Remember the Alamo? Titans? Oil Spill?

How quickly we NIMBY Americans forget! Now that autumn is here, our thoughts turn to pumpkins, and festivals, and football; away from all vestiges of a summer past and forgotten!

Including the largest man-made accidental disaster the world has ever known!

BP's website doesn't address the spill on it home page any longer; they are more focused on their next opportunity to drill, baby, drill! The media talks more about Kim Kardashian's hemlines than they do about the devastation. Yet, for thousands of Gulf Coast workers, life is still in turmoil, and futures are fuzzy and unknown!

Sure, BP maintains that they will "do whatever it takes to make it right". Really, BP? Define "right". Is it "right" to refuse to allow cleanup workers to wear respiratory equipment they provide for themselves, because photos of people wearing such equipment appear "unseemly" in the national media. Is it "right" to spend your efforts sifting through sand to remove tiny tarballs from the beach, while you buy time to allow millions of gallons of oily sludge to settle out of sight to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. Is it "right" to spend more time and money in court protecting your bonuses than you spend in the Gulf cleaning up the mess you made?

Oil is completely inert- it does not break down, decay, or disperse. The chemical "dispersant" BP dumped into the waters doesn't "disperse" anything- it simply encapsulate drops of oil, making it heavier than water so it sinks to the ocean floor. There, the oil will recollect at the surface, and slowly entrench itself into the muddy bottom of the Gulf, where it will permanently poison the underwater fields where seaweeds grew to feed the plankton and keep the ocean fresh. With no plankton, there will be no Gulf shrimp. The oyster beds will be permanently marked with oil, and even if the invertebrate inside the shell were pure, the presence of oil on the outside of the shell renders the seafood inside unusable- there's no way to get to the inside without contaminating it with oil from the outside.

21 years after the Exxon Valdez disaster, sportsmen and explorers in Alaska still routinely find pockets of oil that have been trapped in the water and ground near the site. And remember: the Valdez disaster was finite- we know exactly how much oil was in that ship, so we know exactly how much it leaked. We also know that BP lied, time and time again, about the amount of oil the blown out well was emitting! Their own containment ships were filling faster than their capacity allowed, yet time and again the media repeated BP's estimates of the damage as the gospel truth.

Never forget, people! Never! The humanity affected by this debacle will never be allowed to! We mustn't forget it, either ! There are lessons to be learned!

Now THIS is Juicy!

Check out this article on The Weekly Standard about a young engineer, Oberon Houston who bailed from BP out of fear for his life!

Beyond Pathetic

BP’s Gulf disaster was no surprise to those who understood the corporate culture.

BY ANDREW B. WILSON

June 28, 2010, Vol. 15, No. 39

Some of the more notable quotes:

BP admitted breaking health and safety laws by failing to guard against corrosion on the ruptured pipe that allowed the gas to escape. It was fined $290,000.

In looking back over the last few years at BP, Houston was distressed at the way that corporate downsizing exercises seemed to target the best and most seasoned engineers. He was further distressed that BP had slashed the maintenance budget for the vast and aged Forties Alpha platform to a dangerous, even reckless extent, providing the platform’s operating engineers with less than 80 percent of the money they considered necessary to ensure the rig’s safety.

To put it even more bluntly, BP was taking a don’t-sweat-the-big-stuff attitude toward safety. Others noticed the same thing. Robert Bea, a professor of engineering at the University of California, Berkeley, and a well-known expert on catastrophes involving complex systems, reached the same conclusion based on his own association with BP in 2002 and 2003

BP worried a lot about personal safety—slips, trips, and falls—high frequency, low consequence accidents. They did not worry as much (at all) about the low frequency, high consequence accidents—the real disasters.

BP had a major explosion at its Texas City refinery that left 15 people dead and more than 170 injured. Again, BP admitted breaking rules. This time it did not get off so lightly: It was hit with $137 million in fines—the heaviest workplace safety fines in U.S. history.

Miss Ginger remembers the Texas City disaster, although she did not remember that it was BP. This article was exactly what she needed to help her make the decision: she ditched the stock this morning!

How Can I Help?

