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The Oil

May 24, 2010#1

DarkAudit

Krisken mentioned this poem in IRC. I happened to have a copy of it on the Totally MAD collection.

By Frank Jacobs after "The Bells" by Edgar Allen Poe.

See the derricks pumping oil --
Foreign oil!
Gobs of gallons gushing from beneath the desert soil!
Huge monopolies are drilling,
Which for them is mighty nice,
When their pockets they are filling
And it's they who make the killing
And it's we who pay the price!
Hear them gloat, gloat, gloat
'Cause they've got us by the throat,
And each dollar, yen, and kopek
Feeds the greedy bunch at OPEC
For the oil, oil, oil, oil,
Oil, oil, oil --
For the money-grubbing moguls with the oil!

See the pipeline full of oil --
U.S. oil!
Built to last a lifetime after years of sweat and toil!
Many millions we were spending,
And although the cost was great,
Soon our problems would be ending
'Cause we wouldn't be depending
On the Saudis or Kuwait!
See it last, last, last --
Oops! I guess we spoke too fast!
Leaks are springing up all through it;
Seems the builders kind of blew it
With the oil, oil, oil, oil,
Oil, oil, oil --
Just another major screw up with the oil!

See the tanker dumping oil --
Exxon oil!
Blackening our shores and bringing tempers to a boil!
Hear the companies suppressing
How their hulls are made of mush:
"Yes the spill is most distressing,
"But we had no way of guessing
"That the captain was a lush!"
Hear them claim, claim, claim
That they're really not to blame!
After all, they're only human;
Best to pin it on some crewman
For the oil, oil, oil, oil,
Oil, oil, oil --
for the leaking and the reeking of the oil!

See the seagulls drenched with oil --
Deadly oil!
Grounded on the beaches that men ravage and despoil!
Smell the fishes putrefying;
Count the corpses of the seals;
See the scores of eagles dying,
Giving up all dreams of flying
As the greasy goo congeals!
Leaders swear, swear, swear
That they really, truly care!
Words to banish ev'ry sorrow
Till that bigger spill tomorrow
When another giant tanker
Winds up punctured by it's anchor,
With our shores obliterated
And the planet decimated
By the oil, oil, oil, oil,
Oil, oil, oil --
By the deadly devastation of the oil!

May 24, 2010#2

Necronic

How about this one

"Down with oil" they cry
Placard's cutting the sky
With their knowledge from schools
with computers
what tools!
Built from plastics and oil alike.

"Down with Oil!" they crow
as they head to their fane
boarding modern airplanes
resolute in their knowledge and right

ah fuck it. Too lazy to keep this up. Point is this is just another argument made by people that are either too lazy, or stupid to work on fixing the problem themselves. Almost every anti-oil person I have ever met has ~ a high school education in science. How dare they talk about how this is the world's greatest evil and then spend no effort trying to understand 1) its values, and 2) legitimate ways to deal with the problem.

All of this is just juvenile intellectual masturbation and armchair quarterbacking unless you get off your bean bag chair of a brain and try to fix the problem. And that's not done by making flowery speeches. Its done by actually educating yourself on the problems.

Also, don't take my response too personally. Its not like you're in the minority, like I said almost every environmental activist I have ever met couldn't even draw CO2.

May 24, 2010#3

Krisken

Yup, all this stuff is great. Just hope you don't want seafood for the next 10 years.

May 25, 2010#4

Troll

Necronic said:
How about this one

"Down with oil" they cry
Placard's cutting the sky
With their knowledge from schools
with computers
what tools!
Built from plastics and oil alike.

"Down with Oil!" they crow
as they head to their fane
boarding modern airplanes
resolute in their knowledge and right

ah fuck it. Too lazy to keep this up. Point is this is just another argument made by people that are either too lazy, or stupid to work on fixing the problem themselves. Almost every anti-oil person I have ever met has ~ a high school education in science. How dare they talk about how this is the world's greatest evil and then spend no effort trying to understand 1) its values, and 2) legitimate ways to deal with the problem.

