Speaking of the Kinsey Sicks

I had not seen this one:


It is particularly good, and don't think they're just picking on BP. Listen to it carefully.

Really, Mr Hayward, you think so?

BP's Hayward: 'I became a villain for doing the right thing': Firm will recover when 'whole truth of the accident finally emerges,' he says

Words fail me.

Trying to make sanctuaries as an alternative to oil-contaminated natural ones

Feds, farmers create habitats for migrating birds: Goal is to create 150,000 acres of manmade wetlands by Aug. 15

Water gurgling from a well is flooding Craig Gautreaux's rice and crawfish fields, turning the farm into a wetland for migratory birds whose usual Gulf of Mexico wintering grounds are threatened by the oil spill.

Across eight states, farmers such as Gautreaux are inundating fallow fields to provide an alternative for some of the tens of millions of ducks, geese and shorebirds that are beginning to make their way south on a flyway that stretches as far north as Alaska and Iceland.

"Hopefully, we can help," said Gautreaux, who has dedicated 762 acres (more than 300 hectares) about 90 miles (145 kilometers) inland from the Gulf to the project under a three-year, $132,441 contract that likely will cover his costs but provide little if any profit. "I want to keep the birds around."

The tab for the project is $20 million, paid by the federal government. Frankly, I think BP should eventually foot the bill. Of course, I wouldn't be adverse to BP going bankrupt due to this disaster, but I want them to pay for the oil spill first.

:(

BP disaster may now be worst spill in Gulf history

Many fishing boats signed up to skim oil sit idle in marinas. Some captains and deckhands say they have been just waiting around for instructions while drawing checks from BP of more than $1,000 a day per vessel. Thousands of offers to clean beaches and wetlands have gone unanswered.

BP and the Obama administration faced mounting complaints Thursday that they are ignoring foreign offers of badly needed equipment and making poor use of the fishing boats and volunteers available to help clean up what may now be the biggest spill ever in the Gulf of Mexico.

Based on some government estimates, more than 140 million gallons of crude have now spewed from the bottom of the sea since the April 20 explosion that killed 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, eclipsing the 1979-80 disaster off Mexico that had long stood as the worst in the Gulf.

Here's hoping something goes according to plan

Some 70,000 turtle eggs to be whisked far from oil

An effort to scoop thousands of turtle eggs from their nests to save them from death in the oily Gulf of Mexico will begin in the coming weeks in a desperate attempt to keep an entire generation of threatened species from vanishing.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will coordinate the plan, which calls for collecting about 70,000 turtle eggs in up to 800 nests buried in the sand across Florida Panhandle and Alabama beaches.

It's never been done on such a massive scale. But doing nothing, experts say, could lead to unprecedented deaths. There are fears the turtles would be coated in oil and poisoned by crude-soaked food as they hatch and swim out to sea.

Go, Team!

Meanwhile:

BP spill nears a somber record as Gulf's biggest: Ixtoc I spill off Mexico's coast in 1979-1980 reached 140 million gallons

BP's massive oil spill will become the largest ever in the Gulf of Mexico by Thursday based on the highest of the federal government's estimates, an ominous record that underscores the oil giant's dire need to halt the gusher.

The oil that's spewed for two and a half months from a blown-out well a mile under the sea is expected to surpass the 140 million gallon mark, based on the upper estimate, which would eclipse the record-setting Ixtoc I spill off Mexico's coast from 1979 to 1980.

By the lower end of the government's estimates, at least 71.2 million gallons are in the Gulf.

The growing total is crucial to track — in part because U.K.-based BP is likely to be fined per gallon spilled, said Larry McKinney, director of Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi's Gulf of Mexico research institute

What a mess

Sea creatures flee spill, gather near shore: Scientists say phenomena may signal polluted habitat, loss of fish

This is probably the single most devastating oecological disaster of my lifetime so far--maybe bigger and far reaching than Chernobyl--(and may there be none worse); unfortunately, so much of it is 'hidden' by being in the deep ocean that we may never truly understand its impact.

I feel for the people of the Gulf, but states such as Louisiana are reaping some of what they sowed by giving oil companies access to their mineral reserves. In the Shreveport area where I grew up, the petrochemical business was huge, and any dip in it meant recession in general for everyone.

They're not alone in this, of course. Here in Kentucky, people have given away their mineral rights for pittances for over a century, allowing strip mining and deep mining of resources. Not surprisingly, both Louisiana and Kentucky have a history of dirty politics.

And of course we all rely on oil, coal, and other non-renewable resources of energy to heat our homes, run our cars, etc. So we're all at fault, in a way, for what's happening to the creatures of the Gulf, the environment, and to those whose livelihoods depend upon them. This dependence on non-renewable energy must change; we need to put more resources into energy that will eventually be less costly (in so many ways) than petroleum and coal.

Awful

The disaster continues

Latest satellite image of Gulf of Mexico oil spill as experts predict it could spread to Cuba

I don't really have the words for how appalled I am by the spill, the difficulties it presents in terms of containment, and horrible effects it has had and will have on wildlife, the oecology of a wide area, and the tourism and fishing industries in some of states that rely on these industries to fuel their oeconomies. Although I've never been past a rural area near Baton Rouge in terms of travelling south, I grew up in Louisiana and know how fragile their oeconomy can be. This is a true disaster, and I hope that the government and big oil can step up to the plate to minimise the damage, find out what went wrong, and keep it from happening again.

(Image from NASA)

The game today was very enjoyable

It was downtime, but interesting downtime. But I've been up since 6 am and we played from about 2 pm till 10 pm, so I'm rather wiped out. I think I'll go on to bed early. Tomorrow I work at the hospital but not the store, and I can actually come home and do some laundry, yay. I'm three episodes of 'Doctor Who' behind, too, so hopefully I can watch that on the DVR as I do my clothes.

I didn't see anything in my news reader to blog about tonight, although I'm happy to hear that BP seems to have that pipe working to siphon off oil into a ship. It's a start, anyway.

Good night.

I grew up in Louisiana

albeit in the northern part, not the south, but it breaks my heart to see so much oil heading for the coast in what could easily be the worst spill ever. The damage to wildlife could be incalculable, and in an area barely recovering from hurricane Katrina, this could mean the end to many people's livelihoods (shrimpers, for example). As one man put it:

"A hurricane is like closing your bank account for a few days, but this here has the capacity to destroy our bank accounts," said Byron Marinovitch, 47.

Birds under threat as oil hits La. shore: Spill may prompt rethink of Obama’s coastal drilling plans

I remember the Exxon Valdez spill and how devastating that was. (Did you know that ship is still in service?) Even now, the coast there shows signs of oil. This is set to be far worse, since the oil is continuously pumping out and is much more than any single tanker could contain. May they be able to do everything they can to minimise the damage to the Gulf Coast.

How do you clean up an oil spill?

PHOTO: (Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) in mating plumage foraging on rocks near Crescent City, California)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alanvernon/ / CC BY 2.0