Jump to:
Latest Posts
News surrounding BP and the Lockerbie Bomber case
NO MORE LIES! We MUST get to the Truth about the greedy, arrogant, self-serving individuals and the machinations that led to the BP Gulf oil drill explosion, which is rapidly becoming one of the most serious corporate environmental castastrophes visited on this planet. This, coupled with the reignited issue of Israel and the Middle East, means we do not have TIME to fiddle around with political ideologists with hidden agendas who refuse to come clean on their dirty deeds!
§ ≈∞ ≈∞ ≈∞ ≈ §
ADDED:
05/05/12
Courthouse News Service:
Horrible Injuries Blamed on BP Dispersant
“HOUSTON (CN) – Exposure to chemical dispersants BP used in the Gulf of Mexico oil spill left a commercial diver with seizures, unable to walk and going blind – and two members of his dive team committed suicide, the man claims in Harris County Court.”
BP should be shut down, and anything not bolted to the floor should be sold off – stocks and all – and all the monies should be made available to right the incredible avarice and greed that has massively affected life forms in the entire region.
04/25/12
Guardian UK:
Former BP engineer charged with destroying evidence in Gulf oil spill
“The US justice department has made the first arrest in connection with the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, charging a former engineer with destroying evidence relating to the amount of oil gushing from BP‘s stricken well.”
” ‘I think the justice department is trying to send a message,’ said Seth Pierce, partner in the Los Angeles firm of Mitchell Silberberg and Knupp. ‘He is not the ultimate target in this investigation.’ “
Hopefully, this early step will lead to prosecutions higher up in the chain. What I want to see is a resurrection of the case of the 2005 destruction via CIA dept head Jose Rodriguez Jr. of dozens of videotapes of brutal detainee interrogations. We The People need to aim for the several heads of the snake.
04/28/12
Zero Hedge:
State Officials In Alabama Close Gulf Shrimping After Scientists Find Severe Deformities
“Is this surprising in a world where dead animals are hidden to reduce BP’s liability and BP and the Coast Guard pretend that petroleum is ‘fish oil’ and ‘algae’?”
04/20/12 AJE: Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists “Gulf of Mexico fishermen, scientists and seafood processors have told Al Jazeera they are finding disturbing numbers of mutated shrimp, crab and fish that they believe are deformed by chemicals released during BP’s 2010 oil disaster.”
“Along with collapsing fisheries, signs of malignant impact on the regional ecosystem are ominous: horribly mutated shrimp, fish with oozing sores, underdeveloped blue crabs lacking claws, eyeless crabs and shrimp – and interviewees’ fingers point towards BP’s oil pollution disaster as being the cause.”
03/31/12 Guardian UK: Gulf’s dolphins pay heavy price for Deepwater oil spill
“The report, commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration [NOAA], found that many of the 32 dolphins studied were underweight, anaemic and suffering from lung and liver disease, while nearly half had low levels of a hormone that helps the mammals deal with stress as well as regulating their metabolism and immune systems.”
“Another study confirmed that zooplankton – the microscopic organisms at the bottom of the ocean food chain – had also been contaminated with oil. Indeed, photographs issued last month of wetland coastal areas show continued contamination, with some areas still devoid of vegetation.”
03/17/12
Procurement Leaders:
BP in supplier bribery allegation storm
“A letter sent to the oil major’s chief executive Robert Dudley and the Serious Fraud Office, by a whistleblower, outlined issues which point to the alleged behaviour.”
Figures. No surprise here.
Related News:
Ledger-Enquirer
Brazil to file charges against Chevron executives
“SAO PAULO — Brazilian prosecutors said Saturday they will file criminal charges against 17 executives of Chevron Corp. and drilling contractor Transocean Ltd. for a new oil leak near the offshore well where at least 110,000 gallons (about 416,000 liters) spilled late last year.”
“Chevron said at the time then that the spill occurred because it underestimated the pressure in an underwater reservoir.”
03/03/12
AJE:
BP reaches agreement over Gulf oil spill
“Oil giant BP and a committee representing plaintiffs suing the company over the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill have reached an agreement, a federal judge has said.”
“As a result of the agreement, which will be filed with the court for approval, the trial that was scheduled to begin on Monday has been postponed for a second time, Judge Carl Barbier said.”
01/26/12
Guardian UK:
Gulf of Mexico oil spill: BP loses bid to make others pay compensation
“BP, Transocean and Halliburton have been sparring over who was at fault for causing the blowout. Federal investigators have said BP, the well’s owner, bears ultimate responsibility for the spill but have faulted all three companies to some degree.”
“The ruling comes as BP, the US southern states affected by the disaster and the federal government are discussing a settlement over America’s largest offshore oil spill.”
01/24/12
Courthouse News Service:
Whistleblower Says BP Fired Him for Refusing To Skew Cleanup Data
“NEW ORLEANS (CN) – A leader in BP’s oil spill cleanup claims the company fired him for refusing to change data so that BP could claim the cleanup phase was over and it could begin restoration, which a BP vice president told him ‘would have an upward impact on BP stock prices.’ “
“Walter says that when BP’s operations section chief, Mike Harrison, saw the Mississippi shoreline treatment response data, he was unhappy with the numbers and ‘basically demanded that Walter falsify the data by changing the number of segments that still needed to be cleaned to a lower number. This was all based on money and had nothing to do with actually cleaning up the oil or meeting the STR or environmental requirements.’ “
01/21/12
Courthouse News:
Gulf Oil Spill Could Bring Up to $20B in Fines
” ‘These are civil penalties – they’re not intended to make the people whole. It’s intended to punish,’ Department of Justice Senior Attorney Steven O’Rourke told U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier.”
“O’Rourke told the court: ‘Transocean is saying it came from the well so BP and Anadarko are liable; Anadarko and BP are saying it came from the vessel so Transocean is liable. The government says all of them are correct. They’re all liable.’ ” [emphasis]
That’s a tidy sum. Those affected are entitled to prosecutions as well, though.
RELATED: Also from CNS: Appeals Court Won’t Block Ecuadoreans’ $18B Chevron Win ” ‘The Ecuadorean communities affected by Chevron’s contamination are one step closer to justice as a result of today’s ruling,’ their spokeswoman, Karen Hinton, said in a statement. ‘For almost two decades, Chevron has stood in the way of a comprehensive cleanup of billions of gallons of crude oil and toxic wastewater it deliberately dumped into the pristine rainforest. Thousands of people have died or suffered as the oil giant and its legions of lawyers have fought to distract attention from the overwhelming evidence against the company.’ “
Related: Mining, Fuel, Chemicals & Lives Endangered By Corruption, Laxity Of Safety Oversight
12/06/11
CNN:
BP says Halliburton “intentionally destroyed evidence” after Gulf oil spill
BP says Halliburton “intentionally destroyed evidence” after Gulf oil spill Dec 06 2011
“BP alleges in its filing that Halliburton destroyed evidence on cement testing and violated court orders by not bringing forth “inexplicably missing” computer modeling results.”
” ‘BP has now learned the reason for Halliburton’s intransigence — Halliburton destroyed the results of physical slurry testing, and it has, at best, lost the computer modeling outputs that showed no channeling. More egregious still, Halliburton intentionally destroyed the evidence related to its nonprivileged cement testing, in part because it wanted to eliminate any risk that this evidence would be used against it at trial,’ the BP papers say.”
04/21/11
Law Com:
BP Sues Rig Owner for $40B, Alleging Negligence in Oil Spill
BP Sues Rig Owner for $40B, Alleging Negligence in Oil Spill April 21, 2011
“The British company said in papers filed in federal court in New Orleans that it is suing rig owner Transocean for at least $40 billion in damages, accusing it of causing last year’s deadly blowout in the Gulf of Mexico that led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. BP says every single safety system and device and well control procedure on the Deepwater Horizon rig failed.”
“It also is suing Cameron International, which provided a blowout preventer with a faulty design, which caused an unreasonable amount of risk that harm would occur.”
“Also Wednesday, Transocean filed court papers demanding that judgments be made against BP, Cameron and other companies in its favor. Among other things, Transocean wants a judgment against BP for $12.9 million and a judgment against cement contractor Halliburton and other companies for $20 million.”
03/30/11
Washington Post:
Manslaughter, other charges considered in gulf oil spill probe
“The Justice Department is considering manslaughter charges, along with a range of other possible violations, in its criminal probe into the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, law enforcement and other sources familiar with the investigation said Tuesday.”
“The intensive inquiry could lead to manslaughter counts in the deaths of the 11 workers killed when the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded April 20, the sources said. Any such charges would probably involve BP or Transocean, which leased the rig to BP, they said.” [emphasis mine]
12/15/10
Guardian UK: Cablegate
WikiLeaks cables: BP accused by Azerbaijan of stealing oil worth $10bn
WikiLeaks cables: BP accused by Azerbaijan of stealing oil worth $10bn Dec 15 2010
“The president of Azerbaijan accused BP of stealing billions of dollars of oil from his country and using “mild blackmail” to secure the rights to develop vast gas reserves in the Caspian Sea region, according to leaked US cables.”
“In one cable in October 2007 Socar threatened “extra-legal” measures against the consortium and to have BP’s Azerbaijan boss, Bill Schrader, put on trial for “stealing ten billion dollars worth of Azerbaijani oil”. Another cable that month reads: “If a good response is not found, Azerbaijan ‘will make public that BP is stealing our oil‘, [President] Aliyev stated.”"
