The Last Straw

[G_j]

I know I'm not the only one who feels like the destruction of the gulf by oil is a sort of an end game, and life itself, has lost.

Tomorrow morning, every American flag should be put at half mast permanently.

Every corporate executive who bears responsibility for this, should be arrested and put on trial.

And as for Obama? He has been an exceptionally poor leader through all of this.
For me, the last straw, He doesn't get it. If he did, he would never have promised more leases and more deep sea drilling.

I am depressed, beyond depressed. Our beautiful planet turned into a fucking toilet.

[WeDidIt]

1. It ain't the end of the world.

:eyes:

Hyperbole much?

[RandomThoughts]

2. Agreed, it is only the beginning.

:D

Life is good :loveya:

Peace and comfort to all.

[G_j]

6. of what?

& you can tell that to the wildlife.

[ima_sinnic]

16. the beginning of the end (nt)

[RandomThoughts]

21. I have done my best not to hurt wildlife most of my life.

And as far as talking to plants, it does feel that way sometimes when out in the park, really beautiful, there is a park I go to sometimes, nice place, but haven't been there in awhile.

My point is I am responsible for my actions and expressing thoughts, and thankful for grace when not in the best form.

How would me telling the wildlife that life is good, and hoping for peace and comfort, not be doing what I am responsible for doing?

Life is good when you do what you can, I guess. What more can you do?

As far as the beginning, it is the beginning for things to get better.


I like this song, what else can a person say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCmsZUN4r_s
I like the hand motion also, can you see it?

I think it has many meanings, some know what it means on many levels.
I like the quote Sean Connery said to Christian Slater.
Slater said he had never been in a love scene before
Connery replied, just remember to breathe.


There are many Breath songs.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndS201I5ZPM

I wonder how many people think in terms of no consequences, that is an interesting question.

So there are many meanings and ways to look at things. Maybe rules applied back, maybe love and mercy, but they are good songs.

[G_j]

25. thank you for your thoughts

and I'm sorry if I was short w/ my reply.
Here is something you might appreciate:

http://www.examiner.com/x-46274-Spiritual-Leaders-Examiner~y2010m5d22-Chief-Arvol-Looking-Horse-asks-us-to-join-together-in-healing-the-Gulf-Oil-Spill-video

The following letter was just sent by Chief Arvol Looking Horse (Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe) to the world’s religion and spiritual leaders. It asks us all to help in healing the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as well as all the other disasters humans have created on our Mother Earth. Please read this and consider doing your part, whatever that might be.

My Relatives,

Time has come to speak to the hearts of our Nations and their Leaders. I ask you this from the bottom of my heart, to come together from the Spirit of your Nations in prayer.

We, from the heart of Turtle Island, have a great message for the World; we are guided to speak from all the White Animals showing their sacred color, which have been signs for us to pray for the sacred life of all things. As I am sending this message to you, many Animal Nations are being threatened, those that swim, those that crawl, those that fly, and the plant Nations, eventually all will be affected from the oil disaster in the Gulf.

The dangers we are faced with at this time are not of spirit. The catastrophe that has happened with the oil spill which looks like the bleeding of Grandmother Earth, is made by human mistakes, mistakes that we cannot afford to continue to make.

I asked, as Spiritual Leaders, that we join together, united in prayer with the whole of our Global Communities. My concern is these serious issues will continue to worsen, as a domino effect that our Ancestors have warned us of in their Prophecies.

I know in my heart there are millions of people that feel our united prayers for the sake of our Grandmother Earth are long overdue. I believe we as Spiritual people must gather ourselves and focus our thoughts and prayers to allow the healing of the many wounds that have been inflicted on the Earth. As we honor the Cycle of Life, let us call for Prayer circles globally to assist in healing Grandmother Earth (our Unc'I Maka).

We ask for prayers that the oil spill, this bleeding, will stop. That the winds stay calm to assist in the work. Pray for the people to be guided in repairing this mistake, and that we may also seek to live in harmony, as we make the choice to change the destructive path we are on.

