Corexit, Oil Dispersant Used By BP, Is Destroying Gulf Marine Life

The people who run these kinds, if not most or all corporations, suffer from the delusion that, because they are thousands of miles away from where their toxic sludge is spilled that they are immune from its effects.
They are under the delusion that somehow their wealth and connections magically makes them immune to what they spew into the air, rivers and oceans and they are deluded that somehow they and their progeny will survive the devastation they unleash somewhere else in the planet.
They live as a small enclave of overlords behind a very thick fog of severe cognitive dissonance, accountable to no one, slaves only to the bottom line and their pitiful hubris.

But as everyone else living on this tiny blue dot understands, EVERYONE is eventually affected, sooner or later, by what we put in or take out of this biosphere. NObody is immune from what we do to this planet.

It is a terrible tragedy that this biosphere we all share and are all interlinked with and interdependent on suffers because of the myopic hubris of the irresponsible wealthy few.

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/25/corexit-bp-oil-dispersant_n_3157080.html


Three years ago, when BP’s Deepwater Horizon began leaking some 210 million gallons of Louisiana Crude into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. government allowed the company to apply chemical “dispersants” to the blossoming oil slick to prevent toxic gunk from reaching the fragile bays, beaches, and mangroves of the coast, where so much marine life originates. But a number of recent studies show that BP and the feds may have made a huge mistake, for which everything from microscopic organisms to bottlenose dolphins are now paying the highest price.

After the spill, BP secured about a third of the world’s supply of dispersants, namely Corexit 9500 and 9527, according to The New York Times. Of the two, 9527 is more toxic. Corexit dispersants emulsify oil into tiny beads, causing them to sink toward the bottom. Wave action and wind turbulence degrade the oil further, and evaporation concentrates the toxins in the oil-Corexit mixture, including dangerous compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), known to cause cancer and developmental disorders.

When BP began spraying the Gulf, critics cried foul. They said Corexit is not only toxic to marine life on its own, but when combined with crude oil, the mixture becomes several times more toxic than oil or dispersant alone.

Not surprisingly, BP Chief Executive Bob Dudley defended use of the dispersant. “The toxicity of Corexit is about the same as dish soap, which is effectively what it is and how it works,” he told stockholders. “In hindsight no one believes that that was the wrong thing and it would have been much worse without the use of it. I do not believe anybody—anybody with almost common sense—would say waves of black oil washing into the marshes and beaches would have been a better thing, under any circumstances.”

BP says that Corexit is harmless to marine life, while the Environmental Protection Agency has waffled, saying both that “long term effects [of dispersants] on aquatic life are unknown” and that data “do not indicate any significant effects on aquatic life. Moreover, decreased size of the oil droplets is a good indication that, so far, the dispersant is effective.”

But many scientists, such as Dr. William Sawyer, a Louisiana toxicologist, argue that Corexit can be deadly to people and sea creatures alike. “Corexit components are also known as deodorized kerosene,” Sawyer said in a written statement for the Gulf Oil Disaster Recovery Group, a legal consortium representing environmental groups and individuals affected by the Deepwater Horizon spill. “With respect to marine toxicity and potential human health risks, studies of kerosene exposures strongly indicate potential health risks to volunteers, workers, sea turtles, dolphins, breathing reptiles and all species which need to surface for air exchanges, as well as birds and all other mammals.” When Corexit mixes with and breaks down crude, it makes the oil far more “bioavailable” to plants and animals, critics allege, because it is more easily absorbed in its emulsified state.

Sawyer tested edible fish and shellfish from the Gulf for absorption of petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC), believed to have been facilitated by Corexit. Tissue samples taken prior to the accident had no measurable PHC. But after the oil spill, Sawyer found tissue concentrations up to 10,000 parts per million, or 1 percent of the total. The study, he said, “shows that the absorption [of the oil] was enhanced by the Corexit.”

In April 2012, Louisiana State University’s Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences was finding lesions and grotesque deformities in sea life—including millions of shrimp with no eyes and crabs without eyes or claws—possibly linked to oil and dispersants.

