[Plantagenet]

If the relief wells fail, then the BP hole will probably continue to blast out oil for another 1-2 years or more.

The Macondo oil field holds ca. 2 billion barrels, so the oil leak can continue at present rate for 1-2 years or longer

I predict that sometime in 2012, if the well is still inexorably discharging ca. 50,000-100,000 bbl/day, Obama will finally figure out that it would have been better if he had quickly plugged the hole using explosives rather than pretending he had no option but to let it flow.

[Cog]

You seem to let your outright hatred of Obama cloud your judgment about what should be done about the well. Do you have any evidence that we would be better off if this blowout had occurred under a Republican administration?

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cog', 'Y')ou seem to let your outright hatred of Obama cloud your judgment about what should be done about the well. Do you have any evidence that we would be better off if this blowout had occurred under a Republican administration?

[PrestonSturges]

Plantagent has to hijack every thread. It's what he does.

He'll do this 24/7 as long as someone pays attention to him.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'P')lantagent has to hijack every thread. It's what he does.

[Plantagenet]

Well-known Washington DC TV pundit and national columnist comes out in favor of nuking the BP well to stop the leak.

Llewyelan King, host of a TV show on DC politics and a regular Hearst newspaper columnist, came out in his column today for nuking the BP well and stopping the leak now.

King suggests in his column that Obama himself almost immediately ruled out any discussion or consideration by his administration of using nukes or explosives to seal the well and stop the leak. King suggests Obama's claims that the well can't be plugged are bogus and the current approach to stop the BP leak isn't working, and suggests that the tens of thousands of scientists at the three US weapons labs be involved in the effort to find a way to plug the leak, with the use of a nuclear bomb to stop the leak being the obvious solution.

How to stop the leak? Nuke it

[PrestonSturges]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Plantagenet', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', 'P')lantagent has to hijack every thread. It's what he does.

[Plantagenet]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('PrestonSturges', '
')Sorry I was confused....

[Plantagenet]

Its currently day 61 of the oil spill. On about day 5 I linked to an estimate of ca. 100-120,000 bbl/day for the spill rate made by the satellite remote sensing group at Univ. Florida.

Today there is a news story that BP's internal estimate of the spill rate was also ca. 100,000 bbl/day, even when they were publically using the coast guard number of 5000 bbl/day.

So lets do the math==== 61 days at 100,000 bbl/day gives a spill volume to date of ca. 6,100,000 barrels. For comparison, the Exxon Valdez spill was about 260,000 bbl.

That means the BP GOM leak is putting out about an Exxon Valdez' worth of oil every 2.5 days.

So far its put over 23 Exxon Valdez' of oil into the GOM. Its already killed much of the fish life and wildlife there, and its going to kill everything else in the Gulf if it continues unchecked.

Even if Obama and the people in his administration don't get it, I would hope its clear to most people that the top priority should be to plug the BP well as soon as possible in order to save what is left of the environment in the GOM----for a start, I propose that Obama skip one of his golf games (he played another round today) and use those 4 hours to get briefed on the possibility of using a nuclear bomb to plug the well.

IMHO, its time ----its past time---- to use big conventional bombs or a small nuke and plug it now.

Save the Gulf---plug the well.

[Plantagenet]

New York Times Op-Ed calls for blowing up the well with conventional explosives

"demolish the well"

The explosive option to plug the well is increasingly being recognized as a viable plan that can stop the leak quickly. BP and the Obama administration are counting on the relief wells to work, so I guess we'll just have to wait and see if they do. Unfortunately, It appears that Obama early on ruled out any discussion of the explosive option in the White House, but hopefully someone in there will read this editorial in the NYTimes and think about it and have the guts to bring this idea to the attention of the president.

[hope_full]

http://www.welovecostarica.com/public/4 ... a_Rica.cfm

Read a piece of the article below, but item #7 is the most interesting. What's up with this? Why is the southern fleet [SOUTHCOM] scooting out of their home port in Miami?

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', '4')6 US Warships Plus 7,000 US Marines On Route To Costa Rica?
Scott Oliver - July 2010
Printer-Friendly Format

On the 2nd July 2010 the Costa Rica Congress authorized the entry of 46 U.S. warships capable of carrying 200 helicopters and warplanes, plus 7,000 U.S. Marines "who may circulate the country in uniform without any restrictions" , plus submarine killer ships to the Costa Rican coast for "anti-narcotics operations and humanitarian missions' between 1st July 2010 until 31st December 2010.

