Whistle blower to testify on oil spill worst fear:BP deliberately sinks oil with Corexit as cover up

[G_j]

Source: SF Examiner

Whistle blower to testify on oil spill worst fear:BP deliberately sinks oil with Corexit as cover up

June 30, 1:38 PMPolitical Spin ExaminerMaryann Tobin

Testimony before a Senate investigative panel this week is expected to reveal what many have suspected about BP all along; they don’t care about the environment, the animals that are dying, and the lives that are being destroyed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

In a shocking interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on June 29th, Allegiance Capitol Corporation V.P. Fred McCallister said that BP is deliberately sinking oil with the toxic chemical disbursant Corexit, to hide the size of the oil spill. By sinking the oil before it can be collected, BP won’t have to pay fines on it.

McCallister said, “Everybody in Europe, where the standard practice is to raise the oil and collect it, is scratching their heads, and quite honestly laughing at what’s happening in the Gulf.” He added, “Everyone is looking at us and wondering why we’re allowing this to happen.”

McCallister is set to appear before a Senate investigative panel on Thursday and testify that BP’s only interests regarding the Deepwater Horizon spill is protectimg their own financial interests. His statements explained why BP has been refusing offers of help from additional foreign skimmers.

Read more: http://www.examiner.com/x-33986-Political-Spin-Examiner...

[Vincardog]

1. Well DUH! Is this news to anyone?

[dipsydoodle]

6. Hardly surprising - its partly not true.

.

[Soylent Brice]

11. which part?

[dipsydoodle]

14. Not using dispersants in Eupope.

Of course they're used.

see reply 4

[Soylent Brice]

18. gotcha.

[dipsydoodle]

20. Note here for example - UK only

UK authorities have an approved list of products which must pass both "sea/beach" and "rocky shore" laboratory toxicity tests, following a review of approval procedures over a decade ago.<30> Corexit did not pass the rocky shore test when submitted for renewal of its inclusion on the list, and was dropped. Although it has been omitted from the approved list since 1998, existing stocks which pre-date the removal may be permitted for use away from rocky shorelines, subject to prior approval.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corexit

From memory the first time we used a dispersant in bulk was detergent with the Torrey Canyon disaster and lack of knowledge simply led to complete fuck up - dropping barrels full off cliffs indeed. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torrey_Canyon You will read that the RAF bombed it in the end and napalmed the slick too.

[Soylent Brice]

37. you know the situation is fucked when you require napalm to do the job.

[Jackpine Radical]

71. Kinda like Vietnam that way.

[Soylent Brice]

89. exactly where i was headed with that.

[Bluenorthwest]

125. So Euro Zone laws and UK laws are the same?

And they remain the same as they were in 1967, when the Torrey Canyon spill happened? Also, you say you use Corexit, but it has not been approved there for over a decade.
What part of this post do you claim is not true? Corexit is banned in Europe. BP is using it here. You are quoting dispersant use from my elementary school days, and I am not a young man.
So the UK used it in 67, banned Corexit in 98.
What are you really saying? Exactly. Skip the links and use dates and such.

[dipsydoodle]

136. Pre 1998 stocks of Corexit were not banned from use

and remain available. The current exclusion seems to be for rocky shore use.

It was detergents which were used for the Torrey Canyon : not Corexit.

No : UK laws can differ from EU laws and do so partly because we use Common law whereas the EU is more likely to use Roman law.

[suzie]

141. There's a marine toxicologist, Rikki Ott, who explained recently that EPA has

no process for delisting a dispersant such as Corexit once it has met its minimal testing process.

She has a petition on her website that can be downloaded and mailed to an organization out of Louisiana that is working on getting EPA to develop a process which will allow them to delist Corexit.

I know that some would prefer simply to vent on the internet, but it might be helpful if people from all over the country worked on this.

It would be one thing that might be accomplished.

You can google: Rikki Ott. She was involved in the Valdez community and has written several books about it.

[superconnected]

12. It's news to me.

[breadandwine]

144. Oh come on. This is America! There will always be frivolous lawsuits!

Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!
Drill baby drill!

[mike_c]

2. vote this one to the top of the Greatest Page, folks....

Bingo!

[RKP5637]

3. I'm really amazed the US gov. hasn't intervened into this in a very major

way. Terrorists couldn't do a much better job. This is absolute BULL SHIT!!!

[CJvR]

119. Political minefield!

As long as BP is not obviously incompetent or mismanaging the containment and cleanup efforts they will be allowed to stay in charge. If the goverment step in without a plan on how to do the job much better than BP it would jump on a very large political landmine. It might be amusing for all politicians to have the BP executives dragged before the Senate to be roasted but it would be even more fun for half the politicians to roast their political enemies over this - as they will if the goverment takes over and doesn't preform much better than BP.

[dipsydoodle]

4. Raise the oil and collect it in Europe ?

Complete bollocks aka rubbish. We use dispersants to break it up into small balls of tar whatever which sink to the sea floor and they degrade / reduce in size with age ........due to constant rolling about in sand I guess. There is no way slicks are allowed to reach our beaches.

Any other links to this apart from the Examiner ?

