Dep. National Security Adviser John Brennan: Calls Jerusalem 'al Quds'
23 May 2010
21 May 2010
20 May 2010
"Extinction-Level Event"?
Considering Rabbi Brody's blog about The Prophecy of Gushing Oil, there might be some truth to the following report:
Is the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill An Extinction Level Event?
By R.J. Smith
It sounds like the plot of a cheesy B movie, one no decent person would ever be caught watching even in the privacy of their own home with the shades pulled and volume down really low. A large corporation somehow messes with the environment and threatens to destroy the planet, mainstream media covers it all up, and one scientist, whom no one will listen to, figures the whole thing out just in time to save the day. With help from a group of misfits of course.
Except this time, the disaster is real.
The characters are nearly set as well. In the role of the catastrophe is the Gulf of Mexico oil leak. BP and Haliburton are sharing the part of the evil corporation. The Scientist would be Paul Noel, a Software Engineer for the U.S. Army at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, who has made statements suggesting that he believes that the oil pocket hit will be impossible to contain. The group of misfits... well, it could be anyone.
There is even a secret document that has leaked to the Internet. Yes folks, this story has it all.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration`s Emergency Response document, which is exactly what it sounds like, is dated April 28th and claims the scope of the spill is far worse than the public is aware of. Somewhere, Michael Bay is wondering why he didn`t think of this first.
The words "Extinction Level Event" have been used in recent articles to describe what we are facing. To scientists that means a whole lot. To the rest of us it is just a bunch of pretty words. Cue the part in the movie where the entire crazy disaster is broken down using a familiar metaphor that even the dumbest of the population can understand.
Imagine you`re having a party and buy a keg of beer. Some joker decides to pour a quart of motor oil into the keg. Now imagine that party is the people of the Earth and the keg of beer is our water supply. The joker, of course, would be BP. How long before the party is over?
Extinction Level Event, folks. On par with the meteor that took out the dinosaurs. That is what some say we are facing at this very moment. The end of life as we know it, a full two years before the whole crazy 2012 movement expected.
And that, good readers of the Internet, is how the story of our grand civilization could end. Instead of a nuclear war or rogue meteor, we could be smothered in the very thing that our greed led us to believe we couldn`t get enough of. Or maybe this is all sensationalism. A conspiracy of a few random journalists with absolutely nothing in common created to scare the masses.
Time will tell, but as of now, it is not looking very good for the latter explanation.
"LEAKED REPORT"
And not to forget the Gemara brought by Shirat Devorah...
R. Hanina said: The Son of David will not come until a fish is sought for an invalid and cannot be procured, as it is written, Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil; whilst it is written, in that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth. Gemara Sanhedrin 98a
Is the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill An Extinction Level Event?
By R.J. Smith
It sounds like the plot of a cheesy B movie, one no decent person would ever be caught watching even in the privacy of their own home with the shades pulled and volume down really low. A large corporation somehow messes with the environment and threatens to destroy the planet, mainstream media covers it all up, and one scientist, whom no one will listen to, figures the whole thing out just in time to save the day. With help from a group of misfits of course.
Except this time, the disaster is real.
The characters are nearly set as well. In the role of the catastrophe is the Gulf of Mexico oil leak. BP and Haliburton are sharing the part of the evil corporation. The Scientist would be Paul Noel, a Software Engineer for the U.S. Army at Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, who has made statements suggesting that he believes that the oil pocket hit will be impossible to contain. The group of misfits... well, it could be anyone.
There is even a secret document that has leaked to the Internet. Yes folks, this story has it all.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration`s Emergency Response document, which is exactly what it sounds like, is dated April 28th and claims the scope of the spill is far worse than the public is aware of. Somewhere, Michael Bay is wondering why he didn`t think of this first.
The words "Extinction Level Event" have been used in recent articles to describe what we are facing. To scientists that means a whole lot. To the rest of us it is just a bunch of pretty words. Cue the part in the movie where the entire crazy disaster is broken down using a familiar metaphor that even the dumbest of the population can understand.
Imagine you`re having a party and buy a keg of beer. Some joker decides to pour a quart of motor oil into the keg. Now imagine that party is the people of the Earth and the keg of beer is our water supply. The joker, of course, would be BP. How long before the party is over?