Several readers have commented that they would like to help with the Gulf Oil Spill. The best way we can all help right now is to support the non-profit organizations that are out there protecting wildlife and helping to hold BP accountable for the damage they have done to the wetlands. While BP SHOULD pay for every penny of the damage, we know they will not, and the birds and wildlife don't have time to stand in line at a "claim center" waiting to be "bought out" in an attempt to avoid future lawsuits. Luckily, there are 2 organizations out there that have the interests of the wildlife at heart, and Miss Ginger knows them both to be reputable, well-run organizations.

The first is the Audubon Society, a long-standing organization dedicated to preserving the wildlife depicted in the works of

nature artist John James Audubon. If there were ever a group of people who know about the birds of Louisiana, it's Audubon!

Another great group is The Nature Conservancy, whose name sort of says it all. Long before the spill they were actively working to protect Louisiana's wetlands from damage and neglect, so you can bet they are hard at work today doing everything they can to minimize the impact of this disaster on the natural habitat in the marshes and bayous!

I'm sure there are many other great organizations out there, but Miss G knows of these personally and knows them to be venerable and trustworthy. Please support them as your heart sees fit! And if anyone knows of any other groups, drop Miss G a line and she will check them out!

Oh, the Irony!!

Miss G is not big on money. She thinks it's a tacky detail, really, and she prefers not to think about it or handle it. A proper queen doesn't handle cash, and money, and all that stuff. Do you think QEII keeps a few pounds in her purse to tip the cabbie, or a quid in case she decides she wants to pick up a six pack on the way home?! Hell no! She claims what she wants, and her peeps follow behind and discreetly settle up!

The closest Miss G can come is a credit card, but for her it works pretty much the same way. For 28 days she is

the Queen of the Fucking Universe, and 2 days a month she has

to come down to Earth and make Boy Ginger pay the bills! On just such a day recently, as Boy G dug around in the bottom of the money market account to see if enough had collected up there to pay the car note, he made a shocking realization:

Miss Ginger fucking owns stock in British Petroleum!

So, as she is upstairs trying to scrub the vileness off of her silken body, Boy G is left with the quandary of what the hell to do about this!

First: there are the financial considerations. She inherited the stock from Momma and Daddy G, and the basis is not that far

from where it's trading now. Does Miss G ditch it while it still has value, and get out before BP fails and declares bankruptcy, leaving Miss G and thousands of British retirees penniless (or penceless, I guess) in their old age? Or does she hang on to it, hoping that in the long run, BP will emerge as a stronger company and the stock

will increase further in value?

Next, there are the logic choices. Bubba Artie always told Miss G that an investment in a well-managed company would always prove to be sound if one held it long enough, and if the management team was solid. Trouble is, it is now clear that BP is run by a bunch of greedy, corner-cutting fucktards who put immediate profitability above responsible practices. Miss G is not feeling that BP is winning Artie's vote on this one.

And finally, there's the whole moral dilemma. I mean, these people fucked with pelicans!! Momma G loved the shore birds of the Gulf Coast almost as much as she loved her own kids!

They were one of her favorite subjects to needlepoint and embroider, and Miss G still owns many beautiful tapestries that Momma G created to showcase these majestic creatures. She would be SO conflicted to know that a company in which she owned stock had caused such immeasurable destruction and irreversible damage!

It's been suggested that BP will start to buy up its own stock to buoy it's price in a sinking market, and Miss G knows they are a billions of dollar kind of company, but she also knows the pricetag for the cleanup and restoration are going to be ginourmous! Personally, if I were Governor of Louisiana, I would not rest until BP had paid to soap down every bush, reed, and crawfish along every inch of the Louisiana coast! That would be after requiring them to repair all the fishing grounds, rebuild the equipment ruined by the oil, and redeem all of the restaurant owners and fishmongers who went bankrupt while their livelihood was destroyed. I'm not convinced that even a company as big a BP has deep enough pockets to buy off the Cajuns of south Louisiana! They are known for their joie di vivre and their party spirit, but just piss one off and see how soon you are forgiven. I shudder to think of the number of Tony Hayward voodoo dolls inhabiting the bayous and swamps right now!

