Was the Gulf Oil Spill an Act of War? You Betcha
Friday 07 May 2010
by: Randall Amster J.D., Ph.D., t r u t h o u t | News Analysis
(Image: Lance Page / t r u t h o u t; Adapted: Hopeful in NJ, gaelx, ka2rina)
Speculation has been running rampant among certain sectors of the web world lately about the true origins of the massive oil spill that has engulfed the Gulf and threatens marine, plant, animal and human health in a region already beset by natural disasters and toxic industries. Unwilling to accept the mainstream media version of the story (namely that it was the result of offshore drilling activities) and suspicious of the timing of the calamity (namely that it occurred right on the cusp of Earth Day and during a period of political contentiousness over drilling), this faction has surmised that the "trigger event" in this instance may have been (choose your favorite): an attack by the North Koreans; an act of homegrown eco-terrorism by left-wing environmentalists; or something to do with Venezuela, China, and/or other Communist (machi)nations. With little more than a hint from an online Russian source, the theory of a North Korean attack in particular has been gaining virulence among certain fox trotters.
Here's a great overview of the argument from the self-avowedly conservative Dakota Voice:
"Rush Limbaugh pointed out that the explosion occurred on April 21st, the day before 'Earth Day.' He also reminded us that Al Gore had previously encouraged environmental nut jobs to engage in civil disobedience against the construction of coal plants that don't have carbon capture technology. 'Eco-terrorists' exist and have done millions of dollars worth of criminal damage. Fire is one of the main tools of their evil trade. I'm not claiming the Deep Horizon was bombed by eco-terrorists, although I don't believe it's out of the realm of possibility. But, it would take some serious money and ability to pull off an attack like that, so I would tend to think much bigger than college hippie eco-wackos with some money-backing - a foreign government, perhaps. Of course, before I could finish writing my thoughts here, I just heard Michael Savage posing the same questions. He also said there is a theory on a Russian website that claims North Korea is behind this. The article claims that North Korea torpedoed the Deepwater Horizon, which was apparently built and financed by South Korea. Torpedoes would make sense for the results we see.... There are a number of international 'suspects' who might want to do something like this. They range from Muslim terrorists to the Red Chinese, Venezuela and beyond. Remember that China and Russia are drilling out there, as well and they would benefit from America cutting back on our own drilling."
The article at the root of this savagery appears on the site WhatDoesItMean.com and is titled "US Orders Media Blackout Over North Korean Torpedoing of Gulf of Mexico Oil Rig" - which pretty much eliminates any suspense about the gist of it. The piece is attributed to one "Sorcha Faal," who either exists or does not depending upon whether you believe the link arguing a bit too strenuously that she in fact does. The article cites as its source, without further attribution, "a grim report circulating in the Kremlin today written by Russia's Northern Fleet," and argues, "the reason for North Korea attacking the Deepwater Horizon, these reports say, was to present US President Obama with an 'impossible dilemma' prior to the opening of the United Nations Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons set to begin May 3rd in New York. This 'impossible dilemma' facing Obama is indeed real as the decision he is faced with is either to allow the continuation of this massive oil leak catastrophe to continue for months, or immediately stop it by the only known and proven means possible, the detonation of a thermonuclear device."
In other words, all of this was designed to force Obama to use a nuclear device to seal the leak ahead of an upcoming conference on nonproliferation. Ingenious! James Bond is alive and well, apparently. Missing from the calculus (along with good sense, credibility and verifiability) is any explanation of why the logic of this scenario will automatically result in Obama deploying a nuke and what exactly would be gained by him doing so except (by implication) making the US look like hypocrites at the negotiating table. Those dastardly cowards! Everyone knows that we don't need any help from foreign entities to hypocritically attempt to force others to hold to international standards that we will ourselves proceed to flagrantly ignore. I mean, duh.
Hey, I'm all for a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy/gal. We certainly ought to question the "consensus reality" version of any major event communicated back to us by the corporate media. And we can logically surmise that the government keeps us on a "need to know" basis under the rubric of a closely-held "national security" ethos. So, there's always reason to dig deeper, ask hard questions, check with non-US sources and formulate one's opinion independent of the herd. But in this case, the impetus for the tale is so vague and thinly rendered that it strains the limits of credulity, yet, it still seems to be gaining traction each day. In fact, there are even more solid reasons to suspect that this miserable episode - which will inflict more suffering on an already battered region - was contributed to by the activities of a certain homegrown corporation and not any eco-nuts or commies. While the premise is thus wholly wrong, the conclusion that this was a putative act of war might actually hold water. To wit:
Oil and War: Are there any two concepts in the realm of geopolitics more closely associated than resources and warfare? Oil in particular, as the primary lubricant of the global economy, earns special status as a sine qua non of our profligate lifestyles and simultaneously as an overt security interest that triggers our military mobilizations. We know about Iraq of course and Afghanistan to a lesser extent for its strategic pipelining location, but don't overlook places such as Venezuela, Central Africa and the Caribbean shelf around countries like Haiti as potential sites of future conflict over Black Gold. Indeed, it might be said that wherever there's oil, there's war - or at least the seeds of conflict over a dwindling commodity that draws the interest of governments and corporations alike. The past decade has shown and our national security documents reflect, that the US will essentially do anything in its power to control as much of the world's remaining oil supplies as it possibly can, either through direct intervention or by proxy. There's nothing light or sweet about any of this; it is almost wholly crude.
