So... how about that oil spill?

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I bet next it's gonna catch on fire.

That would be wicked scary

[Chrono]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?



They are, controlled burns at least.

[Cutter De Blanc]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Well, yes, lets hope they stay that way.

[Denmo]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

it's not like they can burn the whole gulf. the oil is scatted into pockets thanks to ocean waves. They have to round up a bunch to be able to light it up like that, and the end result is like carving the face of a mountain with a fork.

[marcus]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I'm enjoying the blame game going on between the owner, contractor, and guys funding the project.

"We followed the protocol, blame those guys."

"Our safety regulations were up to par, blame that dude."

"What are we talking about? Oh, yeah, blame the other two dudes.

[Wavelength]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I'm enjoying the blame game going on between the owner, contractor, and guys funding the project.

"We followed the protocol, blame those guys."

"Our safety regulations were up to par, blame that dude."

"What are we talking about? Oh, yeah, blame the other two dudes.

"I'm not your guy, buddy!"

"I'm not your buddy, friend!"

"He's not your friend, guy!!"

[marcus]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Bumping this because of Obama's press conference and listening to the average citizen is one of the most maddening things ever. In case you haven't been following BP was officially made responsible but everyone is pointing the finger at the federal government for not doing anything. Obama in his speech basically said "We have regulations, BP didn't follow them, the spill is their fault, we couldn't do anything because we don't have any more money or technology than these guys do."

This entire situation has completely highlighted the problem of a corporate run country. The private sector expects to remain automonous and the average American citizen is so fearful of any rule or precaution that they instantly lash out at the smallest change. When disaster strikes, wholly the fault of the private industry who ignored all warning indicators and every red flag leading up to the spill, people turn to the federal government expecting a miracle cure to be pulled out of thin air. Reality is that the federal government controls absolutely nothing and the means of production is *gasp* in the hands of the private sector which are contracted to the government in the first place.

I can tell you what happens in the months down the road. The public demands more safety regulations to ensure this doesn't happen again. The government responds with stricter controls and more training. This leads to higher costs for training and safety equipment. This leads to higher costs for oil. This leads to the average idiot gettting ****** off that he suddenly has to pay an extra 10 cents at the pump. The corporations waggle a finger at the government for putting their hands in people's pockets and the people waggle a finger at the government for not doing anything to stimulate research of alternative energy WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU'LL TAKE THAT RESEARCH OUT OF MY TAXES **** THAT **** BLOOD FOR OIL! BLOOD FOR OIL!

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Reality is that the federal government controls absolutely nothing and the means of production is *gasp* in the hands of the private sector which are contracted to the government in the first place.

If anything, the Federal Government has far too much control when it comes to the average American or a small business owner. You can't even work a normal job without the government knowing how much money you make, what drugs you do, how much is in your 401k, what bank acount your money is deposited in... you can't have a savings account without the government keeping tabs on it, the government knows all major assets you own such as cars or homes, the government has been illegally wiretapping our phone calls... yet despite all of this surveillance and scrutiny of the average person, our government seems not only incompetent with regard to finding terrorists, it is even moreso when handling those large institutions that paid for the politicians' campaigns.

The monolithic corporations have so much clout that they are largely granted exemptions from those regulations that are crushing small business owners and preventing the average person from starting their own enterprise. It just so happened that BP and other oil companies over the last few years had been given exemptions on the types of wellheads to use, thanks to our very government. It just so happens that in the case of BP, a disaster of the likes we have never seen before has occured. Bye bye sea life in the Gulf!

The government needs to be removed from the bedroom, shrunk down to a very small size, and what little remains absolutely SHOULD be placed in the boardroom. Instead, we have quite the opposite... an oversized government that is damned near useless when it comes to adressing big business, but is more than happy to erode the privacy of the average person. One set of laws for us and an entirely different standard for the elite of our society...

[Shard]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

The government needs to be removed from the bedroom, shrunk down to a very small size, and what little remains absolutely SHOULD be placed in the boardroom.

Particularly applicable in this case since officials from the Minerals Management Service were literally found in bed with oil industry lobbyists a few months back.

[IamPinhead]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

How's that socialism for you, Toe Cutter?

[marcus]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Frankly what I'm getting tired of is hearing people complain that nothing is being done but when something is being done and it has an adverse effect on their pocket book they get up in arms. The country is too heavily rooted in big business and private markets to change any time soon. All we can do as the average tax payer is demand more and accept that change isn't painless which everyone wants and even expects it to be.

I shouldn't see single people driving SUVs. A family of two making a combined $60,000 a year shouldn't take out a massive loan for a six bedroom, two-story house. The simplest changes happen at home but when you think about it the elite got to where they are by selling garbage to idiots who who thinkt hey depend on it but don't really need it.

