tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88906313815526572572024-03-04T22:31:57.209-08:00Thoughts for a Better World"The search for the truth. The need to know. Tear off the sealskin, the donkeyskin, the feathers, the shackles. In the moonlight, starlight, lanternlight... Take the veil from my eyes. The stones from within my ears... Tell me. No matter the consequences. No matter the price.”
-Alice Hoffman-mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-71096538231375176612012-09-12T18:56:00.001-07:002013-02-02T11:00:58.878-08:00Traumatic Brain InjuriesI work with people with brain injuries mainly from automotive accidents. I am an independent living instructor, so for 8-16 hours t a time, my job is to assist people with their daily activities; including transfers to the toilet, feeding them when their shaking is too much, putting thick-it in their drinks because of swallowing problems, and redirecting them from negative behaviors. Sometimes it is difficult to remember to cut them some slack and not get frustrated with them. I have to remember that they have been through something so traumatic and so frustrating that they do not need someone getting frustrated with their mistakes. How I handle it sometimes is to just laugh with them about their mistakes and my own and remember that we are only human<br />
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We brought our residents to the beach on Monday. It is interesting how the mind works we had a helicopter fly over us and one of my residents asked "why is it getting so small?" as the hole copter was flying away. I never really thought about how perception, the thing we learned about in art class in kindergarten, could be so changed and misunderstood from an injury.<br />
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Later at the beach I began touching the sand and letting it fall through my fingers. One of my residents is a bit more restricted than some of the others and I wondered to myself when the last time was that she had felt the sand. I brought a pile of sand up to her and she reached for it before I even got there. She told me she couldn’t remember the last time she felt the sand between her fingers. <br />
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Experiencing these things really reminds me to appreciate the simple things in life from understanding perceptions to feeling the sand between my fingers. It also reminds me to be that person who brings these simple pleasures to the people I work with. I love my job<br />
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mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-71063671622695233342011-05-07T11:49:00.000-07:002011-05-07T11:54:32.774-07:00Ethical VegetarianismIn addition to the arguments for vegetarianism, based on animal suffering, huge ecological impacts come from the raising of meat. These impacts include high-energy consumption, concentrated waste, deforestation and the destruction of habitat. Aldo Leopold once said, “Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal” (Walters 1999, 192). Raising animals for the purpose of food is unsustainable on many levels. These systems do not promote healthy ecosystems and do not leave room for ecological self-renewal.<br /><br /> The contemporary production of meat and dairy require large inputs such as fuel and water and produce large waste outputs such as carbon monoxide and toxic runoff water. The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) method is an internationally standardized procedure that measures the energy use and ecological impacts of a process or activity. When LCA is applied to the production of meat and dairy in comparison to the direct consumption of grains, the results are staggering. By looking only at fossil fuel use we see that forty calories of fuel are required to produce one calorie of beef while only 2.2 calories of fossil fuels are required to produce one calorie of grains. If we apply this to milk production the results are that one calorie of milk requires fourteen calories of fuel (Baroni 2001, 285). Fuel is used for everything from machinery for milking, to heating, cooling and ventilation for feedlots, to the transportation of the meat to local grocery stores (Deckers 2009, 578). Because of the amount of fuel used in the production of meat, “the livestock sector is responsible for 18 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions which is worse than the world’s entire transportation output (Cabrejas 2008). This statistic come strictly from the livestock sector and does not even take into account the fuel use and emissions from agriculture that produces the feed given to livestock, so if we take agriculture into account the fuel use and emissions are even higher. Livestock’s digestive systems also greatly contribute to the greenhouse gas emission outputs because they are given feed with a mixture or soy and corn, both of which animals like cows are not naturally able to digest. This gives cows digestion problems that lead them to emit more methane than they would otherwise.<br /><br /> The raising of livestock not only emits greenhouse gasses but add tons of unusable waste to our planet. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that “farm animals produce 500 million tons of waste a year in the United States alone” (Cabrejas 2008). The waste produced by livestock typically ends up in streams and rivers due to minimal federal guidelines to regulate how waste is treated, disposed of, and stored (“Meat” 2011).