Divided and Apathetic We Fall …

It is another US Presidential election season.  The Tea Party has succeeded in throwing enough ‘Monkey Wrenches’ at President Obama, that he looks more like a moderate Republican than a Progressive Democrat. Both ‘main line’ political parties should be busted for disorderly conduct, and behavior unbecoming of representatives of the American Voter.  For almost four years,  Obama has pandered to the disloyal (to the country) opposition and now looks like one of them.

Such a sad legacy Obama inherited after eight years of disaster.  Picking up the pieces is an ongoing phenomenal task. Add to America’s woes, all the natural and man-made disasters that have plagued the past few years.  Droughts in the Southwest, floods across the Midwest, blizzards in the Northeast, Hurricane Irene, earthquakes in Oklahoma, Virginia and Arkansas –

Oil spills, leaks happen daily across U.S. most of which go unreported. The most media coverage was given to BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster.  That is only because of the trauma the Gulf Coast has experienced in the past decade. More coverage should have been given to the Exxon’s pipeline problem in the Yellowstone River and the BP pipeline leak in Alaska .

Almost daily, protestors are trying to prevent the Keystone Pipeline from bringing tar sands oil through the most precious parts of the United States. Mega-Oil Corporations are fighting the interference with all their legal and media resources.  They say the exact same thing we have heard since the Exxon Valdez alerted the world to the hazards of oil transportation.  Whether it is by truck, train, ocean tanker or pipeline, the “ooops, that was not supposed to happen” excuse is scripted and repeated over and over until some people give up and take the hush money.

See more comprehensive information: Oil Spills ‘Round the World: The 2011 Edition By Kirsten Korosec August 16, 2011 7:54 AM

Exxon’s pipeline problem in the Yellowstone River

BP pipeline leak in Alaska
A pipeline that was closed for maintenance leaked July 2011 during testing and spilled about 100 barrels of oil. The company has had a string of problems with its Alaska pipeline over the past decade. BP agreed to pay $25 million in civil penalties for spilling more than 5,000 barrels of crude oil in 2006 from its pipelines on the North Slope of Alaska.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is running out of money!

10) Hurricane Irene, August 27-28: A large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the east coast of the US and as far north as Atlantic Canada. Early estimates say Irene caused $7 billion in damages in the US.

9) Upper Midwest flooding, summer: An above-average snowpack across the northern Rocky Mountains, combined with rainstorms, caused the Missouri and Souris rivers to swell beyond their banks across the Upper Midwest. An estimated 11,000 people were forced to evacuate Minot, N.D. Numerous levees were breached along the Missouri River, flooding thousands of acres of farmland. Over $2 billion in damages.

8) Mississippi River flooding, spring-summer: Persistent rainfall (nearly triple the normal amount in the Ohio Valley), combined with melting snowpack, caused historical flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. At least two people died. $2 to $4 billion in damages.

7) Southern Plains/Southwest drought, heat wave and wildfires, spring and summer: Drought, heat waves, and wildfires hit Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Kansas, western Arkansas and Louisiana this year. Wildfire fighting costs for the region are about $1 million per day, with over 2,000 homes and structures lost by mid-August. Over $5 billion in damages so far.

6) Midwest/Southeast tornadoes, May 22-27: Central and southern states saw approximately 180 twisters and 177 deaths within a week. A tornado in Joplin, Mo., caused at least 141 deaths—the deadliest single tornado to strike the United States since modern record keeping began in 1950. Over $7 billion in damages.

5) Southeast/Ohio Valley/Midwest tornadoes, April 25-30: This outbreak of tornadoes over central and southern states led to 327 deaths. Of those fatalities, 240 occurred in Alabama. The deadliest of the estimated 305 tornadoes in the outbreak was an EF-5 that hit northern Alabama, killing 78 people. Several big cities were directly affected by strong tornadoes, including Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Huntsville in Alabama, and Chattanooga in Tennessee. Over $9 billion in damages.

4) Midwest/Southeast tornadoes, April 14-16: An outbreak over central and southern states produced an estimated 160 tornadoes. Thirty-eight people died, 22 of them in North Carolina. Over $2 billion in damages.

3) Southeast/Midwest tornadoes, April 8-11: An outbreak of tornadoes over central and southern states saw an estimated 59 tornadoes. Over $2.2 billion in damages.

2) Midwest/Southeast tornadoes, April 4-5: An outbreak of tornadoes over central and southern states saw an estimated 46 tornadoes. Nine people died. Over $2.3 billion in damages.

1) Blizzard, Jan 29-Feb 3: A large winter storm hit many central, eastern and northeastern states. 36 people died. Over $2 billion in damages.

Check out Brett Israel, 2011 ties for most billion-dollar weather disasters, Our Amazing Planet, 18 August 2011.

The National Academy of Sciences says:  We can expect more weather disasters as global warming proceeds.

Again, the impatient American Public must roll up their sleeves and join in disaster recovery.  It will take each and every one of us to help each and every one of us.  The good, bad and the ugly will have to work side by side. 

Christian, Jewish, Muslim, must behave like the siblings they are.  The Buddhist, Sikh, Shinto, Tao and the multitudes of faiths that make the American character, will have no problems coming to the rescue of their battered nation. 

Wasting our energy and efforts on finger pointing and laying blame is for Fake-Americans.  We all have a pretty good idea how we got into this critical condition.  Getting out of crisis will take the motto of our nation at it’s words “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”.  This must be the mantra for all Americans if we want to resurrect pride and confidence in this nation.  Who cares if America is number TWO or THREE as a world power right now?  This is not a game show. 

The best prepared nation will become number ONE.  The number ONE nation will demonstrate a realistic understanding that there are elements much larger than ourselves at work, and shape themselves to adapt to global changes. They will actually work with the living planet, our home.  As long as the occupants of this planet put their personalities above the reality of Mother Nature and her needs, we will suffer terrible consequences.  Perhaps these years of divisive partisan hoodlum behavior was necessary to wake us all up. Lets encourage our brother and sister Americans to follow our motto “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”.  No!  It won’t be easy, especially after all the hateful behavior we have witnessed or endured.  You survival and my survival depends on how successful we are at uniting ourselves.There is America and there is a planet crisis.  As long as America is separated by apathy and denial, we will fail, we will fall. 

Definition of Apathy: