Pocahontas Meets Spoken Word

I haven't had time at all to write lately, but check out this video...

Amazing!

Another Far too Short Trip North: Night One

Well, it has taken me a couple of weeks to start typing up my account of being up north, but then again it normally does take me that long. It is hard being away from that place, and sharing with you what I experience up there makes me miss it anew. The following is the account of my first night of my much too short up north adventure. The rest of the weekend’s accounts will follow in the next few days. I took all of the pictures within the posts while I was there.

7-9-10 Night one of my much too short up north adventure It’s strange to me how normal it was pulling up here after three months absent…strange because of how normal it was. Yes I’ve been coming here for twenty years, but only regularly for the last two, and even that is four times a year max. But none-the-less when I pulled up here today I felt like I was HOME, home in a way that I never felt in the house I was raised in, home like I’ve never felt anywhere. This place is where my heart resides (if only my body could catch up to it more often). Isn’t that really what we are all trying to do anyhow? Catch our hearts wherever they have run to? Who holds yours? Is it a woman? A man? A memory of a person that no longer exists due to death—or the changes of life that catch us all off guard sometimes? Is it a city? A pet? A smell—perhaps of lilacs—or of opine brushing between your fingers? For me it is the north—the lakes dark with musky and mysteries they refuse to reveal. The thick snow that keeps even capitalism at bay, the haunting cry of the loon (the north’s very own penguin) mating for life and in peril just the same as their southern counterparts. It’s the white birch, the Indian paintbrush, the otter, the deer, they hold my heart hostage and I must be reunited every few months or I start to slip away—often in very measurable ways. For what is a body without its heart? Heart in the love sense, not the physical. I start to show actual signs of depression, I stop running, sleep during the day and rarely t night, my diet goes to hell, and I STOP WRITING.

It is good that I got back here in time—I was slipping so far and fast I might have totally forgotten that this is what I needed.
~~~~~~~~
Later: I just started a fire to keep the mosquitoes away! I’m so glad I got my parents a fire ring for Christmas. I walked down to the pier to grab my book and notebook and saw a loon, the first one of the year for me up here, not twenty feet from me. He or she was stretching its leg behind it, looking right at me. It felt like I was being waved at. I wonder if it could remember me. I have always felt a strange affinity with loons, and they return to the same lakes each year, so perhaps it was a greeting, from one old friend to another.

I just saw a family of young mergansers and their mother. I got some great pictures. I might have to go inside soon, even the smoke from the fire isn’t keeping the mosquitoes at bay. My constant runs to grab more wood probably aren’t helping either!

~~~~~~
I just witnessed one of the most serene things of my life: a pair of loons came into the bay and proceeded to preen themselves—stretching their wings, cleaning their stomachs, etc and then one of them tucked its head into its feathers and fell asleep! Then the other followed and I watched for over half an hour as they both sat low in the water sleeping! Finally one woke up, yawned and then the other did too. I got video of them sleeping that I’ll try to upload one of these days. Now they are still swimming in front of the pier.

Gobby Goo By: Amelie Lillith

After nearly three months of oil gushing into the gulf I have finally gotten a poem written about it. Feel free to pass this on if you feel the need.

Gobby Goo
By: Amelie Lillith

4/20 means different things to different people
to me, it is a black day...or it was this year
a day followed by day after day...and yes, even today
of death slowly creeping near
4/20 was a horrid day
a day where men working just to pay their way
lost their lives and their families
lost the only way they had to be free
the beaches and the wetlands tooslowly clogged with that gobby goo
and what did the corporation do?
they did everything they could to hide the very truth.

And so now it's been three long months
and all those families have is more thick black gunk
and air tainted with a poisoned tinge
even angels can't fly with oil soaked wingsand so what is it that we can do
to stop the lies and find the fucking truth
we can clog that gusher with the best thing we've got
the CEOs themselves, the only true junk shot
it will take dozens, hundreds, possibly more
because they are mostly filled with lies and lore
but to stop the creeping death blackening the shores
is something they'll never do with stockholders on board
we can't rely on our government
we're all seeing the difference between what they saidand what they meant
It's time to activate
to tell them all that we'll no longer wait
to take control of the way things are run
I'll bring my voice, you bring your gun
and we'll show those in charge that we are done playing their game
that black beaches in the gulf just are not the same
and tell their EPA that the poisons sprayed
need to stop, because it could already be too late

the dolphins are swimming up onto our shores
hoping for a fast death escaping the oil, but just find even morethe corporations and the government, are just two branches
of the same old camp
and the people are starting to see this truth
tell your friends and your family too
it's time to do more than congregate
time to do more than just relate
it's time for all of us to fight this fight
to show them the difference between wrong and right
and if that lesson comes with guns or marches
I don't care, and neither do the coated marshesthe waterbirds don't care which way we choose
peace or violence or a combination of the two
their legs and wings are still coated with sticky death
and they'll wonder why we aren't fighting with their dying breaths
so grab your weapons be they sword or pen
it's about time that we all begin

it's been three long months since this all started
and all that's changed is the beaches have darkened
the poor and the southern are being ignoredit's time to reclaim our shores
The air is tainted with a poisoned tinge
even angels can't fly with oil soaked wings

