Category Archives: sustainability

Kochs Exposed: one of the most important films…

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…you will ever see is here.

It is just mindboggling how the Koch brothers have their tentacles in every aspect of society: union busting, voting rights, livable wages, social security, corporate taxes, healthcare, etc….

Not only that, but equally troubling is how easily Congress and politicians can be bought.

They are more than willing to endorse the racist ideas of the Kochs by a stealth way of re-segregating schools, interfering with one’s right to vote, and dumping toxins in poor and black neighborhoods.  The only thing missing from this documentary is how BP is right there with Koch and will most likely accept the petcoke byproduct of tar sands at the Whiting, Indiana refineries.  Indiana always seems to get lost in the concerns of pollution.

Another troubling aspect of this documentary is how Ed Shultz is featured as being against the Kochs, but he is for XL pipeline….which the Kochs are behind!  One can only wonder how much the Kochs have paid to MSNBC or to Shultz (which I would find it hard to believe, but Kochs seem to go on the belief that everyone has a price…and they only need to find out what that price tag is…)  since Ed has changed his tune, and the Kochs are known for greasing palms to buy people’s silence or worse, it’s not without merit to question if they have paid somebody off to get Ed to promote the pipeline.

I’m glad, however, to say that some of us care about the environment and our health and our children’s health and are resistant to this dirty money…

 

A letter from a mother

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Anne Clair, an Elsipogtog mother, wrote this about her son being jailed while protesting SWN trespassing on the native owned land.

Again, I ask–  If most of the taxpayers are against fracking and tar sands, then why are the oil companies allowed on that land?  Why were the police there and who are they working for if the taxpayers do not want this?

 

 

The Farm Bill

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I’ve dragged my feet looking this up, and it was as depressing as I thought…

Not only did they cut food stamps again in the Un-Depression, the heartless creeps gave the corporate interests lots of goodies.  I really don’t know how these people sleep at night.  But then again, when you have no conscience, your guilt doesn’t keep you awake…

Elizabeth Warren, et al, come out against XL Pipeline

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Well, I’m glad that these folks have come out against the XL Pipeline.

This is, essentially, a rebellion by 22 progressive congressional Democrats against the Clinton-Obama effort to provide a market for the Kochs’ oil. The letter was actually written by Representative Henry Waxman and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, and co-signed by senators Barbara Boxer, Ed Markey, Dick Durbin, Jeff Merkley, and Elizabeth Warren; and Representatives John Conyers, Jr., Barbara Lee, Raúl M. Grijalva, Rush Holt, Louise M. Slaughter, Jerrold Nadler, Judy Chu, Peter DeFazio, Anna G. Eshoo, Sam Farr, Peter Welch, Alan Lowenthal, Mark Pocan, and Steve Cohen.

 

Note how deeply involved Hillary Clinton is in XL– how Paul Elliott, a former staff member, is a lobbyist for TransCanada, along with David Goldwyn.

Secretary Clinton’s State Department allowed the environmental impact statement on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline to be performed by a petroleum industry contractor that was chosen by the company that was proposing to build and own the pipeline, TransCanada. That contractor had no climatologist, and the resulting report failed even at its basic job of estimating the number of degrees by which the Earth’s climate would be additionally heated if the pipeline is built and operated. Its report ignored that question and instead evaluated the impact that climate change would have on the pipeline, which was estimated to be none.

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Be sure to click on this link about the March, 2013,  XL Pipeline “environmental report” as a hoax.

[…] Therefore, the reason no calculation was done of the XL pipeline’s global-warming impact appears to be that no one who was involved in the study had any climatological expertise or interest.

[…]

But be that as it may: it is by now clear that the State Department’s Draft “Environmental Impact Statement” on XL is neither by the State Department, nor does it address the pipeline’s impact on global warming, nor was anyone who had expertise on global warming even involved in its preparation. The report is thus a triple-hoax, so that to call it fraudulent would put the matter mildly.

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Note that the Obama Administration is trying to force the EU to purchase the Koch Brothers’ dirty oil.  Unreal.

Additionally, I don’t see it mentioned in the article, but I have a huge concern about the petcoke byproduct of this dirty oil that will make its way to Whiting, Indiana.  This is devastating to our environment and the people breathing this toxic garbage.  It seems to me that Indiana has become the garbage can of the Kochs and others who have nowhere else to dump this stuff.  Like I said before, they should start dumping this stuff on the Koch’s lawn, and see how long it takes them to change their minds about the petcoke (haha, I first typed “petchoke”…really, more accurately describes its affects on the lungs of people).

 

Tweeting…is a threat…?

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I had to watch this video (top) twice because I couldn’t believe what I was seeing–from a distance, it looks like a couple talking…he even has his arm around her like a good friend, and then *boom* he starts to haul her off.  She showed no weapon, was not yelling or otherwise threatening anyone…I was just stunned.

Even more stunning? How everyone else just allowed it to happen.  She had every right to be there and Harper and his goons had no right to interfere with that.

In the second video, she is saying that she wasn’t even tweeting–that she did not have her phone.  So they’re lying on top of taking away her rights?

Tweeting is not a threat.  Freedom of Speech is not a threat.

 

McSchools

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Diane Ravitch has a great blog up today on one family’s monopoly on charters in Minnesota and the resulting segregation.

