Gas-Fracking Chemicals Found in WY Aquifer

Whoopsie.

And to think the American Petroleum Institute ran a 3/4 page color ad in today’s News and Observer, singing the praises of fracking.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said for the first time it found chemicals used in extracting natural gas through hydraulic fracturing in a drinking-water aquifer in west-central Wyoming.

Samples taken from two deep water-monitoring wells near a gas field in Pavillion, Wyoming, showed synthetic chemicals such as glycols and alcohols “consistent with gas production and hydraulic-fracturing fluids,” the agency said today in an e- mailed statement.

via Gas-Fracking Chemicals Found in WY Aquifer – Bloomberg.

Lonelier street

McNultys' moving van


I watched with sadness today as our next-door neighbors, the McNultys, moved out. I remember how welcome they made us feel when we moved in almost four years ago. Now their house stands empty and our little end of Tonsler Drive has gotten a bit lonelier.

Life is full of moments where everything can change in an instant. The death of a loved one, or a pet, or when good friends move away. They knock you out of your happy slumber, sudden reminders that nothing in this life is permanent.

You’d better enjoy every moment in life because they’re here and they’re gone. All too soon.

Congress about to undermine our basic constitutional rights

I’ve said again and again, if people like Jose Padilla, a U.S. Citizen accused of terrorism, are truly as evil as the government says they are, then put them on trial and prove it. Padilla did finally get a trial, by the way, but not until he spent years without trial in solitary confinement in a sensory-depravation situation – destroying his personality, according to psychologists.

Apparently Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) and other senators believe the government can ignore the U.S. Constitution and detain U.S. citizens indefinitely without trial – for life!

So much for liberty, folks.

Should the U.S. military be given the power to arrest U.S. citizens, here on U.S. soil, and to detain those citizens indefinitely in military prisons, without access to legal counsel or due process, and without trial in civilian court?

The U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights say hell no. Holding U.S. citizens in military prisons without right to trial or counsel? Really?

Centuries of American liberty also say hell no. The CIA, FBI and the entire U.S. intelligence system say no, as does the military. They do not want the power to arrest and detain U.S. citizens on U.S. soil, and any legitimate reading of our nation’s traditions, beliefs and founding documents says they should never have it. It is antithetical to a free people.

Yet a majority of the U.S. House and Senate says otherwise. Despite a stern veto threat by President Obama, Congress is about to pass such language into federal law as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. I hope and pray that Obama has the guts to carry out his veto threat, and I hope freedom-loving Americans of all ideologies rally to support him in that cause.

via Congress about to undermine our basic constitutional rights | Jay Bookman.

How to shoot down an F-117 – lessons from the Serbian war

I had heard rumors of this before but this is the first time I’ve learned the details of how the Serbs defeated America’s stealth and cruise-missile technologies.

The myth of a push-button war grows smaller each day.

The Serbian battery commander, whose missiles downed an American F-16, and, most impressively, an F-117, in 1999, has retired, as a colonel, and revealed many of the techniques he used to achieve all this.

Colonel Dani Zoltan, in 1999, commanded the 3rd battery of the 250th Missile Brigade. He had search and control radars, as well as a TV tracking unit. The battery had four quad launchers for the 21 foot long, 880 pound SA-3 missiles.

The list of measures he took, and the results he got, should be warning to any who believe that superior technology alone will provide a decisive edge in combat. People still make a big difference. In addition to shooting down two aircraft, Zoltan’s battery caused dozens of others to abort their bombing missions to escape his unexpectedly accurate missiles. This is how he did it.

via Military Technology / Videos | How to shoot down an F-117 – lessons from the Serbian war | Military technology and military videos.

Sniffling

Been a busy, fun weekend but I’m beat. I’ve had a cold for the past few weeks and it’s really starting to become a drag.

I spent some time Saturday working on my satellite dish. I also helped host a playdate for my son and his friend. Then I leaf-blowed the leaves in the back yard.

