The Gnostic Gospel of Thomas reveals Jesus’ words on the Kingdom of God. You could say that it’s God’s “Back to the Future,” or perhaps God’s Return of the Beginning.

Jesus says: “You see, the end will be where the beginning is. Congratulations to the one who stands at the beginning: that one will know the end and will not taste death.”

The Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of thirteen ancient codices containing over fifty texts, was discovered in upper Egypt in 1945. This  important discovery includes a large number of primary Gnostic scriptures – texts once thought to have been entirely destroyed during the early Christian struggle to define “orthodoxy” – scriptures such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth. The leather-bound codices found at Nag Hammadi in 1945.

The discovery and translation of the Nag Hammadi library, completed in the 1970s, has provided impetus to a major re-evaluation of early Christian history, and “newly-found” insights into what Jesus thought and taught – particularly about the Kingdom of God. The text provides truth for those of all faiths. Many who meditate on Jesus’ words here begin to get a clearer understanding of what he was and is saying.

Many scholars have pointed to Thomas as the twin of Jesus. In the Gospel of Thomas, Jesus comments on the roles of James the Just and Mary Magdalene.

Three (3) other insights from the Gospel of Thomas include:

- Jesus said, “Those who seek should not stop seeking until they find. When they find, they will be disturbed. When they are disturbed, they will marvel, and will reign over all. [And after they have reigned they will rest.]”

- The disciples said to Jesus, “We know that you are going to leave us. Who will be our leader?” Jesus said to them, “No matter where you are you are to go to James the Just, for whose sake heaven and earth came into being.”

- Jesus said, “Look, I will guide her (Mary) to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven.”

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To gain insights, read the full text of the Gospel of Thomas on our blog at:

http://7bends.com/blog/2010/07/the-kingdom-of-god-is-a-return-of-the-beginning/

Enjoy!

Distraction is defined by wikipedia as: “the diversion of attention of an individual or group from the chosen object of attention onto the source of distraction.” While finding missing children is certainly a laudable goal (who can argue that?), we have police and detective forces responsible for handling those cases. But, Point to Point highway surveillance systems? What is the real connection with lost children?

See related definition of media distraction.

Primarily for Amber Alerts?

The use of taxpayers dollars to install elaborate, expensive, intrusive tracking and surveillance systems on our interstate highways for the stated purpose of issuing Amber Alerts – designed to find lost children – is a long shot, and perhaps a distraction from what’s really being put into place.

Does our government really care about us enough to pay all of that money for our benefit? Look at their recent track record of protecting the people – corporate bailouts, cuts in unemployment benefits, closed rest areas, the handling of the Gulf oil spill, increased fees for everything, the list goes on…

Once these systems are put into place, it will be very difficult for citizens to demand that they are dismantled.

Here’s a recent Associated Press article concerning Charleston, West Virginia:

“West Virginia highways have been equipped with a network of cameras and computerized message boards to make it easier to track down missing children. State officials say 17 automated message boards have been installed, and eight cameras have been put up along the Interstate 64 corridor to monitor traffic.

Bruce Kenney, who oversees traffic monitoring for the Division of Highways, says a $1.5 million computerized war room was built to compile traffic and weather information and control the cameras and message boards. The boards can be programmed to warn motorists about traffic conditions or spread word of an Amber Alert, which goes out when a child is missing or abducted.”

What do you think? Is a kidnapper going to put a child in a car in clear view of cameras, and, for that matter, choose to drive on a freeway that he/she knows has cameras? (Watch and see West Virginians how the system will be employed.)

Have you seen these types of message boards and cameras in your area – on roads and interstates near you? How often have they been used so far, and for what purposes?  Add your Comments below.

Here is VDOT  information about cameras and message boards on Interstate 81 in Virginia.

Point-to-Point Tracking Systems for people, cars

There are other reports on the Internet of these systems being built in the U.S., particularly in Maryland where Governor O’Malley signed a bill into law in October 2009 authorizing surveillance cameras in highway work zones and within a half-mile radius of schools.

So too, The US Federal Highway Administration has provided approximately 90 percent of the $43 million cost required to implement a pilot program – the Kansas City Scout Intelligent Transportation System.

The Kansas and Missouri Departments of Transportation provided the remaining portion with the amount split into two roughly equal parts according to how much of the network was located in each state. Maintenance cost is split similarly between the Kansas and Missouri Departments.

Here is the project’s official description of the Scout system:

“To effectively monitor traffic, the Kansas City Scout project employs a network designed to host a combination of various traffic detection devices. Stretching over 75 miles, the Scout system includes portions of Interstate 435, I-35, US 69 and K-10 in Kansas and portions of interstates 435, 35, 470, 670, 70; highways 71 and 169; and Route 9 on the Missouri side.

Scout uses technology such as closed-circuit cameras, electronic message boards and roadway sensors to monitor and manage traffic on these routes. Information is gathered using a crucial fibre-optic network that stretches for 90 miles beneath the roadside.

Following the launch of the Scout system in September 2004 several cameras were added to help remove blind-spots that were only recognised once it was fully operational. Three cameras were added in February 2005 to cover the I-470 mainline bridges west of Route 71, south Route71 and west Interstate 435 and also North Interstate 435 at Bannister Road. The new cameras were state-of-the-art 360 degree pan tilt and zoom and gave the system more than 80 cameras on the network.

Prominent features of the Scout system include 25 foot-wide electronic message boards and 45 foot-tall camera poles. In August 2007, an additional seveen cameras were deployed on Interstate 470 and Highway 71 to enhance coverage in South Kansas City.”

These sensors, cameras, and the resulting “command centers” – like CSI intelligence rooms with Abby standing by ready to help – are being built to catch motorists who drive faster between two points on the freeway than deemed permissible. The state then mails the motorist a hefty speeding ticket – without recourse, without any human being involved in citing the infraction whatsoever. What will we have next, arrest by computer?

In some cases, too, these services are being outsourced so it’s not even the government that is anonymously tracking people, but outside paid contractors. If police officers are given speeding ticket quotas, who is to say that contractors will not be awarded for the amount of revenue they help bring into state, or Federal, coffers?

These computerized highway tracking systems have been operational in some places in Europe for a while, and in the state of Florida, which supposedly installed an elaborate system of Interstate cameras under then-Governor Jeb Bush, and then dismantled them after legal action (i.e. privacy concerns.) The citizens would not stand for the cameras as an outright measure. But, what if they are instituted as a part of another “initiative”?

Since when do computers have more say, more rights, than humans?

When did we start allowing computer information to matter more than people? Where did “innocent until proven guilty” go in America? Have we given the right to accuse one of a crime  to computers?

A computer can be made to say or do anything. We all know that from the obnoxious computer “lady” that gives herself a name when we call to resolve an issue with our phone company, energy company, etc.

The simulated voice (not a real woman’s voice) will say, “Sorry, I did not hear that.” and I say, “That’s because you’re a computer, not a real person.”

Catch 22 Psychology at work

The psychology of the above situation where an elaborate tracking system is being put into place “to track down missing children,” establishes a situation where it looks bad for citizens to object to the intrusive surveillance because then, of course, they are objecting to finding missing children. Only a heel would not believe or say that finding missing children is not a good thing.

The argument against these surveillance systems puts U.S. citizens in a Catch 22 situation if they question or object to what the main purpose of the surveillance is.

Maybe I’m wrong. Judge it for yourself.

So many things these days are set up this way.

That’s not to say that some kids might be found by all of the highway cameras. But, getting taken by the notion that we are allowing one action to help ensure a given outcome is naive, and gives our rights, and our power away.

Young people …and everyone else, we all need to wake up.

What’s your opinion? Write a Comment below.

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Learn more about Catch 22 – What is it?

(Wikipedia) Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller, first published in 1961. The novel, set during the later stages of World War II from 1943 onwards, is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century

Among other things, Catch-22 is a general critique of bureaucratic operation and reasoning. Resulting from its specific use in the book, the phrase “Catch-22″ is common idiomatic usage meaning “a no-win situation” or “a double bind” of any type. Within the book, “Catch-22″ is a military rule, the self-contradictory circular logic that, for example, prevents anyone from avoiding combat missions. In Heller’s own words:

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle.

Other forms of Catch-22 are invoked throughout the novel to justify various bureaucratic actions. At one point, victims of harassment by military police quote the MPs’ explanation of one of Catch-22’s provisions: “Catch-22 states that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating.” Another character explains: “Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can’t stop them from doing.” The theme of a bureaucracy marginalizing the individual in an absurd way is similar to the world of Kafka’s The Trial, and George Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. The concept of ‘doublethink’ has definite echoes in Heller’s work.

Yossarian comes to realize that Catch-22 does not actually exist, but because the powers that be claim it does, and the world believes it does, it nevertheless has potent effects. Indeed, because it does not exist there is no way it can be repealed, undone, overthrown, or denounced.

U.S.A. – AT & T has verified the existence of a phone scam that can result in charges of more than $2,000 per minute by calling area codes 809, 294 or 876.

Do not ever dial numbers with the following area codes: 809, 294, 876.

Residents in Virginia this week are reporting a scam. “I actually received
a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said, ‘”Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you — get back to us quickly. I have something important to tell you.”  Then, she repeated a phone number beginning with area code 809. We did not respond.

Then this week, we received the following e-mail: Do Not DIAL AREA CODES 809, 284, or 876.”

Fraudulent charges

On further investigation, if you call any of these three area codes from the United States. , you will apparently be charged $2,425 per-minute.

Don’t dial the area code 809. Apparently, this same scam is happening all over the U.S. The callers will try and get you to return their call by telling you that it is information about a family member who has been ill, or to tell you someone has been arrested, died, or to let you know you have won a prize.

In each case, you are told to call a 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls.

Here’s how they try and trick you

Once someone calls the 809 number, they will often get a long recorded message to get you to stay on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. The reason why this works is that the 809 area code is located
in the Dominican Republic. The charges that accrue from you staying on the line are hard to fight afterward because you did indeed initiate the call.

Some citizens when they complain to their local and/or long distance carrier have been told that there is nothing they can do about the charges simply providing the billing for the foreign company. Most often, you’ll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.

Please alert your friends, family and colleagues to help them become aware of this scam and/or pass on this article.

Here is the AT&T web page that verfied that this scam is indeed true.

A Four-Hour Tour

“Sit right back” and ride with me through rural WV. See for yourself just how “clean” the natural gas drilling process called “fracking” really is. We got a up-close, four-hour tour of this Wetzel County hydrofracturing operation (a large Chesapeake Energy project) two weeks ago by some local West Virginia residents, and want to share what we saw and heard.

To be informed about what’s going on with fracking, and everything that’s at stake, is the first step to slowing down the process until citizen interests are considered first - before corporate profits, and before the land in the United States (including WV and VA) is polluted possibly beyond repair – just like the Gulf.

With hydrofracking we’re really talking about hundreds of “ground zeros,” instead of one.

This article is an example of the power of electronic journalism. Whether you’re a child, a teen, or an adult, whatever your station in life, citizens can use technology and the Internet – blogs, videos, photos, writing, social networking, cell phones, electronic devices, etc. – to tell the stories that must be told, the stories of the people, of democracy and freedom.

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What You See Is What You Get

I had heard about the hydrofracking process, had researched it, and had written a number of articles on fracking, but what I saw when I visited the Wetzel County, WV site surprised me.  I left somber.

In the Northeast U.S., natural gas is generally found in the Marcelleus shale rock formation, which extends from New York – and as many people don’t realize, down into Virginia.

In Rockingham County, VA, Carrizo Oil & Gas (a Houston firm) has applied for the first application to hydrofrack in the state of Virginia – in tiny Bergton, to be exact.

Bergton is a rural area, outside of Harrisonburg, not far from James Madison University and Eastern Mennonite University.

There are no Federal regulations against hydrofracking. Nor does Virginia have any – yet. So, the special use permit to drill a natural gas test well in Bergton is the first time hydrofracking has become a possibility in Virginia, and in the Shenandoah Valley. This is significant because once the “floodgates are open,” there will be no turning back. The water supply for the Valley, and by extension, Washington D.C., is at risk.

The situation is being studied and weighed by the local Rockingham County, VA,  Board of Supervisors (BOS) as you read this.

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Showing the Reality of Hydrofracking – Case Study: Wetzel County, West Virginia

Here’s what I learned about the process before I went on the tour… Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves the injection of between 3 to 8 million gallons of water, sand, and undisclosed chemicals at very high pressure down vertical pipes and then across into horizontal drilled wells as far down as 10,000 below the Earth’s surface.

The pressurized mixture causes the rock layer – in this case Marcellus shale – to crack. These fissures are held open by the sand particles so that natural gas from the shale can collect and then be pumped into holding tanks, or piped out directly to market.

The used-up fracking liquid is stored in open pits (below) and then either taken to a waste water treatment plant, or covered up by sand/dirt on site.

This is especially dangerous when a project is built on or by a floodplain.

During the process, about 200 large tanker trucks are needed to deliver the millions of gallons of water for the fracturing process for each single derrick/well.

Alternatively, although rarely disclosed in the permit and application, gas companies – can actually suck the water out of nearby streams to use for their own purposes.

What I was not prepared for was that with each step of the natural gas drilling process, there is machinery, construction, dust, invasion of the Earth’s crust – and yet another chopped-off hill – literally in every direction one looks.

There are water pipes along the side of almost every road, and up and down the hills.

There are compressor stations and storage tanks, dozens of heavy trucks, moving back and forth on small roads, and there are staging areas, where barrels of chemicals (with toxic signs on them) are just sitting outside on the ground (below).

The scale is big. It’s hard to show here. The “pads” that the derricks sit on, for example, can be as large as four or five acres. In Wetzel County, during the construction process, silt fences are not being used on any type of a regular basis. Thus, whatever is disturbed can spread to another area.

Here are some more pictures I snapped in Wetzel County, WV:

Not too far from Wheeling, the striking terrain of this remote West Virginia land (near Maud, WV on Route 7) used to be open, rolling, green-covered hills, with trees everywhere.

These are not your Old Grand Dad’s small oil derricks, ala Beverly Hillbillies style, dotting the landscape here and there, like fairy castles. No, hydrofracking is indeed an industrial undertaking.

Below are the small rural roads in Wetzel County that were never meant for dozens of 80,000 pound trucks rolling by, reducing some of the paved roads to dirt.

There is so much activity and wear & tear that the roads must be watered throughout the day just to control the dust it’s so thick (right).

The nearby streams in Wetzel County used to be freely flowing with clean water, and fish in them – and a habitat for other wildlife and plants (below).

Chesapeake Energy is taking hundreds of thousands of water a day from the local watershed to use in the fracking process. They siphon as much water from the streams as they need. Why is this permissible, when taking the water affects the whole region, not just the property that has been leased?

Quality of Life Must Trump Profiteering

Here’s the deal: The energy companies lay out their industrial operation like a grid, deciding where best to situate the wells to make the most money. If someone’s land is in that path, regardless of whether he/she has signed a lease, the oil company can still run pipes under his/her land.

That’s eminent domain in action; it takes power away from citizens, and places it into corporate hands – hands that most often have profit as a motivation, rather than quality of life.

You can see here how the water looks. It’s a red/rust color, about the consistency of chocolate milk.

One day, our “tour guide” said that he actually saw workers pulling out water from a stream as the minnows lay there dying. Many of the plants in the area are also gone. Barren land is what’s left behind.

Taking all of this water from the environment is happening even as some areas in the region have declared an emergency situation because of drought conditions.

There are other ramifications that affect the quality of life, too.

The Wetzel County residents used to be able to leave their homes at anytime without being delayed for hours because of the double-wide compressor machines that the large trucks trek up the country roads to the fracking sites three times a week. Now, citizen schedules must be built around Chesapeake’s corporate schedule.

These large trucks on the small roads also cause safety issues.

Our tour guide said that this past year EMT personnel had to use a Kybota to get an elderly woman from her home in order to take her to the hospital when the Chesapeake trucks were blocking the roads. Accidents, too, are common and have increased. A lifeline helicopter now circles above the area.

Know too…  Since 2005, the energy companies that run hydraulic fracturing operations have been exempt from compliance with The Clean Air Act and the Federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

Right now, in essence, we’re living in an unregulated fracking free-for-all. That kind of “environment” has been demonstrated all too well in the Gulf of Mexico.

As one of the residents in Wetzel County, WV, remarked to me when we first arrived: “They do what they want.”

Here is what the residents told us. In Wetzel County, WV, before Chesapeake Energy came in, there were weight limit signs on the small roads and bridges near the soon-to-be fracking site , but a few days before their arrival, the locals said that these weight limit signs “miraculously disappeared.” There was a obstacle; it was eliminated.

Omission of pertinent information is also an issue. For example, a complete listing of the specific chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations are not made available to landowners, neighbors, local officials, or health care providers, nor is it required by any government entity.

There have been reports just this month in PA where energy companies have finally been pressured to release their list of 80-plus fracking chemicals. Why is it not required of these companies upfront – to state what they plan to inject into the ground? That’s only sensible and reasonable. (Cattle in PA have also been quarantined because of runoff fracking liquid.)

Fracking Divides People and Towns

Another observation: Perhaps, the most significant harm fracking brings to a community is a social one. Suffice it to say that division occurs when a fracking operation comes to town. The issue seems to intrinsically split the community into those who are financially benefiting from the drilling (and look the other way to the environmental harms), and those who have not leased land (or, who have decided to stand up for peoples’ health and the environment – on principle.)

If you’re interested, the technical aspects of how hydrofracking works are illustrated in this ABC News video.

Or, view this earlier article on the health effects of hydrofracking, as researched by Dr. Theo Colburn.

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The Regional Backdrop: Virginia is Next on the Radar Screen

Commentary: The Wetzel County, WV, Chesapeake Energy hydrofracking operation that you’ve just seen has been going on for four years now. It’s a great case study for us in Virginia, as we decide how we’ll handle our natural gas challenge.

We have a window of opportunity here in Virginia; for how long is unclear. We have a unique chance to make a difference for the Commonwealth, and also to set an example for the rest of the country as to what we’ll put up with, and what we won’t.

Will we act swiftly and decisively to hold energy companies accountable, or will allow big business interests and the clout of those who are making big bucks from the drilling to set the stage?

Here is a picture (right) of the Cowfer #1 natural gas (fracking) operation in Osceola Mills, Pennsylvania that Carrizo Oil & Gas built.

Here are other pictures of rural Bergton, VA, where a fracking operation is now being  proposed by Carrizo Oil & Gas:

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This is the first time any area of Virginia has had to deal with these fracking  issues. As part of their due diligence, members of the Rockingham County VA Board of Supervisors recently drove up to Wetzel County, WV, and took a similar tour of the Chesapeake Energy fracking operation. They also took video and still photos.

The people must know what is going on.

Let’s see which Virginia politician – local or otherwise - stands up first and sponsors legislation in the Virginia Assembly next session to regulate this first precedent-setting fracking operation in Virginia.

Whoever does take the lead will surely be lauded.

