A version of this editorial appeared in print on December 19, 2011, on page A28 of the New York edition
The latest investigative report on the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, released Wednesday, is an important reminder of industrys past carelessness and a summons to vigilance in the future. It could not have been more timely, coming just as the Interior Department was concluding its first auction of new drilling leases in the gulf since the spill.
The report was prepared by the National Academy of Engineering and the National Research Council. It concluded as had an earlier study by a presidential commission that the explosion resulted from a series of poor decisions by BP and others, including a major miscalculation involving the ability of the well to withstand sudden increases in pressure. The study criticized both the industry and federal regulators for misplaced trust in the ability of blowout preventers to seal off wells in an emergency, and called for industry to redesign these devices to make them more reliable in the future.
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
