A brown pelican sits on the beach at East Grand Terre Island along the Louisiana coast on Thursday, June 3, 2010. Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana surveys the scene.
Democracy Now! had the interview today with a witness to the event, first reported on the ISM site a few days ago. Video of the event has now surfaced so I've included raw footage at the end of the the clip.
American college student Emily Henochowicz, 21, has lost her left eye after being shot in the face by an Israeli tear-gas canister during a protest against the flotilla assault in the occupied West Bank. A talented visual artist whose recent work has been inspired by her experiences in Israel and the Occupied Territories, Emily also suffered considerable facial damage, including fractures to the bone around the eye socket, cheek and jaw. We speak to Israeli peace activist Jonathan Pollak, who witnessed the attack.
Full text of the interview below. I didn't include it but Amy Goodman also asks about the emerging details of the death of 19-year-old American Furkan Dogan, killed during the raid on the flotilla.
(Left)(AP) A Palestinian woman reacts as she holds a cloth to the bleeding face of an American activist who was wounded during clashes with Israeli troops at the Kalandia checkpoint between the West Bank city of Ramallah and Jerusalem, Monday, May 31, 2010.
Corexit 9500 is the chemical dispersant used by British Petroleum (BP) in the Gulf Oil Spill. The Nalco scientist maintains it's safer than household dish soap, less toxic than ice cream. Report from KTRK, Houston (5.27.10)
As more oil workers fall sick with the increased use of chemical dispersants the contrast with how BP and the company which makes the dispersant being used could not be more stark.
I'm not a chemist so I can't vouch for the veracity of the claim made that Corexit is safer than dish soap. Perhaps it is for fish and sea life. However, I've rarely washed my dishes while wearing protective gloves, respiratory masks, and eye protection as Nalco (the company that makes it) requires for those handling or around the substance. And the British don't seem to think much of the stuff, having banned it for use in the North Sea. Something about causing headaches, vomiting and reproductive issues.
In the clip above a Nalco scientist maintains the safety of the product (noting while wearing the protective gear). And in fact on their website Nalco takes great pains to make the toxic shit stuff sound as innocuous as possible:
Corexit contains six primary ingredients. Examples of everyday products with specific ingredients in common with COREXIT 9500 include:
• One ingredient is used as a wetting agent in dry gelatin, beverage mixtures, and fruit juice drinks.
• A second ingredient is used in a brand-name dry skin cream and also in a body shampoo.
• A third ingredient is found in a popular brand of baby bath liquid.
• A fourth ingredient is found extensively in cosmetics and is also used as a surface-active agent and emulsifier for agents used in food contact.
• A fifth ingredient is used by a major supplier of brand name household cleaning products for "soap scum" removal.
• A sixth ingredient is used in hand creams and lotions, odorless paints and stain blockers.
Although there are less toxic dispersants available they aren't being used because of the unprecedented volumes used in the Gulf spill, now said to be well over 1,000,000 gallons.
In less than two weeks Hayward has changed his story from "relatively tiny" compared to the Gulf of Mexico, to "Oil Spill Impact Very Modest", to today declaring what we already knew, that the spill "is clearly an environmental catastrophe. There is no two ways about it." Yessiree.
It's clear. It is clear that we are dealing with a very significant environmental crisis and catastrophe."
Thanks for pointing out the obvious, dumbass. You're a bit late.
Senate candidate Sue Lowden (R-NV), who has become nationally known (and joked about) for her suggestion that people use the barter system to lower health care costs -- discussing how her grandparents' generation would bring a chicken to the doctor as payment -- is now being dubbed with the nickname "Suicidal Sue." And the person doing it, Reno Mayor Bob Cashell, is one of her supporters.
The Reno Gazette-Journal asked Cashell last week whether he was worried about Lowden's missteps, ranging from "Chickens For Checkups" to finance questions surrounding her campaign bus. Cashell shook his head, the paper reports. "She's suicidal," he said. "Suicidal Sue."
In an interview with the local NBC affiliate in Reno, Cashell made it clear that he stands by Lowden -- and he also stands by his criticisms.
"I still endorse Sue Lowden for Senate," he said. "I think she's very capable and very qualified. But, I hope her handlers will do a better job of working with her, and coordinating things. If they make a mistake, admit they made a mistake, don't try to cover it and brush over it."
That didn't stop Cashell from later humiliating Lowden in a public make-up meeting by standing her up at a local tavern, which KOLO-TV in Reno captured the cringe-worthy scene. For her part Sue Lowden kept right on smilin', as always.