Proposed Bergton Drill Site is Next to the Watershed that Supplies D.C. with Drinking Water

It’s important to note that the Bergton drilling site is on a flood plain. And, it’s between two tributaries of the North Fork of the Shenandoah River (Rader Run and Bennett Run.) . Just this week, Governor McDonnell declared Rockingham County, Virginia, a disaster area due to current drought conditions.   After reading the Carrizo Oil & Gas application, the source of the millions of gallons of water needed for fracking in Bergton is a mystery. They only have budgeted $11,500 for “drilling and potable water” in the application.

We are all connected

If Carrizo does the same as Chesapeake Energy and siphons water from the local streams here in VA, the water situation will worsen. And, what will fracking so close to the watershed do to the water supply for the Valley – and by extension for the Washington DC area? Will we end up with water that looks and smells like Wetzel County’s  streams?

Without strong leadership soon, it’s likely that the Bergton, VA area will become much like the industrial scene that you’ve witnessed in the pictures from West Virginia.

The People Taking A Stand, Joining Together

Let’s hope that enough people get involved to have us learn from the experience of our neighbors in NY, PA, and WV. Virginia needs to enact a moratorium until regulations can be put into place to protect Virginia citizens, Virginia land, and our regional water supply. A natural gas severance tax of some sort would be advantageous for Virginia coffers, as well.

What can you do?

1) Watch for news on 7Bends.com about an upcoming citizen dialogue meeting to be held here in Virginia in the Fall. It will use the innovative Open Space Technology (OST) format which encourages open conversation among all of the people and parties involved, most prominently involving the citizens themselves.

2) Contact your elected officials today to ask what they plan to do about the situation. Be aware that there are 24 counties in Virginia that do have Marcellus shale, so your area could be next. The Bergton decision affects all Virginians.

What about the “Energy Independence” Argument?

Before I close this article, I want to lay the energy independence issue out on the table. The powerful energy industry – with its mega bucks, mega lobbyists, hefty community contributions and media buys – are touting natural gas drilling as “a clean source of energy” that will be one of nation’s answers to energy independence for the U.S.

Many Americans, when they first hear about “natural gas drilling,” react “Way to go! We want energy independence. We won’t have to rely on just coal, or on foreign suppliers.” That is a great aim. But, the reality is … to not object to the hydrofracking process – as it now exists in its unregulated state – is just not possible once you’ve witnessed it.

Without these regulations, it’s not a decision of the heart – or any type of logic – to want hydrofracking “in your own backyard.” That is, unless you’re one of the folks getting monthly checks, and you’ve abandoned your now-polluted piece of property, and bought a nice big house somewhere else. What about the land? What about your neighbors?

The race is on

As legislators try and play “catch up,” the natural gas drilling companies are racing “to get it while the getting is good” – that is, before the process is slowed down and handled responsibly.

A scene near Bergton now (pre-frack).

Imagine a sign reading: “Welcome visitors to the once beautiful Shenandoah Valley – that is, before hydrofracking.”

The streams, vegetation, water supply, and air for many thousands of people – just one degree of separation from the “ground zeros” that are being erected all across the countryside – are being threatened.

Responsible business is one thing; we welcome that. But, this unregulated, free-for-all is unacceptable. If Virginians do not take notice and enact regulations before the energy companies come into “frack” Virginia land, it will be difficult to stop the tide, as our neighboring states can definitely agree.

I always learned: leave whatever land or property you use better than the way you found it. We must make it so.

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“In general I esteem it a good maxim, that the best way to preserve the confidence of the people durably is to promote their true interest.”                 ~ George Washington

Martin Luther King Jr. said, “Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.” We hold that to be true. Love Protects. Love Defends. Love Restores. Love Empowers. We are Love146.”

These words embody the movement that’s on to make people aware of modern human trafficking and slavery and to take the measures needed to end it. The myth that it occurs only in other countries must be exploded. Sexual exploitation of people – mainly women and children – is on the rise, everywhere, including the United States. It cannot be tolerated. Get involved to stop it.

The Story is In the Name

The international organization, Love146, got their name from one of the victims they remember well. She indeed embodies the issue, the abuse, and the fight. Here is their and her story.

In 2002, the co-founders of Love 146 travelled to South East Asia on an exploratory trip to determine how they could serve in the fight against child sex trafficking. In one experience, a couple of our co-founders were taken undercover with investigators to a brothel, where they witnessed children being sold for sex. This was their experience. This is the story that changed our lives.

“We found ourselves standing shoulder to shoulder with predators in a small room, looking at little girls through a pane of glass. All of the girls wore red dresses with a number pinned to their dress for identification. They sat, blankly watching cartoons on TV. They were vacant, shells of what a child should be. There was no light in their eyes, no life left. Their light had been taken from them.  These children… raped each night… seven, ten, fifteen times every night.

They were so young. Thirteen, eleven… it was hard to tell.  Sorrow covered their faces with nothingness. Except one girl. One girl who wouldn’t watch the cartoons. Her number was 146. She was looking beyond the glass. She was staring out at us, with a piercing gaze. There was still fight left in her eyes. There was still life left in this girl…

“…All of these emotions begin to wreck you. Break you. It is agony. It is aching. It is grief. It is sorrow. The reaction is intuitive, instinctive. It is visceral. It releases a wailing cry inside of you. It elicits gut-level indignation. It is unbearable. I remember wanting to break through the glass. To take her away from that place. To scoop up as many of them as I could into my arms. To take all of them away. I wanted to break through the glass to tell her to keep fighting. To not give up. To tell her that we were coming for her…”

“Because we went in as part of an ongoing, undercover investigation on this particular brothel, we were unable to immediately respond. Evidence had to be collected in order to bring about a raid, and eventually justice on those running the brothel.  It is an immensely difficult problem when an immediate response cannot address an emergency.

Some time later, there was a raid on this brothel and children were rescued.  But the girl who wore #146 was no longer there.  We do not know what happened to her, but we will never forget her.  She changed the course of all of our lives.” -Rob Morris, President and Co-founder, 146.org

Defining the Ordeal

Current U.S. Anti-Human Trafficking Law – the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (“TVPA”) – defines “Severe forms of trafficking in persons” involves (A) sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such act has not attained 18 years of age; or (B) the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for labor or services, through the use of force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage, or slavery.
- See Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 22 U.S.C. 7102(8) -

Here is the U.S. State department’s web page on the crime.

International Human Trafficking Statistics

Here are a list of sordid facts about sexual slavery, as reported by Oregonstate.edu:

1. 600,000-800,000 people are trafficked internationally each year
2. 14,500-17,500 are trafficked into the U.S every year
3. 80% of these are women and children
4. It’s a $9 billion business worldwide (Paulk, 2005)
5. It is in the top 3 revenue earners for organized crime (Leach, 2004)
6. 1.2 million children are trafficked every year
7. There are 27 million slaves world wide (Leach, 2004)
8. In 1850, slaves cost $40,000 (in today’s dollar); today, they only cost $30 (Bales, 1999)
9.In 2004: 7000 traffickers were prosecuted, and 3000 convicted
10. The most common type of slavery is debt bondage (see above).
11. The fastest growing type of slavery is trafficking
12. The Maximum Jail Time for trafficking: 20 yrs-life, depending on the offense
13. Convicted traffickers must “provide full restitution to victims.”

The Problem of Sexual Slavery in the United States

The U.S. State Department estimates that approximately 14,500 to 17,500 men, women, and children are tracked into the United States annually (U.S. Department of State, 2004). An additional number are tracked within the United States, although the government indicates that trends in international tracking are easier to estimate than are trends in domestictracking.

The vast majority of the tracked and prostituted children in the U.S. are either runaways, or abandoned children. Common themes found among survivors of child prostitution that lead them into that situation are: sexual abuse as a child, parental neglect, parental drug use, emotional/physical abuse from a family member, and poverty.

Did You Know?

1. The average age of entry for girls and boys ranges from 11-14 (Ernie Allen, President & CEO, NECMEC, July 21, 2009).

2. The travel and tourism industry plays a vital role in facilitating child sex tracking. Many hotels have become havens for what has become known as“child sex tourism,” in which trackers and sexual offenders utilize hotel facilities to carry out their illegal activities. This has become the case, due in part to the lack of set human rights policies at these hotels. Further, many of these hotels do not have programs to train their employees in how to identify and handle these illegal activities when discovered.

3. The Internet has become the new marketplace for tracking in children. The child sex industry is growing even as fewer prostitutes work the streets. This is because of the anonymity, relative safety, ability to easily lie about age, and low cost of using the internet to set up appointments and transactions. The Internet has also allowed child sex tracking to expand not only in large cities, but across the mid-west and into rural areas of the country.

4. Within the first 48 hours of being on the street, 1 in 3 children are lured into prostitution. (National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children/NISMART-2)

What can you do to help?

Reporting a situation:

1. You can report suspected trafficking crimes or get help by calling the national 24/7 toll-free Human Trafficking Resource Center at 1-888-373-7888. This center will help you determine if you have encountered a victim of human trafficking; identify local resources available in your community to help victims; and coordinate with local social service providers to help protect and serve victims so they can begin the process of rehabilitation and restoring their lives.

When appropriate, the Resource Center makes referrals to local organizations that assist victims with counseling, case management, legal advice, and other appropriate services, as well as to law enforcement agencies that help trapped victims reach safety.

2. For sexually exploited or abused minors call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s (NCMEC) hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST to be connected with the most appropriate assistance in your area, or you can report incidents at http://www.cybertipline.org.

Taking action:

Get involved nationally or locally with Love 146. Here are a few of their latest opportunities:

Support the Love146 Round Home

“My idea of a safehome is where we nurse the bird’s broken wing.  If we do well with our nursing, then the bird should be able to fly again and out of the safehome, and soar to the heights it was meant to reach. If it casts a glance at the safehome again, then it should be from above, among the clouds of its achievements.” -Dr. Gundelina Velazco, Director of Aftercare Love146

The first thing a child needs after being liberated from sexual slavery is a safe place. Love146 is committed to increasing the number of safehomes worldwide for survivors of child sexual exploitation and trafficking.

The Love146 Round Home is uniquely built and designed to facilitate the restoration and holistic health of every child entering its doors. The approach to running the home is attuned to the needs of the exploited and traumatized child, which include both the needs of ordinary children as well as children who have been wounded in many ways, lack hope, are broken, lack opportunities and self-worth.

Therefore, the Round Home is characterized by efforts to keep the child safe and well provided for, instill hope, effect healing and restoration, promote growth and development, facilitate the release of potentials, and enable the child to come full circle, liberated from their traumas and sufferings, to realize their innate worth.

Built with some whimsy in mind, the building is aesthetically colorful as a child would have decorated it and therapy sessions are held in a tree house.  It is a place where lives are restored and broken children can just simply be children again.

Run 146 Miles to Benefit Love146

Two children are sold into slavery every minute throughout the world. This tragic statistic motivated Mark Schilling of Utica, New York to organize a fundraiser to benefit Love146, an international human rights organization working to abolish child slavery and exploitation.

The “Run for Love146” is a 146-mile run from Albany, New York to New Haven, Connecticut — the US headquarters of Love146. A team of runners will make the trek relay style over a five day period from July 23 through July 27, 2010.  Stops will be set-up each day where the team will focus on raising awareness for the organization.

Mark has been a runner for twelve years. He has competed in several marathons and finished in the top ten at the 2008 North Face Endurance Challenge.  “The issue of child trafficking is a devastating one that will drive anyone who knows the facts about it into action,” said Mark when asked about his idea.

“I was so moved by the story of how Love146 got its name, so moved by the stories of what these children face when they are sold into slavery. I’m simply taking something I can do and using it to hopefully raise awareness and funds for an outstanding cause.”

Mark currently has twelve team members from his church, Redeemer, in Utica and is hoping to gather several more from Redeemer’s Albany campus, which is also the start of the course at 6:00 a.m. on July 23, 2010.

From Albany, the team will travel to Catskill, New York; Kingston, New York; New Milford, New York; and finish in New Haven, Connecticut.  The team will dedicate time in each city traveling door-to-door to inform residents and businesses of the run, and to raise funds. A lead van traveling alongside the team will feature Love 146banners.

Rob Morris, Co-founder and President of Love146  says: “We are always encouraged and deeply moved by the efforts of people like Mark Schilling who don’t just ‘talk” about an issue, but really engage. Our hope is that through Mark’s efforts and those who join him, that more people will become aware that slavery still exists and we can all play a part in ending it.”

Information on the upcoming “Run for Love” can be found on the Run for Love 146 Facebook fan page.

Tune into the Fight to End Human Slavery of all Kinds

Love146 is sponsoring Colorado’s Christian Music Festival, Heaven Fest 2010 in Longmont, Colorado on Saturday, July 31, 2010 (All day). Come, have fun, and support the campaign to end sexual slavery.

*****

It’s estimated that human trafficking generates approximately $32 billion annually. More than 1.2 million children are forcefully engaged in trafficking every year.  Formed in 2002, the mission of Love146 is to abolish child slavery and exploitation through strategic prevention and sustainable aftercare, focusing on hot spots in Asia, Europe and the United States. Love146 was named an “Agent of Change” by GQ Magazine and has earned the MySpace Award for social justice.

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Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton writes: “We must use what has been called “smart power”: the full range of tools at our disposal – diplomatic, economic, military, political, legal, and cultural – picking the right tool, or combination of tools, for each situation. With smart power, diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy.

This is not a radical idea. The ancient Roman poet  Terence, who was born a slave and rose to become one of the great voices of his time, declared that “in every endeavor, the seemly course for wise men is to try persuasion first.” The same truth binds wise women as well.”

This kind of power holds true for eradicating any wrong, including human trafficking.

*****

Here is the Official Summary of Senate Bill S 510 – from OpenCongress.org:

12/18/2009–Reported to Senate amended. FDA Food Safety Modernization Act – Title I: Improving Capacity to Prevent Food Safety Problems -

(Sec. 101)
Amends the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to expand the authority of the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to inspect records related to food, including to:

(1) allow the inspection of records of food that the Secretary reasonably believes is likely to be affected in a similar manner as an adulterated food; and
(2) require that each person (excluding farms and restaurants) who manufactures, processes, packs, distributes, receives, holds, or imports an article of food permit inspection of his or her records if the Secretary believes that there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to such food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death.

(Sec. 102)
Authorizes the Secretary to suspend the registration of a food facility if the food manufactured, processed, packed, or held by a facility has a reasonable probability of causing serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.

The Bill also requires parents to provide documentation of their child’s food allergy to schools.

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When they speak about “adulterated food,” they are, in part, referring to genetically-modified food.

Wikipedia defines GM food as such:

Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods derived from genetically modified organisms. Genetically modified organisms have had specific changes introduced into their DNA by genetic engineering techniques. These techniques are much more precise than mutagenesis (mutation breeding) where an organism is exposed to radiation or chemicals to create a non-specific but stable change. Other techniques by which humans modify food organisms include selective breeding (plant breeding and animal breeding), and somaclonal variation.

GM foods were first put on the market in the early 1990s. Typically, genetically modified foods are transgenic plant products: soybean, corn, canola, and cotton seed oil. But animal products have also been developed. In 2006, a pig was controversially engineered to produce omega-3 fatty acids through the expression of a roundworm gene. Researchers have also developed a genetically-modified breed of pigs that are able to absorb plant phosphorus more efficiently, and as a consequence the phosphorus content of their manure is reduced by as much as 60 percent.

Critics have objected to GM foods on several grounds, including possible safety issues, ecological concerns, and economic concerns raised by the fact that these organisms are subject to intellectual property law.

Read more here about Monsanto and GM food, and the control of the world seed market.

*****

“Is freedom anything else than the right to live as we wish?  Nothing else.” ~ Epictetus

FoodFredom.Wordpress.com list the following effects if the US citizens do not stop the passage of  S 510:

1.  It puts all US food and all US farms under Homeland Security and the Department of Defense, in the event of contamination or an ill-defined emergency.

2.  It would end US sovereignty over its own food supply by insisting on compliance with the World Trade Organziation (WTO), thus threatening national security.  It would end the Uruguay Round Agreement Act of 1994, which put US sovereignty and US law under perfect protection.  Instead, S 510 states:

“COMPLIANCE WITH INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS.
Nothing in this Act (or an amendment made by this Act) shall be construed in a manner inconsistent with the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization or any other treaty or international agreement to which the United States is a party.”

3.  It would allow the government, under Maritime Law, to define the introduction of any food into commerce (even direct sales between individuals) as smuggling into “the United States.”  Since under that law, the US is a corporate entity and not a location, “entry of food into the US” covers food produced anywhere within the land mass of this country and “entering into” it by virtue of being produced.

4.  It imposes Codex Alimentarius on the US, a global system of control over food.  It allows the United Nations (UN), World Health Organization (WHO), UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the WTO to take control of every food on earth and remove access to natural food supplements.

Its bizarre history and its expected impact in limiting access to adequate nutrition (while mandating GM food, GM animals, pesticides, hormones, irradiation of food, etc.) threatens all safe and organic food and health itself, since the world knows now it needs vitamins to survive, not just to treat illnesses.

5.  It would remove the right to clean, store and thus own seed in the US, putting control of seeds in the hands of Monsanto and other multinationals, threatening US security. Seeds are the basis of all plants, and controlling them controls the food supply.

6.  It includes NAIS, an animal traceability program that threatens all small farmers and ranchers raising animals.  The UN is participating through the WHO, FAO, WTO, and World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) in allowing mass slaughter of even heritage breeds of animals and without proof of disease.

Biodiversity in farm animals is being wiped out to substitute genetically- engineered animals on which corporations hold patents. Animal diseases can be falsely declared.  S 510 includes the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), despite its involvement in the H1N1 vaccine campaign.

7.  It extends the policy – Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) -  to all food, thus threatening to do to all local food production and farming what HACCP did to meat production – put it in corporate hands and worsen food safety.

8.  It deconstructs what is left of the American economy.  It takes agriculture and food, which are the cornerstone of all economies, out of the hands of the citizenry, and puts them under the control of multinational corporations influencing the UN, WHO, FAO and WTO, with HHS, and CDC, acting as agents, with Homeland Security as the enforcer. The chance to rebuild the economy based on farming, ranching, gardens, food production, natural health, and all the jobs, tools and connected occupations would be eliminated.

9.  It would allow the government to mandate antibiotics, hormones, slaughterhouse waste, pesticides and GMOs.  This would industrialize every farm in the US, eliminate local organic farming, greatly increase global warming from increased use of oil-based products and long-distance delivery of foods, and make food even more unsafe.  The five items listed — the Five Pillars of Food Safety — are precisely the items in the food supply which are the primary source of its danger.

10. It uses food crimes as the entry into police state power and control.  The bill postpones defining all the regulations to be imposed; postpones defining crimes to be punished, postpones defining penalties to be applied.  It removes fundamental constitutional protections from all citizens in the country, making them subject to a corporate tribunal with unlimited power and penalties, and without judicial review. It is (similar to C-6 in Canada) the end of Rule of Law in the US.

[If you have some information you want to pass on, send it to Editor@7Bends.com. Feel free to add a Comment on the bottom of this article.]

Decide For Yourself

Read and form your opinion about whether justice is being served, or whether the motive is profit.

The Thomas family has asked that supporters and interested parties meet outside the Augusta County Courthouse at around 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.