[Devil_Fish]

69. This slick will reach your beaches. N/T

[Yuugal]

5. Aren't we getting that 90% yet?

"In the coming days and weeks, these efforts should capture up to 90% of the oil leaking out of the well. This is until the company finishes drilling a relief well later in the summer that is expected to stop the leak completely."

[gateley]

102. I believe BP said they're now collecting 120%! I don't know about you, but I believe 'em! nt

[Bragi]

7. No-one is "wondering why we're allowing this to happen"

Most people outside the U.S. knows why it is happening: the corporate sector owns America, and through media and political control, Americans have become the most docile and obedient people on earth.

You can now steal their retirement savings, foreclose on their houses, ship their jobs overseas, and destroy their environment, and Americans will blame themselves as individuals for it all.

That's what makes America what it is today.

[RKP5637]

8. Americans are a bunch of F'en sheep today and ignorance is our #1 product. USA, Inc. n/t

[Doremus]

16. Best post ever. Two short sentences show how freaking STUPID we are! Wake Up America!!! nt

[City Lights]

26. +10!

[Stumbler]

38. A-yup!

So sad, but so true

[RC]

68. You forgot 'and vote republican because socialism and taxes are bad."

[Lorien]

70. Yep. Time to call and write our reps again and ask everyone we know to do

the same. Boycott BP, move your money into a small, local bank, do whatever possible to end the corporate stranglehold on America!

[annabanana]

72. +1

[SHRED]

79. well said

[wordpix]

88. bravo, how unfortunately true

[MrMickeysMom]

95. You are so right ... and it feels so very wrong to be here-

... right in the middle of jackoffastan.

What a lie we are in, and what a nightmare the dream, brought to you by your corporate sponsors, has become.

[RufusTFirefly]

98. Don't worry. It's just a few bad apples.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGRwdDrNkFk

[go west young man]

111. Let's not forget stolen elections with no paper trail

and 2 wars based on lies for corporate greed.

[L0oniX]

139. +1 billion

[WillyT]

143. + 1,000,000,000... What You Said...

So true... so sad... so infuriating...

[gratuitous]

9. "Wondering why we're allowing this to happen"

Do they actually need three guesses? BP knows that in the United States, it's always easier for a corporation to ask forgiveness than to ask permission. And the oil that's sunk in the Gulf can foul things up for decades to come, and BP will never have to account for it. The stuff that's recovered will help pay for some of the damage they're assessed for what can be proven against them. Then, following in the well-worn trail of Exxon and so many others, we'll be treated to the endless rounds of appeals and counterclaims until some poor Justice Department schmuck who may not even be born yet gets the file dumped on him to clear off the government's ledger, and settles it for pennies on the dollar.

[G_j]

100. Crude joke

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/0...

Crude joke on American taxpayers - we will pay
Rodney P. Mock,Arline Savage

Sunday, June 27, 2010

As the nation remains engrossed - and disgusted - by plumes of oil gushing from BP's wellhead on the ocean floor in the Gulf of Mexico, the Alaskan Exxon Valdez spill of the 1980s comes to mind. Similar to that experience, we will see everyone from federal and local governments to private landowners and local businesses filing lawsuits against BP. But what the public may not know is that it may end up footing a good portion of BP's legal damages, fees and costs because they are tax deductible.


History tells the tale. After long battles with the federal government and the State of Alaska, Exxon eventually settled for a reported $1.15 billion (of which $125 million was forgiven in recognition of that company's cooperation). But the reality, according to the Congressional Research Service, is that the after-tax cost to Exxon was $524 million, and more than half of the $900 million in civil damages it paid were also tax deductible. In other words, taxpayers picked up much of the bill.

The same slippery tax secret is at issue with BP. Thanks to a commonly used provision in the Internal Revenue Code, the oil company may be able to deduct many of the settlements and judgments against it as "ordinary and necessary" business expenditures. These deductions result in fewer taxes paid and, for a corporation like BP, the after-tax savings are as high as 35 percent, excluding any state and local income tax savings. Worse, these deductions can be carried back two years and forward 20 years to more profitable times.

What constitutes an "ordinary and necessary" business expense was intentionally left undefined by Congress, because listing all these expenses (e.g., rent, salaries, utilities) would be too lengthy and cumbersome. The lack of a formal list has created some confusion about what deductions qualify, and generally speaking, the courts have been liberal in interpreting the rule. As a result, companies have deducted as business expenses everything from judgments for patent infringement to settlements relating to antitrust disputes. Legal and accounting fees are also often deductible if the lawsuit arises in the ordinary course of business. And even claims resulting from a violation of state or federal law are able to be deducted as long as they are sufficiently connected to a business' operations. So, as unbelievable as it is, negligence, fraud and a host of other misdeeds may be deductible, as are punitive damages assessed for wrongdoings.

[marions ghost]

115. thanks

I did not know that the laws were quite so lax.

"Claims resulting from a violation of state or federal law are able to be deducted..."

When did this Republican bullshit get through I wonder...

