[Rupert]

Certainly...I understand all this, but it is highly unlikely that my competitors for the Squirrels will pay less than I will.....Marketplace Math......so it all pretty much evens out the competition doesn't it? There is also the opportunity for me to use alternatives...like Possums and Raccoons, but that is hampered by the producers of Big Squirrels, that want to keep me addicted......So I guess the Mighty can remain Mighty until we run out of Squirrels?
Regards!

[GingeM]

I suppose you missed it then.

Your own squirrels are 20 years away. Your possums and raccoons are, similarly, 20 years away. If I chose to be a complete pratt and decide not to sell to you at all because I can sell to the Indian Squirrel Corporation and the Chinese Squirrel Conglomerate either or both of which will, very soon, make your business look like small nuts you're... errr... a squirrel free zone and suffering...

This is why a smart consumer has access to it's own resources. Please tell me you don't put a restriction on your city water supply/well because you can buy bottled water... Oh, what the heck... You do, don't you...

[Rupert]

I suppose you missed it then.

Your own squirrels are 20 years away. Your possums and raccoons are, similarly, 20 years away. If I chose to be a complete pratt and decide not to sell to you at all because I can sell to the Indian Squirrel Corporation and the Chinese Squirrel Conglomerate either or both of which will, very soon, make your business look like small nuts you're... errr... a squirrel free zone and suffering...

This is why a smart consumer has access to it's own resources. Please tell me you don't put a restriction on your city water supply/well because you can buy bottled water... Oh, what the heck... You do, don't you...

Since when does a merchant stop selling to a customer with cash? We are already dependent on the rest of the world for most of our goods, and oil is no different. If we drilled every place imaginable in America, including in the middle of Yellowstone, we would only meet a tiny percentage of our needs....check it out, even your right wing "scary boys" concede this point. So why destroy our own natural habitat when the results will never make us independent...now or in 20 years. Alternatives are a part of the solution, not isolation from the rest of the world...which won't be necessary anyhow if we can keep Jesus George tyrants and warmongers out of office and from ruining our worldwide relationships. Is that too hard for you to understand? Why do you guys always go for the "Fortress America" formula? The time when that was possible is long gone...wake up!
Regards!

[NaClH2O]

Rupert, you don't understand. We need this spill! Then Vice Dick can come in with his Holybarter...er excuse me... Haliburton boys and save the day! I mean just like they did in Iraq! Whatsa matter with you? You mean to say you don't wanna get saved by The Vice Dick? I mean where is your patriotism? Next thing you'll be telling me that it's not OK for terrorists to buy guns! I mean I don't want those guys flyin around or nothin, but they gotta be able to buy guns!

NaCl(hooray! hooray! Vice has saved the day!)H2O

[shooz]

Not only that, but if we dump enough oil in it, the Mexicans will divorce it and we can call it....................The Gulf of Texas!!!!!!

Yay us!

[jeffkrol]

Rupert, you don't understand. We need this spill! Then Vice Dick can come in with his Holybarter...er excuse me... Haliburton boys and save the day! I mean just like they did in Iraq! Whatsa matter with you? You mean to say you don't wanna get saved by The Vice Dick? I mean where is your patriotism? Next thing you'll be telling me that it's not OK for terrorists to buy guns! I mean I don't want those guys flyin around or nothin, but they gotta be able to buy guns!

NaCl(hooray! hooray! Vice has saved the day!)H2O

hot potato...........
UPDATE 1-Drilling execs to play blame game for US lawmakers | Reuters

CASING FAILURE

The trio of executives is also set to appear on Wednesday before a House of Representatives Energy and Commerce subcommittee.

Halliburton joins BP and Transocean because it provided a variety of services on the rig and was involved in cementing on the well to stabilize its walls.

Transocean's prepared testimony for Tuesday's hearings pins the explosion on the failure of this cementing or casing to plug the underwater well.

"The one thing we know with certainty is that ... there was a sudden, catastrophic failure of the cement, the casing or both," according to Newman's prepared remarks.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/10/transocean-deepwater-hori_n_570787.html

For that reason, the one thing we know with certainty is that on the evening of April 20, there was a sudden, catastrophic failure of the cement, the casing, or both. Therein lies the root cause of this occurrence; without a disastrous failure of one of those elements, the explosion could not have occurred. It is also clear that the drill crew had very little (if any) time to react. The explosions were almost instantaneous.

What caused that catastrophic, sudden and violent failure? Was the well properly designed? Was the well properly cemented? Were there problems with the well casing? Were all appropriate tests run on the cement and casings? These are some of the critical questions that need to be answered in the coming weeks and months.

[theUg]

You don’t necessarily need to focus on oil so much. They had somebody on NPR talking about solar-to-steam technology ─ not photo-voltaic, but where sun heats up water, producing steam, which, in turn (no pun), spins conventional turbines. They said to power whole of U,S. You’d need only relatively small coverage of 67 square miles of solar receptors. What’s more, you can build those at conventional power-plants, thus cutting capital investments, it provides for smaller, distributed grid. All they said they need is to create climate where they can stand up and compete with big oil, big coal etc. All we need is political will to make that happen.

[GeneV]

You don’t necessarily need to focus on oil so much. They had somebody on NPR talking about solar-to-steam technology ─ not photo-voltaic, but where sun heats up water, producing steam, which, in turn (no pun), spins conventional turbines. They said to power whole of U,S. You’d need only relatively small coverage of 67 square miles of solar receptors. What’s more, you can build those at conventional power-plants, thus cutting capital investments, it provides for smaller, distributed grid. All they said they need is to create climate where they can stand up and compete with big oil, big coal etc. All we need is political will to make that happen.