AN OPEN LETTER TO ALL CONCERNED CITIZENS

“Approximately two years ago, in 2008,while incarcerated, I was given a politically-motivated “administrative transfer” from the Harrisonburg jail to the Middle River Regional Jail in Verona, Virginia, after writing to the local Health Department informing them that the facility in Harrisonburg had ceased making available HIV-testing for prisoners.

After being housed at Middle River for about three months, I was charged by that facility’s institutional investigator with two separate Class 6 felony charges(near misdemeanors) for (1) “possession of a deadly weapon,” and, (2) “destruction of a fire system”. The “deadly weapon” was a half-broken $.72 cent toothbrush holder, and the “fire system” was a sprinkler button, with an estimated value of less than $100.00.

These charges, although the most miniscule and petty of “offences” under Virginia law, carry a maximum of 10 years in prison; which I have been threatened with potentially being sentenced to, in the Augusta County Circuit Court.

I was released from prison nearly a year ago for good behavior after having participated in the Department of Correction’s Therapeutic Community prison facility at Indian Creek Correctional Center, for past issues with addiction and alcoholism.  Since my release, I have maintained employment at Tyson Foods Corporation, and have not failed a single drug screen, for which I am tested regularly. Consequently, for the first time, I was recently awarded visitation rights by the courts with my only child, my 5-year-old-son, Stephen Thomas.

However, the authorities in Augusta County are seeking to prosecute me, now, nearly a full two (2) years later, for the previously mentioned alleged offenses. The authorities in Augusta County have refused our repeated efforts to simply make restitution for the broken items in question and are intent on sending me back to prison now, during this most stable period of my life.

Any plea or finding of guilt by the court in Augusta County will result in an immediate parole violation and return to prison for several years, for me. The devastation that this ordeal would cause my family, myself, and particularly my 5-year-old, is simply unimaginable.

Because of the clear racial dynamics of this case, given the constant race –oriented insults that I was subjected to by correctional officers at Middle-River Jail on the date of the incident two years ago, I am desperately requesting the interest, investigation, attention and support of  you, my fellow citizens.

I humbly request your assistance in bringing these matters to a logical, rational, and amicable conclusion.  Our community does not need yet another fatherless African-American child, or another unwarranted African-American prisoner.

The trial date is set for July 14th, 2010 at 10:00 a.m. in Augusta County Circuit Court in Staunton VA . Any and all support is urgently and desperately needed. Thank you all for your time and interest.

Sincerely,

Steven L. Thomas ”

*****

Privatization of Prisons in the United States

(wikipedia) A private prison, jail, or detention center is a place in which individuals are physically confined or interned by a third party that is contracted by a local, state or federal government agency. Private prison companies typically enter into contractual agreements with local, state, or federal governments that commit prisoners and then pay a per diem or monthly rate for each prisoner confined in the facility.

Today, the privatization of prisons refers both to the takeover of existing public facilities by private operators and to the building and operation of new and additional prisons by for-profit prison companies.

The Private Corrections Working Group of Jacksonville, FL, has a list of law suits brought against private prison corporations.

About Regional Jails in Virginia

According to the Virginia Association of Regional Jails (VARJ) web site:

“Presently, there are 18 regional jails in operation in Virginia, including Middle River Correctional Center in Staunton/Verona.  These 18 existing jails are comprised of approximately 76 counties, cities and towns and represent about 3.5 million citizens. They also employ approximately 1,000 staff with more to be hired in the future. Further, other localities around the state are in the “talking” stage of joining together and forming a regional jail, so we anticipate other regional jails coming on board over the next five years over and above what are now solidified.

History of Private Prisons in the U.S., and their Extraordinary Growth

(Wikipedia) – The privatization of prisons movement can be traced to the contracting out of confinement and care of prisoners after the American Revolution. Deprived of the ability to ship criminals and undesirables to the Colonies, Great Britain began placing them on hulks moored in English ports.

The partial transfer of San Quentin prison administration from private to public did not mark the end of privatization. The next phase began with the Reconstruction Period (1865-1876) in the south, after the end of the Civil War. Farmers and businessmen needed to find replacements for the labor force once their slaves had been freed. Beginning in 1868, convict leases were issued to private parties to supplement their workforce. This system remained in place until the early 20th century.

Federal and state government have had a long history of contracting out specific services to private firms, including medical services, food preparation, vocational training, and inmate transportation.

The 1980s, however, ushered in a new era of prison privatization. With a burgeoning prison population resulting from the War on Drugs and increased use of incarceration, prison overcrowding and rising costs became increasingly problematic for local, state, and federal governments. In response to this expanding criminal justice system, private business interests saw an opportunity for expansion, and consequently, private-sector involvement in prisons moved from the simple contracting of services to contracting for the complete management and operation of entire prisons.

The modern private prison business first emerged and established itself publicly in 1984 when the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) was awarded a contract to take over a facility in Hamilton County, Tennessee. This marked the first time that any government in the country had contracted out the complete operation of a jail to a private operator.

The following year, CCA gained further public attention when it offered to take over the entire state prison system of Tennessee for $200 million. The bid was ultimately defeated due to strong opposition from public employees and the skepticism of the state legislature. Despite that initial defeat, CCA since then has successfully expanded, as have other for-profit prison companies.

Private companies in the United States operate 264 correctional facilities, housing almost 99,000 adult offenders. Companies operating such facilities include the Corrections Corporation of America, the GEO Group, Inc, and Community Education Centers. (The GEO Group was formerly known as Wackenhut Securities.) Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) has a capacity of more than 80,000 beds in 65 correctional facilities. The GEO Group operates 61 facilities with a capacity of 49,000 offender beds. Most privately run facilities include both state and federal offenders.

Because the government pays these private prison companies a certain amount of money per day per prison, it has been argued that there’s a built-in corporate profit motive to keeping as many prisons in jail for as long as possible.

Learn more:

Here is a Cornell University study on the Increase in Private Prisons in the United States.

Here’s an article about the link between increased incarceration in the United States, especially for black youth, and the move toward privatizing prison management.

Did You Know?

In the U.S.  (‘the land of the free”), on average, 1 in 100 people are incarcerated. The U.S. Government and their contractors house 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated people, while accounting for only 5 percent of the world’s population. In Virginia, 1 in every 89 people are incarcerated. (Source – using Bureau of Justice statistics)

The Democracy Index lists the U.S. as number 17 in the world. Read more. 

If you have a relevant content link or some facts you want to share about the issue of Prison Privatization, write your comment below this article.

Reported on July 11, 2010 by Jack Dolan, of the Los Angeles Times -

“Sacramento -  A plan to let oil companies leave large parts of decommissioned drilling rigs in the ocean off California’s coast, saving them hundreds of millions of dollars, is sailing through the California Legislature at a time when the Gulf of Mexico spill has made the industry politically toxic.

The “rigs to reef” idea, which proponents say would create marine habitat, has been around for more than a decade. Former Gov. Gray Davis vetoed such a proposal in 2001, citing a lack of proof that abandoned oil rigs help the environment.

The natural science on the issue is still being debated, but the political science has swung in the oil companies’ favor: Their unlikely patron is powerful Assembly Speaker John A. Perez, a labor leader from East Los Angeles whose district has no coastline and who has proposed a new tax on oil companies to help close the state’s budget deficit.

Perez, a former member of the League of Conservation Voters’ board of directors, said opponents of offshore drilling should support his measure because helping the oil companies save money when they decommission wells could encourage them to shut down operations sooner.

“Just because there’s some upside in it for the oil companies doesn’t mean it’s bad,” Perez said.

Under existing law, the operators of more than two dozen rigs operating off the California coast will have to remove them when the oil runs out and they close the wells, a process likely to begin in the next few years.

Perez’s bill would require the companies to remove everything at the surface and 85 feet below. But they could leave the pilings, which stretch to the ocean floor — from several hundred to more than 1,000 feet.

The speaker’s staff cites studies estimating that decommissioning all the rigs off California’s coast could take five to 20 years, and that oil companies would save about $650 million by leaving the pilings in place.

The companies would keep half of that money. The other half would be split among an environmental trust fund to be created under the legislation, the county whose shoreline is closest to the rig and the state’s general fund. The general fund would receive 10 percent of that half, amounting to tens of millions of dollars.

With Perez’s legislative clout behind it, the plan passed the Assembly 73-0 and a key state Senate committee 9-0, even as images of oil washing up on the Gulf coast were being broadcast nationwide. The measure is expected to pass the full Senate. The governor has no stated position on it.

“Why would you give oil companies such a windfall at time like this?” said Sierra Club lobbyist Michael Endicott, who likened the Perez bill to offering offshore drillers a discounted dumping fee. “Anything that sends the signal that these things are in any way benign is a big problem.”

The Sierra Club opposes the plan, as does the Environmental Defense Center, based in Santa Barbara. Most of the rigs off California’s shore are in the Santa Barbara Channel.

“The oil companies have been pushing this legislation for years because there are such big cost savings,” said Kristi Birney Rieman, an analyst for the Santa Barbara group. A six-page letter the organization sent to legislators last month said there was no conclusive evidence that the pilings would increase the number of fish in local waters.

Four other environmental groups, including the Nature Conservancy and the Monterey Bay Aquarium, said they would support the idea if the public received 85% to 95% of the oil companies’ savings.

“A ‘half-off sale’ is a bad deal for the people of California and for our oceans,” said a June 29 letter that the four groups sent to the state Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee.

But Tupper Hull, spokesman for the Western States Petroleum Assn., an oil industry group that is one of the bill’s original sponsors, said removing the pilings would endanger small fish that use the structures for protection. Association members have contributed $13,800 to Perez’s campaign account in recent months, state records show.

A spokesman for Chevron, which is a member of the trade group and provided $5,900 of the campaign cash to Perez, offered measured support.
“This bill will provide mutual benefits for both the environment and the industry,” said K.C. Bishop, a consultant for the company.

The public face of the rigs-to-reefs plan is longtime labor lobbyist Barry Broad. He also represents the Sport Fishing Conservancy, whose members hope the pilings will help boost game fish numbers.

Broad, who also represents the Teamsters, said he and Perez “have a relationship that goes back many years,” predating the speaker’s entry into politics. When Perez was an executive for the United Food and Commercial Workers, he hired Broad to lobby for the union.

The two were friends in 2001, when the previous rigs-to-reefs proposal made it to the governor’s desk.

“I remember at the time we both thought it was a pretty good idea,” Broad said.

Nine years later, Perez was sworn in as Assembly speaker.

“Sometimes the stars align,” Broad said.”

“Air France passenger jet heading from Rio de Janeiro to Paris made an emergency landing in north-eastern Brazil, following a bomb threat.

All 405 passengers and 18 crew members were safely evacuated from Flight 443, said Jorge Andrade, a spokesman for airport authority Infraero.

A spokesman for Air France in Brazil said the bomb threat was phoned in to Rio’s international airport by a female voice about 30 minutes after the plane took off.

The control tower contacted the jet and the decision was made to land in Recife, the Air France spokesman said.

The spokesman said authorities had not found any explosives after a five-hour search, and the jet was expected to be cleared to continue to Paris.

Solange Argenta, an Infraero spokeswoman at Recife airport, said the flight took off at 4.20pm local time yesterday and landed in Recife at 7.53pm.

The jet taxied to a secluded area of the airport and those on board were quickly removed. The airport was closed for about 30 minutes.

Flight 443 was on the same route as an Air France jet that crashed last June off Brazil’s north-eastern coast, killing all 228 on board. While no definite cause has been determined in the crash, authorities have repeatedly ruled out foul play.

*****

CNN International is also reporting on July 11, 2010:

Air France flight diverted after threat
By the CNN Wire Staff

July 11, 2010 — Updated 1543 GMT (2343 HKT)

* Bomb threat on board Air France plane forces diversion
* Plane left Rio de Janiero, Brazil bound for Paris, France
* Captain instead landed plane Recife, Brazil so it could be inspected
* Flight rescheduled, due to depart Recife Sunday

(CNN) — “The threat of an explosive device on board prompted the diversion of an Air France flight to Recife, Brazil, while it was en route from Rio de Janiero to Paris, France, the airline said in a statement.

The crew was informed of the threat while in flight, the statement said, and the captain decided to land in Recife so the aircraft could be inspected, Air France said. The plane landed about 8 p.m. Saturday and all 405 people on board disembarked. They were being housed in several hotels, the statement said.

The plane is expected to leave Recife at 8:10 p.m. (7:10 p.m. ET) Sunday and expected to arrive at Paris’ Charles de Gaulle airport at 9:50 a.m. Monday, the airline said.

Recife is about 1,100 miles (1,790 km) north-northeast of Rio de Janiero.”

- In Wardensville, W. VA – Kacapon River Heights – Near Strasburg, VA. 90 min. D.C. area. 116 total acres. Prime development land. Level to rolling forest. Private. At road’s end. Alive with deer and wildlife. Ideal for hunting, private camp, cabins, homes, investment. Beautiful mountain views. Just 2 miles from Cacapon River to fish, canoe, swim. Two adjoining 58 parcels, each divided into 17 mini-forests of 2 to 5 acres, all platted and recorded for resale as individual lots. Adjacent lots selling for $25,000 – 30,000 each. Foreclosure property.

Accessible by private road. Half mile off of Rt. 259. Convenient to Winchester, VA. For sale “as is”.  Grab one or both sections for $2,750 per acre. Bank will finance this offer with 15 percent down. Make cash offer for all or both. Banks wants to close books.

- In Davis, W. VA – Blackwater Falls – Mt. Storm Lake – Canaan Valley ski area. Like Wyoming in W. VA. Bank foreclosure of prime development property in popular, scenic Potomac Highlands. 1,800 ft. on National  forest, offering tax-free use of a million-acre hunting, fishing wilderness region joining your land.  Approx. 450 ft. on native trout stream; 600 ft. on main highway – Rt. 32. All woods and clearings, overrun with deer. No steep land. Can be subdivided.

Ideal 4-season retreat near ski slopes and large mountain lake for sailing, motor boating, scuba diving. High elevation region with cool weather. Create your own ranch. Hold for investment. Lots in this development once priced up to $100K per acre. Look on your own, or call for directions. Appointments advised for those with serious interest. 80 percent financing possible. All cash offers considered.

*****

Whether for personal use or as an investment to provide for your family’s future, visit the B.K. Haynes web site to see all of the latest ranch and camp possibilities- outside the perimeter of the Washington DC area.  Or call B.K. Haynes, Accredited Land Consultant, at (540) 635-3169.

B.K. Haynes is located at 501 S.Royal Avenue, in Front Royal, VA 22630.

Land bargains since 1966 in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia’s Piedmont, the Blue Ridge, and the W.VA. Highlands

Email: bkhaynes ~at~ bkhaynes.com

P.S. And, don’t forget to check out B.K. Hayne’s new music CD and his Valley of the Stars radio information, on the web site (above), as well as the upcoming feature film that he wrote entitled, The Saddle Bum.

The Saddle Bum - a movie synopsis – based on the novel by Brad Haynes

Singer, author, song and screen writer, musical radio host, businessman, and movie producer, Brad Haynes, is a living legend in Virginia’s scenic Shenandoah Valley. Brad’s new movie is an adaptation of his romantic novel, The Saddle Bum — an intriguing story of lost love, set in the Valley and the Blue Ridge Mountains. Two unlikely lovers find and lose each other, but never forget a torrid and soulful romance that will scorch their hearts and minds for 30 years, when they are finally reunited.

Edinburg, VA – Felix and Oscar are alive and well, and so is Community Theater in the Shenandoah Valley. It enriches the lives of cast and audience members alike at every turn.

Just a reminder that auditions for Theater Shenandoah’s Fall production of the Neil Simon play, The Odd Couple, are scheduled for next weekend – Saturday July 17 from 3:30 – 6 p.m., and Sunday, July 18 from 1 to 5 p.m. Under the direction of the Theater’s new Artistic Director, Michael Gwin, the auditions will be held at the Opera House, located at 107 Center Street in Edinburg VA, 22824 (less than a block from Main Street/ Route 11).

Here is a synopsis of all the characters in the Odd Couple to help you in the audition:

The Particulars

- What: The Odd Couple

- Auditions: Saturday July 17 from 3:30 – 6 p.m., and Sunday, July 18 from 1 to 5 p.m. at The Opera House (Sides will be provided)

- Rehearsals: July 24 – September 9 (Schedule based on actors availability)

- Performances: Friday, September 10 at p.m., Saturday, September 11 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, September 12 at 3 p.m.

Character Breakdown -

As written, there are 6 men and 2 women in the play (unless they decide to again use some non-traditional casting for some of the male characters).

Oscar Madison
Oscar Madison is the “messy” half of this famous “odd couple.” Oscar takes pity on his best friend, the newly separated and nearly suicidal Felix Ungar, and invites Felix to live with him in his New York City apartment. Within two weeks, however, Oscar regrets the invitation. The 43-year-old Oscar is carefree, pleasant, and very appealing as a character. When asked by one of the poker players what kind of sandwiches he’s serving,

Oscar looks under the bread and says, “I got brown sandwiches and green sandwiches.” The green, he says, is “either very new cheese or very old meat.” At the end of the play there is a suggestion that Oscar’s experience with Felix has provoked a change in his personality because Oscar’s last words in the play are an admonishment to the poker players to be less messy.

In both the original Broadway stage production in 1965 and in the movie version of 1968, Oscar was played by Walter Matthau. In the five-year television series beginning in 1970, Oscar was played by Jack Klugman.

Murray
Murray, one of the poker players, is a policeman and a methodical, even slow, thinker. He is also very gentle and caring, and demonstrates the most concern for Felix. Murray is fairly unflappable, but he is also a bit simple and naive.

Cecily Pigeon
Cecily Pigeon is a little more uninhibited than her sister, Gwendolyn; she is the one who makes such suggestive remarks as, “Oh, we’ve done spectacular things but I don’t think we’d want it spread all over the telly.”

Gwendolyn Pigeon
Though the Pigeon sisters seem almost indistinguishable, Simon describes Gwendolyn as the “mother hen.” Like her sister Cicely, Gwendolyn is in her 30s, British, attractive, and works as a secretary for the Slenderama Health Club. She is a little slower mentally than her sister — she has trouble remembering Felix’s name.

Roy
Roy is Oscar’s accountant and a man with an acute sense of smell. He is the poker player who complains most about air quality and bad odors in Oscar’s apartment. In the second act he storms from the game because the fastidious Felix has put disinfectant on the playing cards.

Speed
As his name implies, Speed is always in a hurry. He is the impatient poker player — sarcastic, complaining, and even a little mean. As the curtain rises on Murray shuffling the cards with agonizing slowness, the caustic Speed has the play’s sharp first line: “Tell me, Mr. Maverick, is this your first time on the riverboat?”

Felix Ungar
Felix Ungar is the “neat” member of the “odd couple,” originally played on Broadway by Art Carney (he also played the character Norton on the popular Jackie Gleason television comedy The Honeymooners ). In the movie, the role was rendered by Jack Lemmon, and in the television series Tony Randall portrayed Felix.