As we pray, we will fully understand that we are all connected. And that what we create can have lasting effects on all life.

So let us unite spiritually, All Nations, All Faiths, One Prayer. Along with this immediate effort, I also ask to please remember June 21st, World Peace and Prayer Day/Honoring Sacred Sites day. Whether it is a natural site, a temple, a church, a synagogue or just your own sacred space, let us make a prayer for all life, for good decision making by our Nations, for our children's future and well-being, and the generations to come.

Onipikte (that we shall live),

Chief Arvol Looking Horse
19th generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe
(Wolakota.org)
May we all find our way to be of service in this time of healing our beloved Mother Earth.

[RandomThoughts]

29. Thanks for posting those thoughts.

They are caring and thoughtful.

Thanks for sharing that.

[jotsy]

32. Read this lovely bit of correspondence on another of your threads,

and dismayed to find you being scolded by someone whose expertise clearly lied in myths of savages who think themselves noble.

Thank you for both threads, happy to double up on that rec button for you, for Chief Looking Horse, and a bleeding planet in unnecessary pain.

[G_j]

35. that's ok

to be expected..


thank you also!

[underseasurveyor]

47. I Love Chief Looking Horse

He is wise and he is kind.

Look to my sig line and the link there is to a documentary that one of my dearest friends recently did and won first place just a few weeks ago, with a little help from me:blush:, and Arvol is in it. This documentary speaks to saving sacred places, specifically Bear Butte in South Dakota. Check it out. (the next documentary "Dark Water" was born out of what we learned when "On Sacred Ground" was being done. Dark Water is about the uranium mning industry and our water supply.)

There are many wonderful people in that doc but also the music featured by Michael Bucher on his cd 'Seven' is wonderful.

[G_j]

48. very good!

Very crucial subject matter, Bear Butte, and more needs to be told about uranium contamination and Indian lands.
It's been happening in other places as well.

& Yes, Chief Looking Horse is an exceptional human being.

[donco6]

7. Yeah - just get over it!

Bunch of whiners.

:sarcasm:

[WeDidIt]

10. Approaching the mess for what it is is great

Throwing out hyperbolic bullshit calling it the end of life is just that, hyperbolic bullshit.

[G_j]

12. so kindly tell us, "what it is"

you obviously know what it is, so what is it?

[TheWatcher]

14. That's like telling JeMarcus Russell to lead a team to The Super Bowl.

I understand wanting to believe in Miracles, but don't you think you might be reaching JUST a tad here? :)

[Usrename]

33. You mean that you really cannot see how bad this is?

Are you that fucking blind?

[Smashcut]

40. Why of course - that's the most PRAGMATIC response!

:puke:

[TheKentuckian]

11. What are your estimates of the damage to the food web, reefs, barrier islands, impact on O2 levels,

toxicity, etc, etc?

We have no idea how much of an exaggeration the statement is. You sure this won't set off a mass extinction? Got guesses on the species that might get zilched out?

[TheWatcher]

13. He doesn't know anything beyond talking points and insults.

You might as well be debating with a Broken Pencil.

Steer clear of that Deer. :hi:

[ima_sinnic]

17. please describe how the food web can be sustained if the oceans die

thank you--I'll be watching for your tome on the subject, which should be groundbreaking, since it is known that, without the oceans, there is no life.

[Catherina]

38. Don't worry. Monsanto will feed us all. For free too! n/t

[Lorien]

26. So the environment doesn't matter, government is BAD, corporations are good and

can do everything better than the government of, by and for We the People, but we still all have to be blindly devoted to Our Leader, anything else would be unAmerican.

Gee, who else do I know who shares your system of beliefs?

[reggie the dog]

41. how many fish, crabs and the like can the planet kill off

before having food problems?

[HipChick]

3. oh the drama...it was a fucking toilet long before this...

American Indians long understood the connection with mother nature...

