14 May 2010 So much for interstate commerce
Our staunch conservatives tar any ideas of national ID cards for American citizens and legal residents with the dreaded label of European socialism, Nazism, Communism, or some “totalitarian” combination of all the above; as the staunch conservative base often has no real knowledge of what distinguishes one form of government from another. They are, of course, all too willing to take their incorrect information from the Fox News pundits and the other demagogues of the right wing. So therefore, national identification documents are a socialist evil, unless you happen to be visibly Hispanic.
To add idiocy to the mix, several major cities have now decided that they will boycott Arizona events, companies/corporations, and affairs; in a regressive imitation of Medieval politics between city states that will make no difference in cultural attitudes among Arizonans, but which will fan the flames already damaging constructive efforts to solve American immigration problems.
http://us.cnn.com/2010/TRAVEL/05/13/los.angeles.arizona.boycott/index.html?hpt=T2
Los Angeles approves Arizona travel boycott
By Alan Duke, CNN May 13, 2010 12:46 p.m. EDT
CNN) -- The Los Angeles City Council overwhelmingly approved a boycott of Arizona-based businesses and governments Wednesday unless the state repeals a new law giving police the power to question a detainee's immigration status.
Several other California cities, including San Francisco and Oakland, have already adopted resolutions requesting city departments to not sign any new contracts with Arizona companies.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/13/AR2010051304373.html
In Arizona, just say no to Latino heritage
By Eugene Robinson
Friday, May 14, 2010
At least we don't have to pretend anymore. Arizona's passing of that mean-spirited immigration law wasn't about high-minded principle or the need to maintain public order. Apparently, it was all about putting Latinos in their place.
It's hard to reach any other conclusion given the state's latest swipe at Latinos. On Tuesday, Gov. Jan Brewer signed a measure making it illegal for any course in the public schools to "advocate ethnic solidarity." Arizona's top education official, Tom Horne, fought for the new law as a weapon against a program in Tucson that teaches Mexican American students about their history and culture.
Horne claims the Tucson classes teach "ethnic chauvinism." He has complained that young Mexican Americans are falsely being led to believe that they belong to an oppressed minority. The way to dispel that notion, it seems, is to pass oppressive new legislation aimed squarely at Mexican Americans. That'll teach the kids a lesson, all right: We have power. You don't.
I dislike the practice of cities boycotting other cities in this nation. We are supposed to be one, united, populace. We are supposed to be concerned for each other. This immigration problem is driving a huge wedge between non-Latinos and Latinos.
I favor legal immigration. The nation has long benefitted from new ethnic groups being absorbed into the mix. I am adamantly opposed to illegal immigration. I am even more opposed, if possible, to the demands by “immigrants’ rights” groups for open borders, for general amnesty for illegals, and by the practice of “sanctuary” offered illegal aliens by churches and cities. We are not living in the dark ages, ruled by divine right rulers and a “mother church.”
Here’s what I see. Spain lost its colonial hold on Mexico and parts north just as England and France lost their colonies. After Mexico became independent it lost a war for territory with the United States. California and other parts of the continent were later seized and made part of the U.S. Mexico’s oligarchic nature, a holdover from Spanish colonization in league with the Catholic Church laid the groundwork to make Mexico the third world nation it became and remains today. Therefore, opportunities for better paying jobs in the U.S. have fueled a steady stream of illegal aliens ready to work for unscrupulous employers who will hire them in defiance of U.S. immigration and labor laws.
What has evolved in a pool of illegals and legal immigrants, who now want to return the U.S. Southwest to Mexico. They fail to see that such an action would merely make the returned lands as much a third world sink hole as Mexico is today. The problem is not in the U.S.’s possession of the territory but in the very nature of Mexico.
So while I am sympathetic to their desires for a better life, I find their demands for territory exchange, for open borders, for amnesty, and their practice of waving Mexican flags in demand for “immigrants’ right” they have no legal claim to, to be highly objectionable. So do a large percentage of non-Latino Americans.
I’m willing to support a boycott. I’m all in favor of boycotting those cities that have offered “sanctuary “ in opposition to U.S. immigration law. Any church offering “sanctuary” should immediately be stripped of its tax-exempt status. My understanding of medieval history is adequate to remind me that such actions as Los Angeles’ in response to the stupidity of Arizona will damage the fabric of this nation. When I hear “states’ rights” I think of the horrible toll racism took on this nation during and after our Civil War. Now I’m beginning to hear “cities’ rights” bandied about as if these cities are independent states. We really can’t allow such rifts to form and widen. They have to be stopped now, preferably in court instead of in the streets.
