After Pipeline Leak

September 17, 2016

Alabama, Tennessee, & Georgia Declare States Of Emergency As Gas Shortages Loom After Pipeline Leak

As Native Americans protesters face arrest in North Dakota for blocking the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, TheAntiMedia’s Carey Wedler reports a gasoline pipeline spill is currently unfolding in the South. The leak has prompted Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to declare states of emergency.

The Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Houston to New York, began leaking on September 9, spilling 250,000 gallons of gasoline, or 6,000 barrels. The pipeline was built in 1962, and the current leak in Helena, Alabama, is the largest one Colonial Pipeline has experienced in 20 years, Reuters noted.

AL.com reported that according to the Colonial Pipeline company’s spokesperson, Bill Berry, the pipeline could still be leaking:

“The leaking pipeline was shut down [last] Friday after the leak was discovered, but Berry said there may be additional gas still inside the pipeline. The leaking section of pipeline hasn’t been excavated yet due to safety precautions, so Berry said the condition of the pipeline and cause of the leak is still unknown.”

Hundreds of employees and contract workers face health risks from inhaling vapor as they work overtime to clean up the spill, which the company says is contained to a mining retention pond. AL.com reports “the leak was discovered at the inactive mine site by employees of the Alabama Surface Mining Commission.”

The governors of Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama have declared states of emergency, not due to environmental concerns, but over the gas shortage that will result from the leak. After Colonial Pipeline announced Thursday there would be a delay in restarting the pipeline because “work activity was intermittent overnight due to unfavorable weather conditions that caused gasoline vapors to settle over the site,” the price of gasoline futures rose six percent… even as crude futures prices tumbled…

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Thousands march to protest state of emergency in France

January 31, 2016

Thousands march to protest state of emergency in France

Thousands of people marched in 70 French cities, including Paris, to demand immediate action to stop France’s ongoing state of emergency and openly voice outrage over government plans to revoke the French citizenship of dual nationals, many of them Muslims, convicted of terrorism.

Up to 20,000 protesters – many of them members of human rights groups, political parties and trade unions – took part in a peaceful protest in Paris on Saturday, RTL reported the organizers as saying.

According to police estimates, some 5,500 people gathered in the heart of the French capital, between Place de la République and the Palais-Royal, holding banners that read: “State of emergency, police state” and “My France of liberties, where are you?”

“I am here to protest against the state of emergency and against the deprivation of nationality for dual nationals. That’s important because we saw a lot of drifts during the state of emergency, some rallies were prohibited, some people were arrested just for protesting peacefully. That shocks me,” one activist told RT’s Ruptly video agency.

“The state is allowing itself to take absolutely catastrophic decisions for the life and future of liberty of France,” Youssef Boussoumah, member of the Indigenes de la Republique party, said.

One woman at the Paris rally, referring to Islamic State, told RTL: “The state of emergency is until when? The end of Daesh? 10 years? Never?”

Another participant, Grenut Louise, a student, told Le Monde:”They impose this state of emergency on us by pure political calculation, the government has no other card to play, except for the security-related one.”

“It is cynical to play on our fears to impose this state of permanent exception when we already have laws and means to fight terrorism,” she added.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘About Time’: Jerry Brown Declares State of Emergency Over Porter Ranch

January 7, 2016

‘About Time’: Jerry Brown Declares State of Emergency Over Porter Ranch

Organizers say the leak has ‘been a wake-up call for this community…. We’re all on the front lines of climate change.’

Porter Ranch residents protest California Governor Jerry Brown’s months-long refusal to call a state of emergency over the gas leak that has been pumping out methane since October. Brown announced a state of emergency on Wednesday. (Photo: LA Daily News)

Following months of pressure from activists and residents, California Governor Jerry Brown on Wednesday issued a state of emergency over the Porter Ranch gas leak that has been pouring tens of thousands of kilograms of methane into the air surrounding the community since October.

The order means “all necessary and viable actions” will be taken to stop the leak and ensure that the Southern California Gas Company (SoCal Gas), which owns the leaking natural gas injection well, is held accountable for the damage.

“It’s about time,” Alexandra Nagy, Southern California organizer at Food and Water Watch, told Common Dreams. “It’s incredible. Now residents can actually get the assistance that they need.”

