tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25825195862783930072024-02-20T03:21:04.249-08:00Welcome to My WorldZenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-82929793248043084522016-11-20T04:43:00.001-08:002016-11-20T04:43:42.060-08:00How long until Trump leaves<a href="https://howlonguntiltrumpleaves.com/#.WDGacyLEYD4.blogger">How long until Trump leaves</a>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-90400835261123073472012-12-15T06:03:00.004-08:002012-12-15T06:03:41.323-08:00Right to Work?My thoughts about Michigan's new "Right to Work" law...<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; line-height: 20px;"><i>"In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as 'right to work'. It is a law to rob us of our civil rights and job rights. Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining by which unions have improved wages and working conditions of everyone ... Wherever these laws have been passed, wages are lower, job opportunities are fewer and there are no civil rights...We demand this fraud be stopped."</i></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; line-height: 20px;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Georgia, Century, Times, serif; line-height: 20px;">~Martin Luther King, Jr.</span>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-23918047683733424682012-11-17T06:15:00.001-08:002012-11-17T07:17:49.757-08:00Post-Election ThoughtsA few things to keep in mind about the obstructionists in Congress.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>They are paid to work for the betterment of all people--not just the billionaires</li>
<li>They are paid to work with the Executive branch to promote the general welfare not to sabotage said branch at the expense of the peoples' well-being</li>
<li>Their oath is to the Constitution of the US, not a <a href="http://www.atr.org/taxpayer-protection-pledge" target="_blank">Norquist </a>pledge</li>
<li>They should not promote succession and government overthrow simply because their party lost the election </li>
</ul>
<div>
Keep in mind that since election night the GOP has been talking about re-defining their party and expanding their base. I think we're about to hear that they love everyone equally--women, Hispanics, LGBT, students, seniors--in other words lying.<br />
<br />
Please, GOP, don't try to sell me the same tired policies wrapped in a shiny new package--find some new policies that offer real solutions for all 3.14 + million living in this country.</div>
Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-52086473559403473042012-10-14T08:26:00.000-07:002012-10-14T08:26:12.990-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/romney-and-ryan-team-rocket.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://weknowmemes.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/romney-and-ryan-team-rocket.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
OK...I'm a big Pokemon fan and this latest meme just made me laugh out loud. Team Rocket, that's right. Read it left to right; in other words one sentence from Romney then one from Ryan and end with Meowth's line. BTW, I know "fore" is wrong, but I'm not the one who did this...go complain to the original site: <a href="http://weknowmemes.com/2012/09/romney-and-ryan-are-team-rocket/">http://weknowmemes.com/2012/09/romney-and-ryan-are-team-rocket/</a>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-6797740736063893812012-07-30T13:00:00.002-07:002012-07-30T13:05:10.650-07:00So, I saw my first "FRACK ON" sign this summer. It's less than a mile away from my home...(I wanted to put up my own "FRACK OFF" sign, but someone beat me to it.) It grates on my nerves to have to see it every day.<br />
<br />
Last week my son asked me how I felt about that sign--he likes to aggravate as much as any teen likes to... but I laughed and said jokingly "If God doesn't think fracking is good for us, He'll take care of that sign."<br />
<br />
To my surprise that night we had some windy weather...the sign blew down...in a few days the sign was back up only to have it completely disappear within two days...still not back up :) <br />
<br />
Does this mean that God agrees with a Liberal tree hugger? Someone should notify the Republicans.Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-48401367025335630222012-07-05T16:06:00.000-07:002012-07-05T16:06:20.971-07:00<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>"A water and methane geyser, bubbling water, and mud volcanoes have Pennsylvania shale-field residents scared and demanding answers. A number of dramatic methane emissions were reported to have begun in Leroy Township, Bradford County on May 19, 2012. Initial reports from residents suggested that there may have been a substantial loss of control of natural gas from one or more of the shale gas wells in the area..."</i></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Read more here: <a href="http://www.cleanair.org/program/outdoor_air_pollution/marcellus_shale/independent_study_finds_significant_fault_line_methane" target="_blank">Independent study finds significant fault line methane leaks</a></span></span>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-2478685021711821762012-07-05T15:52:00.001-07:002012-07-05T15:52:33.775-07:00CATHOLICS FOR OBAMA - BIDEN: Romney Profiting from Abortion<a href="http://catholicsforobama.blogspot.com/2012/07/romney-profiting-from-abortion.html#links">CATHOLICS FOR OBAMA - BIDEN: Romney Profiting from Abortion</a>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-56092755651684882082012-07-04T16:25:00.000-07:002012-07-04T16:25:04.728-07:00Big Bang for the Fourth<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/j50ZssEojtM?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
Now that the God Particle has been found (well technically one that resembles the Higgs boson), science can move onto discovering things like sparticles, the sixth, seventh, eighth, eleventh, even twelfth dimensions or that mysterious stuff that dark matter is made of. Congrats to all you smarter-than-me geeky science people. <br />
<br />Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-44011139673132382632012-05-16T05:08:00.000-07:002012-05-16T05:08:00.112-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/Zss6W3w4P5Q?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
CONNECT THE DOTS</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<br />
<div>
<div>
There are significant health and environmental impacts when examining the full life-cycle of shale gas.</div>
</div>
<ul>
<li>Air pollution comes from the exhaust of generators and compressors (that run 24/7) at shale well sites, from heavy-duty truck traffic and from the venting of wastewater storage tanks.</li>
<li>Shale development results in more emissions of greenhouse gases, smog-inducing compounds and other hazardous air pollutants than conventional oil and gas development.</li>
<li>Increased use of shale gas instead of coal may actually accelerate climate change in the coming decades, not reduce climate change impacts.</li>
<li>Air pollutants found near fracking sites include methanol, formaldehyde, carbon disulfide, and VOCs (including nitrogen oxides, benzene and toluene) are also discharged during fracking</li>
<li>Emissions from well sites form ground-level ozone combine with particulate matter to form smog</li>
<li>In Dish, Texas air samples contained high levels of neurotoxins and carcinogens</li>
<li>In Wyoming, drilling and fracking have caused ground-level ozone pollution to exceed amounts recorded in Los Angeles.</li>
</ul>
Shale gas is not an alternative fuel that can serve as a bridge to a future powered by clean, renewable energy resources, but a path to more environmental degradation.<br />
<br />
References:<br />
<br />
<br />
Food and Water Watch. (2012, March). Fracking: <i>The new global water crisis</i>.<br />
<br />
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. (2011, June). <i>The future of natural gas: An</i><br />
<i>interdisciplinary MIT study.</i><br />
<br />
Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, University of Manchester. ( 2011, January). <i>Shale gas: a provisional assessment of climate change and environmental impacts.</i><br />
<br />
Brown, Stephen P.A. et al. (2009, December). <i>Natural gas: a bridge to a low-carbon future? </i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<br />