All of this is just juvenile intellectual masturbation and armchair quarterbacking unless you get off your bean bag chair of a brain and try to fix the problem. And that's not done by making flowery speeches. Its done by actually educating yourself on the problems.

Also, don't take my response too personally. Its not like you're in the minority, like I said almost every environmental activist I have ever met couldn't even draw CO2.

May 25, 2010#5

JONJONAUG

Necronic said:
How about this one

"Down with oil" they cry
Placard's cutting the sky
With their knowledge from schools
with computers
what tools!
Built from plastics and oil alike.

"Down with Oil!" they crow
as they head to their fane
boarding modern airplanes
resolute in their knowledge and right

ah fuck it. Too lazy to keep this up. Point is this is just another argument made by people that are either too lazy, or stupid to work on fixing the problem themselves. Almost every anti-oil person I have ever met has ~ a high school education in science. How dare they talk about how this is the world's greatest evil and then spend no effort trying to understand 1) its values, and 2) legitimate ways to deal with the problem.

All of this is just juvenile intellectual masturbation and armchair quarterbacking unless you get off your bean bag chair of a brain and try to fix the problem. And that's not done by making flowery speeches. Its done by actually educating yourself on the problems.

Also, don't take my response too personally. Its not like you're in the minority, like I said almost every environmental activist I have ever met couldn't even draw CO2.

Cross posting.

May 25, 2010#6

DarkAudit

Are you really that stupid, Necronic? The oil companies have trillions of dollars to make sure the problems don't *ever* get fixed.

May 25, 2010#7

Dave

Necronic: 0
The World: 1

May 25, 2010#8

DarkAudit

Dave said:
Necronic: 0
The World: 1

And there's the final whistle! Reality kicks Necronic in the teeth yet again!

May 25, 2010#9

Chazwozel

Necronic is 100% correct.

Although I am an environmental activist, you can't deny that we need that EARL!

May 25, 2010#10

Necronic

Chazwozel said:
Necronic is 100% correct.

Although I am an environmental activist, you can't deny that we need that EARL!

We really do. I defy most people to even comprehend what their day would be like without just a single part of the oil issue:

no plastics/polymers - this is simply too invasive to mention, pretty much everything you see around you has a petroleum based polymer of some kind in it. But if you want 2 specific examples
a) No medical plastics - Hopefully you can understand the significance of a lack of plastics to medicine.
b) No synthetic rubber/teflon - This would put our industrial capabilities back ~60 years due to 0-rings/gaskets/hosing

Yes, people are now developing organic/bio plastics, which I think is fucking awesome, but its still a ways off, and guess what they need to get us the rest of the way there? Plastics. They will use HPLC's, GC-MS's, GPCs, SEM/TEMs, and I doubt anyone could build one of those without a plastic.

To understand the real danger of something you have to first understand why it's there. Oil isn't just a handgun pointed at your face, its a handgun pointed at your face that also feeds your family. In a way that makese it even more fucked up. Also, looking at oil exec's like they are evil men wearing cloaks rubbing their hands while they talk about greed standing over Captain Planet's body saying "he died like a pig" is just as ridiculous.

Yes, oil companies have fucked up. Some have fucked up royally. The question is what do they do afterwards. After the Valdeez Exxon became one of the most tight assed companies about environmental and safety standards in the world. After the Texas City incident BP passed the blame as fast as possible and made no changes to its practices, and did the same thing again.

BP are dangerous jackasses, but don't take that to indicate that all of the oil industry is.

May 25, 2010#11

Espy

But oil is evil Necronic, and I wrote a rhyme about it that proves my point:
Oil is evil
Like a big slimy weevil
it stole my baby
and turned him into gravy

May 25, 2010#12

Dave

I think that it's this kind of thing that will finally wake people the fuck up and start working towards VIABLE alternatives. It's like getting violently ill before you finally go to the doctor. You know you've needed preventive medicine but it was just so much bother!