[BrklynLiberal]

10. That was my very thought weeks ago....and I posted my thoughts more than once.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Braulio]

13. Sounds wrong

I believe this "whistleblower" is full of bs. The standard oil spill remediation technique is to use dispersants to allow bacteria to eat it. The dispersant doesn't "hide" the oil, it allows the bugs to eat it. The bugs don't eat tar, which means a fraction of the oil does remain and sticks to people's feet, and can also be used to tar and feather Oliver Stone, Sean Penn, and other actors as needed.

Oil dispersant use is a standard technique appoved by most environmental agencies everywhere. Also, the standard practice in Europe isn't to raise the oil and collect it - that quote is an outright lie. The oil is dispersed whenever possible. It is collected if it's found in concentrated form, but Europe has never experienced an oil spill at 5000 feet, so the comment is way out of line. Conclusion: The guy's trying to get media coverage. He ranks way up there with the zanies proposing we use a nuclear weapon to "take out the well".

[slay]

17. We are talking about Corexist - not other oil dispersal methods

Corexit somehow has a proprietary formula so we don't even get to know what's in it! Look it up.

"The proprietary composition is not public, but the manufacturer's own safety data sheet on Corexit EC9527A says the main components are 2-butoxyethanol and a proprietary organic sulfonate with a small concentration of propylene glycol.<14><15>"

And this is what was in the old Corexit formula - "In response to public pressure, the EPA and Nalco released the list of the six ingredients in Corexit 9500, revealing constituents including sorbitan, butanedioic acid, and petroleum distillates.<3> Corexit EC9500A is mainly comprised of hydrotreated light petroleum distillates, propylene glycol and a proprietary organic sulfonate.<16> Environmentalists also pressured Nalco to reveal to the public what concentrations of each chemical are in the product; Nalco considers that information to be a trade secret, but has shared it with the EPA.<17> Propylene glycol is a chemical commonly used as a solvent or moisturizer in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and is of relatively low toxicity. An organic sulfonate (or organic sulfonic acid salt) is a synthetic chemical detergent, that acts as a surfactant to emulsify oil and allow its dispersion into water. The identity of the sulfonate used in both forms of Corexit was disclosed to the EPA in June 2010, as dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate."

from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corexit

[kenfrequed]

50. +1 !!!

+1 for bringing out the big 'ole beating stick of facts.

[Arctic Dave]

19. Where do you get your information from?

The standard is not disperents first on large spills. It is collection (or in situ burning) then disperants. I have never been on a spill response were we used disperants only, unless it was a very small anount that created a sheen only. What BP has done is create a three dimensional problem out of a two dimensional one.

[Abq_Sarah]

23. Collection is dependent on weather

As is burning. Dispersents were used at the wellhead to prevent or reduce the formation of oil slicks since it was painfully obvious that we didn't have enough booms or collection vehicles.

[Arctic Dave]

61. So the wistle blower is correct then. They are using it to hide the problem

and not collect it.

As for not having enough booms and skimmers they should have deployed in force from the beginning istead of dragging their feet and wishful thinking the problem away.

[Goldstein1984]

120. Arctic Dave, You are correct...

Dispersants have always been controversial, and I was surprised to see them used so quickly. And 1.6 million gallons of the stuff has been dumped in the Gulf of Mexico. What this spill would have done to the water column would have been catastrophic even without dispersants, but dispersants will make it even worse.

Nobody can legitimately defend BP at this point. What I'm enjoying is seeing every half-assed attempt by BP to manipulate this situation and conceal their corrupt corporate culture detected and exposed by one media source or another. Now I see that BP has their corporate whores (Yes, from Texas and Oklahoma) in Congress placing secret holds on authorization to investigate this incident. Even their successful attempts at subterfuge, like hiring uniformed cops to do their dirty work, are being exposed.

The oil industry has been doing this kind of stuff for a long time. For example, look at the Niger Delta and Ecuador. But this time they didn't screw up in a Third World country. Even Prince William Sound in Alaska was too remote, and too few people of consequence were affected, to be really noticed in a meaningful way. But this time the full extent of the catastrophe will be impossible to hide. Too many people, too many industries, and too much expensive beach-front property is going to be affected.

"BP" and "Organized Crime" are going to be synonymous when this is all over.

[Name removed]

48. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Mimosa]

127. I've detected obvious BP spammers on NOLA.com and other fora

I've detected obvious talking point spammers on national boards whenever BP topics arise. Some are more obvious than others. One of their fave TPs is when there are topics about Gulf seafood (or lawsuits by restaurants including the Pappadeaux's chain or Bayona in NOLA) being lost they post 'it's not where the seafoods come from which make NOLA dishes delicious it's how they're cooked. The info to reply isn't pertinent here.

BP spammers are around wherever lawsuits are being discussed on large public forums in areas where cases will be tried. If you live on the Gulf Coast and read your larger media online, you'll see them at work. They want to shape public opinion early.

[fatbuckel]

137. I`ve said that before ....here. That happens to all the topical forums. And when you expose them,

they get all pissy.

[arcane1]

56. Oliver Stone, Sean Penn, and other actors?

Did I miss something?

[Bluenorthwest]

126. No.

This person is making threats against an entire profession, those he thinks are in that profession, and so forth, in the name of defending BP.
Violent threats. Standing on DU. Against people I know slightly, actually. Right now I hate BP more than ever.