Drilling and the "War on Terra": Without overly editorializing the point, since at least the advent of industrialization, it appears that humanity has made a Faustian bargain that renders us the enemies of the earth in order to survive. Notions of complementarity and sustainability have been supplanted by consumption and separation instead. The cruel joke is that our willingness to continually flout nature's laws leaves us in a perpetual state of scarcity and requires a regular doubling-down on the very same logic that made things scarce in the first place. Thus, in order to extend the life of the petroleum economy and provide the massive energy inputs that we rely upon, we have to drill deeper and deeper to procure the substance at ever-increasing energy costs in the process. This literal sense of "diminishing returns" is compounded by the attendant toll exacted on our collective health via fossil fuels, as well as the concomitant stratification of wealth and power that subverts any pretense we still hold of democracy. Massive spills and other calamities are part and parcel of this normalization of a warlike attitude toward nature (and, thus, ourselves) and are blithely considered little more than business as usual by the ruling elites, as intimated in an article on care2.com: "All this is the result of dangerous and unnecessary offshore drilling, yet, in a statement Friday, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said the explosion was no reason to give up plans to expand offshore drilling. 'In all honesty I doubt this is the first accident that has happened and I doubt it will be the last,' Gibbs told reporters."
Halliburton IS the War Machine: Finally, we come to the most likely culprit in all of this, and a sure sign that indeed this is an act of war. Wherever Halliburton goes, so goes the war machine and vice versa. From no-bid and no-account contracts in Iraq (and post-Katrina New Orleans, by the way) to a massive corporate presence in the Gulf region, these folks seem to have an acute capacity for making a buck on cataclysms of all sorts. Perhaps more to the point, they appear to be at the nexus of most disaster zones, including the erstwhile Bush presidency and now the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. As a recent article in The Huffington Post noted:
"Giant oil-services provider Halliburton may be a primary suspect in the investigation into the oil rig explosion that has devastated the Gulf Coast, The Wall Street Journal reports. Though the investigation into the explosion that sank the Deepwater Horizon site is still in its early stages, drilling experts agree that blame probably lies with flaws in the 'cementing' process - that is, plugging holes in the pipeline seal by pumping cement into it from the rig. Halliburton was in charge of cementing for Deepwater Horizon."
The Los Angeles Times subsequently reported that members of Congress have called on Halliburton "to provide all documents relating to 'the possibility or risk of an explosion or blowout at the Deepwater Horizon rig and the status, adequacy, quality, monitoring and inspection of the cementing work' by May 7." A YouTube video (which is actually mostly audio) more bluntly asserts that "Halliburton Caused Oil Spill," and noted the fact - confirmed by Halliburton's own press release - that its employees had worked on the final cementing "approximately 20 hours prior to the incident." Interestingly, one commenter on the YouTube video noted how "that would conveniently explain the North Korean story; [Halliburton] may have leaked this story to the press to divert attention away from alleged negligence." Wouldn't that just be the ultimate? Halliburton spawns the calamity, but pins it on North Korea and then the nation goes to war whereby Halliburton "cleans up" through billions in war-servicing contracts. It's almost too perfect and might be funny if it didn't seem so plausible. (The only thing funnier is picturing Dick Cheney in the role of Exxon Valdez fall guy Joseph Hazelwood.)
But, hey, there's no need to get conspiratorial about all of this. And what's happening in the Gulf - now spreading into the Atlantic - isn't funny at all. Indeed, war hardly ever is and that's what we've got on our collective hands here, in one form or another. As Isaac Asimov once said, "It is not only the living who are killed in war." Cherished ideals, future generations, hopefulness, the earth itself - all are among war's many casualties. The sooner we recognize the sense of pervasive warfare in our midst, embedded in the flow of our everyday lives, the sooner we can intentionally turn that essential corner toward peace, as Martin Luther King Jr. alluded to in his Nobel speech:
"I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality."
