Naomi Klein:Gulf oil spill: A hole in the world

…the BP disaster pulls back the curtain on something far more hidden: how little control even the most ingenious among us have over the awesome, intricately interconnected natural forces with which we so casually meddle. BP cannot plug the hole in the Earth that it made. Obama cannot order fish species to survive, or brown pelicans not to go extinct (no matter whose ass he kicks). No amount of money – not BP’s recently pledged $20bn (£13.5bn), not $100bn – can replace a culture that has lost its roots. And while our politicians and corporate leaders have yet to come to terms with these humbling truths, the people whose air, water and livelihoods have been contaminated are losing their illusions fast.

“Everything is dying,” a woman said as the town hall meeting was finally coming to a close. “How can you honestly tell us that our Gulf is resilient and will bounce back? Because not one of you up here has a hint as to what is going to happen to our Gulf. You sit up here with a straight face and act like you know when you don’t know.”

This Gulf coast crisis is about many things – corruption, deregulation, the addiction to fossil fuels. But underneath it all, it’s about this: our culture’s excruciatingly dangerous claim to have such complete understanding and command over nature that we can radically manipulate and re-engineer it with minimal risk to the natural systems that sustain us.

Everyone is following the BP story. Everyone is witnessing the horror in the Gulf.

Dead birds. Dead fish. Dead turtles. Dead dolphins.

No more blue fin tuna.

No more domestic shrimp and oysters.

Fishermen out of work. Tourist industries decimated.

Bobby Jindal, Bob Riley, Haley Barbour, Charlie Crist feet stomping about BP’s and the government’s delayed response.

What does it all mean?

Nothing really. Here’s why….

Outraged at devastation in the Gulf, yet?

Do you want to take action?

Maybe even not that much action?

All you Photoshoppers, PowerPointers and Mac users – here’s your chance.

Submit your BP Logo redesigns to Greenpeace.

Thanks to 60  Minutes for opening the public’s eyes to the Safety violations committed by BP.

BP racked up millions in fines before disaster

LEE COUNTY: A new report shows BP has the worst track record among US refineries for workplace safety violations. Why did the US government allow it to continue operating before the oil spill?

Before the oil refinery exploded, 11 workers were killed and millions of gallons of oil contaminated the Gulf of Mexico, the US government knew of BP’s history of unsafe working conditions.

According to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, “Two refineries owned by oil giant BP account for 97 percent of all flagrant violations found in the refining industry by government safety inspectors over the past three years.”

http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/st…

But the Deep Horizon, is not the only drilling rig, BP is operating in the Gulf Of Mexico.

BP current has at least 5 other rigs in operation, including the Discoverer Enterprise currently siphoning the spill left by the Deep Water Horizon.

Holstein, Mad Dog, Development Driller III, Discoverer Enterprise, and GSF Development Driller II

http://www.rigzone.com/data/re…

cross-posted at the Orange Site

It’s final. GM files for bankruptcy tomorrow morning.

I would like to take a moment to let all the UAW members know how much I appreciate the strides they  made for many of us in the work force.

As UAW fades, so does a path to U.S. prosperity

For decades, unionized manufacturing jobs have been considered the surest path to middle-class prosperity and realizing the vaunted American dream for blue-collar workers.

The United Auto Workers helped make that dream a reality.

“We created the middle class in America,” said Olen Ham, one of the few surviving members of the 1937 “sit-down” strike in Flint, Michigan, which won the first union contract with General Motors Corp.

Later contracts brought paid holidays, pension benefits and health insurance, enabling blue-collar workers to buy cars and homes and to send their children to college.