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BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

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Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#51

Post by jrockway »

jsz0 wrote: post #23
andreyf wrote: post #6

Sounds like a great opportunity for real reporters to dress up as fishermen to sneak out there and take some unique pictures. This kind of thing only stops the half-ass-reporters out there who will go home after running into the coast guard to complain and feel sorry about themselves. boo hoo BP is trying to control the press coverage Uh, yes, that's what a public company has to do: maximize shareholder value. Now do…

The flight ban is also being enforced by the FAA. Probably difficult to find a pilot willing to put their career at risk. I'm not clear why my tax dollars via the FAA should be used to fund the PR response of a public company.

Career? You do know that if you have a pilot's license you can just go rent a Cessna for $100 an hour, right? (And a pilot's license is not that hard to get. It's like a driver's license; except that when I got a driver's license, I had to have 100 hours of driving logged before I could take the test. For a pilot's license, it's like 40 hours.)

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#52

Post by jrockway »

The comments here scare me. Why is everyone afraid of the government or breaking some rules? The worst that could happen to you is a few days in prison. Suck it up, serve the sentence, and know that you've changed the world in a positive way. I'm glad that everyone is not so spineless, otherwise we wouldn't even know there was an oil spill...

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#53

Post by jrockway »

jcromartie wrote: post #43

How can BP block anything? They are a private corporation with no particular rights to the public beaches they are making a fuss over. This is so wrong...

They donate to politicians, who have passed laws allowing them to do whatever they feel like doing. Balance of power? Hahahaha.

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#54

Post by asmithmd1 »

ars wrote: post #44
guns wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I hope you mean the images are pretty tame in comparison, and not the spill itself. Not only has the BP leak massively surpassed Valdez in volume (2-10x), it took place a mile underwater, which multiplies it's danger. Exxon Valdez was a surface spill, so most of the oil that was spilled stayed on the surface of the water and began to have dramatic effects on the coastal environment. This disaster is leaking millions…

Ah, but the more dilute the spill the better things are. Bacteria do a wonderful job to biodegrading oil - but only if they have enough oxygen, which is in limited supply. By spreading things out they have enough oxygen to work with. And yes, 100% of the oil should rise to the surface, but some will rise slowly. I think the reason we are not seeing a lot of oil is simply that the bacteria ate it.

what do bacteria turn oil into? CO2? In that case will there be big algae blooms in the next phase of this spill?

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#55

Post by foomarks »

ascuttlefish wrote: post #47
jrwoodruff wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The truly messed up thing about this - that we should be very angry about - is the U.S. Government is helping out in the cover up. Yes, companies are supposed to spin and do damage control. I guess getting the coast guard to give you hand is probably a pretty effective way to do that. Also, it should be noted that print media has been in a downward spiral for the last four years and no longer has the reporters, photo…

Unfortunately, lone bloggers and community journalists don't have the resources to fight a legal battle if caught. Back in the golden age of print media, you at least had the possibility of support from the publication you worked for or its parent company.

Wait-a-sec, what about the kids over at Crisis Commons (http://oreil.ly/dm1OW0) and Grassroots Mapping(http://bit.ly/99sLWo) considered community journalists, and doing their best to work around the resources issue?

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#56

Post by foomarks »

andreyf wrote: post #19
tshtf wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In all understanding of the laws of the United States... Uh, yes, that's what a public company has to do: maximize shareholder value. Now do what real journalists are supposed to do do: break a couple of stupid rules, find a way to get out there, and take some damned pictures. What are they going to do? Shoot down your plane? Seriously. From the article: The problem, as many members of the press see it, is that even…

How can you take those pictures? Use your imagination ;) Edit (for you down-voters): Fine, here's some off the top of my head: * Rent your own plane and fly over without permission, * register a fishing company and get a job working for BP, * find a way to take pictures while avoiding detection, or just * bribe the fishermen. These are off the top of my head, I imagine someone whose full time job depends on thinking…

Also add:

* Balloons! http://bit.ly/99sLWo

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#57

Post by mcantelon »

ars wrote: post #45
jrwoodruff wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The truly messed up thing about this - that we should be very angry about - is the U.S. Government is helping out in the cover up. Yes, companies are supposed to spin and do damage control. I guess getting the coast guard to give you hand is probably a pretty effective way to do that. Also, it should be noted that print media has been in a downward spiral for the last four years and no longer has the reporters, photo…

But why? Why is the coast guard helping? The article didn't even conjecture a reason, they just stated it baldly.

I'd guess BP is paying someone off.

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#58

Post by ars »

asmithmd1 wrote: post #54
ars wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ah, but the more dilute the spill the better things are. Bacteria do a wonderful job to biodegrading oil - but only if they have enough oxygen, which is in limited supply. By spreading things out they have enough oxygen to work with. And yes, 100% of the oil should rise to the surface, but some will rise slowly. I think the reason we are not seeing a lot of oil is simply that the bacteria ate it.

what do bacteria turn oil into? CO2? In that case will there be big algae blooms in the next phase of this spill?

CO2, yes (and water), but algae blooms are not caused by CO2, they are caused by nitrogen or phosphorous.

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#59

Post by ars »

mcantelon wrote: post #57
ars wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But why? Why is the coast guard helping? The article didn't even conjecture a reason, they just stated it baldly.

I'd guess BP is paying someone off.

SomeONE? Maybe you didn't notice but the coast guard is not one person.

I find it hard to believe they could pay off enough, or high enough, level people for that to be possible.

Re: BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf Oil Spill

#60

Post by ynniv »

yellowbkpk wrote: post #28
ynniv wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're going to do it, DO IT! Stop raising money for everything: it's a waste of time.

They are doing it: http://grassrootsmapping.org/gulf-oil-spill/

So they are... clearly I didn't get past the fold on Kickstarter. Maybe this is why?

  $750 PLEDGED OF $5,000 GOAL
  19 DAYS TO GO
  THIS PROJECT WILL ONLY BE FUNDED IF AT LEAST $5,000
    IS PLEDGED BY MONDAY JUN 21, 6:18PM EDT
Why use kickstarter instead of PayPal/traditional payment gateway? The theme of the site suggests that a project will not begin until it has achieved a funding goal. Will grassrootsmapping see any of the $750 they have raised so far before the 21st? And do they get anything if they don't reach $5k?
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