You can pray to whatever god you've got
under the current system we'll need the lot
say your prayers and meditate
but your loving kindness will just have to wait
the corporations and their CEOs
and the government and their two party dronesdon't want us to activate
they keep preaching that we should just wait
but even most gods weren't afraid to activate their people
let's part the seas of lies and demand we be equal
to those very corporations and the government
the ones raising our taxes and hiking up rent
we'll yell from oil slick to sandy shore
WE CAN'T TRUST YOU ANYMORE
we can't rely on our government
we're all seeing the difference between what you saidand what you meant.
We see that it's time to activate
And no, we will no longer sit around and wait
we'll take control of the way things are run
We'll bring our voices...they'll bring their guns
and we'll show those in charge that we are done playing their game
that black beaches in the gulf just are not the same
and tell their EPA that the poisons sprayed
need to stop, because it could already be too late.

These three months have been three months too longso I'm going to stop talking and let's get things done.
Tell your friends and neighbors to demand the truth
Let's take the power back, and start to revolute.

A Good Video

I haven't posted in two weeks...I promise I will soon. But until then, here's a video you should watch:

Liar, Liar, The Ocean's on Fire

Ever since the blow out occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on the 20th of April I have adopted a mantra that I repeat over and over again to anyone who will listen. It's quite simple: "They are lying". Easy to remember, obviously true, proven time and again, but people still deny it. "Why would BP lie about how much oil is gushing?" Yes, those of you reading this blog probably wonder how someone could ask such an ignorant question, but I get it all of the time.

Why?! Really…okay let's just assume for a second that a question as ignorant as that even deserves an answer. Here are a few: when penalties and fines are assessed after this disaster is no longer getting worse (assuming the flow is ever stopped) the amount of oil leaked is directly proportional to the amount of money BP will owe. This makes the use of dispersants come into clear view: they are using them to hide how bad it is. This should be obvious to most as well, but apparently it is not. BP is a corporation, their obligation is not to the American people, the Gulf of Mexico, the wildlife, or even to their employees (11 of which died when this disaster began). No. Their responsibility is to their share holders. They will do everything possible to make this the smallest FINANCIAL loss to themselves. If anyone still has any illusion that BP cares they should give it up now. They do care, but not for you and not for me, unless you own enough stocks to be on the board…and I have a feeling that if you do own that many stocks you aren't reading this blog.

It isn't just BP that is lying. The government? Oh yes, they are lying too, but so is the media in the indirect way they have of doing so. Mainstream media is ignoring the fact that Obama got more campaign contributions from BP than any other candidate. It is ignoring the fact the BP has spent millions on newly hired lobbyists that it sent out to DC to sway the opinions of politicians. They ignore all of this…and what does CNN have to say about the inaction of the government in this crisis? Obama, apparently, is afraid to take action because angry black men scare people. No joke here. The article can be found here: http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/08/rage.obama/index.html

The smoke and mirrors do not fool me and you shouldn't be fooled either. This is a pretty simple case of not betraying the hand that feeds you. From a political standpoint it makes sense for Obama to not scold BP too heavily…they give him money. It makes sense for BP to cover their asses as a corporation in the current system. What doesn't make sense, and what everyone is afraid to say (or so it seems) is that the system that makes these atrocious acts acceptable is inherently flawed. Capitalism…the extraction of resources (be they human, plant, animal, or fossil fuels) for profit results in the destruction of habitats. It makes people look at living beings as resources, not as communities of life that are dependent upon each other for survival. Capitalism creates a dog-eat-dog system that makes it acceptable (and rewarded) to care not for your neighbor (be your neighbor human or otherwise). It is a system based on exploitation and it is broken. People see this brokenness now. They see the flaw of a system made to reward the elite and sentence the poor to a working class existence at best.

So let's rise up and fight. It's time to take the broken system down friends. It's time to demand that the land, the animals, the humans and all life forms are respected in their own rights. It's time for real change, and one that someone who gets money from an oil giant will not facilitate. Take a step back from your microscope and look at the entire system. That is what is broken. Capping the leak is important, obviously, but there will always be more leaks, more death, more corruption if the current way things are run is not changed.

And finally some articles about the leak you should check out:

Are Big Green Groups Protesting Too Little Amid Oil Disaster? http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/13-0

BP oil leak aftermath: Slow-motion tragedy unfolds for marine life http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/10/bp-oil-leak-marine-life-wildlife

Defenders of Wildlife blog: http://www.defendersblog.org/

BP Censoring Media, Destroying Evidence http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/from-the-ground-bp-censor_b_608724.html

Gulf Needs Concrete Actions that Respect Residents' Rights http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kerry-kennedy/gulf-needs-concrete-actions_b_609827.html

Cheney's Push of Deregulators led to BP Disaster http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=5163

Oiled Birds Everywhere, but Little Rescue Crews can do http://www.terradaily.com/reports/Oiled_birds_everywhere_but_little_rescue_crews_can_do_999.html

Oil Leak Counter

BP has announced that the top kill procedure failed...and they seem to not want to try anything else until the relief wells are done being drilled in AUGUST. So...here's a nice little counter to help you visualize the horrible destruction being done to the oceans by BP each second. I'd go with the high estimates if I were you (we know BP lies).