May 25, 2010#13

DarkAudit

Necronic said:
looking at oil exec's like they are evil men wearing cloaks rubbing their hands while they talk about greed standing over Captain Planet's body saying "he died like a pig"

That's for coal execs. Don Blankenship in particular. He is evil, pure and simple. And that's just the way he wants it.

Pity that so many on both sides of the aisle are so blatantly in his pocket.

May 25, 2010#14

Necronic

Yeah....actually i can't defend that dude or most of the coal mining industry, they make BP look like Greenpeach/OSHA.

May 25, 2010#15

The Lovely Boehner

Drill baby drill, am I right?

May 25, 2010#16

Krisken

We were talking about the poem DarkAudit had posted and I remembered the one he posted above from my youth.

I know we need oil to make petroleum products. These plastic products are great. I'm not advocating to completely abolish oil drilling. I do think part of the problem is how lax we have been as a nation to ensure oil companies follow strict safety regulations and require some research into better ways to prevent and stop these catastrophes from occurring again.

Oh, and I'm glad I don't like seafood.

May 25, 2010#17

Necronic

To a degree yes (referencing the "drill baby drill" comment). I truly believe that oil is involved in one of the greatest threats to the modern world we have ever had, but not because of its existence, but because of its disappearance. Capitalism has done a very good job in pushing our efficiency levels in its development and exploitation to incredible places, and we are also starting to increase our efficiency in its usage as well, but its not enough and it never was.

One of the most serious issues is that only a handful of countries have really been using oil for the last couple centuries, and other countries are finally getting their industry/economies built up to the point that they are using it too. So while supply is shrinking (or at least plateuing) demand is independantly skyrocketing. This is really the nightmare scenario. Just as you start running out of beer another 100 guests arrive.

Here's a disturbing set of pictures:

Oil consumption per capita:

Population Density per km2

Notice the inversion. If these countries start using oil like we do, which they have every right to do in an open market, then we are more fucked than Ben Bernanke on his first night in prison.

This is part of the reason I get so frustrated with these blanket and juvenile attacks on Oil. The oil crisis is a terrifying thing, but to deal with it you have to understand the entire picture. Treating it so simplisticly like so many people on the left do only diminishes the reality of the threat itself, and moreover the ridiculously poor level of education in science that so many people have only reinforces my concern. Its like people are arguing about the best way to stop the plague, and some people are arguing that we should sacrifice goats while the others are saying we should build a golden idol to stop it.

Then you have the talking heads saying that we could power the entire planet on wind or solar, who, if asked, couldn't tell you the historical trends in efficiency rates for these items or the chemicals required to make them or the potential effects on the environment or bird migration of stealing that much energy from the weather patterns or the economics of scale. But they can tell you that its OBVIOUSLY the best solution.

May 25, 2010#18

Chazwozel

The Lovely Boner said:
Drill baby drill, am I right?

I don't think that's what he's saying at all in that sort of context.

You do realize without oil, society wouldn't be able to function, right?

May 25, 2010#19

Necronic

Its more like

"Drill dear god drill"

May 25, 2010#20

The Lovely Boehner

Chazwozel;389538][QUOTE=The Lovely Boner said:
Drill baby drill, am I right?

I don't think that's what he's saying at all in that sort of context.

You do realize without oil, society wouldn't be able to function, right?[/QUOTE]

I think Sarah Palin is a good representation of the attitude of going forward without any sort of thought or planning for safety. She looks extra stupid (astonishingly that is possible) now.

May 25, 2010#21

Troll

Chazwozel;389538][QUOTE=The Lovely Boner said:
Drill baby drill, am I right?

May 25, 2010#22

Chazwozel

Troll;389550][QUOTE=Chazwozel;389538][QUOTE=The Lovely Boner said:
Drill baby drill, am I right?

