An Irate Louisiana Native Son Tells ME (and you) HIS Feelings About The Way His Home Area Is Being Treated And HAS Been Treated By OIL Companies!!!
Until now, I haven't written one word about the oil spill mess in the Gulf of Mexico. But because one of my very good friends is a guy who was raised in that part of America, a few days ago, I reached out to him and told him if he had some thoughts he'd like to share with my readers, I would be happy to print them.
I had no idea what he'd send me or if in fact, he'd send me anything!
Well, he did send me something while I was watching tonight's "American Idol".
I mean you talk about "opposite emotions!" I had a big smile while watching what was happening on "American Idol" and then during a commercial break, I saw this irate email about the oil spill and I became as angry as the guy who sent me the note. A note that I'll share with you in a minute.
Harold Sylvester is a long time friend of mine. Harold Sylvester was raised in Louisiana. He was the first African American to play for Tulane University. And he didn't just play. He was a star player who had classic on the court match-ups with LSU's great player, Pete Maravich, who went on to become a Hall of Fame NBA player.
After Sylvester graduated from Tulane, he would eventually move West to pursue an acting career. I met Harold shortly after "An Officer and a Gentleman" was released. Harold played a "goody two-shoes" kind of guy and played it very well. Harold has been in a ton of films and television shows. I've been lucky enough to have been in two projects he was in, but I wasn't lucky enough to do any scenes with him. The two projects were a film, "Trippin'" and a television show you might have heard of, "Murder, She Wrote".
Harold was recently on an episode of CSI:Miami, but he devotes most of his time to writing, producing and keeping track of two drinking establishments; "Verdugo", in Glassel Park in the Los Angeles area and "Moonshadow Lounge" in North Hollywood.
In the early 90's, Harold and I came "this close" to hosting a morning radio show on a big station here in Los Angeles. The Program Director wanted us to do it, but the General Manager, for reasons he took to the grave with him, got a severe case of "cold feet".
Right now, Harold is trying to put together an internet radio station that he and I would broadcast on. What would we talk about? Pretty much the topics you read about in this blog.
Okay...You know about my good friend, Harold Sylvester. As I indicated earlier, if he decided to take me up on my offer, I had no idea what he'd write.
What you're about to read is what he sent me, word for word. Words written with great passion by a guy who grew up where this horrible oil spill is fouling the Gulf of Mexico and a guy who has experienced problems caused by oil people in the past. Problems that our government, no matter who is in charge, tend to ignore or, at best, offer "lip service" to.
This is not a long note, but it is a very passionate note written by an angry Louisiana native son. And here it is:
"Back in the 1940's, my great aunt, on my mother's side, signed, probably with an X, a document, that gave an oil company the right to extract product from her land, near Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, for the princely sum of eighty dollars a year. That well was still in production when I became aware of it, during my college years, in the late 60's. I remember getting so angry that I threatened, out loud, to find the people responsible and shoot them in the head. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last time. I have sublimated the anger over the years, but now, today, I need it back. I need it back as I watch a broken drill hole spitting oil in the the Gulf of Mexico in large enough quantities to change the economy and ultimately the culture of an entire region of the United States of America. Life as we know it is coming to an end. Yet we are unable to do anything effective to prevent it. Even our screams are muffled by the constant babble that we call news, which is nothing more than inconsequential noise designed to obscure our real dilemma, that we have truly become a nation of sheep. Quietly bleating lambs, being led to the slaughter by "Big Brother", big business in government clothing. We are the victims of our own greed, who have been taught to crave the instruments of our own destruction.....
My anger is back. Maybe I'll just go find somebody to punch in the face."
Powerful, passionate and angry words from my good friend, Harold Sylvester, a native son from where the BP folks have fouled the waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
I'd like to add something to what Harold wrote. When he refers to "Big Brother" as being, "big business in government clothing", I can't help but be reminded of something that fans of President Barack Obama won't like to hear or read. BP (British Petroleum) gave a lot of campaign money to the Obama folks. Yes, they also gave a lot of campaign money to the McCain folks, but the point is, no matter who got elected, BP would figure to want "something" for their "investment".
I think they got it when President Obama gave them the rights to be the first to do some off-shore drilling on Obama's watch. And BP was given those rights despite an historical record of incompetence and irresponsibility. Dick Cheney's Halliburton people are in bed with British Petroleum and those Halliburton people are supposedly part of the "clean-up, solution crew". HALLIBURTON?!? Yeah, that's who I would want to rely on. Wouldn't YOU? Sarcasm intended.
Speaking Of "Big Business in Government Clothing"......
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.....
I would like all of you to think about all the hollering that's being done about illegal immigrants recently. People like me and a lot of you readers who are in favor of what Arizona is trying to do. Annnd...People like columnists and editorial writers working for the Los Angeles and New York Times who look upon illegal immigrants the same way environmentalists look at endangered species'.