United States House of Representatives: Committee on Energy and<br />
Commerce. [Minority Staff Report]. (2011, April). <i>Chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing</i>.<br />
April 2011<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-69635903636630472042012-05-01T06:43:00.003-07:002012-05-03T04:50:00.697-07:00May Day-OWS<span style="color: #783f04;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Think about what people fought for a little over a century ago then ask yourself: Are the "job creators" really creating jobs with their ever-growing tax breaks/loopholes? Or is this mantra just a way to fool the 99% into supporting their agenda? What regulations can we do without; cleaner air, unpolluted water, or protection from unsafe work places? Higher taxes for us so the gap between rich and poor can grow even wider? Does "Trickle Down Economics" really trickle down to the 99% or is it reverting our society to a Middle Age feudal system where the wealthy few have all the say and the rest of us do their bidding? </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Definitely a re-post--not my own words since I didn't take time to research and find info about the original May Day in the US....</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Most people living in the United States know little about the International Workers' Day of May Day. For many others there is an assumption that it is a holiday celebrated in state communist countries like Cuba or the former Soviet Union. Most Americans don't realize that May Day has its origins here in this country and is as "American" as baseball and apple pie, and stemmed from the pre-Christian holiday of Beltane, a celebration of rebirth and fertility.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In the late nineteenth century, the working class was in constant struggle to gain the 8-hour work day. Working conditions were severe and it was quite common to work 10 to 16 hour days in unsafe conditions. Death and injury were commonplace at many work places and inspired such books as Upton Sinclair's The Jungle and Jack London's The Iron Heel. As early as the 1860's, working people agitated to shorten the workday without a cut in pay, but it wasn't until the late 1880's that organized labor was able to garner enough strength to declare the 8-hour workday...</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Read the rest <a href="http://www.iww.org/en/history/library/misc/origins_of_mayday" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="color: #783f04; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.5em;">
<span style="color: #783f04;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">~Eric Chase - 1993.</span><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">
</span></span></div>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-49952131663074754522012-04-28T15:56:00.000-07:002012-04-28T15:57:24.393-07:00When Profs Make Me ThinkOh Prof. Kennedy, I miss your thought-provoking questions......<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>The term "mitigation" is often used for construction
projects. Often, if you disturb 1 acre of habitat, you would have to mitigate
1.4 acres of habitat. Is that fair, can we really restore other land to the
same level as pristine land we are taking?</i></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Uuuhhhhmmmm.....my brain hurts :( but I gave it a shot:</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Some pluses that I see with mitigation would be costs of
environmental damage being internalized by the developer.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Without mitigation, the costs of
environmental</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">damage is externalized and
the government (at least in the US) would be responsible for restoration;
mitigation helps avoid this.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">However,
this is also a way that may encourage further environmental degradation.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">If a highly diverse area is developed and the
requirement is to plant 1.4 acres of trees hundreds of miles away it will not
help the area around the construction site.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">As far as fairness, it can be fair.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">
</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I do see a lot empty buildings on already developed land sitting
idle.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Maybe restoration or retrofitting
older buildings is the answer to the development issue.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">Why build on pristine land when there is
plenty developed then abandoned to fall apart?</span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;">An interesting website that helps people make decisions about
where and how to develop land is the Natural Capital Project (NCP) where Stanford U,
Univ. of Minnesota, the Nature Conservancy, and the World Wildlife Fund joined
together.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">InVest 2.0 (NCP, n.d.) helps communities
to assess the value of an ecosystem, find alternatives, and invest in natural
capital.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">After all, the idea is to find
ways to work with nature, not against it.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
Natural Capital Project. (n.d.). <i>InVest: Integrated valuation of environmental services and tradeoffs</i>. Retrieved from <a href="http://naturalcapitalproject.org/InVEST.html">http://naturalcapitalproject.org/InVEST.html</a>
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-59594679220743499742012-04-28T15:45:00.001-07:002012-04-28T15:45:23.801-07:00Ethics of Sustainability<br />
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i>Discuss
whether or not you agree with Judge Weeramantry’s concept of sustainability.
Does he appear to be using any particular value system? If so, which one(s)?</i></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Judge Weeramantry is arguing for development with the concept
of stewardship for future generations.
He interjects traditional knowledge and cultural respect for the
environment and points out that past civilizations did this in many
instances. He gives several examples
from the past that help him define sustainable development that combines land
use with protecting the environment (Weeramantry, n. d., p. 10).</div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
The Judge's speech touches on our responsibility towards the
stewardship ethic (Radcliffe, 2000, p. 79) where our generation has an
obligation to preserve/conserve natural resources for the next one (or even
more), which I agree with. While there
are many programs to promote stewardship like the Energy Star program, the US
as a whole needs a clearly defined vision, goal, and an action plan that
balances development with its impact on the environment. I think that we have some visions and goals
in place via the clean water and air laws, but lack the cohesiveness needed to
fully implement these throughout the US.
We have forces that attempt to diminish these laws (lobbying) citing
economic peril (job killers) and reduce the laws effect or defund them making
enforcement difficult. </div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
While the economy is important, valuing it above ecosystems
damages the environment and diminishes people's well being. Most certainly, promoting its unending growth
leaves little chance we will be able to hold our responsibility to future
generations. We do not have to believe that "no drop of water should flow
into the sea without first serving the interests of man" (Weeramantry, n.
d., p. 10) to flourish and benefit from what nature has to offer all of us. We only need to learn how to balance our
impact with preservation. After all,
past generations, that had fewer tools and technology, managed their resources
very well and preserved some for the next generation as Weeramantry points
out. Why is it that we have such vast
amount of information/tools at our hands but fail to do the same?</div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
References: </div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Radcliffe, J. (2000). Chapter 4 – The need for an
environmental ethic. In Green Politics. New York, NY: Pelgrave Publishers.