Congress needs to do its part as well. We need national ID cards, we need to enforce the immigration laws we have on the books, and we need to avoid any form of amnesty. Mexico needs to take care of Mexicans. We have a hard enough time just taking care of ourselves. It’s only going to become harder.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Thursday, May 13, 2010
13 May 2010 Razing Arizona
13 May 2010 Razing Arizona
The recent immigration legislation signed into law in Arizona is supported by 64-75% of non-Hispanic Americans, depending upon which poll results you choose to accept. 70% of Latinos object to the new law. MSNBC’s most recent poll numbers are linked below.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/05/12/2312319.aspx
Arizona has now passed a law which will essentially prohibit any classroom instruction that is centered on ethnic groups. It will become illegal to have a Mexican history chapter in a textbook, a Black history month in school. This is certain to drive an even larger wedge between white and Latino Arizonans.
I recognize the need to end illegal immigration by Mexicans and others. Our taxes should not, in my opinion, be used to house, feed, medicate, or educate Mexican citizens. There should be no more anchor babies. There should not be open borders into this nation for any ethnic or national group. There should not be any long process to allow illegal immigrants to avoid deportation.
On the other hand, I object to Mexican separatist groups who want to return the S.W. United States to Mexico. We fought that war once. For the record, I also object to Hawaiian and Alaskan secessionist groups, Militia groups that believe they are now the legitimate successors to the U.S. government, and any other group that wants to separate from or re-draw the boundaries of the U.S.A.
I understand the anger these immigration problems create. Arizona is spending the annual revenues of many smaller nations to deal with illegal aliens. That problem should be dealt with by the federal government. Congress refuses to shoulder the burden of immigration reform lest they lose GOP backing for being too liberal or Democratic backing for being too conservative. Amnesty is not acceptable to me and millions of others. Reagan created a horrid mess when he pushed an amnesty through Congress.
The problem must be dealt with rapidly and the solution will satisfy neither political party. However it is reformed, Hispanics will be unhappy with the new laws and with enforcement of those laws. So will non-Hispanic Americans.
One result of any reform is likely to be a national ID card, biometric in nature, for all citizens. The practice of living without ID documents should be over and must be over. The Cold War anti-Communist scare tactics about personal documentation need to be brushed away. We are not the same nation today as we were in 1917. We can’t continue to run our nation and its infrastructures using 1950’s clerical methods. I don’t object to carrying ID. I’ve always done so since beginning work at 14 years of age and applying for a Social Security Card. I also carry state-mandated ID for driving and for firearms possession, hunting, and fishing. I don’t leave home without them. It is not hard, at all, to be certain that I have my ID with me. I don’t feel threatened by the fact that I can be identified or that law officers can and have asked for my ID. Nor should anyone else living here legally feel threatened.
That being said, Arizona is wrong in passing both laws. The second is truly odious.
The recent immigration legislation signed into law in Arizona is supported by 64-75% of non-Hispanic Americans, depending upon which poll results you choose to accept. 70% of Latinos object to the new law. MSNBC’s most recent poll numbers are linked below.
http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2010/05/12/2312319.aspx
Arizona has now passed a law which will essentially prohibit any classroom instruction that is centered on ethnic groups. It will become illegal to have a Mexican history chapter in a textbook, a Black history month in school. This is certain to drive an even larger wedge between white and Latino Arizonans.
I recognize the need to end illegal immigration by Mexicans and others. Our taxes should not, in my opinion, be used to house, feed, medicate, or educate Mexican citizens. There should be no more anchor babies. There should not be open borders into this nation for any ethnic or national group. There should not be any long process to allow illegal immigrants to avoid deportation.
On the other hand, I object to Mexican separatist groups who want to return the S.W. United States to Mexico. We fought that war once. For the record, I also object to Hawaiian and Alaskan secessionist groups, Militia groups that believe they are now the legitimate successors to the U.S. government, and any other group that wants to separate from or re-draw the boundaries of the U.S.A.
I understand the anger these immigration problems create. Arizona is spending the annual revenues of many smaller nations to deal with illegal aliens. That problem should be dealt with by the federal government. Congress refuses to shoulder the burden of immigration reform lest they lose GOP backing for being too liberal or Democratic backing for being too conservative. Amnesty is not acceptable to me and millions of others. Reagan created a horrid mess when he pushed an amnesty through Congress.
