60+ Days of Deepwater: Karma Comes to America?

Today, is the 62nd day since the Deepwater Horizon catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico. Two months of a tragedy that will leave Planet Earth devasted for a very long time, not to mention its impact on Homo sapiens, which has for a long-time been headed down a cataclysmic path paved by greed, aquisitiveness, and self-absorbtion.

Ever since the parade of colonizers first came to the shores of America, there has been a series of nightmares perpetrated upon the indigenous peoples living here. Whether it be the British invasion of the Eastern coast at Plymouth, the French invasion of Canada and Louisana, the Spanish in Florida, California, Mexico, Central and South America, and there has often been a bloody path of decimation by fire, sword, and disease of epic proportions. The missionaries sent to "Christianize" the natives were oftentimes as bad as their military counterparts, but that's another story.

For those who extol the United States of America for its freedom, opportunity and might, lest we forget, it was the U.S., as well as other colonizers, that stole or fought for one parcel of land after another from the Native Americans. The U.S. broke almost every treaty it initiated with the Native Americans and pushed them further and further from their native lands, and into oftentimes desolate pieces of "junk" lands and territories. The infamous and pathetic "Trail of Tears" was one of the most brutal and heartbreaking periods of U.S. betrayal.

The slave/indentured trade from the colonial period until the Civil War, with it's in your face "slavery," displayed how this species attacks, plunders and abuses others of its own species. No other species on this planet treats its kindred as this one does.

And, was it such magnominity upon the part of President Abraham Lincoln to free the slaves, or was it the fact that the North was losing the war and needed more troops to fill its ranks? Little known to most Americans is the fact that President Lincoln, had he lived, was preparing to ship all the former slaves back to Africa, to the U. S. inception known as Liberia.

The concept of karma may be defined as the total effect of actions and conduct during the successive phases of an entity's existence, regarding as determining the entity's destiny. So, is there, indeed, karma at work here? Is the U.S., and world, finally getting a "payback" for all the damage it has done to the planet and itself? Is the Deepwater Horizon event the tipping point that will lead to a Doomsday scenario for the U.S. and mankind?

If the "hammer of karma" is indeed coming down upon these United States and the world, what other circumstances might have contributed to it, especially since the Gulf is in our very own backyard? Here's an abbreviated outline of some of our ignominious history.

• 1838-39 the Trail of Tears whereby Native Americans were stripped of their rights and relocated. The Cherokee nation was made to give up their lands East of the Mississippi. Approximately 4,000 Cherokee died as a result of their removal.

• U.S. Annexation of Texas 1845.

• Mexican-American War of 1846-1848, which was a result of the annexation of Texas.

• Convention of Kanagawa 1854, which compelled/coerced the Japanese into opening trade with the U.S. by Commodore Perry and his Black Fleet.

• U.S. Civil War, 1861-1865.

• Spanish-American War which occurred between the U.S. and Kingdom of Spain in 1898 as a result of the Battleship Maine being sunk in Havana Harbor. The alledged reason for U.S. involvement in Cuba, being Cuban independence. The U.S. gained temporary control over Cuba and indefinite control over Puerto Rico, Guam and the Philippines.

• WWI

• WWII included the U.S. and its allies fire bombing Dresden, Germany, and the U.S. fire bombing Tokyo, Japan, in 1945, with explosives and incendiary devices. It is reported 100,000 people died in Tokyo. The U.S. Atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was responsible for more wounding, maiming, and killing of numerous civilians in 1945.

• The Korean War, 1950-1953, was a conflict between North and South Korea. South Korea was supported by the United Nations, and in particular the U.S.

• Iran, 1953, the U.S. plays a significant role in the overthrow of Iran's popular Prime Minister and restores the Shah of Iran to power.

• The Vietnam War, was a cold war military conflict which occurred in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia between 1955-1975. The U.S. became involved first, in the early 1960s with military advisers, then in 1965 U.S. combat troops were deployed. The capture of Saigon in 1975 put an end to U.S. involvement in Vietnam. It was during the Vietnam War that the U.S. used Agent Orange, which was an herbicide and defoliant contaminated with TCDD (a dioxin with a carcinogenic effect).

• Persian Gulf War, (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm) 1990-1991. A Coalition of nations led by the U.S. began over a dispute between Iraq and Kuwait, which lead to military intervention to restore Kuwait's sovereignty. A feature of this war was "Gulf War Syndrome" affecting civilians and military personnel who were near conflicts or were downwind of chemical depot demolitions.

• Afghan War 2001-present, is an ongoing military initiative in response to the attacks on the World Trade Center, on September 11, 2001. It is now the longest ongoing war in United States history.

• Iraq War 2003-present. The U.S. and several allies invaded Iraq based upon a false and misleading premise that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and Iraq's "supposed" connection to the September 11, 2001 incident; hyped by the Bush administration to substantiate a preemptive attack on Iraq. Features of this war were the "shock and awe" bombarding of Baghdad, Massive Ordinance Air Blasts (MOAB), also known as the Mother of All Bombs which were of 21,000 lbs of ordinance, cluster bombs, as well as the debated use of White Phosphorus (WP), and their use against insurgents.

Karma? Karma also alludes to the concept of actions and deeds, and results in the entire cycle of cause and effect. Interestingly, this blog was stimulated by several articles I have read, and one in particular by Maryann Tobin entitled, "North America faces years of toxic oil rain from BP oil spill chemical dispersants."

It has been becoming more and more evident over these past 60+ days that the oil spill catastophe is not going away, nor is it going to be cleaned up. It is going to spred far and wide in the Gulf and other areas of the planet by wind, wave, air and water. We have been getting the proverbial "smoke and mirrors" from BP as well as our own administration. This eco-disaster is only the cherry on top of a cake of deception and lies we the people have been fed, from the recession/depression, to Wall Street shysters, to the bank robber barons, "Don't Ask Don't Tell," GITMO, landmines, universal health care, transparency, and on and on.

Karma? Yes, I think we're in for some big ass karma caused by the oligarchs of this nation and the world! Some points from the article by Maryann Tobin:

• When you pour millions of gallons of toxic chemical disperants on top of an oil spill, it just doesn't disappear.

• BP's oil spill dispersant (Corexit9500) has been banned in Europe, as it is one of the most environmentally enduring toxic chemical dispersants.

• As the water in the Gulf warms the dispersant goes through a molecular transition and changes from liquid to gas, which is readily absorbed by clouds and eventually released as toxic rain. This chemical-laden rain then falls on crops, reservoirs, animals, and of course people.

• What makes "Corexit rain" so freightening are the carcinogens it leaves behind on everything it touches.

• Is it futile to belive we can keep "Corexit rain" from occurring - it has already been released and the molecular tranisiton has begun. We have set off an unprecedented chain of events in nature that we cannot control.

Source: Maryann Tobin http://tinyurl.com/36oyk5p

Karma? Methinks it's coming our way, and in my humble opinion, it won't be simply North America. This is a planet where everything is connected and interconnected; as is everything in the universe. Unfortunately, mankind has lost sight of its connection with all things on this planet. Earth changes? Yup, lots of earth changes on the way! Species changes are on the way too! Hopefully, the next hominid group to inhabit this planet will be more wise than this one has been.

© Roger Allen Baut