The BP oil gusher is just the latest in a long line of assaults on the Gulf of Mexico

The BP oil gusher is just the latest in a long line of assaults on the Gulf of Mexico | Grist

It’s not just BP
The BP oil gusher is just the latest in a long line of assaults on the Gulf of Mexico

by Diane Wilson

28 May 2010 2:29 PM

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Climate & Energy, fishing, Gulf of Mexico oil spill

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Fishing a boat.A fishing boat returns after a night of fishing in the Gulf.Photo courtesy PDub via FlickrI'm a fourth-generation fisherwoman from the Texas Gulf Coast, on a boat since I was eight. Over the last two decades, I've become a self-appointed watchdog of the chemical, oil, and gas corporations that are decimating the Gulf.

I hate to say it, but what I'm seeing now in the Gulf ain't nothing new. The toxic releases, the lies, the cover-ups, the skimping on safety, the nonexistent documents, the "swinging door" with regulators, the deaths. Same ole same ole.

What is new is the massive nature of the oil gusher and the fact that it can't be covered up because it's ongoing and being videoed. This elephant can't be swept under the carpet, but I'm sure if BP could, BP would.

There are politicians out there -- we've all heard them -- who say this oil spill is just one accident and one accident does not a case make. Heck, one plane crashes and you don't stop flying, do ya? Well, this isn't just one accident. This is the biggest flame among the thousands of fires set by Corporate America on its Sherman-like march across the Gulf.

I run an injured-workers group for people who got canned after they got sick or injured, and for whistleblowers and others who tried to make changes that their companies didn't want. For many of them, there's nobody to talk to except me -- a high school–educated fisherwoman with a pile of kids and a broke-down truck. One worked in wastewater and said his supervisors were manipulating and hiding wastewater data, sometimes dumping outright or siphoning material out of test samples. Sometimes gauge needles were bent to keep them from showing what they should have been showing. A few times, the worker had to wade through a diked wastewater area the size of two-city blocks with toxic waste coming over his boots. He lost his hard hat, lost his gloves, maggots were crawling everywhere, and right next to him was a high-voltage pump. He said a lot of days he thought he'd die, but telling didn't do any good. As any good workers knows: You keep your mouth shut, ‘cause a good way to lose your job or lose your bonus is to report a worker injury or a safety violation.

That wasn't my first dance at that rodeo. I've had a Texas wastewater investigator pass me information because he couldn't do anything with test results showing extremely high levels of priority pollutants like vinyl chloride and ethylene dichloride in the water. He said every time he tried to pass it up further in enforcement, something blocked it. It just so happened that his boss, the director, had applied for a job at the polluting plant. He sure didn't want to think what that was all about. Made him sick just thinking about it.

Made me sick, too. Made me want to get on a boat and go out on the bay and forget all of it. Last time I was on the bay, however, a seismograph crew breezed in, looking for oil and gas deposits. There are approximately 4,000 oil and gas rigs out in the Gulf, but there are a sizable number in the bays, too. Seismologist teams sometimes use dynamite blasts to produce sound waves that pinpoint oil and gas deposits. Generally, dynamite charges aren't allowed near the reefs and they're not supposed to be so powerful that they blow up fish. That's the law, anyhow, but who's listening? I was trotlining for black drum and I had a string of lines near an oyster reef that black drum love to hang around. I picked up my line and there, hanging off the hooks, was a very long line of dynamite charges. Things really got messy when the dynamite blasts started rocking the fishermen's boats and blowing fish out of the water. To stop the obvious show of dead fish, the company brought in a three airboats. An airboat can generate decibels equivalent to a jet plane, so imagine three giant airplanes ripping and running up and down the bay to scare the fish out of the bay. Well, they accomplished their goal. All the fish ran out of the bay and there went our fish for the entire season. It was nothing but a bleep on an oil company's corporate work sheet, but for our family-based inshore fishermen, it was devastating.

That's not all. Just listen. The oil industry dumps over a billion pounds of mercury-contaminated drilling-mud wastes into the Gulf each year. Drilling muds are used to cool and lubricate drill bits as they bore into the earth while plumbing for oil and natural gas. The mercury is present in an element called barite, the main ingredient in the muds. In l996, the EPA limited the amount of mercury that could be present in the drilling muds to one part per million, which could still allow l,000 pounds of mercury to be dumped from the Gulf platforms each year. For 50 years prior to the EPA rule, there were no limits on mercury in barite. A report published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers suggested that, in the past, barite with mercury up to 30 parts per million could have been used. Looking at information supplied by the oil industry and the EPA, hundreds of thousands of pounds of mercury have been dumped in the Gulf via drilling muds since the l960s.

So it shouldn't be surprising at all that some oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are so contaminated by mercury that they could qualify for Superfund status. The mercury concentrations in many fish sampled near at least one rig were high enough to qualify the area as a contaminated fishery.

