SFL Friday -- Mysteries of Love Edition!

Well it's almost that time, and as I gather my windsurfing essentials my mind lingers on the Gulf Oil disaster.

Question -- why is the media fixated on whether you can see oil on the beaches?

Given the historic volume of oil released, and the length of time the oil has been gushing, isn't it a reasonable assumption that the Gulf ecosystem will be severely impacted whether or not you can anecdotally spot surface oil off the shoreline?

Still, it's good to know we have assembled the right legal team:

The co-chairman of the group Gov. Crist created about a month ago to look out for the state's legal claims against BP and others was one of many lobbyists last year for the group that ambushed the Legislature with a bill to end the ban on oil drilling in state waters. Former Florida Attorney General Jim Smith also was a lobbyist for BP about a decade ago, and his son was a registered lobbyist in Tallahassee for BP last year."Hey, I'm a lawyer," Mr. Smith said in an interview Thursday, meaning that his work for the oil industry won't affect his work for the state going after the oil industry. "I'm not concerned about (a conflict)," as he leads the Oil Spill Legal Advisory Council.

"Hey, I'm a lawyer" -- well that settles it!

Don't lawyers run conflicts checks anymore?

Oh hail I'm outta here.

Before I rev up the van please remember to always dress appropriately for work, people have been writing about it for a long time, and Cameron Diaz reveals her beauty secret (hint hint -- it's also an effective diet).

Have a wet hot American weekend!

Expect No Mercy.

Does anyone have a handle on how much oil is flooding the Gulf right now?

I scoured the Herald articles today and they seem to be adopting uncritically the "official" 5000 barrels estimate, which equates to 210,000 gallons a day. (This means we will have surpassed the Exxon Valdez spill by mid-June if left unchecked.)

The NYT, however, is reporting potentially higher numbers:

BP told members of Congress the rate could be much, much higher:

In a closed-door briefing for members of Congress, a senior BP executive conceded Tuesday that the ruptured oil well could conceivably spill as much as 60,000 barrels a day of oil, more than 10 times the estimate of the current flow.

A barrel of crude oil contains roughly 42 gallons. In a follow-up story, the Times talked to a BP spokesman for more on the estimate:

"The rate could go up to that," Mr. Suttles of BP said, when asked to verify a report in The Times. "It's not the situation we have at this moment, but it's not impossible."

What are we doing about it? They're working on a "top-hat" maneuver that I admit got me a little bit excited:

the ``top hat'' will be warmed with hot water and injected with methanol....

Sounds intriguing but kids, don't try that at home.

In related news, Governor Crist has appointed former AGs Bob Butterworth and Jim Smith to head up a legal team, presumably to sue the pants off culpable parties:

Gov. Charlie Crist and Attorney General Bill McCollum announced Monday that the state is assembling a special legal team to give free legal counsel on the situation.

The team is to be led by former attorneys general Bob Butterworth, who led the state’s lawsuit against tobacco companies in the late 1990s, and Jim Smith, who was attorney general from 1979 to 1987.

“We would hope at the end of the day that there would be no litigation,” Butterworth snickered (oops!) said in a brief afternoon press conference. “But we have to be prepared.”

Speaking of Big Bill, the NYT picks up swlip's "existence tax" argument and looks at how McCollum forum-shopped so he was certain to draw a Republican-appointed judge (he drew Judge Vinson):

The state’s Northern District includes a courthouse in Tallahassee, six blocks from Mr. McCollum’s office. But Mr. McCollum instead filed the case 200 miles away in Pensacola, bypassing a Tallahassee judge who was named by President Bill Clinton and ensuring that the judge would be a Republican appointee.

Bob Norman: welcome to Broweird!

Finally, RIP Frank Frazetta.