Much ADo about Everything (by Bertram Sømme)

The title is satire, it refers to shakespears Much Ado About Nothing.   When clearly this is about everything and the play is about trivia.

It underlines the way the press and the general public regard such issues and have always done so.

 

This is a book concerning various issues connected with seaweed trawling, the effects they have on (would you believe it or not) mankind  in its entirety, the marine environment and those who choose to protect the industry.

Its strange how many of the issues concerning the environment have their origins in the USA.

Perhaps this may be highlighted by a press story https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-lt-gov-dan-patrick-suggests-he-other-seniors-willing-n1167341  Essentially it says that old people should be willing to sacrifice their lives to save the economy.

“but feared that stay-at-home orders and economic upheaval would destroy the American way of life.”

It is almost as if the most important thing in the USA is wealth, money, and anything done to further this (including death) is worthwhile.

This has certainly been displayed by the 2 corporations mentioned  with both recieving record fines for pollution as well as other crimes

Dupont and PTFE

““For decades, these corporations have knowingly contaminated our drinking water, food supplies and the blood of virtually every person on the planet with these highly toxic chemicals,” said Scott Faber, EWG’s senior vice president for government affairs. “It’s long past time that the polluters pay for their malicious drive toward profits over public health.”   From https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news-release/dupont-chemours-and-corteva-reach-4-billion-settlement-forever-chemicals

FMC Corp

Strange, seems that Ukraine is the receiver of the very vehicles

https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/125-Million-Verdict-in-Bradley-Fighting-Vehicle-3008988.php

 

Further, FMC is involved with many other types of business criminality the worst of which is pollution

https://www.epa.gov/enforcement/fmc-corporation-inc-hazardous-waste-settlement

” The wastes in these ponds also generate phosphate and hydrogen cyanide, highly toxic gases that can cause serious health and environmental problems. ”

 

 

THE FIRST FOUR PAGES

This Book is for me the result of a fantastic detective journey.

Little clues here and there – sometimes quite outrageous ideas and yet the evidence and the proof –

But first a little quote from a member of the audience at a lecture held at one of the Molde Climate festivals lectures.

HAIR RAISING. That so much could have been misunderstood and misinterpreted.”

He was referring to my lecture and film about seaweed trawling –

As we filmed the event I had no difficulty in thanking him for that remark and informing him that it would be important for us.

It is interesting to note that the man “a qualified marine biologist” had strong connections to the industry.

To communicate we all use the same language, the same words – that one set of words should have a different meaning depending on your education is sometimes the case but in general terms words are used to impart information which is interpreted by the understandings we all have in common. Thus there are many legal cases where the defendant has studied the law, and the science behind the case and confounded both the scientific experts and the lawyers. Simple fact, it does not take much more than just reading the “scientific literature” to realize that the “experts” are often very narrow minded in their thinking.

As a single traveler the journey has been a strong incentive to believe in oneself – to listen to what others say but to understand that at the end of the day – the ultimate judge is yourself – you have the right to!!

A single voice is often led astray – you only have the one opinion, you are not a committee, you cannot share the blame.

Watching nature – discovering its powerful gifts – being part of, is a tremendous power – it produces so much energy.

Sometimes it is just watching an ant struggle along a path – sometimes it is following that ant to a piece of discarded tin – thats where they live – lifting up the tin and wooow – there are the eggs, the cocoons and, whats this beetle — turns out this guy actually lives with the ants – then the magic of discovery – what that beetle does.

Suddenly the colour touches – the bright red ant – the black beetle – the white fungus here and there in the exposed ant galleries. Everything so bright. Especially after doing some reading.

The next day the tin is gone – tidied up – you can see boot prints around the nest – the surrounding area was wet when it hadnt rained. there are some small birds in the area – wonder if they ate the eggs and ants that were suddenly exposed. Some of the birds look a bit unusual – a few untidy feathers here and there – then a dead one, a small bundle of colour lying on the ground in an pitiful untidy heap – what happened here?

Human nature is magnificent and at the same time disgusting, something we are all prey to and struggle with at one time or another. Perhaps even more so because we often deny it, denying it does not make it go away, it just makes it stronger and more likely to bite.

Classical authors have written plays and books about this complete with warnings and love. To name just a few Shakespeare, Swift, Robert Browning, Ibsen, Rudyard Kipling.

