Disenfranchised Citizen

Sometimes you need a break…

Pearl Jam – Do The Evolution

The hidden subtext?

Obviously…

Dear God,

I know it’s been awhile since I said hello. My bad, but things have been going pretty good so, thanks. I do have a request though and I’ve been thinking about it for a while now.

So, here goes:

Please, I’m begging you, please…can you back away from politics?

I don’t understand the choices you are making. I was raised in a Christian household by Christian parents, but they never let me in on your political predilections. They say that we are judged by the company we keep, well, do you really understand the political hues your friends are painting you with?

Crazy. Mean. Exclusionary. Bitter. Hate-filled. Kinda racist. Scared. Jaded. Fraudulent. A liar.

I wasn’t raised to perceive you in such terms; you were supposed to be compassionate, concerned for the poor, loving, but your political friends make you look like a mean-spirited, wealthy dick. I don’t think this is your intention, but I was also told you were infallible.

So, I’m confused.

Please help, and I understand the temptation to say, “I work in mysterious ways.” But please don’t do that. This is serious and people are starting to get the wrong idea: Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Christine O’Donnell, Sharron Angle, Christine Bachman, David Vitter, Glenn Beck…just to name a few, really, a few…there are a lot more, God. Some of them are even saying you told them to run.

Really?

These people seem to blame all the problems of our country on the same people your son seemed to represent, remember the allegory about the rich man, the camel and the needle?

Did you change your mind?

When did you start to hate Mexicans, Muslims and poor people so much, or is that just your political friends…see? That’s why I worry, it’s getting harder to separate you from them cause they keep talking about you all the time, like you talk only to them now.

What’s going on?

And even if you don’t answer, or let me know or give me a sign or something, thanks for the Super Bowl last year. Sincerely, that was really cool, and could you make the Army Corps of Engineers do New Orleans right this time? There’s a lot of people in that town who count on them and you…so, thanks.

Have a nice day.

Latest Benedict Democrat

Ed. Note: Today (Sep 30th) this legislation was tabled…so for now, never mind. It’s back in the FCC’s court.

From Rawstory:

Legislative text put forward by Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA) under the banner of mandating network neutrality would instead prevent the government from requiring broadband providers to treat all Internet traffic equally.

Waxman, who has vowed that he would support the so-called ‘Net Neutrality’ policy proposals favored by most Democrats and progressives, has instead put forward an as-yet-unsettled legislative framework that explicitly prohibits the Federal Communications Commission from regulating broadband Internet under Title II of the Communications Act: a caveat key to implementation of what’s been called the Internet’s First Amendment.

Should the president sign a bill containing Waxman’s language, it would effectively kill ‘Net Neutrality’ efforts and make key parts of a hotly contested proposal by Google and Verizon the law of the land.

I recently read an article claiming there is no political right or left anymore, that now there is only pro-corporation or pro-public with both Republicans and Democrats entrenched on the side of corporate power. Personally, I have long argued this case while at the same time recognizing Democrats will at least, on occasion, first shake the hand of people they stab in the back while the Republicans will just unapologetically knife away.  Articles such as this one about Mr. Waxman’s recent sea-change on internet freedom only confirm these beliefs.

When it comes to the internet, Democrats have long been the party who has stood on the side of net-neutrality while Republicans predominantly claim free market and push in favor of the Telecoms, consequences to the free exchange of information on the internet be damned.

The argument in a nutshell:

Net-neutrality is good for consumers: it gives them freedom of choice in providers and content, and keeps consumer costs lower by preventing companies from charging for certain aspects of internet use.

Net-Neutrality is bad for corporations: it prevents them from controlling competition by slowing down traffic to competing websites. It prevents them from restricting access or charging more for accessing certain types of web traffic like file sharing, gaming…etc.

Waxman has long gone on record in favor of net-neutrality…over and over, yet now he introduces the framework for legislation that would crush the very idea he champions with language that is bad for consumers, but great for corporations and my concern is because people will recognize Waxman as a Democrat, consumers will not read the fine print of his bill and just assume it’s a good thing, when in fact it is not.

Any way you cut it, Waxman just did Google and Verizon a big favor, and made things tougher for the FCC to keep your internet free and open.

