South Africa: This Revolution Will Be Embedded
Made No More by Tumi and the Volume at the Festival Rio Loco, June 20, 2010. Album: Pick a Dream. Sakifo records. Personnel: Tumi Molekane, David Bergman (bass), Paulo Chibanga (drums), Tiago Paulo (guitar).
Estelle f Nas x John Legend – “Fall In Love” | Official Music Videos
July 27, 2010 by Verse
Filed under Music Videos
Estelle ain’t playing when it comes to this single!!
Dropping 2 videos for the 2 seperate versions one featuring Nas and the other featuring John Legend on the same day…
Noice!!The videos are directed by Sanaa Hamri and stars actor Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy).
Fall In Love ft Nas
Fall In Love ft John Legend
Guidelines
- Submission of Manuscript
- Submission Fee
- Submission Deadline
- Submission Address
- Multiple Submissions
- Judges
- Eligibility
Submission of Manuscript
Manuscripts must be double-spaced on standard paper and bound only with a clip. Electronic submissions are not allowed.
Include two title pages: one with the manuscript title and the author’s contact information (name, address, phone, email), and the other with only the manuscript title. (The author’s name must not appear on or within the manuscript.)
Enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope if you want to be notified when your manuscript is received. Manuscripts will not be returned.Submission Fee
Include a nonrefundable reading fee of $20 for each manuscript submitted. Make the check payable to Truman State University Press. If you prefer to pay by Visa, MasterCard, or Discover, include your credit card number, expiration date, cardholder name, and signature.
Submission Deadline
Manuscripts must be postmarked by September 30 each year.
Submission Address
Manuscripts should be sent to:
The Chariton Review Short Fiction Prize
Truman State University Press
100 East Normal Avenue
Kirksville, MO 63501-4221Multiple Submissions
Your manuscript may be under consideration elsewhere, but please inform TSUP if it is accepted for publication. More than one manuscript may be submitted annually to The Chariton Review Short Fiction Prize, but only one prize issue is offered for one author’s multiple entries.
Judges
The final judge will be announced after the finalists have been selected in January. The winning entries will be published in the Spring issue.
Eligibility
Previously published stories are not eligible. Current Truman State University faculty, staff, and students are not eligible to compete.
Texas Review Press George Garrett Fiction Prize
Competition Rules and Guidelines
Mail to: Texas Review Press
Department of English
Sam Houston State University
Box 2146
Huntsville, TX 77341-2146
1. Submitted manuscripts must be postmarked by September 15.
2. Manuscripts may be up to 250 pages in length.
3. Manuscripts are handled as blind submissions at all levels of the judging process.
4. Manuscripts must be submitted to the address above with two title pages—one with the author's name, address, and telephone number, and one without.
5. The author's name must not appear on any other page of the manuscript.
6. The envelope label should be clearly labeled “George Garrett Fiction Prize Competition.”
7. SASE must be included for the purpose of a reply only; manuscripts will not be returned.
8. A reading fee of $20 must accompany each manuscript. Checks should be made out to “Friends of the Texas Review Press.”
9. Each person who enters the contest will receive a one-year subscription to The Texas Review, and will also receive discounts on winning books.
10. The winning manuscript will receive a cash prize of $200 and publication.
11. The manuscripts are first judged by a network of published writers. The final ranking is concluded by major American writers.
12. All judges have pledged to return to TRP immediately any manuscript whose author they have identified. Any manuscripts so returned will be sent to another initial judge. In the case of a finalist manuscript being returned, it will be an automatic finalist in the following year's competition. NOTE: Some years we publish the best book of short fiction and the best novel.
Each year Black Lawrence Press will award The St. Lawrence Book Award for an unpublished collection of poems or short stories. The St. Lawrence Book Award is open to any writer who has not yet published a full-length collection of short stories or poems. The winner of this contest will receive book publication, a $1,000 cash award, and ten copies of the book. Prizes will be awarded on publication.To enter, please refer to the guidelines below.___________________________CONTEST GUIDELINES
How to submit:In order to reduce the costs of printing and postage and in the spirit of being a bit greener, Black Lawrence Press now accepts electronic submissions rather than hard copies for our contests.
Please include the following in your electronic submission:
• cover letter with brief bio and contact information including your e-mail address(es)• .rtf, .doc, or .pdf attachment including a title page, an acknowledgments page, a table of contents, and your manuscript with numbered pages.Email your submission to editors@blacklawrencepress.com.
