Gulf oil spill jokes: proceed with caution

If you're feeling inclined to make a joke about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, some thoughts for you...

Joking about the spill is like making fun of your mom. If you say it, it's ok, but if someone else says it then you're going to have to kick their ass.

I have to admit that I feel a strong negative reaction when someone I don't know makes a joke about the oil spill. Like, you and your friends can make fun of each other but if someone from outside the group goes there, then it's on.

I also internally squirm with annoyance when someone who's not from the Gulf Coast makes fun of the oil spill. Again, the jokes are for the insiders only. If you're not directly affected by the spill then it's best to say compassionate and appreciative things. Why say dickish things?

I joke a lot about a lot of things and I've uttered more than my share of oil spill joke-atrocities. I'm not saying it's off-limits to humor. I'm saying that you should first establish a compassionate, friendly connection on the matter, then rip away.

The oil spill is possibly the worst environmental disaster the United States has ever known, and it's right on my horizon. (Get it? Horizon!? Deepwater Horizon!? Ha ha ha ha ha ha....) (See, humor...)

I'm no ardent environmentalist but, believe me, I love the beach and and I love the Gulf and I love all the animals and plants and THE PERFECT NATURAL BEAUTY OF IT ALL and I hate that it's being befouled by stupid human tricks.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

- mitchell

P.S. The above sentiments apply to joking about any sensitive matter. Think carefully before you speak.

Priests of Vulcan say, US has bad breath

Yahoo! recently posted an article about CO2 emissions in the US, Where Global Warming Begins. The following, insanely interesting video is embedded in the article. Created by the Vulcan Project at Purdue University, the animations in the video bring to life the climate-altering mechanical breath of a nation.

For my Gulf Coast readers, check out how much CO2 emissions are coming from around our seemingly pristine beaches. Looks to me like the air and water of the Gulf of Mexico are an international dumping ground. Also notice that the graphic in the Yahoo! article show that the rapidly growing Southeast is increasing its CO2 output as the Northeast decreases. Great. Here in Pensacola we're right in the path of the growing plumes of pollutants coming from Southeast Texas, New Orleans, and Mobile. And it appears we're creating plenty ourselves.

Wouldn't it be nice if our region could grow responsibly, in a sustainable manner?

Oh, that's right...growth, as we know it, is unsustainable.

Is collapse inevitable?

Will we change our ways and be better citizens of Planet Earth? Videos like the one from the Vulcan Project go a long way towards educating people on the consequences of our technologies and reminding us that we are part of a global community.

Doomsday Seed Vault a Cocaine Warehouse?

It seems that there is often troubling news mixed into otherwise promising stories. For example, I just read Biodiversity 'doomsday vault' comes to life in Arctic. It's nice to know that some of our planet's biodiversity is being backed up like we back up our harddrives. It's always good to have a back-up copy, right? I'm not troubled much by the thought that we might actually need such a vault. As a child of the Cold War, I came to terms with mass catastrophe, apocalypse, armageddon, and all that years ago. As someone who lives along the hurricane-prone Gulf of Mexico, I know first-hand what regional devastation looks and feels like.

What troubled me in this article was this paragraph:

Many of the more vulnerable seed banks have begun contributing to the "doomsday vault" collection, but some of the world's biodiversity has already disappeared, with gene vaults in both Iraq and Afghanistan destroyed by war and a seed bank in the Philippines annihilated by a typhoon.

How odd that there were gene vaults in Iraq and Afghanistan, two major places of violent American meddling. I wonder how many countries have gene vaults.

Another troubling bit of info in the article:

...samples sent from Colombia have been closely scrutinised by police to avoid the project becoming a vehicle for drug trafficking.

WTF!? I hope to God that petty moralities aren't interfering in an important scientific/historical endeavor. We're talking about the future of life on this planet and some jackasses are worried that the vault's going to become a cocaine distribution warehouse? Seriously?

There are a lot of powerful people on this planet who need to grow up.