<br /><br /> Mass amounts of water are also used in the production of meat and in the agriculture system that produces feed for livestock. The World Watch Institute concludes that seventy percent of freshwater consumption on the planet comes from animal farming and agriculture (Baroni 2001, 284). This water is used to irrigate the fields used to grow the cereals that feed livestock, for livestock drinking water as well as cleaning stables, milking halls and slaughterhouses (Baroni 2001, 285). Because of the need for water in the process of meat production, one pound of beef ends up requiring 2,500 gallons of water. Soy production requires one tenth the amount of water and wheat requires one-hundredth the amount of water for production. <br />After the water travels through livestock and agricultural production, it becomes toxic runoff, unable to be reused and many times causing even further ecological damage. Runoff consists of manure, urine, pesticides, fertilizers and any other waste from production that may get into the water. This water then flows into streams, rivers and eventually the ocean. Animal waste runoff is one of the main causes of dead zones in coastal waters. Dead zones are nitrogen and phosphorus rich environments that are the result of upstream runoff from agriculture, animal production, and anything else that enters the watershed. The nitrogen in these environments cause algae growth that then causes oxygen depletion and ultimately creates an environment that can be home to a minimal number of living organisms (Bruckner 2011). This toxic runoff also finds its way into lakes. The EPA estimates that “between 35 and 45 percent of America’s rivers and lakes are classified as ‘polluted,’ and agricultural runoff is considered the largest contributor to that pollution” (Parachin 2010).<br /> <br /> The Western world has progressively added more meat to their diet over time. Because of this higher demand for meat, agricultural land that would have otherwise been used to produce edible vegetables is being used to produce grains for animal feed and as production sites for raising animals. More than seventy percent of all agricultural land is now used for the production of animal products and over one-third of the world’s harvest of cereals is fed to livestock each year (Deckers 2009, 578).<br /> <br /> William A. Alcott, a 19th century American educator, reformer and physician wrote that the production of an acre of land in vegetables and grains can sustain animal life sixteen times as long as when it is converted into flesh and the raising of animals for food (Walters 1999, 86). This statement was written in the 1800s as a response to Alcott reading reports by political economists of the time. Consider our lifestyles in the 21st century and how the statistic of 16:1 is probably far greater now. Alcott estimated that Americans eat an average of one whole meal of meat a day. By substituting vegetables for animal food, the United States could sustain sixty-six million people instead of twenty (Walters 1999, 87). Today, an acre of land could produce either forty thousand pounds of potatoes or two hundred fifty pounds of beef (Parachin 2010). Society’s demand for more meat is placing a huge strain on the environment and is causing a transformation of land use, not only from edible vegetables to feed for livestock, but from wilderness and forested areas, to degraded soil and deforestation.<br /> <br /> Because of such a high demand for meat, the U.S. and other Western nations have less room to produce meat to meet the demand of its citizens. As a result, much of the meat is imported and forests at home and elsewhere are destroyed in the process. In the United States alone, 260 million acres, around 400,000 square miles, of forest have been lost for the purpose of more land for animal agriculture (Parachin 2010). The demand for meat continues to increase and because of this the United States imports over 200 million pounds of beef a year from Central America (Parachin 2010). Europe is just as bad, if not worse. Only twenty-percent of the proteins needed to feed farm animals originate in Europe (Baroni 2001, 6).<br /> <br /> Importing meat has now become common and developing nations are being encouraged and pressured to turn their land into pastures to raise animals to meet this demand from the Western world. Latin America is one of the most affected areas. A study done by the Smithsonian estimates that every minute, seven football fields of land are destroyed to meet the need for more grazing land (Parachin 2010). According to the World Wildlife Federation, eighty-eight percent of rainforest that has been cleared in the Amazon is now used for grazing, and in Panama and Costa Rica it is about seventy percent (Baroni 2001, 284). Looking at the direct comparison of deforestation to eating meat it has been concluded that, “For each hamburger originating from animals raised on rain forest land, approximately fifty-five square feet of forest have been destroyed” (Parachin 2010). Deforestation and the destruction of habitat cause soil erosion and land degradation as well, leading to as a loss in biodiversity. As Aldo Leopold said, health is self-renewal, and the way we are currently living is destroying the environment to a point where it can no longer regenerate itself.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-62114084424557310642010-12-21T21:30:00.000-08:002010-12-21T21:36:12.581-08:00Nature as a Commodity<style>@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style><style>@font-face { font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }table.MsoNormalTable { font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; }</style> <p class="MsoNormal"> Laws and the market economy shape the way humans interact and view the non-human environment. We live in a time when the market has a big say in what we eat, what we buy and what our interaction, or lack of interaction, is with the environment. Laws restrict our actions while markets shape our options and choices. The expansion of cities and transportation systems have created a medium where products and commodities are imported and waste exported. Interaction with the non-human environment has become limited and not as necessary as it used to be. We have become distanced from the production of the goods—the natural environment-- and this has resulted in us seeing nature as a commodity.