Blog Archives
V-Day Pileup: On Silence and Violence
Feb 14
There are two links in this post I urge you to contribute to, one being the fund for the recovery of the Garden District robbery and rape victim, the other for the Metropolitan Center for Women and Children. Read on to see why. More and more, I’m finding it cannot be avoided, no matter how […]
dinner conversation
Oct 10
Last night I was at dinner in someone’s home and the following is the abridged version of a portion of dinner conversation. I say abridged because I was so mad that one, the guest had the audacity to discuss politics in a room of people this person had never met, save one, and two I […]
“The Big Fix” Premieres Friday Hosted by The New Orleans Film Festival
Oct 12
This gallery contains 1 photo.
The Big Fix premieres this Friday as part of the New Orleans Film Festival. This documentary film details the massive government cover-up which has taken place in the wake of the BP oil spill. There will be a press conference at 2 pm at the Contemporary Arts Center before the film is shown. The entire […]
Healing Center Grand Opening August 28
I wrote a bit about The Healing Center in a previous post. It sounds like a great concept but will reality match the vision? I’ve heard rumblings that some residents in the ‘hood aren’t too happy with some aspects of the center such as the apparent confusion as to the hours that Cafe Istanbul will keep and when liquor will be served. For a little inside info, read the comments on my previous post which includes a report by Lord David of a recent neighborhood meeting in the center.
Thousands of Gulf Coast Residents Sickened by Effects of Oil Spill
The following post was originally published April 12 on local blog American Zombie.
More Cries for Help
Last Saturday I spent the day at Dr. Michael Robichaux’s farm in Raceland talking with well over 60 offshore workers, fisherman, and family members who are experiencing extreme health effects from the BP oil spill. Many of the workers who came into direct contact with the oil and the dispersant, Corexit, are experiencing similar health problems ranging from mild sypmptoms to life threatening conditions. It’s not only the men who were out on the Gulf during the spill that are sick, family members are experiencing health problems as well. Even people who swam in the ocean are stricken.
While I can’t confirm this number, I am told by folks monitoring the issues that they estimate thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people along the Gulf Coast from Louisiana to Florida are suffering. Some are experiencing mild symptoms such as asthma, nausea, and headaches, while others are suffering extreme health issues such as internal bleeding, paralysis and even death….yes death.
The following video is a testimonial from Louisiana charter boat captain, Louis Bayhi. It’s 6 minutes long and I implore you to watch the entire thing:
Capt. Louis Bayhi – Charter boat captain and BP clean up worker experiencing severe health problems from Blackbird Media on Vimeo.
Louis was one of over 40 fisherman I spoke with on Saturday who is gravely ill. All of these fisherman confirmed to me that the Gulf is still full of oil and dispersant is continually being deployed….including areas which have been deemed safe for seafood harvesting.
There are more testimonials coming….please help spread this message…please help spread the truth. The nightmare BP left us with is not over, in fact it may just be starting. The MSM is not going to report what’s happening, but I implore you to dig deeper and don’t trust what you are being spoon-fed.
I fully expect to get attacked on the seafood issue but my response is fire away…I just spoke with over 40 guys who are out there every day and their concerns have now become mine. I will take their word over anyone.
Check out the LEAN – Louisiana Environmental Action Network website for more information.
Guest Blogger Laura Bergerol on Planned Parenthood
Why this is personal; I stand with Planned Parenthood!
Congressional leaders and President Obama headed off a shutdown of the government with less than two hours to spare Friday night under a tentative budget deal that would cut $38 billion from federal spending this year. I am grateful that they figured out a way to avert government shutdown and not hurt Planned Parenthood in the process. But I AM REALISTIC; this battle is not over; this was simply the first skirmish in the war on women’s health. So I ask you to please support Planned Parenthood and women’s health issues; it has never been so needed especially in a time where there is an all out assault on women’s health. Please read the post that follows; it was written yesterday and it is my personal story on why this matters!
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Friday April 8, 2011; Today I received emails from Planned Parenthood that actually make me sick; due to the stupid GOP who have decided that Planned Parenthood is a bad thing, so they plan to shut down the government and hold the Democrats and all women hostage in order to prove their point because they have decided that Planned Parenthood is ONLY about abortion. The truth could not be farther from this!
