Saturday Gumbo

It's a wonderfully beautiful day today in Oakland. No coldness, lots of sunshine. In between packing boxes, I'm taking short bike rides around the area and drinking coffee and snacking on my first crock pot meal. I made beef stew yesterday! It's better today with my homemade bread. Who knew I could do those things.

As I was packing my kitchen gear using old New York Times (such a fucking elitist hippy I am) I saw an ad by BP from June. It was the one with the beach full of cleanup workers and text just below that said "Making Things Right". I threw it into one of the boxes I'm mailing directly to my new apartment. Good visual reminder of what I will be doing starting January 31. Keeping corporations held responsible for poisoning communities.

I've been asked what I really want to do more times than I can count, because that's what older activists like to ask younger activists. "But what do you really want to do?" A pretty terrible question to be asked, when what you really need at the moment (which is why you are having that conversation in the first place) is a fucking job to pay the fucking bills that has something, anything to do with what you really want to do. Hold corporations responsible when they poison communities and try my best to make sure they don't in the first place.

The final Oil Spill Commission report was released last week, which I already sent you the link to. 398 pages. Most community groups think the report is pretty good. It calls for a community body to assess new oil permits, states that there are systemic safety problems within the industry that will lead to other similar disasters, and states that fundamental reform is needed to execute true oversight of the energy industry.

We all heard of the man who got on his knees to beg for the money that BP owes him so that he can pay his bills. We've also heard of the companies from out of state who are putting in claims due to the financial impacts of the spill. What I haven't heard much about are the mental health issues in those that have been impacted. When the disaster first began I saw one news report that talked about mental health clinics opening up around the gulf, but that these were so underfunded that it was unlikely to penetrate deeply into the communities who need the help the most.

I recently met someone who said something of the sort, oh, well the city has recovered from the flooding so the problems aren't compounding. To that I said, no. No, sir, no one has really recovered from Katrina, emotionally or infrastructurely. When I look for articles about mental health issues from the oil spill, the majority of those were written in August of last year. Seems like a few journalists decided it was important then but haven't spoken much about it since. And we wonder why church and carnival are such important cultural cornerstones in the area; distractions on what is good in life, not what has gone wrong.

The Oil Spill Commission also commented on journalists taking advantage of this disaster to create high emotions or stir controversy. Because this didn't actually exist? I'm not sure what the origin of this came from, but it seems that Anderson Cooper was pointed out in particular. He is blamed from searching for angry oil workers to come on his show to be . . . angry at what happened. The one thing that my family and I were able to agree on was how Anderson Cooper was one of the best journalists covering the oil spill. He presented different angles and with the Keeping Them Honest segment held decision makers from all over the spectrum accountable for their actions. I find it hard to believe that finding someone who was impacted by the spill to share their anger with the rest of us who were pretty damn angry as trying to stir controversy. Cooper said the incident never happened.

What I find most terrifying about heading to New Orleans are these things. The compounded traumas of a repeatedly targeted community. Systemic problems within our energy and chemical industries, financial system, and federal and state governments that allow for these traumas to happened over and over again. The men and women who are much stronger than I who continue to live in these communities, fighting to survive and thrive in the homes they built. It's all a bit much. Maybe my awkward laughing in stressful/uncomfortable situations will finally be helpful?

The LA Times published this good article on the creation of a new agency that would focus solely on the safety of offshore drilling.

Save the Gulf Walrus!
Renee Claire

Just a Little Sugar Will Do

(This time without grotesque grammar mistakes and some slight updates. No, I don't usually read my posts before posting them, which means there are usually mistakes and sometimes I go back and try to fix them, which is what I did here.)

Hello Lovelies,

I've arrived back in Oakland just in time to finish my current contract, pack up all my belongings, and ship out to New Orleans in a week and a half. Despite the sadness of the Saints not making it to the Superbowl this year, damn you Eagles!, I'm still really excited to be heading out. If nothing else because of this cold, cold, coldness we have going on in this Oaktown. Though New Orleans faced freezing temperatures this week. Hopefully it will be nice and toasty before I have to sleep on an air mattress while waiting for my stuff to arrive.

The packing is going well, since I didn't actually unpack from moving to the Bay. Now I can spend most of my time catching up on the new work I will be doing, like reading the recently released Oil Spill Commission Report. Today is a forum in New Orleans about the specifics of the report. You can watch the forum at the link above. The commission also held an hour long press conference yesterday. Fairly interesting if you are folding clothes, cleaning your house, or making breakfast.

I keep getting asked where is home, you know since by the end of this month I will have lived in three time zones and two countries over the past 12 months (don't even let me start about how many different homes). The other night I had a discussion with a good friend about how she too has problems answering this question. Always nice to meet someone who is also stumped by this. I use to say Florida or Louisiana, but I've recently been stumped by that simple question. I'm not sure I have one home. And when I first started getting tongue tied while trying to answer that question, I felt a little sad. Everyone wants to be from somewhere. To have a place to return when all isn't going well or a place to get your favorite meal for free. And sure sometimes I feel that would be great, but that's just not my path. Many places, like Krakow, Budapest, Amsterdam, Miami, Washington DC, and Oakland, have taken me in as family and New Orleans is next.

One of the reasons I'm so excited to be arriving in New Orleans in a week and a half is because I will be close to my extended family for the first time in 24 years. Seems like an exciting new adventure. They all live within 3 hours of New Orleans. One of the more adorable family members is my Aunt Opal. She likes to drink wine in the afternoon and talk about politics with me. My kind of woman.

Another reason is because I get to work with Dean Wilson. The Atchafalya Basinkeeper originally from Spain who moved to the swamp decades ago on his way down to the Amazon. Dean ended up staying in the swamp working as a commercial fisherman and then dedicating his life to protecting the Cypress swamps in Southern Louisiana. If you have 10 minutes, check out this short film about Dean.

I'm tempted to put some commentary on the Arizona shooting in this space, but I can't really wrap my head around this. I do believe there are consequences to all the violent discourse that has been happening, though who the fuck knows why the crazy came out that day. What is also making me shake my head is the name calling of liberals as violence endorsers. I thought we want to hug the bad out of people and were plotting to take all the guns from our country's patriots? Do I hate guns or love guns? Do I preach too much compassion or too much hate? I'm so confused. Luckily there are enough idiots telling me what I think on tv and radio 24/7, so I don't have to think it up for myself and others don't have to ask me.

Ciao,
Renee Claire

Alive, Just Not Coherent

Good Afternoon,

Winter has arrived, even in California. It's terrible! No sunshine. Cold breezes. Wearing the only two pairs of jeans I own over and over again. I would like to stay under my covers watching romantic comedies and sipping on whiskey until April, please.

But instead I have much much to do, including more travel before the next big move. At least the holidays mean I get to drink Bailey's and coffee every morning without the usual long quiet stares from loved ones. Just kidding, I get those during the holidays too.

Anyways, I've been absent and I'm not going to lie I will be absent for a while more. I thought I would just say a quick hello before I hibernate for a while longer. In the new year, be prepared for lots of news and exciting stories.

And if you would like to get me a present, please make it this or these. Either one will go well with my new bedazzeled climbing harness and helmet.

I'm off in the search of a good soup.

Renee Claire