Beano won't cure this gas

Hello, Good evening, Hola, Hi.
I was curious to observe if the movie Gasland would win the Academy Award this evening for Best Documentary. It did not, though I feel positive that it's name was even mentioned in front of so many viewers. The issue of hydraulic fracturing as a means to get natural gas out of the ground is rapidly shaping up to be an issue of the gravest environmental and public health concern.

If you don't know about the controversial issues surrounding hydraulic fracturing, I recommend that you borrow the movie Gasland and investigate some of the info on it's website.
I also recommend doing your own research. Keep in mind, there's a LOT of propaganda being put on the internet and on television commercials by the oil and gas industries to lead you to believe that hydraulic fracturing is safe. I encourage you to investigate the sources of any info you find that details fracking, so that you might better understand the biases of whomever might be sharing the information.

Over the past nine months, The New York Times reviewed more than 30,000 pages of documents obtained through open records requests of state and federal agencies and by visiting various regional offices that oversee drilling in Pennsylvania. Some of the documents were leaked by state or federal officials. Here, the most significant documents are made available with annotations from The Times.

As far as I'm concerned it comes down to this: humans have survived and thrived as a species without natural gas until the last century. If natural gas went away, we could continue to survive. But, if our water supply is tainted by toxic chemicals used to extract natural gas, we are screwed.

I was somewhat horrified to learn that one of my uncles believes that there's enough fresh water on the planet that we can afford to ruin the water shed of 15 million people which is the Delaware River Basin. He obviously does not understand the concept of a closed system, which our planet is. Those who have studied hydrology and the state of fresh water on our planet postulate that the wars of the future will be fought over water because it is an increasingly limited resource. We can not afford to render it unusable. Your grandchildren can not afford it.

There are so many reasons to be extremely concerned (read: frightened) about hydraulic fracturing (aka fracking.) I'm not going to go into them all here. But I do believe it's worthwhile to understand why many people believe it's not worth the risk to our water, and some other people believe the corporations should make the money from it despite environmental and public health ramifications.

I suppose that some people understand science better than others. Yet the people who don't understand science seem to think that they have enough information to make decisions that are scientifically based. I feel utterly exorcisted (head spinning 360 degrees repeatedly) when I hear people say the most absurd things relating to science. They speak sincerely as if scientifically established data were mere opinion! Within the last year I began to sincerely contemplate why anyone who knows nothing about science would begin speaking of it as if they had a PhD. Two words: Corporate interests.

I can't prove it (yet) but I am fairly certain that corporations have instigated the enmity between the political parties of modern America. As soon as I can prove it, I may need to go into hiding. The corporations want Republicans to mock TeaBaggers, the corporations want TeaBaggers to demonize Democrats, the corporations want Democrats to fight the Republicans tooth and nail. Because as long as we are fighting each other, we won't notice how they are raping our land, disregarding the wellbeing of our families, and taking all of our money.

I repeat: As long as we are blaming each other for the state of our country, as long as we are blaming "the government" for our problems [um... we are the government!], as long as we are engaged in vitriol and trying to take each other's political party down, we are distracted from noticing the utter rape and robbery which the corporations are perpetrating on American citizens.

Please don't get me wrong, I don't blame ALL corporations. I see that the fault for our country's unrest lies only with particular industries, the names of which I can not know for certain; it seems logical that a large burden of that responsibility would lie with the oil and gas industry. I also believe that certain public figures (who will remain unmentioned, though I suspect you have an idea who I might be referring to) have off shore bank accounts which regularly fill up with cash deposited by various corporate entities in exchange for the hate rhetoric that said public figures spew to us good folks, distracting us from the real demons (corporate interests that would just as soon see us dead and our children crippled before they compromise on making a profit.)

This is currently my opinion, I can not prove any of it. If I can prove it, I will. But let's face it, if I could prove it then I would probably end up assassinated.

I leave you with a few thoughts and opportunities to take action to protect us from the toxic effects of hydraulic fracturing.
First, if you find yourself hating on Democrats, Tea Partiers, Socialists, Republicans, Liberals, Conservatives, etc., please take a pause from your hate and sincerely direct your attention to the corporations and the amount of money they are making because we are not paying attention to the way they are taking advantage of us - ALL of us- they even are fiscally pummeling those of you who love free market economics. Your love of the free market is not saving you from being financially and environmentally screwed.
Second, here's a joke to help keep things in perspective. After all, laughter is the best medicine. All I can tell you about the author is that I don't know who it is, but the joke was on a Facebook post, and the person who made the post did not know the author either.