Brown issued the state of emergency after making a quiet visit to the area earlier this week to tour the facility and meet with the Porter Ranch neighborhood council. Wednesday’s order also directs action to protect public health, according to a press release issued from the governor’s office.

“It is really going to…amplify the urgency of this issue and really expose how bad the problem is,” Nagy said.

The leak, which has been ongoing since October, gained limited media attention after environmental and public health advocate Erin Brockovich declared it “a catastrophe the scale of which has not been seen since the 2010 BP oil spill.” Residents living in proximity to the well, which is situated in Aliso Canyon, roughly 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles, reported having symptoms of methane exposure, including headaches, nausea, and in some cases, bleeding eyes and gums.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

‘Emergency’ Measures May Be Written Into the French Constitution

December 13, 2015

“EMERGENCY” MEASURES MAY BE WRITTEN INTO THE FRENCH CONSTITUTION

JUST HOURS INTO A TERRORIST ATTACK that started on the evening of Nov. 13, and would eventually claim 130 lives, François Hollande announced that France was reestablishing border controls, and used a 1955 law to proclaim a state of emergency.

This 60-year-old law gives French law enforcement wide and sweeping powers, freeing them from much of the normal judicial oversight. The law gives prefects, the French government’s local representatives, the ability to place people under house arrest, based merely on the suspicion of the intelligence service that they pose a threat to national security. They can also order police raids targeting any place where they think information about terrorism may be found, without a warrant.

Initially intended to last 12 days, the state of emergency was extended on November 19 for an additional three months by both chambers of parliament. During the vote in the lower house, only six MPs voted against the extension.

In some instances, the concrete consequences of the state of emergency border on the Kafkaesque. There’s this man, who was challenging the requirement that he report frequently to a police station (one of the other features of the state of emergency law). Because his court hearing to challenge the requirement was late, he showed up 40 minutes past the time he was supposed to be at the police station. He was immediately detained. Then there’s this man, who was placed under house arrest in southwestern France because he was suspected of being a radical Muslim — except he is a devout Catholic. The police also raided a halal restaurant for no apparent reason.

Since last month’s attacks, there have been some 2,500 police raids, and nearly a thousand people have been arrested or detained. French local and national press are now full of reports of questionable police raids.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Protest ban? What protest ban?

November 30, 2015

Protest ban? What protest ban?

Crowds celebrate in PdlR.jpg [Related Image]

The crowd celebrates in Place de la Republique. by Danny Chivers/New Internationalist

The French government’s attempts to crack down on climate protesters have only made their voices louder, reports Danny Chivers.

Protest is currently banned in Paris. Any outdoor gathering of more than two people with a political message has been strictly prohibited under ‘state of emergency” government powers, following the 13 November terror attacks. Anyone taking part in an illegal demonstration could face fines of $3,972 or up to two months in prison.

The French government imposed the protest ban supposedly in the name of public safety, and yet – as campaigners have pointed out – large gatherings such as football matches and Christmas markets have been allowed to go ahead. Groups of people, it seems, only become hazardous when they have a political point to make. The government has seemed determined to use these powers freely, putting a number of climate campaigners under house arrest, raiding activist squats and attempting to prevent two separate bicycle convoys from reaching Paris.

So protest has been banned, which means if you thought you saw a protest today, you must have been mistaken. If you were at the park opposite the Bataclan at 9 o’clock this morning, where Indigenous peoples from North America and the South Pacific led songs, prayers and blessings for the lives lost in the Paris attacks, and also for the defence of Mother Earth against the extractive industries – well, that wasn’t a protest. It was a ceremony, so no problem there.

Then, at noon, if you happened to see ten thousand people forming a human chain along the pavement from Place de la République to Nation, holding banners and placards demanding climate justice – well, that can’t have been a protest either. Because, you know, protest is banned.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

France Arrests 24 Climate Activists Using New “State Of Emergency” Laws, As Clashes Break Out In Paris – Live Feed

November 29, 2015

France Arrests 24 Climate Activists Using New “State Of Emergency” Laws, As Clashes Break Out In Paris – Live Feed

As Intellihub’s Shepard Ambellas writes, one-hundred and fifty heads of government, a.k.a. the elite, are gathering over the course of the next few weeks for a massive climate summit that’s anticipated to attract and indoctrinate over 40,000 visitors from around the globe. The summit, dubbed COP21, is sponsored by the United Nations (UN) and will reportedly focus on combating climate change. However it’s doubtful that geoengineering, which ironically is mostly to blame for current climate patterns, will even be a topic of interest to scheduled speakers. To boot any chance of that information making it out to the general public is limited as 24 activists have already been placed under house arrest.”

