Off Topic · Crap like this sincerely breaks my heart: (page 1)
http://www.aolnews.com/nation/article/60...
(April 29) -- With oil from a destroyed rig gushing into the Gulf of Mexico at an estimated rate of 210,000 gallons per day, the effects on wildlife will almost certainly be profound.
The April 20 explosion of a BP rig killed 11 people and eventually led to the platform's sinking about 50 miles off the Louisiana coast. But now the ensuing spill threatens 445 species of fish, 45 species of mammals, 32 species of amphibians and reptiles, and 134 species of birds, the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries told AOL News. And when the massive oil slick makes landfall in Louisiana on Friday, it will hit 10 wildlife refuges or management areas, such as the Gulf Islands National Seashore.
"The challenge with this type of oil is it's going to float, and, depending on what the wind and waves do, it may stick around for a while," National Oceanic Atmospheric Association spokesman Tom Brosnan said at a news conference today. "And as you get closer to the shorelines, you tend to find richer life."
Bottlenose dolphins may come into contact with floating oil from the Gulf spill when they surface for air.
Here then, is a small sampling of animals that will be affected as the oil continues to spread.
Sea Creatures
Already a critically endangered species, the bluefin tuna comes to the Gulf of Mexico between April and June in order to spawn. Its eggs' viability would be plummet upon coming into contact with oil.
Mammals that must surface for air, such as the bottlenose dolphin and the sperm whale, are likely to encounter patches of floating oil in the process.
Bivalves like oysters will be especially sensitive to the spill. "Mainly that's because they can't move," Karen Foote, a marine biologist at the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, told AOL News.
Known as a "sea cow," the endangered West Indian manatee migrates along the Gulf Coast in search of warm water. Eating sea grass and other plants it finds in the shallows, the mammal may find its food sources contaminated when oil reaches the shoreline.
Like other endangered species, the West Indian Manatee may see its food supply dwindle when the spill reaches the Gulf shoreline.
The Gulf manhaden represents the third largest fishery in the United States. Because it is a filter feeder -- meaning it circulates water through its system in order to strain out food -- the oil poses a severe threat to its health, and also to the fish oil business it supports, the Telegraph reported.
Land Creatures
Several bird species frequent the gulf region, some stopping to lay eggs and others simply to feed. Along the Louisiana shoreline, for instance, 5 million migratory birds stop and nest in the network of coastal marshes each year. According to LiveScience, when oil coats a bird's feathers it is no longer able to repel water or trap air, resulting in the bird's death by hypothermia.
Louisiana's state bird, the brown pelican, is no longer on the endangered species list but has just begun its nesting season on the barrier islands.
As many as 96 species of migratory songbirds, such as warblers, buntings and swallows, make stops along the gulf shore on their annual journey from the United States to Central and South America, CBS News reported.
The brown pelican, the state bird of Louisiana, lays its eggs on the barrier islands where the oil spill is scheduled to arrive first.
Beach nesting birds, such as royal terns, sandpipers and snowy plovers, will be negatively impacted as tar balls begin rolling in.
Shore birds like the reddish egret, whose population is already in decline, rely on catching small fish in the shallows, the New York Times reported. If those fish don't survive as the oil advances, it's unlikely the egret will, either.
Amphibians
Both endangered species, the loggerhead turtle and the Kemp's ridley turtle come to the gulf to feed beginning in May, and lay their eggs along the coast's beaches.
In addition, the endangered diamondback terrapin, which is found in the marshes of Alabama, may see its food supply compromised when the oil slick washes ashore, Al.com reported.
Even the alligator, an animal that is not now in danger of extinction, may encounter a steep decline in the fish it feeds on in the brackish estuaries that border the gulf.
The spill might destroy the fishing industry in Louisiana, which accounts for about 25% of the US fishing industry.
Not to mention all of the animals that are going to die.
In addition, BP has been involved in some of the worst oil accidents in recent history (refinery explosion in 2004/05 and a leak in the Alaskan oil pipeline).
They get out of the blame and cleanup cost because they are only leasing some of these projects so they are not responsible for lack of safety and faulty engineering.
Meanwhile they haven't done much in terms of preempting the oil spill in the gulf from hitting the shores. There are tons of fisherman waiting to get involved in the cleanup and BP hasn't stepped up to the plate to get them involved. Granted the fisherman are waiting to get paid before they get involved but you would think BP would at least open up a dialogue to get them out there.
bitty41 wrote:If our Representatives and Senators actually gave a damn they would creating a Bill right now an ironclad one to prevent companies like BP from being held liable. These oil companies have an army of litigators, Lobbyists, Public Relations people to cover-up, deflect, and obstruct the company's responsibility. Think about it BP has caused a unprecedented disaster and what's the most that will happen: nothing. Even if the American Government forced them to pay a Billion dollars they would just pass the cost off to the consumers. In a perfect world BP would be banned from ever drilling in this country and they would be forced to pay for clean-out and compensate the fisher whose livelihoods have been destroyed because of this spill. But the chances of that happening is about as likely as Tiger Woods taking a vow of celibacy.
Have they commited a crime?
