The financial meltdown continues to reverberate around the globe - Diaspora Africans have been displaced
The financial meltdown continues to reverberate around the globe, a sign of the end of ear and a beginning of a new order. In the meantime a lot of people including Diaspora Africans have been displaced and some of them feel that they are no longer economically viable. Some have lost their homes and their savings have ran out and they are so ashamed to open up about how dire things are. What can we do help our Diaspora family? Join the discussion on 'The African View' with Bookie Shonuga and Paul Adujie every Sunday at 12pm Eastern Standard Time or log on to www.blogtalkradio.com and share your comments or call in live (646) 478-4131
Sunday, May 23, 2010
More Than Just an Oil Spill By BOB HERBERT
More Than Just an Oil Spill By BOB HERBERT
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/opinion/22herbert.html?ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=print
Already the oil from the nightmare brought to us by BP is making its way into these wetlands, into this natural paradise that belongs not just to the people of Louisiana but to all Americans. Oil is showing up along dozens of miles of the Louisiana coast, including the beaches of Grand Isle, which were ordered closed to the public.
The fact that 11 human beings were killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion (their bodies never found) has become, at best, an afterthought. BP counts its profits in the billions, and, therefore, it’s important. The 11 men working on the rig were no more important in the current American scheme of things than the oystermen losing their livelihoods along the gulf, or the wildlife doomed to die in an environment fouled by BP’s oil, or the waters that will be left unfit for ordinary families to swim and boat in.
This is the bitter reality of the American present, a period in which big business has cemented an unholy alliance with big government against the interests of ordinary Americans, who, of course, are the great majority of Americans. The great majority of Americans no longer matter.
No one knows how much of BP’s runaway oil will contaminate the gulf coast’s marshes and lakes and bayous and canals, destroying wildlife and fauna — and ruining the hopes and dreams of countless human families. What is known is that whatever oil gets in will be next to impossible to get out. It gets into the soil and the water and the plant life and can’t be scraped off the way you might be able to scrape the oil off of a beach.
It permeates and undermines the ecosystem in much the same way that big corporations have permeated and undermined our political system, with similarly devastating results.
The response of the Obama administration and the general public to this latest outrage at the hands of a giant, politically connected corporation has been embarrassingly tepid.
Excerpts above and full article below:
More Than Just an Oil Spill By BOB HERBERT
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/opinion/22herbert.html?ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=print
More Than Just an Oil Spill
By BOB HERBERT
Hopedale, La.
The warm, soft winds coming in off the gulf have lost their power to soothe. Anxiety is king now — all along the coast.
“You can’t sleep no more; that’s how bad it is,” said John Blanchard, an oyster fisherman whose life has been upended by the monstrous oil spill fouling an enormous swath of the Gulf of Mexico. He shook his head. “My wife and I have got two kids, 2 and 7. We could lose everything we’ve been working all of our lives for.”
I was standing on a gently rocking oyster boat with Mr. Blanchard and several other veteran fishermen who still seemed stunned by the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Instead of harvesting oysters, they were out on the water distributing oil retention booms and doing whatever else they could to bolster the coastline’s meager defenses against the oil making its way ominously and relentlessly, like an invading army, toward the area’s delicate and heartbreakingly vulnerable wetlands.
A fisherman named Donny Campo tried to hide his anger with wisecracks, but it didn’t work. “They put us out of work, and now we’re cleaning up their mess,” he said. “Yeah, I’m mad. Some of us have been at this for generations. I’m 46 years old and my son — he’s graduating from high school this week — he was already fishing oysters. There’s a whole way of life at risk here.”
The risks unleashed by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are profound — the latest to be set in motion by the scandalous, rapacious greed of the oil industry and its powerful allies and enablers in government. America is selling its soul for oil.
The vast, sprawling coastal marshes of Louisiana, where the Mississippi River drains into the gulf, are among the finest natural resources to be found anywhere in the world. And they are a positively crucial resource for America. Think shrimp estuaries and bird rookeries and oyster fishing grounds.
These wetlands are one of the nation’s most abundant sources of seafood. And they are indispensable when it comes to the nation’s bird population. Most of the migratory ducks and geese in the United States spend time in the Louisiana wetlands as they travel to and from Latin America.
Think songbirds. Paul Harrison, a specialist on the Mississippi River and its environs at the Environmental Defense Fund, told me that the wetlands are relied on by all 110 neo-tropical migratory songbird species. The migrating season for these beautiful, delicate creatures is right now — as many as 25 million can pass through the area each day.
Already the oil from the nightmare brought to us by BP is making its way into these wetlands, into this natural paradise that belongs not just to the people of Louisiana but to all Americans. Oil is showing up along dozens of miles of the Louisiana coast, including the beaches of Grand Isle, which were ordered closed to the public.
The response of the Obama administration and the general public to this latest outrage at the hands of a giant, politically connected corporation has been embarrassingly tepid. We take our whippings in stride in this country. We behave as though there is nothing we can do about it.
The fact that 11 human beings were killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion (their bodies never found) has become, at best, an afterthought. BP counts its profits in the billions, and, therefore, it’s important. The 11 men working on the rig were no more important in the current American scheme of things than the oystermen losing their livelihoods along the gulf, or the wildlife doomed to die in an environment fouled by BP’s oil, or the waters that will be left unfit for ordinary families to swim and boat in.
This is the bitter reality of the American present, a period in which big business has cemented an unholy alliance with big government against the interests of ordinary Americans, who, of course, are the great majority of Americans. The great majority of Americans no longer matter.
No one knows how much of BP’s runaway oil will contaminate the gulf coast’s marshes and lakes and bayous and canals, destroying wildlife and fauna — and ruining the hopes and dreams of countless human families. What is known is that whatever oil gets in will be next to impossible to get out. It gets into the soil and the water and the plant life and can’t be scraped off the way you might be able to scrape the oil off of a beach.
It permeates and undermines the ecosystem in much the same way that big corporations have permeated and undermined our political system, with similarly devastating results.
Gail Collins is off today.
Culled From The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/opinion/22herbert.html?ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=print
Already the oil from the nightmare brought to us by BP is making its way into these wetlands, into this natural paradise that belongs not just to the people of Louisiana but to all Americans. Oil is showing up along dozens of miles of the Louisiana coast, including the beaches of Grand Isle, which were ordered closed to the public.
The fact that 11 human beings were killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion (their bodies never found) has become, at best, an afterthought. BP counts its profits in the billions, and, therefore, it’s important. The 11 men working on the rig were no more important in the current American scheme of things than the oystermen losing their livelihoods along the gulf, or the wildlife doomed to die in an environment fouled by BP’s oil, or the waters that will be left unfit for ordinary families to swim and boat in.
This is the bitter reality of the American present, a period in which big business has cemented an unholy alliance with big government against the interests of ordinary Americans, who, of course, are the great majority of Americans. The great majority of Americans no longer matter.
No one knows how much of BP’s runaway oil will contaminate the gulf coast’s marshes and lakes and bayous and canals, destroying wildlife and fauna — and ruining the hopes and dreams of countless human families. What is known is that whatever oil gets in will be next to impossible to get out. It gets into the soil and the water and the plant life and can’t be scraped off the way you might be able to scrape the oil off of a beach.
It permeates and undermines the ecosystem in much the same way that big corporations have permeated and undermined our political system, with similarly devastating results.
The response of the Obama administration and the general public to this latest outrage at the hands of a giant, politically connected corporation has been embarrassingly tepid.
Excerpts above and full article below:
More Than Just an Oil Spill By BOB HERBERT
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/opinion/22herbert.html?ref=general&src=me&pagewanted=print
More Than Just an Oil Spill
By BOB HERBERT
Hopedale, La.
The warm, soft winds coming in off the gulf have lost their power to soothe. Anxiety is king now — all along the coast.
“You can’t sleep no more; that’s how bad it is,” said John Blanchard, an oyster fisherman whose life has been upended by the monstrous oil spill fouling an enormous swath of the Gulf of Mexico. He shook his head. “My wife and I have got two kids, 2 and 7. We could lose everything we’ve been working all of our lives for.”
I was standing on a gently rocking oyster boat with Mr. Blanchard and several other veteran fishermen who still seemed stunned by the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe. Instead of harvesting oysters, they were out on the water distributing oil retention booms and doing whatever else they could to bolster the coastline’s meager defenses against the oil making its way ominously and relentlessly, like an invading army, toward the area’s delicate and heartbreakingly vulnerable wetlands.
A fisherman named Donny Campo tried to hide his anger with wisecracks, but it didn’t work. “They put us out of work, and now we’re cleaning up their mess,” he said. “Yeah, I’m mad. Some of us have been at this for generations. I’m 46 years old and my son — he’s graduating from high school this week — he was already fishing oysters. There’s a whole way of life at risk here.”
The risks unleashed by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig are profound — the latest to be set in motion by the scandalous, rapacious greed of the oil industry and its powerful allies and enablers in government. America is selling its soul for oil.
The vast, sprawling coastal marshes of Louisiana, where the Mississippi River drains into the gulf, are among the finest natural resources to be found anywhere in the world. And they are a positively crucial resource for America. Think shrimp estuaries and bird rookeries and oyster fishing grounds.
These wetlands are one of the nation’s most abundant sources of seafood. And they are indispensable when it comes to the nation’s bird population. Most of the migratory ducks and geese in the United States spend time in the Louisiana wetlands as they travel to and from Latin America.
Think songbirds. Paul Harrison, a specialist on the Mississippi River and its environs at the Environmental Defense Fund, told me that the wetlands are relied on by all 110 neo-tropical migratory songbird species. The migrating season for these beautiful, delicate creatures is right now — as many as 25 million can pass through the area each day.
Already the oil from the nightmare brought to us by BP is making its way into these wetlands, into this natural paradise that belongs not just to the people of Louisiana but to all Americans. Oil is showing up along dozens of miles of the Louisiana coast, including the beaches of Grand Isle, which were ordered closed to the public.