I will cite articles, but what I want to do is to relate my own experience with abortion and a woman’s right to choose. The beautiful girl that you see below in the photo is my sister Brenda; I lost her when she was twenty seven years old and the world lost a great crusader for the underdog. It is because I was lucky enough to have her in my life, that I have the strength to speak out against what the GOP is doing; it is fundamentally wrong and it has to be overturned. Here is her story (and mine.)
When Brenda was 25, she found out that she was pregnant. It should have been a moment that most women who are in love and engaged to be married would cherish; the chance to have a child with the man that they love. Instead it was a time of terror for Brenda; you see, Brenda had severe epilepsy, and she could not be taken off of the medicines that kept her safe, in order to carry a child to term, and the medicines that already caused her significant side effects would have caused severe side effects to a child. If she was taken off the anti-convulsive medicines, it was highly probable that she would have died from a seizure.
Additionally, she had a hard time taking birth control, since the pill caused her to have seizures. So after much heartache, pain, and discussion with her fiance to make her decision, she chose to have an abortion, and asked me to accompany her to Planned Parenthood in Santa Clara, California. The year was 1982, and thank goodness, we had good facilities at that time that performed safe abortions. This had NOT always been the case as I was growing up, and indeed many deaths were attributed to back street abortion clinics. When they called her back for the procedure, they had her talk to several counselors before taking her back to the room. She explained over and over why she had no choice and I could see she was getting more and more upset; why couldn’t they just understand was written across her face. Finally they began the procedure; it seemed an interminably long time, though in reality, it probably was over in less than a half hour. BUT not before, my beloved sister suffered a Grand Mal seizure; I stayed with her, never leaving her side and I tried to protect her from the seizure, and to simply be there for her. She was terrified, as she always was when she had a seizure, and once the procedure was finally over, I took her home and put her to bed where she slept for 14 hours straight. She often felt guilt about that act, but I know in my heart that she would not have survived pregnancy, and that she had made the right decision. If the GOP gets their way, the Brenda’s of the world, will have no where to turn. Please do not let this happen!
To finish my story, about two summers later, Brenda married her sweetheart in June of 1984. They began their married life together, but it was to be short-lived. On October 4, 1984, my sister had a Grand Mal seizure while driving and was killed instantly when her car ran into the piling for an overpass on Highway 101 in Santa Clara, CA.
The one thing that I know about my sister Brenda, is that she would not mind me telling you this story; indeed knowing Brenda, she would be on the picket lines in DC marching with Planned Parenthood. Please do not force women to go back to a terrible time where contraception, family planning, and abortions are difficult to obtain. Please stand with Brenda and me; we support and stand with Planned Parenthood and we believe in the rights of all women to get the medical help they need, no matter their financial situation.
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Links;
Today’s (4/9/11) New York Times; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/us/politics/09fiscal.html?_r=1&hp
From the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/what-planned-parenthood-a… “Though the fight over Planned Parenthood might be about abortion, Planned Parenthood itself isn’t about abortion. It’s primarily about contraception and reproductive health. And if Planned Parenthood loses funding, what will mainly happen is that cancer screenings and contraception and STD testing will become less available to poorer people. Folks with more money, of course, have many other ways to receive all these services, and tend to get them elsewhere already. The fight also isn’t about cutting spending. The services Planned Parenthood provides save the federal government a lot of money. It’s somewhat cold to put it in these terms, but taxpayers end up bearing a lot of the expense for unintended pregnancies among people without the means to care for their children. The same goes for preventable cancers and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS.”
From Planned Parenthood; I stand with Planned Parenthood; https://secure.ppaction.org/site/SPageServer?pagename=pp_ppol_urgent
From US Dept of Health and Human Services; http://www.hhs.gov/opa/familyplanning/index.html
From the New York Times; http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/09/us/politics/09fiscal.html?_r=1&hp
Shutdown Near, No Sign of Compromise; After the nightlong negotiations that ended before dawn on Friday yielded no agreement, Senator Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader, went on the offensive. He told reporters and said on the Senate floor that Mr. Boehner, the Senate Democrats and President Obama had essentially settled on $38 billion in cuts from current spending. But he said that Republicans were refusing to abandon a policy provision that would withhold federal financing for family planning and other health services for poor women from Planned Parenthood and other providers.“This is indefensible, and everyone should be outraged,” Mr. Reid said on the Senate floor. “The Republican House leadership have only a couple of hours to look in the mirror, snap out of it and realize how truly shameful they have been.”
