Michelle Obama Attends Beyonce Concert
7 Weird Ways To Bug-Proof Your Picnic
Give director Spike Lee a microphone and he's likely to say something controversial. Just ask fellow filmmaker Tyler Perry. But Spike's latest comments may be in line with what a lot of people are actually thinking right now.
Lee, speaking about the BP oil spill on the Gulf Coast, said it was a "lie" that 50 or 75 percent of the oil had disappeared. He said that it was unlikely that "abracadabra, presto chango" the large amount of oil seeping in to the waters had vanished.
Lee made his comments Saturday as he was promoting "If God Is Willing And Da Creek Don't Rise," the follow-up to his award-winning documentary about Hurricane Katrina "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts." Lee had finished shooting the four-hour documentary, when the BP well exploded and he went back down to chronicle the latest disaster.
He said BP has an "eye opening" amount of power and that journalists have a responsibility to investigate claims that the oil has suddenly disappeared:
"I don't care how many scientists BP buys, that oil is still there. [BP] has been lying from the get-go. You're telling me we've had the biggest oil disaster in the world and it's all gone now? Where did it go? No damage done to the wetlands? I don't believe it. As journalists, you need to ask questions and not accept the lies being told," Lee said.
Spike isn't the only who feels that way about the claims coming from the federal government.
Fifty percent of the oil has been broken down into tiny particles, with 26 percent still remaining as sheen or tarballs that is incredibly toxic to the environment.
"At least 50 percent of the oil that was released is now completely gone from the system, and most of the remainder is degrading rapidly or is being removed from the beaches," Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told a White House briefing.
But scientists and area residents and business owners are still skeptical.
"It's troubling that reports are lumping dispersed oil still lurking under the water's surface with oil that's been captured, contributing to the sense that the oil that's been swept under the rug is no longer a problem," Dr. Bruce Stein of the National Wildlife Federation said in a statement. "But scientific evidence shows this oil is far from gone," he said, citing signs of oil-and-dispersant mix under shells of blue crab larvae at the base of the Gulf food chain.
And even the government is saying that there could be long-term environmental effects from the oil spill that we aren't even aware of yet. No one knows how many animals or their habitats will be affected. Who knows when the public will feel comfortable enough to eat seafood from the Gulf of Mexico?
"It's not gone," George Barisich of the United Commercial Fisherman's Alliance, told the New York Times. "Mother Nature didn't suck it up and spit it out."
Comments: (7)
Add a comment
By: carl2z13 on 8/09/2010 11:06AM
How to find an i-nte-rracial m-atch?
Hey, my friends! Are you looking for i-nterracial and great looking sou-lmate? "M_i_x_e_d_M_a_t_c_h_i_n_g / c_0_m" will help you to find them out! We have more than 1200,000 members including: lawyer, CEO, manager, model, actor, doctor, holl-ywood ce-lebr-ities, athl-ets, inve-stors...It is totally free to communicate with each other!! ;)
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: wha-up on 8/09/2010 11:43AM
lee knows nothing, why dosen't he go down there and look for himself, yes alot of the oil is gone, why do u think the media is gone, nothing to see here move along. stick to movies spike you dumb a people like u do nothing good when u are not qualified to respond
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: nabil on 8/10/2010 6:39AM
You're nuts if you think that oil just vanished. you must be a plant,The media is not there because they've been TOLD to go home, there's nothing else to put a spend on, we got this from here, thanks for your support.The worse disaster in the dis-united states, abbra-cadabbra, poof. I think Mr. lee got it right
Report This
By: N.Wright on 8/09/2010 4:12PM
Wake up people, the effects of this spill are devastating. The Exxon spill still has not been cleaned up from 20 years ago. This Gulf spill was 1000 times bigger.
http://executees.net
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Betty J. Gordon on 8/10/2010 3:42AM
Hello,
Plutocracy is defined as a system of government which is controlled directly or indirectly by the wealthy; individuals and/or corporations.
The American people would better be able to understand something that had a proper name and not just an implied description. The founding fathers were plutocrats in the sense that they were the wealthy, white, land owners and only they could vote at that time.
The recent supreme court decision, which gave the wealthy, and the corporations, total control of our election process, as when through the unlimited use of wealth they can purchase those who govern.
As long as the American people continue to believe our system to be a true democracy in nature, they will remain unaware that our system presently operates as a plutocracy.
Would it really be a bad thing, if someone, who held a place on the stage, would acquaint the American sheeple with the definition of plutocracy? America still has a two party system: Democrats, and Plutocrats. The term “Republicans” is a misnomer; it more describes an economic belief in the tinkle down system. Why does the media, and those in the know, so fear to advertise this fact? Why do you?
Betty J. Gordon
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: No1'sname on 8/10/2010 9:05AM
Spike Lee will do anything to keep himself noticed, go crawl in a hole. He is not saying anything that some of else already know! Go and try to produce another one of your low budget movies, Spike but I guess a oil spill documentary is in the works for him, smmfh
Reply to this Comment | Report This
By: Mary on 8/10/2010 9:33PM
Lee a film make needs to stick to making films.
Lee needs to shut his mouth. It's the same old thing, If a Black goes up the ladder , it will be a Black A-- like Lee. That will bring him down. If Lee is so smart why don't he run for president or any office, if he has all the answers ???????????
Reply to this Comment | Report This