Nalod wrote:bitty41 wrote:If our Representatives and Senators actually gave a damn they would creating a Bill right now an ironclad one to prevent companies like BP from being held liable. These oil companies have an army of litigators, Lobbyists, Public Relations people to cover-up, deflect, and obstruct the company's responsibility. Think about it BP has caused a unprecedented disaster and what's the most that will happen: nothing. Even if the American Government forced them to pay a Billion dollars they would just pass the cost off to the consumers. In a perfect world BP would be banned from ever drilling in this country and they would be forced to pay for clean-out and compensate the fisher whose livelihoods have been destroyed because of this spill. But the chances of that happening is about as likely as Tiger Woods taking a vow of celibacy.
Have they commited a crime?
Yes! A crime against the planet.
Man-made laws are hazy and subject to interpretation. But there is no running away from the damage that has occurred. Even though it was an accident.
This provides another reason to put more time, effort, and money into alternative energy R&D.
Nalod wrote:bitty41 wrote:If our Representatives and Senators actually gave a damn they would creating a Bill right now an ironclad one to prevent companies like BP from being held liable. These oil companies have an army of litigators, Lobbyists, Public Relations people to cover-up, deflect, and obstruct the company's responsibility. Think about it BP has caused a unprecedented disaster and what's the most that will happen: nothing. Even if the American Government forced them to pay a Billion dollars they would just pass the cost off to the consumers. In a perfect world BP would be banned from ever drilling in this country and they would be forced to pay for clean-out and compensate the fisher whose livelihoods have been destroyed because of this spill. But the chances of that happening is about as likely as Tiger Woods taking a vow of celibacy.
Have they commited a crime?
I never once mentioned criminal action being taken against BP. So what is your point that they shouldn't be financially responsible for the Fisherman's whose industry has been destroyed or the Enviornmental Disaster they caused? This wasn't some freak accident BP decided to cut costs and this was the result. I expect in the coming weeks that the cover-up will begin and a long-term legal battle. Did you know that the Exxon Valdez spill was just settled in 2008?
Look at that case talk about rampant corporate greed. There is truly a special place in hell for these Oil Execs.
In the case of Baker v. Exxon, an Anchorage jury awarded $287 million for actual damages and $5 billion for punitive damages. The punitive damages amount was equal to a single year's profit by Exxon at that time.To protect itself in case the judgment was affirmed, Exxon obtained a $4.8 billion credit line from J.P. Morgan & Co. This in turn gave J.P. Morgan the opportunity to create the first modern credit default swap in 1994, so that J.P. Morgan would not have to hold so much money in reserve (8% of the loan under Basel I) against the risk of Exxon's default. [17]
After this Exxon appealed the ruiling on until 2008. But this is when the story gets interesting:
Exxon's official position is that punitive damages greater than $25 million are not justified because the spill resulted from an accident, and because Exxon spent an estimated $2 billion cleaning up the spill and a further $1 billion to settle related civil and criminal charges. Attorneys for the plaintiffs contended that Exxon bore responsibility for the accident because the company "put a drunk in charge of a tanker in Prince William Sound."[23]Exxon recovered a significant portion of clean-up and legal expenses through insurance claims associated with the grounding of the Exxon Valdez.[24][25] Also, in 1991, Exxon made a quiet, separate financial settlement of damages with a group of seafood producers known as the Seattle Seven for the disaster's effect on the Alaskan seafood industry. The agreement granted $63.75 million to the Seattle Seven, but stipulated that the seafood companies would have to repay almost all of any punitive damages awarded in other civil proceedings. The $5 billion in punitive damages was awarded later, and the Seattle Seven's share could have been as high as $750 million if the damages award had held. Other plaintiffs have objected to this secret arrangement,[26] and when it came to light, Judge Holland ruled that Exxon should have told the jury at the start that an agreement had already been made, so the jury would know exactly how much Exxon would have to pay.[27]
Greed is one thing but these oil companies know how take it to another level.
This spill is an epic disaster. Wife and I turned on Fox news Sunday and the phuchers actually had a dude trying to downplay it.
Maybe at best this ends Sara Palins political career. Show here chanting "drill baby drill" and then show an oily bird dying on shore will bring a swift end to her career.
Corp greed knows no bounds. They are souless vessels whose officers can hide behind the corperate liability when things go wrong but reap the fortunes when they are profitable.
The movement to hold them responsable is a good one and I hope it continues.
Most great fortunes in history have a crime behind it.
Nalod wrote:Outstanding work Bitty, Thanks!This spill is an epic disaster. Wife and I turned on Fox news Sunday and the phuchers actually had a dude trying to downplay it.
Maybe at best this ends Sara Palins political career. Show here chanting "drill baby drill" and then show an oily bird dying on shore will bring a swift end to her career.
Corp greed knows no bounds. They are souless vessels whose officers can hide behind the corperate liability when things go wrong but reap the fortunes when they are profitable.
The movement to hold them responsable is a good one and I hope it continues.
Most great fortunes in history have a crime behind it.
