Bringing Home the BP Oil Disaster

If the oil gusher happened in my neck of the woods, here's how much area it would currently cover.

h/t to The TO Star

Related:

Gulf oil spill: BP lacked the right tools to deal with crisis, chief executive admits
Oil Companies Weigh Strategies to Fend Off Tougher Regulations
As BP disaster grows, Canada’s deepwater well faces scrutiny
Gulf Tribunal

Drill, Barack, Drill

Barack Obama:

- Against offshore drilling before he was for it.

- For "use it or lose it" before he was against it.

Look, when you have Repub Mitch McConnell saying this is "a step in the right direction", you know the planet is in trouble.

Barack Obama - never met a triangulation he didn't like.

Apparently, he thinks "negotiating" means giving away the farm (or the oceans, in this case) before you even sit down at the table. And, once you've done that, you give away even more - all in the spirit (choke choke) of "bipartisanship". That's what he did with the health insurance "reform" bill which garnered him no Republican support despite the fact that it's basically a Republican idea-filled piece of legislation and a massive giveaway to Corporate America. That's what he can be expected to do with every issue he intends to tackle during his presidency since he doesn't seem to understand that, no matter what he does, the Republicans will never be his best buddies. They don't have to steal his lunch money - he gives it to them willingly.

Some on the so-called American left seem to think this strategy is "brilliant" - that his "biggest problem is being decades ahead of the country he leads". Right. Because selling out every single "progressive" idea you have to the moneyed powers that be must be the brightest thing a US president has ever done! If only the rest of the serfs would catch up and recognize his audacity of wow.

The American left means nothing to this man - the real American left, not the online conservative Democrats who now call themselves "pragmatists" and defend absolutely every decision he makes as they contort themselves into believing that they really don't subscribe to the Daddy Knows Best philosophy of peons who let their leaders walk all over them. Obama lets the oligarchy trample on him, ergo, that must be the right thing for them to do too. Somehow, that translates into "progressivism". Neoliberalism - it's what's for dinner - and they eat it up.

But, don't forget to Send Money Now! to the Democratic party. Because, really, there is no other choice - is there? (And how dare anyone even ask that question!)
 

Punking the Conservative Government on Climate Change

Tory heads are exploding in Ottawa and Copenhagen. Grab your umbrellas.

Fake releases claim Canada changed climate stance


The federal government is fuming Monday over a series of hoax press releases claiming Canada had committed to drastic greenhouse gas emission cuts.

That should have been the first clue that this thing was full of hot air. Read the article for details about how this all played out. It was quite impressive.

Meanwhile, to add insult to injury:

[PMO spokespuppet] Soudas also got in a heated exchange with Steven Guilbeault from the environmental group Equiterre, after Soudas sent an email to reporters saying the hoax may have been issued by Guilbeault.

"I had nothing to do with this and I demand an apology," Guilbeault said in an email to CBC News. "The Harper government is pointing fingers at me for saying the truth."

Guilbeault said he is being singled out because the government doesn't like what he has said about Canada's record on climate change.

The only thing missing was Marg, Princess Warrior.
 

Today is Blog Action Day

From the Blog Action Day site:

On October 15th, bloggers around the web will unite to put a single important issue on everyone’s mind - the environment. Every blogger will post about the environment in their own way and relating to their own topic. Our aim is to get everyone talking towards a better future.

Spread the word.

What's there to write about "the environment" as an issue that hasn't already been written?

Your unique perspective.

Here's mine.

Over the past several years, I've developed an odd fondness for ants - those busy little insects that get bad press for invading people's picnics and causing general mayhem in suburbia. Let me tell you how it started.

When I lived out in the country a few years ago, I'd often sit on my front step during the summer to enjoy the broad prairie view and the little flower garden I'd planted in the front of my cabin. It was then that I noticed the ants who'd congregated in that space.

As a former city slicker, my first instinct was to get rid of them - only knowing their reputation as tiny supposed weapons of mass destruction. But, as I spent more time just watching their daily activities, I discovered a new found respect for those little annoyances (as I had previously thought them to be) and found a certain meditative quality in just enjoying the oversight of their many travels and food gathering efforts around my sidewalk and garden.

Around the same time I had read a book about Buddhist monks in Thailand (if I recall correctly) who were involved in building a new monastery with the help of some westerners. The site they had chosen, as they were all soon to discover, posed one small problem. Once the ground was broken, the monks discovered a plethora of worms which, of course, they could not kill according to their belief in the sanctity of every living creature. So they decided, to the amazement of the westerners, to move the worms to a new location. Obviously, that was going to be a huge task. In the end, because of the enormity of such an undertaking and the construction delays it would cause, the decision was finally made to find a better location for the monastery - leaving the worms to their original home and satisfying all involved.

That attention to something so seemingly insignificant moved me.

I suppose if you could interview of a few of the ants I had the chance to oversee today, they'd say they remember this human as one who was a little too eager to be "helpful" ie. trying to rescue them after it rained by poking too many holes in their hills to free them from their freshly covered underground bunkers; attempting to hasten their food delivery efforts by pushing whatever they'd found to feast on just a bit closer to their doorways, leaving them confused in the process; opening vent holes after they'd already begun their fall hibernation. Not exactly the brightest spot in their daily lives at times. But I hope, if they were capable of thinking such a thing, that they would have seen me as a friend - not a foe - a creature concerned about their well-being while trying to give something back to them for the hours of serenity they had given me.

