The Spill, The Scandal and the President...

[Sandy Eggo]

Good point, Troll. Of course, it's in the south too. Some of those people are still fighting the Civil War, nevermind the fact he's half black, just being from Chicago makes him suspect.

Most of the important parts of the process, I imagine, are taking place on water or the shore, so hopefully his presence wouldn't impede too much.

[The Troll]

Good point, Troll. Of course, it's in the south too. Some of those people are still fighting the Civil War, nevermind the fact he's half black, just being from Chicago makes him suspect.

Most of the important parts of the process, I imagine, are taking place on water or the shore, so hopefully his presence wouldn't impede too much.

  To these cry baby Republicans if he didn't go, he's not doing his duty.  So let's impeach him.  He goes down there, he's show boating, let's impeach him.

  The Republican mantra,                                          

                                                            

[me]

Good point, Troll. Of course, it's in the south too. Some of those people are still fighting the Civil War, nevermind the fact he's half black, just being from Chicago makes him suspect.

Most of the important parts of the process, I imagine, are taking place on water or the shore, so hopefully his presence wouldn't impede too much.

The Civil war was not fought over slavery.

[Bo D]

My daughter lives near DC and works there, she says it is always a mess when the president makes an appearance.

I live and work there too. Trust me on this. It is ALWAYS a mess here. You could go out and spit on a street and traffic would come to a halt. And don't even get me started about the Beltway! 

[Palehorse]

The Civil war was not fought over slavery.

While it was not the initial issue that sparked hostilities between the North and South, it was a key component in the conflict. The civil war resolved two questions left unresolved by the revolutionary war: Whether the United States was to be a dissolvable confederation of sovereign states or an indivisible nation with a sovereign national government; and whether this nation, born of a declaration that all men were created with an equal right to liberty, would continue to exist as the largest slaveholding country in the world.

As the conflict progressed, slavery became the lynch-pin issue for the majority of the states engrossed within the initiative.

[Palehorse]

All right, consider this, my husband was driving through Chicago a few years ago when some big wig from Canada was there for a speech of some sort. Traffic on the interstate was stopped for four hours while his motorcade went through town. Do you think there would be less hassle with President Obama showing up? When he was in Chicago over Memorial Day and he walked to a neighbors for a cookout it completely disrupted the traffic on the street and that was supposed to be low key, not a major news story with all the attendent aides, ss, and press.My daughter lives near DC and works there, she says it is always a mess when the president makes an appearance.

I lived in Chicago for many years, and traffic is always jacked up. One little fender bender can close interstates for half the day.

Besides, from most locations in Chicagoland, if an interstate is closed you can easily divert to secondary roads or another interstate to get where you are going. . .

[Palehorse]

Good point, Troll. Of course, it's in the south too. Some of those people are still fighting the Civil War, nevermind the fact he's half black, just being from Chicago makes him suspect.

Most of the important parts of the process, I imagine, are taking place on water or the shore, so hopefully his presence wouldn't impede too much.

Being from Chicago myself and with family in the south, I can personally attest to the prejudice held by southerners toward those from Chicago. 

[The Troll]

Being from Chicago myself and with family in the south, I can personally attest to the prejudice held by southerners toward those from Chicago. 

  My wife and I spent a lot of time around Gulf Shores and Foley Alabama and those people definitely have a different attitude towards life, blacks and Yankees.  Some keep it hidden pretty well, but when it comes out there is a lot of hate in those Southern bones yet today.

[followsthewolf]

The Civil war was not fought over slavery.

Of course not.........it was states' rights, the right to determine for themselves if they wanted to own other human beings. They didn't want any gubmint interference in their lives and huge profit-making from slavery.

Oops. There's that career capitalist money-making thing kickin' in again.

Heck, they might have had to pay an honest wage to people who picked the cotton, etc., instead of owning human machines and not having to pay them to do it.

[Anne]

I live and work there too. Trust me on this. It is ALWAYS a mess here. You could go out and spit on a street and traffic would come to a halt. And don't even get me started about the Beltway! 

I know, driven there myself a couple times, but it is worse when the president is making an appearance, and DC is used to it. Try all that out in someplace like Pensecola.

[Sandy Eggo]

PH, you and Troll are both right. Heck, I was living in southern WV near TN and souther VA and consided myself southern. I was certainly well below the Mason Dixon line. Anyway, I visited my dad in Arkansas and was treated like I was contagious. Finally, I asked one old hateful guy why and he said "because you're a yankee!" I said, "A yankee? I'm from south of the Mason-Dixon line" and he said, "that don't matter, if you live north of TN, then you're a yankee". There was a distinct and firm separation of races. I risked "ruining my reputation" by befriending a black girl. I don't think I could live in the deep south.

[Sandy Eggo]

I like this magazine a lot, but I have to admit that I'm a little put off by the use of the word "ballsy", it's kinda juvenile and the word "maverick" will never be the same for me after the 2009 election, but still, it's a good article.

What do you think? should they try it? work out a less risky compromise? What about a test run in a lab setting? Although I'm not sure if that's possible. 

Is there a quick way to stop the flow of oil in the Gulf of Mexico? One maverick scientist says the answer may be as simple as dropping steel balls into the gushing well and that there's no harm in trying. But some petroleum engineers say the idea is too good to be true and could make matters worse.

http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/06/one-ballsy-proposal-to-stop-the-.html

[Sandy Eggo]

Oil spill quiz:

http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/energy/great-energy-challenge/oil-spill-quiz/

[Palehorse]

I like this magazine a lot, but I have to admit that I'm a little put off by the use of the word "ballsy", it's kinda juvenile and the word "maverick" will never be the same for me after the 2009 election, but still, it's a good article.

What do you think? should they try it? work out a less risky compromise? What about a test run in a lab setting? Although I'm not sure if that's possible. 



http://news.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2010/06/one-ballsy-proposal-to-stop-the-.html

First and foremost, the scientist should establish the flow pressure(s) at the point(s) of potential insertion of these proposed steel balls, and build an experiment above ground to provide some measure of validation for his theory. As a physicist doing this should be well within his ability utilizing the same pumps he refers to in his presentation.

"A picture is worth a thousand words", and providing a visual for those nay-sayers, along with repeatable data, should be enough to obtain enough support that would allow implementation. A looped system utilizing opaque media, that duplicates the structures presently leaking a mile beneath the ocean's surface, along with a viscous media to represent the oil at identical pressures, should do the trick.

If nothing else, perhaps BP should provide him with some funds to purchase the necessary materials to build his experiment and give it a go. It cannot hurt anything and may save them a TON of money in the long run.

All that being said, I cannot imagine that enough opposing force can be developed to "force" a steel ball of 1.5 centimeters to counteract the pressure of the well at the ejection point. If it could, then I would have expected one of their previous tries with the drilling mud would have at least been marginally successful. Even given the increased mass of the steel ball, it doesn't seem to me to be enough. . . but then again I am not a physicist. . . The guy did work magic in Kuwait. . .

This thing brings visions of a giant shotgun going off on the ocean floor. . .

[The Troll]

I know, driven there myself a couple times, but it is worse when the president is making an appearance, and DC is used to it. Try all that out in someplace like Pensecola.

  Yeah, there is only one major highway along the coast.  Try pulling a 32 ft. RV trailer throught there on a week end.  Did it once, never again.