Ignorance May Allow You to Keep Assets Gained by Partner's Illegal Activities

Disaster in the Gulf (www.msnbc.msn.com...)

Okay, we get it! BP personnel operated the rig in ways that it was not designed for. Oil drillers have been doing this since day one…pushing the limits to discover just how much is too much and oil spills are not uncommon. Not one person blinked an eye before so that leads to begging an answer for what makes this single event so different from the rest.

If I understand the multitude of excuses for the disaster it comes down to BP officials denying having read the research and surveys of their own teams of experts before the rig was put into place, BP personnel took risks that did not pay off when operating the rig claiming they did not know the limits of the rig and were not informed of the complete R&D report, and partners who moneyed up for this expensive venture are claiming that they did know about the R&D and they did not know the rig operators were going to push the machine beyond its limitations. Seems to me that there is a whole lot of not knowing going in and if this is the case, we have a much bigger problem on our hands.

We know what is under the surface but we don’t know how nature is going to react to our probing. The deeper into the ocean we allow probing, the closer we get to oil and gases, but we are also going to get something more than what we bargained for. I am sorry for the losses all the way around, but I am not buying ignorance of the details as an excuse.

In a high-risk expensive venture, partners would have gone over the details with a fine tooth comb. High roller investors and partners pay lawyers and expert advisers to explain what is difficult to understand before they put the money down. I know enough about engineering, physics, geology, and business practices to pin-point where this disaster could have been avoided. I have to be honest; everyone caught with their hand in the cookie jar could have prevented the mess at anytime before it happened if they had only read the original geological reports and studied the practices of other rigs operated by BP personnel.

Were the reports purposely withheld or changed that warned of BP tapping a little too close to molten rock to get at that black gold we desire so much and the weight of the ocean waters added to the scenario would be problematic if the rig was not operated according to the manufacturer’s specifications? I suggest that the partners start coming up with proof that they did not know what was in those original R&D reports before we let them off the hook for their part in the destruction of our economy and coastal family way of life.

If Anadarko and the rest of the partners cannot prove that the R&D reports were falsified, then I strongly urge him and the others to take this matter up against BP in a court of law because ignorance is no excuse to avoid the penalties of a bad investment turned into a coastal disaster. The partners were there to reap the rewards of those multi-billion dollar profits when things were going good. Now things turned bad and the partners are equally responsible to share in the costs of standing behind such a high-risk venture unless they can prove the pre-investment reports were falsified. Any false reports about how the rig was operated after money exchanged hands is between BP and its partners but the public should not have to suffer the blame game.

If our government allows the partners to retain the assets from an illegal venture due to ignorance, we have a new law to use as a presedence in matters of spouses being ignorant of their partners activities, individuals and small business being ignorant of the tax laws to make the accountant solely liable for any screw ups. That would mean the IRS, DEA, or whatever alphabet division of our government that seizes assets cannot touch the assets paid to the partner.

My response to this article on numerous sites is a plant to show my fellow theorists what can be done. Have any of you watched the weekly program "How Things Work"? I love that TV show. Consider this an episode. I offered two seeds but I know only one is going to grow. Care to make a wager on which one?

How does a conspiracy work? You are about to find out during the next five weeks. It might not even take that long. Depends on how many people owe the IRS and how many spouses are in a pickle due to the loved one getting caught breaking the law.

For the concerned theorist who wanted to know the truth under the sea bed... Well, I can't guarantee you will hear the truth, but I am going to sit back with my popcorn to enjoy the show when this idea gets picked up and the powers in charge take it to the finish line. We still won't know the truth but at least you will get a glimpse of how conspiracies work.