When I started writing for HeadCount earlier this year I was excited to bring you positive news from the Gulf as hurricane recovery advanced. Unfortunately, there is new cause for concern about the Gulf and the residents who live on its shores. As oil continues to flow, the fragile coastlines of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida face all new challenges. Here are some of the more interesting reactions, articles, photos and video clips to surface over the last six weeks:

• Lenny Kravitz, Ivan Neville and a stellar Louisiana collaboration, "The Voice of the Wetlands All-Stars" (Dr. John, Tab Benoit, George Porter Jr., Cyril Neville, Marcia Ball), have been playing to raise money for victims of the oil spill. A recent benefit concert in New Orleans raised over $300,000, which will be distributed to those affected in the fishing communities of St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes. Drew Brees and the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints are raffling off a super bowl ring in hopes of raising a million dollars toward relief efforts.
• The Huffington Post put together a rundown of some of the most shocking and outrageous moments to happen since the disaster on April 20. The list includes sweetheart relationships between oil companies and federal employees, suspect comments from BP CEO Tony Hayward, and clean-up workers falling ill due to lack of proper protective gear and over-exposure to toxic dispersants. This brings to light an important point: the dispersants being used by BP are themselves toxins and could pose threats to human and marine life. BP has been employing local boat operators and fishermen for the difficult and tedious task of cleaning up the aftermath. Some of these workers are reporting symptoms of nausea, headaches, and shortness of breath as a result of exposure to crude oil and the dispersants.
• Tony Hayward has been busy on PR duty trying to contain not just the oil but the damage to BP's reputation. The BP channel on YouTube is airing "touching" video clips about how BP is doing the best they can. Between the advertising campaigns and the decision to pay dividends to shareholders, some question if there will be enough money left over to pay "every dime owed" for the spill, as the company has promised.
• The concern for the health, safety and economic stability of Gulf Coast residents and fishermen is mounting. The 11th Hour, an organization that aims to raise public awareness and promote sustainable solutions to climate change, launched a campaign to bring the intimate and heartbreaking stories of the individuals who have been directly impacted by the spill. Their series, titled Letters from the Field, will allow individuals to record their stories on a blog, about their experiences and how they are dealing with the emotional rollercoaster.
• To make matters worse, the official start of hurricane season was June 1st. This season is expected to be very active, with storms rivaling those in 2005 (Katrina). Scientists are contemplating the effect of a hurricane hitting oil slicked waters and the outlook is grim. There is fear that a hurricane or even a tropical storm could create a black wave that would devastate the Gulf coast. The fragile marshlands in Louisiana and Mississippi are already struggling to re-grow after Katrina and now are seeing large sheens of crude oil.

Want to help? Residents and travelers can support the local economy by catching some of the seafood festivals that have vowed to go on despite the spill. If you haven't made your travel plans for the summer, think about a trip down south and see what a difference you can make. This info from Greenpeace U.S.A will guide volunteers to find out where help is needed.

Well, that's what the Pentagon is saying. A United States mineral surveyor has released a study that says close to 1 trillion dollars worth of minerals have been discovered in Afghanistan. While the minerals vary in value the most important discovery was a large reserve of Lithium which is used in cell phones and computers. These reserves are also key to batteries in the developing industry of electric cars.

While the new resources represent new opportunities there are also some complex challenges. Afghan provinces now have more to lose in treaty processes, so peace negotiations just got much more potentially complicated. These added resources could lead to further disputes among tribal leaders in Afghanistan and further conflict. This report of new resources seems to be good news at a time when things in Afghanistan are worsening. A columnist at the Huffington Post says, "[Right now, Afghanistan] isn't a pretty picture. But it's not one that Obama or the Pentagon or even trillions and trillions in rare minerals will be able to prettify. If the latest reports are anything to go by, America is chasing fool's gold in Afghanistan."

For our sake as well as Afghanistan's, let's hope that this discovery leads to peace and prosperity.

Bonnaroo may boast one of the more impressive lineups of any live music event, but according to A.C. Entertainment’s Jeff Cuellar, philanthropy is the “fabric of the festival”.

