A few days ago, it was discovered that someone had brazenly vandalized the Houston Street BP gas station sign with black paint. Now BP has to go through the hassle of sending the station's owner a new sign, when they could be focusing on stopping the oil leak. The owner of the station, which was the site of a big demonstration Friday night, spoke with the Daily News but refused to be identified. "They don't understand that they're not hitting BP, they're hitting an independent business man," said the big oil sympathizer, who added, "The contract we signed (with BP) was several years before the oil spill." Whatever, that's like saying you JOINED THE SS before HITLER invaded POLAND.

Meanwhile, BP is moving forward with Plan... E? It involves lowering a smaller containment dome than the one they tried first, and pumping methanol and heated water to try and stop hydrates (icelike crystals of gas and water) from forming and blocking the oil from escaping, which is what went wrong last time. But before they can lower the cap, they're working on cutting the riser pipe at the ruptured well. During the second cut today, the diamond wire blade got stuck, and Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen has told reporters that BP "will attempt to work the blade out of the pipe or possibly lower a second saw down to the pipe." Oh, and one downside of cutting the pipe is that it will start leaking 20% more oil.

If that doesn't work, there's always Hollywood. BP previously turned to Kevin Costner for salvation, but step aside Postman, James Cameron is on the case. The director was among a group of scientists and other experts who met with officials from the EPA yesterday for a brainstorming session on stopping the massive oil leak. Cameron has a lot of experience filming deep underwater, so we're guessing the spill cam will soon be coming to you live in Digital 3D. "James Cameron was in the room and knows many of the scientists and engineers who participated," an official at the meeting tells the Post.

In Washington, the Attorney General's office announced a criminal probe against BP, and Obama's press secretary Robert Gibbs says his normally unflappable boss is "enraged at the time that it’s taken" to stop the leak. "I’ve seen rage from him," Gibbs told reporters, adding that the White House did not think BP "was forthcoming on what the impact would be of cutting the riser off." To drive the point home, the Daily News has compiled an infuriating list of comments made by BP CEO Tony Hayward since the leak started. Like this boner, made on May 18th: "The environmental impact of this disaster is likely to be very, very modest."