As Gulf Disaster Unfolds, NYers Hold Hands to Protest Off-Shore Drilling

Source: NBC NewYork

A chanting crowd marched down toward the water on Coney Island -- part of a massive demonstration across the country to protest off-shore drilling as the disaster in the Gulf continues to unfold.

They fanned out, held hands and drew what they called a human line in the sand. They stood that way for 15 minutes.

"No to off-shore drilling and yes to clean energy," said organizer Anne Craig.

Similar events were planned at some 750 other coastal beach locations around the country. The event transcended the United States, with dozens of other protests happening in countries like Australia, New Zealand, and India.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37946106

Okay, really, it's nice that they're out there. But... this is exactly the same as praying for the oil to go away. Honestly, toothless, humming-huggy protest is not protest. it's ego tripping. "Gosh, look at how enlightened I am, I'm holding hands with a stranger and saying a slogan!"

and that is where real change starts.

This John Lennon bed-in bullshit has got to stop.

I will, anyway.

:thumbsup:

--d!

It was a nice little exercise for people to make themselves feel good, but the homeless problem only kept getting worse.

and hope that BP is more careful next time. :eyes:

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/120130

Stand across a road, blocking the traffic. Yes, the police will break it up, but you'll have done more to make your cause heard in that period than thisstunt on a beach did.

or how about this; beach-busting. 200 people, each armed with rakes and heavy plastic bags and videophones, go down to the gulf coast, shove the BP fucks and hteir private police the fuck out of the way, and take back that beach.

or even something as insignificant as organizing flash crowds at every local BP outlet. Even that would be more effective.

:eyes:

do tell us how they can be more effective!!!

Nobody who posts on DU has ever protested, or knows how?

Right-o, then.

(I guess my critiquing of passive toothless showtests stings a bit!)

Seems like it was pretty effective to me

http://www.google.co.jp/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=Off-shore+drilling+protest&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&redir_esc=&ei=JewmTNHELIqOkQX6tel8

I'm sure that just made Dick Cheney quake in his boots.

Supposedly, we have a new administration and a Democratic Congress that are more receptive to the "little people".

even though attention is important in and of itself.

where is your criticism of people like you who complain about things they have no knowledge of?

:think:

You just jumped the conclusion that they aren't doing anything else in opposition to use of fossil fuels in the rest of their lives.

Do you have a dossier on them to know for sure that they aren't?

I know plenty of people that oppose oil drilling AND many of them do things like not own a car, use mass transit, push for alternative energy sources, etc.

Stop being a crank.

For instance, I asked "what are htye doing?" and you read it as "they aren't doing anything!"

In another example, I state that this particular protest is ineffective. You read it as "they've never done anything else!"

Truly, reading are hard for youths today now!

and then you are posting this on a message board, which while not totally useless, their protest has made it to CNN, something your little post will not do.

i'm not sure exactly what your point is, but i am sure that you are more effective in arguing against in than for it.

:D

:thumbsup::D

Yes, I'm posting on a message board. So are you, incidentally. It's a method of long-distance communication, so I'm not sure what your angle actually is.

Yes, they got on CNN. So did this kid: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxOalIK6fSI

for not doing something more effective.

while you quite uneffectively post *here*.

you are an amazing genius! let me be more like you! :D

Especially when what you're protesting for goes against what's usually on the TeeVee machine. It shows people that are on your side but may not be politically active yet that there are others out there who think like them. Which could very well lead them to searching out sites much like this one and becoming more politically active. Anything that gains publicity and goes against the constant narrative of "Corporations = good/Regulation = Bad" is doing something useful.

I kind of like your idea of a beach storming, though.

you defend your posts by saying that you never meant they didn't do things other than this protest.

and you defend the criticism of your post by saying that we can't assume that your only actions are to post on DU.

i may not be as literate as you are, but i'm pretty sure i understand what you've written here better than you do.

:D

This protest was ineffective. It does nothing useful. The most useful thing that anyone has been able to point to on this thread is "they got on CNN" and, as I pointed out above, getting on CNN isn't exactly the landmark that it's being touted as. Nor does getting on CNN accomplish much. Okay, it says people are protesting... Now what? What's the plan, chief?

Look, I know a lot of DU'ers are of the generation and mindset that believes that the only useful protest is useless protest. A lot of you were brought up on John Lennon's idiotic horse shit, and clasp your hands at the sacrifices of celebrities who engage in that "rolling hunger strike" junk. An entire left-leaning subculture who believes that anything that might inconvenience anyone at any time is totally unacceptable as a method of protest. In other words, a generation of brainless wimps. And I know you all admire the hand-clasping, dewy-eyed spectacle of people holding hands on a public beach, then dispersing to go to quiznos or whatever.

when these people go to Pensacola beach or the Louisiana coast, walk over the BP "security" and hold hands down there, let me know, i'll give them props. But all they did here is a photo op and some useless feel-good sloganeering.

but it's more than your message here did.

that's what we all get about what you are saying and it's what you don't get.

if you were serious, by your own standards, you wouldn't even be posting here.

because what is that accomplishing?

so then you argue, "well who says that's all I do?".

exactly, who says that's all *they* do!

:wtf:


now go do some non wimpy civil disobediance and live up to your own standards.

A focused and growing political will to bring about a rapid and radical transition from burning hydrocarbons as a primary source of energy, to other, cleaner sources, is essential to the survival of our civilization, and perhaps even our species. We need millions and millions more to awaken also.

and it is ONE STEP in many that I have taken. like everyone else has been saying....what the hell are you doing about it?

