by RLMiller
In some circles, a "cold comfort letter" confirms certain accounting information and provides limited negative assurances concerning changes in the issuer’s financial condition since the last audit. To most of us, "cold comfort" means very slight consolation. (Graphic credit: Mike Mitchell) Today, both BP and high-ranking Obama Administration officials acknowledged what many of us have suspected and feared for some time: chances of stanching the flow of oil from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico before August are slim at best. Some truth is finally being told after misstatements. It's cold comfort in light of cold facts: Do not pin all hope on the relief wells working in August.
continued at Daily Kos....
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sunday Train: Help Wanted. 1% Solutions. Apply Within.
by BruceMcF
Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence OK, the story so far: "BP", which seems to stand for "Blatant Phonies", lies about being able to fix a problem it lies about being almost certain not to happen and due to entirely predictable criminal negligence catastrophe strikes ... because we in the US are addicted to crude oil, the "Texas Tea" that finances the Texas Tea Parties ... and if we cut our petroleum addiction by 5% each year, in 20 years we'll be off the stuff. Transport needs about 7 5% solutions per decade over the next two decades. With the White House policy as one, Steel Interstates, Nationwide Oil-Free Liberty Transport networks, 5% of trips by Active Transport, and doubling the fuel efficiency of cars carrying 10% of passengers, that's 5 of the 7. But of course, five 1% solutions make a 5% solution too. So I am looking for 10 "1% solutions". Heck, if we have enough of them, we can get 10% over the next two decades from 1% solutions even if they are not all 1%.
continued at Daily Kos....
Burning the Midnight Oil for Living Energy Independence OK, the story so far: "BP", which seems to stand for "Blatant Phonies", lies about being able to fix a problem it lies about being almost certain not to happen and due to entirely predictable criminal negligence catastrophe strikes ... because we in the US are addicted to crude oil, the "Texas Tea" that finances the Texas Tea Parties ... and if we cut our petroleum addiction by 5% each year, in 20 years we'll be off the stuff. Transport needs about 7 5% solutions per decade over the next two decades. With the White House policy as one, Steel Interstates, Nationwide Oil-Free Liberty Transport networks, 5% of trips by Active Transport, and doubling the fuel efficiency of cars carrying 10% of passengers, that's 5 of the 7. But of course, five 1% solutions make a 5% solution too. So I am looking for 10 "1% solutions". Heck, if we have enough of them, we can get 10% over the next two decades from 1% solutions even if they are not all 1%.
continued at Daily Kos....
White House Increasingly Angry With BP Over Its Lies
by slinkerwink
Here's this interesting news story from Politico about the anger within the White House towards BP: The White House has become increasingly angry with BP, which initially assured administration officials the spill would be no greater than 1,000 barrels per day; estimates now range from 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day. And Obama’s team was incensed that the company kept them in the dark for a half-day last week after suspending their unsuccessful "Top Kill" efforts to plus the leak with mud and dross. I didn't know that the government was kept in the dark by BP for a half-day after the Top Kill effort initially was suspended. This is confusing though, because it's been said that there are federal scientists and officials right there in the control room. How can the White House be kept in the dark for a half-day? How is that possible?
continued at Daily Kos....
Here's this interesting news story from Politico about the anger within the White House towards BP: The White House has become increasingly angry with BP, which initially assured administration officials the spill would be no greater than 1,000 barrels per day; estimates now range from 12,000 to 19,000 barrels a day. And Obama’s team was incensed that the company kept them in the dark for a half-day last week after suspending their unsuccessful "Top Kill" efforts to plus the leak with mud and dross. I didn't know that the government was kept in the dark by BP for a half-day after the Top Kill effort initially was suspended. This is confusing though, because it's been said that there are federal scientists and officials right there in the control room. How can the White House be kept in the dark for a half-day? How is that possible?
continued at Daily Kos....
The Nuclear Option
by Stranded Wind
British Petroleum's well capping antics are looking more and more like just that – public relations stunts with very low probabilities of success. The relief well solution has always been the thing most likely to work, but our media is getting this wrong, too. Relief wells have a 60% - 70% chance of success, which is why two or more are required. British Petroleum was drilling two, but now have cut back to just one. You, dear taxpayer, should be holding on to your wallet very tightly, because it is we and our President who are being set up to take the fall for this mess. I have been following this story closely and today I took a little time to look into the nuclear option …
continued at Daily Kos....