Please submit your $25 entry fee via Paypal.
Deadline:The annual deadline for the prize is August 31.
About the judges:Black Lawrence Press does not use interns to screen entries. All entries are judged by the editors.
Notification:Because of the high volume of entries received, all finalists and semi-finalists will be announced on the Black Lawrence Press website. All finalists will be announced on or before October 31 of each year. The winner will be announced shortly thereafter.
Other Notes:We may request hard copies of manuscripts that make it to the finalist round and are being seriously considered for the prize.
Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but you must notify Black Lawrence Press immediately if your manuscript is accepted elsewhere for publication.
All finalists will be considered for standard publication. In addition to each year's winner, Black Lawrence Press often offers standard publication to one or more other finalists.
Thank you for your interest in Black Lawrence Press.
Listen To The Full Interview w/ Armond White On The State Of Film Criticism
Yes, I know, you’re tired of reading about Armond White on this blog; tough! Get over it
Here’s the full SlashFilm interview with White, specifically on film criticism, from which I lifted the lengthy quote posted a few days ago, which attracted some great comments from some of you folks, so thanks to all those who contributed.
You should listen to the interview; it’s only about 20 minutes long. It’s one thing to react to a controversial quote; but it’s best to get the full account; so here’s the rest of the story, which may or may not assuage whatever hostility you felt after initially reading the quote.
Was There A Black “Star Wars?”
Thanks ReelBlack for the tip. So is it all true? If you’ve watched Cheryl Dunye’s Watermelon Woman, you’ll have your answer
:
I thought this scene from Kevin Smith’s Chasing Amy would make a nice companion piece
, is certainly a step in the right direction. When I think about Rudine Sims Bishop's enduring metaphor of "mirrors and windows" (books may be mirrorsproviding children with opportunities to reflect on their own cultures and experiences, or they may be windows through which children examine other cultures and ways of perceiving the world) this book certainly qualifies as both. I cannot think of another children's book that presents the figure of Bob Marley in such a thoughtful and universally accessible way. Caribbean children who are familiar with Bob will recognize the images and many of the references in this book (especially Jamaican children) and children from other cultures who often hear Bob's music without knowing anything about Marley the man, will receive accurate and authentic information about who Bob Marley was.
is a work of creative nonfiction. In this case, Medina's series of beautifully-written poems provide a factually accurate narrative of Bob Marely's life from his childhood in Nine Miles, Jamaica and his youth on the streets of Trenchtown, Jamaica, to his rise to international fame and stardom. Like Marley's music itself, Medina's verses are highly poetic, evocative and cut right to the soul. The language of the verses sometimes lapses into unpretentious Jamaican and the poems often "lash" with the griotesque nuances of the reggae tongue. I was personally taken aback by the richness of the imagery in the poems, by Medina's ability to wax poetic about cold, hard facts and history in a way that children can appreciate and understand. The poems, like Watson's rich acrylic illustrations, strikingly capture the Jamaican landscape in all its beauty, harshness, and startling contrasts:"...Old Trenchtown in Kingston
Over the sewers of Babylon
Pressed against concrete walls
In rickety shacks the rain attacks Thing tin roofs like bullets from Heaven
Like hard bread from Heaven..."(from the poem, Trenchtown)
"...The day I left my Nine Miles
My mother said don't cry chile
But I cry a hurricane of pain
She gets me ready in my church clothes
Puts me on the bungo-bungo bus to go
To a school to learn what I do not know
'Cause my papa sends for me
'Cause my papa sends for me..."(from the poem, When My Papa Sends for Me)
***
"...Papa is a white man so I've been told
My face a map of Africa in Europe's hold
My heart the island where he and she both meet
Ride off on a horse the color of pearl
Leave Mama and me alone to scrape and fuss
Granpapa house us on his farm of Nine Miles dust..."
