BEAR WITH ME

I wanted to write more about Bishop Morris Thompson's ordination service, but as I told my friend Paul the BB in an email:

I have no words for much of anything except the catastrophe that continues to unfold in the Gulf. My heart is sick, and I'm wordless, but for words of lament and mourning. I wish I was into keening. Perhaps it would help.

Lethargy drags me down as I watch the scene of horror unfold. Who said that the oil gushing from the well was a slow Katrina? They were right, but we have not yet seen the worst of it. When a bit of energy returns, all I can think about or write about is the catastrophe.

As I said to Ann Fontaine in a message on Facebook:

I feel like the Sierra Club guy, moved beyond words. I'm afraid that I'm going to be pretty much a Mimi-one-note for some time. People will tire of hearing about the oil and the damage, but tough titties.

And you know that I'm really, really bad off when I take to quoting myself!

WHO WOULD EVER HAVE EXPECTED...?

From the The Huffington Post:

BP PLC told Congress Tuesday its massive Gulf oil spill was caused by the failure of a key safety device made by another company.

In turn, that company says BP was in charge, and that a third company that poured concrete to plug the exploratory well didn't do it right. The third company, which was plugging the well in anticipation of future production, says it was only following BP's plan.

The blame game shot into the open Tuesday as the Senate began a hearing into the oil spill that has been contaminating water in the Gulf of Mexico for three weeks and threatens sensitive marshes and marine life from Louisiana to Texas.

Executives of the three companies, all scheduled to testify before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, are trying to shift responsibility for the environmental crisis to each other, according to prepared testimony.

In opening the hearing, Sen. Jeff Bingaman, the committee's chairman, said the failures that led to explosion and spill need to be closely examined so new safety measures can be imposed.

"I don't believe it is enough to label this catastrophic failure an unpredictable and unforeseeable occurrence," said Bingaman, D-N.M.

That the corporations involved played the blame game from the beginning was entirely predictable and expected.

And a good word from a Republican:

"I hear one message - don't blame me," said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. "Shifting the blame game doesn't get us very far."

And that, Sen. Barrasso is the message, which, as you say, doesn't get us very far.

STORY OF THE DAY - CONFUSION

It took me a long time, she said, to stop
confusing safety with love.


From StoryPeople.

JESUS AND MO -" EARS"

From Jesus and Mo

PRAYERS PLEASE

For Ann's friend Casey.-

UPDATE: From Casey:

I apologize for not writing to you sooner, but the past two weeks have been such a blur that I've hardly had time to catch up with myself. I found out two weeks ago Friday that I had lung cancer. I had no symptoms except a swollen lymph node by my collar bone that was removed and biopsied and a cough that just got worse in the past few weeks. I have never smoked. We were all set to leave for France for a month on that next Thursday for the first part of my three and a half month sabbatical. I was initially diagnosed as being at Stage IIIB -- not good but with aggressive chemo and radiation, I had a chance at living five or more years. But then the PET scan I had a few days later showed that the cancer had spread from my right lung and lymph nodes to my left pelvis and spine, making me Stage IV and no longer a candidate for the aggressive treatment. So tomorrow I begin chemo at a lesser rate and slower pace -- once every three weeks for about six months, or until the traces of cancer shrink. Then hopefully I'll go into remission for at least a year, but the cancer will reoccur, and will be treated with chemo until it no longer has an impact. The doctors say I could live anywhere from 8 months to 4 years, but most likely have "a year or two". As you can imagine, this has totally turned my world upside down. In two weeks I went from assuming I'd live for 30 more years, to hoping I'd get at least five, to now one or two. If it weren't for all the prayers and love and support surrounding me, I wouldn't be staying afloat.

You don't know how much I wish I had better news to share. Your prayers that I will respond well to chemo (and not get too sick!) would be most appreciated.

Shalom,
Casey

For David@Montreal's cousin Frank:

He is still fighting another round of cancer, but the doctors are hopeful. He's into the hospital in Vancouver at least once a week for blood draws etc and takes almost 30 pills a day (only one of them a repeat). Apparently the genetic material which was used in the gene therapy you all prayed his through last year was from a German lady.

Gratitude- more joyous gratitude than you can imagine would be an apt approximation of Frank's state.

For Tommy Braveheart from Margaret:

I received a call last night at just after 11pm --Tommy Braveheart is not prospering and has suffered another set-back. His parents are devastated and exhausted. His parents blurted out on the phone --if he dies, we want you to come do the funeral. My heart is breaking with and for them and those who love them.... Please keep them in your prayers.

In thanksgiving for Arkansas Hillbilly, a new college graduate.

That the brains at British Petroleum can figure out a way to stop the oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico since April 20 and that the leadership of the corporations involved will take responsibility for their decisions and actions.

