Updated 4:30 p.m.

Washington name-calling is at a new high in the new year, thanks to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In addition to twice being told, "Go fuck yourself" by House Speaker John Boehner, the Nevada Democrat attracted scorn from these parts when he sized up Hurricanes Katrina and Sandy on the Senate floor last week, and decided the mid-Atlantic's devastation was worse than the Gulf's.

A new festival is in town, and the celebration has nothing to do with music, food, or drunken antics. The Social Change Film Festival began last year in Bali, but the 2nd annual SCFF made its home a long way from Indonesia, right here in the Big Easy. Today through Sunday, venues across the city will host films and discussions dealing with an issue all too familiar to New Orleanians—water.

Two years ago today, the Deepwater Horizon exploded off the Gulf, setting off the Big Oozy. Even before the gusher was capped, the smells and sights of dispersants flying around South Louisiana made everyone on edge about their health. Well, this week in The Nation, Antonia Juhasz writes that those suspicions weren't unfounded. Still, like withthe oil pollution's effect on the ecosystem, the health impacts can't be understood until more research is conducted. Tomorrow at 3 p.m., Juhasz, the author of a Big Oozy book called Black Tide, will talk about the health of the Gulf Coast at Maple Street Book Shop's New Orleans Healing Center location. It's an Earth Day discussion about one of the largest affronts to the environment in recent history.

The Gulf Coast officially waves goodbye to Ken Feinberg today, as the claims operation he ran in the wake of the Big Oozy is being shut down due to the settlement agreement BP reached Friday with residents and businesses who were trying to sue them. Since 2010, the Obama-appointed Claims Czar  took more than a few verbal lashings from fishermen and other Gulf Coast residents and handed out $5.9 billion in quick payments and claims. Now, he'll sail off into the sunset, and let the court handle the rest of the damage claims, as well as the as-yet unpaid property and health-related payments claims.

Tales of Turtle Trawler Terror seem to have worked themselves up the feds' food chain. Whether prompted by a lawsuit from environmentalists or a call from the AP, NOAA stopped looking for the missing oil long enough to release inspection data from Gulf shrimping boats that reveals whether or not fishermen are complying the federal regulations that require protecting sea turtles. The numbers reveal about 10 percent of trawlers did not have devices that give turtles an escape route if they get caught in the crusteacean cruisers' nets. NOAA reports about 500 turtles have washed up on Gulf Coast beaches so far this year.

Ken Feinberg may have a fancy resume and a multimillion-dollar salary, but he is no special master. The Big Oozy claims chief is now facing more than the shouts of people at public meetings. Gulf Coast residents and business owners are calling for the feds to appoint someone to oversee Feinberg. In legal terms, a special master reports to a judge about the fairness of a proceeding. But why does it sound more like BDSM?

The former coastal policy advisor to five governors and founding editor of LaCoastPost, follows up his recommendations to Bobby Jindal on how to spend BP's forthcoming coastal restoration money with a breakdown of the political intersts behind the governor's recently unveiled list of uses for the cash.

While BP may be sending some mixed messages in the claims department, things are moving forward in the environmental department. Yesterday, Gov. Bobby Jindal laid out the state's plans to spend $530 million in BP money on coastal projects. The money will not only repair what the Big Oozy fouled, but kick money toward coastal restoration projects that, for better or worse, have been sitting around for years. Instead of kicking the money toward real estate and science like NoDef Guest Writer Len Bahr wanted, the projects are mainly focused around the seafood industry and restoring barrier islands. Coverage: NOLA Lafourche

During the Big Oozy, BP promised to "Make Things Right" on the Gulf Coast. Turns out, they just forgot to mention that they wanted to define when this state of "Right" occurred. Today, with a shake of the magic 8-ball, the oil giant declared that they shouldn't have to pay anymore claims to workers to make up for money they will lose in the future. In BP's mind, the recovery is going swimmingly, so they don't need to pay anything else out, the AP reports. In BP's checkbook, they've paid less than $5 billion in claims of the original $20 billion the company set aside. So much for Ken Feinberg's quest to get angry fishermen to stop yelling at him.

This summer, the Ogden Museum gives visitors a chance to explore the flora and fauna of the Gulf South without ever having to leave the A/C. On view through July 24, the Ogden presents, “One World, Two Artists: John Alexander and Walter Anderson,” an exhibition showcasing the work of two artists known for immersing themselves in the regions they love.