[elehhhhna]

67. Sean Penn is sweating his a** off working in Haiti. Leave him alone.

[wordpix]

90. "tar & feather Oliver Stone, Sean Penn.." huh? BPTransoceanHalliburton execs are the ones to tar &

feather---what's up with Sean Penn or Oliver Stone?

Also, I'm not sure what "bugs" eat solvents like Corexit

[boppers]

101. He's making a name for himself because they didn't buy into his scam

This is pretty transparent self-promotion, papered over with a light stack of lies and a lot of reliance on conspiracy theory.


Which, sadly, tens to work.

[fasttense]

113. And what makes you the expert?

Since when are you an expert on what Europe does? Are you appearing before a congressional committee to testify as an expert?

Why should we take your word, an anonymous poster, when we have someone willing to stand up before congress.

You could at least provide links to prove what you are saying.

[Name removed]

140. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[slay]

15. I saw that - and others who'd theorized the same thing

over the past weeks as more info came out about that Corexit shit. What use is our government when they let corporations run EVERYTHING from security in Afghanistan (do we not have a military?) to PRIVATE PRISONS to hell everything in Iraq by Haliburton - as the super flawed Diebold and ES&S count our votes. Our government is not protecting us at all! We are living in a time of corporate rule - and all they care about is money. This is where many more like Dennis Kucinich, Alan Grayson, Bernie Sanders, and even Al Franken would come in handy as we could actually change things.

http://climateprogress.org/2010/06/01/when-corporations...

[Duer 157099]

21. *Now* can we talk about the death penalty???

Those fucking fucking fuckers

[FirstTimeVoterAt37]

24. It's been awhile since we've had a good boiling in oil

[awnobles]

22. Of Course.

It is liability control, just as is the minimization of the leak estimates and the lack of press coverage actually showing oil.

[Bragi]

25. No pix of oil and water = $ for BP

That's a key point from awnobles: lack of press coverage showing oil should help minimize liability.

Also, not having even more and better visual images of environmental desecration burned into the American psyche won't do BP any harm whatsoever, especially when BP has to mount a reputation restoration phase of this operation, should it survive to that point.

[BelgianMadCow]

27. Saw the interview - and agree (bigtime) with the premise - but he is no whistleblower

afaik - Allegiance Capital Corporation is an investment bank. He mentioned he "was trying to get skimmers to the gulf". That may mean he has a commercial interest in the game? We'll know more when he actually testifies.


I totally agree the dispersant use is a crime against humanity, and that BP is using it to hide the oil, but just wanted to add a caveat about the messenger here.

A more interesting question - how come the EPA STILL allowes the use of this particular dispersant that is banned in the UK, not very effective and ecologically one of the worst??

BP refused to change, stating nothing better was available in the required quantities. That may have been true in the beginning, but NO WAY that still carries water now. Any other dispersant's productiuon could have been ramped up to the desired amount I very very sure.

Corexit is made by a company owned in part by BP. People then speculate they use it for the profit (some 100 million $ worth has been used by now), which I find unlikely.

Do it with your own product so you can hide the true amounts used, that's what I find likely.

The Corexit use is a disgrace.

[dipsydoodle]

138. You fall into the trap

of believing what you read. Corexit isn't completely banned in Europe. Pre 1998 stocks still have permission for use certainly in the UK.

UK authorities have an approved list of products which must pass both "sea/beach" and "rocky shore" laboratory toxicity tests, following a review of approval procedures over a decade ago.<30> Corexit did not pass the rocky shore test when submitted for renewal of its inclusion on the list, and was dropped. Although it has been omitted from the approved list since 1998, existing stocks which pre-date the removal may be permitted for use away from rocky shorelines, subject to prior approval.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corexit

[flyarm]

28. K&R..we on the Gulf were screaming about this spraying from the get go..

we had to breathe this toxic shit!

Where the f was our government??????? oh yeah.awol..

[harun]

32. Our gov't serves the Corporations, not the people.

[Mimosa]

128. That's why I'm crazy angry and giving no quarter.

Bush is not now the president, is he?

[w4rma]

29. Of course they are. They are using a chemical, banned in Europe for it's toxicity, to try to hide

the amount chemical they use -- since they own and make the chemical -- thereby helping to hide the amount of oil they have allowed to escape. BP is absolutely ruthless. They have hired a law firm dedicated to paying out the absolute minimum possible. They have spent millions to prevent people from taking pictures of the oil on beaches and they send workers out at night to "dispose" (not clean up and save) of oil covered animals that wash up on oil covered beaches.

Do not trust anything they do. Expect BP to do the worst in every circumstance.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

30. I find myself wondering how an investment banker from Dallas, Texas is privy to this knowledge?

Especially one up to his neck with the Texas GOP?

For some reason I can't shake the feeling this guy is out to serve himself. I just can't figure out what his angle is yet.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

43. that struck me right away as well

he must have something to gain - or lose - via some connection to this mess. Very odd "Whistleblower"...

[Lone_Star_Dem]

53. It's good to know I'm not the only cynic in the bunch

He just doesn't feel right to me. Then there's the fact that his latest endeavors are all on the front page of the companies website. Why would they do that if he were a traditional whistleblower? It makes no sense.