Extinction Level Event, folks. On par with the meteor that took out the dinosaurs. That is what some say we are facing at this very moment. The end of life as we know it, a full two years before the whole crazy 2012 movement expected.
And that, good readers of the Internet, is how the story of our grand civilization could end. Instead of a nuclear war or rogue meteor, we could be smothered in the very thing that our greed led us to believe we couldn`t get enough of. Or maybe this is all sensationalism. A conspiracy of a few random journalists with absolutely nothing in common created to scare the masses.
Time will tell, but as of now, it is not looking very good for the latter explanation.
"LEAKED REPORT"
And not to forget the Gemara brought by Shirat Devorah...
R. Hanina said: The Son of David will not come until a fish is sought for an invalid and cannot be procured, as it is written, Then will I make their waters deep, and cause their rivers to run like oil; whilst it is written, in that day will I cause the horn of the house of Israel to bud forth. Gemara Sanhedrin 98a
17 May 2010
"Bzzzzzzzzz"
From The Hill's Blog Briefing Room :
'Thousands of bees' swarm White HouseBy Eric Zimmermann - 05/16/10 12:31 PM ET
A swarm of "thousands of bees" gathered outside the White House this morning.
The small army of insects hovered as Obama tried to leave the White House to play basketball at Fort McNair, according to a pool report.
By the time the president returned at noon, the bees were apparently nowhere in sight.
'Thousands of bees' swarm White HouseBy Eric Zimmermann - 05/16/10 12:31 PM ET
A swarm of "thousands of bees" gathered outside the White House this morning.
The small army of insects hovered as Obama tried to leave the White House to play basketball at Fort McNair, according to a pool report.
By the time the president returned at noon, the bees were apparently nowhere in sight.
An Era Coming to an End
Apparently, the era of fly-anywhere-anytime air travel has come to an end.
Scientists forecast decades of ash clouds
THE Icelandic eruption that has caused misery for air travellers could be part of a surge in volcanic activity that will affect the whole of Europe for decades, .... At least three other big Icelandic volcanoes are building towards an eruption, ...all of which are bigger than Eyjafjallajokull. In the past, they have proved devastating.
Scientists forecast decades of ash clouds
THE Icelandic eruption that has caused misery for air travellers could be part of a surge in volcanic activity that will affect the whole of Europe for decades, .... At least three other big Icelandic volcanoes are building towards an eruption, ...all of which are bigger than Eyjafjallajokull. In the past, they have proved devastating.
16 May 2010
"Thoughts on the Book of Ruth"
by Roy S. Neuberger
Dear Friends:
What is it about the Book of Ruth?
The story is so understated!
"And it happened in the days when the judges judged.... A man went from Bais-Lechem in Judah to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he, his wife and his two sons...."
Such plain words, and through these words the earth-shaking drama of King David unfolds. Beneath these words the heartbeat of the Messiah can be heard, throbbing ... throbbing ... throbbing! Beneath these words "the G-d of Glory thunders, G-d is upon vast waters. The voice of G-d is in power! The voice of G-d is in majesty. The voice of G-d breaks the cedars, G-d shatters the cedars of Lebanon!" (Psalm 29)
Such quiet and simple words ... such awesome power!
Can you imagine that King David could come from Moab, the most depraved nation, founded in unspeakable shame and ignominy!
"An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of G-d ... to eternity... They did not greet you with bread and water on the road... and he hired against you Balaam son of Peor ... to curse you." (Deuteronomy 23:4)
"No other people are as abhorred by Israel as the two nations of Ammon and Moab, and especially Moab." (Book of Our Heritage, Page 820) The children of Lot, the family of Our Father Abraham, and yet .... they hate us. "For the nation to whom they owe their very existence they had no mercy!" (Book of Our Heritage, Page 822)
From this depraved nation comes the seed of the Messiah?
This is the LAST place you would look!
How is it possible?