British Petroleum's well capping antics are looking more and more like just that – public relations stunts with very low probabilities of success. The relief well solution has always been the thing most likely to work, but our media is getting this wrong, too. Relief wells have a 60% - 70% chance of success, which is why two or more are required. British Petroleum was drilling two, but now have cut back to just one. You, dear taxpayer, should be holding on to your wallet very tightly, because it is we and our President who are being set up to take the fall for this mess. I have been following this story closely and today I took a little time to look into the nuclear option …
continued at Daily Kos....
How do I loathe BP? Let me count the criminally negligent ways.
by Cedwyn
I, for one, was thrilled to discover the other day that the Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation into BP's shenanigans. Granted, it's just the first steps, laying the groundwork for a formal investigation if whatever turns up warrants it, but you can't find evidence if you don't look for it, right? And based on what we do know, it's appearing increasingly likely that further investigation will be warranted, according to a handful of legal experts, anyway. One of them, former federal prosecutor Chic Foret, had this to say: "I can almost guarantee you that a grand jury will be convened to take testimony, receive documents, hear evidence about exactly what happened."
continued at Daily Kos....
I, for one, was thrilled to discover the other day that the Department of Justice is conducting its own investigation into BP's shenanigans. Granted, it's just the first steps, laying the groundwork for a formal investigation if whatever turns up warrants it, but you can't find evidence if you don't look for it, right? And based on what we do know, it's appearing increasingly likely that further investigation will be warranted, according to a handful of legal experts, anyway. One of them, former federal prosecutor Chic Foret, had this to say: "I can almost guarantee you that a grand jury will be convened to take testimony, receive documents, hear evidence about exactly what happened."
continued at Daily Kos....
Worst Case Scenario
by Crashing Vor
Rachel Maddow brought up a serious issue on Wednesday evening's show (transcript): How is it that we are forced to use the same tools and techniques for fighting oil spills that have already proved fruitless in the deep-water Gulf? Same busted blowout preventer, same ineffective berm, same underwater plumes, same toxic dispersants, same failed containment domes, same junk shot, same top kill—it‘s all the same technology. ... The oil companies keep talking about how technologically advanced they are—but what they‘ve gotten technologically advanced at is drilling deeper. They haven‘t gotten any more advanced on how to deal with the risks attached to that. They haven‘t made technological advances in the last 30 year when‘s it comes to stopping a leak like this when it happens. All they‘ve gotten better at is making the risks worse, by putting these leaks further out of our reach.
continued at Daily Kos....
Rachel Maddow brought up a serious issue on Wednesday evening's show (transcript): How is it that we are forced to use the same tools and techniques for fighting oil spills that have already proved fruitless in the deep-water Gulf? Same busted blowout preventer, same ineffective berm, same underwater plumes, same toxic dispersants, same failed containment domes, same junk shot, same top kill—it‘s all the same technology. ... The oil companies keep talking about how technologically advanced they are—but what they‘ve gotten technologically advanced at is drilling deeper. They haven‘t gotten any more advanced on how to deal with the risks attached to that. They haven‘t made technological advances in the last 30 year when‘s it comes to stopping a leak like this when it happens. All they‘ve gotten better at is making the risks worse, by putting these leaks further out of our reach.
continued at Daily Kos....
BOPGate - A Study in Oil Industry Arrogance
by grapes
Someday, this disaster will be over. Someday, the world will stop deepwater drilling. Someday, the world will wean itself off of oil. Unfortunately, none of those days will come soon enough for most of us. Meanwhile, oil companies will get government permission to drill in deep water using technology that is similar to the package that failed on the Deepwater Horizon. In this diary, I want to share some documents that bear on the Blowout Preventer (BOP), the fundamental safety device that is the ultimate protection against a catastrophe like the GoM. These documents are not secret. They are publicly viewable on the website of the Minerals Management Service (www.mms.gov). I warn you that the contents of these serious, industry-supplied presentations and studies will set your hair on fire. They will also prove that the Oil Industry (and their regulators) have been systematically, cynically and stupidly lying to us for decades. If aircraft had BOPs, the documents linked in this diary would ground every plane in the world.
continued at Daily Kos....
