BP's Second Ecological Disaster This Spring

Poor Alaska. Again. The pipeline, of which BP is the majority owner, dumped thousands of barrels of oil across a swath of what used to be pristine wilderness before the objections of conservatives (of the ecological variety) and the native population (who had an arguable right to be considered) and a lot of other people were ignored in a desperate rush to 'secure' this country's energy future with this non-sustainable, planet-killing project.

Before this , the pipeline had already spewed at least 40,000 barrels across the landscape in major incidents. The number of minor incidents--small but persistent leaks, leaks the media didn't find out about, etc.--is unknown.

I'm just saying. If all the money we've dumped into killing the planet by drilling for oil had been put into wind and solar energy research--you can't tell me we wouldn't be driving 95% pollution-free cars and working in green buildings right now.

Oil and Bombs

The ubiquitous CNN headlines the story as Federal government extends area of fishing ban in Gulf of Mexico.

Just some "area" (vague) and just a "fishing ban." Not too bad, right? In the first paragraph, their coverage leads with the Feds closing "more Federal waters" (just to vague it up a little more) with a direct segue to lawmakers holding hearings. The juxtaposition makes me wonder if CNN thinks the resulting hot air will fix the situation?

To be fair, they get to numbers after that. 19% of the Gulf.

Overseas, the Guardian tells its readers that the Atlantic coast now under threat as current spreads Gulf oil slick with the sub-headline of "Scale of disaster becoming apparent as tar balls reach Florida and Gulf of Mexico no-fishing zone doubles in size"

"…doubles in size."

Their first paragraph stays on subject. "There was mounting evidence tonight that the scale of the oil spill disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has grown beyond all the initial worst-case scenarios, as thousands of gallons of oil continued to gush from the sea floor."

Later, we hear, "The Obama administration admitted today it had underestimated the risks of offshore drilling. Had it been the Obama administration that birthed this disaster, they'd have 'tar ball' egg on their faces at the moment but the genesis of this little adventure has Bush/Cheney fingerprints all over it.

The administration was for the first time held to account by Congress for the rigour of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), its regulatory body for offshore drilling. The agency was notorious in the George Bush era for sex-and-cocaine fuelled parties in Colorado.

Just to be fair, it's not really right to hold this administration to account for a previous administration's idiocy. I mean, why doesn't someone suggest dialing up Bonehead or Crookface and telling them to show up and explain themselves?

I can't honestly say I mind the Obama administration taking some heat, though. If this had to happen, at least it happened soon enough to stop their plans to expand the list of environmental catastrophes-in-waiting.

Or, not. Salazar seems pretty determined to keep drilling. Me, I think that the $200M or however much they're going to spend on directly clean-up costs, plus the $300M or however much it turns out to be in long-term economic damage would have bought us a lot of research on renewable energy sources. They could have also invested the $500M or whatever piddly amount British Petroleum is now going to be fined and dump it into the research kitty.

While people are down there, cleaning, could we maybe get them to clean out the bombs?

___________________

P. S. Saying I do not approve of war doesn't mean I don't have opinions. If you claim you served and you were lying? Apologize and disappear.

Thought Police

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Monday the federal government has the power to keep some sex offenders behind bars indefinitely after they have served their sentences if officials determine those inmates may prove "sexually dangerous" in the future.

A singularly appalling decision.

The law has to be the law. The law says that prisoners are released once they have served their sentences. You can't keep people locked up because you suspect they're thinking about committing another crime.

I've never liked that "civil commitment" thing--if you think laws for certain crimes don't call for long enough sentences, then fix those law. Don't just just pass a new one saying you can pick and choose and decide keep some people in prison forever, without additional due process.

If anyone's keeping score, this is another step on the slippery slope from democracy to totalitarianism.

Also--stop for a moment and just imagine how appalled I am to find myself having to argue for letting child molesters go free.

cognitive dissonance

Every place you turn these days, you're told not to wear perfume, to avoid scented bath products, to keep to laundry odorless laundry soaps, to use unscented hand lotion. Why? Allergies. Everywhere you go, you're surrounded by a thousand people, each of whom is likely to be allergic to something.

For instance, it's very common for people to have pet allergies these days. Which makes it hard to understand how Frontier Airlines can be seriously considering letting dogs, cats, and other animals fly in the cabin with unsuspecting passengers.

Disclaimer: I don't have a dog in this race myself. My only environmental allergy is the rise in blood pressure I experience when surrounded by stupid people. My defense of the allergy-ridden is purely altruistic.

Too Weird For Words

The military is considering issuing a medal to soldiers who don't kill people?

Does that make actual sense? No, it does not.

Yes, civilians get killed. They get raped and murdered. They get kidnapped and tortured--our own government was in the business for a while and hasn't actually shut down the program yet.

War brutalizes soldiers. It always has. That's a lot of what the "horrors of war" are all about, people. War brutalizes the soldiers and they pass it along.

You want to stop civilian war casualties?

Stop making war.

Hacking NASDAQ

I always sort of wondered why some lame-brain hadn't done this before.

Sometimes, I forget

Every now and then, I skim my way though my almost antique list of political sites and blogs. I think it's important to do that, even though I've sworn to stop letting the resulting rage rule my life, because sometimes--if I haven't been paying enough attention for a few weeks--I almost forget that we're evil.

Evil is as evil does and we do evil.

We're also, duplicitous, hypocritical, and frequently bigoted.

I've got to stop reading the news. It never improves my day.

On the lighter side of Being Peevish:

Maybe twenty or thirty years ago, stories about clueless men are about weddings were funny.

Take a walk with Google Maps.

Yes

If I lived in Whitney, I'd totally vote Looney. Among other things, they promise banning superheroes from using their powers for evil. Who wouldn't vote to for that? (Although, remember the recent debacle of Bonehead & Crookface, I might ask them to add wannabe superheros to the ban.)

I'm glad I'm not in Montgomery County, Maryland, though. Even if I was, I wouldn't vote for corporate person Murray Hill for Congress. It is running as a Republican because of the party's pro-corporate agenda That's not even funny.

Repugnicans--that is Republicans--really do care about the little people. Don't be fooled by their actual policies or anything. Know that they care deeply about people. Or, at least, their favorite sloansr. (Of course, once you've found the words, you have to have another fight over who gets to define them.

Republicans have been repugnant (couldn't resist) for a long time. Those of you who think Reagan's immoral and unethical (at best) secret work to prevent the hostages in Iran from being released during Carter's presidency were an anomaly need to learn more about treasonous Tricky Dick.

No. Seriously. Nixon and Reagan and Bush always said all these things maybe happened on their watch but totally and completely without their knowledge.

Take your pick--is the Republican 'leadership' completely dishonest and corrupt, or are they just all really, really stupid?

Shrimp Boats Won't Be Comin'

Shrimp boats won't be goin'
Their sails are furled tight.
Shrimp boats won't be goin'
The shrimp have all died.

Why don't-cha hurry, hurry, hurry drill
Why don't-cha hurry, hurry, hurry kill
Look here! The shrimp boats aren't a-goin'
The shrimp have all died.

P.S. In case you're wondering, no, I do not consider a u-turn sufficient to make up for a decision stupid enough to have originated in the Bush White House.