I have to drop a short one in here on the story from Saturday's Washington Post revealing that the Smithsonian Institution was lined up to take a $5 million dollar donation from the American Petroleum Institute (Exxon's the biggest member by far) to do a major new exhibit on the world's oceans at the Museum of Natural History...

The grant is stalled for now because a couple members of the Smithsonian's Board of Regents, Senator Patrick Leahy and (oil man) Roger Sant raised concerns.  Broad sweeping irony and  outrage aside, one can imagine the snickers and high-fives inside the API mothership in late August when the project was approved..."What!! They fell for it! Holy crap! 

And what loser at Smithsonian sealed this deal and thought it was a GOOD idea? Where is Captain Hazelwood working these days anyway?

The donation is on the rocks for now...it could have sunk the fine Smithsonian's credibility.