OIL ON THE BEACH AT GRAND ISLE, LOUISIANA

Before officials closed it Friday, visitors walked along the beach at Grand Isle, checking out the oil that washed up on the sand from the offshore platform that exploded and sank in April....

From the Advocate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana:

Walking over the sand dune separating Grand Isle camps from the Gulf of Mexico, Paul Trouard said he didn’t see anything unusual.

Trouard, 36, and Walter Allred, 41, both of Lafayette, were on the island to get together with friends and do some fishing.

They said they hadn’t been on the Grand Isle beach for years, but with all the talk of oil in the Gulf of Mexico, they decided to take a look for themselves Friday morning.

“I didn’t expect this,” Trouard said, pointing to the beach.

On the water’s edge, the beach was covered with oily globs the consistency of chocolate mousse and streaks of oil. In some locations, pools of oil were getting trapped in low-lying beach areas.

“They told us it was coming,” Allred said.

He said he brought a plastic bag to the shoreline to collect some of the oil and a camera to take some pictures. Trouard and Allred both agreed they’d probably be telling their children about the day they were fishing and oil came ashore in Grand Isle.

“It’s epic,” Allred said.

It's epic all right, epically catastrophic.

 

A small sand crab covered with oil...makes its way around the beach Friday at Grand Isle.

What are the chances for the little sand crab?

FIRST OF THE SPRING SEASON

 

Grandpère picked the produce pictured above this morning, the first of the season. They're fresh from the garden, not even cleaned yet. He's proud, and I don't blame him. He works hard in his spring vegetable garden, and we both enjoy eating the harvest. Mmm-mmm good!

BEES - A FRIDAY SILLY JOKE

 

A man was driving down the road and ran out of gas. Just at that moment, a bee flew in the window.

'What seems to be the problem?' asked the bee.

'I'm out of gas,' replied the man.

The bee told the man to wait for a few moments, and flew away. Minutes later, the man watched as an entire swarm of bees flew to his car and right into his gas tank. After a few minutes, the bees flew out.

'Try it now, ' said one bee.

The man turned the ignition key and the car started right up.
'Wow!' the surprised man exclaimed, 'what did you put in my gas tank?'

The bee answered,

 

Wait for it. Wait for it...

 

You're just gonna love this...

 

 

I see you smiling.

 

I figured why not go a little mad in the middle of the sorrow and depression with a timely joke, which admittedly did not result in LOL, but did, in fact, make me smile.

Don't blame me. Blame Doug.

FROM THE TIMES-PICAYUNE FRONT PAGE

 

Just as after Katrina and THE FEDERAL FLOOD, the New Orleans newspaper has done a terrific job with their local team in reporting on the oil gusher, the resulting damage, the negligence and incompetence of BP, and all matters relating to the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

 

As you see, oil has already arrived in Louisiana on the beaches and in the marshes shown in the locations marked in black on the map, showing not potential damage, but real damage, with worse almost certainly to follow.

 

Myers apologized for his idiotic and repulsive comments, but only after Mayor Mitch Landrieu fired off a letter to Faux News:

In his letter to Goren, Landrieu called Myers' comments "offensive and unacceptable." Saying the "hearts and prayers" of Orleanians go out to flood victims in Tennessee, Landrieu wrote: "This is not Nashville versus New Orleans. And anyone who dares to draw such a comparison is being divisive and reckless."

Landrieu added that "faulty construction caused the breach of (federal) levees, ... forcing the people of New Orleans to 'stand on rooftops.'" He adds that "almost every levee" built by the Army Corps of Engineers failed, leaving 80 percent of the city underwater and claiming 1,464 lives in Louisiana.

Go get 'im, Mitch!

Of course, no one in New Olreans helped anyone else, Chris, and when you're standing on a rooftop surrounded by water, it's not easy to help yourself, much less anyone else, Chris. But folks did help one another, and some lost their lives helping others, Chris.

I had great difficulty in restraining my language when speaking of Chris Myers.

NOW THAT THEY'VE BEEN CAUGHT...