[G_j]

4. duh..really? I never noticed

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=8367718

Spill reinforces oil bad will for American Indians

By CAIN BURDEAU

POINTE-AU-CHIEN, Louisiana

Like many American Indians on the bayou, Emary Billiot blames oil companies for ruining his ancestral marsh over the decades. Still, he's always been able to fish -- but now even that is not a certainty.
<snip>

Since the 1930s, oil and natural gas companies dug about 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) of canals, straight as Arizona highways, through the oak and cypress forests, black mangroves, bird rushes and golden marshes. If lined up in a row, the canals would stretch nearly halfway around the world.

They funneled salt water into the marshes, killing trees and grass and hastening erosion. Some scientists say drilling caused half of Louisiana's land loss, or about 1,000 square miles (2,590 square kilometers).

"If you see pictures from the sky, how many haphazard cuts were made in the land, it blows your mind," said Patty Ferguson, a member of the Pointe-Au-Chien tribe. "We weren't just fishermen. We raised crops, we had wells. We can't anymore because of the salt water intrusion."

As companies intensified their search for petroleum in the 20th century, communities where the Choctaw, Chitimacha, Houma, Attakapas and Biloxi tribes married Europeans in the 1800s have seen their way of life disappear.

"This is not a two-week story, but a hundred-year story," said Michael Dardar, historian with the United Houma Nation tribe. "Coastal erosion, land loss and more vulnerability to hurricanes and flooding all trace back to this century of unchecked economic development."

<snip>


Oil threatens French-speaking Cajuns, native Choctaw

by Clement Sabourin Clement Sabourin – Thu May 20, 10:00 am ET

MONTEGUT, Louisiana (AFP) – The encroaching Gulf of Mexico oil spill may have sounded the death knell for the vanishing cultures of the last French-speaking Cajun communities and Louisiana native Americans.

Here in the deep Louisiana south, the Cajun people and the French-speaking Choctaw Indians can do nothing but maintain an anxious vigil, angrily accusing US authorities of abandoning them to their fate.

Since the April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig unleashed a huge oil leak in the Gulf, no barriers have been erected to protect their home on a speck of land off the Louisiana coast called Isle de Jean Charles.
For two weeks, Clifton Hendon has been unable to go out to sea to harvest the oyster beds -- his only source of income.

Fishing has been banned in the area in the wake of the deepsea oil spill that British energy giant BP is still struggling to contain, nearly a month after the rig it leased from Transocean sank.
"I've lost hundreds of dollars," sighed the 63-year-old oysterman, one of the 80 or so last remaining French Indians, as they call themselves, living on Isle de Jean Charles.

His small, flat-bottomed boat lay idle, moored on the canal alongside the mobile home where he has lived since Hurricane Katrina destroyed his house in 2005. US officials have promised him a new home. But so far nothing.

"They have abandoned us," he said with an air of resignation.

..more..

[Bluebear]

5. +

[tavalon]

42. koyaanisqatsi

Life out of balance.

Car culture and factory culture was destined to destroy our earth from the moment they were created but they were so slow, so insidious. This is just so big and so not insidious. Hence the drama, in the hope that we won't actually have to change anything about our lives. And maybe we wont. For a while.

After all, this is all BP's fault. Our insatiable appetite for oil, bordering on addiction, certainly isn't a problem. We can handle it!

[LWolf]

8. I reached my last straw some years ago,

but I agree that this particular atrocity is climactic. :(

[ProSense]

9. "And as for Obama? He has been an exceptionally poor leader through all of this."

"I am depressed, beyond depressed. Our beautiful planet turned into a fucking toilet."

Yeah, it's President Obama's fault.

Beyond silly.

[ima_sinnic]

18. yeah, isn't it silly to get all depressed over those continuing permits to drill baby drill

and the greed and absolute disregard for life and the planet -- silly people, getting depressed over THAT -- sheeit.

you will be cheering it on even as you sink into a tar pit.

