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Actor's Machine Designed to Separate Oil and Water, BP: Tests Confirm Device Works. After actor Kevin Costner spent weeks calling attention to a high-tech oil cleanup device his company spent years developing, BP tested the machine and overnight released a statement saying that not only does the device work, officials are "excited" about its potential. "We were confident the technology would work but we needed to test it at the extremes. We've done that and are excited by the results," said Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer. "We are very pleased with the results and today we have placed a...

The U.S. Coast Guard has complained that there is not enough plastic tubing in the United States to construct the booms needed to contain the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. And neither BP, the Coast Guard, nor any other part of the U.S. government seems to understand how to effectively clean up the fouled Gulf. A technology that could effectively and actively remove oil from the surface of the ocean in all weather conditions would be a huge advance for the efforts going on in the Gulf right now. In fact, such a technology was designed and tested in the...

(CNSNews.com) - Actor Kevin Costner told a press conference on Capitol Hill that if a machine produced by a company in which he is a partner had been used earlier to contain the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, “we would be keeping that [the oil] offshore.” The machine, which Costner invested more than $20 million to develop, can separate oil from water to clean up oil spills.   Costner said that BP, the oil company whose damaged well is the source of the spill, had recently placed an order for deploying 32 of the machines. “We’re coming to this...

The 1991 spill into the Persian Gulf, which began on January 21, was purposely caused by the Iraqis in order to delay or prevent a threatened US-led invasion of Kuwait, including possible landings by US Marines. On February 23, American forces, including the 1st Marine Division, 2nd Marine Division, the 1st Light Armored Infantry, overran Iraqi defenses quickly, but expressed shock at the extent of the environmental disaster surrounding them. The US lost 148 service members in combat, 458 were wounded in the First Gulf War which lasted from August 2, 1990, to February 28, 1991, when America and its...

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BP has agreed to test Ocean Therapy Solutions' centrifugal processing device that separates oil from the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. John Houghtaling, CEO of Houghtaling and Williams (New Orleans, LA, USA), received word this afternoon after speaking with BP President Doug Suttles. Houghtaling partnered with movie star Kevin Costner and other local investors to promote the machines. Houghtaling and Costner formed Ocean Therapies in the wake of the Horizon oil spill in the Gulf. "The machines are basically sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water and separate at unprecedented rates. They were developed from...

Hollywood actor Kevin Costner has squandered more than £20million of his fortune on doomed investments to save the planet, he admits. The Oscar-winning Dances With Wolves star plunged the cash into "green technology", forming two companies to develop his passion. His first venture championed a revolutionary method to clean up major oil spills and the second tried to develop a successful non-chemical battery. But both projects failed and he lost the entire investment. Rough rider: Costner, seen here at his Colorado ranch, is unfazed by his losses He says in an interview in Live magazine: "I've invested enormous amounts in...

Kevin Costner is urging lawmakers to come up with a series of strict new gun legislation - even if it limits his own shooting time. The star admits he loves to hunt and often heads out with his dogs and a shotgun passed down through generations of his family, but he's the first to admit that America's gun laws are too weak. And following the recent tragedy at Virginia Tech college, where English student Cho Seung-Hui killed 32 people in what was the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history, Costner feels that legislators should get tough with firearms owners,...

A Memorial for Steve Irwin was held today in his family owned zoo. The likes of Australian PM John Howard, Russell Crowe, Kevin Costner, Cameron Diaz, The Wiggles, Larry King, Justin Timberlake, Hugh Jackman, Wes Mannion, Peter Beattie all spoke at the memorial. There were also moving tributes from his daughter Bindi, and dad, Bob. His daughter Bindi said her own tribute from a sheet of paper in front of an image of her dad. She said: "My daddy was my hero - he was always there for me when I needed him." "He listened to me and taught me...

