The BP gulf disaster

[unlimitedpudding]

Is anyone getting pissed off at those pelicans and other waterfowl that are trying to steal our precious oil? Look at them rolling around in it. Thieving bastards.

[anarky]

Yeah, the Katrina comparisons just make no sense. I saw one guy somewhere claiming that Bush was at least on the ground sooner. Didn't notice Obama saying, "Heckuvajob, Brownie, heh, heh, heh," and going off to ignore the problem.

And it's not like Katrina was a manmade disaster and the folks who caused it outright lied about how bad it was for over a week.

[mabudon]

Sorry, apparently Hurricane Katrina wasn't a good enough example
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ynews/ynews_pl2451

Yet administration officials are not ignorant of polls showing the nation less than thrilled with Obama's handling of the Gulf. According to the latest ABC/Washington Post poll, more than two-thirds of those polled, 69 percent, disapprove of the federal government's handling of the spill. That's higher than the outrage over the Bush administration's handling of Hurricane Katrina.

Someone elsewhere brought this to my attention, that is fucking fascinating

[mabudon]

So, the part where I said it had to be made 20% worse in order to drop the dome on the shit, and how I thought that was a wacky low-ball and it would probably, even with some of the oil being collected, make things worse??

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/us/08 ... ss&emc=rss

“The well pipe clearly is fluxing way more than it did before,” said Dr. Leifer, a researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. “By way more, I don’t mean 20 percent, I mean multiple factors.”

Fuuuuuuuuck (I whistled that)

[vynsane]

just checked out the google map thing again... god, it's gotten so much bigger.

[anarky]

Like I said somewhere before, polls are skewing more toward older people every day, as there are fewer and fewer landlines. They always have, since old folks are the majority of people who take the time to answer phone polls, but it's becoming far more pronounced as the next generations turn to cell phones, which for some reason (I think because they're unlisted) aren't contacted for polls.

Older Americans tend to be really mistrustful of the government right now, partly because they're afraid "Obamacare" will take away their Medicare (never mind it's totally not what Obama proposed, and is far closer to McCain's or Romney's ideas than the proposal of any Democratic candidate in 2008) and are convinced that taxes are going up.

I don't hate the guy, but Obama hasn't even touched upon the majority of his campaign promises yet, and isn't being as effective a communicator now as he was during his campaign. Most people aren't exactly pleased as punch about the auto bailouts; the American auto manufacturers lost their edge by sucking ass for decades and forgetting how to compete with foreign companies that don't suck as much ass. Add on that the Democrats squandered the biggest majority in lifetimes, passing only some totally toothless credit card "reform" and then took an entire fucking year to pass a healthcare plan that's so bad it pissed off people on both sides, and I'm just hoping the Republicans put up someone marginally centrist in 2012. If Palin were to somehow win, I wouldn't be going to Canada, I'd be going to the fucking moon. That woman is incompetent, unhealthily self-absorbed, and potentially batshit insane.

[vynsane]

Most people aren't exactly pleased as punch about the auto bailouts; the American auto manufacturers lost their edge by sucking ass for decades and forgetting how to compete with foreign companies that don't suck as much ass.

just to be fair, it's really only GM and chrysler - ford didn't take a bailout, and turned a profit while doing so (probably partly because of the good PR garnered by not taking a bailout).

[anarky]

True. It's easier to say "American automakers" than to have to remember which ones did, and who owns what, and all that.

[Rollo Tomassi]

Is anybody consciously avoiding BP gas stations when getting gas?

Nobody has called for an outright boycott, but all of America speaking with their wallets will pack a much bigger punch than whatever "fines" the govt enacts.

[Ran]

Boycotting BP won't do anything compared to what they've already spent. They've already lost 11 lives, spent over a billion on "clean-up", and we haven't even got to the fines and civil suits yet.

Anyway, I don't know where a BP station is located.

[anarky]

BP owns a lot of other companies (including Arco), and supply gas to many others, including Costco.

I stopped going to Costco gas. I know it won't make a difference, but I don't feel right giving them any money to pass on to BP.

[vynsane]

Is anybody consciously avoiding BP gas stations when getting gas?

yes, actually, i did. this weekend i drove back and forth to raleigh, nc, so i filled up three times in four days, and none of it went to BP.

[Diabolical]

I know I won't be stopping at any BP or BP owned stores.

My mom lives in Florida (Central, Gulf Side) and said that a fairly busy BP station in her area has very recently closed.
She has no idea if it's related to the disaster or not, but the timing seems semi-possible.

[Ran]

BP owns a lot of other companies (including Arco), and supply gas to many others, including Costco.

I didn't know about Arco. I haven't been using them.

[vynsane]

unfortunately a boycott will most likely hurt the station owners more than the company, but it's at least something.