The Gulf Oil Spill

You know, my Mom always told me that if I didn't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.  As a matter of fact this is something I firmly believe in and pass along to my own children, but there really isn't anything nice to say about this mess in the Gulf and how it is being handled.  I am not one to watch much news anyway, but lately the blips of news coverage that I have caught about this story disturb me to the point that I must get a few words is about this environmental disaster of historic proportion.

I heard at the beginning of this mess that BP could have had an automatic shut off installed on this line but it was not cost effective, so therefore was not put on the line.  What?  I'm thinking that this multi-billion dollar clean-up effort is going to be much more than the cost of any auto-shut off valve.

Obviously as an animal lover, the thoughts and images of the animals that normally live and thrive in this region send shivers through my spine.  The effect that this spill will have on the people and businesses in that area make me literally heartsick. 

Okay, it also makes me mad.  What the hell happened here?  Why aren't they doing anything?  Why did it   take so damn long?  Well, I thought maybe I was the only one thinking that, so I was a little surprised to read this article from the Washington Post today when I was doing research for this post.  What surprised me about this article was how hard it was on the President.  It was refreshing to see actual journalism and reporting of the news at hand instead of "politics as usual".

I also found a good website that looks quite informative that I will be able to keep up on without having to watch the news. But this clip is what really struck home with me:

So the question from here, is what can we do to help?  Sitting at home in Bailey complaining does nothing.  Any ideas?  What are you all doing?  Aside from avoiding BP, I am at a loss here.