The response of the Obama administration and the general public to this latest outrage at the hands of a giant, politically connected corporation has been embarrassingly tepid. We take our whippings in stride in this country. We behave as though there is nothing we can do about it.
The fact that 11 human beings were killed in the Deepwater Horizon explosion (their bodies never found) has become, at best, an afterthought. BP counts its profits in the billions, and, therefore, it’s important. The 11 men working on the rig were no more important in the current American scheme of things than the oystermen losing their livelihoods along the gulf, or the wildlife doomed to die in an environment fouled by BP’s oil, or the waters that will be left unfit for ordinary families to swim and boat in.
This is the bitter reality of the American present, a period in which big business has cemented an unholy alliance with big government against the interests of ordinary Americans, who, of course, are the great majority of Americans. The great majority of Americans no longer matter.
No one knows how much of BP’s runaway oil will contaminate the gulf coast’s marshes and lakes and bayous and canals, destroying wildlife and fauna — and ruining the hopes and dreams of countless human families. What is known is that whatever oil gets in will be next to impossible to get out. It gets into the soil and the water and the plant life and can’t be scraped off the way you might be able to scrape the oil off of a beach.
It permeates and undermines the ecosystem in much the same way that big corporations have permeated and undermined our political system, with similarly devastating results.
Gail Collins is off today.
Culled From The New York Times
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Anger, Frustration Over Oil Mounts Along the Gulf
Anger, Frustration Over Oil Mounts Along the Gulf
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:10 a.m. ET
ROBERT, La. (AP) -- Anger grew along the Gulf Coast as an ooze of oil washed into delicate coastal wetlands in Lousiana, with residents questioning the federal government and others wondering how to clean up the monthlong mess that worsens with each day.
''It's difficult to clean up when you haven't stopped the source,'' said Chris Roberts, a councilman for Jefferson Parish, which stretches from the New Orleans metropolitan area to the coast. ''You can scrape it off the beach but it's coming right back.''
Roberts surveyed the oil that forced officials to close a public beach on Grand Isle, south of New Orleans, as globs of crude that resembled melted chocolate washed up. Others questioned why BP PLC was still in charge of the response.
''The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP's word,'' declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Fla., an avid diver who worries about the spill's effect on the ecosystem.
The government is overseeing the cleanup and response, but the official responsible for the oversight said he understands the discontent.
''If anybody is frustrated with this response, I would tell them their symptoms are normal, because I'm frustrated, too,'' said Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen. ''Nobody likes to have a feeling that you can't do something about a very big problem.''
As simple as it may seem, the law prevents the government from just taking over, Allen said. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents -- including paying for all cleanup -- with oversight by federal agencies.
BP, which is in charge of the cleanup, said it will be at least Tuesday before engineers can shoot mud into the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf, yet another delay in the effort to stop the oil.
A so-called ''top kill'' has been tried on land but never 5,000 feet underwater, so scientists and engineers have spent the past week preparing and taking measurements to make sure it will stop the oil that has been spewing into the sea for a month. They originally hoped to try it as early as this weekend.
BP spokesman Tom Mueller said there was no snag in the preparations, but that the company must get equipment in place and finish tests before the procedure can begin.
''It's taking time to get everything set up,'' he said. ''They're taking their time. It's never been done before. We've got to make sure everything is right.''
Crews will shoot heavy mud into a crippled piece of equipment atop the well, which started spewing after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers. Then engineers will direct cement at the well to permanently stop the oil.
BP, which was leasing the rig and is responsible for the cleanup, has tried and failed several times to halt the oil.
Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said Friday that a mile-long tube inserted into the leaking pipe is sucking about 92,400 gallons of oil a day to the surface, a figure much lower than the 210,000 gallons a day the company said the tube was sucking up Thursday. Suttles said the higher number is the most the tube has been sucking up at any one time, while the lower number is the average.
The company has conceded that more oil is leaking than its initial estimate of 210,000 gallons a day total, and a government team is working to get a handle on exactly how much is flowing. Even under the most conservative estimate, about 6 million gallons have leaked so far, more than half the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
Frustrated local and state officials were also waiting for the Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits so they can build sand berms in front of islands and wetlands to act as buffers between the advancing oil and the wetlands.
In a statement Friday, corps spokesman Ken Holder said officials understand the urgency, but possible environmental effects must be evaluated before even an emergency permit can be issued.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry also took BP to task for not responding aggressively enough to oil coming ashore in Terrebonne Parish, La., to the west of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Public interest in the spill is high -- after lawmakers pressed BP for a live video feed of the leak this week, so many people tried to view it that they crashed the government Web site where it was posted.
BP executives say the only guaranteed solution to stop the leak is a pair of relief wells crews have already started drilling, but the work will not be complete for at least two months.
That makes the stakes even higher for the top kill.
Scientists say there is a chance a misfire could lead to new problems. Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University professor of environmental studies, said the crippled piece of equipment called a blowout preventer could spring a new leak that could spew untold gallons of oil if there's a weak spot that is vulnerable to pressure from the heavy mud.
BP is also developing several other plans in case the top kill doesn't work, including an effort to shoot knotted rope, pieces of tire and other material -- known as a junk shot -- to plug the blowout preventer, which was meant to shut off the oil in case of an accident but did not work.
------
Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington and Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this report.
------
Online:
http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
Culled from The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:10 a.m. ET
ROBERT, La. (AP) -- Anger grew along the Gulf Coast as an ooze of oil washed into delicate coastal wetlands in Lousiana, with residents questioning the federal government and others wondering how to clean up the monthlong mess that worsens with each day.
''It's difficult to clean up when you haven't stopped the source,'' said Chris Roberts, a councilman for Jefferson Parish, which stretches from the New Orleans metropolitan area to the coast. ''You can scrape it off the beach but it's coming right back.''
Roberts surveyed the oil that forced officials to close a public beach on Grand Isle, south of New Orleans, as globs of crude that resembled melted chocolate washed up. Others questioned why BP PLC was still in charge of the response.
''The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP's word,'' declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Fla., an avid diver who worries about the spill's effect on the ecosystem.
The government is overseeing the cleanup and response, but the official responsible for the oversight said he understands the discontent.
''If anybody is frustrated with this response, I would tell them their symptoms are normal, because I'm frustrated, too,'' said Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen. ''Nobody likes to have a feeling that you can't do something about a very big problem.''
As simple as it may seem, the law prevents the government from just taking over, Allen said. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents -- including paying for all cleanup -- with oversight by federal agencies.
BP, which is in charge of the cleanup, said it will be at least Tuesday before engineers can shoot mud into the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf, yet another delay in the effort to stop the oil.
A so-called ''top kill'' has been tried on land but never 5,000 feet underwater, so scientists and engineers have spent the past week preparing and taking measurements to make sure it will stop the oil that has been spewing into the sea for a month. They originally hoped to try it as early as this weekend.
BP spokesman Tom Mueller said there was no snag in the preparations, but that the company must get equipment in place and finish tests before the procedure can begin.
''It's taking time to get everything set up,'' he said. ''They're taking their time. It's never been done before. We've got to make sure everything is right.''
Crews will shoot heavy mud into a crippled piece of equipment atop the well, which started spewing after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers. Then engineers will direct cement at the well to permanently stop the oil.
BP, which was leasing the rig and is responsible for the cleanup, has tried and failed several times to halt the oil.
Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said Friday that a mile-long tube inserted into the leaking pipe is sucking about 92,400 gallons of oil a day to the surface, a figure much lower than the 210,000 gallons a day the company said the tube was sucking up Thursday. Suttles said the higher number is the most the tube has been sucking up at any one time, while the lower number is the average.
The company has conceded that more oil is leaking than its initial estimate of 210,000 gallons a day total, and a government team is working to get a handle on exactly how much is flowing. Even under the most conservative estimate, about 6 million gallons have leaked so far, more than half the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
Frustrated local and state officials were also waiting for the Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits so they can build sand berms in front of islands and wetlands to act as buffers between the advancing oil and the wetlands.
In a statement Friday, corps spokesman Ken Holder said officials understand the urgency, but possible environmental effects must be evaluated before even an emergency permit can be issued.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry also took BP to task for not responding aggressively enough to oil coming ashore in Terrebonne Parish, La., to the west of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Public interest in the spill is high -- after lawmakers pressed BP for a live video feed of the leak this week, so many people tried to view it that they crashed the government Web site where it was posted.
BP executives say the only guaranteed solution to stop the leak is a pair of relief wells crews have already started drilling, but the work will not be complete for at least two months.
That makes the stakes even higher for the top kill.
Scientists say there is a chance a misfire could lead to new problems. Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University professor of environmental studies, said the crippled piece of equipment called a blowout preventer could spring a new leak that could spew untold gallons of oil if there's a weak spot that is vulnerable to pressure from the heavy mud.
BP is also developing several other plans in case the top kill doesn't work, including an effort to shoot knotted rope, pieces of tire and other material -- known as a junk shot -- to plug the blowout preventer, which was meant to shut off the oil in case of an accident but did not work.
------
Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington and Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this report.
------
Online:
http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
Culled from The New York Times
Anger, Frustration Over Oil Mounts Along the Gulf
Anger, Frustration Over Oil Mounts Along the Gulf
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:10 a.m. ET
ROBERT, La. (AP) -- Anger grew along the Gulf Coast as an ooze of oil washed into delicate coastal wetlands in Lousiana, with residents questioning the federal government and others wondering how to clean up the monthlong mess that worsens with each day.
''It's difficult to clean up when you haven't stopped the source,'' said Chris Roberts, a councilman for Jefferson Parish, which stretches from the New Orleans metropolitan area to the coast. ''You can scrape it off the beach but it's coming right back.''
Roberts surveyed the oil that forced officials to close a public beach on Grand Isle, south of New Orleans, as globs of crude that resembled melted chocolate washed up. Others questioned why BP PLC was still in charge of the response.
