President Obama’s speech tonight about the crisis in the gulf was one of the weakest he has ever given. It is the first time Obama has addressed the people from the oval office.
I was hoping to hear at least a ballpark figure about what he would demand from BP for an escrow fund. No figure. No demands.
I was hoping to hear specifics about what was going to happen next. But other than his assurance that the government would stand by the people of the gulf until it was “better than before,” the speech was sadly lacking in details. He talked about severing our dependence on fossil fuels and transitioning to clean energy. It sounds good – clean energy, like using mouth wash or brushing your teeth. But other than mentioning solar power and wind turbines, there weren’t specifics.
He mentioned that we send nearly 1 BILLION a day to other countries for their oil.
He mentioned absolutely nothing about how workers are getting sick – vomiting, nausea, chest pains, dizziness, frequent asthma attacks. He mentioned nothing about how when workers use safety equipment distributed by local agencies, they are told to remove the gear or be fired. He mentioned nothing about the 1,100,000 gallons of dispersants that have been used in the gulf and its possible impact on the health of workers, residents of the gulf, and the wildlife.
One curious item that Obama did mention is that within a couple of days, 90 percent of the leaking oil will be captured, and all of it will be contained when BP completes drilling of two accessory wells. As Olbermann noted, where did that figure come from? BP? If so, why should he or anyone else believe anything that BP says at this point?
In fact, Obama left out so much that at the end of his speech Rob and I just looked at each other, got up, and went back to work.
Susan Shaw, director of the Marine Environmental Research Institute, “The deep ocean is what’s at risk.We’re destroying the food web and we’re poisoning what’s left. If we remove the bottom of the food web, then everything else on top is going to crash.”
As Rachel Maddow noted, Obama’s speech tonight may best be remembered for its reference to prayer. The blessing of the fleet is apparently an old tradition on the gulf, where clergy from different religions come together to pray for the safety of the fishermen and the gulf. It was as if Obama was saying that prayer will get us through this. Well, maybe, maybe not. Prayer or not, right action should also be part of the picture. And as long as BP remains in control – of the cleanup, the media coverage, the lack of safety equipment – the gulf will be in jeopardy.
But does the reference to prayer brings us back to Masaru Emoto?
– Trish
I totally agree, Ray, about fund raising/big business. That's interesting about Vietnam and all the denials. On the denial score, nothing has changed in all these years. That's sad.
Obama did do one thing that Bush and most presidents before him have done. He hired staff and cabinet who are more loyal to him than to the United States and at the same time loyal to big business. Something has to be done to separate fund raising from governing.
The BP fish farm reminds me of Agent Orange. Come to think of it one man involved in the cleanup said he has the same symptoms as when he was exposed to Agent Orange.
When I was in Vietnam I wasn't in a place where chemicals were in use, but as a diabetic I am eligible for disability just because I was in Vietnam even though it can't be proven that it is the cause of my condition. The government denied, denied, denied for so long until finally giving up and not making anyone prove cause and effect.
Ray
Just found a synchonicity…The Boss.
He wrote a song about the toxic State of New Jersey. Understanding the problem he can get people to hear…
Instead of hoping he'll read this I'll find him on the net and tell the story.
Peace and Love
https://fightforyourhealth.blogspot.com
Aloha,
Still working on my project thanks and mahalos for reading this.
BP is a corporate fish farm operator, through a different name. 3 weeks ago Du Ponte patented a plant that has a trait to cause the fish to become more fatty. I wonder if they tell us all the traits in all the other patents. We only know what they tell us.
I think that is very Frankenfishy.
Just learned tonite age 2 – 5 years was living in a toxic fume. Pompton Lakes, NJ; soon to be in the EPA's Super Fund thanks to Du Ponte.
If you checked out my blog you'll see that's what I am all about.
The illnesses come out over time when you are poisoned unless you are me and then it's as soon as I touch any toxin.
There is hope for the people that live in the Gulf area…but it will take the medical community to break their chains and our reps to stand up to their benefactors. This will help the entire world and then we can work together to clean and replenish.
All the corporations know it can be fixed; that's what they are betting on.
