With all due respect to your education and medical experience I want to get more facts, knowledge regarding "malignancy" and the colonscopy procedure. Before I can submit to this hasty process since June (phone call appointment, July exam and August fecal test) I've lots of questions and self-educated pre-conceptions about all this. I'm also a very spiritual man with a lot of life wisdom, existential awareness and a college major in philosophy which always questions things.
Common sense probably mixed with normal fear, anxiety tells me a fecal test may or may not indicate colon cancer polyps-not all polyps bleed nor are cancerous, right? FIT detects the presence of blood but not the source. (I've had bleeding gum, also take aspirin). It sounds simple to "remove" a polyp or polyps but the truth is the removal creates a wound that surely bleeds inside my colon wall lining-and if the polyp is already cancerous you've just spread the malignancy inside to adjacent capillaries & lymph system accelerating cancer! Colon cancer in later stages consists of rectal bleeding, diarrhea, anemia/fatigue-none of which I've had continually.
Sedation by anesthesia doesn't turn me on. Propoful is a very dangerous substance-it killed singer Michael Jackson with an overdose. Dehydration, blood clots?
The prep before colonoscopy includes the laxatives which kill "good bacteria" which aid digestion. Disbacteriosis destroys the GI tract giving one food poisoning because incoming food cannot be sanitized by inadequate levels of hydrochloric acidity and enzymes resulting in nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, farting and dehydration. Wonderful! The rotting of undigested food proteins produces CADAVERINE (lol) poisoning the bloodstream! Infection from pathogenic bacteria and inflammation can also occur. (Colitis, Crohn's raises cancer risk 32 times).
Other risks, realistic complications & unknown factors could include heart attack, stroke, internal bleeding, perforation, pulmonary embolism, kidney failure and/or intestinal obstruction. Fear, stress, humiliation,and depression also enter into the mix.
The odds of complications, injury exceed the actual existence of colon cancer as well. The colonoscopy really is naught anyway offering zero protection from colon cancer. Good fibers get destroyed contributing to weakened state; the synergestic bacteria which protects the mucosa can no longer fight cancer-causing pathogens. A virtual CTC uses radiation risk missing 27% of colorectal lesions giving false positive readings. A natural risk of colorectal 2 1/2-5%, cancer risk by CTC scan goes up 4-8 times or 20%. According to American Cancer Society there two kinds of polyps: adenomas potential cancer and the hyperplastic polyps, not pre-cancerous.
It takes 10-15 years for a polyp to become cancer. This means I could live to age 75 or 80 if the danger is there? Glad to do another FIT, second part of the pneumonia vaccine Oct. 9 appointment. Just me talking. See you again... Sources: Mayo Clinic, WebMD, others
Monday, September 21, 2015
Saturday, August 29, 2015
Trump
I think Donald Trump needs a bigger airplane-called Air Force One. His sleek personal executive jet landed in Norwood MA for a fund raiser with car magnate Ernie Boch Jr.in late August 2015 as Trump's poll numbers continue to climb. Why not a president Trump? Reagan was an actor, Carter a peanut farmer, so let's have a successful billionaire straighten out our mess! The media loves to edit the man's remarks, spinning their "we're so offended" sound bites while the other GOP candidates languish in relative obscurity. Recall Mr. Trump did say SOME immigrants are nice people. But we do have laws which still have to be enforced. Build a wall with the lovely doorway. I don't think children born in US should be deported, but I think their parents, if illegally here, either obtain citizenship or they take their kids back to wherever! Unreasonable? At that recent most-watched debate FOX NEWS Meghan Kelly should've said he allegedly called women such & such, but I never heard him say that! She singled him out that night which infuriated him for attacking his character-heck he is married and has women employed in his Trump Organization and Trump Entertainment Resorts. It would be interesting for media to disclose how many minorities work for him as well. Again there are laws. I've not yet heard from the others how we will defeat ISIS, but Trump says we can secure the oil fields over there, taking away the enemy's economic base. Oh that would violate their sovereignty you say. It's time our/Allies' airplanes, trains, malls, cargo