Someday, this disaster will be over. Someday, the world will stop deepwater drilling. Someday, the world will wean itself off of oil. Unfortunately, none of those days will come soon enough for most of us. Meanwhile, oil companies will get government permission to drill in deep water using technology that is similar to the package that failed on the Deepwater Horizon. In this diary, I want to share some documents that bear on the Blowout Preventer (BOP), the fundamental safety device that is the ultimate protection against a catastrophe like the GoM. These documents are not secret. They are publicly viewable on the website of the Minerals Management Service (www.mms.gov). I warn you that the contents of these serious, industry-supplied presentations and studies will set your hair on fire. They will also prove that the Oil Industry (and their regulators) have been systematically, cynically and stupidly lying to us for decades. If aircraft had BOPs, the documents linked in this diary would ground every plane in the world.
continued at Daily Kos....
Can a Middle-Aged Dad Find ECSTASY?
by WarrenS
E.C.S.T.A.S.Y. — End Consumption, Save The Air & Sea, Y'all! A support group and discussion forum for those who want to kick the habits of consumption that are damaging the world we live in. I am alone. My wife and daughter are in India, dealing with the recent passing of my father-in-law. The past two weeks have been hysterical; as the stay-at-home-and-work component of our marital pair, I've been responsible for organizing tickets, organizing passport renewals (thanks to Ed Markey's office for their support!) and emergency visa authorizations. And, because I have massive amounts of work (including a Very Important Concert), I couldn't go with them. I am, instead, trying to clean and straighten the house, so that when they return in mid-summer there is order instead of uproar. Which means that I'm currently dealing with a problematic epiphenomenon of 21st-Century American Childhood. To wit, a serious stuffed toy problem.
continued at Daily Kos....
E.C.S.T.A.S.Y. — End Consumption, Save The Air & Sea, Y'all! A support group and discussion forum for those who want to kick the habits of consumption that are damaging the world we live in. I am alone. My wife and daughter are in India, dealing with the recent passing of my father-in-law. The past two weeks have been hysterical; as the stay-at-home-and-work component of our marital pair, I've been responsible for organizing tickets, organizing passport renewals (thanks to Ed Markey's office for their support!) and emergency visa authorizations. And, because I have massive amounts of work (including a Very Important Concert), I couldn't go with them. I am, instead, trying to clean and straighten the house, so that when they return in mid-summer there is order instead of uproar. Which means that I'm currently dealing with a problematic epiphenomenon of 21st-Century American Childhood. To wit, a serious stuffed toy problem.
continued at Daily Kos....
Gulf of Mexico Disaster - Liveblog Mothership: 30 May 2010 - Day Five
by Liveblog
RECS ARE NEEDED TO KEEP THIS RECLISTED. If you haven't rec'd this mothership, please do so now. This is the Gulf of Mexico Disaster Mothership, Day Five. Rules of the Road Let's keep this a meta diary. To volunteer to host an ROV (submersible) diary, leave a comment here. For commenting on anything related to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, please go to the current ROV diary. Please rec this mothership diary, not the submersibles. Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos. To repeat: please refrain from commenting in this mothership diary, unless you're volunteering for a submersible shift.
continued at Daily Kos....
RECS ARE NEEDED TO KEEP THIS RECLISTED. If you haven't rec'd this mothership, please do so now. This is the Gulf of Mexico Disaster Mothership, Day Five. Rules of the Road Let's keep this a meta diary. To volunteer to host an ROV (submersible) diary, leave a comment here. For commenting on anything related to the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, please go to the current ROV diary. Please rec this mothership diary, not the submersibles. Please be kind to fellow kossacks who may have limited bandwidth and refrain from posting images or videos. To repeat: please refrain from commenting in this mothership diary, unless you're volunteering for a submersible shift.
continued at Daily Kos....
Even the MSM is catching on!
by don mikulecky
So many times in my diaries about the nature of technology someone claims we can find a fix for anything. Now even the MSM questions such arrogance. In the NYT we have this:Our Fix-It Faith and the Oil Spill A growing number of reductionist trained scientists and engineers are beginning to understand the limits to the Cartesian reductionism that serves as the philosophical basis for their understanding of the real complex world. Physics supplied them with a good model of reality for dealing with machines and mechanisms, but not for most complex systems that make up the real world. The surrogate model we worshipped does not do it. Read on below for more.
continued at Daily Kos....
So many times in my diaries about the nature of technology someone claims we can find a fix for anything. Now even the MSM questions such arrogance. In the NYT we have this:Our Fix-It Faith and the Oil Spill A growing number of reductionist trained scientists and engineers are beginning to understand the limits to the Cartesian reductionism that serves as the philosophical basis for their understanding of the real complex world. Physics supplied them with a good model of reality for dealing with machines and mechanisms, but not for most complex systems that make up the real world. The surrogate model we worshipped does not do it. Read on below for more.
continued at Daily Kos....