''The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP's word,'' declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Fla., an avid diver who worries about the spill's effect on the ecosystem.
The government is overseeing the cleanup and response, but the official responsible for the oversight said he understands the discontent.
''If anybody is frustrated with this response, I would tell them their symptoms are normal, because I'm frustrated, too,'' said Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen. ''Nobody likes to have a feeling that you can't do something about a very big problem.''
As simple as it may seem, the law prevents the government from just taking over, Allen said. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents -- including paying for all cleanup -- with oversight by federal agencies.
BP, which is in charge of the cleanup, said it will be at least Tuesday before engineers can shoot mud into the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf, yet another delay in the effort to stop the oil.
A so-called ''top kill'' has been tried on land but never 5,000 feet underwater, so scientists and engineers have spent the past week preparing and taking measurements to make sure it will stop the oil that has been spewing into the sea for a month. They originally hoped to try it as early as this weekend.
BP spokesman Tom Mueller said there was no snag in the preparations, but that the company must get equipment in place and finish tests before the procedure can begin.
''It's taking time to get everything set up,'' he said. ''They're taking their time. It's never been done before. We've got to make sure everything is right.''
Crews will shoot heavy mud into a crippled piece of equipment atop the well, which started spewing after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers. Then engineers will direct cement at the well to permanently stop the oil.
BP, which was leasing the rig and is responsible for the cleanup, has tried and failed several times to halt the oil.
Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said Friday that a mile-long tube inserted into the leaking pipe is sucking about 92,400 gallons of oil a day to the surface, a figure much lower than the 210,000 gallons a day the company said the tube was sucking up Thursday. Suttles said the higher number is the most the tube has been sucking up at any one time, while the lower number is the average.
The company has conceded that more oil is leaking than its initial estimate of 210,000 gallons a day total, and a government team is working to get a handle on exactly how much is flowing. Even under the most conservative estimate, about 6 million gallons have leaked so far, more than half the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
Frustrated local and state officials were also waiting for the Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits so they can build sand berms in front of islands and wetlands to act as buffers between the advancing oil and the wetlands.
In a statement Friday, corps spokesman Ken Holder said officials understand the urgency, but possible environmental effects must be evaluated before even an emergency permit can be issued.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry also took BP to task for not responding aggressively enough to oil coming ashore in Terrebonne Parish, La., to the west of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Public interest in the spill is high -- after lawmakers pressed BP for a live video feed of the leak this week, so many people tried to view it that they crashed the government Web site where it was posted.
BP executives say the only guaranteed solution to stop the leak is a pair of relief wells crews have already started drilling, but the work will not be complete for at least two months.
That makes the stakes even higher for the top kill.
Scientists say there is a chance a misfire could lead to new problems. Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University professor of environmental studies, said the crippled piece of equipment called a blowout preventer could spring a new leak that could spew untold gallons of oil if there's a weak spot that is vulnerable to pressure from the heavy mud.
BP is also developing several other plans in case the top kill doesn't work, including an effort to shoot knotted rope, pieces of tire and other material -- known as a junk shot -- to plug the blowout preventer, which was meant to shut off the oil in case of an accident but did not work.
------
Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington and Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this report.
------
Online:
http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
Culled from The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 3:10 a.m. ET
ROBERT, La. (AP) -- Anger grew along the Gulf Coast as an ooze of oil washed into delicate coastal wetlands in Lousiana, with residents questioning the federal government and others wondering how to clean up the monthlong mess that worsens with each day.
''It's difficult to clean up when you haven't stopped the source,'' said Chris Roberts, a councilman for Jefferson Parish, which stretches from the New Orleans metropolitan area to the coast. ''You can scrape it off the beach but it's coming right back.''
Roberts surveyed the oil that forced officials to close a public beach on Grand Isle, south of New Orleans, as globs of crude that resembled melted chocolate washed up. Others questioned why BP PLC was still in charge of the response.
''The government should have stepped in and not just taken BP's word,'' declared Wayne Stone of Marathon, Fla., an avid diver who worries about the spill's effect on the ecosystem.
The government is overseeing the cleanup and response, but the official responsible for the oversight said he understands the discontent.
''If anybody is frustrated with this response, I would tell them their symptoms are normal, because I'm frustrated, too,'' said Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen. ''Nobody likes to have a feeling that you can't do something about a very big problem.''
As simple as it may seem, the law prevents the government from just taking over, Allen said. After the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, Congress dictated that oil companies be responsible for dealing with major accidents -- including paying for all cleanup -- with oversight by federal agencies.
BP, which is in charge of the cleanup, said it will be at least Tuesday before engineers can shoot mud into the blown-out well at the bottom of the Gulf, yet another delay in the effort to stop the oil.
A so-called ''top kill'' has been tried on land but never 5,000 feet underwater, so scientists and engineers have spent the past week preparing and taking measurements to make sure it will stop the oil that has been spewing into the sea for a month. They originally hoped to try it as early as this weekend.
BP spokesman Tom Mueller said there was no snag in the preparations, but that the company must get equipment in place and finish tests before the procedure can begin.
''It's taking time to get everything set up,'' he said. ''They're taking their time. It's never been done before. We've got to make sure everything is right.''
Crews will shoot heavy mud into a crippled piece of equipment atop the well, which started spewing after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded April 20 off the coast of Louisiana, killing 11 workers. Then engineers will direct cement at the well to permanently stop the oil.
BP, which was leasing the rig and is responsible for the cleanup, has tried and failed several times to halt the oil.
Chief Operating Officer Doug Suttles said Friday that a mile-long tube inserted into the leaking pipe is sucking about 92,400 gallons of oil a day to the surface, a figure much lower than the 210,000 gallons a day the company said the tube was sucking up Thursday. Suttles said the higher number is the most the tube has been sucking up at any one time, while the lower number is the average.
The company has conceded that more oil is leaking than its initial estimate of 210,000 gallons a day total, and a government team is working to get a handle on exactly how much is flowing. Even under the most conservative estimate, about 6 million gallons have leaked so far, more than half the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez.
Frustrated local and state officials were also waiting for the Army Corps of Engineers to issue permits so they can build sand berms in front of islands and wetlands to act as buffers between the advancing oil and the wetlands.
In a statement Friday, corps spokesman Ken Holder said officials understand the urgency, but possible environmental effects must be evaluated before even an emergency permit can be issued.
Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry also took BP to task for not responding aggressively enough to oil coming ashore in Terrebonne Parish, La., to the west of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
Public interest in the spill is high -- after lawmakers pressed BP for a live video feed of the leak this week, so many people tried to view it that they crashed the government Web site where it was posted.
BP executives say the only guaranteed solution to stop the leak is a pair of relief wells crews have already started drilling, but the work will not be complete for at least two months.
That makes the stakes even higher for the top kill.
Scientists say there is a chance a misfire could lead to new problems. Ed Overton, a Louisiana State University professor of environmental studies, said the crippled piece of equipment called a blowout preventer could spring a new leak that could spew untold gallons of oil if there's a weak spot that is vulnerable to pressure from the heavy mud.
BP is also developing several other plans in case the top kill doesn't work, including an effort to shoot knotted rope, pieces of tire and other material -- known as a junk shot -- to plug the blowout preventer, which was meant to shut off the oil in case of an accident but did not work.
------
Associated Press writers Matthew Daly in Washington and Kevin McGill in New Orleans contributed to this report.
------
Online:
http://globalwarming.house.gov/spillcam
Culled from The New York Times
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
American Oil Spills In Gulf Of Mexico Is A Good Thing! Lessons for Nigerians, Ecuador etc
American Oil Spills In Gulf Of Mexico Is A Good Thing!
Written by Paul I. Adujie
Almost a month after the massive explosion at an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in the American Gulf Coast, the massive oil spill, an environmental disaster and catastrophe, continues to unfold.
It will be recalled that 11 oil workers died as the rig exploded and sunk, after a malfunction of BP or blowout preventor, a malfunction which ascribed to poor equipment and dead batteries. A BP systems failures, which could have stemmed the disaster in magnitude and its aftermaths.
It is now known that the spewing of oil in the Gulf of Mexico is ten times larger than originally thought. It is now believed that over 70, 000 barrels of crude oil a day, have been gushing into the oceans in deluges, so say scientists. In plain English, the comparison in in magnitude and volume, is, as if Exxon Valdez happens every ten days… gushing and gushing into the Gulf of Mexico! It may take weeks or even months. The Deepwater Horizon rig, leaning over the Gulf of Mexico April 22 before sinking. Technicians hope to clog the leaking well by pumping mud and debris into it, then cap it with cement.
It is the case that 11 persons were killed in the explosion and inferno at this BP oil rig, and such needless loss of lives is an unmitigated tragedy, caused by greed and singular focus on the bottom-line, all in the name of profit, while BP, Halliburton and Trans Oceans put safety and security of persons in the back-burner. BP made $5 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2010 and made $25 billion dollars profit in 2009, and yet, BP and other oil companies multinationals and oil conglomerates, and oil services companies, are unwilling to make the necessary investments to improve the safety of their workers, just as they are unwilling to make the necessary investments to prevent environmental degradations and extreme pollution.
BP, Shell and other conglomerates and oil multinationals have engaged in these egregious disregard for human lives and pristine environments, in their hurry to make profits. And many nations such as Ecuador and Nigeria have dealt with this for decades and decades and were ignored by all, but now, because this current BP disaster and catastrophe occurred on American waters, BP and other oil companies are in trepidations and are gyrating speedily and rapidly, to avoid soiled sullied public image in America, and avoid a corporate black eye and bruises from the Gulf of Mexico disaster. But why? These same oil companies have for decades foisted pollution and deaths on the peoples of Nigeria, Ecuador and other nations without remorse or regret and remedial actions! So why now? Why the difference in attitudes and actions? It is good thing that this massive spill, this disaster and catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is actually a blessing and a wonderfully good thing in disguise, because, from now on, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will become a point of reference or benchmark for oil spills and remediation or remedial actions
It has to be assumed as well, that from now on, conversations about death and destruction caused by oil companies, are no longer seen as merely collateral damage in hydro carbons searches and as such, merely ancillaries and extraneous matters which should not bother Americans.