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>The American consumer demands cheap items and food.<span style=""> </span>The market has met this demand but this has created a disconnect between humans and the non-human environment. Due to the expansion of cities and the inability of places to be self-sustaining, products and food are shipped in from elsewhere, resulting in the process of production becoming unseen. We have been disconnected from the basic and physical process of production and therefore have been led into thinking of food as a commodity rather than something important in our culture that brings community together, or provides nutrition. Michael Pollen’s <i>Omnivore’s Dilemma</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> demonstrates humans’ distance from the non-human world that becomes our food, and our minimal relationship with the production process. We are so distanced from the production of what we eat that we see food, not as part of nature, but as an object to buy. “When we only think of animals as sides of beef to be eaten, we may obliterate the problem of the kill from our consciousness” (Sax 1980, 43).</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal">People’s demand for cheap food results in the market putting out cheap food. “It is odd that something as important to our health and general well-being as food is so often sold strictly on the basis of price” (Pollen 2006, 244). Price is what determines what we buy, not the quality or where it comes from.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>The market has also standardized food. “Standardization, has bombarded us with the message that all pork is pork, all chicken is chicken, eggs eggs, even though we all know that can’t really be true” (Pollen 2006, 244). With the market telling us that cheap is better, and that food is food no matter where it comes from, quality of food no longer plays into what we eat and buy. The cheapest is said to be the same as the more expensive. We no longer need to know where our food comes from because it is set out for us right in the grocery store, no interaction with the environment or the farmer is necessary. These are the forces that have turned food into a commodity.<span style=""> </span>In fact, “our food system depends on consumers’ <u>not</u> knowing much about it beyond the price disclosed by the checkout scanner” (Pollen 2006, 245).</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Humans beings are so disconnected from the production of their food that it no longer even looks like natural food. The market demand is cheap food that is easy to prepare in our fast-paced lifestyles and the “industrial food chain has made energy dense foods the cheapest on the market” (Pollen 2006, 107). Energy dense foods tend to be the over-processed foods that no longer look like anything our grandparents ate. These foods include everything from chicken nuggets that look like rectangle pieces of dough to prepackaged TV dinners. The chicken nuggets no longer look like the chickens from which they came. We barely even associate a chicken with the nuggets anymore. We no longer need to see the chicken that is associated with the nuggets. We just need to go to the store and buy the processed product.</p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span style=""> </span>Many problems exist with the way our food is marketed, but there are also problems with farming law. In Pollen’s book he describes visits to farms where he sees and experiences the full process of production. One of his experiences is at Polyface farm. Polyface processes their own food in order to keep the connection with nature. Joel, the owner, promotes “relationship marketing” where the buyers buy directly from the farmer and therefore create a “marketing” relationship. But even Joel runs into problems with the current laws when it comes to the regulations restricting the processing of food in areas zoned for agriculture (Pollen 2006, 234). He wants to process his own food because he believes that “having customers bag their own chickens preserves the fiction that they’re not buying a processed food product” (Pollen 2006, 235). “Joel is convinced ‘clean food’ could compete with supermarket food if the government would exempt farmers from the thicket of regulations that prohibit them from processing and selling meat from the farm” (Pollen 2006, 236). Even the farmers who fight for “relationship marketing” and promote human connections with where their food comes from, have problems staying afloat when farm laws favor big production though commercial markets.</p> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style=""> </span>Another problem with the market is that it has become “totally out of sync with nature” (Pollen 2006, 252). As humans who have come to buy products from the grocery store instead of the farm, “we have to battle the idea that you can have anything you want any time you want it” (Pollen 2006, 252). Because of the demand for cheap food as well as ALL food ALL the time, the market imports food from other countries where they can grow certain foods year-round, when we cannot. This process disconnects human from the seasons.<span style=""> </span>In the past, humans used to eat according to what products were in season. The market has skewed the natural process of food and has created an even bigger barrier between humans and the things they eat.</span> <span style="font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span>mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-78317849384345533372010-10-15T14:07:00.000-07:002010-10-15T14:47:59.930-07:00News from the GulfSo I recently heard from my friend's deckhand in the gulf and he provided me with an update on what is going on. He told me that most of the surface oil has been cleaned up and that now the challenge is waiting for all the dispersant affected oil to rise to the top.