11/08/10
Sign On San Diego:
Independent panel to share findings on Gulf spill
“In a preview of what is likely to come, the panel’s chief investigator, Fred H. Bartlit Jr., revealed in a letter last month that testing on cement mixtures similar to those used in the well showed that the formula was unstable before the blowout, but BP and Halliburton used it anyway. Bartlit said the companies should have reconsidered the type of cement used in the well. Cement is an essential barrier to preventing blowouts.”
Washington Post:
Scientists find damage to coral near BP well
Scientists find damage to coral near BP well Nov 05 2010
“For the first time, federal scientists have found damage to deep sea coral and other marine life on the ocean floor several miles from the blown-out BP well – a strong indication that damage from the spill could be significantly greater than officials had previously acknowledged.”
“Coral is essential to the Gulf because it provides a habitat for fish and other organisms such as snails and crabs, making any large-scale death of coral a problem for many species. It might need years, or even decades, to grow back.”
10/18/10
Bloomberg:
BP Sells Venezuela, Vietnam Assets to TNK-BP for $1.8 Billion
BP Sells Venezuela, Vietnam Assets to TNK-BP for $1.8 Billion Oct 18 2010
“BP Plc agreed to sell assets in Venezuela and Vietnam to Russian oil venture TNK-BP for $1.8 billion as it raises money to help pay for the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.”
“BP plans to sell $30 billion in assets to cover costs linked to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the worst in U.S. history. TNK-BP, which accounts for about a quarter of BP’s output and a fifth of reserves, is seeking to increase value by expanding outside Russia.”
10/05/10
NBC26 Greenbay:
Panel: Transocean thwarts efforts to get documents
“Members of a federal panel investigating the cause of the Gulf of Mexico rig explosion and oil spill and how to improve safety and oversight are accusing rig owner Transocean of thwarting their efforts to get to critical documents and a witness.”
“Transocean lawyers say the document request is too cumbersome. They say whether the witness testifies isn’t within their control.”
Lives and livelihoods were destroyed due to this calamity. And Transocean lawyers have the unmitigated gall to say that going through documents is “too cumbersome“? In the end, all get their deserves. Their turn is coming.
10/02/10
WSFA 12 Alabama:
Judge asked to postpone trial for Gulf spill cases
Halliburton Energy Services, Cameron International ask Judge to postpone Guil Oil trial Oct 02 2010
“Some of the companies sued over the massive Gulf oil spill are asking a federal judge to postpone a trial designed to assign percentages of fault in the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon drilling project.”
“A court filing Friday by Halliburton Energy Services, Cameron International and other companies says they need more time to prepare for a trial on the case’s ‘limitation and liability allocation issues.’ U.S. District Judge Carl Barbier was asked to delay the trial from October 2011 to February 2012. Barbier didn’t immediately rule.”
09/18/10
Miami Herald:
Cement flows for permanent plug of BP’s Gulf well
Cement flows for permanent plug of BP’s Gulf well Sep 18 2010
“Engineers initially had planned to pump in mud before the cement, but a BP spokesman said that wasn’t necessary because there was no pressure building inside the well.”
“BP expects the well will be completely sealed – and declared permanently dead – sometime Saturday, five months after the catastrophe began April 20, when an explosion killed 11 workers, sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history. “
Something tells me they should have “done the mud”, too.
09/17/10
WXOW La Crosse:
BP’s Hayward defends safety record to UK lawmakers
BP’s Hayward defends safety record to UK lawmakers
“Hayward, who will be replaced on Oct. 1 by chief executive Bob Dudley, an American, told Parliament’s Energy and Climate Change Committee the industry at large would improve safety as a result of the spill. He said the oil industry will ‘significantly enhance the testing protocols of blowout preventers’ following the explosion at the Macondo well on April 20, which killed 11 workers and triggered the massive spill.”
“The Financial Times reported Wednesday that all but one of BP’s North Sea installations examined by government inspectors last year were cited for failure to comply with emergency regulations on oil spills. Citing inspection records obtained under Britain’s Freedom of Information Act, it revealed BP had not complied with rules on training for offshore operators and had failed to conduct adequate oil spill exercises.”
09/11/10
BP Exec Andy Inglis Leaving Board of Russian Joint Venture TNK-BP to make way for Tony Hayward Sep 11 2010
BP oil well blowout preventer reaches NASA facility in Louisiana Sep 11 2010
09/08/10
NY Times:
BP releases Gulf oil report, finds several companies at fault in spill Sep 08 2010
Report by BP Finds Several Companies at Fault in Spill “Conducted by the company’s safety chief, Mark Bly, and a team of about 50 mostly BP employees, the inquiry was initiated almost immediately after the April 20 explosion that killed 11 and spilled almost five million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.”
“Because of its authorship, the report is unlikely to carry much weight in influencing the Department of Justice, which is considering criminal and civil charges. It is, however, a first glimpse at BP’s probable legal strategy in defending itself against the claims and it represents the first in a series of such reports in the coming months.”
09/03/10
LA Times:
BP: Blowout preventer that failed to stop Gulf of Mexico oil leak removed from well “BP PLC said the blowout preventer that failed to stop oil from spewing into the Gulf of Mexico was removed from the company’s well on Friday afternoon.”
“The blowout preventer is considered a key piece of evidence in the spill investigation. Investigators will examine it and hope to gain insight into why the device failed to prevent the spill. Late Friday, the government said another blowout preventer had successfully been placed on the blown-out well.”
BP blowout preventer parts successfully raised to surface Sep 04 2010
08/27/10
NOLA:
BP engineer who wrote telling e-mails pleads the Fifth to avoid testifying at oil spill hearings “Brian Morel, a BP engineer who was part of a team that designed the Macondo well that blew April 20, is the second witness to invoke his constitutional right to not answer questions from a joint Coast Guard and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management panel.”
“Morel is significant because of e-mail messages he sent and received in the days leading up to the disaster. Those messages were released by a congressional committee.”
Atty William W. Taylor, III explains joint investigation board members that his client, BP drilling engineer Brian Morel, formally takes the 5th. Aug 262010
08/26/10 WBTV S. Carolina:
For panel, details on BP’s structure out of reach ” ‘Everybody in charge, nobody in charge,’ U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Hung Nguyen, co-chairman of the investigative board, said in frustration after repeatedly questioning BP senior vice president Kent Wells about who oversaw safety on the Deepwater Horizon, and the company as a whole.”
“Attorneys and the joint panel of the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement spent the bulk of the hearings seeking basic information about BP’s personnel structure. Yet those details remained out of reach, with Nguyen and other board members repeatedly voicing their frustration.”
Statesman:
Engineers to remove temporary cap from Gulf well “The federal government said engineers will start work Monday to remove the temporary cap that stopped oil from gushing out of BP’s blown-out Gulf well so that crews can raise a key piece of equipment from the seabed.”
“The Department of Justice and other federal investigators are overseeing the work to remove the blowout preventer, Allen said. The 50-foot, 600,000-pound device — which was designed to prevent such a catastrophe — will be taken out of the water with the well pipe still inside to ensure the pipe doesn’t break apart any more than it already has.”
Bellingham Herald:
BP ruled out bid for drilling off Greenland ” BP PLC said Thursday that it decided not to bid for a drilling license near Greenland, a move government officials there say may be due to its tarnished safety image after the disastrous blowout of a deepwater well in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“The announcement put the North Atlantic territory in the spotlight of global concerns about the risks of drilling at sea. Greenpeace’s ship Esperanza was circling the oil rig in protest over what spokesman Ben Steart called ‘the reckless push toward an Arctic oil run.’ “
BP PLC decides not to bid for a drilling license near Greenland; may be due to Gulf oil calamity Aug 26 2010
08/24/10
Palm Beach Post:
Oil spill panel hears about Halliburton warning “E-mails released by Congress in June show that a BP engineering official conveyed Halliburton’s conclusions to a BP well team leader and his own concerns that BP needed to install the extra centralizers. The well team leader responded he didn’t like the idea because it would take 10 hours to install them.”
” ‘BP then in turn decided not to run the additional centralizers without consulting me or their in-house specialists,’ Jesse Gagliano, the Halliburton official, told members of the joint U.S. Coast Guard-Bureau of Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement investigative panel.”
“Nathaniel Chaisson, a Halliburton cementer who was on the rig assisting with the job, said he saw the additional centralizers on board the rig, but BP still decided against using them.”
Daun Winslow, Transocean performance division manager testifies before joint investigation Aug 24 2010
08/19/10
Smart Trend News:
Scientists report undersea oil plume “The Washington Post is reporting that scientists have found evidence contrary to the Obama administration claim that most of the oil from BP’s spill is either gone or rapidly disappearing. They cite the discovery of an undersea “plume” of oil stretching more than 21 miles from the well site.”
“News of the plume was announced Thursday afternoon by researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. The cloud of oil droplets, which is more than a mile wide and as tall as a 65-story building, was found in late June. Researchers have also questioned the math used in the government’s accounting. Although the spill has not had the repercussions initially expected, many are criticizing the government for painting a less than realistic picture.”
I sense Impeachment proceedings in the wind here, not just of the President but resignations of all Corporate and AIPAC holdovers surrounding him and in Congress.
Hon. Kevin Davis vs. Fed. Government. WHO is protecting WHO? “Under US Dept of Homeland Security The United States Coast Guard sent a letter threatening potential jail time for non compliance with the Federal Government to the Honorable Kevin Davis, Parrish President of St. Tammany Parish Government at 21490 Koop Drive Mandeville, LA 70471 if he does not repeal his executive order enacted at the local level designed to protect Louisiana residents during Hurricane Season.
