Category Archives: Oil

Race to the Bottom: Homestretch

In this space the first week of January 2004, I predicted it would be the year that would determine whether or not American democracy would survive.  In the last month of that same year, I was forced to conclude, with sorrow, that American democracy is doomed.  Although I’ve been allowed brief moments of hope since […]

Who Lost Venezuela?

What kind of cancer do you think Hugo Chavez has?  He mysteriously disappeared into Cuba for three weeks last month, then suddenly appeared looking drawn and haggard but announcing the success of cancer surgery.  He did not say where the cancer was.  Now he’s talking about chemo and radiation. Using the medical license bestowed by […]

Faster Than Ever

It’s supposed to snow tonight. It’s supposed to snow tomorrow, tomorrow night and into the middle of Saturday morning. Except during the warmer, mid-day hours tomorrow, when it’s supposed to turn to rain and then back into snow. Spring snow is not unusual around here, but tonight’s will probably carry radiation. It’s been dry since […]

Romantic Poetry

BILOXI, MS – It’s five in the morning, St. Patrick’s Day 2011; I’m in a cheap motel 75 yards from the Gulf of Mexico. I’ve opened the door to let in cool pre-dawn air. I hoped to hear the surf but it’s drowned out by the hum of electric lights outside and the traffic on […]

Some Call it Gumbo

I’m busy this week and have many things on my mind and small bits of unfinished business, so while I usually restrict my commentaries to one topic, I’m going to borrow my friend Renee’s term and give you some Thursday gumbo – a little of everything. The good thing about beekeeping is you have ready […]

You Can’t Lose Them All

Michael Ruppert came through town last May. Not familiar with him? Mr. Ruppert is a former Los Angeles police detective, who in 1996 famously confronted then-CIA Director John Deutch with allegations that the CIA was heavily involved in drug trafficking in the United States. From there he became something of a prophet. He doesn’t claim […]

Low Incidence, High Consequence

To date, NASA has launched 132 space shuttle missions. Two – Challenger in 1986 and Columbia in 2003 – were catastrophic failures, killing all the astronauts onboard each shuttle. Low incidence, high consequence; it doesn’t happen very often, but when it does, it’s bad. So it is with deepwater and/or high pressure oil drilling. Most […]