June 19 is the International Day of Action against BP.
Diane Wilson is mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. She inspired about 100 of us to join her in exposing British Petroleum's unbridled greed and the naked truth behind drill baby drill. Concerned Texans from all over the state gathered, mostly nude, outside BP's Houston headquarters to drive home the message that we too, are mad as hell.
Yesterday, outraged that a member of the U.S. Senate was actively pushing to keep the liability cap for BP and all other oil companies at a minimum, Diane disrupted the Senate Energy hearing as the committee chair (and proponent of Big Oil, low liability caps and limiting the EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions) Senator Murkowski, took to the microphone. Diane belted out, "I'm a commercial fisherman from the Gulf of Mexico and we're tired of being dumped on," and poured fake oil over herself (she said if it were real oil, she might have been attacked for polluting). She was immediately arrested for illegal misconduct and will return to DC in July for her court date.
The biggest irony is that Diane Wilson goes to jail for dumping a jar of fake oil on herself and Tony Hayward -- dumper extraordinaire CEO of BP -- doesn't even have to answer to the U.S. public, and certainly not to those fisherwomen and men on the coast whose livelihoods are ruined. Anderson Cooper has invited him onto his show every day with no response. Men are dead, lives are being ruined, fish and fowl are dead or struggling for a life drenched in crude oil -- which isn't much of a life at all.
Here's what needs to happen. Tony Hayward should be arrested. BP needs to be investigated, thoroughly. Then we all need to follow Diane's lead and raise the volume on this catastrophe. The pressure on the administration and our congressional representatives to hold BP accountable for its legacy of negligence must continue, otherwise we will be paying for BP's disaster.
Today, the Murkowski resolution to block the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases was rejected 47-53 in the Senate. But we will find ourselves up in arms about another oil spill in a few years if Senator Murkowski has her way and they can write a $75 million check and be done with it). Offshore drilling was heralded by the president, supported by our tax dollars and we will watch as the drilling, the mountaintop coal removal and oils sands exploitation annihilate our planet. Diane told me, "I'm just a shrimper with a high school degree, a pile of kids and a broken-down truck. If I can stand up and make waves, so can you."
Join CODEPINK and many other activists around the world as we gather on June 19th and call for an International Day to Boycott BP and demand those responsible to be held accountable.
Follow Jodie Evans on Twitter: www.twitter.com/codepinkalert
JOHN WATHEN, ALABAMA CONSERVATIONIST: "The further we got in the Gulf and the more consistent it came, at 17 miles out, it was obvious that the entire Gulf was covered at this point.
At 23 miles out, we encountered the heaviest sheen yet. The water was a deep purple, maroon, blue. It looked almost like a rainbow. The scope of this is beyond belief. It will take years at this rate to gather up even a portion of the oil that‘s on the surface today.
...The first time I came out, I saw a fire, there was only one. Today, when we got here, there were four. Within a couple of passes, there were seven.
From the size of these fires, it seems as though we‘re not only trying to kill everything in the Gulf of Mexico but everything that flies over it as well. This toxic environment can‘t be good for the birds that fly over the Gulf.......
As we look closer, we saw this pod of dolphins, obviously struggling just to breathe. [pod1=18, pod2=36]
Then we found this guy, a sperm whale swimming in the oil had just breached along his back where you see red patches of crude as if he had been basted for broiling.
Then there was this pod of dolphins found later, some already dead, some in the death throes."
Mr. Wathen looked as though he had just returned from a funeral.
http://www.livestream.com/freespeechtv/video?clipId=flv_957819c2-e324-4d65-9951-6c360456975f
Now why wouldn't that one be such a shocker?
Until it gets so bad there's a second civil war or revolution there may be no other way to get their attention than staging publicity stunts. Politicians aren't dumb, well most aren't. They are aware of the problems, but they don't have the will to take the risk to do what needs to be done. They were elected to do a job and most ought to be fired. The current crisis state of this country IS largely the fault of their incompetence.
And
House Bill 1866, The Industrial Hemp Farming Act of 2010.
End prohibition on industrial hemp production.
Move America forward.
We all know that the people in power serve only their interest and will do nothing to rectify this horrible imbalance brought upon us by both Democrats and Republicans.
The decline of America, a true bi-partisanship effort.
When NJ tried a Boycott Exxon/Mobil campaign several years ago, it failed miserably. Only the independent Exxon/Mobile dealers were hurt. Exxon/Mobile itself thrived. Exxon/Mobile partners with LukOil and Getty. The same thing will happen to BP, their dealers will be hurt, but BP will continue to thrive.
The reason why NJ's Exxon/Mobile boycott failed is given below:
Each gasoline station is contracted to purchase 'X' amount of gasoline from their parent corporation. Any gasoline purchased above and beyond that amount can be purchased from ANY supplier. These other-party deliveries generally occur at night time. I'm sure you've seen generic or other company-named tanker trucks delivering at gas stations before.
BP will just price their gasoline a few cents per gallon below the other local suppliers, so they will get preferential deliveries at all gas stations.
The same holds true for those no-name local gas stations. They will buy from the lowest supplier - regardless of whether it's BP or not. If you remember the several Texaco boycots since WWII, they opened up a series of no-name stores to move their product.
Also, the refineries are spread across the country. Many times, one brand of gas actually comes from another company's refinery. The gas companies have reciprocal deals to provide these services. This saves on transportation costs. If BP is the only refinery within hundreds of miles, chances are most non-BP gas stations will provide BP gasoline.
B O H I C A
bend over here it comes again ~