” The Federal Government wishes to remove key barriers in place designed to keep Louisiana safer during the well known Hurricane Season. The Federal Government appears to be preparing to force removal of the barriers leaving the area more exposed to forthcoming hurricanes.”
Las Vegas Sun:
BP accused of withholding ‘critical’ spill data “The company that owned the Deepwater Horizon oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico is accusing BP of withholding what it describes as critical evidence needed to investigate the cause of worst maritime oil spill in history, according to a confidential internal document obtained by The Associated Press.”
“Transocean said that certain limited information it has been able to retrieve from BP came only after the company reluctantly signed a confidentiality agreement.”
” ‘Ultimately, and despite our reservations, we agreed to BP’s condition of secrecy because there is no other source of key well data,’ the letter says. The company is seeking 16 pieces of technical information from BP, including pressure tests, logs, and other data.”
Huffington Post from 08/09/10:
Matt Simmons Dead — Oil Man Who Predicted the End of Oil “Matt Simmons passed away today from a heart attack at the age of 67. Matt was the founder of Simmons and Company — one of the leading energy investment banks in the world.”
“Last month he officially launched the Ocean Energy Institute which will focus on maximizing energy from the ocean including offshore wind and wave energy. Recently, Matt was outspoken on the BP oil disaster. He pointed to the strong possibility of several leaks, not just the one BP showed in the videos. He predicted BP may eventually have to declare bankruptcy from the spill aftereffects.”
Matthew Simmons, energy investment banker, advocate for alternative energy, energy adviser to George W. Bush: Found dead Aug 08 2010
Rest in Peace, Mr. Simmons. This occurred a week ago and as much as I try to follow news, I only stumbled upon it today when several citizen reporters uploaded on YouTube. It seems the MSN outlets rather buried this like a footnote; I’ve found no report from Fox news. I suspect the Truth about his high suspicious death will not remain covered for long, though.
08/16/10
Independent UK:
President goes for a swim in the Gulf – or does he? “The official picture was intended to provide evidence that the region’s beaches are back to normal. Yet it soon emerged that the private beach on which it was taken, off Alligator Point in St Andrew Bay, north-west Florida, isn’t technically in the gulf.”
08/06/10
Real Clear Politics:
Spill investigators want to find undersea evidence “Now that BP appears to have vanquished its ruptured well, authorities are turning their attention to gathering evidence from what could amount to a crime scene at the bottom of the sea.”
“Hundreds of investigators can’t wait to get their hands on evidence. The FBI is conducting a criminal investigation, the Coast Guard is seeking the cause of the blast, and lawyers are pursuing millions of dollars in damages for the families of the 11 workers killed, the dozens injured and the thousands whose livelihoods have been damaged.”
08/04/10
Miami Herald:
BP plugs well with mud; feds say much of oil gone “BP claimed a key victory Wednesday in the effort to plug its blown-out well and the government said much of the spilled oil is gone – though what’s left is still at least quadruple the amount that poured from the Exxon Valdez.”
“But the mud that was forced down the broken wellhead to permanently plug the gusher is only half the story. To call the mission a success, crews working on a flotilla of vessels on a desolate patch of water need to seal off the well from two directions.”
This may just be the end of the beginning. This calamity certainly changed the geoconfiguration at the seabed and below and spewed an alarming amount of toxic gases all around the region. Only time will tell.
08/01/10
WXVT 15 Mississippi:
3 squabbling companies must cooperate to plug well “On shore, BP, Halliburton and Transocean are engaging in a billion-dollar blame game over the blown-out oil well in the Gulf of Mexico. At sea, they’re depending on each other to finally plug up the environmental disaster.”
“The roles of the three companies in the relief kill effort are much the same as they were on the Deepwater Horizon, the exploratory rig that blew up soon after a temporary cement cap was placed on its well, killing 11 workers. The conflicts began almost as soon as oil started flowing.”
How grudgingly they pursue cooperation even in the face of calamity. I just get this picture of a bunch of little boys playing big-shot and running to mummy crying when they don’t get their way.
07/28/10
RT
Russian High Life for BP CEO BP CEO Tony Hayward is packing up and getting off easy. There are only rumors of his resignation but there’s already word that Hayward will be moving to Russia and reportedly joining the board of TNK-BP Oil Company, a 50/50 joint Russian venture. RT Correspondent Katerina Azarova joins Alyona from Moscow to share the word on the street. And she explains the lavish and extravagant lifestyle waiting for him.
05/26/10
Platts
Russian supreme court backs antitrust fines against TNK-BP “Russia’s Supreme Arbitration Court (SAC) Tuesday backed a ruling by the country’s antimonopoly service fining TNK-BP for abusing antitrust legislation and setting artificially high oil products prices, in a decision widely seen as setting a precedent for similar cases against other oil companies.”
“The SAC said the decision by the Federal Antimonopoly Service to impose a Rb1.1 billion fine on Anglo-Russian venture TNK-BP for abusing its dominant position in domestic wholesale market was ‘legal and justified,’ the service said in a statement late Tuesday.”
07/27/10
Chicago 2:Barge Hits Well Near Gulf, Sends Oil, Gas Spewing “While there was no estimate of how much oil was spewing Tuesday, officials said the mile-long slick it created was small compared with the Gulf spill.”
“The towboat captain told investigators the well was not lit as required, Coast Guard Capt. John Arenstam said.”
07/07/10
Daily Business Review:
Gulf of Mexico awash in 27,000 abandoned wells “More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurk in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades. No one — not industry, not government — is checking to see if they are leaking, an Associated Press investigation shows.”
“As a forceful reminder of the potential harm, the well beneath BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig was being sealed with cement for temporary abandonment when it blew April 20, leading to one of the worst environmental disasters in the nation’s history. BP alone has abandoned about 600 wells in the Gulf, according to government data.”
MSNBC:
BP’s new CEO: Gulf spill was a wake-up call “Robert Dudley will become BP PLC’s first ever non-British chief executive, the company said as it reported a record quarterly $17 billion loss and set aside $32.2 billion to cover costs from the spill.”
“Ending weeks of speculation, BP confirmed that gaffe-prone Tony Hayward will step down Oct. 1 as the London-based company seeks to reassure both the public and investors that it is learning lessons from the spill.”
Robert Dudley will become “BP PLC’s first ever non-British CEO”, replacing “gaffe-prone Tony Hayward”
BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg (C), flanked by outgoing Chief Executive Tony Hayward, (L) and incoming Chief Executive Robert Dudley (R) July 27, 2010
07/26/10
Daily Herald:
Tony Hayward leaving as BP CEO, U.S. official says “A change in leadership will not change the mammoth tasks ahead of BP, from stopping the offshore oil gusher for good, to cleaning up the millions of gallons that have already leaked, to paying billions in claims – all while defending its stock price and repairing its battered reputation.”
“Hayward joined BP in 1982 as a geologist, and currently makes 1.045 million pounds (US $ 1.6 million) a year as the company’s head, according to their annual report. In 2009, he received a performance bonus of more than 2 million pounds (US$ 3.1 million) plus other remuneration, bringing his total pay package to more than 4 million pounds (US$ 6.1 million).”
07/22/10
NY Times:
Workers on Doomed Rig Voiced Concern About Safety “A confidential survey of workers on the Deepwater Horizon in the weeks before the oil rig exploded showed that many of them were concerned about safety practices and feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems.”
“Only about half of the workers interviewed said they felt they could report actions leading to a potentially ‘risky’ situation without reprisal. ‘This fear was seen to be driven by decisions made in Houston, rather than those made by rig based leaders,’ the report said.”
Sun Herald:
Tropical depression races toward BP’s leaky well “A tropical depression racing toward the Gulf of Mexico Thursday increased pressure on BP and the U.S. government to decide whether to evacuate dozens of ships at the site of the ruptured oil well.”
“Worse yet, the government’s spill chief said foul weather could require reopening the cap that has contained the oil for nearly a week, allowing oil to gush into the sea again for days while engineers wait out the storm. If the work crews are evacuated, it could be two weeks before they can resume the effort to kill the well. That would upset BP’s timetable, which called for finishing the relief tunnel by the end of July and plugging the blown-out well by early August.”
This chilled me with its underlying current. A powerful geopolitical power war is taking place here, perhaps starting even before the diaster took place. This event has all the ingredients of a Perfect Storm (trooper).
Sac Bee:
Judge halts oil, gas development on Chukchi Sea “A federal judge on Wednesday stopped companies from developing oil and gas wells on billions of dollars in leases off Alaska’s northwest coast, saying the federal government failed to follow environmental law before it sold the drilling rights.”
“U.S. District Judge Ralph Beistline said that the Minerals Management Service failed to analyze the environmental effect of natural gas development despite industry interest and specific lease incentives for such development.”
It comes down to this for me: We have the choice to wreak havoc on the planet for profits and have no planet to enjoy or we learn to conserve our excessive energy demands. The Quakers do very well on this point.
07/18/10
Huffington Post:
BP Well Cap: BP, Feds Clash Over Reopening Capped Gulf Oil Well “BP and the Obama administration offered significantly differing views Sunday on whether the capped Gulf of Mexico oil well will have to be reopened, a contradiction that may be an effort by the oil giant to avoid blame if crude starts spewing again.”
“The concern all along — since pressure readings on the cap weren’t as high as expected — was a leak elsewhere in the wellbore, meaning the cap may have to be reopened to prevent the environmental disaster from becoming even worse and harder to fix.
