Anthony Marr's CARE-7 tour blog #11 - 1 May 2010
Santa Ana, Southern California
I'm now writing from the beautiful acreage property in Santa Ana of Julie
and Steve Meskell, where I will be staying until May 5 before leaving for
Las Vegas,
whose closest neighbor is a red-tailed hawk and her white-headed chick in
a nest in a Ponderosa pine.
Well, this won't be a light-hearted blog to write.
When Anthony Damiano and I were driving/riding down from Monterey to LA
(see blog #7), while passing Santa Barbara, I looked to the sea, and saw no
less than 7 oil rigs well within sight of land, i.e. about 10 miles.
I said, "If any of these blow, that'd be it for the gorgeous California
coast, and the elephant seals." Anthony is extremely proud and fond of the
southwest Florida coast and beaches, on one of which his parents' house is
situated. I thought, "Same for those rigs in the Gulf of Mexico." Lo and
behold, within five days, one of them did blow.
The devastating news of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill originating from the
April 22 explosion and sinking of the British Petroleum (laughably
self-nicknamed "Beyond Petroleum" for years) oil rig Deepwater Horizon.
Chronologically:
April 22, Thursday: The Deepwater Horizon sinks. Authorities said that
the 1-x-5-mile sheen was from the original explosion, and that no oil was
leaking from the well.
April 23, Friday: The Coast Guard ended search for the missing, and said
that skimmers, containment booms and aircraft with dispersants were ready to
move on to the spill.
April 24, Saturday: The Coast Guard said that 42,000 gallons a day of oil
was leaking from the well. The spill had then expanded to 20-x-20-mile area,
and that storms were hampering the cleanup effort.
April 25, Sunday: Attempts were made to cut off the flow of oil from the
well by means of robotic submarine. By then the spill had lengthened to 30
miles. BP sent a second rig to drill a relief well, while sperm whales were
sighted in the spill area.
April 26, Monday: Attempts to shut off the well with robotic submarines
failed, but continuing. Meanwhile, the spill had expanded to an almost
50-x-40-mile area, and had moved to within 30 miles from the Louisiana
coast.
April 27, Tuesday: The Coast Guard announced plan to burn off the spill,
which had lengthened to over 60 miles and moved to within 23 miles of the
Louisiana coast.
April 28, Wednesday: A controlled burn was done. The estimate of spill
rate had increased to 5,000 barrels (155,000 gallons) a day - 5X BP's
original announced estimate.
April 29, Thursday: The spill area had lengthened to well over 100 miles,
as patches of oil sheen had begun to appear at the mouth of the Mississippi
River, while attempts to shut off the well continued to fail. BP estimated
that attempts to shut off the well might take up to 3 months.
April 30, Friday: The storms had continued unabated, and the spill area
had lengthened to well over 150 miles. The first observed animal victim - a
Northern gannett with its beak covered in thick oil - was observed.
Day before yesterday, April 29, Thursday, Cathy took me out for a visit
to her favorite beach with her two Great Danes, and treated me to a dinner
and rounded out the evening with the 7:30 showing of the movie Avatar, which
I had not yet seen, and proved dazzling, magnificent as well as meaningful.
While waiting for the movie to begin, I called Anthony D, and he tearfully
told me that the west coast of Florida, which he adores, could be hit by the
spill within 3 days. After the show, I called him and offered to fly him
home so that he could participate in any needed effort to protect his
beloved beach and its animal denizens, amongst which he made a special
mention of the manatee.
"Drill baby drill", Sarah Palin? WHY DON'T YOU JUST GO F___, I mean,
DRILL YOURSELF?!
Unfortunately, the notion of Anthony D's going home was not purely due to
the spill. For several days now, we've been discussing the foreseeable
consequence that he might have to leave the tour due to insufficient
funding. My commitment to him was that any donation will go to him first up
to about $900 a month to cover his mortgage and bills, and only after that
would I begin to pay off my credit card debt incurred from launching the
tour. Although I had paid him the $990 on April 10 from the donations
accumulated over the previous 2 months in our IDA account, this could
sustain him only to about mid-May. As of the beginning of the tour, the
donations have not amounted to even a small percentage of what would be
needed to sustain the tour itself on an ongoing basis. We have been forced
to conclude that at this rate, without funding infusion, the tour would be
financially sustainable only if it is executed by me solo. Anthony had made
two offers to leave the tour for its sake thus far, but up to yesterday, I
had twice declined.
