Also see: Science, engineering teams assessing BP well and

BP relief well needs to be finished, U.S. says

After a day-long back and forth on this, it appears that they will complete the relief well.

Chief Concedes Drilling Regulator Relied on Industry

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704407804575425971920279034.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

7 lessons from the oil spill

http://www.htrnews.com/article/20100810/MAN06/8100430/Donna-Brazile-Commentary-7-lessons-from-the-oil-spill

1. Unregulated or loosely regulated international mega-corporations threaten our democracy. 2. Addictions destroy. 3. We don't know as much as we think we do. 4. Our government should be at work before, during and after a disaster. 5. Politicians are human, for better or for worse. 6. The Endless News Cycle is a Noise Machine. 7. The Gulf Coast matters.

Louisiana Shrimp and Petroleum Festival

http://www.shrimp-petrofest.org/

This is not a joke. Also see an article about this.

WILDLIFE, HUMAN AND ECOSYSTEM IMPACTS

Officials deny dispersant use, residents beg to differ

http://www.thedestinlog.com/news/residents-14872-multiple-differ.html

“Okaloosa Island resident Joseph Yerkes, who had been employed by BP as a VOO operator, wrote in a letter that he distributed at Tuesday night’s meeting that he had “witnessed and reported” suspicious activity over the Gulf of Mexico on July 30. Yerkes, who was sitting on the back porch of his third floor condo about 1:30 p.m., wrote that he witnessed a military C-130 “flying from the north to the south, dropping to low levels of elevation then obviously spraying or releasing an unknown substance from the rear of the plane.””