The problem with that hypothesis is that there's nothing "endangered" about these lawbreakers at all. They reproduce like rabbits. And no matter how you try to pose a protective argument on their behalf, one thing you "protectors" can't avoid, is the criminal aspect of illegal immigrants. For you see, when all is said and done, they are criminals and the only argument to that is a jumble of gibberish (bullshit) that begins with the words, "Yeah, but..."
Yeah, but what?!?
Okay, this is ground we've covered before.
Here's some NEW ground!!!
Did you ever stop to think about who ISN'T loudly expressing an opinion one way or the other about the subject of illegal immigrants?
Well, I HAVE been thinking about that.
Rich folks! Wealthy folks! The people with the BIG money!!!
Not one loud word from these folks. Is there any one of us who doesn't believe that if the rich folks took a position on this subject that something would happen right now? If they publicly got loud about amnesty, all the illegals would get amnesty. If they publicly got loud about deporting 'em all, every illegal that was found would be deported.
Why aren't the rich folks speaking up? Only they know for sure, but here's what I think. 2010 illegal immigrants fill the bill of the "new slaves" for the rich. Oh, these illegals aren't getting horsewhipped by their masters, but they also aren't getting free housing and free food for the "off the books" work they do. The money they get paid is less than what they would get paid if they were "legal" and that's a hell of a good deal for the people who hire them.
I learned a long time ago that people who read and write to me about what they've read are people who are "thinkers", so I don't have to write anything more about my "Rich folks and the illegal immigrant folks" theory.
All I ask is that you think about it and when you do, you can add your own ideas to my theory.
I'll close my (this week's thoughts) about illegal immigrants with words from a cartoon that was-were sent to me by my good friend, Don Barrett, Publisher-Owner of LARadio. com.
Make your own mental visual when you read these words:
"These people in ARIZONA are trying to make ILLEGAL aliens....Gasp....ILLEGAL!!!"
ENTERTAINMENT STUFF...
I absolutely loved the final episode of "24"! The 2-hour series-ender this past Monday night was terrific! Jack Bauer didn't die, but he is "on the run" which I'm sure will set the stage for the "24" film that will supposedly be made and released sometime next year. The ending was particularly cool because of the nice things Jack said to Chloe, things that brought tears to Chloe's eyes and to mine as well. Maybe even yours.
Did you see the "House" season-ender two Mondays ago? House and Cuddy declaring their love for each other while the beautiful character known as "Thirteen" seems to have a major problem of some kind? More reasons for those of us who are fans of "House" to eagerly await the new season.
Did you see Tuesday night's "The Good Wife" season-ender? I think that show is currently the best show on television and I thought Tuesday's show gave us plenty of things to wonder about when next season's "The Good Wife" begins. Like....Who does "The Good Wife" plan to be sleeping with next season?
We have a new "American Idol". The guy beat out the girl, but it took us more than two hours to get that information. The show ran for two hours and seven minutes because this was a show that was loaded with entertainment.
I mean, we saw a veritable Hall of Fame of singers and musicians performing, including the two living members of the Bee Gees. Janet Jackson closed the entertainment extravanganza. And yes, there was a lot of talk about this being Simon Cowell's final night on "American Idol". All the previous "A.I." winners showed up and sang while paying tribute to Simon....
Oh, I could go on and on about this, but I'll close by saying I was really surprised. This has been a relatively mediocre season because of the so-so talent, Ryan's wackiness, etc. that resulted in this arguably being "A.I.'s" worst season ever. There were some good weeks, but too many "bland" or "eyebrow raising" weeks (courtesy of Ryan) and frankly, I quit watching a few weeks ago after the only interesting singer was voted off. And I'm a guy who saw every episode for six seasons until then.
I decided to watch the season-ender because of the Simon Cowell's leaving factor. I never imagined that the "A.I." producers would put together the kind of show that we saw for more than two hours. There simply was no stopping the music except when Simon was asked to speak after Paula Abdul had made a surprise appearance. A long time ago, I did a little singing on stage. I was a music playing disc jockey for many years before I became a talk show host. My point? I know a little something about music. And what we saw and listened to on "A.I.'s" season ender, flat falls under the category of, "Now THAT'S entertainment!!!"
QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS?
Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you immediately. Please don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address and I won't be able to respond to you. Again...Write to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will enjoy responding to you immediately.
THE NEXT BLOG?
Hopefully, late Wednesday night, June 2 or early Thursday morning, June 3. I say "hopefully" because I'll be participating in the shooting of a film all next week and depending on the amount of hours I'm needed for, I might need sleep time when I would ordinarily be doing blog writing. If so, I'll miss a week of writing. Translation? Whatever will be, will be.