Waking up to war may in fact be the first genuine step toward peace, both among ourselves and with the environment.
This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.
Comments
This forum is moderated by software. Please allow up to 15 minutes for your comments to go live and avoid posting the same comment multiple times.
The North Koreans also
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 09:48 — Anonymous (not verified)The North Koreans also caused the Icelandic Volcano eruption ,possibly by bombing it with their long range missiles, Alaskan earthquake its in their vicinity, the Exxon Valdez oil spilling, the melting of the Polar caps. What is the Pentagon waiting to punish them with all their might?
Don't 4get Iran, voodoo, & a
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 11:06 — Anonarcmous (not verified)Don't 4get Iran, voodoo, & a few others also, throw Israel in for good share...RushLimbaugh not understanding drilling thru--poking a hole--in the earth's crust may have some unknown, unforseen, unrepairable, serious consequences for entire planet.
Don't 4get Iran, voodoo, & a
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 11:07 — Anonarcmous (not verified)Don't 4get Iran, voodoo, & a few others also, throw Israel in for good share...RLimbaugh not understanding drilling thru--poking a hole--in the earth's crust may have some unknown, unforseen, unrepairable, serious consequences for entire planet.
North Koreans were able to
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 11:23 — Elmo (not verified)North Koreans were able to sneak that sub half-way around the world without refueling, surfacing, or being detected. And we need the ABM system to protect us from their missiles, too.
& don't forget jp morgan's
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 13:41 — jack toads (not verified)& don't forget jp morgan's own bernie sanders and roths child(whats a roth,kinda ov a big scrappee thing,oo)citi bank,the BovA,etc,the Bolshaveks,the Romanovs,etcsit back and watch em LIVE crawl all over eachother ,except the Russians i think(its' a movement ,not a name and not the type whair they/them crawl all over eachothers back to reach the zenith that is the alpha polluted piSSing contest,hey ya can't take it" with ya,oo,or can ya"-?
If you want to come up with
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 14:19 — radline9 (not verified)If you want to come up with a radical theory, check with me first. Please don't waste our time.
Come on radline 9, please
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 15:20 — Anonymous (not verified)Come on radline 9, please don `t keep it to yourself
Its too much for Elmo!
What about BP in all of
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 15:41 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)What about BP in all of this? BP could of course be, and very likely is, in collusion with Halliburton to draw attention away from their culpability. After all, BP is owned by the nefarious globalist, Queen Beatrice of the Neatherlands (Holland), one of the richest and most evil families in the world, like the Rothchilds and the Rockefellers; and they probably have a major stake in Halliburton, too.
Halliburton's former CEO, "Tricky-Dick" Cheney, still claims, and lies, to this day that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction (WMD), after it has been systematically and categorically proven beyond any reasonable doubt whatsoever that such is most-definitely NOT the case.
Halliburton is involved in building countless concentration camps on U.S. and other soil (the latter in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, Afghanistan and countless other places), and yet denies it as well (even though there have been mainstream media reports that DHS/FEMA granted them 380 million dollars to do just that)!...
...These "people" have also
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 15:42 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...These "people" have also bilked, and continue to bilk, the U.S. government and its citizens of hundreds of billions of dollars in contracts for "rebuilding" Iraq, etc., that is never, or very little, done; and for providing food and other services to the troops in support of these completely illegal, "preemptive", wars of aggression, "the supreme international crime" and unconstitutional since international law is joined to the U.S. Constitution by the Supremacy Clause thereof.
Halliburton IS the government, and the government IS Halliburton. In other words, the corporate-fascist, modern-day "Fourth Reich Nazis" are in complete control and seeking to control and enslave us all, if they haven't already done so.
Therefore, it is highly likely and probable that both BP and Halliburton are guilty in this scenario also, up to their their eyeballs; and they've got "balls", that's for sure. They and their ilk are fracking all of us "WITH" the grease, pun intended.
Oh for fuck's sake!
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 15:53 — mk (not verified)Oh for fuck's sake! Plausible? You think Halliburton, in an effort to shift blame for their own incompetence, only needs to whisper that it might be the North Koreans and Boom!--America goes to war? That's what you think is plausible? What alternate fucking fantasy universe do you reside in?
First William Rivers Pitt falls for some moronic anonymous "engineer" telling us the world is ending unless we detonate a nuclear weapon over the leak... now this!
I really used to respect Truthout. Now it appears that it's little more than a catchall for ignorant tinfoil hat fuckheads!
What a shame.