Let's Find the Spark and Fight Back: Gulf Oil Leak

“War is when the government tells you who the bad guy is. Revolution is when you decide that for yourself.”

As is apparent from my recent blog posts, I have been thinking a lot about the oil geyser in the Gulf of Mexico lately. Over the last week or so I've been so appalled with all that I've read that I couldn't find the heart to write a post about it. I do know, however, that even though there is decent media coverage of the disaster it is mostly local media and the vast majority of people are getting a watered down version of the crisis that is unfolding.

So, I'd like to begin by providing a few links to stories as well as to news sources where you can find information on the disaster.

Articles:

• Yes, Mr. President, It Was Your Katrina - Three Weeks Ago. Now it May Be Your Chernobyl By: Robert Redick http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/05/24-5

• Oil Oozing Up On Shore Despite Best Efforts Of BP, Coast Guard To Contain (PR) Fallout: http://news.firedoglake.com/2010/05/19/oil-oozing-up-on-shore-despite-best-efforts-of-bp-coast-guard-to-contain-pr-fallout/

• BP Witholds Oil Spill Facts--And Government Lets It: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/05/18/94415/bps-secrecy-keep-facts-on-gulf.html

• Norman engineer has own idea about how to stop Gulf oil leak http://www.newsok.com/norman-engineer-has-own-idea-about-how-to-stop-gulf-oil-leak/article/3462317?custom_click=pod_headline_national-finance-news

• CT inventor proposes solution to Gulf oil leak: http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/news13241.html

Links:

• A livestream of the oil geyser: http://www.livestream.com/wkrg_oil_spill

• Coast Guard says "It's BP's Rules, Not Ours" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eb4JWgUuSEE&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fuser%2Fgreenman3610%23p&feature=player_profilepage

• Radio out of New Orleans talking about the spill and what is REALLY going on down there: http://www.wwl.com/pages/1050632.php

One thing that really strikes me about this whole disaster is that it seems most people are assuming that BP is corrupt and the government is in on it. Citizens who identify themselves as right wing, left wing, or just trying to survive know that the current system (call it capitalism, call it Western Civilization, call it anything you want) takes care of corporations more than it takes care of individuals. This is a given. The author Derrick Jensen asks this very question at many of his talks "How many of you think the American government takes care of people over corporations?" (Approximate quote.) No one ever raises their hand.

So, we are living in a system that doesn't take care of people. This system is quickly filling the gulf with oil, but this isn’t the first time the oceans have been killed by oil. There have been the obvious oil spills, but there are also the indirect effects oil has on the oceans. The pollution, the plastic, the wars, the global warming. Fossil fuels have been killing the oceans for a long time.

Citizens of the United States know that corporations are killing their land and their livelihoods (and even the people themselves in many cases like the cleanup workers in Louisiana getting sick: http://trueslant.com/allisonkilkenny/2010/05/26/oil-spill-clean-up-workers-report-feeling-drugged-disoriented/ )

So what are we going to do? Are we just going to sit back and take the abuse and watch as the planet and we are slowly killed off by profit-hungry criminals? Or are we going to fight? Fight for the land, for our rights, for the rights of non humans? How much sludge will it take on the shore before we not only admit that corporations are taken care of better than individuals but rise up and fight against that fact?

BP can kill an entire coastline and get no punishment, yet an "eco terrorist" can be sent to prison for 20 years for setting an empty SUV on fire. This is insanity. It's time to rise up and fight. Sure, boycott BP, boycott all oil. Demand that no drilling is opened up that isn't already open and that a plan be put in place for shutting down all offshore drilling practices.

But most of all end the system that is destroying the planet.

"A great revolution is never the fault of the people, but of the government" -Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The Real Eco-Terrorists

Time to Take Action: The Gulf of Mexico Oil Leak

I know that when it comes to people who typically read this blog I will be preaching to the choir on this issue, but even the choir needs guidance sometimes.

The Gulf of Mexico is dying.

There, I said it. No, I am not exaggerating. It won't be long before everything in the Gulf of Mexico is dead. That is the future we are looking at right now, and a grim future it is.

So, what can you do? The answer, in a nutshell, is do SOMETHING. It seems to me that people on a national scale are doing relatively little to help with this unfolding disaster and to prevent future drilling that will inevitably lead to more disasters of this sort.

It isn't just citizens that are handling this poorly however; the powers that be are failing pretty miserably as well. I am including BP in the 'powers that be' category because, lets face it: the pockets of the power are oily with campaign contributions from BP and other oil giants.

So, as citizens of this dying planet we MUST stand up and fight for it. Protest, boycott, do whatever you have to. Offshore drilling needs to stop now. It is not the only horrible thing that the western way of life results in for the environment, but hey, if you are going to stop one thing at a time, it's a great place to start. Sign all the petitions you want, but until the people take to the streets nothing will change. Why isn't anyone furious enough to start marching? Let's march. I'll join. Will you?

Here's a website about actions taking place across the country on Friday, May 14: http://www.risingtidenorthamerica.org/wordpress/category/front-page/

Okay, so you aren't the marching and candle light vigil type…I get it, but you can do your part too. And no, I don't mean sending your hair down to the gulf to help absorb oil (although it can't hurt, I guess). I mean that we can use our brains to help the situation.