“The official, who would not clarify what is seeping near the well, also said BP is not complying with the government’s demand for more monitoring. Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the Obama administration’s spill response chief, demanded BP provide results of further testing of the seabed by 9 p.m. EDT Sunday night.”
Does BP have a Death Wish here? This is a gul-dern 3rd British invasion (counting the Beatles).
07/15/10
Examiner:
BP chokes off the oil leak; now begins the wait “Now begins a waiting period during which engineers will monitor pressure gauges and watch for signs of leaks elsewhere in the well. The biggest risk: Pressure from the oil gushing out of the ground could fracture the well and make the leak even worse.”
“Even if it works, the cap is not a permanent fix, and not the end of the crisis by any means. BP is drilling two relief wells so it can pump mud and cement into the leaking well in hopes of plugging it permanently by mid-August. After that, the Gulf Coast faces a monumental cleanup and restoration that could take years.”
I hope it works, I really do, but there may be an unseen set of geologic physics at play in this deep sea calamity that somehow unsettles me. Of course this is not the end of the book, only the end of the chapter for BP et. al. There’s that nagging little issue about BP allegedly pushing the political pressure button on Britains’ -or- the old terrorist-for-oil ploy. We really need to kick big business lobbyists (especially foreign lobbyists) out of congress, ya know?
Washington Post:
Leaky Pipe repaired, BP resumes preparation for test “Federal officials green-lighted the ‘integrity tests’ after a 24-hour delay, during which government scientists and outside experts demanded more information from BP about possible hazards posed by stopping the flow of the well. They are concerned that a spike in pressure as the flow is clamped could blow oil and gas out of the casing of the well and into the geological formations. Throughout the crisis, engineers have feared the possibility that efforts to fix the problem could make it worse.”
“Allen said Wednesday that during the top kill, the well pressure never surpassed 6,000 pounds per square inch of pressure. That befuddled engineers, who did not know where the mud, furiously pumped into the blowout preventer from surface ships, was going. They wondered if it was flowing through breaches in the well casing into the geological formation.”
07/14/10
NPR:
After Days Of Progress, BP Freezes Work In Gulf “The development was a stunning setback after the oil giant finally seemed to be on track following nearly three months of failed attempts to stop the spill, which has sullied beaches from Florida to Texas and decimated the multibillion dollar fishing industry.”
“Oil continued to spew nearly unimpeded into the water, with no clear timeline on when it would stop. BP shares were down 2.5 percent in afternoon trading in London after recouping some of their oil spill losses earlier this week, when the cap project seemed to be moving ahead.”
07/10/10
Chron:
BP: Cap on gushing well removed, oil flows freely “Officials say a containment cap over the gushing leak in the Gulf of Mexico has been removed so a better one can be installed. BP spokesman Mark Proegler says the cap was removed at 12:37 p.m. CDT on Saturday. Oil is now flowing into the Gulf without being collected from the well head.”
“If all goes well, the oil could be contained sometime Monday. A permanent solution is still weeks off. That involves an attempt to plug the well far below the gushing well head.”
MSNBC:
EU considers deepwater oil restrictions: report “European Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger told La Stampa newspaper the 27-nation bloc could evaluate if it needed another agency to oversee offshore exploration or if the European Maritime Safety Agency could take action on deepwater rigs.”
“Oettinger repeated his suggestion for a moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits until more secure rules were in place. He did not give a time limit for a freeze, but said: ‘We want to be able to put together a catalog of the possible consequences for every new well. And we want it this year.’ “
07/08/10
Media Blackout of a New Orleans News Crew.mp4
NOLA:
Tar balls reach Lake Pontchartrain “Showing just how unpredictable and all-consuming the massive Gulf oil spill can be, tar balls and small sheens of oil have entered Lake Pontchartrain and are hitting Texas shores for the first time.”
ng>
“Lopez said oil made its way into the lake because of winds from the far edges of Hurricane Alex last week as well as sustained east and southeast winds during the weekend. The winds from Alex pushed a large amount of oil into the Mississippi Sound for the first time, and the east winds during the past few days pushed oil into Lake Borgne, the Rigolets and eventually the eastern stretches of Lake Pontchartrain.”
07/06/10 Huffington Post: Tar Balls Hit Texas, BP oil Spill Now Reaches All Gulf States “Tar balls from the Gulf oil spill found on a Texas beach were confirmed Monday as the first evidence that gushing crude from the Deepwater Horizon well has reached all the Gulf states.”
07/06/10
Washington Post:
BP has steady sales at Defense Department despite U.S. scrutiny “The Defense Department has kept up its immense purchases of aviation fuel and other petroleum products from BP even as the oil company comes under scrutiny for potential violations of federal and state laws related to Gulf of Mexico well explosion, according to U.S. and company officials.”
“So far, members of Congress have discussed barring BP from any new oil and gas drilling leases, not from fuel sales to the government. Rep. George Miller(D-Calif.), who co-chairs the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, said last week that he would introduce legislation to shut BP out of such leases for the next seven years, as punishment for what he described as ‘serial’ legal violations.”
Shame, shame, shame.
ProPublica:
BP Texas Refinery Had Huge Toxic Release Just Before Gulf Blowout “Two weeks before the blowout in the Gulf of Mexico, the huge, trouble-plagued BP refinery [1] in this coastal town spewed tens of thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals into the skies.”
“The release from the BP facility here began April 6 and lasted 40 days [2]. It stemmed from the company’s decision to keep producing and selling gasoline while it attempted repairs on a key piece of equipment, according to BP officials and Texas regulators.”
07/04/10
Coast To Coast A.M.: “George Noory was joined by Richard C. Hoagland for a discussion on the potential catastrophic dangers that could result from the accumulation of methane in the Gulf. He pointed to evidence which suggests that a massive bulge of methane is forming beneath the ocean floor.”
“(H)e urged C2C listeners to contact Louisiana resident and prominent TV pundit James Carville, in the hopes of creating momentum in the mainstream media for this information to be made public. “
Unknown Country:
MORE Oil Spills in the Future “Anthropologist Bret Gustafson says, ‘BP and other oil companies have tried to portray this spill as an accident or an aberration, but in fact there are spills on off-shore and on- shore sites around the world, increasingly.’ A rig sank off the coast of Venezuela in May. Last October, a rig spilled oil for two months into the Timor Sea off of Australia. There are recurring spills in virtually every oil region, such as the Peruvian and Ecuadorian Amazon and Nigeria.”
” ‘These environmental and public health catastrophes are almost always accompanied by corruption and violence tied to oil activities,’ Gustafson says. ‘In the United States, which is more of a consumer than producer of oil, we are generally ignorant about this reality of oil until something like this comes home to roost.’ “
Huffington Post:
BP’s Smoking Gun and the Manipulation of Oil Prices“ In an eye-opening front page article the “New York Times gives smoking gun evidence of the manipulation of oil and oil product prices through trading on the commodity exchanges. It places into focus the question: what benefit is derived from these exchanges as currently constituted, other than providing a speculation platform and con game for insiders and an instrument for oil producers to hype the price of their commodity? At the heart of the article and as shining example of miscreant trading behavior are our good friends at BP.”
06/30/10
BP Protesters Stage Mini-Spill Outside (London) Tate Britain Museum“Protesters took their dissatisfaction with BP to the steps of the Tate Britain museum in London, using the occasion of a summer party celebrating that oil company’s 20-year sponsorship of the museum to call attention to its handling of the calamitous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“On Monday, The Guardian newspaper published a letter protesting the party, signed by more than 100 artists, critics and curators, saying that relationships like the one between the Tate and BP ‘enable big oil companies to mask the environmentally destructive nature of their activities with the social legitimacy that is associated with such high-profile cultural associations.’ ”
Yes!
Guardian UK:
BP ‘staked future on expanding offshore drilling’ “BP staked its future on expanding offshore drilling a month before the catastrophic explosion on the Deepwater Horizon triggered the United States’ worst environmental disaster, according tocompany documents revealed yesterday.”
“In tackling the Gulf disaster, BP has often cited the depth of this well as a primary challenge to containing the gusher [11]. By now, multiple reports—including one in today’s New York Times—document how the technology to drill to greater depths has surged ahead, while the technology to clean up a spill hasn’t been updated for decades [12].”
06/27/10
MSNBC YouTube:
Rep. Markey on the Deteriorating BP Wellhead and the Need to Plan for Worst Case Scenario
06/26/10 (MT)
Scotsman:
Another twist in BP soap opera as predators circle weakened giant “The drama that is unfolding is the stuff of the dizziest soap opera. A president of the US taking on what was Britain’s biggest company. A chairman dodging verbal bullets for a hapless chief executive making matters worse every time he speaks. A flotilla of vessels and aircraft circling the ever-widening spill into the ocean.”
“There are parallels with the banking crisis. Those driven by unrestrained ambition, for more growth and more profit, didn’t see the crisis unfolding around them. The shares crashed and dividends were suspended. Is BP too big to fail? Where have we heard that before?”
“The company is being referred to as Bust Petroleum as it considers putting its US business into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Predators are circling, including US giant Exxon.
Always, there is dishonor among thieves.
06/25/10
SunHerald Mississippi:
Jindal vetoes bill to open oil spill records“Gov. Bobby Jindal rejected a bill Friday that would have required him to make public and to preserve all his office’s documents involving the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The Senate sponsor of the public records provision said Friday night that Jindal’s veto was expected. He noted that the governor has repeatedly fought attempts to require preservation and open most of his office’s records to public scrutiny.”
