Legislators tap attorney general for spill claims~Bloomberg ~Another piece of legislation that would put Louisiana on record as requesting President Barack Obama to use all available resources -- including military forces and martial law, if needed -- to stop the spill will be heard by the committee.
Carville: La. needs justice now ~“I’m not going to let people be abandoned,” he said. “That’s not right and you know they’re going to do it if they get half a chance. That BP, you watch, they’re trying to slip out of this thing. They’re going to try every delay, every shyster thing that you can imagine. We’re going to hold them accountable in the civil law, and we’re going to hold them accountable in the criminal law.” “You’re watching the largest environmental disaster in the history of the United States right in your home state,” he said. “That’s the reality. That’s the world that’s being left to you.”
Obviously our President has a firm grasp of The Obvious "These are the tar balls that everyone's been talking about,'' he said. ~Editilla~ Mr President, umruh yea'yuh, they certainly weren't talkin'bout yours, or the obvious lack thereof. "Obviously, until we can stop the flow (of oil from the well) we've got problems.'' ~Editilla~ Get off your Obvious BP Dip Stick Mr President, our problems are not over if your padres somehow finally manage to stanch this gaping wound. Please Stop Trying To Managing Our Expectations. Our big problems haven't even begun OBVIOUSLY! "Obviously there's some precious wildlife out there.'' ~Editilla~ · · — · / · · — / — · · · / · — / · — · · · · — — — · · · / · · · — — — · · · / · · · — — — · · · BP bused in 100s of temp workers for Obama visit, state official says~Hat Tweet~ Cajun BoyviaJudyb1954 BP’s Murky Management of Information~From Louisiana’s tarred beaches to the silty scenes on the seabed a mile beneath the Gulf of Mexico, there have been repeated instances in which BP has tried to limit or delay the flow of information to the public on what is clearly now the biggest oil “spill” in United States history. Every time BP delays releasing information on its oil gusher and slick, the company’s credibility sinks a bit lower.
Jindal to Obama: "Don't Make Excuses for BP"~Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal called Friday's meeting with President Obama, "Good, direct, frank." However, he added the Gulf Coast disaster relief effort is in need of much more than talk now. "We've had a lot of great talks in the last month, with a lot of different people. Now we need action."
The BP logo contest ~Kevin Allman, Gambit ~The UK chapter of Greenpeace recently had a contest to redesign BP’s iconic green-sunflower logo to something a bit more … appropriate for the times. Dozens of entries, but here are a few we particularly liked. Turning anger into satiric art: how New Orleans can you get? The Gulf's silent environmental crisis
May 27th, 2010~News from United Commercial Fisherman’s Assn. Contact: Val P. Exnicios (504) 495-9666 or George Barisich (504) 439-2013 If you need help reaching these contacts, call C. Brylski (504) 460-1468 or H. Harper (504) 289-0499 Counsel for George Barisich, President of the United Commercial Fisherman’s Association, announced today in open court that an agreement has been made with BP in the attorney’s continuing efforts to add transparency and accountability to the claims process.
On behalf of the group, Attorney Val P. Exnicios presented the agreement, which stated: 1. Claimants with lawyers will not be treated any differently than those without; 2. BP will maintain the confidentiality of all claimants financial information; and 3. BP has agreed to hire more multi-lingual translators to process claims. The motion for court supervision, or alternatively to appoint a special master or special master over claims will be continued on June 4.
The Court also indicated that BP should cooperate with plaintiff’s counsel in determining whom to appoint as the independent mediator that BP announced yesterday would be overseeing claims-payment process for damages caused by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Mr. Barisich stated, “I am very pleased that my attorneys have been able to advance this case so rapidly.” On May 15, Plaintiff George Barisich, President of the United Commercial Fisherman’s Association, Inc., submitted a memorandum to the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Louisiana, in support of his motion to appoint a special master to provide oversight and implementation guidance for the claims processing program initiated by BP to provide emergency interim compensation for the damages caused by the ongoing oil spill. These documents are available at: www.gulfoildisasterrecovery.com
Alaskan offers Louisiana advice ~Amy Wold ~The Exxon Valdez spill occurred 21 years ago, but it still feels like yesterday, said Gunnar Knapp, professor of economics at the University of Alaska Anchorage Institute of Social and Economic Research. One lesson is that the oil spill in Alaska raised a number of opportunities and challenges for scientists, he said. Soon after the oil spill occurred, decision makers wanted answers to basic science questions that no one had been interested in funding before the spill, Knapp said. That meant some of that basic science still needed to be done. In addition, there is a lot of money at stake after an oil spill, so the conversations between scientists, that need to be done for good science, don’t happen, he said. “It’s shocking. You find people attacking you and your research because what you find is inconvenient,” Knapp said.