BP and the US Coast Guard need to release to the public EVERYTHING they know about the current situation. The psi of the oil geyser (it isn’t a spill or a leak, a geyser is much more accurate) and all of the technical aspects they know about it. They need to let the public know everything so that the intelligent and educated public can work to come up with solutions. When this accident occurred BP had no plan A. When they came up with their impressive looking (but ultimately ineffective) funnel/containment vessel plan I thought it might work: it didn't. Now the plan is to shoot golf balls and torn up tires into the leaking area. I am no engineer but I'm going to go ahead and say that that probably will not work. I have yet to hear a plan C (except Russia's recommendation to use nuclear weapons). So, why not do more than just open a tip line for the public, how about actually providing them with information to come up with USABLE solutions?

I will end my written rant there, but below I've put pictures of the endangered species BP themselves listed in their Exploration Plan for this location (you can view it in its entirety here: http://www.gomr.mms.gov/PI/PDFImages/PLANS/29/29977.pdf)

"4.7 Threatened or endangered species, critical habitat, and marine mammal information
Twenty-nine species of marine mammals occur in the GOM. There are 28 species of cetaceans (7 mysticete and 21 odontocete species) and 1 sirenian species, the manatee.
Five baleen whales, one toothed whale, and one sirenian occur in the GOM and are listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA):
-The Northern Right Whale
-The Blue Whale
-The Fin Whale
-The Sei Whale
-The Humpback Whale
-The Sperm Whale
-The West Indian Manatee

The sperm whale is common in oceanic waters of the northern GOM and appears to be a resident species, while the baleen whales are considered rare or extralimital in the Gulf. The West Indian Manatee typically inhabits only coastal marine, brackish, and freshwater areas.

Five sea turtles inhabit the waters of GOM and are listed as endangered: the Leatherback, Green, Hawksbill, Kemp's Ridley, and Loggerhead turtle. These five species are all highly migratory, and no individual members of any of the species are likely to be year-round residents of the proposed area of interest.

There are no critical habitats designated within the Gulf of Mexico for the threatened and endangered species above."

Obama: Breaking One Promise at a Time

We have all heard the mantra "save the whales", seen the grotesque images that are the results of whaling, and cheered on the fictional "Willy" as he was saved from whalers time and time again in the sequels to Free Willy…I have never met a person that has actually been FOR whaling. I think there are really not many people that are.

Obama said in 2008, when campaigning on a GreenPeace Candidate Questionaire:

As president, I will ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling. Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable.”

— Barack Obama, March 16, 2008

Here is an excerpt from GreenPeace's response flier that explains the issue with whaling and Obama (the flier can be found here http://us.greenpeace.org/site/DocServer/Photos_to_Save_the_Whales_Toolkit.pdf?docID=521)

"Back in 1975, Greenpeace launched the world’s first-ever Save the Whales campaign. The images we brought back from our maiden anti-whaling voyage sparked an international outcry and moved a generation of environmentalists into action. Eventually, after a decade of intense activism, the International Whaling Commission (IWC) agreed to ban commercial whaling. That was 1986 and it was one of our greatest moments as an organization— it was also one of the greatest moments for activists like you.

We could lose it all this June.

In an altogether shocking move, President Obama’s delegation to the IWC has decided to back a plan that would legitimize commercial whaling for the first time since the ban was passed over 20 years ago. We simply can’t let that happen. President Obama needs to hear from Americans everywhere that we oppose this bad deal and demand that he lives up to his campaign promise to work to end all commercial whaling.

That’s why we’re asking everyone who cares about whales to take action and send a message to the President that supporting any deal that would legitimize commercial whaling is, as he himself said, 'unacceptable.'”

So, wait, you are probably thinking I must be kidding. Someone FOR whaling? That's unheard of…well no, I'm not kidding and GreenPeace isn't crazy. Here's another article on it.

Here is a statement from Edward Dorson (Edward Dorson is Director of Conservation Strategies for the Shark Research Institute) taken from the Huffington Post article here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/carol-muskedukes/a-sea-of-deceit-and-capit_b_551858.html Bold has been added by me.

A Sea of Deceit and Capitulation
by Edward Dorson
April 25, 2010

The trajectory of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), meeting in Morocco this June, is on a disastrous course for the world's whales. A new proposal to resume commercial whaling will be presented at the IWC summit. Simply put, it's an awful deal. In order to foresee the fate of the whales with this proposal on the table, look no further than how all the marine species fared at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) last month, where each and every proposed aquatic species was denied protection. This was a Japanese orchestrated "victory," and the same bullying, vote swapping and "influencing" that Japan deployed at CITES to prevent marine protection is also entrenched to dictate the fate of the whales at the IWC.

The IWC proposal would actually reward the whaling abuses of Japan, Norway, and Iceland. This "compromise" deal allows whaling countries to continue killing for at least the next 10 years, with an unachievable requirement for reduced kill quotas. It offers no true enforcement, it can't hold the whalers to any promises, and it obviously undoes all conservation measures made since the 1986 declaration of a whaling moratorium. Furthermore, it would legitimize Japan's slaughter in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary and promote a Japanese generated ploy wherein "Indigenous" whaling would apply to Japan's coastal whalers, allowing more killing of whales in the North Pacific.

