Government Book Talk

Today, March 1, 2013, is the National Education Association’s Read Across America Day which kicks off Read Across America Week where people are encouraged to read to children and children are encouraged to read for themselves. And tomorrow is the birthday of Dr Seuss, who is known for writing children’s books. Coincidentally, from sunset tonight March 1 to sunset March 2 has also been declared National Day of Unplugging, when we are urged to unplug ourselves from all our gadgets and technology such as smartphones, laptops, and MP3 players.

Image: School children take NEA’s Read Across America Reader’s Oath. Source: NEA

Thus, it’s a perfect time to read to and with your kids. Reading events, both public and private, are being held nationwide, from schools and public libraries to houses of worship and homes as adults and children unplug and read.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Native Diabetes Wellness Program (Wellness Program), in collaboration with the Indian Health Service (IHS) Division of Diabetes Treatment and Prevention and the Tribal Leaders Diabetes Committee (TLDC), created the perfect series of children’s books to help encourage kids to read and live a healthy lifestyle.

Called the Eagle Book Series. all of the stories reflect long-held traditional values of American Indian / Alaska Native people – respect, gratitude, and generosity – while teaching the universal wisdom of healthy eating and physical activity. Throughout the series, a young Native boy and his friends learn about healthy habits from Mr. Eagle, Miss Rabbit, and Coyote.

Vividly brought to life by the colorful illustrations of talented American Indian artists Patrick Rolo (Bad River Band of Ojibwe, Wisconsin) and Lisa A. Fifield (Black Bear Clan of the Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin), these charming and educational stories by Georgia Perez have become the award-winning Eagle Book series:

1. Through the Eyes of the Eagle,
2. Knees Lifted High,
3. Plate Full of Color, and
4. Tricky Treats.

Measuring 16 X 19 inches, these books are sized perfectly for reading to a group of first through third grade children at school, daycare, in a library, or at home.

NEA has a Read Across America Reader’s Oath by Debra Angstead, Missouri-NEA, a Read Across America song and this wonderful Dr. Seuss-inspired Read Across America poem that says it better than we can:

You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild,
To pick up a book and read with a child.
You’re never too busy, too cool, or too hot,
To pick up a book and share what you’ve got.

In schools and communities,
Let’s gather around,
Let’s pick up a book,
Let’s pass it around.

There are kids all around you,
Kids who will need
Someone to hug,
Someone to read.

Come join us March 1st
Your own special way
And make this America’s
Read to Kids Day.

How can I buy the Eagle Book Series?

• Buy them online 24/7 at GPO’s Online Bookstore at bookstore.gpo.gov:
  • Buy the entire Eagle Book Series
    
• Buy them at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, (202) 512-0132.
• Find them in a federal depository library.

About the Author:  Michele Bartram is Promotions Manager for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Division in Washington, DC, and is responsible for online and offline marketing of the US Government Online Bookstore (bookstore.gpo.gov) and promoting Federal government content to the public.

As the BP Oil Spill civil trial begins this week, the Federal Government will attempt to prove whether British Petroleum (BP) and/or any of its contractors such as Transocean (RIG), the owner and operator of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, and Halliburton (HAL), which was responsible for pouring the cement plugs in the well, were “grossly negligent” and thus financially liable in causing the deadly BP Deepwater Horizon offshore oil rig explosion on April 10, 2010, and the blowout of the Macondo well.

Image: Explosion of the BP Deepwater Horizon rig at the Macondo prospect well. Photo credit: Associated Press.

The initial explosion killed 11 oil rig workers and triggered a subsequent oil spill which dumped millions of barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, with the full extent of the long-term ecological and economic damage to the Gulf states and aquatic and wildlife still unknown.  With tar balls linked to the BP oil spill still washing ashore from Louisiana and Alabama to as far away as Australia, if BP is found “grossly negligent” instead of “simply negligent,” it will be on the hook for $17.6 billion in additional clean-up costs on top of the $4.5 billion fine for the criminal case settled in November 2012.

