The Oil Mess

I have been watching this mess in Lousiana get worse and worse and worse.  I have watched the BP people stand around with their fingers up their duffs.  What are we, as regular ole' folks, supposed to do?    In the sixties, people had enough hubris to believe that regular  people could make a difference, and because they didn't know they couldn't they did.  Incredible changes, indeed,  were effected.

I have become so very offended by the arrogance of the individuals in charge who are, willy nilly, sacrificing our society, our eco-system, our world for the sake of profits and more profits.  I am offended by the fact that the right wing gas bags have used this as, yet another, opportunity to blast the president for not doing enough.  What, pray tell, is he to do? Put on a diving suit and his Superman cape and dive down there and cap it?  No, this is yet another disaster you can put right at the door of the Bush/Cheyney camp.  They accommodated their oil buddies, who then, committed an unforgivable assault on our world.

Anyone who offers up a potential solution has, it seems to me, been  regarded with condescending derision.  These two 'bubbas', for example, were on television the other night demonstrating how throwing hay on oil and water absorbs the oil, leaving clear water.  When questioned about this, the BP talking head replied that the company was considering all options.  'Considering all options?'  What is to consider?   Call every farmer within a day's drive and ask them to contribute whatever bales they can spare.  Toss the hay into the ocean and see what happens.  Then, you'd know, one way or the other.  My guess is these old boys might be on to something. Whenever you find yourself in a tight spot, you always want someone's 'bubba' there.  He'll come running with duct tape, a can of WD 40, a bale of hay, whatever it takes.  Most of the time, in my experience, he'll get it fixed. And, yes, I know there are female bubbas.  I'm just not one, and my bubbas are men. 

So, I've been thinking , more and more, about these women in Uganda in 2001  or so.  They got mad at Chevron for using up their resources and leaving the people in their village  in abject poverty.  These women  walked onto one of Chevron's boats and said, if Chevron didn't provide funds for schools and hospitals, as well as jobs for their people, they were gonna take off all their clothes and stand there  naked until they did.  It had, probably, a bigger impact in a Muslim country than it might here, but I don't know.At any rate, their demands were met.   Now, I have friends and family members who will say that I'm  just looking for an opportunity to get nude, but that's not so........Truly, it's not.

So, here's where I am on this......if I were absolutely sure that I were going to retire and would never, ever  need to subject myself to another  criminal background check, I'd be standing in the Gulf right now and not wearing a stitch. The thing is,  however, those criminal background checks are not to be underestimated.  When I was being hired on by the Department of Corrections, they sent a man around my whole neighborhood checking me out.  My next door neighbor told them that I allowed my children's cat to get paw prints on her polished, red brick porch, and was that legal?  Guess it was.  I got hired. 

One more thing, now that I think of it.....why couldn't  men participate?  Older, chubby men sag in  inappropriate places, also. Anyone have any other suggestions?