The thing about oil companies is that they have a bottomless pit of wealth at least until American consumers get off the the oil tit. I remember watching this interview on Charlie Rose with the screen writer of Syriana and one particular comment of his struck a cord. He recounted this story of this cocktail party he attended for some oil execs. He said they all were taking bets on which Third World Government would topple over first. Of course they all gave their picks and this one oil exec spoke up and named some African nation. He said this was a sure bet. Everyone asked how he knew: he said because he just paid for it". That may not be the exact quote but that was the gist of his story.
Also what the hell are you doing watching Faux News that channel will make your brain rot.
Nalod wrote:Outstanding work Bitty, Thanks!This spill is an epic disaster. Wife and I turned on Fox news Sunday and the phuchers actually had a dude trying to downplay it.
Maybe at best this ends Sara Palins political career. Show here chanting "drill baby drill" and then show an oily bird dying on shore will bring a swift end to her career.
Corp greed knows no bounds. They are souless vessels whose officers can hide behind the corperate liability when things go wrong but reap the fortunes when they are profitable.
The movement to hold them responsable is a good one and I hope it continues.
Most great fortunes in history have a crime behind it.
Agree with you on this. Your quote is very appropriate.
The original quote was from Balzac
"Behind every great fortune lies a great crime."
Balzac was quoted by Mario Puzo in "The Godfather".
That went alnog with Puzo's great quote about lawyers.
"A lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a thousand men with guns."
Bitty,
Fox is crap but its important to understand the insanity it promotes.
Was watching the Michael Jax memorial and Fox was clammering about "whos gonna pay for the traffic control bill" which was two million dollars. I had already read that the Staples Arena owners did the same for the Lakers parade and were picking up the bill on that as well. Total crap news coverage.
One has to understand the crap that is influencing right wing politics and when you drip on people they start to drink it in small doses.
Mark,
Got that from Puzo's book and it stuck.
Even the so called "intellectual wing" of the conservative movement is woefully ignorant. Fox news is a running joke. A death knell to journalism. Most if not all conservatives will cop to the fact that Fox News is laughably biased --- their response will almost invariably arrive at the conclusion that the media is "left wing" so Fox News is an appropriate counterbalance.
While its true that many in the media are more apt to highlight pieces of a more liberal nature, there were always principles and ethics that were adhered to. Well, Fox News took that environment and used that as an excuse to act as a P.R agent for the Bush administration (Bush's talking points were literally faxed to Fox on the daily), play fast and loose with facts in order to fit their agendas, and play advocates for causes like the tea party movement. Their bashing of Obama has been embarrassing.
For Fox there is no balance, there is no nuance. Just an exposing of conservatives as petty, jealous, intellectually inferior racists and elitists. Its a fair representation of the political and social philosophy which is a breeding ground for social sociopaths.
sebstar wrote:That documentary will have zero effect on Fox News viewers. Their base and the organization as a whole is an exercise into how many degrees of reality conservatives can distance themselves from the world. Fox news is conservatism in a nutshell, the elitists --- to which the conservative approach truly benefits --- promote propaganda and disguise it in class warfare, the stoking of racial flames, and emphasizing provocative wedge issues in order to mobilize the un-educated, and those that are easily influenced, into doing their bidding.Even the so called "intellectual wing" of the conservative movement is woefully ignorant. Fox news is a running joke. A death knell to journalism. Most if not all conservatives will cop to the fact that Fox News is laughably biased --- their response will almost invariably arrive at the conclusion that the media is "left wing" so Fox News is an appropriate counterbalance.
While its true that many in the media are more apt to highlight pieces of a more liberal nature, there were always principles and ethics that were adhered to. Well, Fox News took that environment and used that as an excuse to act as a P.R agent for the Bush administration (Bush's talking points were literally faxed to Fox on the daily), play fast and loose with facts in order to fit their agendas, and play advocates for causes like the tea party movement. Their bashing of Obama has been embarrassing.
For Fox there is no balance, there is no nuance. Just an exposing of conservatives as petty, jealous, intellectually inferior racists and elitists. Its a fair representation of the political and social philosophy which is a breeding ground for social sociopaths.
At this point, Obama deserves to be bashed just as much as Bush. Not defending Fox news, b/c it's a very poor station b/c I don't believe in media bias. However, Obama himself has done a poor job so far, in my opinion and deserves his criticism just like how Bush did.
Allanfan, for me I'm less concerned with Obama's point of view etc as I am about why do we always need tragic events to occur before we consider taking the pro-active common sense approach to keep them from happening. Is it all about money? Laziness?
So I don't agree about watching Fox News they have violated Federal Election laws by holding benefits for the Republican Party and they make absolutely no bones about which slant they plan to report their "news". They give microphones to people who are essentially try to incite violent acts against the President and Federal Government entities. So there is no way they will ever get my viewership.
To be honest I don't watch M$M, CNN, or really any Americans news stations. They spend endless hours on topics like Volcanos, celebrity gossip, the weather, ballon boys, etc. Real journalism is mostly dead in this country, newspapers are failing all over the place, most news agencies don't even have it in their budgets to send reporters on Investigative assignments. The view Independent Journalist who have been reporting on news stories I try to catch up their writings and a few magazines that have solid reporting.