Any way you cut it, the Democrats are trying to screw you again in favor of big business.

Read the article,

After committing to ‘Net Neutrality’, Rep. Waxman pushes bill to kill it

And on a side note: What the hell makes the Obama Administration think that after Democrats had to eat it for eight years with Bush in office, they would be in any mood to stomach their argument of – Hey, you better support us, otherwise you get Republicans? If Obama wants support from Democrats, perhaps he should stop making excuses for every time he caves on issues to the party not in power. Perhaps, he should spend more time talking tough to those on the other side of the aisle, instead of his own “base.”

Have a nice day.

Hey Ken, fish kills are "outrageous"

In perhaps a poor choice of words, Ken Feinberg said yesterday, “No grocery receipts, no documentation, just an allegation of subsistence loss. Four thousand claims where the claim form is exactly the same, including the misspelling. Outrageous! I can’t pay those claims.”

So what was he talking about?

Apparently Plaquemines Parish Council Chairman, Don M Beshel, frustrated with the slow movement of reparations to the people he represents typed up a form letter and had it distributed about the parish. The letter, on Plaquemines Parish letterhead said simply,

“_________________________ is a resident of District 1 Plaquemines Parish and due to the hardship caused by the oil spill, seafood production costs have increased and have caused undue hardships on local residents in the amount of $______________________ per month.

Turns out 4000 people filled in these blanks and sent them in.

While Mr. Beshel’s frustration was certainly justified and his creativity could be admired, this was probably not the best idea, about as well thought out as Feinberg’s comments.

4000 claims sent in at once are only going to slow down the other claims, not to mention give false hope to people in Plaquemines Parish that by doing such, on parish letterhead, their claim for groceries will be honored. It also could have given the appearance to many this was something that had been worked out with Feinberg. On the other hand, Feinberg could stand to drop any sort of righteous indignation on his part. Yeah, he has a tough job, but this job was only made tougher by his bullshit promises of speedy claims. Nobody asked him to promise the time frames he chose to crow about in every media outlet that would give him a listen. Nobody asked him to so dramatically climb aboard the white steed and gallop into the Gulf Region to save everyone’s day, only to have the horse stop short and throw him into the swamp.

So Feinberg? Yeah, Mr. Beshel probably shouldn’t have done it, but seriously…get over yourself and deal with it.

What is really “outrageous” is the fact you are actually asking people to come up with grocery receipts as part of the claims process. As the resident states in the article…who the hell keeps grocery receipts? And when you are a fisherman living in part off your catch, who the hell gives you receipts? Neptune? Feinberg recently expressed a great deal of humility in Alabama and has been able to speed up payments to businesses paying out over $200 million in one day to business owners, but one day does not a career make. You’ve still got a long way to go, so get to it…and if you feel the need to react, or vent, or express your frustration in any sort of way, my suggestion is you give the offices of British Petroleum a call…and leave the people in the parishes alone.

They don’t need any more shit from you, or anybody else…

Have a nice day.

Smile, everything is o-kay...

Regarding Democratic Underground, from Rawstory:

The practice of excerpting news and linking to its source is what drives the blogosphere, engages millions in political discussion and aides the dissemination of information the world over.

However, if the so-called “copyright troll” company Righthaven LLC is successful, a vibrant political forum for American progressives could be shut down, all thanks to a five sentence excerpt from the Las Vegas Review-Journal that caught the paper’s attention.

The forum Democratic Underground (DU) which frequently reposts news excerpts for users to discuss, was sued in August for quoting and linking to the Nevada paper. Backed by Internet freedom advocacy group Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF), DU filed a counter-suit on Monday, accusing the paper and Righthaven of engaging in copyright fraud.

Keep reading this article about the latest and greatest way a bunch of jackasses are trying to suppress the dissemination of information on the internet…

Progressive political forum fights lawsuit over five sentence news excerpt

Have a nice day.

No Ken, it's not okay, but it could be much better

When Kenneth Feinberg took over disbursement of the $20 billion dollar fund from BP one month ago, he made the rather startling claim that emergency payments would be underway to people within 24 hours and businesses within a week. One month later, over 40,000 claims remain to be processed. He has been forced to do town hall meetings, to add personnel, then to streamline the claims process by placing businesses into categories in the hopes that business damages can be compared, all for the purpose of speeding up the process.

