Rarely has there been as much attention paid to a disaster as the current coverage of the Gulf oil dilemma. Katrina was a terrible sight to see for days on end - but it did finally end and the TV cameras, the anchor commentators, the news writers and photographers left seeking other media worthy events.

Surely, the devastating earthquake in Haiti deserved the considerable attention paid by the same media mavens. And, it was weeks before the 'novelty' of suffering brought an end to the cries of anguish - the scenes of total destruction, the hopelessness of families bereft of everything they owned and cared about. There was just so much the media could cover before it became 'old news' despite the scenes of death and despair still surfacing months after the final shocks!

But the Gulf disaster is different. As long as the broken pipe continues to pour oil into the water a mile beneath the surface, the entire region, from Louisiana to Florida, is vulnerable and suffering. To make matters worse, as we write, a full blown hurricane is churning up the waters in the affected region, adding to the calamity by pushing the oil onto pristine beaches, deep into marshes inhabited by wild life from pelicans to turtles, off shore by shrimp and oysters, and all around the region, families are despairing the loss of livlihood, a future encumbered by a single pipe that theatens to change forever, the existence of all that brought a good life to millions.

As the chaotic conditions persist, and BP struggles to end the scourge that has plagued the area, one simple fact of logistic relief seems to have escaped BP, the Coast Guard, US Federal agencies, and even the local authorities who have directed the mass attempt to keep the oil from detroying the miles and miles of shore front. Tens of thousands of workers, men and women, asigned to the daily task of sweeping, digging, shovelling, bagging oil off the sand, add up to the question that surely has made authorities aware of what they are accomplishing.

 Every day, twice a day, the tide turns and a 'high tide' sweeps in carrying a renewed presence How in the world can these working humans best the never ending existence of the tideof oil in all its forms. Every foot of cleaned sand now becomes covered in exactly the same way as it was six hours earlier! And if the high tide occurs after dark, the workers, tired and exhaused, are gone - their strenuous efforts a dismal failure. 

Has it not occured to the logistical geniuses that the tides will win every single day? Is it not self-evident that the only way to clean the beaches, swamps, marshes, and other impediments placed by man to control the tides, is to wait until the oil flow is finally stopped? Completely and unquestionably stopped? 

So obvious. So simple. Yet, ViewPoint has yet to see or hear any media source raise the point. So, along with the awful waste of labor, money, time - there's nothing to point to as accomplishment - and the oil flows, and flows, and flows!

It was our intent to open another question of tremendous importance in these days of budget deficits - but our space is limited. Nevertheless, it is worth a paragraph to ask this question: As authorities wrestle with huge budget gaps, particularly the many States, has any legislator stood up and proclaimed a reason for the problem -the excessive spending in the so-called 'good times', with no apparent regard for the day the good times stopped rolling? Does it take another form of genius to reckon with budget gaps that were designed by these same legislators, now crying the blues because they don't know where, or how, to cut the expenses and balance the budget? Try this: go back a year - cut some programs introduced when income peaked - reduce increases granted programs that used to survive on less - rescind new projects that still have not begun. Then negotiate. The income will be lower - but the bottom line may be closer than one might believe!

The human factor still plays a role in society's trials and tribulations. Perhaps the missing ingredient is simple common sense!

Richard Carlton

July 1, 2010

Issue No.14