I thought I was finished but this item wouldn't let me. In a classic example of "Who's zooming who?", the AP reports on some of the contracts awarded by the government in the cleanup of the BP oil spill.
I would have loved to get the $10,000 for the three minutes of video the guy in Baton Rouge got. I've shot about 15 hours of tape and produced about 3 hours of video features. I'm not getting dime one.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Local Heroes and Parting Thoughts
After two months, a dozen video reports and over 40 stories on the blog, it’s time to end the little red tar balls project and get back to a real job. But there’s a story I call “Local Heroes” that needs to be told. They have done nothing as spectacular as walking on the moon but to life on the Gulf Coast it’s every bit as important. All they are doing is working every day to preserve their coast. Their home.
I’ve recorded some of these people on camera. I’ve talked with many more with the camera safely in its case. These are the people get up every morning and live their personal and professional lives. In that way, they keep the Gulf moving forward.
I spoke with a woman on a lunch van who sets up every day only a few hundred yards from a major mustering point for the oil spill response team in Slidell, Louisiana. The spill workers have their lunches shipped in so her business is in the bin compared to other years, but she still sets up shop every day.
I spoke to several shrimpers who are having their nets torn up by the anchors that were used to secure the oil booms. When removing the booms, the workers didn’t winch up the anchors. They just cut the mooring lines leaving the anchors on the bottom all sharp and pointy. But the shrimpers still cast their nets and try to figure out how to deal with that sharp debris.
I’ve talked to entrepreneurs whose businesses are hurting because the summer tourist season simply didn’t happen this year. Some businesses have failed and others still may. The rest soldier on.
These are some of my local heroes.
Each of the local folks I interviewed on camera are most certainly local heroes. In the order they appeared in the video vignettes, they are…
Kenny DiNero, because the spill has put him up against the wall in so many ways. More than most, probably. Last week I asked him what was happening with his claim. BP came back with a payment offer of only 5% of his losses for this year. Five percent? Are they serious? He also went to a meeting with Ken Feinberg, the head of the government agency that’s taken over the claims process and didn’t feel any more confident about a realistic outcome. Through his frustration, he keeps on fighting for his business and his personal financial survival.
Finley Hughes and Dustin Renaud, because they facilitate a massive effort that will help scientists understand the effects of the spilled oil and the dispersants on the wildlife. They work cheerfully and, it appears, tirelessly. Finley drags himself all across the coast to work with different Audubon groups and external entities increasing their effectiveness. Dustin works with an ever-changing cast of volunteers to comb the coast for precious data points to feed to scientists. Plus, being a local, he is passionate about how the oil has hurt his coast and his beaches.
Darlene Carter, because she loves her home town and her community and refuses to sit idly by when there’s trouble. In the five years since Katrina and the birth of the Moss Point Visionary Circle, Darlene and members of her community have developed numerous programs to instill values in the youth and teach the power of personal empowerment to everyone. As I think I said here when I first posted her video, what MPVC does is in the best American tradition. Find a problem and mobilize community resources to solve it. There’s no waiting for the government or some outside group to come in and fix it for them. It’s see and do. Right now.
Barbara Ruddiman, because she makes sure that people get fed that otherwise might not have a good meal and she does it week in and week out. She works the logistics to make it all work and figures how to make it work for more people because there are others who really need a good meal. Did I mention that “The Lord Is My Help” was started by Kenny DeNiro’s mother and that the lady with white hair behind the counter is 100 years old and is Kenny’s grandmother? They are my heroes too.
Mark LaSalle, because he seeks the truth in the science in his studies on the Gulf. He has no agenda or ax to grind. He simply wants to know what’s happening as a result of the oil and the dispersant. The fact that he’s passionate, self effacing and has a wicked but subtle sense of humor make him a lot of fun to spend time with.
Bill Stallworth, Debi Thomas and all the people at Hope CDA, because they care. But more than that, they’ve taken that concern for their neighbors and their community and converted it into a powerful force, supported by tireless energy and amazing good cheer. I don’t think I’ve ever met so many good hearted and committed people all in one place. Did I mention they are also very, very bright? What I’ve seen them do, with my own eyes is amazing.
