tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5972843372998828082.post4255208576055909927..comments2024-02-27T03:44:14.807-06:00Comments on New Orleans Ladder: Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5972843372998828082.post-58244953018754837452010-09-11T17:34:19.484-05:002010-09-11T17:34:19.484-05:00Thanks, Ho. Great comment.
Been wondering where&#...Thanks, Ho. Great comment. <br />Been wondering where'yat lately.<br /> <br />"Out of sight out of mind" is also a PR dictum believe it or not, and distinguishes that business from the idea of promotions and advertising. With P&A any news is good news, but with PR the goal sometimes involves burying the bad by raising the (in their view)good.<br />Unfortunately, it appears that our news media seems to factor in PR more than actual journalism, and our government uses it instead of forthrightness and transparency.Editillanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5972843372998828082.post-56712716362212147882010-09-11T17:16:13.472-05:002010-09-11T17:16:13.472-05:00Editilla, Thanks for keeping the information comin...Editilla, Thanks for keeping the information coming even though most of the media seems to think the Gulf oil disaster is "over and done thank goodness" (<a href="http://halgeranon.blogspot.com/2010/08/mission-accomplished.html" rel="nofollow">Mission Accomplished</a>, right?)<br /><br />"Scientists on a research vessel in the Gulf of Mexico are finding a substantial layer of oily sediment stretching for dozens of miles in all directions. Their discovery suggests that a lot of oil from the Deepwater Horizon didn't simply evaporate or dissipate into the water — it has settled to the seafloor." -- NPR<br /><br /><a href="http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=129782098&ft=1&f=1025" rel="nofollow">Scientists Find Thick Layer Of Oil On Seafloor</a><br />by Richard Harris<br /><br /><br />Horatio can't wait to see how NOAA Chief Jane "Most of the oil's gone" Lubchenco 'splains this one away.<br /><br />It's interesting (though not really surprising) that the same scientist (Dr. Samantha Joye) who discovered some of the early evidence for plumes (which Lubchenco initially poo-pooed but which was subsequently affirmed by others [including NOAA researchers]) has now discovered the oil on the sea floor.<br /><br />Joye is a good scientist precisely because she follows the evidence.<br /><br />Those who have been so keen to dismiss the potential persistence (and possible long term impacts) of significant quantities of oil based on a "lack of evidence" are not scientists.<br /><br />As Carl Sagan liked to say (and as any good scientist understands) "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence". <br /><br />And as Horatio is fond of saying,<br />"if you don't look, there is no chance you will ever find anything".<br /><br /> <br />Unfortunately, "Not looking" seems to be a preferred approach with some people in this case -- even (especially?) some in high places. <br /><br />Don't look at the oil flow to accurately gauge the flowrate (because it does not matter).<br /><br />Don't look for oil plumes (because "oil floats" and they don't exist).<br /> <br />Don't look for folks who might have been sickened by oil and dispersant (because neither oil nor dispersant presents a hazard [not even to those laying boom, doing 'cleanup" and otherwise in close proximity]). <br /><br />Don't look for oil that might have gone to the bottom (because the vast majority of the oil has either been skimmed, "evaporated" [and airborne oil and dispersant present no hazard, of course] or "dissolved" [a mere "drop" in the "oceanic" volume of the Gulf]) <br /><br />Don't look for possible long term impacts on the ecosystem (eg, food chain) because oil and dispersant do not bio-accumulate and certainly don't accumulate in the mud at the bottom)<br /><br />Just don't look. Don't bother. You won't find anything.<br /><br />Someone needs to tell that to Dr. Samantha Joye<br /><br />Oh, Horatio forgot.<br /><br />Someone already tried (but was obviously a little less than successful)Horatio Algeranonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12988805467080448954noreply@blogger.com