ships, skyscrapers, military bases and newspaper office sovereignty were no longer violated by those depraved, barbaric renegades who profess a religion. And Iran will think twice about cheating on this nuclear deal while innocent people continue to be imprisoned there. I like Trump's appraisal about how rich people can control politicians with their lobbyists/ donors-by making the politicians dance like puppets-very honest thing to say by him. I think Donald Trump is exploiting his reality show success (I never watched it) to capitalize on his power, pull and popularity. He is funny & articulate. I love the story how he sued Bill Maher $5 million for calling Trump a name on Jay Leno in 2013. He won and gave it to charity. This country needs self-respect again after 8 years of coddling street thugs, and appeasing our enemies overseas with empty threats/ redlines. End this rubber stamp deficit spending to finance faulty health care websites and automobile ignition switches in near bankrupt stimulus practices. The Veteran's Administration has acted shamefully as our returning maimed people await attention, following a war which was lost by a patronizing, feckless leader who assuaged his audience for political gain in 2008. The new VA hospital project in Denver has skyrocketed to over a billion dollars! I believe Mr. Trump could solve these problems, making America great again. How many of you have taken time to look up his background on Wikipedia? I did- taking two hours to write down his military school and business experience. He's written 17 books about making money, real estate, golf and America. Everybody is talking about Trump. With a 24-30% lead in the polls, crowds turning out in Iowa, NH and South Carolina, maybe the other candidates need to wake up, join forces, and give in to a Trump nomination if Republicans want overcome past defeats by McCain & Romney to take back the White House and Air Force One in 2016!
Friday, July 10, 2015
National Park Service Approaches 100 Years
Next year the National Park Service will have a centennial birthday. I dunno about you but I love going to our parks! Ken Burns really did a great job on PBS with "America's Best Idea", the story of John Muir, Theodore Roosevelt, George Bird Grinnell, Stephen Mather and other great people who found the foresight to set aside our extraordinary landmarks from total destruction in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century. NPS was established within the US Dept. of Interior in 1916 after several parks had already appeared on our map! Those parks include Yellowstone 1872, Yosemite 1890, Mt. Rainier 1899, Mesa Verde 1906, Glacier in MT 1910 and Colorado's own Rocky Mountain 1915 which I honored with a May visit to Bear Lake, still covered in slushy ice and a Mother's Day snowfall. Before there were park rangers the US Army cavalry and the Buffalo Soldiers kept the poachers and loggers away. As time went by not only the views were protected, but the wildlife such as bears, wolves, and exotic birds became the focus of the NPS mission. Some parks have bus/tram systems to cut down on vehicle congestion such as Zion, Grand Canyon and Cape Cod National Seashore. Unlike BLM and National Forests where disbursed camping is allowed, the national parks require developed campground use only-you can't just pull off the road and sleep in your car. That said, I can say they've done a great job in 100 years-saving beautiful places of unique grandeur like Acadia, Canyonlands, Grand Tetons, Death Valley, Capitol Reef and Great Basin-some of my favorites. Over my lifetime I've stopped to ponder NHP-national historic parks which also remind us of where we've come from as a nation, like Minuteman, Saratoga, Gettysburg, Antietam, Yorktown and Appomattox. For sure Washington DC comprises quite a few memorials which all are administered by the Park Service: Lincoln, Washington Monument, Jefferson, FDR, Vietnam Wall and so on. So as a single, retired senior with no real responsibilities beyond an aging parent (siblings help) & an art profession, I am going to Alaska at long last in 2016; going on a limited budget/ time with a nine day stay in Anchorage to explore the trail network in this small city next to Cook Inlet with views of volcanoes west, the Chugach mountains east, glaciers and Kenai NP south. The train will take me to Denali entrance for two nights base before the bus trip into 6 million acre Denali NP with Mt. McKinley the focus, if the rain clouds part for a peek at its two summits 18,000 feet vertical up from the valley! At 20,320' elevation, Denali is higher than Whitney, Elbert, Rainier and the Matterhorn. I'll have to forgo the Arctic portion, Brooks Range and North Slope as the cost skyrockets beyond $6000. Alaska here I come! Happy birthday again in 2016 to our park system.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