May 25, 2010#23

Krisken

I think we're all agreeing with each other. Our language just came off like we were disagreeing. There really is no reason for contention over agreement

May 25, 2010#24

Soliloquy

Hmmm... looks like we need some genuine disagreement in this thread.

*ahem*

WE NEED TO GET RID OF ALL THE OIL BY DUMPING IT IN THE OCEAN!

May 25, 2010#25

Krisken

Done and DONE!

May 25, 2010#26

Jonzac

In the military we would say that you two are in "violent agreement"

May 25, 2010#27

Chazwozel

Soliloquy said:
Hmmm... looks like we need some genuine disagreement in this thread.

*ahem*

WE NEED TO GET RID OF ALL THE OIL BY DUMPING IT IN THE OCEAN!

Looks like you're all set to be a BP C.E.O!

May 25, 2010#28

Necronic

Troll;389550][QUOTE=Chazwozel;389538][QUOTE=The Lovely Boner said:
Drill baby drill, am I right?

I don't think that's what he's saying at all in that sort of context.

You do realize without oil, society wouldn't be able to function, right?[/QUOTE]

The problem in this thread is that the 2 sides aren't talking about the same thing. People criticizing oil are not saying it should be abolished and we should abondon it altogether. People are just saying oil and the oil industry are causing some major problems, and we need to do something about that. No one here thinks oil isn't important, and no one was forgetting vital products like plastic. You and Necronic act as though no one can criticize the oil industry for anything because some of what they provide is good.[/QUOTE]

I think people can totally criticize the oil industry, I am totally for it. However, I am wholeheartedly against rhetoric like that poem. No specific arguments are made in it that can be refuted, yet the general tone of it is "Oil BAD!" (q frankenstein voice) which is a completely worthless statement. Actually its beyond worthless, it is self defeating because it makes the people saying it look like they are incapable of making a real argument which discredits them when they reall do.

So while we may in some ways be in agreement, I can say that we really aren't. However at this point its more of a meta argument, which to be honest are the ones I focus on the most when it comes to politics and world issues. With issues that serious and complicated the argument itself must be handled very carefully, by not doing so you make it so that no one is even capable of ever finding a higher truth even if they wanted to.

Yet again I'm going to bring it back to science. When scientists test a theory the way they decide to design the experiment is as important as how they run the experiment which is just as important as how they analyze the data which isn't any less important than how they report it. By not showing dilligence in any of those steps their entire argument is meaningless.

Which is why stuff like this gets me so frustrated. Clearly people are interested in making the world a better place, which really is great, yet so few of them focus their political energies in such a way as to be anything but self defeating.

Edit: Also take into account the fact that I am an angry hateful person.

May 25, 2010#29

Soliloquy

Clearly, you guys aren't thinking about the potential benefits of dumping all the world's oil into the ocean.

1) The economic collapse would keep terrorists from caring about our country any more.

2) Totalitarian powers in the middle east will no longer have international influence.

3) The absence of life-prolonging medical technology will save social security.

4) The lack of convenient transportation will keep people from going to the court and filing frivolous lawsuits.

5) All problems with traffic congestion will be immediately fixed.

6) Everyone who joined the boy scouts will find their skills much more applicable to everyday life.

7) People with massive seafood allergies need no longer worry.

8) Killer Whales in captivity will decide they don't have it that bad.

9) No more sharks.

10) Everyone will get a lot more exercise.

11) No more jellyfish.

12) The Amish will rise to power, bringing back those cool side beards.

13) No more of that friggin' kelp that scratches your legs at the beach.

May 25, 2010#30

Krisken

Necronic, it's a poem that was in MAD magazine. Your panties are bunching needlessly.

May 25, 2010#31

Element 117

Do panties ever bunch with need?

May 26, 2010#32

Necronic

I was wondering about that. That excuses it. Is that the same place as that other jackass poem came from?

May 26, 2010#33

Chazwozel

Soliloquy said:
Clearly, you guys aren't thinking about the potential benefits of dumping all the world's oil into the ocean.