This is precisely what Niger Delta in Nigeria have experienced for fifty years and the world ignored it and considered it collateral damage, an ancillary and extraneous matter in the search for hydrocarbons to power the engines of the world's economies. But now, the world knows, the chickens have come home to roost! American Oil Spills In Gulf of Mexico and Lessons for Nigerians and Ecuadorians
It should also interest Nigerians and Ecuadorians how American Oyster-men, fishermen, Shrimper, environmentalists, college professors scientists, community groups, block clubs in the Gulf states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have organized themselves without government help or involvements to hold BP to account. BP has been sued and under threats of more law suits and sundry litigation for spewing 4 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Nigerians and Ecuadorians should also note the clear difference in the behavior on the part of the BP and other oil companies, in how voluntarily, remediation, and preemptory actions and compensations have been undertaken, not at the behest of governments, but, voluntarily, and in self-serving public relations offensive in efforts by BP to launder its public image amidst this elephantine catastrophe. Voluntarily is the key word and key phrase
BP already gave $100 million dollars to four states voluntarily, now, it just added $70 million, again, voluntarily! That is a total of $170 million dollars in less than one month, and this amount does not include direct payments to locals engaged by BP to deploy booms to mop up plumes of spewing crude oil which is now floating, drifting and sipping into sea current in the Gulf Coast and to Florida Keys and perhaps onward with these gluts, clumps and loops of oil on ocean waves and ocean current onward to the East Coast seas and the Atlantic Ocean
President Obama has been active since the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, he deployed high level American officials to the scene of the disaster and to the Gulf Coast to be on the ground and monitor the spill and remedial actions, in tackling the aftermath of the disaster. Mr. Obama has become furious and now says it is ridiculously absurd spectacle finger pointing by BP, Halliburton and Trans-Oceans
The fact of the matter is that Bush-Cheney administration had cozy relationship with the oil industry and as a consequence, there unbridled deregulation of the oil and energy sectors. There was this well publicized secret meetings with Dick Cheney and oil companies in writing energy bill for the United States. There are incontrovertible evidence of bypassing critical environmental review and approval, environmental impact statements by oil companies in the United States, while the regulatory authorities looked the other way, at least, until this BP disaster hit!
This is why there have been questions as to why President Obama seemed to have caved in and yielded to the Republican swan song of Drill Baby Drill! Upon which Mr. Obama conceded the expansion of offshore drilling in the continental United States It is rather ironical, that the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe occurred within one month of Mr. Obama’s change of policy and concession to the Republican Party. President Obama has now ordered a reevaluation and reexamination of his offshore drill policy which he conceded about a month ago. Due to the Gulf of Mexico cataclysms, and the risks in offshore system wide spills, moratorium on offshore may be the consequence or outcome of the Gulf of Mexico disaster!
Massive spillage could have been avoided if BP, Halliburton and Trans Oceans were concerned with safety of persons, aquatic life and the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the case that 40 % of wetlands in America is the Gulf Coast which now faces imminent ruinations, and yet, Tony Hayward says spill is drop in gulf of Mexico, clearly downplaying the magnitude and enormity of the spillage disaster. BP had no emergency plans no plan A or plan B
BP, Halliburton, Trans Oceans and other oil multinational companies frequently observe laws only in the breach. It is public knowledge for instance, that there have been no improvement in spill prevention and containment technology during the last twenty years but, on the other hand, drilling technology has improved a thousand fold. BP, Halliburton, Trans Oceans and other oil conglomerates multinationals have not sufficiently invested in disaster preventions and crisis management in view of these obvious high probabilities of disasters in deep sea oil exploration and drilling activities.
Many scientists and sundry experts have testified to the fact that BP, Halliburton, Trans Oceans and other oil companies have cheated and scrounged in the face of the clear and ever present danger imbued in deep sea drilling for oil. Experts such as Mike Mason, have publicly stated, that these oil companies have allowed these unmitigated disasters, disasters, which were clearly preventable. The failure to plan, in order to forestall drilling accident, have made accidents such as the Gulf of Mexico inevitable.
There were no plans A or plan B, there should have been plans for prevention of these sorts of accidents and then , additional plans to manage and contain accidents when they do occur. But instead, oil companies have frequently lied about their readiness and availability of technology, ready to prevent and or, contain disasters such as the one on the Gulf of Mexico. But we now know better! This unprecedented spill catastrophe, which some never thought it will happen, has happened, and so, shockingly, there were no plans to stop the spill, prevent further damage. compensate for damage to persons, properties and the environment. Instead, the world has now discovered what Nigerians and Ecuadorians have known all along and for decades and decades, that oil companies have been cheating and lying.
Oil companies have been cheating and lying about their disaster prevention and disaster containment plans and contingencies. Experts such as Mike Mason and Douglas Brinkley appeared on CNN on Rick Sanchez’s show, pointing to these lackadaisical attitudes on the parts of oil conglomerates and multinationals. There are reports of repeated cheating and lying inspections says of BP by Mike Mason and the Gulf of Mexico spillage disaster, is the third major disaster in five years by BP, BP was fined $100 million dollars by the United States government a few years ago after infernos and fires at BP refineries.
The United States agency known as Mineral Management Service or MMS, have been found to have neglected to perform its oversights and supervisory and regulatory function over oil drilling and coal mining companies. The MMS were said not insisted on sturdy and robust plans , to prevent disasters and or to manage disasters when they do occur, before MMS undertakes approving drilling offshore and deep water drilling etc. There are reported cases of incestuous relationship between corrupt MMS officials and employees of oil companies, involving sex, alcohol and drugs, while neglecting crucial disaster prevention plans, crucial inspections, and crises management investments.
Clearly, there are disparities and similarities in these related and intertwined tales the pursuit of profits with complete disregard for the safety of lives, properties and protection of the environments by oil companies from America and Europe, which are operating in Ecuador, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico.
It is the case that these same oil companies from America and Europe, in the search of profits, such as BP’s $25 billion dollars in profits in 2009, they are quite willing to put the lives of their workers and contractors at risks of excruciating deaths in fierce fires infernos in Ecuador, Nigeria or in the Gulf of Mexico. These oil companies are forever willing, in the pursuit of profits, to put entire ecosystem at irreparable risks of irreversible pollutions and degradations, destroying human lives, wildlife, aquatic lives and properties at high risks of loss.
The dichotomies and disparities arises in the disaster response by the same oil multinational companies. In Ecuador and Nigeria, just to name two nations with degraded and extremely polluted environments, where the oil companies from America and Europe offer no recompense, compensate or even any care at all, when the pollution they cause, induce miscarriages in women, cause skin diseases and all types of infections. When means of livelihoods are destroyed. When farmlands are made infertile, when rivers are poisoned with chemical effluents and fishes, aquatic life and wildlife is decimated. And no remorse, no regrets and no compensations are offered, even after prolonged legal actions, litigation and arbitration etc
Whereas, when oil drilling activities and oil explorations results in disasters as we presently witness in America’s Gulf Coast in the Gulf of Mexico, it is particularly noteworthy, that BP, Halliburton, Trans Oceans etc have engaged in PURELY VOLUNTARY actions at remediation in cleaning up, in offering compensations to individuals and companies and as well as offering $170 million dollars within one month, to the US Gulf Coast states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, even well before the effects and consequences of pollution become apparent. There is no oil slick or sludge onshore in any of these four Gulf Coast states just yet and yet, there are these aggressive preemptive goodwill measures, not based on court orders or public protests or arbitration or compulsions. Again, operative word phrase, voluntarily. Why do these oil companies act voluntarily in Alaska, North Sea and Gulf of Mexico?
In Nigeria and Ecuador, there have been clear cases of deaths, miscarriages, diseases and infections resulting from activities of American and European oil multinationals conglomerates. There have been complaints for 50 years in the Niger Delta n Nigeria, and similar complaints have persisted in Ecuador and other oil producing nations. There have been peaceful protests over the years, and then, violent protests took over because nonviolent and peaceful suasion were disregarded and neglected for eons! There have been slew of legal actions, litigation and arbitration etc. There have been court judgments and court orders in Nigeria and in Netherlands which were ignored by American and European oil companies, most notorious among them, Shell Oil. Why are oil companies forever so willing to act voluntarily to compensate and act properly in response to disasters such as the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound in Alaska or in the North Sea or currently in the Gulf of Mexico, but these same oil conglomerates are unwilling to similarly act voluntarily or even under compulsion through court judgments or orders when in the persisting environmental catastrophes in Ecuador and Nigeria, even as you read this?
These American and European oil companies are very calculatingly manipulative in their actions in America and Europe in comparison with their actions in say, Ecuador and Nigeria. In America and Europe, these oil companies aspire or at least pretend to be socially responsible corporate actors, these oil companies adopt public highways and public squares and sponsor sports teams locally and to the Olympics. Conversely, these same companies are splendidly demonstrate extraordinary lack of interests in good corporate citizenship; these oil companies never aspire or engage or pretend to act in socially responsible ways in their in say, Ecuador and Nigeria. These oil companies act as though they are mere mercenaries in paid plunders without long term interests in the outcomes of Ecuador and Nigeria etc
If this double standards is not the exemplification of arrogance on the part of the oil multinationals, one is not sure what is! If these disparities and dichotomies in response and treatments of disasters and victims does not amount to a conscious devaluation operations of the human lives in Ecuador and Nigeria, one wonders what is!
Environmental Racism is the only explanation and poor excuse by these oil companies, for these differences in treatments of victims of oil drilling activities. And if this offensive practice of environmental racism is not just that, what then explains these continuing discriminating practices against victims of identical toxic pollutions? What explains these selective attitudes to victims of toxic pollutions caused by the same American and European oil giants? What explains permanence in always selectively choosing to compensate Americans and Europeans; but quite unwilling to compensate Ecuadorians and Nigerians, as the oil companies remain adamant in denying their liabilities?