Perhaps in an attempt to once again try to show good faith, he went against BP’s wishes a week ago and waived the requirement that wages paid to fisherman for helping with the cleanup be deducted from their emergency payments.

That’s nice and all, but as we continue to watch people suffer, losing their homes, their businesses, their families and their means of employment, all as a result of British Petroleum’s oil spill and through no fault of their own, more must be done. Health risks continue to rise in the Gulf Coast, both mental health and medical and these costs will not only increase in time, but in many cases those incurring these costs no longer have health insurance either from loss of income, or loss of employment or businesses that helped provide coverage. Again, the people of the Gulf Coast didn’t ask for British Petroleum to fuck up their lives. They didn’t ask for BP to dump 4.1 million barrels of oil into the Gulf to coat their futures in crude.

It is time for Feinberg to really make things right in the Gulf. It is time now for him to finally waive the “no-sue” clause; the residents of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida deserve, and should be entitled to this much. Let them receive their emergency payments, a final payment from the fund, and should the problems in the Gulf persist with the ecosystem, their home environments or their own mental and physical health, make British Petroleum liable.

Make it possible for Gulf Coast residents to sue British Petroleum even if accepting “final” payments from the fund.

Don’t let British Petroleum walk away from their responsibility.

They broke it. They bought it.

Like BP, Feinberg needs to make amends for his false promises. He stated his disbursements would be more generous than any court and this has not been the case. This rationale for preventing people from suing the oil company is as hollow as his 24 hour “guarantee.”

Waive the no-sue clause because the people of the Gulf Coast don’t know their future, stop trying to make them guess.

Have a nice day.

Except for new security in the Quarter, not a bad week at all, plus...new condos!

Hello.

I kill people for a living.

Normally, I don’t really go spreading this around as I find it can get in the way of my job, but after the events of this week, I just can’t help myself. Ten years now of having to be all secretive, of having to always respond to questions like, “Hey, what do you do for a living?” with answers like “Oh, a bit of this and that…and, you know, whatever it takes…or, I was a high school teacher before Katrina,” I soon may be able to finally be honest with my fellow New Orleanians, “Me? Oh, I’m an Assassin, and I’m proud!”

It’s been a great week.

Obama’s about to make me legal.

What? I know…I never would have believed it either. I thought when McCain chose Palin, I was truly fucked, but who knew? These Democrats? They appear to have an even stronger fetish for state secrets than the regime they replaced. It’s amazing, truly a surprise and yeah, I know I gotta thank the recession too. Since they can’t run on the economy at mid-terms and that health care thing has been such a clusterfuck…again, the last thing they need is to give rich white elephants any kind of war on terror ammunition so yeah, I get it. I understand. I just don’t care, cause me and my ilk, we’re coming out! Hell, we might even start our own Krewe! Mardi Gras parades! Our own Ball!

Really.

Despite the fact the constitution requires all Americans to receive “due process of law,” Obama is arguing that his assassination program is a state secret.

Why is he doing that?

Well, what happened is the father of this American citizen by the name of Anwar Awlaki, his dad filed a lawsuit against the administration for trying to assassinate his son. Yeah, you can sue for that! Crazy, I didn’t know either. Anyways, the Department of Justice under Obama is demanding dismissal of this lawsuit because they say that when I am out there trying to kill people at the behest of your government, I am a “state secret,” even when I am killing Americans. Why I want to kill you, also a “state secret.” The evidence the government has used as proof of your guilt before sending me out to kill you? You guessed it, “state secret.” And because of all these state secrets, what recourse would an American citizen have?

None.

Obama rules!

The Krewe of “Rue de Screw You!”

Got a bit of ring to it. I’ve always been a fan of some serious alliteration.