The problem must be dealt with rapidly and the solution will satisfy neither political party. However it is reformed, Hispanics will be unhappy with the new laws and with enforcement of those laws. So will non-Hispanic Americans.
One result of any reform is likely to be a national ID card, biometric in nature, for all citizens. The practice of living without ID documents should be over and must be over. The Cold War anti-Communist scare tactics about personal documentation need to be brushed away. We are not the same nation today as we were in 1917. We can’t continue to run our nation and its infrastructures using 1950’s clerical methods. I don’t object to carrying ID. I’ve always done so since beginning work at 14 years of age and applying for a Social Security Card. I also carry state-mandated ID for driving and for firearms possession, hunting, and fishing. I don’t leave home without them. It is not hard, at all, to be certain that I have my ID with me. I don’t feel threatened by the fact that I can be identified or that law officers can and have asked for my ID. Nor should anyone else living here legally feel threatened.
That being said, Arizona is wrong in passing both laws. The second is truly odious.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
12 May 2010 Still looking under their beds at night
12 May 2010 Still looking under their beds at night.
Creeping socialism, Red Scare, Yellow Peril, Fellow Travelers, “Godless, atheistic, Jewish Communists.” These bon mottes and other remnants of the Cold War are constantly being dredged up, in the best J. Edgar Hoover manner, by the GOP, John Birchers, Christian Militias, and others who still look under their beds at night to make certain no Communist is there, placing a mind-control device, to indoctrinate and brain-wash them during the hours of darkness.
Elena Kagan is now going to become rather well reacquainted with these slurs, and others, that will be used in another attempt to tar a well-qualified nominee as a “socialist,” looking to overthrow the Constitution.
The GOP has never been particularly concerned with diversity in political matters. They’ve had no qualms about excluding any minority from the Supreme Court, from representation in Congress, or from any of the other benefits that the Constitution affords to citizens of this nation. WASP rule has been the standard of practice for most of this nation’s life. Catholics have been 2nd class citizens when being considered for the Judiciary, for civic boards, and elected positions until JFK demonstrated that being Catholic in faith did not enslave an American citizen to the Vatican. Then, when the GOP began courting the religious right, using, abortion, homosexuality, and other wedge issues, as bait, the Catholic hierarchy became ensnared by the religious right. Now they share the stage with GOP theocrats – Protestants evangelical fundamentalists who wish to require everyone to behave as they claim we should all behave.
Jews were also excluded from many of the same roles. Despite the Jewish drive to obtain and use education, their excellence in many professional fields of endeavor and their representation in such fields in great excess of their percentage of the American demographic; the GOP has tried to exclude Jews just as they have Catholics, Lutherans, Moslems, and of course, Hindus. We can make the same observations with regard to various ethnic minorities.
Case in point is the current nomination of Elena Kagan. She is an Ivy League educated female of Russian-American parents and is Jewish. There are also persistent rumors that she is a lesbian. Despite the hopes of the GOP, these seem to be unfounded.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37114.html
Kagan if confirmed will become the third Jew on the current SCOTUS bench. The other six members are Catholic, largely a result of the wedge issue politics practiced by the GOP. The evangelicals have suddenly discovered that they will have no presence on the SCOTUS. They have suddenly begun yammering about the need for diversity and the lack of a “fair percentage” in the makeup of the court. This should be very interesting as it plays out.
Kagan is certainly going to be attacked for her academic background, her un-married status, her history as Dean of Harvard Law School. The GOP and Tea Party mobs will want to attack her for her religious background and her writings on socialism. I can hear the voices muttering Commie Jew in any of a dozen planning sessions run by pseudo-conservatives and theocrats. I wonder how long until those words surface.
The religious right’s view on diversity: We’re all for it as long as it means we get to pack the court with WASPs and kick everyone else off.
Creeping socialism, Red Scare, Yellow Peril, Fellow Travelers, “Godless, atheistic, Jewish Communists.” These bon mottes and other remnants of the Cold War are constantly being dredged up, in the best J. Edgar Hoover manner, by the GOP, John Birchers, Christian Militias, and others who still look under their beds at night to make certain no Communist is there, placing a mind-control device, to indoctrinate and brain-wash them during the hours of darkness.
