Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Is That The Best You Got?

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling beat down by this oil in the Gulf. The news worsens with each report...well except for this jackass who thought oil looked like chocolate milk.

Towards the end of the week the term "Obama's Katrina" started being bandied about. That was a nice twist from the "we don't want no stinking government interference" crowd. The president's visit to New Orleans, and his placing the responsibility squarely in BP's lap seems to have tamped down that mini-mantra.

Also, over the weekend, the gauging of the size of the oil slick in relation to the size of individual states began. Rhode Island was first first in line for comparison. Then, it became the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. Now I see, they're starting in with Puerto Rico. Really? What does it say about our knowledge of our own states that we couldn't find one of the remaining 48 to compare the size of the oil slick to....we had to go to a U.S. territory.

There's other stuff too. Ugly stuff. Such as BP making the rounds to coastal residents and fisherman with release forms in hand...offering "up to 5 thousand dollars" in return for a pledge not to sue for damages. Nice. Then, yesterday, began the faux "conspiracy" theories that the rig explosion was deliberate act, done to sway passage of the cap and trade energy bill. Seriously. This guy, and this guy actually made that claim. If this tact doesn't gain any traction, I'm sure another fantasy will be provided by the same crowd.

There are ways to help. Drew Landry has launched the website Dirty Cajuns as an information hub full of phone numbers and other information for those looking to volunteer for clean up crews. And Stacy Scarce posted this exhaustive list of links on her Facebook page for volunteer information as well as information update sites on the progress and affects of the oil slick.

All this, and I still haven't gotten to sing the praises of Kentucky Derby winner, and Catahoula native Calvin Borel. Sorry Calvin, it doesn't mean I love you any less.

1 comment:

  1. Chocolate milk? Tastes good, but bad for you. Does crude oil taste good?

    In addition to the sites you recommend, I've found the New Orleans Ladder to be especially valuable.

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