The horror of the BP oil spill - total RANT - 3 Fat Chicks on a Diet Weight Loss Community

Cglasscock1 · 06-04-2010, 07:09 PM

Today thick dark patches of crude oil washed up on the shores on the beautiful white sands of Pensacola Beach and I am totally devastated.
I am so hurt for the families of the 11 men who lost their lives on the oil spill...and for all of those who were injured...
I am totally sickened with the images of pelicans, turtles, and fish coated with oil, struggling for their life...
I am heartbroken for people in the fishing industry that feeds and clothes so many people along the entire Gulf Coast.
I am reeling for the tourist industry that was just starting to recover from the recession and hurricanes Katrina and Ivan ...
I am enraged at the arrogance of BP and their failure to take safety measures to prevent this... and furthermore, be unable to stop this horror.
I am trying very hard to not let these feelings make me lose my focus on my personal goals. But it is hard. I want to go throw up. Or scream.
I hope that each and every one of you will consider this a total affront to the way we live in America and a piracy of some of our most precious resurces. Let's vow to do everything we can to see that this does not happen again.

Ciao · 06-04-2010, 07:33 PM

I agree.
I am totally enraged at this as
well. It just keeps spilling and
spilling into the precious ocean.

GradPhase · 06-04-2010, 07:34 PM

I absolutely agree. I'm a total gulf coast baby. My parents are from Mississippi and Alabama, and I grew up in Louisiana. Especially after moving to Alaska and seeing the damage we're still facing from the Exxon-Valdez spill --- I feel like people aren't taking this seriously at all. With all of the oil we go through - all of the damage plastic does to US as well as the environment - how toxic aluminum cans and foil are - how *unhealthy* we are as a civilization.. it's so incredibly infuriating and sickening that we not only allowed this to happen, but that we're not, as a nation, infuriated enough to guarantee that it not happen again. A little solidarity here would go a long way. What will it take for us to WAKE UP as a NATION and fix this!?! This is not the worst oil spill in just America, it's the worst in the WORLD. This is the worst man-made DISASTER that the WORLD has seen since the A bomb (which was who's fault??)! Why aren't we learning??? Can we get more selfish????

nelie · 06-04-2010, 08:00 PM

It actually amazes me how often oil is spilled. I found this article about various oil spills.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSL...pe=marketsNews

This is another article about the oil spills that have been occurring in Nigeria since the 1950s (Shell oil to blame here)
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/op...edejikeme.html

13 million gallons, equivalent of the exxon valdez accident every year for 50 years.

This is our planet and this is how we treat it. It is devastating.

EZMONEY · 06-04-2010, 08:00 PM

I understand all of your concerns here and I am very sad about the situation and even more sad of how it will play out in people's lives and creatures as time passes on this spill...

but folks...we ask for this....with our desire to drive our cars, heat our houses...run the factories that give us our conveniences that we so desire....

as in all cases like this fingers are pointed and blame is thrown....

and believe it or not some people will play it out like they are heroes in this mess...you wait and see...

we are not perfect people and we don't live in a perfect world...

consequences happen when we get greedy...

Seriously who here wants to throw away their cars ~ computers ~ cell phones ~ microwaves ~ fridges ~ heaters ...etc.

We want our fast food and we want our fast fixes on disasters...

and we want it now

roxmysox · 06-04-2010, 08:03 PM

It's devastating!

Quote:

Originally Posted by EZMONEY

Seriously who here wants to throw away their cars ~ computers ~ cell phones ~ microwaves ~ fridges ~ heaters ...etc.

I would. Gladly, actually. If things were different. Towns were still towns with farmers and markets and... well, they way they were before we got to this place. It's not about want for some people. It's about can't.

06-04-2010, 09:08 PM

Um, yeah, we CAN. EZ is totally on target.

We CAN fight for better operating standards and punishments for companies that mess up like this and rely on ridiculously business-favored, government supported insurance policies to pay for these disasters.

We CAN quit whining about unemployment in America while shopping at Walmart(which has done more to support the Chinese economy than any other company).

We CAN protest The Supreme Court granting personhood to corporations so they can have even less interference in buying off our politicians.

We CAN boycott and protest against companies who spend outrageous amounts buying and corrupting our government while paying their employees crap wages.

We CAN give our business to companies that didn't take stimulus funds after they messed up their businesses. I'm thinking my next vehicle will be a Ford(didn't take stimulus) or a Jeep(just put 1000 Americans back to work).

We CAN do business with local banks and credit unions and let the "Too Big To Fails" fall flat on their faces.