1) The economic collapse would keep terrorists from caring about our country any more.

2) Totalitarian powers in the middle east will no longer have international influence.

3) The absence of life-prolonging medical technology will save social security.

4) The lack of convenient transportation will keep people from going to the court and filing frivolous lawsuits.

5) All problems with traffic congestion will be immediately fixed.

6) Everyone who joined the boy scouts will find their skills much more applicable to everyday life.

7) People with massive seafood allergies need no longer worry.

8) Killer Whales in captivity will decide they don't have it that bad.

9) No more sharks.

10) Everyone will get a lot more exercise.

11) No more jellyfish.

12) The Amish will rise to power, bringing back those cool side beards.

13) No more of that friggin' kelp that scratches your legs at the beach.

Fuck you!

May 26, 2010#34

Soliloquy

Chazwozel;390206][QUOTE=Soliloquy said:
Clearly, you guys aren't thinking about the potential benefits of dumping all the world's oil into the ocean.

1) The economic collapse would keep terrorists from caring about our country any more.

2) Totalitarian powers in the middle east will no longer have international influence.

3) The absence of life-prolonging medical technology will save social security.

4) The lack of convenient transportation will keep people from going to the court and filing frivolous lawsuits.

5) All problems with traffic congestion will be immediately fixed.

6) Everyone who joined the boy scouts will find their skills much more applicable to everyday life.

7) People with massive seafood allergies need no longer worry.

8) Killer Whales in captivity will decide they don't have it that bad.

9) No more sharks.

10) Everyone will get a lot more exercise.

11) No more jellyfish.

12) The Amish will rise to power, bringing back those cool side beards.

13) No more of that friggin' kelp that scratches your legs at the beach.

Fuck you![/QUOTE]

See? sharks are aggressive, and must be destroyed.

May 26, 2010#35

Chazwozel

FUCK YOU MRRRPPHHPRPPR OIL MRRRPRRRRFFFFPFPRPRRRRRRR BLLEECCH.......

May 26, 2010#36

Troll

Oh god, that made me laugh so hard I've got people staring at me right now.

May 30, 2010#37

Matt²

so .. at least we know we have LOTS of offshore oil and we don't have to be so dependant on foreign oil anymore? yyyyyaaaaaay??

May 30, 2010#38

DarkAudit

Matt² said:
so .. at least we know we have LOTS of offshore oil and we don't have to be so dependant on foreign oil anymore? yyyyyaaaaaay??

I'm still thinking the Russians or Chinese are secretly working on the tech to just slurp up all that spilled oil and separate it into a usable form. It's in international waters, so whoever can get it, has it.

May 30, 2010#39

Element 117

Russians or Chinese huh? Not the Japanese? Swedish?

May 30, 2010#40

DarkAudit

Xiaofang Nuren said:
Russians or Chinese huh? Not the Japanese? Swedish?

The Russians and/or Chinese would do it as a big FUCK YOU to us and the rest of the "West".

May 30, 2010#41

Element 117

DarkAudit;391936][QUOTE=Xiaofang Nuren said:
Russians or Chinese huh? Not the Japanese? Swedish?

The Russians and/or Chinese would do it as a big FUCK YOU to us and the rest of the "West".[/QUOTE]

Q: do you still do your nuclear bomb drills?

May 30, 2010#42

DarkAudit

Xiaofang Nuren;391938][QUOTE=DarkAudit;391936][QUOTE=Xiaofang Nuren said:
Russians or Chinese huh? Not the Japanese? Swedish?

May 30, 2010#43

Chazwozel

DarkAudit;391942][QUOTE=Xiaofang Nuren;391938][QUOTE=DarkAudit;391936][QUOTE=Xiaofang Nuren said:
Russians or Chinese huh? Not the Japanese? Swedish?

