Oil Spill Timeline

[patric]

The way it was explained to me, is that this is equal to one Exxon Valdez every 4 1/2 days, over and over and over...

[Conan71]

Help from five countries has been accepted after two months?

And people thought FEMA moved slowly.  There have got to be times where the government needs to be nimble enough to bend and out-right rescind rules to mitigate and contain a disaster like this as quick as possible.  President Obama has the power to make executive orders which can temporarily suspend regulations which prohibit certain types of aid.  I also find the idea that we aren't moving forward with some aid which comes with a price.  Are you frakking kidding me?  How much worthless pork barrel crap and entitlements has this Congress pissed money into in the last year and a half?  This is an entire economy and ecosystem which hangs in the balance and this administration is most definitely dithering.

[Gaspar]

So according to FactCheck (LOL) AKA Brooks Jackson.  15 foreign flagged ships are working the cleanup out of the hundreds that have been offered.

Foreign assistance makes up less than 3% of the effort.  I suppose we deserve it.

[we vs us]

Help from five countries has been accepted after two months?

And people thought FEMA moved slowly.  There have got to be times where the government needs to be nimble enough to bend and out-right rescind rules to mitigate and contain a disaster like this as quick as possible.  President Obama has the power to make executive orders which can temporarily suspend regulations which prohibit certain types of aid.  I also find the idea that we aren't moving forward with some aid which comes with a price.  Are you frakking kidding me?  How much worthless pork barrel crap and entitlements has this Congress pissed money into in the last year and a half?  This is an entire economy and ecosystem which hangs in the balance and this administration is most definitely dithering.

Since BP is coordinating/is responsible for the leak and the cleanup, are they the people who have to accept or decline aid?  I'm not arguing, per se, just clarifying.  I've been underwhelmed by the Administration's response, too, so far.

[we vs us]

So according to FactCheck (LOL) AKA Brooks Jackson. 

What's your issue with FactCheck?  Too fact-y for you?

[Conan71]

Since BP is coordinating/is responsible for the leak and the cleanup, are they the people who have to accept or decline aid?  I'm not arguing, per se, just clarifying.  I've been underwhelmed by the Administration's response, too, so far.

Reputedly, it's been the Feds who have cited the Jones Act in refusing aid from foreign ships.  The Feds stood in the way of sand berms being built until further environmental impact studies were done.  The Feds have mandated which dispersants can and cannot be used. The U.S. Coast Guard shut down 16 oil-gathering barges while they determined if there were adequate life preservers and fire extinguishers on board.

All issues which could be over-ridden by the President passing temporary executive orders that any and everything be done to minimize the damage to a Gulf Coast which has been beset with all sorts of hardship over the last decade.  I realize there has to be some scruitiny to methods of containment and clean-up, but the Administration has seemed incredibly ill prepared to respond to a national crisis.

I will give credit where credit is due, and I do think it was a good idea to have BP pony up cash in escrow to pay for the
disaster which hopefully will speed claims for those who are impacted rather than having to go through drawn out court procedures.  However, it was portrayed as President Obama getting his pound of flesh, or kicking BP's donkey.  Punitive ideas are the last thing which need to be going through the minds of the admin right now.  Worry about that later so long as BP and Trans-Ocean are cooperating and doing whatever is necessary.

President Obama is a great idealist concerned with passing legacy issues like healthcare reform, finance reform, major stimulus packages, etc. but he's coming up short on issues of immediate concern and crisis.  From a purely political standpoint I give him credit for getting much of his major agenda items he campaigned on done prior to mid-terms, but I think it's come at a cost of dealing with other more pressing issues.

[we vs us]

If you read the first part of my FactCheck link, it addresses the Jones Act.  Turns out it never happened.

[Conan71]

If you read the first part of my FactCheck link, it addresses the Jones Act.  Turns out it never happened.

You should know by now I never read sourced references which contradict my paradigms. 

I didn't see the Jones Act specifically cited in your source, but I'm also doing about four things at the moment and I may have missed it on my cursory scan.

[we vs us]

You should know by now I never read sourced references which contradict my paradigms. 

I didn't see the Jones Act specifically cited in your source, but I'm also doing about four things at the moment and I may have missed it on my cursory scan.

No worries.  I snipped it because it hadn't been part of the thread up till you mentioned it. 

And I'm doing like 9 things at once, too.  I hear there's medication for that.

[Hoss]

No worries.  I snipped it because it hadn't been part of the thread up till you mentioned it.  

And I'm doing like 9 things at once, too.  I hear there's medication for that.

Yes, it's called Atlas IPA....



Obligatory Marshalls Beer reference in otherwise unrelated thread.

[Red Arrow]

Thanks, we needed that.

[patric]

Good news:  Today BP announced it stopped the flow of oil and gas from the wellhead, for now.
Bad news:  Some think it wont matter...
  http://www.helium.com/items/1882339-doomsday-how-bp-gulf-disaster-may-have-triggered-a-world-killing-event

Dont read if easily depressed.

[nathanm]

Oh lord, not that anti-factual nutjob of an article again.

[patric]

Oh lord, not that anti-factual nutjob of an article again.

Hey, it was new to me.
One last Roland Emmerich movie to be made?

[nathanm]

Hey, it was new to me.
One last Roland Emmerich movie to be made?

It's been making the rounds for the last few days. Needless to say, it has sparked some vigorous arguments with the folks who are convinced that the BP gusher can never be contained and will turn out to be the worst disaster man has ever seen. There are a surprising number of people who seem to hold that opinion at the moment.

Sort of like the dopes who spend all day and night looking at the ROV feeds (a video wall of which is, admittedly, rather impressive on a 47" TV) who were saying a couple of nights ago that "OMG there's a huge new leak!" when they were cleaning off the old cap and stirring up the crap that was on it. It's pretty amusing to read the comments of the ROV watchers over at The Oil Drum. At least three times a day one or more of them declare the world is going to end.