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpEZFdvfX2OtRHBjg3T1OMqjcyKib3LYHXD7lW7AdYfLn_CI-r4fLqmHNgoa1Jw_YxowK4rogEElr_Y5mCYtI2mdcm2Rryz0gdR18TBiEemElVZSetyCkD4H3ZtVlju6G_T3zS6ogQzs/s1600/Photo.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 182px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYpEZFdvfX2OtRHBjg3T1OMqjcyKib3LYHXD7lW7AdYfLn_CI-r4fLqmHNgoa1Jw_YxowK4rogEElr_Y5mCYtI2mdcm2Rryz0gdR18TBiEemElVZSetyCkD4H3ZtVlju6G_T3zS6ogQzs/s320/Photo.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528386371342630514" border="0" /></a> "The oil is at the bottom of the ocean floor (due to the dispersant). Wait until it starts floating again. I say ten years it will take (for all the dispersant affected oil to rise to the top). It's ten times worse than the Exon Valdez"<br />He also informed me on the mass amounts of people getting sick due to having to handle the oil with the dispersant in it. He said there have been tons of people sick with everything "from breathing problems to staff infections." The news is not good. I asked him why they used dispersant in the first place and he just told me that all the oil field workers had told BP not to use them, but they just would not listen.<br />I was wondering if maybe it had something to do with avoiding the physical sight of oil (to keep morale up), <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEO_osT2UhgJGyXcHkObP-X2aYRO2MMluq8skAkqGGw2TjnCeLkFfN4cuCuH6IdbXxqcB8fOLLPDRMlnBLPuap44HUzvjP4s2Uz_xLpFP7pu1d8Z1mj02yx6LEkJL0fw7M0eVg8yTkeg/s1600/Photo2.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 242px; height: 179px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPEO_osT2UhgJGyXcHkObP-X2aYRO2MMluq8skAkqGGw2TjnCeLkFfN4cuCuH6IdbXxqcB8fOLLPDRMlnBLPuap44HUzvjP4s2Uz_xLpFP7pu1d8Z1mj02yx6LEkJL0fw7M0eVg8yTkeg/s320/Photo2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528386654782816530" border="0" /></a>because when dispersant is used, it is within the water and you can not see it on the top, therefor it makes the whole process look like it is moving faster and being cleaned up faster than it really is?<br />On a lighter note, I just heard the other day that the marshes of Louisiana are doing alright! And that they have released the Mississippi river to allow fresh water to wash out the bayous. This is definately good news.<br />So I live in Grand Rapids Michigan and beginning last year we have had ArtPrize, which is a city-wide event where artwork is submitted and hung publically around the city and voted on. This year we had an awesome piece dedicated to the gulf oil spill.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJ4dwUoeONrkVPuP3fhONYjEEIC86BE3XT1JUfwMx-4j0WNA8aSVcjJ3VONS1mtqjgepNncea5Ab_dKmWdnDvsdJBrpy6eRDqtHTn-rUv4aH8LO_nFVUfwhSlVgzs-itA8azG1dbjcUY/s1600/Snapshot+2010-10-15+17-34-32.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 137px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHJ4dwUoeONrkVPuP3fhONYjEEIC86BE3XT1JUfwMx-4j0WNA8aSVcjJ3VONS1mtqjgepNncea5Ab_dKmWdnDvsdJBrpy6eRDqtHTn-rUv4aH8LO_nFVUfwhSlVgzs-itA8azG1dbjcUY/s400/Snapshot+2010-10-15+17-34-32.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528390530074530994" border="0" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BJmSnDQFHjE4DIwuhbOadH7moDf4HLfp61eSIG9-P9mp9ydJQhpT0_AzqMgp9_cPrvSdUIX8naM6vHMnQsKc6ZBTtQi_VHwB5-5nK5upr-7iMn6OAmZxhwH5muQ0N93dRs9rn9SLli8/s1600/DSCF0684.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2BJmSnDQFHjE4DIwuhbOadH7moDf4HLfp61eSIG9-P9mp9ydJQhpT0_AzqMgp9_cPrvSdUIX8naM6vHMnQsKc6ZBTtQi_VHwB5-5nK5upr-7iMn6OAmZxhwH5muQ0N93dRs9rn9SLli8/s400/DSCF0684.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5528391843721964322" border="0" /></a>mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-5318463729595629912010-09-02T10:53:00.001-07:002010-09-02T13:15:58.229-07:00Marine Conservation<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonu-a_txPWuy7dyxsQxTdTwrWcY3uslOxhxaGtTq48Hrtv32qsjtIXHBnIkZlV82vHpJju_OAX6N_ObQ37LL4fVw9TuzvI6TsxNUhKwVRqJM-qOuSWhWaFVhhM1GXQAYfaC3OuKICp0E/s1600/whale.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 161px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjonu-a_txPWuy7dyxsQxTdTwrWcY3uslOxhxaGtTq48Hrtv32qsjtIXHBnIkZlV82vHpJju_OAX6N_ObQ37LL4fVw9TuzvI6TsxNUhKwVRqJM-qOuSWhWaFVhhM1GXQAYfaC3OuKICp0E/s320/whale.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512408966557703858" border="0" /></a>So I have recently become more interested in the conservation of marine life. I began watching <a href="http://animal.discovery.com/tv/whale-wars/">Whale Wars</a> which is a show on Animal Planet focused around the conservation society <a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/">Sea Shepherd</a> and their anti-whaling campaigns in the Antarctic. The show follows their two most current boats, the Steve Irwin and Bob Barker as they search and prevent commercial Japanese whaling ships from processing whales in the Antarctic.<br /><br />According to international conservation laws, only a certain number of whales are allowed to be caught each year for scientific research purposes. The Japanese whaling fleet of 9 ships claims to be using the whales for scientific research (even says so on the side of their ships) but it is clear that the Japanese are using this claim as an excuse to conduct commercial whaling. The Sea Shepherd actions are said to be in accordance to the 1982 <a href="http://eelink.net/%7Easilwildlife/wcn.html">United Nations Charter for Nature</a> which states under <span style="font-weight: bold;">Implementation section 21 part (c) & (e)</span>:<br /><br /><span style="font-size:100%;"><span><span style="font-weight: bold;">21.