BP admitted Thursday that a figure it has been citing for weeks as its best estimate of the total amount of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, 5,000 barrels a day, is too low. A tube inserted into a hole in a broken riser pipe is now capturing 5,000 barrels of oil per day, but oil is still gushing from that hole as well as from another leak nearby, BP spokesman Mark Proegler said.

BP is measuring the oil as it is siphoned onto a drill ship on the water's surface, Proegler said.

Who knew? Only everyone but the credulous US government. And who would ever have expected that BP was not telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?

From NOLA.com.

BP DIDN'T PERFORM THE TEST

Oil in the marshes in Louisiana

From NOLA.com:

BP hired a top oilfield service company to test the strength of cement linings on the Deepwater Horizon's well, but sent the firm's workers home 11 hours before the rig exploded April 20 without performing a final check that a top cementing company executive called "the only test that can really determine the actual effectiveness" of the well's seal.

A spokesman for the testing firm, Schlumberger, said BP had a Schlumberger team and equipment for sending acoustic testing lines down the well "on standby" from April 18 to April 20. But BP never asked the Schlumberger crew to perform the acoustic test and sent its members back to Louisiana on a regularly scheduled helicopter flight at 11 a.m., Schlumberger spokesman Stephen T. Harris said.

At a few minutes before 10 p.m., a belch of natural gas shot out of the well, up a riser pipe to the rig above, igniting massive explosions, killing 11 crewmembers and sending millions of gallons of crude oil into the Gulf. The rig's owner, Transocean, blames failed cement seals, installed by Halliburton, for the disastrous blowout.

The truth seeps out slowly, because BP has not been forthcoming in releasing information. Senate committee hearings on the oil gusher seem to be accomplishing their mission, which is to gather all pertinent information.

Also from NOLA.com:

The White House is asking BP PLC to publicly disclose more information about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, including measurements of the size of the leak 5,000 feet under the sea and air quality.

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday that the White House is writing to BP asking the company to put that information on its website and be more transparent about its response.

BP is under fire as scientists dispute the company's estimate of how much oil is spilling into the Gulf.

For weeks BP has said the flow is 210,000 gallons a day, but scientists say the amount could be much higher. A BP official conceded Thursday there could be more.

Scientists also are criticizing government agencies for not pushing the company harder to let independent experts take measurements.

It's about time for the White House to stop relying on BP's words. From day one of the explosion, BP issued incomplete and misleading information. Why have the Obama administration and the federal agencies been so trusting and credulous and not moved forward more quickly with plans to verify BP's statements and findings?

BP says it is now collecting 3000 barrels of oil a day from the leak, but the amount of oil gushing from the well is under dispute, so we still don't know how much is being released into the Gulf.



More oil in the marshes of Louisiana

Images from The Huffington Post.

A LITANY FOR THE GULF OF MEXICO IN A TIME OF CRISIS

A prayer written by the Rev. Albert Kennington as a responsive reading for a congregation. It may be equally useful as a family devotion, a devotion for a Bible study or prayer group, or simply as a personal devotion.

The Officiant and People say responsively

Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas, and streams,
O whales and all that move in the waters.
All birds of the air, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
Glorify the Lord, O spirits and souls of the righteous,
praise him and highly exalt him for ever.
You that are holy and humble of heart, glorify the Lord,
praise him and highly exalt him forever.
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters;
the God of glory thunders; the LORD is upon the mighty waters.
The voice of the LORD is a powerful voice;
the voice of the LORD is a voice of splendor.
O Lord, how manifold are your works!
in wisdom you have made them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.
Yonder is the great and wide sea
with its living things too many to number,
creatures both small and great,
There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan,
which you have made for the sport of it.
You give it to them; they gather it;
you open you hand, and they are filled with good things.
You send forth your Spirit, and they are created;
and so you renew the face of the earth.

For the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, that they may be kept pure as you created them.
Lord, have mercy.

For all who work on the waters that they be safe from harm; for all who have been injured, for all who have died, and for all who mourn.
Lord, have mercy.

For all who support their livelihood and the care of their families and communities from the harvest of the waters,
Lord, have mercy.

