West Coast Blues: Radiation & Rain

Whenever I go off on a rant about this, people tend to label me an "alarmist" or worse, but radiation is nothing to mess with, it's invisible, has astoundingly long half-lives in even its least potent forms (how long it takes half of a sample of it to decay to "safe" levels), accumulates in effect, and, oh yeah, can kill you if you breathe it or absorb it through your skin. I am not an idiot, thank you very much, and I had more than my fair share of science courses in high school and college. Check my transcripts if you like - I was pre-med at one time. I have more than a casual understanding of cell biology and I know what happens to irradiated cells. It isn't pretty. Go do a little reading on radiation sickness. In its milder forms, it can be rather flu-like, with the addition of spontaneous bleeding from gums and such. But if you are exposed to a large enough dose, really bad things start to happen. Try not to look at any pictures, unless you want those images seared into your retinas for the rest of your life. Remember, once you've seen something, you can't "un-see" it. A basic description is this: your cells dis-integrate. Think about that for a minute. The very stuff that holds your cells together - that makes you, well, "you" - starts to unravel at the cellular level and from all outward appearances, you begin to melt (desquamation). Good enough? Thought so! Now how in ANY kind of conscience - good or bad! - could you, as a Government entity, allow this to happen to your people and 1) not do anything to stop it and 2) not at least keep people informed? Is there no collective soul to our collective humanity anymore? First, I lay a huge portion of blame squarely on the shoulders of the Japanese government. Did they ask for the precipitating event, that original earthquake and resulting tsunami in March 2011? Of course not! But so many of their actions and inactions since that time have been bent on coverup and deception, and still the problem of irradiated water spewing directly into the Pacific continues unabated to this day. And then I lay blame at the feet of the FDA and the CDC, both of which have irons in the coverup fires on our own shores. It has been well-documented that radiation levels have risen in milk products from certain west coast dairies, whose cows graze on grass watered by the rains produced in the evaporation cycle fed by the irradiated waters of the Pacific. Babies and elderly people drinking these products have been dying (I believe the latest count was around 30,000 - yes, staggering, isn't it?) from symptoms strangely resembling early stages of radiation sickness. But these reports are being deliberately NOT reported in aggregate form where they might raise more than an eyebrow (oh, say a panic, maybe?), so the CDC is ducking out of some responsibility here, too. Now for the $64 million dollar question: is there anything that can be done? Of course there is! First of all, get Japan some help in getting the problem solved and the leak stopped and the entire Fukushima plant safely shut down and disassembled. Because guess what? Apparently it is sitting on some very unstable ground and is in danger of dropping its radioactive rods into an underlying aquifer, thereby poisoning drinking water. Because this is a global problem, global resources should be brought to bear to solve it. Then it might be a good idea to convene a multi-national panel of thinkers to see if anyone can come up with a way to filter the rain to eliminate radiation from it, or somehow get the radiation out of the evaporation cycle so that the food supply would stop being poisoned. Start treating people for radiation sickness. And, yes, informing the public is a really good idea. And maybe none of these are the elegant - or simple - solution really needed. I'm just one lone thinker here. But it really bothers me that so few people seem to be aware that this is going on and is a huge environmental crisis sitting right on our doorstep, killing thousands of people, and we aren't even being told. And you doubt our media is being controlled? Think again!

To Bee Or Not To Bee?

Our neighbors to the North have just suffered a devastating loss: 600 hives of bees - that's roughly 37 million bees! - all wiped out by agri-pesticides used in planting nearby cornfields. These chemicals are translocated to the hives by the bees as they go about their critical jobs of pollinating the majority of the food that you and I consume on a daily basis. Those of you that follow me know that I can be a little melodramatic to make the occasional point, but this is no exaggeration for effect here: if we lose the bees, we stand to lose all of our natural food sources within 4 years. That's right FOUR years and it's all gone - forever. Yes, there are global seed banks at key locations, BUT those seeds still need to be planted, successfully germinate and then be pollinated to stimulate the production of their fruit or seed - that is what we eat. If the pollination cannot occur because there are no bees to do it, the next biggest surge in manual labor employment will be working in the fields manually pollinating plants. Or we die off in droves from pandemic starvation. Serious enough for anybody to be paying attention yet? Well, you would think so, wouldn't you? But the godforsaken, almighty dollar is so fucking ingrainedly important that our greed is going to surely be our global undoing. And where will you be then, Midas? Trying some reverse alchemy, as you barter your last mountain of gold for a crust of bread? No, more likely we'll all be consuming synthetic food exclusively - at least those will be who can afford it! See where I'm going with this train of thought? The divide between the Haves and Have-Nots will become a gulf that can no longer be bridged, and even more people will be sacrificed. I don't know about y'all, but I don't want to live in that world! So it is time, right now, today, this week, before the end of the month: seek out your Congresspeeps and anyone else you can think of and get their attention. We MUST save the bees! Monsanto must be stopped in their mad quest. If they cannot see the future, let those of us with clearer sight prevail. Okay, I'm off my soapbox now. Carry on. Take action!

