Has BP oil spill seabed collapsed?

Not sure how reliable this is as I can't find anything in the newspapers yet, but it looks as if the seabed at the BP oil-spill has collapsed following a series of explosions, resulting in massive escape of oil.

Found the video screen-grab above at Harmony Central where there's an interesting debate. Speed Ball Blues writes : "Update: Here's a screen grab showing the new hole in the seabed. That's not the riser end from a new angle. This was grabbed while the ROV on the riser end was panning around. The BOP is over 600 feet away, so it is not that, either."

Does this mean an entire oil reserve is being released into the sea?

The BP live webcam has gone offline.

God help this planet if it's true.

Previously: BP incompetence, criticism of BP oil spill "UnAmercian", and volcano of oil unstoppable.

More pictures of seabed collapse

Heavy advanced technical debate as to what went wrong at Drilling Ahead, oil and gas professionals. The bits I can understand are fascinating.

BP Deepwater is the second largest oil deposit in the world, Daily Kos.

Gulf of Mexico: BP have been drilling on a tectonic plate prone to volcanic activity. More here.

Disturbing pictures of the effects of the oil as it reaches land.

Casing finally worn through 300 ft below seabed with oil finding new exits. This is bad.

Deepwater Horizon Response Unified Command

Obama government still issuing environmental waivers.

NOAA Gulf Spill Restoration website.

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill - History & Analysis

USGS Oil Spill Response

Gary McKinnon and the prison system: do not extradite

Crushed under the juggernaut of blind authority

You've seen the Tweets, now read the blog.

Following an interesting discussion with Jack Of Kent about Aspergers hacker Gary McKinnon on Twitter (described by one Tweeter as like Newsnight in haiku) I have a few brief points to make.

I'm totally opposed to extraditing Gary McKinnon to the US, where draconian punishment and prison conditions place their judicial system somewhere in the nastier part of the Middle Ages. Only last night, those of us who watched Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story saw how one juvenile prison faciity was essentially a money-making scam between the judge — sentencing teenagers who behaved like teenagers to the nightmare of being banged up for long periods — and the prison boss, who had lobbied for the old public facility to be demolished so he could replace it with his own privately-built one costing $8 million, for which he was paid $58 million out of the public purse.

The kids' "crimes" included throwing a piece of meat at Mum's boyfriend during a family row, and a fight with a friend in a Mall.

This is a system that also locks up a disproportionate number of black men.

But prisons in the US are big business.

No man or woman's freedom should be bartered away at the whim of blind state power.

Who has determined that Gary McKinnon's hacking into the government's cyberspace is a criminal act? He wasn't a terrorist. He was a bored web-savvy amateur who showed up the flaws in the system before someone actually dangerous found it. His curiosity concerning free energy and UFOs, ferchrissake, was satisfied because the US military and NASA's inept security allowed him in. Governments do enough spying on us — they don't like it up 'em. Isn't it capitulating to overweening state authority to say his mischief was an actual crime? It's out of all proportion in a civilised society.

In an interview straight out of Monty Python, one senior military officer at the Pentagon said: "He did very serious and deliberate damage to military and Nasa computers and left silly and anti-American messages." So which is he being done for? Damage? (Under the terms of the 2003 Extradition Act, the US doesn't have to produce contestable evidence.) Or the sort of two-fingers-to-authority that in the free West we once thought quite romantic?

The Wiki account says:

McKinnon has denied causing any damage, arguing that, in his quest for UFO-related material, he accessed open, unsecured machines with no passwords and no firewalls and that he left countless notes pointing out their many security failings. He adamantly disputes the damage and the financial loss claimed by the US as concocted in order to create a dollar amount justifying an extraditable offence. While it did not constitute evidence of destruction, he did admit leaving a threat on one computer:
"US foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days? It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand-down on September 11 last year...I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels.”

But did he continue to disrupt? Should you be extradited for bravado? Is it true what he said about government-sponsored terrorism? And should the "dollar amount" be a determining factor in extradition?

All the things that the Masters and Mistresses of the Universe do, with no possibility of redress for us, and yet here's a man's life about to be destroyed, effectively out of spite. Blair, Haliburton, the oil corps et al are enriched through behaviour that would be criminal if only they weren't making the rules. Compare Gary's video-gamer's excitement with the Apache helicopter crew waggling their joysticks, who massacred a crowd in Iraq including two Reuters employees. Or the greed machines currently destroying the whole coast of Louisiana and beyond.

The Labour government rolled over and did the US neocon regime's bidding over the Iraq War, colluded in rendition and torture, and then tried to deliver its own civilians to a foreign power.

We are encountering a massive juggernaut of authority with no morality backing it up. This is wrong. We should not be actively collaborating in our own oppression.

UPDATE: QC Geoffrey Robertson on Gary McKinnon and the US government's restrospective malice: a test case for principles. He points out that Stieg Larsson's Girl With The Dragon Tattoo heroine, Lisbeth Salander, would be extradited for the same activity.