And the contaminated drilling mud doesn't stay in the Gulf. Some of it gets dumped into marshes along small fishing villages on the Gulf Coast. I've seen tanker trucks dump 200 loads into a marsh outside of Seadrift, Texas, and another load dumped a half-mile from my trailer. My frequent calls to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission were answered with, "It's harmless." I guess I should tell that to my autistic son.

The bottom line is that the Gulf of Mexico dies a little every day from the tens of thousands of chemical plants, oil refineries, and oil and gas rigs that pockmark the Gulf and its coastlines. It's a death of ten thousand cuts, and many of these offenses don't get reported at all. We, the public, really have no way of knowing. The companies and the agencies certainly aren't going to tell us. They've proved that time and time again. The truth of the matter only becomes clear when something monstrous like the BP oil spill comes along and wakes us up to the nightmare.



Editor's note: Diane Wilson made Grist's list of 13 badass greens.

It’s not just BP The BP oil gusher is just the latest in a long line of assaults on the Gulf of Mexico

The BP oil gusher is just the latest in a long line of assaults on the Gulf of Mexico | Grist

It’s not just BP
The BP oil gusher is just the latest in a long line of assaults on the Gulf of Mexico

by Diane Wilson

28 May 2010 2:29 PM

*

Read More About
Climate & Energy, fishing, Gulf of Mexico oil spill

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*
*
*
*
* Share

* Print

Fishing a boat.A fishing boat returns after a night of fishing in the Gulf.Photo courtesy PDub via FlickrI'm a fourth-generation fisherwoman from the Texas Gulf Coast, on a boat since I was eight. Over the last two decades, I've become a self-appointed watchdog of the chemical, oil, and gas corporations that are decimating the Gulf.

I hate to say it, but what I'm seeing now in the Gulf ain't nothing new. The toxic releases, the lies, the cover-ups, the skimping on safety, the nonexistent documents, the "swinging door" with regulators, the deaths. Same ole same ole.

What is new is the massive nature of the oil gusher and the fact that it can't be covered up because it's ongoing and being videoed. This elephant can't be swept under the carpet, but I'm sure if BP could, BP would.

There are politicians out there -- we've all heard them -- who say this oil spill is just one accident and one accident does not a case make. Heck, one plane crashes and you don't stop flying, do ya? Well, this isn't just one accident. This is the biggest flame among the thousands of fires set by Corporate America on its Sherman-like march across the Gulf.

I run an injured-workers group for people who got canned after they got sick or injured, and for whistleblowers and others who tried to make changes that their companies didn't want. For many of them, there's nobody to talk to except me -- a high school–educated fisherwoman with a pile of kids and a broke-down truck. One worked in wastewater and said his supervisors were manipulating and hiding wastewater data, sometimes dumping outright or siphoning material out of test samples. Sometimes gauge needles were bent to keep them from showing what they should have been showing. A few times, the worker had to wade through a diked wastewater area the size of two-city blocks with toxic waste coming over his boots. He lost his hard hat, lost his gloves, maggots were crawling everywhere, and right next to him was a high-voltage pump. He said a lot of days he thought he'd die, but telling didn't do any good. As any good workers knows: You keep your mouth shut, ‘cause a good way to lose your job or lose your bonus is to report a worker injury or a safety violation.

That wasn't my first dance at that rodeo. I've had a Texas wastewater investigator pass me information because he couldn't do anything with test results showing extremely high levels of priority pollutants like vinyl chloride and ethylene dichloride in the water. He said every time he tried to pass it up further in enforcement, something blocked it. It just so happened that his boss, the director, had applied for a job at the polluting plant. He sure didn't want to think what that was all about. Made him sick just thinking about it.

Made me sick, too. Made me want to get on a boat and go out on the bay and forget all of it. Last time I was on the bay, however, a seismograph crew breezed in, looking for oil and gas deposits. There are approximately 4,000 oil and gas rigs out in the Gulf, but there are a sizable number in the bays, too. Seismologist teams sometimes use dynamite blasts to produce sound waves that pinpoint oil and gas deposits. Generally, dynamite charges aren't allowed near the reefs and they're not supposed to be so powerful that they blow up fish. That's the law, anyhow, but who's listening? I was trotlining for black drum and I had a string of lines near an oyster reef that black drum love to hang around. I picked up my line and there, hanging off the hooks, was a very long line of dynamite charges. Things really got messy when the dynamite blasts started rocking the fishermen's boats and blowing fish out of the water. To stop the obvious show of dead fish, the company brought in a three airboats. An airboat can generate decibels equivalent to a jet plane, so imagine three giant airplanes ripping and running up and down the bay to scare the fish out of the bay. Well, they accomplished their goal. All the fish ran out of the bay and there went our fish for the entire season. It was nothing but a bleep on an oil company's corporate work sheet, but for our family-based inshore fishermen, it was devastating.

