BP, A kit, and Parity- and watch Live Feed from the oil spill
by Barry Bauer
By now we know that BP is so desperate for ideas on how to stop the oil flowing from the broken wellhead that they’ve opened a hotline for ideas from the people that might remedy the situation in the Gulf.
I’m sure they’ve gotten some suggestions that are unprintable and that’s to be expected.
Some everyday thinkers and back yard tinkers like myself wonder why BP didn’t have a mechanical valve backing up the one controlled by hydraulics and electronics that obviously failed on this wellhead. If they’re capable of cutting off the bent pipe (currently the blade is stuck) to the well why couldn’t they also be capable of shutting a mechanical valve off? It’s called “fail-safe.”
A good question . . . so far no answers.
And why don’t they cut off the bolts on the pipe flange fitting that connects this length of pipe to the next pipe flange fitting instead of inventing some new kind of seal for their latest attempt? They already know the dimensions of this flange and its hole patterns. It wouldn’t be an 80% or 90% connection, it would be 100%
I think that’s how they cap oil wells but I can only assume this won’t work one-mile below the Gulf’s surface.
Is all this PR (public relations with the people and government) a ploy just to give false hope because they already know nothing will work until they finish drilling the relief wells in two months?
I hope not.
You can rest easy now, President Obama established a Bipartisan National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. Shouldn’t he have waited until the well is capped and the mess cleaned up before worrying about who done it and how to prevent it the next time?
As for stopping the oil flow in the Gulf quicker, using a nuclear device has been suggested. YIKES! The Russians reportedly used a nuclear device more than once to seal a runaway oil well.
I’m going out tomorrow and buy some gold.

If the oil spill in the Gulf were in St. Johns
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A batch of baby rabbits is called kittens. If there’s just one it’s called a kit. Why do I bring that up? Because we have wild rabbits running all over our yard and we also have their young from this spring’s batch. We’ve seen just two of them together so we’re assuming that’s all there is but you know rabbits.
While I’m sitting on the deck reading, one or the other will show up looking for dinner. So far they’ve eaten flower plants, poppy blossoms; cottonwood seeds, and finally, corn. That is why I’d like to nickname the bunny Sampler but I don’t know which one I’m talking to. I talk to them when they come around so they’ll get comfortable with my voice and not scare them off. Yeah, I know, I look kinda silly out there. I keep my eyes open for the guys in the white truck when I’m doing this. Anyway, as long as I don’t get up, they’ll continue to eat. At that age I think eating is all there is on their agenda.
Wait until they get older.
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Parity in the NFL? Not really. The same teams keep losing every year. Why doesn’t the NFL help bad teams despite themselves? Why don’t they give the worst team each year an extra first round draft pick? Say the 33rd pick in the first round. That will assure them of two picks in the 1st round and the 1st pick in the second round. They’re bound to get better eventually.
Now that sounds more like an attempt at parity.
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Have you noticed how fast they’ve legalized certain fireworks when there’s tax revenues involved. That’s one sure sign Michigan is in fiscal trouble. Of course the lobbyists got involved so it’s forbidden to sell fireworks at roadside stands and to be legal they must be sold from a “brick building.”
As if an explosion in a brick building is any safer.
Until the next time . . .
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