61–70 of 77 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
Or who knows. It's probably not a conspiracy though.
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.
Here's the most graphic images I've seen, but they're over a week old and pretty tame compared to Valdez. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/05/oil_reaches_louisia...
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…
They have been pouring dispersants on the oil. That makes the oil bind to water and go back into the water column. The oil industry likes it because it hides the oil. Fish in the water column don't like it so much.
The fisheries hit by the Valdez spill have still not recovered.
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.
The problem is that the oil spill releases vapor. Said vapor has two nasty tendencies. The first is that it makes people woozy so that they make bad decisions. The second is that it can explode when exposed to fire, such as may be found in airplane engines.
Unless you understand how to avoid the risks, flying low over an oil spill is a really good way to get yourself killed.
(Incidentally the observant may wonder why the workers aren't being provided with masks. They weren't until people complained. Now they have the masks. But unofficial reports say that BP is threatening to fire people who use the masks. This fact alone shows sufficient hypocrisy that I'm expecting BP to dodge all responsibility as fast as possible. Just like Exxon did when they got over 3000 lawsuits over people sickened by fumes from the Valdez spill thrown out because "they just had flus and colds". Yet another reason for them to not want photographic documentation of the cleanup efforts.)
Update: See http://www.adn.com/evos/stories/T99032316.html for background on how Exxon dodged health claims, and http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/26/gulf-oil-spill-clea... for confirmation that there are health problems with the cleanup this time.
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...
I don't know about journalists, but having a criminal file would make many jobs I am interested in inaccessible.
Easier to get a $300 RC plane setup, lightweight camera and a boat. The Slowstick by GWS makes an easy to fly, inexpensive camera platform.
If I was anywhere near the gulf, I'd be doing this myself.
Kickstarter - Grassroots mapping the Gulf oil spill with balloons and kites: http://kck.st/cj3Anh
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.
Remember BP has other rigs running in the area which made them $3 Billion this year alone. They probably won't even bother renaming themselves and just spend the money on lawyers and their PR machine instead.
As a corporation they've also been handed unlimited votes via unlimited advertising, hence politicians working with them.
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...
The worst that could happen to you is a few days in prison I don't know about journalists, but having a criminal file would make many jobs I am interested in inaccessible.