"A unionized public employee, a member of the Tea Party, and a CEO are sitting at a table. In the middle of the table is a plate with a dozen cookies on it. The CEO reaches across and takes 11 cookies, looks at the Tea Partier and says, 'Watch out for that union guy, he wants a piece of your cookie.'" 

Haha, funny right? Yeah, if it weren't the truth it would be damn funny, wouldn't it?

If you are as concerned about the potential health effects, and the potential environmental destruction which hydraulic fracturing might render, here are some opportunities to tell your elected representatives that you want them to do something NOW:

 

1) Tell your representatives to support the FRAC Act. The FRAC Act consists of twin bills in the Senate (S 1215) and House (HR 2766) that remove the exemption to the Safe Drinking Water Act for fracking and call for the disclosure and monitoring of the chemicals used in the process. Contacting your elected officials is critical to its passage. This link will allow you to enter your zip code and quickly and easily send a message to your House and Senate representatives.

2) Send a letter to President Obama. This link will provide you with text to include in the letter, if you choose to print, sign and mail it (which is usually the preferred method to ensure your voice is heard.) But this letter also provides a link to send the letter's content to the White House via email.

3) That's it for now. Thank you. Fracking is happening all around the country, and as I learned earlier today, it's being exported to South America, Australia, Europe, Africa, and is likely to come to a town near you or someone you love if it is not curtailed immediately.
Breathe. Unless you're near a Fracking well. Then, put on a hazmat suit including gasmask, and then breathe shallowly.

The Solutions

I just want to say that I know how to save the world. I know how to stop the social, fiscal, environmental, governmental, and altogether total destruction that we're heading toward. I'm serious.
If you happen to have the ear of world leaders, let them know they might want to give me a call.
In the meantime, read the writings of a really smart dude, Robert Reich.

Super Awwwwwwwww

I am realizing that a blog, much like a newborn anything, needs attention to stay alive and ultimately thrive. Much like any new parent in their right mind must think, I'm asking myself what I've gotten myself into. I'm asking myself what to feed the blog and what to keep it from so it will grow up healthy and strong. And there's something about the blog's mere existence that is a bit pacifying.

Even if no one is reading it, it is a chance to have my progeny seen by everyone in the world. I've never liked attention though, but as most people do, I definitely like approval. I just hope to get some comments here and there, let alone approval. I'm at that stage of blog development that any view is a developmental victory, and a comment.... if someone left a comment it would be a coup, much like a child saying "mama."

In the vein of the parent analogy, I want to share another pacifying site. Zooborns brings out the oxytocin even in the worst of us. I'm still figuring out this blog thing, so I'm going to take a moment to see if I can post one of their pictures here....

Hmmm, no dice. But I can insert the adorable cover of their book: I have no financial stake in Zooborns, I'm just trying to share some cuteness. Because this blog is a baby, and babies are supposed to be cute, right?

Aha!

It just occurred to me, after reading this article Use of Toxic Acid Puts Millions At Risk, that the "enemy" that so many of us are chasing after in the dark is often in our own backyards, invited and barely regulated. The enemy is not a muslim living half the world away, the enemy is not the government (Tea Partiers, it's just not that easy,) simply because WE ARE the government (or at least we would be if we lived up to our responsibilities as citizens of a democratic republic.)

The enemy is (certain) corporations. The system of capitalism has allowed certain corporations, especially the oil and gas industries, to run around our home - this LAND upon which our homes are built, our water is tapped from, our children play upon- with toxic chemicals.

Our representative government is relying on old standards of "safety" to push regulations on these industries, but if the DRBC's recently published regulations for hydraulic fracturing (still open to public comment, btw) are any indication, protections are simply not strong enough to protect the American people from chemical warfare attacks being perpetrated upon us by the corporations we allow into our backyards.

As for the DRBC and hydraulic fracturing, I'll address that in an upcoming post. 15 million people's drinking water depends on those regulations. And according to Carol (Collier?), per her statement as a representative for the DRBC at the DRBC's hearing for public comments at the Trenton War Memorial on Thursday, February 24th 2011, it IS still possible to STOP all hydraulic fracturing from taking place in the watershed of the Delaware River that the DRBC was created to protect. All it takes is people speaking up, sending a piece of paper with some words on it to the DRBC. I'll help you do this later.