The shocking story was ignored by major U.S. media, but covered in depth by Al Jazeera. BP said such deformities were “common” in aquatic life in the Gulf and caused by bacteria or parasites. But further studies point back to the spill.

A just-released study from the University of South Florida found that underwater plumes of BP oil, dispersed by Corexit, had produced a “massive die-off” of foraminifera, microscopic organisms at the base of the food chain. Other studies show that, as a result of oil and dispersants, plankton have either been killed or have absorbed PAHs before being consumed by other sea creatures.

Hydrocarbon-laden, mutated seafood is not the only legacy left behind by Corexit, many scientists, physicians, environmentalists, fishermen, and Gulf Coast residents contend. Earlier this week, TakePart wrote about Steve Kolian, a researcher and founder of the nonprofit group EcoRigs, whose volunteer scientists and divers seek to preserve offshore oil and gas platforms after production stops, for use as artificial reefs and for alternative energy production.

EcoRigs divers took water and marine life samples at several locations in the months following the blowout. Now, they and countless other Gulf residents are sick, with symptoms resembling something from a sci-fi horror film, including bleeding from the nose, ears, breasts, and even anus. Others complain of cognitive damage, including what one man calls getting “stuck stupid,” when he temporarily cannot move or speak, but can still hear.

“If we are getting sick, then you know the marine life out in the Gulf is too,” Kolian said. The diver and researcher completed an affidavit on human and marine health used in GAP’s report.

Kolian’s team has done studies of their own to alarming results. “We recently submitted a paper showing levels of hydrocarbons in seafood were up to 3,000 times higher than safety thresholds for human consumption,” he said. “Concentrations in biota [i.e. all marine life] samples were even greater.”

Kolian’s friend and colleague, Scott Porter, described in his affidavit to GAP how Corexit had caused dispersed crude to coat the bottom of the sea in a sickening, deadly film. In July 2011, he and other divers traveled to a part of the Florida Panhandle, known as the Emerald Coast for its pristine seawater, to collect samples for the Surfrider Foundation.

“When we went diving, however, the water had a brownish white haze that resembled what we saw in offshore Louisiana at 30 feet below sea level,” Porter’s affidavit stated. “I have never witnessed anything like that since I began diving in the Emerald Coast 20 years ago. We witnessed…a reddish brown substance on the seafloor that resembled tar and spanned a much larger area than is typical of natural runoff.”
In areas covered with the substance, “we noticed much less sea life,” Porter continued. “There were hardly any sand dollars or crabs and only some fish, whereas we would normally see an abundance of organisms. It was desolate.”

Flinestones Car

Motorist's Flintstones car banned by Germany

http://screen.yahoo.com/motorists-flintstones-car-banned-germany-195015768.html

STRAY dogs are commuting to and from a city centre on underground trains in search of food scraps.

 Read more: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2372125/Wild-dogs-that-commute-from-suburbs-to-scavenge-in-city.html#ixzz2R3GHT5gR

Canine commuter ... wild dog waits on the platform

The clever canines board the Tube each morning.
After a hard day scavenging and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the suburbs where they spend the night.

Experts studying the dogs say they even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop — after learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train.
The mutts choose the quietest carriages at the front and back of the train.
They have also developed tactics to hustle humans into giving them more food on the streets of Moscow.

 

 

Well train-ed ... dog enjoys a nap on the underground

 

Scientists believe the phenomenon began after the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, and Russia’s new capitalists moved industrial complexes from the city centre to the suburbs.
Dr Andrei Poiarkov, of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution Institute, said: “These complexes were used by homeless dogs as shelters, so the dogs had to move together with their houses. Because the best scavenging for food is in the city centre, the dogs had to learn how to travel on the subway — to get to the centre in the morning, then back home in the evening, just like people.”

Dog tired ... mutt kips on tube seat in Moscow

 

Dr Poiarkov told how the dogs like to play during their daily commute. He said: “They jump on the train seconds before the doors shut, risking their tails getting jammed. They do it for fun. And sometimes they fall asleep and get off at the wrong stop.”