This month is a month to be purposely positive so those above will be receptive to the truth we all know & share; the only alternative.
Aloha,
Notice the wheeled containers and I had the dream 4 years ago. I thought of the idea 13 years ago.
My idea is to make these huge wheeled containers that will slowly roll along, down hill, while dropping worm casings and worm water. We all seperate our trash as best we can and use our garbage to feed the worms. By the second pass the soil should be ready to support life.
Advantages:
the complete recycling of our garbage
life put back in the soil
restoration of the land from the plantations destruction
a new direction with the community directedly involved in the success
We can use the old and unused containers from the plantation when they go out of business or we can let them run the worm restoration project…Growing GMOs as biofuel would continue the destruction. If the workers and company of HC&S want to continue working this is the WAY. And if there is any biofuel grown it must be native of Maui. For me I want to see pi'li grass grown, which is just about gone and extinct in Hawaii in the wild state. This is the grass that is used to make a Hale pi'li. The Hawai'ian will celebrate on that day. A return of one of the basic resources to life, material to make a home.
Worms can eat everthing except metal, glass and plastic. They sterlize the garbage.
https://www.icewatch.ca/english/wormwatch/about/ecology.html worm watch
As with mycelium (fungus like mushrooms) ecology repair; worms need to come from the same area where they are used to repair the soil. Native Hawaiian worms No ka oi.
Hope I didn't upset you with my dream but it may be a eye opener for me,and then there's this, all because of a baby orangutan thrown in a trash can left to die.
Made an entire forest destroyed by man area come back environmentally.
excellent…I hope to do this for Maui soon. Aloha, Kim
https://www.ted.com/talks/willie_smits_restores_a_rainforest.html
i cannot even fathom ANYone with a lucid mind entertaining even a syllable that spews off barton's twisted tongue –
and has there been any word at all on the media about the poor shrimp in the keys? and just as an aside, i did see the a week or so ago that the boys with the hay solution as well as kevin kostner [with some sort of potential solution he has] were headed to the gulf to try to help but haven't heard anything since – notwithstanding that i am watching very very little coverage these days with the exception of olbermann and maddow occasionally
wv= i o u n b – i owe you in b???
typed it in incorrectly and new wv= diradmic – dire administration ??? or dire epidemic ? sorry, i digressed a bit!
Barton is pathetic, his entire apology to BP was just beyond the twilight zone. Already, fishermen have deserted the keys. Apparently oil was discovered on some shrimp. I'm really thinking this is the death of the gulf.
I heard on NPR this afternoon that Admiral Allen keeps having to adjust his statements as BP adjusts what it tells him.
The worst politician I have heard on the oil spill was Rep. Barton of Texas who apologized to BP (called beyond pernicious in a political cartoon) for Obama "shaking down a private company." The same private company this ranking Republican member of the energy committiie who own a whole lot of BP stock.
Sadly, when the oil stops flowing and the Gulf is still dead and the coast still polluted the 24/7 news coverage will stop and only those who live in Gulf Coast states will be thinking about it. Out of sight out of mind.
Mel Brooks had it right when the credits to one of his movies in stead of saying Gulf and Western called the company Engulf and Devour. Substitute the name of any multi national and its wholy owned government subsidiary and that is exactly what you get.
Ray
Bill. Uh-oh. & yes, the environmental aspect seems a lot more probable than the nuclear aspect.
oh, and trish, my visions of a domed world also were more environmentally oriented than nuclear, as well – they are as clear to me today as if they had happened this morning –
wv=apdoit!
love rachel M!!!
she just tells it like it is – and/or should be!!!
wv=tribils= troubles? or trials – or try bill?
perhaps that's my "bill" dream the other night, trish? –
For those who were disappointed in Obama's placid Oval Office address, listen to Rachel Maddow's rewrite of the speech. I wish Obama had the guts to say what she said.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/06/17/rachel-maddows-oval-offic_n_615515.html
Hmmm – well now, someone is being fanatical, fo sho…open discussion increases consciousness and might lead to positive outcomes – saying nothing certainly doesn't help. I'm stricty apolitical, a Protestant anarchist if you will. It is the lack of steps being taken to remedy this cluster-"headache" that everyone is commenting on. Tell you what – take a walk – you will find two pennies heads-up today – if you look long enough. That can be your synchro fix while the rest of us continue putting our heads together and imagining solutions.