[ProSense]

27. What the hell does the policy Obama announced

that hasn't been set in stone, and isn't relevant to anything happening in this decade have to do with the crisis at hand, including finding a solution?

The attempts to portray BP's oil spill, and now the destruction of the planet, as President Obama's fault is beyond silly.

[ima_sinnic]

28. whatever you say, then

:eyes:

[ProSense]

31. Is that

your way of saying you have no clue as to what the President's policy has to do with the immediate crisis?

[northernlights]

39. obviously it's your way of saying that Obama's proposed policies have nothing to do with anything

after all, who cares what's going to happen 10 years from now after his policies, which haven't been set in stone, but have been set in the wrong direction, are set in stone even further in the wrong direction. Hell, I probably won't be here. Why should I care? :sarcasm:

[KharmaTrain]

19. He's Superman...He Should Be Able To Do Everything...

Of course a president McCain or boooosh would have surely had sent in the Marines, sent all BP employees (including the guys working at the station on the corner) to Gitmo and waterboarded them and not only would the gusher be plugged, the oil that spewed will be forced back into the ground. Sheesh.

Somehow I don't see the connect of allowing the drilling of new exploration wells as being the cause of this disaster. Did I miss a memo somewhere?

So what is "beyond depressed"? Wouldn't that involve shots of vodka and purple nikes??

[TheKentuckian]

24. If the new baseline for comparison is the worst President in history

and/or a dotty old warmonger that ran perhaps history's worst campaign and/or Sarah Palin who knows less about virtually everything than the average undereducated nine year old then our nation is finished.

We could elect a monkey with a Ouija board, a two sided coin, or a drunk with a specially marked dartboard and do better than the folks you want to set up as the "control" in your little experiment.

[Loudmxr]

46. The Rethugs have been in control since Reagan. Waddya want miracles?

I'll just sneak in here because this is an area where DUers are defending the President.

I am amazed that no one has tried to assassinate him yet. President Clinton had the WH shooter and the plane guy.

Speaking of President Clinton he sorta made a deal to get the economy back on track for not going after the Reagan/Bush criminals. That did pretty good in terms of jobs and deficits and stuff.

President Obama has been working on securing everyone's 401ks. That would be riots in the streets if the retirement plans went belly up. In exchange no war crimes stuff. No rooting out of the people that Bush/Cheney embedded into our government. Do you really think that Cheney didn't leave a few terrorists roaming around free just to f'up Obama? A lot of people knew about the Ft Hood guy and did nothing.

Also we have a fascist government. Not using that pejoratively but the government works hand in hand with industry. It used to be for the good of American industry but now it is for multi-national industries that owe no allegiance to our nation. The President will not change that. He may modify it but it will take a long time.

Sucks. But that is politics.

[PufPuf23]

50. Thanks. I think you very perceptive. nt

[lostnfound]

15. Chickens came home to roost

I'm emotionally devastated over this, but not sure that this is any worse than Chernobyl for example. It's just that it's MY home, and a place that is inhabited by millions of people -- millions of American people. There is an innocence that has been ripped away for me personally, because it's obvious it ain't going to be the same.

[ima_sinnic]

20. if it goes on much longer, it will eventually affect the entire planet (nt)

[G_j]

23. well said

that pretty much describes the way I feel also.

And yes, this seems to be our Chernobyl.

[RainDog]

22. more drilling combined with continued criminalization of hemp

he's a joke. but the joke is on us.

[amborin]

30. K&R

[Oregone]

34. Having life snuffed out so soon isn't all bad

Stops the virus of man from spreading to other planets

[Nostradammit]

43. Why don't you start with yourself?

Misanthropy is of no help to us.

[Oregone]

44. Like most of the miserable lot of us....

We prefer an excruciatingly painful existence to none at all. So our demise will merely be an unintended consequence of our idiocy.

And hey...I still have hope that once most of you shuffle on off, a lotta of worthy prime real estate will open up

[PufPuf23]

51. I see your snark as population and stupid from desperation are the problems

But the biggest problem is the transition without some global catastrophe. All out war would be the worst.