It is environmental racism to spill oil and inflict toxic pollution upon Ecuador and Nigeria and take no action to clean up, even despite court orders. But clean up lesser harms and spillage in Alaska, North Sea and now the Gulf of Mexico. And it is racism, which gives birth to the arrogance upon which the pungent-putrid idea, the very filthy, the irrational, and the illogical idea of racial superiority, is rooted, and built, it is racism and the arrogance from it, in which other races’ lives are devalued and disregarded, even when such other races are directly injured by overt acts of the “superior” race!
Yes! It is good thing that this massive oil spill, this disaster and catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is actually a blessing and a wonderfully good thing in disguise, because, from now on, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will become a point of reference or benchmark for oil spills and remediation or remedial actions in Ecuador, Nigeria and elsewhere. We believe when adequately informed, public in America and Europe would not support American and European oil companies egregiously offensive dehumanization abroad.
Written by Paul I. Adujie
Almost a month after the massive explosion at an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico in the American Gulf Coast, the massive oil spill, an environmental disaster and catastrophe, continues to unfold.
It will be recalled that 11 oil workers died as the rig exploded and sunk, after a malfunction of BP or blowout preventor, a malfunction which ascribed to poor equipment and dead batteries. A BP systems failures, which could have stemmed the disaster in magnitude and its aftermaths.
It is now known that the spewing of oil in the Gulf of Mexico is ten times larger than originally thought. It is now believed that over 70, 000 barrels of crude oil a day, have been gushing into the oceans in deluges, so say scientists. In plain English, the comparison in in magnitude and volume, is, as if Exxon Valdez happens every ten days… gushing and gushing into the Gulf of Mexico! It may take weeks or even months. The Deepwater Horizon rig, leaning over the Gulf of Mexico April 22 before sinking. Technicians hope to clog the leaking well by pumping mud and debris into it, then cap it with cement.
It is the case that 11 persons were killed in the explosion and inferno at this BP oil rig, and such needless loss of lives is an unmitigated tragedy, caused by greed and singular focus on the bottom-line, all in the name of profit, while BP, Halliburton and Trans Oceans put safety and security of persons in the back-burner. BP made $5 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2010 and made $25 billion dollars profit in 2009, and yet, BP and other oil companies multinationals and oil conglomerates, and oil services companies, are unwilling to make the necessary investments to improve the safety of their workers, just as they are unwilling to make the necessary investments to prevent environmental degradations and extreme pollution.
BP, Shell and other conglomerates and oil multinationals have engaged in these egregious disregard for human lives and pristine environments, in their hurry to make profits. And many nations such as Ecuador and Nigeria have dealt with this for decades and decades and were ignored by all, but now, because this current BP disaster and catastrophe occurred on American waters, BP and other oil companies are in trepidations and are gyrating speedily and rapidly, to avoid soiled sullied public image in America, and avoid a corporate black eye and bruises from the Gulf of Mexico disaster. But why? These same oil companies have for decades foisted pollution and deaths on the peoples of Nigeria, Ecuador and other nations without remorse or regret and remedial actions! So why now? Why the difference in attitudes and actions? It is good thing that this massive spill, this disaster and catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is actually a blessing and a wonderfully good thing in disguise, because, from now on, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will become a point of reference or benchmark for oil spills and remediation or remedial actions
It has to be assumed as well, that from now on, conversations about death and destruction caused by oil companies, are no longer seen as merely collateral damage in hydro carbons searches and as such, merely ancillaries and extraneous matters which should not bother Americans.
This is precisely what Niger Delta in Nigeria have experienced for fifty years and the world ignored it and considered it collateral damage, an ancillary and extraneous matter in the search for hydrocarbons to power the engines of the world's economies. But now, the world knows, the chickens have come home to roost! American Oil Spills In Gulf of Mexico and Lessons for Nigerians and Ecuadorians
It should also interest Nigerians and Ecuadorians how American Oyster-men, fishermen, Shrimper, environmentalists, college professors scientists, community groups, block clubs in the Gulf states of Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi and Florida have organized themselves without government help or involvements to hold BP to account. BP has been sued and under threats of more law suits and sundry litigation for spewing 4 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Nigerians and Ecuadorians should also note the clear difference in the behavior on the part of the BP and other oil companies, in how voluntarily, remediation, and preemptory actions and compensations have been undertaken, not at the behest of governments, but, voluntarily, and in self-serving public relations offensive in efforts by BP to launder its public image amidst this elephantine catastrophe. Voluntarily is the key word and key phrase
BP already gave $100 million dollars to four states voluntarily, now, it just added $70 million, again, voluntarily! That is a total of $170 million dollars in less than one month, and this amount does not include direct payments to locals engaged by BP to deploy booms to mop up plumes of spewing crude oil which is now floating, drifting and sipping into sea current in the Gulf Coast and to Florida Keys and perhaps onward with these gluts, clumps and loops of oil on ocean waves and ocean current onward to the East Coast seas and the Atlantic Ocean
President Obama has been active since the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico, he deployed high level American officials to the scene of the disaster and to the Gulf Coast to be on the ground and monitor the spill and remedial actions, in tackling the aftermath of the disaster. Mr. Obama has become furious and now says it is ridiculously absurd spectacle finger pointing by BP, Halliburton and Trans-Oceans
The fact of the matter is that Bush-Cheney administration had cozy relationship with the oil industry and as a consequence, there unbridled deregulation of the oil and energy sectors. There was this well publicized secret meetings with Dick Cheney and oil companies in writing energy bill for the United States. There are incontrovertible evidence of bypassing critical environmental review and approval, environmental impact statements by oil companies in the United States, while the regulatory authorities looked the other way, at least, until this BP disaster hit!
This is why there have been questions as to why President Obama seemed to have caved in and yielded to the Republican swan song of Drill Baby Drill! Upon which Mr. Obama conceded the expansion of offshore drilling in the continental United States It is rather ironical, that the Gulf of Mexico catastrophe occurred within one month of Mr. Obama’s change of policy and concession to the Republican Party. President Obama has now ordered a reevaluation and reexamination of his offshore drill policy which he conceded about a month ago. Due to the Gulf of Mexico cataclysms, and the risks in offshore system wide spills, moratorium on offshore may be the consequence or outcome of the Gulf of Mexico disaster!
Massive spillage could have been avoided if BP, Halliburton and Trans Oceans were concerned with safety of persons, aquatic life and the ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. It is the case that 40 % of wetlands in America is the Gulf Coast which now faces imminent ruinations, and yet, Tony Hayward says spill is drop in gulf of Mexico, clearly downplaying the magnitude and enormity of the spillage disaster. BP had no emergency plans no plan A or plan B
BP, Halliburton, Trans Oceans and other oil multinational companies frequently observe laws only in the breach. It is public knowledge for instance, that there have been no improvement in spill prevention and containment technology during the last twenty years but, on the other hand, drilling technology has improved a thousand fold. BP, Halliburton, Trans Oceans and other oil conglomerates multinationals have not sufficiently invested in disaster preventions and crisis management in view of these obvious high probabilities of disasters in deep sea oil exploration and drilling activities.
Many scientists and sundry experts have testified to the fact that BP, Halliburton, Trans Oceans and other oil companies have cheated and scrounged in the face of the clear and ever present danger imbued in deep sea drilling for oil. Experts such as Mike Mason, have publicly stated, that these oil companies have allowed these unmitigated disasters, disasters, which were clearly preventable. The failure to plan, in order to forestall drilling accident, have made accidents such as the Gulf of Mexico inevitable.
There were no plans A or plan B, there should have been plans for prevention of these sorts of accidents and then , additional plans to manage and contain accidents when they do occur. But instead, oil companies have frequently lied about their readiness and availability of technology, ready to prevent and or, contain disasters such as the one on the Gulf of Mexico. But we now know better! This unprecedented spill catastrophe, which some never thought it will happen, has happened, and so, shockingly, there were no plans to stop the spill, prevent further damage. compensate for damage to persons, properties and the environment. Instead, the world has now discovered what Nigerians and Ecuadorians have known all along and for decades and decades, that oil companies have been cheating and lying.
Oil companies have been cheating and lying about their disaster prevention and disaster containment plans and contingencies. Experts such as Mike Mason and Douglas Brinkley appeared on CNN on Rick Sanchez’s show, pointing to these lackadaisical attitudes on the parts of oil conglomerates and multinationals. There are reports of repeated cheating and lying inspections says of BP by Mike Mason and the Gulf of Mexico spillage disaster, is the third major disaster in five years by BP, BP was fined $100 million dollars by the United States government a few years ago after infernos and fires at BP refineries.
The United States agency known as Mineral Management Service or MMS, have been found to have neglected to perform its oversights and supervisory and regulatory function over oil drilling and coal mining companies. The MMS were said not insisted on sturdy and robust plans , to prevent disasters and or to manage disasters when they do occur, before MMS undertakes approving drilling offshore and deep water drilling etc. There are reported cases of incestuous relationship between corrupt MMS officials and employees of oil companies, involving sex, alcohol and drugs, while neglecting crucial disaster prevention plans, crucial inspections, and crises management investments.
Clearly, there are disparities and similarities in these related and intertwined tales the pursuit of profits with complete disregard for the safety of lives, properties and protection of the environments by oil companies from America and Europe, which are operating in Ecuador, Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico.
It is the case that these same oil companies from America and Europe, in the search of profits, such as BP’s $25 billion dollars in profits in 2009, they are quite willing to put the lives of their workers and contractors at risks of excruciating deaths in fierce fires infernos in Ecuador, Nigeria or in the Gulf of Mexico. These oil companies are forever willing, in the pursuit of profits, to put entire ecosystem at irreparable risks of irreversible pollutions and degradations, destroying human lives, wildlife, aquatic lives and properties at high risks of loss.