Ed, if you don't like our rants, go hang out at the Tea Party blogs, where you'll be more comfortable.
That post was okay. Your comments following were really divisive and negated what you posted – Obama needs to step up what he's doing is the essence of what was in the post and many comments. To those comments, you went on a fanatical rant about how none of this is his fault. Fault is not the issue right now. Solutions and effective leadership are. I guess there is no reasoning with fanatics though whether they be religious or political ones. It is those attitudes that are clouding the waters while the focus should be fixing this mess. I guess I assumed from some of the other content you guys were less fanatical and more open minded. Won't make that mistake again.
ED
Ed, go back and read the post again. You'll see that your comments are off base. There's nothing in the post about Republicans, evil or otherwise. It's about Obama's weak presentation. In the comments that follow, yes. And so what?
Ed – there are synchronicities in mass events and the gulf mess is definitely a mass event. As much as most of us would like to separate life from politics, it's not possible. These days, the two are inseparable. What is happening in the larger world is a reflection of what is happening internally for each of us.
you miss the point entirely. All the washington crowd, no matter what affiliation, got us here. Blindly defending yours and bashing theirs doesn't do any good. I'm anti party either way so I don't have a dog in the fight in that regard. I do in this gulf mess though as we all do and I expect leadership and not excuses (out of all involved, not just the President). I vote for people, not parties and I don't buy the its all the other party's fault stuff coming from either side. The bigger point is while this is your blog, your political rants are way off topic from what you claim the blog is about. I once came to this blog daily b/c it was a nice distraction from all that stuff on the news sites. Now I tend not to visit as often b/c it is lately you guys getting political more than anything else. People don't come to your site for politics or religion. I hope I've explained what I meant w/o touching off whole new thread.
Ed
Ed, it's not what an evil republican would've done, it's what they DID DO…for eight years. Anyone taking office after W would've walked into a disaster. That's not partisan garbage, it's the truth.
How sad that instead of judging this pres on his actions you focus on hollow promises and justify any mistakes by supposing what an evil republican would have done. Its mindsets like that (and on both sides of the aisle) that are ruining us. He's floundering. He's the man in charge and he's not taking charge. What anyone else would do is irrelevant. Drop the partisan garbage please. It really distracts from an otherwise interesting blog.
Ed
yes, i thought so, too!!! 😉
that's some WV, Gypsy!
might i add my praises for these words from your own comment, macgregors:
Don't get me wrong, Connie. Obama is smart, and his handling of this crisis is far better than anything anyone else would have done. McCain would've nuked the sucker. Bush would've hidden out at his ranch. I just wanted to see a more commanding presence in that speech.
The fundamental problem is that Obama is dealing with a situation that started in 1980 with Reagan – when everything was pretty much deregulated. This situation worsened under every subsequent president. And then, of course, is that we've become a nation ruled by corporations. That's really obvious when you see these oil CEOs in front of congress.
wv= gulable!
oh, good grief!! how in the world did i miss this post when i was here earlier??? but – never mind that – ditto all in your post! a great, straight forward recap – i did end up watching some of the speech – most toward the end – and a bit of olbermann and maddow – good point about the percentage thing, which i remember wondering about when i heard that being quoted – thanks so much for keeping us all abreast in such a great fashion, macgregors!
Interesting post – for me to see it from a US perspective.
As for the speech, which I haven't seen. All I can really add is that it is reported in the UK that the President and our Prime Minister Cameron discussed the BP situation on Sunday … read into that what you will.