Those with an aversion to
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 16:51 — Eric Francis (not verified)Those with an aversion to tin foil hats (mine is Halston) hold your nose and go to the second section of this article. BP was drilling in a mine field. Literally, a disposal ground for old munitions. So is everyone else who drills in the gulf, but this was really close to a known field; the unknown fields are scattered and are potentially anywhere.
Original documents are included in the article.
http://planetwaves.net/astrologynews/2126275944.html
The most plausible
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 17:22 — Alicia Bay Laurel (not verified)The most plausible explanation for the event comes from Greg Palast, who professionally investigated BP in connection with the Exxon Valdez spill 21 years ago, and notes that this spill has many of the same behaviors to blame on BP:
http://www.gregpalast.com/slick-operator-the-bp-ive-known-too-well/
The Evil Empire isn't the
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 17:28 — WTG (not verified)The Evil Empire isn't the former Soviet Union, nor is the Axis of Evil North Korea, Iran, or other Middle Eastern countries but world-wide corporations that exploit people and the environment for the purpose of a bigger bottom line.
mk: its a mad ,mad, mad
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 17:33 — Anonymous (not verified)mk: its a mad ,mad, mad world!
Drill on!
Beware of North Koreans they are ubiquitous!
too much for Elmo!
Australia has Halliburton
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 17:36 — mike/ (not verified)Australia has Halliburton under investigation right now for this exact same shoddy work.
Attn: mk Read the whole
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 17:41 — Anonymous (not verified)Attn: mk
Read the whole article and see who first is credited with the idea of North Korea as aggressor, then tell me how Iraq figured in 9/11. Next, speak of the fiscal efficiency and accountability of Halliburton et al in rebuilding the infrastructure our armed forces so completely destroyed in Iraq. Tell me how much Exxon has given to the clean-up in Alaska. I don't even know why I'm addressing you specifically, silly person.
I'm cornfused! You all
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 17:44 — Anonymous (not verified)I'm cornfused! You all don't think the guys in Iowa had anything to do with this!
BP was heavily implicated in
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 18:00 — Anonymous (not verified)BP was heavily implicated in the Exxon Valdez spill, also; that's two American coastlines fouled. If we're looking for conspiracies, how about the competition for the energy market that exists between proponents of nuclear and hydrocarbon-based options, essentially Britain/Rothschild and USA/Rockefeller? Makes more sense than North Korea.
@ MK: WRP's source was a
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 18:19 — Rob C. (not verified)@ MK: WRP's source was a little suspect, but his main point that this leak is catastrophic and could eclipse any other spill in history was correct and is verified by multiple sources. Check Joe Romm's Climate Progress.
Seems to me that the point of this essay is that if folks want kooky conspiracy theories, the ones involving the criminal corporate cabals that have caused so much pain in recent memory have more credibility than any of the bumper-sticker right's usual punching bags.
Dear Sirs, Was it the
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 18:21 — Clifford Spencer (not verified)Dear Sirs,
Was it the national interest for Big Oil to drill at the US Naval Oil reserve at Teapot Dome?
Did Halliburton profit from the WW2 Project Oboe?
It has one of its headquarters in Balikpapan, Borneo.
Clifford Spencer
The Gulf Oil spill was, as
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 18:46 — Anonymous (not verified)The Gulf Oil spill was, as one repugnican said, AN ACT OF GOD.
What he meant was that the American taxpayer should be responsible for the cleanup and no one else should.
What I mean by it is that, MAYBE IT REALLY WAS AN ACT OF GOD. Maybe God wants us to stop crapping all over His creation.
Some right-wingers could be convinced of the fact that God doesn't want us to destroy His creation if the left would mobilize and get that message out.
The half of the right-wing that puts profit before religion could, and should be, isolated and exposed for what it is.
Environmental policy is a potential wedge issue that will divide repugnicans and unite Democrats.
"Sorcha Faal" is a pseudonym
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 18:50 — Dan (not verified)"Sorcha Faal" is a pseudonym of David Booth, who weaves fact and fiction together masterfully to create all manner of wingnut, paranoid rants. See:
Break out the tin foil hats!
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 18:52 — Rusty Shackleford (not verified)Break out the tin foil hats!
Torpedoing a drill shaft.
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 18:59 — farmertx (not verified)Torpedoing a drill shaft. Even a 4' wide drill shaft just might be a difficult target. And if you have read any of Sasha F's other "stories" you'd be less inclined to read any more.
Greed. Pure, plain and simple. BP knows that if anything goes wrong, their liability is capped at 75 million and that is 20+ years away thanks to the lawyers.
And now it is reported that BP was granted an exemption on the blowout preventer valve, which has not been used before at this depth. So much for regulations, especially during the Shrub years when this rig went into operation.