Indeed, the early poems in the book work to suggest that even at a very young age, Bob Marley "knew things" and was already obviously special. As the book progresses, the poems cover Bob's growth into a young man. We get to hear Bob the young man talk about his love for music which ultimately saves him from the rudeness of the streets. We are with Bob when he talks about making music with his fellow band members in the poem, 'Wailing Wailers. ' We are with him when meets his wife Rita Anderson in the love poem, 'Underneath A Plum Tree,' and the story of how he embraced the Rastafarian faith is told in the poem 'I Am a Rasta Man.' There is even a poem called 'Fate Opens Up Its Hand' which sees Marley the man talking about his love for the game of football (the West Indian name for 'soccer'. Did you know that Bob Marley was a professional level soccer player?)(from the poem, My Heart the Island)
"...From simmering shantytown
Shacks of Tenchtown
To the freed streets of Zimbabwe
I am hurled
And hailed a Reggae king
With truth as my crown
When the streets of my Jamaica
Threaten war
I join hand-in-hand
Fighting politicians in peace
Clearly, I and I, Bob Marley is a culture-rich book that can be used to stimulate discussions with children and youth about important issues. The themes of music, religion, family, race, class, childhood, coming of age, and poverty all crop up in the book and thus the book is good for broaching these kinds of topics with older children and teenagers. Children and young people who already look up to Bob Marley as a musical idol, will be even more empowered by his story of creative self-expression and personal success. Parents and teachers will appreciate the detailed Notes at the back of the book, which explain the context of each poem, and include encyclopedic information about events and people in Bob Marley's life. There is also a brief explanation of the Rastafarian term, "I and I," in the title of the book, and a foreword from Medina which sums up the impact of Bob Marley and his music on Medina himself, but also on the world.As for Jesse Joshua Watson's illustrations...well, you can see for yourself. There are so many iconic images of Bob Marley and yet Watson, through the use of photo-realistic drawings, heavy black outlines, large portrait-like compositions, and vibrant colors, is able to place Bob in ordinary settings and yet still retain a quality of the iconic in his poignant illustrations. In fact, Caribbean readers might be surprised to know that both the author and the illustrator are actually both Americans! As I have argued in scholarly papers, cultural authenticity in Caribbean children's books is not a simple matter of the author and illustrator being from the Caribbean. Anyone can write and illustrate a compelling and authentic Caribbean children's book if she or he takes the time to do the proper research, engage with the culture(s) on a meaningful level, and as Betsy Hearne would say, to "respect the source." All in all, I and I, Bob MarleyMy songs cry out that
Black blood shall spill no more..."(from the poem, Music Takes Me)
is truly an extraordinary children's book, and one that should be in all Caribbean bookstores, in my humble opinion. Ages 8 and up (teenagers and adults will enjoy it too!)
>via: http://summeredward.blogspot.com/2010/07/i-and-i-bob-marley.html
Afghan War Leaks Expose Costly Folly
The brutality and fecklessness of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan have been laid bare in an undisputable way just days before the House of Representatives is scheduled to vote on whether to throw $33.5 billion more into the Afghan quagmire, when that money is badly needed at home.
Share this article On Sunday, the Web site Wikileaks released some 92,000 documents written mostly by U.S. forces in Afghanistan during a six-year period from January 2004 to December 2009. The authenticity of the material – published under the title “Afghan War Diaries” – is not in doubt.
The New York Times, which received an embargoed version of the documents from Wikileaks, devoted six pages of its Monday editions to several articles on the disclosures, which reveal how the Afghan War slid into its current morass while the Bush administration concentrated U.S. military efforts on Iraq.
Wikileaks also gave advanced copies to the British newspaper, The Guardian, and the German newsmagazine, Der Spiegel, thus guaranteeing that the U.S. Fawning Corporate Media could not ignore these classified cables the way it did five years ago with the “Downing Street Memo,” a leaked British document which described how intelligence was "fixed" around President George W. Bush’s determination to invade Iraq.
The Washington Post also led its Monday editions with a lengthy article about the Wikileaks’ disclosure of the Afghan War reports.
Still, it remains to be seen whether the new evidence of a foundering war in Afghanistan will lead to a public groundswell of opposition to expending more billions of dollars there when the money is so critically needed to help people to keep their jobs, their homes and their personal dignity in the United States.
But there may be new hope that the House of Representatives will find the collective courage to deny further funding for feckless bloodshed in Afghanistan that seems more designed to protect political flanks in Washington than the military perimeters of U.S. bases over there.
Assange on Pentagon Papers
Wikileaks leader Julian Assange compared the release of “The Afghan War Diaries” to Daniel Ellsberg’s release in 1971 of the Pentagon Papers. Those classified documents revealed the duplicitous arguments used to justify the Vietnam War and played an important role in eventually getting Congress to cut off funding.