In the late 70s, when the second Arab Oil Embargo hit, I remember picking up a copy of Popular Science, with diagrams of these solar farms and similar statistics. By the 80s, all interest in these projects had waned. I think one was built in here as a test.

---------- Post added 05-11-2010 at 07:05 AM ----------

Rupert, you don't understand. We need this spill!

NaCl(hooray! hooray! Vice has saved the day!)H2O

This spill can do long term good only if every penny spent on it ends up in the price of oil. While other countries have made oil consumption within their borders more expensive, we keep subsidizing it--again on the government credit card.

Add the full cost of cleanup and regulation, and add the full cost of defending the supply to a barrel of oil, and the market will give us solar power generation and conservation. Put 100% of the cost of the automobile on to its price and/or the price of its fuel, and you will see fast, clean trains that people use and housing that is located in places that make sense.

[Rupert]

When Big Oil controls America, and there is little doubt that it does, how can we expect any real change? When Big Oil can monopolize solar and wind power, maybe nuclear too, we might see some change, but until then all this other talk of alternatives is just wishful thinking. Just look at the Valdez episode....it was hardly a ripple on the balance sheets of Exxon. Jesus George came to the aid of his Oil Buddies, and you can bet BP will get the same good luck out of this disaster. Big Oil is too big to fail......
Regards!

[boriscleto]

In the late 70s, when the second Arab Oil Embargo hit, I remember picking up a compy of Popular Science, with diagrams of these solar farms and similar statistics. By the 80s, all interest in these projects had waned. I think one was built in here as a test.

We can thank Saint Ronnie and George the First for that. Saint Ronnie began dismantling Carters alternative energy programs as soon as he entered office. Public opinion turned after oil from the North Sea and Prudhoe Bay hit the market and brought prices back to $12 a barrel. Then we all got gas stupid and started buying bigger and bigger cars. If Carter had been reelected the US would be energy independent today.

We can thank Saint Ronnie and George the First for that. Saint Ronnie began dismantling Carters alternative energy programs as soon as he entered office. Public opinion turned after oil from the North Sea and Prudhoe Bay hit the market and brought prices back to $12 a barrel. Then we all got gas stupid and started buying bigger and bigger cars. If Carter had been reelected the US would be a third world country today.

I fixed that for you. Carter is an intelligent person. But was the worst president. King Obama is running second

[shooz]

The evidence is clear.
It was the election-----re-election of Bush that has us on the fast track to the third world.
Wake up Mr8.

The evidence is clear.
It was the election-----re-election of Bush that has us on the fast track to the third world.
Wake up Mr8.

Whatever. Stay in your little dreamworld. When you wake up and really want to understand what happened go back and look at the articles and attachments I have posted. Some where even from liberal biased media so your mind should be able to wrap around those at least. For now go and sip that kool aide. Extra sugar.

[jeffkrol]

Keep this figure in mind.....
2,000,000 barrels a day....... Thats our oil need... Do you really seriously think we can dent that "off shore"..............
Some Gulf Lawmakers With Ties to Oil Industry Downplay Spill in Their Own Backyard The Washington Independent

“It is more risky to import our oil in tankers than it is to drill for it offshore, even considering this disaster that we’re dealing with today,” Landrieu said. “Retreat is not an option. … We must continue to drill.”

On one hand, that message has stumped environmentalists, government watchdogs and some of Landrieu’s own Democratic colleagues, who are pointing to the ongoing disaster as clear reason why policymakers should abandon any plans to expand offshore drilling and focus instead on cleaner energy alternatives. On the other, the oil industry is a powerful economic engine in Louisiana, and hasn’t been shy about showering the state’s congressional delegation with campaign cash. Indeed, the more than $758,000 Landrieu has accepted from the industry over her Capitol Hill tenure ranks 10th among all active lawmakers. Even following the worst drilling disaster in decades — even though the spill rests in Landrieu’s backyard — clean-energy advocates aren’t counting on the Louisiana Democrat for any serious support on drilling reform...........Landrieu, of course, is hardly the only defender of the oil industry, nor is she alone in downplaying the severity of the spill. Louisiana’s other upper-chamber lawmaker, GOP Sen. David Vitter, has also taken steps to protect the industry in the wake of the disaster. Vitter has called to increase the flow of money from Washington, to delay the Senate’s investigation into the spill, and to relieve BP of some of the responsibility for immediate cleanup.
“BP is spread too thin in trying to both cap the well and remediate the damage along the coastline, producing an inefficient and ineffective response,” he said last week in a statement.
Vitter has accepted more than $766,000 from the oil and gas industries in his career, placing him just ahead of Landrieu among active lawmakers..........
In Landrieu’s eyes, such damages are a small price to pay for the privilege of harvesting the oil and gas from within our own borders.

“No one has ever claimed, including myself, who’s an unabashed proponent of the industry that drilling is risk free,” she said.

It is fun to follow ...... the "Blame Game"
Oil spill testimony to Congress: Not our fault Times Record News

[Rupert]

Lacking any way to observe the wellhead for a thorough examination, and considering that the damage has most likely destroyed any evidence of the original failure, it is unlikely that the exact cause will ever be known.
The magnitude of this catastrophe has yet to register with most Americans, even those in the areas that will be most affected. By the time this is over, there will be very little "Drill Baby Drill" left in Sarah's palm notes.
Regards!