Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

[bernie's bender]

I got home from playing last night and flipped on television... the channel that came up had a show about DEA agents..... pretty much the whole show (I'm lazy and just sat and watched for 20 minutes) was about raiding drug houses.

It was pretty interesting (at first) but then I was struck by an image. When the police raid these places (all in Detroit on the show) they found millions of dollars in drugs, a ton of expensive guns and sometimes there was 500,000.00 in CASH (in bales!).... the houses were the foulest, grossest, most run down places and yet there were all these people willing to live in total squalor so that they could have (the ubiquitous) big tv, stereo, game console, guns, drugs and 'bling' type stuff. Kind of crazy to my simple mind. Who would want to live in squalor, in a toilet, in order to have some 'creature comforts' and a big bale of cash.

I guess 48% of Florida.

The time will come where we will have to choose less in terms of excess in order to have safer, saner and healthier. But, addicts (like we are to oil) don't give up until they reach rock bottom.

[EagleLady]

I Wonder why Obama hasn't done anything but talk talk talk?

[bernie's bender]

I Wonder why Obama hasn't done anything but talk talk talk?

They had a special on the science channel, he's been down at the bottom trying to lift the rig up so they can stop the leak!



He was gonna fly over the site, but he knew that his enemies would complain that he was wasting gas...

[EagleLady]

For the first time, there is measurable progress controlling the oil spill - BP says a mile-long suction tube is siphoning off 1000 barrels of oil a day. That leaves at least 4000 barrels still escaping daily into the Gulf of Mexico. Now there are fears the spill may be on its way to the Florida Keys and up the East C...oast. A researcher with the University of South Florida's College of Marine Science says oil may have seeped into the powerful Loop Current, threatening ecologically sensitive reefs.

[EagleLady]

I'm sorry. I didn't realize I posted the same thing, well I got that from facebook, but nonetheless

[bernie's bender]

there was a pretty good episode of 60 minutes last night that outlined what took place... pretty much the usual 'ignore enough stuff and something blows up real good' type narrative from a surviving derrick worker....


Anyway, it is good that they are pulling some oil up!

[bernie's bender]

I missed the first 15 mins of 60 Minutes, the crucial part naturally. I still say that it's too little, too late. Yes, they're trying to do SOMETHING finally. We could help by using a teaspoon and dipping the little balls of oil out of the ocean, that's what it amounts to in the long run. Have you figured out that the big corporations and governments in general are not on my GOOD list?

The calculus on stuff is never easy. Like many of you, I have friends who work for the government, I've even held local office myself. Most of my life I've volunteered and tried to contribute and be of service... In other words, I have been the government and lots of people I know and love and respect and admire ARE the government.

The government is just us. As for big corporations... I work for one. A huge one. (it didn't used to be, when I got there, everyone thought we were going to go under, but we didn't. We fought back and we innnovated and we worked and now we are huge, bigger than we ever were before.)

For the last 30 years there has been a huge push for fewer regulations. The push to 'get out of the way of business' is just part of the laissez faire approach to the economy. That, coupled to our world addiction (and growing if you account for China and India) to petroleum based products has made a perfect environment for shortcuts.

The fact is, we've all been gambling on the short, hoping for windfalls that would make us rich. This is not uncommon in the United States (historically speaking...)

We have embraced technology since the age of Ben Franklin and the Deists and when the protestant reformation made it okay for gentiles to lend money, we have been pursuing the almighty buck. Heck, if you think the protestants came here solely for religious freedom, you've been duped. It was a land grab.

There is no one external to us as individuals who will save us from ourselves. We are the government. We are the schools. We are the police.

There is just us. I have been told several times by folks who I work with at other companies "I trust you more than I do most of my colleagues." And I have to tell them that while I appreciate the sentiment and have deserved the trust, we all need to be ever vigilant to allow relationships in adversarial relationships to get out of balance.

That is what happened at MMS. Their relationships became too close and too trusting with the folks who they were regulating. Because of that and the pressure to perform, they did not enforce the rules.

Then, (according to the reports) people did what people do... which is take advantage of relationships and put themselves and their needs ahead of the needs of the many. They lost sight of the overall vision and goal of their projects and they made mistakes. The mistakes will be costly and were deadly.

