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[Aqizzar]

Also worth mentioning, and I'll find a news story to back it up later, is that the clean-up workers hired en masse by BP to scoop oil off the shorelines are reporting nasty illnesses, brought on by respiratory toxicity levels in excess of what OSHA considers humanly tolerable.  The difference between 2 and 4 ppm may not sound like much, but it's bad.

The toxicity in question is more the fault of the oil-dispersant chemicals than the oil itself.  The kicker is that the many workers are not being given respirators, and often being told they can't bring their own respirators either.  Presumably because BP doesn't want photos of clean-up workers having to dress like astronauts to stay safe, because they certainly won't stop using the dispersant so the oil stays out of sight.

Ah, here's some links.  They're not necessarily the most objective of sources, but they get the job done.

Environmentalist blog about dispersant use.
Blog about the chemical science in question.
Politics.
NYT article about worker petition for government action, with links.

[LordMelvin]

No, that's nothing to worry about. They've probably just got food poisoning.


Also, Nenjin, I don't know if you noticed or not, but that vid was youtubed a month ago.

As a U. S. Citizen, I want to know, what the gently caress are they doing down there that's so very [expletives deleted]

[additional expletives deleted]

[three paragraphs redacted for language]...and their useless mothers too! Gaaaaaaaaah!

[Aqizzar]

Bumpage, for a new chapter in the saga of British Petroleum.

X-treme news junkies might remember that about a year ago, a guy by the name of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released from British custody to the Libyan government under a lot of protest.  Abdelbaset al-Megrahi is better known as the Lockerbie Bomber for blowing up an airplane back in the 1980s.  He was released from custody on "compassionate" grounds, as doctors said that he probably wouldn't live more than three months due to his cancer.

Cut to a year later, where Abdelbaset is still alive and doing remarkably well.  Oh and, all the rock-turning going on in BP's offices because of the hot water they're in has revealed that they were involved in persuading the British government to make the compassionate release.  And the badguy-themepark nation of Libya has signed several exclusive deals with BP for exploratory oil drilling of its coast.

Now, there is not and never will be some smoking-gun email between Tony Hayward and Moammar Qaddaffi detailing some quid pro quo of bargaining a terrorist's release for drilling rights.  And I'll admit there's some part of me that really really wants to believe there's a rational explanation for this.  But, it's kinda hard to see it as anything but exactly what it looks like.

So... If you weren't for solar and wind power before...

[Siquo]

As it is, Libya has an excellent location for exporting solar power to the EU...

Don't use power at all! Switch off your computer to save the world from tarrists!

[Nikov]

Okay. That is a legitimate reason to hang some limeys for treason.

[nenjin]

Yes, when they do it on our shores, it's just good business. When they make secret deals with unpopular nations, oh, NOW they've done it.

They don't need to be hung, but there are far more reasons for putting them in jail for what they've done domestically. If they negotiated with the British government, and the BG agreed, complain to the British government.

I just find it funny that what finally gets your ire up is negotiating with Libya. Not the lies, deception, ignoring American officials, risky business practices....no, dealing with Libya. That was the final straw.

[Zangi]

So... is BP going to be liable for all the clean up workers getting sick?

[MetalSlimeHunt]

They aren't going to be liable for posioning the Gulf of Mexico. What makes you think they'l admit liablity for a few workers geting sick? They can just be replaced, as far as BP is concerned. Workers are not exactly in short supply.

[nenjin]

So... is BP going to be liable for all the clean up workers getting sick?

I doubt it, not the ones that aren't in the employ of BP or the U.S. government. They'll argue that they were told to stay away, that they didn't have the proper gear, training, that no one asked them to be there. BP is going to weasel out of this one, I just have a feeling. Hell, they've already rebounded from their stock-price low of $30, and are sitting at $38/share. They made $2 in stock price just by showing they could cap off the oil well.

As long as it isn't in their backyard, someone is going to not give a fuck.

[Duuvian]

Supposedly the leak is fixed now.

Good news at last

[darkrider2]

Supposedly the leak is fixed now.

Good news at last

I read that too. I guess they got it fixed.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

If the cap holds, if the sea floor doesn't crack and if the relief wells being prepared are completed successfully, this could be the beginning of the end for the spill.

How reassuring that this won't fail horribly like all the other attempts have.

[Nikov]

it looks like they sealed it with a coffee can and a bitchton of bolts.

[HideousBeing]

it looks like they sealed it with a coffee can and a bitchton of bolts.

If it works, does it matter?

[RAM]

The question arises as to how long it will work for, and what the side-effects will be, but I don't have any objection to it on aesthetic grounds...