</span></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>"states and... other public auth</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span style="font-style: italic;">orities, international organizations, individuals, groups and corporations shall: </span><br /><span> (c) </span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Implement the applicable international legal provisions</span> for the conservation of nature and the protection of the environment;</span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><br /><span> (e) <span style="font-style: italic;">Safeguard</span></span></span><span style="font-size:100%;"><span><span style="font-style: italic;"> and</span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"> </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">conserve nature in areas beyond national jurisdiction</span>.</span></span><br /><br />According to the UN Charter for Nature, independent organizations have a right to enforce international conservation laws if they are being broken.<br /><br />The Sea Shepherd conservation society has really caught my attention and I am considering applying to join one of their campaigns in 2012. Their other campaigns include a more recent <a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/gulf-rescue/">Gulf Rescue Plan</a> as well as <a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/blue-rage/">Bluefin Tuna</a>, <a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/galapagos/">Defending Galapagos</a>,<a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/seals/"> Canadian Seal Slaughter</a>, <a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/sharks/">Sharks</a>, and <a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/dolphins/">Dolphins</a>, specifically in <a href="http://www.seashepherd.org/dolphins/taiji-dolphins.html">Taiji Japan</a>.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_cpIA4F-AScFDGPAaOItm_wqUfFIgnkpDNd15sVICqAim2bqckw7KrRJVyJD9PTCgAFva8TpMwIPY2FRossyPUhXTXHv_fDWksI7ut2d-kyq9vnFBbT1cNFwOc2MOaWpMcjK03LLMc0/s1600/image.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 275px; height: 158px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQ_cpIA4F-AScFDGPAaOItm_wqUfFIgnkpDNd15sVICqAim2bqckw7KrRJVyJD9PTCgAFva8TpMwIPY2FRossyPUhXTXHv_fDWksI7ut2d-kyq9vnFBbT1cNFwOc2MOaWpMcjK03LLMc0/s320/image.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512408593198382706" border="0" /></a>I recently watched the award winning documentary <a href="http://www.thecovemovie.com/">The Cove</a>. The documentary focuses on the massive slaughter of dolphins that occurs every September in Taiji Japan. <a href="http://www.thecovemovie.com/richardobarry.htm">Ric O'Barry </a>is the head of the conservation efforts to <a href="http://www.savejapandolphins.org/">save Japanese dolphins</a>. If you are not familiar with him, he is a world known marine mammal specialist who stared and trained the five dolphins in the hit TV series Flipper. Once Kathy, the most used dolphin in the show, died in his arms because she chose not to take another breath, he began his efforts to free and fight for dolphins around the world.<br /><br />The Cove is an incredible movie that really <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhElb3zKU_37Swk3AnGYzV1TzXldIUAbDOoLEEiP1sel_WuYiwlQ5eKEbz6wHYij46Y9EnxNvnO5urGYcaMUSn1JWyM5IIMBBGa_W2ul_QuW4-o2h53rjVTusvWQgbW2MoVQJQrD3VsgZo/s1600/dolphin-slaughter.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 284px; height: 189px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhElb3zKU_37Swk3AnGYzV1TzXldIUAbDOoLEEiP1sel_WuYiwlQ5eKEbz6wHYij46Y9EnxNvnO5urGYcaMUSn1JWyM5IIMBBGa_W2ul_QuW4-o2h53rjVTusvWQgbW2MoVQJQrD3VsgZo/s320/dolphin-slaughter.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5512406144700576946" border="0" /></a>communicates the human characteristics of dolphins, such as the misleading 'smile' dolphins always seem to have as well as the visible 'happiness' and energy that is rarely accurate to the creature's true feelings when held in captivity.<br /><br />These are my thoughts for the time being, I would encourage everyone to look into these violations and begin doing something, even if it is just passing on the knowledge you acquire on your own. I have provided the web sites for every organization and person I have mentioned, that should get you started.<br /><span style="font-style: italic;font-size:85%;" ></span>mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-45503090977396833572010-07-28T15:36:00.000-07:002010-07-30T08:02:10.219-07:00World Powers Cause Conspiracy as Distraction<a href="http://www.aolnews.com/surge-desk/article/the-worlds-current-oil-spills-by-the-numbers/19572581"><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Current Oil Spills</span></span></a> (following info from link)<br /><br /><strong>Cedyco Corp.'s Orphaned</strong><strong> Well Spill, Barataria Bay, La.</strong><br />Cause: A barge hit an abandoned well near the Gulf of Mexico early Tuesday<br />Amount spilled: Unknown<br />Spread: One mile of Barataria Bay (the well can be seen below, emitting a plume of oil and natural gas)<br /><br /><strong>Enbridge Oil Spill, </strong><strong>Kalamazoo River, Mich.</strong><br />Cause: Unknown; spill began Monday<br />Amount spilled: 19,500 barrels (819,000 gallons)<br />Spread: 20 miles along the Kalamazoo River<br />Workers responding: 150, being doubled as of today<br />Boom deployed: 14,000 feet, being increased to 31,000 feet today<br /><strong><br /><br />China National Petroleum </strong><strong>Oil Spill</strong><strong>, Dalian, China </strong><br />Cause: Explosion in an oil pipeline in Dalian on July 16<br />Amount spilled: 1,133 barrels (47,600 gallons)<br />Spread: 140 square miles of the Yellow Sea<br />Workers responding: Thousands, many of them fisherman and residents of the area<br /><br /><br /><strong>BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill</strong><strong>, Gulf of Mexico</strong><br />Cause: Explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, April 20<br />Amount spilled: Worst-case estimate was 60,000 barrels a day (2.5 million gallons) before the well was shut off.