The Russians and/or Chinese would do it as a big FUCK YOU to us and the rest of the "West".[/QUOTE]

Q: do you still do your nuclear bomb drills?[/QUOTE]

A: Good luck finding anyone under the age of 40 who knows what a fallout shelter is.[/QUOTE]

29 here, sir. I know what a fallout shelter is and where a local one in my community is. Aww yeah, duck and cover bitches.

May 31, 2010#44

Krisken

DarkAudit;391942][QUOTE=Xiaofang Nuren;391938][QUOTE=DarkAudit;391936][QUOTE=Xiaofang Nuren said:
Russians or Chinese huh? Not the Japanese? Swedish?

The Russians and/or Chinese would do it as a big FUCK YOU to us and the rest of the "West".[/QUOTE]

Q: do you still do your nuclear bomb drills?[/QUOTE]

A: Good luck finding anyone under the age of 40 who knows what a fallout shelter is.[/QUOTE]
DarkAudit, you're talking to a group of people who have played Fallout and Fallout 2. Suggesting people in this group, no matter what age, wouldn't know what a fallout shelter is comes across a little silly.

May 31, 2010#45

DarkAudit

Krisken;392012][QUOTE=DarkAudit;391942][QUOTE=Xiaofang Nuren;391938][QUOTE=DarkAudit;391936][QUOTE=Xiaofang Nuren said:
Russians or Chinese huh? Not the Japanese? Swedish?

The Russians and/or Chinese would do it as a big FUCK YOU to us and the rest of the "West".[/QUOTE]

Q: do you still do your nuclear bomb drills?[/QUOTE]

A: Good luck finding anyone under the age of 40 who knows what a fallout shelter is.[/QUOTE]
DarkAudit, you're talking to a group of people who have played Fallout and Fallout 2. Suggesting people in this group, no matter what age, wouldn't know what a fallout shelter is comes across a little silly.[/QUOTE]

Come on, you've seen it yourself in IRC. It's amazing what these people have never heard of.

Jun 3, 2010#46

wana10

sorry i'm late

Jun 3, 2010#47

Krisken

:laugh:

Jun 4, 2010#48

JONJONAUG

wana10 said:
sorry i'm late

Oh my god.

Jun 4, 2010#49

Element 117

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

Jun 4, 2010#50

Jay

Jun 4, 2010#51

DarkAudit

Knowing BP, we'll get

instead.

Jun 4, 2010#52

Jay

Jun 6, 2010#53

Norris

DarkAudit said:
Knowing BP, we'll get

instead.

On the plus side, we could send him to BP HQ to rip some throats.

Matt² said:
so .. at least we know we have LOTS of offshore oil and we don't have to be so dependant on foreign oil anymore? yyyyyaaaaaay??

Hey, soon that oil will be right on shore where you can just ladle it into stuff!

So we got that going for us.

Jun 6, 2010#54

Element 117

Jay said:

ftw

Jun 7, 2010#55

JONJONAUG

So is this the oil spill thread or is the other thread the oil spill thread?

The Onion continues to be awesome

Jun 7, 2010#56

Krisken

Very nice. :laugh:

Jun 7, 2010#57

Jay

Jun 7, 2010#58

Hailey Knight

JONJONAUG said:
So is this the oil spill thread or is the other thread the oil spill thread?

The Onion continues to be awesome

Magnificent.

Jun 9, 2010#59

ThatNickGuy

View attachment 574

Jun 11, 2010#60

JONJONAUG

Owns.

Jun 11, 2010#61

Chibibar

Jay said:

LOL. probably would have work too!

Jun 11, 2010#62

TNM

Jun 11, 2010#63

Necronic

My attititude is starting to change pretty rapidly. This is such a nightmare scenario catastrophe. The failure here wasn't the equipment, but the people, and I don't see any way you can remove them from the equation. At my work we have something called a "risk matrix", where you plot how bad the damage of a failure is vs how likely the failure would be. Something like this would have a very very low risk of failure, however the potential damage would be at or near the top of the chart. I believe that when something has that high potential damage we simply don't do it, regardless of the risk, because failing once is catastrophic.

