I am taking a break from writing about the economy. Politics on the other hand still interest me. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a man-made disaster, and while many many people agree that BP should clean up the oil and make people in the gulf whole who have lost their ability to earn a living through BP's negligence, the political reality is that the enormous political power of the oil industry is difficult for me, and I am sure others, to fully comprehend. The oil industry gets tax break after tax break in the United States, and they move as if they owned the world. They, in my opinion, own our Congress. The jobs that the oil industry creates is big business and jobs right now is something that no politician wants to be against. I think it will be interesting to see how much BP actually pays and how much crap they dish out to those in need. Large global corporations with BP's kind of money are afraid of no one. They carry a big economic stick and will use against any government that thinks they can make them toe the line.
In the next several weeks, I am planning to have for sale, hand-pulled silk screen prints from one of my stamp paintings. This is certainly a timely opportunity to offer this print for sale. A picture of the original is above, and is titled: UNITED STATES HOSTAGE 1973 - 1991 ENERGY POLICY. I will put up more information about how you can buy a hand-pulled silk screen print in the future.
Stay Tuned.
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7 comments:
Yep, it is timely. Maybe you should make one with a newer date reflecting Bush Jr. and Cheney and their "Clean Energy Bill" of 2005. Thanks to them, Mr. Halliburton-Cheney got Junior to sign legislation that clears the gas companies of any wrong doings when drilling and cracking the ground for gas fields. No one, not the private citizen, the EPA, not even Congress can go after them for what they are doing to peoples lives. Only when county or state officials ask the questions about the safety or enviromental impact before they drill can they be stopped. Once you open the gates you are flat out screwed.
There is a documentry called "Gasland" that was on HBO. You can find it on the net. I have watched 1/2 of it and had to turn it off because I got sooooo pissed off. I lost my pension and wasn't this mad at those assholes. I will finish the other 1/2 but need to settle down. Strange that I went to a site to get some more info and I couldn't get what I wanted to. I had been there before and it was working. Now an error message comes up saying it is no longer available. Try this link and see what you think about someones tap water ignighting or their wells blowing up or even their houses catching on fire. This is all across the country.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8kCnOilbkI
There is a special running on HBO called Gasland. If you can catch it, it is a real eye opener concerniong natural gas exploration in this country. The executives of the exploration companies essentially said "yes, the process causes sickness, pathology, and pollution....so...what's the big deal".
In Germany, I hear they deal with a slow economy by reducing people's work hours. More time for family, friends, exercise and quality of life. It can be a trade off. Downsizing is done some in USA, but not as common as Americans tend to be more addicted to higher incomes. Also we have high living expenses and health care costs. If a way could be found to partially drop out of the system and need less working hours and money, the corporations would have less power. The need for more jobs wouldn't be such a powerful political argument if the jobs were shared and working hours were more adjustable.
Fred, The silk screen print will be great. Make sure you put a note up on Facebook too and I'll spread it to my FB friends.
Cheers,
Kathryn
Thanks for the help Kathryn, I will need a lot of help with getting exposure. I will keep everyone posted.
You probably saw this today, 7/11/10 from the NY Times about Volcker. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/11/business/11volcker.html?emc=tnt&tntemail1=y
Thanks Butch. I missed that article and enjoyed see ing it.
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