Retrieved from <a href="http://site.ebrary.com/">http://site.ebrary.com/</a> </div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-size: 12pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.375in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
Weeramantry, C. (n. d.). <span style="font-style: italic;">Sustainable
development: An ancient concept revived.
</span><a href="http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/pub/content/956ff924-e558-475d-9593-465270545d68/ENV330.W2.Reading.pdf">http://vizedhtmlcontent.next.ecollege.com/pub/content/956ff924-e558-475d-9593-465270545d68/ENV330.W2.Reading.pdf</a></div>
<br />Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-63432458189723175872012-04-28T15:39:00.003-07:002012-05-03T05:01:15.515-07:00Environmental Justice/Environmental Racism<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Discuss
the relationship between environmental justice and environmental racism. Can
efforts towards environmental justice overcome environmental racism? Why or why
not?</span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Environmental
justice:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">According
to the EPA website (2010, ¶ 5) environmental justice is when:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"<i>...all people enjoy the same degree of protection from
environmental and health </i></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<i><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">hazards and equal access to the decision-making
process to maintain a healthy </span></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>environment in which to live, learn, and
work</i>.". </span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In other
words, no group of people should have to bear a disproportionate burden of
pollution/waste that all people create throughout their lives. In our readings, Cole and Foster (2001)
produced evidence from the United Church of Christ's Commission for Racial
Justice (CRJ) study that finds three out of five (p. 55) of African Americans
and Latinos live in communities with uncontrolled toxic waste sites. Likewise, the Social and Demographic Research
Institute (SDRI) found similar instances where researchers could predict where
a toxic waste site was based on minority populations in an area, i.e. African
Americans and/or Hispanics. Other problems
discovered were the government's unequal enforcement concerning fines and
cleanup. This study showed that even if
a white community had a lower income the fines were higher, cleanup faster, and
faster listing for the EPAs Superfund.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Environmental
racism:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Even
though inequalities exist in these communities, there are some who claim
minorities are exposed to higher toxins because of lifestyle choices, social
status, or the free market. People who
believe these statements to be true are accused of environmental racism. However, vehement opponents to the
environmental justice movement claim that in many instances the results are
unfounded. In fact, Clegg (1998) opposes
government intervention and suggests "free enterprise and personal
responsibility...is what poor people need" (¶ 14) to improve their
condition. He and others like him claim
they are opposed to racism, but are definitely opposed to environmental groups
and government trying to intervene in a more equal distribution of toxic sites
and pollution.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Conclusion:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is
interesting to note that those most opposed to environmental justice laws feel
that regulation and laws stifle the free market and its ability to operate
properly. However, poorer neighborhoods
may need jobs but the only opportunities offered are the chemical industry and
toxic dumps no one else wants in their backyard (NIMBY). Many of these facilities are needed because
of our consumption habits. Without a
societal effort to change consumption habits, these types of facilities will
continue to exist. As the CRJ report
suggests, reduction is a solution to disproportionate environmental impacts
(Cole & Foster, 2001, p. 56), and most likely they are right. As seen above many people oppose government
intervention and blame minorities for their "lifestyle choices". On the other hand, there are laws and
regulations trying to distribute toxic waste sites more equally. However, as long as our society consumes
products that have toxic side-effects at any point from cradle-to-grave we
will have environmental inequalities.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">References:</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Clegg, R.
(1998, November 9). Polluting race relations:
The end of the environmental justice movement. <span style="font-style: italic;">The weekly standard. </span>pp 31-33. Retrieved from Opposing
Viewpoints, hosted by GCPL</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in;">
<span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cole, L.
& Foster, S. (2000, December). From the ground up: Environmental racism & the rise of the
environmental justice movement. Retrieved from <a href="http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/docDetail.action?docID=10032503&ppg=67">http://site.ebrary.com/lib/ashford/docDetail.action?docID=10032503&ppg=67</a></span></div>
<br />Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-77642636445594256522012-04-17T03:26:00.002-07:002012-04-17T03:26:32.122-07:00Fracking OpinionI'm wondering why I kept this in my draft file and didn't post it in December? I must have had a brain burp....<br />
<br />
A <a href="http://www.texassharon.com/feed/" target="_blank">blogger</a> from Texas who is opposed to unsafe hydrofracking, like I am, first posted this article, <em>Hydrofracking Sure to Contaminate Water </em><a href="http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20111213/OPINION02/712139975" target="_blank">found here</a>. <br />
<br />
The first commenter below this article points out that a NYCDEC is a "generic position" and claims he "once knew an environmental engineering technician" which apparently makes him an expert on Mr. Hetzler's job (which he equates with "one step above a general laborer...[and]...not qualified" to have an opinion/knowledge about fracking.) In all fairness, there are probably hundreds of employees with this sort of position, but he fails to mention <em>his</em> educational background or authority to determine Hetzler's expertise in the field. <br />
<br />
When anyone starts with "I once knew a person who did <insert job here>" has a very weak beginning to an argument and I tend to dismiss what they have to say unless there is more to the assertion. In a previous post, I have included links to the EPA and their preliminary findings about hydrofracking in WY, which I find more reliable than someone who knows someone else who did something....<br />
<br />
<strong>ARTICLE:</strong><br />
<br />
As an environmental engineering technician with NYSDEC Region 5, I managed scores of groundwater remediation projects in the 1990s. I’ve reviewed countless hydrogeologic reports and seen thousands of lab results from contaminated wells. I’m familiar with the fate and transport of contaminants in fractured media, and let me be clear: <br />
<br />
Hydraulic fracturing as it’s practiced today will contaminate our aquifers. Not might contaminate our aquifers. <br />