Our Congress Critter's know that they get much more money from BP and other driller's compared to what Gulf Coast fishermen and processor's offer. Guess who wins there?
...and lastly, what is all
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 18:59 — captain Pneumo (not verified)...and lastly, what is all this noise doing on Truthout?
The true act of war is
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 19:09 — Susan J. (not verified)The true act of war is allowing the well to continue gushing underwater for nearly 3 weeks in their attempt to 'save' the wellhead. Their containment efforts have done nothing to save the Gulf. The wellhead should have been pumped full of cement by the end of the first week.
Limbaugh made a slight
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 19:43 — Anonymous Leopard (not verified)Limbaugh made a slight mistake if he said that the oil well in the Gulf blew on April 21, actually it was April 20. And guess what April 20th. is? Adolph HItler's Birthday, that's what - the same date oddly that at least one of NASA's moon landings occurred. Now I think THAT is an odd coincidence. Could there be other forces at work here?
oil continues to gush in the
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 19:47 — Cap'n Canard (not verified)oil continues to gush in the gulf.
This was an act of pure STUPIDITY and a banal attention to the consequences... but perhaps I am being too harsh on stupid people. This was just naked avarice of the worst kind.
Worst kind? The AMERICAN kind. A petroleum based energy is un-necessary, there are others ways of making the energy we "need". In this endeavor we will need to forego the energy we WANT and only use the energy we truly NEED. It is that simple. Can the stupid keep pace? It seems unlikely.
this is absolutely an act
Fri, 05/07/2010 - 22:40 — Anonymous (not verified)this is absolutely an act of war, committed by BP against US, An attack on american Soil and lives by a foreign entity called BP, they should be liquidated and all resources seized to compensate for thier evil negligence.
Wait just a minute. ..what's
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 01:25 — Anonymous (not verified)Wait just a minute. ..what's going on here? Every article on this site today reads like a conspiracy-geek-aluminum deficient-still living w/parents-wet dream. It can't be my meds. It's not April 1st. Give me back my TRUTHOUT!!! NOW!!! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THEM?!?!?!?!
06:25:this article, tests
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 03:12 — Anonymous (not verified)06:25:this article, tests and mocks the gullibility of uninformed americans and the perfidious warmongering of the loony right wingers, aka. Rush Limbaugh.
Truth Out can very well take the piss of the latter.
Well then who blew up AGE
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 05:56 — Anonymous (not verified)Well then who blew up AGE oil refinery in Texas the other day? Something sure as shit is going on.
When you commit a crime you
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 06:52 — Ploy To Cover Up Crime (not verified)When you commit a crime you want to cover it up.
Blame it on someone else.police know these tactics.
When you drill for oil you are going to have accidents.Blame it on terrorist.Fox diversion.
The corporate are destroying the world environment to retain status quo.Hemp,hydrogen,
solar,wind,wave,and forth generation technology
are blocked by the corporate.Free energy,and the
Air Compressed Engine MDI France.
Coal,oil,nukes are obsolete.200 year supply natural gas available U.S..This was true before oil crisis.
Saudi Arabia may be able to produce enough solar power for much of the world.Israel
has perfected cheap solar system.
Do not be deceived by status quo.
Walter E. Haas Search Yahoo.com God Bless America
The kind of mind that thinks
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 09:20 — Anonymous (not verified)The kind of mind that thinks that environmentalists would cause an oil spill is the same of kind of mind that would think you hit a person or beat your wife for her own good. Hey Rush, when you hear hoofbeats in the Gulf, don't think zebras.
@ Rob c. A little suspect?
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 11:07 — mk (not verified)@ Rob c.
A little suspect? Yeah... a little.
WRP's essay was about this spill being the end of humanity. This spill (while horrific, and nobody--certainly not I--suggested otherwise) is not going to destroy all the oceans and eventually life on earth. That is what WRP's "source" said. In addition to saying that the only way to fix it was to detonate a nuclear bomb!
And WRP was all too happy to get behind that ignorant sensationalism. Why? For what good fucking reason? He's a fine writer who usually has his head on straight. What the fuck happened here?
As other have said... Give me back my smart, reasonable Truthout! Jettison this tinfoil hat idiocy, please!
i think some folks here have
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 11:31 — Anonymous (not verified)i think some folks here have misunderstod this article. i see it as debunking conspiracy theories and not validating them, pointing out that the rightwing theries are masking the ordinary everyday forms of war on envt and people that we see in the world. am i wrong? it is a war but not the one the warmongers think it is. war on people and biology and sanity. that is commentary, sad commentary, but part of the discussions of events.