The overall goal of the festival, according to Cuellar, is to “have potentially zero impact on the environment”. In order to help insure this is the case, Bonnaroo does Carbon Footprints which enables guests to pay extra in order to “offset your impact”, assuming they drove. Also making Roo greener are efforts to eliminate plastic bottles, use 100% solar powered energy and create onsite compositing.

Cuellar, who serves as director of marketing and business development for co-promoter A.C. Entertainment, was interviewed by Amy Jacques on the Public Relations Society of America’s blog,

He explained that since purchasing the 700 acres of land in Coffee County where Bonnaroo is held, the philanthropy efforts have expanded. They created the Bonnaroo Works Fund to manage and distribute monies generated from silent auctions and ticket surcharges. Many local Coffee County merchants have also started vending at the festival grounds, leading to growth in the area ecomomy.

Now entering its ninth year with a lineup that includes Stevie Wonder, Kings of Leon and Jay-Z, Bonnaroo has changed the face of music and changed its musical makeup along the way.

Originally considered a jam band festival, Cuellar states that he never intended to sitck with one musical gerne. In fact, the reason the festival grew its roots through the jam band crowds is that they were/are considered “heavy consumers of music”.  Cuellar saw the tremendous potential market and knew that these fans would come camp, making it a strong business decision. What sets Bonnaroo apart from other summer music festivals is its astonishing ability to create an atmosphere where diverse crowds and musicians can thrive.

Want to experience the "Best of Bonnaroo"? You can watch this video below. Or download HeadCount's FREE 17-track Best of Bonnaroo compilation featuring Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Pearl Jam and many others. Visit www.musicforaction.org

Last weekend on Hunter Mountain a determined group of HeadCount volunteers enthusiastically worked to inform all attendees about the upcoming elections. Accompanying efforts to register new voters, HeadCount held a raffle that helped raise funds and attain written letters to various congressmen regarding issues such as the Gulf Coast oil spill and local concerns. The prize for the raffle was an autographed Mountain Jam poster. Volunteers also entertained festival guests with a music and rock trivia game-show which allowed a large amount of voters to “Pledge” to vote in the upcoming elections. All game-show players will receive a phone call from the musical artists of their choice while the fortunate winner snagged two three-day passes for next year's festivities in Hunter, NY.

New voters gather around the HeadCount tent to register

The lucky game-show winner poses for the camera after winning two three-day passes to next year's Mountain Jam.

While obtaining many voter registrations through hard work, volunteers found that many people had previously encountered HeadCount booths or had heard about our efforts and were coming to our tent on their own. These people came to update their political parties or change the address where they currently live. Mountain Jam attendees seemed genuinely impressed by the efforts to inform and register voters even though not at all took the time to “Pledge” or play a quick game. As a whole people were gracious and welcoming to us and other non-profit organizations who filled the Awareness Village tents. Being around the Awareness Village stage proved to be a great spot for finding potential new voters as crowds were drawn to artists like Michael Franti and Zach Deputy. Overall, a weekend full of music and registrations proved successful thanks to Radio Woodstock, Warren Haynes and all the volunteers.

What do David Byrne, Rush and Don Henley all have in common? They've told Republican candidates to stop playing their songs without permission in the last few months. As this story in the Talking Points Memo details, GOPers keep getting their hands slapped by classic rockers who won't allow their tunes to become campaign anthems. The most recent is Rush, which told Tea Party icon Rand Paul to stop using "Tom Sawyer" and "The Spirit of Radio." Byrne went as far as suing Florida governor Charlie Crist for using "Road to Nowhere" in an Internet ad. He is asking for $1 million from Crist, who switched his affiliation to Independent to avoid a tough primary battle for the Republican nomination for Florida's U.S. Senate seat.

Henley's gripe is with Senate candidate Chuck DeVore (R-CA), who swiped "The Boys of Summer" and "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" for his web advertising.

This is really nothing new. Getting a cease and desist order from a musical icon seems to be a rite of passage for top Republican politicos. John McCain got Heismanned by Jackson Browne, Heart, Van Halen and John Mellencamp in 2008. Before him George W. Bush got a similar treatment by Tom Petty and Sting.