Ellsberg’s courageous act was the subject of a recent Oscar-nominated documentary, entitled"The Most Dangerous Man in America," named after one of the less profane sobriquets thrown Ellsberg’s way by then-national security adviser Henry Kissinger.
I imagine Dan is happy at this point to cede that particular honorific to the Wikileaks’ leaker, who is suspected of being Pfc. Bradley Manning, a young intelligence specialist in Iraq who was recently detained and charged with leaking classified material to Wikileaks.
An earlier Wikileaks’ disclosure – also reportedly from Manning – revealed video of a U.S. helicopter crew cavalierly gunning down about a dozen Iraqi men, including two Reuters journalists, as they walked along a Baghdad street.
Wikileaks declined to say whether Manning was the source of the material. However, possibly to counter accusations that the leaker (allegedly Manning) acted recklessly in releasing thousands of secret military records, Wikleaks said it had withheld 15,000 reports “as part of a harm minimization process demanded by our source.”
After Ellsberg was identified as the Pentagon Papers leaker in 1971, he was indicted and faced a long prison sentence if convicted. However, a federal judge threw out the charges following disclosures of the Nixon administration’s own abuses, such as a break-in at the office of Ellsberg’s psychiatrist.
In public speeches over the past several years, Ellsberg has been vigorously pressing for someone to do what he did, this time on the misbegotten wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Ellsberg also has praised Assange for providing a means for the documents to reach the public.
Ellsberg and other members of The Truth Telling Coalition established on Sept. 9, 2004, have been appealing to government officials who encounter “deception and cover-up” on vital issues to opt for “unauthorized truth telling.” [At the end of this story, see full text of the group's letter, which I signed.]
Emphasizing that “citizens cannot make informed choices if they do not have the facts,” the Truth Telling Coalition challenged officials to give primary allegiance to the Constitution, and noted the readiness of groups like the ACLU and The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) to offer advice and support.
What’s New?
In a taped interview, Assange noted in his understated way that, with the Internet, the “situation is markedly different” from Pentagon Papers days. “More material can be pushed to bigger audiences, and much sooner.”
Also, the flow of information can evade the obstructions of traditional news gatekeepers who failed so miserably to inform the American people about the Bush administration’s deceptions before the Iraq War.
People all over the world can get “the whole wad at once” and put the various reports into context, which “is not something that has previously occurred; that is something that can only be brought about as a result of the Internet,” Assange said.
However, Assange also recognized the value of involving the traditional news media to ensure that the reports got maximum attention. So, he took a page from Ellsberg’s experience by creating some competitive pressure among major news outlets, giving the 92,000 documents to the New York Times, the Guardian and Der Spiegel. Beginning Sunday afternoon, all three posted articles about the huge dump of information.
Assange noted that the classified material includes many heart-rending incidents that fit into the mosaic of a larger human catastrophe. These include one depicted in Der Spiegel’s reportage of accidental killings on June 17, 2007, when U.S. Special Forces fired five rockets at a Koran school in which a prominent al-Qaeda functionary was believed to be hiding.
When the smoke cleared, the Special Forces found no terrorist, but rather six dead children in the rubble of the school and another who died shortly after.
Role of Pakistan
Perhaps the most explosive revelations disclose the double game being played by the Pakistani Directorate for Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI). Der Spiegel reported: “The documents clearly show that this Pakistani intelligence agency is the most important accomplice the Taliban has outside of Afghanistan.”
The documents also show ISI envoys not only are present when insurgent commanders hold war councils, but also give specific orders to carry out assassinations — including, according to one report, an attempt on the life of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in August 2008.
Former Pakistani intelligence chief, Gen. Hamid Gul, is depicted as an important source of aid to the Taliban, and even, in another report, as a “leader” of the insurgents. The reports show Gul ordering suicide attacks, and describe him as one of the most important suppliers of weaponry to the Talban.
Though the Pakistani government has angrily denied U.S. government complaints about Gul and the ISI regarding secret ties to the Taliban and even to al-Qaeda, the new evidence must raise questions about what the Pakistanis have been doing with the billions of dollars that Washington has given them?
Two Ex-Generals Got It Right
We have another patriotic truth-teller to thank for leaking the texts of cables that Ambassador (and former Lt. Gen.) Karl Eikenberry sent to Washington on Nov. 6 and 9, 2009, several weeks before President Barack Obama made his fateful decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan.