Japan has unfailingly undermined every marine regulatory convention that may affect its ability to plunder the world's oceans -- systematically rolling back years of international conventions and marine protections. Removing the moratorium on commercial whaling would also remove the most recognizable boundary to Japan's hubris and greed, and would assist in the unrestrained taking of the less "cuddly" species such as the highly lucrative tunas and other fish species.

Japan wants a resumption of commercial whaling to divert the focus away from its unsustainable pillage of the seas. Whales are highly sentient beings, and, despite what Japan projects, they aren't universally perceived as a "product." From elaborate scientific study to casual observation, they've proven to be extremely social, communicative, highly intelligent, and able to feel intense emotion and pain. Japan realizes that if the killing of such iconic species is sanctioned, the remainder of what's left of aquatic life will be theirs for the taking.

A recent document by Professor Shohei Yonemoto, titled "Useless Research Whaling Should Be Abolished," gives his pragmatic perspective on Japan's ambitions of dominance of the dwindling life in the oceans. He speaks of trading off "research" whaling only to go unhampered in the whaling closer to Japan. In the last two paragraphs, Dr. Yonemoto reveals Japan's ultimate objective in relentlessly exploiting the more valuable tunas, sharks and other fish:

"It is said that eating whales is Japan's traditional culture. But this is a myth that was started through a PR company during the mid-1970s. Actually, whale meat does not sell well and there is surplus stock. If Japan proposes to the IWC to allow it to engage in coastal whaling in exchange for giving up research whaling, I expect the long-standing opposition to be immediately settled.

Currently, there is a growing trend for strengthening control over marine resources such as tuna on a global scale. Also in order not to raise questions over Japan's scientific data in international forums to discuss regulations on fishing of tuna and other fish, Japan should abolish research whaling as a government project."

Japan now has a formidable ally in its quest to lift the ban on commercial whaling: President Barack Obama. In the March intersessional IWC meeting, the Obama Administration was the chief proponent in advancing the plan to resume commercial whaling and is currently urging other nations to follow. This is clearly based on geopolitical maneuvering and Japan's leverage with our debt obligation; devoid of scientific or ethical consideration.

The U.S. position is a drastic departure from then-Senator Obama's campaign promise made on March 16, 2008, when he stated: "As president, I will ensure that the U.S. provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements, including strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling. Allowing Japan to continue commercial whaling is unacceptable."

As the current proposal is written, pro-whaling countries will directly benefit with a return to what was described by the president as "unacceptable" commercial whaling. Nearly 25 years of conservation efforts may be swept aside if former staunch allies of the whales, the U.S. and other nations following our lead, capitulate to Japan as they have indicated.

The president's unfulfilled pledge to "ensure that the US provides leadership in enforcing international wildlife protection agreements" could be achieved by compelling Japan to honor all the agreements it has broken with impunity. Japan has violated the Law of the Sea Convention, the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, the Convention on the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

If the president truly wanted to see these agreements upheld, he could seek redress from the rogue whaling nations by using the sanctioning powers available under the Pelly Amendment against Japan, Norway, and Iceland until they stop whaling completely.

The president should be urged to be true to his word and protect the whales -- and not to insure their demise. Over 75% of Americans oppose the barbaric practice of whaling, and the U.S. government should mirror their demands. In order to fulfill his promise of "strengthening the international moratorium on commercial whaling," President Obama should be lending his full support towards the rapid passage of the International Whale Conservation and Protection Act of 2010, sponsored by Senator John Kerry.

Of critical importance: there's absolutely no method to kill a whale "humanely." An explosive harpoon is shot into them, they're then electrocuted through an attached cable, repeatedly shot by high caliber rifles, and drowned by being dragged through the water. Even with this torture, which wouldn't be tolerated in the most hellish slaughterhouse, it's not unusual for a whale to take over an hour to finally die. With a fiendish abuse of language, this atrocity has been labeled by pro-whaling states as "harvest" or "culling," and any dissent is dismissed as "emotional."

It's high time to make all whale species off-limits to slaughter and to acknowledge them as unique beings that are fully deserving of inherent rights. It's now been empirically shown that the cetaceans (whales and dolphins) possess such a high order of sentience that they can't rationally be designated as some "product" to be butchered, bartered, or compromised.

If mankind is going to continue in benefiting from the gifts that the ocean offers, we must recognize that no nation or cartel of nations should be allowed to dominate the seas and deplete its bounty at the expense of the future. Experience and knowledge are there to reveal the boundaries of not only sustainability, but of sentience and sanity as well. We must now realize that this threshold has been breached by Japan with its continuing assault upon the world's whales and its accompanying lust to eliminate what's left of the oceans. This must be stopped, not revived.

It's Time to Connect the (Oily) Dots

A huge oil rig off Loisiana explodes and sinks causing a gigantic (and growing) oil leak. Wasn't it just a month ago that Obama talked about opening up more locations for off shore drilling (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/31/science/earth/31energy.html)? This went in direct opposition of what he said in 2008: "When I’m president, I intend to keep in place the moratorium here in Florida and around the country that prevents oil companies from drilling off Florida’s coasts. That’s how we can protect our coastline and still make the investments that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil and bring down gas prices for good.”

