Stitch on 10/6/2010 at 15:26
Quote Posted by Demetros
Maybe I'm just watching at the wrong time, but it seems to me right now American news is just focused on general public solutions instead of an analysis of what's happening, Anyone else notice this, or is it just me?
Considering you're "really curious as to whether BP has actually tried shutting down the oil flow"--topkill, anyone?--I hope it's just you.
d0om on 10/6/2010 at 16:00
Also remember that BP is more American than British since it merged with Amoco... Maybe after this they should re-brand themselves to Amoco completely.
Not sure how they can stop the leaking well, its so far down doing anything is tricky, let alone anything useful. Getting a robot down there with a rope, which they can then send more robots down to get a giant nozzle down to suck up the oil might work. Then while you are doing that build a giant mud heap around the leaking hole and then set off some explosives to collapse your mud-heap into the hole? Might work.
Kolya on 10/6/2010 at 16:48
Quote Posted by Queue
You see, the problem with the media getting out there looking for solutions from the general public is that the general public is always remarkably ill-informed, yet utterly willing to spout off their "solutions" without ever thinking once about equipping themselves with learned facts.
(Anyone else noticing that the irony of this isn't sinking in?)
BP isn't naive enough to expect the public to come up with a solution. But it does them some good:
1. It gives the impression that they're trying anything to stop the catastrophe.
2. It gets everyone involved. On BP's side, not against them.
3.
"If I cannot think of a solution I can't really blame BP, after all I'm extremely smart!" PigLick on 11/6/2010 at 01:35
"its business is the development of techniques for manipulating people's attitudes."
Jesus Kolya I had never heard of them before, they are like the devils left-hand man.
Scots Taffer on 11/6/2010 at 02:39
It's amazing that just simple factual information about that company is blacker than black. Wow.
AR Master on 11/6/2010 at 03:56
has anyone suggested executing all BP execs
Vernon on 11/6/2010 at 04:15
That's the first sensible thing anyone has said in this thread :thimb:
Demetros on 11/6/2010 at 05:07
Quote Posted by AR Master
has anyone suggested executing all BP execs
I'd rather toss and sink them to the bottom of the Atlantic. We'd make sure they'd be used to the atmospheric pressure down there and then we bring them up quickly causing gas bubbles to form blood clots and suffocating them. And then we bring them back down. Wash, rinse, repeat... Or, err, we could actually just dump them onto the beach without any gear and make them clean up the oil in their best business suits. That sounds like fun too.
Huh. If we were seriously going to pursue lawful executions we'd have to file a criminal case and dish out a lot of money to even get the death penalty on the table. That's why capital punishment is so much more costly than just life in prison - it's a criminal case so the prosecutor is representing the government, and thus the government funds the prosecution. With your tax dollars.
Of course, there's always the unlawful path...
Kolya on 11/6/2010 at 15:31
Killing people is bad. Also killing a few CEOs wouldn't untangle the corporate-governmental network that made this catastrophe possible, nor would it reveal the perception management engaged by companies like BP to manipulate the public opinion on their screw-ups.
What you actually need in a situation like that is a strong, ethical and free press that cannot be easily influenced to become the mouthpiece of covert and paid PR manoeuvres. In other words you need publicly funded news sources that aren't subject to having to sell their news on the news-market.
But judging by the reactions to the health care reform, which were often so extreme I wonder whose mouth was actually speaking, I guess the US isn't ready for what would quickly be labeled as "State TV" and "State Radio", even if it was a completely separate publicly funded organisation.
The truth is that most of us don't have the time or money to filter news and information as thoroughly as it needs to be. Neither do privately held news sources, in fact the economical pressure of TV and internet has placed them on a downwards slope of visible decline ever since the 80s. So if the public wants neutral reliable information that can be the base of our democratic decisions, we need to hire professionals and pay them a flat, regardless of whether we like the news or not.