The National Commission on the BP Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling produced two landmark and controversial reports about the oil spill causes and consequences that are critical in understanding the Government’s case against BP:

1)      Macondo: The Gulf Oil Disaster. Chief Counsel’s Report 2011, and

2)      Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling, Report to the President, January 2011.

THE MISSION

Established by Executive Order 13543 on May 21, 2010 by President Barack Obama, the mission of the National Commission on the BP Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling Commission was to examine the relevant facts and circumstances concerning the root causes of the Deepwater Horizon explosion and develop options to guard against, and mitigate the impact of, any oil spills associated with offshore drilling in the future.

In addition, they were to recommend any needed improvements to Federal laws, regulations, and industry practices concerning the oil and gas industry.

Image: Commissioners of the National Commission on the BP Deep Water Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Image credit: C-SPAN

Key areas of inquiry for the Commission included:

• The Macondo Well Explosion and Drilling Safety
• The Role of Offshore Oil Drilling in Domestic Energy Policy
• Regulatory Oversight of Offshore Drilling
• Oil Spill Response
• Spill Impacts and Assessment
• Restoration Approaches and Options

THE INVESTIGATION

The first order of business for the Commission was to carry out the directive in the Executive Order to “examine the relevant facts and circumstances concerning the root causes of the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.” They instructed the Commission‘s Chief Counsel Fred Bartlit and his investigative team to provide “the most comprehensive, coherent, and detailed account of the events leading up to the blowout and explosion” of Macondo, the name of BP’s offshore prospect in the Gulf of Mexico in the sector called the Mississippi Canyon Block 252, or MC252 where BP was drilling at the time of the accident.

The result was this report, Macondo: The Gulf Oil Disaster. Chief Counsel’s Report 2011, which provides additional details and documentation supporting the findings in the Commission’s final report.

The respected Library Journal, in selecting the Macondo report as one of its “Notable Government Documents” for 2011, said:

“The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was created by President Obama and charged with investigating the root causes of the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The committee concluded that the cause of the blowout was not mechanical. Instead, a number of poor management decisions, combined with an inadequate regulatory structure and an indifferent regulatory agency, overwhelmed the safeguards designed to prevent such disasters. Plenty of illustrations and photographs offer a glimpse into the technology of offshore oil rigs.” – LJ

For trial watchers, this publication is a must-read as much of the initial documentary evidence is included.

THE FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

The second and final report is the best-selling Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling, Report to the President, January 2011. It not only offers the full account of what happened in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010 and why, but also offers recommendations on proposed actions, changes in company behavior, reform of government oversight, and investments in research and technology that will be required to avert future disasters.

In Part I: The Path to Tragedy, “Chapters 1 through 3 describe the events of April 20th on the Deepwater Horizon, and, more important, the events leading up to it in the preceding decades—especially how the dramatic expansion of deepwater drilling in the Gulf was not met by regulatory oversight capable of ensuring the safety of those drilling operations.

In Part II: Explosion and Aftermath:  The Causes and Consequences of the Disaster, Chapters 4 through 7 lay out the results of the Commission’s investigation in detail, highlighting the crucial policy-related issues: the specific engineering and operating choices made in drilling the Macondo well, the attempts to contain and respond to the oil spill, and the impacts of the spill on the region’s natural resources, economy, and people—in the context of the progressive degradation of the Mississippi Delta environment.

Image: Chart illustrating some of the ongoing effects of the BP Macondo well oil spill two years after the Deepwater Horizon explosion. Infographic credit: ColorLines.com

In the final section, Part III: Lessons Learned: Industry, Government, Energy Policy, Chapters 8 through 10 present the Commission’s recommendations for reforms in business practices, regulatory oversight, and broader policy concerns.