BP: Wounding My Mother, Wounding Pachamama
by davidseth
It begins as helplessness. Nothing more, nothing less. I watch as oil spews from BP's well into the Gulf of Mexico, killing sea life, destroying the ocean, ruining the breeding grounds near the shore. The Gulf of Mexico is becoming a vast petroleum gumbo garnished with oil soaked sea birds and drowned turtles. I watch this. I wish that all of the wise men and women of the world could find a solution, could stop the flow. But as the time elapses, and the failures to stem the flow mount up, it should be obvious to me. There may be no solution. At least not for the foreseeable future. And by then, by then what even BP is calling a "catastrophe" will be that much more enormous. That much more irremediable. The leak will have killed much of the Gulf of Mexico, and unchecked, it will continue to kill as the currents carry its devastation farther and farther away. Please join me on this voyage.
continued at Daily Kos....
It begins as helplessness. Nothing more, nothing less. I watch as oil spews from BP's well into the Gulf of Mexico, killing sea life, destroying the ocean, ruining the breeding grounds near the shore. The Gulf of Mexico is becoming a vast petroleum gumbo garnished with oil soaked sea birds and drowned turtles. I watch this. I wish that all of the wise men and women of the world could find a solution, could stop the flow. But as the time elapses, and the failures to stem the flow mount up, it should be obvious to me. There may be no solution. At least not for the foreseeable future. And by then, by then what even BP is calling a "catastrophe" will be that much more enormous. That much more irremediable. The leak will have killed much of the Gulf of Mexico, and unchecked, it will continue to kill as the currents carry its devastation farther and farther away. Please join me on this voyage.
continued at Daily Kos....
Corexit Toxicity Tests not so hot, When Mixed with Oil
by jamess
I started to dig into this toxic trail about a week ago, and hit a "jargony math wall", which I had to set aside, until now. ProPublica Blog In Gulf Spill, BP Using Dispersants Banned in U.K. The two types of dispersants BP is spraying in the Gulf of Mexico are banned for use on oil spills in the U.K. As EPA-approved products, BP has been using them in greater quantities than dispersants have ever been used in the history of U.S. oil spills. BP is using two products from a line of dispersants called Corexit, which EPA data appear to show is more toxic and less effective on South Louisiana crude than other available dispersants, according to Greenwire. [...] As we’ve reported, Corexit was also used after the Exxon Valdez disaster and was later linked with human health problems including respiratory, nervous system, liver, kidney and blood disorders. One of the two Corexit products also contains a compound that, in high doses, is associated with headaches, vomiting and reproductive problems. No wonder skimming crews are getting violently ill, look what they have to deal with.
continued at Daily Kos....
I started to dig into this toxic trail about a week ago, and hit a "jargony math wall", which I had to set aside, until now. ProPublica Blog In Gulf Spill, BP Using Dispersants Banned in U.K. The two types of dispersants BP is spraying in the Gulf of Mexico are banned for use on oil spills in the U.K. As EPA-approved products, BP has been using them in greater quantities than dispersants have ever been used in the history of U.S. oil spills. BP is using two products from a line of dispersants called Corexit, which EPA data appear to show is more toxic and less effective on South Louisiana crude than other available dispersants, according to Greenwire. [...] As we’ve reported, Corexit was also used after the Exxon Valdez disaster and was later linked with human health problems including respiratory, nervous system, liver, kidney and blood disorders. One of the two Corexit products also contains a compound that, in high doses, is associated with headaches, vomiting and reproductive problems. No wonder skimming crews are getting violently ill, look what they have to deal with.
continued at Daily Kos....
Dawn Chorus: Of Warblers and Weekends
by juliewolf
Warblers are small, fast moving birds, which can be very hard to identify, but when you are lucky with them, it's pretty awesome. [as I prep this piece, there are chimney swifts flying around the house, mocking me with their speed. Warblers may be fast, but chimney swifts are insane] This prairie warbler is one such bird. I've only seen prairies a few times in my life, and about half those times were in one specific location. Kennebunk Plains, in Kennebunk, ME. They show up in other places, but I mostly find them at this one spot. They're not hard to identify: notice the white on the tail. When they fly,it's like a yellow dark-eyed junco. And notice the facial lines: like someone took the letter "P" and faced it down. If you remember those two pieces of information, you'll know Prairie warblers from a lot of others. Today's dawn chorus will talk about warblers, warbler IDs and pretty much anything else I want to talk about :)
continued at Daily Kos....