I'm just really starting to freak out about what's happening down there. The long term environmental effects are worse than Bhopal and Chernobyl combined. I know that may seem ridiculous but you have to appreciate that those were land disasters, this is different. BP pissed in the pool, and there is absolutely no way to remove a lot of what they did. The whole 'dispersant' concept just shows how ineffective our measures are, because all that did was an 'out of sight out of mind' magic trick. That benzene is still there.

And that's the one I am most worried about. Benzene. shudder. Screw the little duckies covered in brown sludge (ok that's bad too). Benzene is incredibly toxic, and I am really concerned that we have permanently increased the PPM of benzene in the oceans. If it was all on the surface that would be fine. Benzene and all the other dangerous hydrocarbons would evaporate and you would just have the heavy paraphins/olephins that aren't nearly as toxic and are much easier to capture. But this plume means that the benzene is trapped under hundreds to thousands of feet of water where it can't escape. Sure, eventually it will get to the top and leave. Hopefully. Maybe after a century.

shudder.

Jun 11, 2010#64

Hailey Knight

Kill the more complex organisms, and then you get mass reproduction of simpler organisms. In some parts of the Pacific they've been running into masses of jellyfish/algae organisms pushing a burning vapor into the atmosphere above the water. Fun times.

Jun 21, 2010#65

JONJONAUG

New plan: Pray the oil away

CNN said:
(CNN) -- While cleanup crews and technical teams continue efforts to stop crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana lawmakers are proposing a different approach: prayer.

State senators designated Sunday as a day for citizens to ask for God's help dealing with the oil disaster.

"Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail," state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after last week's unanimous vote for the day of prayer. "It is clearly time for a miracle for us."

The resolution names Sunday as a statewide day of prayer in Louisiana and calls on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast "to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood."

Jun 21, 2010#66

The Lovely Boehner

JONJONAUG said:
New plan: Pray the oil away

CNN said:

(CNN) -- While cleanup crews and technical teams continue efforts to stop crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana lawmakers are proposing a different approach: prayer.

State senators designated Sunday as a day for citizens to ask for God's help dealing with the oil disaster.

"Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail," state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after last week's unanimous vote for the day of prayer. "It is clearly time for a miracle for us."

The resolution names Sunday as a statewide day of prayer in Louisiana and calls on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast "to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood."

Click to expand...

I thought this was an onion article until I saw it on CNN and FoxNews and saw Sarah Palin championing the idea on Twitter.

What the fuck.

Jun 21, 2010#67

Covar

I'd imagine God will offer help, but be rejected because the paper work was filed incorrectly.

Jun 21, 2010#68

HCGLNS

JONJONAUG said:
New plan: Pray the oil away

CNN said:

(CNN) -- While cleanup crews and technical teams continue efforts to stop crude gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana lawmakers are proposing a different approach: prayer.

State senators designated Sunday as a day for citizens to ask for God's help dealing with the oil disaster.

"Thus far efforts made by mortals to try to solve the crisis have been to no avail," state Sen. Robert Adley said in a statement released after last week's unanimous vote for the day of prayer. "It is clearly time for a miracle for us."

The resolution names Sunday as a statewide day of prayer in Louisiana and calls on people of all religions throughout the Gulf Coast "to pray for an end to this environmental emergency, sparing us all from the destruction of both culture and livelihood."

Click to expand...

This is actually a really good idea.

Jun 21, 2010#69

Espy

Meh, I have no problem with the state asking people of all religions to join together in prayer, it sounds about as effective as anything else they have going on plus it's fun to watch those intolerant of religion screech up a storm.

Jun 21, 2010#70

tegid

Yes! I mean, instead of keeping trying, let's leave it on God's hands! It certainly is less tiring.

EDIT: I have no problem with prayer... My problem is with the 'it's time for a miracle' thing. It feels like they want to rely on prayer, which means doing less actual, palpable things.