A 44-year-old news writer for CBS, Felix responds to his wife’s decision to end their marriage by considering suicide, but in Simon’s comic world, attempted suicide is funny rather than serious; the compulsively tidy Felix sends his suicide note to his wife in a telegram. Oscar claims that Felix’s problem is an obsession with control and urges Felix to “let loose” once in a while, to do something he “feels” like doing rather than always doing what he thinks he’s “supposed” to do.

At the end of the play, when Felix accepts the invitation from the Pigeon sisters to stay in their apartment, he is perhaps demonstrating a less conventional aspect of his personality.

Vinnie
Vinnie, the last of the poker players, is nervous and eccentric. At the initial poker game he is constantly checking his watch because he wants to leave early — he’s departing for a vacation in Florida (in July) the next morning.

Other Audition Notes: In the event that there are those who can’t make the auditions, auditions are by appointment only. For the auditions, everyone will read from the script. There will be a  Theater Camp the week prior ton auditions, so Sides can be available for pick up at the Theater for those interested in picking them up ahead of time.

Visit the Theater Shenandoah web site.

Theater Shenandoah is a 501c3 non-profit community theater located in Edinburg, Virginia. If you have any questions or wish to assist the Theater financially, call (540) 984-3972.

Here/hear is what five top astrologers have to say about the rare Total Solar Eclipse and New Moon which both happen this Sunday, following the line up of five planets that occurred on June 13, 2010 …

From your vantage point on Earth, what do you see and hear?

**In the Earth-Keepers newsletter, James Tyberonn explains:

“When a Total Solar Eclipse occurs on a New Moon, a very special energy of transformation occurs. On July 11, 2010 this will take place.

Are you ready? Take time for this day, and utilize its extraordinary potentials for the positive. Keep your energy intact, and do not allow emotions to fray, and indeed the temptation to become anxious or over react will be there.

The July 11 Total Solar Eclipse is a New Moon with an extremely tremendous impact. The Sun that gives us life and lights our path is joined briefly with the dark and mysterious qualities of the Moon. The Moon blocks the light of the Sun. In this moment of perceived darkness, spirituality and the psyche combine anew, beginning another cycle in the spiral of our personal development. Great openings and great closures can occur – great advancement or untoward downward spiral. It is up to you. This Eclipse is extremely meaningful. Don’t ignore it.”

**Astrologer Pat Paquette writes:

“The cardinal T-square between Saturn, Pluto, Uranus, and Jupiter continues to get closer, but as of the eclipse, Saturn remains in the final degree of mutable Virgo, so technically it’s not a cardinal  T-square. I’m not sure how much of a distinction this is, but I’ve theorized that Saturn in Virgo has been a stabilizing influence — an advantage we’ll lose once the lord of time re-enters cardinal Libra on July 21. That’s when the T-square will be at peak power.

That said, events don’t necessarily happen when planetary alignments are exact. There can be lags of days, weeks, or months, and sometimes events happen in advance of the planetary marker. That certainly was the case in 1989, the last time we had anything resembling this year’s cardinal build-up. With Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune all in Capricorn, cardinal energies dominated the skies for much of that year.

I went back and looked at several charts for events in 1989, including the Exxon Valdez spill, Hurricane Hugo, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Loma Prieta earthquake, the protests in Tiananmen Square, and the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid due to a geomagnetic storm. None of these events occurred when the planets were in exact alignment, although some of them were pretty close. In some cases, key planets were on the Ascendant at the moment of the event.

What this tells us is that the changes could come at any moment. We know we’re in the hot zone, and so nothing that happens in the next two months should surprise us, no matter how unprecedented, extraordinary, or totally outside of human experience to date. We asked to come along on this journey, but we can’t control what happens once we’re on the trail.”

**Astrologer Gary Caton has these observations about the July 11th eclipse and their connection with time and light:

“As if there weren’t enough juice flowing through the cardinal signs — with four of the five outer planets currently transiting near the solstice and equinoctial points — we now begin a period where the Cancer archetype will be forced open, ejecting its inner contents and forcing all the world to become aware of the loss. This is because an eclipse is essentially a rip in the fabric of time, and the South Node (now in Cancer) suggests a loss.

To appreciate the power of an eclipse, it is useful to understand that time here on Earth is fractal. It is measured by the constant repetition of the primal alternations of darkness and light. This rhythm of dark/light is ingrained into our bodies and psyches.

When there is a disruption of this pattern, via an eclipse, the natural flow of the dark/light fractal is stopped in its tracks. There is darkness where there should be light. It is as if the Laws of our Universe are temporarily inverted. The world is stood on its head, specifically in terms of the archetype within which the eclipse is operating.

An eclipse occurs when there is a lunation near the lunar nodes — the place where the Moon crosses the path of the Sun or ecliptic. Astrologically, the lunar nodes have been called the head and tail of the dragon, for in myth it was a demonic serpent swallowing the heavenly orb. The North Node represents the head of the dragon, therefore something being taken in or ingested. The South Node or tail of the dragon represents something being released.

The South Node is now in the sign of Cancer. As a Cancer nation, it is hard not to remember the exodus of American celebrities and dignitaries that surrounded last summer’s solar eclipse at 29° Cancer. A partial list includes: Ed McMahon, Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, David Carradine, Karl Malden, Steve McNair, Walter Cronkite, Les Paul, and Eunice Kennedy Shriver. We lost Ted Kennedy on the day that Venus crossed the eclipse degree. It is almost as if a door was opened to the “other side” through which these souls were bound to exit. It should be noted that the release doesn’t always have to be destructive. (It can signal transformation, rather than death.)

When wondering what the coming eclipse will release, it is important to remember that eclipses happen in families or series; a new member emerges about every 18 years. This is the Saros cycle, first discovered by Babylonian astronomer/astrologers more than two millennium ago.

Solar eclipses with very similar characteristics repeat every 18 years, 11 days, 8 hours; these eclipses are then part of the same family or Saros series. Any two eclipses separated by one Saros (6,585.3 days) share very similar geometries. They occur at the same node with the Moon, at nearly the same distance from Earth, and at the same time of year.

The current eclipse belongs to Saros Series 146, the last two of which occurred in June 1992 and 1974. This series is made up of a total of 76 eclipses; the current July 11, 2010 eclipse is number 27 in the series. The family began on September 19, 1541. The first total eclipse in the series took place on May 29, 1938. The eclipse of June 30, 1992 was the longest total eclipse of the series and lasted 5 minutes and 21 seconds with a magnitude 1.0592. The July 11, 2010 eclipse is the 2nd longest of the series, lasting 5 minutes and 20 seconds with a magnitude 1.0580.

When we look at the birth chart for this series, we see a very powerful conjunction of Mars with Uranus in late Leo near the Persian Royal star Regulus. Certainly this series has recently seen its share of sudden dramatic reversals in fame and/or power, including Hitler in 1938, Elvis in 1956, Nixon in 1974, and the British Royal Family in 1992.”

**Astrologer Rob Tillett makes these observations about the Cardinal Climax – a once-in-a-lifetime development between 2009 and 2012 – that he says will “retune the collective unconscious, redirecting social imperatives.”

The Cardinal Climax phase that is forming in the heavens, climaxing this year on July 31, 2010, is a rare occurrence indeed – one which will have powerful effects upon the world and those who dwell therein. It makes intense contacts with the US chart, the UK chart, the EC (European Community, now the European Union) chart, the Federal Reserve chart and the UN chart — not to mention the Australia chart.

The FIFA World Cup in South Africa has been positioned right across the eclipse cycle (June 11 – July 11), with the last day of the contest being on the day of the Solar Eclipse.

Let’s look at these aspects individually. The most immediately striking thing is the conjunction of the Moon with Pluto, with the Sun conjunct Mercury in opposition at the time of the eclipse. In addition to the stress inherent in the Full Moon and Lunar Eclipse, the conjunction of the Moon and Pluto awakens very powerful, strong-willed emotions and intense feelings.

The Sun in opposition gives difficulties with obstacles from those whose egos are threatened by situations in which power and control are paramount. Political disputes and social revolutions threaten danger and destruction. The common people (the Moon, Saturn) will be inclined to overthrow or resist their rulers (Sun, Jupiter) who will seek to control and repress them, even while offering blandishments and concessions.

Saturn is rising in Virgo, so the military will be ready to take control in trouble spots. These are likely to be in Europe, where tinder-boxes are crackling, thanks to the financial crisis. The eclipse angles are exactly superimposed upon the chart of the European Community, so Saturn (restriction, control, sorrow, karma, the past, the masses) is rising exactly conjunct the EC ascendant.

This chart is very heavily stressed in weeks ahead by the Solar Eclipse and then the Cardinal Climax. Greece’s chart too is heavily stressed by the eclipses and the 1974 chart also has Moon conjunct Pluto. This is not to say that other areas will not be affected. For example, Thailand is already more than crackling with political violence, and its significant that the eclipse Moon and Pluto fall exactly upon the ascendant of King Phumiphon Adunyadet (who is currently very ill in hospital), while eclipse Mars (violence) is exactly square his natal Saturn (common people) and eclipse Saturn is exactly opposed to his natal Uranus (disruption;catastrophe). Astrologically, the chart of the ruler always indicates developments in the nation, when activated. The Solar Eclipse also violently activates his chart, but enough of that.

Each of us will experience these stresses according to where the eclipse falls in our own charts, but stresses they will be! The Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn) will be most affected, especially if you were born early in the sign. There are a number of other notable aspects, the most intense being the opposition of Mercury and Pluto, so it may be we are so intent on exerting the force of our own thoughts that we refuse to listen, or that others attempt to manipulate our ideas to their advantage.

It just isn’t the best time for easy exchanges or free thinking. Information may be withheld as a form of paranoia or protection, or the wrong information is deliberately given in an effort to mislead. Jupiter and Saturn are the Great Chronocrators, or Time Lords, and their major aspects always mark important developments, with the opposition being the most cathartic.

The T-square of Sun/Mercury to Jupiter and Uranus opposing Saturn announces a major shift of social priorities, probably in a direction that has been unexpected by most. Traditional values are threatened or even overthrown in the chaos, which comes about through forces over which we have no personal control. Normal schedules or plans may be disrupted by the weather, war, or other forces in the environment. The good side is that we will be forced to create unorthodox responses that may prove valuable in the long term. We may also feel that we are asserting our freedom or independence in so doing.

We have to make choices here, and the sheer volume of information may become overwhelming. Don’t get swamped in the details, but be sure to check that the info on which you base your decision is accurate.”

** And finally, Jude Cowell on his Stars Over Washington blog adds:

“On July 11, 2010 there’s the Solar Eclipse with Scorpio (big business; betrayals and spying) rising with the midpoint of Saturn and Pluto, two of the main actors on 9/11/01 during their opposition.

Saturn/Pluto = ASC: concentration upon important matters; assessments of how to work with those in power; an environment that gives an impression of silent power or continuing influence; being placed in cumbersome or difficult circumstances; separation; melancholy; mourning or bereavement.

There is also 8th house involvement (Shared Resources, Debt, Credit, Insurance, Transformation, Death, the Occult) which relates to the Fixed Star Castor which is being triggered by the July 11, 2010 Solar Eclipse @ 19Can24, plus, ‘20Can/Cap are crisis or critical degrees.

Basically, 8th house crises are indicated yet the Solar Eclipse itself describes problems that at first seem worse, then clear with good outcomes… so don’t panic. The July 11 Eclipse is in the same Series (12S) as America’s Pre-Natal Eclipse Series (@ 00Pis34 in 1776, where Chiron transits now.)

That stock markets may be affected adversely by the July Solar Eclipse and by its herald, the June 26, 2010 Lunar Eclipse conjoining secretive Pluto in Saturn-ruled Capricorn, is a distinct possibility for Summer into Autumn 2010.

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Even NASA is getting into the picture. They have created a special website just for eclipses. “On Sunday, 2010 July 11, a total eclipse of the Sun is visible from within a narrow corridor that traverses Earth’s southern Hemisphere. The path of the Moon’s umbral shadow crosses the South Pacific Ocean where it makes no landfall except for Mangaia (Cook Islands) and Easter Island (Isla de Pascua). The path of totality ends just after reaching southern Chile and Argentina. The Moon’s penumbral shadow produces a partial eclipse visible from a much larger region covering the South Pacific and southern South America.”

Refer to Genesis 1:1  and comments below.

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First text – June 30, 2010 – Official Deep Horizon Response website – about media blackout restrictions on BP oil disaster press coverage – including fines and Federal Class D felony (1 to 5 years imprisonment) for  journalists (mainstream and independent bloggers, reporters, and photographers) who violate the Government’s rules …

“NEW ORLEANS – The Captains of the Port for Morgan City, La., New Orleans, La., and Mobile, Ala. , under the authority of the Ports and Waterways Safety Act, has established a 20- meter safety zone surrounding all Deepwater Horizon booming operations and oil response efforts taking place in Southeast Louisiana. Vessels must not come within 20 meters of booming operations, boom, or oil spill response operations under penalty of law.

The safety zone has been put in place to protect members of the response effort, the installation and maintenance of oil containment boom, the operation of response equipment and protection of the environment by limiting access to and through deployed protective boom.

In areas where vessels operators cannot avoid the 20-meter rule, they are required to be cautious of boom and boom operations by transiting at a safe speed and distance. Violation of a safety zone can result in up to a $40,000 civil penalty. Willful violations may result in a class D felony.

Permission to enter any safety zone must be granted by the Coast Guard Captain of the Port of New Orleans by calling (504) 846-5923. See Deep Horizon Response web site.

**Also note that this week, it was announced that the Deep Horizon Response web site is being turned over to The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and will soon be given a .gov domain, rather than a .com domain.  DHS wants “a one-stop shop for information that is completely overseen by the government as it settles into the long-haul of dealing with the response to the disaster. The U.S. Coast Guard falls under Homeland Security’s authority.” Read more on MSNBC.

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Second text – July 2, 2010 – Associated Press article – about all press on the War in Afghanistan now having to go through (and be approved by) the Pentagon press office …

Excerpt: “The Pentagon’s small press office is about to get a lot busier. Even top military officials now have to get Pentagon clearance for interviews and other contact with reporters. Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued the order Friday (July 2, 2010) in a brief memo sent to military and civilian personnel worldwide; it was effective immediately.

The order tells officials to make sure they are not going out of bounds or unintentionally releasing information that the Pentagon wants to hold back. It comes after President Barack Obama fired the top general in Afghanistan for embarrassing comments in a magazine article. The memo does not spell out exactly how the new directive will work but appears to require hundreds of thousands of officers to funnel interview requests through a small central office at the Pentagon.”

Gates said: “We have far too many people talking to the media outside of channels, sometimes providing information which is simply incorrect, out of proper context, unauthorized, or uninformed by the perspective of those who are most knowledgeable,” about how the information may fit into larger government operations or goals.

Gates’ memo requires top Defense Department officials to tell (the pentagon press office) before interviews “or any other means of media and public engagement with possible national or international implications.” Gates warned in the memo that the leaking of classified information “is against the law, cannot be tolerated and will, when proven, lead to the prosecution of those found to be engaged in such activity.”

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Tonight, 7Bends.com is announcing “Did You See This?” This is a new feature – which aligns related stories together for your own conclusions, and also provides news (and possible connections between) stories not covered – or barely covered -  by the mainstream media. “Did You See This?” articles can be found under the “Hot Issues” pulldown tab at the top of the 7Bends home page. All sources are noted if readers want to research an issue further. Feel free to add Comments at the end of any article.

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“It is the first responsibility of every citizen to question authority.”

~ Benjamin Franklin

As long as three football fields (372-yards) and 10 stories high, the newly- refurbished vessel is ready to be tested by BP and U.S. Government workers, and then go to work.

According to Socialmediaseo.net, the ship has been deployed by a Taiwanese company. “It was originally designed to be one of the world’s largest cargo vessels to transport crude oil and iron ore. But, following  the BP oil spill disaster, TMT, its owner, has modified the ship to become what is now known as the world’s first large-scale oil skimmer.”

Gulf residents wait for The A Whale to get the “go ahead”

Oil skimming efforts have been slowed this week as workers deal with Hurricane Alex; high waves and rains have required the evacuation of relief workers in the Gulf.

“BP’s relief well, which will supposedly allow the gushing pipe to be shut off completely, is not affected by the hurricane weather and is still on schedule to be completed by August,” reports socialmediaseo.net.

What’s the hold up?

A waiver must be granted before The A Whale can be utilized.

The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (P.L. 66-261) is a United States Federal statute that regulates maritime commerce in U.S. waters and between U.S. ports. Section 27, also known as the Jones Act, deals with cabotage (i.e., coastal shipping) and requires that all goods transported by water between U.S. ports be carried in U.S.-flag ships, constructed in the United States, owned by U.S. citizens, and crewed by U.S. citizens and U.S. permanent residents.

According to wikipedia, the purpose of the law is to support the U.S. merchant marine industry, but agricultural interests generally oppose it because, they contend, it raises the cost of shipping their goods, making them less competitive with foreign sources.

Requests for waivers of certain provisions of the act are reviewed by the United States Maritime Administration on a case-by-case basis. Waivers have been granted in cases of national emergencies or in cases of strategic interest.

For instance, declining oil production prompted MARAD to grant a waiver to operators of the 512-foot Chinese vessel Tai An Kou to tow an oil rig from the Gulf of Mexico to Alaska. The jackup rig will be under a two-year contract to drill in the Alaska’s Cook Inlet Basin. The waiver to the Chinese vessel is said to be the first of its kind granted to an independent oil-and-gas company.

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff temporarily waived the U.S. Shipping Act for foreign vessels carrying oil and natural gas from September 1 to September 19, 2005.

Guam, American Samoa, and the Northern Marianas in the Pacific and the U.S. Virgin Islands in the Caribbean are exempt from provisions of the Jones Act because so little shipping goes to those ports that requiring American cabotage would cause hardship.

Morrison World News reports that The A Whale could either be “an enormous boon to the region,” or conversely, ” a really big disappointment.”

They write: “Nobu Su, the CEO and founder of Taiwan Maritime Transport (TMT), told reporters in Norfolk last Friday that on account of the special holes he had cut in its sides, his vessel would roll across the Gulf ‘like a lawn mower cutting the grass.’

Though the ship and the process are entirely untested, Su insisted A Whale could ingest and process some 15 million gallons of oily water a day. By comparison, the entire emergency response since BP’s Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20 has collected 28 million gallons of oily water.”

Command Center officials in News Orleans are “about as excited as you can be about something that you have no idea what it can do,” said Kati Walsh, a spokesperson for the disaster’s Joint Information Center. “They want to remain in a neutral position about it until after it proves itself,” she said. “We don’t want to get everybody excited about something that may or may not work.” The next step will be for officials to set up a meeting and test the ship’s abilities, Walsh said.

But apparently, there have been communication problems. The unified command didn’t know the ship was already in the Gulf.

It’s reported that Walsh said the Jones Act — which limits the operation of foreign flagged vessels in U.S. waters — is not a factor as much as “the nature of the ship.” Morrison World News says that “while more traditional vessels of opportunity are allowed to start skimming without government pre-approval, this one would not be allowed to do so, she said. “The ship was just built, it hasn’t been proven yet, hasn’t been officially or formally tested yet.”

