Science Non-fiction

(photo: European Union Times)

It was Oscar Wilde who said that nature imitates art, not the other way around. As we watch the bleeding of the Gulf of Mexico, it is as if we are watching the disaster films of the past few decades. The blood of Godzilla is rising to the surface of the sea. An entire section of our planet is under attack.

Tonight I watched the film version of The Pelican Brief. It is a mediocre movie with hard to believe scenarios of evil and corruption all the way to the White House. The corruption is that of an oil company trying to do off shore drilling off the coast of Louisiana. The oil execs murder two Supreme Court Justices who would stand in their way in order to save the brown pelicans. Gresham wrote the book in 1992, and the president of the story is a befuddled fool in the vein of Reagan. 

Tonight I also watched about five minutes of Huckabee on Fox "News." Looking like Mr. Wizard, he showed how the millions of gallons of oil in the gulf can be instantly dissolved away by modern chemistry, if only obstructionist Obama would listen. We can solve all environmental problems with the wonders of technology and the enterprise of private corporations. Just let corporate know-how have free rein.

Are we on the "Eve of Destruction"? Is it the "End of the World as we Know it"? One source from Europe declares that it is the end of the Eastern half of North America:

Toxic Oil Spill Rains Warned Could Destroy North America

 Corexit 9500, the chemical of BP partner Nalco, is far more toxic than oil the article claims. Yes, the source is rather like tabloid sensationalism. Yet, we are on the verge of global catastrophe.

What will it take to wake us up to what is happening on Earth as we go about our greedy ways? What can wealth and power bring to corporate executives to compensate for their wanton killing of so much life? Do they not see what they are inflicting upon us? Capitalism is far worse than Marx imagined, more ungodly than any communist regime, if those who captain industry-- banks, oil, and endless profit --do not care, are unaware, and continue without arrest to pour filth upon this once beautiful planet we inhabit.