The real "Axis of Evil", aka
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 11:41 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)The real "Axis of Evil", aka "Evil Empire" that someone calling themselve's "WTG" above mistakenly used instead of Axis of Evil, is the Roman Catholic Church (the Vatican, Papacy, etc., in Rome), the United Nations, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Israel, etc.
See this apropos image for it, at:
www.form-legal.com/Axis_Of_Evil_Nazis!-14.jpg
Also on my blog, at:
www.wolfbritain.com/
Don't forget the Goldman
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 12:04 — Bail out boy (not verified)Don't forget the Goldman Sachs email saying the shorts bought by them and the way they bragged about how much they were going to make if the drilling failed. The nice touch was when they said "Suck it up all you little birdies and fishes". Slime balls.
I suppose it's justice of a
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 12:17 — bikefriend (not verified)I suppose it's justice of a kind that paranoia is evenly distributed on both ends of the spectrum.
Exactly, @ "Anonymous --
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 12:51 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)Exactly, @ "Anonymous -- Sat, 05/08/2010 - 16:31", some people are so ignorant and stupid that they can't understand English correctly, see everything outside the "mainstream" as "conspiracy theories", view every discussion of conspiracy theories AS "conspiracy theories" itself, and glom those very aptly pointing out true conspiracy theories and very likely potential cover-ups with proponents of conspiracy theories. And then they add extreme insult to injury by also stupidly and ignorantly attacking sites like TruthOut for trying to be truly "fair and balanced" and giving both sides of the story for publishing such true journalism that inspires people to really think and truly edify themselves... if they aren't too ignorant and stupid to correctly understand what the writer really means and/or what the real meaning of the publication is. Such are good little lemmings who are willingly march right off the cliff, and want the rest of us to do so as well.
In other words, they only want to be fed pap and propaganda, to not really think and be edified, and to not be given any other viewpoints that must might be the most likely, though unprovable, scenario(s), etcetera!... Please listen, People, OF COURSE HUGE CONSPIRACIES ARE GOING ON! Especially with completely out of control, corrupt and military-industrial-fascist governments and corporations like the U.S. government, BP and Halliburton! There IS such a thing as "conspiracy FACTS", or very strong "conspiracy likelihoods"; but we have been, and have to break out of having been, indoctrinated and conditioned to not believe in ANY conspiracies, when OF COURSE huge conspiracies are going on right underneath our noses with such nefarious and insidious corporate-fascist businesses and governments who OF COURSE design and hope that we will write off their culpability and conspiracies as "conspiracy theories", not believe that they ARE going on, etcetera!...
WAKE UP AND COMPLETELY FACE
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 12:52 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)WAKE UP AND COMPLETELY FACE THE LEVEL OF FASCISM AND EVIL THAT IS LITERALLY COMPLETELY TAKING OVER THE WORLD RIGHT NOW, WHILE FALSELY AND FRAUDULENTLY MAKING MOST OF US BELIEVE THAT IT IS "OUR SAVIOR", "BENIGN", "FOR OUR BEST GOOD", "SAVING THE 'FATHERLAND', 'MOTHERLAND' OR 'HOMELAND', ETC.", "PROTECTING 'NATIONAL SECURITY'", "KEEPING US SAFE", "RIGHTEOUS", "CAN DO NO WRONG", "INNOCENT", "NOT RESPONSIBLE", "NOT CULPABLE", "UNAVOIDABLY GOING TO MAKE MISTAKES", "NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR 'ACTS OF GOD'", THAT IT HAS "VERY GOOD REASONS THAT 'ARE FOR OUR BEST GOOD' WHEN IT DOES DO WRONG", ETCETERA; WHEN, IN ACTUALITY, IT IS TRULY SEEKING TO ENSLAVE, CONTROL AND DESTROY US ALL, TO TOTALLY DESTROY ALL OF OUR HUMAN RIGHTS, LIBERTIES AND FREEDOMS, AND TO MARCH US INTO A TRUE HELL ON EARTH ON ALL LEVELS, ENVIRONMENTALLY, PSYCHOLOGICALLY AND PHYSICALLY, LIKE WE'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE! WAKE UP AND ENTIRELY FACE THAT WE HAVE A GLOBAL ENEMY THAT WE HAVE TO FIGHT!
OUR LIVES AND OUR ETERNAL SOULS DEPEND UPON IT; AND IT IS, LITERALLY, A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH! IN ADDITION, PART OF OUR FULFILLING OUR DUTY(IES) TO STAND UP AGAINST AND FIGHT IT IS TO COMPLETELY FACE THAT THERE ARE HUGE CONSPIRACIES GOING ON, AND THAT WE HAVE TO STAND UP AND FIGHT AGAINST THEM AS WELL; OTHERWISE, WE WILL BE LETTING "THEM" WIN, WHICH WE CANNOT DO WITHOUT BEING COMPLICIT IN THEIR EVIL(S)! PLEASE DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN! SAVE THE LIVES AND SOULS OF MILLIONS OF HUMAN BEINGS NOW!