I’m thinking of taking out a billboard on Canal Street, course, then again that might not be prudent. It might give the impression to tourists I could conduct my business in the adjoining French Quarter, and whereas that may have been true before…soon, this is about to become very difficult. You see, even with the protection of our government that allows me to kill…you know, you, this doesn’t necessarily mean I want to be caught int the act. It creates quite a headache. Paperwork, time…yeah, all that shit and somebody’s got to let out my dog, “Ray-ray,” so there is still some sense of circumspection required. And in the French Quarter, well, I could deal with the NOPD and their 35 to 40 officers patrolling the Quarter 24-7, but what with this new French Quarter Security District thing, I just don’t know if it’s all going to be worth it. If this is approved on October 2nd, that means there are going to be three new security guards walking around the Quarter’s what, 85 blocks or so? I don’t think I want to deal with that kind of scrutiny. Yes, I understand that Moe, Larry and Curly will not be allowed to unholster their weapon for any reason, that they don’t have the power to arrest anyone for anything but seriously, there is a reason me and my ilk never kill anyone in malls. Too much trouble. I mean what if one of those security guards should have a camera? Do you know how many forms I would have to fill out if I was actually caught on film doing my job, even with the whole state secrets thing?

Assassins don’t like paperwork, it’s one of the most oft-cited reasons we get into this line of work in the first place.

I think I’ll put my billboard out by the airport.

So yeah, you gotta take the good with the bad and if the French Quarter is the only place I can’t kill in this country anymore? Yeah, I can live with that…I suppose, for now.

Oh, and more good news!

Mixed development is on the way to the Iberville.

New digs, right next to the Quarter! If I can’t kill there, at least I can hang out. Assassins like the Quarter…Flanagans, Mojo’s, Fahey’s, Molly’s…all within walking distance. Woo-hoo!

And no, you don’t have to ask. I do feel bad about the whole lack of affordable housing thing in New Orleans, really, I do…but I do work for the company so you gotta support the company and since Obama (again, a Democrat…who knew?) appointed David Gilmore head of HANO, we’re getting all that talk of “mixed development” again and just like when they tore down the Big 4, there have been no promises of 1 to 1, the idea that for every low-income apartment they eliminate, they create a new one somewhere else. With 1 to 1, the thousands of residents that have been priced out of the New Orleans housing market when HANO destroyed their homes, or those at the Iberville who soon might be, they are given a new place to live, guaranteed. 1 to 1. They don’t have to leave New Orleans, or they can finally come back home.

I know, yes, I feel bad about there maybe being more homeless people and all, but I also take responsibility. To assuage any guilt I feel when I move to the Iberville Luxury Towers (don’t worry, you’ll hear about it after the elections) I’m going to do my part to kill as many people as I can all over the New Orleans area, except the French Quarter of course, to try to reduce housing demand, to lower the rents city-wide.

You are welcome!

Okay, gotta go.

Busy, busy, busy…like I said…it’s been a pretty good week overall, got me a lot of work out there to do and I am about to be even more swamped. Seriously. After November 2nd, it’s my understanding that the current administration will soon declare that all those people getting a bit too loud about the Gulf will soon be designated “eco-terrorists.”

And you know what that means.

Yep, Christmas is coming and the family’s going to get the expensive gifts this year!

Oh, and by the way…anyone know a certain Garret Hartley’s address?

Just kidding…kind of.

Have a nice day.

Hey all, gotta go to a wedding…

I'm not kidding...I really hate Atlanta

No, not mine…see ya on Monday, but I just couldn’t leave without sayin’

Go Saints!

I really hate Atlanta…really hate…and not in that playful usage of the word “hate,” I mean…really hate the Falcons…

Really.

Have a nice day.

Okay, so we don't actually have to eat it, right?

Federal officials and the Obama administration have maintained for well over two months now that all is safe in the gulf: no serious food contamination, no significant risk to air and water quality, no long-term health risks.

And all this seems well and good so long as you only ask the government’s scientists.

Asking elsewhere, one gets an entirely different story, and from such notable periodicals like the peer-reviewed Journal of the American Medical Association, or from such notable people like staff scientists at the Natural Resources Defense Council or the Chair of Cancer Epidemiology of LSU or Gina Solomon of UCSF, just to name a few. In fact, it would pretty much appear that the only people willing to go on record that everything is safe in the Gulf would be the NOAA, the FDA, the EPA, various politicians and perhaps some science types at BP.

Everybody else seems to think there is much to be concerned about here. In a great three-part series featured on RawStory, the various threats to safety are explored.

