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25 Jul 2010 10:49

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Biz: Is BP’s Tony Hayward ready to get off the hot seat?

While BP is directly denying it, the BBC is reporting that the troubled executive could likely be out of there within the next 24 hours. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

24 Jul 2010 11:49

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U.S.: Is the former Tropical Storm Bonnie a threat to the oil spill site?

  • NO it weakened before it got there, thank God source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

23 Jul 2010 17:39

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U.S.: Deepwater Horizon’s alarm too noisy, so they shut it off

  • Apparently, there were a lot of false alarms. They apparently were annoying and woke up sleeping workers. That’s what a chief technician for Transocean, the company that ran the oil rig, said about the reasons that safety systems were knowingly turned off – which helped lead to the disaster that killed 11 people and caused the ocean to flood with oil. In other oil-company-friendly news, BP got transparent about their Photoshopped images and posted a set of images up on Flickr – the ‘chopped images and the originals. Which is funny, because none of the images needed any Photoshopping at all. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

21 Jul 2010 23:02

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U.S.: Did BP know of the idea for the cap for a really long time?

  • YES it was suggested months ago; good job, BP source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2010 20:50

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U.S.: Oil spill sketchiness: BP is buying silence from Gulf scientists

  • We told them there was no way we would agree to any kind of restrictions on the data we collect. It was pretty clear we wouldn’t be hearing from them again after that. We didn’t like the perception of the university representing BP in any fashion.
  • University of South Alabama head of marine sciences Bob Shipp • On BP’s desire to work with the university. Work with the university? For what, you ask? Well, they wanted to offer lucrative pay – and a big contract – to the school’s marine scientists. But at a major cost. Basically, the scientists could not publish or even speak about any of their data for the next three years. Long story short: They said no. But not every scientist was willing to bend – scientists at Louisiana State University, the University of Southern Mississippi and Texas A&M reportedly said yes. Unbelievable. And right after this mess. (Thanks Charles Apple – again!) source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2010 10:36

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U.S.: BP: Whoops! We’re sorry about that crappy Photoshop, guys

  • We will replace the Photoshopped version currently on bp.com with the original image tonight. We’ve instructed our post-production team to refrain from doing this in the future.
  • BP spokesman Scott Dean • Describing the issue with the Photoshopped image that we posted about last night (and based on tweets and traffic, drew a lot of attention this morning). Dean says that there wasn’t anything outwardly sinister in the photo deception, just an ethically weak photo editor who inserted three images in spots where the screens were blank. Which doesn’t explain, you know, the fact that the photo’s meta data has a 2001 creation date. But we’ll let that one slide, because the PR guy says it wasn’t sinister. Oh yeah, our boy Charles Apple posted an update. Check it out. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

20 Jul 2010 02:00

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U.S.: Protip to BP: Don’t upload high-res images of terrible Photoshops

  • Houston, we have a problem. And that problem is exacerbated by the fact that, um, it’s the worst Photoshop job we’ve ever seen. And the photo they uploaded is 4,800 pixels wide, and is probably going to be viewed in a Web browser, where you can see every painstaking detail of this image. Especially the detail over to the right that we pulled out for you guys – the most obvious one. AMERICAblog has many, many more, and they’re all about as blatant as this. The worst one? The meta info says the photo was taken in 2001 (!?!). source
  • » Update: BP couldn’t let a PR disaster last this long, could it? (Oh wait.) So, of course, BP apologized for its actions. Here’s our update, and our buddy Charles Apple has more.
  • » Second update: AMERICAblog has found another jacked photo. Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, it seems. Kudos for the great work, guys.
  • » Third update: Charles Apple sent this story along, and we just have to say … BP is really making themselves out to be an evil corporation, aren’t they?
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

19 Jul 2010 11:05

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U.S.: BP convinces the U.S. that the oil seep is nothing, at least for now

  • So the cap remains another day. Real problem or naturally-occurring? That’s the crux of the situation with any seeps from the recently-sealed oil well, which BP is putting though an integrity test. But after Thad Allen’s people talked to BP about the potential risks, their concerns were alleviated. At least for another day. “I authorized BP to continue the integrity test for another 24 hours and I restated our firm position that this test will only continue if they continue to meet their obligations to rigorously monitor for any signs that this test could worsen the overall situation,” Allen said. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jul 2010 22:03

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U.S.: Oil spill: Ahh, crap. There’s a leak in the sea floor somewhere

  • earlier BP sounded confident enough in their cap’s holding abilities that they actually talked about leaving the cap in place.
  • now There’s word that the ocean floor has a leak somewhere that’s depressurizing the oil well. In other words, crap. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Jul 2010 10:23

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U.S.: Oil spill: BP says the cap is working so well, it’s gonna stay on

  • good Over a couple of days of testing, BP has found that the well hasn’t leaked any oil since the cap was put on.
  • better Rather than removing it, they’re going to leave it on for testing until they have a permanent solution. Hooray! source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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