Pass the Marshmallows Mommy, The Cross Is Burning!

Anybody care to take a stroll back to the 1950s in the rural South and attend a good, old-fashioned KKK cross-burning? Hey readers, I only wish I were kidding you about this one, truly I do. But it came to my attention today that the New Empire Knights of the KKK in the Realm of Kentucky have proudly announced just such a throw-back event as if it were a giant, fun-for-all picnic, which will be held on a member's private property on September 14, 2013, in the Louisa-Yatesville, KY area. Thank the Goddess I've already made alternative plans to be out of town that evening. Of course I wouldn't be welcome to attend anyway, my ethnic sensibilities aside, as the event is only open to members, families of members and those who have met, and presumably been cleared to attend by the local KKK leaders as a prelude to hitching their benighted stars to this ignominiously tainted wagon. No thanks, not for me. But not to worry! They are going to light the damned cross on top of a hill, so it should be visible for miles! Luckily, the population in them thar hills is 95% homogeneous, so I doubt they are going to be offending many who are not already of their own kind, but I can only hope that the good townspeople will show up to protest anyway. Have we made no progress in race relations in the last 60 years? Must we continue to suffer these fools in hide-and-go-peep hoodies (yes, Virginia, some criminals DO wear hoodies, don't they?) while they prance about and preach their poorly-disguised hatred for anybody that isn't white? Oh, and by white, I don't mean looking white - these folks check your bloodlines back to when your grandpappy was a gleam in his grandpappy's eye and if there's an alien drop in there - you ain't "white enough, boy!" Some of their other membership requirements - because I know you are all just wanting to run right out and sign up in time to attend this unusual folk festival - well, let's see, you have to be a Christian and conduct yourself in a Christian manner (no drunks, drug addicts, wife beaters (somebody please tell me who is going to explain all this to Cousin Bubba, who is probably all three under his hood!), no child molesters, homosexuals, bisexuals, swingers, porn supporters, race-mixers or bums). Makes you wonder how they could drum up a decent membership roster, doesn't it? And you must obey the law - no criminals allowed either. Hey, I've been to Louisa and the law is subject to interpretation there, just like everywhere else! So what DO they espouse? Why Christian love, charity and doing good work, of course! There's even a statement on their site that being white and proud doesn't make them racist or evil, and that their goal is NOT to hate non-whites and others. They might have sold me on it, too, if I were an impressionable skin-head youth with neo-Nazi leanings and HADN'T seen the extensive treatise and "statistics" they also had prominently displayed on their same site about the inherent "inferiority" of the Negro race. They say their mission is Christian love and defense of the white race. Well folks, I'm not a Christian myself, but if you are a believer, just be glad that Christ managed to get himself off that Cross before this planned cross-burning being done to show his type of love to the world by a bunch of cowardly ghosts. I think He would be heartily ashamed and run screaming into the night!

Obamacare Is Here To Stay!

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), commonly called Obamacare, is actually bringing down healthcare costs across the nation, and in ten states and Washington D.C. it is doing this at costs even lower than projected by government budget offices. Every day there are stories being reported of people with catastrophic illness or pre-existing conditions finding themselves covered under Obamacare, whereas they would have had to fend for themselves before. And people who could never afford routine insurance premiums before can now afford the lower rates being made available. The concept is simple at the heart of it all: shared risk equals lower cost to the individual. This, of course, flies directly in the face of the doom and gloom projected by Republican leaders and pundits. What is this? Better care for less money? Huge program savings? Individuals - what are they? Unfortunately, the Republican vision only extends to the corporate level - they have no concept, and thus no concern, for the individual. But you had better believe the individuals are taking advantage of the improvements that Obamacare is making in their lives and those of their families. These are the kind of concrete improvements that voters will hopefully remember when they go to the polls in 2014. Obamacare is actually working! Yes, there are a few of you that remain "disgruntled citizens," but overall it is bringing down costs and providing a wider range of benefits for less out-of-pocket. This has the Rethugs in a tizzy! So what do they do? Why of course, they start ginning up ridiculous legislation that nobody needs that will harm our country and, once again, they are threatening to shut down the Government unless Obamacare is repealed! Don't they get it? Healthcare reform is here to stay! Americans - ALL Americans, not just the uber-wealthy, have a right to affordable, decent healthcare. And now we are getting it. Thank you Mr. President!