In part one, they take a look at the seafood and its dangers of long-term health risks:

In particular, experts tell Raw Story, contaminants from the massive oil spill and unprecedented use of the dispersants employed to dissolve the spill have the potential to cause cancer and neurological disorders.

Exclusive: Gulf seafood poses long-term health risks, experts say

In part two, they take a look at how heavy metals still aren’t being tested for in Gulf seafood, heavy metals such as mercury, lead and cadmium which have been linked to cancer in long term consumption:

Both National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and FDA officials told Raw Story that fish and shellfish being tested for the purpose of reopening waters to commercial and recreational fishing are not being tested for heavy metals.

Exclusive: Heavy metals go untested in Gulf seafood

In part three, they take a look at bioaccumulation in seafood, its toxicity to humans and despite repeated assertions that Corexit is safe, the extremely toxic carcinogens contained in the product. The article also discusses how currently, no seafood tests exist to measure the dispersant in seafood:

Edward Trapido, the Wendell Gauthier Chair of Cancer Epidemiology at the Louisiana State University School of Public Health, revealed to Raw Story that 2-butoxyethanol, one of the compounds in Corexit 9527 – the first dispersant used by BP – is not only considered a carcinogen by the state of New Jersey, but the NJ Department of Health says “it should be handled as a carcinogen with extreme caution.”

“Unfortunately,” Trapido added, “there were two dispersants used – 9500 and 9527. They used 9527 first, until the supplies ran out. Then they switched to 9500. But we don’t know how much of the 9527 was used.”

Exclusive: Gulf oil dispersant contained extremely toxic carcinogen

Enjoy the series…

Have a nice day.

Sometimes you need a break…

Le Tigre – Mediocrity Rules

The hidden subtext?

Obviously… “Redevelopment” is political speech for kicking out black/poor people, eh HANO? 1 to 1

Have a nice day.

It's not like I'd do a worse job

By now many of us have read of British Petroleum’s increased ad spending in the months following the April 20th Deepwater Horizon Explosion. Rep. Kathy Castor was especially upset by this, saying “BP is overdoing it, it’s really making people angry. Every day you get up and see these full-page ads in every newspaper and the TV ads…while BP’s advertising campaign ramped up, businesses and the gulf communities struggled to deal with the costs of the disaster.”

British Petroleum spent 93.4 million dollars in television, print, magazines and the internet, triple what they spent the previous year.

Whereas Rep Castor believes this was being done to burnish the company’s image, BP says the ads were intended to inform the public of what they are doing to clean up the spill and to provide transparency in their efforts.

That’s their best possible spin?

British Petroleum public relations has been dropping the ball for five months now, and as a lowly, but well-intentioned citizen with a degree in communications, I can’t stands no more…British Petroleum, consider this my audition:

__________________________________________________________________________________________

We're here, for you

Release date: 22 September 2010

For decades, the coast of this great country had been neglected and destroyed through coastal erosion. For the past five years, the good people of the United States have given up on and forgotten the beautiful city of New Orleans and the wrath unleashed by Katrina and the failed levees. For too long, dead zones have plagued the Gulf of Mexico each summer, large swaths of water where no fish can live, no species can survive, and every year this zone of oxygen depleted water only grows in size. And finally, the recession struck the states of the Gulf Coast and by all economic indicators would soon have become worse, jobs were being lost, people were losing their homes, families were being driven apart. We here at British Petroleum watched these events, along with so many of the good, resilient people in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida with growing concern. Then, earlier this year, as we celebrated the New Orleans Saints first ever Super Bowl victory, we saw the momentum shift. The outlook became more positive. We bore witness to a region suddenly re-energized and victorious and we felt there must be some way we could do our part to help sustain this momentum. Everyone in the Gulf Coast is our lifelong friend; our fates are intertwined. For decades we have partnered with you to bring our oil to market, to fuel your boats, your cities, to turn on the lights, illuminating the smiles around the Sunday dinner table in the homes of so many we affectionately consider out larger, extended family. At British Petroleum, we finally saw our opportunity to help everyone continue this treasured region’s resurgence. So we blew up the Deepwater Horizon.

We are BP and we are here, for you.

This oil spill will help stop coastal erosion.

