Day: November 28, 2023

Closing Thought–28Nov23

If you live in the UK do not die without a will!

I seems that if you die without a will then the King can reap some benefits….

The deaths of thousands of people in parts of England have increased the personal wealth of King Charles III, according to a Guardian investigation that might persuade many people—especially those opposed to the monarchy—to write wills. In most of England and Wales, the assets of people who die with no will and no known next of kin go directly to the government. But under a system that dates to feudal times, those assets go to the king’s Duchy of Lancaster property estate if the person dies in a former dukedom that covers a large area of northwest England that includes Liverpool and Manchester. In Cornwall, the assets go to the Duchy of Cornwall, now controlled by Prince William.

The duchies have long claimed that the funds, known as “bona vacancia”—Latin for “vacant goods”—are donated to charities. But documents seen by the Guardian show that only a small proportion of the funds go to charities and duchy officials have been granted permission to use bona vacancia funds to upgrade properties that are rented out for profit. One source says duchy officials consider the revenue “free money” and a “slush fund” to renovate properties including town houses and vacation homes. Charles inherited the Duchy of Lancaster when his mother died last year. Earlier this year, he received almost $33 million in his first annual payout from the property estate.

The Guardian notes that many of those who died without wills or next of kin lived in homes far more humble than the ones their assets are being used to renovate. Friends of people whose assets were claimed by the duchy say they’re dismayed that the funds are being used to increase the king’s wealth. “It’s shocking and it shouldn’t be happening,” says Charlie Briggs, a friend of retired nursery manager Val Taylor, whose assets were transferred to the king’s estate after she died last year at age 72. “It would be OK if the money was going to people who deserve it but not if it is going to an organization that has plenty,” he says. (Read more King Charles III

Please any UK readers could let my readers know if this is true and why is it so.

All I can do is shake my head….I am in no way in awe of the monarch….I think it is a free ride for giving nothing back.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

2010 All Over Again

This is for those with short memories….

In 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig blew up and cause a massive oil leak that dumped about 200 million gallons of oil into the central Gulf of Mexico….it contaminated sea life, beaches and ruined the economy of many Gulf Coast states like Louisiana, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi beaches were spared the bad stuff for our barrier islands protected our beaches for the most part but Florida and Alabama were not so lucky.

In case your memory is not what it once was….here are some facts….

Fact #1: More than 200 million gallons of crude oil was spilled into the Gulf of Mexico during the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

Fact #2: Deepwater Horizon was a 9yr old semi-submersible, mobile floating, dynamically positioned drilling rig that could operate in water up to 10,000’ deep.

Fact #3: At 9:45am high pressure methane gas from the well expanded into the drilling riser and rose into the drilling rig, the rig ignited and exploded

Fact #4: Over 16,000 miles of coastline was affected during the spill. The coastlines of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida were all affected.

Fact #5: 5.5 million feet of oil spill containment boom was deployed to help collect the oil.

Fact #6: Over 8,000 animals were reported dead 6 months after the spill.

This spill effected the seafood industry as well….fish were not caught, shrimp were not fished, oysters were dead and crabs were contaminated…all of which is a mainstay of the Gulf Coast industry….so why am I going on about past doings that most have forgotten?

Easy.

Deja vu.

Just when the fishing grounds were on the rebound from the Deepwater fiasco….it is happening again….

A leak from an underwater pipeline released more than 1 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico before the flow was shut off, the Coast Guard estimated. The leak was spotted Thursday, about 19 miles offshore of the Mississippi River Delta southeast of New Orleans, Reuters reports. Main Pass Oil Gathering Co. turned off the 67-mile line the same day. On Friday and Saturday, overflights saw the oil moving to the southwest, away from the Louisiana shore, per WDSU. No injuries or shoreline impacts have been reported.

rews are searching for the source of the leak, which was near Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish, using underwater remote-operated vehicles. The Coast Guard said three skimming vessels are trying to remove the oil on the surface. The National Response Team was activated, the Environmental Protection Agency said, which mobilizes 15 federal entities to help

While the spill is dwarfed by previous spills, like the Deepwater Horizon crisis that saw 130 million gallons of crude pouring into the Gulf in 2010, it’s nonetheless a grim environmental catastrophe that could have devastating effects on the local environment.

“Ocean wildlife will almost certainly pay a terrible price for this huge pipeline spill, which is less an accident than an entirely predictable consequence of offshore oil operations,” said Kristen Monsell, senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, in a statement.

This does not make national news….no one cares if I am honest  those mental midgets do not have to try a eek out a living from the Gulf.

How long must these crises go on before someone cares enough to put a stop tho this insanity?

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”