Iran Negotiations: My Reply to NY Times March 4, 2015
I wrote: "The fallacy in your argument & Thomas Friedman column presumes the US will back up Iranian misdeeds by force-just like Obama's red line vs Assad a few years back. Netanyahu doesn't shrink from his substantive argument at all. Iran was warned." To each their own opinion, but this is my blog, my soapbox identified as such. I thought it quite timely and appropriate the Israeli prime minister came to Washington DC to present his case. As Bill O'Reilly once said a few years ago, if Iran obtains a nuclear weapon, using it on Israel, then there's no more Israel-it's too late. The Supreme Leader accuses Israel of crimes. Against whom? HAMAS in Gaza used rockets firing first into Israeli sovereignty. Russia, North Korea, and Iran are a fascist bloc all working together, sharing nuclear technology. Iran is competing with al-Qaeda, Hezzbolah, ISIS, al-Shabab and others to dominate and CONQUER the Middle East, by supporting terror through arms and their Revolutionary Guard in Tikrit, Mosul and Erbil standoffs. Iranian agents have fought against US troops in Iran and Afghanistan to my knowledge. It makes great propaganda for Iran to send their foreign minister to Geneva for talks with Kerry re: nukes, uranium quotas, centrifuges, inspections and verifications to/ for a limited agreement. Critics, including the Obama Administration who snubbed a US ally/ leader says Netanyahu said nothing new, no substance. Using Nazi Germany as history, the Jewish nation will no longer be passive; "those days are over," he exclaimed. Israel will stand alone if necessary just as it did 4,000 years ago led by Moses out of Egypt. America will stand with Israel we hope...our focus on ISIS may win a battle but still lose a larger war, and I agree with him. He said the enemy of your enemy is still your enemy. Iran is Shia Muslim as is Assad's Syria. The Sunnis support ISIS in Iraq and Syria. We're not over in Afghanistan either as the Taliban still threaten new government there. Iran remains a threat to Israel, having said so! Iran also threatens the region and our planet. This negotiating process is the same naïve, weak appeasement for peace, as was the Munich Conference with Hitler in 1938, which of course resulted in World War II. If my country, Europe is serious that Iran will not be allowed a nuclear bomb, then really no deal must be met with even stronger, crippling sanctions which only hurts their human population-amidst Iranian human rights violations, stronger checks/ elimination of their heavy water-or it'll be war because they cannot be trusted to keep their bargain. Their 1979 Islamic Revolution held our hostages for 444 days until Reagan became president after a helpless Carter. Reagan demonstrated defense through strength, but Iran got paid off too I think-to nobody's delight GOP or Democrats, except for the ayatollahs. To say our present government will back this agreement emboldens our enemies around the world from Yemen to Nigeria, because Obama-Biden ran for 2008 election on an anti-war campaign and will give away the store. I'm glad Prime Minister Netanyahu gave the world a talking to. Let's hope somebody listened.
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Gone With The Wind after 75 Years
I bought the LIFE magazine photo issue commemorating this classic film over the holidays. The gist of its content reminds us the film portrays a contented Old South with happy slaves and isolated plantation owners, which sounds simplistic but true. Or maybe in Margaret Mitchell's tale some blacks were contented to be honorable servants to respectable white folk-like the O'Haras, Wilkes, Hamiltons and Kennedys in Civil War Georgia. For New Year's Eve I played the four hour DVD to relive this epic, timeless masterpiece from 1939.
The themes all came back to me: don't squander time, the land is the only thing that lasts, there's no winners in war, the Confederates were Americans too and love is blind; the triangle love story dominating the plot with Scarlett pining for Ashley the forbidden fruit while conceited Rhett seeks her attention. Set against Sherman's burning of Atlanta, carpetbaggers' promises of 40 acres/ mule, famine and defeat, Scarlett pulls herself together shooting the Yankee intruder on the stairs, rebuilding Tara and trying to get closer to Ashley at the lumber mill.
