Gulf Gusher Could Be Major Black Swan (2 Viewers)

[Bjerknes]

Thanks MAObama. This place is looking more and more like North Korea every single day.

Coast Guard bans reporters from oil cleanup sites

Journalists who come too close to oil spill clean-up efforts could find themselves facing a $40,000 fine and even one to five years in prison under a new rule instituted by the Coast Guard late last week.

It's a move that outraged observers have decried as an attack on First Amendment rights. And CNN's Anderson Cooper describes the new rules as making it "very easy to hide incompetence or failure."

The Coast Guard order states that "vessels must not come within 20 meters [65 feet] of booming operations, boom, or oil spill response operations under penalty of law."

But since "oil spill response operations" apparently covers much of the clean-up effort on the beaches, CNN's Anderson Cooper describes the rule as banning reporters from "anywhere we need to be."
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A "willful" violation of the new rule could result in Class D felony charges, which carry a penalty of one to five years in prison under federal law.

The new rule appears to contradict the promises made by Adm. Thad Allen, the official leading the Coast Guard's response to the oil spill.

"Media will have uninhibited access anywhere we're doing operations, except for two things, if it's a security or safety problem," Allen told ABC News in June.

In defending the new rule, Allen told reporters that he got "complaints from local officials" about the safety of people near cleanup efforts.

"We're not the enemy here," Cooper responded in a report broadcast Thursday night. "Those of us down here trying to accurately show what is happening -- we are not the enemy. I've not heard about any journalist who's disrupted relief efforts; no journalist wants to be seen as having slowed down the cleanup or made things worse. If a Coast Guard official asked me to move, I'd move. But to create a blanket rule that everyone has to stay 65 feet away from boom and boats, that doesn't sound like transparency."

http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0704/coast-guard-bans-reporters-oil-cleanup-sites/

Fuck these guys. I'm not a big fan of Anderson Cooper but it's obvious these scumbags are trying to cover up the details.

 

Buy on AliExpress.com

[Mark]

Seriously, each time I see the thread title I think it says Girl Gushers with Major Black Sean.

sorry for the OT

 

[Bjerknes]

 

[Bjerknes]

Houston, we have a problem.

Look at that. The horizon is the target.

 

[Bjerknes]

Stupid forum.

Here.

 

[Enron]

They're leaving the cap in place. Hope they tie it down this time.

 

[Bjerknes]

Matt Simmons still says there are fractures 20 miles away with oil seeping in the gulf at 100,000 barrels a day.

Surely he's lying to help his BP shorts, isn't he?

I'm not so sure anymore. There is nobody to trust... except for maybe NOAA.

 

[Enron]

It's difficult to say. None of the numbers are entirely accurate, even those from NOAA (though they're probably the most accurate).

My guess is that homeboy is just ball parking on the heavy side for whatever reason... media exposure or financial gain, whatever.

 

[Bjerknes]

Well, he doesn't seem to be letting up. Simmons is putting his (big) reputation on the line with all this, along with his institute that he founded. Smoke, fire, et cetera.

But this sounds like a lot of tin, so maybe Simmons has really gone bonkers.

http://www.infowars.com/ocean-energ...s-new-hurricane-will-require-gulf-evacuation/

 

[Enron]

He's just being passionate (granted it's Al Gore passion). But I don't see the Gulf Coast evacuating. They're pulling the workers out which is smart, but they're leaving the cap on.

The whole think is just a big info-fuck. There are so many people involved, with so many different priorities that you hear 5 different takes on the situation everyday.

We won't know anything close to the truth until years after this debacle is over. Which is a shame. They should really look into adopting ICS protocals.

 

[JuveJay]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/wor...rst-oil-spill-cynical-spin-campaign-ever.html

That's the defensive stance, thoughts?

Environmental - most probably not anywhere as bad as had been made out, but sea food and other flaura and fauna is the litmus test, there could be longer term effects.

Economical - still thousands effected, although BP have paid out over $300m so far and have a billion or so set aside. Some fishermen are actually making more money now than they ever have, whilst others claim they are ruined financially. Commercial fishing has started again.