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Laura Bergerol is a professional photographer in New Orleans and blogs on Posterous and at Time Captured.net. Laura also was a major contributor to our Katrina Photo Project for the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. This essay was cross-posted from her personal blog.
Escape
The weather has been unbearably beautiful for the past week. For once I’m happy that my office area doesn’t have any windows to take my mind away from the work at hand. By the time the weekend rolled around my husband and I decided that we would spend the day outside, no matter the venue.
I did some internet searching on Friday night, looking for trails and parks we hadn’t visited. I found a few places, but they didn’t seem to pique my interest, but I jotted them down anyway. During breakfast on Saturday morning Billy (my husband) mentioned biking on the Tammany Trace. My ears perked up. We hadn’t been on the Trace for almost two years, since Billy had rotator cuff surgery. Our bikes were woefully weathered, having sat on the front porch all that time, so off we went to Wally World to buy 2 new bikes and bike seats.
The type of bikes we chose weren’t that expensive, really. And they’re adequate for the terrain of Southeastern Louisiana. And if you’re biking more than a mile, good bike seats are imperative.
We’re lucky in the fact that we live about a mile from the Slidell Trailhead section of the Tammany Trace.
The Trailhead is very well equipped, with bathrooms, drink machines, maps, picnic tables, a butterfly garden and a small playground.
But we weren’t there for those amenities, we wanted to RIDE!! So off we went, biking to the west.
If you ever want to get away and clear your mind and just enjoy peace and quiet, I recommend biking any part of the Tammany Trace. With a few exceptions, the only sounds you hear are the wind, birds and the rustling of other small creatures as you pass them by. And the air smells so sweet! Yesterday’s aroma was that of pine.
Having travelled the trace for many years before Billy’s surgery, I struggled with trying to find creative ways to carry the necessities: water, lip gloss, snacks, etc. So when we bought the bikes, I picked up a really nice basket to carry these types of things. To my surprise, this basket is big enough to carry those items PLUS my Nikon with the zoom lens!
From the Slidell Trailhead to Bayou Lacombe is a 6 mile ride. Up to last year, the Trace ended here. But a new bridge was built to allow riders to cross the Bayou as well as take in the beauty of this waterway.
The building on the left will soon hold bathrooms and probably drink machines, as well as trace literature. The building on the right is for the bridge tender. We stopped and spoke with two different tenders on our round trip and these were very interesting individuals. If you can imagine just sitting around waiting for tall sailboats to come by so you can open the bridge, you can understand that these guys find innovative ways to spend their shifts. One of them – a sweet cajun man with a slight accent – showed us just where to drop pieces of bread in the bayou to cause a feeding frenzy among the fish. Yeah, their shifts are quite boring. But I digress.
This home sits on the banks of Bayou Lacombe. I want it.
After the Lacombe trailhead the path takes you into the past. This area is loaded with ancient live oaks, which are breath-taking.
The Louis Cousin cemetery is private, but I sure would like to look at some of those graves, they look very old.
The Tammany Trace is built on what used to be the train tracks. You can still spot sights like these if you look to either side of the pavement
I don’t think I’d like climbing up that pole when it was new!
The train worker would have to climb up that ladder to change the signal light at the top of the pole.
After passing the banks of Bayou Lacombe the Trace comes to the City of Lacombe., a small community of less than ten thousand people. But it is a city with history, as this sign attests:
By the time we got to Lacombe we were very hungry, having had breakfast some 7 hours ago. My hairdresser told me about a great Mexican Restaurant in Lacombe called Pepe’s, so we rode off to find it and we did! But it didn’t open till 4 p.m.
The only alternative was to go to the grocery store on Highway 190, Lacombe’s “Main Street”. We parked our bikes and I went inside for cokes and snacks. While we ate, we spied this cute driver of a mini Cooper
We’d gone 10.5 miles and decided not to go on to the Fountainbleau State Park but decided to head back, as it was getting late in the afternoon and we wanted to make sure the bridge would not be closed.