"Who is like Hashem, our G-d, Who is enthroned on high, yet deigns to look upon the heaven and earth! He raises the needy from the dust, from the trash heap He lifts the destitute to seat them with nobles. He transforms the barren wife into a glad mother of children...." (Psalm 113)
"You are eternally mighty, G-d, You revive the dead...! (Shemoneh Esreh)
I don't know if we take seriously how enmeshed we are in the impurity of Exile. We don't even begin to realize how far away we are from the world of sanctity in which the Holy Temple existed, a world of purity in which the King of the Universe was accessible to us. We are so buried in materialism that we find it extremely difficult even to believe there could ever be a world of total purity and sanctity, let alone that we could live in it. Can we even imagine the Garden of Eden? It is a fairy tale to us! And yet that is exactly how G-d created the universe, and that is exactly how He desired that it should exist, in that condition of absolute purity and allegiance to His will.
My friends, there must be a way to get from here to there! There must be a way to get from Exile to the perfect world that G-d created and that we have since ruined!
It would seem that the Messiah's task is to bring us from here to there. And that perhaps is a clue to the meaning of the Book of Ruth, for part of King David himself comes from that utter depravity called Moab.
That is one part of King David. The other part is Boaz. Who is Boaz?
Boaz was the leading sage of his generation. (Ruth Rabbah 5:15) His name means "in him there was strength," because he mastered his evil inclination. (Tikkunei Zohar 31:75b)
King David came from Ruth and he came from Boaz. We can understand Boaz, but why Ruth? Why does the Messiah have to come from a nation which epitomizes the utter depths of impurity?
Well, then, why did the Children of Israel have to come out of Egypt, from the utter depths of the forty-ninth level of impurity? Why? Because that's where we were! If we were to come out at all, that's where we had to come from! G-d is Av ha Rachaman, the Father of Mercy! He promises that He is going to send "goail livnai bnaihem l'ma'an shmo b'ahava" .... A Redeemer to their children's children, for His Name's sake, with love." (Shemoneh Esreh)
"A person should have two pieces of paper, one in each pocket.... On one of them [is written] 'The world was created for me,' and on the other, 'I am dust and ashes.'" (Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshiska)
Our Father Abraham was a shepherd. Our Father Isaac was a shepherd. Our Father Jacob was a shepherd. Our Teacher Moses was a shepherd. King David was a shepherd! It is not easy being a shepherd! "By day scorching heat consumed me, and frost by night. My sleep drifted from my eyes!" (Genesis 31:40)
G-d sent Fathers to the Jewish People who would shepherd us with a spirit of self sacrifice! G-d Himself entered Exile with us! "I shall descend with you to Egypt." (Genesis 46:4) Do you think that someone who has not felt the impurity can bring the children out? Will He send someone to take us out who has not been in Exile himself?
Unless the redeemer has himself been in Exile, unless he himself has felt the utter emptiness, the torture and depravity, the hopelessness, how can he lead his brethren out? How can he speak the language of those who still wallow in the quicksand?
So King David HAD to come from Moab, and this is the amazing message from the Book of Ruth!
"And so, Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife, and he came to her. G-d let her conceive and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, 'Blessed is G-d Who has not left you without a redeemer today! May his name be famous in Israel. He will become your life-restorer, to sustain your old age; for your daughter in law, who loves you, has borne him, and she is better to you than seven sons!'" (Ruth 4:13-15)
From the darkness we emerge in triumph, and from the depth we rise! "Min ha maitzar ... From the straits did I call upon G-d and G-d answered me with expensiveness. G-d is with me; I have no fear!" (Psalm 118)
The darker the night, the brighter the dawn! On Shavuos we learn through the night, and in that merit may we soon see the everlasting dawn of the coming of the Messiah, the rebuilding of the Holy Temple and the day when the King of the Universe will restore his Presence to Zion! What a day that will be! The world will be renewed, all impurity will be removed forever and we will rejoice in everlasting unity with the Holy Torah in the Land of our Fathers.
May G-d send the Redeemer soon in our days, "l'ma'an shmo b'ahava," for the sake of His Name, with love."
Roy S. Neuberger
Dear Friends:
What is it about the Book of Ruth?
The story is so understated!
"And it happened in the days when the judges judged.... A man went from Bais-Lechem in Judah to sojourn in the fields of Moab, he, his wife and his two sons...."