Events unravel of course as Scarlett marries Frank Kennedy for the $300 taxes; the shanty town muggers attack her in the carriage as Big Sam comes to her aid. Kennedy is later killed while Rhett and Dr. Meade bring a wounded Ashley back home posing as drunk from Belle's to avoid arrest by the Union Army. Rhett & Scarlett tie the knot and have a baby girl only to lose her from a horse accident. Melanie dies bringing Scarlett a reality check that Ashley always really did love Melanie, not her so Scarlett runs after Rhett walking away. She's left alone in the sunset with her Southern land.
I always found Scarlett so attractive because of her passionate zest for life, true to her desires and strength to carry on making a dress from drapery, growing cotton, saving the cow, caring for Melanie's childbirth and running a business. I laughed when she pulled her sister's pigtail. She gave Pork her father's watch, very touching. Her weakness was fear of rejection, manifested in her quest for Ashley Wilkes, the vulnerable, patriotic gentleman married to the faithful, re-assuring, magnanimous Melanie. You cant be rejected if you go for someone already taken, because loving an imaginary ideal outside yourself avoids that fear of rejection. In the end Scarlett finds love but it's too late as the heartless, selfish man from Charleston fades into the mist. She had her chance.
Love is for the happiness of the other person; for most of the story Scarlett only wanted to be in charge-Rhett was only money. Ashley the nice guy maintained their friendship telling Scarlett she doesn't know fear. But he's not on her wave length because Scarlett DOES know fear, and she has to grow up at the end. The triumph of the whole story though seemingly sad is love feels good until the two-edged sword hurts you, then you have to love yourself alone. You cant be afraid of that!
The themes all came back to me: don't squander time, the land is the only thing that lasts, there's no winners in war, the Confederates were Americans too and love is blind; the triangle love story dominating the plot with Scarlett pining for Ashley the forbidden fruit while conceited Rhett seeks her attention. Set against Sherman's burning of Atlanta, carpetbaggers' promises of 40 acres/ mule, famine and defeat, Scarlett pulls herself together shooting the Yankee intruder on the stairs, rebuilding Tara and trying to get closer to Ashley at the lumber mill.
Events unravel of course as Scarlett marries Frank Kennedy for the $300 taxes; the shanty town muggers attack her in the carriage as Big Sam comes to her aid. Kennedy is later killed while Rhett and Dr. Meade bring a wounded Ashley back home posing as drunk from Belle's to avoid arrest by the Union Army. Rhett & Scarlett tie the knot and have a baby girl only to lose her from a horse accident. Melanie dies bringing Scarlett a reality check that Ashley always really did love Melanie, not her so Scarlett runs after Rhett walking away. She's left alone in the sunset with her Southern land.
I always found Scarlett so attractive because of her passionate zest for life, true to her desires and strength to carry on making a dress from drapery, growing cotton, saving the cow, caring for Melanie's childbirth and running a business. I laughed when she pulled her sister's pigtail. She gave Pork her father's watch, very touching. Her weakness was fear of rejection, manifested in her quest for Ashley Wilkes, the vulnerable, patriotic gentleman married to the faithful, re-assuring, magnanimous Melanie. You cant be rejected if you go for someone already taken, because loving an imaginary ideal outside yourself avoids that fear of rejection. In the end Scarlett finds love but it's too late as the heartless, selfish man from Charleston fades into the mist. She had her chance.
Love is for the happiness of the other person; for most of the story Scarlett only wanted to be in charge-Rhett was only money. Ashley the nice guy maintained their friendship telling Scarlett she doesn't know fear. But he's not on her wave length because Scarlett DOES know fear, and she has to grow up at the end. The triumph of the whole story though seemingly sad is love feels good until the two-edged sword hurts you, then you have to love yourself alone. You cant be afraid of that!
