June 1, 2010

BP Security Block Boat Ramps, Order US Troops Around

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New Orleans, LA. So who’s running the Gulf coast of the United States? Or BP security forces? I spent all day yesterday looking for available boat ramps so I could go look at the devastation of the spill first hand. Almost all have been commandeered by the spill police.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
At one checkpoint a young US Army soldier chated with us in a friendly way. The old dudes in hardhats growled at him that he’s not supposed to talk to media. He looked at them like WTF?
 
I went over to the old dudes and asked them who they work for. They wouldn’t say. I asked them why not. They wouldn’t say. One got a pained look in his eyes and said he works for his family. I hear what he’s trying to say.
 
I’m hearing reports: huge spike in domestic violence in the spill zone. The men are getting fracked by BP. They come home and take out their frustration, helplessness, and anger in the bottle, and then on their wives and kids.
 
The effects are rippling far beyond the water.

 

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WE'LL BE BLUNT

It is astonishingly hard keeping a newsroom afloat these days, and we need to raise $253,000 in online donations quickly, by October 7.

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