<br />Spread: 2,700 square miles of visible slick <a target="_blank" href="http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hLoqTEQ51hTLtoEJ0IYurx78-EBQD9GVPEB00">estimated</a> as of July 15; 57,500 square miles of fishing grounds remained closed as of this week<br />Boom deployed: Roughly 3.5 million feet<br />Boom staged: Roughly 905,390 feet<br />Total boom: Roughly 4.4 million feet<br />Workers responding: More than 29,000 overall<br /><br />So a barge hit a natural gas well in the Gulf near the Louisiana coast, like there aren't enough problems in the Gulf already.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38429966/ns/us_news-environment/">MSN</a><br /><br />...and an explosion occurred in China, providing them with their very own oil spill<br /><br /><a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2010/07/26/china-oil-spill-cleaned-up-but-ripples-spread/">Wall Street Journal</a><br /><br />Now there is an <span class="art-body">800,000 gallon </span>oil spill in Kalamazoo Michigan, just an hour south of where I live!<br /><br /><a href="http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/07/28/new-oil-spill-hits-kalamazoo-river/">Time</a><br /><a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/07/state_of_emergency_declared_as.html">Mlive</a><br /><br /><br />I have concluded that the worldly powers have banded together to create this conspiracy to distract us from the aliens.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-30590664113074787072010-07-14T10:32:00.000-07:002010-07-15T11:43:13.993-07:00Political Cartoons<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nLqTAmgsAVBVx5ak6SU_z-v-aHNpldcvtbygws55qWd3zNz-wV5d0ZyoEmE3W262ZLo5WZWVcQGwB54y9f2xqheJ9Jk9AW8DIyP6piWRqCH2_kXoHazMu2CsiFcp4s0apBMbLjlsP48/s1600/325335.full.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 330px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nLqTAmgsAVBVx5ak6SU_z-v-aHNpldcvtbygws55qWd3zNz-wV5d0ZyoEmE3W262ZLo5WZWVcQGwB54y9f2xqheJ9Jk9AW8DIyP6piWRqCH2_kXoHazMu2CsiFcp4s0apBMbLjlsP48/s400/325335.full.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493821982845463026" border="0" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE3ym2GttEH3AxL9AOM7yZaRUAEr0El1YFqkHvZSCazydKcbOw1KscnglA7KJUgTl8GWh29WQHzJnDTaRpoBitBWjZe-EM7b8YYA6puMqwvyD1MwQCc1nTlI2fzyqcB8GoJfeNsSTnyas/s1600/%7B7c30d95f-b814-4fc2-b12d-d2d1c09a63ed%7D.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 251px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE3ym2GttEH3AxL9AOM7yZaRUAEr0El1YFqkHvZSCazydKcbOw1KscnglA7KJUgTl8GWh29WQHzJnDTaRpoBitBWjZe-EM7b8YYA6puMqwvyD1MwQCc1nTlI2fzyqcB8GoJfeNsSTnyas/s320/%7B7c30d95f-b814-4fc2-b12d-d2d1c09a63ed%7D.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5493821296093028722" border="0" /></a><span id="lblInfo">john Darkow<br /></span></div>mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-5270617304388159632010-07-08T10:06:00.000-07:002010-10-19T10:16:16.977-07:00The Gulf's Floatel<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDpZNgijFdrGFq7IhN-2HSJ1jZPETNEoGLGYnegQJR1KpUpUSYIOO3UBTmBD_RtqqGTweBVWatVRqf9kP6ep2VJdgulmRSGSelj2Xmr7qNH06TpkMXq6rLPGBmIK3eDN7jstKfpehaW0/s1600/ice-maiden.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 144px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnDpZNgijFdrGFq7IhN-2HSJ1jZPETNEoGLGYnegQJR1KpUpUSYIOO3UBTmBD_RtqqGTweBVWatVRqf9kP6ep2VJdgulmRSGSelj2Xmr7qNH06TpkMXq6rLPGBmIK3eDN7jstKfpehaW0/s320/ice-maiden.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5529807133355575122" border="0" /></a>So I have been talking to my friend Kevin who is an oil-field boat captain out on the gulf and he told me of a <a href="http://buoyantlife.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=199&Itemid=184">Floatel</a>, or a floating hotel, that has recently been placed off the coast of Louisiana. The Louisiana floatel is for the oil-field workers currently cleaning up the gulf oil spill. He described it as a whole bunch of white boxes with four people living in each box. The people staying at the floatel go out each morning on boats to work on the oil spill and then go back in the evening. Kevin also mentioned the chaos of so many people living in one small area such as this, especially so many men. He told me that they are currently sending out security guards in order to "keep the peace."mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-25580903845988504822010-06-29T09:34:00.000-07:002010-07-15T12:08:10.171-07:00Gulf Coast Road Trip: Louisiana<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfsJNcl3hQKKR5_Q92IpIPJON8eqAKo0l-tvkwIF1V_BMQAIt29tPriR-9zzGkbDNtXoZsmfn7rozagplxJ-420IlH3_2Ff2QSMr0U9NFXuoUIeMLlbXs4jJ_9KU9hKyDaeVgkt6-v2w/s1600/DSCF0347.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 257px; height: 193px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinfsJNcl3hQKKR5_Q92IpIPJON8eqAKo0l-tvkwIF1V_BMQAIt29tPriR-9zzGkbDNtXoZsmfn7rozagplxJ-420IlH3_2Ff2QSMr0U9NFXuoUIeMLlbXs4jJ_9KU9hKyDaeVgkt6-v2w/s320/DSCF0347.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488242567968660690" border="0" /></a>After Mississippi we headed to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Port Sulfur Louisiana</span> where we stayed in a building run by Mennonite Relief Services. On our way to Port Sulfur we stopped through <span style="font-weight: bold;">New Orleans </span>and ran into a women named Sherry who is the manager of a local bar as well as a lawyer. She has grown up in New Orleans and spoke to us about the denial associated with the oil spill. She talked about how the people in New Orleans are stubborn and will deny there is a problem until they can't anymore. She said that the younger generations will most likely move away and the older generations, who are attached to the New Orleans way of life, will stay. Above all, she said people will not give up their sea food.