[tcaudilllg]

In ur waters, killin ur oceans.

[XMark]

The volcano in iceland erupted. Then BP was all like, whatevs, we can do better than that. Let's make a volcano, except, like, way underwater.
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Mark Hall
Abstract Productions
I PLAYS THE MUSIC THAT MAKES THE PEOPLES FALL DOWN!

[tcaudilllg]

Drill baby drill.

[RampantCoyote]

And it passed government inspection with flying colors only ten days before it asplodified.

So - my question is - were the inspectors incompetent, or did BP lie their butts off and falsify information during the inspection? Or both? If it's the latter case, people need to go behind bars.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[Hajo]

I read that the situation was that the inspectors had their own interest in such "tests" to pass. I have forgotten though, why.

[RampantCoyote]

Sheesh.

Well, the blame game is well underway. I'd rather they fix the problem first and THEN worry about who's fault it is (and more importantly, how to prevent it in the future). But no, it's a time for political posturing, now. 'Cuz you know, the ones who go on the offense first almost always come out the winner.

Meanwhile, the whole region is pretty much screwed.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[tcaudilllg]

They don't know how to fix it. They underestimated the force of the gusher, and the difficulty of the environment.

The apparent lesson is that drilling a mile under the sea is risky business.

But it's time we stopped relying on oil. Period.

[RampantCoyote]

Can't be done. At least not in the short term. Just imagine how much devastation would result (I'm talking real loss of life, misery, starvation, suffering, etc) if you tried to ban it tomorrow. Or next year. Or within the next decade.

And Spain's much vaunted "green economy" was finally revealed about two weeks ago to be a gigantic failure that they've been trying to hide from the rest of the world. Even nuclear won't cut it. (One interesting point - the price of oil, when it had its giant climb in 2008, peaked JUST at the point where alternative fuels would start to become viable. It's almost like those guys actually watch the market...)

We need to get there, for certain. Petroleum is unsustainable and does filthy things to the environment. We're gonna get there, and someone's going to get really rich getting there. I think current technologies aren't there, though, so I have a big problem with the government "picking the winners" now. There's some pretty exciting research into new (& fresh look at old) technologies that could really change the world for the good, and make petroleum all but obsolete over time.

But the reason we're drilling in deep-sea like this isn't due to a lack of more easily (and more safely) acquired oil - it's because of politics.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[RampantCoyote]

Pro tip: If you are the CEO of a company that has caused one of the biggest environmental disasters in recorded history that is going to cause untold losses to major industries and thousands of people's way of life, and possibly irreparable harm to fish and wildlife species, it's probably not a good idea to whine in front of reporters that you would like your life back.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[tcaudilllg]

It just goes to show that accountability at the highest levels of corporate governance is non-existent. None of those people have any sense of public accountability. Not the slightest whit.

[RampantCoyote]

I know he was trying to express to people how important fixing the mess was to him, personally, but it really came off badly. Kinda like going to a burn ward at a hospital and saying, "Man, I know how you feel, I must have been out in the sun for an hour today talking to people, and I think my nose must have gotten burned, 'cause it's starting to really hurt!"

Unfortunately, if this follows what happened at AIG with the economic disaster, what's gonna happen is that the guys who created the problem have all left or have found someone else to blame, while the folks actually willing to roll up their sleeves and solve the problem are distracted by having to fend off constant attacks and scapegoating.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz

[tcaudilllg]

That guy said he wanted his life back. I mean really now... his life back? He's the CEO of fucking BP. You can't excuse that... it just can't be done. It's bad to the core. This shit always flows from the top... to just goes to show that bonafide sociopaths like him are running that company, and that they have no respect at all for the government except to the degree that it's threatening to put them in jail. Which reminds me, why again do companies just get fined for safety violations? What happened to criminal negligence?

[RampantCoyote]

It's generally replaced by mob rule and populist scapegoating, while the most culpable villains get away scott-free and are sometimes even lauded as heroes.
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Tales of the Rampant Coyote - Old-School Game Developer talks Indie Games, RPGs, and the Games Biz