USVI-On-Line

augie wrote: I'm really at a loss as to how anyone can be that shortsighted.

Oh that’s easy to do. The framed narratives of talk radio and any Rupert Murdoch controlled or influenced media create a perception. Perception repeated in the echo chamber of the internet creates conventional wisdom. Conventional wisdom repeated becomes accepted truth. And, it’s always better to create these narratives and perceptions using extreme metaphors, forcing denials from the other side, because then the denials also serve to advance the original narrative.

augie wrote:
Since the oil companies main concern is their profit, they don't really care where the oil comes from.

Augie, is it then your assertion that these so called "green companies" who are being roadblocked from research by evil big oil, wouldn't have profit as their ultimate motive?

You're kidding yourself if you don't think "green industries" are motivated by profit.

Al Gore has made quite the living in this realm.

soxfan22 wrote: Augie, is it then your assertion that these so called "green companies" who are being roadblocked from research by evil big oil, wouldn't have profit as their ultimate motive?

Not my assertion at all. What I'm saying is that as a nation we've allowed the big oil industry (one profit seeking entity) to hinder the growth of other profit seeking entities. Nothing inherently wrong with the capitalist angle on that (except for the way that influence is brokered, but that's a whole different can of worms), but from a security/reliance on other nations point of view, it wasn't a good thing to let happen.

As I read these posts my blood is boiling. It is amazing that the rest of this country is just beginning to become interested in this oil leak that began on April 20th. We all know that hind sight is always 20/20 & there will be enough time to point fingers and play the blame game after. The greatest priority for this country - government, corporations, businesses & citizens - should be to stop the leak and to prevent any further damage to the U.S. coast.

Opinions are like a**holes everyone has one. The debate of wether or not to continue drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico or in any other U.S. coastal areas can be argued from many points of view. Somehow someway we all pay a steep price as a result of the decisions made regarding this topic. We either make the U.S. more dependant on other countries as a fuel source and futher put our country at the mercy of others or we take the risk of harming our own environment with the possiblity or mishaps like we are seeing now.

Call this an accident or call it a man made disaster call it whatever you like we will all feel the affects of it sooner or later.

There are so many people here in Louisiana that have now lost there jobs, source of income and livelihood as a result of this oil leak. There are people who now have no way to pay there mortgage or put food on there table now. So far this leak has inpacted the coastal communities of Louisiana that were hardest hit by Katrina - these are people who have struggled for the past 5 years to get back to a place somewhere near where they were prior to Katrina who have now once again lost everything.

What this country also need to be concerned with is all of the dispersants that are being sprayed into the gulf of Mexico to break up the oil. These toxic chemicals are what will harm us and the marine environment more than anyone can ever imagine. For anyone that is confused about the dangers of these dispersants - since the government and EPA seem to be giving so many mixed messages about these chemicals please click on the link below and watch the ABC video (be patient - you can't skip the commercial at the beginning):
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/diving- ... p-10735329

As far as what BP reports - don't believe a thing that they say. They have consistantly mislead the people of this country. I am not sure we will ever know how much oil has leaked from this well hole. I personally have little faith that this top kill method will work. We have watched one method after another fail to stop this leak. We were told that top kill was supposed to start last weekend, then on monday and finally it started on Wednesday. We were told that we would know immediately if it was working or not, then we were told that we would know in a few hours which then turned into a few days. It has now been a few days & we still don't know.

Soxfan22 - you can't even begin to compare this leak to others in the past. Aside from the Mexican blow out in 1979 none of the other spills/leaks occured at this depth under water. The environmental impact from all of the spills/leaks that you cited were overcome, but after how long? The Gulf of Mexico is such a large body of water - it will be years before we will know the impact of this disaster.

Augie - I would love to meet your friend that thinks that the media is over hyping the affects of this oil leak on the Gulf Coast. I would love to take him/her to our camp in Boothville (near Venice, LA - one of the spots that the national media loves to do reports from)and let him/her meet some of the locals that have been affected by the spill. I would like to take him/her out for a boat ride and let him/her see all of the birds, turtles, and fish that are being killed by the oil/ chemicals in the water. Let him/her see the oil in the marsh that at one time was full of life and now is dead.

For those who pray - please pray for those who are affected by this leak.

nola girl wrote:
Augie - I would love to meet your friend that thinks that the media is over hyping the affects of this oil leak on the Gulf Coast. I would love to take him/her to our camp in Boothville (near Venice, LA - one of the spots that the national media loves to do reports from)and let him/her meet some of the locals that have been affected by the spill. I would like to take him/her out for a boat ride and let him/her see all of the birds, turtles, and fish that are being killed by the oil/ chemicals in the water. Let him/her see the oil in the marsh that at one time was full of life and now is dead.

I wish you could take him on that "tour" But he'd probably try to close his eyes as tightly shut as his mind is.

