There Are None So Blind...

[Baut Images: Beyond the Visible]

There is an old saying that comes to mind, as I think about the latest eco-disaster in America, and that saying is "There are none so blind as those who will not see!" With the oil spill in the Yellowstone River, in Montana on July 3, 2011, courtesy of Exxon Mobil, we now have one more episode in a long list of environmental disasters, that is adding to the contamination of our land and bio-shere. For further information on this and other stories, please go to the following link http://www.projectworldawareness.com/

We have only to look about us, watch the evening news, or read the newspapers, to see that our planet is fast becoming more of a toxic dump every day. As a hiker and photographer I get to see many out of the way places, and believe me I am always surprised to see plastic bottles, papers, and refuse laying about in the most unexpected places. It's always hard for me to believe what other hikers, backpackers and "supposed" nature lovers leave behind. A sad statement about mankind.

What I do find really interesting, however, is the focus of the media, on how eco-disasters will be cleaned up, or how this or that will be done to remedy the situation. In reality, folks, there is no way, for anyone, to clean any of these messes up 100%!

It also surprises me how blithely people just go about their daily lives as if nothing has happened in the Gulf of Mexico, Kalamazoo River, fracking, the Fukushima nuclear disaster, et cetera, et cetera. Simply go on as if nothing has, or is happening in their world. We are at a nexus point where people have a great opportunity to stop all of this insanity and make our world a better place, or watch it desintegrate day by day before our eyes. John Major Jenkins has written, "The materialist delusion has run its course," which I hope is true, but it seems like it's still hanging on in Washington, D. C., and other major cities.

Some time ago, I watched a program based upon a book entitled, The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman, which addressed the idea, of what the world might be like, if mankind were suddenly no longer on the planet. I heartly recommend this book to anyone interested in our environment, and how the planet might correct itself without the intereference of mankind.

Homo sapiens has been contributing to the demise of our eco-system, and itself, for hundreds of years, but now with all the chemicals, pollutants, GMOs, radiation, weapons, carcinogins, and toxins it has developed, it is speeding up the process of changing the planet and itself in a negative way that may go on for many years. I sometimes wonder, if that's what occurred on the Planet Mars?

As I have written before, mankind, for the most part, is the only species I know of that not only maims, kills, poisons and tortures others of its own kind, as well as the flora and fauna of the planet it lives on. It almost seems as if our species is innately destructive.

Osho says, that "99.9% of the people living on the planet are either asleep or drunk," which might explain why we seem to be living in a Dark Age of intolerance, ignorance, bigotry, hate, and greed. A time when little is done to help the millions of homeless verterans, youth and families that abound. A time of apathy and uncaring. A time our forefathers might not have thought could ever occur, but in their wisdom said, "United we stand. Divided we fall."

One day, and hopefully soon, people will begin opening their eyes, and start working together for the benefit of everyone, and the old phrase, "There are none so blind, as those who will not see," will be a thing of the past!

Roger Allen Baut

USA Titanic

The world thought the HMS Titanic was unsinkable, it sank! The world thought the USA was invincible after WWII, it wasn't and Viet Nam proved that! Now, after a series of many foolish mistakes, one right after another, the mighty USA is crumbling, as did the Roman empire in 410 A.D.

Faced with incredible debt incurrred from misbegotten wars, greed, failed foreign policy, pollution of air, land and sea, the USA Titanic is poised, as was the HMS Titanic, to slide into the icy depths of the sea.

Each day new headlines confirm this, in "America's Most Polluted Cities," MSN brings the information collected from Forbes.com to the forefront, and shines a light on ozone pollution and how it is affecting people in various parts of the country. Forbes also lists the 25 worst cities for ozone pollution. Personally, I knew ozone was bad, but not as bad as this, "...inhaling ozone is akin to 'getting a sunburn on your airways,' says Dr. Norman H. Edelman, the ALA's (American Lung Association) chief medical officer." Source MSN/Forbes http://tinyurl.com/22jm4k3

Listed as Forbes #1. "worst city" is Los Angeles-Long Beach-Riverside, CA; followed by #2. Bakersfield, CA; #3. Visalia-Porterville; CA #4. Fresno-Madera, CA; and #5. Sacramento-Arden-Arcade-Yuba City, CA & NV. For the other 20 cities and various medical problems related to them please go to http://tinyurl.com/2aftaas

Also, the oil rig catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico continues in the headlines, along with its tragic consequences. On Saturday, May 15, MSNBC quoted the New York Times (NYT) that reported scientists had found giant oil plumes in the Gulf, one of which was 10 miles long, 3 miles wide and 300 feet thick! "...the leak from the broken undersea well could be substantially worse than estimates that the government and BP have given." says the NYT. No surprise here with the BP and government estimates!