So, whaddya think, dear readers? Hang on to the stock, and hope for the best, or ditch it now, and head to Vegas with Bubba John for the 4th of July in style?

Our Favorite Blogger is Back...

And is making a "guest appearance" in Miss Ginger's comments section!

Anonymous said...

About time the American press got the issues into perspective. As ever you rely upon vengenace and blame as the knee jerk reaction. Having a day off is perfectly normal even for this guy. Use your brain and consider what your President is doing to resolve this crisis. He is the one nicely diverting the blame on this guy and not himself and his speed of reaction. America lives for oil and dragged the rest of us into the Iraq war over it so get used to a little oil on your beaches - bad things happen - even to Americans!

Miss Ginger is so honored that "Anonymous" took time to comment on her blog! I mean, this busy blogger must read MILLIONS of blogs daily, finding time to leave his eloquent and highly-credible opinions on blogs the world over!

As to his comment on my post about Tony Hayward's fucktard response to the Gulf Oil crisis, he decided to swing a tennis racquet at President Obama, blaming him for not resolving the crisis.

So Anon, since you are clearly from "over the pond" somewhere, Miss Ginger is going to give you a little lesson in American Civics. It's a class we're taught in about the 9th grade. I don't think it exists in socialist countries.

In America, we elect Presidents in a system we call "legislation by representation". We elect them to lead the executive branch of a 3-point system, which also includes a legislative system and a judicial system. The 3 operate in harmony to ensure we have laws in place that represent the needs and desires of our people, and to make sure those laws are followed.

Our corporate laws are based in a system of "free enterprise", in which individuals and corporations are allowed to conduct their affairs to capitalize on the economic principals of supply and demand. They are allowed, within the confines of the law, to create as much product as they wish. Fiscal responsibility dictates that they should be able to sell that product at a profit. And our benevolent society even allows foreign interests to operate in our country, as long as they do so within our laws.

Nowhere in our constitution does it say that the President is expected to step in and run companies when those companies are unable to manage themselves. In our free enterprise society, companies who are not managed well enough to survive will eventually be stomped out by stronger competitors, as will be the case with BP. It's not the President's job to clean up BP's mess. It's his job to make sure BP does it!

What would be the outcome if this had happened to a rig belonging to Exxon, or Shell, or another huge multi-national oil company? We don't know, because they have managed to operate deep water rigs all this time with no major mishap. Exxon's closest call, the Valdez spill in Alaska, was a completely different kind of event, and as unfortunate as it was, Exxon responded responsibly, managed the crisis, and moved forward as a company with stronger procedures and better policies over all.

BP, on the other hand, made several grave decisions that caused the disaster. Operating a deep water well without sufficiently testing the bore for strength and consistently was foolish, greedy, and negligent. And they made this decision in the interest of economics. There are methods and procedures that are typically used, nay, REQUIRED by most drillers, including BP, to ensure that the drill string is strong enough to support the force of the oil. Yet officials at BP knowingly and willingly allowed the rig to be completed without such test, because they were delinquent on the lease contract for the drill ship and were being fined daily for the overage. Foreigners love to use the phrase "American Corporate Greed", but clearly that's not a fault restricted to America.

Obama's job, as President, will be to hold BP accountable for the mess. He can provide whatever resources our Government owns to deal with the mess, but really, we're a nation, not an oil company. I'm not sure what we have that BP would need. And I am sure that the taxpayers of our nation do not want our tax dollars going to clean up the mess that an irresponsible corporate citizen made in our waters.

As Commander in Chief, it will also be Obama's job to ensure that our judicial branch protects the rights of BP, Halliburton, and the many other companies that would have been operating on that rig, in addition to protecting the rights of all citizens affected. And, he will work through the legislative branch to ensure our laws react to this disaster, firming up loopholes and placing safeguard laws to ensure it doesn't happen again. Our President will be busy managing this mess for years, and years, and years. It will cost us BILLIONS to react to this spill. And it's effects will torment us through the terms of many, many Presidents!

