MAIN ST. NEWS: BIG OIL- Oil'd

Oil'd from Chris Harmon on Vimeo.

In April 2010 a massive oil spill began in the Gulf. The entire country was glued to the news until the well was capped, and then we forgot about it.  As the year anniversary was approaching I became curious, just how much oil was that exactly? Where would it have gone? What I found was shocking.  So in an effort to further our discussion on oil dependency I created this short animation to help illustrate just how dependent we truly are on oil. 

Designed, animated and written by Chris Harmon
Voice Talent: Kim Estes
Music: Billy Perez & Todd Stambaugh
Special Thanks to Daye Rogers and Christy Kurtz
Sources:

MAIN ST. NEWS: Citizen Reporter- KONY 2012 EXPOSED

Uploaded by LimamyFilms on Mar 8, 2012

I made this video because i was tired of people supporting something that is a fraud and has two faces. Made by Zyad Limamy

This whole Kony thing is very noble, and I agree that something has to be done, but I think people are getting too excited too quickly here and  accepting this all too eagerly. 


Kony has been around for over 20 years, why take interest now? Some might argue that the fight has been going on for 6 years, according to the Kony video, which still leaves 14 years for somebody to do something. 


Others might argue that not enough action has been taken because there wasn't enough awareness. All this has spurred a new internet divide. We have on one side the Invisible Children's Army, on the other the Conspiracy Theorists, Skeptics, and pretty much anyone else who isn't on the ICA's side. What many, from both sides, don't seem to understand is that this is the typical American belief system of dealing with the immoral, the evil, the absurd. This is not a one dimensional issue. 

The same happened when the USA was attacked on that dreadful 9/11. We (as a nation!) placed a face, a name, a group, and an emotion on everybody's mouth, in everybody's mind. Osama bin-Laden, terror, al-Qaeda, and fear, anger, want for pay-back. We (again as a nation since we allowed it!) then spent trillions of dollars to kill one man, believing that once that had been accomplished terrorism would just cease to exist, like in the ending of some Hollywood-esque movie where everything just ties up so nicely. 


Once again we are being allowed have our emotions played with, manipulated, to act towards something that will not be resolved by just arresting, or killing one man. Uganda, Congo, Ethiopia, Sudan, Zambia, among many are countries that have many underlying problems that contribute to the creation of monsters such as Kony. We need to be colder, more rational, more objective, when it comes to making these sort of decisions, these big decisions that could ultimately back-fire. We should take a hard look at both sides of the stories, and more importantly where those news come from. 


Just saw a video where Joseph Kony is denying all of the accusations of child abduction, child mutilation, rape, killing, he is portraying himself as the victim, and what surprised me was seeing people that actually ate that stuff up. Psycopaths (and Kony is most definitely one) are always charming, easy-going, and friendly. 

Saw another video that mentions how all of this is just a strategic move in the chess game that is the control of newly discovered oil in Central and South Africa. Yet no reference to anything, all of this just conjured (what it seems) from the mind of the maker of the video, with thousand of believers backing them up.


I'm sure that both sides of the divide can agree that the best option would be to catch Kony, AND assist the government of the countries to implement something that does not generate the monsters it does. However, I don't believe that the USA should be involved in that mission. I believe we can give our moral support, but we should probably do less focusing on the problems of other countries and worry more about what is going on in our own front yard. 


This reminds me a story my mom always told me when I was a little kid to drive this point across, and I'm sure many of you have heard it in similar ways, it goes like this: 


There were two monkeys sitting by the rail road tracks, eating bananas, the first monkey, seeing the train coming and that the other monkey had his tail on the tracks and was about to have it cut off, warned him of the oncoming train. The first monkey was so worried about the second monkey's tail that he forgot his own was on the trail, when the train passed it cut his tail off instead. Moral of the story: don't go worrying about other people's problems when you have your own to deal with. Few will read this far, but to those that do I thank you, and I welcome your opinions and view point as well.

Trademarks, trade names, company names or product names mentioned herein are used for identification only and may be the property of their respective owners. 

MAIN ST. NEWS: BIG OIL- Where's The Oil?

Trademarks, trade names, company names or product names mentioned herein are used for identification only and may be the property of their respective owners. 

MAIN ST. NEWS: BIG OIL- End Big Oil Handouts

Big Oil receives $4 billion a year in tax credits and incentives. In the midst of painful budget cuts to health, education and other vital services this corporate welfare is even more outrageous.  Government funding for profitable corporations like oil companies is among the first things that should be cut from the Federal Budget.

Trademarks, trade names, company names or product names mentioned herein are used for identification only and may be the property of their respective owners. 

MAIN ST. NEWS: Occupy The Media- The Concerns Behind the Keystone XL Pipeline

Uploaded by TheMicShots on Feb 20, 2012

Kent Rowe of Occupy Wichita explains the environmental concerns behind the Keystone XL pipeline and how Koch Industries is connected. Kent is a former Green party Mayor of Longton, Kansas, Ph.D. Industrial Engineering Wichita State University (WSU), and a Pipeline Safety Contractor.

Video by Alex Gretsky

Trademarks, trade names, company names or product names mentioned herein are used for identification only and may be the property of their respective owners. 

MAIN ST. NEWS: POLITICS- MoveOn "What If Everyone Saw This Message From Robert Redford?"

Uploaded by NRDCflix on Jan 20, 2012

President Obama has rejected a permit for the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline -- a project that promised riches for the oil giants and an environmental disaster for the rest of us. Robert Redford thanks President Obama for making the right decision. Learn more: http://www.nrdc.org/energy/keystone-pipeline/