Such plain words, and through these words the earth-shaking drama of King David unfolds. Beneath these words the heartbeat of the Messiah can be heard, throbbing ... throbbing ... throbbing! Beneath these words "the G-d of Glory thunders, G-d is upon vast waters. The voice of G-d is in power! The voice of G-d is in majesty. The voice of G-d breaks the cedars, G-d shatters the cedars of Lebanon!" (Psalm 29)
Such quiet and simple words ... such awesome power!
Can you imagine that King David could come from Moab, the most depraved nation, founded in unspeakable shame and ignominy!
"An Ammonite or Moabite shall not enter the congregation of G-d ... to eternity... They did not greet you with bread and water on the road... and he hired against you Balaam son of Peor ... to curse you." (Deuteronomy 23:4)
"No other people are as abhorred by Israel as the two nations of Ammon and Moab, and especially Moab." (Book of Our Heritage, Page 820) The children of Lot, the family of Our Father Abraham, and yet .... they hate us. "For the nation to whom they owe their very existence they had no mercy!" (Book of Our Heritage, Page 822)
From this depraved nation comes the seed of the Messiah?
This is the LAST place you would look!
How is it possible?
"Who is like Hashem, our G-d, Who is enthroned on high, yet deigns to look upon the heaven and earth! He raises the needy from the dust, from the trash heap He lifts the destitute to seat them with nobles. He transforms the barren wife into a glad mother of children...." (Psalm 113)
"You are eternally mighty, G-d, You revive the dead...! (Shemoneh Esreh)
I don't know if we take seriously how enmeshed we are in the impurity of Exile. We don't even begin to realize how far away we are from the world of sanctity in which the Holy Temple existed, a world of purity in which the King of the Universe was accessible to us. We are so buried in materialism that we find it extremely difficult even to believe there could ever be a world of total purity and sanctity, let alone that we could live in it. Can we even imagine the Garden of Eden? It is a fairy tale to us! And yet that is exactly how G-d created the universe, and that is exactly how He desired that it should exist, in that condition of absolute purity and allegiance to His will.
My friends, there must be a way to get from here to there! There must be a way to get from Exile to the perfect world that G-d created and that we have since ruined!
It would seem that the Messiah's task is to bring us from here to there. And that perhaps is a clue to the meaning of the Book of Ruth, for part of King David himself comes from that utter depravity called Moab.
That is one part of King David. The other part is Boaz. Who is Boaz?
Boaz was the leading sage of his generation. (Ruth Rabbah 5:15) His name means "in him there was strength," because he mastered his evil inclination. (Tikkunei Zohar 31:75b)
King David came from Ruth and he came from Boaz. We can understand Boaz, but why Ruth? Why does the Messiah have to come from a nation which epitomizes the utter depths of impurity?
Well, then, why did the Children of Israel have to come out of Egypt, from the utter depths of the forty-ninth level of impurity? Why? Because that's where we were! If we were to come out at all, that's where we had to come from! G-d is Av ha Rachaman, the Father of Mercy! He promises that He is going to send "goail livnai bnaihem l'ma'an shmo b'ahava" .... A Redeemer to their children's children, for His Name's sake, with love." (Shemoneh Esreh)
"A person should have two pieces of paper, one in each pocket.... On one of them [is written] 'The world was created for me,' and on the other, 'I am dust and ashes.'" (Rabbi Simcha Bunim of Peshiska)
Our Father Abraham was a shepherd. Our Father Isaac was a shepherd. Our Father Jacob was a shepherd. Our Teacher Moses was a shepherd. King David was a shepherd! It is not easy being a shepherd! "By day scorching heat consumed me, and frost by night. My sleep drifted from my eyes!" (Genesis 31:40)
G-d sent Fathers to the Jewish People who would shepherd us with a spirit of self sacrifice! G-d Himself entered Exile with us! "I shall descend with you to Egypt." (Genesis 46:4) Do you think that someone who has not felt the impurity can bring the children out? Will He send someone to take us out who has not been in Exile himself?
Unless the redeemer has himself been in Exile, unless he himself has felt the utter emptiness, the torture and depravity, the hopelessness, how can he lead his brethren out? How can he speak the language of those who still wallow in the quicksand?