PR - BP's was a disaster but that is slightly lifting. Some are BP-employed scientists, sure, although this '74%' clear' claim is a US government official release. Obama faced criticism from the start and his (over)reaction in those first weeks has left local tourism on it's knees, at least in the short term with low confidence.

 

[Bjerknes]

$300M? Wow, lets celebrate.

The overall loss businesses sustained over the past few months is certainly in the billions. Even if some beaches remained clean during the disaster, the perception that they were covered in oil was and still is present. Vacationers are still not heading to the spill area, so in reality this disaster isn't over. Of the course the BP pumpers will try to say it is.

If the civil fines are really $4300 per barrel, BP owes over $21B dollars in fines. This isn't even including the lawsuits for damages against them, along with the families who will probably sue over their dead loved ones.

But yeah, all hail BP.

 

[Enron]

Economical - still thousands effected, although BP have paid out over $300m so far and have a billion or so set aside. Some fishermen are actually making more money now than they ever have, whilst others claim they are ruined financially. Commercial fishing has started again.

Just to put things in perspective. The Louisiana (not considering the rest of the Gulf) shrimping industry is a $3 billion a year industry. When compared to the real numbers $300 million dollars isn't a lot.

 

[Bjerknes]

It's a joke, frankly.

 

[Enron]

Then add in the hit on consumer confidence and you're not just looking at a short term economic hit, but possibly long term implications as Gulf fishermen attempt to stave off a stigma of a tainted product.

If BP were really "bout it", they would invest in the economy of the Gulf over the long term with the intention of bring them back.

 

[JuveJay]

All hail BP, who said that? Might as well hail the Obama administration while we're at it. $300m so far....rising per month. I believe BP have $6Bn set aside for the cleanup and smaller claims operation, rising to $12-20Bn, so it's no small change. The company is basically funding the entire show, but then some would prefer that to happen, with it being an evil oil company, fair enough.

Vacationers are still not heading to the spill area, so in reality this disaster isn't over.

I read figures that the seafood industry was worth about $9Bn p/a. The oil spill has been for what, 3 ½ months? Restrictions are being lifted, and people in the sea food industry are those who have been compensated in immediate terms as they are the easiest to gauge in terms of losses.

The tourism industry is the bigger problem, although it clearly won't affect everyone. Obama takes just as much blame as anyone here, it's all about confidence. His portrayal of the incident seems to have been grossly exaggerated, maybe he should have thought about that before he tried the rough house tactics to make his government look as if they were getting tough in response to local outrage. I read worse-case scenario figures of $22.7Bn dollars over three years in potential losses for this sector, that is a long time for Obama to get people back into the water.

 

[Bjerknes]

Obama takes just as much blame as anyone here

Stopped reading here.

 

[JuveJay]

Just to put things in perspective. The Louisiana (not considering the rest of the Gulf) shrimping industry is a $3 billion a year industry. When compared to the real numbers $300 million dollars isn't a lot.

Sure, although I explained the preliminary figures better later on. It also doesn't take into account the employment of people by BP in the land cleanup operation, or money paid (in some cases 10 times what they normally earn) to fishermen to fish further out to sea, fishermen in the clean up operation, many are actually trying to hang on to their cleanup jobs for as long as possible as it pays much better, but it is costing other people elsewhere. TBH I'm not really concerned about a guy who earns $20m profit a year from his fishing business losing $5m profit, as if he doesn't have two pennies to rub together. These are the guys who bump the industry figures. He'll get his boats out soon enough if he hasn't already, it's those people working for him who need the immediate compensation because if he isn't getting shrimp or fish in then they aren't getting paid.

 

[JuveJay]

Stopped reading here.

Doesn't surprise me. After all, your entire viewpoint in this thread has been the worst case environmental scenario of which you share with him. Now it seems that this parade has been pissed on, although we will find out better in the next few years. Knee jerk reactions either way help no one.

 

[Bjerknes]

It doesn't surprise me you'd say that because you're a BP stock price pumper.

I dislike Obama, but saying he deserves as much blame as BP is just