The dichotomies and disparities arises in the disaster response by the same oil multinational companies. In Ecuador and Nigeria, just to name two nations with degraded and extremely polluted environments, where the oil companies from America and Europe offer no recompense, compensate or even any care at all, when the pollution they cause, induce miscarriages in women, cause skin diseases and all types of infections. When means of livelihoods are destroyed. When farmlands are made infertile, when rivers are poisoned with chemical effluents and fishes, aquatic life and wildlife is decimated. And no remorse, no regrets and no compensations are offered, even after prolonged legal actions, litigation and arbitration etc
Whereas, when oil drilling activities and oil explorations results in disasters as we presently witness in America’s Gulf Coast in the Gulf of Mexico, it is particularly noteworthy, that BP, Halliburton, Trans Oceans etc have engaged in PURELY VOLUNTARY actions at remediation in cleaning up, in offering compensations to individuals and companies and as well as offering $170 million dollars within one month, to the US Gulf Coast states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi, even well before the effects and consequences of pollution become apparent. There is no oil slick or sludge onshore in any of these four Gulf Coast states just yet and yet, there are these aggressive preemptive goodwill measures, not based on court orders or public protests or arbitration or compulsions. Again, operative word phrase, voluntarily. Why do these oil companies act voluntarily in Alaska, North Sea and Gulf of Mexico?
In Nigeria and Ecuador, there have been clear cases of deaths, miscarriages, diseases and infections resulting from activities of American and European oil multinationals conglomerates. There have been complaints for 50 years in the Niger Delta n Nigeria, and similar complaints have persisted in Ecuador and other oil producing nations. There have been peaceful protests over the years, and then, violent protests took over because nonviolent and peaceful suasion were disregarded and neglected for eons! There have been slew of legal actions, litigation and arbitration etc. There have been court judgments and court orders in Nigeria and in Netherlands which were ignored by American and European oil companies, most notorious among them, Shell Oil. Why are oil companies forever so willing to act voluntarily to compensate and act properly in response to disasters such as the Exxon Valdez in Prince William Sound in Alaska or in the North Sea or currently in the Gulf of Mexico, but these same oil conglomerates are unwilling to similarly act voluntarily or even under compulsion through court judgments or orders when in the persisting environmental catastrophes in Ecuador and Nigeria, even as you read this?
These American and European oil companies are very calculatingly manipulative in their actions in America and Europe in comparison with their actions in say, Ecuador and Nigeria. In America and Europe, these oil companies aspire or at least pretend to be socially responsible corporate actors, these oil companies adopt public highways and public squares and sponsor sports teams locally and to the Olympics. Conversely, these same companies are splendidly demonstrate extraordinary lack of interests in good corporate citizenship; these oil companies never aspire or engage or pretend to act in socially responsible ways in their in say, Ecuador and Nigeria. These oil companies act as though they are mere mercenaries in paid plunders without long term interests in the outcomes of Ecuador and Nigeria etc
If this double standards is not the exemplification of arrogance on the part of the oil multinationals, one is not sure what is! If these disparities and dichotomies in response and treatments of disasters and victims does not amount to a conscious devaluation operations of the human lives in Ecuador and Nigeria, one wonders what is!
Environmental Racism is the only explanation and poor excuse by these oil companies, for these differences in treatments of victims of oil drilling activities. And if this offensive practice of environmental racism is not just that, what then explains these continuing discriminating practices against victims of identical toxic pollutions? What explains these selective attitudes to victims of toxic pollutions caused by the same American and European oil giants? What explains permanence in always selectively choosing to compensate Americans and Europeans; but quite unwilling to compensate Ecuadorians and Nigerians, as the oil companies remain adamant in denying their liabilities?
It is environmental racism to spill oil and inflict toxic pollution upon Ecuador and Nigeria and take no action to clean up, even despite court orders. But clean up lesser harms and spillage in Alaska, North Sea and now the Gulf of Mexico. And it is racism, which gives birth to the arrogance upon which the pungent-putrid idea, the very filthy, the irrational, and the illogical idea of racial superiority, is rooted, and built, it is racism and the arrogance from it, in which other races’ lives are devalued and disregarded, even when such other races are directly injured by overt acts of the “superior” race!
Yes! It is good thing that this massive oil spill, this disaster and catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico is actually a blessing and a wonderfully good thing in disguise, because, from now on, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will become a point of reference or benchmark for oil spills and remediation or remedial actions in Ecuador, Nigeria and elsewhere. We believe when adequately informed, public in America and Europe would not support American and European oil companies egregiously offensive dehumanization abroad.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Owanbe! Is Here, A Guide Book On How Life Is Lived in Nigeria
Owanbe! Is Here, A Guide Book On How Life Is Lived in Nigeria
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Paul I. Adujie
Professors Abi Adegboye and Ibiyemi Dare have written a most fascinating account on how life is lived in Western Nigeria in the book, Owanbe! Yoruba Celebrations of Life. This superb “How-To” Manual details many aspects of Yoruba culture in a conversational, user-friendly manner. It is timely, prescient, and profound. It comes at a time when more and more Nigerians live in the Diaspora.
This well written, appealing, and well-documented cultural masterpiece is profound for many reasons, but two immediate reasons will suffice. The first reason is the dearth and paucity of similar writings, documentations, and recordation of how life is lived in Nigeria, and in fact, all of Africa. As a consequence, some non-Africans have in the past engaged in the blissful ignorance of asserting erroneously, that Africans have no contributions to poetries and songs, and so, poets are John Keats and John Donne and song writers and composers are Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart - all because Nigerians and other Africans did not engage in the good business of documenting and recording our poetries and songs.
The second immediate reason for the timeliness of Owanbe! is that, it will facilitate and enhance aspects of Nigerian culture for Nigerians at home and abroad. Owanbe! will be a great wonderful tool in the protection and preservation in the age of globalization and the consequent one way street one way traffic flow of cultural and entertainment information from America-Europe to Nigeria-Africa, without a corresponding bombardment of cultural and entertainment information from Nigeria-Africa to America-Europe. Globalization should be mutually beneficial. Globalization should be crystallizing the ways of lives of the human race, in effect, all the races.
In these days when more and more Nigerians and other Africans are increasingly emigrating and settling outside of the African continent, it is crucial to have a Guide Book and a “How-To book, such as Owanbe! Professors Adegboye and Dare’s thoroughly researched cultural precepts are a wonderful read and of immense value, benefit and help for everyone, in fact whether Nigerian, African or not! All that is required is an open mind, all Nigerians, all continental Africans and all peoples of African descent, and all global and universal citizens who are desirous of rich cultural experience which is based on superb presentation and chronology, the ebb and flow of births, celebrations of life from cradle to grave.
Owanbe! is highly recommended in today’s world of a shrinking global village, in which Americans imbibe Eastern culture of yoga and meditation and Buddhism. Owanbe! offers scintillating details of cultural charts, which follows the call and response, the push and pull of everyday life and the impact of culture which serves to add color and verve at various stages of life of the individuals in the community.
In this wonderful book, Nigerian culture is presented chapter and verse in sequential order. Births, naming ceremonies, and the important matter of name choices are amply discussed. Special and unique name choices are explained. Religious influences of African traditional religion, to Christianity and Islam are all explained in moving details. Childhood life celebrations specified, including birthdays, stepping out ceremonies, the place of music, songs and dances and friendships and the best things in life. You even get a guide on how to plan an Owanbe party!
As life is lived through the cultural lenses, detailed in this very ebullient work suffused with empirical data and real life experiences closely observed by the authors of Owanbe, it comes to a point, when “boy meets girl” and marriage is in the air. Marriage of course, like every aspect of life, is lived through cultural norms such as Ifihan, Idana. Etc. and the additions to these African practices being the Christian and Islamic modes of marriage from engagement, weddings to Yigi respectively.
Other important cultural milestones which are rigorously chronicled and presented in easy to understand and assimilate, are the importance of celebrations of birthdays, beginnings, pilgrimages, Parapo and community festivals and their importance and profound meanings.
There are also the matters of traditional chieftaincies, community festivals such as Osun Osogbo, inaugurations, and funeral ceremonies. Kings, who are referred to as Oba, are delineated by ranks and hierarchical importance and clout in the various communities and locale, and to cap all these cultural plenteousness and bounties, is the “How-To” plan a community festival! This book also contains exhaustive references and sources, and is a well thought out encyclopedia of our wonderful culture, including recipes for culturally derived Nigerian-African cuisine which will delight the most discerning palate!
Owanbe! Earned my two thumbs up! It is a prodigious effort to chronicle, preserve and protect our culture and how life is lived in our part of the world. Owanbe! will rekindle and reinforce these aspects of our culture, just as it provides a window of opportunity for all global and universal citizens worldwide to partake in our vibrant, colorful and very rich and meaningful cultural practices
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Paul I. Adujie
Professors Abi Adegboye and Ibiyemi Dare have written a most fascinating account on how life is lived in Western Nigeria in the book, Owanbe! Yoruba Celebrations of Life. This superb “How-To” Manual details many aspects of Yoruba culture in a conversational, user-friendly manner. It is timely, prescient, and profound. It comes at a time when more and more Nigerians live in the Diaspora.
This well written, appealing, and well-documented cultural masterpiece is profound for many reasons, but two immediate reasons will suffice. The first reason is the dearth and paucity of similar writings, documentations, and recordation of how life is lived in Nigeria, and in fact, all of Africa. As a consequence, some non-Africans have in the past engaged in the blissful ignorance of asserting erroneously, that Africans have no contributions to poetries and songs, and so, poets are John Keats and John Donne and song writers and composers are Beethoven, Chopin and Mozart - all because Nigerians and other Africans did not engage in the good business of documenting and recording our poetries and songs.