In a somewhat condescending tone, Eikenberry described the request from Gen. Stanley McChrystal, then commander of allied forces in Afghanistan, for more troops as “logical and compelling within his narrow mandate to define the needs” of the military campaign.
But then Eikenberry warned repeatedly about “unaddressed variables” like militants’ “sanctuaries” in Pakistan. For example, the ambassador wrote:
“More troops won’t end the insurgency as long as Pakistan sanctuaries remain … and Pakistan views its strategic interests as best served by a weak neighbor.”
In Eikenberry’s final try at informing the White House discussion (in his cable of Nov. 9), the ambassador warned pointedly of the risk that “we will become more deeply engaged here with no way to extricate ourselves.”
At the time, it seemed that Eikenberry’s message was getting through to the White House. On Nov. 7, Der Spiegel published an interview with National Security Adviser (former Marine General) James Jones, who was asked whether he agreed with Gen. McChrystal that a substantial troop increase was needed. Jones replied:
“Generals always ask for more troops; I believe we will not solve the problem with more troops alone. You can keep on putting troops in, and you could have 200,000 troops there and Afghanistan will swallow them up as it has done in the past.”
However, McChrystal and his boss, then-Central Command chief Gen. David Petraeus pressed the case for more troops, a position that had strong support from Defense Secretary Robert Gates, former Vice President Dick Cheney, key hawks in Congress and Washington’s neoconservative-dominated opinion circles.
After months of internal debate, President Obama finally caved in and gave McChrystal nearly all the troops that he had requested. (McChrystal has since been replaced by Petraeus as commander of forces in Afghanistan.)
Despite the fact that the Wikileaks disclosures offer fresh support for the doubters on the Afghan War escalation, Jones acted as the good soldier on Sunday, decrying the unauthorized release of classified information, calling Wikileaks “irresponsible.”
Jones also lectured the Pakistanis:
“Pakistan’s military and intelligence services must continue their strategic shift against insurgent groups. The balance must shift decisively against al-Qaeda and its extremist allies. U.S. support for Pakistan will continue to be focused on building Pakistani capacity to root out violent extremist groups.”
[Note: Okay; he’s a general. But the grammatical mood is just a shade short of imperative. And the tone is imperial/colonial through and through. I’ll bet the Pakistanis are as much swayed by that approach as they have been by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s admonitions not to be concerned about India – just terrorists.]
And regarding “progress” in Afghanistan? Jones added that “the U.S. and its allies have scored several significant blows against the insurgency.”
However, that’s not the positive spin that Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen was offering just four weeks ago. On his way to Kabul, again, Mullen spoke of “recent setbacks in the Afghan campaign.”
“We underestimated some of the challenges” in Marja, the rural area of Helmand province that was cleared in March by U.S. Marines, only to have Taliban fighters return. “They’re coming back at night; the intimidation is still there,” Mullen said.
Of the much more ambitious (and repeatedly delayed) campaign to stabilize the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, Mullen said: “It’s going to take until the end of the year to know where we are there.”
Would you say yes to $33.5 billion for this fool’s errand?
Ray McGovern works with Tell the Word, the publishing arm of the ecumenical Church of the Saviour in inner-city Washington. He was a CIA analyst for 27 years and now serves on the Steering Group of Veteran Intelligence Profesionals for Sanity.
Text of letter from Ellsberg's group:
September 9, 2004
APPEAL TO: Current Government Officials
FROM: The Truth-Telling Coalition
It is time for unauthorized truth telling.
Citizens cannot make informed choices if they do not have the facts—for example, the facts that have been wrongly concealed about the ongoing war in Iraq: the real reasons behind it, the prospective costs in blood and treasure, and the setback it has dealt to efforts to stem terrorism. Administration deception and cover-up on these vital matters has so far been all too successful in misleading the public.
Many Americans are too young to remember Vietnam. Then, as now, senior government officials did not tell the American people the truth. Now, as then, insiders who know better have kept their silence, as the country was misled into the most serious foreign policy disaster since Vietnam.
Some of you have documentation of wrongly concealed facts and analyses that—if brought to light—would impact heavily on public debate regarding crucial matters of national security, both foreign and domestic. We urge you to provide that information now, both to Congress and, through the media, to the public.