Two further problems remain. The processed oily water is supposedly returned back into the Gulf waters, even though it’s still somewhat polluted. And, the question abo9ut bow much The A Whale will get paid if it indeed works has not been negotiated. TMT has made it clear though that “this is not a charity operation.” Read more on the Morrison World News web site.

“Mr. Nobu has already sailed the ship around the world and modified it at his own expense,” Maisano, a TMT spokesperson, told reporters. “I’m sure that he’s looking at least to recover his costs.”

A Whale of a Job?

I guess we’ll all be watching – along with anxious Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida residents – to see just how long it takes the U.S. Government to act – to determine if The A Whale can indeed do “a whale of a job” in the Gulf.

[Note: The above photo was taken by Jose Martins of MarineTraffic.com.)

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has released a list of more than 80 chemicals used in drilling for natural gas in the Marcellus Shale region.

WENY obtained the list and noted that some of the chemicals have been shown to harm human health.

View WENY video.

The chemicals used in hydrofracking in Pennsylvania include:

• Chemicals in the Benzyne family (Benzenes have been shown to increase the risk of leukemia with long-term exposure);
• Xylene (which has been shown to cause damage to embryonic development);
• Napthalene (long-terms exposure has led to respiratory disease);
• Propylene (has been shown to harm male reproduction);
• Monoethanolamine and related amines (which have been shown to adversely affect liver and kidney function);
• Formaldehyde (known carcinogen); and
• Chemicals in the Nitrilotriacetic acid family (known carcinogens).

“The quantities of these chemicals used in any particular drilling operation is unknown and not currently regulated; but we do know that the drilling process involves millions of gallons of water and the addition of these and other chemicals in significant quantities in sufficient proportion to that volume of water to do things like reduce drill friction, inhibit corrosion, and act as solvents.

It is also known that the chemicals involved in fracking can migrate to drinking water supplies and contaminate ground water and surface water.”

A more detailed information about the compounds listed above and other chemicals is available from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry: http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov

*****

Another great source of information on hydrofracking is the Water Portal on Source Watch – that has all of the latest news on this newly-applied method of natural gas extraction which is causing concern across the U.S. and the world. It includes a summary of pending legislation.

Closer to home – here in the Shenandoah Valley, we’re just now experiencing our first encounter with hydrofracking, as Carrizo Oil has requested a permit to hydrofrack for natural gas in the beautiful, small town of Bergton, Virginia in Rockingham County. The push is on to get hydrofracking regulations in place in Virginia before energy companies cause any damage here. Hopefully, we’ll listen and learn from our neighbors.

[The picture (above) of the rural country road was taken near Bergton, VA, the proposed site of the first hydrofracking operation in Virginia.]

Overview – What to Expect

This Summit  is the fourth G-20 Conference.  Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is the host of the event. The theme of the Toronto summit is “Recovery and New Beginnings,” referring to an economic stimulus from the impact of the ongoing world recession. The stated goals of the Toronto Summit are: 1) to work on the ideas brought up during the earlier Washington, London, and Pittsburgh summits, 2) to improve the international financial sector, and 3) to keep open markets.

On May 8, 2010. Stephen Harper extended guest invitations to the leaders of Ethiopia, Malawi, Netherlands, Spain, and Vietnam.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Labour Organization, as well as Ethiopia, Malawi, and Vietnam will make their first G-20 summit attendances in Toronto. British Prime Minister David Cameron will attend his first international diplomatic conference after being elected. (See list of representatives below.)

Virtual media blackout of protests at last G-20 Summit held in Pittsburgh, PA

On September 24-25, 2009, at the last G-20 Summit in Pittsburgh, Pa, there was a virtual major media blackout of the citizens there, protesting the economic bailouts that were happening at the time. Primarily, only independent news sources – like The Examiner – showed the disturbing pictures and videos of police and military tanks controlling the crowds. The Pittsburgh G-20 site was actually bordered off – with the citizens having to remain outside the perimeter.

Chinook and Black Hawk helicopters, armored Humvees and crews of U.S. Army soldiers, as well as ten 25-foot boats with M240 machine guns from the Coast Guard, were on hand in Pittsburgh in the event of large-scale violent protests or a terrorist attack.

On September 24, 2009, a crowd gathered in Schenley Plaza, as world leaders met that evening at the Phipps Conservatory nearby for a working dinner. An initially quiet gathering quickly escalated and turned violent after 9:00 PM EDT.

Hundreds of police encircled the crowd, which spilled over onto Forbes Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard near the Cathedral of Learning. An estimated 300 riot police lined the sidewalk behind the William Pitt Union, with 200 more officers blocking Forbes Avenue nearby to contain the protesters. However, the crowd quickly grew to about 500 as nearby University of Pittsburgh students – evident by shouts of “Let’s Go Pitt!” heard – curious about the sirens and police presence, joined the crowd. Police shot several rounds of pepper spray into the crowd

By the end of day on September 25, 2009, police estimated that about 4,500 people participated in protests throughout the city, with 190 arrests being made. Dozens of University of Pittsburgh students – who say they were wrongfully arrested and subjected to heavy-handed police tactics during the G-20 meeting – called for an investigation into the police actions.

Twitter enters the picture as activist tool

New York City activist Elliot Madison used Twitter to report an order to disperse message from the Pittsburgh police during the protests. Police raided Madison’s hotel room, and one week later Madison’s New York home was raided by FBI agents. Police claim Madison and a co-defendant used computers and a radio scanner to track police movements and then passed on that information to protesters using cell phones and the social networking site Twitter. Madison is being charged with hindering apprehension or prosecution, criminal use of a communication facility, and possession of instruments of crime.

Security of concern in Toronto; many measures have been put into place

Security measured are likely to be much the same at the 2010 Summit. Economic conditions across the globe have continued to deteriorate. Since the Pittsburgh Summit on September 24-25, 2009,  the world has witnessed the bailout of Greece, for example.

For at least two months, the Toronto Police Service, Peel Regional Police, the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), together forming an “Integrated Security Unit,”  have been working on security in the Toronto region, especially in the Downtown core, where the Summit will take place.

Police officials have already chosen locations to detain protestors and plan traffic detours which will be in place during the two-day Summit. Toronto’s Pearson International Airport in Mississauga will handle the arrivals of the world leaders. Nav Canada has announced that it will place restrictions on the airspace in Toronto. According to the Globe and Mail, 10,000 uniformed police officers, 1,000 security guards, and several Canadian military forces will be deployed during the Summit.

The surrounding areas of the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, specifically bordered by Queen Street West (north), Queen’s Quay (south), Yonge Street (east), and Spadina Avenue (west), have been divided into zones where different levels of security will be in place.

Site of 2010 G-20 Summit “off limits” to civilians and protestors

The Convention Centre, itself, will be fenced and off-limits to civilians and protestors. Toronto Police have put up several temporary CCTV security cameras in the area, in addition to the permanent ones already in use.

Toronto Police originally announced that Trinity Bellwoods Park would be the site for protesters, but following major opposition from local communities, police have relocated the “protesting site” to north of Queen’s Park. And, in fact, on May 6-7, 2010 across the Greater Toronto Area, The North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) conducted an Amalgam Virgo preparation exercise  – using CF-18 Hornet jets, CH-124 Sea Kings and CH-146 Griffon helicopters at low altitudes.

Many businesses and traffic routes will be affected

Major banks headquartered in Downtown Toronto, which happen to be the largest banks in Canada’s banking industry, have made plans to have employees work outside of their downtown headquarters and work in alternative working places, such as at home or in other branches. In addition, the Director of Communications of Canada Post, Deborah Harron-Thompson, announced that post boxes along the streets in the vicinity of the summit location will be removed for security concerns.

The Gardiner Expressway and Lake Shore Boulevard are expected to be closed during the summit dates. The city is strongly recommending the use of public transportation in the Downtown area.  The Yonge-University-Spadina subway line and its stations close to the Convention Centre will remain operational.

Commuter rail service at Union Station will also remain operational.  The CN Tower, classes at the University of Toronto’s St. George Campus, and the PATH, Toronto’s underground city, will be closed down during the Summit, June 26 and June 27.

On the sports front

The three-game Major League Baseball (MLB) series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Philadelphia Phillies, which were set to take place from June 25-27 at the Rogers Centre, have been relocated to be held at Philadelphia instead.

A media centre for international media personnel, journalists, and press will be set up at the Direct Energy Centre at the Exhibition Place during the summit.

Who will be at the 2010 G-20  Summit in Toronto?

On May 8, 2010. Stephen Harper extended invitations to the Summit to the leaders of Ethiopia, Malawi, Netherlands, Spain, and Vietnam. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Labour Organization, as well as Ethiopia, Malawi, and Vietnam will make their first G-20 summit attendances in Toronto. British Prime Minister David Cameron will attend his first international diplomatic conference after being elected.

G-20 member representatives include:

* Argentina – represented by Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, President of Argentina
* Australia – represented by Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia
* Brazil – represented by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil
* Canada – represented by Stephen Harper, Prime Minister of Canada (Host)
* People’s Republic of China – represented by Hu Jintao, President of the People’s Republic of China
* France – represented by Nicolas Sarkozy, President of France
* Germany – represented by Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany
* India – represented by Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India
* Indonesia – represented by Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, President of Indonesia
* Italy – represented by Silvio Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy
* Japan – represented by Yukio Hatoyama, Prime Minister of Japan
* Mexico – represented by Felipe Calderón, President of Mexico
* South Korea – represented by Lee Myung-bak, President of South Korea
* Russia – represented by Dmitry Medvedev, President of Russia
* Saudi Arabia – represented by Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, King of Saudi Arabia
* South Africa – represented by Jacob Zuma, President of South Africa
* Turkey – represented by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister of Turkey
* United Kingdom – represented by David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
* United States – represented by Barack Obama, President of the United States

Guest nations representatives include:

* Ethiopia – represented by Girma Wolde-Giorgis, President of Ethiopia
* Malawi – represented by Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi
* Netherlands – represented by Jan Peter Balkenende, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (unless changed due to the June election)
* Spain – represented by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Prime Minister of Spain
* Vietnam – represented by Nguy?n Minh Tri?t, President of Vietnam
* European Commission – represented by José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
* European Council – represented by Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council

International organizations representatives:

* Financial Stability Forum – represented by Mario Draghi, Chairman of the Financial Stability Forum
* International Labour Organization – represented by Juan Somavía, Head of the International Labour Organization
* International Monetary Fund – represented by Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund
* Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development – represented by José Ángel Gurría, Secretariat General of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
* United Nations – represented by Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations
* World Bank Group – represented by Robert Zoellick, President of the World Bank
* World Trade Organization-  represented by Pascal Lamy, Director General of the World Trade Organization

Preparations for demonstrations began many weeks ago. The Ontario Federation of Labour is expected, for example, to lead a rally of 20,000 protesters in front of Queen’s Park.

Obama urging nations to “safeguard and strengthen the recovery”

According to the Politics Daily web site:  (On Friday), in advance of the economic summit in Toronto, President Obama urged America’s economic partners to “safeguard and strengthen” a recovery from recession in the face of continuing challenges, including the European Union debt crisis.

“We must maintain the momentum,” Obama said in a lengthy letter to the Group of 20 industrial nations meeting in Toronto. Obama did not single out any G-20 nation by name, but said “some countries” must deal with “weakness of consumer demand” and an over-reliance on exports.

“Our highest priority in Toronto must be to safeguard the recovery,” he said. “We worked exceptionally hard to restore growth; we cannot falter or lose strength now.” Budget deficits, he said, should be dealt with in the “medium term” – an apparent reference to the importance he places on continued spending to stimulate the economy.’

For more information, see wikipedia.

Examine the facts for yourself

Here are 37 issues that an attorney has asked the Virginia regulators to explain – regarding the permit by a large energy company to drill for natural gas in the Shenandoah Valley:

*****

June 7, 2010

Re: Application of Carrizo (Marcellus) LLC to drill exploratory gas well in Bergton, VA – Application # 16035

“We are working with a group of citizens in Rockingham County concerned about the circumstances surrounding the above proposed hydrofracture gas well drilling in the floodplain at Bergton. Because this is apparently the first such Virginia application of its kind, and because of the innumerable serious pollution and other problems this activity has caused in other states, leading to multiple calls for moratorium on hydrofracture
drilling, we request some clarification from your agency on the following issues.

Because the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors (BOS) could take up the tabled matter again at any time, your prompt reply will be much appreciated.

1. The Permit Application #16035 is described as “a Marcellus Shale test well.” Should gas be discovered, would Carrizo need to obtain an additional permit from DMME to actually produce gas?

2. Do DMME inspectors have Marcellus Shale drilling experience with the methods proposed to be used at the Ennis site for the test well, and for methods that might be used to actually produce gas from a subsequent well?

3. What guidelines does DMME use to establish the criteria under which hydrofracture drilling permits using the method proposed at the Ennis site are approved? May we have either a cite to them or copies, preferably electronically?

4. What are the guidelines governing DMME’s coordination with other governmental agencies, (national, state, or local) before it issues a permit such as #16035? May we have either a cite to them or copies, preferably electronically?

5. The proposed site is in a 100-year floodplain, though it has a history of flooding far more frequently than that. Did DMME take this into consideration before approving the permit?

6. What steps, if any, were taken to address the environmental and health risks posed by the fact that the site is in a floodplain?

7. Did DMME in fact consult any other governmental agencies (national, state, or local) before approving #16035? If so, which agencies did it consult?

8. Does the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality retain any oversight authority over the proposed activity once the permit is approved and issued? If so, what is the extent of its authority?

9. If the drilling activity goes forward, will any other governmental agencies (federal, state, or local) be involved in overseeing, regulating, monitoring, and testing the environmental impact of, the activity? If so, what agencies?

10. Do DMME inspectors have Erosion and Sediment Control Inspector Certification by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation?

11. Hydrofracture drilling has been known to use extremely toxic chemicals. A list of 345 of them with substantial product and toxicological information can be found at this web site. The spreadsheet of
these chemicals found at that site is attached to the same email that conveys this letter. Companies have often asserted proprietary reasons for refusing to disclose the chemical makeup of drilling and hydrofracture chemicals.

Will DMME know, prior to their use, exactly what chemicals will be used either in the drilling or hydrofracture portions of this activity?

12. What criteria will DMME use to allow or disallow certain chemicals in drilling or hydrofracture? May we have either a cite to them or copies, preferably electronically?

13. Hydrofracture drilling, especially in the Marcellus formation, has been known to produce radioactive solids and wastewater. Has DMME taken this fact into consideration in approving permit #16035?

14. What requirements are placed upon the permit applicant to deal with radioactive waste?

15. We understand that the permit has been “approved” but not “issued.” Is this correct? What conditions must be met before DMME issues the permit?

16. Given the potential damage that can be caused by this activity, and the actual damages suffered by a number of communities in other states, how much is the performance bond that Carrizo will be required to post, or other demonstration of financial responsibility, for this site?

17. On April 5, 2010, the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries wrote a strongly-worded letter to the Rockingham County Board of Supervisors, copy to DMME, raising environmental concerns about this proposed permit. A copy is for your convenience. Will DMME take into consideration the contents of this letter before issuing the permit?

18. If the activity goes forward, will DMME inspect the site and conduct chemical and radiation testing regularly? On what schedule will this occur?

19. Will other state or federal agencies be allowed access to inspect the site if they desire to do so?

20. On page 10 of the Carrizo application, under “Analysis of mud medium/drilling medium/oil based fluid medium attached/filed:” the box “Does Not Apply” is checked. Does this mean that DMME will not know what chemicals are used in the process, since the application further states that it is possible that such fluids might be needed? Does other agency have oversight of such?

21. Also on page 10, under “SPCC Plan Required by EPA,” the box “No” is checked. Under what criteria did DMME determine that the proposed activity will have an acceptable level of environmental impact?

22. A Blooey pit lined with 30 mil plastic is approved. Did DMME take into account the fact that the site lies in a floodplain before approving this method of fluid storage?

23. On page 13, “Disposal of Drilling Fluid” is marked “Yes-Approved.” What is the method of fluid disposal that is approved?

24. “Fresh Water” is also marked “Yes-Approved.” Is this an approval of a source of obtaining fresh water, and if so, what source is approved?

25. “Disposal of Produced Fluids” is marked “Yes-Approved.” What is “approved?” That is, how will the produced fluids, or wastewater, be disposed of?

26. Is a copy of any agreement with the local wastewater treatment facility for receiving site wastewater available? If so, may we have a copy of it?

27. “Salt Water” is marked “Yes-Approved.” What does this mean?

28. On page 14, under “Lacking,” is the comment, “Discuss the disposal of produced fluid.” Has this discussion taken place? If so, what was decided?

29. The Drill Pad Narrative on the application notes a “sediment containment area on the southwest corner of the construction site.” This is not shown on the site plan sketch. How will this be achieved?

30. Allegedly, the applicant may not spray or otherwise land-apply wastewater on the site. Where in writing is the restriction prohibiting such?

31. The site plan and narrative does not address the containment and disposal of wastewater. How will this be accomplished?

32. The plans show areas labeled “Fluid Dispersal Area[s]”. Are these areas in which wastewater and other toxic fluids may be applied?

33. The following statement is made by Carrizo on page 29 of the application: “If chlorides and other parameters meet Virginia requirements, the water will be discharged onto adjacent ground via sprayer heads or soaker hoses with no runoff accepted”. Will DMME make the determination of what is acceptable? What are the guidelines that determine what is acceptable? May we have either a cite to them or copies, preferably electronically?

34. The following statement is also made by Carrizo on page 29 of the application: “If they do not meet Virginia requirements, they will be diluted to below discharge requirements if possible. They will then be discharged as before.” This would appear to allow the dilution of toxic wastewater with more water and then dumping or spraying it on the same ground.

Is this an acceptable method? Has DMME determined that this is environmentally sound? Does dilution of toxic wastewater with more water do anything to protect surface and underground waters?

35. The following statement is also made by Carrizo on page 29 of the application: “Arrangements have been made with Harrisonburg -Rockingham Regional Sewer Authority for disposal of fluids if they cannot
be spray discharged as planned.” We have reason to believe that the Sewer Authority does not have the capability to dispose of the toxic wastewater that will be produced by this drilling activity.

Has DMME checked to see if such “arrangements” have been made? Are they in writing? If so, may we have a copy of them? If such “arrangements” have not actually been made, is this grounds for revocation or nonissuance of the permit? If DMME has not already done so, we request that it verify the accuracy of the statement that such “arrangements” have been made.

36. The following statement is also made by Carrizo on page 29 of the application: “Drill solids will be collected in the drilling pit during operations. They will have as much associated water as practical initially until removal during the remediation phase. After drilling, the pit chlorides and other parameters will be evaluated to determine disposal method.”

Will DMME evaluate these parameters? What criteria will DMME use? May we have either a cite to them or copies, preferably electronically?

37. The following statement is also made by Carrizo on page 29 of the application: “A Pit Disposal Permit will be sought from the VA DMME. It is planned to sequester andencapsulate the cuttings with the pit liner and additional liner installed on the top. It is then planned to bury the cuttings a minimum of 4’ below ground level. If this approach is unattainable, arrangements have been made with the Rockingham County
Landfill  for disposal.”

