Open Thread – Hands Across the Sand
In Florida on Saturday, February 13, 2010, only weeks before the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico began, a statewide gathering against offshore oil drilling occurred in Florida. Thousands of Floridians representing 60 towns and cities and over 90 beaches joined hands to protest the efforts by the Florida Legislature and the US Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling off the shores of Florida. Florida’s Hands Across The Sand event was the largest gathering in the history of Florida united against oil drilling. Thousands joined hands from Jacksonville to Miami Beach and Key West to Pensacola Beach, each against oil drilling in Florida’s waters.
Hands Across the Sand has now gone national, and gatherings will be happening across the country on June 26th at 11am local time. The Alaska gatherings are below. To find gatherings in other states and to learn more, click HERE. Mudflatters attending any of these events are welcome to send pictures and/or a paragraph describing the event.
Pt. Woronzof is located on the very west end of Anchorage. Take Northern Lights Blvd. west until you reach the end of the road. You will see a large parking lot on your right — turn here. This is the 2nd to last right hand turn before you run into airport property. Please do your best to carpool with family and friends or commute via the Tony Knowles Costal Trail on foot, bike, rollerblade, rollerski or any other means OTHER than single-occupancy in a vehicle. Thank you!
Douglas, AK – At Sandy Beach! You know where it is.
Homer, AK – Bishop’s Beach at the end of the street near Two Sisters Bakery
Kenai, AK – Kenai City Beach. From the Kenai Spur Highway, take Spruce Street south to the beach parking lot. We will be in front of the beach entrance that goes along the north side of the restrooms.
Have you all apologized to BP yet?
A website has been set up for you to submit your apology here.
I’m not the kind of person who wishes ill of others generally, but I have to say, anyone who votes for Michelle Bachmann or others who even suggest the $20 million fund is in any way bad, do not deserve to ever reap any benefits from it, or other things like it.
I would love to see Mr. and Mrs. Todd Palin have to pay current health insurance prices to insure themselves and their children, but alas, that apparently will never happen. They get a freebie I cannot ever get.
For my fellow Buffaloians there will be a gathering at the Erie Basin Marina. Information is on the site linked by AKM above. There is also an event in Dunkirk, NY.
It’s great to see citizen pro-activity in this regard. Hopefully our government will use the current Gulf tragedy as a springboard to rally the nation’s priorities towards alternative resource use/ lifestyles.
Thirty years ago the U.S. Mineral Management Service had approved offshore drilling here at the Mendocino coast. As they did their required informational (aka “rubber-stamp”)town hall meetings along the west coast they hit a profound major roadblock in our little town. Here the combined testimonies of local scientists, hippies, school children, realtors,business owners,local politicians showed up to testify with such intensity (the scoping session was supposed to last just a couple hours but we forced them to stay 3 full days so everyones’ testimony would be heard and recorded!) that the very clear message got back to Washington that this coast was to be off-limits. It’s been a continuing struggle as every few years the congress tries to acquiesce to to big oil, but we remain rig-free. So there is such a thing as “people power”.
The bigger picture includes a change of consumer habits across the board re: petro-chemical consumption for everything including transportation of imported goods down to plastic bag use.
A crucial step is to make our government representatives aware of our priorities and demands.
So “Good on ya” for participating at “Hands across the sand…”. It will be a strong visible message from “we the people”.
I’ve loved Mendocino my whole life. Thank you for saving it.
Already voted for Ian yesterday! Good luck Ian!!!
hi Ian, i have voted and i will put the link on facebook and ask my friends if they will take the time to support your efforts. as a junior mudpup you automatically have my vote. i am very proud of you. i think the world of your mom, who as a senior mod/admin on this blog, works so hard for us all. please mudpups, mudpeeps and hushpuppies take a moment to send this young man to netflicks. we all need to support those younglings and help them on their way…..love bubs.
Crooks and Liars has the video and transcript of a wonderful comment from Joe Biden answering to Sen. Barton’s apology.
BIDEN: There’s an entire way of life in jeopardy. This is just not about jobs. This is just not about whether or not the waterfowl is polluted and you can’t — this is an entire way of life that’s in jeopardy. And to sit there and say that we’re being — in effect, as I understood the statement — that he was ashamed we’re being tough on an oil company who caused the problem — I mean, I — look, I just think that it’s pretty important to the people of Louisiana all the way through Florida and even in his home state of Texas that people disassociate themselves from that.
