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@achewood Crime drama, 1980: Magnum PI. 2005: NUMB3RS. One based on smiling and helicopters, one on showcasing higher math. Explain discrepancy.

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Author Topic: Gulf oil spill  (Read 9846 times)

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jaydub

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #15 on: May 25, 2010, 06:18:40 pm »

I think its incredible (as in - how could this have happened) that the "blowout preventer" didn't work.  I mean, shouldn't the default state of the well be "closed" unless everything is hunky dory all the way up the pipe?  Why don't those things work like a deadman switch? 
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greenkoolayd

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #16 on: May 25, 2010, 07:00:26 pm »

I think its incredible (as in - how could this have happened) that the "blowout preventer" didn't work.  I mean, shouldn't the default state of the well be "closed" unless everything is hunky dory all the way up the pipe?  Why don't those things work like a deadman switch? 

that makes too much sense.
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wombat

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #17 on: May 25, 2010, 07:46:35 pm »

Obviously, your 'lets find out' threshold is a lot lower than mine. I'm OK with things blowing up horribly as long as some kind of technological/engineering advance comes from it. Is this a catastrophe of the kind that is irrecoverable from?

This really does seem like it is breaking new ground as far as environmental disasters go. I don't think that's a reasonable price to pay for an engineering advance. Yeah, I would choose a pristine Gulf ecosystem over an oil company's ability to make money by drilling in even more places. I'll bet a lot of us would, but apparently that point of view was not even slightly represented in the decisionmaking process.
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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #18 on: May 31, 2010, 01:42:25 pm »

If you're having a hard time visualizing how big the oil spill is, this site lets you superimpose it on an area whose size you are familiar with.
http://www.beowulfe.com/oil/
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miles

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #19 on: May 31, 2010, 04:34:23 pm »

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AugustWest

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #20 on: May 31, 2010, 05:33:38 pm »

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greenkoolayd

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #21 on: May 31, 2010, 11:23:48 pm »

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Bobby Isosceles

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #22 on: June 01, 2010, 03:12:49 am »

It tracks the interstates surprisingly closely.

If you are suggesting we absorb the oil spill with Mormons, I'm right there with you.

I know that polygamy would be good for something.

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KeithHernandez

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #23 on: June 01, 2010, 07:32:39 am »

plus all that underwear
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dejavroom

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #24 on: June 01, 2010, 01:50:41 pm »

Sigh. I can't articulate how I feel about this - I can only cuss, cuss, cuss.

Hey, since we're getting bummed by ecotastrophes, let's hear it for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch! It's twice the size of Texas!
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linear

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #25 on: June 13, 2010, 07:52:50 pm »

the thing about BP is that the culture might be a little bit stupid.  I don't know I don't work there but maybe the corporate culture is kind of stupid.  The CEO maybe he took responsibility for the leak, but that is exactly the problem.  He's not responsible.  It's the guys working on the rig who were responsible.  But when the culture doesn't empower them to take responsibility, and instead trains them to follow orders, even when those orders are stupid...

so anyway.  I'm on skype if anyone wants to chat.  onthenickel is my name.

going to work now.  christ.
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jay-ell

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #26 on: June 13, 2010, 09:08:15 pm »

the thing about BP is that the culture might be a little bit stupid.  I don't know I don't work there but maybe the corporate culture is kind of stupid.  The CEO maybe he took responsibility for the leak, but that is exactly the problem.  He's not responsible.  It's the guys working on the rig who were responsible.  But when the culture doesn't empower them to take responsibility, and instead trains them to follow orders, even when those orders are stupid...

so anyway.  I'm on skype if anyone wants to chat.  onthenickel is my name.

going to work now.  christ.

I wonder what Nabu thinks about this, being, you know, employed by a major oil company and all. But I haven't had the heart to ask him. I figure if he had an opinion he didn't mind sharing, it would have been on Facebook already.
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linear

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #27 on: June 14, 2010, 06:16:35 am »


http://touamb.com/index.php?action=profile;u=7
Last Active:     August 31, 2009, 11:07:29 AM
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AugustWest

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #28 on: June 14, 2010, 02:58:05 pm »

the thing about BP is that the culture might be a little bit stupid.  I don't know I don't work there but maybe the corporate culture is kind of stupid.  The CEO maybe he took responsibility for the leak, but that is exactly the problem.  He's not responsible.  It's the guys working on the rig who were responsible.  But when the culture doesn't empower them to take responsibility, and instead trains them to follow orders, even when those orders are stupid...

I think the idea is that the CEO is responsible for the corporate culture.  If the culture trains them to cut corners and ignore safety protocols ...
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Carlos del Vaca

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Re: Gulf oil spill
« Reply #29 on: June 14, 2010, 03:42:00 pm »

What AW said.  Tim Dickinson had a pretty thorough run-down on how we got here:
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965?RS_show_page=0

Bottom line:  The oil companies said "Trust us, we know what we're doing," and the Bush administration, in typical neo-conservative fashion, said "You got it, that's fine," and imposed little to no regulation. The Obama administration, despite saying they were going to fix shit like that, pretty much didn't.  And in typical American corporate fashion, BP ignored reports and tests that indicated Deepwater Horizon may have problems, no doubt because it would have been too expensive to fix.

Plenty of blame to go around.
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