That's not all. Just listen. The oil industry dumps over a billion pounds of mercury-contaminated drilling-mud wastes into the Gulf each year. Drilling muds are used to cool and lubricate drill bits as they bore into the earth while plumbing for oil and natural gas. The mercury is present in an element called barite, the main ingredient in the muds. In l996, the EPA limited the amount of mercury that could be present in the drilling muds to one part per million, which could still allow l,000 pounds of mercury to be dumped from the Gulf platforms each year. For 50 years prior to the EPA rule, there were no limits on mercury in barite. A report published by the Society of Petroleum Engineers suggested that, in the past, barite with mercury up to 30 parts per million could have been used. Looking at information supplied by the oil industry and the EPA, hundreds of thousands of pounds of mercury have been dumped in the Gulf via drilling muds since the l960s.

So it shouldn't be surprising at all that some oil and gas rigs in the Gulf of Mexico are so contaminated by mercury that they could qualify for Superfund status. The mercury concentrations in many fish sampled near at least one rig were high enough to qualify the area as a contaminated fishery.

And the contaminated drilling mud doesn't stay in the Gulf. Some of it gets dumped into marshes along small fishing villages on the Gulf Coast. I've seen tanker trucks dump 200 loads into a marsh outside of Seadrift, Texas, and another load dumped a half-mile from my trailer. My frequent calls to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission were answered with, "It's harmless." I guess I should tell that to my autistic son.

The bottom line is that the Gulf of Mexico dies a little every day from the tens of thousands of chemical plants, oil refineries, and oil and gas rigs that pockmark the Gulf and its coastlines. It's a death of ten thousand cuts, and many of these offenses don't get reported at all. We, the public, really have no way of knowing. The companies and the agencies certainly aren't going to tell us. They've proved that time and time again. The truth of the matter only becomes clear when something monstrous like the BP oil spill comes along and wakes us up to the nightmare.



Editor's note: Diane Wilson made Grist's list of 13 badass greens.

In Photos: Haunting images of the gulf oil disaster

Print Story: In Photos: Haunting images of the gulf oil disaster - Yahoo! News

In Photos: Haunting images of the gulf oil disaster
Mon May 24, 8:24 pm ET

It’s been more than a month since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people and blew out an undersea well that continues to gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In the following weeks, there have been attempts to contain and control the scope of the environmental damage.

But so far none have been successful. Over the weekend, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced he intended to proceed with plans to construct sand booms to protect his state's shoreline — without waiting for federal approval. Meanwhile, engineers for BP are working feverishly to prepare for their "top kill" maneuver, hoping an injection of heavy mud will stop the leak.

Dead sharks and dolphins are washing ashore. Crabs, turtles and birds are being found soaked in oil as the slick sloshes into Louisiana’s wetlands. South of New Orleans, chocolate-like globs of oil have shut down the public beach.

Coast Guard officials say the spill’s impact now stretches 150 miles. Some scientists fear the spreading plumes will catch the ocean current to the Florida Keys and up to the eastern seaboard.

Photographers' images, some of them chillingly beautiful, can only begin to hint at the enormity of the disaster.




Shrimp boats equipped with booms collect oil in Chandeleur Sound, La., on May 5. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)




Oil moves past an oil rig, top right, in Chandeleur Sound on May 5. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)




An oil-soaked bird struggles against the side of an Iron Horse supply vessel at the site of the oil spill off Louisiana on May 9. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)




A Portuguese man-of-war is seen from under the oily water in Chandeleur Sound on May 6. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)




A dead jellyfish floats amid oil May 6 in the Gulf of Mexico, southwest of the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River on the coast of Louisiana. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)




A Coast Guard plane flies over the Development Driller III oil drilling platform, which was drilling a relief well May 12 at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




Risers, the outer casings of oil drill pipes, are seen on the deck of the service vessel Joe Griffin as it prepares to head to Port Fourchon, La., on May 11. (Pool Photo/Gerald Herbert)




An aerial view of the northern Chandeleur barrier islands, 20 miles from the main Louisiana coastline, shows sheens of oil reaching land May 6. (AP Photo/David Quinn)




A pod of bottlenose dolphins swims in the oily water of Chandeleur Sound on May 6. Five days later, six dead dolphins were found along the Gulf Coast. Officials were investigating oil's role in the deaths. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)




An oil-stained cattle egret is seen on the deck of the Joe Griffin supply vessel May 9. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)




Oil swirls in the Gulf of Mexico currents May 6. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)




Contractors unload oil booms to protect marshlands May 13 in Hopedale, La. (John Moore/Getty Images)




Pelicans fly past a nest of eggs apparently stained with oil on a Louisiana island May 22. The island is home to hundreds of brown pelican nests as well as terns, gulls and roseated spoonbills. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)




A glob of oil thought to be from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico sits on a reed on a beach in Southwest Pass, La., on May 15. (Reuters/Lee Celano)




A Greenpeace worker collects samples of oil May 19 that washed up along the mouth of the Mississippi River near Venice, La. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)




An oil-covered dragonfly, stuck to marsh grass, tries to clean itself May 18 in Garden Island Bay near Venice. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)




Birds fly over oil on the water April 29 near Breton Sound Island, on the southernmost tip of the Chandeleur Islands. (Reuters/Sean Gardner/Greenpeace/Handout)

Halliburton campaign donations spike

Halliburton campaign donations spike - Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com

As Congress investigated its role in the doomed Deep Horizon oil rig, Halliburton donated $17,000 to candidates running for federal office, giving money to several lawmakers on committees that have launched inquiries into the massive spill.