Meanwhile, I hope you think good thoughts about our troops on Memorial Day, which is May 31st.
I had no idea what he'd send me or if in fact, he'd send me anything!
Well, he did send me something while I was watching tonight's "American Idol".
I mean you talk about "opposite emotions!" I had a big smile while watching what was happening on "American Idol" and then during a commercial break, I saw this irate email about the oil spill and I became as angry as the guy who sent me the note. A note that I'll share with you in a minute.
Harold Sylvester is a long time friend of mine. Harold Sylvester was raised in Louisiana. He was the first African American to play for Tulane University. And he didn't just play. He was a star player who had classic on the court match-ups with LSU's great player, Pete Maravich, who went on to become a Hall of Fame NBA player.
After Sylvester graduated from Tulane, he would eventually move West to pursue an acting career. I met Harold shortly after "An Officer and a Gentleman" was released. Harold played a "goody two-shoes" kind of guy and played it very well. Harold has been in a ton of films and television shows. I've been lucky enough to have been in two projects he was in, but I wasn't lucky enough to do any scenes with him. The two projects were a film, "Trippin'" and a television show you might have heard of, "Murder, She Wrote".
Harold was recently on an episode of CSI:Miami, but he devotes most of his time to writing, producing and keeping track of two drinking establishments; "Verdugo", in Glassel Park in the Los Angeles area and "Moonshadow Lounge" in North Hollywood.
In the early 90's, Harold and I came "this close" to hosting a morning radio show on a big station here in Los Angeles. The Program Director wanted us to do it, but the General Manager, for reasons he took to the grave with him, got a severe case of "cold feet".
Right now, Harold is trying to put together an internet radio station that he and I would broadcast on. What would we talk about? Pretty much the topics you read about in this blog.
Okay...You know about my good friend, Harold Sylvester. As I indicated earlier, if he decided to take me up on my offer, I had no idea what he'd write.
What you're about to read is what he sent me, word for word. Words written with great passion by a guy who grew up where this horrible oil spill is fouling the Gulf of Mexico and a guy who has experienced problems caused by oil people in the past. Problems that our government, no matter who is in charge, tend to ignore or, at best, offer "lip service" to.
This is not a long note, but it is a very passionate note written by an angry Louisiana native son. And here it is:
"Back in the 1940's, my great aunt, on my mother's side, signed, probably with an X, a document, that gave an oil company the right to extract product from her land, near Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, for the princely sum of eighty dollars a year. That well was still in production when I became aware of it, during my college years, in the late 60's. I remember getting so angry that I threatened, out loud, to find the people responsible and shoot them in the head. It wasn't the first time, and it wouldn't be the last time. I have sublimated the anger over the years, but now, today, I need it back. I need it back as I watch a broken drill hole spitting oil in the the Gulf of Mexico in large enough quantities to change the economy and ultimately the culture of an entire region of the United States of America. Life as we know it is coming to an end. Yet we are unable to do anything effective to prevent it. Even our screams are muffled by the constant babble that we call news, which is nothing more than inconsequential noise designed to obscure our real dilemma, that we have truly become a nation of sheep. Quietly bleating lambs, being led to the slaughter by "Big Brother", big business in government clothing. We are the victims of our own greed, who have been taught to crave the instruments of our own destruction.....
My anger is back. Maybe I'll just go find somebody to punch in the face."
Powerful, passionate and angry words from my good friend, Harold Sylvester, a native son from where the BP folks have fouled the waters in the Gulf of Mexico.
I'd like to add something to what Harold wrote. When he refers to "Big Brother" as being, "big business in government clothing", I can't help but be reminded of something that fans of President Barack Obama won't like to hear or read. BP (British Petroleum) gave a lot of campaign money to the Obama folks. Yes, they also gave a lot of campaign money to the McCain folks, but the point is, no matter who got elected, BP would figure to want "something" for their "investment".
I think they got it when President Obama gave them the rights to be the first to do some off-shore drilling on Obama's watch. And BP was given those rights despite an historical record of incompetence and irresponsibility. Dick Cheney's Halliburton people are in bed with British Petroleum and those Halliburton people are supposedly part of the "clean-up, solution crew". HALLIBURTON?!? Yeah, that's who I would want to rely on. Wouldn't YOU? Sarcasm intended.
Speaking Of "Big Business in Government Clothing"......
ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.....
I would like all of you to think about all the hollering that's being done about illegal immigrants recently. People like me and a lot of you readers who are in favor of what Arizona is trying to do. Annnd...People like columnists and editorial writers working for the Los Angeles and New York Times who look upon illegal immigrants the same way environmentalists look at endangered species'.