Over the past five months, media coverage has been extensive and rightfully so. While we worked diligently to clean up the oil with the help of our life partners across the Gulf Coast, we felt it important to keep the decades old problem of coastal erosion in the news because we are BP and we are here, for you. Despite knowing our brand could suffer, we felt the problem must be addressed, now. Our fine political leaders only needed a gentle nudge in the correct direction. Coastal erosion needed to be part of our national discourse and the environmentalists needed finally to be heard. By spilling the oil, we helped wake up this country to the facts of this degradation, and we have pledged to contribute $500 million dollars of our own money to the study of coastal erosion, to find the solution and move forward. It is our hope that this pledge will be seen in the proper light, of one company trying to give back to the region that has given us so much. It is our hope this pledge also inspires others across this great land to also give, to see this region prosper for centuries to come.

This oil spill has helped create jobs and educational opportunity.

As the recession has deepened, we looked in vain for political leaders in the region to create jobs programs that would help the fine residents: our teachers, our mothers, our police officers and returning soldiers keep food on their tables, their ships at the docks and their homes from foreclosure. We recognized that opportunities were dwindling for the bright young students just leaving college, just as we saw that so many of those colleges science departments were suffering from government cutbacks. At British Petroleum, we are here, for you, and we acted. We created a program called vessels of opportunity that put so many fisherman to work earning more than they ever could have fishing. We created thousands of cleanup jobs to provide valued work experience for so many, and life-sustaining work for real, family men and women. We donated thousands to science programs in colleges throughout the Gulf States, hiring many of their scientists to research the Gulf, research coastal erosion, to help make the sparkling waters of the Gulf shine brighter than they ever have before and we did it all, not for you, but with you, partners.

British Petroleum has developed a program to help both business and family thrive.

We here at British Petroleum have taken it upon ourselves to design and fund an escrow account of $20 billion dollars to fund the continued resurgence of the Gulf Coast. This recession has hit the entire country, and knowing the Gulf Coast states simply did not have the revenue stream necessary to help its residents, we stepped in and worked in conjunction with the Obama Administration to ensure that the people in the Gulf Coast would not have to suffer like the rest of the country. We did it, because we are BP and we are here, for you. This fund will be accessed and distributed by our fine associate, Ken Feinberg who will see to it that no one is left behind. Assistance with medical bills, with businesses feeling the recession’s pinch, with homeowners struggling to pay mortgages: we are here, for you and we will not leave until all is made right, again.

The oil spill has encouraged wildlife conservation.

Before the spill, we were concerned that the great natural resources of the Gulf’s waters and coast were being neglected, taken for granted, even used up. The ascending media attention has undergone great strides to ensure that the country as a whole is now aware of the great many species that need our help. Ridley turtles, whales, dolphins, rays, terns and pelicans are just a few of the species we have helped inject into the consciousness of this country at a time when it was most needed. The truly great citizens of the United States are now aware of all that must be done. Through programs initiated by our company, we have helped to institute relocation of the turtles, released into the Atlantic Ocean or off the coast of Texas to clean waters, away from the Gulf’s summer dead zone so they will have the chance to grow, thrive and continue to exhibit the natural beauty of their movements, reflecting through shimmering water the very resilience of the people who live in the Gulf Coast’s surrounding communities.

British Petroleum stands strong with Gulf Coast.

At BP, we stand committed, strong with all residents of the Gulf Coast. We understand the spill has created hardship, but we saw an opportunity to help and despite any lost profits, we felt it necessary to do just that, help. Through our media spotlights, our job creation, our financial commitments to families, business and universities we feel that we have inspired a nation to recognize the true worth of the Gulf and all its resources and natural beauty. We here at British Petroleum stand united with each resident in the great states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and we are proud to serve each and every one of you as a willing partner. We are proud to work with the Obama administration, the Coast Guard, the EPA, FDA and the NOAA. With the Gulf Coast, we stand strong, and getting stronger everyday and we will remain until all is well, until each and every family is again, made whole.

We are British Petroleum and we are here, with you.

For further information:

www.bp.com/gulfofmexicoresponse
BP Press Office, London: +44 20 7496 4076
BP Press Office, US: +1 281 366 0265