Well, any sort of illusion that the Obama administration in conjunction with big oil (because let's face it, everyone KNOWS by now that big oil has their fingers deep into the governmental body of America) wanted to pull over Americans' eyes isn't going to be very easy now. Offshore drilling is not only barely regulated, unsafe for workers, and contributing to global warming, it is also HORRIBLY UNSAFE for the environment as a whole.

So, let's connect the dots and see the disastrous effects of off shore drilling once and for all…

Here are some pictures to illustrate the outcomes of an industry not regulated nearly enough…

In this aerial photo (above) taken in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana's tip, oil is seen near the site last week's collapse and spill of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig Wednesday, April 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

One thing that mainstream media is doing is saying that this could result in a "possible environmental disaster" if the oil reaches shore. They fail to realize that the ocean is itself an ecosystem and that all of this oil is killing living creatures RIGHT NOW. They should be saying that the oil leak could cause "possible economic disaster"; these are two different and sometimes linked issues. A large portion of the ocean environment is going to be destroyed regardless of what happens in the coming days. Whether or not 'viable fishing industries' will be hurt is yet to be determined.

So make your voice heard. Talk about this issue and let's DEMAND that offshore drilling no longer happens and that opening NEW SITES for it is NOT the answer. Obama has shown Americans that he cannot be trusted at his word on the oil issue and it is incredibly obvious where his interests lie (with oil giants) and where they don't (with the environment and people of the world).

Be the Green Fire

Alliances have changed the course of history, they have both won and lost battles of the political and the personal. Alliances are key to every victory, and this is no different when it comes to the battle to save the planet. The environment is being destroyed by the current way the planet is run and the people who run it. Saving the ecosystems of this planet can only be done if the current system of power falls. As long as nature is seen in terms of profit and resources it can never be preserved. The capitalist pocketbook is too intricately tied to the system that controls all things, nature included.

So, what am I saying? A radical environmentalist, often referring to herself in the anti-civilization group talking about alliances? I speak of other radicals, with minds much the same as those who cherish the environment. People who care not only for the social aspects of things (workers’ rights, LGBT rights, women’s rights etc.) but also for the natural world. Their causes are causes that most, if not all, environmentalists I have met agree with. Our cause is one that most, if not all of this group I have ever met, agree with as well. The end goal for the environmentalist? A sustainable way of living upon this planet that preserves as much life as possible in both the human and non-human fronts. The end goal of the other group of which I speak is a way of life that could, and should result in attaining the goal of the environmentalists as well. The goals are intricately intertwined and thus, so should our movements be.

What is this other movement I speak of? Socialism. Two months ago I knew what socialism was, but not in an active way. I didn't know much about the modern socialist movement or what their views relating to a modern world were. My beliefs and actions crossed paths with socialists, their movements, and members on occasion but for whatever reason I never delved into a conversation with someone who considered themselves a socialist. That all changed a month or so ago when I bumped into an old friend that through conversation has opened my eyes to not only socialism as a modern practice and future goal for government but has forced me to look at my environmental beliefs through a new lens. On Earth Day I went to a panel hosted by ISO (International Socialist Organization) on the college campus in the city where I live.

That panel resulted in me realizing that the goals of the environmental and socialist movements are quite similar in practice. Numbers are a problem for both movements and the more people involved in either helps the cause. Below I give you excerpts from both socialist-leaning literature and environmental literature. These excerpts help to not only inspire action but also to show the similarities between movements. They help to alleviate the fear that I held (and feel many environmentalists hold) about the lack of ecological focus in the Socialist movement.

First are three excerpts from books that lean toward the Socialist Perspective:

Excerpt from: The Enemy of Nature, The End of Capitalism or The End of the World? By Joel Kovel:

“Ecological thinking concerns relationships, and the structures and flows between them. At one level, this is mere common sense; at another, it turns the world upside down and commits us to a world-view and philosophy of nature very much at odds with the dominant system. Nature as such vastly exceeds the phenomena of life, yet life may be justly regarded as being at the same time both a special case of nature, and, in a way we only dimly perceive, as a potential of nature—something that nature generates under specific circumstances. Life is unitary, in the sense that the basic molecular architectures of humans, redwoods and slime moulds all indicate a common ancestor. Yet life is also inconceivably—to our dim awareness—multiform, in a profusion that has arisen over 3.5 billion years through ceaseless interactions between living creatures, and with their non-living surround. It follows that all ecosystems that contain living beings also relate to the rest of nature, whether this be other creatures, the immediate surround of molecular, atomic or sub-atomic realms, or the extension of nature into the cosmos.” (91)

Here, an excerpt from John Bellamy Foster’s The Ecological Revolution: “It is a sign of the growing influence of environmental issues that in recent years numerous thinkers, from Plato to Gandhi, have had their work reevaluated in relation to ecological analysis. Yet, it is in relation to Marx’s work that the largest and most controversial body of literature can be found, far overshadowing the debate over all other thinkers. This literature (insofar as it takes environmental issues seriously) has fallen into four camps: (1) those who contend that Marx’s thought was anti-ecological from beginning to end and indistinguishable from Soviet practice; (2) those who claim that Marx provided illuminating insights into ecology but ultimately succumbed to “Prometheanism” (pro-technological, anti-ecological views)—a corollary being that he believed that environmental problems should be eliminated as a result of the “abundance” that would characterize postcapitalist society; (3) those who argue that Marx provided an analysis of ecological degradation within agriculture, which remained, however, segregated off from his core social analysis; and (4) those who insist that Marx developed a systematic approach to nature and to environmental degradation (particularly in relation to the fertility of the soil) that was intricately bound to the rest of his thought and raised the question of ecological sustainability.” (167)

