A Man Made Disaster

 This weekend I went on a little vacation to the beach -- Destin, FL to be exact  -- and when I was not relaxing with friends or seeing the sites I talked about oil.  In fact we all talked about oil.  Coming into the weekend the weather was supposed be sunny through Sunday, but as I arrived on Friday in my rental car I was only greeted by a blanket of rain.  On Saturday the beach welcomed me with a brown murky film in the water, and cautionary red flags on the beach that warned of the perils of swimming in the ocean, or flat out forbade the activity. 

The rest of the weekend remained overcast and foggy, and I distinctly remember hearing a jet fly overhead, but due to the fog I could only make out its shadow as it flew by.  The peculiarities with the weather caused many people to ask questions and wonder if all of this was a result of the oil spill, but no one had any answers.  All we knew was that we needed to know more, and that we may need to prepare for a catastrophic environmental disaster.

The more you know about this disaster the less sense the entire situation makes, but the video below gives an explanation to the situation we face.

Essentially, BP was drilling for oil in the Gulf of Mexico in waters roughly 5,000 feet deep and on April 20th its offshore drilling platform caught fire for unknown reasons killing 11 BP employees.  BP was unable to stop the fire and eventually the drilling platform sank into the Gulf of Mexico.  When the platform sank it pulled the pipe that carried the oil from the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico with it, and this caused the three breaks that have leaked over 3 million gallons of oil into the Gulf.

Initially, one could argue that accidents happen and that that is the price one must pay for nearly any activity.  Accidents happen and we have to live with this fact, but bizarrely we cannot use this logic with this situation.  If we are to assume that accidents happen then we must also anticipate that all parties are prepared to deal with this accident, and that obviously has not been the case in this disaster.  The above video shows that BP has three possible solutions for solving this disaster, but that they are not sure if any of them will work.  5,000 feet is a depth that BP is not accustomed to drilling in, and therefore they are not sure if their equipment can sustain the pressures at that depth.  However, they will try their best, but obviously their best is not good enough.  Their best is not good enough because a company cannot advocate the safety of offshore drilling and then be unprepared to deal with an accident; especially when you consider the harm that an accident would cause.  Being unprepared is not an accident -- it is incompetence.

It is incompetent and greedy to drill for oil at depths that would make it impossible to adequately deal with a leak, and no one should condone these actions.  Ideally, BP should never have been given the approval to drill in this area, yet that is another issue for another day.  However, we do need to consider that in February of 2009 BP said to the government that it could handle a leak of 6.8 million gallons a day, and that it is currently struggling to handle a leak 210,000 gallons a day.  Firstly, BP grossly over estimated its readiness, and secondly the government and people in general need to understand the dangers of a 6.8 million gallons a day leak.  The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 only leaked 10.8 million gallons of oil and that was the greatest oil related environmental disaster of all time, yet now we find it appropriate to entertain the prospect of an offshore oil drill that could leak out 6.8 million gallons in one day.  Under this scenario, a leak that lasted for a little over a day and a half would result in the greatest oil related environmental disaster in history, and I doubt that BP's ability to handle the issue would result in closing the leak in less than two days.  Proceeding to drill offshore with this possible scenario does not make any sense and is only asking for another disaster, and people need to understand this before they consider offshore drilling.

As this issue in the Gulf of Mexico continues over the coming months people will become more and more inclined to allocate blame to numerous parties.  Conservatives will find a way to say that Obama was unprepared for this disaster, and some people such as former FEMA head Michael Brown may even state that Obama and other liberals wanted this disaster because it will allow them to push for their environmental agenda.  Liberals will blame Obama because roughly a month ago he advocated the use of offshore oil drilling as a part of the nation's comprehensive environmental agenda.  Others will blame BP because this disaster is frankly their fault, and I find no fault in blaming BP.  BP needs to pay for as much of the clean up as humanly possible, and I could care less about how this could harm BP.  However, at a certain point we need to get past allocating blame, and instead we should decide what to do next.  Now that the true costs of domestic offshore oil drilling should be evident to all we need to reassess how America should address its energy needs.