However, no musician reacted quite as strongly as John Hall, of the marginal 70's band The Orleans. When he heard Bush use their hit "Still the One" without permission, he got so pissed off that he ran for Congress. You can now call him Representative John Hall (D-NY).

From cereal in your milk to chips with your sandwich, we Americans consume a lot of corn and soy. Eighty percent of soy and seventy percent of corn we grow are genetically modified (for pesticide and herbicide resistance) and these seeds are commonly called GMO (genetically modified organisms) or GE crops (genetically engineered). Companies such as Monsanto buy rights to these seeds and then permanently own the genetics, forcing farmers to re-buy seeds every year. Monsanto currently sells and ‘owns’ a large majority of modified seed sold to US farmers.  The seeds can also be treated with pesticides and herbicides.  If these seeds blow onto and take root in a neighboring field, Monsanto can sue the farmer for stealing the seed.

This past month we have seen Global resistance to Monsanto’s seed domination. Haitian farmers do not want Monsanto seed and are vowing to burn a donation that is scheduled for tomorrow's World Environment Day. Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of Haiti’s National Peasant Movement referenced Monsanto seed entrance as “a very strong attack on small agriculture, on farmers, on biodiversity, on Creole seeds… and on what is left our environment in Haiti."  Why would Haitians resist receiving  tons of seeds?  Because Monsanto has a reputation for pushing genetically modified seeds and pesticide-treated seeds on developing countries.  These Haitians want to know what they are planting on their land.

On May 17, a group of activists in the Netherlands stopped a Monsanto plant from opening for the day.  The group “Roundup Monsanto” wants Monsanto to back away from taking over the seed market. Companies in the European Union have been slower in adopting into Monsanto’s buyouts. Monsanto’s recent buyouts of De Ruiter Seeds, Western Seeds, and Seminis have activated the activists to speak out against policy changes that would make it easier for Monsanto to merge with even more companies. One such activist group is Millions against Monsanto.





Buying locally grown food from farmers who support non-modified seeds, buying organic and buying less products containing corn and soy are easy ways to support the food movement's resistance to Genetically Modified Seeds.  Google "Monsanto", "GE foods" or "GMOs" for more information and if you find it's an issue you care about, support your local farmers who grow heirloom and organic varieties.

Tolerance seems like a given this day in age. There are lots of behaviors that go into being a respectful person, but one easy way to start is to abstain from dropping racial slurs. Sounds easy enough, but not for SC State Senator Jake Knotts who described a gubernatorial candidate of Indian descent and President Obama as "raghead[s]."

On an internet political talk show, Knotts said, "We already got one raghead in the White House. We don't need another in the Governor's Mansion."

The slurred is Nikki Haley, a Republican gubernatorial candidate who currently has the backing of Sarah Palin. Haley is the daughter of immigrant parents and was raised Sikh, but is now a Methodist.

The backlash from the state's GOP has been intense, prompting Knotts to issue an apology:

"My 'raghead' comments about Obama and Haley were intended in jest... Bear in mind that this is a freewheeling, anything-goes Internet radio show that is broadcast from a pub. It's like local political version of 'Saturday Night Live.' Since my intended humorous context was lost in translation, I apologize. I still believe Ms. Haley is pretending to be someone she is not, much as Obama did, but I apologize to both for an unintended slur."

One Haley spokesman said Knotts represents "all that is wrong with South Carolina politics." Republicans from SC have a bad reputation when it comes to race. When legendary SC Senator Strom Thurmond died in 2003, The New York Times ran with the headline "Strom Thurmond, Foe of Integration, Dies at 100."

America's first lady is now America's lunch lady. Michelle Obama laid the basic foundation for her Let's Move campaign by outlining 70 recommendations made by an expert panel.  Her vision is that these suggestions will help reduce the rate of obesity in American children to 5-percent by 2030 (it's currently around 30-percent).  Although the program is advisory in nature, it contains some very concrete recommendations for parents, children and schools that she hopes will promote better eating and more activity in schools and at home.