Later, we went to Raleigh’s Winterfest celebrations last evening. We had fun, even the kids. Today we went for a hike at Falls Lake. It was a short-ish hike but Kelly and I felt worn out afterwards. It seemed much more vigorous than we expected.

I’m on my way to bed soon in the hopes that tonight’s sleep refreshes me. It’s going to be a busy week with the city council swearing-in ceremony, a dentist appointment, a planning meeting, a park dedication, and a Raleigh CAC holiday party – all this week. Oh, and I have some work mixed in there as well!

It must be Obama’s fault

Political strategist Chris Sinclair whines in the New York Times about why his candidate lost the election for mayor of Raleigh. Apparently, it was the secret army of zombie Obama supporters that made the difference in Nancy McFarlane being elected mayor, not that Ms. McFarlane was the better candidate.

Having worked a bit with McFarlane’s campaign, I can say that if there were thousands of Obama supporters helping to get her elected, I sure never saw ’em. All I saw was the typical municipal campaign’s half-dozen volunteers out canvassing on any given Saturday. Even so, if Republicans want to believe that a ragtag group of campaign volunteers performed like an army, … well, who am I to dissuade them?

I’m surprised the Gray Lady would reprint Wake GOP Chair Susan Bryant’s crazy ramblings without checking the facts.

“It was very scary,” said Chris Sinclair, a strategist for Billie Redmond, the Republican candidate for mayor in Raleigh. “You don’t know what’s going on until you wake up after Election Day and go, ‘Oh my gosh, what happened?’ ”

What happened was that candidates supported by Democrats trounced Republicans in the Raleigh and Charlotte mayoral races this fall, and even wrested control of the Wake County school board from Republicans associated with the Tea Party.

It was only after the damage was done that local party leaders learned of the hidden hand of thousands of Obama for America volunteers and staff members. Never publicizing their work, they went door-to-door across the state, successfully getting their voters out to the polls in a highly effective dry run for 2012.

via Team Obama Gears Up for 2012 – NYTimes.com.

Health care


My wife and I were talking the other day about what passes for healthcare these days. As a runner, she gets some pain in her leg but the doctors are completely clueless as to how to fix it. It seems that more often than not doctors have no answers.

I’ve noticed the same in trying to get a diagnosis on various ailments I’ve suffered. When I bring some health mystery to my doctor for diagnosis, rarely do I seem to get my doctor’s attention. Doctors are great at being mechanics of the body – they can change a tire and even rebuild the occasional engine – but the deep insight into why something happens seems unimportant to them. The preventative maintenance isn’t a priority. I may be cynical, but if they can’t write a prescription for something they don’t want to bother with it.
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In Pittsburgh

I’m in Pittsburgh this morning for two days of meet-and-greets and training with my new employer. Looking forward to it.

The travel wasn’t bad at all, either, considering it was the last day of the Thanksgiving holiday. My fellow travelers were all in good spirits and the planes arrived on time.

I hope I get a chance to look around this evening to explore a bit more. It’s rainy this morning so that isn’t ideal but I’ll sneak in a little tourist time if I can.

Leaders need to tap into creative thinkers

Terry Sanford

I disagree. What we need to ask ourselves is, where are our own Terry Sanfords? Where are the leaders who are willing to take risks?

It was a pattern that [Terry] Sanford repeated for the rest of his career: surround himself with people who thought differently than he did, make time to listen to their ideas and line up the resources to follow through when their suggestions seemed worth the gamble. It all sounds pretty straightforward. And yet, too many leaders and organizations today do exactly the opposite, preferring the security of familiar notions, little ambiguity and minimal risk.

Now is not the time for status-quo thinking.

As we look to infuse fresh perspective into our state, communities and organizations, we should be asking ourselves this: Where are our own John Ehles?

via Leaders need to tap into creative thinkers – Doing Better at Doing Good – NewsObserver.com.