Last week the Obama administration approved the creation of Cape Wind the first offshore wind farm in America.  Cape Wind will be located off the coast of Cape Cod, MA and will consist of 130 wind turbines.  The turbines will be located between 4 - 11 miles off the cost and will generate 170 megawatts of electricity or roughly 75% of the energy needs for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Nantucket.  This may be progress in the right direction, but this is America so people have to find something to complain about.  The complaints range from the idea that the turbines will be too ugly or that they will interfere with Native American religious traditions, and these complaints may have merit when you ignore the alternatives, but now ignoring the dangers of an oil dependent energy infrastructure cannot be ignored.  Wind energy may not be perfect and it will not solve all of our problems, but it must be considered a welcomed alternative to the prospect of the dangers of an oil leak.

We all need to know that BP will do its best to stop this leak because it is in their best interests to do so, but we all must not forget that their best is no longer good enough.  Their best has resulted in 11 deaths and over 3 million gallons of oil in the Gulf of Mexico.  As a society we need to understand that we should be able to find a better way to obtain energy.  This is not an issue that involves good guys and bad guys, but instead one that has established standards.  11 deaths and over 3 million gallons in the Gulf of Mexico should be below all of our standards.  Our standards should implore us to entertain other forms of energy, and while we debate our next move more oil will continue to flow into the Gulf of Mexico.

President Obama & the Nobel Peace Prize

Talk about how President Obama reminds us of the complexities of the world around us, and negates the simplistic thinking that has quickly become pervasive throughout our society.

Today President Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts over this past year to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, and yet the discussions of today focus on the implied hypocrisy of receiving a peace prize while waging a war in Afghanistan and to a lesser extent the frustration stirred from canceling a lunch with the King of Norway HERE.  People question if he is a fitting recipient of the award or has shown enough respect for the award, yet after watching the President's speech the immateriality of these complaints become frighteningly obvious.  These complains assume and hope for a simplicity to life that the mere existence of President Obama negates.  Arguments for the existence of black and white perspectives are quickly disappearing and are being replaced with more shades of grey.

During his acceptance speech the President acknowledged the controversy surrounding the rewarding of him being awarded the prize, but in no way should anyone be able to argue that the President does not work for peace.  The decision to extend our involvement in Afghanistan for a minimum of 18 more months has struck some as an extension of a needless war, but as I mentioned in a previous post HERE, we all need to understand that simply staying or leaving Afghanistan indefinitely or immediately should not be the full spectrum of our discussion.  There is a vast area of grey in between that we need to cultivate.  This President and this President alone gives us the best opportunity the cultivate these regions of thought.  He is a man from a country that allowed slavery and segregation far after others made them illegal, and yet he is born from a black father and white mother.  He literally is the embodiment of grey and we need to appreciate that.

Today the President accepted the Nobel Peace Prize, and explained to the world how our present conflict in Afghanistan and reduced involvement in Iraq exists for the sole purpose of allowing more nations to exist peacefully while also preserving the safety of the United States of America.  He informed the King of Norway that he would not have the time for lunch because he has to visit their Scandinavian neighbors in Copenhagen to work towards progress in controlling climate change because that will also aid in sustaining peace.  However, he showed that the modern world with all of its interconnections is a complex one, yet not one too complex for us to understand.  This is all something we need to embrace, otherwise conflict will be the inevitable result.  In the end, it should be obvious to all that President Obama embodies Alfred Nobel's will in that his award be used to promote peace throughout the award.  

If you still are not convinced then I must remind you that Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prize, was during his lifetime a successful chemist, engineer, and inventor, but most famously he invented dynamite.  However, despite dynamite's destructive potential Alfred Nobel is world renown for promoting and advancing the cause of peace throughout the world.  The world we live in has always been complex, but at least now it is easier to see and therefore easier to understand.  President Obama provides the greatest opportunity for this understanding, and I doubt there are few examples more rewarding of a prize for peace.

To read the full transcript of his speech go HERE.