• Let's Move establishes the Healthier U.S. Schools Challenge Program, which encourages schools, and the private vendors who supply their foods, to increase the availability of fruits and vegetables to children while reducing the prominence of sugary snacks. The First Lady is also using her program to support Reauthorization of the Child Nutrition Act and an increase in government funding to support healthier school lunches.
• Not included in the campaign is an often proposed tax on sugary sodas. Multiple recent scientific studies have showcased the dangers of the ever-present soda and have called for them to be removed from government-funded programs like public school lunches and the food stamp program. While this proposal is vehemently opposed by the beverage industry and Let's Move does not tackle this controversial issue, Pepsi and Coke have agreed to stop selling their full-calorie soft drinks in schools. Beyond that, Pepsi has vowed to remove all full-calorie sodas from schools in more than 200 countries by 2012.
• The Let's Move campaign also fails to address the widespread problems of conventional agriculture and its effects on children's health.  A recent study, for instance, links pesticide use to the spread of ADHD in school-aged children. If not from the White House, those concerns are being addressed by the Center for Food and Justice Farm to School lunch program which accesses local and organic foods for schools.
• Soft recommendations from the White House might not have as much clout as seeing the cold, hard reality of what happens behind the scenes on America's farms. This video of cows being brutalized at a family dairy farm in Ohio, is so explicit that YouTube won't let you view it unless you affirm you're over 18!
• In other news, the BP oil spill has threatened one of the only sources of sustainable shrimp in the world. Check out the story and video from the NRDC about how one Native American family's livelihood and legacy has been destroyed.  About 30 percent of the U.S. supply of seafood comes from the Gulf, and prices of shrimp are expected to increase by over 50-percent.

So what will be accomplished by Let's Move?  The initiative itself will not solve these problems. People who care about access to healthy food for children and themselves must work individually and on a collective basis.  Keep yourself updated on these issues by following HeadCount on Twitter or checking out our Food and Farm Policy Issue page. Email your Senators and Congressional representative with your opinions via our legislative action page. Tell them whether or not you support Let's Move.

Sarah Palin loves Facebook, and Oil. So in her latest Facebook post she argues that Environmentalists are to blame for the recent oil spill in the Gulf. She states that because environmentalists are creating so many barriers as to where people can drill, they are forcing oil companies further off shore to more dangerous territory. Her logic is fair, if oil companies could drill in places like ANWR (the Arctic National Wildlife Refugee) that are closer to shore,  it could be safer and tragedies like the recent Gulf spill might be avoided. However, I'm pretty sure the concept of "Drill, Baby Drill" extends beyond ANWR and even if ANWR were open for business, drilling would still be happening off shore in the Gulf. Plus, who would want to ruin these guys' party? -->

Palin's post begins like this

This is a message to extreme “environmentalists” who hypocritically protest domestic energy production offshore and onshore. There is nothing “clean and green” about your efforts. Look, here’s the deal: when you lock up our land, you outsource jobs and opportunity away from America and into foreign countries that are making us beholden to them. Some of these countries don’t like America. Some of these countries don’t care for planet earth like we do – as evidenced by our stricter environmental standards.

With your nonsensical efforts to lock up safer drilling areas, all you’re doing is outsourcing energy development, which makes us more controlled by foreign countries, less safe, and less prosperous on a dirtier planet. Your hypocrisy is showing. You’re not preventing environmental hazards; you’re outsourcing them and making drilling more dangerous.

For all you "nonsensical environmentalists" take this:

Radical environmentalists: you are damaging the planet with your efforts to lock up safer drilling areas. There’s nothing clean and green about your misguided, nonsensical radicalism, and Americans are on to you as we question your true motives.

She's not alone. On Facebook 7,642 people "like this" and over 1,000 people have commented (mostly supportive). Palin also recently tweeted that she doesn't trust BP because they are a foreign oil company, which is interesting because as the second comment on her FB note points out "[her] husband worked there for most of his life" (18 years).

Check out the full Facebook fury here.