Krugman: The Pain Caucus

Op-Ed Columnist - The Pain Caucus - NYTimes.com

May 30, 2010
The Pain Caucus
By PAUL KRUGMAN

What’s the greatest threat to our still-fragile economic recovery? Dangers abound, of course. But what I currently find most ominous is the spread of a destructive idea: the view that now, less than a year into a weak recovery from the worst slump since World War II, is the time for policy makers to stop helping the jobless and start inflicting pain.

When the financial crisis first struck, most of the world’s policy makers responded appropriately, cutting interest rates and allowing deficits to rise. And by doing the right thing, by applying the lessons learned from the 1930s, they managed to limit the damage: It was terrible, but it wasn’t a second Great Depression.

Now, however, demands that governments switch from supporting their economies to punishing them have been proliferating in op-eds, speeches and reports from international organizations. Indeed, the idea that what depressed economies really need is even more suffering seems to be the new conventional wisdom, which John Kenneth Galbraith famously defined as “the ideas which are esteemed at any time for their acceptability.”

The extent to which inflicting economic pain has become the accepted thing was driven home to me by the latest report on the economic outlook from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an influential Paris-based think tank supported by the governments of the world’s advanced economies. The O.E.C.D. is a deeply cautious organization; what it says at any given time virtually defines that moment’s conventional wisdom. And what the O.E.C.D. is saying right now is that policy makers should stop promoting economic recovery and instead begin raising interest rates and slashing spending.

What’s particularly remarkable about this recommendation is that it seems disconnected not only from the real needs of the world economy, but from the organization’s own economic projections.

Thus, the O.E.C.D. declares that interest rates in the United States and other nations should rise sharply over the next year and a half, so as to head off inflation. Yet inflation is low and declining, and the O.E.C.D.’s own forecasts show no hint of an inflationary threat. So why raise rates?

The answer, as best I can make it out, is that the organization believes that we must worry about the chance that markets might start expecting inflation, even though they shouldn’t and currently don’t: We must guard against “the possibility that longer-term inflation expectations could become unanchored in the O.E.C.D. economies, contrary to what is assumed in the central projection.”

A similar argument is used to justify fiscal austerity. Both textbook economics and experience say that slashing spending when you’re still suffering from high unemployment is a really bad idea — not only does it deepen the slump, but it does little to improve the budget outlook, because much of what governments save by spending less they lose as a weaker economy depresses tax receipts. And the O.E.C.D. predicts that high unemployment will persist for years. Nonetheless, the organization demands both that governments cancel any further plans for economic stimulus and that they begin “fiscal consolidation” next year.

Why do this? Again, to give markets something they shouldn’t want and currently don’t. Right now, investors don’t seem at all worried about the solvency of the U.S. government; the interest rates on federal bonds are near historic lows. And even if markets were worried about U.S. fiscal prospects, spending cuts in the face of a depressed economy would do little to improve those prospects. But cut we must, says the O.E.C.D., because inadequate consolidation efforts “would risk adverse reactions in financial markets.”

The best summary I’ve seen of all this comes from Martin Wolf of The Financial Times, who describes the new conventional wisdom as being that “giving the markets what we think they may want in future — even though they show little sign of insisting on it now — should be the ruling idea in policy.”

Put that way, it sounds crazy. And it is. Yet it’s a view that’s spreading. And it’s already having ugly consequences. Last week conservative members of the House, invoking the new deficit fears, scaled back a bill extending aid to the long-term unemployed — and the Senate left town without acting on even the inadequate measures that remained. As a result, many American families are about to lose unemployment benefits, health insurance, or both — and as these families are forced to slash spending, they will endanger the jobs of many more.

And that’s just the beginning. More and more, conventional wisdom says that the responsible thing is to make the unemployed suffer. And while the benefits from inflicting pain are an illusion, the pain itself will be all too real.

Halliburton campaign donations spike

Halliburton campaign donations spike - Jake Sherman - POLITICO.com

As Congress investigated its role in the doomed Deep Horizon oil rig, Halliburton donated $17,000 to candidates running for federal office, giving money to several lawmakers on committees that have launched inquiries into the massive spill.

In Photos: Haunting images of the gulf oil disaster

In Photos: Haunting images of the gulf oil disaster

Mon May 24, 8:24 pm ET

It’s been more than a month since an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil rig killed 11 people and blew out an undersea well that continues to gush oil into the Gulf of Mexico. In the following weeks, there have been attempts to contain and control the scope of the environmental damage.

