We took Sunny and the kittens for shots this morning and Sunny was today's Pet of the Day on the vet's Facebook page.

Really. There's a group of Christians who wish to promote a Godly alternatives to Halloween.Hey, go for it---it's nothing new, after all: a lot of Christians think Halloween (you know..All Hallow's Evening) is a satanic, demon-infested evil holiday and a lot of them have alternative church parties for their children.. Whatever floats your boat, righ? Unlike some of these same Christians, I say live an let live. But did you seriously think JESUSWEEN. was a good name to go with?

Really?

I about killed myself laughing when I read about this last night. Of course, I am 12.

I wanted to mark this day in my journal--the people of Egypt have done an amazing thing with their determination and their courage. History is not always the big moments--we walk through history on a daily basis and it's made of many events, large and small. Sometimes, though, you become aware that you are witnessing something big---this is one of those times.

Mubarek steps down, ceding power.

Embrace Lt. Daniel Choi and scores of others who have been cast aside; stand before the American people (who support repeal by an overwhelming majority) and tell them that you have ended this unjust, immoral, and unconstitutional policy as of NOW, and it will be a political coup.



Sure, the right-wing fundamentalists' heads will explode. But that's a good thing. They'll be flaming away on national television, looking like raving lunatics while the sane rest of America looks on, wondering how anyone could possibly listen to such people. And meanwhile you will be standing tall as the Commander-in-Chief, having done what is right.

Actor-comedian Harry Shearer, who has a home in New Orleans, has produced "The Big Uneasy,"/a> a new documentary film about the quite un-natural flooding of New Orleans:

At the start of the film, Shearer presents a parade of pundits and politicians referring to the tragedy of New Orleans as a "natural disaster." But he then introduces Ivor van Heerden, who at the time was the deputy director of the Louisiana State University's hurricane center, and Robert Bea, an engineering professor at UC-Berkeley. The two describe their efforts to examine what had led to the flooding of New Orleans. They don't mince words, as they explain how the Army Corps of Engineers, which built and maintained New Orleans' crucial flood-control system, had constructed levees that were structurally unsound and on nonsecure soil. The water surge from the hurricane did not flow over—"overtop," in engineering parlance—the levees. Instead, it eroded the base of the levee walls—which had not been set deep enough—and the levees collapsed. (Bea demonstrates his method of tasting soil to see if it's the right spot to place a levee.)

Van Heerden explains that what the engineers discovered undermined the Corps self-exculpating claim that the sheer amount of water was no match for the levees. He notes the surge didn't reach the top. "It must have been a structural issue, an engineering design issue," he says. Bea adds that he, van Heerden, and other investigators came across the "kind of mistakes…you learn about in second-year engineering." (The film also details how the Corps' construction of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet canal, which was completed in the 1960s, helped set the stage for the disastrous flood.)

The Corps has denied it committed such errors. And the investigators were not rewarded for their efforts. Van Heerden says he was ordered by his superiors at LSU not to testify against the Corps. His position at LSU was terminated. (The Big Uneasy also follows the tale of a Corps whistleblower, Maria Garzino, who tried to warn the agency of problems with the water pumps to be used in the levee system after the hurricane.) Bea notes that at one time the investigators were told by the American Society of Civil Engineers that they couldn't tell the public what they believed had happened: "This is a cover-up."

The findings of the independent investigators did become public. But watching them recalling their run-ins with the Corps and describing the retribution they faced prompts a double outrage. It was terrible enough that the Corps erred in its design and construction of the levees, but the attempt to deny the truth (and punish those who dug it out) almost seems worse, for without a clear accounting of what happened, such a nightmare could occur again.

"The Corps," Shearer says, "clearly didn't enjoy the presence of two independent teams of investigators, and it didn't make their jobs any easier. It also relentlessly criticized them, and their early findings, publicly. The Corps had its own investigation, which it controlled, and it preferred that people focus on that. The national media thought they 'had' the story—big hurricane in Gulf, city below sea level, death and suffering, and they left even before the water did. They never paid attention when those investigators released their reports."

In the movie, Bea sums up the film's prime contention: the flooding was "a very unnatural disaster…caused by people." It was no act of God. But does the natural disaster myth have roots so deep it cannot be undone? "I hope not," says Shearer, "otherwise I wouldn't have spent all this time and money making this film. I hope that, after this tremendous re-experiencing of the footage of suffering and disaster, people might well be ready to ask the question, 'Why'?” Even five years later—and even after the Gulf has been hit by another human-made disaster, the BP oil spill.

This morning I was out front, doing a little gardening before the sun burned through the clouds and made it way too uncomfortable. Anyway, I was trimming back the exuberant golden privet and as I was gathering up the branches to put in the brush pile, I caught sight of this awesome spider. As you can see, her very large abdomen is a splendid lemony-yellow color which matched the leaves on the privet quite well. She also has attractively striped legs and is a bit rugose as opposed to smooth.



More photos and contemplation of the species of the spider behind the jump.

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ETA: It appears that she's likely Araneus trifolium .

Earlier today, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco confirmed what researchers have been saying for weeks: plumes of oil have been spreading throughout the Gulf of Mexico.

Water samples collected by the R/V Weatherbird II vessel have confirmed biodegraded crude oil in two undersea layers as far as 40 nautical miles northeast of BP’s seabed leak, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said at a press briefing. The vessel’s samples show oil as deep as 3,300 feet in the water, Lubchenco said.

