…but from dirty tactics to quash the voices of those who oppose the destruction of the environment.

…because they can’t win on virtue– they have none.  And if you have no good facts to support your argument, you go after the person– ad hominem.

Speaking of which, I was listening to NPR (National Polite Republican) this morning, and they had a Keystone apologist.  He was a young one (that’s what they do–get the young and stupid to do their bidding for them), whom didn’t know his arse from a hole in the ground.  He was just spewing Big OIl’s talking points.

He admitted that the jobs that would be created would be temporary construction jobs.  He outright lied about TransCanada picking up  the bill if there was an oil spill.  They specifically had it written in the contract NOT to be responsible if there was a spill.

…because TransCanada knows that this toxic sludge is a monster to clean up, a la Kalamazoo, which they are still cleaning up three years after the spill.  It cuts into their billions of profits, see?  They just can’t have that.  Responsibility is not in Big Oil’s vocabulary.

And anyone who promises to “clean up” and make things right should be regarded as a flat-out liar. As the folks along the Kalamazoo can attest to.

From the Enbridge spokesperson:

He says Enbridge wants to complete all of the restoration work along Line 6B by sometime in 2015.

~~~~~~~~~

So…five years after the fact…they will have “cleaned up” a spill  And it still will never be the same.  Never.  No matter what they do, the toxic chemicals will destroy plants, wildlife;, pollute water, air, and land; and change that ecosystem for the worse.  Because everything in nature relies on another part of nature.  When the plankton die, the fish starve.  When the fish die, the birds starve. Or if they survive, their biological systems are forever altered by the toxins–reproductive and altered natural progress.

From the article (Part 3):

“In other words, Enbridge was judge and jury as to whether you had a legitimate claim or not. As opposed to having a neutral third party that didn’t have conflict of interest making those decisions.”
[Attorney Bill] Mayhall says Enbridge was quick to compensate for property damage… but has resisted paying damages for health related claims. An Enbridge spokesman insists the company has settled some claims related to health complaints.

~~~~~~~

And herein lies the worst of it–Big Oil does not, under any circumstances, want to admit how its product causes health issues.  If they did this, the flood gates would open to how petroleum truly impacts the health of people–much more so than is acknowledged.   Think of the folks living near the Kochs’ plants–severe breathing problems and people dropping like flies from cancer.

And the idea that people can just “move away” if there is a toxic spill is incredibly shortsighted, as this quote will attest:

Wayne Groth is standing on the deck overlooking the backyard of his new home south of Battle Creek. He and his wife Sue moved late in the spring.
It’s a lovely home, with only one possible problem.
“We’ve got another little creek running by our house and we discovered after we bought this place there’s another pipeline real close by. I thought that was a little ironic.”

~~~~~~~~~~

You can’t poison the Earth in one spot, move to another and somehow magically you’re not ever, ever, ever going to be subjected to toxins again.

End of fairytale.  Good night.

More reasons to dislike Don Lemon.  Good God, did he really say that??  The victim should have fought back — not that Cosby should not have been shoving his member into her?!

So…by Don Lemon’s (and multiple other males and females) assertion, she “wanted it” because she was allegedly raped twice by Bill Cosby? (The only reason I say allegedly is for legal reasons….because I believe her.).

She talks about being unable to truly give consent– being stoned.

She talks about being afraid–he was in a position of power and she was young and vulnerable and felt she would not be believed if she did speak out.

If Don Lemon (and the rest) don’t believe her now….why would they have believe her then?  Her fears are well-founded.  Women as second-class, women as objects to use for sex,  women as not having a say in what happens to them….is our culture.

Naomi Klein was on DN! to put some of the facts straight about Keystone–it is NOT a job creator.  The oil is NOT coming to America, but being piped through this horrible pipeline that crosses farmland and aquifers.  The process to get the oil out of the sand requires huge amounts of precious water.

Note in the piece President Obama is stating that he’s really going to take this environmental thing seriously.  Really…he is. Not so fast.

First Nations, et al, protesting in Canada.  Here is the Global News report.  Note how they couch this report:  Anti-Oil.  A negative.  But they are not portrayed as pro-environment, pro-kids of coming generations, pro-health activists. Makes a difference, doesn’t it, on how one views them. I wonder how much $$ Big Oil is paying them to be their mouthpiece.

Lest we forget.

This from the Royal Canadian Chemistry society on toxicity.  And the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) on Bitumen.  Note how the folks in Michigan were complaining of the same symptoms listed on this data sheet for bitumen exposure after the Kalamazoo River spill.

EYES

: Hot bitumen and bitumen fumes may cause severe irritation and burns. Cold bitumen may cause slight irritation. Bitumen dust may cause irritation characterized by burning, redness, swelling and watering