Another excerpt from Foster’s book: “The goal of ecological revolution, as I shall present it here, has as its initial premise that we are in the midst of a global environmental crisis of such enormity that the web of life of the entire planet is threatened and with it the future of civilization. This is no longer a very controversial proposition. To be sure, there are different perceptions about the extent of the challenge that this raises. At one extreme, there are those who believe that since these are human problems arising from human causes they are easily solvable. All we need is ingenuity and the will to act. At the other extreme, there are those who believe that the world ecology is deteriorating on a scale and with a rapidity beyond our means to control, giving rise to the gloomiest of forebodings. Although often seen as polar opposites, these views nonetheless share a common basis. As Paul Sweezy observed, they each reflect ‘the belief that if present trends continue to operate, it is only a matter of time until the human species irredeemably fouls its own nest.’” (253)

As you can see from the above examples not only is the environment something that is thought of quite extensively by those that are a part of the socialist movement (and people that are against capitalism in general), but the end views are really not that different from those who consider themselves environmentalists. See the excerpts below for environmentalist perspectives.

An excerpt from Derrick Jensen and George Draffan’s book Strangely Like War: “Nineteen ninety-five was the year I finally understood how the U.S. political system works, and at the same time realized how irredeemable are that system and the culture at large. That was also the year many indigenous friends said to me, ‘What took you so long to figure that out?’ They’d had plenty of experience opposing this system—five hundred and some years of resistance to this culture and its environmental and cultural degradation—and had long since apprehended the truth in Red Cloud’s words: ‘They made us many promises, more than I can remember. But they never kept but one. They promised to take our land and they took it.’…But as is always the case when attempting to stop our culture from destroying some part of wild nature, all losses are permanent, and all factories temporary. Winning a timber-sale appeal doesn’t mean stopping a timber sale. It doesn’t mean protecting a piece of ground. It means protecting a piece of ground for the year or two it takes the Forest Service to write up another EA, this time trying harder to bamboozle us. The score today is less than 5 percent of the ancient forest in the United States remains.”

Here is part of an interview between Derrick Jensen and Dave Foreman (“For more than twenty years Dave Foreman has been at the forefront of the conservation movement, working where political activism intersects with ecological philosophy. In the 1970s, believing that the best way to preserve wilderness was to work within the system, he became the Southwest regional representative of The Wilderness Society. In 1980, disillusioned by the inability of mainstream conservation organizations to halt the destructive forces within our culture, he confounded Earth First! The goal of Earth First! Was to help develop a biocentric worldview and to translate that philosophy into action by fighting with uncompromising passion for the earth”) that appears in the book Listening to the Land By: Derrick Jensen. “Derrick Jensen: What will it take for us to survive? Dave Foreman: Courage. In my speeches I talk about what Aldo Leopold called green fire. When Aldo Leopold was young he used to shoot any Wolf he saw, and years later, in A Sand County Almanac, he wrote how the death of one of those Wolves changed his life. He said, ‘We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes. I realized then, and have known ever since, that there was something new to me in those eyes—something known only to her and to the mountain. I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing that green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.’ We need that green fire in our eyes. Somehow we’ve got to remember how to think like a mountain, and somehow to speak for the Wolf. Each of us is an animal, and a child of this earth. Each of us has responsibility to all other animals and plants and to the process of evolution that created us. All of us alive now are members of the most important generation of human beings who have ever lived, because we’re determining the future, not just for a hundred years, but for a billion years. When we cut a huge limb off the tree of natural diversity, we’re forever halting the evolutionary potential of that branch of life. That’s what it fundamentally comes down to. Nobody has ever lived who is more important.”

So, what’s my point? Don’t write off people because they don’t identify themselves in the same ‘ism’ as you do. Socialism, anarchism, environmentalism…the list goes on and on. Many of these movements have similar goals that include bringing down the destructive and dominant system that is killing personal integrity, freedom, the environment, and many other things. Where would the harm be in aligning ourselves with groups that have similar goals and an overall care for life (be it human animals, plants, or other life forms)? Agreeing on every topic is hardly the point. Hasn’t conserving the environment always been the goal? I’ve heard so many environmentalists say “by whatever means necessary”. Well, here is a means. Here, in the socialists is a group of caring individuals with goals that intertwine in many instances with those of the environmental movement. Why not join ranks, work together, share knowledge and ideas…and bring this fucked up system down once and for all?

Let’s find the green fire that Aldo Leopold spoke of. Let’s be the fire. Revolution is near; the line in the sand is drawn. Capitalism, destructors of the environment, and violators of all things natural and good on one side, we on the other. Let’s grasp hands with our brothers and sisters and fight together.

