The Rant: The oil, the law.

There are two major issues that have been on my mind. One is the disastrous result of offshore drilling in the Gulf of Mexico that is leaking between 20,000 and 100,000 barrels of oil per day into the ocean. This oil is already killing significant numbers of wild life and sea creatures, is sure to be the cause of many more uncounted, deaths moving forward, and will surely result in the destruction of huge swaths of sensitive shoreline areas and beaches. The other issue is Immigration Law SB1070 that was just passed in Arizona. What it reflects about law enforcement and the penal system in this country is something that needs to be addressed. These two issues present what I see as the two most important issues of our time: sustainability and, what I call, the rights of beings. In the organs of these terms lies the uncomfortable spirit we find surrounding us in these United States of Exponential Waste. I'm going to keep it short.

In regards to the disaster in the Gulf: It is painfully clear that we have to move towards renewable energy; like solar, wind and hydro-electrical systems. Every thing else is just plain stupid. The earth will survive what we have done to it but life as we know it, and the beings we share that life with, will cease to exist pretty quickly if we don't stop this madness and start allowing the environment to heal from all the toxicity we continue to spew into it in untold quantities on a minute to minute basis. The fact that no one has really even brought up the reality that what has transpired in the Gulf is an environmental tragedy is disheartening, to put it mildly. I hear people use the words tragedy and disaster but I don't hear the explicit expression of outrage that is warranted. The bio sphere and the interrelationships between the beings of this planet and it's natural resources are EXACTLY like the relationship between various organs, cells, neurons, tendons, bones, blood etc. in the human body. You can't inject rat poison into your liver and expect good results, right? Same thing with the planet, just on a bigger and slower scale when compared to the human body and sense of time and life span.
Oysters, for example, are natural filters for shoreline waters. We flood oysters with oil, they die trying to clean it up. The downside of poisoning oysters with oil, aside from eating dinosaur blood (joke) with your blue-point's on the half shell, is that a crucial part of the eco-system has been weakened and very likely wiped out in the effected area. In many cases of 'environmental terrorism' some species completely die out; bees, oysters, and sea turtles are some that are coming really close.

This brings us to the concept of 'The Rights of Beings'. We need to start seeing the various organisms of this planet, plants above and below water included, as having rights just as we think of human rights. I'm not suggesting that we encourage parrots to testify in court. The idea is that beings should be able to exist as each is designed to. If Tigers hunt, let them hunt. If Zebras graze, let them graze. At this point the balance of the earth and protection of natural resources does not appear to rank very highly when it comes to personal or governmental decisions regarding war, waste management, public policy, education, or business. This lack of consideration is a problem. What is meant when we talk about the rights of beings and sustainability is that we as a global community we be best served to allow this earth to sustain us and make sure that our lifestyle does not interfere with the regeneration and natural healing process of the planet. We have to allow for the myriad beings to exist with the land and have access to the earth's natural resources.

Now, as matter of regulation and policy specifically regarding off shore drilling, we must confront the reality that these huge oil companies like BP, Exxon etc. are allowed to wield such power over our environment without any significant accountability. They wield highly dangerous and destructive tools, like machines that drill miles below the ocean, without proper regard for the environmental impact or proper oversight over drilling operations and planning. The primary regulatory body, the Federal Minerals and Management Service, is completely corrupted. The fact that oil companies regularly buy inspectors for the Minerals and Management Service vacation packages and the like, and that one of the most highly ranked rig inspectors often went to inspections high on crystal methamphetamine, are not reassuring factoids. The bottom line is we as a people should have the right to deny these massive, private corporations from committing environmental crimes, and if crimes are perpetrated by these corporations there have to be prison sentences not symbolic fines and a slap on the wrist. If a regulatory body is complicit in a crime the parties within that body should face legal prosecution as well.

In terms of the Immigration law I hardly know where to begin but the basic problem in my eyes is that the law is a big step towards entrenching this pervasive police state that has developed. The over policing of communities of color and immigrant populations is disgusting; a practice that is a direct continuation of American slavery. Public schools in minority communities in New York city, for example, are basically 'farm teams' for the prison system and military.
It's time we start speaking out strongly against measures like this. We can't let our civil liberties be stripped away. Police and law enforcement should serve the interests of civilians. As of now, especially in New York, Police lord over the population; menacing and threatening peaceful civilians and dragging people off the street for highly questionable reasons.

That's the rub. I've been trying to get this one out for a WHILE. To be continued...