Does the Rockingham County Landfill have a permit for accepting drill cuttings, wet or dry? Does it have a radiation detector installed to monitor NORM levels in such cuttings? Has DMME checked to see if such “arrangements” have been made? Are they in writing? If so, may we have a copy of them? If such “arrangements” have not actually been made,
is this grounds for revocation or non-issuance of the permit? If DMME has not already done so, we request that it verify the accuracy of the statement that such “arrangements” have been made.

We thank you in advance for answers to these important issues. Should the permit in question be issued, it will be precedent-setting.”

*****

Many in the Shenandoah Valley are working to try and prevent the same travesties that have occurred with hydrofracking in PA, NY, CO, WV, and other states, and looking to have legislation ready to regulate hydrofracking in Virginia when the next General Assembly meets in Richmond in  January 2011.

New York legislators, for example, are calling for a 2-year moratorium on this controversial  form of natural gas drilling until the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  has an opportunity to investigate the health and environmental effects of hydrofracking – and communicate that information out to US citizens. The same must happen in Virginia.

It would be unbelievably pitiful if the beautiful Shenandoah Valley is ruined because of the greed of large energy companies, whether they be drilling for gas or electric. We know only too well how that looks as we see the devastation in the Gulf each day – and hear about the other states where hydrofracking has already harmed the landscape, water supply, and health of residents.

(A quick Google search on hydrofracking  in any of our neighboring states to the North- Pennsylvania, New York, or West Virginia – results in dozens of examples of the harm caused to normal citizens like you and me.)

The natural gas drilling permit referred to in the letter above represents the first permit that’s been applied for in the Shenandoah Valley. That’s why this case will set a precedent. Once one permit is issued, “the floodgates are open” for more permits and more drilling – all across the Valley.

After discussions with the attorney who wrote this letter, it’s our understanding that this permit has been approved  – but not yet officially issued – by the DMME, but that the Board of Supervisors of Rockingham County, Virginia, must also approve a “special use permit” before drilling can begin on the site in Bergton ( located in Rockingham County – right outside of Harrisonburg, VA).

On the hydrofracking issue, the Gulf Oil spill, bank bailouts, and many other issues – it’s the people – it’s regular folks like you and me – that can and must take action together to oppose corporate bailouts – corporate protectionism – and corporate greed. It’s our country.

Legislators who don’t represent the peoples’ interest must be voted out. It’s becoming clear that party affiliation doesn’t matter.

What matters is: Who will stand up to big business and big government – with worrying about getting re-elected, or hurting their own standing?

Who is your elected official working for – whether at the county, state or national level?

We must break from our normal routines and stand up, and demand accountability. If not us, then who?

*****

Citizens actions that can be taken regarding hydrofracking:

1. Those living in Rockingham County who want to see this stopped should contact their county supervisor and let their opinion be known.

Pablo Cuevas is the Chairman of the Rockingham County Board of Supervsiors, and he’s also the representative from District 1 that includes the proposed Bergton natural gas drilling site. Time is of the essence as the Supervisors will be voting on the special use permit at some point. The exact date of the vote is unclear. They are currently “studying the situation,” but could call a vote at any time.

Here is Pablo’s contact information:

Email: pcuevas@rockinghamcountyva.gov

Phone: (540) 896-7889.

2. There are 23 other counties in Virginia where there is Marcellus shale – where it’s possible that Carrizo, or other large energy companies, will apply for drilling permits. If you are against this issue, contact your county supervisor and let him/her know BEFORE a drilling permit is entertained by your county.

3. Contact Tony Wilt, the new House of Delegates representative for the Rockingham County area and let him know your opinion. He lives is nearby Broadway, VA. Here is his contact information:

Email: tony@tonywiltfordelegate.com

Phone:  (540) 810-4462

4. Or, contact Mark Obenshain, the Virginia state senator serving Rockingham County. Here is his contact information:

Email: mark@markobenshain.com

Phone: (540) 437-1451 (District office)
(804) 698-7526 (Richmond)

5. If you live elsewhere in Virginia, contact your own House delegate and/or state Senator and let them know your opinion on hydrofracking in the Valley, and across the Commonwealth of Virginia.

6. You can contact the Division of Gas and Oil at the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy (DMME) directly at:

Email:DmmeInfo@dmme.virginia.gov

Phone: (804) 692-3200 – in Richmond.

7. Additional community meetings will be held across Virginia on  hydrofracking. Check back here – on 7Bends.com. We’ll be publicizing details about citizen forums and discussion sessions before they happen. And, we’ll keep you informed on the move to get hydrofracking regulations on the books in Virginia in the 2011 Legislative Session.

*****

To learn more about the hydrofracking issue:

There are a number of great articles that have been written by the Daily News Record, hburgnews.com, and some national reporters on this issue. You can Google those as you wish. There are also a number of great video clips out there showing what a hydro fracking site looks like, and its effects on the surrounding people and communities. (We’ll be featuring these clips on 7Bends as they come in… )

Educate yourself

As an independent online news source for the Shenandoah Valley, 7Bends.com does not have any political or economic constraints on what we publish. We will give you everything we find on the subject, uncensored.

Here are the articles 7Bends.com has published on hydrofracking in Virginia since May 2010:

May 22 – http://7bends.com/2010/05/22/gasland-film-chronicles-natural-gas-drilling-dangers/

May 22 – http://7bends.com/2010/05/22/eminent-domain-status-application-to-lay-gas-pipeline-across-your-property/

May 24 – http://7bends.com/2010/05/24/county-decision-natural-gas-drilling-in-virginia/

May 26 – http://7bends.com/2010/05/26/world-renowned-scientist-illuminates-health-effects-of-water-contamination-from-fracking/

June 15 - http://7bends.com/2010/06/15/hydrofracking-in-virginia-is-hot-issue-in-tony-wilts-victory-tonight-in-t26th-district/

]]> http://7bends.com/2010/06/21/read-attorneys-letter-sent-to-virginia-officials-about-permit-for-hydrofracture-gas-drilling-in-bergton/feed/ 3 http://7bends.com/2010/06/15/hydrofracking-in-virginia-is-hot-issue-in-tony-wilts-victory-tonight-in-t26th-district/ http://7bends.com/2010/06/15/hydrofracking-in-virginia-is-hot-issue-in-tony-wilts-victory-tonight-in-t26th-district/#comments Wed, 16 Jun 2010 03:08:22 +0000 Susan Thompson http://7bends.com/?p=5478 Harrisonburg, VA – Tonight, withstanding an early-morning polling place software glitch, the special election for the Virginia House of Delegates seat in the Shenandoah Valley is history. Broadway businessman Tony Wilt (R) has beat Kai Degner (D), as well as Carolyn Frank (I).

26th District Election Results (unofficial)

- Across Rockingham County, Wilt picked up 4,218 votes versus 779 for Degner.

- In the city of Harrisonburg, 29-year-old Degner, who is the mayor of Harrisonburg, beat Wilt, by a 50-vote margin.

- District-wide, Wilt received about 66 percent of the overall vote; Degner received about 30 percent; and Carolyn Frank received about 4 percent.

Tony Wilt will assume the seat formerly held by Matt Lohr, who was recently tapped by Virginia Governor McDonnell as commissioner of agriculture.

*****

Heavy push for Democrats in Rockingham County

Even though Rockingham County is definitely considered a strong Republican stronghold, the amount of attention and dollars invested into this race by the Democrats has been noticed all across the Commonwealth. For example, a Washington Examiner article by Lynn Mitchell today noted: “Republicans are expected to hold onto the seat but Virginia Democrats have poured money into the race which has raised eyebrows among some who wonder why so much is being spent in such a red area.”

Issue of hydrofracking still looming after today’s election

The controversy about proposed hydrofracking in Rockingham County, which became a hot campaign issue in this special election, is perhaps one of the main reasons the contest received so much notice.  Hydrofracking is a controversial way to extract natural gas from Marcellus shale. A large Houston energy company, Carrizo, has applied for a permit to drill in nearby Bergton, VA. The Rockingham Board of Supervisors (BOS) has been looking at the issue; a vote is expected soon.

Already -  in Pennylvania, New York, other U.S. states, and across the world – hydrofracking has ruined countrysides, and the chemicals used in the drilling process (e.g. benzene) have contaminated local water – resulting in health problems for nearby residents, including endrocrine-disruption diseases.

The EPA is currently studying the situation, and some states (including New York) are calling for moratoriums on fracking until the health and environmental effects are fully understood – and communicated to U.S. citizens. In the meantime, energy companies are exempt from adhering to the Safe Drinking Water Act – when it comes to hydrofracking, as well as oil drilling (e.g. B.P. spill in the Gulf.)

During the 26th District special election, Kai Degner held a press conference on the dangers of “fracking.” He is calling for the Virginia House of Delegates to enact natural gas drilling regulations that protect Virginia citizens and land at the first possible opportunity. It still remains to be seen what Wilt will do on this important issue when he heads to Richmond. Other Shenandoah Valley legislators will need to rise to the occasion to address the issue. Citizens, too, have a responsibility to learn about the issue; it will surely affect them.

Shenandoah Valley hydrofracking situation now receiving national attention

Just in the last few weeks, through local activist efforts, some national media attention is focusing on the fact that large energy companies are now heading to the Valley to drill. Just yesterday, AP Reporter Steve Szkotak wrote an article entitled “Virginia House race takes up fracking debate” about the special election and hydrofracking – and its consequences for the landscape of the Valley, its water supply, and citizen health.

Virginia economic development officials will likely join in the fight against fracking in the coming months, too, as drilling operations that could begin to dominate the Valley landscape will definitely affect Shenandoah Valley tourism.

(Note: The picture above is a typical hydrofracking operation. This particular drilling site is in Pennsylvania.)

So, now is a great time for Virginia residents to review their personal readiness plans and know what actions to take if forced to evacuate in the face of high winds and flooding.

The Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) reminds drivers that hurricanes don’t restrict their wind and rain impacts to the coast.  Historically, Virginia has suffered significant damage and loss of life from tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes that made landfall in other states. Flooding and wind impacts from these storms – depending on their size, speed and path – can extend many miles inland.

Camille hit Blue Ridge hard in 1969

In 1969, Hurricane Camille had lost its Category 5 strength by the time it reached the Blue Ridge Mountains after pummeling the Mississippi coast from the Gulf of Mexico. It lingered several days over central Virginia, however, dropping more than 27 inches of rain on Nelson County, causing approximately $113 million dollars in damage and killing more than 150 people in Virginia alone. It wasn’t the wind or the storm surge but the flooding that caused so much devastation.

More recently, flooding far inland in Virginia from both Hurricane Isabel (2003) and Tropical Storm Gaston (2004) cost the state several billion dollars in damages. Isabel left 36 people dead in Virginia, while nine died as a result of Gaston.

If you can’t see road markings, don’t drive through the water

While some of these deaths resulted from falling trees and other circumstances, a number were caused by motorists driving into flooded roadways. A rule of thumb from the National Weather Service – if you can’t see the road or its markings, do not drive through the water.

Here are specific suggestions on what to do in the event of heavy rain and flooding:

- Before a storm strikes, have a family disaster plan in place – it’s a good idea in advance of any emergency. Make sure every family member is familiar with the plan.

- The best way to protect yourself and your family and to reduce delays if you must travel during heavy rains is to know the road conditions before you leave home.  Listen to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) weather or other reputable weather sources.

-  Also check www.511Virginia.org before you drive, or call 511 for the latest on road conditions throughout the state.

If you must be on the roads:

- Expect the unexpected. Be prepared to slow or stop quickly and without warning.

- At night, drive at a speed that enables you to stop quickly and safely within the distance illuminated by the vehicle’s headlights.

- Never drive through water flowing across a road. It takes only six to 12 inches of water to float a small vehicle.

- Never drive around barricades. Remember, the road has been closed for your safety.

- Slow down when driving through standing water. Driving too fast through water could cause you to lose control of your vehicle because of hydroplaning.

- Avoid flood-prone areas, especially along creeks and other low-lying areas.

- If a flash flood warning is broadcast, seek high ground immediately.

- Be alert for tree limbs and other debris in the roadway. Even small branches and other debris can damage a car or cause the driver to lose control.

- Assume all fallen power lines are electrified and dangerous. Never attempt to drive across, step over or move fallen utility lines.

- The danger is greatest in areas where trees are near to, or overhanging the roadway. Use extra caution when driving in those areas.

- If you come across a flooded road that is not barricaded, turn around and use an alternate route. Help other motorists by notifying VDOT at 800-367-7623 at your earliest and safest convenience.

In the last 30 years, 60 percent of those who died as a result of a hurricane drowned. Of the children under 13 who died, 78 percent died as a result of inland flooding. VDOT doesn’t want to add any more drivers on its roads to those statistics, so remember, “Turn around, don’t drown.”

*****

Flashing yellow lights being introduced in Williamsburg, VA area

More news from the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT):

Each year, millions of tourists drive into the greater Williamsburg area looking for roller coasters, water slides, and historic attractions. And, a lot of them get turned around.

When York County administrators asked VDOT to study a “permissive left-turn on green” – that is a left turn on a green signal, yielding to on-coming traffic – safety was the number one consideration. What resulted was the implementation of a signal technology new to Virginia: the flashing yellow arrow.

The Flashing Yellow Arrow: New to Virginia

According to a National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), a left turn is one of the most dangerous movements a motorist makes. Left-turn traffic signals are designed to let drivers know when to yield to oncoming traffic or when they have the right of way, but the wide variety of signals in use can be confusing.

A study revealed the flashing yellow arrow was safer and more effective than the simple circular green light and other signals at conveying to drivers the need to yield before turning left.

Several states are using the flashing yellow arrow for left turns. Engineers across the country have begun installing flashing yellow signals using the Federal Highway Administration interim approval.VDOT is using electronic message signs to introduce the new flashing yellow signals to motorists near these intersections in the Williamsburg area:

* Route 60 and Interstate 64 on-ramp
* Route 60 and Busch Gardens
* Route 60 and Busch Gardens employee entrance

For more information on the flashing yellow signal (NCHRP Report 493), go here.

*****

Names of Hurricanes for the 2010 season

Alex
Bonnie
Colin
Danielle
Earl
Fiona
Gaston
Hermine
Igor
Julia
Karl
Lisa
Matthew
Nicole
Otto
Paula
Richard
Shary
Tomas
Virginie
Walter

For two nights only, Thursday, July 1 and Friday, July 2, the Curtain Call Café of the theatre will be converted to a performance stage – offering a free Cabaret to the community.

Middletown has been treated to the beginnings of what will be an exceptionally unique and diverse season of characters from Artistic Director Warner Crocker and his professional acting company, whom have taken their audiences through civil war in the Shenandoah Valley in the musical, Shenandoah.  Meanwhile, the community is eagerly anticipating the theatre’s next main stage production of the comedy, “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.”

With all of the excitement that this season will surely offer, this Intern Cabaret Showcase will feature some of the theatre’s budding talent in a completely new light.

Warner Crocker, Artistic Director, says, “What makes this Cabaret so unique is that it offers the community a rare glimpse at the actual people and personalities that have kept Middletown entertained night after night on Wayside’s main stage.”

“The company of young professional actors will be able to drop their characters and on-stage oddities and perform material that is close to them.  It also makes for a perfect opportunity for these talented individuals to perform the songs and scenes, and instrumental performances that they feel best showcase their talent and personalities, which theatre patrons wouldn’t otherwise get to witness.”

Wayside Theatre’s Intern Cabaret Showcase begins at 11:00 p.m. on Thursday July 1 and Friday July 2,  following that evening’s performance of the play “Shenandoah” at the Wayside Theatre’s Curtain Call Café.  It is free of charge; donations are appreciated.

Wayside Theatre is located at 7853 Main Street in Middletown, VA (off Interstate 81). The Theatre is handicap accessible, smoke-free, and offers a cash bar.

For more information call (540) 869-1776,or visit the Wayside Theatre web site.

*****

According to wikipedia, “Cabaret is a form of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue – a restaurant  or nightclub  with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables (often dining or drinking) watching the performance being introduced by a master of ceremonies, or emcee (MC).”

Cabaret was also a 1972 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse, and starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey. The film is set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic in 1931, under the ominous presence of the growing National Socialist Party.

Readiness exercises conducted at the end of May 2010

According to a June 3, 2010 press release on the U.S. North Command web site, “three units representing each component of the Air Force made history in Gulfport, Mississippi, on May 16 – 23, 2010, when they successfully completed the first homeland defense operational readiness inspection.

The release reads: ”For the very first time, the U.S. Air Force has validated a unit’s wartime capability to defend the homeland by fighting an enemy right here on U.S. soil,” said Col. Greg Nelson, the commander of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing, which served as the lead organization for the ORI.

“That represents a major shift in the way Air Force (leaders evaluate) unit readiness, because it puts the focus in our own backyard, rather than a simulated overseas location where these evaluations are usually staged,” he said.

The inspection was a total force effort, with the 123rd Airlift Wing representing the Air National Guard; the 317th Airlift Group from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, providing active-duty forces; and the 70th Aerial Port Squadron from Homestead Air Reserve Base, Fla., contributing Air Force Reserve members and equipment.

As with traditional ORIs, this one tested the ability of each unit to mobilize Airmen and equipment, fly to a remote site, operate in a hostile environment, defend against enemy attacks, and redeploy back home, all while AMC inspectors evaluated every phase of the operation.

Unlike traditional ORIs, in this one the participants were tasked with supporting civil authorities while fighting an unconventional foe in the United States. In the past, ORIs have typically required units to deploy to simulated overseas bases and defend against conventional military forces.”

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Military units being put on alert?

Now, a number of independent news web sites are saying they have information that military units are being put on alert to assist in possible evacuations, including the evacuation of the whole Tampa Metro area.

According to Ben Fulford (May 31, 2010) of Labvirus, ” Gulf Evacuation Plans are on the table.” His article also includes a video of Greg Evensen, a former Kansas state patrolman, who did an interview on May 27, 2010 sharing information about a pending Gulf coast evacuation that he has received from his law enforcement contacts.  Evensen says that the number of people they are preparing to evacuate is “mind boggling.”

Ben Fulford reports: “Emergency evacuations plans have been drawn up for entire Gulf of Mexico region as secret financial negotiations head to climax.

Toxic rain a possibility?

The Pentagon and US government have drawn up emergency plans to evacuate much of the population surrounding the Gulf of Mexico in anticipation of toxic rain and severe environmental damage, a military intelligence source says.

According to another independent news source, ‘the evacuation zone is expected to encompass the lower half of all gulf states – for starters – from Florida to Texas/Mexico border, possibly up to 50 million people.”

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Media blackouts and attempts to discourage social networking coverage reported

There are also reports of media blackouts by BP, and by police and authorities along the Gulf Coast. It’s been reported that journalists have been barred from taking pictures, and that the photos that have been snapped show the devastating effects on marine and plant life (which is sad), yet there are few pictures in the media showing Gulf Coast residents, pictures of BP operations, or actual oil spill relief efforts.

There are also reports out of Grand Island, Louisiana that citizens are being arrested, and have not been allowed to use their cell phone cameras  to snap and post pictures, documenting what’s happening.