~~~~~~~~

SKIN

: Hot bitumen and bitumen fumes may cause moderate to severe irritation and burns. Cold

bitumen may cause moderate irritation. Bitumen

dust may cause irritation characterized by redness

and occasional drying and peeling.

INGESTION

: Irritation of gastrointestinal tract, vomiting and a danger of aspiration. Aspiration can

develop into potentially fatal chemical pneumonitis.

INHALATION

: Bitumen fumes may cause moderate to severe irritation of the nose, throat and

respiratory tract. May cause headache, nausea, sore throat, nasal congestion, dizziness and nervousness. Confined spaces may accumulate hydrogen sulfide gas. Hydrogen sulfide may cause respiratory tract irritation, nausea, headache, dizziness, pulmonary edema, loss of consciousness, brain damage and death.

~~~~~~~~~

Also note how this sheet appears to be put out by petroleum corporation….yeah, I’m not putting a lot of confidence that they are telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.  Because I’m pretty sure that brain damage and death are serious reactions to the toxic substance. /snark

Here’s a short video on the fight against Keystone in Canada:

Again, I ask the question:  If most of the American public is against Keystone (which they are)…then why are our wishes not being honored?

Lastly, I leave you with Neil Young’s stirring song, Mother Earth:

Watching the video, it just kills me to see the beautiful greenery of Canada…and then what looks like an open wound where they have stripped the Earth.  I mean, it looks like someone went in for plastic surgery and was horribly disfigured.

…when I clicked on the link I had for the Koch Brothers documentary, I came up with the website being down.

So… in case anyone else missed it, I’ve found the documentary on HULU.

It’s worth watching again even if you’ve seen it before.  It’s just mindboggling how they are trying to control everything that we hold dear in this society.

Well, they aren’t wasting any time, are they?

Roll Call.

Barrow. Bishop (GA). Brady  (PA). Clyburn. Cooper. Cuellar. Doyle. Green, Al. Green, Gene. Hinojosa. Jackson Lee. Lipinksi. Loebsack. Maloney. Matheson. McCarthy (NY). McIntyre. Murphy (FL). Nolan. Norcross. Owens. Peterson. Rahall. Richmond. Scott, David. Sewell (AL). Sires. Thompson (MS), Veasey. Vela. Walz.

The good folks who voted against:

Adams Barber Bass Beatty Becerra Bera (CA) Bishop (NY) Bonamici Braley (IA) Brown (FL) Brownley (CA) Butterfield Capps Capuano Cárdenas Carney Carson (IN) Cartwright Castor (FL) Castro (TX) Chu Cicilline Clark (MA) Clarke (NY) Clay Cleaver Cohen Connolly Conyers Courtney Crowley Cummings Davis (CA) Davis, Danny DeFazio DeGette Delaney DeLauro DelBene Deutch Dingell Doggett Edwards Ellison Engel Eshoo Esty Farr Fattah Foster Frankel (FL) Fudge Gabbard Gallego

Garamendi Garcia Grayson Grijalva Gutiérrez Hahn Hanabusa Hastings (FL) Heck (WA) Higgins Himes Holt Honda Horsford Hoyer Huffman Israel Jeffries Johnson (GA) Johnson, E. B. Kaptur Keating Kelly (IL) Kennedy Kildee Kilmer Kind Kirkpatrick Kuster Langevin Larsen (WA) Larson (CT) Lee (CA) Levin Lewis Lofgren Lowenthal Lowey Lujan Grisham (NM) Luján, Ben Ray (NM) Lynch Maffei Maloney, Carolyn Matsui McCollum McDermott McNerney Meeks Meng Michaud Miller, George Moore Moran Nadler

Napolitano Neal Negrete McLeod O’Rourke Pallone Pascrell Pastor (AZ) Pelosi Peters (CA) Peters (MI) Pingree (ME) Pocan Polis Price (NC) Quigley Rangel Roybal-Allard Ruiz Ruppersberger Rush Ryan (OH) Sánchez, Linda T. Sanchez, Loretta Sarbanes Schakowsky Schiff Schneider Schrader Schwartz Scott (VA) Serrano Shea-Porter Sherman Sinema Slaughter Speier Swalwell (CA) Takano Thompson (CA) Tierney Titus Tonko Tsongas Van Hollen Vargas Velázquez Visclosky Wasserman Schultz Waters Waxman Welch Wilson (FL) Yarmuth

