civilized objects

SLICK PUBLICITY

source: http://www.schnews.co.uk/archive/news726.php

REPORT FROM NEW ORLEANS ON THE BP OIL-SPILL DISASTER…

In response to America’s largest ever environmental disaster, Tony Hayward, CEO of BP, said, “I’d like my life back.” We’re sure he does, as would the eleven workers who died on BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil rig when it exploded 40 miles off the Louisiana coast, in the Gulf of Mexico, on April 20th.

But you have to sympathise with Tony. The fact that BP failed to test the strength of the cement in the well, despite knowing that the casing was “the riskier of two options” and that it “might collapse under pressure” can’t be held against him. Even though the same disregard for safety killed 15 and injured 170 BP workers in the Texas Oil Refinery explosion of 2005.

BP has also had over 20 years since the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in Alaska to learn from its botched response to that disaster. Yes, despite Exxon having its name on the tanker, it was actually BP who disastrously failed to contain the toxic sludge that spewed into pristine wilderness. But that was then. BP has since spent billions of dollars on advertising telling us they are ‘Beyond Petroleum’ – so beyond it in fact they don’t care how much they lose.

BP has had over 8,000 minor and major recorded spills since 1990 alone. While all eyes have been on the current ecocide in the Gulf of Mexico, their Alaskan Pipeline burst in late May, spewing 100,000 gallons of oil into the environment. State inspectors say this occurred because “procedures weren’t properly implemented,” in other words – they didn’t give a damn.

The ho-hum lackadaisical attitude of Tony Hayward is indicative of BP’s disaster response in general. It has been shocking to see BP’s slow response to contain the oil. There is a complete lack of any oil containment technology, beyond stringing some booms (vinyl tubes) over the ocean that deflate and blow away. While the oil industry has poured billions of dollars into riskier deep-water drilling, it has not invested in responses to the leaks and disasters that have increased four fold in the last decade.

CRUDE JOKE

Maybe we’re overreacting. Let us again heed the soothing words of Tony, or Tiny Tony as he is now known in the US due to the following comment, “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.” That would be the estimated 47 million to 235 million gallons of toxic crude oil that has poured into the ocean over the last eight weeks. Not to mention the use in the ‘clean up’ of one million tonnes of the Corexit oil dispersant, a neuro toxin pesticide banned in the UK, arguably as harmful as the oil itself.

We need not worry our silly little heads about the ecological destruction either. Tiny Tony assures us, “the environmental impact of this disaster is likely to have been very, very modest.” Come now Tony, it’s you that is being modest. This disaster is going to kill thousands of dolphins and sea turtles, hundreds of thousands of seabirds and billions of fish and shellfish.

The communities along the Louisiana coast, whose main work is fisheries, have lost their catch to a greater predator, and BP are playing on their vulnerability and dividing them by giving the ‘lucky’ few work cleaning up the toxic waste. BP has refused to provide masks and other safety equipment to those in these communities, and when this resulted in several cases of clean-up workers being hospitalised, Tony said it was probably due to food poisoning. Shrimp à la oil?

The Louisiana wetlands that nurture the wildlife and communities have already been decimated by the oil industry. The wetlands are a 4.2 million acre region where the Mississippi River flows into the Atlantic. They have formed over 7,500 years by the rivers flooding and annually depositing silt creating long fingers of land and barrier islands. It has taken just 75 years for them to have been almost completely destroyed. They are disappearing faster than any other part of the world, with an area the size of a football field lost every 38 minutes.

Oil and natural gas were discovered in Louisiana’s coastal areas in the early 1900s. This lead to long canals being cut through the wetlands to transport drilling equipment and oil. As well as being destructive in itself, this allowed more salt water to seep in to the wetlands, which killed the freshwater plants’ roots leading to further soil erosion. These wetlands act as a natural defence against hurricane storm surges. The further they are destroyed the more vulnerable coastal towns all the way up to New Orleans become. The storm surge from Hurricane Katrina in 2005 flooded 80% of the city, killing over 2,000 people.

As New Orleans and the coastal region still struggle to recover five years after Katrina they face a real kick in the teeth. Meteorological experts are predicting, “the most active season on record” for hurricanes, comparing ocean temperatures that contribute to hurricane formation to those in the summer of Katrina. Oil from the BP rig is predicted to continue to spew in to the gulf for months to come. A hurricane sweeping a surge of oil into the wetlands and towns of Louisiana would be apocalyptic for the region.