Jus'soz Ya'knowz....Louisiana Sinn Féin ~Hat Tip~KG
Top Kill Operation halted as BP Gimp'bucket Traitor Fey Admiral ThadThe Impaler Allen spins it as: 'a work in progress' ~Editilla gotta toll'ya~ It is past time to furlough this punk. Put him out to pasture, let him go work for British Petroleum as a punked former person or whatever. He is no longer a Person, he is a BP Spinner Bait. He does NOT have our country's best interest in mind, he is about to take a Job with BP. Don't let this fey coward Sell Louisiana Out to BP! As long as the President has this Bitch Punk on the payroll we cannot believe a word coming out of his office. I don't care what he says, how many trips he makes to Louisiana. Thad Allen needs to die an ignoble death, suck it up and go to hell. Get this forking BP Traitor out of the way. His word alone has bumped up BP shares 7% according to Marketplace. Bull Shit. He works for BP not US. Photo above right: Thad Allen acting like he has actual balls exiting the big pellipopter after he has sold this country to BP! How did this punk make it up the ladder to command our former heroes the US Coast Guard? Why is he working for BP? How much longer will we suffer his punk'ass bull shit for BP? Pouring muscato by a Monet... Oh SNAP!~Louisiana is DYING and there is nothing more important than this? We remember how Journalists handed us George Bush for 8 years after he stole the election in 2000. We remember how the 4th Estate Bowed Down when they stole the election and began setting up this BP Oil Fail. I don't see what else matters as we lose our Louisiana. I really can't understand this from Journalists. Get this story or go the fuck home and appease your lost souls!
Top Kill Success Reports by fey BPPR Cmdr Thad 'all hand' Allen CONTRADICTED ~Coast Guard Lt. Commander Tony Russell said Thursday reports that fey Admiral Thad BPPR Allen, who is overseeing the operation, had called the procedure a success were incorrect. He said Allen said that the flow of mud was stopping some of the oil and gas but had a ways to go before it proved successful ~LA TIMES~ Reporting from Houma, La. —Engineers have stopped the flow of oil and gas into the Gulf of Mexico from a gushing BP well, the federal government's top oil-spill commander, U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, said Thursday morning. ~WWL First News~"They've stopped the hydrocarbons from coming up," said National Incident Commander Thad Allen. (Listen too)(Does Thad work for BP yet or what?)
Coast Guard approves building one part of state barrier island plan at BP expense ~Corps approves more, but says state must pay for that part in typical Disaster Capitalists Fashion of Bastard Big Business Gimp Lackey Weirdo Horse Shit. Editilla Calls a Spade an Edge in our Forehead~ Come one, we face catastrophe and yet the Corps of Engineers sees the perfect opportunity to screw us on several projects, not just this one. Notice how they slam the Flash Ads on Nola.com. Notice how they now proffer Option 1 over Option 2. Where the hell is our New Mayor Mitch'mo? Who can protect us from these friggin'Pirates on Leake Street? Who'z watchin'out for NOLA?
All Ova da'Place: Believe Who??? ~American Zombie ~Editilla Crucifixionellas~Success My White Ass! I don't see where anyone should let up of one goddamn second on this catastophe. These mfkrs need ot GO TO JAIL DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT $200,000,000 IN DIVIDENDS! This is as profound as when they Gassed 6 Milion Jews! How much culture needs to die before this will rate as a... GODDAMNED HOLOCAUST????