Gary McKinnon and the prison system: do not extradite

Crushed under the juggernaut of blind authority

You've seen the Tweets, now read the blog.

Following an interesting discussion with Jack Of Kent about Aspergers hacker Gary McKinnon on Twitter (described by one Tweeter as like Newsnight in haiku) I have a few brief points to make.

I'm totally opposed to extraditing Gary McKinnon to the US, where draconian punishment and prison conditions place their judicial system somewhere in the nastier part of the Middle Ages. Only last night, those of us who watched Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story saw how one juvenile prison faciity was essentially a money-making scam between the judge — sentencing teenagers who behaved like teenagers to the nightmare of being banged up for long periods — and the prison boss, who had lobbied for the old public facility to be demolished so he could replace it with his own privately-built one costing $8 million, for which he was paid $58 million out of the public purse.

The kids' "crimes" included throwing a piece of meat at Mum's boyfriend during a family row, and a fight with a friend in a Mall.

This is a system that also locks up a disproportionate number of black men.

But prisons in the US are big business.

No man or woman's freedom should be bartered away at the whim of blind state power.

Who has determined that Gary McKinnon's hacking into the government's cyberspace is a criminal act? He wasn't a terrorist. He was a bored web-savvy amateur who showed up the flaws in the system before someone actually dangerous found it. His curiosity concerning free energy and UFOs, ferchrissake, was satisfied because the US military and NASA's inept security allowed him in. Governments do enough spying on us — they don't like it up 'em. Isn't it capitulating to overweening state authority to say his mischief was an actual crime? It's out of all proportion in a civilised society.

In an interview straight out of Monty Python, one senior military officer at the Pentagon said: "He did very serious and deliberate damage to military and Nasa computers and left silly and anti-American messages." So which is he being done for? Damage? (Under the terms of the 2003 Extradition Act, the US doesn't have to produce contestable evidence.) Or the sort of two-fingers-to-authority that in the free West we once thought quite romantic?

The Wiki account says:

McKinnon has denied causing any damage, arguing that, in his quest for UFO-related material, he accessed open, unsecured machines with no passwords and no firewalls and that he left countless notes pointing out their many security failings. He adamantly disputes the damage and the financial loss claimed by the US as concocted in order to create a dollar amount justifying an extraditable offence. While it did not constitute evidence of destruction, he did admit leaving a threat on one computer:
"US foreign policy is akin to government-sponsored terrorism these days? It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand-down on September 11 last year...I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels.”

But did he continue to disrupt? Should you be extradited for bravado? Is it true what he said about government-sponsored terrorism? And should the "dollar amount" be a determining factor in extradition?

All the things that the Masters and Mistresses of the Universe do, with no possibility of redress for us, and yet here's a man's life about to be destroyed, effectively out of spite. Blair, Haliburton, the oil corps et al are enriched through behaviour that would be criminal if only they weren't making the rules. Compare Gary's video-gamer's excitement with the Apache helicopter crew waggling their joysticks, who massacred a crowd in Iraq including two Reuters employees. Or the greed machines currently destroying the whole coast of Louisiana and beyond.

The Labour government rolled over and did the US neocon regime's bidding over the Iraq War, colluded in rendition and torture, and then tried to deliver its own civilians to a foreign power.

We are encountering a massive juggernaut of authority with no morality backing it up. This is wrong. We should not be actively collaborating in our own oppression.

UPDATE: QC Geoffrey Robertson on Gary McKinnon and the US government's restrospective malice: a test case for principles. He points out that Stieg Larsson's Girl With The Dragon Tattoo heroine, Lisbeth Salander, would be extradited for the same activity.

Criticism of BP oil spill "un-American": "Drill, baby, drill!"

Now, why does Rand Paul remind me of The Manchurian Candidate?

Kentucky's Republican Senate nominee and Tea Party darling, Rand Paul, who could kindly be described as "eccentric" by our wussy Brit standards, has gone all gooey over BP, defending the company and its gosh darn bad luck oil spill against that mean Barry Obama.

"What I don't like from the president's administration is this sort of, 'I'll put my boot heel on the throat of BP,'" Paul said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America." "I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business. ... And I think it's part of this sort of blame-game society in the sense that it's always got to be somebody's fault instead of the fact that maybe sometimes accidents happen," Paul said.

Now, I know practically zilch about US politicians and how they are financed, but are they in any way related? Has the oily one been greased in any way?

Gee, what's all the fuss about 11 dead workers, the Gulf Of Mexico nixed, Louisiana's coast turned into a wasteland, the livelihoods of entire communities gone, and the sea turned into a sewer, anyhow? Get real, people. We make money. And that's what makes the world go round. Or kills it. Same diff. Make like the planet and rotate. Accidents happen.

BTW, to our dear American friends, please don't blame us Brits for the appalling damage done to the planet by yet another greedy corporation. Most of us would gladly help you string up the guilty parties. Metaphorically speaking. They arrest you for making such jokes in these heah parts, our freedom of speech going much the same way as your beautiful Louisiana coastline.