But so far none have been successful. Over the weekend, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal announced he intended to proceed with plans to construct sand booms to protect his state's shoreline — without waiting for federal approval. Meanwhile, engineers for BP are working feverishly to prepare for their "top kill" maneuver, hoping an injection of heavy mud will stop the leak.

Dead sharks and dolphins are washing ashore. Crabs, turtles and birds are being found soaked in oil as the slick sloshes into Louisiana’s wetlands. South of New Orleans, chocolate-like globs of oil have shut down the public beach.

Coast Guard officials say the spill’s impact now stretches 150 miles.  Some scientists fear the spreading plumes will catch the ocean current to the Florida Keys and up to the eastern seaboard.

Photographers' images, some of them chillingly beautiful, can only begin to hint at the enormity of the disaster.

 

Shrimp boats equipped with booms collect oil in Chandeleur Sound, La., on May 5. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

 

Oil moves past an oil rig, top right, in Chandeleur Sound on May 5. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

 

An oil-soaked bird struggles against the side of an Iron Horse supply vessel at the site of the oil spill off Louisiana on May 9. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

 

A Portuguese man-of-war is seen from under the oily water in Chandeleur Sound on May 6. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

 

A dead jellyfish floats amid oil May 6 in the Gulf of Mexico, southwest of the Southwest Pass of the Mississippi River on the coast of Louisiana. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

 

A Coast Guard plane flies over the Development Driller III oil drilling platform, which was drilling a relief well May 12 at the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

 

Risers, the outer casings of oil drill pipes, are seen on the deck of the service vessel Joe Griffin as it prepares to head to Port Fourchon, La., on May 11. (Pool Photo/Gerald Herbert)

 

An aerial view of the northern Chandeleur barrier islands, 20 miles from the main Louisiana coastline, shows sheens of oil reaching land May 6. (AP Photo/David Quinn)

 

A pod of bottlenose dolphins swims in the oily water of Chandeleur Sound on May 6.  Five days later, six dead dolphins were found along the Gulf Coast. Officials were investigating oil's role in the deaths. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

 

An oil-stained cattle egret is seen on the deck of the Joe Griffin supply vessel May 9. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

 

Oil swirls in the Gulf of Mexico currents May 6. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

 

Contractors unload oil booms to protect marshlands May 13 in Hopedale, La. (John Moore/Getty Images)

 

Pelicans fly past a nest of eggs apparently stained with oil on a Louisiana island May 22. The island is home to hundreds of brown pelican nests as well as terns, gulls and roseated spoonbills. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

 

A glob of oil thought to be from the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico sits on a reed on a beach in Southwest Pass, La., on May 15. (Reuters/Lee Celano)

 

A Greenpeace worker collects samples of oil May 19 that washed up along the mouth of the Mississippi River near Venice, La. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

 

An oil-covered dragonfly, stuck to marsh grass, tries to clean itself May 18 in Garden Island Bay near Venice. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

 

Birds fly over oil on the water April 29 near Breton Sound Island, on the southernmost tip of the Chandeleur Islands. (Reuters/Sean Gardner/Greenpeace/Handout)

AlterNet: Glenn Greenwald Clobbers Eliot Spitzer in Debate on the Gaza Flotilla

AlterNet: Glenn Greenwald Clobbers Eliot Spitzer in Debate on the Gaza Flotilla

Glenn Greenwald Clobbers Eliot Spitzer in Debate on the Gaza Flotilla
By Jane Hamsher, Firedoglake
Posted on June 3, 2010, Printed on June 3, 2010
http://www.alternet.org/story/147087/

You don’t often get a piece of cable TV this good, so it’s worth transcribing and posting in its entirety.

Yesterday, two Netanyahu propagandists appeared on MSNBC prior to Glenn Greenwald, painting a picture of the flotilla raid that was so grossly distorted it was unrecognizable as the incident that is being rightfully condemned around the world. Host Eliot Spitzer vigorously agreed with them, and then brought them back once again to counter Glenn after his appearance.

Spitzer was not nearly so conciliatory with Glenn, and during the interview, clips of the selectively edited IDF propaganda videos and their helpful English subtitles played continuously. In a rare and contentious eight minute cable news segment, Glenn decided to set the record straight:

http://www.youtube.com/v/pn-l_JltCB4

What's to investigate? We know what happened to the Gaza flotilla. - By Shmuel Rosner - Slate Magazine [mbc]

What's to investigate? We know what happened to the Gaza flotilla. - By Shmuel Rosner - Slate Magazine

Malcolm Calder
When the news first broke, I immediately predicted that an a certain "meme" would become widespread, an an important basis of the Israeli self-justification: ==> the Claim that they were attacked or threatened, and did violence only in self-defense. It seemed such an easy prediction, based on the historical character of the self-justifications accompanying the Israeli State's long record of vastly disproportionate violence.