Today as at no time before is the human race more in danger from the effects of Human nature.

To say we are weak does not encompass the enormity of what may happen in the next few generations, not just to us but to all our surroundings and the environment.

In fact it is an enormously complicated subject best left to those who study

such things?

2

This book is a investigation of 2 major corporations, their chemicals, and the effect this may and is having on the human race and our marine and land environment, all connected by one thing Seaweed Trawling, its connection to the food industry and its massive earnings.

It is easy to simply say that it is to do with capitalism, that our polititians should have protected us better, but at the end of the day each end every one of us must ask the same questions – what would we have done given the same temptations.

This is in no way an excuse, but more an attempt to show that we are all guilty because of our nature – very much a product of our genetic founding as well as our education – that many cannot see this reflected in nature, that nature is somehow separate from us is just a further extension of this idea.

We are part of nature and nature is in us.

We have been given powers by our forefathers to affect nature in ways greatly beneficial to our individual small worlds but ultimately destructive to the very thing that makes us and makes us work.

This in no way provides any excuse for what I am about to reveal but for any sane person should provide all the more reason to worship nature and to understand that the human race is and are caretakers – that is we must care for every aspect of the wild and in so doing ensure the long term survival of all – instead of the possible calamity facing us from the use of chemicals ultimately only beneficial to those who produce them and the system they so blindly support.

Consider, one of the leading nations of our world has through politics the belief that every citizen should have the capability to kill with the use of firearms.

The fact that this has more to do with the industries producing these weapons than reality is not the issue for many in those countries.

The connection between gun business and how it affects the population is clear– the fact that political pressure is being paid for by those industries is not important?

Long lost the idea of democracy.

Thus you have a massive country in continual mourning as tens of thousands are killed and maimed every year, often mass shootings of the most vulnerable is standard

Currently (2022) there are between 60 and 100 public shootings per day

In 2020 there were over 45,000 gun related deaths in the us – over 3400 were

children – at the same time in Norway there were 2. Further – the war in Ukraine has been going for 100 days – it is estimated that over 35,000 russian troops have been killed that is dwarfed by the number of Ukranians and civilians – this is war.

Is the us at war with itself?

The response to each mass murder – MORE, NOT LESS.

Recently there have been mass marches in the us in protest at these massacres but it is interesting to note the marches are not about removing guns from the hands of the public but about preventing the sale of automatic weapons .

A stray thought here – if a person who commits a crime is called a criminal – what is a corporation called?

If a crime – lets say Murder is commited then society is required to punish that person – if a company or a corporation knowingly releases a chemical or item that causes unexpected death and the information is clear that this was likely, why are they not just as guilty as a murderer?

Why should not those responsible suffer the same penalties?

Can they really be rewarded for murder?

Is this the Nub/heart of this book?

3

Is it possible that lead poisoning caused the downfall of the entire Roman empire ?– there is serious evidence to show that many Roman citizens had dangerously high levels of lead in their blood which may also explain the strange behavior of some of their leading Romans such as Caligula -However the point is this – Many Roman authors wrote about lead poisoning so it was clear they did know about it, but carried on blindly consuming(perhaps more up to date would be smoking – we know – we use and we suffer) – can we draw a parallel here?

(this is in however more amusing)

In a macabre sense the main component of bullets is most often lead.

In fact in connection with this I can only think of Swifts essay ( a modest proposal) in which he proposes that it is kinder and in fact more economical to eat starving children (especially as their parents would then derive some income )than it is to allow them to starve to death – there is a kind of powerful humour associated with society blindly consuming poisons of all kinds and then turning on the television to make it all go away.

It is one thing to think about such matters (perhaps only briefly in our day and age) but it is something else entirely to see it.

This man was shot in the face and survived.

     It is frightening to note that Facebook currently has a series of clips from major Hollywood films – nearly all of them are about Revenge and fighting – most of those involve guns of one kind or another. This is bound to infect society, infact those who see it, especially as it is constantly reinforced.

None of those films seem to show mutilation though that is a clear result of gunfire (I wonder why?)

Further – currently there seems to be little censorship of pornography, but in the 70s there was – in Europe it was fine to show naked bodies and intimate parts, but no bondage, tying people up, domination or any sexual abuse. The US however it was the other way around – naked bodies and penetrative sex uhuh – but bondage and domination – fine – is this a reflection of a society?