Elena Kagan is now going to become rather well reacquainted with these slurs, and others, that will be used in another attempt to tar a well-qualified nominee as a “socialist,” looking to overthrow the Constitution.
The GOP has never been particularly concerned with diversity in political matters. They’ve had no qualms about excluding any minority from the Supreme Court, from representation in Congress, or from any of the other benefits that the Constitution affords to citizens of this nation. WASP rule has been the standard of practice for most of this nation’s life. Catholics have been 2nd class citizens when being considered for the Judiciary, for civic boards, and elected positions until JFK demonstrated that being Catholic in faith did not enslave an American citizen to the Vatican. Then, when the GOP began courting the religious right, using, abortion, homosexuality, and other wedge issues, as bait, the Catholic hierarchy became ensnared by the religious right. Now they share the stage with GOP theocrats – Protestants evangelical fundamentalists who wish to require everyone to behave as they claim we should all behave.
Jews were also excluded from many of the same roles. Despite the Jewish drive to obtain and use education, their excellence in many professional fields of endeavor and their representation in such fields in great excess of their percentage of the American demographic; the GOP has tried to exclude Jews just as they have Catholics, Lutherans, Moslems, and of course, Hindus. We can make the same observations with regard to various ethnic minorities.
Case in point is the current nomination of Elena Kagan. She is an Ivy League educated female of Russian-American parents and is Jewish. There are also persistent rumors that she is a lesbian. Despite the hopes of the GOP, these seem to be unfounded.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0510/37114.html
Kagan if confirmed will become the third Jew on the current SCOTUS bench. The other six members are Catholic, largely a result of the wedge issue politics practiced by the GOP. The evangelicals have suddenly discovered that they will have no presence on the SCOTUS. They have suddenly begun yammering about the need for diversity and the lack of a “fair percentage” in the makeup of the court. This should be very interesting as it plays out.
Kagan is certainly going to be attacked for her academic background, her un-married status, her history as Dean of Harvard Law School. The GOP and Tea Party mobs will want to attack her for her religious background and her writings on socialism. I can hear the voices muttering Commie Jew in any of a dozen planning sessions run by pseudo-conservatives and theocrats. I wonder how long until those words surface.
The religious right’s view on diversity: We’re all for it as long as it means we get to pack the court with WASPs and kick everyone else off.
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
11 May 2010 How big is your Congress person’s head
11 May 2010 How big is your Congress person’s head
“BP, subcontractors: Spill is the other guy's fault”
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/11/news/companies/BP_hearings/index.htm?hpt=T1
As almost anyone could have predicted, the various companies that may be responsible for the oil spill have begun claiming that the fault lies with each other. And this is possible because of the practice of outsourcing any and everything that is a major problem with United States business practice today. Outsourcing, combined with the removal of almost all oversight and regulation during the Reagan and Bush presidencies allows all the blame to be outsourced along with all the employees. What remains? Corporate executives, corporate attorneys, a few corporations acting as share holders; and one or two secretaries to print out the letters that terminate any employees still producing something with physical properties, so that those jobs can be outsourced as well.
In the mean time, the cost of gasoline has increased so that consumers can get used to paying for the time the various company executives spend worrying about sticking the blame onto someone else, and to compensate them for the hours they will spend denying any lack of guilt to Congress. Congress will admonish them gently for the public’s consumption, pocket the usual corporate contributions, and PR firms will blanket the television airwaves with programming telling us how hard the oil industry is working to stop the leak, clean up the damage, and prevent further blowouts. We’ll be told how many billions BP, Halliburton, and Deepwater Horizon are spending to save the Gulf’s ecosystem. BP and Halliburton will, of course, post record profits this year.
Closer to home, by a few miles, perhaps; the GOP lie factory and political assassination machine are cranking up to discredit current Solicitor General Elena Kagan in an attempt to prevent her being confirmed as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ms. Kagan’s nomination has raised ire among the GOP, the Tea Party mob, and among the Christian right.
Ms. Kagan has never served as a judge despite a lifelong career in jurisprudence. This will be raised against her by a Senator who claimed the “learning curve for Supreme Court Justices is very steep.” Of course, he neglected to mention that so is the learning curve for members of the U.S. Senate. I see no problem for Ms. Kagan.
She will be grilled by GOP Senators in an effort to discover her positions on abortion, same gender marriage, and other wedge issues that she has been wise enough to avoid to this point in time. Her views are her business, not that of the GOP. If she is required to rule on these matters I hope she will find as I would and thus balance the SCOTUS a bit more than it currently is.