Thursday, November 20, 2014
Potpourri of Issues
We sure have a lot of problems. We also have a lot of debate on how to solve them. I can't solve them here but I'll give you my attitude on what these issues are. For sure, I am always opinionated. Some solutions are offered here too, can you hear me now?
Health care: Obamacare/ the Affordable Care Act really isn't that affordable from what I hear. People are losing their old plans for new ones. Taxes go up. I just went on Medicare so I'm in the mix now; so far I've got a no-premium HMO saver plan though with Plan B I still get $104 deducted from my Social Security deposit each month. When I tried to get a referral on a dermatology visit through the PCP, personal care physician, I got a very impudent, snobbish response and dropped from the doctor's receptionist. I reported the incident to my insurance and requested a new PCP as a male too, and got one. As for the VA it took me THREE VISITS to get my photo taken for the new cards coming out. The VA data network includes Obamacare using an outsourcing contractor which told me I was ineligible for the updated card. Hogwash! I protested rather loudly, speaking to the chief of staff, explaining our veterans cards are based upon our service, qualifying us for ALL our benefits-not just based on their means test or income. Very demeaning. A third experience involves the state system called MassHealth which after 10 months tells me I have to fill out a SECOND APPLICATION because their website hasn't worked properly and my benefits will be jeopardized if I don't reapply before 2015. Shameful! Their problem will not be my problem and I told them so.
War and peace: In retrospect Bush didn't start war, the terrorists did. The 2007 surge cleaned out Anbar Province only to have Obama lose Iraq by bringing US troops home to assuage his 2008 election promises for approval by his constituency. Obama found out he couldn't close Guantanamo, defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan nor remove Assad from Syria. His "redline" was a fake vs Syria after the chemical weapons were used. Obama's empty threat resulted in the build up of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. In Libya at least NATO helped out, and Kaddafi was later killed. The Benghazi attack on our embassy was dismissed and covered up for Obama's re-election in 2012. Okay you say Obama got bin Laden and he did, but that success really belongs to Bush in part- because W went after al-Qaeda after Sept. 11th. After all the talk with a new Iranian president, Iran is still hosing us with their secret centrifuges for nuclear weapons-contrary to their pleas regarding sanctions. America and the European Union just watched while Putin went into Crimea and now eastern Ukraine, because Obama is viewed as a weak leader. Meanwhile he challenges Congress.
On immigration: Obama will go around Congress to suit him after all the patronizing speeches for Congress involvement in war. Yes this country was founded on immigrants, but amnesty for the illegals already here will only encourage more illegal immigrants coming across our weak southern border. Some say we don't welcome legal immigrants? A lack of English speaking and desire for US citizenship is an awkward mix; I'm for the legal process with papers and identification which is the basis for how America does business. All persons are created equal, but an illegal status does not entitle them to citizen rights if they are not legal citizens! Am I missing something? If Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Honduras etc. want in- apply! The green card visa a valid way; guest workers should be allowed to enter if they want jobs in agriculture. However I still oppose handouts, driver's licenses to illegal immigrants as a path to citizenship, or our laws/ screening standards for citizens mean nothing.
Energy: Oil prices, gasoline down for now but will we ever learn our lesson? North Dakota's oil boom has reduced our dependence on overseas imports; we're drilling off shore in the Gulf and Alaska. I say we need to drill ONSHORE in Alaska as spills on the land are less harmful than the likes of BP in 2010 Louisiana. And the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada's tar sands should also be approved and built. The Democrats want jobs but still think Washington DC can pay for all our problems with "monopoly money" we're broke, remember? The oil companies have LOTS of real money to hire workers, but with prices down the drillers & producers now lose money. After the 40 year ban on oil exports by the US we could now sell oil, natural gas to Europe, Ukraine to help our Allies, and hurt Putin. We still need coal to keep the miners and railroads in business too. I'm all for wind farms and solar energy where appropriate. The Northeast has a sun shortage and higher prices for heating than rest of the nation. Why wouldn't you want a natural gas pipeline? And LNG tankers offloading out at sea terminals safe from the cities? You cant power cars on hot air!