In the mean time, it's good to have identified the "enemy." I'm by no means saying that ALL corporations are the enemy. Only those that are playing with toxic chemicals in our backyard without doing everything possible in their power to avoid poisoning us with those chemicals. So, unless a cloud of hydrofluoric acid comes your way, I recommend breathing like your life depends on it.

Ship of Fools

This morning I awakened to thoughts of the happenings in this country and the world, specifically the actions of the political right in this country and the actions of the activist left in the Middle East. I wondered if the revolutions in the Middle East are successful in implementing democratic governance, would Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and friends, be facing in forty years or so internal forces that say "all this expansion and public well-being sucks, we want more of citizenry to suffer!" This is what seems to be happening in our country - at least that's how I perceive it. The people on the political right seem hell-bent to make as many Americans suffer as possible, in the name of corporate gain and a power trip.

As I thought these thoughts, I realized that I was not breathing very deeply, leading my lungs to feel kind of collapsed. So I put all thoughts out of my mind and focused on my breath. Felt good, felt alivening. From which, the name of this blog seemed to alight in my mind like a leaf carried by a breeze to land upon a rocky precipice.

Said good morning to the cats and the dog. Took care of business, went downstairs, brewed some coffee and decided that today would be the day to start my blog. It's been gestating for a couple of years it seems, and this past week I was told by two individuals who do not know each other that I "should" go into politics, or even just start a blog. So here I am.

After breathing and peeing and brewing coffee, the thoughts of the world came back to me, especially the dealings of the governor of Wisconsin and his efforts to crush collective bargaining. [I have read a bit of Upton Sinclair and I really like how collective bargaining allows for improved working conditions. It seems like a real groovy thing to me to go to work and not worry about my hand being chopped off without care or compensation.]

BUT, we can all be pretty damn certain that the governor of Wisconsin is trying to bust unions for a more insidious reason. It's because the Democratic Party is greatly supported by unions. Unions have recognized that the Democratic Party's socially liberal policies HELP workers, and so the marriage of unions and the Dems is a natural marriage. Therefore, conservatives want to kill unions as none other than a means of crippling the democratic party. This is why the Koch brothers gave money to the Wisconsin governor's campaign. They seem willing to put money above anything and everything. But, I don't want to think of them or Rush Limbaugh right now. They are three men that are so selfish and greedy and willing to crush the average Joe and Jane, they make me think of humans as the least intelligent species on Earth. When I think that there are people who listen to Limbaugh and agree with his illogical thoughts and outright lies.... well, it makes me feel like I'm on a ship of fools....(and when sailing on a ship of fools be prepared to hit an iceberg.)

The conservatives seem determined to put average Janes and Joes in positions of poverty and illness. I don't like their beliefs at all. If I were a child, I would say they are "mean," they are "greedy," and they don't play nice. And they don't. And it seems to me that in these very difficult times, the world needs more people in charge who will play nice and who might share their snack at recess when they see their classmate's mom didn't pack them a snack.

But I want to know, what is it that they say that makes outright poor people - people with little money in the bank but great adoration for this country - what is it that Limbaugh and the Tea Party and the neoCons, and all the conservatives who want to literally take away from the poor, ... what is it that they say that the poor and downtrodden of this country latch onto? Because they're not saying the truth - I've listened to them, and I KNOW they are lying to you. They do not adhere to tenants of logic. So much of what they say makes no sense in terms of it's consistency with what they've said the day before, the week before, etc. Their arguments seem driven by the desire to make money for themselves and their corporate friends, at the expense of the poor - what used to be considered the lower middle class (but there's no middle class anymore, is there?) Yet the POOR are voting for these lying greedy hacks more than anyone else it seems.


I have been trying very much to understand the viewpoints of average Janes and Joes on the political right. I want to know what appeals to them about the Limbaughs and Becks and O'Reillys of the world, because it sure as hell isn't common sense. There is an emotional factor that seems to be a huge part of the equation. I am determined to unravel it. There are others out there doing the same. Eventually we'll figure it out. In the meantime, I am determined to breathe like my life depends on it.