BP: "The solution will not be televised" / UPDATED

Update: BP's official Twitter account just posted word that yes, the spew-surveillance internet video feed will continue during Wednesday's attempt to stop the flow. Not this account, maintained by pranksters, but the legit one. Though it's not like the presence of a live video feed in and of itself will make things any better, stop the destruction, or clean up what's already devastated. And for the record, I don't agree with Markey's outrage over a web video "blackout." After all, if the attempted fix doesn't work, I wish these bastards all the luck in the world trying to hide that…


(YouTube link). BP today announced that it plans to disable the happy-fun live internet video feed of oil spewing at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico while BP engineers try to stop up the well using a procedure they call "top kill." Rep. Edward Markey, chairman of the House subcommittee on energy and the environment, was not amused:

"It is outrageous that BP would kill the video feed for the top kill. This BP blackout will obscure a vital moment in this disaster," Markey said in a statement. "After more than a month of spewing oil into the Gulf of Mexico, BP is essentially saying to the American people the solution will not be televised."

And in related news, Federal government inspectors overseeing oil drilling in the Gulf "accepted meals and tickets to sporting events from companies they monitored," reported the Interior Department's inspector general.