Kevin Costner has been revealed as the celebrity accused of performing a sex act while having a massage at a prestigious hotel in Scotland, after a tribunal ruled there was not a strong enough reason to keep his name suppressed. The Hollywood star was accused of taking off his towel during the massage at The Old Course Hotel in St Andrews, Fife, in October 2004, exposing himself and then performing a sex act. An earlier legal ruling had prevented his identity being revealed, but the tribunal chairman Nicol Hosie ruled that following widespread newspaper and magazine reports outside Britain, as...

McKinney apologizes on House floor Federal grand jury considers charges in scuffle with Capitol police By BOB KEMPER The Atlanta Journal-Constitution Published on: 04/06/06 Washington – With a federal grand jury considering whether to charge her with assault, Rep. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia went on the House floor Thursday and apologized for her role in a scuffle with a Capitol Police officer last week. "There should not have been any physical contact in this incident," McKinney, surrounded by a handful of lawmakers, said. Stephen Crowley/The New York Times (ENLARGE) 'I want to categorically deny that I did anything wrong,' Rep....

RIDING THE OPEN RANGE - The Western Hero Returns By Don Feder With guns blazing and horses kicking up dust, the Western hero has returned. “Open Range,” recently released on DVD and video, offers the best recent example of the Western hero, a man thought to be obsolete in an age of cynicism and despair – but now riding proudly into the sunrise. The quintessential Western hero is strong, soft-spoken, tough, courageous, honorable and self-effacing. He’s Gary Cooper heading for the showdown in “High Noon,” Gregory Peck telling his fiancé “I’m not responsible for what people think, only for what...

Good Things In August There are two good things to look forward to in the dog days of August. The Little League World Series will be running through Aug. 24, and a lot of it will be broadcast on ESPN or ESPN2. The other good thing is a Kevin Costner Western. I haven't seen the movie, "Open Range," yet, but I have faith in Costner. I have really liked all of the movies he's had control over — "Dances With Wolves," "Waterworld" and "The Postman." I especially liked "The Postman." And he's directing, as well as starring in, his new...

The Offshore Technology Conference at Reliant Center is an endless maze of booths with thousands of companies and subsidiaries represented. Each booth vies for the attention of passers-by with giveaways like pens and candy. But Booth No. 2269 offered Kevin Costner, and it was mobbed. Women froze in their tracks. "Oh, my God. That is Tin Cup," one said. Costner's appearance was not some company stunt. He is the company -- the driving force behind Costner Industries Texas, whose product, the liquid-liquid centrifugal separator, separates oil from water and was designed to clean up major oil spills. Costner, who said...

As actor and left-wing activist Tim Robbins complains about how unfairly he and Susan Sarandon are being treated these days, you can almost hear the world's smallest violin playing in the background. Until it was abruptly canceled, Robbins and Sarandon were scheduled to appear at a Baseball Hall of Fame salute to their movie Bull Durham. The Hall's president decided to can the whole event, saying the couple's opposition to the war in Iraq undermined the U.S. position and "ultimately could put our troops in even more danger." It's not the first time their anti-Operation Iraqi Freedom statements have...

<p>From the Dixie Chicks and Martin Sheen to Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, stars who speak out against President Bush and the war in Iraq are seeing repercussions.</p> <p>"There's a piling on, and we're isolating people. That's just wrong," says Kevin Costner, standing up for "courageous" Bull Durham co-stars Sarandon and Robbins.</p>

Saddam has fallen. But Fidel Castro has never been more popular -- at least among Hollywood elites. So says cyber-journalist Andrew Breitbart -- co-author of the forthcoming book Hollywood Interrupted. As Castro's latest crackdown on dissidents reaches fever pitch, HBO has announced the May broadcast of "Comandante" -- a documentary about Castro co-directed by Oliver Stone and the Cuban dictator himself. Given the country's patriotic mood, it hardly seems likely that HBO expects "Comandante" to make money. This one is definitely for love. At least, Hollywood insiders will enjoy it. Breitbart notes in an OpinionJournal.com op-ed, that "media moguls, celebrity...