(Sen. Robert Adley, R-Benton) Adley also called it hypocritical for the governor to push BP to open some of its records to the state even as Jindal refuses to release his own. ‘How in the world would making our records public let BP off for what they’ve done? That makes absolutely no sense,’ Adley said.”
So, what is Gov. Jindal afraid of exposing those records? My hunch is that it would show improprieties in his own cozy relationship with corporate oil. Public servants who refuse to be transparent with their constituants should be recalled or legally held to account by that constituancy. Period point.
06/24/10
Kindra Arnesan, Venice LA: “This Venice LA local has been granted security clearance to see it all.”
Kindra Arnesen Turns Whistleblower, Exposes BP And Govt Coverup July 2010
Yet another point of Light.
Guardian UK:
BP refits Gulf of Mexico oil cap as Barack Obama’s rating drops “BP says it has reinstalled an oil-siphoning cap on its blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico and has resumed collecting crude after an accident led to oil flowing unhindered into the ocean for several hours yesterday.”
“The political risks from the disaster were underscored by a poll showing Barack Obama’s job performance rating has dropped to the lowest level of his presidency. The Obama administration is appealing a court ruling blocking a six-month moratorium on deepwater drilling.”
06/23/10
Palm Beach Post:
More oil gushing into Gulf after problem with cap “The Coast Guard says BP has been forced to remove a cap that was containing some of the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico.”
“Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen says an underwater robot bumped into the venting system. That sent gas rising through vent that carries warm water down to prevent ice-like crystals from forming in the cap.”
“The current worst-case estimate of what’s spewing into the Gulf is about 2.5 million gallons a day.”
Chron:
Judge who nixed drilling ban has oil investments “The Louisiana judge who struck down the Obama administration’s six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has reported extensive investments in the oil and gas industry, according to financial disclosure reports. He’s also a new member of a secret national security court.”[ 
]
“(U.S. District Judge Martin) “Feldman’s 2008 financial disclosure report — the most recent available — also showed investments in Ocean Energy, a Houston-based company, as well as Quicksilver Resources, Prospect Energy, Peabody Energy, Halliburton, Pengrowth Energy Trust, Atlas Energy Resources, Parker Drilling and others. Halliburton was also involved in the doomed Deepwater Horizon project.”
06/22/10
BBC News:
US Gulf oil drilling ban overturned by federal judge “The moratorium was put in place in the wake of the massive oil spill triggered by an explosion at a rig in April.”
“The judge said the lengthy ban was ‘invalid’ and could not be justified, as the negative impact on local businesses was simply too great.”
06/17/10
Breitbart:
BP CEO Tony Hayward on way out as pointman “BPs chairman said Friday that CEO Tony Hayward is on his way out as the company’s point man on the Gulf oil spill crisis, a day after Hayward enraged members of Congress by offering few answers about how the environmental disaster happened. It was unclear when the switch will occur.”
“BP’s move overshadowed some positive news in the cleanup effort. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen announced earlier Friday that a newly expanded containment system is capturing or incinerating more than 1 million gallons of oil daily, the first time it has approached its peak capacity.”
NY Times:
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus to oversee Gulf Coast rehabilitation effort “Ray Mabus, the Navy secretary and a former Mississippi governor, was appointed on June 2010 to oversee the Obama administration’s rehabilitation effort along the Gulf Coast in the wake of the largest oil spill in United States history.”
“Mr. Mabus served as the United States ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 1994 to 1996 under President Bill Clinton. In 1998, he was involved in a divorce that drew national attention for his secret taping of a conversation between his wife and his family priest that he used against her in court proceedings.”
For those who follow the scholarly works of Nostradamus as presented by John Hogue, the name “Mabus” has long been discussed as the possible “third antichrist”, so it is perhaps a coincidence and quite unfortunate for Ray Mabus to carry that surname in these chaotic times.
C-SPAN: House Energy/Commerce Committee:
BP CEO Tony Hayward during Congressional Hearings June 2010
Watch Testimony of Tony Hayward (multipart)
Rep. Joe Barton (R-Arlington) retracts apology to BP “When Rep. Joe Barton R-Arlington apologized to BP chief executive Tony Hayward on Thursday and accused the Obama administration of conducting a ‘shakedown’ of the oil giant, he drew quick denunciations from members of both parties.”
“With an uprising brewing among Republicans, Barton retreated. He apologized for using the term ‘shakedown’ and retracted his apology to Hayward.”
Congress, stop acting as though you are on “Romper Room” and start behaving as the adult representatives that We The People elected you to be.
06/15/10
Clarion Ledger:
Ship fire halts oil capture in Gulf “A bolt of lightning struck the ship capturing oil from a blown-out BP well in the Gulf of Mexico on Tuesday, igniting a fire that halted containment efforts in another setback for the embattled company in its nearly two-month struggle to stop the spill, the company said. ‘At the moment, there’s no capture, no containment going on, but we’ll start up the Enterprise when it’s safe to do so,’ BP spokesman Robert Wine said.”
Unbelievable.
06/14/10
Miami Herald Business:
BP engineer called doomed rig a ‘nightmare well’ “The comment by BP engineer Brian Morel came in an e-mail April 14, six days before the Deepwater Horizon rig explosion that killed 11 people and has sent tens of millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf in the nation’s worst environmental disaster.”
“In an e-mail on April 16, a BP official involved in the (shortcut) decision explained: ‘It will take 10 hours to install them. I do not like this.’ Later that day, another official recognized the risks of proceeding with insufficient centralizers but commented: ‘who cares, it’s done, end of story, will probably be fine.‘ “
06/13/10
“Looks like the FAA is closing down the Gulf of Mexico to ‘unauthorized’ aircraft…This coming as a Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) issued late Wednesday night that just popped up in my flying emails this morning: No pilots may operate an aircraft in the areas covered by this NOTAM (except as described).”
Common Dreams From the Ground: BP Censoring Media, Destroying Evidence “With oil undisputedly hitting the beaches and the number of dead wildlife mounting, BP is switching tactics. In Orange Beach, people told me BP wouldn’t let them collect carcasses. Instead, the company was raking up carcasses of oiled seabirds. ‘The heads separate from the bodies,’ one upset resident told me. ‘There’s no way those birds are going to be autopsied. BP is destroying evidence!’ “
Independent UK:
Cameron warns Obama over criticising BP “David Cameron last night issued a veiled warning to President Barack Obama not to undermine BP’s ‘economic importance’ to Britain and the United States, as the two men held crisis talks over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster.”
“In return, the President maintained pressure on BP by telling Mr Cameron that the company must pay ‘tens of thousands’ of economic claims for the oil spill and that the ‘large, wealthy company lives up to its obligations’.”
Since corporations in general arrogantly categorize themselves as a “person“, they should face the very same consequences any natural person such as a Bernie-Madoff-type would face for ruining the economic welfare of an entire American sector. Unfortunately, Madoff’s clients suffered greatly but they did succeed in getting most of his assets sold to help compensate and he is in jail to boot. BP had no contingency plan for cutting off this disaster and I’m sure their shareholders were never informed of this. They simply should take BP to court themselves, IMHO.
06/11/10
Democracy Now!
Rolling Stone’s Tim Dickinson on How BP Got Away With Murder
Telegraph UK:
BP oil spill: shares plummet as US warns it will ‘take action’ to stop dividend “Shareholders have seen another £5bn wiped off the value of BP, putting pressure on David Cameron to intervene in a row engulfing the oil company.”
“Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, this morning became the most senior UK politician to defend BP, saying ‘anti-British rhetoric’ levelled at the company was a matter of ‘national concern’ and that the oil giant was paying ‘a very, very heavy price’ for what had been an accident.”
A gull coated in heavy oil in the surf June 4, 2010
06/09/10
NY Times:
Plumes of Oil Below Surface Raise New Concerns “The government and university researchers confirmed Tuesday that plumes of dispersed oil were spreading far below the ocean surface from the leaking well in the Gulf of Mexico, raising fresh concern about the potential impact of the spill on sea life.”
” ‘Those readings suggest that a large plume, probably consisting of hydrocarbons from the leak, stretches through the deep ocean for at least 15 miles west of the gushing oil well’, Dr. Joye said. ‘The top of the plume is about 3,600 feet below the sea surface; the plume is three miles wide and as thick as 1,500 feet in spots’, she said.”
Guardian UK:
BP: More oil-collecting help converging on Gulf “Help is on the way to bolster the work being done to contain the crude spewing from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, including a tanker from the North Sea that will provide an important assist, the point man for the government’s response to the disaster said Wednesday.”
“The oil now being captured is being pumped to a ship on the surface where workers are burning off the natural gas attached to the crude and shipping the remaining oil to shore. In addition, the British oil giant is preparing to deploy a device called an EverGreen Burner that turns the oil-and-gas mixture into a vapor that is pushed out its 12 nozzles and burned without creating visible smoke.”
So we have a polluted Gulf water, polluted air, polluted land, and now they bring in the fire to make a vapor to make it all invisible 
06/06/10
Wildlife Apocalypse Video of Gulf birds, fish caught in BP oil spill
Self-explanatory and very, very heart wrenching.
06/02/10
Obama heads to Gulf hoping to exert control over BP oil spill disaster June 02 2010
The Hill:
Federal government announces ‘aggressive’ criminal probe of spill “Attorney General Eric Holder announced Tuesday the federal government has launched a criminal and civil investigation into the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and pledged a review that would be ‘meticulous’ and ‘aggressive.’ “
“Holder said during a trip to the Gulf Coast to tour the affected area that the government was reviewing whether BP and federal regulators had violated federal laws in the lead-up to the April explosion of a BP-leased rig, which triggered a massive spill that has yet to be contained.”