Yesterday, I sent out a funding appeal on to the internet as follows:
"Dear friends in compassion: As you know, the 40-states-in-7-months
Compassion for Animals Road Expedition #7 (CARE-7 tour), being executed by
myself and Anthony Damiano, started on April 1. It has become apparent to us
that in spite of our vigorous activities, several of which have garnered the
desired media coverage (see
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com ), one
important aspect of the tour has fallen way short. Perhaps due to the
economic downturn, the amount of donations, on which we depend from day to
day, has proven insufficient to financially sustain the tour, which could
lead to Anthony D losing his house and I to accumulated mountainous credit
card debts at 19% interest. This has led us to the inescapable conclusion
that either Anthony D may have to leave the tour, or that I may have to end
the tour altogether, unless we could raise upwards of $5000 within weeks.
Therefore, I'm writing this funding appeal in hopes of forestalling the
premature termination of the tour. Please pass it on far and wide. // For
anyone wishing to make a donation, please write me an email at
[email protected] and [email protected] stating that you wish
to donate, and to what amount, and I will reply within hours with specific
instructions as to how to do so. Any other way may lead to the donation
going astray. Thank you for your support thus far. Hopefully, the tour will
proceed to its proper conclusion. // Yours for the animals, our children and
the planet. - Anthony Marr."
Within minutes, we received heart warming responses such as: "We're on
it!" (Marla Stormwolf-Patty); "I just posted ye message Anthony on the
bulletins,we will make this work. Too many peeps are expecting ye in my part
of the country!" (Irish Cornaire); "Hi Anthony and Anthony, you are deeply
loved for all the compassion and awareness you share with our planet - you
are changing stubborn minds and awakening the sleeping masses, helping
animals survive human greed and unspeakable brutality. // I know in my heart
that all your struggles will be rewarded on a high spiritual plane, where
your soul shall receive the kind of joy and light only God can deliver. // I
am posting a blog with your letter of outreach to my myspace, facebook and
other networking sources. If I could - I'd pay for your entire trip but I
hope a small donation will express my support. // It would be totally
awesome, totally totally great if we could find a vegan sponsor to cover at
least some of your costs. Most individuals struggle to make ends meet these
days, so an organization or a company that promotes veganism and animal
protection would be a good sponsor. Food/lodging/gas are your main expenses.
// If $5,000 is what G.A.H.C. needs to sustain the CARE-7 tour - figure we
need only 250 people to donate $20 each, or only 100 people to donate $50
each to reach this goal. That's a piece of cake! // Wishing love, safety and
unforgettable joyous experiences to you both on your long journey for the
cause." (Eve Love Cher) Unfortunately, the financial ball has not rolled
much, if at all, for 48 hours. So, I booked Anthony D a ticket from LAX to
Sarasota FL for May 3rd with my credit card to the tune of $300.
One thing he intends to do back in Florida is to begin the process of
applying for 501C3 status for GAHC, as well as to continue helping with
organizing the rest of the tour. He will be going to the AR Conference in
Washington DC in mid-July.
Back on April 25, a young hunter named Mike William wrote me on the
Global Anti-Hunting Coalition site in FaceBook, accompanied by 3 hunting
pics. Following is our conversation:
Mike Williams April 24 at 9:04pm
if i have affended u then u have made my day
Mike Williams April 25 at 8:55am
I will be glad to debate aginst ure dumb anti hunting crap. You will never
get ride of hunting. It is a God givein right. I have huntrd and fished ever
since I have been old enough to hold a gun or cast a fishing pole. Nothing
you say can change me. If you do get rid of hunting you will have to catch
me because I aint never going to stop.
Anthony Marr April 25 at 9:00am
You are not good enough for debate. All you are is a bully, and I bet you
are a bully at school, if you go to school at all.
