Oil And Gas Companies Not Prepared for Colorado Flooding

Image from source, Think Progress

Yuck. My question is, will this sludge end up in Lake Mead?

[Excerpt]

Colorado Floodwaters Cover Fracking And Oil Projects: ‘We Have No Idea What Those Wells Are Leaking’

Colorado flooding has not only overwhelmed roads and homes, but also the oil and gas infrastructure stationed in one of the most densely drilled areas in the U.S. Although oil companies have shut down much of their operations in Weld County due to flooding, nearby locals say an unknown amount of chemicals has leaked out and possibly contaminated waters, mixing fracking fluids and oil along with sewage, gasoline, and agriculture pesticides. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Rand Paul Tries to Put Conception Amenment to Flood Bill

Image from source, Think Progress

Okay, you guys, just stop it. Stop it, right now! Yes, we know that you care about almost nothing besides abortion, and gettin' the black dude out of the White House. But it's getting old.

The first time I saw a story about a "personhood" bill, I thought it was just sloppy. They couldn't really want to give a zygote full-human-being status, could they? They can't really believe that there is a full-fledged human the day after you've had sex. . .right? But they do. They couldn't really have meant to outlaw some forms of contraception in the process, that was just unfortunate verbiage. Right? Nope, turns out the really crazed anti-abortion crusaders do want contraception banned.

But it doesn't play very well when put to a vote. It lost in Mississippi of all places, badly. And yet they keep trying. While the GOP racked up many victories in 2010, they did it on the promise of jobs, jobs, jobs. On which, they've done nothing. It's all abortion, all the time!

[Excerpt]


Republican Senator Tries To Add Conception Amendment To Flood Insurance Bill

Floods and abortions are distinctly different topics — except to Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who is trying to attach an anti-choice amendment to the Senate’s flood insurance bill. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Hurricane Gustav and Other Natural Disasters

Image from source, Washington Post

Every part of the country seems to have some vulnerability to natural disasters. That's why I get frustrated when I hear people say, "well, why does anybody live there?" One reason is, what's home is home. And whether you have to deal with earthquakes or tornadoes or forest fires or hurricanes or floods, we've all got something.

Even here in Las Vegas, we have drought, though we've managed to survive so far. Outside of that, the occasional localized fire or dust devil are about it. So the scale of a natural disaster lives only in my memories of the strong tornado seasons of the 1970s in Ohio. Xenia was flattened, and we seemed to have dozens of tornado warnings every year for years. But we stayed there.

Hurricanes in particular are quite peculiar in the way they affect us. Unlike earthquakes--where we can only react, or tornadoes, where we have only hours or minutes to prepare--hurricanes give us days of warnings. We can only sit and wait for it to come. Ride it out or flee, you can't stop it from coming, and it seems to plod along on its destructive path.

The most unusual aspect might be the way technology has brought it into our living rooms. In the last few years, there has been a communication convergence of sorts. Multiple channels of 24-hour cable news have become a ubiquitous reality, and so has instant information on the internet. We can know more about what's going on, faster than we ever could before. And yet, the hurricane takes its sweet time. It's a strange combination of anticipation and dread, and you just want it over with, while simultaneously having a morbid curiosity of what is going to happen.

While I am an avowed cynic, have Mark Twain's view of humanity, and am rampantly morbidly curious, I'm still hopeful that Hurricane Gustav wreaks as little damage in property and life as is possible. I also hope that no political party over-hypes or exploits the aftermath to their advantage. But that's a lot of wishing.

To see a particularly interesting interactive map of Gustav and other storms, click here: Washington Post