National Security: We're at war against suicide bombers, therefore our intelligence secrets are not to be compromised by Edward Snowden and other self-appointed liberal crusaders. Spying on our Allies' cell phones crosses the line however I think. I've no problem with NSA, FBI, CIA, Secret Service and law enforcement monitoring US citizens phone & internet activities. Got something to hide?
Ferguson: I hope the police officer is exonerated as the kid went for his gun at the police car. Racism isn't just for whites you know. The OJ Simpson murder verdict was a breach of justice. Travon Martin was pursued by that man and killed after the dispatcher warned him not to chase the kid who was unarmed.
Other: The Colorado ski industry must be involved in the widening of I-70 into the mountains, with a guideway train already proposed by CDOT. If energy can pay extraction fees, why can't Summit, Vail pay to help the state? The NOAA ban on cod fishing hurts like hell but can the fishermen outfit for dogfish, mussels, scallops and swordfish instead? Funny how GM and Chrysler got ignition switch recalls-weren't they bailed out by Obama's stimulus hoopla in 2009? Ford didn't take the money and didn't have these issues, am I on to something here? If Massachusetts wants jobs then let's have casinos, even if you don't like gambling as I don't, the hotel buffets need food service and room attendants. The pine beetle kill out West is turning whole mountainsides into red, dead trees a real fire hazard. The US Forest Service and private industry needs more fire fighters, and slurry planes, helicopters to combat drought-caused fires; loggers to mitigate dying forests to reduce this threat. Better research warning programs are needed to predict earthquakes, avalanches & landslides. At least two drones crashed into geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park; stricter enforcement stopping this kind of vandalism needs to be more vigilant. Better sub-division planning coupled with more dams will prevent the flooding as seen in northern Colorado last year.
In summary the Federal government needs to operate on a balanced budget, not more feckless spending! We need to make our enemies pay too, reparations maybe? End foreign aid to rogue regimes and uncommitted nations, Turkey? Syria? Jordan? India? Pakistan? Latin America? Mexico? Our state governments need more independence from Washington DC, stop trading votes, money and pork. Priorities need to be set by somebody. The rural West embraces independence while the East and California can't manage nor afford to fix their urban problems like crowding, crime, traffic and transit. We are a divided nation because our respective cultural values are so different. Guns for example, energy and agriculture again. United we stand. But without a stand we stand for nothing!
Health care: Obamacare/ the Affordable Care Act really isn't that affordable from what I hear. People are losing their old plans for new ones. Taxes go up. I just went on Medicare so I'm in the mix now; so far I've got a no-premium HMO saver plan though with Plan B I still get $104 deducted from my Social Security deposit each month. When I tried to get a referral on a dermatology visit through the PCP, personal care physician, I got a very impudent, snobbish response and dropped from the doctor's receptionist. I reported the incident to my insurance and requested a new PCP as a male too, and got one. As for the VA it took me THREE VISITS to get my photo taken for the new cards coming out. The VA data network includes Obamacare using an outsourcing contractor which told me I was ineligible for the updated card. Hogwash! I protested rather loudly, speaking to the chief of staff, explaining our veterans cards are based upon our service, qualifying us for ALL our benefits-not just based on their means test or income. Very demeaning. A third experience involves the state system called MassHealth which after 10 months tells me I have to fill out a SECOND APPLICATION because their website hasn't worked properly and my benefits will be jeopardized if I don't reapply before 2015. Shameful! Their problem will not be my problem and I told them so.