The NYT goes on to say, "The plumes are depleting the oxygen dissolved in the gulf, worrying scientists, who fear that the oxygen level could eventually fall so low as to kill off much of the sea life near the plumes." Full article http://tinyurl.com/29vhbnb

Today, the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) reported, "Coast Guard officials have found nearly two dozen tar balls on Key West shores but have not determined if they came from the Gulf of Mexico's massive oil disaster." So where else might the tar balls come from? Are there other leaking undersea wells we're not aware of? Hmmm, very interesting! NWF article http://tinyurl.com/2aj7jb4

In another article from the NYT, relative to the plumes, it reported that, "Dr. Samantha Joye [University of Georgia] 'said the oxygen had already dropped 30 percent near some of the plumes in the month that the broken oil well had been flowing. “If you keep those kinds of rates up, you could draw the oxygen down to very low levels that are dangerous to animals in a couple of months,'" she said Saturday. "That is alarming!"

Alarming indeed! We may be witnessing one of the greatest eco-tragedies in recorded history, as well as its affects on the United States and the world! Is it possible there may be a glimmer of hope, somewhere, for the USA Titanic? Is it possible that it's citizenry will wake-up, before the Great Ship of State takes its final plunge into the icy seas? Is it possible?

America the Polluted, or Don't Drink the Water!

The first item of news that took me aback today was the fact the United States Department of Interior, "...exempted BP's calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year, according to government documents, after three reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was unlikely."

Well, this certainly seeems like another brick in the wall of either governmental myopia, nonchalance, stupidity, or something else. What that something else may be, well, there's a long list of things that one may chose from. A day late and a doolar short, "...environmentalists and some key senators are calling for a reassessment of safety requirements for offshore drilling."

It was reported yesterday on Dylan Radigan's program, MSNBC, that other wells are "seeping," oil. Seeping may not be a volcano of oil, but it is a leak and a danger to aquatic life in, and of itself. Something is so wrong with this picture that I'm sure it gives sane people migranes. Source: MSNBC/The Washington Post.

As troubling as the Gulf of Mexico disaster is, another one that is particularly disturbing is one that is related to the Boeing Company, near Seattle, WA. "To resolve a multi-party federal lawsuit, the Boeing Company will pay $2 billion to remediate environmental damage in Seattle’s Duwamish waterway, the ancestral grounds for the Duwamish, Muckleshoot, and Suquamish Tribes." Talk about a mess!

The $2 billion is "...to fund the cleanup of the site where Boeing built many of the B-17 bombers used during World War II. Solvents, oils and other chemicals polluted the property and leached into groundwater that migrated to the Duwamish waterway."

The number of new and ongoing eco-tragedies is really disheartening, and no matter what anyone says, there is no way to totally eradicate, clean-up, or return land or water to its original prisitine environment. Chemicals, and/or other pollutants which have gone into our air, water, ground, plants and wildlife are simply absorbed, and will eventually be ingested by people. Only nature, over thousands of years can cleanse the planet from the pollutants and toxins, that a greedy and self-absorbed Homo sapiens moronus has dumped into it.

America once a beautiful and pristine land has become a trash heap! If you don't believe me look at the photo in the following link (Source: Native American Legal Update)

America the polluted! Don't drink the tap water! I don't!

April 22, 2010: un-HaPpY EARTH DAY!

Yes, here we have the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day! 40 years and what do we have to show for it? Air and water that's more polluted than it was 40 years ago! Chemicals and additives in foods that mess with the bodies biological systems. Sugar coated this, sugar coated that! Cola, M & Ms, deep fried twinkies, doughnuts, you name it! It's all garbage concocted to make money for some greedy shyster who cares nothing about the environment or the people people who consume it. Children's toys that are dangerous, either from construction or from the toxic paint that is applied to it! Red dye this, blue dye that! Mad cow disease! Oh you think it's gone, well if you do, I've got a bridge to sell you!

Here's a nice little piece from MSNBC: Plastic, sweat pants and more found in dead whale: http://tinyurl.com/y6sy5wm

At this point this is a relatively short blog, but how much needs to be said about things we already know, that this species, Homo sapiens, has done more than any other species to mess things-up on this planet! About a species that not only destroys itself, but trashes the planet that sustains it. Nuclear waste, human waste, garbage, islands of plastic floating in the oceans, and every day there's more and more of it.

Note: As of today's date, a report was released by MSNBC regarding the Louisana oil rig disaster of Tuesday, April 20th. Approximately 100 workers made it to safety at a nearby supply boat, after their rig exploded. A number of workers were injured, with 11 still missing. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry said that crews saw a 1 mile by 5 mile sheen of what appeared to be a crude oil mix on the surface of the water.

"The well could be spilling up to 8,000 barrels of crude oil a day," the Coast Guard said, and the rig carried 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel." Needless to say, occurances like this are devasting to human as well as marine life, and toxifies the water. For further information on this, please go to: http://tinyurl.com/29x38cu

I'm well aware there are people and organizations who "try" to make a positive difference for our planet and environment, but there need to be more! I am constantly reminded about the number of careless, lazy, and lackadaisical people there are, everytime I go out on a photoshoot, or hike. Today was no different; empty plastic bottles, food wrappers, you name it, and in places one wouldn't expect to find litter. The planet is fast becoming the garbage dump of the solar system! Oops, and let's not forget while we're at it the 10,000 +/- various pieces of debris circling our planet from various "space exploration" projects.

Is it too late? Only time will tell!