Month: December 2011

Scars

~ susie ~ 6 Comments

For want of a more precise term, I’ve concluded that having surgery tears a giant gash in the integrity of your body’s energy field. I think it takes more than physical healing – it’s almost as if your “self” has to knit itself back together. I once interviewed a famous surgeon, who told me (off the record) that he absolutely agreed — but wouldn’t say it publicly because “people would think I was crazy.”

So I totally relate to this story.

Also, please note how many of the Calvinist scolds in the comments tell her how she should shut up and be grateful.

Blocked

~ susie

It’s a win for drivers, all right – the moneyed interests that drive everything these days:

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal judge blocked California from enforcing its first-in-the-nation mandate for cleaner, low-carbon fuels on Thursday, saying the rules favor biofuels produced in the state.

The lawsuit challenging the state regulations, which were adopted as part of California’s landmark 2006 global warming law, was filed in federal court last year by a coalition that includes the National Petrochemical & Refiners Association and the Consumer Energy Alliance.

Fresno-based U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence O’Neill’s written ruling Thursday said the low-carbon fuel rules violated the U.S. Constitution’s commerce clause by discriminating against crude oil and biofuels producers located outside California.

Out-of-state fuels producers hailed the decision as a win for California drivers.

This is the kind of politician I like

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Someone who’s willing to wield his power to make sure business does the right thing!

WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. — A supervisor in a small rural township in northern Lycoming County took matters into his own hands when a Marcellus shale drilling company kept using a road it had been told to keep big trucks off of.

Daniel Roupp cut down a half dozen trees yesterday, blocking the gravel road. “I’m thinking we got their attention,” he said today.

The drilling company, Range Resources, has resubmitted a plan for repairs to the road. The Cogan House Township supervisors last week felt the plan was inadequate but expressed a willingness to negotiate, Roupp said.

A spokesman for the company said Range has been cooperating with the township.

The township, which has about 100 residents, has been after Range for months to make repairs to the road, Roupp said. The Department of Environmental Protection on Dec. 15 told the township it was in violation of erosion and sediment regulations.

The compliance order required the township to prohibit vehicles of more than six tons from the road and submit a plan to DEP for its stabilization. The township tried to comply with DEP’s order banning heavy vehicles by erecting signs and using barricades, but Roupp said truck drivers ignored them.

The township then pulled permits that allowed the heavy trucks to use the road, but Roupp said that did not stop them, either. That is why he blocked the road with trees, he said.

And as he notes, if they don’t follow through this time, there are plenty more trees along that road.

Crushed in the ratings

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

Fox News by Jon Stewart. What a shame, they’re such nice people!

The reason why Fox News feels so threatened by Jon Stewart is because his program is more popular than anything not named Bill O’Reilly on the network. Not only is Stewart popular, but he is popular with the coveted young demographics that Fox News struggles with. The average Fox News viewer is 65 years old. For years, the Fox News model of success has been powered by viewers literally aging in to watching Fox.

However, Jon Stewart has thrown a wrench in the Fox News cycle of life by educating his millions of younger viewers about Fox News. Stewart spends segments debunking the propaganda, exposing facts, and uncovering the edited video that is the bread and butter of America’s top cable news network.

Every night Stewart is teaching Americans how to not watch Fox News. The Daily Show host has become the media critic with the biggest platform and loudest voice in our country, and most often that voice is targeting Fox News for their brand of “journalism.”

Overall Stewart beat Fox News’ prime time lineup 2.3 million-2.2 million (which is a different number than the above mentioned 1.8 million, but when The Daily Show is matched up against every non-O’Reilly FNC program, it leads and/or dominates. As we head into 2012, the news that Stewart’s entertainment program based in large part on debunking the misinformation in the mainstream media is doing so well should provide hope that maybe someday sanity will return to our national discourse.

This ain’t beanbag

~ susie ~ 1 Comment

When you get in the way of Big Energy and their profits, the shit will hit the fan:

WASHINGTON — A feud at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, where five presidentially appointed commissioners oversee the safety of the nation’s nuclear power reactors, has broken out into full public view, with Chairman Gregory Jaczko’s fellow commissioners assailing his character and management style, both in a letter made public earlier this month and in the resulting testimony before Congress.

Republicans have begun calling for Jaczko’s ouster.

“The situation at the NRC sounds dire,” wrote Rep. Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) in a letter to President Barack Obama, “leaving me very concerned that the Chairman is unable to lead the Commission in the fulfillment of its responsibilities.”

On K Street, energy lobbyists have rallied to support the four other commissioners.

So far, the White House is standing by Jaczko, one of the least industry-friendly leaders to serve at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a generation.
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