Category Archives: ethics and morals

Senate asks Canadian residents for testimony

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The U.S. Senate has asked residents that were forced out of their homes by tarsands in Alberta, Canada, to testify about their experience.

They say in the report that they don’t want to be used for political gain.  I can’t blame them for that–enough evidence of people being used by politicians for them to be wary.

But it is no secret that petroleum is toxic and tarsands are much, much more toxic. 

From the second link:

Tailings ponds which now cover an area the sized of Washington DC contain multiple toxic chemicals including arsenic, benzene, lead, mercury, naphthenic acid, and ammonia.  As much as 2.9 million gallons of toxic tailings leak into the environment every day.  A 2014 study showed that extreme concentrations of PAHs present in tailings may be evaporating into the air and then deposited into water.  New federal research by Environment Canada released in February 2014 confirms that leaking tailings ponds are leaching into groundwater and then into the Athabasca River.

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As someone whom has suffered from mercury toxicity, this is particularly alarming to me.  I can be a witness to how devastating this heavy metal is and how difficult it is to get it out of your system and get well again.

Meanwhile, the Enbridge pipeline project is due to get underway in Indiana.  Yet, there are *crickets* from the environmental groups, media, etc.  This is our “XL”…and no one gives a sh*t.

As a side note~ I know there are folks in the oil industry who read my blog–this is not meant to offend, but I can’t be silent on the destruction of the environment for humans, animals, plants, water, and soil.

 

 

 

Update: Shanesha Taylor

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I went back to look for updates on Shanesha Taylor, the mother who left her kids in a car to go to a job interview. She pleaded not guilty to the charges.

Leonard Pitts has a good piece up on her plight–the difficulties the poor face in trying to get out of poverty.  He makes some stinging observations about all the waste in Congress…and yet…they would rather deny people food and aid to get out of poverty…

 

 

 

Vancouver peaceful pipeline protests

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A problem that plagues peaceful protestors are those that wish to cause trouble.

The problem is in knowing if they are bad actors looking to stir things up for their own amusement or agent provocateurs–sent in by agencies or the oil companies themselves to give the non-violent activists a bad name.  The next problem is banishing them from the movement.

The person calling himself “james Moore” in the piece is typical.  Not knowing the writer of the piece, it’s hard to know if this person said those things or whether it is fabricated to make them look bad.  Or worse–to put this out there to justify police crackdown.

Like I’ve said before, I won’t support violence and many folks who would otherwise support environmentalists will back away from violent protests.

Setting police vehicles on fire is not violence in that it hurts a human being, but it is destructive…and is counterproductive if you think about all the toxins you’re sending into that very environment you’re trying to protect.  You might feel a release of frustration for a moment or two, but in the end, it doesn’t further your cause.

 

 

We are Not Bug Splats

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Just how dehumanizing is it to refer to people you kill as “bug splats”??  Good God.

Dehumanizing the “other” is as old as…well, war…I suppose.  The “other” are portrayed as dogs, rats,  and other things to dehumanize them.  It makes it easier to shoot someone if you no longer see them as a human being.

200 innocent children dead.  We should hang our heads in shame.

 

Koch Brothers and Kansas

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Jan Resseger has another excellent post up on her take of the Americans for Prosperity, aka Koch Brothers, and what’s happened in Kansas.

 

Jeff Glendening, the director of the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity was quoted—framing the legislation as part of a fight between those who stand for children and those who stand for “adult” interests—by the NY Times : “We appreciate the willingness of the Legislature to place the interests of Kansas children over the welfare of the teachers’ union.”  This kind of rhetoric is widely promoted by far-right groups such as StudentsFirst and Stand for Children. These groups try to imply that teachers, who have committed their lives to nurture children, are somehow a class of people working purely out of self interest.

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Incredible.  The teacher’s intentions are an example of a stunning psychological twist of the truth.  They claim to be concerned for the welfare of the children…but with Common Core, shoving special needs and struggling students out the door, and money being siphoned away from public education…we know differently.

As was pointed out yesterday, the teacher’s union is the same as the police and fire fighter unions….yet no one would think of saying that those unions are operating against the welfare of the people.

Related to this, Fred Klonsky has a post up on the pension raids with a statement on  the theft by Karen Lewis.

“This is a sad day for our paraprofessionals, especially our retired ones, who will see their pensions reduced and devalued significantly. They will lose the value of a third of their retirement savings, so instead of the people who crashed the economic system having to pay their fair share, our elected officials brutally attack the people who are most vulnerable—many of whom have become the head of their households, caring for both children and grandchildren,” Lewis said.

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Target the elderly/retired.  They have worked their entire lives putting into the system.  They deserve to have those pensions.  Now that they are retired, they have less money to fight back with–sly ploy by cowards to attack the weaker.

 

 

 

Kansas eliminates due process for Teachers

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What sad times we live in….

As usual, the comments are insightful and compelling.  They bring up the fact that it really isn’t that hard to get rid of “problem” teachers–all the administration has to do is harass them until they’ve had enough and leave.  Done. Problem solved.

I’ve seen this in the state government, as well, so yeah, it’s not really that hard to get rid of someone.  All you need is a bully in the midst while the administration looks the other way (or even worse–participates).

Urged on by conservative special interests such as Americans for Prosperity, Republican leaders pressed hard to eliminate due process rights for teachers.

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The handiwork of the Koch Brothers.  Destroy public education so the Koch brothers don’t have to pay one more penny for unionized workers.  More for me…poverty wages for you…

 

 

 

Let My People Go…Free Tillikum and all in captivity

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California has a bill up to force Sea World to stop using orcas in its shows and release them from their tanks.

They are too large, too intelligent, too socially complex and too far-ranging to be adequately cared for in captivity,” said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Animal Welfare Institute, the bill’s sponsor.

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“That argument is not based on credible peer-reviewed science,” said John Reilly, president of SeaWorld San Diego Park. “It’s based on emotion and a propaganda film.”

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Really?  Because I’m pretty sure a marine mammal scientist knows the behavior of the orcas.  Anyone with two eyes can see how the behavior of Tillikum is directly related to being held captive.

Even if there is no “scientific” standard, it’s just not right to keep an animal in captivity for the amusement of humans.  We would not want to be treated that way.

Canadians are also moving to release dolphins and orcas from captivity.  Good for them.