Today, Yana Kunichoff of TruthOut.org wrote:

“Journalists attempting to cover the BP oil spill have found themselves turned away not only by BP and its contractors, but also by the Coast Guard, local law enforcement and government officials, reported The New York Times.

According to Rhonda Panepinto, whose company Southern Seaplane was denied airspace access to fly a journalist over the spill, said she was questioned extensively by a BP contractor when making the request. ” Who was on the aircraft? Who did they work for?” recalled Panepinto. “The minute we mentioned media, the answer was: ‘Not allowed.’”

Scientists have also complained about information availability. Three weeks passed between the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, which set off the leak, and the first release by BP of images of oil gushing from the underwater pipe.”

It is unclear whether the dispersants used by BP to try and stop the oil spill, or some other reason, is the driving factor behind possible evacuations.

Some of the conspiracy-type web sites are warning that if possible mass evacuations are necessary, then U.S. citizens – including those evacuated – could be placed in FEMA camps and subject to martial law.

Health of Gulf Coast residents threatened

News sources are also claiming that “the coastal atmospheric benzene Phase 1 toxicity saturation is projected to be reached around mid-June, 2010.”

Today, Democracy Now! reported that so far, 86 people in Louisiana and Alabama have gotten sick from the oil spill and the widespread use of chemical dispersants.

“The majority of people who reported sick were clean-up workers and workers on the oil rig, whose symptoms have included throat irritation, cough, chest pain, headaches and shortness of breath.”

It appears that the real situation with the dispersants used by BP is now coming to light. Infowars.com reports today that BP has released 500,000 pounds of emissions into the air in the Gulf.

They write: “BP’s Texas City refinery, more than 400 pounds a day of benzene — 40 times the state reportable levels — was released during a 40-day period while a subunit of the refinery’s ultracracker unit was offline, according to a company filing with the state’s environmental agency Friday.

In all, BP officials said more than 500,000 pounds of pollutants and nonpollutants were released while the company increased flaring as they tried to repair a compressor on the faulty unit.

Refinery spokesman Michael Marr said in its follow up reporting with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, that  BP estimated 36,000 pounds of nitrogen oxides and 17,000 pounds of benzene were released in the 40 days. State law requires 10 pounds or more of benzene and 200 pounds or more of nitrogen oxide during a 24-hour period must be reported through the commission’s air emissions database.”

Benzene and Human Health

According to wikipedia, Benzene is a clear, colorless and highly-flammable aromatic liquid that evaporates quickly into the air, and can dissolve in water. It is formed from both natural processes and human activities; natural sources of benzene include volcanoes and forest fires.

Benzene is present in crude oil, gasoline and cigarette smoke. It is industrially used as a solvent in paints and other chemicals and products such as dyes, detergents, nylon, plastics, drugs and pesticides. Benzene is widely used in the United States; it ranks in the top twenty chemicals for production volume and makes up about one percent of every gallon of gasoline.

Here are some Questions and Answers about benzene:

What are the main health hazards associated with breathing in methane?

According to the Canadian Centre for Health and Occupational Safety web site, “methane is not toxic below the lower explosive limit of 5% (50000 ppm). However, when methane is present at high concentrations, it acts as an asphyxiant. Asphyxiants displace oxygen in the air and can cause symptoms of oxygen deprivation (asphyxiation).

The available oxygen should be a minimum of 18% – or harmful effects will result. Methane displaces oxygen to 18% in air when present at 14% (140000 ppm). It is not expected to cause unconsciousness (narcosis) due to central nervous system depression until it reaches much higher concentrations (30% or 300000 ppm) – well above the lower explosive limit and asphyxiating concentrations.

The effects of oxygen deficiency are:

- 12-16% oxygen in the air = breathing and pulse rate are increased, with slight muscular in- coordination;

- 10-14% oxygen in the air = emotional upsets, abnormal fatigue from exertion, disturbed respiration;

- 6-10% oxygen in the air = nausea and vomiting, inability to move freely, collapse, possible lack of consciousness;

- Less than 6% oxygen in the air = convulsive movements, gasping, possible respiratory collapse and death.

Since exercise increases the body’s need for oxygen, symptoms will occur more quickly during exertion in an oxygen-deficient environment. Survivors of oxygen deprivation may show damage to some or all organs including the central nervous system and the brain. These effects may or may not be reversible with time, depending on the degree and duration of the low oxygen and the amount of tissue injury.

The asphyxiant effects of methane may enhance cardiac (problems).”

Are there health hazards to benzene exposure, i.e. can benzene cause cancer?

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that benzene is a human carcinogen, and can cause various forms of cancer from prolonged exposure.

According to the IARC, benzene is often considered “the mother of all carcinogens,” as a large number of carcinogens have structures that include benzene rings. Occupational studies of workers exposed to high levels of benzene show association with leukemia cancer; including acute myelogenous leukemia, acute lymphocytic leukemia, and chronic myelogenous leukemia. Benzene-related leukemias have been reported to develop in as short as nine months, and can remain dormant for as long as 25 years after initial exposure.

Even a small amount of benzene exposure can cause temporary nervous system disorders, immune system depression and anemia. Short term affects include skin, eye, and respiratory tract irritation, headache, stomach irritation, drowsiness and dizziness. High levels of exposure can result in a rapid heart rate, excessive bleeding, tremors, vomiting, unconsciousness and death. Benzene can cause harmful effects on bone marrow, and can cause a decrease in red blood cells leading to myelofibrosis and myelodysplastic syndrome.

How can I be exposed to benzene? Who is most likely to be at risk?

Undoubtedly, the greatest risk for high level exposure to benzene is in the workplace. Occupational exposure to benzene is likely to occur in the rubber industry, oil refineries, chemical plants, and the shoe manufacturing industry, as well as in gasoline storage, shipment, and retail stations. However, most individuals are exposed to benzene through tobacco smoke, automobile exhaust and other environmental sources such as gasoline filling stations, industrial emissions, and food products that contain benzene naturally.

In addition, certain industries may release benzene into the surrounding air. These include ethyl benzene and styrene-production facilities, petroleum refineries, chemical manufacturing plants, and recovery plants for coke oven by-products. Leakage from underground storage tanks or from hazardous waste sites containing benzene can also result in the contamination of well water.

Is benzene regulated by the U.S. government?

Yes. Because of the dangerous health effects benzene exposure is known to cause, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency now regulates benzene in the air and water, as well as emissions by industry. The EPA has passed laws to limit the use and release of benzene to keep levels as low as possible. Regulations set by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration, in association with the EPA, limit workplace exposure to a maximum of one part benzene per million parts air (ppm), averaged over an eight-hour workday.

Further, congress passed the Safe Drinking Water Act in 1974 requiring the EPA to determine safe levels of chemicals in drinking water. Subsequently, benzene’s level was set to zero. (Note: The U.S. government has exempted energy companies from adhering to the Safe Drinking Water Act of 1974.)

Do I have legal rights if I have been occupationally exposed to benzene?

Yes. Despite being banned as a solvent in the U.S. for over twenty years, and the decrease of benzene in other manufactured products, workers continue to be exposed to direct and indirect sources of the chemical. The first thing to do if you suspect you’ve been exposed to benzene is to report the exposure to your employer, and seek immediate medical assistance.

If you believe you have been harmed by benzene exposure, you can contact an attorney to learn of your rights, and to file a legal claim for injuries sustained. Individuals can file a lawsuit within two years of discovering a benzene-related illness, regardless of the last time of exposure. Compensation can cover factors such as loss of income, medical costs, pain and suffering, and in the case of Wrongful Death lawsuits, loss of life.

Read more.

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A toxic “solution” gone awry

On Tuesday, June 8, 2010, TruthOut.org reported still further details about the chemicals used in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mike Ludwig writes: “Corexit, the main line of dispersants used by BP, came under public scrutiny last week after a Congressman informed The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that it is all but banned in the United Kingdom. The EPA told BP to use less Corexit and invest in chemicals proven to be less toxic and more effective.  BP issued a response defending their decision to use Corexit, and soon the amount of dispersants dumped in the Gulf neared an unprecedented one million gallons.

Dozens of residents along the Gulf Coast have reported headaches, nausea and trouble breathing after coming in contact with oil and dispersant fumes, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers. But, Corexit producer Nalco claims the newest version, Corexit 9500, is more than 27 times safer than dish soap, according to a web release.

Nalco is an international chemical company directed by board members  who cut their petrochemical teeth with companies like Monsanto, DuPont, Exxon and – you guessed it – BP. When the media discovered the EPA had rated 12 dispersants as more effective than Corexit, all eyes turned to Nalco board member Rodney Chase, who spent 38 years with BP and left as an executive.

A million gallons of any chemical, including dish soap, could certainly harm people and wildlife, and Corexit is no exception. Nalco’s own safety data sheet identifies three hazardous chemicals in Corexit 9500, and lists symptoms of exposure as “acute” and consistent with reports from the poison control centers.

Corexit 9500 predecessor Corexit 9527 contained the notorious chemical 2-butoxyethanol that allegedly poisoned cleanup workers during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker disaster. The Corexit 9500 data sheet does not include the chemical in its list of hazards, but a 1996 University of California study on invertebrates concluded that there was no “significant difference” in toxicity between Corexit 9500 and the older formula.

In 2005, researchers at the University of Plymouth in the UK reported that Corexit’s ability to kill invertebrates constituting the base of the underwater food chain increases substantially at a certain concentration level. The report concluded that Corexit poses a threat to shallow water ecosystems like wetlands, estuaries and coral reefs.”

Fighting pollution with pollution can never work

According to the same TruthOut.org article, Conservationist Casi Callaway, director of the Mobile Baykeeper group, said last week: “We’ve had massive fish kills,” said Callaway. “The first fish kill we had was two weeks ago … it was everything, thousands of dead fish.”

It’s reported that; “Callaway said locals have observed BP contract workers filling trash bags with “brown goop” and requesting observers stop taking pictures. She believes the microbes and invertebrates consuming the vast underwater plumes of dispersed oil are depleting the oxygen in the Gulf and choking out other species. She also said it is a “very strong possibility” that dispersants are moving into Mobile Bay ahead of the oil.

Callaway says the dispersants are just a dirty way for the giant corporation to save face. “The chemical dispersant to us is a PR mechanism,” Callaway said. “Get it out of sight, get it out of mind. What we don’t know about the chemical dispersant is every reason not to use it.”

She insists options like siphoning and burning the oil are not perfect, but they are safer than filling the water with chemicals and expanding clouds of sinking oil droplets.”

Methane leaks also could contribute to the situation

There are also reports that the oil explosion has released methane into the water, and that when methane bonds with oxygen it forms carbon dioxide, adding to the greenhouse effect. Reports say that possible acid rain showers in the Gulf are possible.

Stay tuned.

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[Top picture: Air Force Master Sgt. Michael Ludke up-channels information during an evacuation of his building following a simulated attack during an operational readiness inspection May 20, 2010, at the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center in Gulfport, Miss. Ludke is the nuclear, biological and chemical warfare cell chief from the 123rd Airlift Wing. Photo taken by U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Dennis Flora.]

Here’s an opportunity to get fit with your family this summer, and teach your kids hiking and camping skills at the same time.  Shenandoah National Park is hosting two “Hiking with Children” seminars scheduled for two Saturdays this summer, on June 19 and July 17 – from 10:00 a.m. to noon. These programs are designed for parents that want to get outdoors to hike with their children and have a worry-free experience.

- Have you always wanted to hike with your family but were concerned about being safe?

- Do you wonder about keeping your little ones entertained and engaged?

- Are you making the right decisions about what to wear and what to take with you should unexpected situations arise?

Author Jeff Alt presents “Hiking with Children”

Guest speaker and expert hiker Jeff Alt, author of the celebrated A Walk for Sunshine, will share his expertise with you and your family. You will learn firsthand how to share nature with children for a fun and safe outdoor adventure.

Jeff is the father of two young children and regularly takes his family on overnight hiking trips. He has hiked the 2,160 mile length of the Appalachian Trail on his own. During the summer of 2007, with his wife and extended family, Jeff carried his 21-month-old daughter on a 50-mile hike across a swath of Ireland.

At the “Hiking with Children” seminars, Jeff will provide tips on how families with children can experience nature together on the trails in Shenandoah National Park. Both programs include a short hike with Jeff and park rangers on one of the park’s trails.

The “Hiking with Children” program is free but reservations are requested. There is a $15-per-car entrance fee to the park, good for seven days. Saturday, June 19 is Shenandoah Neighbors’ Day and the park will waive entrance fees for those residents living in counties adjoining the park
including: Albemarle, Augusta, Greene, Madison, Page, Rappahannock,
Rockingham, and Warren.

To register for a seminar, go to the Shenandoah National Park website.

“Hiking with Children” is one of the Shenandoah National Park Resource Seminars designed for those who want to get to know their national park a little more personally. Seminars provide a more in-depth experience to learn from scientists, researchers, educators, and other experts about resource issues and recreational opportunities in Shenandoah National Park.

Basics of Family Camping seminar will also be offered

Future seminars include The Basics of Family Camping, July 10 -11, and our science-based air quality seminar, What’s Up with the Air? on Saturday, August 14, 2010.

The complete Resource Seminar schedule can be found on the park’s website.  Members of the Shenandoah National Park Association receive a 20% discount on seminars. The Shenandoah National Park Resource Seminars are co-sponsored by the Shenandoah National Park Association and ARAMARK, the park’s official concessioner.

For more information, contact the park’s Education Office at (540) 999-3500, ext. 3489.

Strasburg, VA – You are much greater than you ever dreamed. You are a soaring spirit – only constrained by a body if you choose to be. That’s what author and spiritual leader Wayne Dyer was illuminating in a November 2005 interview by Ray Hemachandra, Editor-In-Chief of New Age Retailer.

Wayne has this to say about how our spiritual life interacts with our physical body:

“An infant becomes a pre-toddler and then a toddler, and these stages are accompanied by things like crawling, walking, talking, getting larger, and so on. When we become adults, we still are developing.

Carl Jung said there are four archetypes adults go through, and these archetypes are reflected in the development of my work. The first archetype is the archetype of the athlete, reflecting the time in our adult life when our primary emphasis is on our body—what it looks like, how beautiful it is, how strong it is, and so on. We identify ourselves with our body. We are our body.

Growing adults next move to what Jung called the archetype of the warrior. We take our physical bodies out there to do what warriors do. What do warriors do? They are in competition with everyone else. They measure their success and their value on the basis of who they are better than, how much they get, and so on. So, this is the time in your adult life when your primary emphasis is on goal setting, on getting someplace else, and on defeating other people.

If you still are growing, you go through the archetype of the statesman or stateswoman. You stop asking, “What are my quotas?” and stop saying, “What is in it for me?” and, “How much can I get?” You begin to say, “What are your quotas?” and, “How may I serve?” Providing for others becomes much more important in your life than what you can get for yourself.

Finally, if you still are growing, you reach the highest archetype, the archetype of the spirit. This is the time when you finally realize what Jesus meant when he said, “You are in this world, but you are not of this world.” You are not here as a human being having a spiritual experience, but the reverse is true: All of us here are spiritual beings having a human experience.” Read more.

We are indeed “spiritual beings having a human experience.” So, any discussion of the changes happening across all levels and dimensions in 2010 – 2012  must begin with that reality of Spirit, and move from there.

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This article is second in a series on the many changes occurring on Earth during 2010 – 2012, and beyond. We’ll be exploring the spiritual, political and economic changes of our era.

As some of my favorites – Wayne Dyer, Anthony de Mello, Ram Dass, Paulo Coelho, Marianne Williamson, and Pema Chodron – and many other spiritual beings (just like you and me) have observed and experienced: Everything began with Spirit, and everything still begins there.

A few questions to ponder:

- Just how is our spiritual life interacting with our physical body as we experience the world moving faster all the time around us?

- How can we use our Spirit – our connection with Source – to provide guidance and strength as we weather the different types of storms that are surfacing now – in the world, in our minds, and in our heart?

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Do you know who you are? Like really know?

There’s an amazing woman named Kiesha Crowther, also known as “Little Grandmother,”  though as Crowther says with a smile,” I’m the youngest, blondest grandmother you’ll ever meet.”

Crowther looks like your neighbor woman next door. What comes out of her  mouth, what she sees, what she has gathered from Spirit about who she really is, and what we’re facing on Earth right now is at the same time both “out of this world” and “yeah, I sensed that all along.”

Little Grandmother  is the last living ancestor of her tribe’s Native American wisdom keepers. With a true humility, she speaks of what she sees regardless of the consequences because she feels called – like many she says alive  right now – to speak about the spiritual realities that are operating in what we see all around us – in both the chaos, and the beauty that exists amidst the chaos.

You are the strongest of your bloodline, an emissary for your ancestors

Little Grandmother says that each person that is alive right now on Earth elected to be here, and was selected to be here now because we are the strongest of our lineage. Each of our help – individually and in unison – is needed to help “turn the tide” against the destruction of the Earth, and each other – directing  it instead toward peace and working together for good. It is indeed up to us, and up to you.

What will you choose? How will you honor those before and after you by your choices over the coming few decisive years? For what and for whom will you stand up?

So much of what we see everywhere – including in the media and in political jargon and inaction – talks about who and what we are AGAINST.

Let’s instead start real dialogues about who and what we are FOR.

If you like, here’s an excellent (2010) video to watch in which you can witness firsthand what Little Grandmother – one of the wisdom keepers of the Earth – has to say. There are indeed “wisdom keepers” in every culture across the planet beginning to talk.

This video is Part 1 of a 2-part evening with Kiesha Crowther, “Little Grandmother”. It was recorded before a live audience at Santa Fe Soul, to help people make sense of the time between now and 2012.

2010 with Shaman, Kiesha Crowther (1 of 2) from Bob Keeton on Vimeo.

Summary of Insights: What’s Happening Spiritually in 2010

If you don’t have the time or inclination to watch the video, here is the “Cliff Notes” summary of the insights that Crowther is communicating:

From my notes, while watching Crowther’s video, in her words:

- It’s all about spirituality, remembering who you are. You come from somewhere much larger than you think.

- Study Nikola Tesla – who was born precisely at midnight on the night of July 9/morning of July 10, 1856 during a lightning storm. He knew far more than the government has let on. He knew the truth of how to change the weather. Government will not be able to contain this secret too much longer. What Tesla said,  we can do. (Learn more about Tesla here.)

- Also study Sir Issac Newton. His findings about distance, time and space were “overlooked” and “dismissed as nonsense.”  There are remains of various ancient cities across the Earth that are very similar to each other.

Ancient intelligence and technology

They are built using angles – down to one degree of each other. This is no mistake. Intelligence and technologies on Earth over 10,000 years ago helped to build these cities – with a purpose greater than this Earth.

- What is real is now coming to light. There can be no cover ups anymore.

- Around the world, wisdom keepers are saying that 2010 is the year we need to “get it”. The time has come for us to wake up to who we really are.

-  Religion is man made. We are all God. We are all connected. Stop letting others limit you. Stop taking what others say as reality. Create your world.
Dream your dreams. They will come true. Stop waiting. There is not time to wait.

- This wisdom must come forth now. We each are chosen to come. Because we are the strongest of the strong. We can remember and we will remember.