NOAA's forecast: a very active, possibly hyperactive Atlantic hurricane season ~Wunderblog Defend Ivor Van Heerden: Call to Action ~Beyond Katrina Bayou Child...gen'rally speaking Boudreaux, him, one night he went out to de bar to drink wit’ his frinds. He didn’t come home dat night. An’ not de nex’ night either. Finally, his wife Clotile tole her friend Marie. “Clotile,” says Marie, ” you need to call de sheriff an’ file a missing person report on Boudreaux.” So Clotile called the sheriff’s department. They asked for a description. “Mais,” says Clotile, “he’s 6′2″, muscular, blonde, blue eyes, an’ he treats me like a queen.” After Clotile hung up de phone, Marie says, “Clotile! why you said dat? You know Boudreaux is a little ol’ fat bald brown-eyed coonass wit’ a bad temper.” “Yeah,” says Clotile, “but if dey bring me de guy I tole dem about, Boudreaux, him, he can STAY gone.”
Why This is Obama's Katrina Moment--Literally ~Harry Shearer ~Editilla Rotellas~Actually, we are beginning to think of this man-made catastrophe as "Obama's 9/11", in that both Presidents disingenuously over-reacted to disastrous effect --while, even worse, squandering the moment to lead our nation unified by its collective experience of unbelievable tragedy.
BP's Photo Blockade of the Gulf and Oil Fail~As BP makes its latest attempt to plug its gushing oil well, news photographers are complaining that their efforts to document the slow-motion disaster in the Gulf of Mexico are being thwarted by local and federal officials—working with BP—who are blocking access to the sites where the effects of the spill are most visible. More than a month into the disaster, a host of anecdotal evidence is emerging from reporters, photographers, and TV crews in which BP and Coast Guard officials explicitly target members of the media, restricting and denying them access to oil-covered beaches, staging areas for clean-up efforts, and even flyovers. Shaking a fist at Monkeyfister ~Karen Gadbois, The Lens
Take punitive action against BP now~Lt. Gen. Russel Honoré ~It's interesting how many people have swallowed the BP public relations' bait to call the explosion from Deepwater Horizon oil rig the Gulf oil spill. We need to call it what it is: the BP oil spill. The federal government needs to take control and take punitive action against BP and any negligent government regulators immediately. As a concerned citizen, preparedness speaker and author, and former commander of federal troops in disaster response, I watched with interest as BP brought out its big PR guns to protect its brand and its platoon of expert engineers, paid by BP to talk about how it happened and how they intended to fix it. ~Editilla gotta axe~ WTF does State's Rights mean? Our Ragin'Cajuns know where every Valve is on Every Pipeline laid in Louisiana. 30% of America's Oil, Let's Roll! Let us establish our State's Rights, Governor Jindal. It is Past Time to understand what Louisiana Means! Appoint Honore' as Commander and let's take over this Problem and Protect our State! ~On May 24, 2010, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this false-color, high-resolution view of the very tip of the Mississippi River Delta. Ribbons and patches of oil that have leaked from the Deepwater Horizon well offshore are silver against the light blue color of the adjacent water. Vegetation is red. Jindal, others bash BP and federal government over oil cleanup efforts ~Gov. Bobby Jindal watches Wednesday as Mary Matalin raises a hand she dipped in oil from Pass a Loutre. Calling Gulf of Mexico oil spill containment efforts by BP and the federal government "too little too late," Gov. Bobby Jindal said today the state is taking more matters into its own hands. Oil spill hearings: BP man on Deepwater Horizon rig refuses to testify, says he will take the 5th Blog for Birds Day 2: We Have Pelican!~We're gonna adopt some birdies. ~Hat Tweet~ erster Art Linkletter, TV Legend, Dead At 97~NPR
The Pelican~Horatio Algeranon Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and flutter, In there stepped an oil-drenched pelican of the Saintly days of yore. Not the least obeisance made he; not a minute stopped or stayed he; But, with mien of lord or lady, perched above my chamber door - Perched upon a bust of Expedite just above my chamber door - Perched, and sat, and nothing more. Then this piteous bird now-dying turned my former fright to crying By the foul and stinking nature of the coat of tar it wore, `Though thy wings be soiled and caved-in, thou,' I said, `art sure no raven. Ghastly grim and ancient pelican wandering from the nightly shore - Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night's Plutonian shore!' Quoth the pelican, `Nevermore.'
