The Lousiana oil rig failure...

[Aramike]

Well absolutely, and that's exactly my point: these aren't equivalent situations, they don't require equivalent reactions. New Orleans warranted immediate, national concern given the scope and nature of the disaster.

No one is saying that they do. What is being said that, should the Bush Administration have had a similar lack of urgency in response, they would have been hammered for it.

I happen to agree with that assessment.

[SteamWake]

yea you wait the next couple of days to see the scope and nature of this disastor.

Oh and much of the failure in Katrina and New Orleans lays squarely at the feet of the Mayor Nagon.

[Skybird]

German TV news showed a report from the US saying that a security device, some kind of a remote-controlled vent, that is obligatory to be used in Norway and Brasil, was prevented by oil producers lobbying in politics to be made a business standard. eventually it could have saved the situation.

That device they said costs 500.000 diollar. The damage now will go into the high billions.

And this although drilling depths have tripled (since the shallow fields all have been exploited) and the according risks from greater pressure have risen therefore - just that industry security technical standards (were they are left to voluntary actions by the industry), have not been raised accordingly. Norway seems to claim the lead in security standards. no wonder, if you need to drill in the North Sea.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by Skybird

German TV news showed a report from the US saying that a security device, some kind of a remote-controlled vent, that is obligatory to be used in Norway and Brasil, was prevented by oil producers lobbying in politics to be made a business standard. eventually it could have saved the situation.

That device they said costs 500.000 diollar. The damage now will go into the high billions.

And this although drilling depths have tripled (since the shallow fields all have been exploited) and the according risks from greater pressure have risen therefore - just that industry security technical standards (were they are left to voluntary actions by the industry), have not been raised accordingly. Norway seems to claim the lead in security standards. no wonder, if you need to drill in the North Sea.

That would be the sonic device mentioned earlier.

Okay get this. The 'failure' is being blamed on an emergency cut off valve that is way down on the ocean floor and set in cement somehow.

The story I heard is that the valve failed due in some manner to the concrete pour.

Betcha cant guess whom did the concrete pour

I did try to resist the temptation of gloating, but what the hell..why ain't all you crazy wingnuts got money in oil. FFS you was all rip roaring mad about playing silly buggers in Mesopotania, you must have been well in favour of not having real safety valves off Louisuiana as it would put you at a disadvantage over them regulated rigs.

I laugh my tits off at your naivity and I reallty laugh when Aramike says about the pictures of the poor little animals.
Not of course that I like watching the suffering of animals but it reminds me of that bull**** years ago when a mass murdering pillock like Saddam wasn't quite enough so they had to show fake footage of years old oil slicks swamping the sea birds to prove how bad their old buddy had become

Betcha cant guess whom did the concrete pour

Oh please please let me guess.

Was it the tin foil hat conglomerate?

Okay get this. The 'failure' is being blamed on an emergency cut off valve that is way down on the ocean floor and set in cement somehow.

Catfish can you please explain the basics over a blowout on a new drill

Betcha cant guess whom did the concrete pour

Secret commieliberaljewishmuslimathiestquackerquarriers with a fleet of idle pre-mix trucks and a batching plant

Am I right? am I right? ????????come on whats the prize for guessing the concrete pour question?

[iambecomelife]

Forget politics - I'm just relieved that "only" 11 people lost their lives. I was born not too long after the "Ocean Ranger" incident (which left no survivors), and I still remember watching a documentary on "Piper Alpha" when I was a small boy. Even back then I could feel some of the horror that Canada & Britain must have felt.

On a side note, it always irritates me when these disasters occur and the media sees things solely in environmental terms. Although each animal's death is a tragedy in itself, I am most concerned about the wellbeing of the workers.

[August]

Originally Posted by iambecomelife

Forget politics - I'm just relieved that "only" 11 people lost their lives. I was born not too long after the "Ocean Ranger" incident (which left no survivors), and I still remember watching a documentary on "Piper Alpha" when I was a small boy. Even back then I could feel some of the horror that Canada & Britain must have felt.

On a side note, it always irritates me when these disasters occur and the media sees things solely in environmental terms. Although each animal's death is a tragedy in itself, I am most concerned about the wellbeing of the workers.

Well said.

[VonHesse]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

Betcha cant guess whom did the concrete pour

Halliburton

[Skybird]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

That would be the sonic device mentioned earlier.

Not sure of that, they described a purely mechanical ring-like thing working like giant tongs.

[SteamWake]

Originally Posted by VonHesse

Halliburton

We have a winner !

[tater]

Remember the press attributing Katrina to warming?

Remember them blaming the administration for not supporting kyoto? (therefore blaming the actual hurricane itself on the administration, lol).

Was pretty funny, actually. Up there with the earthquake machine.

This admin will not be as scrutinized, that's for sure. The moral of the story for presidents is that when something like this happens look like you're doing something, even if there is really nothing you can do. Presidents don't cause such disasters, and there is little they can actually do to fix them.

BTW, regarding katrina, just 1 year before the authorities in NOLA, plus the feds did an exercise that was eerily like what actually happened. They didn't do everything in the real event what they learned to do from the exercise, but regardless, everyone did do better. In the exercise, the estimated death toll was 50,000. Clearly they did far better than the practice run.

[Torvald Von Mansee]

Originally Posted by SteamWake

yea you wait the next couple of days to see the scope and nature of this disastor.

Oh and much of the failure in Katrina and New Orleans lays squarely at the feet of the Mayor Nagon.

I thought the Katrina disaster was mostly because the New Orleans levies needed only like 2 billion dollars of upgrades/maintenance which N.O. had been asking for for decades and they never got it. They failed, and there was massive flooding. Plenty of blame to go around on that one.

[tater]

Yeah, simplistic blame on Katrina is pretty wrong-headed. It was complex, and happened over long time periods. People also failed to follow the ultimately voluntary requests to leave. Had they all listened, there would have been no death toll at all.

The idea that some could not afford to leave is bogus, IMO. Any CHOISE to live below sea level in a location frequently enough slammed by hurricanes requires a certain attention to having an escape plan. I would simply not live in such a place without a well-considered plan to take care of my family. Short of the ability to do that, MOVE. It's called personal responsibility.

I feel the same about morons that hike or climb outside their ability with weak planning who require rescue, too (hear more about that now with cell phones—having a phone to call 911 is not a reasonable substitute for proper planning).