[nc4bo]

31. And the $64,000 question should be WHY are they still permitted to do this?

[Divine Discontent]

40. because they (corporations) own our gov't. it's pretty clear.

BP has done what they've wanted from the get go and humiliated our govt servants. WHY do they get away with this? WHY do they get away with poisoning our ocean? WHY did they get reporters blocked with force from the start?

Sadly, our gov't failed us. This black mucky sticky poison is going to keep ruining our Southern states beaches for a long time, and it already has slaughtered an innumerable amount of ocean life!

agreed - WTF!

[Doctor_J]

33. I am sure this will result in prosecution

of the whistle blower, not BP

[flyarm]

34. Oh count on that..ask yourself as we in the gulf keep asking..how did BP get 3.5 million gallons of

this toxic shit so quickly?????? when equipment to collect the oil was all but tossed aside or destroyed by BP


who flew this crap in..or what boats brought it into the Gulf that our government didn't know and help cover up???????

3.5 million gallons of this shit ..was it all just sitting around waiting for a spill? wherre was it located...and how was it transported so fast?????????

[G_j]

36. all great questions

I wonder if we'll ever know the answers..

[wordpix]

91. from the beginning it looked to me like a cheap way for BP to get rid of toxic

waste in the millions of gallons that they didn't want to pay to dispose of carefully, according to US env'l laws. If the stuff is outlawed in Britain and maybe elsewhere, they've got it sitting around and Eureka! What a great way to legally dump it. And Obama/EPA's fell for it. Or did they? Hey what happened to that EPA directive saying, "Stop the Corexit dump"?

As for getting these toxic materials transported so fast, the US government doesn't even know what foreign rigs are on the Gulf, and most are foreign. So who knows what any of them are carrying? Some of them could have been carrying this stuff to dump at sea for all we know and---that's what they did.

Quote from my notes taken at a Congressional hearing I attended 6/17:

Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ) said the number of vessels operating under the US flag has plummeted and many are now operating “under flags of convenience…We don’t know what vessels are in US waters or what they’re doing.”

[Mimosa]

129. ^ Exactly ^

Our government said 'yes'. The EPA could have said 'no' to more poison in the Gulf which has been sprayed for cosmetic purposes.

[villager]

75. well, yes! We must prosecute all whistleblowers "while we're at war!"

Oh, and have we mentioned yet... the plan is to always be at war?

[lunasun]

103. I agree .^Look he is already suspect here @ DU!

[Nihil]

124. For good reason.

Also see #31 & #101.

You just can't beat the US media for keyword driven "news" can you?
(nor their audience for their constant gullibility in swallowing it)

[marions ghost]

35. Because many people are brainwashed

This is what somebody wrote in a newspaper blog about the Offshore Drilling Protests:

"Although I can appreciate the ones who oppose the offshore drilling, I think they all are missing the fact that with offshore drilling, we will finally be able to get our oil locally and get away from these foreign countries that are supplying our oil. And if this happens, then maybe the cost of oil will finally go down and we will see our utility bills go down."

I think this misguided perspective is the norm.

WHAT FACTS is this blogger "missing?"

[eowyn_of_rohan]

44. maybe they've been drugging the water supplies with "soma"

just dont get this mass complacency or lethargy...

[marions ghost]

52. denial

the implications are too terrible...People naturally cling to anything that sounds more hopeful, even if it's a complete lie. Distractions are everywhere. Just put all the bad things on "ignore."

But I'm with you, I don't know how people can just pay no attention and go about their business in the face of such blatant abuses and exploitation of we, "the masses." We have the numbers, but we sure do NOT have the power.

It's no wonder why Europeans look at us and just can't believe the general level of ignorance and denial.

[eowyn_of_rohan]

55. of course, are the Europeans being tased when they gather to protest?

...or illegally arrested? But what you said: Distractions are everywhere. Just put all the bad things on "ignore."
I think that is a major part of it in this country...

[juajen]

80. The answer lies in the "dumbing" down of America.

It's very hard to get a consensus of opinion when over half of your population is uneducated and proud of it. It's like hammering your head against a brick wall. Eventually, it hurts like hell and there isn't even a dent in the wall.

The powers that be have been very successful in totally dismantling education in this country for the past 30 or so years. Critical thinking should begin in kindergarten; I don't even believe it is a required course in college these days, or is it? They've also been very successful in fattening up the population and making them feel so bad they cannot even walk around the block. No required PE in high school? What the hell? Are they crazy. No art? They are Philistines. In case some do not know this definition, it follows:

"Philistinism is a derogatory term used to describe a particular attitude or set of values. A person called a Philistine is said to despise or undervalue art, beauty, intellectual content, or spiritual values."

[truth2power]

65. Good grief!...

Can you point this person to what Rachel Maddow said about the difference between drilling and production, and how the drilling moratorium would affect about 33 wells (out of about 3,000 in the gulf) where the safety issues are "iffy"?

Get our oil locally? The oil doesn't stay in the U.S. It's sold on the world market to the highest bidder.

Utility bills go down? This person needs to understand that the vast majority of conventional power plants are coal-fired. So the effect of "local oil" on electricity production would be just about nil. That, BTW, is what burns me up about people who say we should build nuclear power plants in order to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. WTF?