What would a hurricane do to the BP Oil Fail?~Jeff Masters Oil Gives Corps of Engineers Hurricane Concerns 3,700 ready to respond, corralled under armed guard ~They’ll tell you where they’re from, but otherwise they won’t comment — the hundreds of men and women who’ve been brought in to the Mississippi Coast to work on the BP oil spill. They’re well-schooled on not talking, and each of the major deployment sites has a makeshift security-guard stand. At BP’s “north staging” area, one of two near the industrial area off the east end of Ingalls Avenue in Pascagoula on Tuesday, the Sun Herald was greeted by an armed security guard wearing a Taser and a local police department shirt who said, “Nobody comes by here who’s not authorized. That’s all I can tell you.”
BP-idled Cleanup Boats Delayed Over Lack of Authority, BeePCEO Tony Coward: Talk to the Hand! ~Sandy Davis ~BeePCEO Tony Coward asks members of the media to step back Monday as he walks along Fourchon Beach in Port Fourchon. Back! he bays, Bloody Press! A fleet of boats under BP’s control sat idle this weekend as Jefferson Parish officials begged for the company’s help when a thick brown slick of oil threatened to enter two passes leading into Barataria Bay. BP officials in Grand Isle told Chris Roberts, a Jefferson Parish councilman, and other parish and city officials they did not have the authority to order the boats into action. “They said they were waiting for some direction from their people in Houma,” Roberts said. “But they never got it.” Oil poured onto and past Grand Isle. But the boats never moved, Roberts said. Finally between 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, parish and city officials decided they could not wait any longer. “We commandeered the boats and brought them out to the area where they needed to be and got things moving,” Roberts said. Editilla sayz: Sinn Féin, Louisiana. BP'S Shocking Memo ~Daily Beast ~A document obtained by The Daily Beast shows that BP, in a previous fatal disaster, increased worker risk to save money. Are there parallels with the Gulf explosion? BP now saying "top kill" on well could be delayed again~Hat Tip~KG ~BP will cut video feed for top kill, congressman says
Gulf Tides: Monitoring the BP Oil Drilling Disaster ~GRN iRobot UUV is monitoring gulf oil spill~Researchers in the Gulf of Mexico have deployed Seaglider to locate and monitor large clouds of dispersed oil droplets believed to be at depths of approximately 700 meters (2,296 feet). Seaglider can provide up to 10 months of continuous operation, and data can be transmitted via satellite several times each day to anywhere in the world using an Internet-connected device.
BP / Gulf Oil Spill - 39 Million Gallons And Growing~SkyTruth ~The MODIS / Terra satellite image of the Gulf taken yesterday (May 24, 2010) is a relatively cloud-free look at the ongoing oil spill in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Areas covered by oil slick and sheen are marked with a solid orange line. Areas where we think there may be slicks and sheen, but our analysis is of lower confidence, are shown by dashed orange lines. All together, slicks and sheen are possibly covering as much as 28,958 square miles (75,000 km2). That's an area as big as the state of South Carolina It's Day 35 of this fatal incident. Our estimated spill rate of 1.1 million gallons (26,500 barrels) per day, now on the conservative end of the scientific estimates, leads us to conclude that almost 39 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf so far. ~Editilla Plays Hella~New Game! Compare this BP Monster to the size of each of our States as it grows ever larger to engulf the entire country! Next, God Fearing Texas? Soon, Been-there-done-that-and-still-have-ruin-to-show-for-it Big Alaska? And the BP Coast Guard's Fey Thad "All Hands On My Deck" Allen says Bow to the Queen? Yoooohohoho!
Birds call to me, they call, they call to me, they call so deep. I gotta feel it all no time for sleep, no time at all. When they call they call to me. They call so deep. I gotta feel it all no time for sleep, no time at all" PHOTO BY TED JACKSON / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE ~A brown pelican struggles to fly with a heavy coating of crude oil near Cat Island in eastern Barataria Bay, Monday, May 24, 2010. The vast majority of the other pelicans on the island seem protected by a double and triple layer of boom material.