For the families of the 11 men who lost their lives in the original well explosion.

For those whose livelihoods are lost or severely affected by the disaster.

For those who work to protect the environment from damage and those who clean up after the damage.


We pray to you, O Lord.

"TALES OF THE ISLANDER" - CAROLINE HERRING

"Reflection in a Pool" by Walter Anderson.

For many years Walter Anderson, painted scenes of wildlife and plant life on the coast of Mississippi and especially on Horn Island, off the coast. Horn Island is part of the Gulf Coast National Seashore.

Georgianne Nienaber at The Huffington Post writes of the danger from the oil gushing from the seabed of the Gulf of Mexico to the the Audubon Bird Sanctuary on Dauphin Island and to the Gulf Coast National Seashore, located in Florida and Mississippi.

Reports indicate the river of oil is moving closer, and Dauphin Island, Alabama is experiencing odor at this writing. The Audubon Bird Sanctuary is located here. Dauphin Island is the safety net used by birds as they migrate north from South America. It is a sanctuary of rest and rejuvenation for them, or it was so.
....

Horn Island and Ships Island, parts of the Gulf Islands National Seashore are also in danger. Horn Island is famous for its long white beaches and is home to alligators, ospreys, pelicans, ducks, tern, herons, and other migratory birds. Reuters News Service and the Coast Guard report that booms have been placed on the east and west tips of Horn Island. Whether they will hold is anyone's guess. Booms did not hold off the Birdsfoot Delta in Louisiana's waters.

This is a very personal attempt by this writer to explain the beauty of this area. I have been around the world and have never experienced a place of such peace, beauty, and rejuvenation. I can understand why the natural world uses the Gulf Coast as a place of refuge.
....

I think the best way to convey the importance of this natural area and what stands to be lost is to offer this video by roots writer Caroline Herring. The disclosure I must offer is that Caroline is a friend of mine. Her tribute to Walter Anderson is also a beautiful hymn to the endangered Gulf Coast.

The last I heard from Georgianne, she was off to Haiti again, and she requested prayers.

R. I. P. LENA HORNE

-- from the 1943 film of the same name, the great Lena Horne delivers a sizzling performance of her signature song.


From the New York Times:

Lena Horne, who broke new ground for black performers when she signed a long-term contract with a major Hollywood studio and who went on to achieve international fame as a singer, died on Sunday night in Manhattan. She was 92.

Her death, at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, was announced by her son-in-law, Kevin Buckley. She lived in Manhattan. In a message of condolence, President Obama said Ms. Horne had "worked tirelessly to further the cause of justice and equality."

PS: I remember seeing "Stormy Weather". Yes, I am old.

"A DISASTER THE LIKE OF WHICH HAS NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE"

From Radio Netherlands:

While the world’s attention is focused on the growing oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, there is an unseen environmental disaster taking place underwater. Invisible substances underneath are wreaking havoc on an enormous scale, just as much as the very visible black sludge above.

The well, 1,500 metres under the sea off the Louisiana coast, is responsible for a disaster the like of which has never been seen before. This is not because of the amount of oil pouring into the sea, 800,000 litres per day, says eco-toxicologist John Schobben from the Dutch Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies (IMARES). The situation is unique because the oil is coming directly from the well and contains substances that have long been removed from the sort of oil leaked by tankers.

“What you normally see is fuel oil which floats on the water and mostly affects birds and mammals, but oil straight from the well contains substances like PAKs, the black smut you find on barbeques. They are carcinogenic and dissolve in water. You also get volatile substances like toluene and benzene which kill fish, plankton and mussels.”

Mississippi
The most important aspect of any oil disaster is the protection and clean-up of the coast. Mr Scobben is first to admit that the environmental damage to the land is many times greater than that suffered in the sea. The Mississippi delta is a valuable ecosystem involving both fresh and salt water life. Turtles come ashore to lay their eggs and the area is a hub for nesting birds. The timing of the disaster could not be worse, coming as it does in the middle of the brooding season.

Nevertheless, Mr Schobben maintains that the leak’s submarine damage is being underestimated. IMARES research shows that PAKs and volatile substances disturb the submarine eco-balance long-term. There only need be one species hit for others to be given the opportunity to move in. He calls this phenomenon ‘species shift’.

“You see an unnatural situation emerging. An area will never be completely dead. There will always be something left alive but it’s not a natural ecosystem anymore. That will eventually recover, but it takes a very long time.”

Before now, I have not seen reporting on the difference between oil that leaks from a tanker and oil spewing directly from a well and the vast difference in toxicity. Maybe it's out there, and I missed it. Even if the oil never reaches more land than at present, the disaster will be far greater than I ever imagined, and I've taken a pessimistic view from the beginning.

