# A Hateful Curse On BP **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 1, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941 "2010-05-01T01:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/1 "2010-05-01T01:09:48Z")
This Gulf Coast oil spill is sticking in my craw. Any 'dopers also feeling just a _teensy_ bit PO’ed about it? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/2 "2010-05-01T01:14:28Z")
Let’s see, they decided NOT to spend $500K…and the damage will be in the billions? Good going, BP! ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/3 "2010-05-01T01:22:32Z")
As Keith Olbermann said on yesterday’s episode, “how’s that drill-baby-drill crap working out for ya?” ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/4 "2010-05-01T01:22:44Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Let’s see, they decided NOT to spend $500K…and the damage will be in the billions? Good going, BP! Yep, this is it. I expect BP to accept full responsibility for the cost of the cleanup and damages. Wait, am I high? ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/5 "2010-05-01T01:23:53Z")
Yeah, it sucks when bad things happen. Bad things are bad, after all. You got anything else for us, OP? One thing I’m wondering about is a possible terrorism link. I read something about SWAT teams going to oil rigs today but didn’t see anything else about it. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/6 "2010-05-01T01:29:32Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Yeah, it sucks when bad things happen. Bad things are bad, after all. You got anything else for us, OP? > > One thing I’m wondering about is a possible terrorism link. I read something about SWAT teams going to oil rigs today but didn’t see anything else about it. Ruh-roh. **Rand Rover** ’s on the case. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/7 "2010-05-01T01:31:44Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Yeah, it sucks when bad things happen. Bad things are bad, after all. You got anything else for us, OP? There’s an item on a blowout preventer called an acoustic valve, which would, most likely, have capped the spill, but which as been fought in this country as it would cost a whole half-a-million per rig. > [@](#): > > One thing I’m wondering about is a possible terrorism link. I read something about SWAT teams going to oil rigs today but didn’t see anything else about it. I’ve heard that rumor too. As best as I can tell, it refers only to rapid inspections and not to a police or military response. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/8 "2010-05-01T02:06:13Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Let’s see, they decided NOT to spend $500K…and the damage will be in the billions? Good going, BP! No reason to regulate these guys. they are corporations, who like banks have the interests of the people in mind all the time. They would never cut safety corners to save money. Spill baby spill. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/9 "2010-05-01T02:07:47Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Yeah, it sucks when bad things happen. Bad things are bad, after all. You got anything else for us, OP? > > One thing I’m wondering about is a possible terrorism link. I read something about SWAT teams going to oil rigs today but didn’t see anything else about it. Geezus, the right is a bunch of conspiracy theorists nowadays. Did you think he sent out the LAPD SWAT team? The federal government has the FBI, CIA and the military at it’s disposal. It was just an expression. > [@](#): > > INTERIOR DEPARTMENT: > The department deployed SWAT teams from the Minerals Management Service to inspect 30 drilling rigs operating in the deepwater sections of the Gulf of Mexico. Inspections should be completed within the next week, according to an Interior Department spokeswoman. > > Inspectors will check to see whether the rigs have conducted blow-out preventer tests and inspect related records, the spokeswoman said. The teams will also verify that emergency well control exercises are taking place. Inspectors will then inspect 47 deep-water production platforms in the gulf, a process that will take longer than rig inspections because of the complexities of the structures. [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/04/oil\_spill\_the\_governments\_resp.html](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/04/oil_spill_the_governments_resp.html) They’re freaking inspectors. Holy crap. This is flying all over wingnut airspace right now. Will they be the slightest bit embarassed by buying this stupid falsehood? Hell no. Just remember this the next time you want to throw out the line “They think we’re all stupid…” ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/10 "2010-05-01T02:21:58Z")
On the one hand, I’m impressed at the engineering, to drill in a mile of water at all, is very impressive, a testament to Clever Monkey. On the other, I wish to Og that we might restrain ourselves from playing with it until we know fer sure fer sure that we aren’t just about to royally screw the pooch. And the pelicans. And the shrimp, and the fishermen… ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/11 "2010-05-01T02:22:51Z")
I’m saddened by what looks like an impending disaster for the wetland ecosystem of the Gulf Coast. Mostly for the wildlife there, but that extends to the livelyhood of people too. It’ll have a huge impact on fisheries in the area, as the wetlands are the nursery bed for coming generations of fish. The oyster beds will suffer damage, and nesting shorebirds stand to lose their current ground-nesting young. The Gulf Coast is like a big sponge, differing from other spill areas, and it’s going to be much more difficult in clean-up technique. I remember as a kid in California, a 60’s oil spill, and all the birds that were brought to my stepdad’s biology lab to try and save them. It was heartbreaking. The students pitched in and tried their best, but it was sad and impossible at the time. The results are probably better now, still, it’s going to be awful. I can’t say how much this pains my heart. In the news, [reports are](http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h25r0uG9N2gVnNk6iyPR15OJ3QRQD9FDL9CO0sh) that Halliburton may have responsibility for the failure, in faulty cement seals. > [@](#): > > What likely destroyed the rig in a ball of fire last week was a failure — or multiple failures — 5,000 feet below. That’s where drilling equipment met the sea bed in a complicated construction of pipes, concrete and valves that gave way in a manner that no one has yet been able to explain. > > Oil services contractor Halliburton Inc. said in a statement Friday that workers had finished cementing the well’s pipes 20 hours before the rig went up in flames. Halliburton is named as a defendant in most of the more than two dozen lawsuits filed by Gulf Coast people and businesses claiming the oil spill could ruin them financially. Without elaborating, one lawsuit filed by an injured technician on the rig claims that Halliburton improperly performed its job in cementing the well, "increasing the pressure at the well and contributing to the fire, explosion and resulting oil spill. Well, my above link doesn’t work anymore; since I started this post, AP has it listed as not available.it. The quote is from the article I had saved while posting. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/12 "2010-05-01T02:24:58Z")