We CAN go to our local political campaigns and put pressure on our politicians to get our laws back to supporting and protecting American consumers rather than the abusive companies that simply see us as dollar signs and write credit contracts with traps and lingo that even lawyers can't understand.

We CAN put fiscal pressure on companies that have factories over seas to insure they are not using slave labor and are providing a decent standard of living to the people there who work for them.

We CAN boycott companies that abuse illegal immigrants here while supporting a better immigration policy that allows people into this country legally so they are no longer de facto slave labor and used as a threat against American labor.

We are Americans!! We have a constitution they gives us as citizens a whole lot of power. It does, however, take time, money and effort. But, we CAN'T do anything if we just sit back and say "There's nothing you can do about it."

And, we better get to doing it pretty fast cause the future isn't looking so great for our children at this point.

Cglasscock1 · 06-04-2010, 09:23 PM

Yes, EZ, I agree that we asked for this by our love of all things that run on fuel. What bothers me the most about this is that we trusted our government and big business to drill for oil in a safe manner. BP should have been required to spend the money (what was it --about $500,000?) on that blow-out valve that would have made it safer. They were allowed to cut corners on so many levels. And look at what the REAL cost will be. No amount of money will fix this.

EZMONEY · 06-04-2010, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cglasscock1

What bothers me the most about this is that we trusted our government and big business to drill for oil in a safe manner..

I was taught as a child, a very long time ago, by my parents to trust our government. I was taught that they would take care of us and look out for us.

The older I get...shut up with the senile jokes kids....

the more I learn and see and dis-trust what I was taught.

I lean heavily to one side of politics but I don't trust that power anymore either...

as in all walks of life we have good and bad but the status quo of politics pretty much sickens me anymore...

therefore my vote goes to OPERATOR 265

EZMONEY · 06-05-2010, 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roxmysox

I would. Gladly, actually. If things were different. Towns were still towns with farmers and markets and... well, they way they were before we got to this place. It's not about want for some people. It's about can't.

I so disagree with this statement ....have you ever visited an Amish community?

There may be someone out there that can't live "simply"....but I doubt it...

mostly I find out when people say they can't is because they don't want to give up their "comforts"...

souvenirdarling · 06-05-2010, 12:59 PM

That spill is just so huge, its so frightenning to think about how how this will permanently change the land we love.

The most green man I know, whose home is run completely on solar panels, still needs fuel or his truck to plow himself out when it snows. We CAN all really cut down by examining what we need and what we want. Unortunately, we're a long way off rom the above listed goals because I think most people don't want it enough or others

saef · 06-05-2010, 01:46 PM

Those oil-slicked birds in their death throes are really bothering me.

Really bothering me.

kgriff · 06-08-2010, 07:58 PM

Unfortunately, our dependence on oil won't go away any time soon. Even if cars ran on water, the tires are still made from oil...

Even the Amish use oil-based products. Having lived in an Amish community in PA for a number of years, I saw Amish buggies at the gas pumps getting gas for their tractors (yes, they are allowed to use them, just as they are allowed to use electricity that is generated some way...they just aren't allowed to be tied into the electricity grid because it's believed they will then be tied into the "devil's playground").

However, what BP has done (or hasn't done, depending on how you view it) in this case is the real problem. No matter if this was the only oil well in existence, there still should've been tested contingency plans in place for just such a disaster. For them to still have oil spewing 50 days after the accident is totally irresponsible. For them to not come forth with the absolute honest truth immediately after it happened is totally shameful.

And, we'll all be kidding ourselves if we think BP will pay for 100% of this disaster. I'm sure they've spent countless hours in the board room trying to figure out how to save their multi-million-dollar bonuses...

***Just my $0.02 worth***

JayZeeJay · 06-08-2010, 08:09 PM

I could not agree more with the outrage expressed above. And it's a bit serendipitous, having this discussion on 3FC - this latest environmental disaster has finally succeeded in motivating me to ride my bike EVERYWHERE, not just shorter trips but the long work commute (24 mile round trip), every day. And before I noticed it, the weight has simply fallen off recently. Good for the planet = good for us. The pathetic part is that it took a catastrophe for the message to sink into my thick skull.

EZMONEY · 06-08-2010, 08:09 PM

You make good points kgriff...

I am aware that Amish use oil based products....

Again let me say I am very upset on the damage to all concerns for the spill...

and in no way sticking up for BP or our government for their mess in the situation...

all I am saying is I have yet to see anyone throw down their oil-based luxury for this spill...

Exxon Valdez....

or any other spills....

But I sure have heard a lot of complaints from people that seem to know all about the situation....

We are not perfect people...this will not be the last oil spill....

happens way more than we know