A great comment by Reteach for America explains just how charters actually give parents less choice…and less power…when it comes to their child’s education:

Charter schools have no civic responsibility.

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Many parents don’t realize this lack of democratic representation or really any say whatsoever in their children’s school is a serious issue until they have a concern about the charter and the charter tells them they are welcome to shop for another school. When they turn to the district for help, they’re often told the same thing. You don’t like McDonalds? Go to Burger King.

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So, imagine that your town no longer has independent restaurants, but only McDonald’s, Burger King, or any other national chain….you dislike the fast food and wish for a home-cooked meal that fits your diet…none of these chains have decent food, so you no longer have a choice.  You either eat the stuff that resembles food, or you stay home.  They don’t care about you, as an individual, but only YOU as a collective group to profit off of…

….this is essentially what charters like the ones in Minnesota are doing.  McSchools.

The right to be let alone

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Warrior Publications has this up on the Munduruku People fighting the centuries old fight against the dark side.  I will never understand someone thinking they can just go and take what they want with no regards to the rights of others.

This article doesn’t mention it, but mercury is also a factor in gold mining.  It was wise of them to protect their land and kick them off.

If you want to know more about the indigenous fight to be let alone, see Joe Kane’s book, Savages.

 

The right to raw milk

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…is also a right to decide what goes into our bodies.  Apparently, Americans aren’t the only ones battling the bureaucrats who won’t allow us to know what food contains GMO’s…but tell us that good, natural raw milk with natural enzymes and natural Vitamin A and D (not synthetic, which is questionable)  that help us digest that milk…is bad for us.  Riiiight.  Somebody please explain this backward thinking…’cause I don’t get it…

More here.

Additionally, the right to decide what goes into our bodies has a far-reaching aspect–the right not to be vaccinated.  It never ceases to amaze me that abortion advocates will call you a nutjob for being anti-vaccine while saying that you have a right to choose to have an abortion…but not have a right to refuse vaccination.  Unreal.

 

Pipeline rupture report of 2009 buried

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Warrior Publications has this up on a report of yet another pipeline rupture that was buried since 2009.  Accidentally, of course…/snark

Nathan Lemphers says “it’s hard to guess intentions” as to why this report was buried….

…yeah, I’m not buying it, either, that it was an “oversight” that the damning report was never to see sunlight.  There are too many incidents of the oil industry interfering with freedom of the press and freedom of speech for it to be unintentional.

Let’s not forget the Arkansas oil spill that we wouldn’t have heard about, if it were up to the mainstream media. Or the massive devastation of the Gulf that BP tried to hide (and unfortunately, did a pretty good job of interfering with photographers and having dead dolphins carted away before they could document them.)

The tide was turned against the Vietnam war through the media…once one sees how devastating it is, it makes it harder to look the other way.

…and so it is with the devastating effects of the energy companies on the environment….hard to look the other way once one sees how devastating it is to the Earth and to the wildlife.

Neil Young’s song and the accompanying video haunt me–it shows in stark contrast how beautiful this Earth truly is until the oil and gas companies move in…

Ed Shultz (MSNBC)  has now two nights in a row yelled into the screen about how we  should be in favor of the XL pipeline for *cough* safety reasons.  Um-hmmm…

You know, I might have believed him if he wasn’t leaving out one important factor of tar sands:  pet coke.  Pet coke being the highly toxic byproduct of tar sands….which they want to dump in my already toxic state…

He is adamant that the “oil is going to come out, anyway” so it might as well be us, because if China or anyone else does it, well, it’s just not going to be as environmentally friendly.

I say let them.  It will be blood on their hands, not ours.

Better yet, leave the oil in the Earth where it belongs.  As the Sierra Club stated, if the XL is not built, then there is high probability that the tar sands will remain in the Earth.

Additionally, I thought it was disingenuous of Ed Shultz not to mention the Mi’kmaq or other First Nations of Canada whom have rights to the lands that are being destroyed.

Not a peep.  That speaks volumes!

And it also speaks to why MSNBC and Ed Shultz are still trying to convince people, almost on a daily basis, that Hillary Clinton is the front runner for the 2016 presidential race.  Hillary Clinton is all for the XL. 

Lastly,  Ed and his backers would still like to downplay how devastating XL would be on the environment.

He says we “have to” have XL in order to turn on our lights…and other scare tactics.

I don’t think we have *even* begun to truly use our brain cells to discover sustainable ways of creating energy.

…and Ed, we can always light a candle instead of cursing the dark…

Putting an “X” on XL and Enbridge Pipelines

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Idle No More has put up  links to several folks speaking out against XL and Enbridge Pipelines:

Honor the Earth:

Rise Up Mother Earth:

Note how they characterize Mother Earth as crying–Earth isn’t a big ball of dirt, but a living, breathing organism.

Here’s a list of nationwide vigils.

The Black Snake will face mounting opposition.

What did Big Oil know and when did they know it.  Jack Gerard, head of the American Petroleum Institute, thought the pipeline was dangerous to the environment…bwahahahahaha *snort*   /just a little joke there, folks

Finally, Democracy Now! featured the XL in a debate with an industry insider and Friends of the Earth:

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/debate_state_dept_moves_keystone_xl

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/environmental_groups_shocked_by_reports_of

And this on Enbridge’s infamous 2010 Kalamazoo spill, with cleanup still not done.

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/2/3/michigan_activists_face_up_to_2