Federal government announces ‘aggressive’ criminal probe of spill June 01 2010
05/31/10
Bloomberg:
BP Lacked Well Control Six Weeks Before Gulf Rig Disaster, E-Mails Show “BP Plc told regulators six weeks before its well in the Gulf of Mexico exploded that workers were having trouble maintaining control, according to e-mails released yesterday by the House Energy and Commerce Committee investigating the spill.”
05/30/10 WWLTV: “Legal analysts say criminal charges likely In BP oil spill “As civil lawsuits mount, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has assigned a group of federal prosecutors to monitor the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster and determine if any laws were broken before or after the rig explosion.”
“Legal analysts say that could lead to a full blown criminal investigation into the BP spill. ‘I can almost guarantee you that a grand jury will be convened to take testimony, receive documents, hear evidence about exactly what happened,’ said former federal prosecutor Chic Foret. ‘I think the question really is not whether criminal charges are going to be brought, but when and what type of charges,’ said Loyola Law Professor Dane Ciolino.”
Above Top Secret:
Did Halliburton lay waste to Gulf Rig with explosives ? Topic under discussion: “Was the disaster on the BP rig off the coast of mexico actually an act of terrorism? Is there a split in the Bilderberg Group members….?“
This is a discussion thread that brings up some intriguing areas of interest, although this will all be sorted out in criminal investigations. IF independent science finds a solid case for a staged event as has been proved with 9/11, We The People will not fight against coverups 8 years and counting—we’re no longer naïve.
An interesting piece of background information from this discussion: Halliburton bought Boots & Coots, who provides pressure control services for oil and gas wells. [Comment from user "frankensence": "(T)hat raises the spectre of the response team uncovering any foul deeds causing the disaster - so how coincidental is it that Halliburton would buy Boots & Coots shortly before the disaster struck? Guess they had to be brought into the fold."
Halliburton agrees to buy Boots & Coots: Bought out to shut up? April 09 2010
05/29/10
60 MINUTES Exposé — THE BLOWOUT
TOP KILL FAILS–NBC NIGHTLY NEWS MAY 29TH 2010
The Week:
BP oil spill: 9 strange facts: “4. BP thinks there are walruses in the Gulf of Mexico.”
Firedoglake:
Obama Fires MMS Director“…Elizabeth Birnbaum, the Director of Minerals Management Service, who testified before Congress only yesterday, will be fired. But the question is: is she just a scapegoat? Birnbaum has only been Director since last July, while most of the deficient environmental and safety reviews for the Deepwater Horizon permits occurred before her tenure. Why her and not Salazar?”
05/28/10
Bloomberg:
Obama Extends Moratorium as MMS Chief Steps Down “President Barack Obama will cancel a plan to drill for oil off Virginia’s coast and extend for six months a moratorium on new deepwater drilling permits, as the head of agency responsible for issuing the permits stepped down.”
Ed Show: Papantonio: We Need a BP Perp Walk
05/26/10
LA Times:
Gulf oil spill: Coast Guard calls back 125 cleanup ships after reports of illness “The illnesses came a day after BP reported that it had heard of no health complaints from local fishermen who had taken jobs with the company laying boom and skimming oil from the Gulf. The Times reported that several fishermen complained of similar symptoms while working around oil and chemical dispersants. Even as the oil company dismissed the claims, a Louisiana congressman pressed a request to the federal department of Health and Human Services for assistance in placing mobile health clinics in the rural areas of south Louisiana where oystermen and shrimpers live.”
9/11(Bush), Katrina (Bush), AIG (Bush/Obama) and now the Gulf of Mexico spill (Obama). Had enough?
Syracuse Com:
Alaska oil pipeline partially owned by BP shuts down after spill “Several news sources are reporting that thousands of barrels of crude oil spilled Tuesday at the Trans-Alaska Pipeline’s Pump Station 9, located about 100 miles south of Fairbanks. Officials have no estimate of how many barrels spilled or when the pipeline will start again.”
05/25/10
Raw Story:
Oil inspectors let companies fill in own audits… “The Inspector General’s report was previewed Tuesday in the New York Times. The report is sure to set off a bombshell in Washington, where Congress is probing how a massive and still-growing oil leak was allowed to happen in the Gulf of Mexico. None of the reports findings directly address the lead-up to the spill from the sinking of Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon rig in April, but they certainly draw a picture of a watchdog asleep — or high — at the wheel.”
“The report also found that during the tenure of President George W. Bush, from 2005 to 2007, ‘inspectors accepted meals, tickets to sporting events and gifts from at least one oil company while they were overseeing the industry,’ the Times said.”
IT IS TIME TO OPEN A NEW INVESTIGATION INTO 9/11, which will shed light on the Truth in the very darkest of corners of this “other” government. Period point.
04/30/10 Firedog Lake:
Halliburton Presentation May Explain Horizon Oil Rig Explosion and Fire “What More Can Halliburton Tell Us About the Horizon Oil Blowout and Its Risks?”
“A publicly available Halliburton PowerPoint presentation from last November might tell us a lot about what could have caused the oil blowout, fire and massive oil gushing at the Horizon rig.”
05/24/10
Chris Matthews: Nationalize BP, Kill The CEOs
Proponents of off-shore drilling have this mantra that as devastating as this is, the safety record has been great and gee-by-golly, this was just a “fluke”; that 1000s of deep water rigs are operating safely. All I have to say is, sure, the Hadron collider experiments have been on the whole moving forward without a major problem lately, but it will only take a ONE-TIME miscalculation to wreak havoc on our entire planet. Is that worth the curiosity?
NASA: Satellites view growing Gulf oil spill
How fragile is our planet.
05/21/10
Miami Herald:
Month after oil spill, why is BP still in charge? “That sense of frustration is shared by an increasing number of Gulf Coast residents, elected officials and environmental groups who have called for the government to simply take over.”
“Still, as simple as it may seem for the government to just take over, the law prevents it, [Coast Gard Commandant Thad] Allen said. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents – including paying for all cleanup – with oversight by federal agencies. Spills on land are overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, offshore spills by the Coast Guard.”
NOLA: Gulf of Mexico oil spil is adding up to mind-boggling numbers “Using worst case scenarios calculated by scientists, a month’s worth of leaking oil could fill enough gallon milk jugs to stretch more than 11,300 miles. That’s more than the distance from New York to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and back. That’s just shy of 130 million gallons.”
” ‘No matter what, it already is way too much oil for the delicate parts of the Gulf ecosystem’, said Darryl Felder, a biologist at the University of Louisiana Lafayette. ‘A lot of this is diffused now in deep layers,’ said Felder, who is coordinating a seven-volume scientific encyclopedia on the Gulf. ‘It’s like it’s under the rug. You can’t see it on the surface, so it’s kind of out of sight, out of mind. But it’s not out of mind to most of the biologists who are concerned about its long-term effects.’ “
05/20/10
REAL NEWS NETWORK:
Oil leak may be 19 times larger than BP and U.S. government say “Jesse Freeston interviews journalists at McClatchy’s DC bureau to get the latest on the Deepwater Horizon disaster. Journalists believe that BP and the Government may be hiding information on the severity of the leak. Those who fish for a living in the Gulf of Mexico are after BP for compensation. The central question yet to be answered to help resolve the question of how the explosion happened. And, the Cuban government is concerned but not vocal, given it’s own aspirations for deep sea drilling.”
05/19/10
WCBSTV :
Inventors Say BP Ignoring Their Oil Spill Ideas ” ‘They’re clearly out of ideas, and there’s a whole world of people willing to do this free of charge,’ said Dwayne Spradlin, CEO of InnoCentive Inc., which has created an online network of experts to solve problems.”
“BP spokesman Mark Salt said the company wants the public’s help, but that considering proposed fixes takes time.”
Based on the completely ruthless character of BP and corporate mentality, I would suggest that they are very afraid that a very successful solution from an expert or small company outside their control could steal the show—afraid of competition BP?
05/18/10
C-SPAN:
Senate Comm. Hearing: Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill, Federal Response “Witnesses testified at a a hearing on the federal response to the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Panel One Lisa P. Jackson, administrator, EPA Ken Salazar, secretary of the Interior Nancy Helen Sutley, chairwoman, Council on Environmental Quality Panel Two Rear Adm. Peter V. Neffenger, deputy national incident commander, Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Response, U.S. Coast Guard Jo-Ellen Darcy, assistant secretary of the Army for civil works John Fernandez, assistant secretary of Commerce for economic development, Economic Development Administration.”
05/17/10
Institute for Southern Studies:
Air tests from the Louisiana coast reveal human health threats from the oil disaster ” (T)he Louisiana Environmental Action Network released its analysis of air monitoring test results by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA’s air testing data comes from Venice, a coastal community 75 miles south of New Orleans in Louisiana’s Plaquemines Parish.”
“The media coverage of the BP oil disaster to date has focused largely on the threats to wildlife, but the latest evaluation of air monitoring data shows a serious threat to human health from airborne chemicals emitted by the ongoing deepwater gusher.”05/16/10
PhysOrg:
Scientists find huge oil plumes deep in Gulf of Mexico: report “Scientists have discovered enormous plumes of oil in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico, in an indication that the leak from an underwater well could be far worse than previously estimated, The New York Times reported late Saturday.”
In this image, 28 April 2010 at 03:45 UTC, oil spill is visible as a lighter grey whirl on the left side of the large black pattern stretching across the Gulf. Credits: ESA
If our extraterrestial brethern are observing this, they must be shaking their heads at the utter stupidity of human beings.
