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Every morning between 5:30 and 6:00, Gregg Hall goes for a three-mile run on Pensacola Beach. Hall runs right on the coastline to be close to this favorite thing – the ocean. But yesterday, the lifelong Florida resident was too depressed to run.

Overnight, oil and tar had washed ashore, covering the sandy-white beach. “This morning was the worst I have seen – the most gut-wrenching and heartbreaking walk on the beach in my entire life,” Hall said.

Hall went running on Monday, and said that there was no oil on the beach. He even went snorkeling on Sunday and described the water as being “crystal clear like a swimming pool,” but yesterday morning, Pensacola looked like a different place.

He described the oil and tar as being wet, sticking to everything, and washing to shore with each wave. “It is coming in by the dump-truck loads, and it is just disgusting,” he said. “It will just be days before we start seeing wildlife wash up on shore.”

The disaster has reminded Hall of a Cree Indian prophecy that he has valued for a long time. The saying goes:

"Only after the last tree has been cut down... Only after the last river has been poisoned… Only after the last fish has been caught, only then will you find that money cannot be eaten."

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Oil from the massive Gulf of Mexico spill reached the white sands of Pensacola in north-eastern Florida, forcing local authorities Thursday to close down area beaches to swimming at the height of summer.

"There's oil both in the water and in the sand," said Warren Bielenberg, an official with the Gulf Islands National Seashore, one of the areas affected by the spill.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist visited the Pensacola beaches on Wednesday to witness the effects of the spill.

"That is disgusting," Crist said. "To see something like this in such a beautiful place is unbelievable."

The wide-spread slick could spell disaster for Florida, one of the world's top destination for tourists, with more than 80 million visitors a year.

Florida officials have mounted an aggressive beach and coastline cleanup effort to stop the oil from reaching state beaches.

Florida's 1,260 miles (2,000 kilometers) of western coastline is home to scores of tourist destinations, natural habitats and an important fishing industry.

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Hippie Operative Nikovich Nikita Nicovna Talibani,
signing off


To our President: “Mr. President, you're a god damn, mother fucking liar. Fuck you, you cock sucking community activist piece of shit.... oh, go fuck yourself, Mr. President” ...Raptor

To Anthony, unquestionably the most civil person on this forum: “Go fuck yourself. On this matter, make no mistake. I want you to go fuck yourself long and hard, as well as anyone who agrees with you. I got no use for you. ...Raptor

To Frem: “You miserable piece of shit.” ...Raptor

To Niki: “My guess is it won't just be your ugly face you dislike.....Well, it's true......if you had a soul.” ...Raptor

To Kwicko:" You're the putrid slime which oozes between troll's toes, you're so low.” ...Raptor

...Remember, remember, the ugliest member...

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The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has brought out thousands of people who just want to help – though there isn't much for them to do unless they own a Hazmat suit.

Directors of charities and BP PLC – the company responsible for cleaning up the spill unleashed after the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded April 20 – say the outpouring has been huge among people with vivid memories of Hurricane Katrina five years ago.

However, cleaning oiled birds and tar-stained beaches isn't as straightforward as clearing rubble. In many cases, it's been difficult to find enough work for all the volunteers.

"Katrina needed everybody and anybody that could help," said Jim Kelly, co-President and CEO of Catholic Charities. "But this isn't a case of hitting the ground and helping to gut a house or rebuild it. The needs here are specialized in many ways."

BP has said it will use only trained workers and professionals to clean up the oil and wash oiled wildlife, adding to the deepening frustration over the government and BP's response. The workers also need special safety equipment, said BP spokesman Mark Proegler. {tho' they're keeping them from using it, now!}

Proegler suggested volunteers could visit the company's websites and sign on with subcontractors working along the Gulf Coast. But Bethany Kraft of the Alabama Coastal Foundation said in an e-mail that many people aren't looking for full-time work. And there's no guarantee they'd be hired because some states require that those hired be unemployed or otherwise affected by the spill, she said. {I can't even apply for paid work, lest I lose my disability}

While foremen must take a full 40-hour hazardous materials course, most workers only need an abbreviated four-hour course, Kraft said. However, the need for such training – which so far hasn't been opened to the public by BP – may be overstated.

"All the Hazmat training does is basically tell people commonsense things, like don't eat it," said Edward B. Overton of the Louisiana State School of Coast and Environment. "The whole issue of training and bio-suits has lawyer written all over it. I'm sure it's more a question of liability than anything else."

More than 15,000 from across the country have signed up on BP's official website, Proegler said. Others are volunteering through charitable organizations, environmental groups and state agencies.

There are other ways to help, Some 10,000 volunteers without biohazard training have registered with the Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana, said executive director Steven Peyronnin. Hundreds of them have been sent to clear beaches of debris before oil hits, he said.

"It will help when the oil comes ashore," Peyronnin said. "It will make that job easier."

In Florida, about one-third of the 7,683 people who offered to help have actually worked, mostly in pre-oil beach cleanup, said Wendy Spencer, chief executive officer of the Governor's Commission on Volunteerism.

In Alabama, 5,000 people signed up for the first week of a training program designed by Mobile Baykeeper and Alabama Coastal Foundation, said Casi Callaway, executive director of Mobile Baykeeper. The program trains volunteers to go photograph and document what's happening along the state's shoreline.

"One of the problems we had was getting some kind of meaningful work for volunteers, Callaway said. "They were using a few to do clerical work, but people want to do more than that. They want to feel they are really a part of saving our waters and our coasts from all of this."

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