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Conspiracy Theories Behind BP Oil Spill in Gulf --

From Dick Cheney To UFOs

B Y D AV I D P H I L L I P S
U P D AT E D O N : J U LY 1 , 2 0 1 0 / 1 1 : 5 3 A M / M O N E Y W AT C H

Far from the media spotlight, pulled from the

"X Files" of the Internet, are some of the more interesting and
conspiratorial narratives on what -- or who -- triggered BP's oil-spill
disaster, now unfolding more than 18,000 feet below sea level in the Gulf
of Mexico.

What did he know, and when did he know it? Representing the reactionary right,
blogger Jerseynut alleges a conspiracy and subsequent coverup direct from the
White House: chief of sta Rahm Emanuel, likely acting on orders from President
Obama, had operatives blow up the Transocean (RIG) -- leased rig and attached
wellbore. Implausible?

You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by

that it's an opportunity to do things you think you could not do
before, Emanuel infamously said in November 2008.

With a runaway spill in the Gulf waters, the Obama administration can
now direct e ort to the wish list of its partisan base:

1. A moratorium on deepwater drilling in U.S. waters -- right wing radio host

Rush Limbaugh opined on the airwaves last month that "environmental
whackos" blew up the rig to "head o more drilling"
2. A renewed legislative push for the previously moribund Kerry-Lieberman
cap-and-trade bill, which seeks to address climate warming in the U.S. by
regulating industrial carbon dioxide emissions.

With respect toward "fair balance" in the media, those on the opposite
end of the political spectrum -- the liberal left -- see former Vice President
Dick Cheney's ngerprints all over this environmental catastrophe. Alex
Pareene blames the former vice-president in an insipid Salon.com post
alleging industry pandering during the reign of George Bush II. In
particular, the blogger points out that lax oversight permitted BP to avoid
the $500,000 cost of installing a "dead-man switch" on the blow-out
preventer, called an acoustic shut-o switch, that could've been triggered
from the surface (onboard the Deepwater rig) to plug the leak.

In a related story, investigators are examining the role of Cheney's former

employer Halliburton (HAL) in the undersea spill, as the oil-service company was
responsible for cementing the drill hole, as reported by the LA Times on May 1.
The Internet's suspicious minds believe Halliburton intentionally triggered the
catastrophic blowout (using substandard concrete slurry when cementing the
spaces around the piping in the wellbore casing) to adversely a ect U.S. oil
production -- looking to boost oil prices (and pro ts). The inquisitors reference
the current investigation underway by Australian o cials on Halliburton's role in
a Timor Sea well blowout in 2005 as proof positive.

Filed away in the "International Intrigue" folder is the report a North Korean
submarine red two torpedoes against the rig, as reported by WRAL.com:

On the night of April 20th the North Korean Mini Submarine

 manned by these "suicidal" 17th Sniper Corps soldiers attacked
the Deepwater Horizon with what are believed to be 2
incendiary torpedoes causing a massive explosion and resulting
in 11 workers on this giant oil rig being killed outright. Barely 48
hours later, on April 22nd , this North Korean Mini Submarine
committed its nal atrocity by exploding itself directly beneath
the Deepwater Horizon causing this $1 Billion oil rig to sink
beneath the seas and marking 2010's celebration of Earth Day
with one of the largest environmental catastrophes our World
has ever seen.

As if President Obama didn't already have enough on his plate to worry

about, now comes word from the socially conservative WorldNetDaily
promulgating a spiritual connection. According to this theory, Obama's
poor treatment toward Israel led to the catastrophe in the Gulf. In a
video narrative, Florida-based Baptist preacher Carl Gallups warned the
wrath of God befell upon Obama. Pastor Carl recounted from the Book of
Genesis an ancient promise God made to Abraham, the patriarch of the
12 tribes of Israel:

I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will
make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless
those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse....
 Conspiracy theories making the rounds on the world
wide web are not limited to causes of the Gulf spill too. Blogger
discussion boards are lled with non-stop, fearful chatter, including talk
of an impending explosion of methane gas bubbles in Gulf waters, wiping
out the entire sea coastal seaboard; worries the Obama administration is
readying FEMA-run internment camps in the South and will soon declare
martial law; and, lest we forget, BP's drilling activity awoke a UFO, long-
buried under more than three miles of sea water, sandstone and hard
rock formations.

Could the fait accompli -- a sequel to Roger Corman's classic 1956 sci- ick "It
Conquered the World" (hopefully in 3 D viewing) -- be too far behind?

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Related:

All Things BNET on BP's Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Apocalypse in the Gulf: Could A Sinkhole Swallow the Deepwater Horizon

 Well and BP?
Transocean's Problems Run Deeper Than Lost Revenue From Gulf Spill Drill
Ban
More Pain for BP, Rising Cleanup Costs and Increasing Oil Spill Rates Into
Gulf Waters
An Embattled BP Looks "Beyond Politics" to Mislead Public on Oil Spill
Details

First published on July 1, 2010 / 11:53 AM

© 2010 CBS Interactive Inc.. All Rights Reserved.

David Phillips

David Phillips has more than 25 years' experience on Wall Street, rst as a
nancial consultant and then as an equity analyst for several investment banking
rms. He sifts through SEC lings for his blog The 10Q Detective, looking for
nancial statement soft spots, such as depreciation policies, warranty reserves
and restructuring charges. He has been widely quoted in outlets such as
BusinessWeek, The International Herald Tribune, Investor's Business Daily,
Kiplinger's Personal Finance, and The Wall Street Journal.

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