SoLa's mix of offshore men, fishermen, and eco-activists makes offshore drilling a touchy topic. Opinions aside, recent reports show that new drilling is decidedly down. St. Tammany is all over a new report from the Gulf Permit Index, and the numbers are not (or are, depending on your view) encouraging.

Deepwater permits have dropped from 5.8 a month to 5 a month issued, a 14% decrease. Shallow water permits have dropped from 7.1 to 6 issued monthly. In addition, shallow water permits which historically averaged 61 days to approve, now average 110. The 74.3% average approval rate has now fallen to 34% 

Do y'all still have a stack of decades old National Geographic mags laying around? You never know when photos of exotic lands, endangered wildlife, and tribal life might come in handy! However, this month, we are those strange subjects under the lens as NatGeo rolls out an oil spill issue.

Maybe, it got lost in the summer heat, written off to the humidity? The one thing we are not talking to much about is not talking too much. Whether, we admit it or not, tension has been running high since Maccondo blew her top. Cheryl Wagner tackles the unspoken in an almost-great article.

Sniffing sardines aside, we have to assume that The Powers That Be have been doing some serious checking up on the seafood being brought out of the Gulf. But so far nobody has been doing anything about the highly unknown chemicals used to attack the spill. I say unknown but of course they are known, to the people who invented them. The recipe used most extensively in the Gulf, the optimistically named Corexit, is kept secret under strict trade laws.

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From the department, of you-can-not-be-serious... A lawsuit has been filed against BP to stop the controlled burns in the Gulf because apparently, Sea Turtles are effectively corralled andf trapped by the booms then burned alive. We'd like to make some joke (turtle soup, blackened turtle?) but we are too busy smacking our heads against the nearest brick wall.

Riddle: What would make Morris Bart AND David Simon both happy? Susan Spicer (not represented by Bart :() has just filed a class action lawsuit against BP. The famed chef of Bayona, and Treme inspiration is gunning for the polluter citing income lost on account of the oilpill and consequent lack of seafood. You geaux, girl!

Is oil falling from the sky is that just the talk of that guy at the end of the bar with the denim jacket on, you know, that guy. The EPA says "no, impossibe," but others theorize that Corexit has caused a reaction making this all too real. CSM shows some convincing looking video. We miss the good ol' days when the worst that it rained, was men.

Presidential Candidate (& Part Time Governor) Bobby Jindal has filed an amicus brief in US District Court hoping to halt Obama's halt on drilling. Jindal basically contends that Gulf States must be included in decisions of this sort. The brief is entertaining, but hardly legally sound. NoDef's legal expert explains, "All the feds have to show is some rational relationship between the moratorium and the federal authority granted to the MMS and the feds win. Any argument re 'there is a better way of handling this,' or the economic harm, is wholly irrelevant."

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NoDef took a ride down to Houma to meet up with the US Coast Guard, for an overflight to see the Big Oozy up close and personal. Our expedition revealed the extent of the spill, damage, and recovery efforts.