...A GLOBAL ENEMY THAT WE
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 13:46 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)...A GLOBAL ENEMY THAT WE HAVE TO FIGHT!
S. Wolf Britain has it at
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 16:24 — Robert Walters (not verified)S. Wolf Britain has it at least partly right: Conspiracies DO, indeed, exist, and are operational at this very moment; analyses by people who may actually perceive the operative conspiracies and who have the courage to publicize those perceptions are systematically debunked by a) those involved in the conspiracy, b) officialdom, and c) MSM, as a means of delegitimizing the analyses and the analysts, and deflecting attention of the public.
Claiming "conspiracy theory" by anyone invested in the conspiracy (or by those who might profit from it or by those whose duty it might be to expose and thwart its effects) is almost sufficient to discredit and information about a genuine conspiracy. However, voicing such a claim, by whom- ever does so, DOES NOT MEAN there is NO conspiracy!
That said, the only genuine conspiracy I perceive associated with the Gulf oil-spill fiasco is a conspiracy of incompetence, combined with corporate dishonesty and greed that led to cost-saving short-cuts. This "conspiracy" is most likely the proximate cause of the disaster. The tin-foil hat crowd wants to perceive every event they don't approve of or that might negatively affect them in some way as a nefarious plot by "them" -- the evil, devious "other."
It just ain't so, folks -- so go back to your Ouija boards for guidance 'cuz somebody has been intentionally moving the shuttle -- oh, yeah: Pray some more and listen better for the answers. On the other hand, maybe prayer isn't the best approach, since so many in the crowd hear voices in their heads.
Nothing -- absolutely
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 20:48 — SkeeterVT (not verified)Nothing -- absolutely NOTHING -- surprises me about Right-Wing Cuckoo Land anymore. The Right has gone totally cuckoo ever since Obama was elected president. They see a black man win the nation's highest office and think the world's coming to an end.
Sick.
Well this has been fun,
Sun, 05/09/2010 - 00:34 — AreYOuHighOrWhat (not verified)Well this has been fun, seriously! At one point I wanted to get popcorn and dim the lights (LOL) I really wanted a new "North Korea is out to get us!" story but all I got was this lousy thread **giggles**
but "Nothing -- absolutely NOTHING" is gettng a little shortsighted and I just wanted to point out that the BEST conspiracy theories usually come from the left. My hippie parents taught me all the classics, fake moon landings, Paul is dead, and a dozen different JFK theories; it's not just the far right.
Everything I've seen said
Sun, 05/09/2010 - 14:20 — JR MacBeth (not verified)Everything I've seen said 4/20 was the actual date, so I agree with Anon. Leopard about Limbaugh's error. Of course, it's Hitler's birthday, and the occultists regard Hitler very highly. Notice also there were exactly "Eleven" victims sacrificed up. One more occult signature. Our NWO masters likely did this intentionally, because they have "big plans" for us. And fixing it will only happen when (or if) they want, based on their plans for us. 9/11 was "only" a few thousand victims. If they can do that, why not this, and why not take out even more before it's all done. Ultimate goal: Total control of the planet and everyone on it.
I'm no scientist, but
Sun, 05/09/2010 - 14:28 — Bobo (not verified)I'm no scientist, but essentially I can vouch for what some have said regarding the fuel/energy dependence lies we are fed. How? simple. I have a tool at my workplace that has 3 power chord type thingys coming from it. I plug one of those into a power receptacle that says 220v 50A on it. The next chord I take and connect it to the biggest piece of steel I can find. Then I take the 3rd chord and use it to melt steel and it can melt thru any thickness of steel I come across. Funny but if I just tried melting metal using only the power from the 220v 50A receptacle, I can't. Yet , over the last 25 years I have never put any gasoline, coal, nuke fuel rods or anything else into this tool and amazingly it takes electricity that cannot melt steel and boosts it up to where it can. Seems like instead of having 5 of these huge coal burning plants to run a city, why can't they just build 1 and use a bunch of these box tool thingys to increase the amount the 1 can generate into enough to supply the city?