<br />
Hydraulic fracturing will contaminate New York’s aquifers. If you were looking for a way to poison the drinking water supply, here in the Northeast you couldn’t find a more chillingly effective and thorough method of doing so than with hydraulic fracturing. My experience investigating and remediating contaminated groundwater taught me some lessons. There’s no such thing as a perfect well seal. Occasionally sooner, often later, well seals can and do fail, period. <br />
<br />
No confining layer is completely competent; all geologic strata leak to some extent. The fact that a less-transmissive layer lies between the drill zone and a well does not protect the well from contamination. <br />
<br />
A drinking water well is never in “solid” rock. If it were, it would be a dry hole in the ground. As water moves through joints, fissures and bedding planes into a well, so do contaminants. In fractured media such as shale, water follows preferential pathways, moving fast and far, miles per week in some cases. <br />
<br />
In the absence of oxygen (such as under the ground), organic compounds break down infinitesimally slowly. Chemicals injected into the aquifer will persist for many lifetimes. <br />
<br />
When contamination occurs—and it will occur— we will all pay for it, regardless of where we live. Proving responsibility for groundwater contamination is difficult, costly and time-consuming, and while corporate lawyers drag out proceedings for years, everyone’s taxes will pay for the subsurface investigations, the whole-house filtration systems, the unending lab analyses. <br />
<br />
I’d love to see hundreds more jobs created. But not if it means hundreds of thousands using well water will be at a high risk of contamination. Not if it means every New Yorker will be on the hook for the cost for cleanup and for creating alternate water supplies. If your well goes bad, neither you, nor your children, nor their children will ever be able to get safe, clean water back. That’s too high a price. <br />
<br />
Drill for gas, absolutely, but develop safe technologies first. <br />
<br />
Paul Hetzler <br />
CantonZenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-44929466314770651792012-04-16T17:19:00.000-07:002012-04-16T17:19:47.652-07:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sister Rosetta Tharpe always makes me smile...</div>
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<br />Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-83252169167819078742012-04-16T14:09:00.001-07:002012-04-16T14:09:56.018-07:00Is it hot out there or is it just me?I promised myself that I would note when our seasonal birds and other critters show up in NE Ohio for this 2012 Spring. Before that thought had time to leave my head, the warmer-than-usual winter petered out the first week in March. Wow. I kept waiting for our big March/April snowstorm that we usually get after a warm-up, but it didn't happen. (By the time it did storm the air and ground were so warm hardly any stuck to the ground and most of it fell as rain.) Usually about mid-March the Robins show up, then later the Red-Wing black birds follow, and in the middle of this the spring Peeps start their nightly chorus while my hyacinths, tulips, and other early plants start sprouting.<br />
<br />
First, the hyacinths, tulips, irises, and rhubarb have been sprouting since mid-December. Yes, that's right, in NE Ohio these plants were growing. However, it wasn't a huge growth spurt since we did have below freezing nights. We didn't have the usual layer of snow to insulate/protect the plants from the freeze/thaw cycles either which worried me a bit. In fact, we've only reached 40% or our usual snowfall for 2011-2012 season. Yes, I know, a <em>weak </em>la Nina formed in the fall (2011) and that has contributed to our warmer-than-usual winter but still, I haven't seen a winter like this in 15 years with tons of snow before and after that year. Maybe the accelerated climate change has kicked in like the climatologist suggest? As NPR reports, March 2012s claim to fame is 7,700 daily temperature records broken across the US, while the 2011/2012 winter is the 4th warmest on record. Not to mention the earlier than usual forest fires Thom Hartmann mentioned the other day on his radio show and plenty of other climate change indicators that weren't supposed to show up until 2025 or later.<br />
<br />
Back to the birds and other critters. This year I heard my first Red-Wing black bird on March 2, 2012. I thought I was imagining it, but soon found out they were back. By the 10th the Robbins were bobbing around snagging worms and such--note that the RW black birds came back first. The night before the RW black birds showed up, the peeps started their nightly chorus (almost deafening in my neck of the woods). Most unusual, the Blue birds showed up the 3rd week of March when they usually aren't around until May when the Hummingbirds appear. Speaking of which, I thought I saw a Hummingbird yesterday April 15th. I'll have to keep an eye out to make sure, though. Usually they fly right up to my face to let me know they're back and I should put out the feeders. Don't worry, I only use organic sugar with no red dyes. BTW, the Clematis is already 18" high and the chives are flowering, but how relevant is that since I can't remember the 2 springs before with these plants (thanks to AUs accelerated classes for 2 years straight :)? <br />
<br />
All these early birds make me wonder if there is some seasonal plant/insect that doesn't show up early if it is warm, but goes by the length of days, will leave some hungry. On the up side, the maple syrup producers did well as my cousin told me. I thought that the warmer weather would slow the sap flow, but silly me, they just started a little earlier this year. To top it off, the freezing nights with warmer days really got the sap flowing. I'll have to drive over some afternoon and pick up a 2nd or 3rd tap. Love that darker stuff--the later it's tapped the better for me--great that I have relatives who make maple syrup, too. <br />
<br />
Off to batten down the hatches with our crazy, wild wind blowing everything around.Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-32825069978140712662012-01-30T11:45:00.000-08:002012-01-30T11:45:04.916-08:00FlowbackFlowback is the wastewater produced by each and every fracking well all over the US (and other countries as well). Fracking for natural gas is popping up all over the country, but the Marcellus shale drilling is of a particular concern for me because it's nearby, affects my drinking water, structural safety of my home and surrounding infrastructure, and what I've read about the most. <br />
<br />
These frack well sites can use an estimated 2-9 million gallons of fluid (mostly water) per well head is needed for one horizontal drill and 10-20 wellheads are found on each, taking about 5 acres of land per drill pad. Frack fluid is injected into a well and roughly 1/2 of the flowback returns to the surface with the extracted natural gas/oil. <br />
<br />
The Marcellus Shale is known to contain natural gas and oil, but also "toxic metals, salts, and radionuclides" (<a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es903811p" target="_blank">Kargbo, Wilhelm, & Campbell, 2010</a>) which are remnants from the Devonian age trapped in this geological formation. <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es903811p" target="_blank">Kargbo, Wilhelm, & Campbell (2010)</a> go on to say that "...Devonian-age shales contain naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM), such as uranium (U)and thorium (Th) and their daughter products, 226Ra and 228Ra". <br />