05/15/10
CBS News:
BP’s Own Probe Finds Safety Issues On Atlantis Rig “The company whose drilling triggered the Gulf of Mexico oil spill also owns a rig that operated with incomplete and inaccurate engineering documents, which one official warned could ‘lead to catastrophic operator error,’ records and interviews show.”
“In February, two months before the Deepwater Horizon spill, 19 members of Congress called on the agency that oversees offshore oil drilling to investigate a whistle-blower’s complaints about the BP-owned Atlantis, which is stationed in 7,070 feet of water more than 150 miles south of New Orleans.”
05/14/10
MSNBC Olbermann:
Alaska Senator Murkowski Halts Law To Hold BP Accountable For Oil Spill and former Alaska oil Whistleblower Mike Mason
Alaska Senator Murkowski Halts Law To Hold BP Accountable For Oil Spill May 13 2010
08/25/10 Update on Sen. Murkowski:
Boston Com:“Murkowski would be the seventh incumbent — and fourth Republican — to lose in a year in which the tea party has scored huge victories in GOP Senate primaries and voters have shown a willingness to punish Republicans and a handful of Democrats with ties to Washington and party leadership. Miller is a Gulf War veteran and self-described ‘constitutional conservative.’ ’’
Companion Post: 2010 And Beyond: In The Midst of Nightmares, The Awakening Struggles for A Voice
Palm Beach Post:
Obama pledges permit review, end to cozy oil links “Declaring himself as angry as the rest of the nation, President Barack Obama assailed oil drillers and his own administration Friday as he ordered extra scrutiny of drilling permits to head off any repeat of the sickening oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Engineers worked desperately to stop the leak that’s belching out at least 210,000 gallons of crude a day.”
“Obama, whose comments until now have been measured, heatedly condemned a ‘ridiculous spectacle’ of oil executives shifting blame in congressional hearings and denounced a ‘cozy relationship’ between their companies and the federal government. ‘I will not tolerate more fingerpointing or irresponsibility,’ Obama said in the White House Rose Garden, flanked by members of his Cabinet.”
Don’t let it stop there, Mr. President. It is time for you to show the American people that you will bring charges of Treason regarding 9/11 and the subsequent illegal wars, as well as Goldman Sachs and other Financial Fraudsters who have wrecked the world economy. The list keeps getting longer.
11/18/08
Seashepherd Org:
Ex-EPA Official Faults Probe of BP Alaska Oil Spill “The former head of an EPA criminal probe into pipeline spills at a BP oil field in Alaska claims the Justice Department prematurely shut down the investigation and settled with the company for less than the case may have warranted.”
“Mr. West says his inquiry began in July 2005 — before the actual spills — after some BP engineers told him that a pipe rupture and leaks were inevitable, and that their warnings had been repeatedly ignored. The engineers were steered to him by Charles Hamel, a former oil-tanker broker who serves as a conduit for oilfield workers’ complaints in Alaska. In March 2006, a corroded line broke, spilling about 200,000 gallons of crude on the tundra. In August 2006, a spill of about 1,000 gallons took place at another corroded line nearby. No injuries resulted from either spill. BP, which in its plea agreement admitted to negligence in not preventing corrosion on oil-transit lines at Prudhoe Bay, then ordered almost the entire field shut down to repair corroded pipes. The company has said it replaced miles of the lines at the field.”
05/06/10
Democracy Now!
History of BP Includes Role in 1953 Iran Coup After Nationalization of Oil “As tens of thousands of gallons of oil continue to spew into the Gulf of Mexico from the BP oil spill we continue our series on BP. Sixty years ago, BP was called the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. We look at the story of the company’s role in the 1953 CIA coup against Iran’s popular progressive Prime Minister Mohamed Mossadegh.”
Some background of Anglo-Iranian (later BP oil):
U.S. and Them: Operation Ajax – Iran and the CIA coup
05/12/10
CBS News:
Gulf Oil Rig Plagued by Problems, Probe Finds “Bad wiring and a leak in what’s supposed to be a ‘blowout preventer.’ Sealing problems that may have allowed a methane eruption. Even a dead battery, of all things.”
“The gushing well’s blowout preventer – supposedly ‘fail-safe’ – never shut off oil flow as intended in emergencies, reports CBS News correspondent Mark Strassmann.That allowed methane gas to enter, possibly triggering the rig’s deadly explosion. BP documents show this blowout preventer had design flaws, leaks in its hydraulic system, and a dead battery in its control pod.”
You know, rather than listen to political tug-of-wars over oil, I would like to see cities actively applying renewable energy that will sustain until the Pentagon/Black Ops finally lets go of the free energy technology they are holding back. Sooner or later, the Light will shed Truth on that matter.
LA Times:
Political patience wanes as massive Gulf oil spill grows; new hope lies in 2nd containment box
“Political patience is washing away for BP executives who can’t stop a broken underwater well from spewing oil into the Gulf, where crews were trying the latest solution — submerging a second containment box designed to funnel the gusher to a waiting tanker.”
“Senators sought assurances that BP PLC will pay what could amount to billions of dollars in economic and environmental damages. McKay repeatedly said his company would pay for cleanup costs and all ‘legitimate’ claims for damages, and not try to limit itself to an existing federal cap of $75 million on such damages.”
05/11/10
C-SPAN:
Senate Committee BP oil spill testimony “Witnesses testified on issues surrounding the oil spill in the Gulf, including the impact on the economy and the environment. Panel One · Lamar McKay, chairman and president, BP America · Steven L. Newman, president and CEO, Transocean Ltd. · Tim Probert, president, Global Business Lines, and chief health, safety and environmental officer, Halliburton Panel Two · Steve Bortone, executive director, Gulf of Mexico Fishery Management Council · Garret Graves, director, Governor’s Office of Coastal Activities, state of Louisiana · Keith Overton, chairman of the board, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and senior vice president and chief operating officer, TradeWinds Island Resorts · Eric May, research scientist, Living Marine Resources Cooperative Science Center, Department of Natural Sciences, University of Maryland Eastern Shore · Meg Caldwell, executive director, Center for Ocean Solutions, and senior lecturer, Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University · Retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas G. McInerney.”
NBC Hardball:
The Very Corrupt Side of Dick Cheney
ABC News:
BP, Other Companies Point Fingers in Oil Rig Blast “Early finger-pointing erupted Monday among companies involved in the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and unstopped leak of millions of gallons of oil, on the eve of the first congressional hearings into the accident.”
” ‘All offshore oil and gas production projects begin and end with the operator, in this case BP,’ CEO Steven Newman said in his Senate testimony, also obtained by the AP. Newman said BP was responsible for submitting a detailed plan specifying where and how a well is to be drilled, cased, cemented and completed. Newman also said BP’s contractor, Halliburton Inc., was responsible for encasing the well in cement, putting a temporary plug in the top of the well and ensuring the cement’s integrity. That cementing process was dictated by BP’s well plan, Newman said.”
05/10/10
Washington Post:
Will BP’s Washington connections help it now? “With millions of dollars invested in campaign donations and an all-star lobbying team, BP executives could give an advanced class in how to build influence in Washington. But with millions of gallons of leaking oil bearing down on Gulf Coast beaches and bayous, they could also teach how to lose it.”
05/08/10
Accidents & Disasters:
APNewsBreak: Bubble of methane gas, series of failures deep underwater, led to oil rig blast “While the cause of the explosion is still under investigation, the sequence of events described in the interviews provides the most detailed account of the April 20 blast that killed 11 workers and touched off the underwater gusher that has poured more than 3 million gallons of crude into the Gulf.”
“Portions of the interviews, two written and one taped, were described in detail to an Associated Press reporter by Robert Bea, a University of California Berkeley engineering professor who serves on a National Academy of Engineering panel on oil pipeline safety and worked for BP PLC as a risk assessment consultant during the 1990s. He received them from industry friends seeking his expert opinion.”
A dead sea turtle is seen on the sand in Waveland, Mississippi, May 05 2010
05/05/10
Washington Post:
U.S. exempted BP’s Gulf of Mexico drilling from environmental impact study “The Interior Department exempted BP’s calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year, according to government documents, after three reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was unlikely.”
“The decision by the department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) to give BP’s lease at Deepwater Horizon a ‘categorical exclusion’ from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on April 6, 2009 — and BP’s lobbying efforts just 11 days before the explosion to expand those exemptions — show that neither federal regulators nor the company anticipated an accident of the scale of the one unfolding in the gulf.”
What greedy, money-hungry global business companie need is a Group Epiphany—that ‘ah-ha” moment when they realize that their lives are uselessly wrapped up in $$ and power. I doubt they would recognize an epiphany if they had one, though.
05/05/10
Palm Beach Post:
BP CEO Hayward tested by Gulf of Mexico spill “Tony Hayward promised to focus ‘like a laser’ on safety when he landed BP’s top job three years ago, heralding a new era for the company after a series of accidents — including the 2005 Texas City refinery explosion that killed 15 people.”
“Promoted precisely to restore BP’s tarnished reputation, Hayward now finds himself dealing with the company’s biggest disaster yet. His handling of the Gulf of Mexico crisis — and investigations into how the London-based company let it happen — could determine his future, and that of the oil giant.”