Humans of the Sea

The NY Times has a fantastic article about the life of whales, "Watching Whales Watching Us". For quite a while I have been fascinated with whales. For being extremely different types of animals, yet mammals, whales and dolphins appear to have very human like traits. Their brains show similar levels of development to humans, and further research has showed very developed levels of language and emotion. A friend once told me that a dolphins brain is much like a humans, but they have spent their longer evolutionary period learning how to further the develop or manipulate themselves while humans have spent most of their time developing and manipulating their environment. When you think about it, that makes a lot of sense. Our environment is more open to change than the sea. Anyways, I recommend that you read this great article HERE by Charles Siebert of the New York Times

Human Nature

Ida - the 'missing link'

The last two weeks have been a very informative period in the understanding of human nature, and what events allowed for human evolution to progress in the manner in which we see it today.  Obviously all the answers did not occur in the past two weeks, but we can conclude that three major developments have arisen.  Firstly, thanks to the Island of Flores in Indonesia we became aware of island dwarfism in relation to humans for the first time.  Read more HERE and HERE.  Secondly, we got a firmer understanding between the relationships between modern humans and Neanderthals:  HERE.  Lastly we found Ida that may provide the missing evolutionary link between four legged mammals such as lemurs and upright standing mammals such as apes and modern humans:  HERE.  The month of May has been very revolutionary concerning human existence. 

With archeology and all other forms of history I feel it is important to acknowledge where we came from and then apply that knowledge to where we are today.  This month has aided immensely in this pursuit.  Island dwarfism has proven the lunacy of closed mindedness.  Obviously evolution takes thousands of years to show any dramatic affects, but you cannot overlook the fact that this species of humans diminished in stature and importance simply because it was not physically allowed to leave the confines of Flores Island.  If that does not advocate the benefit of leaving home and forging new adventures both mentally and physically then I do not know what else could.  This is inspirational based on the simplicity that is human nature.  If you do not grow, you shrink, and then you die.  It is very simple.

Next we learn that an archeologist in France by the name of Fernando Rozzi supposes that Neanderthals met a grizzly end by the hands of modern humans.  When humans migrated to Europe from Africa they intersected with Neanderthals, and that is all we knew for a while.  During this intersection Neanderthals died out and no one knew the cause.  The new theory proposed by M. Rozzi is that humans killed Neanderthals and possibly even ate them.  This makes sense to me.  Cro-Magnon man invaded Europe in large numbers, and quickly outnumbered Neanderthals.  The smaller factions of Neanderthals retreated from Cro-Magnon man, and then they went extinct.  Theories concerning interbreeding remain unfounded, so if they did not die out through assimilation then how did they disappear.  Frankly, it looks like they were not too popular with Cro-Magnon man.  Cro-Magnon arrives from Africa to set up a new life in Europe and when they get their another group of people is already there.  That will easily make Neanderthals unpopular.  Thus the greater population of Cro-Magnon man allowed them to dominate a stronger, yet comparably intelligent people.  The mob ruled and the days of Neanderthals were numbered.  Modern day humans killed them, used their bones for jewelry, and even participated in cannibalistic rituals this new theory supposes.  This seems to align with human nature.

Lastly, Ida exists.  She exists as the missing link in human evolution because she broke her wrist.  An upright walking lemur-esque animal needs a functioning wrist to climb trees and gather water.  The inability to do so thrust her off the beaten path, and to a premature death.  Most likely in the search for water she took a wrong turn and headed towards the volcanic lake whose suffocating gases caused her death and allowed her to be preserved in the sediments on the lake's floor.

Thus 47 million years ago, we learned to stand upright.  30,000 years ago we wiped out our competition and 17,000 years ago we started shrinking.  This info can mean many things to many people, but all I know is that I like to grow.  Additionally, total eradication of all competition may not be the best alternative to our problems.  We all can stand on our own two feet now and we need not forget that.  Learning from the past can improve our place in the future, and allow for a fuller understanding of who we are and where we live.  This has been an informative month, and that is human nature.

Island Living

On the island of Flores in Indonesia scientists believe that they have unearthed the remnants of actual living 'hobbits'. These 'hobbits' may not have resided in the shire or on Middle Earth, but all evidence is indicating that they lived on this remote island around 17,000 years ago and that they suffered from island dwarfism. These 'hobbits' or Homo floresiensis grew to about three feet tall and had disproportionately large feet. The size of their feet in proportion to their bodies makes it highly unlikely that they were adept at running at speed. Additionally, the size of their brains were about 30% smaller to that of humans. All of these distinctions can be attributed to island dwarfism.