The second immediate reason for the timeliness of Owanbe! is that, it will facilitate and enhance aspects of Nigerian culture for Nigerians at home and abroad. Owanbe! will be a great wonderful tool in the protection and preservation in the age of globalization and the consequent one way street one way traffic flow of cultural and entertainment information from America-Europe to Nigeria-Africa, without a corresponding bombardment of cultural and entertainment information from Nigeria-Africa to America-Europe. Globalization should be mutually beneficial. Globalization should be crystallizing the ways of lives of the human race, in effect, all the races.
In these days when more and more Nigerians and other Africans are increasingly emigrating and settling outside of the African continent, it is crucial to have a Guide Book and a “How-To book, such as Owanbe! Professors Adegboye and Dare’s thoroughly researched cultural precepts are a wonderful read and of immense value, benefit and help for everyone, in fact whether Nigerian, African or not! All that is required is an open mind, all Nigerians, all continental Africans and all peoples of African descent, and all global and universal citizens who are desirous of rich cultural experience which is based on superb presentation and chronology, the ebb and flow of births, celebrations of life from cradle to grave.
Owanbe! is highly recommended in today’s world of a shrinking global village, in which Americans imbibe Eastern culture of yoga and meditation and Buddhism. Owanbe! offers scintillating details of cultural charts, which follows the call and response, the push and pull of everyday life and the impact of culture which serves to add color and verve at various stages of life of the individuals in the community.
In this wonderful book, Nigerian culture is presented chapter and verse in sequential order. Births, naming ceremonies, and the important matter of name choices are amply discussed. Special and unique name choices are explained. Religious influences of African traditional religion, to Christianity and Islam are all explained in moving details. Childhood life celebrations specified, including birthdays, stepping out ceremonies, the place of music, songs and dances and friendships and the best things in life. You even get a guide on how to plan an Owanbe party!
As life is lived through the cultural lenses, detailed in this very ebullient work suffused with empirical data and real life experiences closely observed by the authors of Owanbe, it comes to a point, when “boy meets girl” and marriage is in the air. Marriage of course, like every aspect of life, is lived through cultural norms such as Ifihan, Idana. Etc. and the additions to these African practices being the Christian and Islamic modes of marriage from engagement, weddings to Yigi respectively.
Other important cultural milestones which are rigorously chronicled and presented in easy to understand and assimilate, are the importance of celebrations of birthdays, beginnings, pilgrimages, Parapo and community festivals and their importance and profound meanings.
There are also the matters of traditional chieftaincies, community festivals such as Osun Osogbo, inaugurations, and funeral ceremonies. Kings, who are referred to as Oba, are delineated by ranks and hierarchical importance and clout in the various communities and locale, and to cap all these cultural plenteousness and bounties, is the “How-To” plan a community festival! This book also contains exhaustive references and sources, and is a well thought out encyclopedia of our wonderful culture, including recipes for culturally derived Nigerian-African cuisine which will delight the most discerning palate!
Owanbe! Earned my two thumbs up! It is a prodigious effort to chronicle, preserve and protect our culture and how life is lived in our part of the world. Owanbe! will rekindle and reinforce these aspects of our culture, just as it provides a window of opportunity for all global and universal citizens worldwide to partake in our vibrant, colorful and very rich and meaningful cultural practices
Monday, May 10, 2010
What If Obama Nominated A Black Woman To The US Supreme Court?
What If Obama Nominated A Black Woman To The US Supreme Court?
Written by Paul I. Adujie
The first person of African descent to become president of the United States, on Monday May 10, 2010 nominated Elena Kagan, the first woman to be the Solicitor General of the United States. The nominee is also the first dean of Harvard University Law School as well as the first woman to serve alongside two other women simultaneously on the US Supreme Court. This is a good thing!
And now, she is the third American Jew currently serving on the US Supreme Court and the second nominee by President Obama from New York City and the second female by President Obama since his inauguration on January 20, 2009. Elena Kagan will also be the only fourth woman to have served on the US Supreme Court in the entire history of the court’s existence. This is, again, a very good thing!
Elena Kagan clerked for the legendary late Justice Thurgood Marshall of the US Supreme Court as he then was, and she was known to have had a large portrait wall picture Thurgood Marshall who she called her hero and her mentor. It is noteworthy, in the circumstances that Justice Marshall was a person of African descent, as well as President Obama who has now nominated Elena Kagan to this appointment of a lifetime for a lifetime on the highest court in the United States
There are Democrats and those who are liberal on social and legal issues, who have swiftly criticized President Obama for nominating Elena Kagan who is seen as a middle of the road Democrat, not liberal on social and legal issues enough. She is known to have appointed many conservative lawyers to the Harvard University Law School she served there as dean. Elena Kagan therefore does not represent the liberal ideals of the Democratic Party of which President Obama is head. What if Democrat Party take particular steps to ensure that its nominees and appointees have strong, profound, vigorous and audacious liberal worldviews, consistent with the Democratic Party platforms?
It is the case that the Republican Party makes efforts, even if such efforts affront liberals, Republican Party singularly focus such efforts true conservatives, in appointing persons with ultra conservative views to pursue social and legal policies which reflects the worldview of the Republican Party, whereas, the Democratic Party, always seem tepid and intimidated in their nominations of persons who would naturally reflect and pursue, liberal ideals of the Democratic Party. The question to be asked and the question which therefore arises is why the Democratic always appear to be timid and timorous in appointing openly and sufficiently liberal persons to pursue agendas reflective of liberal worldviews?
While for instance, Justice John Robert and Justice Alito ultra conservatives and pro-business and pro-corporate appointees of President George W. Bush President Obama’s immediate predecessor, President Obama and the Democrats with a resounding mandate from the American electorate in November 2008 compared to President George W. Bush’s electoral fortunes in both his elections in year 2000 and his reelection in year 2004. The Republican Party seem to use even their smaller mandates more effectively than the huge and larger mandates of the Democrats historically. Why is it that Democrats seem to always fear selecting strong and recognizable voice for progressives, such as persons who are unapologetic liberal? Is President Obama’s worldview really liberal or is he as a matter of fact a camouflaged conservative who merely disguises himself as a liberal? Mr. Obama’s fruitless pursuits of bipartisanship and the elusive social policy middle ground worries many liberals. A recent reminder of this Obama phenomenon is his approval of offshore drilling a little over a month ago, a policy which was advocated by McCain-Palin during the 2008 political campaign season and opposed then by the Obama-Biden ticket. Acceding to offshore drilling and expansion of nuclear energy expansions, was a clear shift by Mr. Obama and the Democrats, perhaps, in another efforts to bend over backwards in the name of bipartisanship and to placate the Republicans despite the unwillingness of the Republicans to compromise on any issue, and yet, in the end, it is the Democrats who end up looking awkward after the massive oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico!
There are many, who now believe that many of the current administration’s policies are being shaped by this hot pursuit of bipartisanship, a rather elusive or even nonexistent bipartisanship which have been pursued to no avail by Mr. Obama. President Obama and the Democratic Party will do well to remain and stay true to core beliefs of Democrats upon which they were given the mandate by the American electorate in November 2008. It is widely believed that the nomination of Elena Kagan is driven by this desire by President Obama and Democrats to placate the Republicans and the implication of this, is that the US Supreme Court will remain a bastion of the ultra conservative jurists as a majority with legal and constitutional interpretations stacked in favor of conservative outlook and worldview for generations, the current composition of the US Supreme Court has such ramifications.
There are of course other issues which warrants debates regarding President Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan’s nomination. She has not held a judicial position and so, she comes to the US Supreme Court from a purely academic background as former law teacher and dean at Harvard University Law School, as well as having served at the Chicago University Law School where the then Professor Obama was himself a law teacher before his foray into American politics. But it must be mentioned that Elena Kagan is not the first nominee or appointee to the US Supreme Court and without judicial appointment on her resume.
It is not a pre-qualification or prerequisite, and there have in fact been nominees to the US Supreme Court without judicial appointment antecedents. But she is the first nominee in the preceding 40 years without judicial experience to be nominated to the US Supreme Court. Elena Kagan served in the Bill Clinton White House, she also served in academia and most until her nomination, she is currently the Solicitor General of the United States. Upon the nomination of Elena Kagan by President Obama, some observers of the US Supreme Court have wondered allowed why graduates of Harvard and Yale Law Schools now constitute the fulcrum of the highest court in the land, and as such have expressed concern as to the appearance of legal elitism at the US Supreme Court, which now no longer reflect diversity of American law schools, apart from or other than the so-called Ivy League Law Schools.
Elena Kagan, to her credit, is known to have vigorously opposed the discriminatory policy of the US Armed Forces, which requires members of the American military who are not heterosexuals to keep their sexual orientation muted and subdued in the US Armed Forces rule which is also known as “Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell” Elena Kagan barred military recruiters from the Harvard University Law School to protest this discriminatory rule, until she and others were overruled by the US Supreme Court. Elena Kagan was also one of three deans of American Law Schools, to have opposed the operation of Guantanamo Bay detention practices without compliance with all constitutional precepts by President George W. Bush administration
Elena Kagan if confirmed as justice of the US Supreme Court, would be the third American Jew to serve on the US Supreme Court simultaneously. And the politics is a game of numbers and balancing of competing interests of the populace which constitutes the electorate. It is important to measure and compare the US Supreme Court appointees and the demographics of the United States. African Americans are over 48 million or more 14% of the US population and American Jews are about 5.6 million or more than 3% percent of the US population, and yet, Elena Kagan will be the third American Jew to serve simultaneously on the US Supreme Court. Whereas, Justice Clarence Thomas who is currently serving on the US Supreme Court and the late Justice Thurgood Marshall are the only African Americans to have ever served on the US Supreme Court.