05/03/10
Press Register:
Despite plan, not a single fire boom on hand on Gulf Coast at time of oil spill “The ‘In-Situ Burn’ plan produced by federal agencies in 1994 calls for responding to a major oil spill in the Gulf with the immediate use of fire booms. But in order to conduct a successful test burn eight days after the Deepwater Horizon well began releasing massive amounts of oil into the Gulf, officials had to purchase one from a company in Illinois. ‘They said this was the tool of last resort. No, this is absolutely the asset of first use. Get in there and start burning oil before the spill gets out of hand,’ Bohleber said. ‘If they had six or seven of these systems in place when this happened and got out there and started burning, it would have significantly lessened the amount of oil that got loose.’ “
05/03/10
Chron:
Calif. governor ends support for offshore drilling “Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Monday withdrew his support of a plan to expand oil drilling off the California coast, citing the massive oil spill that resulted from a drilling rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.”
“On Monday, Schwarzenegger said his support had been based on numerous studies finding it was safe to drill. But now, ‘I see on TV, the birds drenched in oil, the fishermen out of work, the massive oil spill, oil slick destroying our precious ecosystem,’ the governor said.
And 11 people were killed. Let us remember them and their families. I am so glad he saw the Light on this. If big business continues to insist on destroying planet Earth—our home!—they will no longer have a paradise on this planet to take their swanky island vacations, buy their luxury homes. What’s the point? It really is time for alot of business executives to take stock of their deeds and do some very deep, deep Soul searching.
05/02/10
CNN:
Obama vows ‘relentless’ response to oil spill “President Obama said Sunday his administration has mounted a ‘relentless response’ to the oil spill unleashed by the sinking of an offshore drill rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama met with local, state and federal officials involved in the cleanup in southeastern Louisiana, the closest stretch of coastline threatened by the massive spill. Afterward, he said that despite ‘the most advanced technology available,’ the spill may not be stopped for many days.”
“All three officials interviewed by CNN repeatedly emphasized that BP is legally responsible for spill and clean-up efforts. They avoided direct criticism of the company, but said BP must do more to try to cap the gushing well.”
If BP does not own up to its responsibility to pay all costs for this disaster, or the government goes soft on demanding that they do so, I have no doubt the American Public and worldwide customers will band together and put BP out of business. Period point.
04/30/10
First Victim of Oil Spill Image
04/29/10
Government Accountability Project:
Troubling Details Emerge about BP’s Oil Rig Explosion and Spill “Many troubling details are beginning to come out about the explosion and sinking of the oil platform Deepwater Horizon, which oil giant BP was leasing from Transocean, the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor. The platform exploded on April 20 and sank two days later, leaving 11 workers missing and presumed dead, and producing one of the largest oil spills in history in U.S.water.”
Deep Horizon Rig in it’s Last 4 minutes
04/29/10
Bloomberg:
BP Oil-Rig Explosion Hurts U.S. Bid to Expand Offshore Drilling “President Barack Obama’s bid to expand offshore drilling may be set back after a BP Plc rig exploded and sank last week, reminding the public of the danger of oil extraction, environmental and industry groups said.”
“Democratic Senators Bill Nelson of Florida and Frank Lautenberg and Robert Menendez of New Jersey called for hearings, saying the incident raises ‘serious concerns,’ over the industry’s safety claims. The accident on BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig, about 41 miles (66 kilometers) off the Louisiana coast, created an oil spill 600 miles in circumference, roughly twice the size of Maryland, the Coast Guard said today.”
This unfortunate event reminds me of the unusual amount of helicoptor crashes to/from offshore oil platforms I had documented:
“Too many helicoptor crashes in the past few months going to/from offshore oil platforms:”
- 01/05/2009: 18 killed off Louisiana : “On Sunday afternoon, a Lafayette-based Petroleum Helicopters Inc. (PHI, Inc.) helicopter bound for the offshore oil fields crashed shortly after taking off from its Amelia base, into a marshy area near Bayou Penchant about 100 miles southwest of New Orleans. “
- 02/18/2009: 18 survive helicoptor crash off Scotland: “The Super Puma ditched about 120 miles east of Aberdeen while approaching an offshore platform”
- 03/12/2009: 18 aboard helicoptor crash off Canadian coast: “A helicopter ferrying workers to an oil platform has crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off Canada’s coast with 18 people on board.”(all had 18 passengers and crew?)
- 04/01/2009:At least 10 dead after helicopter crashes in North Sea: “The Bond Super Puma aircraft, with 14 passengers and two crew, was returning from an oil platform, just before 2pm, when it went down 35 miles from Aberdeenshire. The accident occured at about 1400 BST.
04/21/10
Salon Com:
At least 11 workers sought after oil rig explosion “Helicopters, ships and an airplane searched waters off Louisiana’s coast Wednesday for at least 11 workers missing after an explosion and fire that left an offshore drilling platform tilting in the Gulf of Mexico.”
So unfortunate and sad….and so preventable, it seems to me.
§ ≈∞ ≈∞ ≈∞ ≈ §
News surrounding BP and the Lockerbie Bomber case
ADDED:
09/13/10
NY Daily News:
British officials won’t meet with US Lockerbie investigators over release of Abdelbasset al-Megrahi Sep 13 2010
UK officials won’t meet US Lockerbie investigators
“The UK government denied a request from an American Senate committee to meet this week as part of the investigation into the release of the Lockerbie bomber, the Associated Press reported on Monday.”
“With the 58-year-old al-Megrahi still breathing, the prisoner transfer agreement became the focus of international outrage after a report emerged that British oil giant BP lobbied the Tony Blair administration in 2007 for the release to help the company in negotiations over access to Libyan oilfields.
08/24/10
Asia One News:
<a href=”http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne+News/World/Story/A1Story20100819-232889.htmlUS senators hunt possible BP role in Lockerbie release “US senators doggedly investigating the Lockerbie bomber’s release one year ago hope an ever-wider dragnet will reveal whether embattled oil giant BP improperly shaped the widely condemned decision. Frustrated by what they have condemned as ‘stonewalling’ by BP and the British and Scottish governments, the lawmakers have even appealed to informants to share behind-the-scenes secrets on the official deliberations.”
“The goal: Get as much information as possible before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee holds a public hearing in September on the forces that shaped the decision to free Libyan national Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi.”
08/16/10
NY Daily News:
Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s cancer doc: I would’ve been more vague on terrorist’s fate ” ‘If I could go back in time, I would have probably been more vague and tried to emphasize the statistical chances and not hard fact,’ Dr.Karol Sikora, one of several experts who examined Megrahi.”
Actually, if Dr. Sikora could “go back in time”, he might have chosen to be an honest physician in a small town somewhere. Too bad he chose to mix medicine with dirty politics.
08/08/10
Toronto Sun:
Faulty medical reports led to Lockerbie bomber’s release “On Aug. 20, 2009 the Scottish government, led by the left-wing Scottish Nationalist Party, chose to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds citing failing health. Megrahi had been diagnosed with prostate cancer and with doctors fearing he only had a short time to live, it was decided to release him allowing the convicted terrorist to spend his last days surrounded by family in Libya.”
“Megrahi’s health never deteriorated the way Scottish doctors had predicted: he now reportedly lives in a luxury villa just outside of Tripoli.”
“The idea that Megrahi was released to secure BP an oil deal in Libya have been denied in the past but the American politicians point to a letter by former Labour cabinet minister David Miliband. In the letter Miliband warned Scottish officials that British interests, including business interests would be harmed if Megrahi ‘were to die in a Scottish prison.’ “
Seems the ones who are sick are the megalomanics who arranged this man’s release for purposes of corporate self interest.
07/24/10
Sky News:
JackStraw Faces US Lockerbie Senate Probe “Jack Straw has been invited to attend an influential US senate hearing that is investigating links between oil giant BPand the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdulbaset Ali al Megrahi.”
” ‘It is, in my experience, highly unusual for the legislature of one sovereign state to conduct an inquiry into decisions of another sovereign state, including, as in this case, decisions by a devolved administration on the release of a prisoner.’”
07/29/10
SF Gate:
“After an initial demand for an investigation Wednesday by four senators from New York and New Jersey, further calls for an inquiry by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee were made Thursday by California Democratic Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein.”
Senators question if BP played role in Pan Am bomber’s release ” A group of U.S. lawmakers have called for an investigation into whether BP may have played a role in lobbying for the release of Abdel Basset al Megrahi to secure an oil contract with the Libyan government.”
“Brian Flynn, who lost his brother in the attack and fought vigorously to deny Megrahi’s freedom, said he isn’t surprised that Megrahi is still alive and believes BP was directly responsible for his release. ‘You can’t allow the process of justice to be corrupted by the cynical mercantilism of one company,’ Flynn said.”
08/30/09
UK Sunday Times:
Secret letters reveal Labour’s Libyan deal “The detailed correspondence seen by The Sunday Times confirms that the Lockerbie bomber’s fate was regarded by the UK government as pivotal to relations with Libya. It also shows how anxious the government was to curry favour with Colonel Muammar Gadaffi by being seen to open the way for Megrahi’s release. “
“During Blair’s 2007 visit [in Libya], BP signed its exploration deal with Libya’s National Oil Corporation. ‘This is a welcome return to the country and represents a significant opportunity for both BP and Libya to deliver our long-term growth aspirations,’ said Tony Hayward, BP group chief executive, who signed the contract with Blair looking on.”
British PM Tony Blair (l), CEO Tony Hayward (middle l. seated) and Dr. Shokri Ghanem (middle r. seated) sign 2007 deal between BP and Libya
06/22/10 Loon Canada :
Hayward does a bunk on planned speech on ‘responsibilities of international oil companies.’
§ ≈∞ ≈∞ ≈∞ ≈ §
Chronicle of Financial Greed and Megalomania
Hunt For Justice -or- Bagging the Collective Parasites