That my prediction was exactly accurate doesn't mean that the Israeli claim is false, it means only that the Claim provides no information about the facts, since it would be the same in either case.

Mr. Rosner presents the Claim as utterly uncontroversial -- so much, that an investigation into its contents would be pointless. In support, he cites the videos released by the IDF, which don't establish the facts claimed of them -- BUT NOT THE LIVE ONBOARD FOOTAGE (al Jazeera) that presents a very different picture: THAT ISRAELI TROOPS HAD BEEN ATTACKING THE BOAT FROM A DISTANCE (sound grenades, gas, maybe bullets), AND HAD KILLED AT LEAST ONE (maybe two) BEFORE THEY ATTEMPTED TO BOARD THE BOAT.

The very existence of a credible counter-story, contrary to the official Israeli/IDF one, is the demolition of Mr. Rosen's credibility. If he were trying to do journalism (even serious opionion-writing) and not Israeli propaganda, he would have HAD to allow for the possibility of facts unknown to him (if not simply ignored by him) calling the official Israeli version into question (assuming he wasn't present on-scene, but simply presenting one side's official view, without other perspectives).

That he did not account for the possibility of a version of events contrary to the official Israeli justification can only mean this: he was not interested. This article of his is plainly an attempt to prejudicially close our minds against that possibility, too. It's the work of a propagandist, not a journalist.

Shame! Shame!! Shame on Slate, for printing this!!!
Today, 9:49:00 PM
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Liked by
Daniel Lindsay
[This user is an administrator] Michael Gassner
The anti-semitism in these comments is sad. The US would never tolerate the attacks that Israel is expected to tolerate. "Bleeding heart" anti-semites cry about disproportionate use of force. There is no such thing, when it comes to protecting your existence.
Today, 9:58:21 PM
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[This user is an administrator] stewart reubens
Wow, there is so much hate in the comments for the State of Israel.
You guys need to be honest and come out with it.
You despise Israel. You wish it didn't exist. While you are at, it, throw the world's Jews in the same basket and eradicate them as well. the world would be a better place without them. They killed Christ anyway.

Then, admit that even though this is what you think, you cant say it as your hypocritical liberal values don't allow for it.

By the way, I have news for you. We Jews aren't going anywhere. We have outlived many other countries who have wanted to exterminate us. This trend will continue.
Today, 9:47:39 PM
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[This user is an administrator] Malcolm Calder
Nothing personal, Steward Reubens, but your assumptions are baloney. They may be correct in the case of some particular individuals, but they are are not directed toward particular individuals -- and as categorical "analyses" or "judgjents", they are wrong. I suggest that the best way to promote honesty is to practice it, and that you should "come out with it" wrt your own motivations before suggesting that practice to others -- to me, for example.

I speak for myself. Contrary to your claim, I don't despise "Israel" -- Israel is far too complex and multifaceted a set of phenomena to have any easy opinion about.

For example, I find the social-psychological implications of insular Jewish identity fascinating, in light of the historical and religious/mythological context.) Generally, I find the development and dynamics of tribalistic thinking/attitudes -- manifested across the world and throughout history (and prehistory) very interesting -- the various ways we develop, maintain, justify and act upon loyaites, e.g.

But it's not all above-the-neck intellectuality. In the world one lives in, the moral implications are real and serious. Tribalism can very easily be hugely dysfunctional, and often is. The BEHAVIOR of the Jewish State vis-a-vis the Palestinian people is what I despise.

I don't care whether there is or isn't a Jewish state. If the Jews want a state, fine, let them have one. BUT IF THE PALESTINIANS WANT A STATE -- more importantly, if they want autonomy (and what people doesn't?) -- THEN THEY SHOULD HAVE ONE.

So, to be clear: what I despise is that the State of Israel comes up with no end of excuses for blocking Palestinian autonomy. Violently.

Damn right, I despise that!

Any questions?

Interesting Times: Israel Takes the Bait : The New Yorker

Interesting Times: Israel Takes the Bait : The New Yorker

[Posted 6/2/2010, 3:22:22am by Murathan] ==> BRAVO, MURATHAN! Such high-quality thinking and careful expression are rare on Internet forums. Your comments cover some of the same points I was going to raise, so I'll just shut up and direct readers to your posting. (Too bad this page doesn't allow breaking comments into paragraphs, since your comments are pretty long.)
Posted 6/3/2010, 3:38:22pm by MalcolmC

