BP oil spill. People are paying attention NOW, aren't they? *mad face*

Sounds like they finally came up with a plan that has a great chance of stopping the leak completely.

They figure putting a large wedding ring around it will almost certainly cause it to stop putting out.

Sounds like they finally came up with a plan that has a great chance of stopping the leak completely.

They figure putting a large wedding ring around it will almost certainly cause it to stop putting out.

BP CEO Tony Hayward has faced fresh criticism for taking time off to go boating with his son instead of dealing with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

The White House said the move was one of a "long line of PR gaffes and mistakes" by Mr Hayward.

Environmental groups said the Isle of Wight outing was "insulting" to those affected by the environmental disaster.

BP defended Mr Hayward, saying it was his first day off since the spill began after a deadly rig blast on 20 April.

Mr Hayward spent the day with his son at the JP Morgan Asset Management Round The Island Race, where boats race around the Isle of Wight, off the coast of southern England.

He was later spotted by photographers on his $270,000 (182,000) Farr 52 racing yacht, "Bob", at the event.

Greenpeace campaigner Charlie Kronick described the boating trip as "insulting... rubbing salt into the wounds" of those who had been affected by the spill.

Residents in coastal states affected by the spill also rebuked the oil executive.

"Man, that ain't right," said Bobby Pitre, 33, who runs a tattoo shop in Larose in Louisiana. "None of us can even go out fishing, and he's at the yacht races.

"I wish we could get a day off from the oil, too," Mr Pitre told AP news agency.

And 59-year old Raymond Canevari, an artist from Florida, said Mr Hayward did not "have the right to have free time at all" until the crisis was resolved.

I'm in FL and today we visited Ft. Pickens, Pensacola Beach and Navarre. We didn't see any oil or tar balls but there are clean-up crews, charter buses, staging areas, boom and skimmers and barges EVERYWHERE and helicopters fly over about every 10 minutes. It feels like a military zone. No one gave me a hard time about taking pictures but whenever anyone got within 5 feet of any of the clean-up people, they would make a point of walking away from you; no eye contact, nothing.

You can definitely tell that tourism has taken a hit in this area. The shops aren't crowded and you can get a seat almost immediately at the restaurants on the beach. We talked to some hotel staff who said that bookings are down by half and cancellations are a dime a dozen.

So, you wear your best "tourist outfit"?

And what the hell are you doing up at this hour?

The well bore structure is compromised "Down hole". That is something which is a "Worst nightmare" conclusion to reach.

These are clear and present dangers to the battered subsea safety structure (bop and lmrp) which is the only loose cork on this well we have left. The immediate (first 1,000 feet) of well structure that remains is now also undoubtedly compromised.

What is likely to happen now?

Well...none of what is likely to happen is good, in fact...it's about as bad as it gets. I am convinced the erosion and compromising of the entire system is accelerating and attacking more key structural areas of the well, the blow out preventer and surrounding strata holding it all up and together. What eventually will happen is that the blow out preventer will literally tip over if they do not run supports to it as the currents push on it.

All of these things lead to only one place, a fully wide open well bore directly to the oil deposit...after that, it goes into the realm of "the worst things you can think of" The well may come completely apart as the inner liners fail. There is still a very long drill string in the well, that could literally come flying out...as I said...all the worst things you can think of are a possibility, but the very least damaging outcome as bad as it is, is that we are stuck with a wide open gusher blowing out 150,000 barrels a day of raw oil or more. There isn't any "cap dome" or any other suck fixer device on earth that exists or could be built that will stop it from gushing out and doing more and more damage to the gulf. While at the same time also doing more damage to the well, making the chance of halting it with a kill from the bottom up less and less likely to work, which as it stands now?....is the only real chance we have left to stop it all.

It's a race now...a race to drill the relief wells and take our last chance at killing this monster before the whole weakened, wore out, blown out, leaking and failing system gives up it's last gasp in a horrific crescendo.

http://www.godlikeproductions.com...097505/pg1

This is a long read but well worth it IMO. As I understand it, the article is not necessarily fact but the observations/conclusions of someone who has been following this closely and doing a lot of research. It really makes the point of how fvcked the well is at this point.

A couple notable excerpts for those who don't want to read the whole thing:
Most of the article explains why this is the case.

Sounds like they finally came up with a plan that has a great chance of stopping the leak completely.

They figure putting a large wedding ring around it will almost certainly cause it to stop putting out.

Hehe, sorry, no bikini pics.

You're not the only one lounging around this weekend, Obama got in another round of golf ... that's nearly 40 since he's been in office. Bush was often criticized for his golfing as he recorded an astounding 7 rounds in 4 years.

Bush was often criticized for his golfing as he recorded an astounding 7 rounds in 4 years.

Sounds like they finally came up with a plan that has a great chance of stopping the leak completely.

They figure putting a large wedding ring around it will almost certainly cause it to stop putting out.