An investigation by Propublica answers the second part of this question by showing what appears to be inflated claims if not outright fraud by coast residents who claimed their businesses had been injured by the spill.
Remember that emergency fund BP set up?
“A hairdresser at Dorene's hair salon received $8,000 for her emergency claim. Waitresses at the World of Wings Café and Wingery received between $5,000 and $7,000; the restaurant's owner got $50,000. A valet car parker at a five-star hotel in New Orleans that was 98 percent full received $1,000.”
Remember the money BP spent hiring locals to help in the clean up? In one Louisiana parish, one entrepreneur “supplied BP with more than 20 vessels a day, paying at most $2,500 a day for each vessel but charging BP $15,000 a day. The supplier pocketed at least $250,000 every day for months, according to someone who saw the bills.”
How about those guys doing the drudge work of cleaning up oil from the beaches? Were they well paid by BP? Well, not all of them:
“Bills from another Gulf state showed that BP paid a subcontractor $36 an hour for workers to clean up oil along sandy beaches, according to the same person. The subcontractor hired a temp agency, which provided workers for about $14 an hour, leaving the subcontractor with the $22-an-hour difference. The temp agency then made its own profit, hiring workers for about $10 an hour.”
So basically the guys doing the work got $10 an hour and the bosses pocketed the rest.
But at least we can count on the parish governments to give BP a fair shake, can’t we?. Um …not exactly:
“The parish government was among the first to benefit, snagging a $1 million check for oil-spill expenses. Parish employees went shopping for cameras, printers, a file cabinet, staplers, six pairs of children's scissors and 712 shirts emblazoned with the parish name. Some of the money also went to overtime pay for more than 40 parish employees, including three who claimed overtime for picking up dog food for the animal shelter.”
A spokes man for St. Bernard Parish, when asked about the irregularities basically said –STFU.
These examples are just a fraction of the fraud and cronyism disclosed by Propublica’s report. A sad commentary on the Louisiana community.
*Thanks to GaG for the cultural correction
-- Modified on 4/19/2011 7:08:18 PM
I am shocked! Shocked! Just remember the words of former Gov. Edwin Edwards, who was recently released from prison on a corruption conviction:
"The only way I will not be re-elected is if I am found in bed with a dead girl or a live boy."
Now, tell me why I don't feel sorry for BP?
Governor Huey Long, so brillantly profiled in one of the great novels of southern fiction, All the King's Men.
But the persons you should feel sorry for are the coastal residents legitimately injured by the spill and whose slice of the pie was diminished by these con men. As for not feeling sorry for BP, perhaps you could shed a tear or two for the many BP shareholders in the UK who counted on that dividend for social security and ended up seeing that money be used to pay for dog food for parish employees.
Speaking as someone who got his start in the oil business in Morgan City La some thirty seven years ago, I can't think of a more corrupt place in the world to do business, certainly nowhere in this country compares except perhaps Washington DC.
There is a lot of oil in La, and I have thought of returning there many times over the last few decades, but the oil business is risky enough without worrying about not only the regular crooks and con men stealing you blind, but the politicians and regulators as well. It reminds me a lot of doing business in Mexico.
Wasn't he appointed by Obama to be the CZAR of the claims processing? Why would you hire a lawyer, a New York lawyer (blah, blah, blah) to handle a complicated claims process. Just from a cultural viewpoint, I would've picked someone else. Plus his firm is getting close to $1M a month.
I'm not in insurance, but you would think selecting someone with a strong background in complex claims processing would be more appropriate. I mean Louisiana gets its fair share of natural disasters with claims paid by insurance companies. You would think there would be a more thorough accurate and timely way to handle this vs a govt appointed New York lawyer. Yeah I know his specialty is mediation, but I think the skills sets required are a bit more detailed than what he might have to offer.
Cracker huh! Who woulda thunk you and Kobe would both use an inflammatory word in the same week. Of course, he has to pay a $100,000 fine and give multiple mea culpas to GLAAD. I'm setting up a WASP organization just so we can fine your ass.
Coonasses yes, crackers are more a Florida and Georgia type of redneck.
and yes those coonasses will steal a "cityslicker" blind in a NY second. lol
I always found it amusing that the Federal government was blamed by so many for the failure of the levees during Katrina. The Federal government (that means you and me) sent enough money to build those levees three times over, but sending federal money to La is like trying to fill a colander, the money is going to dissapear every bit as fast as you can send it.
but I remember whites calling blacks coonasses as well, and this is in SoCal. But hey, way back when playing a lot of basketball against the brothers, I was frequently called a "white nigger". I was told by them to take it as a compliment. I guess I had game back then. Though one time holding the ball at the 3 point line, and the black guy guarding me called me a "mother fucking white nigger". I had to call time out, because I was laughing so hard. Gary Payton had nothing on this guy's trash talking.
For a white guy to call a black a coon, or even worse a coonass, in the public court in Greenwich Village and near Washington Square Park where I use to play, that would be tantamount to getting your tail beat.
Actually the pick up games I've played in with the brothers over the years have generally been free of racial taunts. The brothers don't actually talk that much - not like they do in White Guys Can't Jump. Mostly I remember them saying "ball" "ball" the few times I stopped them from scoring - they would always call a foul if they missed.
"we need a stop" in a basketball game. Actually I looked up the word "posterized" and saw your picture. It's the one thing that happens to whites when playing with the brothers.
I will bow to anyone who basically played at the birthplace (NY) of street BB. Though I've played some games that included Mexicans and Blacks, well suburban educated Mexicans and Blacks (lol). But just to be on the safe side, I made sure I knew where the exits and my car was parked before the game started.