I'm sure Tony Hayward is not a bad guy. Perhaps he's a quite likable fellow, and I'm sure he and the fellas at the yacht club will have a few good laughs over this when it's all over. But meanwhile, he has the eyes of the world watching his every move, and I think the decision to attend a public event centered around boating and water was particularly insensitive, foolhardy, and selfish. Does he deserve rest? Absolutely. Can he relax? Perhaps, but I certainly would not be able if I were in his position. Should he attend public events? I leave that for my readers and the world to decide.

That's the great thing about blogs, Anon- they are a chance to share opnions! I shared mine, you shared yours, and now I can't wait to see what my readers and commenters have to say!

What a FUCKING ASSHOLE!!!

The boat on the far left is called "Bob". "Bob" is racing around the Isle of Wight in one of England's most prestigious "hoity toity" regattas. Guess who "Bob" belongs to. Here's a hint: his owner is there to cheer him on!

That would be Tony Hayward, the pissy little red-cheeked British bitch that runs BP's North American operation. While the residents of coastal Louisiana are working 12-hours day, 7-day workweeks trying to sop up oil from their fishing grounds, Tony is "on holiday" in England enjoying the regatta with his "chums" from "uni"! What a motherfucker! He has been quoted as saying "I will be glad when the oil stops flowing so I can get my life back." Really, Tony? Really? You have the unmitigated gall to say that? I wonder if the 7 dead people feel that way? Bet they do!

I thought I hated BP, but maybe I really just hate him.

He is despicable! It's the only word to describe him!

With Her Own Eyes!

Miss Ginger saw the oil spill today with her own eyes, and she must say, it's much worse than BP wants us to think!

Today Miss G flew on a regional jet from Lafayette, La. back to Houston. They typically take off to the south, go our over the Gulf just past the shore, hug the shore all the way to Galveston, and then come up across Galveston Bay to the airport. Today was no different, it was a clear day, and Miss G had a window seat.

Here is the graphic from BP's Website that shows what they claim to be the extent of the spill. Based on this map, one would gather that the effect of the spill don't go any farther west than somewhere south of Cocodrie. The inset covers up the airport where Miss G departed, but she drew the pink arrow to show the path of her flight, considerably west of where the slick is marked on BP's map.

Miss G wasn't expecting to see the spill, based on the maps she has been seeing. And what she saw was by no means the main body of the spill, which in some ways worries her even more! There were 2 formations that she saw repeatedly. The first were large blobs or orange oil, in clusters of varying density and frequency. At first, it was hard for her to judge their size, but then, after she saw a few ships near them, she was able to judge that the blobs were probably

anywhere from a quarter of a mile to a mile in diameter, on average. She saw thousands of these mile sized blobs! The farther west she traveled, the smaller and less frequent she became. They were definitely oil- orange, shiny oil. She also so long, long stripes of oil, where it appeared to have gotten caught in a tide or current and carried and stretched for miles! They weren't very wide, but the extended past the horizon!

Miss G found this photo on the internet, and it's exactly what the oil looked like from above!

Miss G may just cry herself to sleep tonight!

Voracious Appetite or Coporate Greed?

A favorite reader commented on a recent post that perhaps we as a society are to blame for the recent disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. His point was that by providing a demand for petroleum products, we were in fact "enabling" the oil companies to drill riskier and more dangerous wells to keep up with our voracious demand (not his words.) He even suggested that perhaps the disaster was caused because we all drive our cars to work or otherwise use energy unnecessarily, and should own part of the blame.

Miss G begs to differ, on a couple of key points. First, the oil spill was caused by corporate and individual greed: specific people making bad decisions in the interest of saving time and money. Seconly, industrial petroleum consumption is 3x's larger than the amount used to transport the finished product. And residential energy usage is just a fraction still of that.

So, the bulk of the petroleum used goes into the production of industrial and consumer product. A 3rd less than that is used to move the petroleum to the factory, and the product away from the factory upon completion. And a small amount is used by us to drive to work to earn the money to buy the product, and to drive to the mall to make the the actual purchase.

So, even if we all left our cars home and walked to work, we really wouldn't make a dent in the demand for petroleum!