<br /><br />When we stayed in Port Sulfur, we drove further south to a bar in <span style="font-weight: bold;">Venice</span> where we ran into a man named Todd who is a commercial fisherman in the area. Todd told us that not many locals are being hired by BP to look for oil. He also told us stories about his friends who quit school in the 7th and 8th grades just to become fishermen, and how they can no longer fish. One very interesting thing Todd told us was the reason the cap for the oil broke. He told us that it shattered because it froze and all that needed to be done was for methanol to be pumped down with the cap to prevent it from freezing.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdcsEuTPxf1WCvlgGJhfmcQpp4zUIsxYKlNiZ0YLQJ1kpEImDz1VTZ8AzDz-WiZ8Sywd-05vzUiifp2BoomeYDcYa4lLE9BaIPzmLm5aF0yB9ljap4pbpaDiwKJIOdMU_pRn5xjOizMQc/s1600/IMG_0123.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 243px; height: 187px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdcsEuTPxf1WCvlgGJhfmcQpp4zUIsxYKlNiZ0YLQJ1kpEImDz1VTZ8AzDz-WiZ8Sywd-05vzUiifp2BoomeYDcYa4lLE9BaIPzmLm5aF0yB9ljap4pbpaDiwKJIOdMU_pRn5xjOizMQc/s320/IMG_0123.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488242200692099042" border="0" /></a><br />After we went to the bar in Venice, we headed to Joshua's Marina where we ran into oil-field workers. A worker named Kevin has been the captain of his own boat for 6 years and is currently employed by the energy company, working on cleaning up the oil spill. He told us about how they are currently using the <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2010/06/gulf-oil-spill-costner-solution-has-green-light-but-no-green.html">"Kevin Costner solution"</a> which is a device that separates the oil from the water.<br /><br />While we were staying in Port Sulfur we had the opportunity to be brought out on the Gulf by a local Vietnamese fisherman. We experienced dolphins swimming only feet from the boat and pelicans flying over us. It was beautiful and heart breaking at the same time. We had recently been informed of dolphins showing up dead on local beaches due to coming up for air and being suffocated by the oil.<br /><br />After being in Port Sulfur, we visited <span style="font-weight: bold;">Cut Off</span> Louisiana where I attempted to find information on the Houma Indian I am named after, Marie Melodie Dupre. We couldn't find any information on her, even after calling all the baptist churches in the area and all the Dupres in the phone book, so we continued down to <span style="font-weight: bold;">Grand Isle</span> where we heard the oil spill was the worse.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1nTR7CO2qdPEHaEz5Efc5Wb-m0kClWSy3UosGib027LSmpCyZHV1eikmSjKqI9yyCsSyRe2KmEux9f6c4u96K6QyaA17kFTFp43R-HonXKGQA20L3h27ELDtYg3CkOb1Lk0peWE81dU/s1600/IMG_0254.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 209px; height: 279px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhE1nTR7CO2qdPEHaEz5Efc5Wb-m0kClWSy3UosGib027LSmpCyZHV1eikmSjKqI9yyCsSyRe2KmEux9f6c4u96K6QyaA17kFTFp43R-HonXKGQA20L3h27ELDtYg3CkOb1Lk0peWE81dU/s320/IMG_0254.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488280489795146962" border="0" /></a>We were told by local people back in Mississippi that booms do not work very well because waves can go over them and the oil with it. There were huge booms all along the beach at Grand Isle. They separated the "hot" zone from the rest of the beach. You couldn't see the oil in the water, but it was there. The dispersal that has been released in the gulf to break up the oil, makes it so that the oil does not float on the top but it is dispersed throughout the water. This process seems to do more harm than good because the dispersed oil sinks to the bottom and is no longer able to be collected.<br /><br />We had an amazing experience along the Gulf, made some lifelong friends and lifelong memories.mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8890631381552657257.post-6123122111868156792010-06-28T16:48:00.000-07:002010-07-15T12:07:42.415-07:00Gulf Coast: MississippiA friend and I just recently got home after a 10 day road trip to the gulf coast and back. The point of our trip was to travel along the gulf coast, interview and listen to people's stories about the effects of the oil spill.<br /><br />The first places we visited along the Gulf were <span style="font-weight: bold;">Gulfport</span><span>, </span><span style="font-weight: bold;">Biloxi</span>, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">Pass Christian Mississippi</span><span>, none of which have seen oil quite yet</span>. The first night we were there, we were told a good place to find local fishermen was <a href="http://www.shaggys.biz/">Shaggy's Harbor Bar & Grill</a> in Pass Christian. After sitting at the bar for a while we began talking to a local fisherman named Gerald. Gerald told us he originally from Chicago and he moved to Mississippi to fish. He expressed his frustration through the phrase, <span style="font-style: italic;">"we can put a man on the moon, but we ca</span><span style="font-style: italic;">n't put a cap on this thing?" </span><span>He also expressed his fear of eating local seafood due to the <a href="http://www.energyboom.com/emerging/basics-oil-spill-dispersants">dispersants</a> being released in the water in order to break up the oil. He told us that there has been minimal re</span><span>search on the affects this type of enzyme has on fish and sea creatures.