Fast forward a few years to life back in the city in a rental property where the owner is not one of those enlightened or appreciative of the presence of ants on his back patio and imagine my horror when the hills came under chemical attack at his hand. I had already spent my time with them, once again rescuing them after the rains (wiser about being more gentle this time around) and had found them to be a great distraction from the city's noise, pollution and general busyness around me. A welcome bit of nature in a harsh world.

When I told Chemical Landlord that I liked the ants, he said they were a nuisance for him because their underground activity caused his patio blocks to shift . Once again, I found yet another reason to admire them. Imagine the power of such a small, dedicated community that their work could actually move large pieces of concrete. Being a political junkie who had witnessed the crumbling of democratic principles perpetrated by the Bush administration and other right-wing authoritarians around the world, what struck me was the power a well-organized, cohesive and focused movement could have against our own huge blocks of human concrete - the stumbling blocks towards true progress and peace.

When there is little hope to be found and when hope has become overrated in these times, crushed by powers that seem invincible while being made a mockery of by those who have given themselves unprecedented authority over all of our actions, I was able to see at least a glimmer of what might be if the much vaunted idea of communal power could be harnessed. I say this while unfortunately observing that the massive amount of dedication and just plain caring needed to move those blocks in America just doesn't exist on the scale of what those ants could teach us if we really chose to emulate them.

So when I think about "the environment", although I'm as concerned as the next person about the large issues we need to tackle together and do what I can to take it easy on the planet, what I choose to take away from my relationship with the small environment that surrounds me is an appreciation for what others might tend to miss and what I ignored for too long: the power of small things that can have a huge impact on how I view how I live, the lessons I can learn from the habits and interactions of the tiniest creatures and how I can apply them to actually make a difference.

Our environment includes everything that surrounds us and we have a lot to learn from it if we choose to watch, listen and think. It is a reciprocal relationship. All we need to do is to appreciate how deep that goes, draw some inspiration and use that experience to save it - and us. And, when we do that, the attention realized by the give and take moves beyond simple actions like recycling cans, using less fuel and turning off the lights to something more profound and real: the realization that our environment has the answers. All we need to do is be mindful and act on what it is teaching us at all levels in our lives.
 

Random News & Views Roundup

- Springtime Subpoena Fest! Better than a hot dog-eating contest by a country mile.

- Albertans slacking on environmental actions:

Fifty-seven per cent of Quebecers polled said they are promoting better behaviour toward the environment, while only 36 per cent of Albertans said they are doing the same.

Well, why bother? All of that pollution coming out of the oilsands projects is going to kill us anyway. /snark

- Did you know that today is World Water Day? This year's theme is water scarcity.

- With all of the political sparring in Canada lately over the treatment of detainees in Afghanistan, one thing I haven't heard an opinion about from our prime minister (unlike, say the Netherlands foreign minister and representatives of the US and UK) is what he has to say about Italy cutting a deal with the Afghan government to free 5 jailed Taliban commanders in exchange for one of its citizens.

- By the way, if our prime minister doesn't care about the fate of detainees in Afghanistan (and they are not all confirmed members of the Taliban), then why does he even bother with the Geneva Conventions or agreements to protect their rights? His attitude endangers our troops. Period. Did he even notice the fallout from the Abu Ghraib scandal? Disrespect human rights and you place soldiers' lives in even more peril.

- From the "why did Gates say that?" file:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautioned on Thursday the Army would face problems without emergency funds but insisted U.S. forces could fight a third war despite being stretched in Iraq and Afghanistan.

- Meanwhile, the UN Security Council is scheduled to vote on tougher Iran sanctions on Saturday.

- College Republican groups in the US are holding blatantly racist anti-immigrant events:

This week, Boise State University College Republicans have joined the list of College Republicans who have held anti-immigrant "games" by creating a despicable ad to promote a conservative speaker on campus. The ad advertises a food stamp drawing and a free meal at a "Mexican restaurant" for students who "climb through the hole in the fence" and submit illegal identification. This recent derogatory stunt comes on the heels of national news reports that confirm the rise in hate groups who are feeding off of anti-immigrant sentiments. Sadly, while these activities continue on America's campuses and while Republican presidential candidates use harsh words on immigration for political gain, the national Republican Party has remained quietly on the sidelines.

It has been three weeks since Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Hispanic Caucus Chair Ramona Martinez sent a letter to RNC General Chairman Mel Martinez regarding the despicable conduct of College Republicans. The Republican Chairman has yet to respond.

Sick, sick people.

- LA's Vicious War on the Homeless:

On the morning of February 8, a white hospital van stopped a few feet from a curb in Los Angeles' skid row area. According to witnesses, a man wearing a soiled hospital gown fell through the doors, and the van, later connected with Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, drove away.

The man, a paraplegic, began crawling down the street, a bag of his belongings clutched in his teeth and a colostomy bag dragging behind him. Other homeless people helped the disoriented man into a nearby park, just before police called an ambulance.

This horrible scene came just three months after the city attorney's office filed an indictment against Kaiser Permanente for dumping a 63-year-old patient on the streets of skid row in her socks and a hospital gown last year, an incident that was captured on videotape.

Patient dumping has become so widespread there's a bill in the California State Senate to criminalize the practice.

But these practices go deeper than a few isolated incidents. They are part of a system of abuse against LA's poor and homeless population.

- John Bolton: neocon warmongering monster:

Former US United Nations Ambassador John Bolton told the BBC today that he was “damned proud” of how the U.S. intentionally blocked efforts to achieve a ceasefire last summer when Israel was bombing Beirut and many other locales in Lebanon.