Good Luck to All

Well, it has been a while since we posted.  We've been watching the world spin from the hills of Eastern Kentucky.  We're happy BP appears to have plugged their mess in the Gulf of Mexico.  People of the Gulf, we, more than anyone, know what's in store for you for the next few decades and you have our sympathy.  Once the media goes on to the next big story BP will start dragging its feet on the cleanup.  Lawsuits will be filed and drag through the courts but nothing will get settled in time to save the livelihood of hundreds if not thousands of people.  Good luck to the people of the Gulf Coast.

We also want to wish good luck to Elizabeth Burns of the Rancho los Malulos blog and her family.  For months we've followed her adventures on a big ranch in south Texas; dealing with the likes of crooked oil companies, menacing drug smugglers, government slackers, lax border enforcement and hordes of illegal aliens.  If you haven't read the blog you need to.  It documents how far things have gone off the rails in the United States of America.  She and her family have had to move from the ranch due to the oil companies' accelerated drilling program.  Yes, that's right.  Due to the oil companies, not the drug smugglers or illegal aliens.  Once again. we wish the family good luck.

If you think illegal aliens are just a problem for Rancho los Malulos that doesn't affect you, then we hope you don't live in New York or North Carolina.  If you listen to Elizabeth's July 30 interview of two illegals on her ranch, you'll notice that they are from Mexico (Chiapas) heading to New York and North Carolina.  So good luck to the Mexicans.  We hope they find that New York and North Carolina are everything they expect. Also, good luck to the people of New York and North Carolina.  We hope you need a couple more poor farmers from Chiapas.

And finally, while we're throwing good luck around we want to toss some toward the Toxic Soup boys who are pitching their film about industrial pollution at festivals in Maine and New Jersey in the next couple of months.  Good luck and keep telling the story.  Who knows, someone may listen.

Congratulations to the Toxic Soup Boys

Congratulations go out from Martha, KY to the Toxic Soup boys for their successful premiere of the film Toxic Soup at the Atlanta Film Festival.  They had screenings on April 18 and April 22 and have got to be worn out by now from all that hand-shaking and back-slapping.  Check out the interview here.

Thanks to their interviews and film work our story is recorded for posterity to wonder in amazement how all this was allowed to happen.

Transcript of the WDR Radio Feature

A transcript of the WDR radio feature about radiation in the oil and gas industry is now up on their website here for the benefit of those of us who weren't up at 5:05 this morning to hear it.

Also, a PODCAST is here.

German Broadcaster WDR Reports on Martha

German public broadcaster Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR) today has published a story about Ashland Oil's radioactive contamination in Martha as part of their reporting on the problem of radioactive waste in the oil and gas industry.  Images that go with the story are here.  They are also broadcasting a radio feature on the topic here at 5:05 am Martha time on Sunday with a rebroadcast on Monday at 2:05 pm Martha time.  So break out your German / English dictionaries and enjoy.

A Media Frenzy in Martha, Kentucky

We want to shout out thanks to the Toxic Soup boys.  If it wasn't for a lot of their film work putting a face on Ashland's shenanigans we would be just another wide spot in the road.  Here is an article from the Big Sandy News about the visit of reporter Nina Magoley from German radio WDR to the area, gathering material about Ashland Oil's radioactive mess for a German audience.  It's amazing that it has become more likely for a reporter to come from Germany to Martha, Kentucky than from Lexington or Louisville.  That sound of crickets chirping is the level of interest from our state's major media centers.

However, not only was the Big Sandy News on the story, but so was the Paintsville Herald.  So its good to know that while the big media boys in Lexington and Louisville were sleeping, as usual, local reporting was still playing a vital role in the community.  Those big newspapers may be dinosaurs, but small town local papers are still alive and kicking.

By the way, anybody ever seen Wade Smith when he's NOT wearing shades?

Toxic Soup at the 2010 Atlanta Film Festival

We are a little bit late, but a big congratulations goes out to the boys of Toxic Soup for getting their film into the 2010 Atlanta Film Festival.  Break a leg, or something like that!