<br /><br />The next day we attended a <a href="http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=12652142"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Vietnamese press conference</span></a> in Biloxi that's purpose was to address the concer</span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8N1V80yVvzA_cojnvtHHPtObNpuBxEpbPRy-h3dxMs5g7pCG1JQJZAPFMBeLsM1UTHM3cj95p396XRmT0lEqKmTGoGEa5mah1e4MpXw6ghf57XjVviCFFrExiawZPFQGBYHTAAUoUM5M/s1600/DSCF0147.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 208px; height: 270px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8N1V80yVvzA_cojnvtHHPtObNpuBxEpbPRy-h3dxMs5g7pCG1JQJZAPFMBeLsM1UTHM3cj95p396XRmT0lEqKmTGoGEa5mah1e4MpXw6ghf57XjVviCFFrExiawZPFQGBYHTAAUoUM5M/s320/DSCF0147.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488017282965300194" border="0" /></a><span>ns of the local Vietnamese American boat people. The frustrations of the Vietnamese in the</span><span> area have occurred due to the lack of representation and assistance . The press conference had representatives from Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. It also had speakers from various generations. My first observation upon arriving at the Vietnamese dock in Biloxi was the condition </span><span>the dock was in. </span><span>The dock was extremely weathered and had large gaps in it. The dock was in such bad condition that there were planks placed across the big gaps just in order to continue to use the dock. We learned that the condition of this <span style="font-style: italic;">city-owned</span> dock was the result of Hurricane Katrina and the city has failed to fix it, even after all other docks in the area since then, have been fixed. This is a blatant example of racism.</span><span><br /></span><br /><span>The first person to</span><span> speak was a Vietnamese Mississippi representative. She spoke broken English but she </span><span>communicated well, her concern over how local people treat the Vietnamese in the area as aliens. She emphasized her American citizenship being received in 1990 and her husband's being received in 1987</span><span>. One of the important things she mentioned was the difficulty with BP's compensation packages. Mortgages on many of Vietnamese fishing boats cost more than the boats are worth and </span><span>BP is only paying back the worth of the boats. She threw out the number $450,000 for the a</span><span>verage cost of a boat mortgage and then mentioned how BP is only compensating $350,</span><span>000. Without work, the Vietnamese fishers can not make that $100,000 difference.</span><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_In39iF1-jJz0HpCk6oh9jAJKCh2ZRl1i0iRl9KMAeR420BrSkWGhPnL2Tpe5Ajm7GIq-4YFESTCKLDXDOlgd8BTkl3FVjQkUEIOp7ZVjW0M4F6teaBUcBuP4INJpLvYbO4x1QgdhVjU/s1600/DSCF0243.JPG"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 272px; height: 204px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_In39iF1-jJz0HpCk6oh9jAJKCh2ZRl1i0iRl9KMAeR420BrSkWGhPnL2Tpe5Ajm7GIq-4YFESTCKLDXDOlgd8BTkl3FVjQkUEIOp7ZVjW0M4F6teaBUcBuP4INJpLvYbO4x1QgdhVjU/s320/DSCF0243.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488018117387956722" border="0" /></a><span>The next speakers w</span><span>e</span><span>re Tony Cao and Linda </span>Nguyen, both from "Voice of the Youth"<span>. Their argument was that their parent's generation only knows how to fish and with the oil spill, they will not be able to do eve</span><span>n that. The local Vietnamese need job security and training in other areas in order to live normal lives. Once of the areas that Linda focused on was the need for BP to hire local interpreters in order to provide jobs.</span><br /><span>Chou Chin was the nex</span><span>t speaker and he was from Houma, Louisiana. Chou was one of the only boat owners in the area who was not hired by BP to be an oil skimmer. He apparently did not meet the "criteria," even after applying multiple times. Chou expressed his sad</span><span>ness over the probability of never b</span><span>eing able to shrimp again.</span><br /><span>One of the last speak</span><span>ers was Wing Wen. He spoke at the press conference in place of his father who has been forced to leave his family and move further west in order to fish. His father was not hired by BP to look for oil.</span><br /><span><br />The evening after </span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQQAUPoV2GtTrxNQXyJgbDKtWCWuJI-iQIkzYviYbPbgogArfWCTT7beOsy-hNpGn91hmNvDoV-dldVD23BQLAuDIONdFn1O0tg-k71zkwciiQobCwCJEB0D7-wEHdf7d5aA5naCfG1w/s1600/DSCF0280.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinQQAUPoV2GtTrxNQXyJgbDKtWCWuJI-iQIkzYviYbPbgogArfWCTT7beOsy-hNpGn91hmNvDoV-dldVD23BQLAuDIONdFn1O0tg-k71zkwciiQobCwCJEB0D7-wEHdf7d5aA5naCfG1w/s320/DSCF0280.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5488022384905341938" border="0" /></a><span>the Vietnamese press conference, we headed back to Shaggy's in order to find some more fishermen and other workers in the area. We were introduced to a man named Randy who works for the electric company and does his own non-commercial fishing between the coast and the barrier islands off the coast of Mississippi. He talked to us about a fishery meeting held downstairs at Shaggy's a couple nights prior to our visit. He told us about the concerns that were expressed at the meeting. The main concern was over outsiders moving into Mississippi, shrimping, fishing and being hired to look for oil by BP, because they can not do so elsewhere. Randy told us about how local people with boats should be the first to be hired by BP to look for oil, instead of people who are coming in from other areas along the coast looking for work.<br /></span><span>While visiting Shaggy's for the second time, we made a contact with Keith, the manager and bar tender. He gave us his phone number and told us to call him in a month when the oil is predicted to hit the Mississippi coast, and he would provide us with the truth of what is going on.<br /><br />...More to come...<br /></span>mariehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10797329080143868887noreply@blogger.com2