Important StuffPolitics

Offshore oil drilling

Some polls indicate more americans favor lifting Federal restrictions on offshore oil drilling.* A site I visit frequently explains why you shouldn’t drink the Kool-aid: you’re being fed a load of crap. Climate Progress: The oil companies already have access to some 34 billion barrels of offshore oil they haven’t even developed yet, but ending the federal moratorium on offshore drilling…
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Important Stuff

Light it up

From Treehugger: When Lighting Your Water on Fire Isn’t a Magic Trick Jessica Ernst lives in the village of Rosebud, Alberta, East of Calgary. EnCana, a big oil & gas company, is operating close to her house. The photo above speaks for itself. So the big question: is the water from her well just naturally flammable (I suspect it’s not), or has the process of drilling/extracting gas nearby…
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Current Events

Banking crisis?

I was listening to NPR on the ride home, and I heard a story about bank failures, in light of the IndyMac collapse. I think it was someone from the FDIC being interviewed – but whoever it was, they pointed out the actual/projected bank failures of the current crisis weren’t on a track that would even approach the S&L crisis of the 1980s. Two problems came to mind. 1. It seems like our…
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Politics

Cheap shot?

It’s possible this entry is a little over the top. If it makes you feel any better, it’s a lot calmer than the first half dozen or so drafts. This is too easy. It might have nothing to do with his qualifications to be President, or everything. Tell me dear reader: is it possible being a maverick in all things can be a liability? “I don’t need a f—ing computer to tell me what’s what. My…
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Kitchen Sink

Schooled

I learned something interesting this weekend on our trip to Orlando. Even if you’re a surgeon, with thirteen years of medical training (give or take a year), some hospitals still insist you to take a CPR class as part of new-hire orientation. I think they’re really on to something here. I wonder where our stress level would be if more of our employers required a class in reading comprehension…
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The Sunshine State

We like Florida, really

I went a little shutter crazy this spring, snapping lots of shots of wonderfully sweet citrus blossoms and gardenias. It’s hard for me to like much about Florida in July (or August, September…), but looking through these pictures the other day reminded me there’s more to Florida than heat and humidity. I hear gardenias are supposed to be hard to grow, but they’ve been thriving in my…
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Wellbeing

Easily pleased

To gain the proper perspective, imagine I wrote this post two months ago (on a Thursday). I assure you it’s purely hypothetical. I was a victim of my own folly. Don’t you hate it when that happens? Don’t tell me it doesn’t. I’ll turn this post around right now and take us back home! Anyway, back to me. There are a few medications I take to prevent illness. When I don’t take them I feel…
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Soapbox

Already heard the ads

Newsvine / AP: Health care is returning as a campaign issue, with special interest and advocacy groups preparing to spend at least $60 million to push politicians to embrace universal access to medical coverage. I’d like to believe this will be an issue this fall, but I have to think it’s a distant third on most people’s list behind the economy and war. If I could choose, I’d rather have…
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