Thanks to our First Amendment, there is in America no broad Officials Secrets Act, nor even a statutory basis for the classification system. Only very rarely would it be appropriate to reveal information of the three types whose disclosure has been expressly criminalized by Congress: communications intelligence, nuclear data, and the identity of US intelligence operatives. However, this administration has stretched existing criminal laws to cover other disclosures in ways never contemplated by Congress.
There is a growing network of support for whistleblowers. In particular, for anyone who wishes to know the legal implications of disclosures they may be contemplating, the ACLU stands ready to provide pro bono legal counsel, with lawyer-client privilege. The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) will offer advice on whistle blowing, dissemination and relations with the media.
Needless to say, any unauthorized disclosure that exposes your superiors to embarrassment entails personal risk. Should you be identified as the source, the price could be considerable, including loss of career and possibly even prosecution. Some of us know from experience how difficult it is to countenance such costs. But continued silence brings an even more terrible cost, as our leaders persist in a disastrous course and young Americans come home in coffins or with missing limbs.
This is precisely what happened at this comparable stage in the Vietnam War. Some of us live with profound regret that we did not at that point expose the administration’s dishonesty and perhaps prevent the needless slaughter of 50,000 more American troops and some 2 to 3 million Vietnamese over the next ten years. We know how misplaced loyalty to bosses, agencies, and careers can obscure the higher allegiance all government officials owe the Constitution, the sovereign public, and the young men and women put in harm’s way. We urge you to act on those higher loyalties.
A hundred forty thousand young Americans are risking their lives every day in Iraq for dubious purpose. Our country has urgent need of comparable moral courage from its public officials. Truth telling is a patriotic and effective way to serve the nation. The time for speaking out is now.
SIGNATORIES
Appeal from the Truth-Telling CoalitionEdward Costello, Former Special Agent (Counterintelligence), Federal Bureau of Investigation
Sibel Edmonds, Former Language Specialist, Federal Bureau of Investigation
Daniel Ellsberg, Former official, U.S. Departments of Defense and State
John D. Heinberg, Former Economist, Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor
Larry C. Johnson, Former Deputy Director for Anti-Terrorism Assistance, Transportation Security, and Special Operations, Department of State, Office of the Coordinator for Counter Terrorism
Lt. Col Karen Kwiatowski, USAF (ret.), who served in the Pentagon's Office of Near East Planning
John Brady Kiesling, Former Political Counselor, U.S. Embassy, Athens, Department of State
David MacMichael, Former Senior Estimates Officer, National Intelligence Council, Central Intelligence Agency
Ray McGovern, Former Analyst, Central Intelligence Agency
Philip G. Vargas, Ph.D., J.D., Dir. Privacy & Confidentiality Study, Commission on Federal Paperwork (Author/Director: "The Vargas Report on Government Secrecy" -- CENSORED)
Ann Wright, Retired U.S. Army Reserve Colonel and U.S. Foreign Service Officer
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Oil pipeline leak pollutes major Michigan river
Published: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 6:30 PM
Crews were working Tuesday to contain and clean up more than 800,000 gallons of oil that poured into a creek and flowed into the Kalamazoo River in southern Michigan, coating birds and fish. In comparison, the government has estimated that the BP well in the Gulf of Mexico was spilling 1.5 million to 2.5 million gallons of oil each day before the flow was cut off.
View full sizeWorkers collect oil from a spill along Talmadge Creek in Marshall Township, Mich. on Tuesday.
Authorities in Battle Creek, Mich., and Emmett Township warned residents about the strong odor from the oil, which leaked Monday from a 30-inch pipeline built in 1969 that carries about 8 million gallons of oil per day from Griffith, Ind., to Sarnia, Ontario.
Crews waded in oily water as they worked to stop the oil's advance downstream. Oil-covered Canada geese walked along the banks of the Kalamazoo River, and photos showed dead fish floating in the spill. The Kalamazoo River eventually flows into Lake Michigan, but officials didn't expect the oil to reach the lake.
Calgary, Alberta-based Enbridge Inc.'s affiliate Enbridge Energy Partners LP of Houston estimated about 819,000 gallons of oil spilled into Talmadge Creek before the company could stop the flow. Enbridge crews and contractors deployed oil skimmers and absorbent booms to minimize its environmental impact.
"We are going to do what it takes to make this right," Enbridge's president and CEO Patrick D. Daniel said during a news conference in Battle Creek.