Thanks to JayV at Blazing Indiscretions for sending me the link.

Photo from The Huffington Post.

CARDINAL SCHONBORN: CARDINAL SODANO "DEEPLY WRONGED THE VICTIMS"

From The Tablet:

The head of the Austrian Church has launched an attack of one of the most senior cardinals in the Vatican, saying that Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals, “deeply wronged” the victims of sexual abuse by Catholic clergy when he dismissed media reports of the scandal. In a meeting with editors of the main Austrian daily newspapers last week, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, the Archbishop of Vienna, also said the Roman Curia was “urgently in need of reform”, and that lasting gay relationships deserved respect. He reiterated his view that the Church needs to reconsider its position on re-married divorcees.

On Easter Day, Cardinal Sodano called the mounting reports of clerical sex abuse “petty gossip”. This had “deeply wronged the victims”, Cardinal Schönborn said, and he recalled that it was Cardinal Sodano who had prevented Joseph Ratzinger, then a cardinal, from investigating allegations of abuse made against Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer, the previous Archbishop of Vienna, who resigned in disgrace in 1995.

Cardinal Schönborn said that Pope Benedict was “gently” working on reforming the Curia but he had the whole world on his desk, as the cardinal put it, and his way of working and his style of communication did not make it easy to advise him quickly from outside.
....

The Vatican press spokesman, Fr Federico Lombardi, praised the Austrian Church for its openness in dealing with the clerical abuse crisis and told the Austrian daily Kurier on Monday that Cardinal Sodano’s words at Easter were “certainly not the wisest”

If reform is to come to the Roman Catholic Church, others in the hierarchy must follow Cardinal Schönborn's example in speaking the truth. As Fr Roy Bourgeois says, "Silence is complicity". Words from insiders carry a power that no criticism from outside can match. Cardinal Sodano's words seem to have been more than Cardinal Schönborn could bear, and since he has difficulty communicating with the pope, he communicated in a manner that will surely get Pope Benedict's full attention.

I thank God and Cardinal Schönborn for his courageous act.

WHAT TO DO?

Photo - MATTHEW HINTON
A rusty coast of oil lines the shore of one of the Chandeleur Islands with the Gulf of Mexico on Saturday, as officials discussed strategies for attacking the millions of gallons of oil.
From NOLA.com:

Crews planned Sunday to park the giant oil containment box on the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, and offload equipment that could be used in a new attempt to stem the flow of crude gushing into the sea.

The equipment being offloaded from another vessel would use a tube to shoot mud and concrete directly into the well's blowout preventer, a process that could take two to three weeks. But BP spokesman Mark Proegler told AP that no decisions have been made on what step the company will take next.
The company was considering three options, including the technique known as a "top kill," Proegler said.

It could be at least a day before BP can make another attempt at putting a lid on a well spewing more than 200,000 gallons of crude into the Gulf each day.

The company's first attempt to divert the oil was foiled, its mission now in serious doubt. Meanwhile, thick blobs of tar washed up on Alabama's white sand beaches, yet another sign the spill was spreading.

Early Sunday, there was little visible new activity at the site of the oil spill. The skies were clear, but the waves on the sea were kicking up and the wind was more breezy than in previous days.

BP doesn't know what to do. Who would ever have expected...? There was no plan for this kind of disaster.

Again from NOLA.com:

Light and moderate areas of oil sheen from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill have been spotted as far west as the Timbalier Islands and are expected to continue flowing west, forcing the state Department of Wildlife & Fisheries to extend its ban on recreational and commercial fishing in offshore waters of the state to Point au Fer island adjacent to Atchafalaya Bay.

The ban extends to the beaches bordering those waters, said Wildlife & Fisheries Secretary Robert Barham, in a news release announcing the change.

NOAA's latest forecast trajectory map indicates light oil stretching just off Louisiana's coastline to Atchafalaya Bay by Tuesday, with heavier concentrations just west the river's mouth. The forecast shows the potential for oil along Southwest Pass on the lower Mississippi River and on the beaches of Port Fourchon and the Timbalier Islands, though it still shows no oil on Grand Isle.

The state Department of Health and Hospitals also extended the closure of oyster harvesting beds west of the Mississippi River as a precaution against contamination from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The closure affects harvesting areas 14 and 15, which are west of the river in Lafourche and Terrebonne parishes.

The oil has reached the water south of us and is spreading to the west. No fishing, no harvesting of oysters, no charter boats going out will have a huge effect on the economy in south Louisiana.

My son was thinking of making reservations to take his children to the beach in Alabama or Florida, but he's having second thoughts. That's another small example of the ripple effect the spill will have on the economies of the states on the Gulf Coast.