The dogs have learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely, said Dr Poiarkov. And they use cunning tactics to obtain tasty morsels of shawarma, a kebab-like snack popular in Moscow.

They sneak up behind people eating shawarmas — then bark loudly to shock them into dropping their food. 
 
With children the dogs “play cute” by putting their heads on youngsters’ knees and staring pleadingly into their eyes to win sympathy — and scraps.

Dr Poiarkov added: “Dogs are surprisingly good psychologists.”
The Moscow mutts are not the first animals to use public transport. In 2006 a Jack Russell in Dunnington, North Yorks, began taking the bus to his local pub in search of sausages. And two years ago passengers in Wolverhampton were stunned when a cat called Macavity started catching the 331 bus to a fish and chip shop.

La plus belle oeuvre d'art que la terre a créé : Glaucus atlanticus or sea slug

Funny Mouse Nolan Cheese Commercial

How Animals Eat Their Food

Dove Real Beauty Sketches

Women are their own worst beauty critics. Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful. At Dove, we are committed to creating a world where beauty is a source of confidence, not anxiety. So, we decided to conduct a compelling social experiment that explores how women view their own beauty in contrast to what others see.

The 10 worst toxins hidden in vitamins, supplements and health foods

By Mike Adams, Natural News

Many people don't investigate what's really in the products they swallow. When something is sold as an herb, vitamin, superfood or supplement, they think it's automatically safe. And while the natural products industry has a truly remarkable safety record, especially in contrast to the massive number of deaths caused by pharmaceuticals, it still suffers from a lot of hidden toxins that are routinely used throughout the industry.

After reviewing this list, you will probably throw out quite a few products in your refrigerator and pantry. Very few people are willing to tell you the truth revealed here, so some of this may come as a complete shock (see #1 and #2, below).

1. Maltodextrin (from GM corn)

If you pick up a natural product and the ingredients list says "maltodextrin," chances are very high that the maltodextrin in the product is derived from Monsanto's GM corn.

Virtually all the maltodextrin used throughout the natural products industry is genetically modified. Products that are certified USDA organic, however, are not using GMO maltodextrin.

The non-GMO, non-corn replacement for maltodextrin derived from GM corn is tapioca maltodextrin, and you'll find tapioca starch / maltodextrin in many certified organic, non-GMO products. Corn maltodextrin should be avoided unless it's certified USDA organic. Look for tapioca maltodextrin instead (or no maltodextrin at all).
 

2. Hexane-Extracted Soy and Rice Proteins

Nearly 100% of the "natural" soy proteins and rice proteins sold in the USA are extracted in China using a hexane extraction method. This is true for brown rice protein superfoods as well as the soy protein used in nearly all so-called "protein bars."

Hexane is a highly explosive chemical. It is not only extremely hazardous to the environment, there may also be trace amounts of hexane left remaining in the resulting protein products. My understanding is that hexane extraction is not allowed in certified organic proteins, so if you have a choice, go for certified organic instead of just "natural" (which means nothing anyway).

Hexane extraction, by the way, is also used in the manufacture of textured vegetable protein (TVP). 

3. High Levels of Aluminum in Detox Products

Natural News helped expose high aluminum levels (over 1200ppm) in a popular detox liquid, causing the main U.S. distributor to issue a "recall" notice and provide over $1 million in refunds to customers.

The manufacturer of this product, Adya Clarity, intentionally and knowingly deceived consumers by mislabeling the product and not mentioning the 1200ppm of aluminum it contained. The FDA seized some of the products and ran its own lab tests, confirming the high aluminum level as well as identifying multiple labeling violations.

Adya Clarity is just one of many so-called "detox" products containing alarming levels of aluminum and other metals. Ingesting these in order to "detox" your body may be harmful to your health. This experience also proves you can't always trust health products sold through online webinars, where manufacturers can ignore labeling laws and fabricate false claims. Buyer beware when it comes to metals in detox products that claim seemingly magical results.

4. Lead and Arsenic In Herbs From China

China is one of the most polluted nations on the planet, yet many fruits, vegetables and herbs are grown in China and exported to North America for use in natural products.