My previous posts on XL, tar sands, bitumen, etc.:

Detroit buried in Petroleum Coke (which comes from tar sands when the oil is extracted.)

PIpeline rupture report buried.  Exxon interfering with coverage of Arkansas spill.  So you know that if there are any issues with Keystone, et al, we’re aren’t likely to hear about it until a lot of damage is done.

Kochs exposed.  One of the most important films you will watch.

Members of Congress pushing for XL pipeline…while being invested in it. And the Dirty Nine who were flown on private jet for a private meeting…um-hmmm.. this link also contains the testimony of Dr. James Hansen, a NASA scientist, on the Tar Sands being “game over” for the climate.

Canadians testify at the Senate. Tell us…how does it feel to be forced out of your home due to a toxic environment,,hmmm? /snarky

The First Nations folks speak out against the Tar Sands.  Their passion is so inspiring. And their spiritual connection to all of Creation is evident in the video.

Yes, there are actual progressive Democrats, although it’s hard to spot them sometimes. Note that Elizabeth Warren has signed on…and Hillary Clinton’s State Department’s environmental impact report was done by a Petroleum insider.  Unreal.  Clinton really must think we’re stupid or something.

PR Watch’s fine work on exposing the Keystone XL pipeline.

Selling the Earth for the XL.

Leto, Kennedy, et al, send a letter to John Kerry against the XL.  I include my own journey towards my impact towards the environment and trying to reduce my contribution to pollution.

Kris Homme is a member of our mercury support group.  She was a guest on a radio show talking about the lax regulations of mercury, even though it is a known neurotoxin (brain poison).

I was surprised that she recommended the DAN! doctors, because many members have been led astray by DAN doctors, so I would emphatically say that beware of DAN doctors if you choose to investigate this further.

Kris brings up the IV chelation and how dangerous it is–it really depends on one’s ability to excrete mercury, which she touches on, but doesn’t explain thoroughly.  I have Irish genes and the Irish are known poor excreters with the double APO gene.  If I were to do IV chelation, my body would not be able to excrete, and therefore, the mercury would be re-distributed, probably to the brain.  Dr. Cutler said he watched as a friend became mentally ill from IV chelation, and he then knew it was not a safe protocol to get the mercury out.  His friend never recovered.

I also wish that Kris had gone into her own debilitating symptoms–she now has macular degeneration and could not even read what I’m writing here.  She had to leave her engineering job because of mercury poisoning illness.

She also did not emphasize our toxic environment–from my own experience with the coal dust spewing from the coal burning power plant when I was a teen, I know with absolute certainty that environmental toxins are powerful and they do affect us in ways that we are not necessarily aware of, until it’s too late.

I found an article on Kris on alternet.org.  Besides CBS (60 Minutes), this is the only prominent media exposure asking about mercury poisoning.

Lastly, here is a video on Boyd Haley, PhD, who was a chemistry professor and spoke out on amalgams long ago.  It’s with great sadness that he speaks of the link between mercury and Alzheimers…I know in my heart that my mother suffered from mercury poisoning and most likely undiagnosed Celiac disease.