That’s not the role — there’s no shakedown. It’s insisting on responsible conduct and a responsible response to something they caused. And I find it outrageous to suggest that if, in fact, we insisted that BP demonstrate their preparedness, to put aside billions of dollars — in this case, $20 billion — to take care of the immediate needs of people who are drowning — these guys don’t have deep pockets. The guy who runs the local marina, the guy who has one shrimping boat, the guy who has one small business — he can’t afford to lose $10,000, $12,000, $15,000, $30,000 a month. […]
What is wrong with that? How is that a shakedown? I mean, I just — I don’t know, I find it pretty astounding, the comment.
And my comment.
One of the oldest and possibly most unique cultures of this nation is in jeopardy. The lives of the Creoles, Cajuns, French, Spanish and British came togther in the Mississippi Delta in a rich and fertile land and became a rich and fertile culture diverse in its heritage and united in its way of life, that predates the founding of this country. All this transpired a century before the Mississippi Delta bacame part of the USA. The Delta contains some of the deeps roots of this nation.
BP may very well have destroyed that culture, if the natives of the Delta have to abandon their homes and homeland and become part of the soulless traffic jams of the rest of the US.
thanks Marnie. i am going over there. if you don’t mind i will put the first paragragh in the Biden section of the forum. i will of course mention your name. ((((hugs)))
at least one here in Raleigh NC – i hope to be there. i also put this on my blog and facebook. as one of my former co-workers said, if there’s any good to be gained from the tragedy in the gulf, it has to be that we begin to loosen the choke hold that oil has on our planet and ourselves. thank you for posting this akm!
@Barbara, the raleigh even info is here: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=136866572995796
For your enjoyment – here is Brenda and her twins playing in the sprinkler 🙂
http://www.wimp.com/babymoose
The music is really nice also, too.
that was too precious! thank you for posting the link.
Wonderful
Thanks so much 1smart, it seems all the videos I click on lately are heart wrenching oil spill videos. As much as we need to see them in order to get people to make changes, the mooses are a nice break!
So sweet and beautiful.
That was so cute. It’s nice to see something that makes us smile for a change. Thanks. 🙂
Thanks for the boost in spirits! The babies are so joyous and funny, precious.
Another shameless pitch for votes for a Netroots Nation scholarship from a loving mom. http://www.democracyforamerica.com/netroots_nation_scholarships/951-ian-ross
“I need your help with something. I am in the running for a scholarship to attend Netroots Nation 2010. Netroots Nation is a huge annual convention attended by bloggers, campaign managers, candidates, and people from a wide spectrum of professions. This convention showcases films, vendors, and expert training sessions on how to run campaigns both on the ground and online. This would be an amazing opportunity for me to gain skills that I could apply in my support for causes and candidates.
DFA is offering a scholarship – but to get it I’m going to need a lot of votes. Without this scholarship I don’t have nearly enough money to be able to attend this convention. If you could vote for me by clicking the link above and forwarding this to others who you think will vote for me, it will be very appreciated. If you have voted for me already, I am thankful to have your support.
Mahalo,
Ian” (aka Mudpup Jr.)
Time for Palin to sit down and STFU.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-heDWycOuYM&feature=player_embedded
I am so angry.
That was powerful! I too wish she would sit down and STFU. Thanks for posting that link.
BTW…….Ed Shultz just called her Psycho Sister Sarah while doing a report on MIchelle Bachman. I like it.
Thanks for the link. That was so well done. But I’d advise people to not read the comments unless you want to get angry all over again. The bad news is that Sarah Palin isn’t the only idiot out there.
Huffington Post has an invitation to submit examples and photos examples of terrible grammar- how about some Palininsms? Surely she should be in the top 20!
Such s from Dunn’s post on Palin on O’Reilly.
I can’t do it but can someone?
It’s Aung San Suu Kyi’s 65th birthday, which (of course) she’s spending under house arrest. Here’s a photo gallery of her as a young woman:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2010/jun/17/aung-san-suu-kyi-photographs?picture=363848997
There’s a related article.
As you say, “of course”. I’m 62. She’s been under house arrest for most of my adult life.
Somehow it never makes me feel that much better to realize that there are people who are worse than us.
There are several Hands Across the Sand events in NYC. The closest one to me (where I don’t have to spend over an hour on the subway, just take a crosstown bus) is on the High Line, an old railroad that’s been converted/is being converted into a lovely park with native plants (I was on it once while it was “abandoned” and it was beautiful then, too, though there was lots of broken glass and no public access). If it didn’t take so long to get to, I’d go to a city beach, but the High Line, with its view of the Hudson (an estuary), will do. I’ll be bringing my camera, my tuning forks, and wheatgrass to cast on the waters (which will require leaving the High Line).
