Or better-connected. Or taller. Or better-looking.
It’s worth noting that BP had an abysmal safety report from the 2005 Texas City Refinery explosion. I saw an “Engineering Disasters” episode of Modern Marvels that detailed the long, sustained chain of error by these super-smart engineers and technicians that led to the refinery explosion, and it’s much more remarkable than the Wikipedia article indicates.
The BP executives admitting to Congress in 2010 that the blowout preventer had 270 failure modes showing when they authorized the drilling to resume indicates, at least, a willingness to take fairly substantial risks with the lives and property of others, if not some kind of learning problem.
But you’re right, that’s a misuse of both “literally” and “retarded.”
I’ve been in business for long enough to know that while CEO’s may be better connected, better looking and taller than average, that is nowhere near true of (a) your average operational exec and (b) most definitely not drilling engineers or ship personnel.
The OP concerns a fire on an oil spill collection ship struck by lightning which started a fire that caused no damage resulting a short operational safety shutdown. For DumboTOJ above to draw the conclusion that “they are all literally retarded” from this set of facts is beyond idiocy. In fact, some smartass jerkwad on a messageboard insulting guys risking their necks working their guts out in trying conditions to fix a problem caused by someone else would be beyond belief, if it weren’t for my firm belief that the well of human assholishness is nothing less than infinite.
As good a thread as any. What’s the over/under on whether on not Tony will manage to squeeze out some tears today? Will they be Beck-style sobs or a reserved Limey single tear?
I’d put $5 on a subtle catch in the throat, followed by a raised hand held briefly in the “stop” position, before managing to forge bravely on with the rest of the speech.
Woooo I’ve been insulted on the internet! In a forum dedicated to insults and calling people dickgarages. Princhester if you want facts and shit take it to another forum, this one’s for bickering and recreational outrage. Every day this sounds more and more like a Monty Python sketch. First they built a derrick in a swamp. Then it burned down, fell over and sank into the swamp. Then cap the spill, which was a spectacular failure. Then try capping it again, again with the fail! Then again. Ohhhh no joy there! Now trying to release the pressure by drilling in other places, and one of the fucking boats catches fire! It’s a cacophony of errors.
Let me see if I understand. You think that in the Pit it is acceptable to insult people (I’m with you to this point) but it’s not appropriate to insult people “based on facts and shit”?
Seriously? Do you want to think about that some more?
I knew you were a dumbfuck, but I hadn’t quite realised the level of dumbfuck I was dealing with.
Princhester, I think the point is that you’re letting the truth get in the way of a good joke. To sum up: gently extract the massive stick from your colon and start laughing with the rest of us.
Hey, my best bud did suffer a tragic coffee spill. She was in her early twenties a the time. She was in stop-and-go traffic when she sneezed, spilled her coffee, and in the ensuing confusion rear-ended the guy ahead of her. The guy persuaded her to go with him to his mechanic right then and there. The garage walls were absolutely covered with Hustler-style pictures. Which wouldn’t have been so bad, but the guy she hit then said to her, “You’re really pretty. You remind me of my daughter” and proceeded to offer to pay for the damage himself if she would sleep with him.
Naturally she refused. She paid for the damage and all was well and good until she was informed that he was suing her for whiplash and “loss of consortium” with his wife. After she got over a fresh wave of revulsion at the thought of the guy having consortium with anyone, she threatened to counter-sue for sexual harassment and he dropped the charges.
What this has to do with an oil spill I have no idea, but I just felt like sharing.
Don’t forget the golf balls. They tried to stop the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history with a truckload of used Titlelists. And then there were the robots. ROBOTS with DIAMOND SAWS! I think they had lasers on their heads, too.
I think part of the anger is because we’ve been assured that this very thing won’t happen by people who held themselves out to be smarter than we are. We doubted them anyway, were mocked for it (“Just drill, baby!”), and it turns out they did NOT have the ironclad control they asserted, and we are paying the price for it. Now in comes someone else telling us that these guys are too smarter than we are while the whole trainwreck gets more out-of-control every day.