Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Loss of Wild Life Threatens Food Supplies; Oil Leak Five Times Greater Than Reported by Officials

From Jenna Orkin

Headlines
Empires on the Edge of Chaos - Niall Ferguson
Loss of wildlife threatens food supplies – UN
Gordon Brown to resign: a very Labour coup
Prepare for austerity
Greece may fall to junk
Global stock rally runs out of steam
Even $1 Trillion Won't Save The European Disaster, Says Roubini
Roubini: 'We Will Have Even More Crises in the Future'
Too-Big-to-Fail-Banks to Get Even Bigger
Fannie Loses $13 Billion; VIX Plunges Most on Record
Not all investors seduced by rescue
Rescue may only work in short-term

Oil Leak
Oil leak is 5 times greater than reported by officials
Plan B in the Gulf
JO comment: So how my golf balls, pantyhose and haircuts are we talking about here?
BP's Relief Wells Bring Risk of an Even Bigger Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico
UN fears 'irreversible' damage to natural environment
Air Force planes drop chemical dispersants on Gulf oil spill
No End in Sight to Oil Spill as BP Costs Mount
If You Think You Have a Sense of the Oil Spill's Scale - from Elizabeth Miller
T. Boone Pickens Sees $100 Oil At End Of 2010
Rig Owner Had Rising Tally of Accidents
BP Oil Slick
Shale Gas Will Rock the World

World/Economy
OECD members vote unanimously to invite Israel to join - from Rice Farmer"
Red Cross confirms 'secret' Afghan prison facility
Iran could fire nuclear missile within two years, says think tank - from Rice Farmer
Israel says it's better prepared for war with Iran - from Rice Farmer'
Explosive traces found' in sunken South Korean warship - from Rice Farmer
Chemical Concussions and Secret LSD: Pentagon Details Cold War Mind Control Tests
Qatar, the tiny gulf state that bought the world
Price-fixing trial collapses (UK airlines)
RBS cuts 2,600 more jobs

Environment/Science
Travellers warned ash is 'uninsurable'
Flood money: understanding the global water cycle
"Plotting the world's water is expensive, but a £280m satellite will do just that."
Tainted nuke plant water reaches major NJ aquifer
Seaweed kills coral, scientists find
Well it wasn't me.
Greenland Glacier Slide Speed 220% in Summer- from Elizabeth Miller
U.S. Cancer Costs Double in Two Decades
Gravity Lows Mark Burial Sites of Ancient Tectonic Plates

22 comments:

Unknown said...

2 more about Pakistan's energy crissis:

Power cuts crippling Pakistan
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8674656.stm

Cynicism over Pakistani efforts to save energy
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8652237.stm

Weaseldog said...

The more I learn about the spill and the efforts to plug it, the more pessimistic I become.

For the relief well, they plan to bore another hole and pump in concrete. I suppose that then the concrete is supposed to lodge and harden in the first hole.

It seems that if they get it too close to the original hole, it may just blow out the pipe before it hardens.

Too far away and it will harden in place without blocking the hole.

This plan seems that it would work best if the concrete hardened chunks that then are moved by fluid flow to block the hole. I don't even know if that is possible.

I'll always have my memories of the Gulf from the 1960s and 70s....

Elmo said...

Empires on the Edge of Chaos

Going by everything outlined in the article, the final conclusion one should come to is that "the bigger they are, the faster they fall".

Elmo said...

Plan B "So how many golf balls, pantyhose and haircuts are we talking about here?"

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

Weaseldog said...

One of the side effects of wiping out oxygen breathing life in a large body of water is that the organisms that can survive there, will bloom in numbers and begin producing noxious gases.

As this oil slick spreads, the coastal communities may have to deal with regular periods were the air is toxic to breath.

Some of the species of plankton that bloom in dead zones, actually produce a neurotoxin.

http://www.physorg.com/news187896509.html

I wonder, will much of Florida become uninhabitable?

pagun said...

We are certainly getting what we deserve in the oil department. We knowingly pay the evilest to destroy the air and water. The gas pump says "self" on it. The pump handle is like a machine gun- every time you pick it up and pull the trigger, remember that it is YOU doing it. The heads of third world children are under the pedals in our cars. Our ancestors worshipped trees (oil is trees from long ago.) Every time you get in a car, you aren't going to hell, you are physically in hell, because everything the car is made out of- like glass, metal, and plastic- came from under the earth. Isn't that where hell is supposed to be? think youre in heaven but youre living in hell- dread amish

Titus Pullo said...

Well, lookie there. A "positive" story about shale gas.

I gotta say. These kinds of well-spun stories really are funny. After you absorb all the wondrous reserve totals in the "trillions of cubic feet," it's not hard to notice they never mention rates of consumption.

It's also pretty transparent that they can't deny the environmental aspects of digging for shale gas. It's just spun in a way that settles the reader's conscience. Keyword phrases include "as new technologies come online" and "engineers are working on solutions that would....," and "a small price to pay for... " And wallah! With a few tricky phrases, you have calmed the surface concerns of 95% of readers who never look deeper, and WANT to promote investment in these "technologies of the future." ... A one-sided story like this is all they need.

Never mind that collapse is happening right now.

In the great words of Frank Drebbin as chaos unfolds behind him: "Please disperse!! Nothing to see here!"

OregonSurvivor said...

What to do when the food supply runs out.

Living On Sunlight?

businessman said...