For all who live along these waters and for their livelihood, provide places of rest and recreation for others,
Lord, have mercy.

For all who explore the depths of the earth, even under the sea, for the resources of your creation for the common good,
Lord, have mercy.

For all creatures of your making and for the wonderful mysteries of natural habitats you have willed for them, that they be protected from all dangers,
Lord, have mercy.

For all in authority over us, in the government of our nation, our states, and communities, that they may serve your will for the common good, and no other,
Lord, have mercy.

For all who work to preserve us from the dangers of this present calamity, that they may be blessed with success and kept safe from all harm,
Lord, have mercy.

For our deliverance from fear, anxiety, and anger,
Lord, have mercy.

For your will to be done on earth as it is in heaven,
Lord, hear our prayer.

Mercifully hear us, O Lord our God.
Let our cry come to you.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen

Written by the Rev. Albert Kennington, Priest Associate, St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Daphne, Alabama.

Thanks to Ann.

From Atmore News.

BLOGGING

From xkcd.

Thanks to Paul (A.)

COMMENTS ARE NOT COMING THROUGH

Not even my comments appear on my blog. I get email notification of the comments, but they do not appear on my blog. I presume that Blogger is working on the problem, but who knows? Sorry.

UPDATE: Leo, nada, mi amigo.

UPDATE 2: The problem seems to be fixed now.

THE SEATING OF BISHOP MORRIS THOMPSON

From the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana:

Join us at the Cathedral for the enthronement of Bishop Morris K. Thompson, Thursday, May 13th, at Christ Church Cathedral at 6 pm.

The new bishop will preach and celebrate.

I'd like to have attended the service, but it would have meant spending another night in New Orleans, and I was not ready for that, since I had done so just a few nights before for the bishop's ordination. I especially would have liked to hear Bishop Thompson preach. Another time.

I confess that I was disappointed that the term "enthronement" was used on the diocesan website for the ceremony of the bishop taking his seat.

SEATING OUR NEW BISHOP
There are two aspects to the episcopate:

Bishops are for the whole Church. That’s why every election must be approved by a majority of other dioceses, and why the Presiding Bishop and other bishops come to consecrate a bishop.

Our new bishop is also for Louisiana. That’s why, after the consecration is over, we need to welcome him to our cathedral and seat him in his official chair. Mostly, we’ll be celebrating the Ascension Day. But, at the beginning of the service, the bishop will knock on the door, seeking entry, and be admitted and welcomed by the Dean and Wardens to his Cathedral Church. Then he will be conducted to his chair, to be at home in his new place

William Morris+

That's better. As I see it, "enthronement" should be banished from the Episcopal Church lexicon. A bishop is elected to serve the people of the diocese, to be the servant of all. Why then use a term that suggests that the diocesan bishop rules like a king on a throne?

I've been told that enthronement is a proper usage, and if that is true, then we should reconsider our terminology. To speak of "Seating the Bishop" seems appropriate to me. In truth, the use of enthronement is one of my pet peeves. Off with it!

None of what I've said about terminology here is meant to reflect on our new bishop. +Morris Thompson was amongst my favorites after I read the biographies of the six candidates. After I attended the walkabouts, +Morris Thompson was my top candidate, the man whom I hoped would be elected 11th bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Louisiana. I rejoiced upon his election, especially so, since my support for candidates is usually the kiss of death for their chances to be elected. Not this time, thanks be to God!

Almighty and everlasting God, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift: Send down upon Bishop Morris Thompson and upon the congregations committed to his charge, the healthful Spirit of thy grace: and, that they may truly please thee, pour upon them the continual dew of thy blessing. Grant this, O Lord, for the honor of our Advocate and Mediator, Jesus Christ. Amen.

(Book of Common Prayer, p.817, edit.)

Note: As you see, I'm inching my way back into blogging. I hope to restrict my postings to one a day, or less, as my friend Elizabeth suggested, and to write in my own voice more often, rather than linking and quoting, and to refrain from writing about what many other bloggers are already saying, but rather contribute when I have something unique to say, as my friend Lisa suggested. We'll see how this goes. Sadly, I make many resolutions that I don't keep.