Here is the clip of Kobe Bryant calling NBA ref Bennie Adams a "fucking f-----". Besides the $100K fine, the multiple mea culpas to GLAAD, they also want him to participate in the next West Hollywood Gay Pride parade. Now that's going too far. This also pales in comparison to some of the stuff Gary Payton or Reggie Miller used to say. Now those two could trash talk.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPYa-kBt8Jw
-- Modified on 4/19/2011 9:38:04 PM
Street ball was the ONLY place I could play in the late 1980s. I could not afford the private clubs with gyms where the rich white guys played.
So I would go down to the courts off Washington Square Park either early or late after the "A" games were over. Didn't have a car but like you I knew where the exits were. I just hoped they pass me the ball a few times so I could shoot.
When I play in Manhattan Beach that court is just like you say "well educated suburban blacks and hispanics." Plus, I always go there with a group so I feel safe. I'm too old now to go to a pick up game and try to get in by myself.
Yes Kobe tarnished his rep pretty good with that remark.
Pro sports is not gay friendly and I don;t think there are any NBA players who are publicly gay.
Not a B-ball fan, but even though he avoided conviction on the rape charges he never denied sex occurred, so I'm not sure how much of his reputation there was left to tarnish. Also, while I don't condone yelling "faggot" at anyone (or any other slur), a momentary lapse under pressure should not be a reputation-destroying event, especially if you appologize. Most such slurs are just explosions of the moment and don't really signify underlying prejudice. Stupidity, maybe. Lack of self-control, sure. But no more than that.
even slips under pressure stick with you.
And some believe being under pressure is when you display your true feelings. Probably varies with the individual but if I ever got mad at one of my Jewish friends after a hard foul and used an anti-semitic slur, I'm sure he would never forget it.
On the mean streets playing pick up B Ball, I'm more concerned about getting my tail beat than my rep.Don't know where you live but I can tell you there are some tough guys who play NY City street ball.
Well, I was born in NYC, have lived there, have been mugged there and was even briefly a law enforcement officer there, so I think I know a little about the mean streets. I guess I'm just more charitable than you about shit that slips out in the heat of the moment. I've had people who know I'm Jewish use the phrase "jew me down." Did I like it? No. Did I think it betrayed true prejudice? Nope. I also recall someone I know using the word "faggoty" to describe something a gay friend was wearing. He was offended and refused to accept her explanation that the word wasn't anti-gay. I think she was wrong, but I also know her use of it did not come from a prejudice against gays, just a misunderstanding of the word itself.
As for Gibson and Kramer, they did much more than shout a single word. They went on anti-Semitic and anti-Black rants, respectively. So I think that example doesn't fit the Kobe incident.
-- Modified on 4/20/2011 11:35:53 AM
but Richardson/Kramer is only guilty of being a lousy stand up comedian, and letting the hecklers get the best of him. He is the equivalent of you guys that have been cluttering up the board lately with your junior high bullshit. No one has anything intelligent to say, so you trade weak insults.
If "Kramer" had any talent he wouldn't have gotten mad and gone on a racial tirade, he would have made the hecklers look stupid and they would have been the ones going on a tirade.
Kobe is simply the victim of his own fame and PCness run amok. I have said a lot worse than him since breafast, and expect to do it again before nightfall, there just aren't any cameras on me. So fuck all you niggerjewchinkdaegospicfaggots. lol
If you watched whole Richardson/Kramer outburst it was plenty long enough. Waaay beyond a single word, or even a couple of words. Sure, he did let them get to him but that's no excuse. As for the Junior High bullshit, wrong number. Juvenile, sure, but not anything close to a racial or ethnic outburst, and that's what we're talking about here.
"whoresslutshoshookers"
Bwa ha ha ha ha!
-- Modified on 4/19/2011 9:37:01 PM
Urban Dictionary and you are right I should have used that word instead of crackers.
The people that you call "cajuns" proudly call themselves coonasses. BTW most coonasses are white.
Now calling a black man a "coon" is quite a different story, unless he is a good friend, you are quite likely to find yourself knocked on your ass for your trouble. lol
A good rule of thumb, anyone born south of I-10 in La is almost certainly a coonass. There are the Creoles as well, which is a mix of European, African and American Indian ancestory.
Great, now I am craving cajun. Gonna have to visit my favorite cajun joint and have some coonass chicken with some gumbo and hush puppies on the side.
which is about as close as I ever get to New Orleans. What is it, a really spicy fried chicken?
Steal a chicken. rofl
A local restaurant called Jazz serves a dish called Coonass chicken. According to their menu and "cajun" dictionary:
"Coonass: A loving slang term cajuns use to describe themselves. Garlic butter and scallion sauce with shrimp and krab to us."
Sounds like its a house specialty unique to the Jazz establishment, named 'coonass' in homage to the cajuns who's cooking style inspired it.
Still, damned tasty 
Actually, Feinberg was appointed because of his prior experience as the person administering the compensation fund for 911 victims. I missed him being interviewed on Piers Morgan tonight so I don't know if he addressed the specific issue of fraudulent claims.
in participating in the fraud. When that emergency fund was set up, there was no hard requirement for documenting losses so I'm sure he paid some bad claims but that was a political judgment they made at the time.
I agree Feinberg was a strange choice from a cultural point of view but he was the darling of the 9/11 compensation fund and also had some involvement in TARP that I can't remember.
But hey if they call you a white nigger on the court that is a compliment - that is like Jason Williams who used to be called "white chocolate" bc he played like a brother. I guess you never let the brothers see you with a bottle of chardonnay.That would kill your street cred.