The title of this article is very telling in many ways. This article, like the majority of discussions in mainstream media outlets, trivializes the perpetual acts of violence that the state of Israel and its "Defense Forces" have inflicted on Palestinians on a daily basis and on international activists (i.e., Rachel Corrie, Tom Hurndall, and most recently Emily Henochowicz in the West Bank and the passengers on board the Mavi Marmara) by dehumanizing them and their suffering. Referring to these acts of aggression and naked violence as a “blunder” and writing that “Israel takes the bait” assumes that Israel (a state) had benign intentions, something which any astute student of its settler-colonial foundations and its recent, inveterate belligerent policies, knows is absurd. It is important to ask why George Packer assumes Israel has such benign intentions and whether we would be reading a similar type of article if another belligerent state acted in a comparable fashion. With regard to his statement: “Sunday night’s incident showed again that the most powerful force in international relations today is neither standing armies nor diplomatic councils, but public opinion as shaped by media,” Packer predictably avoids any mention of the actions that Israel took following their attack on the ship that would demonstrate the importance placed on the media, and also the criminal behavior of the state. I quote from a series of more insightful statements made by Ali Abunimah on Democracy Now: “What they’ve (Israel) done is imposed a total news block-out—blackout. Hundreds of people are detained. They’ve had no access to lawyers, certainly no access to media. It was reported there was one Al Jazeera cameraman, of the six Al Jazeera staff who were kidnapped with the ships, who was released. And what he said is that all the passengers were allowed to leave the ships only with their passports, with no other personal belongings. He was personally attacked by Israeli soldiers while he was filming, and his camera smashed. In any case, no journalists were allowed to leave the ships with any film or any recordings whatsoever. We don’t know the names of the dead. The families of all those passengers are anxiously awaiting news of their loved ones. Why is this? So that the Israeli narrative can get a long head start. This is all about the Israeli propaganda strategy to give the Israeli propagandists, like Mark Regev, a free run. They’ve had more than twenty-four hours. And, Amy, it’s working in the mainstream media, because they’re only reporting, you know, the atrocious reporting on National Public Radio and on the BBC, which is taking mostly the Israeli version.” Packer eschews any such mention, instead offers statements such as the following to emphasize his allegedly important argument made about the centrality of media: “No one else cared if it was insurgents dressed as ordinary men who triggered an attack; what always shaped the world’s judgment was footage of soldiers retaliating with overwhelming firepower.” Take note that the word “insurgents” is used as opposed to activists, a word which most Americans associate with armed violent resistance to the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan. The article, in a very predictable fashion, ends with a discussion on Iran and Obama, and moves us further away from discussing the legality of Israel’s actions, and the double standard ways in which America has continuously dealt with Israel. Packer writes, “Israel’s attack on the convoy shows an essential weakness in Obama’s vision of international affairs.” This statement avoids the larger issue: Obama’s aversion to holding all countries to the same international legal standards.

Posted 6/2/2010, 3:22:22am by Murathan

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/georgepacker/2010/06/gaza-flotilla.html#ixzz0pox8nkDh
[mbc]

What's to investigate? We know what happened to the Gaza flotilla. - By Shmuel Rosner - Slate Magazine [mbc]

What's to investigate? We know what happened to the Gaza flotilla. - By Shmuel Rosner - Slate Magazine

Malcolm Calder
When the news first broke, I immediately predicted that an a certain "meme" would become widespread, an an important basis of the Israeli self-justification: ==> the Claim that they were attacked or threatened, and did violence only in self-defense. It seemed such an easy prediction, based on the historical character of the self-justifications accompanying the Israeli State's long record of vastly disproportionate violence.

That my prediction was exactly accurate doesn't mean that the Israeli claim is false, it means only that the Claim provides no information about the facts, since it would be the same in either case.

Mr. Rosner presents the Claim as utterly uncontroversial -- so much, that an investigation into its contents would be pointless. In support, he cites the videos released by the IDF, which don't establish the facts claimed of them -- BUT NOT THE LIVE ONBOARD FOOTAGE (al Jazeera) that presents a very different picture: THAT ISRAELI TROOPS HAD BEEN ATTACKING THE BOAT FROM A DISTANCE (sound grenades, gas, maybe bullets), AND HAD KILLED AT LEAST ONE (maybe two) BEFORE THEY ATTEMPTED TO BOARD THE BOAT.

The very existence of a credible counter-story, contrary to the official Israeli/IDF one, is the demolition of Mr. Rosen's credibility. If he were trying to do journalism (even serious opionion-writing) and not Israeli propaganda, he would have HAD to allow for the possibility of facts unknown to him (if not simply ignored by him) calling the official Israeli version into question (assuming he wasn't present on-scene, but simply presenting one side's official view, without other perspectives).

That he did not account for the possibility of a version of events contrary to the official Israeli justification can only mean this: he was not interested. This article of his is plainly an attempt to prejudicially close our minds against that possibility, too. It's the work of a propagandist, not a journalist.

Shame! Shame!! Shame on Slate, for printing this!!!
Today, 9:49:00 PM
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[This user is an administrator] Michael Gassner
The anti-semitism in these comments is sad. The US would never tolerate the attacks that Israel is expected to tolerate. "Bleeding heart" anti-semites cry about disproportionate use of force. There is no such thing, when it comes to protecting your existence.
Today, 9:58:21 PM
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[This user is an administrator] stewart reubens
Wow, there is so much hate in the comments for the State of Israel.
You guys need to be honest and come out with it.
You despise Israel. You wish it didn't exist. While you are at, it, throw the world's Jews in the same basket and eradicate them as well. the world would be a better place without them. They killed Christ anyway.