<br />
In the Marcellus Shale area, there are not many injection wells available to dispose of the frack fluid (because of sub-surface instability from what, I'm not sure but can assume it has something to do with intensive natural gas/oil/coal extraction), so we rely heavily on wastewater treatment facilities which poses a bigger challenge to this area on how to keep these hazardous materials out of drinking water. Needless to say, the industry is racing head-long into the unknown--aka ignoring and/or investing in sound science and research to prevent long-term pollution and expensive clean-up/remediation costs of fresh water drinking sources (costs which will be placed squarely on the shoulders of the tax payers through future Superfund sites requiring clean-up). <br />
<br />
Since there is no way with modern technology to bring <em>only</em> the natural gas/oil to the surface, the NORM, toxic metals and salts are brought to the surface in the flowback, too, along with the industry's secret cancer-causing additives to make the natural gas/oil flow out of the shale easier. The flowback is transported to wastewater treatment facilities then expelled into surface streams, rivers, and watersheds where toxins can migrate into wells and aquifers. This introduces technologically enhanced NORM (TENORM) into the surface environment. In other words, the industry is taking NORM and other harmful stuff that was sequestered underground (several hundred million years ago) during/after the Devonian age and bringing it back to the surface environment to contaminate fresh water systems that the general population and wildlife need to survive. <br />
<br />
By the EPAs own <a href="http://www.epa.gov/hydraulicfracture/#wastewater" target="_blank">admission</a>, "many [wastewater treatment facilities] are not properly equipped to treat this type of wastewater", but the EPA plans to have a "proposed rule" in place by 2014 to ensure drinking water safety. The EPA is also "evaluating industrial practices" of the design, operation, maintenance, and closure of holding pits and ponds that hold the flowback before it is transported to a wastewater facility and/or reused for fracking. <br />
<br />
Until I researched flowback, I wasn't aware that any company reused frack fluid although reuse is dependant on "<a href="http://www.epa.gov/hydraulicfracture/" target="_blank">levels of pollutants</a>" and the proximity to a well that could reuse this fluid. I would hope the industry would consider to use it on the other 9 to 19 wellheads on the same 5-acre pad as many times as they can so we can save a little water for minor uses like drinking and/or bathing :) Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-72084226864279095152012-01-23T16:30:00.000-08:002012-04-16T17:29:13.914-07:00The Green DragonToday is the Chinese New Year, so in my unusual way I'd like to celebrate with a post to raise awareness about the terrifying Environmental Movement that is taking the world by storm. It is called the "Green Dragon" and is a danger to the world! Take heed of my words! Green dragons are the bane of human existence who spread death and destruction across the globe in their quest of all that is green. They plunder the poor in their march towards clean air, fresh water, and their pursuit towards equitable and fair lives for all people of the Earth. Beware! The information shared is not for the faint of heart who fear all things green--much like Cloe my kitty--see Ms. Kitty catches a bird!!!:)<br />
<br />
Resisting the <a href="http://www.resistingthegreendragon.com/" target="_blank">Green Dragon</a> is a 12-disc DVD collection for the low price of $49.99 designed to educate me about the Environmental Movement. I'm told the Environmental Movement is "[w]ithout a doubt one of the greatest threats to society and the church today". Whoa! I'm confused I thought it was President Obama and the Democrats--thank goodness they offer a 12 minute preview that explains this new threat. Just enter your password RESIST to view it <a href="http://vimeo.com/15849648" target="_blank">here</a>. The preview was enough to scare the you-know-what out of me (could it be Satan?). This short video explains that the Environmental Movement, headed by their god the Green Dragon, has become a "new religion" with its "twisted view" of nature that places--God forbid--humans on equal ground with nature. The Green Dragon suggests that in order to have healthy people nature must be healthy, too. Where will the madness end? Our faith tells us we have a God-given right to dominate the earth and burn fossil fuels! We should continue spending $600 billion a year buying overseas oil and leave our country in the hands of Big Oil in order to celebrate the glory of God. It's His plan for us, don't you see? We don't need CO2 levels below 350 ppm--after all 10% of what we exhale is CO2 and the trees need it! How dare they tell us that breathing kills nature. What nonsense. We don't need those pesky mountain tops blocking our view of the ocean and land. We should have an uncluttered view of God's plan for us--level those mountains, take the coal and build a sterile parking lot at the flattened top of those mountains as a monument of our superiority and dominance over nature. We need a clear and unadulterated view of our deep sea drilling platforms and fracking wells that we have erected to show Him our awe and respect for all that He has provided. We don't need clean air, oceans, or anything green because the earth is not fragile but a globe full of goodies just waiting for us to exploit, plunder, and pollute. Best of all it will bounce back and continue to provide us with more! It was created for us to care for in anyway we see fit. We must resist logic, facts and reality in order to conform to the teachings of the Holy Trinity: King Coal, Oil, and Natural Gas. God is not nature and we should not entertain thoughts of religious communion with it for any reason. We must remain separate from this world and not allow any thoughts about how our dominance has destroyed nature or its natural balance. This sort of critical thinking leads to our rights being taken away by the guv-ment, economic destruction, and forces us think about starving children in "third world" countries. Worse of all, if we listen to the Green Dragon we'll come together as one to protect our biosphere and work together to solve the biggest crisis that we face today. God wouldn't want any of us to worry about these minuscule problems, but about how we can plod through life with our blinders on ignoring the world and people around us. <br />
<br />
Now, let us pray and bow our heads to thank Big Oil, the Almighty Dollar, and the Prince of Wars for Oil for He shall provide us with all our needs. <br />
<br />