UPDATE: Randall Paul, Son of Ron, also said he wouldn't have voted for the Civil Rights Bill. And he was only the third person in 62 years to pull out out of the prestigious Meet The Press current affairs debate show. The other two were Louis Farrakhan (1996) and Saudi Prince Bandar (2003).

Orwell Prize blogging won by Winston Smith

Had a lovely time last night in the domed wood-panelled hall of Church House in Westminster for the Orwell Prize winners announcement.

Bunged up with bronchitis as I was, there was no way I was going to miss this event. Lots of mates turned up in support (thank you, guys 'n' gals) and I hung around with fellow shortlisters Laurie (Penny Red) and David (Jack of Kent) but missed Hopi Sen and Tim Marshall.

I was convinced that either David or Laurie would win. Laurie because she is a rising young woman writer of the left and talented youth is what we majorly need. Or David because he has had some spectacular wins in the last month or so, taking his vorpal Sword of Truth to the antedeluvian libel laws on behalf of Simon Singh and Dave Osler. Plus they are both clear and passionate writers (Laurie is rilly passionate) and clarity is a quality Orwell considered vital to good political writing.

Blog prize judge Richard Horton, last year's winner, said that it's no coincidence that as Labour has gone into opposition there's been a growth of organic voices from the left, reflected in the shortlist. He said of Madam Miaow:

"Every post is entertaining and informative. From the impact of the X-Factor on Chinese diplomacy to the inner voice of Tony Blair as he looks in the shaving mirror every morning, and what must that be like. This is a blog that doesn't do the obvious. It doesn't do big news or big issues. It follows the writer's own agenda, it goes outside the commentariat, and we thought it was all the better for that."

Which, of course, softened the blow when Winston Smith got it (hey, the name alone clinches it). He couldn't be present in person due to his activity behind enemy lines so his publisher accepted the prize on his behalf. Well done, Winston, whoever you are. And even though you refer to those at the bottom of society as the "underclass".

Peter Hitchens won the prize for journalism. I sort of expected this. I disagree with his politics, obviously, but he is utterly sincere about his beliefs and betrays no cynicism.

Andrea Gillies won the book prize with Keeper. I know nothing about this but it looks like a fascinating investigation into what makes us human, and how much of our soul is tied up with our memories.

The shortlisters were whisked off to dinner all the way across the hall where we dined on quail's egg salad, roast lamb with potatoes au gratin, and strawberry shortcake confection with clotted cream. Jack Of Kent's lovely friend, Sally, donated David's dessert to me while he was table-hopping. Ya see? Priorities. No wonder my networking skills are a Big Fail.

More at Harpy Marx

Orwell Prize blogging won by Winston Smith

Had a lovely time last night in the domed wood-panelled hall of Church House in Westminster for the Orwell Prize winners announcement.

Bunged up with bronchitis as I was, there was no way I was going to miss this event. Lots of mates turned up in support (thank you, guys 'n' gals) and I hung around with fellow shortlisters Laurie (Penny Red) and David (Jack of Kent) but missed Hopi Sen and Tim Marshall.

I was convinced that either David or Laurie would win. Laurie because she is a rising young woman writer of the left and talented youth is what we majorly need. Or David because he has had some spectacular wins in the last month or so, taking his vorpal Sword of Truth to the antedeluvian libel laws on behalf of Simon Singh and Dave Osler. Plus they are both clear and passionate writers (Laurie is rilly passionate) and clarity is a quality Orwell considered vital to good political writing.

Blog prize judge Richard Horton, last year's winner, said that it's no coincidence that as Labour has gone into opposition there's been a growth of organic voices from the left, reflected in the shortlist. He said of Madam Miaow:

"Every post is entertaining and informative. From the impact of the X-Factor on Chinese diplomacy to the inner voice of Tony Blair as he looks in the shaving mirror every morning, and what must that be like. This is a blog that doesn't do the obvious. It doesn't do big news or big issues. It follows the writer's own agenda, it goes outside the commentariat, and we thought it was all the better for that."

Which, of course, softened the blow when Winston Smith got it (hey, the name alone clinches it). He couldn't be present in person due to his activity behind enemy lines so his publisher accepted the prize on his behalf. Well done, Winston, whoever you are. And even though you refer to those at the bottom of society as the "underclass".

Peter Hitchens won the prize for journalism. I sort of expected this. I disagree with his politics, obviously, but he is utterly sincere about his beliefs and betrays no cynicism.

Andrea Gillies won the book prize with Keeper. I know nothing about this but it looks like a fascinating investigation into what makes us human, and how much of our soul is tied up with our memories.

The shortlisters were whisked off to dinner all the way across the hall where we dined on quail's egg salad, roast lamb with potatoes au gratin, and strawberry shortcake confection with clotted cream. Jack Of Kent's lovely friend, Sally, donated David's dessert to me while he was table-hopping. Ya see? Priorities. No wonder my networking skills are a Big Fail.

More at Harpy Marx