Each of these people and so many people I never got to meet are all local heroes to me.
I will admit here, in this final post of the Little Red Tar Balls Project, that I have some very strong political views. I have done my best to keep them out of the stories told here. Only you can judge if I’ve been successful. What I do like about all of the people I’ve talked with is their spirit of self reliance. It appeals to the libertarian streak in me. Even the Steps Coalition with a left leaning approach to things, have the same spirit. They watch over their neighborhoods and communities and take action when they think it’s needed.
How many of us have seen bad things going on around them and done nothing to change it… to help. I have and I’ve never been proud of that. It took me 57 years on this planet to get involved. All I could do was help these people tell their stories and to try to shed some light on what’s really happening down here. Had I been from this area and had roots in a town or city I could have connected to some group to be more hands-on. But I wasn’t. So I came down here to tell stories.
If my opinion is worth anything, this sort of self reliance and involvement needs to be exported from the Gulf coast to the big cities and suburbs all over this country. Transplant this spirit to St. Louis, Missouri, Long Beach, California, Fredrick, Maryland or anyplace where issues need tending. Keep the political agendas out of it and big things can happen. You can see it up in Harlem where a lot of people are improving public education with their charter school initiatives.
The improvements might not be as big as we’d like, but each step in the right direction is one step farther from the wrong direction. We must add our light to the sum of light because as Bill Stallworth recounted in his interview, “Evil thrives when good men and good women do nothing.”
Richard Lucas
September 9, 2010
Biloxi, Mississippi
I’ve recorded some of these people on camera. I’ve talked with many more with the camera safely in its case. These are the people get up every morning and live their personal and professional lives. In that way, they keep the Gulf moving forward.
I spoke with a woman on a lunch van who sets up every day only a few hundred yards from a major mustering point for the oil spill response team in Slidell, Louisiana. The spill workers have their lunches shipped in so her business is in the bin compared to other years, but she still sets up shop every day.
I spoke to several shrimpers who are having their nets torn up by the anchors that were used to secure the oil booms. When removing the booms, the workers didn’t winch up the anchors. They just cut the mooring lines leaving the anchors on the bottom all sharp and pointy. But the shrimpers still cast their nets and try to figure out how to deal with that sharp debris.
I’ve talked to entrepreneurs whose businesses are hurting because the summer tourist season simply didn’t happen this year. Some businesses have failed and others still may. The rest soldier on.
These are some of my local heroes.
Each of the local folks I interviewed on camera are most certainly local heroes. In the order they appeared in the video vignettes, they are…
Kenny DiNero, because the spill has put him up against the wall in so many ways. More than most, probably. Last week I asked him what was happening with his claim. BP came back with a payment offer of only 5% of his losses for this year. Five percent? Are they serious? He also went to a meeting with Ken Feinberg, the head of the government agency that’s taken over the claims process and didn’t feel any more confident about a realistic outcome. Through his frustration, he keeps on fighting for his business and his personal financial survival.
Finley Hughes and Dustin Renaud, because they facilitate a massive effort that will help scientists understand the effects of the spilled oil and the dispersants on the wildlife. They work cheerfully and, it appears, tirelessly. Finley drags himself all across the coast to work with different Audubon groups and external entities increasing their effectiveness. Dustin works with an ever-changing cast of volunteers to comb the coast for precious data points to feed to scientists. Plus, being a local, he is passionate about how the oil has hurt his coast and his beaches.
Darlene Carter, because she loves her home town and her community and refuses to sit idly by when there’s trouble. In the five years since Katrina and the birth of the Moss Point Visionary Circle, Darlene and members of her community have developed numerous programs to instill values in the youth and teach the power of personal empowerment to everyone. As I think I said here when I first posted her video, what MPVC does is in the best American tradition. Find a problem and mobilize community resources to solve it. There’s no waiting for the government or some outside group to come in and fix it for them. It’s see and do. Right now.