He further observes that “emergency powers” declared in the wake of the recent Paris attacks – in the name of terrorism – and adopted virtually overnight, were extended for a period of up to 90-days by the country’s leadership allowing for such activists to be jailed in advance of the summit or at anytime within period.

France 24 confirms the “pre-crime” arrests, writing that twenty-four environmental activists have been placed under house arrest ahead of the Paris climate summit, using France’s state of emergency laws. Two of them slammed an attack on civil liberties. The order ends on December 12, the day the Paris climate summit draws to a close.

French security forces have been on edge since Islamist gunmen killed 130 people in a deadly rampage across Paris on November 13, in the country’s worst ever terrorist attacks.

The ensuing state of emergency, declared by President François Hollande and extended by lawmakers for three months, has given police sweeping powers to search homes, handcuff residents and place people under house arrest, without judicial oversight.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Paris Attack Will Foster an Orwellian Police State

November 16, 2015

Paris Attack Will Foster an Orwellian Police State

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Since November 13, 2015, France entered a state of shock. Friday the 13th will no longer be only associated with exploitation Hollywood horror flicks, but will become forever linked in the collective psyche to the mayhem in Paris that occurred on that fateful night. It took only about 10 people, plus a few more to organize the logistics of it, to bring France to a worse predicament than the one that was created by the attack on the editorial staff of Charlie Hebdo in early January 2015. The French press wrote sensationalist headlines stating that the new tragedy, which killed more than 200 people and seriously injured more than 80, was a declaration of war.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) quickly claimed the seven coordinated attacks, and some social media accounts linked to ISIS mentioned France as one of its primary targets. As ISIS identified itself as the culprit, the macabre message sent by the organization and its implications for worldwide public opinion was rather simple: we can hit anywhere, at anytime, and any target will be considered fair game. The French government’s reaction was both panicked and swift, and it immediately embraced repressive authoritarian measures similar to those that had been set up by the Bush administration in the aftermath of 9-11-2001. Just like 9-11 in the United States, it seems that the way France’s bloody Friday will be exploited matters more than the tragedy itself. There is no better justification to crack down on civil liberty, freedom and other principles that define the essence of democracy than the good old permanent global war on terror.

French President François Hollande’s cabinet met at midnight and issued some decrees. A nationwide state of emergency was declared, as well as the establishment of tight control at all French borders.

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

It’s Just The Beginning: Martial Law Declared In Paris; Borders Sealed; Weapons Caches Found In Camps

November 14, 2015

It’s Just The Beginning: Martial Law Declared In Paris; Borders Sealed; Weapons Caches Found In Camps

A Friday night in Paris, France turned into a bloody rampage when at least two Muslim men armed with assault rifles left 160 dead and scores wounded. Some reports also indicate that suicide bombers were to blame for multiple explosions heard by witnesses.

A de facto state of Martial Law now exists in France, with mandatory curfews and the country’s borders sealed for the first time since the 1962 Algerian war. Paris authorities also announced a closure of all schools and universities in the French capital. Armored vehicles have been deployed around the city.

This is likely only the beginning for a wave of terror that could sweep the region in coming months and years. With hundreds of thousands of unidentified, fighting-age men having entered European borders in the last six months, the zones’ citizens from Germany to Hungary are, quite literally, up in arms.

In October we reported that Europeans were scrambling for guns amid the Islamic immigrant invasion and that Austrians were so desperate for personal protection that long guns across the entire country sold out within weeks.

In early November officials reportedly found a weapons cache at a Swedish migrant center, suggesting that citizens panicking to get firearms was completely justified.