So King David HAD to come from Moab, and this is the amazing message from the Book of Ruth!
"And so, Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife, and he came to her. G-d let her conceive and she bore a son. And the women said to Naomi, 'Blessed is G-d Who has not left you without a redeemer today! May his name be famous in Israel. He will become your life-restorer, to sustain your old age; for your daughter in law, who loves you, has borne him, and she is better to you than seven sons!'" (Ruth 4:13-15)
From the darkness we emerge in triumph, and from the depth we rise! "Min ha maitzar ... From the straits did I call upon G-d and G-d answered me with expensiveness. G-d is with me; I have no fear!" (Psalm 118)
The darker the night, the brighter the dawn! On Shavuos we learn through the night, and in that merit may we soon see the everlasting dawn of the coming of the Messiah, the rebuilding of the Holy Temple and the day when the King of the Universe will restore his Presence to Zion! What a day that will be! The world will be renewed, all impurity will be removed forever and we will rejoice in everlasting unity with the Holy Torah in the Land of our Fathers.
May G-d send the Redeemer soon in our days, "l'ma'an shmo b'ahava," for the sake of His Name, with love."
Roy S. Neuberger
13 May 2010
12 May 2010
"Grey Whale Sighting off Israel's Coast"
Scientists stunned as grey whale sighted off Israel
JERUSALEM (AFP) - – The appearance of a grey whale off the coast of Israel has stunned scientists, in what was thought to be the first time the giant mammal has been seen outside the Pacific in several hundred years.
The whale, which was first sighted off Herzliya in central Israel on Saturday, is believed to have travelled thousands of miles from the north Pacific after losing its way in search of food.
"It's an unbelievable event which has been described as one of the most important whale sightings ever," said Dr Aviad Scheinin, chairman of the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center which identified the creature.
A population of grey whales once inhabited the north Atlantic but became extinct in the 17th or 18th centuries and has not been seen there since.
The remaining colonies live in the western and eastern sectors of the north Pacific.
This is obviously another sign of something, but what? Any ideas???
JERUSALEM (AFP) - – The appearance of a grey whale off the coast of Israel has stunned scientists, in what was thought to be the first time the giant mammal has been seen outside the Pacific in several hundred years.
The whale, which was first sighted off Herzliya in central Israel on Saturday, is believed to have travelled thousands of miles from the north Pacific after losing its way in search of food.
"It's an unbelievable event which has been described as one of the most important whale sightings ever," said Dr Aviad Scheinin, chairman of the Israel Marine Mammal Research and Assistance Center which identified the creature.
A population of grey whales once inhabited the north Atlantic but became extinct in the 17th or 18th centuries and has not been seen there since.
The remaining colonies live in the western and eastern sectors of the north Pacific.
This is obviously another sign of something, but what? Any ideas???
09 May 2010
Mida k'Neged Mida
From the very beginning of "peace" talks, it was America at the forefront, giving legitimacy to the claims that Israel was occupying land stolen from the "Palestinians." It's payday:
"Where we now stand is stolen, occupied Mexico"...La Raza rally at UCLA.
"Where we now stand is stolen, occupied Mexico"...La Raza rally at UCLA.
02 May 2010
"Biological Disaster"
Fears for crops as shock figures from America show scale of bee catastrophe
The world may be on the brink of biological disaster after news that a third of US bee colonies did not survive the winter
Alison Benjamin The Observer, Sunday 2 May 2010
Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have failed to survive the winter.
The decline of the country's estimated 2.4 million beehives began in 2006, when a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD) led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of colonies. Since then more than three million colonies in the US and billions of honeybees worldwide have died and scientists are no nearer to knowing what is causing the catastrophic fall in numbers.
The number of managed honeybee colonies in the US fell by 33.8% last winter, according to the annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the US government's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
The collapse in the global honeybee population is a major threat to crops. It is estimated that a third of everything we eat depends upon honeybee pollination, which means that bees contribute some £26bn to the global economy....
