Who knew Steven Seagal could ever bring a tear to the eye in a hokey video clip? Really. Anyway pictures of cats always seem to please everyone, so.
LINKS to make a body jumpier’n a long-tailed cat in a room fulla rockin’ chairs:
NOLA.com: Scientists, drilling experts say BP valued speed over safety in oil rig disaster (possibly the best article out there, summing up the position of the oil industry in relation to the world at large. Bless the Deepwater Horizon Study Group)
Oil Spill Action: EXCLUSIVE PHOTOS – Capturing Oil Toxins on Film off the Mississippi Coast
YouTube: Proving Corexit poisoning – civil engineer Marco Kaltofen – Gulf oil spill
just a spoonful of disco cat makes the medicine go down
NPR: Scientists find thick layer of oil on seafloor
ComputerworldUK: BP ignored safety software advice to save time, oil spill investigators find (fishy stuff, no pun intended)
YouTube: Louisiana BP oil spill 8 months on (British news report)
Texarkana Gazette: Gulf oil spill rig victims’ kin feel left out
Naked Capitalism: Tests now being conducted for Corexit and oil — results not very reassuring
Farm Press Blog: How long will taxpayers subsidize Big Oil?
In an era of gusher profits for major oil companies, the U.S. government has continued to direct billions of taxpayer dollars into oil subsidies.
And when the rare attempt has been made to curb those payments, the industry’s highly-paid lobbyists and their generous contributions have managed to keep Congress in line and the Treasury tap open.
In July, at the height of the BP oil spill crisis in the Gulf of Mexico, the Senate shot down a measure that would have eliminated some $35 billion in subsidies to oil companies. Every Republican — every single one — voted against it.
Whenever Congress has the temerity to suggest a halt to this gravy train, the lobbyists launch their litany of scare tactics: subsidies are critical to our nation’s energy security; killing subsidies will wreak havoc on the economy, cost jobs, reduce U.S. energy production, and on and on.
The Treasury Department estimates that ending subsidies would reduce domestic oil production by less than one-half of 1 percent. Despite billions in government subsidies, U.S. production has gone down steadily since the 1970s.
The non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics, which monitors political spending, reports that the oil and natural gas industry spent nearly $175 million and registered 788 lobbyists last year. Since 1998, the industry has spent $966.8 million on lobbying.”
(brain clean)
YouTube: WhoDat Nation BP Crisis (Spike Lee) (forgive the wavy camera on the pirated copy, but what a nice 56-second rant)
Black Free Media: Spike Lee interview for “If God is Willing And Da Creek Don’t Rise”
Protecttheocean.com: Corexit – What do BP, Nalco Holding, and Seaworld have in common?
YouTube: Red Alert! Has the Gulf food chain been poisoned? New oil-filled seafood (even if you don’t eat seafood, be aware of the connection between poisoned Gulf menhaden/pogeys/small fish and how they feed them to our pets and the livestock we eat, as well as fertilizing orange trees and who knows what else … also, isn’t it strange how Omega Corporation — world’s largest manufacturer of Omega-3 supplements — got over $18 million in “settlement funds” from BP after “admitting” their boats were responsible for the “broken pogey nets” that caused masses of dead pogeys to wash ashore in early August… only pogeys don’t die from being netted, do they?)
i’ll have what the artist is having
Corpusfishing.com: Dead mullet everywhere?
AL.com: Where did the money go? BP gave Alabama $65 million in money for grants
Al.com: BP to pay Phoenix condo developers $37.2 million
UPI: Many oil spill claims in limbo
Youtube: Toxicologist says cancer and birth defects possible outcome of exposure to BP oil
AL.com: Oil spill leaving depression, anxiety, broken marriages in its wake (don’t forget the rumored ob-gyns’ reports of considerably more miscarriages happening now along the Gulf Coast than ever before)
Examiner: Censored Gulf news – Children crying, covered in blood. Spray-poisoning backyards
no wonder cats hate people
NOLA.com: Freshwater areas’ next big battle has arrived (never forget Bobby Jindal released the freshwater and killed the remaining non-poisoned oyster crops, against the vocal wishes of every oysterman in LA)
I have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” – Thomas Jefferson
Time: Oceans – ICAAT rejects extra protections for the dwindling bluefin tuna
Grist.org: Study says climate change could make a billion homeless
Treehugger: Confused African pelicans end up in Siberia: Thanks, global warming.
Russian president: Heat waves are ‘wake up call’ to climate change
At a meeting of international sporting officials in Moscow on July 30, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev announced that in 14 regions of the country, “practically everything is burning. The weather is anomalously hot.” Then, as TV cameras zoomed in on the perspiration shining on his forehead, Medvedev announced, “What’s happening with the planet’s climate right now needs to be a wake-up call to all of us, meaning all heads of state, all heads of social organizations, in order to take a more energetic approach to countering the global changes to the climate.”
Daily Mail UK: WikiLeaks revelations ‘expose corruption between allies’, US warns Britain
Wired: Wikileaks reveals Iran’s secret, worldwide arms hunt
Emirates 247: From China to Putin to Merkel, Wikileaks reveals US secrets
Daily Mail UK: Spy scandal as 5 Scandinavian governments catch U.S. watching their citizens
YouTube: Amazing speech about terrorism
Alternet: Tea Party Inc. – The big money and powerful elites behind the right wing’s latest uprising
WashPo: Why the TSA pat-downs and body scans are unconstitutional
Canadian Free Press: DHS & TSA — Making a list, checking it twice
Examiner.com: TSA whistleblower TI in ‘imminent danger’
Harry Shearer: Thankful for the Truth-Tellers
or are you usin’ God as an excuse to hit me on the head?
Foodfreedom: Patriot Act for Food – a close look at bizarre propaganda for S.510
YouTube: “Who the hell do you think you are?” Nigel Farage throws egg in Eurocrat faces
Telegraph UK: Cancun climate change summit — scientists call for rationing in developing world
YouTube: Dr. Suzanna Gratia Hupp explains the meaning of the 2nd amendment
Guardian UK: Why Americans will never give up their guns
Philly.com: New Jersey man serving 7 years for guns he owned legally
pissed at bein shoved into the sweater, yet hopeful at the gettin out and clawin fools’ faces off
FoxNews: Interpol issues arrest warrant for WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange
Youtube doc: Permaculture & Peak Oil – Beyond ‘Sustainability’
Common Dreams: The ‘transition town’ movement’s initial genius
Our 10 favorite innovations for reducing plastic consumer waste
Invasive rodent offers chance to wear fur and feel good about it
Tricycle.com: Train your mind – don’t malign others
YouTube: DJ Granny takes Paris nightclubs by storm
what lies inside all those other cats
These twee kitteh pictures were harvested by our friend, the freakish and talented Sonja Dandy, who sells paintings, just in time for the holidays when you want to support local-artist wackadoo kittens by buying their totally affordable art.
Follow Summer Burkes on Twitter.