Some people still heat their homes with oil (fuel oil). I don't know how that factors into the mix, but I would think that the effect on prices would be insignificant.

* * * * *

Just throwing this out there. If any of the above is inaccurate, feel free to jump in and correct me.

[juajen]

81. Like I said, ignorance is bliss and the money goes into the corporate and wealthy pots.

[marions ghost]

114. thanks

for the input. And anyone who thinks their utility bills are going down (as a result of offshore drilling) is totally delusional. But reasonably intelligent people believe this. Wishful thinking.

It's the "logical spin." If you make something SOUND logical and make it nothing more than a soundbite, the gullible American public will gobble it up like a school of piranhas.

[Divine Discontent]

39. "Everyone is looking at us and wondering why we’re allowing this to happen" - Like that needs asked!

the
answer
is
perfectly

CLEAR AS CRYSTAL!

[bobthedrummer]

41. knr + concious evolution's archived thread "Companies BP owns stocks of"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[KansDem]

42. Capitalism mean "freedom," folks!

"freedom" from the truth...

[AllyCat]

45. Did ANYONE think BP cared about us, the animals, or the environment?

I've not met a person yet who thinks that.

These people need to go away for murder.

[glowing]

46. I don't know why anyone is laughing at any of this.

This gusher is well on it's way to effect more than just gulf residents.

[superconnected]

47. Godbless the whistle blowers. I hope we see a lot more of them.

[bl968]

49. Destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy

Someone should go to the grand jury and charge BP with destruction of evidence and criminal conspiracy for the act of covering up the true extent of the oil spill.

[tekisui]

51. knr.

[metapunditedgy]

54. Only one way to stop this kind of crap from happening over and over again.

Imprison the executives and managers who created a culture of profit over safety. Take away all their ill-gotten fortunes.

I really don't understand why Americans aren't calling for this loudly.

[valerief]

58. I think we need to execute a counterinsurgency against them. nt

[Jackpine Radical]

73. Permit me to make a slight editorial modification:

"I think we need to execute a counterinsurgency against them"

[valerief]

150. BINGO!!!!! Thanks! nt

[chrisa]

76. It will never happen.

They'll choose a scapegoat / fall guy to satisfy those who haven't been corrupted by BP, and claim that it's enough. Then, you'll have the in-BP's-pocket Repukes screaming about our 'oppressive Socialist' government being anti-free market by trying to prosecute those in BP.

The American people will drink it up and once again blame themselves, the Liberals, Socialists, etc. They'll shout memes like "Prosecuting BP's execs is UnAmerican!" and accuse us of being radicals.

[wordpix]

92. people are calling for it but the repugs are ruling the day & blocking progress in Congress

For some reason, Senate rules allow one person to hold up the works.

[valerief]

57. It's allowed to happen because our govt is OWNED by big oil. nt

[Kip Humphrey]

59. Well, it doesn't actually sink. Its worse. Dispersant imparts neutral buoyancy to the oil

so it remains suspended in the water column where it remains hidden and un-degraded for a loooong time. It will wash to shore for many years.

[alfredo]

60. We must all sacrifice to power America

[lunasun]

105. Yep rather die or sacrifice the life of others than change our ways

[alfredo]

106. human history supports your statement.

[katty]

62. BP: we cover up the obvious-& the sheeple just keep buyin' it

[Solly Mack]

63. k/r

[democrank]

64. Now wait just a minute......

Corporations are people too!

[Bluzmann57]

66. 11 dead men

That alone should be enough to put BP execs in prison for life. 11 men who died for no reason except greed.

[gateley]

104. I was just telling a friend that those people in the MMS should be in prison right

now, too! I know they got rid of the head honcho, but are the others still working there? I've heard nothing.

[chrisa]

74. lol. Of course they are. The Government is in collusion.

These hearings are just telling the ones who have been bought off by BP what they already know. Does anybody really think that the Government would so willingly trust BP? The answer is that the Government knows what BP is doing, and doesn't care. Elements of the Government even support it, as they have a financial interest in BP.

Why do you think BP has gotten off so easy in the first place? It's a circle of business deals to screw those who live on the Gulf, and provide enough propaganda so that they blame themselves (rather than direct their anger at BP). This is blatently obvious to most people who haven't spent time trying to convince themselves that this couldn't be the case.

The whistle-blowers will be fired, prosecuted, and BP will be given a pat on the back, because our government serves Corporations now, not the people. This is a case-in-point demonstration of Government corruption that needs to be fixed.

[Forkboy]

77. I have it from a highly connected Fructose based source....

That this stuff is totally safe enough to sprinkle on your breakfast cereal each day.

[Cetacea]

118. Great stuff. Eat it every day!

[flyarm]

132. ahhh yes ..I have been told the same from that fructose source..all that fake sugar shit

must have killed his brain cells..and now when we on the Gulf smell all the chemicals..I was told not to worry..it wouldn't hurt a gnat!!

Thing that worries me..Gnats are now being studied for all kinds of cancers and ALS and Alheimers that effect human beings!!

Watch out for the Gnat eyes..they hold the secrets to many human diseases!..and they fly among us!