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

People will complain that "nothing is being done" or that "too little is being done", when in fact, this government is not capable of adequately dealing with a calamity of this scale. It doesn't help at all that the secret energy task force meetings involving Dick Cheney were partially about de-regulating ofshore drilling, and it certainly doesn't help that the Obama administration gave BP an exemption pertaining to the wellhead being used, but the fact remains that there is very little that can currently be done to cap this well. We simply have never had the technology to stop an oil gusher of this size; it also raises questions into whether we should be drilling in such areas to begin with. It is quite obvious that we have the technology not to need oil for our transport, it's just a matter of sacrificing the bottom line of the oil cartels in the process...

About middle class people buying homes they can't afford, had the banks not driven prices so high to begin with, they'd never have needed to take out loans so massive. Houses are STILL over-valued, even after the price collapse beginning in 2005. Adjusted for inflation, you should be able to buy a house for the same price you could in the 1960s... the construction methods have not changed much and the materials used in homes today are much cheaper and lower quality... the price should reflect that, but instead it is extremely over-inflated. If anything, these bailouts should have never occured, and the glut in housing would have allowed the market to take over and for the prices to drop accordingly.

Middle and working class America is over-taxed as it is; they not only have to support welfare parasites in the ghettos, they also have to support those parasites that compose the elite of society and receive trillion dollar bailouts, which also happen to be a much bigger burden than the financially poor parasites. Here is a novel idea: make the oil companies PAY for the transition to renewable energy, considering all of the effort they had put into suppressing it for so long. Don't let them pocket a single penny in profit in the meantime, until this leak is dealt with and we have much of our oil use replaced. Then afterwards, break the oil companies up into smaller sizes so that competition will once again thrive.

How's that socialism for you, Toe Cutter?

What about socialism? In the U.S., we seem to have socialism for the rich, capitalism for the poor, and a big government hell-bent on surveillance of the average person, which is quite far from the intent of our founding fathers. Would you have considered Thomas Jefferson a socialist? He did, after all, warn us of the potential for the U.S. to become run by a corporate oligarchy and the need to crush such an oligarchy before it arose.

[marcus]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

People will complain that "nothing is being done" or that "too little is being done", when in fact, this government is not capable of adequately dealing with a calamity of this scale.

Obama specifically said this in the press meeting. Didn't really quell anyone's tempers. Too many people still think the feds are the magic source to stop all problems when they rely on the corporations as much as we rely on Wal-Mart for bulk goods.

As for my homes comment, I know way too many people who live completely above their means. I'm not talking about a middle-income person who lives paycheck to paycheck, I'm saying friends straight out of college put down a massive lease for a home 2,000sqft home that they toss a shag rug, couch, and ikea coffee table in and call it a day. You don't need that new car, you don't need that SUV when you're a single working student, you don't need a four bedroom mansion as a newly married couple, and you don't need that $2200 3D TV you just slapped onto a maxed out credit card you pay the minimum for every month.

There's a lot of simple, stupid stuff people waste their money on which only goes to show that A) the dudes up top will keep producing it and B) the dudes at the bottom will have nothing to show for their daily rat race except a fancy gadget which is now obsolete. You want to show the oil companies who boss? Buy a cheap car that gets 33mpg or greater, car pool, and stop taking long pointless vacations to places you can't afford. Want to strike back at the banks and credit card companies? Stop putting daily sundries on credit and don't purchase more than what you can afford in a month.

[Red Dragon]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Obama specifically said this in the press meeting. Didn't really quell anyone's tempers. Too many people still think the feds are the magic source to stop all problems when they rely on the corporations as much as we rely on Wal-Mart for bulk goods.

As for my homes comment, I know way too many people who live completely above their means. I'm not talking about a middle-income person who lives paycheck to paycheck, I'm saying friends straight out of college put down a massive lease for a home 2,000sqft home that they toss a shag rug, couch, and ikea coffee table in and call it a day. You don't need that new car, you don't need that SUV when you're a single working student, you don't need a four bedroom mansion as a newly married couple, and you don't need that $2200 3D TV you just slapped onto a maxed out credit card you pay the minimum for every month.

There's a lot of simple, stupid stuff people waste their money on which only goes to show that A) the dudes up top will keep producing it and B) the dudes at the bottom will have nothing to show for their daily rat race except a fancy gadget which is now obsolete. You want to show the oil companies who boss? Buy a cheap car that gets 33mpg or greater, car pool, and stop taking long pointless vacations to places you can't afford. Want to strike back at the banks and credit card companies? Stop putting daily sundries on credit and don't purchase more than what you can afford in a month.

Well duh, but as Americans we can't abide by logic.

[Stormy]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

There is nothing wrong with Socialism. The Federation of Star Trek was socialist. Your problem, pinhead, is with communism.