Rand Paul appeared on ABC's Good Morning America this morning to further address his remarks on The Rachel Maddow Show. Or at least that was supposedly the reason for his appearance. Instead he railed against the media, in particular Rachel Maddow and the liberal media aided by the "Democrat Party".
"When does my honeymoon period start? I had a big victory," Paul told George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" today. "I've just been trashed up and down and they have been saying things that are untrue. And when they say I'm for repealing the Civil Rights Act, it's absolutely false. It's never been my position and something that I basically just think is politics."
Paul even thought to bring up 92-year-old Robert Byrd.
"If you want to bring up 40-year-old legislation, why don't you bring me on with Sen. [Robert] Byrd, and we'll talk about how he filibustered the Civil Rights Act," he said of the 92-year-old West Virginia Democrat. "Make him, call him to task for something he actually did as opposed to calling me to task for something they insinuated that I might believe that's not true.
"What is going on here is an attempt to vilify us for partisan reasons. Where do your talking points come from? The Democratic National Committee, they also come from Rachel Maddow and MSNBC."
Later Rand Paul would even stand up for BP:
"What I don't like from the president's administration is this sort of, 'I'll put my boot heel on the throat of BP.' I think that sounds really un-American in his criticism of business," he said. "I've heard nothing from BP about not paying for the spill. And I think it's part of this sort of blame game society in the sense that it's always got to be someone's fault instead of the fact that sometimes accidents happen."
In the end, Paul's meltdown is indicative of a novice candidate suddenly thrust onto the national stage and shown to be wildly unprepared. Somewhat reminiscent of a former Vice-Presidential candidate.
Dale Peterson's political ad with a few extras that were cut the first time!
A few days ago Dale Robertson (GOP candidate for Alabama Agricultural Commissioner) rode into America's consciousness with quite possibly the best Republican wingnut ad ever made. You knew parodies would inevitably follow. Dale's original is below.
Not much needs to be added to this, except I hope they end up bankrupted sooner, rather than later.
The chief executive of BP has told Sky News he believes the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill will end up having only a "very, very modest" environmental impact.
Experts had feared the Deepwater Horizon disaster could have led to one of the worst environmental catastrophes in US history.
But the British oil giant has risked outrage along the Gulf Coast by predicting a far smaller impact.
Dr Tony Hayward said: "I think the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest.
"It is impossible to say and we will mount, as part of the aftermath, a very detailed environmental assessment but everything we can see at the moment suggests that the overall environmental impact will be very, very modest."
1 : the office, duties, and obligations of a steward
2 : the conducting, supervising, or managing of something; especially : the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one's care (stewardship of our natural resources)
That is the word Mary Landrieu chose to emphasize in this Senate Energy Committee from Nov 19, 2009. Indeed, that was the official title given to the hearing:
FULL COMMITTEE HEARING: to receive testimony on environmental stewardship policies related to offshore energy production (Hearing Room SD-366).
Given Landrieu's history it was not surprising then that she would emphasize the economic benefits to the Gulf region, while minimizing the environmental risks. Landrieu had twice before downplayed the impact of any oil spill.
What was surprising, however, was her lecturing, her berating tone for those who were there to spell out the risks of deepwater drilling. The complete text is below. Landrieu's arrogance can be clearly seen in the video.
Let me begin, quickly, Mr. Chairman, by just thanking you for holding this very important hearing, because, like several of my colleagues have said, I think it's important for us to really examine the facts and to try to seek the truth, relative to the benefits and the risk associated with energy production.
I particularly like the term "stewardship," and I believe that stewardship actually begins with presenting facts in a way that tell the truth about what's really happening in offshore and onshore oil and gas.
So, knowing, Mr. Amos, that you would bring your charts, I brought some of my own. I'd like to start with a picture first.
I think my colleagues need to see a satellite image from NASA in the Gulf of Mexico, because most of the offshore oil and gas drilling in the Nation, of course, has gone on, as Mr. Amos said, for 40 years off of the State that I represent. So, we would know a lot about this. So, I brought a picture of what the Gulf looks like.
These are oil spills in the Gulf. This was taken, Tom, when? 2007. But, Mr. Amos, as you know, none of these spills are spills, they're leakages, natural seepage in the Gulf of Mexico. On any day, you could take a shot from NASA, in any ocean, in any place in the world, and you will see the oil like this, because of this chart. I'm going to ask Mr. Amos to read this chart. Go ahead, please.
