The last post’s picture reminds me that we now live in the Shire: bucolic and gorgeous, as it should be, but with most of its inhabitants blissfully and deliberately unconcerned by that which lies beyond the Misty Mountains. I hear we’re getting an Indian restaurant. Maybe.
* CBS | How Much Oil Has Leaked? “Despite mounting evidence to the contrary, British Petroleum has consistently denied reports of massive underwater oil plumes in the Gulf of Mexico.”
* This Oil Drum post explores the science behind the underwater sampling of the aforementioned plumes, explains what varying concentrations of oil at different water depths means for its breakdown and also discusses topside oil removal and transportation options.
* Letters In Bottles | Barring Media From The Spill “Journalists struggling to document the impact of the oil rig explosion have repeatedly found themselves turned away from public areas affected by the spill, and not only by BP and its contractors, but by local law enforcement, the Coast Guard and government officials.”
* Hurricane Radio | Anti-British Rhetoric “Lord Tebbit, the former government minister, also criticised Obama’s attacks on BP and its management: ‘The whole might of American wealth and technology is displayed as utterly unable to deal with the disastrous spill so what more natural than a crude, bigoted, xenophobic display of partisan political presidential petulance against a multinational company?'”
As someone who once interned with BP America Inc., I never until this moment even conceived of this disaster as the fault of the British but that of a company that made some extremely foolish decisions as well as horrible corporation-government response. Lord Tebbit had to go there. And since His Refinement doesn’t find it uncouth to respond to perceived xenophobia in kind, I offer a Humble Petition: You’re damned right we’re angry. At BP. If you feel the need to hide BP under your skirt, however, and spew anti-American sentiment on said multinational company’s behalf, would you be so kind as never to let it back into American waters on false pretenses because, by then, we will have a lot more than simple petulance? Oh, and I hear your pound is now down to about 1.5 of our dollars. So, bite my shiny brown American ass. How’s that for crude?
(A million apologies to my British friends who I’m sure are miffed with BP, American government officials and the way this is being handled by everyone involved to date, know we’re all in this together and just want this mess addressed properly as much as I do. This was not directed at you. I am giggling a little bit about your currency, though.)
* True/Slant | BP’s “Get It Right” Rites “There seems to be much more corporate concern over preserving the financial health of the company than that of those who were simply going about their business while the renegade drillers carelessly set off their calamitous gusher. Chances are those life-sustaining businesses will be wiped out while the procedural obstacles block meaningful assistance till it’s too late. Note to BP: Get rid of those ads, and probably the CEO. Both are looking so ludicrous they“ve become laughingstocks. The money can be put to much better use than smarmy PR.”
* nola.com | P&J Oyster Co. to halt shucking due to Gulf oil spill “Barring an unforeseen reopening of the oyster beds that supply P&J, Thursday was to be the final day of shucking at the family owned business in the city’s French Quarter. ‘I’m going to try and buy a few shucked oysters from some people in Alabama that are still processing oysters and once they stop, I’m done,’ said Al Sunseri, who along with his brother Sal has run the business that opened in 1876.”
Chances are those life-sustaining businesses are already being wiped out.