As a matter of diversity and demographics which truly reflects America, it is well past time when an African American woman arrives at the hallowed halls of the US Supreme Court. It is probably also about time, that another African American male also arrives at the US Supreme Court. And why not? It a surprise that an African American woman has not been nominated to high profile position of significance in the legal arena, since the failed nomination of Professor Lani Guinier by President Bill Clinton to serve as assist attorney general for Civil Rights of the United States almost twenty years ago. The fact of the matter is, African Americans remain under represented in American public and private sector positions, and African American women are particularly worse off in this regard; African American women have suffered double discrimination historically, discrimination based on race and gender respectively. President Obama can change this history of double discrimination against African American women. Mr. Obama has made two nominations to the US Supreme Court in his first fifteen months as president, there will be more opportunities in the remaining three years of his first term as president and another four years when and if Mr. Obama secures reelection in the next presidential election slated and scheduled for 2012
Surely, it cannot be the case that the very existence of a person of African descent as president of the United States should and must of necessity, foreclose and forestall the importance of having American institutions reflect the composite population of America. Regardless of who the president of the United States is and notwithstanding the heritage and cultural background of the current American president, the appointment of an African American woman and or another African American man to the US Supreme Court is long overdue. The mere fact that President Obama is a person of African American descent should not impede this clear issue of fairness and American demography.
In these matters of race, American demography and representative democracy in a plural society, a multicultural society such as the United States, a true practice diversity requires that America begin to truly reflect the true picture of the American population. African Americans, Latinos and Asians continue to be under represented in elective and appointive political and judicial positions in the United States, this, despite huge segments of millions and millions of persons of these heritages and cultural backgrounds here in the United States.
New Yorkers are excited to Elena Kagan, a New Yorker, who attended Hunter College High School in New York city, and then, subsequently attended Princeton, ,Oxford, and Harvard Universities, if confirmed, Elena Kagan will be the latest addition from New York to the United States Supreme Court epochal list of legal luminaries.
Written by Paul I. Adujie
The first person of African descent to become president of the United States, on Monday May 10, 2010 nominated Elena Kagan, the first woman to be the Solicitor General of the United States. The nominee is also the first dean of Harvard University Law School as well as the first woman to serve alongside two other women simultaneously on the US Supreme Court. This is a good thing!
And now, she is the third American Jew currently serving on the US Supreme Court and the second nominee by President Obama from New York City and the second female by President Obama since his inauguration on January 20, 2009. Elena Kagan will also be the only fourth woman to have served on the US Supreme Court in the entire history of the court’s existence. This is, again, a very good thing!
Elena Kagan clerked for the legendary late Justice Thurgood Marshall of the US Supreme Court as he then was, and she was known to have had a large portrait wall picture Thurgood Marshall who she called her hero and her mentor. It is noteworthy, in the circumstances that Justice Marshall was a person of African descent, as well as President Obama who has now nominated Elena Kagan to this appointment of a lifetime for a lifetime on the highest court in the United States
There are Democrats and those who are liberal on social and legal issues, who have swiftly criticized President Obama for nominating Elena Kagan who is seen as a middle of the road Democrat, not liberal on social and legal issues enough. She is known to have appointed many conservative lawyers to the Harvard University Law School she served there as dean. Elena Kagan therefore does not represent the liberal ideals of the Democratic Party of which President Obama is head. What if Democrat Party take particular steps to ensure that its nominees and appointees have strong, profound, vigorous and audacious liberal worldviews, consistent with the Democratic Party platforms?
It is the case that the Republican Party makes efforts, even if such efforts affront liberals, Republican Party singularly focus such efforts true conservatives, in appointing persons with ultra conservative views to pursue social and legal policies which reflects the worldview of the Republican Party, whereas, the Democratic Party, always seem tepid and intimidated in their nominations of persons who would naturally reflect and pursue, liberal ideals of the Democratic Party. The question to be asked and the question which therefore arises is why the Democratic always appear to be timid and timorous in appointing openly and sufficiently liberal persons to pursue agendas reflective of liberal worldviews?
While for instance, Justice John Robert and Justice Alito ultra conservatives and pro-business and pro-corporate appointees of President George W. Bush President Obama’s immediate predecessor, President Obama and the Democrats with a resounding mandate from the American electorate in November 2008 compared to President George W. Bush’s electoral fortunes in both his elections in year 2000 and his reelection in year 2004. The Republican Party seem to use even their smaller mandates more effectively than the huge and larger mandates of the Democrats historically. Why is it that Democrats seem to always fear selecting strong and recognizable voice for progressives, such as persons who are unapologetic liberal? Is President Obama’s worldview really liberal or is he as a matter of fact a camouflaged conservative who merely disguises himself as a liberal? Mr. Obama’s fruitless pursuits of bipartisanship and the elusive social policy middle ground worries many liberals. A recent reminder of this Obama phenomenon is his approval of offshore drilling a little over a month ago, a policy which was advocated by McCain-Palin during the 2008 political campaign season and opposed then by the Obama-Biden ticket. Acceding to offshore drilling and expansion of nuclear energy expansions, was a clear shift by Mr. Obama and the Democrats, perhaps, in another efforts to bend over backwards in the name of bipartisanship and to placate the Republicans despite the unwillingness of the Republicans to compromise on any issue, and yet, in the end, it is the Democrats who end up looking awkward after the massive oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico!
There are many, who now believe that many of the current administration’s policies are being shaped by this hot pursuit of bipartisanship, a rather elusive or even nonexistent bipartisanship which have been pursued to no avail by Mr. Obama. President Obama and the Democratic Party will do well to remain and stay true to core beliefs of Democrats upon which they were given the mandate by the American electorate in November 2008. It is widely believed that the nomination of Elena Kagan is driven by this desire by President Obama and Democrats to placate the Republicans and the implication of this, is that the US Supreme Court will remain a bastion of the ultra conservative jurists as a majority with legal and constitutional interpretations stacked in favor of conservative outlook and worldview for generations, the current composition of the US Supreme Court has such ramifications.
There are of course other issues which warrants debates regarding President Obama’s nomination of Elena Kagan’s nomination. She has not held a judicial position and so, she comes to the US Supreme Court from a purely academic background as former law teacher and dean at Harvard University Law School, as well as having served at the Chicago University Law School where the then Professor Obama was himself a law teacher before his foray into American politics. But it must be mentioned that Elena Kagan is not the first nominee or appointee to the US Supreme Court and without judicial appointment on her resume.
It is not a pre-qualification or prerequisite, and there have in fact been nominees to the US Supreme Court without judicial appointment antecedents. But she is the first nominee in the preceding 40 years without judicial experience to be nominated to the US Supreme Court. Elena Kagan served in the Bill Clinton White House, she also served in academia and most until her nomination, she is currently the Solicitor General of the United States. Upon the nomination of Elena Kagan by President Obama, some observers of the US Supreme Court have wondered allowed why graduates of Harvard and Yale Law Schools now constitute the fulcrum of the highest court in the land, and as such have expressed concern as to the appearance of legal elitism at the US Supreme Court, which now no longer reflect diversity of American law schools, apart from or other than the so-called Ivy League Law Schools.
Elena Kagan, to her credit, is known to have vigorously opposed the discriminatory policy of the US Armed Forces, which requires members of the American military who are not heterosexuals to keep their sexual orientation muted and subdued in the US Armed Forces rule which is also known as “Don’t-Ask-Don’t-Tell” Elena Kagan barred military recruiters from the Harvard University Law School to protest this discriminatory rule, until she and others were overruled by the US Supreme Court. Elena Kagan was also one of three deans of American Law Schools, to have opposed the operation of Guantanamo Bay detention practices without compliance with all constitutional precepts by President George W. Bush administration
Elena Kagan if confirmed as justice of the US Supreme Court, would be the third American Jew to serve on the US Supreme Court simultaneously. And the politics is a game of numbers and balancing of competing interests of the populace which constitutes the electorate. It is important to measure and compare the US Supreme Court appointees and the demographics of the United States. African Americans are over 48 million or more 14% of the US population and American Jews are about 5.6 million or more than 3% percent of the US population, and yet, Elena Kagan will be the third American Jew to serve simultaneously on the US Supreme Court. Whereas, Justice Clarence Thomas who is currently serving on the US Supreme Court and the late Justice Thurgood Marshall are the only African Americans to have ever served on the US Supreme Court.
As a matter of diversity and demographics which truly reflects America, it is well past time when an African American woman arrives at the hallowed halls of the US Supreme Court. It is probably also about time, that another African American male also arrives at the US Supreme Court. And why not? It a surprise that an African American woman has not been nominated to high profile position of significance in the legal arena, since the failed nomination of Professor Lani Guinier by President Bill Clinton to serve as assist attorney general for Civil Rights of the United States almost twenty years ago. The fact of the matter is, African Americans remain under represented in American public and private sector positions, and African American women are particularly worse off in this regard; African American women have suffered double discrimination historically, discrimination based on race and gender respectively. President Obama can change this history of double discrimination against African American women. Mr. Obama has made two nominations to the US Supreme Court in his first fifteen months as president, there will be more opportunities in the remaining three years of his first term as president and another four years when and if Mr. Obama secures reelection in the next presidential election slated and scheduled for 2012
Surely, it cannot be the case that the very existence of a person of African descent as president of the United States should and must of necessity, foreclose and forestall the importance of having American institutions reflect the composite population of America. Regardless of who the president of the United States is and notwithstanding the heritage and cultural background of the current American president, the appointment of an African American woman and or another African American man to the US Supreme Court is long overdue. The mere fact that President Obama is a person of African American descent should not impede this clear issue of fairness and American demography.
In these matters of race, American demography and representative democracy in a plural society, a multicultural society such as the United States, a true practice diversity requires that America begin to truly reflect the true picture of the American population. African Americans, Latinos and Asians continue to be under represented in elective and appointive political and judicial positions in the United States, this, despite huge segments of millions and millions of persons of these heritages and cultural backgrounds here in the United States.
New Yorkers are excited to Elena Kagan, a New Yorker, who attended Hunter College High School in New York city, and then, subsequently attended Princeton, ,Oxford, and Harvard Universities, if confirmed, Elena Kagan will be the latest addition from New York to the United States Supreme Court epochal list of legal luminaries.
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