High levels of lead and arsenic are routinely found in various food, supplement and herbal products from China. I'm not concerned about 1ppm or lower, by the way, of heavy metals like lead and mercury. Even aluminum isn't necessarily a problem when found organically grown inside foods that test at higher levels such as 150ppm. But when lead, arsenic, mercury and cadmium get to high saturation levels (or are present in inorganic forms), it makes the products potentially a source of heavy metals poisoning for consumers.

Astonishingly, many of the small and medium-sized companies that import and retail products from China conduct no metals testing whatsoever. I know this as a fact because I've talked to people doing this.

For the record, everything packed under my own brand name (Health Ranger Select) and sold at the Natural News Store is independently tested by us to ensure full product safety and regulatory compliance.

5. Inorganic Minerals In Cheap Vitamins

Would you eat iron filings and call it nutrition? The majority of people don't know that most of the cheap vitamins sold today are made with iron filings. "Scrap metal," almost.

The calcium found in cheap vitamins is often just ground-up seashells, and magnesium is often sold as cheap magnesium oxide which may be completely useless to your body's cells. If you're buying mineral supplements, you may be wasting your money unless the minerals are in the right form: Magnesium orotate or malate, for example.

When it comes to mineral supplements, you'll often find trace levels of scary things like barium and lead in liquid supplements, but these are typically at such low levels (ppb) that they are no real concern.

But the No. 1 best source for all minerals is, not surprisingly, fresh plants. If you really want to boost your minerals, feed 'em to sprouts or garden plants, then eat or juice those plants. Your body wants "organic" minerals from plants, not inorganic minerals from rocks.

6. Carrageenan

The Cornucopia Institute recently published a warning about carrageenan in foods. Cornucopia says carrageenan is linked to "gastrointestinal inflammation, including higher rates of colon cancer, in laboratory animals."

It goes on to report:

Given its effect on gastrointestinal inflammation, Cornucopia urges anyone suffering from gastrointestinal symptoms (irritable bowel syndrome/IBS, spastic colon, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic diarrhea, etc.) to consider completely eliminating carrageenan from the diet to determine if carrageenan was a factor in causing the symptoms.

For the record, I definitely don't consider carrageenan to be anywhere near as worrisome as, say, aspartame, GMOs or MSG.

7. Acrylamides

Acrylamides are cancer-causing chemicals produced during the cooking of carbohydrates. Fried snack chips, for example, contain acrylamides. They don't have to be listed on labels because they are technically not "ingredients." They are chemicals produced during cooking or frying. Consuming acrylamides increases kidney cancer risk by 59 percent.

The FDA has published an extensive reference guide on acrylamide levels in foods, revealing that french fries have the highest levels of all. But they are also present in prune juice and even breakfast cereals.

A bag of organic snack chips can have just as many acrylamides as a bag of conventional snack chips. This is why fried snack chips should be eaten only sparingly, or never at all.

Interestingly, it turns out that vitamin C blocks acrylamides from causing damage to your body. But if your vitamin C is from a GMO source (see above), you may want to rethink that strategy. Natural citrus juice, rose hips or even camu camu berry powder is a much better choice of natural, full-spectrum vitamin C.

If you eat fried foods of any kind, make sure you ingest a lot of vitamin C, astaxanthin and chlorella before and after your meal or snack.

8. Hidden MSG / Yeast Extract

Hidden MSG is a huge issue across the natural products industry. Pick up almost any veggie burger, and you'll find it's made with yeast extract, a hidden form of MSG (monosodium glutamate).

Yeast extract is unbelievably prevalent in the food industry because it looks nicer on the label than "MSG." Most people are trained to avoid MSG, but yeast extract slips by, so food manufacturers put it into canned soups, dip mixes, snack chips, microwave dinners and especially in vegetarian products, many of which are so loaded with chemicals and additives that I won't dare touch them. Just because a food says "vegetarian" doesn't mean it's healthy.

Hidden MSG is also labeled as "autolyzed yeast extract" or "torula yeast" or even "hydrolyzed vegetable protein."