Amen. Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-86916781256395185082011-12-31T13:37:00.001-08:002011-12-31T13:37:22.392-08:00New YearI'm on the verge of a new year and still not motivated to anything....especially blog.Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-276315496885868432011-12-16T04:06:00.000-08:002011-12-16T04:06:57.253-08:00What Is Christmas?<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This Sojourner's blog puts Christmas and the state of the world into perspective. I've posted most of the article, but the whole article can be read </span><a href="http://sojo.net/blogs/2011/12/15/real-war-christmas-fox-news" target="_blank"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">here</span></a><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">. It's titled <em>The Real War on Christmas...By FOX News</em>, posted 12/15/2011 by Jim Wallis.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">What is Christmas? It is the celebration of the Incarnation, God’s becoming flesh — human — and entering into history in the form of a vulnerable baby born to a poor, teenage mother in a dirty animal stall. Simply amazing. That <span style="background-color: yellow;">Mary was homeless at the time,a member of a people oppressed by the imperial power of an occupied country whose local political leader, Herod, was so threatened by the baby’s birth that he killed countless children in a vain attempt to destroy the Christ child</span>, all adds compelling historical and political context to the Advent season.</span></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">The theological claim that sets Christianity apart from any other faith tradition is the Incarnation. God has come into the world to save us. God became like us to bring us back to God and show us what it means to be truly human.<br /><br />That is the meaning of the Incarnation. That is the reason for the season.<br />In Jesus Christ, God hits the streets.</span></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">It is theologically and spiritually significant that the Incarnation came to our poorest streets. That Jesus was born poor, later announces his mission at Nazareth as “bringing good news to the poor,” and finally tells us that how we treat “the least of these” is his measure of how we treat him and how he will judge us as the Son of God, radically defines the social context and meaning of the Incarnation of God in Christ. And it clearly reveals the real meaning of Christmas.<br /><br />The other explicit message of the Incarnation is that Jesus the Christ’s arrival will mean “peace on earth, good will toward men.” He is “the mighty God, the everlasting Father, and the Prince of Peace.” Jesus later calls on his disciples to turn the other cheek, practice humility, walk the extra mile, put away their swords, love their neighbors — and even their enemies — and says that in his kingdom, it is the peacemakers who will be called the children of God. Christ will end our warring ways, bringing reconciliation to God and to one another.<br /><br />None of that has anything to do with the Fox News Christmas. In fact, quite the opposite.</span></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">Making sure that shopping malls and stores greet their customers with “Merry Christmas” is entirely irrelevant to the meaning of the Incarnation. In reality it is the consumer frenzy of Christmas shopping that is the real affront and threat to the season.<br /><br />Last year, Americans spent $450 billion on Christmas. <span style="background-color: yellow;">Clean water for the whole world, including every poor person on the planet, would cost about $20 billion</span>. Let’s just call that what it is: A material blasphemy of the Christmas season.<br /><br />Imagine Jesus walking into the mall, seeing the Merry Christmas signs, and expressing his humble thanks for how the pre- and post-Christmas sales are honoring to him. How about credit cards for Christ?<br /><br />While we’re at it, here’s another point of clarification: The arrival of the Christ child has nothing to do with trees or what we call them.<br /><br />Evergreens and wreaths, holly and ivy, and even mistletoe turn out to be customs borrowed from ancient Roman and Germanic winter solstice celebrations, assimilated and co-opted by the church after Constantine made peace between his empire and the Christians.</span></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;">I have no problem with the public viewing of symbols from all of the world’s religions at appropriate times in their religious calendars (which can actually be educational for all of our children) and believe that doing so is consistent with our democratic and cultural pluralism.<br /><br />But I don’t believe that respectfully and publicly honoring those many religious symbols has changed many lives, for better or for worse. Much more important than symbols and symbolism is how we live the faith that we espouse. And here is where Fox News’s war on Christmas is most patently unjust.<br /><br />The real Christmas announces the birth of Jesus to a world of poverty, pain, and sin, and offers the hope of salvation and justice.</span></span></em></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em><span style="color: #990000;">The Fox News Christmas heralds the steady promotion of consumerism, the defense of wealth and power, the adulation of money and markets, and the regular belittling or attacking of efforts to overcome poverty.<br /><br />The real Christmas offers the joyful promise of peace and the hope of reconciliation with God and between humankind.<br /><br />The Fox News Christmas proffers the constant drumbeat of war, the reliance on military solutions to every conflict, the demonizing of our enemies, and the gospel of American dominance.<br /><br />The real Christmas lifts up the Virgin Mary’s song of praise for her baby boy: “He has brought the mighty down from their thrones, and lifted the lowly, he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich empty away.”<br /><br />The Fox News Christmas would label Mary’s Magnificat as “class warfare.”<br /><br />So if there is a war on Christmas it's the one being waged by Fox News.</span></em></span></span></span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #990000;"></span></span></span><br />
<strong><i><span style="font-family: "Verdana", "sans-serif"; font-size: 8pt;">Jim Wallis~12/15/2011</span></i></strong><br />
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<br /></div>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-82233491758119329332011-12-08T13:46:00.001-08:002011-12-08T14:09:39.346-08:00FrackingIn 2008 a small town in WY requested that the EPA investigate "water quality concerns in private drinking water wells" that are associated with hydraulic fracturing.
The EPA found "synthetic chemicals, like glycols and alcohols consistent with gas production and hydraulic fracturing fluids, benzene concentrations well above Safe Drinking Water Act standards and high methane levels. There is a preliminary report on the EPA website of their findings" The article can be found here: <a href="http://ecowatch.org/2011/fracking-compounds-found-in-drinking-water/"></a>.
There is a preliminary report on the EPA website here (this is 15mb pdf download): http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/wy/pavillion/EPA_ReportOnPavillion_Dec-8-2011.pdf
EPA also has the site description here: http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/wy/pavillion/index.html
and a news release here: http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/ef35bd26a80d6ce3852579600065c94e?OpenDocument
They are very careful to say that production conditions are different in this town than in other parts of the country. Also, that the chemicals are "generally" below established health and safety standards.
EPA has begun a national study on the potential impacts of hydraulic fracturing on drinking water resources. I wonder what their conclusion will be?
