Personal Update – 8/1/2016

 Posted by at 8:04 am  Open Thread, Personal, Politics
Aug 012016
 

There’s no time for much of anything today as I have an appointment with my Ocular Oncologist, and when I return Wendy will be coming to fluff and buff the TomCat.  In addition, I’m collecting data for our Monthly Report, which will be a day ot three late.

Jig Zone Puzzle:

Today’s took me 3:45 (average 3:51).  To do it, click here. How did you do?

Short Take:

From NY Times: The Chinook salmon that Randy Settler and other Yakama tribal fishermen are pulling from the Columbia River are large and plentiful this summer, part of one of the biggest spawning runs since the 1960s. It is a sign, they say, of the river’s revitalization, through pollution regulations and ambitious fish hatchery programs.

But barely four miles upstream from the fishermen’s nets, state workers are still cleaning up after a major oil train derailment in June. About 47,000 gallons of heavy Bakken crude bound from North Dakota spilled when 16 Union Pacific cars accordioned off the tracks. All of it, Oregon environmental officials said, might have gone into the river but for a stroke of luck that carried the oil instead into a water treatment plant a few hundred feet from the riverbank.

That juxtaposition — the rebounding river coming a hair’s breadth from disaster — has resonated across the Pacific Northwest and brought about a day of reckoning. From ballot boxes to the governors’ desks in Oregon and Washington, a corner of the nation that seemed poised only a few years ago to become a new energy hub is now gripped by a debate over whether transporting volatile, hazardous crude oil by rail through cities and environmentally delicate areas can ever be made safe enough…

In two words, It can’t.

Cartoon:

0801Cartoon

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  16 Responses to “Personal Update – 8/1/2016”

  1. Pat B says:
    August 1, 2016 at 8:28 am

    NYT: This is pretty sad, as I'm against this type of transportation for any type of hazards to the environment, and to our communities. What a crying shame.

    Hope all goes well for you today. Take care, and Thanks, Tom.

  2. SoINeedAName says:
    August 1, 2016 at 9:23 am

    Tomorrow is Windows 10 Anniversary for Microsoft’s Edge browser – and we’re supposed to then be able to add extensions!

    (Well, you can add extensions now – but you have to agree to participate as a “Windows Insider” where they make let you try out their beta stuff.)

    I’m looking forward to being able to add either Adblock or Adblock Plus – not really sure which one is better.

    There are a number of other extensions that look promising, but being able to finally block ads again – like I can in Chrome and even IE 11 – will be nice.

  3. Joanne Dixon says:
    August 1, 2016 at 5:47 pm

    4:15 (4:51)  "Nasty urchins."  Well, they're edible, though strong, and might even go in your pork chili.

    NYT – I would have used three words myself – Not B***** Likely.  But yours is just as accurate and a lot politer.

    Hope you get encouragement from the OO.

  4. Edie says:
    August 1, 2016 at 9:28 pm

    I hope Oregon leads the nation again by voting to disallow these transports!

  5. Lynn Squance says:
    August 2, 2016 at 12:52 am

    Puzzle — 3:09  These look like the nasturtiums that we had in the garden 40 years ago, or there abouts.  "The leaves and flowers are edible, with a peppery tang, and even the seed pods are used as a substitute for capers." — http://gardening.about.com/od/plantprofiles/p/Nasturtium.htm

    NY Times — "From ballot boxes to the governors’ desks in Oregon and Washington, a corner of the nation that seemed poised only a few years ago to become a new energy hub is now gripped by a debate over whether transporting volatile, hazardous crude oil by rail through cities and environmentally delicate areas can ever be made safe enough…"  — As long as money is considered more important than the health of the planet and its people, there is no way that trasporting this toxic soup will ever be safe.

    Cartoon — Everyday is violation time for Republicans!

    Hope the trip to the OO went well.  BTW, a good friend of mine at church, Nick, was just diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.  He was diagnosed as a diabetic about 6 years ago, but doctors now believe that that is about the time the tumour started.  I ask for prayers for Nick and his wife.  On a good note, Nick just became a grandpa for the first time 10 days ago.  His youngest son and his partner just adopted the newborn Metis girl.

  6. Lona Goudswaard says:
    August 2, 2016 at 5:35 am

    I suppose you're fluffed and buffed by now and hopefully also feeling good after good news from your oncologist, TomCat. Enjoy all of that while doing the monthly reports 😉

    NYT: It seems such a futile debate, as it is abundantly clear to most that we should veer away from fossil fuels towards other forms of energy. However, that doesn't mean that working on more safety precautions should be abandoned while we're waiting for the fossil fuel industry to finally give in, but in the end the best safety precaution is banning these transports all together and switch to alternative energy. If Big Oil is forced to spend a lot of money on safety issues, and I mean really a lot, then they may rethink their investment policies in other forms of energy. But chances of that happening are very slim (and they'll just up the prices), unless there is a real political revolution, and the environment and the taxpayer will probably be paying a lot more when these accidents happen in the future.

    • TomCat says:
      August 2, 2016 at 12:15 pm

      I think part of the problem is that we need follis fuels while we build the green infrastructure we need.  Purists say that we need to quit cold turkey.  Instead, we need to phase out fosswil fuel use, as we phase in green energy, and do it as quickly as possible, but because the agrument remains all or nothing, we get nothing.

  7. TomCat says:
    August 2, 2016 at 12:16 pm

    Thanks all!  Hugs!!

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