The problem with that hypothesis is that there's nothing "endangered" about these lawbreakers at all. They reproduce like rabbits. And no matter how you try to pose a protective argument on their behalf, one thing you "protectors" can't avoid, is the criminal aspect of illegal immigrants. For you see, when all is said and done, they are criminals and the only argument to that is a jumble of gibberish (bullshit) that begins with the words, "Yeah, but..."
Yeah, but what?!?
Okay, this is ground we've covered before.
Here's some NEW ground!!!
Did you ever stop to think about who ISN'T loudly expressing an opinion one way or the other about the subject of illegal immigrants?
Well, I HAVE been thinking about that.
Rich folks! Wealthy folks! The people with the BIG money!!!
Not one loud word from these folks. Is there any one of us who doesn't believe that if the rich folks took a position on this subject that something would happen right now? If they publicly got loud about amnesty, all the illegals would get amnesty. If they publicly got loud about deporting 'em all, every illegal that was found would be deported.
Why aren't the rich folks speaking up? Only they know for sure, but here's what I think. 2010 illegal immigrants fill the bill of the "new slaves" for the rich. Oh, these illegals aren't getting horsewhipped by their masters, but they also aren't getting free housing and free food for the "off the books" work they do. The money they get paid is less than what they would get paid if they were "legal" and that's a hell of a good deal for the people who hire them.
I learned a long time ago that people who read and write to me about what they've read are people who are "thinkers", so I don't have to write anything more about my "Rich folks and the illegal immigrant folks" theory.
All I ask is that you think about it and when you do, you can add your own ideas to my theory.
I'll close my (this week's thoughts) about illegal immigrants with words from a cartoon that was-were sent to me by my good friend, Don Barrett, Publisher-Owner of LARadio. com.
Make your own mental visual when you read these words:
"These people in ARIZONA are trying to make ILLEGAL aliens....Gasp....ILLEGAL!!!"
ENTERTAINMENT STUFF...
I absolutely loved the final episode of "24"! The 2-hour series-ender this past Monday night was terrific! Jack Bauer didn't die, but he is "on the run" which I'm sure will set the stage for the "24" film that will supposedly be made and released sometime next year. The ending was particularly cool because of the nice things Jack said to Chloe, things that brought tears to Chloe's eyes and to mine as well. Maybe even yours.
Did you see the "House" season-ender two Mondays ago? House and Cuddy declaring their love for each other while the beautiful character known as "Thirteen" seems to have a major problem of some kind? More reasons for those of us who are fans of "House" to eagerly await the new season.
Did you see Tuesday night's "The Good Wife" season-ender? I think that show is currently the best show on television and I thought Tuesday's show gave us plenty of things to wonder about when next season's "The Good Wife" begins. Like....Who does "The Good Wife" plan to be sleeping with next season?
We have a new "American Idol". The guy beat out the girl, but it took us more than two hours to get that information. The show ran for two hours and seven minutes because this was a show that was loaded with entertainment.
I mean, we saw a veritable Hall of Fame of singers and musicians performing, including the two living members of the Bee Gees. Janet Jackson closed the entertainment extravanganza. And yes, there was a lot of talk about this being Simon Cowell's final night on "American Idol". All the previous "A.I." winners showed up and sang while paying tribute to Simon....
Oh, I could go on and on about this, but I'll close by saying I was really surprised. This has been a relatively mediocre season because of the so-so talent, Ryan's wackiness, etc. that resulted in this arguably being "A.I.'s" worst season ever. There were some good weeks, but too many "bland" or "eyebrow raising" weeks (courtesy of Ryan) and frankly, I quit watching a few weeks ago after the only interesting singer was voted off. And I'm a guy who saw every episode for six seasons until then.
I decided to watch the season-ender because of the Simon Cowell's leaving factor. I never imagined that the "A.I." producers would put together the kind of show that we saw for more than two hours. There simply was no stopping the music except when Simon was asked to speak after Paula Abdul had made a surprise appearance. A long time ago, I did a little singing on stage. I was a music playing disc jockey for many years before I became a talk show host. My point? I know a little something about music. And what we saw and listened to on "A.I.'s" season ender, flat falls under the category of, "Now THAT'S entertainment!!!"
QUESTIONS AND OR COMMENTS?
Please write to me at scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will respond to you immediately. Please don't write to the blog because there's no way for me to know your email address and I won't be able to respond to you. Again...Write to scottstjames@sbcglobal.net and I will enjoy responding to you immediately.
THE NEXT BLOG?
Hopefully, late Wednesday night, June 2 or early Thursday morning, June 3. I say "hopefully" because I'll be participating in the shooting of a film all next week and depending on the amount of hours I'm needed for, I might need sleep time when I would ordinarily be doing blog writing. If so, I'll miss a week of writing. Translation? Whatever will be, will be.
Meanwhile, I hope you think good thoughts about our troops on Memorial Day, which is May 31st.
posted by Scott St. James at 11:19 PM
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