9. Fluoride in Green Tea

Green tea is famous for being contaminated with high levels of fluoride. This is frustrating, because green tea is phenomenally good for your health. It has been proven to lower "bad" cholesterol levels, and it may even help prevent cancer and neurological disorders. It's probably one of the healthiest beverages you can ever drink.

The tea plant that produces green tea just happens to uptake a huge amount of fluoride from the soils. So when there's fluoride present in those soils, the green tea will have a surprisingly high concentration, sometimes as much as 25ppm.

While this fluoride in green tea might not be a health hazard all by itself, the governments of the world seem insistent on pumping even more synthetic, chemical fluoride into the water supplies, thereby creating a high risk for fluorosis. Adding green tea to the fluoride consumption you might experience from tap water is a recipe for disaster: brittle bones, discoloration of teeth and even cancer.

The Final "dirty little secret" of The Natural Products Industry

Finally, there's one more secret you need to know about. Most importers, packers, vendors and retailers of natural products foolishly trust the lab results provided by the manufacturers and exporters!

So a typical U.S. company that sells, for example, pomegranate powder on the internet may never conduct their own tests for lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic and aluminum. They will simply take the lab tests provided by the manufacturer and consider those to be absolute fact!

This is extraordinarily foolish. Growers and exporters routinely lie about their lab tests in order to pull the wool over the eyes of importers, formulators and retailers. The lab tests are easily faked or simply bought off in their home country. Contaminated products can be easily sold and exported because the FDA doesn't routinely check imported raw materials for heavy metals contamination.

But I also know of smaller retailers who absolutely do not test anything and are far more interested in moving boxes than knowing what's really in them. I also know that some operations are claiming to sell "organic" products even though they do not have any kind of organic certification, and that's an irresponsible practice that should be rectified. (Look for the USDA organic logo when you buy "organic" products. If they don't have the logo, they aren't really organic.)

So once again, buyer beware. You need to be asking for lab test results on anything from China, and it's good to ask for them on just about everything else as well.

http://www.foodmatters.tv/articles-1/the-10-worst-hidden-toxins-in-vitamins-and-health-foods
http://www.naturalnews.com/039638_toxins_ingredients_nutritional_supplements.html#ixzz2OcXBP9KN

Envision Festival 2013

Envision Festival (held in Uvita, Costa Rica) felt like a burner getaway in the jungle from the start.  People improvising camps out of bamboo and palm fronds, hammock cities popping up and art growing across the ground.  A vibrant landscape exploding with color and life, which became more alive when torrential rains pelted the grounds several nights in a row. About 3200 people attended Envision, now in it’s third year.  There was a marked increase in attendance by locals this year, a fact highlighted as a major success by several of the producers. The growth of the festival, in this way, and its international reach make its practice and diffusion of Burning Man principles and the potency of the transformational festival experience– complete with artistic expression in myriad forms, sacred movement and reverent ritual, knowledge exchange, and sheer exultation–all the more promising.

This transformational festival featured a largely electronic music lineup, balanced by a healthy dose of roots, reggae and latin flavor.  To tantalize the sight? In addition to impressive bamboo stages and captivating visual projections, mystical and powerful performers shared fire, flow and aerial arts.  Meanwhile visionary artists filled the Tribe 13 Gallery, as well as stages and spaces throughout the grounds, and installation masters created spaces of prayer, pondering and connection.  Spending days learning movement, community, communication and more  in richly varied workshops, Envisionaries fueled themselves with tasty organic local food and then charged ahead into the muddy night in communion, connection and celebration.

Collaborations, bands, and latin flavor dominated the main stage of Envision (Sol), with electronic music acts illuminating the Luna stage.  Headliners, Emancipator and EOTO, both brought impressive sets.  Emancipator played one of the best in recent memory, swelling to a breathtaking ensemble featuring SaQi, Cedar Miller, Noam Aharon, and an array of dancers.  EOTO played in their older style, with less whomp and more groove…all the better to get down in the rain!  Costa Rican acts such as Sonámbulo got many hips swaying and feet stomping in the mud,  Midnite had the afternoon irie vibes rockin and Rising Appalachia brought their powerful roots rhythms and potent lyrics to the  Sol stage as well.