Throughout the book, the Commission makes the case that outlines a number of primary conclusions, including these unsettling findings:

• “The explosive loss of the Macondo well could have been prevented.
• The immediate causes of the Macondo well blowout can be traced to a series of identifiable mistakes made by BP, Halliburton, and Transocean that reveal such systematic failures in risk management that they place in doubt the safety culture of the entire industry.
• Deepwater energy exploration and production, particularly at the frontiers of experience, involve risks for which neither industry nor government has been adequately prepared…
  
• To assure human safety and environmental protection, regulatory oversight of leasing, energy exploration, and production require reforms even beyond those significant reforms already initiated…to ensure [the regulators'] political autonomy, technical expertise, and their full consideration of environmental protection concerns.
• Because regulatory oversight alone will not be sufficient to ensure adequate safety, the oil and gas industry will need to take its own, unilateral steps to dramatically increase safety…
  
• The technology, laws and regulations, and practices for containing, responding to, and cleaning up spills lag behind the real risks associated with deepwater drilling…
  
• Scientific understanding of environmental conditions in sensitive environments in deep Gulf waters, along the region’s coastal habitats, and in areas proposed for more drilling, such as the Arctic, is inadequate. The same is true of the human and natural impacts of oil spills.”

Delivered to the President on January 2011, the final report starts with a poignant dedication “to the 11 men who lost their lives on the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20, 2010 and to their families, in hope that this report will help minimize the chance of another such disaster ever happening again.”

Will it help prevent another such disaster? Read these publications and decide for yourself.

How can I buy these BP oil spill publications?

• Buy them online 24/7 at GPO’s Online Bookstore at bookstore.gpo.gov:
• Buy the PRINT Editions:
  • Macondo: The Gulf Oil Disaster. Chief Counsel’s Report 2011 (Paperback)
  • Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling, Report to the President, January 2011 (Paperback)

• Buy the EBOOK Editions:
  • Macondo: The Gulf Oil Disaster. Chief Counsel’s Report 2011 (eBook)
  • Deep Water: The Gulf Oil Disaster and the Future of Offshore Drilling, Report to the President, January 2011 (eBook)

• Buy them at GPO’s retail bookstore at 710 North Capitol Street NW, Washington, DC 20401, open Monday–Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., except Federal holidays, (202) 512-0132.
• Find them in a federal depository library.

About the Author:  Michele Bartram is Promotions Manager for GPO’s Publication and Information Sales Division in Washington, DC, and is responsible for online and offline marketing of the US Government Online Bookstore (bookstore.gpo.gov) and promoting Federal government content to the public.

Holding a job vs. having a career. Making a living vs. following your vocation. In today’s tough economic climate, many unemployed or underemployed would be happy with any job, and don’t dare aspire to a dream job. But what if you could have it all: a job that you love to do, you’re good at doing it, and is in demand so you will actually get paid to do it?

Image: Dream Job = sweet spot between passions, skills, and market demand. Image credit: TheUndercoverRecruiter.com

In President Obama’s State of the Union Address this week on Tuesday, February 12, 2013, one of the themes was the need for education and job training (and re-training) to help get Americans into the workforce or transition into more stable industries. But half the battle is knowing which profession matches your passions and talents, what skills and education you need to carry out that job, and what the current and future prospects are for that particular field so you have a better chance at keeping that job in the future.

Fortunately, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (known as BLS) has two complementary publications to help you choose the right career path.

The Occupational Outlook Handbook is the Federal Government’s premier source of career guidance featuring hundreds of occupations—both blue-collar and white-collar— from carpenters, firefighters and sports referees to teachers, medical professions, personal financial advisers, and even multimedia designers and scientists.  Revised every 2 years, the latest version contains employment projections for the 2010-20 decade.

Do you “dig” bones and ancient cultures? Read up on archeologist careers and learn their most recent media pay, entry-level education requirements or equivalent work experience, the number of jobs in this field today and the job outlook for this field over the next decade.

Currently, the top two fastest growing occupations are personal care aides and home health aides, to serve the aging baby boomers. The HGTV home renovation effect seems to have been a boon for tile/marble setters and stone and brick masons, and our nation’s kitty and puppy love for pets has made veterinary techs in high demand. The highest paying of the top 20 fastest growing occupations are physical therapists at $76,310 median annual pay a