War and peace: In retrospect Bush didn't start war, the terrorists did. The 2007 surge cleaned out Anbar Province only to have Obama lose Iraq by bringing US troops home to assuage his 2008 election promises for approval by his constituency. Obama found out he couldn't close Guantanamo, defeat the Taliban in Afghanistan nor remove Assad from Syria. His "redline" was a fake vs Syria after the chemical weapons were used. Obama's empty threat resulted in the build up of ISIS in both Iraq and Syria. In Libya at least NATO helped out, and Kaddafi was later killed. The Benghazi attack on our embassy was dismissed and covered up for Obama's re-election in 2012. Okay you say Obama got bin Laden and he did, but that success really belongs to Bush in part- because W went after al-Qaeda after Sept. 11th. After all the talk with a new Iranian president, Iran is still hosing us with their secret centrifuges for nuclear weapons-contrary to their pleas regarding sanctions. America and the European Union just watched while Putin went into Crimea and now eastern Ukraine, because Obama is viewed as a weak leader. Meanwhile he challenges Congress.
On immigration: Obama will go around Congress to suit him after all the patronizing speeches for Congress involvement in war. Yes this country was founded on immigrants, but amnesty for the illegals already here will only encourage more illegal immigrants coming across our weak southern border. Some say we don't welcome legal immigrants? A lack of English speaking and desire for US citizenship is an awkward mix; I'm for the legal process with papers and identification which is the basis for how America does business. All persons are created equal, but an illegal status does not entitle them to citizen rights if they are not legal citizens! Am I missing something? If Mexico, Brazil, Chile, Honduras etc. want in- apply! The green card visa a valid way; guest workers should be allowed to enter if they want jobs in agriculture. However I still oppose handouts, driver's licenses to illegal immigrants as a path to citizenship, or our laws/ screening standards for citizens mean nothing.
Energy: Oil prices, gasoline down for now but will we ever learn our lesson? North Dakota's oil boom has reduced our dependence on overseas imports; we're drilling off shore in the Gulf and Alaska. I say we need to drill ONSHORE in Alaska as spills on the land are less harmful than the likes of BP in 2010 Louisiana. And the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada's tar sands should also be approved and built. The Democrats want jobs but still think Washington DC can pay for all our problems with "monopoly money" we're broke, remember? The oil companies have LOTS of real money to hire workers, but with prices down the drillers & producers now lose money. After the 40 year ban on oil exports by the US we could now sell oil, natural gas to Europe, Ukraine to help our Allies, and hurt Putin. We still need coal to keep the miners and railroads in business too. I'm all for wind farms and solar energy where appropriate. The Northeast has a sun shortage and higher prices for heating than rest of the nation. Why wouldn't you want a natural gas pipeline? And LNG tankers offloading out at sea terminals safe from the cities? You cant power cars on hot air!
National Security: We're at war against suicide bombers, therefore our intelligence secrets are not to be compromised by Edward Snowden and other self-appointed liberal crusaders. Spying on our Allies' cell phones crosses the line however I think. I've no problem with NSA, FBI, CIA, Secret Service and law enforcement monitoring US citizens phone & internet activities. Got something to hide?
Ferguson: I hope the police officer is exonerated as the kid went for his gun at the police car. Racism isn't just for whites you know. The OJ Simpson murder verdict was a breach of justice. Travon Martin was pursued by that man and killed after the dispatcher warned him not to chase the kid who was unarmed.
Other: The Colorado ski industry must be involved in the widening of I-70 into the mountains, with a guideway train already proposed by CDOT. If energy can pay extraction fees, why can't Summit, Vail pay to help the state? The NOAA ban on cod fishing hurts like hell but can the fishermen outfit for dogfish, mussels, scallops and swordfish instead? Funny how GM and Chrysler got ignition switch recalls-weren't they bailed out by Obama's stimulus hoopla in 2009? Ford didn't take the money and didn't have these issues, am I on to something here? If Massachusetts wants jobs then let's have casinos, even if you don't like gambling as I don't, the hotel buffets need food service and room attendants. The pine beetle kill out West is turning whole mountainsides into red, dead trees a real fire hazard. The US Forest Service and private industry needs more fire fighters, and slurry planes, helicopters to combat drought-caused fires; loggers to mitigate dying forests to reduce this threat. Better research warning programs are needed to predict earthquakes, avalanches & landslides. At least two drones crashed into geyser basins in Yellowstone National Park; stricter enforcement stopping this kind of vandalism needs to be more vigilant. Better sub-division planning coupled with more dams will prevent the flooding as seen in northern Colorado last year.