She will be attacked for attempting to ban military recruitment at Harvard Law School while serving as Dean of HLS. While I disagree with the ban, I don’t find it discrediting. Her reasoning for the ban was one I can support. Again, wedge issues will be used by the GOP.
In my opinion, the confirmation process has become a confrontation between the GOP and Obama. Congress is required to advise, not given a green light to behave as they have for the last 15 months. If it were up to me, I’d be sending any Senator up for re-election, and every Congressperson home with a pink slip. We should not allow them to establish little satraps for their selves, trading influence and votes for bribes, graft, and re-election funding. I wonder just how many we would need to stop the flow of oil from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. That, of course, would depend upon the diameter of the Congressional crania. I’d be quite content to volunteer Congressman Roe, (R) TN to be used to stop up the leak. I’ve heard him speak enough to know that his head is swollen with self-importance. I also know several nurses at the local VA hospital who would confirm his highly inflated view of his self-worth.
Send your elected Congresspersons and Senators for a Gulf vacation today!
“BP, subcontractors: Spill is the other guy's fault”
http://money.cnn.com/2010/05/11/news/companies/BP_hearings/index.htm?hpt=T1
As almost anyone could have predicted, the various companies that may be responsible for the oil spill have begun claiming that the fault lies with each other. And this is possible because of the practice of outsourcing any and everything that is a major problem with United States business practice today. Outsourcing, combined with the removal of almost all oversight and regulation during the Reagan and Bush presidencies allows all the blame to be outsourced along with all the employees. What remains? Corporate executives, corporate attorneys, a few corporations acting as share holders; and one or two secretaries to print out the letters that terminate any employees still producing something with physical properties, so that those jobs can be outsourced as well.
In the mean time, the cost of gasoline has increased so that consumers can get used to paying for the time the various company executives spend worrying about sticking the blame onto someone else, and to compensate them for the hours they will spend denying any lack of guilt to Congress. Congress will admonish them gently for the public’s consumption, pocket the usual corporate contributions, and PR firms will blanket the television airwaves with programming telling us how hard the oil industry is working to stop the leak, clean up the damage, and prevent further blowouts. We’ll be told how many billions BP, Halliburton, and Deepwater Horizon are spending to save the Gulf’s ecosystem. BP and Halliburton will, of course, post record profits this year.
Closer to home, by a few miles, perhaps; the GOP lie factory and political assassination machine are cranking up to discredit current Solicitor General Elena Kagan in an attempt to prevent her being confirmed as a Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ms. Kagan’s nomination has raised ire among the GOP, the Tea Party mob, and among the Christian right.
Ms. Kagan has never served as a judge despite a lifelong career in jurisprudence. This will be raised against her by a Senator who claimed the “learning curve for Supreme Court Justices is very steep.” Of course, he neglected to mention that so is the learning curve for members of the U.S. Senate. I see no problem for Ms. Kagan.
She will be grilled by GOP Senators in an effort to discover her positions on abortion, same gender marriage, and other wedge issues that she has been wise enough to avoid to this point in time. Her views are her business, not that of the GOP. If she is required to rule on these matters I hope she will find as I would and thus balance the SCOTUS a bit more than it currently is.
She will be attacked for attempting to ban military recruitment at Harvard Law School while serving as Dean of HLS. While I disagree with the ban, I don’t find it discrediting. Her reasoning for the ban was one I can support. Again, wedge issues will be used by the GOP.
In my opinion, the confirmation process has become a confrontation between the GOP and Obama. Congress is required to advise, not given a green light to behave as they have for the last 15 months. If it were up to me, I’d be sending any Senator up for re-election, and every Congressperson home with a pink slip. We should not allow them to establish little satraps for their selves, trading influence and votes for bribes, graft, and re-election funding. I wonder just how many we would need to stop the flow of oil from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico. That, of course, would depend upon the diameter of the Congressional crania. I’d be quite content to volunteer Congressman Roe, (R) TN to be used to stop up the leak. I’ve heard him speak enough to know that his head is swollen with self-importance. I also know several nurses at the local VA hospital who would confirm his highly inflated view of his self-worth.
Send your elected Congresspersons and Senators for a Gulf vacation today!