Here’s another issue with resonance for Alaska: asking the EPA to get tougher on mercury emissions when gold is mined. Since so much of Alaska eats seafood, this is crucial. Here’s the link:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/676/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4126&tag=email
Since I got this from an email, when you click on the “take action” button, you will have to click another link since you are not I. Please take action in your own name. Mercury in the air is so dangerous because it travels quickly into the water table. Polluters, as we’ve seen, would rather pay fines than clean up their acts, and compliance tests at the mines currently are run only once a year. Extractive industries still view Alaska as prime country for r@pe and pillage, and it’s up to everyone who cares to keep our land, water, and air as clean as we can. I don’t have kids, but I care about the future generations, whether it’s mountaintop removal in Appalachia, or gold mines, forests and oil wells in Alaska. To quote JFK, we all share the same small planet, and we are all mortal.
Health and peace.
From Andrews Sullivan’s:
Quote For The Day
18 Jun 2010 12:27 pm
“Palin is the only endorsement anyone wants. If you ask who the most influential endorsers are, Palin is numbers one, two, and three,” – Rick Santorum.
But the entire Beltway assumes she is a non-starter in 2012. What kind of denial are they in?
What is wrong with so many people in the US?
“What is wrong with so many people in the US?”
Many of them are stupid and even more are angry (and anger whacks about 50 points off of your i.q.).
Now, pair that with the Queen of the Damned and her *wink wink*, smirk, “folksy” cheesecake persona and realize that many of these people IDENTIFY WITH HER. She’s not hard for them to understand because she oversimplifies EVERYTHING and she taps into their anger.
If you’re angry with someone else, it lets you off the hook. You don’t have to DO anything, just be angry. It’s the other guy’s fault!
Kind of like how many people saw the movie “Forrest Gump” and were all over Jenny. But…somehow…they overlooked that the character of Jenny was an incest survivor. Set aside how little I liked the movie in general, and how badly the author was fvcked over by the film company, the AUTHOR was appalled at how Jenny was portrayed and spoken about by the audience.
So there you go. If it’s complicated and requires nuanced thought, then it’s too much for too many Americans.
But if she overplays her hand, and I think she is arrogant enough to do so (prays hard), she’s going to p*ss off her base eventually. They will turn on her with the sort of viciousness usually reserved for their perceived enemies–the libtards.
Just my own two cents, naturally.
I do hope you are right.
What amazes me is that people still are wanting to continue the oil culture. In states like LA where economy is 50/50 oil and fisheries/tourism the oil people seem to think this “risk” is o.k. If the fisherman overcatch their fish, drop massive amounts of fish overboard, there’s no damage to anyone else’s life or livelyhood. Yet oilers are demanding the right to play Russian Roulette with everyone else’s. It’s so blindlingly selfish.
Let’s close this industry down and put the oil rig workers to work building new transmission infrastructure and wind and solar arrays. The money won’t be as good, but it will be steady and a hell of a lot less dangerous- for everybody.
i am so happy that i logged on to mudflats from here in dublin today.
after clicking on the global site for the event on the 26th, i’ve found that there is to be a gathering at st james park in london.
my dear sissy and i are staying right by the park and are going to go over and join the demonstration.
once again mudflats proves that is an international community.
i’ll be toting mr brian to join in
Woohoo, waving madly at Dublin! Having a grand time, I hope! Brian must be an awfully civilized moose by now. Is he picking up any languages? Is he drinking wine yet?
DublinDame and Fawnskin….sending hugs and smoochies.
We need a new business model for companies who operate key infrastructure services in roads, airports, harbors, energy, telecommunications, water, sewer, waste, and even certain kinds of large banks. For key infrastructure, there is a fundamental conflict of interest in the for-profit SEC regulated, shareholder-owned companies. A for-profit company cannot serve two masters at the same time – shareholders and the public good. In venue after venue – Wall Street, Oil, Gas, Telecom, Harbors – large for-profit corporations are a constant problem and the constant cause of truly major damage. The power large for-profits are allowed to accumulate pushes citizen voices out of our own government. “Hands Across the Sand” is great, do not get me wrong. But being effective in solving the long-term problem would be even better. Key infrastructure that works, is affordable, safe, accountable to the public interest, a good citizen, and humane to its own employees is not too much to ask. Citizens feel helpless and powerless in the face of these for-profit driven problems.