Humans ARE at war against
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 08:07 — David (not verified)Humans ARE at war against all other life forms, and the planet itself. Note that few if any of the commenters address the most relevant and personal fact in the article. Humans are the most efficient, ruthless and amoral killer-consumer that the universe has ever seen. We have the power of gods as we slaughter all other organisms, rearrange their DNA, pour poisons into water, air, land, sea and ourselves. We do this not to "survive," but to have fun. We do not restrain our breeding, our machinery, or our recreation. In the face of absolute proof that oil, coal and other energy industries and consumption are death industries, we see no calls to eliminate leaf blowers, jet skis, NASCAR, animal slaughter, and other needless, harmful activities. Humans are on a death march. They are at war with life itself. If there is a Satan, humans are his army.
humans are the most
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 11:08 — john visher (not verified)humans are the most successful large species to evolve ever. we live on oil. we thrive on oil. we multiply with oil. our great great grand children will witness the complete returning revolution, when we circle back to the time before fossil fuels, when we are just one of many species living on this sweet beautiful earth. BTW. kill the rich...
David, that does NOT mean
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 14:53 — S. Wolf Britain (not verified)David, that does NOT mean that we should eradicate humankind. It is a very small percentage of the total human population of this planet, using another very small percentage of same, who are at war with life itself and are harming all of us extremely, in all the ways you said and then some, but we must NOT eradicate humankind because of that small percentage.
Most people on this planet want nothing but peace, and to be left alone to pursue "Life, Liberty and... Happiness" without harming ANY of their fellow-humankind. So it is that that small percentage, who call the shots, that are the ones who we should eradicate; for they are a bane to us all; again, in all of the ways you said and more.
We are already IN a revolution right now, whether we like it or not. The question is, are the small percentage of destroyers going to win, or are the majority that vastly outnumbers the destroyers going to win? If we don't wake up, stand up and rise up against that minority of destroyers, the destroyers are going to win. In fact, as it stands now they are already winning because they have so successfully dumbed-down, indoctrinated, conditioned, programmed and brainwashed the majority to do nothing to save themselves and their True Liberty from the destroyers.
Thus, God help us all.
I luv the wacko theories,
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 19:44 — Anonymous (not verified)I luv the wacko theories, they help me think. The problem as I see it is humanity lacks contingencies. What contingency does the oil industry have upon a disaster such as the one we had in the Gulf of Mexico? Clearly there wasn't one. Cmon people head over to the MMS.gov website and read, yes read, and contribute any ideas that can help change how we watch the 4000 some odd rigs on the OCS and help create contingencies to any foreseen or unforseen circumstances.
i'm tired of all this
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 22:08 — Anonymous (not verified)i'm tired of all this conspiracy theory bollocks. unless someone can bring some quantifiable, objective facts and evidence into the equation they should stick to betting on the horses and call this high science instead. the fact of oil and geopolitics being linked is unavoidable, however usually the "right" answer is the first answer arrived at. when there are over 1,000 platforms to drill oil from, the math says that there are as many chances to spill even a little bit in any given day; read, 'accident'. perhaps the author of the article has this in mind in a rather lucid moment in all of the garbled messages of corruption and nepotism proferred by the increasingly left leaning press.
accidents do happen; but but
Mon, 05/10/2010 - 22:37 — Anonymous (not verified)accidents do happen; but but when multinational corps court disaster with our subsidies and no continegency plan in case of said "accident," it moves into the relm of recklessness or even intent. that's the reality of unregulated drilling and a lot of the other extractive industries. accidents happen in war but its still war, you know?
WTF? We all know it was Neil
Tue, 05/11/2010 - 10:04 — Alfred E Neumann (not verified)WTF?
We all know it was Neil Armstrong & Buzz Aldrin who, through psychokinesis, broke the wellhead to allow the oil to flow. They are so angry about Barack Obama canceling big chunks of NASA's budget, this is the only thing that would draw attention. Really.
I read it on the internet tubes yesterday.
I heard that Armstrong and
Tue, 05/11/2010 - 10:46 — MAD Maxazine (not verified)I heard that Armstrong and Aldrin faked their psychokinesis. Hard to tell what's real anymore.
Oil companies win big! :
Wed, 05/12/2010 - 06:59 — Genklag (not verified)Oil companies win big! : Actually if the oil spill is massive enough and lasts long enough, there won't be any eco system left to worry about : ergo drilling anywhere anttime anyhoo would become feasible. that's a motive....
Isn't it interesting that
Wed, 05/26/2010 - 16:16 — Anonymous (not verified)Isn't it interesting that you left out the British. It was BRITISH PETROLEUM that caused the problem right? Weren't we at war with Britain at one point? Actually act several points huh? They just kept coming back. Don't the English have a history of burning their enemies crops and poisoning the soil so crops can't grow for decades? Seems like a history lesson is due for America. Or not. I don't really care. Oil is biodegradable.
Just like you.
The earth is fine, it's you that needs to pack his bags. Your done.