Then, admit that even though this is what you think, you cant say it as your hypocritical liberal values don't allow for it.

By the way, I have news for you. We Jews aren't going anywhere. We have outlived many other countries who have wanted to exterminate us. This trend will continue.
Today, 9:47:39 PM
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[This user is an administrator] Malcolm Calder
Nothing personal, Steward Reubens, but your assumptions are baloney. They may be correct in the case of some particular individuals, but they are are not directed toward particular individuals -- and as categorical "analyses" or "judgjents", they are wrong. I suggest that the best way to promote honesty is to practice it, and that you should "come out with it" wrt your own motivations before suggesting that practice to others -- to me, for example.

I speak for myself. Contrary to your claim, I don't despise "Israel" -- Israel is far too complex and multifaceted a set of phenomena to have any easy opinion about.

For example, I find the social-psychological implications of insular Jewish identity fascinating, in light of the historical and religious/mythological context.) Generally, I find the development and dynamics of tribalistic thinking/attitudes -- manifested across the world and throughout history (and prehistory) very interesting -- the various ways we develop, maintain, justify and act upon loyaites, e.g.

But it's not all above-the-neck intellectuality. In the world one lives in, the moral implications are real and serious. Tribalism can very easily be hugely dysfunctional, and often is. The BEHAVIOR of the Jewish State vis-a-vis the Palestinian people is what I despise.

I don't care whether there is or isn't a Jewish state. If the Jews want a state, fine, let them have one. BUT IF THE PALESTINIANS WANT A STATE -- more importantly, if they want autonomy (and what people doesn't?) -- THEN THEY SHOULD HAVE ONE.

So, to be clear: what I despise is that the State of Israel comes up with no end of excuses for blocking Palestinian autonomy. Violently.

Damn right, I despise that!

Any questions?

In raw video: Israelis fired on activists BEFORE boarding ship

In raw video: Israelis fired on activists BEFORE boarding ship

World News
In raw video: Israelis fired on activists BEFORE boarding ship
By Stephen C. Webster
Raw Story
Tuesday, Jun 1, 2010

Update: Turkey will reportedly send military escort with future Gaza aid boats

In what could be a serious blow to Israel's narrative on the killing of at least nine humanitarian activists making their way to Gaza through international waters, raw video by an Al Jazeera producer, who was filming during the raid, appears to provide evidence that the IDF opened fire on the flotilla even before boarding it.

Israeli forces assert they came under attack by the pro-Palestine civilian group, and video released by the IDF appears to show one soldier being tossed overboard amid a scuffle with unidentified individuals wielding melee weapons, like clubs and chairs.

However, in raw video captured by an Al Jazeera producer and published to YouTube late Monday, two journalists provide a play-by-play of the harrowing event as pops and cracks echo in the background. Even before the Israeli forces were aboard, one says, they were pelting the boat with tear gas and stun grenades, injuring numerous people.


Then he confirms the first death, saying the individual was killed by "munitions," but not specifying whether it was a bullet or something else. Then he confirms that Israeli forces were boarding the ship.

Another of the reporters featured in the video works for the Iranian network Press TV. "We are being hit by tear gas, stun grenades, we have navy ships on either side, helicopters overhead," he said. "We are being attacked from every single side. This is in international waters, not Israeli waters, not in the 68-mile exclusion zone. We are being attacked in international waters completely illegally."

"The organizers are telling me now, they are raising a white flag -- they are raising a white flag to the Israeli army," the Al Jazeera reporter said. "This is after one person has been killed; a civilian has been killed by munition. That number could be more ... Despite the white flag being raised, despite the white flag being raised, the Israeli army is still shooting, still firing live munitions."

Early reports put the number of victims between nine and 19, with dozens injured. (Update: Figures from major wire services put the number at 10, but it may yet change.) The actual number has not yet been confirmed, as the IDF took all the Gaza aid flotilla participants into custody. Numerous victims were reported to be from Turkey. Palestinian leadership called the incident a "war crime." Israeli ally Turkey also pledged their regional neighbor will "face the consequences" for the killings and reportedly planned to send military escort with a future Gaza aid flotilla.

"At least four Israeli soldiers were wounded in the operation, some from gunfire, according to the military," The New York Times added.

"Our soldiers had to defend themselves, to defend their lives," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly said. Other Israeli officials have called the charity organization responsible a group of "extremist supporters of terror." The IDF also alleged that weapons were found on board and that activists opened fire first, calling the the resulting violence a result of "provocation."

However, if these reporters' immediate accounting of the events proves accurate, the truth of Israel's claim that they opened fire in self defense would seem to be in doubt.

Portions of the raw video were featured by Al Jazeera and AFP, although the beginning segment and the most clear allegations that Israel opened fire before boarding were not included in their entirety.