It's nice to see that the people responsible for the oil disaster are interested in giving 100% full disclosure:

Rig Workers Made to Sign Statements After Blast

Unknown said...

http://ca.finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/article/canadianbusiness/1566/why-the-amish-succeed-in-business

I grew up amongst these folks and the way they live their lives is worth a look, especially in a post peak world. They are never hungry, alone or poor.

They even run their own credit union.

RanD said...

Indeed, Thomas Cole's great 1830s pentaptych, "The Course of Empire", has a clear message:

"[A]ll empires, no matter how magnificent, are condemned to decline and fall. The implicit suggestion [then] was that the young American republic of Cole's age would be better served by sticking to its bucolic first principles and resisting the imperial temptations of commerce, conquest, and colonization."

And then here we are now, 180+ yrs later, still merrily to unmerrily flopping around -- with even all the much more experience & history from which to figure out what we need to. And we're still not catching on?! Goodness!

Evidently ugly things just need to continue; and/or things need to get even uglier...? Hmph.

Tantive said...

Gold hit record high today...fun

Unknown said...

I can't remember if I posted this already, but it was published on the Transition Times.com and also on Carolyn Baker's website.

It speaks to how we all here feel and who is really responsible:

The Ecopsychology of the Gulf Oil Spill:

http://contemplativehiking.com/2010/05/03/the-ecopsychology-of-the-gulf-oil-spill/

I mention this blog in my article :-)

gamedog said...

Carolyn Baker on PEAK RELATIONSHIPS: THE END OF SUBURBIA UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

What resonated was something Geoff Lawton said during his PDC presentation (Permaculture Design Course) about "Permaculture divorces" when one partner gets it, and the other refuses. I found myself in such a situation, but luckily, or through perseverance and a willingness to compromise, Love found a way, we've never been happier :)

agape wins said...

5,11,10; 4:25pm.
Elmo thinks I am not specific enough! Everyone wants to be breast fed(Dependent/infantile Amae).
Jenna posts many distractions almost every day, the goal is to change the way money, Conflict, cooperation, Manipulation by the powers! Who gave them that POWER? LAZY YOU & ME, look in the mirror, not down the street.

RanD had numerous posts all leading in the same direction, which no one saw, or wanted to.
Elmo has repeated His message of DOOM, concluding with this;

"/Don't think I'm joking!/ If you and I can't wrestle the power away from them, then /we're all fucked!/ We can't just wander off and plant our little gardens, and pretend they're not there!"

To which he received NOTHING; I followed after 4 days with a 3 part reinforcement from my viewpoint; just after that I discovered that WWI almost was ended TWICE by the troops, most everyone knows about the Christmas truce, & gift exchange, few know they refused to return to battle, There was a second Episode where the Combat stopped!! Both times the troops had to be threatened with execution to resume the Killing!
My assumption that you would recognize the context I was writing in was all wrong, The information I am looking for is proving hard to find, I have the Book "The Evolution of Cooperation" ordered.
Surely in this enlightened day we can do better than those uneducated farmers.

I see little chance of "wrestling" progress in/from this Blog.

I pray that Collapse is more disciplined, & directed toward concrete Change.

If you insist in taking your animosity past the end, stay away from me,
I will have none of it!!

Sean Niem said...

Aerial View of the Slick:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uG8JHSAVYT0

Elmo said...

@agape_wins

"There was a second Episode where the Combat stopped!! Both times the troops had to be threatened with execution to resume the Killing!"

Just think... If only ONE person would have stood up and said "Well then, go ahead and fucking shoot me!", it might have ended right then and there!

Thanks, agape! :-)

RanD said...

agape wins, Your above 3:28PM post exemplifies the rare conjoining of insight courage focus & passion that this world is literally starving to death for; we are grateful for your uncommon, much needed body of spirit and mind; and likewise pray with you "that Collapse [becomes] more disciplined, & directed toward concrete Change."

Weaseldog said...

"I pray that Collapse is more disciplined, & directed toward concrete Change."

I think we all hope for that. I don't think that we should depend on it happening. Always hedge your bets or at least bet no more than you can afford to lose, especially if you're gambling on long shots.

Not everything that is possible can happen. And often times, improbable things never occur.

"If you insist in taking your animosity past the end, stay away from me,
I will have none of it!!"

Some people feel that if other disagree with them, then they are practicing hate or animosity. I don't know if that's what you mean here or not. I don't think I've seen much in the way of animosity on this blog.

Unknown said...

Jenna, note typo in "So how my [sic] golf balls, pantyhose and haircuts are we talking about here?"

Your wit is always a treat.

PS: You can delete this comment if you'd like.

businessman said...

To think that people are going to collectively behave better towards each other under the stress of collapse, I believe, is wishful thinking. I remember during the L.A. riots in 1992 when my Dad pulled me in front of the television to show me something. Someone had pulled up in front of a television store with a pickup truck and ran inside to steal a TV. But when they came outside with the TV in their hands, someone had already stolen their pickup truck!

This is the kind of stuff I think we're really going to be faced with around collapse, but it will probably involve food and water much more than televisions.

Weaseldog said...

In the article, "Prepare for Austerity", the first advice given is to put everything you can into your pension.

In nations that had austerity measures imposed on them, pensions were looted by the banks.

Investing in a pension, so that the banks can steal the money, doesn't sound like sound advice to me.