If we really wanted to reduce the demand, we could stop using the products that are made from petroleum. We could go back to flammable wood shingles versus composite roofing, if we are willing to assume the risk of fire. We could go back to dirt floors vs. olefin carpeting. Perhaps doctors could go back to glass instruments and autoclaves vs. the sterile plastic implements that prevent infection and contamination today. The computer upon which you read this could be made of metal, and weigh 4 to 5 times what it weighs now!

Yes, there are things we can do as a society to reduce our dependence upon petroleum products, but as individuals we are not going to move the mark appreciably. The answer is to develop non-petroleum forms of plastics that can be made from renewable plant materials. We can develop more earth friendly building materials that are strong, reliable, and long-lasting. And we can find ways to make the products that do use petroleum in more efficient ways that use less oil and more ingenuity! And we can fuel our ever growing need for electricity by using fewer oil and gas fueled plants, and more hydroelectric, solar, and wind power.

But to make this happen will require leadership! We must demand, through our representatives in Washington, that companies be rewarded for developing and employing green technology, and fined for using retro technology that uses more oil just because it is the most cost effective. We must encourage initiatives to adopt green technology, and work to make it more economically feasible.

My own employer is a perfect example. We own over 800 facilities across America that use enormous amounts of electricity each day to run lighting, HVAC, and escalators. Most of the facilities have flat roofs with areas measuring in excess of 100,000 square feet: a perfect location to install a solar array! Yet, of the 40-something states where we do business, there are only 2 where it makes economic sense for us to do it, due to tax concessions and other state incentives. Elsewhere, it is far less expensive to buy power from the grid than to install, manage, and maintain these Earth-friendly systems! Something is wrong here!!

GingerSnaps! We have to rally around the cause! We need leadership to help society move in the right direction to reduce our dependance on fossil fuels! Are we voting for the right leaders when enter the booths on election day?

As If We Didn't Already Have Enough Reasons to Hate BP...

..today the House Energy and Commerce Committee released documents that show at least 5 specific decisions made by specific individuals at BP that indicate that officials took known shortcuts and took known risks to hasten the drilling process. Since 7 people died, Judge Ginger is going to call that negligent homicide. And don't even get her started on the animal cruelty charges!

Drillships like the Deepwater Horizon are leased by oil companies like BP to drill the hole that

becomes an oil well. Once the drilling is complete and the hole is lined with cement pipe, the drill ship moves on to the next oil company and its next project. Of course, the ship owner wants to keep his ship operating all of the time, and wants to keep his customers happy, so there are stiff fines built into the leases if the oil company doesn't complete its well on time and release the ship to move on to its next project.

You guessed it! BP was 43 days late at the time of the explosion, facing fines of $500,000 per day!

To complete an oil well, the hole is lined with a pipe called a casing, and the space between the inside of the hole and the outside of the casing is cemented into place to form an even thicker

conduit to withstand the pressure of the well. A piece called aptly, a "centralizer", holds the casing into the center of the hole at intervals along it's length to ensure an even gap between the hole and the casing. This way, when cement is pumped in it creates a strong, event surrounding to support the casing.

Halliburton, the well completion contractor hired by BP to complete the well, suggested using 21 centralizers to ensure the pipe was straight and centered in the bore. In the first of many bad decisions, the brain trust a BP directed the crew to use only 6, to save the time it would take to install Halliburton's recommended number.

Not only were they negligent, they were stupid! The entire decision process is documented in an email trail ending with:

"Who cares, it's done, end of story, will probably be fine."

Famous last words! I would suggest, dear jurors, that this was the smoking gun!

On top of that, a completed well is typically tested in a procedure called a "cement bond test" to ensure the well is strong and well-finished. A team from Schlumberger, a firm that would conduct such a test, was on board the ship, but was told BP had decided to forego the test in the interest of time. In fact, the team from Schlumberger was ferried ashore on the next regularly scheduled helicopter run by BP, just 12 hours before the rig exploded!

There were 3 other bad decisions detailed in the gist of the report, but Judge Ginger has decided to convict based on the evidence presented above. And she has the perfect sentence for the sorry-ass sons-of-bitches that made those terrible decisions:

Burn, baby! Burn!

Miss Ginger Should Count Her Blessings?