[SHRED]

78. And the Obama Administration didn't know this?

[nc4bo]

83. I'm sickened that the Admin. knows and chooses to do nothing but

I'd be absolutely horrified if they didn't.

I'd love to know the answer in either case.

Big time suck either way you look at it.

[G_j]

108. they had to know

that's a given,IMO.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

109. Thanks, G_j Your vigilance is mightily appreciated.

I am too angry these days to do more than blurt out staccato responses.

[Mimosa]

130. It looks like they want to keep distance and some plausible deniability. n/t

[flyarm]

133. YES THEY KNEW IT! THEY WERE PART AND PARCEL OF THE COVER UP!

from a gulf resident..that was screaming about it from the get go!

[laughingliberal]

82. That's the piece of the puzzle I've been missing.

I have known from the beginning they were avoiding use of the most effective means of recovering the oil and that cleanup efforts have been lackluster. The desire to avoid capturing more of the oil to avoid fines on the amount is a piece that clears up my confusion. Trying to save money on cleanup efforts was a piece but did not seem like enough motive to trash the region. This does.

[Guilded Lilly]

84. It has been quite obvious for a long time...

that those who actually RUN this country do not WANT any of this information (which has been suspected by millions of powerless, but not at all unintelligent *small people* all along) to be reported. Nor do they care how treacherous they really are shown to be.

Doesn't matter anyway, in this f'd up society it makes no damned difference what is uncovered. It just sits out there and no one does anything. It doesn't matter. No one with any kind of power at all has the character or guts to actually do anything about any of it.

We can all suspect/know/uncover/theorize/factualize all the crap. The standards of responsibility and accountability have been so bastardize over the last decade, that breaking the law, lying, deceit, cheating, raping the world will continue unabated... not even the *good guys* will apparently do anything about it.

Wretchedly *sad* doesn't even cover the half of it.

[flyarm]

134. +1000!!

[Atticus]

85. This is only significant if someone MIGHT go to prison and BP might just be seized and liquidated.

Otherwise, it just really doen't matter, does it?

[amborin]

86. we've known this from the get-go! yet, they're still allowed to dump it

[amborin]

87. and K&R

[donheld]

93. No surprise there.

[PatrynXX]

94. thankfully someone got rid of the colors of BP

Green and yellow covered in black lube was silly. Now that it's a dead color. Took a trip to the twin cities awhile back. Alot of closed BP stations. (do feel sorry for the station owners. They are you and me. It's the higher up's that fucked them.

Totally couldn't quite figure out why stick this corexit at the source. Now we know. Rachel brought up that some southern folk think it's raining oil. No not raining oil but I'll be thinking the acid rain will be up for years.

If one cares about animals, don't go there alone, you'll likely puke. Do it as a group. If BP fascists stand in your way , as a group one can push them out of the way and help the life thats' dying. Thats one good thing thats coming from Hurricane Alex. They stopped the controlled burns. Which the turtles were getting stuck in let alone anything else.

[truth2power]

122. "station owners are like you and me..." No they're not..

There was a thread here a day or so ago, started by Lynnsin. There was an interesting discussion about what it takes to buy a BP franchise.

You just about have to be wealthy elite to own one of those stations. Not what you would call a small business person.

I'll try to find that link.


Here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

If you thinking of boycotting your local BP Gas Station - DON'T!! Wrong person being hurt!

[Bluenorthwest]

131. Yep, they are you and me, and a huge sack of cash!

Because all struggling small business owners have a cool million on hand to invest, a liquid million. Most of the stations are owned by wealthy individuals and investor groups. Just like us.

[defendandprotect]

96. This is corporate criminal corruption .... obvious in the oil business since ExxonValdez ...

and with their right wing partners in the Supreme Court, whatever assessments are

made against them, they'll probably end up paying little!!

What was the ExxonValdez reduction -- 90%?

[HCE SuiGeneris]

97. Not news. Just confirmation of the abuse we as a people continue to tolerate.

[lonestarnot]

99. Well deet de dee.

[Enthusiast]

107. We hide our mess

in the U.S.A.

[Blacksheep214]

110. Think what America could accomplish

if the Republicans weren't such douchebags, screwing this country just to point fingers at the failures their obstructionism is causing.

They should be forced to go swimming in the gulf since they are a major part of the problem.

It is quite obvious they do not believe in a UNITED states. Fuck 'em!

[BanTheGOP]

112. Republicans need to be treated like RABID DOGS

You figure out the only reasonable solution.

[Vinca]

116. The saddest part is that after 70+ days of this, it's probably impossible to reverse it.

The whole thing is so heartbreaking. I can't bear the thought of how the sea creatures and birds are dying. Fucking greed. Fucking BP. Fucking oil. Sometimes it makes you hate everyone.

[Cetacea]

117. And now the EPA says it is safe...

6/30/2010:
The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that based on its initial toxicity tests, it is not recommending any changes right now to BP's use of the dispersant Corexit 9500 to break up oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

The EPA tested eight dispersants -- including Corexit -- and found that all of them had "roughly the same" impact on aquatic life. In the report, all of the dispersants were classified as "slightly toxic" to "practically non-toxic."