Not that it helps you in any tangible way, but I'm been saying (whining according to aforementioned friend) from day 1 that it is inconceivable that we weren't putting every possible resource on this to try and limit the damage as best could be done.

You're all in my thoughts - I hope that you, the region, and the environment in general can defy the odds on this one.

NOLA - I wasn't comparing this spill to others. The point I was making was in relation to the knee jerk reaction shown by a few here basically using this disaster/accident as a means by which to push an agenda (no drilling).

My point was indeed meant to acknowledge the fact that this is the worst spill we have seen in our country's history, and we've been drilling for oil in the Gulf since the 1930's.

It is a terrible situation. I was not making light of the circumstances.

augie wrote:
For those of you that want to use this as the latest excuse to point your fingers at the "other side", go ahead - but you can do so without my involvement.

See, this just kills me, Augie. The "other side" spent 8 years killing our previous president for every little thing that went wrong not just in this country, but in the world. Remember, we (conservatives/libertarians) are not the people who think government solves problems. So when something happens, and a man who hasn't seen a government big enough for his liking is sitting in the White House really not doing anything of any substance to lead, well then yes, I will get on him. He advertised something different. Many people on this board advertised something different. 35 days is not better, it is worse.

We were told (by the left) for the past eight years that government solves problems, and that good government does so efficiently. I know that is not true, has never been true, and will never be true.

So when a politician makes promises that are undeliverable, he/she needs to pay a price.

You just can't have it both ways, Augie. Remember, Bush hates black people. Remember that?

soxfan22 wrote:

augie wrote:
For those of you that want to use this as the latest excuse to point your fingers at the "other side", go ahead - but you can do so without my involvement.

See, this just kills me, Augie. The "other side" spent 8 years killing our previous president for every little thing that went wrong not just in this country, but in the world.

Like I said, those of you that want to use this as the latest excuse to point your fingers at the "other side", go ahead...

I wasn't speaking to one side or the other. I was hoping that we could address Connie's post, as well as the poignant follow up posted by nola girl without either "side" turning it into a political pissing match.

I should have known better.

Carry on.

As a kid, we spent almost every summer vacation in Florida. For me, these trips ranked right up there with Santa Claus and birthdays. The beach and the ocean are and always have been a magical place for me. I took its beauty for granted 40 years ago, but I don't now.

To Nola girl and anyone else affect by the spill, I see the damage that's being done to the marshes and wetlands, and it breaks my heart. It also breaks my heart to think of those who don't know how they're going to pay their bills and feed their families. It's more than I can even imagine. No one deserves to have this happen. I hope that life returns to normal soon for everyone in the Gulf.

In case I wasn't clear earlier, I'm not in favor of shutting down oil production in this country. What I do favor are stringent regulation and over site by government over any industry that has the potential to do as much damage as PB has done. If we're going to license companies to operate in the US (particularly foreign companies), then the US must mandate that these same companies be held responsible for the damage they inflict on the public and private sector when they screw up.

I'm not going to engage in any kind of debate or comment further on my opinion. The only purpose of this post is to clarify my views on drilling v. not drilling.

Louisiana is getting a horribly unfair share of misery. Just five years after Katrina, this disaster is still playing out gallon by gallon. The impact won't be known for quite a while to come. One concern is for what this year's hurricane season may bring.

An immediate concern is for the wildlife and here's where we can contribute something. There are organizations and agencies taking action. Here are a few:

http://www.humanesociety.org/news/news/ ... ponse.html

http://www.lsart.org/

http://www.nature.org/wherewework/north ... s3463.html

I'm going to make a donation. It's one concrete thing that i can do that may actually assist the victims of the tragedy. As the situation develops, there may be opportunities to assist the human residents of the Gulf Coast, but it seems it's the wildlife that's in immediate need. Prayer is good but sending money is also good. Covers all the bases. Using this tragedy to score cheap political points doesn't seem so good.

We can all just push our cars to work, or as much as I love horses, we can go back to pony express, but they might fart too much and pollute.

The people who lobby for less drilling are the same people who have made it near impossible to develop any new nuclear power plants in this country. Like somebody here said earlier (I think pip), France gets 75% of their power from nuke plants, and it remains the cleanest, safest energy source that we currently have at our disposal. It's always struck me as odd that those folks who hold Europe up as some environmental panacea either don't know, don't realize, or don't care that countries like France get their power from nukes. Not good enough for us though.

Like I said before, let's put a nice, shiny, new wind farm stretching from STJ to STT across Pillsbury Sound. Im sure Ruth is reading this (and of course she will never lower herself to respond to soxfan)...But what do you think Ruth? You up for the windfarm? Lets make it happen.

In related news, the New York Times has a story tonight saying that the "Top Kill" method has failed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/30/us/30spill.html?hp

And Obama is on his second family vacation since the oil spill happened.

I'm feelin' all hopey changey!

DELETED