Barbara Ruddiman, because she makes sure that people get fed that otherwise might not have a good meal and she does it week in and week out. She works the logistics to make it all work and figures how to make it work for more people because there are others who really need a good meal. Did I mention that “The Lord Is My Help” was started by Kenny DeNiro’s mother and that the lady with white hair behind the counter is 100 years old and is Kenny’s grandmother? They are my heroes too.
Mark LaSalle, because he seeks the truth in the science in his studies on the Gulf. He has no agenda or ax to grind. He simply wants to know what’s happening as a result of the oil and the dispersant. The fact that he’s passionate, self effacing and has a wicked but subtle sense of humor make him a lot of fun to spend time with.
Bill Stallworth, Debi Thomas and all the people at Hope CDA, because they care. But more than that, they’ve taken that concern for their neighbors and their community and converted it into a powerful force, supported by tireless energy and amazing good cheer. I don’t think I’ve ever met so many good hearted and committed people all in one place. Did I mention they are also very, very bright? What I’ve seen them do, with my own eyes is amazing.
Each of these people and so many people I never got to meet are all local heroes to me.
I will admit here, in this final post of the Little Red Tar Balls Project, that I have some very strong political views. I have done my best to keep them out of the stories told here. Only you can judge if I’ve been successful. What I do like about all of the people I’ve talked with is their spirit of self reliance. It appeals to the libertarian streak in me. Even the Steps Coalition with a left leaning approach to things, have the same spirit. They watch over their neighborhoods and communities and take action when they think it’s needed.
How many of us have seen bad things going on around them and done nothing to change it… to help. I have and I’ve never been proud of that. It took me 57 years on this planet to get involved. All I could do was help these people tell their stories and to try to shed some light on what’s really happening down here. Had I been from this area and had roots in a town or city I could have connected to some group to be more hands-on. But I wasn’t. So I came down here to tell stories.
If my opinion is worth anything, this sort of self reliance and involvement needs to be exported from the Gulf coast to the big cities and suburbs all over this country. Transplant this spirit to St. Louis, Missouri, Long Beach, California, Fredrick, Maryland or anyplace where issues need tending. Keep the political agendas out of it and big things can happen. You can see it up in Harlem where a lot of people are improving public education with their charter school initiatives.
The improvements might not be as big as we’d like, but each step in the right direction is one step farther from the wrong direction. We must add our light to the sum of light because as Bill Stallworth recounted in his interview, “Evil thrives when good men and good women do nothing.”
Richard Lucas
September 9, 2010
Biloxi, Mississippi
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Hope
I've looked into a few of them over the course of this project. From "The Lord Is My Help" food pantry to the Steps Coalition, Moss Point Visionary Circle and even the Audubon Society, they are all marshaling forces to improve things on the Gulf Coast.
There's one more that deserves some time, Hope CDA, a group I've spent a lot of time with over the last two weeks. These are the people behind the "Phenomenal People" celebration of recovery from Katrina. At the risk of giving too much of their story away, this is a small group with limited resources that has achieved remarkable things since coming into being after Katrina. They are a non-denominational, faith-based non-profit group focused primarily on providing housing to the low income and minority communities across Mississippi's coastal counties.
From what I've seen, a large part of their success comes from enlisting the support of businesses and organizations. Not just locally but across the country. At the nexus of all this activity is Bill Stallworth who divides his time between roles as Executive Director of Hope CDA and Biloxi city councilman. Aided by Marketing Development Officer, Debi Thomas, Wan, Ashley and the rest of his highly enthusiastic and motivated team, Bill is the spiritual motivator behind all that they do.
I was introduced to Bill by Debi during the "Tears to Cheers" beach celebration and was invited for an interview, recorded late afternoon on August 26th. It was sandwiched between Bill's interview with Tom Foreman of CNN and that evening's "Phenomenal People Gala" awards banquet.
This is very much worth watching for it shows that people like Bill and his team bode well for the future of the Gulf Coast. And they are just one group. How many more groups are out there across the USA doing work like this? I would ask that you find the one in your area that shares your view and volunteer with them.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Friday, September 3, 2010
A Second Big Bang and Dispersant
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| GERALD HERBERT/ASSOCIATED PRESS |
Another explosion. What initially sounded like deja vu from last April appears to be a minor event. Thankfully, the dozen workers on the rig escaped safely and reports now state there is no oil leaking. Time will tell if the last part is true.