"The bottom line is that yes, there is oil in the water column, it’s at very low concentrations, and we will continue to release those data as soon as they are available," Lubchenco said at a press conference held jointly with Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen. "That doesn’t mean that it does not have significant impact."

The New York Times notes that NOAA's findings follow in the path of research conducted by independent scientists:

The announcement of test results appeared to confirm information first presented three weeks ago by two other groups of researchers, from the University of Georgia and the University of Southern Mississippi, regarding huge plumes of dispersed oil droplets. Those scientists have not yet completed their analysis of the water samples they collected, but one of them, Samantha Joye of the University of Georgia, held a news conference Tuesday where she presented detailed instrument readings. Those readings confirm that a plume, probably consisting of hydrocarbons from the leak, stretches through the deep ocean for at least 15 miles west of the gushing oil well, Dr. Joye said.

Bacteria appear to be consuming the oil-related compounds at a furious pace, Dr. Joye said. That is depleting the water of oxygen, she said, though not yet to a level that would kill sea creatures.

Despite the findings of independent researchers and today's formal acknowledgment from the government, BP has for weeks maintained that there were no undersea plumes.

I think there would be better uses for the money that BP is paying Google, Yahoo and Bing to have their company website come up first if anyone goes searching 'oil spill', 'Gulf of Mexico' etc.

The New Orleans Saints plan a trip to Plaquemines Parish on Tuesday.

"These people have been a big part of our fan base. This is a way for us to be supportive of them, especially in this time," Payton said. "We will be a better team on our way back tomorrow then we are on the way there."

BP buys 'oil spill' sponsored links for search engines, (Hat Tip to inlaterdays for the link).

Reforms Slow to Arrive at Drilling Agency

A CBS News poll finds that the Majority of Americans now oppose offshore drilling.

BP Pays Out Claims, but Satisfaction Is Not Included.

People are not being paid what they deserve. That makes absolutely no sense since BP reported $6 Billion in profits last quarter. The corporation announced Saturday that it will pay a second month of claims that will bring total payments to $84 million by the end of June. What is really infuriating about that press release is this nugget:

Claimants, who have provided documentation that demonstrates their loss of income or net profit was larger through May than the initial advance payment received, also will receive a supplemental payment for those losses. This payment will be provided after direct consultation with a claims adjuster.

Net profit? A claims adjuster? So, if you happen to be a fisherman who would earn $10,000 a month in net profit, you're going to get another check for $5000? BP doesn't care that net profit is based on normal operating expenses and normal income. Well, both are now not in anyway normal. Having to prove to a claims adjuster how your business operates and what it could have potentially earned is what is causing the bottleneck in claims being paid.

There is a better way to do this. BP should simply pay all operating expenses of directly affected parties as if in normal operations. People could still continue to collect their paychecks. Related parties like vendors or landlords would still continue to get paid. That will help all the gulf stay afloat. Businesses should simply be allowed to submit their current and upcoming bills, period. Process the profit and loss claims later. BP needs to set up a compensation fund run by the EPA or FEMA or I don't care who, and provide it with enough money to hire staff to process claims quickly. Authority would pass Congress in a heartbeat.

"Remember, we’ve got to make enough money to save for the whole winter," he said. "And we’ve just been making all these repairs to our boats, getting ready for the shrimp season. My bank loans are $5,000 a month for just this live bait shop. Right now, I’m barely floating."

Oil gushes around BP's "production cap" (h/t: Fishgrease/whitis)
Earlier this morning, Robert Gibbs and Thad Allen held a lengthy briefing at the White House on the Federal government's response to BP's oil leak. Here's a rundown of some of the key issues raised in the briefing.

Oil flow and BP's "production cap: Allen said BP's production cap was collecting 11,000 barrels of oil per day, but acknowledged (as you can see in the above picture) that there is a still a tremendous flow of oil escaping around the cap. So why isn't more oil being collected? Well, although Gibbs and Allen hedged a bit, they seemed to indicate that the problem is -- as Fishgrease elegantly argues -- a surface production problem. In short: BP doesn't have the ability to handle more oil than they are currently collecting at the surface, so the rest is dumping into the Gulf at the site of the leak.

Increasing surface production capacity: Allen said BP would soon have the capacity to capture 20,000 barrels per day and was working to expand it's capacity beyond that to increase the amount of oil being captured.

Flow rate implications: Obviously, if 20,000 barrels of oil per day are being collected and oil is still escaping from the cap, then this leak has been much, much larger than officials have acknowledged. Both Gibbs and Allen recognized this point. Allen stressed that the next iteration of flow rate estimates would be calculated by the government and independent experts without influence by BP. Gibbs also said that the amount of oil being captured (plus the amount escaping) will be a key factor in determining the flow rate.

Flow rate will determine extent of BP's fines: Gibbs pointed out that one of the reasons why it's important to calculate the flow rate is that BP will be given fines based on the amount of oil that leaks into the Gulf. Those fines could total $4,300 per barrel, and Gibbs said that combined with cleanup costs, they would ultimately total in the billions.

Sand barrier construction beginning: Officials are moving forward with the first stage of the sand barrier project requested by the state of Louisiana. There remains serious questions about whether a storm could simply wipe out whatever work they do, and there is also a shortage of equipment and sand, but at least Bobby Jindal can't keep on whining about his sand barrier project, which he has positioned as a silver bullet (but I suspect won't do a lot of good).

Open question: Will BP pay royalties on the oil it collects? Gibbs and Allen said they would look into this question. Gibbs also said that BP will be able to sell the oil as long as they pay fines and make good on their pledge to fund cleanup and recovery.

(Thanks to daily_kos)