In summary the Federal government needs to operate on a balanced budget, not more feckless spending! We need to make our enemies pay too, reparations maybe? End foreign aid to rogue regimes and uncommitted nations, Turkey? Syria? Jordan? India? Pakistan? Latin America? Mexico? Our state governments need more independence from Washington DC, stop trading votes, money and pork. Priorities need to be set by somebody. The rural West embraces independence while the East and California can't manage nor afford to fix their urban problems like crowding, crime, traffic and transit. We are a divided nation because our respective cultural values are so different. Guns for example, energy and agriculture again. United we stand. But without a stand we stand for nothing!
Wednesday, November 19, 2014
Rust, Silver and Gold
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Back East I really have no standing; I am nothing here only revenue, a cog in their wheels of government, justice and economic expectations. Individuality is not respected here, only the law and authority. Power clings to protective patronage. It's the money chase and the put on for a false show of compassion and sophistication. We know what's best for you. Narcissism, the herd instinct: keep up with the Joneses, the Sullivans, the Kennedys and Kelleys! Irish flag license plates. Self-worth by ancestry and birthplace. Turf wars and class consciousness. Possession through bullying- aggression prevails. Outdated crumbling infrastructure. Bureaucratic entities cover their own rear ends at the expense of responsibility for the common good in the name of a commonwealth.
The Harvard/ Amherst rabble. Mafia cronies. Tatooed, pierced body parts, metallic boom box rap crap in-your-face vandal vulgarity. You're on your own in the merry-go-round screwball madhouse, perpetuated by neglect and disrespectful apathy. Winter's dark days of icy overcast gloom and chill stretch from November to March in an endless pile up of cold steel and salt. Curt abrupt strangers rush up behind my rear view mirror, pushing me to get out of their way. Wait in line for everything. Fearful multitudes elbow each other in reticent subway caverns of tabloids, urine odors and panhandlers.
Away from the bumper crop of car commercials and news center insanity is a place of rest somewhere, sometimes the tension and gall lifts in a whiskey glass or a bottle of wine. A roaring fire brings warm comfort in the North Woods beneath a New Hampshire birch. Swells and seabirds ride a breeze upon a beach, sometimes accompanied by bikini-clad beauties for a middle-aged man to enjoy. The bounce of a sailboat in a port tack relieves the dreary soul of suburban stress for an open breath of birth rite. Those dark winter skies aren't so bad after a day's skiing above the snarl below.
Then there's an open interstate free of tolls and taxing tailgaters, leading me once again over the Alleghenies to the corn belt flat horizons. The restrictions of a structured culture ascends for an individual on the road, tall in the saddle and high in the chin! Open ranges of sagebrush chaparral with Chihuahuan-Sonoran-Mojave-Colorado Plateau-Great Basin desert zones get shared with antelope, owls, rabbits and coyotes. Cattle guards, runaway truck ramps, snowplows, elk crossings and hushed evergreen forests mark the Rocky Mountains separation from so called civilization in a measured pace of deference.
Westerners don't recognize class; everyone is a class to one's self; identity is accepted inherently with your presence-everyone shares the common bonds to a county, a creek, a ranch, a resort, a small town, the land itself, providing a culture outdoors. Geography is measured by miles, not miles per hour, People say hello to one another usually with a "howdy" and a "you betcha." And the sky is almost always visible overhead with occasional abrupt changes, but the dry southwest wind patterns usually last longer than the stormy stretches. There are no fences in a national forest, BLM or national park beyond the private land boundaries. You are free. You've left behind the emphasis on crusading social issues and pretenses of reform through cookie-cutter, chaotic fitting in. Instead you get a tip of the hat pardner and a warm handshake in a less violent, virulent society.
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