Thanks to all for the pithy and relevant comments. Prayer is great – I'm glad he came out with that much since God is such a taboo for this modern and p.c. nation. However, as my parents often told us, God helps those who help themselves. And this is where we're coming up short – like, why do such a stupid thing to begin with? Despite such a high level of environmental concern these days, why would it be allowed, to punch a hole in the ocean floor with no feasible emergency plans? And tell me this, folks – why aren't we accepting any and all country's offers of help? This is a disaster of stellar proportions – damn the cost and political considerations – we'll deal with that later – call in anyone and everyone who can do anything at all to help with this. Denmark, Saudi Arabia, South Africa – hell, call in the Chinese and North Koreans if they can be of help. This is not the time to fret over beans and budgets – ACT NOW. When the house is on fire – you don't worry about the water bill or who's holding the hose.
Robur – interesting parallels with the movie! These synchros between movies/novels and real life happen a lot.
Terri, I wonder if your friends who called you silly for voting for Obama voted for McCain/Palin. If that combo had been elected, we can only imagine the current scenario. McCain has shown himself to be an angry, defiant old man, and Palin is beyond silly. She even denies her own campaign slogan, 'Drill, baby, drill.' As if she never said it. And, blames the Greenies for the oil spill. Go figure.
This weekend I had the interesting experience of chatting with a variety of people I call friends. One specifically is planning his life because the world will end and humanity (as we know it) will cease to exist in 2012. Others were vocal in their support of the "drill-baby-drill" spokesperson for the "teaparty" movement. I was considered silly for admitting I voted for Obama.
In my personal life there are also huge dramas unfolding around me. None are within my control, all are specific to the actions of others, some are pretty horrific. The theme between my personal life and the explosion and subsequent sludge and poison in the gulf is consistent, as I perceive all these multiple layers of consciousness and growth for Gaia and humanity. Decades or more of an imbalance within systems devised by humans that are not in harmony with nature and nurture, are now exploding. The pressure has become intense.
I did not see our president speak from the Oval Office on TV. I probably won't have time to view it via the web any time soon. But I do understand he's not superman and can't just suck up the crud or reverse time to repair the problem before this disaster began. Obama may be in a position of power at a global level but he is only one man who has to work with committees. That's how our government was designed by our forefathers. No dictatorships allowed though some presidents have bent those boundaries in the past. Obama may have the greatest technology and human resources at his disposal, but he's in his early 40's.
I was 43 when all life as I knew it changed in a horrible accident. No one died, but the impact of that split second in time is still rippling through my life to this day, 7+ years later. It is a microcosm story in relation to the the macrocosm events of the gulf oil spill. But the themes are identical and the journey of the soul on an individual level I now see reflected in a greater human tragedy.
So from my own experience, of what I experienced, the commander-in-chief is still in a state of shock at something he had no control over, but it is still his job to rectify. He could be fluctuating between grief and anger, while still juggling a dozen balls in the air, as I did…
I was truly living in a world that was so beyond my worst nightmare and I was expected to make it better. I had the skills, the knowledge, the determination, and resources to effect substantial change. I also had others working against the miracle I knew was possible. It didn't happen, though 8 years later, I can see the amazing progress and potential that is so much greater than even I could imagine – then…
I got by with a little help from my friends. So I'm going to continue to hold my intent that Obama will get there too, and create a greater change for the America of today, and maybe the theme of this will be the same. In less years than possible, the potential will be greater than any of us can envision today.
We will see. My own personal life is not there yet, but it may be. And so my country, and so my world.
In the film Superman III, an oil tanker, which was unfortunately named 'British Reliance', was punctured off the East Coast of America. The film says 'the brunt of the spill hits the East coast'. Here are couple of screenshots:
https://lh6.ggpht.com/_zI6sJryPv0s/TBcd8LvGkII/AAAAAAAACdE/N3Q-_e2c088/superman3-oilspill.jpg
The computer controlling the ship was owned by a company called Web-Coe. Themes in the film included a commentary on the power of global corporations; and also the idea of technology and computers running things, throughout the world, a world-wide-web.
The 'real cause' of the gulf disaster is actually Fate. This is the Dark Side of the Goddess – Black Tara in action. And no puns on 'Black Tar' please.
In the fantasy, Superman sucked the oil back, in some way. Don't ask me how!