At almost the same time, reports surfaced that evidence of dispersant were discovered in relatively large quantities near Horn Island off the Mississippi coast. This is odd since BP stopped using dispersant on July 19, and according to a representative of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) the dispersant has a half life of seventeen days. (Statement made at about 2:00 into this video.)
Something seems amiss. If it's been nearly one and a half months since dispersant was applied in the Gulf, and the half life data is correct, there should be less than 25% of it remaining. So why is it showing up many miles from the blown rig sight in these concentrations? Why also did it show up over in Alabama in late-August?
This story on al.com, posted August 31, reports of dispersant discovered elsewhere in the Gulf and quotes attorney Stuart Smith, who represents the Louisiana-based United Commercial Fisherman’s Association and the Louisiana Environmental Action Network who said that he saw C-130s spraying dispersant near the shore of the Florida Panhandle.
Smith clearly has a dog in this fight and one might rightly be skeptical of his report, but his is not the only one. I have heard several reports from Gulf fishermen that they've seen the same thing in Mississippi. Evidence suggests that the whole story of dispersant use is not being made public.
Another brick in the wall is this video with representatives of Orange Beach, AL who discuss dispersant levels in Cotton Bayou.
On a personal note, the vast majority of people I've spoken with recently believe that they are getting lied to about the oil spill. When I ask who's doing the lying, they say BP and the government. Since they control most of the direct information about the spill, one should not be surprised to see more stories like this in the future.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Phenomenal People
One would have to have been living under a rock not to know that it was five years ago last Sunday that Katrina roared ashore onto the Gulf Coast. The network and local media coverage showed the recovery work done over the years and stated that there still was more work to do. That's true, but they also have to deal with the BP oil spill. So one crisis has been largely handled but there's another one simmering under the Gulf waters and the fat part of the hurricane season is upon them.
What's become clear to me over the last months is that these people are fighters. They have to be because life down here isn't that easy. It isn't easy anywhere but places are few where entire communities can have their houses ripped apart in a single day. Beginning August 30, 2005 Moss Point started rebuilding. So did Waveland and Pascagoula. Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Bay St. Louis and all the coastal towns and cities started the long march back to their new normal. They had help from individuals and groups of people who came down from around the country to help them rebuild. They are Phenomenal People, and there was a week-long celebration of that recovery that lead up to the anniversary. Although at first glance it doesn't seem like there's a connection, but there is. You see these people came back from an epic nightmare. Now they face another one with the oil spill and what they all really want is a break to catch their breath.
I'm including a video piece here because it shows the kind of people that live here and that they are going to fight through the oil spill and come out the other side whole. It's a different kind of fight than Katrina, and it will take different skills and talents to do it, but the brains and the talent are here. There's another thing here too... grit. Most of these people don't know anything about giving up.
They'll need that ability now because this spill will take years to play out.
Follow the link to ExposureRoom to watch in HD.
What's become clear to me over the last months is that these people are fighters. They have to be because life down here isn't that easy. It isn't easy anywhere but places are few where entire communities can have their houses ripped apart in a single day. Beginning August 30, 2005 Moss Point started rebuilding. So did Waveland and Pascagoula. Biloxi, Ocean Springs, Bay St. Louis and all the coastal towns and cities started the long march back to their new normal. They had help from individuals and groups of people who came down from around the country to help them rebuild. They are Phenomenal People, and there was a week-long celebration of that recovery that lead up to the anniversary. Although at first glance it doesn't seem like there's a connection, but there is. You see these people came back from an epic nightmare. Now they face another one with the oil spill and what they all really want is a break to catch their breath.
I'm including a video piece here because it shows the kind of people that live here and that they are going to fight through the oil spill and come out the other side whole. It's a different kind of fight than Katrina, and it will take different skills and talents to do it, but the brains and the talent are here. There's another thing here too... grit. Most of these people don't know anything about giving up.
They'll need that ability now because this spill will take years to play out.
Follow the link to ExposureRoom to watch in HD.