Polarbear –
I am actually old enough to remember when there were such things as publicly owned monopolies of utilities like electric power and telecommunications – and regulated industries that provided critical services, like air travel and banking. I can even remember a time when the US military was run by the government instead of private contractors. But that was all way back in remote antiquity, before the gospel of St. Ronny.
Today, government is owned by large for-profit companies, lock stock and barrel.
Until that is changed somehow, citizens will BE helpless and powerless, and that is just exactly how the plutograts and oligarchs want it to be.
I’m pleased to see that there are quite a few places listed in the Puget Sound region. Now I just have to decide which one to go to. There are three that are fairly close to me – within 15 minutes drive. It’s nice to have a choice.
I like the idea of it, and it is amazing that the first one was before the oil spill in the Gulf.
Best as I can tell, the only reason why Palin would be considered an authority on energy issues is because she’s a gas bag.
Big stinky green gas also too. Rumor is she’s hangin’ out with Norwegian and Dutch dikes also too. =)
I’m thinking Hydrogen Sulfide, complete with the rotten-egg smell.
teehee. you betcha!
She certainly has vastly more knowledge of Dutch and Norwegian dikes than Obama does.
All he has done is facilitate them donating oil removal equipment. But that’s being an international community organizer so it doesn’t count.
Fan,
Your comment should come with a screen cleaner alert..LOL
THAT was funny!
Thanks AKM for bringing this to our attention. I probably would not have heard about it otherwise and that is a sad statement to say.
I’m thinking of going to the one on Hollywood Beach (FL) as an unofficial independent journalist.
From Toes, #2 above: “Unfortunately, this area being a “Drill Baby Drill” and hard core right-wing-conservative area, it was not well-received. Even a local forum here in Navarre Beach, FL. had a thread devoted to this calling all of us “terrorists”, “Libtard Greenies”, etc.”
Please do report more Toes if the tune is changing. Down here in the South, most people know their livelihoods are too tied to beautiful beaches, sunsets, waters and fishing to make it worth the risk for the comparatively little oil that’s out there. At least I think so. Maybe that’s what I’ll try to find out Sat. 6/26 by interviewing people who came out there not for the Hands event, but just happened to fancy a drink on the Broadwalk.
BTW, if you ever visit Ft. Lauderdale, talk a morning/afternoon to check out Hollywood Beach. Short drive south, and, after you pay for parking at the Master Meter, you can stroll the Broadwalk with the beach and ocean just feet (well, the ocean several feet) from you and have a nice breakfast or a relaxing adult beverage with an ocean view unhindered by car traffic – just bikes and pedestrians. Much of the area was used for the filming of the outdoor scenes of the movie “Marley and Me”.
Sorry if I’m rambling a little, still tired from what turned out to be nearly two days of travel to get home – Flew out on Spirit Air but not back! – and I am also waiting for the airline I did take to deliver my bag – Mr. Terps’ bag made it, mine did not. Sigh. To top it off, I came home to a phone call from Spirit Air saying our flight (for yesterday evening) WAS confirmed (even though on their website they said all flights had been cancelled through Thursday 6/17 so we naturally had already booked another expensive one). Yesterday was not a very happy birthday for me.
Since this is an open thread: ANNOUNCING a Washington mudpup meet up in Seattle on Saturday, June 19.
Please go to the forum and private message (PM) boodog if you would like to attend!
When living in FLorida my response to those saying we needed to drill offshore in Alaska or in ANWR was that they could drill there when offshore wells were allowed off the shores of Florida. Many responded that “we can’t risk our beaches”. My response was, we can’t risk the lives of Alaskans or its wildlife, Alaska’s land or water.
Sadly it didn’t change many minds, but it certainly opened their eyes a bit. Hopefully with BP’s disaster, a majority of Floridians will open their eyes and realize that not only should we not drill along Florida’s coast, but we also should not drill along Alaska’s coast.
The review of mountaintop removal for coal is good, now onto a stronger look at the damage that tar sand and fractionating oil and gas removal is causing!
Yes, we need oil; more importantly, we need a renewable energy policy and development. Until we get renewable energy sources on-line and technology developed to make it more feasible, we NEED better regulation and understanding of these other oil extraction processes and to make sure we do not pollute water sources so as to make them unuseable and the land over them unable to be farmed.
You got that all right, Bear Woman!
Wow, this is a fantastic website. Clicked on various states and so many are having events… Also in other countries! Emailed several friends the link.
Hands Across the Sand
Hands Around the World
United we stand
and now reprieve for mountaintops, also, too? That’s one giant step in the right, er, correct, direction
we all need somebody to lean on
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Wpof8s5ZTg
Thank you, Mudflatters, for your strong shoulders and helping hands.