Jun 21, 2010#71

AshburnerX

You know the situation is bad when DIVINE INTERVENTION seems like the best course of action.

Jun 21, 2010#72

Chazwozel

Prayer is the best way to do nothing and make it seem like you're doing something.

Jun 21, 2010#73

Espy

tegid said:
Yes! I mean, instead of keeping trying, let's leave it on God's hands! It certainly is less tiring.

EDIT: I have no problem with prayer... My problem is with the 'it's time for a miracle' thing. It feels like they want to rely on prayer, which means doing less actual, palpable things.

I get the feeling at this point the people and even the government of Louisiana are feeling remarkably helpless, you know because when they do try and do something the Coast Guard blocks them, etc. I can't imagine how frustrating and helpless they must feel.

Jun 21, 2010#74

tegid

Espy;402762][QUOTE=tegid said:
Yes! I mean, instead of keeping trying, let's leave it on God's hands! It certainly is less tiring.

EDIT: I have no problem with prayer... My problem is with the 'it's time for a miracle' thing. It feels like they want to rely on prayer, which means doing less actual, palpable things.

I get the feeling at this point the people and even the government of Louisiana are feeling remarkably helpless, you know because when they do try and do something the Coast Guard blocks them, etc. I can't imagine how frustrating and helpless they must feel.[/QUOTE]

Ok, I had no idea about this. With this in mind, it doesn't sound that bad.

Jun 21, 2010#75

Espy

YEah... fun times: BP Oil Spill: Against Gov. Bobby Jindal's Wishes, Crude-Sucking Barges Stopped by Coast Guard - ABC News

Thankfully they eventually got them going again but I can't imagine just how helpless those people must feel.

Jun 22, 2010#76

Hyimi

Yeah Espy, a lot of people are pissed here about how the government is handling it. Right now, Obama is seen as being just as bad as Bush was during Katrina in handling this. Helpless and pissed off is the general feeling. We have a lot of people and businesses here who are experts at dealing with oil spills (granted nothing as bad as this one), people who are volunteering in droves to do ANYTHING to help, and no one even considers them. Local leaders here know what they want to do to at least stop the spill from getting into the wetlands, but the problem is resources to do it. There is so much red tape to get anything that it just does not get done, or if it does, they only get a portion of what they need.

Man, I don't even want to think about what will happen if a hurricane comes by and all that oil being carried on by the storm surge.

Jun 22, 2010#77

sixpackshaker

After the first week of head scratching with no good ideas from BP, the administration should have announced a contest that the first corporation to get out there and cap the well gets to keep the lease.

About the prayer.... Hopefully in a moment of quiet contemplation, with his mind clear and relaxed, an engineer with get the idea to stop this well.

---------- Post added at 03:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:09 PM ----------

The Oil on the surface of the water should belong to who ever picks it up. Screw BP and claiming the oil is theirs.

Jun 22, 2010#78

Covar

Hyimi said:
Yeah Espy, a lot of people are pissed here about how the government is handling it. Right now, Obama is seen as being just as bad as Bush was during Katrina in handling this. Helpless and pissed off is the general feeling. We have a lot of people and businesses here who are experts at dealing with oil spills (granted nothing as bad as this one), people who are volunteering in droves to do ANYTHING to help, and no one even considers them. Local leaders here know what they want to do to at least stop the spill from getting into the wetlands, but the problem is resources to do it. There is so much red tape to get anything that it just does not get done, or if it does, they only get a portion of what they need.

Man, I don't even want to think about what will happen if a hurricane comes by and all that oil being carried on by the storm surge.

I don't know about that. Bush allowed for foreign aid to come in and assist.

Jun 22, 2010#79

Rob King

Hyimi said:
Man, I don't even want to think about what will happen if a hurricane comes by and all that oil being carried on by the storm surge.

Don't worry. Other people are thinking about it for you.

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