- 2010 will be the most amazing year that has ever been seen by humanity. You will see things happen that you’d never think is possible.

The spiral – the most sacred of all symbols – cuts across cultures and times

- The wisdom keepers are just normal people. In every culture, since prehistoric times on Earth, all wisdom keepers have gravitated toward the same symbol: the spiral, the most sacred of all symbols.

To the Celts, the spiral meant “All Universe – Eternity – Goddess.”  To the Romans, it meant “of the gods; the oneness of the soul.” To the Aborigines, it meant “all things that are glorious.” To the  Islamic, it meant ” those things of God which cannot be said.” In the Orient, it meant “the beginning of all life – where God come from.” In India, it meant “the one, female sexuality.

To Native Americans, it meant: “all energy, all consciousness. Great Spirit, the sacred ones, the journey of everything living.” In Africa, it meant “the womb, the great goddess and mother.”  To the Polynesians, it meant “immortality.” And, to the Mayans, it meant “the circle of life; all life.”

Why the spiral? People in each successive period on Earth have seen it. No one taught them about it. All cultures have seen the spiral  in different locations on Earth, across time. It is everywhere. You cannot miss it.

Spirals have been happening all last year (2009). These spirals are “opening something up.” Not since prehistoric times, has there been this much new energy and new life. (My note: This is truly a paradox, as we also see many living things dying right before us.)

- Science will try and explain what will happen in 2010 and tell the people what to believe. Watch for that. Science though, will be without an answer. Millions will see it. There will be no way to cover up something this large. Already – all over the world – many have seen large blue spiral lights in the sky. Google “blue spiral lights seen” for yourself. In late 2009, there was the greatest sighting so far in Norway.

Oh gracious me! Blue spiral lights in Norway

Residents in northern Norway were left stunned after the light show, which almost looked computer-generated, appeared in the skies above them. Read more.

- The Ancient Ones – your ancestors, our ancestors – are telling us that this is a  spectacular time to be alive. These spiral blue lights are one of the last things to come before the change of us and our Earth.

Light beings will come – from the mind into the heart. Someone has to help us awaken. These light beings love us very much, like parents do. They are coming to Earth to help us remember who we are and to share with us how we can create a world that’s much more fabulous.  We have only been living in a dream now.

- The discoveries made during 2010 will surpass your highest expectations.

- The Great Pyramids, Giza, the Dome of the Rock are all important. So too, in Ethiopia,  there is something much more valuable. In a small white church, a blind man is keeping guard over a box for humanity – the real Arc of the Covenant.

- There will be a “pouring out.”  Life will change more rapidly than ever before, as you begin to remember. The Earth is fat and ripened, ready to give up all of her secrets. Government cover ups will be exposed – the knowledge of higher intelligence. Psychic phenomena will be accepted. We’ll discover new ways of knowing, and healing our bodies.  Filthy waters will be cleaned. Child labor will be exposed and destroyed.

We’ve been living in a fog. We all have capabilities far bigger than we thought, including safe ways to produce enough energy for the entire planet.

There are amazing things happening

Life on Earth will be taken out of
of the hands of power, government, and organized religion, and placed in the hands of people who live from the heart. You are an integral part of this. Rise to the occasion. Your ancestors are counting on you, and assisting you.

*****

“There is a way which seems right unto man; the path thereof leads to death.” ~ Proverbs 16:25

*****

This article has been Part 2 in the series of articles exploring what people have to say about the many changes happening in 2010. The next article – on what’s happening on Earth politically – will follow soon.

To read the breaking 7Bends.com article – published on April 18, 2010 – about the rare “T” eight-planet line up which will happen in less than a week – on June 13, 2010 – and the coming total solar eclipse on July 10, 2010, click here.

The United States of America  – The excessive use of taser guns (also called “stun guns”) by police squads in the the U.S. has not been covered much by the traditional media. Why? And, likewise , why has there been little public debate on the use of these weapons on the U.S. population? And finally, why in some jurisdictions, are taser guns illegal for citizens to own, yet the police can use them on citizens?

Immediately following the national news report a few days ago that an illegal Mexican immigrant was killed by a taser gun (“electronic control device”) at the California border, now today stories are writing the incident off – saying it was “attributed to the immigrant’s drug use.” This particular man  may have be on drugs, who knows, but the deflection from the subject at hand – the use of tasers by law enforcement on anyone – is what is at issue.

The Facts

- The United Nations has declared them an instrument of  “torture.” The United Nations Committee Against Torture (CAT), an agency charged with overseeing the application of the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, arrived at the conclusion on November 23, 2007, that the use of the electric pulse Taser gun constitutes a “form of torture” and “can even provoke death.” The U.N. has thus declared: “TASER electronic stun guns are a form of torture that can kill.

- In Britain, where taser guns (“electric shock weapons”) have been used longer than in the U.S., their use by police there continues to escalate. In some areas, there’s been as much as a 300 percent increase in taser use and abuse by police on U.K. citizens in the last year alone.

A Daily Mail article on August 17, 2009 in the U.K., entitled ” Police Taser gun use up by nearly a third,” reports: ” The Government has put large numbers of Tasers in the hands of police officers without any debate.

Police officers fired Tasers 226 times in the first three months of this year. Police use of Taser stun guns has increased by nearly a third, figures revealed today.

Officers fired the electro-shock weapons 226 times in the first three months of this year – up from 174 in the last three months of 2008. The sharp rise followed the decision to allow forces in England and Wales to give Tasers to officers who do not carry traditional firearms. Critics said the 50,000-volt guns were in danger of becoming ’standard issue’.”

The use of taser guns on citizens  in Canada is also a growing concern.

Likewise, here in the United States … there are hundreds of incidents where citizens are dying and tasers are being used in some cases on the elderly, on children, and on the mentally-ill. Abuse by tasers has also been cited in numerous cases even after a suspect has been tasered and arrested.

Recent use of tasers by Massachusetts police, for example, is on the rise. (Incidentally, it is illegal in Massachusetts for a citizen to own a Taser.)

Boston.com reports: “Police in Massachusetts cities and towns have sharply expanded their use of Tasers to control criminal suspects over the last three years, despite a call for suspension of the stun gun’s use so experts can study its risks.

The police in Massachusetts communities reported using Tasers in 229 incidents between September 2007 and September 2008, a fourfold increase from three years earlier, according to state figures. Police used Tasers on the mentally ill and substance abusers, and in some instances shocked a person multiple times.

The report said some of the deaths appear to be associated with heart problems. It also criticized the use of Tasers on the mentally ill, the elderly, or children, and it pointed out that a shock from a Taser, which causes a sudden loss of muscle control, can lead to injuries if subjects fall on hard surfaces.”

- The National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, although citing their legitimate role, also acknowledges the health risks, especially in cases where they are used too aggressively.

Their web site says that exposure to Tasers “is safe in the vast majority of cases,” particularly with “normal healthy adults.” However, the agency said, its safety assurances “may not be applicable in small children, those with diseased hearts, the elderly, those who are pregnant, and other at-risk individuals.”

I ask you – How does a police officer know a person’s health conditions before they shoot them with a laser? The answer: They don’t.

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What are the Health Effects from taser guns?

Way back in November 2004, Amnesty International released its report calling for a suspension on the use and transfer of taser weapons by the police.

Their report concluded:

“Since June 2001, more than 150 people have died in the U.S.A. after being shocked by a Taser. The number of taser0related deaths has been rising each year in the United States.

There were three deaths reported in 2001, 13 in 2002, 17 in 2003 and 48 in 2004. In 2005, there were 61 Taser-related deaths, and by the mid- February 2006,  there have already been 10 deaths.

We have gathered information from press, autopsy reports and police and paramedic reports and statements from coroners’/medical examiners’ offices.

Of the 152 Taser-related deaths documented by Amnesty International through 2004:

- Most of those who died in custody were unarmed and were not posing a serious threat to police officers, members of the public, or themselves;
- Those who died were generally subjected to repeated or prolonged shocks
- Use of the Taser was often accompanied by the use of restraints and/or chemical incapacitant sprays;
- Many of those who died had underlying health problems, such as heart conditions or mental illness, or were under the influence of drugs; and
- Most of those who died went into cardiac or respiratory arrest at the scene.

Amnesty International considers that the use of the Tasers in many of the cases which resulted in death was excessive, amounting in some cases to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. In many of the cases reviewed by AI, those who came in contact with the police were not armed, or had already been restrained.

For example, Russell Walker, aged 47, died after being tasered by Las Vegas police officers on June 7, 2005. Officers were called to a hotel at 8pm when Walker was reported as creating a disturbance. Officers tasered him when he began to struggle with them, and they then placed him in handcuffs.

Once handcuffed, Russell Walker again began struggling and the Taser was used again. The Taser was used a third and final time when Walker had been placed on a gurney, and he then stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead at hospital at 9 pm.

Although the Las Vegas policy on Tasers stipulates that they may not be used on handcuffed suspects, and may not be used multiple times, a grand jury inquest into the death of Russell Walker found that the actions of the officers were justified. The coroner in the case ruled that Russell Walker died of “heart arrhythmia during restraint procedures,” and commented that the struggle with officers together with the amount of cocaine Walker had ingested was a “recipe for disaster”.

Report Shows Eighty percent of U.S. Citizens Tasered by Police were Unarmed

The head of the U.S. southern regional office of Amnesty International, Jared Feuer, noted that about 80 percent of those on whom a Taser was used by U.S. police were unarmed (in the period between June 2001 and October 2007.)

Feuer asserts: “Tasers interfere with a basic equation, which is that force must always be proportional to the threat,” Feuer said. “They are being used in a situation where a firearm or even a baton would never be justified.”

Similarly, from the medical community, a study published by the American Journal of Cardiology  found that California police departments that introduced Tasers experienced significant increases in the numbers of in-custody sudden deaths and firearm deaths in the first full year following deployment.

Tasers being used post-arrest, too – There are also concerns that the taser guns are being used on U.S. citizens even after they are arrested to control them.

Amnesty International has received numerous reports of Tasers being used in the booking sections of prisons and jails, often on intoxicated or mentally disturbed individuals in order to gain compliance.

Amnesty International considers that Taser use in many of these situations -on individuals who are already in a controlled environment, unarmed and not posing a serious threat to themselves or officers – constitutes an excessive use of force, sometimes amounting to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

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Citizen Use Already Becoming More Restricted in the U.S.

Now, the flip side. This article so far as focused on the increased use and abuse of tasers on U.S. citizens by U.S. police. But, the other side of the equation appears to be just as strong. At the same time as police use is increasing, the number of U.S. citizens allowed to own Tasers is steadily decreasing.

In which states is it legal for citizens to own a Taser?

Taser devices are considered firearms by the U.S. government. Currently, they can be legally carried (concealed or open) without a permit in 43 states. The states which currently prohibit citizens from owing and using a taser gun include: Hawaii, Massachusetts, Michigan, Rhode Isalnd, New York, New Jersey, Wisconsin – and the District of Columbia.

Connecticut and Illinois allow citizen use of taser guns, but with restrictions.

But, the caveat to this list is: “Check your local laws on carrying electronic control devices.” It is true that many individual jurisdictions – usually by county ordinance – have already banned taser gun ownership by citizens, even while the state still allow it.

Increasingly, and again with little public debate, the effort seems to be on banning the use of taser guns by citizens, while formally instituting the use of taser guns by the police.

Examples include the following statutes against citizens owning taser guns  (stun guns) in the Maryland suburbs of D.C., even while the state of Maryland officially does not prohibit it.  Many of the bans are county ordinances:

Anne Arundel County
§ 9-1-603. Electronic weapons – prohibited acts.
(a) Definition. In this section, “electronic weapon” means a “stun gun” or any similar device by whatever name that is designed as a weapon capable of injuring an individual by the discharge of electrical current.
(b) Scope. This section does not apply to a law enforcement officer acting within the scope of the officer’s official duties.
(c) Prohibitions. A person may not sell, give away, lend, rent, or transfer an electronic weapon in the County. A person may not possess or discharge an electronic weapon in the County.

Howard County
Sec. 8.404.  Sale or possession of electronic weapons prohibited.
(a)   Prohibitions.  It shall be unlawful for any person, firm or corporation to sell, give away, lend, rent or transfer to any individual, firm or corporation an electronic weapon within the limits of Howard County. It further shall be unlawful for any person to possess, fire, discharge or activate any electronic weapon within the limits of Howard County.
(b)   Exceptions.  Subsection (a) of this section shall not apply to:
(1)   A public safety officer acting within the scope of the officer’s official duties; or
(2)   The sale, rental, or transfer of an electronic weapon to a department, office, or agency of Howard County.
(C.B. 38, 1985; C.B. 7, 2007, § 1)

Baltimore County
§ 17-2-104.  STUN GUNS.
(a) Definitions.
(1) In this section the following words have the meanings indicated.
(2) (i) “Stun gun” means any portable, electronic shock transmitting device that is designed and intended to incapacitate an individual’s neuromuscular system by the discharge of nonprojectible electric current.
(ii) “Stun gun” does not include bona fide medical equipment.
(3) “Law enforcement personnel” means a full-time member of a police force or other agency of the United States, a state, county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision  who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of laws.
(b) Prohibition.
(1) Except for law enforcement personnel while in the performance of official duties, a person may not use, possess, or discharge a stun gun.
(2) A person may not sell, offer to sell, rent, offer to rent, transfer, or offer to transfer a stun gun to a person unless the person is law enforcement personnel.
(c) Penalty.  A person who violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor and on conviction is subject to a fine not exceeding $1,000 or imprisonment not exceeding 6 months or both.
(1988 Code, § 20-44)  (Bill No. 114-99, § 3, 7-1-2004)

Women, increasingly, are looking at carrying a stun gun as a self defense measure. Many times, however, the tasers sold to consumers have far less fire power than the ones used by law enforcement.

How can I find out about the taser gun laws in my state?

In my research, Proactive Shooters, a business that trains people how to use guns safely, provided the best overall of the current laws in all 50 states.

You can reference the spreadsheet: 7-2007 State Statute Summary – Tasers.

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In Conclusion – Another Case of Overpowering the Populace

In the U.K., home affairs spokesman Tom Brake recently remarked: “‘Tasers should be for a few specially trained officers, not standard issue. The Government has put large numbers of Tasers in the hands of police officers without any debate.

Given the increase in Taser use and the fact they have killed hundreds of people in the United States, we must have a full public debate before we slip any further down the slope to fully armed US-style policing.”

Here, at least in this case, the U.S. is being held up as the nation who arms police against its own citizens. Is that what we want? Is that what we have become?

A group of citizens in Bradenton, Florida, says “no” to that. And so hopefully, will many more citizens. In December 2009, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, a large civil rights organization,  marched to the Bradenton Police Department in response to the September 28, 2009 death of Derrick Humbert, a 38-year-old man, after he was Tasered by an officer.

The U.S. Department of Justice also plans to review materials submitted to decide whether Derrick Humbert’s case, as well as two other cases in Florida, warrants an external investigation.

FIRST IN A SERIES OF ARTICLES ABOUT THE CHANGES YOU FEEL COMING in 2010 -

The Essential Questions

Globally, we ask: How is the consciousness of the world changing? How is the Earth itself changing? What’s going on with our political, economic and “tribe” structures?

These are the questions, it seems, we’re all grappling with in 2010.

And, of course, on top of these larger macro questions are the essential most-personal-of-all questions that each person on the planet wonders at one time or another, or perhaps constantly:

- Why Am I here? - How Am I involved with all of these changes taking place on Earth in the 21st century?

- What’s going on? – How are these changes affecting me, my family, my “tribe”?

- Who Am I? – What kind of power do I have to contribute to a better world?

A Better World: What Is Our Desired Outcome for the Future?

It has been said that what we visualize with our heart and “see” happening, will manifest. So, what do we desire for ourselves, and the Earth?

With disaster of all kinds across the globe, most everyone will agree that what we have ended up with is not what we wish. A planet at war? The Earth literally purging herself? People without food and water, being deluged by environmental threats? The literal raping of our planet’s resources?  The crumbling of economic structures? The unraveling of governments – in which the people “in power” most often don’t  have the best interests of the populace in mind, and increasingly, with their fortunes dwindling, do not have the means to solve the very real challenges we all face?

Let’s start, first, with just what kind of world we want to live in. How do you envision it?  (Silence.)

In my mind, briefly, I see a peaceful world where people get along, learn together, share, have time to enjoy each others’ company and the pursuits they love, and engage in work that benefits life. I see us all  living in a clean environment that supports our development, sharing food, water, and sustenance of all kinds, spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  I see an Earth that is reaching out to other planets and life there, and exploring the limits of what is known. I see a people guided by love. This is just one dream – mine.

What’s yours? (We welcome you to leave comments below this article. Let’s all have a discussion.)

Let it be said, much is coming to light. It has to. It’s been a long time hidden, and it will be revealed. There is so much more than “meets the eye.” And, we will see it.

We feel it coming, we do, like a train rumbling a few miles out, but we’re not sure what it is.  We feel it’s inevitable. We hope it is not devastating, but we fear it really may be, if we don’t respond in some meaningful way. And, hardly anyone really talks about what they are feeling out loud.

Will it be some type of huge event?

A monumental awakening?

An extraordinary event of epic proportions?

Probably. All of these, and more. Get ready. Expect the unexpected. Assume your place.  Observe and keep moving forward, if you don’t yet know your place. Know that you are here for a reason. You are strong.  Join with other kindred souls.

Believe again (or for the first time) in your own power to contribute to the good of the world, and the good of the Universe.

The Gospel of Thomas, one of the “lost” (secret?) Gnostic gospels that did not make it into the official canon reads:

“If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you.”  -  Jesus

See also this web site about  The Gospel of  Thomas.

Perhaps my favorite author, Ralph Waldo Emerson, speaks of the same when he issues this corollary: “”What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

We are each part of creation, and the Earth is suffering. S0, we each have a role in creating her anew. The evolving state of the Earth and our own consciousness are innately linked. It’s up to us to make the tough changes inside ourselves that are necessary for transformation.

Many times, in history, when we get to key “jumping off places,” a new surge of  energy, a new path not seen, new forces at work for good – seem to appear. Not as any type of “rescue” per se, but as an open door (sometimes a side door) to move people forward.

And, indeed, it must be the people ourselves that move things forward. No government – or man-made religion – can and will do that for us. We must move forward – together – boldly.

It doesn’t take everyone at first for the change to begin to occur, only a group of committed people, somewhere between 10 and 20 percent of any given population. See what Gregg Braden has to say about the tipping point.  The goal is to get as many people in the world all focused on creating anew from within – to bring about a whole new experience, a whole new world – free, creative, and more alive than we can dream of. Loving changes inside mean loving actions “outside”.

So, break out of your apathy, if that’s where you are. Know yourself. Fill yourself, and give. “Motion and rest,” was the way that Jesus explained  it in another of the Gnostic Gospels. And the ancients, the wisdom-keepers, all of our ancestors,  knew it, too – what we will all see in 2010 and beyond. The circle of life in plain view.

*****

In Part 2 of this article series, we’ll explore what some divergent intelligent voices have to say about what the next two years – 2010 through 2012 – will hold on Earth – spiritually, politically, and economically. You’ll be surprised and amazed.