Article On Religious Right And "Drill,Baby,Drill"

The people prayed. The prayer was loud, public, unashamed. "Drill, baby, drill," the people cried. It was an odd prayer, but it was a prayer nevertheless, because the people were Republican, and they were gathered in His name. They were the "Christian" party, and the woman who led them made it clear that she believed that her Christianity amounted to a political credential. And so, when she led the "Drill, baby, drill," prayer at the Republican party's political convention and then at subsequent campaign events, the prayer was not just a bestial cry of lip-smacking greed, as it sounded to outsiders. It was about man's dominion over nature, and it was meant to answer those pantheist liberals who believe that nature has dominion over man. It was about the stewardship of our natural and national resources. For if God put the oil in the ground — under the oceans — he must have put it there for man's use, and for man to refuse such a gift was tantamount to the refusal of grace. It was sin, and so in the fall of 2008 you could not only hear the divine appeal in the cries of those whose sins had been forgiven, you could also see it on the bumpers of their SUVs: "Drill, baby, drill! Drill, baby, drill..."

You don't hear their cries right now, though. You don't hear those prayers. You don't hear from them at all now that God has answered their prayers in the biblical way — with a sign. And a not very subtle sign, at that. Indeed, if you are given to believe that God intervenes in the events of humankind, you might think that an unstoppable oil-spill currently the size of Rhode Island and soon to be the size of New England makes His preferences quite clear, in regard to offshore drilling. If you are the kind of believer who sees signs of God's judgment in diseases (AIDS), hurricanes (Katrina), and terrorist attacks (9/11), you might think that an ecological catastrophe about to swallow a fair portion of God's creation is God's way of saying that more research is needed before "drill, baby, drill" becomes the official energy policy of the United States. You might even think that in the face of such clear rebuke to her chanted agenda, the woman who inspired the Tea Party would be on her knees in repentance, alongside the Democratic president whose blase response to the threat of a few million seabird feathers getting tarred would have gotten his Republican predecessor tarred and feathered, at least in the liberal blogosphere. But no. Suddenly, people who feel no shame crediting God for the signs that told them to run for office, stay in office in the face of scandal, or leave office to "spend more time with their families" or pursue lucrative careers on television see no evidence of God's hand in the destruction of the Gulf of Mexico. Instead, they stress the stellar safety record of the offshore oil-exploration industry and the accidental nature of the tragedy, as if we live in a random and capricious universe after all... as if they can see His face in a plate of spaghetti and meat sauce, but not hear His voice when His voice drowns out their own.

by Tom Junod

5 Oil Tankers Could Have Siphoned Oil Off Gulf Waters

In 1990 5 super oil tankers were dispatched in the waters of Saudi Arabia to siphon off an, up until now, unpublished oil spill even bigger than that now off the shores of the U.S. They siphoned off the oil with some sea water to prevent what you now see happening to our coastal waters. The question right now just before the shirt hits the fan is; After several weeks now, why hasn't the same thing been done here in our own country, on our own shores? I don't think any answer to that will be good enough. That competing oil companies were not willing to use their tankers to help with this will not be good enough. That the government, in surely knowing what happened in Saudi Arabia, did not compel this to happen here cannot have a good enough excuse. Oil tankers could have been used to siphon oil off gulf waters and possibly have prevented the catastrophic environmental disaster occuring right now. This from former president of Shell Oil, John Hofmeister. And now this begs the question; why is BP sitting on this strategy after being fully informed. Why is BP sitting on this strategy as oil fully drenches the shores destroying nearly every bit of wildlife it touches. Why are not other oil companies offering their tankers to help suck up the oil. Idiots, incompetents. If I had been running my life the way corporations and governments have been running this plutonomy of a country the last ten years I would have been homeless and destitute a long time ago. What a great job America. You let 'em take away your middle class, you let 'em siphon off your wealth to make the rich richer and you keep falling for their same irresponsible rightwing self-centered ideology time and time again. Will you now see the difference between the "we are working against you ideology" and the "we are working together ideology". Are you ever going to take back your country,America?

First 4 Months Of 2010 Yield Record Global Temperatures

Been a little backsliding on global warming lately? The first 4 months of this year have all set records globally for high temperatures. Yo, Gore.