Opinions?Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-42561481985123908922011-08-16T08:16:00.000-07:002011-08-16T08:16:23.935-07:00English Paper<span style="color: #783f04;">For those of you who don't fear the Turnitin Police, here's a 100% paper. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;">I'm a strong believer in The Commons: My work is here for you to benefit from and build on.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Edie’s Journey</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">“How I Met My Husband” by Alice Munro, is a short story about a young girl named Edie who works for the Peebles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The theme of her narrative is the coming of age of Edie, the protagonist in this story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Munro develops Edie’s character as she passes from innocent naiveté into adulthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Munro uses various symbols that guide and shape Edie’s perspective through an ironic twist of events involving a letter that never arrives.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Her believable story is told through first person point of view as an adult looking back on her life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie’s antagonist is not a person, but rather her own inner struggle as she strives to reach adulthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During her struggle from a naïve teen into adulthood, she observes and interacts with other characters in the story.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though there is not a major human antagonist in this story, several people influence Edie and her struggle to discover herself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These people do not aid her in conventional methods like advice, but by their actions, conduct, and Munro’s use of symbolism with each.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">The first person Munro introduces to the reader that aids Edie in her journey is Mrs. Peebles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is a kind employer, but feels as if she is “tied down” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 24) with her country life and two children.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie and her family find this amusing (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 25) since Mrs. Peebles has many modern conveniences that they do not own including running water, an automatic washer and dryer, a double sink, and a modern bathroom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie describes the irony of Mrs. Peebles’ feelings compared to her mother’s workload.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She points out the difference between washing clothes at home where it is a “struggle with the wringer and hang up and haul down” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 25) and concludes it is difficult to remember now that she has these modern conveniences (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 25) in her adult life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In this way, she excuses Mrs. Peebles’ perspective by comparing it to the way she lives now. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Mrs. Peebles has many nice things that Edie may want when she finds her husband; however, the one item Munro uses to symbolize Edie’s inner struggle towards adulthood is Mrs. Peebles’ dress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie discovers dresses in Mrs. Peebles closet that are pushed to the back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She expresses her disappointment that there is no wedding dress (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 30), but tries on a beautiful satin dress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mrs. Peebles dress represents two things.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, it shows Edie’s innocence and her desire to play dress-up. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The second thing it symbolizes is her desire to try on Mrs. Peebles’ life to see if it suits her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After she puts on the dress, “one thing led to another” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 31) and she loses herself in the moment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is trying on the image of a well-off lady, but finds herself in an embarrassing situation with Chris Watters—something a lady of a higher social class may not find herself entangled in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This experience also leads her to conclude that she has crossed an unspoken line when she states that employers “...like to think you aren’t curious” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 51) about anything but their wants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She enjoys trying on the dress, but also regrets that someone else found out her secret.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Loretta Bird, another character Munro introduces, is a woman that Edie does not want to become.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is nosy, judgmental, and at times rude.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When she is alone with Edie she comments about Mrs. Peebles’ naps and how “[s]he wouldn’t find time to lay down in the middle of the day, if she had seven kids like I got” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 22).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This statement is both ironic and judgmental at the same time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She judges Mrs. Peebles by claiming she (Mrs. Bird) does not have time to take a nap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is also ironic because Mrs. Bird has plenty of time to sit and gossip with Edie.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She is also too curious about the Peebles’ personal life when she asks whether the Peebles fight or use birth control (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 23).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She asserts that using birth control is a “sin” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 23) passing another judgment on Mrs. Peebles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">There are ways Munro depicts Mrs. Bird’s rudeness, but the lawn chair represents how she insults Edie personally.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Edie returns from the kitchen with ice tea, she finds Mrs. Bird “had settled in [her] lawn chair” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 101).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Alice Kelling was invited to sit and wait with the family (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 96), not Mrs. Bird.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Bird takes it upon herself to sit in Edie’s empty chair leaving her on the steps (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 101) separate from the other adults.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As Edie observes Mrs. Bird’s behavior, she sees someone she does not want to become.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">With Chris Watters, Munro uses visual symbols as well as personal interaction to nudge Edie into adulthood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When Watters first appears in Edie’s life, he is flying a flashy red and silver plane (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 1) to the abandoned fairgrounds across the street from the Peebles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>According to Clugston (2010), the color red symbolizes passion and danger (sec. 7.2, table 7.1) the two things Edie encounters when she meets him in person.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The danger she experiences is when Watters catches her playing dress-up in Mrs. Peebles’ clothes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie fears he will tell her secret and her job will be in jeopardy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also experiences passion when Watters compliments her beauty and kisses her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>During their first two encounters, she is unable to respond to his compliments with anything other than embarrassment (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 45) and nervousness showing her inexperience with men.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie wants to gain experience by kissing him, but she is still too naïve to understand where the kissing might lead.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Watters, on the other hand, realizes what could happen and takes the initiative to stop them from going further.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Watters’ plane also symbolizes the how easy it is for him to enter and leave Edie’s life, something she realizes later.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The plane suggests that he has flown into Edie’s life to bring some excitement, but it also represents his inability to settle down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In fact, Watters admits this while talking to Mrs. Peebles.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He tells her “he couldn’t settle down to an ordinary life, [and] this is what he liked” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 86). <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie is too naïve at this point in the story to realize Watters is only making promises he will never keep including the letter he will never send.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Later in the story, Edie sits by the mailbox every day as summer winds down waiting for the promised letter from Watters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Munro uses the imagery of goldenrod and children returning to school (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 199) to show the physical changes in the seasons from summer to fall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As the Earth changes, so does Edie’s hopes of receiving a letter from Watters, and in fact thinks, “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">No letter was ever going to come.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></i>(Clugston, 2010, ¶ 199) one day when the letter failed to arrive.