I was just remembering the post someone started and many were YAY and I was one of the few NAYS. THIS IS EXACTLY why.
I was mad at Sarah Palin for her Drill Baby Drill(it should have been Kill Baby Kill)
And then Obama sided with them.WHAT!!!!!

This is a sad time for our planet.

What a mess this is becoming....so sorry that it has happened and I know that it is far from being over. We're thinking about you!

Prayers have been coming for this disaster, Nona. It just makes me sick to know it can get worse, and causes so much heartbreak.

hugs, Karen

I have been praying for the people and wildlife down there since I heard about the accident and spill. I pray that they get it capped soon and that everyone can be spared the worst. I believe that we need to drill for our own oil but they need to do it safely and have more reguard for everything else that it can affect. They need to have safeguards in place before hand for emergencies and accidents like these.

Yes, nona...the news has been full of trying to cap it...and DH said tonight, they should be talking & remembering the families of the ones who lost their lives. It is all so sad...another disaster! And, Nashville area, so much loss of lives & everything...& other states & areas with the storms & tornadoes lately....ugh!...economies will definitely be suffering in all these places. Iowa dealt with the mass flooding & tornadoes of 2008...it's all unbelievable! Prayers to those families & friends who lost their dear loved ones. Thanks for posting, nona. Jeanne S.

Very sad & you would think gov't would check out companies to see if they don't have 2-3 safety-nets so this can't happen! Same thing with coal mines- a lot of our electricity comes from coal- why can't they have a system to capture methane gas out of the mines. They are "always going to do something" but it is never enough! Nashville is in an awful mess, that is more water than I think they have ever had. It will be a long time coming out of all the disasters around the country & loss of jobs & animal & fowl life. They said this morning that even tho you can't see it on the beaches it has done damage underneath the water so less seafood also affecting many many people who eat it & sell it. Prayers for all who are going through all of this! Jan

Prayers go out to the families of those who lost their lives as a result of this catastrophe but also for all of us when we will have to spend $5 per gallon at the pump this summer. It will not only effect the people in the gulf area who earn their livelihood in that area but all of us - not only in our own gas tanks but everything that we buy that is transported by truck.

Where is a huge bottle of Dawn dish detergent when you need it?

It is such a terrible tragedy. The lives lost and the potential ruin of such beautiful places.

According to the news many other countries (Brazil and Norway are theones I remember) require secondary places to turn off the flow in case of this type of failure. But the US doesn't have these rules because of the supposed importance of deregulation (during recent Bush admin.) and also the lobbying done all the time by big companies.

I heard something else on the news in the context of the reporting on this that I never understood before: Even if the oil comes from "us" or "our waters" it is still sold on the world market and doesn't directly benefit the US in terms of dependence on foreign oil.

Keep us posted Nona. It sounds like they are containing it somewhat, but its hard to know from what we hear on tv so far away.

Kathy

The latest on the 10pm news is that because of the weather the oil is not moving around too much or too fast right at this time. At least there is a little time to prepare for it hitting shore. They were trying chemical dispersants underwater, but the environmentalists made them stop, saying that the chemicals were doing more harm than the oil. They tried burning it on the surface, but they say that isn't working (didn't say why) but they did show a picture. Pure black smoke. They try containing it with those barrier things, but those don't work if there are any waves. They say they are siphoning it off, but really don't tell you too much. The charter boat captains say they have pretty much had all their fishing parties cancelled indefinately. The fishermen and shrimpers and oystermen and crabbers are training to use the barrier things, that way if need be they can be hired by BP. They will try to divert the oil away from the fisheries and towards the sand beaches where it would be easier to clean up. Barber and beauty shops are collecting all their cut hair. Seriously. Apparently hair has microscopic scaly things that allow it to soak up much oil. They showed one leg of pantyhose stuffed with hair and said it could soak up 50 gallons of oil! At first BP said the spill wouldn't be bad at all. Then they said it was 1000 gallons a day, then 5000, now they just admitted they really have no idea. Apparently they are going to try and put a huge box over the hole. They said they are sending FL 25 million $ to help with getting ready to clean up (they didn't mention any other states on our local news).

Thats amazing about hair. If only the oil could be recovered by people in boats and then they could sell what they selvaged. It would be cleaned up quicker then I bet!

I hope that cover thing works. Thank goodness the weather is cooperating.

