Blue Goose

Ugh – ate at the Blue Goose today.  Food tasted good, but…I asked for hot sauce and the busboy brought out a ramekin of “made on request” salsa with fresh jalapenos and stuff.  It was OK – not terribly spicy but at least a little hotter than their regular salsa.  6 hours later…my innards are not doing well.  I hope they didn’t get me sick…but I’m nervous.  That’s the only thing I’ve had today besides a yogurt I had at 7:30 this morning…  No more fresh jalapenos….

Stockman – pro gun control?

Even Texas Rep Steve Stockman agrees that gun control makes it much more difficult for angry people to kill.  Recently he said that someone from a left-leaning state threatened him.  Steve seeminly agreed that without relaxed gun laws, it is much (much) more difficult for the average person to kill someone.  

“One guy threatened to kill me,” said Stockman. “I said, ‘How are you gonna do that
without a gun?'”

Yes, there are still other ways, but they seem far more difficult…

I realize – Steve Stockman did not mean to imply that gun control laws reduce homicides.  He was teasing that person because they can’t go get a gun as easy as he can.  It’s clearl bragging.  “Ha-ha, if you lived in Texas it would be much easier to kill the people you don’t like.”

Good stuff.  

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/16/steve-stockman-rodeo-clown_n_3769894.html 

 

The Flying Spaghetti Monster honored in sandwich.

Behold, the loving embrace of His Noodly Appendage.

Voici…the spaghetti burger!

http://www.delish.com/food/recalls-reviews/spaghetti-burger 

Fracking in National Parks – Take Action (please)

Please take a moment to post a message regarding fracking in our parks!  

Fracking uses MASSIVE amounts of water…5 million gallons of ‘the source of all life on Earth’ to frack a well – and there are tens of thousands of wells.  

Effects of fracking can be seen making water shortages worse in Texas towns: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/11/texas-tragedy-ample-oil-no-water 

There are also massive concerns about toxins contaminating the remaining water near fracking sites: A recently-published study by researchers at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) shows alarming levels of arsenic…

http://www.mining.com/high-levels-of-arsenic-in-water-near-fracking-sites-in-texas-97615/ 

So take a moment to throw up a message about fracking in National Parks, please!  

http://www.npca.org/about-us/center-for-park-research/fracking/ 

 

Below is a message from Nicholas Lund (NPCA).  His letter is available online at http://my.npca.org/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=0&em_id=19041.0  

Dear Friend of the National Parks,

Now is your chance. NPCA is concerned about the future protection of national parks in areas of growing oil and gas development, including Theodore Roosevelt National Park and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. NPCA’s recent report on hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) recommended ways in which the federal government can protect our National Park System while continuing to develop our country’s energy resources. 

Now you can help make those recommendations a reality by telling the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to include more protections for national parks in their proposed fracking rules.   

The BLM is only accepting comments through the Regulations.gov website. Here’s how you can submit your comments:

1. Click here and fill out the necessary information (this link takes you to the regulations.gov website). 
2. Add your personalized message about the draft BLM fracking rule in the “Comment” box.  Talking points and sample text for your comment are provided below.
3. When you’re finished, make sure to click the blue “Continue” button on the lower right of the form.

Talking Points/Sample Comments

I’m writing about the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) proposed rule regulating the use of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) on federal and tribal lands. I care deeply about America’s National Park System and am concerned that increased oil and gas development could harm the water, air, wildlife habitat, and visitor experience at national parks where oil and gas is booming. I hope that the BLM rule is strengthened to protect national parks and their visitors, natural resources, and wildlife.

Specifically, I want the rule to be amended to include the National Park Service (NPS) as a formal cooperating agency wherever there is leasing or drilling that may harm national park resources. Presently, NPS has very little say on drilling that occurs near its borders, which means BLM does not learn about impacts to National Parks directly from those whose duty it is to manage the resources.

Additionally, please amend this rule to require drilling companies to disclose more of the chemicals they use in their fracking formulas, and to disclose this information before drilling begins, not after. The possibility that fracking chemicals or waste products may spill or could otherwise contaminate waters that run through national parks is a very serious concern. To ensure that parks are protected, please also include provisions in this rule that increase the amount of air and water monitoring that drillers must do when they operate near parks.

National parks are our most treasured places. They can and must be protected as America develops its energy resources. Thank you

For other ideas on information you could include in your comments, please read NPCA’s report on fracking near national parks.

Thank you for helping to protect our national parks!

Sincerely,

Nicholas Lund, 
Manager, NPCA’s Oil and Gas Campaign

A thought on Karma

You don’t have to wait through your whole life before you find out if there are repercussions, as our dominant mono-theistic religions would postulate.  Karma will let you know much sooner, sometimes right away!  You can see Karma at work all the time.  Why wait until death?  No reason.  

Getting in trouble with the law?  Sometimes Karma hits hard.  When there are hundreds of people who want an organ transplant, the people who did not get in trouble with the law get put on the transplant lists while the people who repeatedly disregarded the laws get left off the list. 

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/news/local/family-says-dekalb-teen-being-denied-heart-transpl/nZL3K/

Keepers of the nation’s transplant list have strict guidelines about who qualifies, and while doctors didn’t specify the reason, family friends told Channel 2’s Tony Thomas they’ve been told it’s partly because Anthony has had low grades and trouble with the law.

“This is unacceptable because he must lose his life because of a non-compliance”, says a friend of the family.  

His life is in danger because of a problem with his heart.  Not as a result of non-compliance.  He’s not getting the transplant (in part) due to the non-compliance.  For the ‘death-sentence’ that is his heart condition – you’ll have to go back to whatever it is you believe (it’s God’s plan, it’s unlucky genetic patterns, it’s genetically-modified food, it’s something he did in a past life, it’s b/c a parent did “fill-in-the-blank” during pregnacy, etc.).  

The Earth is round.  A bear shits in the woods.  And if you are repeatedly getting in trouble and routinely getting bad grades…good things are unlikely to happen.  These are three facts.  

Burleson, TX: Breastfeeding Mom Puts Woman Who Asked Her To ‘Cover Up’ In Her Place

I hope the Burleson Rec Center gets sued. They are definitely in the wrong and they are without question interfering and the law seems VERY clear. You cannot ask a breastfeeding mom to cover up nor ask them to move/leave. The agent of this company was clearly acting illegally. If I am in charge, I am either firing the employee (I’d she acted independently) or the supervisor who told her to do that.

I agree with the idea that this is (very) simple…it’s black and white. They are interfering. They are either family friendly or they are not…

WATCH: Breastfeeding Mom Puts Woman Who Asked Her To ‘Cover Up’ In Her Place – http://huff.to/1cvAQ4e