Inquiring about methods to get down there and work on the beaches I grew up on. In the meantime, I have been sparing as much as I can financially to go towards helping the birds and turtles and porpoises I spent my youth admiring. I plan to get my ass down there, and do something productive.

I hear you got on CNN. I probably won't. I know my relatives who's livlihoods are now completely extinguished aren't going to get on CNN. I know my aunt Judy who works at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab is not on CNN. I know that hundreds of thousands of people who's home is facing apocalyptic destruction aren't on CNN.

So. Glad to hear that holding hands and being fucking useless on a New York beach gets you in the news, but i plan to actually provide a service, and help people out, damn whatever gets in my way to do so.. So you can take those hands you're holding, and kindly shove them up your pretentious fucking ass.

Sorry that you got so much shit from some of the usual suspects.
:shrug:

I wasn't in new york and i didn't get on the news. that's not what this was about. this was about solidarity...and we need to do this often. I am very active politically and this is my top priority right now...doing everything I can.

I applied for work down there, and they say they will call when BP gets off their ass and tell them where and when and how. I am giving up a job that I have been at for 13 yrs to go and do this. I can't just volunteer cause I don't have the funds, but I plan on volunteering with the animals in my free time once i am working. I have been donating too, but I too do not have a lot of money.

Pretentious? you don't know me..so you should keep it in check. Your anger is misdirected. How about calling out our media? I have been trying to do this for months now...calling out the media for NOT reporting what is going on. Cause I guarantee you, if the good people of America knew the real story...there would be so much hell to pay. Calling out the politicians that are grandstanding?...what is it that you would like others to do...? You could get a group together to help with the efforts...DU has an activism group..mayabe that is a start.
You think you're the only one who cares...reach out instead of lashing out...we do care, I care and I am trying to get people to understand the urgency of now....ok?

so I took a break to hold hands to let the world know that all of this is bullshit....we got coverage, good...now I'll continue working hard and the next time we hold hands, I will be there too.

Every little bit helps right now...don't knock it...

that is step one

CNN video regarding the event: http://cnn.com/video/?/video/us/2010/06/26/nr.hands.across.the.sand.cnn

A link to send letter to President Obama and state congress reps: http://www.handsacrossthesand.com/
look over on the right side of the page

Edited to add: Also, there are MANY videos from all over the world on YouTube.
To find the ones from today's event:
1) Go to YouTube.com
2) Search for ' hands across the sand '
3) Then click on Search Options, then click on Sort by *Upload Date*

Protesters at Florida beaches joined hands to decry offshore oil drilling as disaster relief officials monitored Tropical Storm Alex in the western Caribbean.

Protesters participate in "Hands Across the Sand" in Pensacola

Hundreds of protesters held hands in Pensacola Beach on Saturday, June 26, to participate in "Hands Across the Sand," a multinational protest to raise awareness in favor of alternative energy uses.

Protesters hold hands on the beach to protest oil drilling

Activists from Hands Across the Sand and other protesters held hands while facing the sea in South Beach on Saturday.

As the Atlantic's first tropical storm lurked Saturday, threatening to disrupt massive oil disaster relief efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, thousands of Floridians crowded the state's sweltering beaches to protest offshore drilling.

At Perdido Key, on the state border with Alabama, more than 50 sun-tanned activists drove away workers collecting tar balls on the sugary sand.

``It's our beach now!'' one activist yelled, against a backdrop of emerald water topped with unsightly orange boom.

As Gov. Charlie Crist made a cameo in Pensacola, 700 miles away on South Beach, the mood was more relaxed amid the throngs of oiled-up sunbathers -- but the talk was tough.

``This is the worst oil spill that has happened in my lifetime,'' said Sarah Mullins, 20, of Kendall. ``This is our Miami, this is our beach, and we need to stop offshore oil drilling.''

The protests statewide came as federal and state officials overseeing relief and clean-up efforts nervously monitored Tropical Storm Alex, projected to drench Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula early Sunday.

For now, the National Hurricane Center in West Miami-Dade is projecting Alex to emerge from the peninsula and skirt, to the west, the armada of ships gathered in the oil spill zone off the Louisiana coast.

``At this point, it's not a threat to the site but we know these tracks can change,'' Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, who is overseeing the response, said in a conference call at midday Saturday. He added: ``We're tracking the weather very closely.''

But if the storm -- with tropical storm force winds extending outward about 115 miles -- veers closer, federal officials could suspend relief and clean-up efforts for up to two weeks.

Allen said that if the gales reach within five days of the zone, more than 6,000 vessels, ranging from small private boats to barges and Coast Guard cutters, would be forced to head for shore.

Over 38,000 people involved in disaster relief efforts would need to hunker down on land, at the same time hurricane response plans are carried out wherever the storm is slated to make landfall -- creating a logistical challenge for state and federal officials.

Read more and also see nice pictures (they don't let me save those pictures to post here due to built in code or something):

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/06/26/1703076/hands-across-florida.html

I posted the one I was in here
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8643567

we have serious oil drilling going on out here as well. 7 cities participated
not too much media attention though

after 9-11 i don't recall holding hands to protest people working in the airline industry in new york but maybe that's just me and i always forget, as a person who lives in the south and in louisiana, i'm not a real human being, so i just don't understand

when people were dying in 911, they didn't show ads for 3 days, when we were dying in katrina, the ads kept playing during the news...and this sets the tone

if we live "down here" we are not real people, why should we need jobs, why should we have ever believed that drilling for oil and helping you yankees stay out of the dark and the cold was ever important

the hell with it, people suck...they have no soul, no conscience, it's all about making themselves feel self righteous...

I'd estimate there were between 200 and 300 of us.