L’Shalom.
Planning hands across the sand here in Dunkirk ny
did you catch KO saying GOBP last night
which side are you on? is all I have to say
think many have made it clear…hope the american people listen and understand just what was said..
Army Corps of Engineers Suspends Nationwide Permit for Mountaintop Removal Mining
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2010/2010-06-17-092.html
WASHINGTON, DC, June 17, 2010 (ENS) – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers today suspended the use of a fast-track nationwide permit, Nationwide Permit 21, for mountaintop removal mining operations in the six states of the Appalachian region.
Now, proposed surface coal mining projects that involve discharges of dredged or fill material into waters of the United States will have to go through the individual permit process to obtain Department of the Army authorization under the Clean Water Act.
The individual permit evaluation procedure provides increased public involvement in the permit evaluation process, including an opportunity for public comment on individual projects.
– – –
Not getting my own hopes up, to be honest,
but maybe whew? A little bit? Will reasonable minds prevail, before they poison so much in search of the almighty DOLLAR
ETA, there was more to the article previously posted, I just snipped it. Maybe the horrors of the Gulf catastrophe is making the Federal Agencies ALL wake up & take notice.
Let’s hope the moratorium stays in place!
Let’s hope the state of Alaska will look at things like this and realize the Appalachian area has made lots of mistakes in how NOT to mine.
This is an effort to hopefully get going in the right way.
The US SHOULD be able to develop ways to power our country, mine resources and drill oil that is the SAFEST in the world.
On the other hand we have a long way to go towards reducing our use of resources…way to wasteful!
Let’s hope we are starting to see a new path!
Lease-A is going to be mad!
That image is really moving. The timing of this inspired gathering last Feb. is chilling. What a powerful concept and movement. I’m looking forward to visiting the site.
Here’s an article about Palin’s mantra of “Drill Baby, Drill” and the way its corrupted the GOP. It has some good points.
http://tinyurl.com/2equ7lg
**** Only a fast-moving case of heavy Alzheimer’s could make us forget all of those elephants chanting the slogan at the national convention in 2008. There also is ample footage of Sarah Palin, the shrewd, cynical and demented cheerleader bringing audiences into a happy state of froth in which those three words gushed out over and over.
Palin and her partner in intellectual slime, Minnesota Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann, have joined Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh and Fox News in the entertainment business of leading the public to believe that there is not now and has never been anything wrong with American business dealings, domestic or abroad. *****
BuffaloGal, I know what you mean. I can’t look at the picture without getting teary eyed, It is very very powerful.
As I was just inhaling my 1st whiffs of coffee and brought up the Mudflats this AM, I thought I clicked on the wrong bookmark! OTHER people KNOW about this?
I participated in this back in Feb. this year, out here on Navarre Beach. It was amazing how many people showed up throughout the Panhandle to support this!
Unfortunately, this area being a “Drill Baby Drill” and hard core right-wing-conservative area, it was not well-received. Even a local forum here in Navarre Beach, FL. had a thread devoted to this calling all of us “terrorists”, “Libtard Greenies”, etc.
I think they will change their tune this time around as they watch our beaches change.
Thank you so much for posting this! It’s nice to know that people outside of our little piece of paradise would support this.
I can’t believe how white the sand it. It is awful to think of the damage that may be done to those beautiful beaches.
waving madly to lady dublindame…..here, over here
Waving back!!! 🙂
Hi DublinDame, (waving too!!)
( Any relation to Notre? 🙂 )
Living in Florida myself, but living further down south into the peninsula in Tampa, we refer to the Florida panhandle as the “Redneck Rivera”, for the same reasons you sited. What a shame that an area with such pretty beaches has to be surrounded by true hardcore, diehard, faithful, and ignorant rednecks. Having spent time there and getting to know some of the people who live in some of the small towns that populate the panhandle, it’s hard to tell if you are living in 2010 or living in a small southern town in 1950. Dispite how far we have come in race relations as a country, racist still exist in large numbers in the panhandle. You won’t hear it spoken openly, but after you get to know some of the people, you will most certainly hear how they feel about race, especially amoung some of the middle age and older populations. It is also true in any small rural town throughout the south, not just the Florida panhandle.
I should add, if you wonder how Palin can still excite her base, all you have to do is go to some of these areas and you will find plenty who supporter her. Unfortunately, they only see things only as either black or white, and only believe there is one religion, theirs.
Timing is everything. Sort of like SP spouting her “drill baby drill” mantra just days before the blowout. Good Luck with this effort!