[Duppers]

36. K & R nt

[Swamp Rat]

37. k&r

[Hempathy]

45. I guess this means that you'll no longer rely on transport that relies on petroleum, right..?

And no more plastic products, or products encased in them.

And no groceries that came to the storein trucks, or were grown with chemical pesticides/fertilizers...

etc. etc. etc...

If you're gonna talk the talk- you should probably walk the walk.

[G_j]

49. I suppose

you think that is clever. So.. you want to blame me for the criminal negligence of BP and government regulatory agencies?

That's not clever, that is just silly.

[Hempathy]

52. You're definitely part of the problem.

We ALL are.

And if this is truly the "last straw" for you, i would think that it would be especially important to you to change your lifestyle, so as not to be a contributor to the demand for petroleum.

Otherwise- your words are just so much blather.

[G_j]

53. I changed my lifestyle long before this

but of course I have a carbon footprint, and I'm not perfect. Your post implies that I am ignorant of the part we all play in oil consumption (duh), yet neglects the unacceptable criminality of the situation I am speaking of.



but hey, while we are on the subject of oil consumption:

*************
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/13199


The US military oil consumption
by Sohbet Karbuz

The US Department of Defense (DoD) is the largest oil consuming government body in the US and in the world

“Military fuel consumption makes the Department of Defense the single largest consumer of petroleum in the U.S”

“Military fuel consumption for aircraft, ships, ground vehicles and facilities makes the DoD the single largest consumer of petroleum in the U.S”

According to the US Defense Energy Support Center Fact Book 2004, in Fiscal Year 2004, the US military fuel consumption increased to 144 million barrels. This is about 40 million barrels more than the average peacetime military usage.

By the way, 144 million barrels makes 395 000 barrels per day, almost as much as daily energy consumption of Greece.

The US military is the biggest purchaser of oil in the world.

In 1999 Almanac edition of the Defense Logistic Agency’s news magazine Dimensions it was stated that the DESC “purchases more light refined petroleum product than any other single organization or country in the world. With a $3.5 billion annual budget, DESC procures nearly 100 million barrels of petroleum products each year. That's enough fuel for 1,000 cars to drive around the world 4,620 times.”

..more..



http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN20416568



FACTBOX-US military fuel spending
Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:58pm EDT

U.S. military fuel consumption dwarfs energy demand in many countries around the world, adding up to nearly double the fuel use in Ireland and 20 times more than that of Iceland, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

From the start of the Iraq war in 2003 up till 2007, U.S. military fuel consumption has slipped by about 10 percent, but costs more than doubled due surging oil prices.

Following are the latest figures on the cost and amounts of fuel purchased by the U.S. military over the course of the Iraq war:

U.S. MILITARY FUEL SPENDING:^

2003: $ 5.21 billion

2007: $12.61 billion

Percentage increase: 142 percent

U.S MILITARY FUEL CONSUMPTION

2003: 145.1 million barrels

(397,500 barrels per day)

2007: 132.5 million barrels

(363,000 barrels per day)

Percentage change: -9.5 percent

2007 U.S. MILITARY FUEL CONSUMPTION EQUALS

- 90 percent more than Ireland's annual consumption

- 38 percent more than Israel's annual consumption

- 20 times Iceland's annual consumption

- 1.7 percent of U.S. annual consumption

AVERAGE ESTIMATED CRUDE OIL PRICE PER BARREL:

2003: $32.50

2007: $72.50

CRUDE OIL PRICE CHANGE SINCE BEGINNING OF IRAQ WAR:

March 19, 2003: $ 29.88*

March 19, 2008: $103.25*

Percentage increase: 245 percent


<snip>

[Hempathy]

54. I can't help but laugh and rol my eyes at people who use the word "unacceptable" after the fact...

Like that's going to make an iota of difference to the situation at hand.

calling something that's completely out of anyone's control "unacceptable" is just silly.