Kathy

They have been gathering human hair from barber & beauty salons as fast as they can. One pantyhose leg full of hair can mop up 50 gallons of oil!! Amazing. News said they had gathered 400,000 lb. of hair. If that is right that is a lot of hair. Now Tenn. & Ky & another state have been hit by flooding. Not a good spring for lot of folks!!Jan

God Bless all those who have have been affected so tragically losing family members. Maybe they should get NASA working on a solution to these problems, they have scientists who can send astronauts into space perhaps it would be better that they work on alternative energy than oil. But a lot of products are made using oil especially plastic. Interesting about hair.
Nanagrandma

they've had some failures trying to contain the leaks. a few days ago the paper said over 3.5 MILLION gallons of oil has leaked already...who knows how much has leaked since. there's been dead dolphins washing up, turtles, bait fish...you can smell the oil in the air. and now the winds are south, which will have a huge effect on the oil reaching the beaches now. a lot of locals are training for the clean-up, they said on the news they'd hire locals first; most are fishermen. there have been tar balls washing up on the islands. i hope to take some photographs of white sand tomorrow when we go to the dr's office next to the beach. so far no beaches or piers have been closed, let them fish while they can. Twin made some shrimp gumbo before the prices start climbing. the eco system will be rocked by this disaster, not to mention the effects on the economy here and beyond.
all that oil.....and they keep capping it off and drilling new ones, capping them off, etc and buying oil somewhere else...
British Petroleum and the other companies need to get on the ball. i've seen educational programs where they've shown products that soak up the oil for crisis like this..where are those things? oh and they've shipped thousands of bottles of Dawn here for clean-up help with the water fowl and other clean-ups. thanks to the makers of Dawn... Proctor & Gamble, who donated that.

http://www.dawn-dish.com/en_US/savingwildlife.do

here's a link to my local paper if you'd like to see what's really going on on one of the beaches it will hit. we have a 26 mile long beach here on the mississippi gulf..the gulf of mexico.
kudzu

Here is a link that might be useful: local newspaper

Thanks for update kudzu! I heard on news this morning that it was heading to coast so that will just make matters worse, so sad these big companies don't have good safeguards in place on these wells. The poor animals & people who make a living from the products of the ocean & really everyone down there is in trouble if you are smelling it.Less tourists,less boating, less activity as no one wants to be in it, doubt AC gets smell out of house either. Man is sure good at making a mess of things sometimes!! Very sad!! Jan

Cherry I feel sick just thinking about it. This will effect all of us ultimately, but you are on the "front line" for sure.
Kathy

I knew it would get to Kudzu's beaches before mine. We still don't have any on our beach so far, but I know it's coming! I hate it! I have tired to ignore it, but that doesn't work!!!! I went out to eat a mullet dinner on Friday, because who knows when it will start to affect the fish.
We may not have some kinds of fish for a long time.
Kudzu said it well!!!

Tar balls found south of us and I live on the Esat coast of Florida.
DISGUSTING.
Lets gather them all and send them to certain POLITICIANS who think drilling offshore of environmentally sensitive areas is ok.
Im with you NONA. Last night I had my last meal of coconut shrimp for awhile. I wonder how soon they are going to change the menus

a really bad thing....the oil is in the marshes now. and it's all syrup-y according to the papers. and the paper is saying it's much much worse than anticipated. it's got that golden brown color, like cane syrup-or molasses, and is sticking to anything in it's path. i'm just waiting to see what the waves bring in to the beach. you know if you give it to the ocean, it gives it back. meaning it all washes back to shore. last week-end my sons friends gigged flounder, seems the flounder were abundant out front because there were maybe 100 people out with lanterns and gigs, you probably could have just reached down and picked them up. so, we had some fried flounder(uh, and tacos and burritos because my daughter has weird cravings!)....maybe our last seafood meal. the shrimp were too small when they opened the season early...
kudzu

BP sets up staging area on DeBuys Road

A North Carolina company, Hepco, began filling a major staging area between Biloxi and Gulfport on DeBuys Road on Thursday afternoon, packing in 60 to 70 medium-sized tanker and vacuum trucks, three large ones, dozens of boats and a swarm of workers.
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Federal officials say 189 dead sea turtles, birds and other animals have been found along Gulf of Mexico coastlines since a massive oil spill started last month. The total includes 154 sea turtles, primarily the endangered KempÂs ridley variety, 12 dolphins and 23 birds. What they donÂt know is how many were killed by oil or chemical dispersants. Acting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Rowan Gould says the spillÂs effects could be felt for decades and may never be fully known because so many affected creatures live far offshore.

Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/2010/05/18/2191533/day-29-189-dead-animals-have-been.html#ixzz0oblKywhU
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BP delays attempt to stop Gulf oil by shooting mud

It will be at least Tuesday before engineers can shoot mud into a blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, BP said Friday in yet another delay in the monthlong effort to stop the oil that is now washing into wetlands and onto at least one public beach.

Read more: http://www.sunherald.com/oilspill/#ixzz0oblkBMjb
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copied from my local paper this evening
kudzu

Just saw today that Kudzu's area has been started getting oil on the barrier islands.
40 million gallons of oil in the Gulf now, and still flowing. Makes me sick to think about it.....

my nephew and my niece's husband are working oil clean-up now. you know they could stop the leak; they just don't want to have to re-drill if they don't have to. the clean-up and ALL attempts to cap it off, and all lawsuits they may and probably will wind up with..... are way cheaper than british petroleum having to re-drill. and "they" are already filing suits left and right. british petroleum has given harrison county(where i live) 7.5 million dollars for their TOURISM advertising, so harrison county can run ads saying "come on down, but don't go in the water"..........

It is now on the Pensacola beaches--local paper...

WWW.pnj.com