The fiddle player in our band has a daughter who works in exploration for Chevron. She is a really good singer and sits in with us sometimes... I asked her about it and she shook her head slowly (she is about 28, a pup! but brilliant) and said, "they teach you in the military that an unlawful order, regardless of who gives it, is not to be followed under any circumstance. Folks along the way chose not to be responsible and to stand up and be responsible."

The main leaders, the CEO's, the chairmen of the board, political leaders, the President are the folks who set the tone for how their people behave. But, it is each of us, in our daily lives who make up these companies, this government and so, to ask "what are they doing about this and why is it taking so long?"

How would we respond? (the following questions are rhetorical) Are you prepared for a personal disaster? If you live in earthquake country or tornado country, or flood country, or hurricane country (which we all do,) is your home properly protected and do you have food and water, batteries, blankets etc necessary to survive 10 days without assistance?

When did you last change the batteries and test your smoke alarms?

How old is the battery in your car? When did you last test it to make sure it was properly maintained? Are your immunization and tetanus shots current? What is the exact insurance coverage you have? are you covered for disasters that are reasonable for your area?

When was the last time you closely inspected your home for things that could threaten you and your family. This should be done every six months... most people have never done it.

Sorry for the long post, but if we expect everyone else to do huge things when we don't necessarily expect much of ourselves... putting our faith in 'they' is only as good as the faith we put in the 'me'.

I think it is fair to be upset to find out that folks we put our public trust in did not live up to the rules that we entrusted them to set up... Convenience is rarely cheap. In this case, I think we frequently look the other way in hopes that everything will be fine, not wanting to be bored or burdened with the hard details and consequences of knowing the compromises.

Frequently, I hear the complaints about some 'dumb law or policy' but, when burdened by the details, it becomes clear why it exists. I think sometimes CEOs and Presidents might even like to take full responsibility....but, they don't even know for what. The scope of the issue is so huge and the number of decisions that were made along the way are so complex... all made by regular people...

The president said the other day that the responsibility for making sure that rules and laws are enforced are his. plain and simple. The govt has 300+ boats and ships working the spill and they have been out there since day 2. Booms and recovery ships were on scene during day 1... so, they are responding, but responding doesn't mean quick, easy, convenient fix.

If you've ever worked a forest fire (when I lived in Colorado in a small town, we all volunteered as a matter of course.) the actual work is boring, slow, brutal, tedious, dirty, awful and fun because you get to hang out with friends and be outside... and, occasionally you can accomplish some good. But, it is mostly thankless and a drag and you smell like smoke for a couple of days...

The smoke jumpers and all those guys do the 'fun' stuff... most of fire fighting is prep. and cleanup. there are areas from the storm king fire (1994) that are still being cleaned up.

This stuff is a mile under the water... it is like another planet down there. The pressure alone would crush a man in seconds. The physics of it all are a whole new ballgame.

It is the need for convenience that got us into the mess that we are in. Convenience won't get us out. I think the reminder we could all use is---> there is no them, there is just us. If it is fast or easy, it is probably a ripoff. If you want something done the way you want it, pick up a shovel.

check the batteries on your smoke detector, test it to make sure it works, check your tires and battery in your car. Toss a blanket and a jug or two of water in your car and inspect your house for dangerous stuff that you can remedy. If you don't have an emergency plan for you and your family, get one.

As we used to say in the mountains, "A prepared texan is an easy texan to extract." (texans who were visiting frequently needed rescuing. texan also became an algebraic term for anyone not from colorado.)

[EagleLady]

I sincerely Hope BP Goes into Bankrupt. That's all I will say. Thank You BP For ruining Our Beautiful beaches.

[EagleLady]

From Destin to Gulf Shores, people all along the Gulf Coast are reporting the smell of oil in the air. Emergency Management Officials say the smell is a result of at least 6 burns being conducted near the site of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Winds blowing from the south are bringing the odor into our area and may continue to do so for some time.

[EagleLady]

As BP works on its next plan for stemming the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, a brown ooze has started clinging to marsh grasses along the Louisiana coast. A month after the leak began, BP says a mile-long tube it inserted last weekend is capturing 210,000 gallons of oil a day, though some is still escaping. Even though the oil isn't ...forecast to hit our beaches anytime soon,
boat captains are worried about the effects underwater, and what will
happen to the future of the fishing industry.