Monday, May 10, 2010
10 May 2010 To the victor, the spoil
10 May 2010 To the victor, the spoil
The Gulf of Mexico continues to be the recipient of thousands of gallons of crude oil each day. There is no uncertainty remaining about ecological damage except for “how bad is it going to be in the end?” No one is willing to admit that we are facing a disaster of earth-altering magnitude. Food chains will be disrupted, the amount of water evaporated by the sun will be changed, and Oxygen production by marine phyto-plankton will be decreased. Ocean and air temperatures may be impacted by changes in evaporation rates and by changes in the reflectivity and transmissibility of the ocean’s upper layer.
The drilling engineers and oil well specialists are considering pumping trash and detritus into the well in order to plug it up like a water line or a toilet. The pressures involved at the well head on the ocean’s floor and then beneath an additional 13,000 feet of rock are tremendously high and may well prevent such a solution.
If the old USSR were faced with this problem, it is a safe bet that there would be a tactical nuclear device on-site by now, ready to attempt blasting the well shut. And such an attack might just work. The jokes about “green glass” are based upon physical reality at nuclear detonation sites. But such an attack might not work. It might simply blow the well’s structure further open. We don’t know, we can’t say. We don’t want to irradiate the Gulf of Mexico. We don’t want to release a plume of radiological particulates into the Gulf Stream to add to the potential for ecological damage. We don’t want to introduce dirty, long-lived isotopes into the seafood food chain or inadvertently sterilize those species that breed in Gulf waters.
Of course, a small nuclear device might be powerful enough to ignite the oil dispersed in the water column. That would also create a fallout plume that could cause Floridians to glow in the dark. Such an attempt at closing the well might generate enough unwanted and truly bad side effects to make the statement,” This may be the oil industry’s Chernobyl,” all too true.
It is frightening, to say the least, that I’m suggesting that a nuclear device may be needed to end this oil leak. But I’m willing to bet that BP’s experts haven’t had the same thoughts, that the Pentagon is looking at a nuclear option, and that someone has feelers out to some old Cold War planners. I hope I’m wrong.
BTW, there were missiles in Red Square for the Victory Day celebration. Troops from nations who supported the USSR as allies, including the U.S. Army's 2/18th Infantry Regiment marched in the parade for the first time.
The Gulf of Mexico continues to be the recipient of thousands of gallons of crude oil each day. There is no uncertainty remaining about ecological damage except for “how bad is it going to be in the end?” No one is willing to admit that we are facing a disaster of earth-altering magnitude. Food chains will be disrupted, the amount of water evaporated by the sun will be changed, and Oxygen production by marine phyto-plankton will be decreased. Ocean and air temperatures may be impacted by changes in evaporation rates and by changes in the reflectivity and transmissibility of the ocean’s upper layer.
The drilling engineers and oil well specialists are considering pumping trash and detritus into the well in order to plug it up like a water line or a toilet. The pressures involved at the well head on the ocean’s floor and then beneath an additional 13,000 feet of rock are tremendously high and may well prevent such a solution.
If the old USSR were faced with this problem, it is a safe bet that there would be a tactical nuclear device on-site by now, ready to attempt blasting the well shut. And such an attack might just work. The jokes about “green glass” are based upon physical reality at nuclear detonation sites. But such an attack might not work. It might simply blow the well’s structure further open. We don’t know, we can’t say. We don’t want to irradiate the Gulf of Mexico. We don’t want to release a plume of radiological particulates into the Gulf Stream to add to the potential for ecological damage. We don’t want to introduce dirty, long-lived isotopes into the seafood food chain or inadvertently sterilize those species that breed in Gulf waters.
Of course, a small nuclear device might be powerful enough to ignite the oil dispersed in the water column. That would also create a fallout plume that could cause Floridians to glow in the dark. Such an attempt at closing the well might generate enough unwanted and truly bad side effects to make the statement,” This may be the oil industry’s Chernobyl,” all too true.
It is frightening, to say the least, that I’m suggesting that a nuclear device may be needed to end this oil leak. But I’m willing to bet that BP’s experts haven’t had the same thoughts, that the Pentagon is looking at a nuclear option, and that someone has feelers out to some old Cold War planners. I hope I’m wrong.
BTW, there were missiles in Red Square for the Victory Day celebration. Troops from nations who supported the USSR as allies, including the U.S. Army's 2/18th Infantry Regiment marched in the parade for the first time.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
9 May 2010 Fill the freezer while you can
9 May 2010 Fill the freezer while you can
Sea food, when I was growing up in the land-locked Mid West/low prairie/Ozarks, was more an oxymoron than people today can imagine.