My Second Up North Adventure, Day 3 of 3

I’ve only been here two and a half days but it feels like I’ve already lost myself—no, that phrasing is almost entirely wrong—perhaps I have already FOUND myself again. Me—the person who laughs as the quirky chipmunk outside cleans off his tail after stepping through some unsightly matter or another—me—that strains my ears for the haunting call of the loon. Me, who sprints from the house with my binoculars as dusk sets in hard because I see water birds of some sort far out on the bay. Me that spends hours staring intently at deer tracks wondering how old they are…me that is disgusted with myself for loving this place, this land, so much—yet only spending (at most) three weeks a year here. I feel like my soul knows this place but my mind does not—and I’m disgusted with that fact.

I have to leave today in order to be at my childhood home tomorrow for Easter—a holiday I don’t believe in but a family that I do. A family that doesn’t question me when I head to this house up north alone…a family that may silently worry about my perpetual loner status but does not say a word (well, they don’t say MANY words. There are of course the occasional hookup attempts by my mother and the mentions of future nieces and nephews by my father). They put up with me, and sure they only selectively listen when I go on spiels about the environment, but at least they listen at all.

I hate the city for all of the obvious reasons and love this place for all of the obvious reasons as well, but there’s more to it than that (as is always the case with love and hate). I have many great friends in the city, but none of them truly grasp my beliefs (and, well, the facts) about the environment and civilization. SOME will humor me and half listen as I explain my passions, but most won’t even do that.

Here in the woods with no human companionship I find many who agree and understand. Here, be it the chipmunk , the merganser, the birch or the eagle, they all not only understand, but agree. Here the wind wraps me in hugs of understanding. Here my muse is not smothered beneath concrete and light pollution.

I don’t want to go “home” when I know deep down that I am actually leaving it.

I took all of the pictures in this post and added frames using Adobe InDesign.

My Second Up North Adventure, Day 2 of 3

Second day…morning.

You’d think that small rodents in the forest (squirrels, chipmonks, etc.) would be stealthy to avoid predation, but perhaps in these times they lack predation. (Not perhaps, I guess, they DO lack predation). I can hear them jumping around in last fall’s dried leaves from quite a distance.

People always muse “why didn’t you just stay there?” when talking to a friend about a vacation they took to one paradise or another—I’ve wondered that myself—even planned (preliminarily) to move to some of those places. Well, today I got to thinking—I’m IN one of those places now—Northern Wisconsin, land of more than ten thousand lakes (take THAT Minnesota).

Why is it that people are obviously aware that the places they live in are not “paradises” but instead of trying to make them back into the beautiful places they once were they travel to other places, not yet entirely destroyed?

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Sound travels like magic on a northern lake. I hear a common merganser (not common at all on this lake) calling—in a lonely way from a point I can barely make out with binoculars. Perhaps he or she landed on the wrong lake, and cannot find the mate they assumed would be waiting. Perhaps it’s the right lake and they were separated and the other will not make it this year, or ever again.

This is definitely not a bad way to spend a morning—I am sitting a foot away from the lake watching wood ducks and what has now become a pair of common mergansers (no more lonely calls!) I have a water bottle, binoculars, notebook, camera, and two books (Rewild or Die By: Urban Scout and Behind the Dolphin Smile By: Richard O’Barry). The sun is shining warm on me in a tshirt in Northern Wisconsin on April 2^nd. Global warming, a myth you say?

All of the images are pictures I took myself and then added frames to using InDesign:)

My Second (and short) Up North Adventure, Day 1 of 3

Thursday Afternoon—I arrive in Northern Wisconsin

There’s something magical about the north woods

In early spring.

The snow has wandered slowly away

But the buds on the trees still lack the courage

To make an appearance.

Wind blows through bare birch limbs mimicking

The sound of traffic.

Or, perhaps, reminding all that

Will listen about the evils cars bring.

The birds are back, singing

To one another tales of migration’s perils.

Night:

I am in Northern Wisconsin tonight (a girl can only take so much city). The amount of wildlife (namely birds) here right now is insane. I typically don’t see this many birds in a week—and I’ve seen them in a day. My hypothesis is that this is as far north as the migrating populations have gotten so far. I am no expert at recognizing birds (but I do take an interest and have a bird book next to me right now) and I’m even worse at identifying bird song—but here are the birds I have RECOGNIZED thus far. There are far more than on this list, I have been hearing bird song today like nothing I have ever heard before—

• Hooded merganser
• Common merganser
• Mallard
• Wood Duck
• Robin
• Blue Jay
• Crow
• Vulture
• Mourning Dove

I so wish that I was better with bird song, that’s something I’ll have to find a way to work on when I get back home. I have heard no loons yet, but they were in Madison WI last week,and the mergansers are here—so I assume they will be back soon.

There are all sorts of impossibly small birds flitting about—smaller than sparrows. I wonder what they are called.

I was actually just standing on the deck a few minutes ago with the bird book trying to figure out what was what when a wood duck almost flew right into me. I think we were both just as startled when we realized the close call.

This gets me wondering if this is how things used to be—did birds used to be this plentiful here year round? Are the constant bird songs I’m hearing the conversations between lasts of some species? Now I wish I had brought bird seed along to help them on their journeys.

It’s now time for coffee, a post-run shower and poetry memorization for the poetry slam on April 17 I am competing in! I am so happy for this vacation, even if it is short.

Oh! Before I go, did I mention I saw a BUTTERFLY while I was running today?!