> [@Lamar\_Mundane](#): > > Geezus, the right is a bunch of conspiracy theorists nowadays. Did you think he sent out the LAPD SWAT team? The federal government has the FBI, CIA and the military at it’s disposal. It was just an expression. > > [http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/04/oil\_spill\_the\_governments\_resp.html](http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2010/04/oil_spill_the_governments_resp.html) > > They’re freaking inspectors. Holy crap. This is flying all over wingnut airspace right now. Will they be the slightest bit embarassed by buying this stupid falsehood? Hell no. Just remember this the next time you want to throw out the line “They think we’re all stupid…” Well, congratulations on connecting a stray thought I had based on reading one article with some vast right-wing conspiracy. I hope you get an extra helping of vinegar in this mont’s ration of liberal douche. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/13 "2010-05-01T02:27:44Z")
“WD 40, this is Rand Rover, do you copy, over?” “We copy Rand Rover, go ahead, over.” “WD-40, have deployed my SWAT team, we have four snipers stationed on the rig, over” “Rand Rover, the oil right burned up, fell over, and sank into the ocean. Like four days ago!..over” “Missed it by that much!..over” ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/14 "2010-05-01T02:35:34Z")
Luci, call your dealer, there was something weird in that last batch. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/15 "2010-05-01T02:36:18Z")
Yes, Mark Levin’s been going on and on about armed SWAT teams swarming over oil rigs like he knows what the hell he’s talking about, because, you know, he used to be #2 legal something or other at Interior and he didn’t even _know_ they had a SWAT team! Hugo Chavez! ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/16 "2010-05-01T02:42:47Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > One thing I’m wondering about is a possible terrorism link. I read something about SWAT teams going to oil rigs today but didn’t see anything else about it. Speaking as District Safety Manager for an oilfield service company whose personnel are working on several rigs in the Gulf, I can state categorically that there is no serious consideration within the industry that the sinking the Deepwater Horizon was a terrorist act, and the ‘SWAT team’ rumor, as other posters have said, is a garbled description of Minerals Management Service inspection teams visiting other rigs currently drilling in deep water, to perform safety audits. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying or doesn’t have a clue what they are talking about. I’d be happy to discuss the technical aspects of the disaster with anyone who is interested (recognize, however, that some speculation is necessaary because an accurate official description of the operations leading up to the blowout have not been released as yet), but I don’t think the Pit is the appropriate place for it. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/17 "2010-05-01T02:45:45Z")
In fairness, there is no reason why the term “SWAT teams” should not be expected to refer to a police or military response. I’m not clear on why the Minerals Management Service of the Interior Department would name their rapid response inspection teams “Special Weapons and Tactics”, but I think the cause for confusion is clear. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/18 "2010-05-01T02:48:40Z")
I’m sorry, El\_Kabong, you seem to be suffering under the delusion that people here are interested in actual facts. If you don’t have any wild speculation that can support preconceived partisan conclusions of one flavor or another, we’ll have to ask you to leave. ---
**Author:** ![BrightNShiny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@BrightNShiny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrightNShiny)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/19 "2010-05-01T02:52:44Z")
> [@Rand\_Rover](#): > > Yeah, it sucks when bad things happen. Bad things are bad, after all. You got anything else for us, OP? I haven’t studied Objectivism as an economic philosophy in any depth (I have studied libertarianism as an economic philosophy to some degree). So, I’m only going off this [wiki](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivism_%28Ayn_Rand%29) article. Here are the quotes relevant to the question I wish to ask: > [@](#): > > [T]he only type of organized human behavior consistent with the operation of reason is that of voluntary cooperation. > [@](#): > > Each individual has an inalienable moral right to … keep the product of his effort. The fundamental right is the right to life, with other rights following from it, including rights to “liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness.” (underline added) This oil spill is going to damage the property rights of fisherman, companies which process and sell seafood and coastal property owners, none of whom voluntarily agreed to such damage. It is going to impact the ability of individuals who depend on the Gulf Coast to keep the product of their own efforts, none of whom voluntarily agreed to this impact. Doesn’t this spill violate Objectivisit philosophy? Shouldn’t you be condemning the act of spilling oil into the Gulf which will damage the property rights and productivity of others without their consent? I don’t understand how your seemingly cavalier attitude here comports with your self-identification as an Objectivist. It’s possible I’ve misunderstood Objectivism, but if I haven’t, then shouldn’t you as an Objectivist be utterly dismayed by what has happened in the Gulf? Edited for clarity. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2010, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941/20 "2010-05-01T02:59:02Z")
Since the damages extend into eternity, the damages ought to be calculated as infinite. Therefore the death penalty is in motion for those responsible. Sorry. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-hateful-curse-on-bp/537941.md?page=2)