The ride back was as pleasant as the ride to Lacombe. We had a slight breeze in our faces (which helped because humidity was a little high) and the sun was at a beautiful angle, enabling us to catch pictures like these:
So if you ever want to escape the everyday hassles, the traffic, the gas prices,
head on over to any one of the Tammany Trace Trailheads with your bike, skates, horse or feet. But remember
Your 4 legged friends aren’t allowed.
Oil, Health, Environment & Bloggers
“In the past five months, Gulf Coast residents have been treated to a number of decisions with direct impact on their lives. They weren’t asked to give input at the time these decisions were made. They weren’t asked how they thought it might affect their future. The decisions occurred above their heads and most times, without their knowledge, but they are the ones now paying the price. This post is the first of three parts having to do with these decisions. Part one will address British Petroleum’s use of the dispersant, Corexit while two and three will be concerned with Bobby Jindal’s sand berms and the federal government’s response, including the amount of control ceded to British Petroleum. All three will address the issue of the courage necessary to change course in the Gulf, the importance of doing so and who will be affected. All three decisions to be looked at had to do with money and politics, and changing course now will affect the back accounts and political standing of the people in charge, but change must happen.”
So begins a fascinating series of posts by Disenfranchised Citizen – a series I highly recommend to everyone living on the Gulf Coast and everyone concerned about the effect of the BP oilspill on our environment and the health of those living along the coast. The first post, Changing Course in the Gulf: Bad Lessons in Money and Politics Pt. 1 – BP and Corexit, discusses the perils of the use of the oil dispersant Corexit and the relationship between BP and Nalco Group, it’s producers.
Dauphin Island, Al - Corexit containers
The second installment, Changing Course in the Gulf: Bad Lessons in Money and Politics Pt. 2 – Bobby Jindal, Sand Berms and the Shaw Group, outlines the folly of Gov Jindal’s sand berm project, his dismissal of any scientific evidence contrary to the project and questions the real motivations behind constructing the berms.
I am eagerly awaiting the final post and I urge you all to go now and read this very intriguing series.
American Zombie also has a good piece up today, Buried in the Outdoor Section, questioning why there isn’t more wide-spread reporting of an alleged thick layer of oil on the sea floor found by a group of scientists on a research vessel in the Gulf.
And, finally and heartbreakingly, we get the news of a huge fish kill reported in Plaquemines Parish “found in an area that has been impacted by the oil from the BP oil spill, the parish said.” (Via Library Chronicles)
Fish Kill in Plaquemines Parish
News of the oil catastrophe seems to be fading ever more quickly as the days pass but the effects on our environment and the health of our fellow citizens is only in the infancy stage, I fear. We cannot allow this atrocity to fade from our consiousness and, with bloggers like these three men , hopefully it won’t .
Free Medical Clinic in NOLA Aug 31 – Sept 1
Thanks to Carl Webb for passing this along:
The National Association of Free Clinics will be conducting a free medical clinic for the uninsured on Tuesday, August 31 and Wednesday, September 1. This will be held at the Ernest M. Morial Convention Center. The purpose is to provide medical services to the uninsured, as the metro region continues to struggle post-Katrina and with the ongoing oil spill crisis.
They are in urgent need of medical and non-medical volunteers to help
staff this 2-day clinic. They especially need physicians (internists, pediatricians and family practitioners), nurses and nurse practitioners. I am writing to ask if you or any of your friends would be available to help with this. You can get the details of the event, volunteer shift times, etc. and can sign up at http://www.freeclinics.us. You can also view a video on the recent free medical clinic that was held in Washington, DC, to get a better idea of the work this great team is doing across the country here.Dr. Ralph Freidin and his wife from Boston, MA have been organizing and running these free clinics. Dr. Freiden is a straight ally of the LGBT community, and serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the Human Rights Campaign, on the Boston Steering Committee. He contacted the New Orleans HRC Steering Committee for help in reaching out to the New Orleans metro area LGBT community to get volunteers and help spread the word.
Please consider volunteering and spread the word to your friends. We need to get the word out about this clinic to all people in our area who do not have access to medical care. This clinic will provide diagnosis and treatment for individuals as well as referrals for follow-up care.
Please let me know if you intend to volunteer, because I will forward
your name and contact info. to Dr. Freidin. Thank you so much for your consideration.Best regards,
Lili Alpaugh
HRC New Orleans Steering Committee
HRC Board of GovernorsLili.alpaugh@gmail.com
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