Warblers are small, fast moving birds, which can be very hard to identify, but when you are lucky with them, it's pretty awesome. [as I prep this piece, there are chimney swifts flying around the house, mocking me with their speed. Warblers may be fast, but chimney swifts are insane] This prairie warbler is one such bird. I've only seen prairies a few times in my life, and about half those times were in one specific location. Kennebunk Plains, in Kennebunk, ME. They show up in other places, but I mostly find them at this one spot. They're not hard to identify: notice the white on the tail. When they fly,it's like a yellow dark-eyed junco. And notice the facial lines: like someone took the letter "P" and faced it down. If you remember those two pieces of information, you'll know Prairie warblers from a lot of others. Today's dawn chorus will talk about warblers, warbler IDs and pretty much anything else I want to talk about :)
continued at Daily Kos....
The last most beautiful thing
by erratic
is back. What was the last most beautiful thing that you experienced? I was just reading back through old diaries I'd written, and was reminded of how despairingly godawful I often felt during the W years. So that was pretty beautiful. And it was beautiful to read all these old comments and discussions and battles, and remember how awesome the DK community can be. But also, how annoying. But my last most beautiful thing is after the jump.
continued at Daily Kos....
is back. What was the last most beautiful thing that you experienced? I was just reading back through old diaries I'd written, and was reminded of how despairingly godawful I often felt during the W years. So that was pretty beautiful. And it was beautiful to read all these old comments and discussions and battles, and remember how awesome the DK community can be. But also, how annoying. But my last most beautiful thing is after the jump.
continued at Daily Kos....
Images from the Oilpocalypse w/ new unidentified leak.
by Tomtech
I caught our favorite rover approaching the blow out preventer on the main BP feed and was able to get some screenshots of where we are in the process. See the last image below and help me identify what it is.
continued at Daily Kos....
I caught our favorite rover approaching the blow out preventer on the main BP feed and was able to get some screenshots of where we are in the process. See the last image below and help me identify what it is.
continued at Daily Kos....
Oil & My Childhood Chesapeake Life
by LaniN
This is my first diary. I'm a reader, not a writer. But the Gulf disaster is haunting me. I'm a child of the Chesapeake, with my roots going back thousands of years. For what are we losing this magnificent world? More polyester? More big cars? Our food chain is dying. Our lives are ending. For what, I keep asking.
continued at Daily Kos....
This is my first diary. I'm a reader, not a writer. But the Gulf disaster is haunting me. I'm a child of the Chesapeake, with my roots going back thousands of years. For what are we losing this magnificent world? More polyester? More big cars? Our food chain is dying. Our lives are ending. For what, I keep asking.
continued at Daily Kos....
Overnight News Digest: Science Saturday (Memorial Day 2010/BP Oil Spill edition)
by Neon Vincent
Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment. This week's featured story comes from Democracy Now! via Alternet. BP Oil Spill Confirmed as Worst in US History By Amy Goodman Although President Obama has extended the moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits for six months and halted operations at thirty-three deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico, some oil rigs are continuing their operations. The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit to halt forty-nine offshore drilling plans in the Gulf of Mexico that were approved without full environmental review. Meanwhile, the group Food & Water Watch is leading an effort to shut down the Atlantis, another BP oil rig in the Gulf. The group warns an oil spill from the Atlantis could be many times larger than the current spill and even harder to stop. More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.
continued at Daily Kos....
Welcome to Science Saturday, where the Overnight News Digest crew informs and entertains you with this week's news about science, space, and the environment. This week's featured story comes from Democracy Now! via Alternet. BP Oil Spill Confirmed as Worst in US History By Amy Goodman Although President Obama has extended the moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits for six months and halted operations at thirty-three deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico, some oil rigs are continuing their operations. The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit to halt forty-nine offshore drilling plans in the Gulf of Mexico that were approved without full environmental review. Meanwhile, the group Food & Water Watch is leading an effort to shut down the Atlantis, another BP oil rig in the Gulf. The group warns an oil spill from the Atlantis could be many times larger than the current spill and even harder to stop. More science, space, and environment stories after the jump.
continued at Daily Kos....
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