Miss Ginger tried VERY hard to be a "glass half full" kind of person. It isn't always easy. Especially lately!

She really should count her blessings that she was raised in a state renowned for its abundance of fresh, delicious seafood. That Momma and Daddy Ginger taught her to adore and cherish these treasures, and helped her create delicious memories around them! And that she has always maintained her connection and her proximity to her Louisiana homeland.

She should count her blessings that she knows the satisfying experience of sitting down to an ice cold beer and a dozen fresh oysters, harvested the same day and chilled before serving on a bed of crushed ice. It's an experience she will always cherish, and one many people may never have the chance to enjoy!

The oyster industry in Louisiana is shutting down, and with it, over 100 years of tradition, heritage, and pride go with it.

P&J Oyster Company has been supplying oysters to the bars and restaurants of the French Quarter for over 134 years. The family-owned business today reported to its employees that after Thursday, there would be no more oysters for them to shuck. The boats aren't coming in, because fishing has been shut down due to the oil spill. No on knows when they will open again. If ever.

P&J is just one of hundreds of businesses in the state that will be forced to shut down due to BP's mess in the Gulf. The oystermen who harvest them, the shuckers who shuck them, and the truck drivers who deliver them are just a part of the thousands that will lose their livelihood. There are MANY restaurants that special in fresh oysters and oyster dishes- without them, they will be "just another restaurant", if they are even equipped to alter their menu! It's so, so, so sad. It makes Miss Ginger worry for institutions like Acme and Felixes that have been serving oysters in the Quarter for over 100 years!!

This manmade disaster may have more impact on the culture of the Quarter than any hurricane ever has or could. It's just so sad. So sad and uncalled for!!

Drilling will return to the Gulf, Miss G has no doubt.

Oyster harvesting? Maybe not.

Keep the Gulf oyster in your prayers! It's worth saving!

Here's One That Will Make your Blood Boil!

Those industrious folks from the Netherlands, who created their own homelands out of seawater, have offered to provide ships, equipment, and expertise to help clean up the oil spill in the Gulf. As a country built on the sea, these folks know a thing or two about water. And as the home of Royal Dutch Shell, they also know a thing or two about oil. They offered to send a flotilla of skimming ships and a navy of people who know how to use the technology to skim the oil from the Gulf, separate the oil from seawater, and return the clean water back to the ocean.

But guess what Mr. Everything's Cool told them: "Thanks, but no thanks! We'll hold BP accountable for this!" And guess what the brain trust at BP told them: "Thanks, little chap, but we've got things under control!"

So meanwhile, as God knows how many millions of gallons of oil are gushing into the water, ships that can process 5 million gallons of seawater per day, removing 20,000 tons of sludge at the same time, sit idle in the Netherlands.

Now mind you: this offer didn't come yesterday! This offer came 3 days after the explosion! All this time, those ships could have been processing the water and keeping the spill to a controllable mass!

Sure, there are some legal concerns with the Jones Act- but I'm pretty sure the Commander in Chief could find at least a temporary solution to allow these foreign ships to operate in American waters. And cheap-ass BP didn't even ASK the price- the just assumed they'd be charged out the ass for it!

God DAMN this shit just pisses me off more and more every day!!!!

Isn't it Ironic? (and yeah, I really do think...)

How ironic is it that around the same time that BP finally manages to do SOMETHING semi-successful to stop the surge of oil into the Gulf, the oil itself makes its most dramatically damaging landfall yet, on the snowy white beaches of Pensacola, Florida?

And to make it the timing even more reprehensible, it was the same weekend that Jimmy Buffet planned to open his first

Margaritaville Hotel in Pensacola! Dead oysters, oily birds, fucked up beaches, and thousands of

people out of work! How much worse can this get?

And just about the time public opinion of BP couldn't get any lower, this image starts to circulate the interwebz! WTF?! Reap what ye shall sow!!

But it's not all bad news!! Miss Ginger's RoundUp went on as planned, and Miss G got to wear this FABULOUS sparkling cowgirl look designed and created by "Momma" Weldon!

She and her FABULOUSLY handsome dancers started the show with a western boogie that got the crowd shakin'!

