Corexit, a chemical used to break up oil spills, has been detected in the eggs of birds migrating to Minnesota.
Researchers say they have found traces of pollutants from the BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago in the eggs of Minnesota birds.
In examining pelican eggs in the largest lakeside colony of American white pelicans in North America, scientists have discovered traces of petroleum compounds, as well as remnants of Corexit, a chemical used to break up the oil spill.
The birds migrate back to Minnesota after spending the winter in the Gulf, with young pelicans usually spending a year in the warmer climates, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
Lee R. Raymond, the many-chinned former CEO and Chair of the Board of Exxon/Mobil was born, ironically, in Watertown, South Dakota on August 13, 1938. He received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the University of Wisconsin in 1960, some years before Dick Cheney tentatively pursued a doctorate in political science at the same institution (Cheney never got the degree but he was able to use his pursuit to duck service in the military during the Vietnam debacle).
Raymond went on to a lucrative career with Exxon/Mobile, where:
Early in his Exxon career Raymond had worked at the lab that developed COREXIT
Steve Coll in
Private Empire: ExxonMobile and American Power, page 12
Coll goes on to detail the cozy relationship between the Raymond and Cheney families in Chapter Three "Is the Earth Really Warming?" of his book
The story of ExxonMobil's global hegemony and foray into unstable regimes is, in fact, quite a recent one. Before the merger, Exxon's portfolio was rather conservative, with most of its assets in North America and Europe. Lee Raymond, the devoutly Christian, intensely disciplined, and often terrifying (his nickname is "Iron Ass") chairman and CEO of Exxon - then, later, of the new conglomerate - was asked once what disturbed his sleep. "Reserve replacement," he replied, meaning the expansion of its oil supplies. Profit margins were dropping. They had been kicked out of the Middle East, thanks to rising nationalism, which saw governments seizing back assets from corporations. There was no new oil to be discovered, but there was increasing competition against huge state-owned enterprises from China and Russia.
So,
profit margins disturbed the sleep of the devoutly Christian Lee Raymond...
Corporate Christianity:
The thesis is that Christianity has become a “chaplain” for capitalism; they take as their model military chaplains who are outsiders with fundamentally different values, but who must learn to function within an alien system without rocking the boat or challenging the system’s premises. As such, Christianity has begun to lose its “soul” and abandon its own most fundamental values:
“By telling employees that spirituality properly pursued makes for happy corporate functionaries, a wealthy firm, and a stronger nation, corporations further the absorption of Christianity by the capitalist worldview and culture, in the process robbing the church of its prophetic and eschatological qualities. The church falls victim to idolatry on the installment plan.”
Evidently Jesus died on the cross so that corporations like ExxonMobil could become more profitable.
"Scuse me while I go hug a tree.
