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!

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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