Just hours before the Parisian massacre Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban blasted European Union member states, claiming that there is a “master plan” for a political takeover of the continent:

The migrant invasion to Europe from the Middle East and Africa may be part of a left-wing plot to pack the continent with sympathetic voters, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has told Swiss magazine dieWeltwoche

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

French President Declares State Of Emergency, Enforces Curfew, Closes Borders, Reinforces Army

November 13, 2015

French President Declares State Of Emergency, Enforces Curfew, Closes Borders, Reinforces Army

In the wake of the stunning wave of bombings, shootouts, and hostage situations unfolding in Paris on Friday, French President Francois Hollande has closed the French border.

Addressing the nation, President Francois Hollande called on everyone to remain strong and show “compassion and unity.”

“There is much to fear, but we must face these fears as a nation that knows how to muster its forces and will confront the terrorists,” the president said.

He has also declared a state of emergency and called for more army assistance.

HOLLANDE SAYS STATE OF ALERT IMPOSED IN FRANCE
HOLLANDE SAYS CLOSING FRENCH BORDERS
HOLLANDE REQUESTS MILITARY REINFORCEMENT

The dramatic move comes amid an ongoing situation in the streets of Paris that will likely go down in history as one of the more daring terrorist attacks in history.

A series of bombs echoed through the streets followed by sporadic gunfire. What unfolded afterwards turned the streets into a veritable war zone with dozens killed thus far and a hostage situation involving some 100 people.

The move to close the border will likely serve as a rallying cry for those who oppose the accommodation of the millions of refugees seeking asylum in Europe.

The President ended his speech with “Vive la Republique et Vive la France.”

California State of Emergency: Up To 105,000 Gallons of Oil Spill in Santa Barbara from Plains All American Pipeline

May 21, 2015

California State of Emergency: Up To 105,000 Gallons of Oil Spill in Santa Barbara from Plains All American Pipeline

Up to 105,000 gallons of oil obtained via offshore drilling have spilled from a pipeline owned by Plains All American at Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara County in California. At least 21,000 gallons have poured into the Pacific Ocean and the spill’s impacts stretch nine miles, according to the Associated Press.

As a result, California Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency in Santa Barbara County, which he said in a press statement “cuts red tape and helps the state quickly mobilize all available resources.”

“The 11-mile Plains American Coastal Pipeline connects Exxon’s Las Flores Canyon facility – which provides basic processing for crude produced from California’s Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) – to Plain’s larger Line 63 pipeline system,” the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) explained in a blog post. “[T]his incident demonstrates the real risks associated with industry plans to inundate California’s coastal waters, pipelines, rail lines and refineries with tar sands crudes.”

The spill, reminding some of the much-bigger 1969 Santa Barbara offshore oil spill, comes just several months after the Environmental Defense Center filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) for secretly permitting offshore hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) in the deepwater areas off the coast of California. Both ExxonMobiland the American Petroleum Institute issued motions to intervene as co-defendants in that case, which the judge granted.

Photo Credit: Greenpeace USA

“This spill shows, yet again, that safe and responsible oil and gas drilling are myths,” Marissa Knodel, climate campaigner for Friends of the Earth, said in press release. “Despite these terrible impacts, the Obama administration wants to open up new areas for drilling, which presents a dangerous and unjust risk to the homes and livelihoods of coastal communities,

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

Missouri Governor Declares State Of Emergency, Activates National Guard Ahead Of Michael Brown Shooting Verdict | Zero Hedge

November 18, 2014

Missouri Governor Declares State Of Emergency, Activates National Guard Ahead Of Michael Brown Shooting Verdict | Zero Hedge.

It’s been a while since the public disturbance in Ferguson, MO made the front pages, so here is a reminder: with the St. Louis County prosecutor saying he expects the grand jury to reach a decision in mid-to-late November whether Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson should face charges for shooting Michael Brown on Aug. 9, Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon is not taking any chances and moments ago declared a state of emergency and activated the National Guard in advance of a grand jury decision about whether a white police officer will be charged in the fatal shooting of a black 18-year-old in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson.

Per AP, Nixon said Monday that the National Guard would assist state and local police as needed, in case there is civil unrest when the grand jury’s decision is announced. There was no indication an announcement is imminent. There is no specific date for a decision to be revealed about whether Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson should face charges for shooting Michael Brown on Aug. 9.

Below is the full executive order:

…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…

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