After Miss G and the boys, one of Miss Ginger's Best Sisters (and Miss Mint Julep 2006) Aurora Briar, took to this stage in a Cravyn original pink and black number that knocked our socks off!!

Mona Lotta, the reigning Miss Mint Julep, rounded out the Julep returns in this dazzling cowgirl ensemble!

In addition to the returning Juleps, we also featured some aspiring Juleps, our candidates for Mint Julep 2010, including the incredibly hot and leather-clad Alex Stroud, and the adorable and bubbly Isabella Rose Mink!

What a great night was had as we raised $4,000 for Legacy Community Health Services! All in all, a pretty FABULOUS day!

So Now You've Pissed of the Chief!

Apparently Mister President is a GingerSnap! At least he and Miss G agree on one fundamental thing: the leadership at BP is a bunch of loser asshats!! (Not the President's exact words!)

But it's been reported that his calm, cool demeanor has been cast aside. He has vowed to be looking over their shoulder. He "wants to make sure they are paying for it!"

In another article, he was quoted as saying:

"What I don't want to hear is, when they're spending that kind of money on their shareholders and spending that kind of money on TV advertising, that they're nickel and diming fishermen or small business owners here in the Gulf who are having a hard time."

Obama said he's assigned federal officials to "look over BP's shoulder" to ensure claims are being processed quickly, fairly and that the company is not "lawyering up" when it comes to paying claims.

See, I think he read Miss G's blog, and then watched that YouTube clip, and it really got his dander up. Miss G is a shit stirrer like that, you know!!

So don't fuck with Miss Ginger, and don't fuck with her coastal home! She'll get the President on your ass, and it won't be Mr. Calm, Cool, Collected President! It will be an Angry Black Man and he'll set his sites on you!

Take that, Mr BP big-shot executive! Take that!

Miss Ginger Calls a BULLSHIT!!!

When Bubba Artie was alive and someone said something that was too much to be true, he would always exclaim: "I'm callin' a bullshit on that!"

Well, in Artie's honor, Miss Ginger is calling a bullshit on Tony Hayward's lame-ass attempt to protect BP's crumbling public image!

In his new TV ad, he somberly apologizes to the families affected by the spill, and assures the world that, at no cost to tax payers or the public, BP will "make it right."

Let's all say it together: BULLSHIT! You CAN'T possibly "make it right!"! You cannot replace the 7 human souls lost in the tragedy. You can't erase the anxiety of those insecure about the future of their coastal livelihoods. And you can't bring back the thousands of animals that will be killed as they suffer slow and painful deaths.

And as for not spending any public funds: BULLSHIT! The Audubon Society is publicly funded- who the hell do you think is washing all those birds? Proctor and Gamble is a publicly traded company- what do you think they wash those birds with? Dawn dishwashing liquid, donated by P&G as part of its pledge to help save wildlife! And the countless volunteers who are using their valuable time and money to wash birds, clean beaches, and lay booms- it's just mind boggling!

It's BULLSHIT, Tony, and you are a lying sack of shit! You've already disgraced yourself and your company! Shut the fuck up and don't make it worse!

Here it Comes...

.... and BP has not succeeded in the slightest to stop the flow of oil. Not only is the oil headed to the coast, but hurricane season is on it's way. It starts Tuesday, and of course, the Gulf Coast is among the high risk areas for a hurricane strike in any given year.

NOAA has even issued a "fact sheet" explaining what could happen if a hurricane came across the spill. Depending on how the storm tracks, massive amounts of oil could foul the wetlands anywhere from Texas to Florida.

What is it going to take to get the assholes at BP to stop that thing up? A Unified Command has been created to manage response to the spill, but where's the Unified Effort to stop the damn thing? Looks to me like we are standing around waiting for BP to clean up it's mess, but to Miss Ginger that makes about as much sense as waiting around for a baby to change it's own diaper!

The next Acme Product that the Wile E Coyotes at BP are going to try is a "Lower Marine Riser Package" which is coyotespeak for "huge-ass rubber plug". They are first going to cut the broken riser pipe off of the well-head, which makes the most sense of anything they have tried yet.