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She realizes “there were women all through life waiting, and women busy and not waiting” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 200) and “knew which one [she] had to be” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 200).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is in this moment that Edie takes a leap towards a mature adult and meets her husband.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">As the reader finds out at the end of this story, Edie ironically meets her future husband, the mailman, while waiting for a letter from Watters.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Munro suggests through this part of the narrative that the mailman is far more dependable than Watters will ever be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Edie claims the “mail came every day except Sunday, between one-thirty and two” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 198) showing how dependable he is.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He also enjoys seeing her and tells her “You’ve got the smile I’ve been waiting for all day!”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Clugston, 2010, ¶ 198) showing his obvious interest in her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Although Edie does not realize until he calls and asks her out that he is interested in her, she ends up marrying him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She also lets him tell the story of how she chased him because “it makes [him] happy” (Clugston, 2010, ¶ 202).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This final line shows how Edie grew from a naïve young girl into a mature and caring woman by letting her husband think she was waiting for him—not a letter from another man.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Alice Munro shares a story of how Edie, a young hired girl, finds a husband.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In her journey from child to adult, several people help her along the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these people she tries to emulate like Mrs. Peebles when she tries on the satin gown.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Others, like Mrs. Bird, are not the type of person wants to be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One man, Chris Watters, helps Edie gain experience with situations that are more intimate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His empty promise to send her a letter keeps her waiting by the mailbox for many weeks.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After weeks of waiting for a letter, Edie has a sudden moment of self-awareness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This is the moment she decides what type of woman she wants to be, but she also opens herself to another possibility—finding her future husband.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #783f04;">Reference</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 200%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;"><span style="color: #783f04;">Clugston, R. W. (2010). <i>Journey into literature</i>. San Diego, California: Bridgepoint<span style="mso-tab-count: 2;"> </span>Education, Inc. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/books</span></span>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-21490522129786267952011-07-29T14:07:00.000-07:002011-07-29T14:08:12.790-07:00Lunch With IdiotsMy story begins last week when the fridge at work went kaput in the public kitchenette. The boss decided to replace that one with the working fridge in the staff room. OK, not a problem...until....<br />
One very nice lady was put in charge of cleaning out the staff fridge to make room for our shiny new one. My lunch (with my name on it) almost ended up in the trash, but was saved by my super. However, my cheese chunk wasn't saved. Now I have pita crackers, but no cheese. This was easily remedied by a trip to the store to replace the tossed cheese chunk with fresh. Today I decided to have some fresh fruit, pita crackers, and cheese for lunch. I set my spot at the table nicely with crackers, cheese, sliced fruit, water, and my book. I got up to place my knife in the dishwasher, turned around, and saw a staff member eating my pita crackers! Hello, didn't you notice ALL of my stuff sitting there? Then she started to complain about "how salty" the crackers were, said "I don't eat salt, so that's what it tastes like", and "where did these come from?" I sat down in my chair and picked up a piece of fruit FROM THE SAME PLATE and picked up my book. I told her I had bought those to go with my cheese and fruit. They were called "pita chips with sea salt". She then picked up another one made a face, ate it and complained some more. Whoa...didn't I just say I bought those to go with my cheese???? I'm sitting here with my lunch and you're eating it! She didn't even notice I had sat down in that spot WITH THE PLATE IN FRONT OF ME everything nicely sliced and arranged for me to enjoy. She walked over to the "communal counter" where everyone leaves snacks to share, grabs a handful of Doritos eats one and says "that's better" and walks out of the break room. What the HELL....Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-70495094367007747212011-05-30T15:25:00.000-07:002011-05-30T15:25:36.027-07:00Ms. Kitty Plays TagMy story begins with a promise to the girls to let them outside while I was weeding yesterday. True to my word, I let them out while I was pruning shrubs and pulling weeds. They were content to roll around on the sidewalk and sniff the clippings from the shrubs. However, Cloe decided she was hot (she's covered in black fur and it was 80++ degrees) and found a cool spot under a shrub with a good view of the birds overhead. What more could a cat ask for? <br />
Ms. Kitty had other plans for her outdoor time. Ms. Kitty, the adventure seeker she is, found something new in the flowerbed. A few years ago, a small garter snake made its home there. Ms. Kitty wanted to introduce herself and possibly make friends. Who better to make friends with than Gertie the snake? Gertie, however, wasn’t feeling neighborly and tried to escape from Ms. Kitty. Ms. Kitty would have no part of this and insisted that Gertie come out and play. She flushed her out of hiding and followed her as she slithered under Cloe's resting place. Poor Cloe, nothing's worse than dozing in the shade then finding a snake slithering over your paw. She shot from beneath the shrub with all of her hair standing on end. Gertie was hot on her heels trying to escape. Or were they playing tag? Ms. Kitty couldn’t decide and tagged them both. Both Gertie and Cloe hit back. Ms. Kitty thought this was great fun because she managed to attract Cloe's attention, make her fur poke out all funny, and have a game of tag all at once. This would be a wonderful day for Ms. Kitty. <br />
Unfortunately, it was not for Gertie or Cloe. Poor Gertie had now attracted the attention of not one, but two cats. The first wanted to play tag and the second wanted revenge for disturbing her nap. No matter which way Gertie turned there was a furry beast blocking her path. She curled up in her defensive position ready for the attack. Ms. Kitty made the first move and was rewarded with a nip on her nose. This only made Cloe's hair stand up more (she had a squirrel tail now!) Cloe circled around the two taking it all in and absent-mindedly walked into the grass (see Ms. Kitty Catches a Bird to understand what an important piece of information this is.). I calmly looked on to see how far she would go before she noticed. She didn't. Apparently, there is a difference between freshly weed-eated terrifying grass and regular terrifying grass. As soon as she crossed the line into the regular terrifying grass, her hair poked out even more (if that’s possible) and she darted to the safety of the driveway glaring at Ms. Kitty. She knew this was all Ms. Kitty’s fault.<br />
When Gertie glanced in my direction, I could see the look in her eyes. We had an agreement and I had broken it. She was welcomed into the flowerbed in turn for keeping mice and other creepy crawlies out. My end of the bargain was to leave her in peace to sun herself on the rocks and hibernate under her favorite shrub. I immediately picked both cats up and apologized to Gertie for my blunder. Today, she is happily sunning herself on her favorite rock. I let the girls have outdoor time by the patio. Gertie deserves a rest.Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2582519586278393007.post-28292357224634891092011-05-27T13:20:00.000-07:002011-05-27T13:20:24.413-07:00MS. KITTY CAUGHT A BIRD!!!!!!!!!!!!! <span style="color: #660000;">Ms. Kitty and Cloe were on the front porch with me. The birds were taunting them on the low branch of the tree. They would take turns flying onto the porch, into a bush, then back to the tree. Ms. Kitty saw this pattern and took advantage of it. A bird landed on the porch and she raced and pounced on it. It managed to escape to a bush, but she dove into the bush, snatched it up and ran to the driveway with it. It was squawking and flapping its wings trying to get away. The other birds flew down and circled her squawking and flapping their wings. She held the bird down with her paw and looked at all the birds surrounding her trying to decide what to do. <<birds! birds!="">> She finally decided to keep the one she caught and ran to the porch with it (and we thought she was the stupid one). Of course Cloe was amazed that Ms. Kitty had a bird and wanted to see it. Ms. Kitty hissed and the bird escaped into a bush. Ms. Kitty was convinced that the bird was under the bush when in fact it had escaped out the other side--which Cloe saw. While Ms. Kitty was occupied sniffing for her lost bird under the bush, Cloe was poised to make her move. However, the bird was squawking and flapping its wings about 3 feet away an IN THE TERRIFYING GRASS. What should she do? As she weighed her options--terrifying grass/catch bird--sidewalk safety/wait for bird to come to her--the bird recovered and flew into the tree. All the birds then flew to the tree and squawked for a very long time. Now every time the girls go out onto the porch, the birds fly away to the pine trees and squawk--but only when Ms. Kitty is out. In fact, if she sits in the window or front door they fly away terrified that she will come out and catch them again. Cloe doesn't strike the same fear in them--yet. If only we would remove the terrifying grass, she could catch them all and KILL...KILL...KILL them for taunting her. </span>Zenbrarianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09768404747292578099noreply@blogger.com0