The company had begun testing the air near the spill, with the primary concern being the possible presence of the cancer-causing chemical benzene. On Tuesday, the company said it hadn't found any levels that would be of concern in residential areas. Groundwater testing also was planned. Authorities evacuated two homes near the leak, and some locals said they were concerned about the fumes. But there were no reports of sickened residents.
View full sizeA Canada goose covered in oil walks near the Kalamazoo River in Battle Creek, Mich. on Tuesday. July 27 2010
As of Tuesday afternoon, oil was reported in about 16 miles of the Kalamazoo River downstream of the spill, said Mary Dettloff, spokeswoman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. She said state officials were told during a company briefing that an estimated 877,000 gallons spilled -- a figure more than 50,000 gallons higher than the company's public estimate.
U.S. Rep. Mark Schauer, D-Mich., said he discussed the spill Tuesday with President Barack Obama at the White House. Schauer called the spill a "public health crisis," and said he plans to hold hearings to examine the response.
"The company was originally slow to respond and it is now clear that this is an emergency," Schauer told reporters on a conference call.
The cause of spill was under investigation. The oil spilled into the creek, which flows northwest into the river. The site is in Calhoun County's Marshall Township, about 60 miles southeast of Grand Rapids.
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm activated the State Emergency Operations Center, and state officials conducted a helicopter flyover. Battle Creek and surrounding Calhoun County declared a local state of emergency.
"Our focus is protecting Michigan citizens and our environment by providing any needed state resources to expediently address the situation," Granholm said in a statement.
View full sizeA worker lifts oil-covered debris from the Kalamazoo River in Battle Creek, Mich., on Tuesday. July 27 2010
Enbridge said it had about 200 employees and contractors working on the spill. Local, state and federal agencies also were involved, and the National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation. The pipeline was shut down Monday and isolation valves were closed, stopping the source of the oil, the company said.
The Kalamazoo River eventually bisects the city of Kalamazoo and meanders to Saugatuck, where it empties into Lake Michigan. Officials didn't think the oil would spread past Morrow Lake, which has a dam upstream of Kalamazoo, Dettloff said.
The river already faced major pollution issues. An 80-mile segment of the river and five miles of a tributary, Portage Creek, were placed on the federal Superfund list of high-priority hazardous waste sites in 1990. The Kalamazoo site also includes four landfills and several defunct paper mills.
U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a statement that his office has been in close contact with federal agencies to ensure that cleanup crews have the needed resources to complete the job as quickly as possible.
"For now, the focus is on limiting the damage and cleaning up the oil, Levin said. "It is also vitally important that the company responsible for the spill bear the costs of cleanup and that it compensate anyone who has suffered damages related to the spill."
The Michigan Department of Community Health warned the public to stay away from the creek and river during the cleanup. It also said people shouldn't eat fish from the waterways or have contact with the water, and farmers and homeowners who use the water for irrigation or livestock should stop.
Tim Martin of The Associated Press wrote this report. David Runk in Detroit contributed.
==================================
Cleanup of spewing oil wellhead is under way in Barataria Waterway
Published: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 5:34 PM Updated: Tuesday, July 27, 2010, 5:35 PM
The accident between a dredge barge and an oil wellhead in lower Jefferson caused a 100-foot plume of oil, natural gas and contaminated water to spew into the Barataria Waterway, parish and Coast Guard officials said in a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
An aerial view of the busted wellhead in Bayou St. Denis.
Marine traffic has been restricted by a two-mile safety zone established by the Coast Guard to prevent a possible ignition of the gas, said Capt. John Arenstam, deputy Coast Guard sector commander.
Response to the incident is being handled by federal authorities because the wellhead, which is owned by CEDYCO Corporation of Houston is considered "orphaned" because the company is now defunct, said Deano Bonano, the Jefferson Parish chief of homeland security. Authorities are using funds from the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to pay for the cleanup operations, and have hired a Harahan company to cap and plug the damaged wellhead, Arenstam said.
Bonano said the leak is not classified as a large one, however the exact amount of oil and gas being spilled into the water is unknown.
Councilman Elton Lagasse called the incident yet another blow to the parish as it tries to recover from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
"We just got the Barataria Bay cleaned a week ago," Lagasse said. "This is something that could happen at anytime. There are thousands of these wells out there."
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