On the Luna Stage sonic alchemists such as Phutureprimative, Desert Dwellers and Kaminanda manipulated sounds in transformative ways, while  drippy bass and  alien soundscapes dominated much of the late night sets from the likes of Andreilien, Russ Liquid and Thriftworks.  Sunrise sets from Random Rab, Desert Dwellers and Russ Liquid each made for magical moments of connection and love.  Rippling group hugs, the spontaneous distribution of cold pipa (green coconuts to drink from) and fruit salad, sun-gazing, eye-gazing, prayer, release and celebration….all under a resplendent full moon giving way to radiant sunrises.

 In addition to these stages, DJs at the Lotus Bar kept folks moving and grooving and small spaces such as the Tea Lounge  provided for intimate, improvised and acoustic sets of everything from Kirtan to Folk to Pyschedelic Rock.

Visual and installation art  featured prominently in the already rich setting of the Costa Rican jungle.  Visual projections of Alex Grey’s work by Jonathan Singer, live projection manipulation by artists such as Annie Stardust and performance/projection collaborations such as Kinetic Junglist Movement were just a few examples of the incredible art being created at Envision.  The Tribe 13 Visionary Art Gallery showcase the art of visionaries such as Rachel Mandala and Mugwort, and many of these painters took to the stage along with  Alex and Allyson Grey. The royal couple of visionary art held several interactive art workshops, Q&As and an illustrated talk.  Live painters surrounded the sound board as well, and painters, face painters, airbrush tattoo artists and others filled the grounds day and night with opportunities to adorn and enhance the environment. Installations, such as mandalas of natural and upcycled materials  by Scott O’Keefe,  the Sacred Mirrors of Alex Grey,  Danielle Herzog’s Photo Booth and Nature Dreamweaver’s nest provoked moments of intense connection, blissful meditation and prayer, profound awakenings, and just plain joy.

Sacred movement was a headlining feature of the festival.  At night incredible dance, fire, flow and aerial performers accompanied most of the musical performances, and each day was filled with workshops, many of them led by performers, such as a Contemporary Dance workshop led by members of Quixotic Fusion.  Performance artists interacted with the crowd as well, with the Animal Cracker Conspiracy parading through the crowd on stilts….on all fours…decked out as wild animals.  Floral sculptor Anthony Ward mesmerized Envisionaries with his sacred practice of  flower arrangement. This unique blend of dance, ritual, and stunning natural materials encapsulated much of the essence of the festival….movement, beauty, reverence and celebration in full expression.

Workshops went beyond sacred movement as well.  Everything from Bodywork Basics to Intimate Relationships to Community Design and Environmental Activism were discussed in dynamic settings.  Talks were often filled to the brim with participants, and many filtered into longer discussions and side conversations following the conclusion of the actual event.

In a place so vividly beautiful as Costa Rica, it is perhaps a little bit easier to encourage efforts on eco-initiatives. Envision featured well-distributed waste stations, with containers for compost, sorted recycling, and trash.  Leave no trace efforts were also encouraged by the MoopSquad, a group that leads by example picking up “MOOP” (MOOP = Matter Out Of Place) and recruits ambassadors, painting a fingernail orange to remind  Envisionaries to pick up anything out of place and not leave waste about, and to encourage others to take accountability as well.  Efforts such as these, as well as diligent volunteers, managed to keep this a clean festival. In addition, the Envision Cafe and all food vendors served all organic produce, almost all of which was locally sourced.  Putting into practice the ideals that are changing the world, and educating participants about how to carry these ideals into their lives,  Envision lived up to its transformational intention.

In the face of an incredibly rich but incredibly challenging landscape and astrological and meteorological situations that were less than favorable, a talented team  of passionate co-creators managed to create an incredible experience over these days in Costa Rica.We are grateful for the opportunity to have been a part of it, and offer humble gratitude to all those who made it such a special event.

http://thegrimeygatsby.com/2013/03/31/envision-festival/?doing_wp_cron=1364753575.0666069984436035156250