Tiny Tony put it best last year, saying BP’s “primary purpose was to generate profit for our share holders” and that “our primary purpose in life was not to save the world.” Really Tony, you don’t say.

Some different related links:

Caught in the oil :AP Photographer Charlie Riedel just filed the following images of seabirds caught in the oil slick on a beach on Louisiana’s East Grand Terre Island

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/06/caught_in_the_oil.html

BP is sadly just one of many players in the appalling offshore drilling picture, the latest oil-soaked pelicans among many victims.  ByJohn Sorenson

http://beta.themarknews.com/articles/1665-the-birds-and-the-bps

Animal Rights Activists Protest Oil Giant BP

http://www.examiner.com/x-46236-West-Palm-Beach-Animal-Rights-Examiner~y2010m5d28-Animal-Rights-Activists-Protest-Oil-Giant-BP

Counting the Carcasses by John Collins Rudolph

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/08/counting-the-carcasses/?partner=rss&emc=rss

WVBS for Gulf Coast Wildlife

http://animalrightscollective.wordpress.com/2010/05/21/wvbs-for-gulf-coast-wildlife/

However, to those people who hate me, and who supposedly “know me” …

A. You don’t know me.

B. Really.

C. There is a world beyond your limited horizon.

D. Maybe you should ask yourself why you hate philosophical anti-speciesist vegan animal rights people like me.

A blessing for all Iranians and Persians demonstrating against Iranian government.

By Magi Nabarz ( http://www.myspace.com/nabarz )

I call on Verethragna, as the Boar, may he rage through the ranks of the Basiji the Iranian Islamic police, may their riots shield shatter, may their helmets and viziers mist up, may their body armour fall, may their batons slip out or their hands. May they break rank and disperse.

I call on the goddess Anahita, lady of the waters, may she give courage to the demonstrators, may she help them to continue the struggle, may she provide love and nourishment to those already arrested and heading into the pits of the Islamic regime’s prison. May she bring light into prison cells.

I call on Mithra, may the lord of truth walk beside all who are fighting the Great Lie that is the Islamic regime, may he support all the bloggers who are telling the truth and let their messages reach out to wide world.

I call on the Sun at his height, may his light and warmth feed the fire and passion of the demonstrators.

I call on Atar, lord of fire, once again burn the three headed beast that stole the Divine Glory (right of rulership), may the right of rulership be returned to the people, and their voices and votes counted.

I call on Vayu, lord of wind, to blow away deceit, to interfere with police helicopters and stop them flying, to shorten the breath of the Islamic police and stop them chasing protestors. May the Basijis be out of breath, and tired.

I call on Tishtrya, the star Sirius, lord of rain, summer Solstice marks your time, Tir take thy form of Young Man/Woman, and march beside the Youth of the Persian nation, as they march towards black clothed police. Show them how you overcame the darkness before.

I call on Homa may she heal the wounded, may she remove the demonstrators bullets wounds, and baton bruises. May she fuse the demonstrators with ecstasy and joy and remove fear from their minds.

I fly to of mount Davamand and I call the gods of my Ancestors: Verethragna, Anahita, Mithra, Atar, Vayu, Tishtrya, Homa liberate your land of Persia. Return to thy rightful place and land, thy children in their time of darkness I beg of thee.

Come in their hour of need, and hold the line against the coming hordes, thy temples shall be rebuilt and past glory restored. You have not been forgotten.

All this I call at Summer Solstice, the height of sun’s power.

Summer Solstice is called Tirgan in Iran, or Persia.

Any political correctness melts with images of the Islamic religious police, the Basijis beating and killing protestors.

My creed of love and peace, takes a tea break.

I see my arms transform into hawk’s wings, my head into a falcon, each breath takes me deeper, as avenging Horus emerges. Shaking with love and anger for an oppressed nation. It’s Father’s day tomorrow, so I take the mantel of Horus, son risen to avenge all the father’s killed and imprisoned by Iranian government in last 30 years, Osiris slain and risen god. Horus with his right eye the sun and left eye the moon.

I flap my wings in face of Basijis and blind them, so their aim misses their target and the protestors; my croak a distraction to the black shirts.

I call on Verethragna, as the Boar may rage through the ranks of Islamic police, may their riots shield shatter, may their helmets and vizers mist up, may their body armour fall, may their batons slip out or their hands.