The average restaurant, the type most families could afford, offered catfish in some form and fried shrimp. The shrimp were usually served with tartar and cocktail sauce. The catfish was served with lemon and tartar sauce. Both were often fried to the point of being useful to drive nails.
While coastal-dwelling Americans had access to all manner of fresh or frozen seafood, the fish counters in small cities and towns didn’t exist. Aqua-culture had not made its way into the heartland. It was only after I was stationed in Phoenixville PA that I first saw a decent fish market and, at that point, had too little revenue to afford what it sold.
By the time I graduated university I’d been exposed to some decent seafood by eating at Chinese restaurants. It was not until the 80’s that I was fortunate enough to return to the Atlantic coast on business trips that included being taken out to dinner at real seafood restaurants. About the same time “Red Lobster” made its way into the region. People who grew up with access to real fish/seafood markets can’t begin to imagine how much an improvement “Red Lobster” offered to people who wanted better seafood menus.
It looks like we may see a wide-spread reduction in menu variety and quality at fish restaurants. The unchecked oil spill in the Gulf is, quite possibly, going to return us to the menus of m youth; the only seafood we’ll have much of will be farm-raised catfish and farm-raised shrimp. China may continue to export seafood to other nations but the lack of quality control in other Chinese products makes me extremely reluctant to trust any seafood imported from China. We have, in fact, stopped buying any seafood that has been caught or processed by/in China. I don’t know that I can bring myself to trust their quality assurance in any shellfish.
One thing’s for certain, Seafood is going to become a less common item on our table and a rare meal out of the house. Thank, Halliburton.
Sea food, when I was growing up in the land-locked Mid West/low prairie/Ozarks, was more an oxymoron than people today can imagine.
The average restaurant, the type most families could afford, offered catfish in some form and fried shrimp. The shrimp were usually served with tartar and cocktail sauce. The catfish was served with lemon and tartar sauce. Both were often fried to the point of being useful to drive nails.
While coastal-dwelling Americans had access to all manner of fresh or frozen seafood, the fish counters in small cities and towns didn’t exist. Aqua-culture had not made its way into the heartland. It was only after I was stationed in Phoenixville PA that I first saw a decent fish market and, at that point, had too little revenue to afford what it sold.
By the time I graduated university I’d been exposed to some decent seafood by eating at Chinese restaurants. It was not until the 80’s that I was fortunate enough to return to the Atlantic coast on business trips that included being taken out to dinner at real seafood restaurants. About the same time “Red Lobster” made its way into the region. People who grew up with access to real fish/seafood markets can’t begin to imagine how much an improvement “Red Lobster” offered to people who wanted better seafood menus.
It looks like we may see a wide-spread reduction in menu variety and quality at fish restaurants. The unchecked oil spill in the Gulf is, quite possibly, going to return us to the menus of m youth; the only seafood we’ll have much of will be farm-raised catfish and farm-raised shrimp. China may continue to export seafood to other nations but the lack of quality control in other Chinese products makes me extremely reluctant to trust any seafood imported from China. We have, in fact, stopped buying any seafood that has been caught or processed by/in China. I don’t know that I can bring myself to trust their quality assurance in any shellfish.
One thing’s for certain, Seafood is going to become a less common item on our table and a rare meal out of the house. Thank, Halliburton.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
8 May 2010 Break, of sorts
8 May 2010 Break, of sorts
A beautiful day in the mountains, the temperature topped out at 76°F and light breezes kept the bugs down.
The productive portion of the day was spent with a string trimmer and a riding mower. I have new bruises from stones thrown by the trimmer. The riding mower is back in service after copious lubrication on the blade pulley bearings restored their function.
Tonight will be clear and chilly. Dinner is franks and beans.
It’s a good day to take stock of how good life can be. Dog’s in her haven and all’s right…
Shabbat Shalom.
A beautiful day in the mountains, the temperature topped out at 76°F and light breezes kept the bugs down.
The productive portion of the day was spent with a string trimmer and a riding mower. I have new bruises from stones thrown by the trimmer. The riding mower is back in service after copious lubrication on the blade pulley bearings restored their function.
Tonight will be clear and chilly. Dinner is franks and beans.
It’s a good day to take stock of how good life can be. Dog’s in her haven and all’s right…
Shabbat Shalom.
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