Island dwarfism has been attributed to other species such as miniature hippos and mammoths, but this is the first time we have found any evidence of it existing in humans. The concept of island dwarfism is that due to the isolation of the species and the diminished food resources the species must adapt to survive in this limited environment thus it shrinks. In this situation in particular the species opted to be less of a human in order to survive. Since resources became scarce the species had to become less imposing. The hunting game on the island were small creatures around the size of a rabbit. A size that would not require much exertion to catch, but would require you to catch many if you wanted to feed a family of averaged sized humans. Homo floresiensis could not escape from the island. They could not find bigger game, so they adapted. The need to run at speed became an unneeded luxury since they could easily catch their prey, and the ability to grow to at the least five feet tall became an unwanted burden. Therefore they shrunk, and relinquished the ability to run at speed by keeping the size of their feet while their body shrank. This is evolution, but this discovery is much more than that.

When I read this article in The Independent all I could think of was Arthur Schopenhauer.

Arthur Schopenhauer

Schopenhauer has always struck me as living on an island: It is hard, if not nearly impossible, to summarize a philosopher's philosophy in a couple of sentences, but I will try. As far as I can tell Schopenhauer found the basic actions of daily human live futile, base and illogical, and determined that it would be better to remove himself from the equation. He did not remove himself from the equation by suicide, but instead from isolation. He felt that the wisest of men were the ones who could pass through life without the greatest of pains both physically and mentally. He felt life was meant to inflict pain and we should avoid that pain at all costs. Thus we should all become an island and find out what we really need. Since we no longer have the disturbances brought upon us by the rest of the world through our new found isolation, we should now be able to find and understand the inner us. I agree with this to a degree, but there is an obvious flaw in this logic. Yes, everyone needs their own space, but it is impossible to avoid the outside world forever. Thus far the only example of a human being who has successfully isolated himself from the rest of the world resulted in stunted growth, reduced brain size, and the inability to run. If people understood that this may be the alternative, they may learn to crave and love the pain and challenges that come with life. One of Schopenhauer's students came to this realization, and it changed his life.

Frederick Nietzsche, a devoted Schopenhauer follower of more than ten years, came to the realization that the challenges that life throws at you are worth living with plenty of life to live. For years he had shunned most of the outside world to get a better self-understanding, and this can be good, but eventually he realized that he needed to live in the world and not just his world. The ability to approach the world with a newly found vigor prompted him to create his Ubermenschen, or Superman, ideal which encourages people to immerse themselves in life instead of divorcing themselves from it. An Ubermenschen commonly was curious, artistic, sexually vigorous, courageous, ambitious, had dignity, strength of character, humor and independence. Often times they also worked in civil service. In essence they all should throw themselves into living, while remaining true to themselves throughout. This is a great ideal to aim for, yet we all must leave the island to do so.

Homo floresiensis stayed on the island and they evolved into a lesser human. Human beings should not feel the need to create their own islands so that they can expedite the process of creating smaller brains. The discovery of Homo floresiensis may be a major discovery towards the understanding of human evolution, but we all should take this major news and incrementally apply it to our daily lives.  We all should strive to grow and develop otherwise we become tiny men instead of supermen.

The foot of Homo floresiensis

The Heavens

On March 6th, NASA launched its planet-hunting telescope, Kepler named after Johannes Kepler the German 17th century astrophysicist, into space.  For the next 3 1/2 years Kepler will traverse the so-called "habitable zone" in the far reaches of the Milky Way Galaxy.  The "habitable zone" consists of orbits where liquid water could be present on the surface of planets.  Where water is so can be life.

I find it funny how coincidently during a time of crisis we look to the heavens to answer life's greatest questions.  Few people like the notion of being alone, and neither should planets.  Despite the turmoil occurring daily in American life, I must say that it brings a slight smile to my face knowing that something is up in the sky searching for answers.

Look to the heavens and dream, yet do not neglect the planet and the life you have here.  You never know what other planet may be looking at you for answers to their greatest questions.