If that doesn't work, they may have to send Wile E down there to cut the riser himself. Then he could drop a giant boulder over the end of the pipe and the problem would be solved!

I certainly hope no one would consider pulling into a BP station for a fill-up after this disaster!

This Week in Gingerland!!

OMG so much going on, it may take Miss Ginger a week of posts to catch you all up!

Most importantly, BP has managed to insert a tube into the leaking pipe at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico to collect the fluids erupting uncontrollably from the Earth. Wonder where they got THAT idea?

Miss G spent Saturday at the tire store getting new tires for Veronique. Those low-profile tires, like most things Italian, sure are gorgeous, but also like most things Italian, are quite delicate!

Think about it- that last pair if Italian shoes you bought sure were pretty, but they lasted about a minute! Or take Franco here:
Sure, he's all rugged and beautiful on the outside, but you know he's a big ole momma's boy who cries at the opera! Miss Ginger is so facinated by this phenomena that she has planned a trip to Italy this summer to research it more for you! Stay tuned for those plans and more "Summer Travels with Miss Ginger!"

And closer to home on the fundraising front, Soiree Pelouse was this weekend, but Miss Ginger took a pass. It's not like her to skip a benefit party, especially one that benefits Legacy, but there was something about this one that bugged her. Long ago, for many years, there was a party in Houston called "The Garden Party" that took place every summer on a Sunday afternoon. Since it's demise, LOTS of different groups have organized various and sundry afternoon parties on Sunday, yet none have had the AUDACITY to claim a connection to Garden Party, until this one. It happens on a Sunday afternoon- that's about the only link it has!

Plus, hanging out with a bunch of people dressed as Oompa Loompas on a hot summer afternoon just did not seem like Miss G's idea of a good time. Color her jaded.

Instead, Miss G got some gardening done, spent some time with a dear drag sister who is distraught over the end of a 10 year relationship, and took a nap with the kitties. Good times!

Watch for more News from Gingerland this week as Miss G returns to NOLA, reviews a new kitchen appliance, and shops for clothes for her upcoming engagements!

No News is, Well, No News....

It's still leaking. BP is clearly woefully negligent. And now my friends in New Orleans are reporting that the whole city smells like diesel fuel. I guess Miss G will find out for herself next week. It's so, so sad.

Mr. Cushing has revealed that he tested positive for HGc, which is NOT a steroid. It is a compound frequently taken by steroid users between "cycles" to reverse the tesicular shrinkage caused by steroid use. That is SO much better. Miss Ginger is certain he is doing this out of consideration for her, just in case she decides she would enjoy a little "teabagging". Which she might, if Sarah Palin and her ilk had not ruined that word for the rest of us!!!

Ketchup...

Okay, quickly, before Miss G passes out from exhaustion, is a chance for you to catch up:

Tomorrow is the underwriter "Booze and Schmooze" that Miss G is hosting to (hopefully) convince folks to underwrite the ball this year. Her plan is to get them drunk the minute they hit the door and convince them to write a check while they still have some control of their motor skills. Wish me luck! While Celia's sister cleaned the house today (long story), Boy G cleaned the yard so Miss G could plant some pretty flowers. They completly skipped spring gardening this year and went straight to summer, selecting heat tolerant plants that won't burn up since it is already swealtering in Texas! Pictures later.

She's also been hard at work trying to get the first fundraiser of the year to come to life, and has finally set a date and a venue. That's a load off of her mind... the venue is the hardest part. After that, it's all smooth sailing!

In other news:

The box didn't work. Color Miss Ginger surprised. What's next? A giant shop vac outfitted with a humongous coffee filter to separate the oil from the water? Meanwhile, tar balls are washing up in Alabama. Believe it or not, Alabama actually just got grosser!

AND:

Mr. Cushing swears the illegal substance wasn't steroids. And Miss Ginger wants to believe him. She's even given him his key back. But, he's going to have to sleep in the guest room until she's sure. She can't be having a 265 lb. hunk of burning love going off on her in a 'roid rage with her busy schedule! She doesn't have time for such drama!

AND FINALLY:

Betty White on SNL! What a hoot! Miss G will be laughing about "Wizard of Ass" for a long, long time!