[I made a typo in the previous post; hope this one is OK]
I'm sorry I missed it, but glad you gave such a nice recap. I am disappointed in Obama's constant nod to the very people who created the problems we are facing, whether it be Wall Street or Big Oil. He doesn't seem to have what it takes to go against the status quo. I know that he has been handed a Perfect Storm since taking office, but he promised CHANGE. As for the Gulf – I think all we have left is prayer.
I couldn't have said it better myself. I don't know what I expected, but I didn't get it from this speech. No specifics. Nothing but pray over the Gulf. I am rapidly losing my hopes that anything will change… ever… for the better, only for the worse. And that's not a good attitude for change.
Rainbow – my experience wasn't a dream. A friend had progressed us into future lives. https://ofscarabs.blogspot.com/2009/11/domed-city.html
Your dream is intriguing on so many levels. Scary levels. Was it recent?
I have had the same dream…kind of…Military men going around in desolation picking up bodies and throwing them in a roller cart…I saw one throw a child in and said "he's not dead" and the man said "He will be"…I then went home and made sure all the covers around my doors and windows were keeping out the outsides poisons.
I really appreciated that you focused on the illnesses…because that is the problem…everyone ignoring the health effects of toxins in our environment; in the Gulf and in everything else we come in contact with.
fightforyourhealth.blogspot.com
So sad, but perhaps too true. And who can know where those domes may be located? Or when? I can't help but wonder how much impact the situation in the Gulf is having on all those earthquakes in S. CA. A 5.7 last night, still being followwed by hundreds of smaller aftershocks. Everything is so connected; the planet's grids that we don't see but that are nonetheless there, all interwoven.
I suppose Obama is doing the best he can with the tools at his disposal. I just hope to see more true progress soon, though. Tough summer for millions all over. cjc
The longer it continues, Connie, the more inclined I am to think that the reason I saw myself in a future life, living in a domed city, is due to an environmental disaster. Not nuclear. Environmental. And I'm beginning to wonder if that disaster, whatever it was/is, began with the death of the gulf.
Trish, I'm not comparing Obama to anyone else who might be in his place. I am speaking of the man himself and no one else. Anyone who had been elected in this term would have inherited the abysmal mistakes that have accumulated during the past several years. But, in my opinion, Obama could do more than he is doing, or at the very least, could show a more powerful persona than he is choosing to show. As stated, I'm not comparing him to anyone. I would like to see HIM take greater charge, more than he is doing, and he should have done so sooner rather than later. And if he doesn't get re-elected to a second term, whomever is elected is going to inherit this mess as well as all the other messes that need to be resolved. This Gulf oil spill, in and of itself, will take decades to resolve, and our ocean may never be the same. Again, imho. cjc
The recaps help me stay focused! Glad they're useful to others, too.
Great post! Thanks so much for the re-cap. I missed it, so I am catching up, on your post! Guess we'll find out more, tomorrow, when they meet. You are right about being a nation ruled by corporations!
Don't get me wrong, Connie. Obama is smart, and his handling of this crisis is far better than anything anyone else would have done. McCain would've nuked the sucker. Bush would've hidden out at his ranch. I just wanted to see a more commanding presence in that speech.
The fundamental problem is that Obama is dealing with a situation that started in 1980 with Reagan – when everything was pretty much deregulated. This situation worsened under every subsequent president. And then, of course, is that we've become a nation ruled by corporations. That's really obvious when you see these oil CEOs in front of congress.
It was easy to watch OB's eyes following the lines on his teleprompter. Any faith I may have had in this commander-in-chief and his administration has vanished. Incompetency doesn't begin to describe the attitudes towards this catastrophe and BP. And what will this inept Chief do if a Cat 4 or 5 hurricane hits in the Gulf this season? I shudder to contemplate such an eventuality.
Prayer certainly has benefits. But so does affirmative actions, and thus far, we've seen very little of that. Where are the people who live along the Gulf coast from Texas to Florida going to get the funds to pay for basic needs of living, since they cannot work? Red tape will hold up any monies reaching them, just as red tape has continued to keep New Orleans in dire straights since Katrina. I wonder when the American people are going to finally stand up and scream FOUL at the tops of our lungs? I don't want to see oil on my beautiful beach….and it's coming. Interesting WV: heid HIDE? cjc