With this kind of nation destroying firepower, it gives real meaning to the expression "war on drugs", but if this a real six month "war on drugs" we should expect to see some fantastic results, right?

Politicians representing the Acción Ciudadana (PAC), the Unidad Social Cristiana (PUSC) and the Frente Amplio (FA) political parties opposed the measure saying that the destructive force of the ships, helicopters and 7,000 US Marines is "disproportionate for the fight against drug trafficking."

On Sunday, the President of Costa Rica Laura Chinchilla said that the government does not intend to militarize the fight against drugs and the Minister of Public Security Jose Maria Tijerino stressed that this huge, powerful military force would be under the command of the US Coast Guard and not the US Navy.

Although I don't suppose the Costa Ricans, the drug traffickers or we expats will notice the difference...

A few of the thoughts that raced through my mind?

1. To my knowledge at the present time, Costa Rica is not suffering from any "humanitarian" crisis.
2. The article did not make it clear what sort of "humanitarian missions" might take place.
3. The article did not mention where any "humanitarian mission" might take place.
4. Based on the truly horrific, drug crime related slaughters we have witnessed in Mexico, wouldn't it be better conducting these kinds of heavy weapon "anti-narcotics operations" in northern Mexico?
5. With what is probably the world's worst environmental disaster going on right now in the Gulf of Mexico, surely it would be more appropriate to conduct "humanitarian missions" in the Gulf?
6. On 10th July 2010 it was also announced that: "Honduras will build a new military base in the Caribbean, in addition to another military base built with funding from the U.S.A in the same region with the pretext of fighting drug trafficking." Last April Washington invested $2 million in a base in near the border with Nicaragua and the military base is "under the supervision of the U.S. Southern Command."
7. Since U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) is based in Miami, Florida, could these crucial warships and the 7,000 US Marines be fleeing from something infinitely more dangerous that is about to happen in the Gulf of Mexico?

[ian807]

OK, here's a guess.

The gulf is currently saturated with methane. This occasionally reaches the surface as either a lot of bubbles (think shaking a can carbonated soda) or occasionally, one large one. Unusually warm water, like water that's been heated by having a layer of oil poured on it, might provide just those conditions.

These gas releases change the water density. Ships above them would sink. Rapidly. Not a good place to have your fleet. What's the nearest safe place to put them?

[hope_full]

That's a good answer and a good guess, but why aren't the "little people" being warned to get away from there? And as I recall, one of the other characteristics of methane is that it has a tendency to go "boom" when there's an ignition source.

Is the Gulf getting ready to go boom?

[EnergyUnlimited]

Explanations above are not really good.
Why don't they park their asses in US harbors and wait for the better time, if that is a threat?

[Pops]

Or Maybe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuity ... tions_Plan

[Oakley]

Does it make any sense that 46 warships and 7,000 marines would be effective against drug smuggling? The federal government has not put that much effort into stopping drug smuggling at the US/Mexican border. How many sailors are on 46 warships?

This story certainly must be a cover for something else, and something to do with the Gulf oil spill seems to be high on the list.

[ian807]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('hope_full', 'T')hat's a good answer and a good guess, but why aren't the "little people" being warned to get away from there? And as I recall, one of the other characteristics of methane is that it has a tendency to go "boom" when there's an ignition source.

Is the Gulf getting ready to go boom?

[Timo]

I could be completely wrong about this, but i seem to recall some sort of investigation into the actual realities of the disappearances of boats and planes in the Bermuda triangle some years ago. The science that went into the examination concluded that the loss of several of the planes might have been caused by methane released from the seabed below. I'm not vouching for this, but i do think that methane is also a killer of combustion engines. Is there no-fly zone currently over the GoM? Methane might be a more valid reason that secrecy of the sheer magnitude of the leakage. Maybe.

[dissident]

They are off to invade Venezuela, of course.

[Fishman]

Nah, not this president, we are going to help Venezuala invade Columbia. Or perhaps surrender them to Cuba. Love those methane theories, changing the desity of the water to even that of fresh water would not sink any ships, where do you come up with this c%%p? Perhaps aliens (otherworld not southern border) are going to invade Florida.