EPA researchers tested the dispersants on a small fish called the inland silverside and on a type of shrimp called the Gulf mysid, both common toxicity test subjects that are also native to the Gulf.

Paul Anastas, the EPA's assistant administrator for research and development, told reporters that the decision to use dispersants was "difficult" but that it was appropriate for the spill."


http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/06/epa.html

[Nihil]

121. Yet another manufactured media meme takes hold ...

> Allegiance Capitol Corporation V.P. Fred McCallister

He isn't a whistleblower, that would require him to be a BP employee
or, at least, directly involved with the situation. He is neither.

He is just an investment banker from Texas who is puff-piecing his own way
along for the sake of his own financial interests and a grudge against the
company that decided not to buy from him.



Yet again we have the media using the word "whistleblower" in an attempt
to increase credibility by deflecting the obvious self-interest present.

(cf. the Halliburton employee who is the critical witness for getting
Halliburton off the hook also being called a "whistleblower".)

[Mimosa]

123. Our government allowed this

I think we all -at least here on D.U- knew this was wrong and dangerous.

And many of us have been angry that our government and our president has been allowing BP to injure the environment even further.

Like it or not this is most likely true:


In a shocking interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper on June 29th, Allegiance Capitol Corporation V.P. Fred McCallister said that BP is deliberately sinking oil with the toxic chemical disbursant Corexit, to hide the size of the oil spill. By sinking the oil before it can be collected, BP won’t have to pay fines on it.

McCallister said, “Everybody in Europe, where the standard practice is to raise the oil and collect it, is scratching their heads, and quite honestly laughing at what’s happening in the Gulf.” He added, “Everyone is looking at us and wondering why we’re allowing this to happen.”


It's all about the money and has been from Day 1.

[crikkett]

135. "Everybody in Europe" won't be laughing when that garbage washes up

on their shores

[Blacksheep214]

147. Laughing? Really?

I doubt it!

This mess is global in it's reach and everyone knows it!

[patrice]

142. Of course they did, it wasn't their ROYAL coastal waters. nt

[JEB]

145. Corporate Death Penalty

NOW.

[bobthedrummer]

146. Nalco, maker of Corexit, recently hired a top lobbyist out of the EPA

Ramola Musante. Yep, there's been a change of culture in DC
NALCO page from Source Watch
http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nalco

[bdamomma]

148. yea, why are we continuing to let this happen????

BP should be hung.

[Selena Harris]

149. BP is also into weather modification and genetic modification

If you don't ever read another piece about BP,read THIS one!

Environment & Climate Change comment and blogs - The EcologistThe link between BP, geoengineering and GM. Jim Thomas. 28th June, 2010. oil in water BP won't stop at dangerous deep water drilling: the company is bent on ...
www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/ - Cached - Similar

The Ecologist - Official Page | FacebookThe Ecologist - Official Page The link between BP, geoengineering and GM. Blogs and Comments - Comments - Other Comments - The link between BP, ...
www.facebook.com/pages/The...Page/86586411617 - 10 hours ago - Cached

(Excerpt)

Sometimes you have to notice the silences. Where has Dr. Steve Koonin, Under Secretary for Science at the US Department of Energy, been since the Gulf disaster happened? Koonin was intimately acquainted with the very technologies that have failed so spectacularly on the Deepwater Horizon rig in his former job as BP’s chief scientist. While his current employer, Barack Obama is trying to figure out 'whose ass to kick’ over the spill, he might find it instructive to zip back to a presentation by Koonin at MIT in 2005, in which we see Koonin-as-oilman boasting of his company’s technological prowess in taking oil exploration and production into the ultra deep waters of the gulf.
In particular, he says that $50 million to bore a hole in the gulf’s seabed will yield a million barrels a day, describing the technical challenges of depth and pressure. A small note on the bottom of his slide reads ‘marine environment creates integrity challenges’ - engineering-speak for ‘accidents likely’.

Known unknowns

Did senior management at BP such as Koonin know that they were pushing the bounds of environmental safety in deploying these ultra-deep water-drilling technologies? Of course they did. But as Koonin’s MIT presentation makes clear, stretching technological boundaries into risky areas is how BP navigates in an era of peak oil. Koonin’s much lauded role at BP was precisely to apply cutting-edge science to the problem of declining oil reserves and growing climate crisis. Koonin led a team of researchers that would allow for the more economical extraction of hard-to-get oil (e.g. tar sands, deep water drilling).

More significantly, Koonin took a central role in sinking millions of dollars of investment by BP into the new field of extreme genetic engineering known as synthetic biology, where entrepreneurs are building the DNA of entirely novel microbes from scratch in order convert sugar plantations, corn fields and forests into biofuels to keep the car economy gassed up.It was under Koonin’s tenure at BP that the oil giant invested an undisclosed sum into Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomics Inc to develop microbes that could be injected into coal seams and tar sands to release methane. Such methanogenic bacteria exists naturally in parts of the Earth’s crust but the ecological implications of artificially injecting super powerful methane-creating bugs and the potential for an accidental release of powerful greenhouse gas into the atmosphere has yet to be studied. Of course BP would counter that their experimental technology would not escape, just like hundreds of thousands of barrels of oil was not expected to gush out of the seabed.