Mike Williams April 25 at 9:12am
Let me tell you something. I happen to go to Anson New Technology high
school, they teach us how to debate and lots of different skills that are
important in a career field. Do not tell me I can not do something, because
ill do it better than someone like you could. To be it sounds like your
scared to go up aginst me because you know that I can tell you as many
reasons as you want to here about why hunting is not wrong and all you can
come up with is killing the animanl. By the way I do feel sorry for the
animals I kill.
Anthony Marr April 25 at 9:29am
I feel sorry for YOU.
Mike Williams April 25 at 9:32am
I told you that you couldent come up with anything. I want to know when you
are going to hold a debate in NC.
Anthony Marr April 25 at 10:06am
No NJ hunter has dared to step up to the plate.
Mike Williams April 25 at 10:13am
I will step up to the plate for North carolina.
Anthony Marr April 25 at 10:24am
I'm not a bully. I don't bash kids.
Mike Williams April 25 at 10:25am
what are you trying to say?
Mike Williams April 30 at 9:50pm
Mr. Marr, I know that you do not want to debate aginst me, because you think
that I am not good enough to debate yet. I understand and respect that but I
do not need a high level of education to debate aginst you about hunting. I
have learnd to debate in school and I am defending what I belive in. afrom
my understanding your vidoe on youtubr.com, says any hunter that is not
scared to debate aginst you can any where and time that you are willing. I
appolygize for not being professinol the first time. Please email me back.
Thank you, Michael Earl Williams Jr.
I appolige for miss spellings I couldent get spell check to work.
Anthony Marr April 30 at 11:26pm
Dear Mike, thank you for your letter. I'm sorry for giving you the
impression that I was being condescending on account of your age. I admire
your courage and your belief in your own cause. You don't need correct
spelling to project yourself as a serious and determined young man. Now that
you have won my respect, I will accept your counter challenge to a debate.
What I now suggest is that you arrange a debate against me at your school in
an auditorium setting, to be moderated by one of your teachers. The only
problem is that I will be in New Jersey in July and early August, when your
school will be out of session, and come September, I will have moved west on
to Ohio. But it is not impossible for me to come back to NJ for the
occasion. If you could arrange for a large audience, I would be please to
debate you, and further more, I will invite TV into the auditorium to
broadcast our respective messages to the world. If you could meet these
conditions, please let me know. Your friend, Anthony.
We'll see what this will bring.
A happy surprise this morning. I received a phone call from Alex Pacheco,
co-founder of PETA from way back when, and who is "coming out of retirement"
to head his new [600 million Stray Dogs Need You] project. He and his org
are working on implementing a new birth control pill for stray dogs, just
one of which could render the female dog infertile for life, as well as her
offspring, with no ill side effect. He said that eventually, it could be
applied to cats, rabbits and even deer, the last being of course right up my
alley. And the stray dogs too, since while I was in India I've seen so many
thousands of them with my own eyes, most just skin and bone, and nursing 10
ill-nourished pups right in street corners, with no one caring for them, and
some stoning them. Alex himself said that India will be the first place for
field application. I'm all for it.
Tomorrow, we will be doing a Funeral Motorcade for the Fallen Animals in
Orange County at 3 pm, followed by a veg potluck at 5, and my [Homo Sapiens!
SAVE YOUR EARTH!] talk at 6, which has proven life-changing for all who have
taken it to heart. On Monday, I will drive Anthony D at 5 am to LAX airport
for his 8 am flight home. May 5 I will be driving to Las Vegas for a
media/speaking event hosted by the famous vegan Chef Mayra. And after that,
Arizona. Without Anthony D, sadly, I may have to leave my motorcycle here in
California.
More later, everyone!.
Anthony Marr, Founder and President
Heal Our Planet Earth (HOPE)
Global Anti-Hunting Coalition (GAHC)
[email protected]
www.HOPE-CARE.org
www.ARConference.org
www.MySpace.com/AnthonyMarr
www.YouTube.com/AnthonyMarr
www.myspace.com/Anti-Hunting_Coalition
www.facebook.com/Anthony.Marr.001
www.facebook.com/Anthony-Hunting_Coalition
www.HomoSapiensSaveYourEarth.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com (search for �Anthony Marr Heal Our Planet Earth�
Touring cell: begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 216-386-7362
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