The world may be on the brink of biological disaster after news that a third of US bee colonies did not survive the winter
Alison Benjamin The Observer, Sunday 2 May 2010
Disturbing evidence that honeybees are in terminal decline has emerged from the United States where, for the fourth year in a row, more than a third of colonies have failed to survive the winter.
The decline of the country's estimated 2.4 million beehives began in 2006, when a phenomenon dubbed colony collapse disorder (CCD) led to the disappearance of hundreds of thousands of colonies. Since then more than three million colonies in the US and billions of honeybees worldwide have died and scientists are no nearer to knowing what is causing the catastrophic fall in numbers.
The number of managed honeybee colonies in the US fell by 33.8% last winter, according to the annual survey by the Apiary Inspectors of America and the US government's Agricultural Research Service (ARS).
The collapse in the global honeybee population is a major threat to crops. It is estimated that a third of everything we eat depends upon honeybee pollination, which means that bees contribute some £26bn to the global economy....
UPDATE: "Deepest Horizon"
Oil slick that threatens an Armageddon
The oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico threatens to become the greatest-ever catastrophe of its kind.
Its full impact has yet to be felt, but it seems inevitable the massive slick will ruin the livelihoods of thousands in Louisiana and neighbouring states and cause an ecological Armageddon....
The oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico threatens to become the greatest-ever catastrophe of its kind.
Its full impact has yet to be felt, but it seems inevitable the massive slick will ruin the livelihoods of thousands in Louisiana and neighbouring states and cause an ecological Armageddon....
They're Coming Faster and Faster
The next disaster is here and it's a gusher...literally. "Deepwater Horizon" is the name of an offshore drilling rig like the one pictured. It was located in the Gulf of Mexico near the Louisiana coast when there was an explosion and fire and it subsequently sunk on April 22nd.
It was the deepest well ever drilled, more than a mile below the surface of the water, extending some six miles into the earth's crust. No one knows if it was caused by equipment failure or terrorism, but all you need to know now is that this "gusher" is pumping 25,000 barrels of oil per day into the ocean and nobody knows how long it could go on or how to stop it.
They're calling it "Obama's Katrina."
Underwater oil gusher a crisis no one imagined
...The problem with the spill that followed the Deepwater Horizon explosion is that it isn't a spill: It's a gush, like an underwater oil volcano. A hot column of oil and gas is spurting into freezing black waters nearly a mile down, where the pressure nears a ton per inch — impossible for divers to endure. Experts call it a continuous, round-the-clock calamity, unlike a leaking tanker, which might empty in hours or days.
"Everything about it is unprecedented," said geochemist Christopher Reddy, an oil-spill expert and head of the Coastal Ocean Institute at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. "All our knowledge is based on a one-shot event. ... With this, we don't know when it's going to stop."
It was revealed Friday that British Petroleum (BP) had downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at the oil rig. In its 2009 exploration plan and environmental-impact analysis for the well, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude-oil spill and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals.
It was the deepest well ever drilled, more than a mile below the surface of the water, extending some six miles into the earth's crust. No one knows if it was caused by equipment failure or terrorism, but all you need to know now is that this "gusher" is pumping 25,000 barrels of oil per day into the ocean and nobody knows how long it could go on or how to stop it.
They're calling it "Obama's Katrina."
Underwater oil gusher a crisis no one imagined
...The problem with the spill that followed the Deepwater Horizon explosion is that it isn't a spill: It's a gush, like an underwater oil volcano. A hot column of oil and gas is spurting into freezing black waters nearly a mile down, where the pressure nears a ton per inch — impossible for divers to endure. Experts call it a continuous, round-the-clock calamity, unlike a leaking tanker, which might empty in hours or days.
"Everything about it is unprecedented," said geochemist Christopher Reddy, an oil-spill expert and head of the Coastal Ocean Institute at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts. "All our knowledge is based on a one-shot event. ... With this, we don't know when it's going to stop."
It was revealed Friday that British Petroleum (BP) had downplayed the possibility of a catastrophic accident at the oil rig. In its 2009 exploration plan and environmental-impact analysis for the well, BP suggested it was unlikely, or virtually impossible, for an accident to occur that would lead to a giant crude-oil spill and serious damage to beaches, fish and mammals.