As Mithra Yasht says:
“We sacrifice unto Mithra, the lord of wide pastures, …. sleepless, and ever awake;
‘Before whom Verethraghna, made by Ahura, runs opposing the foes in the shape of a boar, a sharp-toothed he-boar, a sharp-jawed boar, that kills at one stroke, pursuing, wrathful, with a dripping face; strong, with iron feet, iron forepaws, iron weapons, an iron tail, and iron jaws;
‘Who, eagerly clinging to the fleeing foe, along with Manly Courage, smites the foe in battle, and does not think he has smitten him, nor does he consider it a blow till he has smitten away the marrow and the column of life, the marrow and the spring of existence.
‘He cuts all the limbs to pieces, and mingles, together with the earth, the bones, hair, brains, and blood of the men who have lied unto Mithra.
‘For his brightness and glory, we offer him a sacrifice worth being heard”.

So again I call on the goddess Anahita, lady of the waters, may she give courage to the demonstrators, may she help them to continue the struggle, may she provide love and nourishment to those already arrested and heading into the pits of the Islamic regime’s prison. May she bring light into prison cells.

I call on Mithra, may the lord of truth walk beside all who are fighting the Great Lie that is the Islamic regime, may he support all the bloggers who are telling the truth and let their messages reach out to wide world.

I call on the Sun at his height, may his light and warmth feed the fire and passion of the demonstrators.

I call on Atar, lord of fire, once again burn the three headed beast that stole the Divine Glory (right of rulership), may the right of rulership be returned to the people, and their voices and votes counted.

I call on Vayu, lord of wind, to blow away deceit, to interfere with police helicopters and stop them flying, to shorten the breath of the Islamic police and stop them chasing protestors. May the Basijis be out of breath, and tired.

I call on Tishtrya, the star Sirius, lord of rain, summer Solstice marks your time, Tir take thy form of Young Man/Woman, and march beside the Youth of the Persian nation, as they march towards black clothed police. Show them how you overcame the darkness before.

I call on Homa may she heal the wounded, may she remove the demonstrators bullets wounds, and baton bruises. May she fuse the demonstrators with ecstasy and joy and remove fear from their minds.

Brightest of Blessings!

Magi Nabarz

A reply to a homocentrist minded person … :

No, homocentrism is quite a contrast to humanism. I am a radical vegan Animal Rights and Human Rights advocate. It’s too black and white to say: you have to “kill” plants to eat: cos you don’t have to “kill” plants, you can harvest their veggies. If you are against Animal Rights I can not and do not want to convince you of the idea. Just as little as I don’t want to convince a racist of Human Rights, honestly, you can’t do that. Leave everybody where they are, but talk to those you feel sympathetic to … to their ideas that is.

Flesh is Bodies

I said:

Some guy who runs a weird type of grocery chainstore (he himself is an acclaimed person in the anthroposophical scene and is thus into producing organic “produce”, although his grocery store, which makes up one part of his enterprise, sells everything … too ) in Germany said he has some bacon-meat-sausage-flesh-crap produced and he would have the bacon smoked, accompanied with classical music (it’s live musicians that come around to do the job even), cos he believed there is “still some soul” in the “meat” and it’s just right if this “soul” gets some classical music for it to get smoked. Yet another apex of the evilness of speciesism.

It’s sick how on one hand people with such forms of fullblown speciesist mindsets do attribute a soul to nonhuman animals as the individuals whom they negate and kill, while proudly revealing at the same time how they want to be empty of the ability to understand things ethically.

A nonhuman animal is “something” to them “which” should be killed, prepared, and eaten and they assert that  nonhuman animals should be something classified exactly as that: “something” you can kill, prepare and eat.

Such speciesist entrepreneurs hold up the idea of the “edible carcass”. A conscious grade of necrophile perversion.

Spikybug said:

That reminds me of a TV commercial here several years ago, by a big sausage company. They tried to give the impression it was a small company run by one nice man. In this commercial, this man is sitting out in the forest, surrounded by trees, and there is country music playing loudly. And the man says he’s playing country music for the trees, because then when the trees are burned to smoke the sausage, it will produce a better flavor.

PICKED UP IN THE FAMOUS BRITISH DIRECT ACTION MAG, THE SCHNEWS:

http://www.schnews.org.uk/

“A German mail company came unstuck when it ‘inadvertently’ issued stamps of Rudolf Hess, Hitler’s one-time right hand man deputy. Fortunately stopping at a mere 20 stamps, the Nazi collectables were the result of a service that allowed clients to order custom made envelopes.

* Rudolf Hess was the Nazi top dog who flew to Britain to arrange a truce with the leading racist genocidal empire of the time… er us.”