Riding Out in that Shiny Car in the Night

I recently saw an article on the Internet that seemed too tabloid-like to be true. Sadly, it may have some shred of credibility.

Essentially, the author, Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com wrote: “…Fukushima reactor No. 4… is on the verge of a catastrophic failure…. The resulting releasing of radiation would turn North America into a ‘dead zone’… from an earthquake in Japan. Such an event could result in the release of 85 times the Cesium-137 released by the Chernobyl catastrophe, say experts.” As you may know, the weather patterns would carry that deadly radiation over to North America on the wind.

“The winds that blow through the wide sky in these mounts, the winds that sweep from Canada to Mexico, from the Pacific to the Atlantic—have always blown on free men.”—Franklin D. Roosevelt

Fortunately, Japan has been relatively quiet lately in the seismic sense. But what if a substantial earthquake occurred before the Japanese had a chance to take care of business at Fukushima reactor No. 4? And what’s taking them so long, anyway? Since Cesium-137 has a half-life of 30 years, that would make North America uninhabitable for, oh, say, about 100 or more years.

That got me to thinking. Let’s say that North America reaped some strange karma by being exposed to radiation poisoning by the people who endured the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki toward the end of World War II. What would be the consequences of the demise of Canada, the United States and Mexico? Well, I can’t speak for Canada or Mexico, but here are a few thoughts about a post-mortem United States of America.

"Despite the goings-on in Congress, I don't believe the USA is bordering on madness. I believe Mexico and Canada are."—Robert Brault

On the bright side, as the highest-volume consumers of natural resources, our extinction would have an immediate, positive impact on the environment. However, we are by no means the most populated country in the world, and China and India—fast-developing countries—would eventually fill our shoes in that respect.

Another high note: Monsanto would be dealt a powerful blow and the possibility exists that the rest of the world might gang up on whatever Monsanto employees were left in satellite countries and end their GMO adulteration of our food supplies for good. Then, at least, we will not have made the ultimate sacrifice in vain.

Countries could form their foreign and monetary policies without worrying about repercussions from a testy United States. That could be good or bad, depending on if you are a woman in Afghanistan (our parting agreement there requires women’s human rights be safeguarded), a Chinese government official responsible for buying U.S. debt (that will now never be repaid), or a rival non-USA corporation that will inherit tremendous market share.

What about the joy of blaming the United States for everything bad in the world? With our country gone, the call for blood-thirsty Death-to-America Jihads and the general distaste for our arrogant corporate and political agendas would be deflated like an old party balloon. The remaining world population would have no one to blame but themselves. Not a pleasant prospect.

“If you want a symbolic gesture, don't burn the flag; wash it.” —Norman Thomas

There’s a lot to resent about the United States, but I think there would also be many things that people would miss. No more overseas shopping jaunts to New York City, Chicago or Los Angeles. No more Disneyland or Disneyworld—the parent company of the overseas versions would be deceased. No more touring our magnificent western geography or placing your hands in the cement in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood. No more blockbuster movies or American television—good or bad, depending upon your tastes. No more home-grown jazz, soul or R&B.

The magnificent Grand Canyon, Arizona, USA.

Since the United States is composed not only of native Americans (the people from whom we stole all the land) but also of people from nearly every nation in the world, there might be cause for some international grieving. People might even become sentimental about us, the way people often do at a funeral, regardless of the deceased's actual character. 

My father’s family arrived here from Hungary. My best friend in high school was born in Italy. My co-workers were born in India, Mexico, Egypt, South America, Europe, Japan and China. Americans may be spoiled children, of sorts, but we’re related to just about everyone out there. So, world, if you lose us, remember, you’re losing a small piece of yourself.

“Whither goest thou, America, in thy shiny car in the night?”—Jack Kerouac

Buddha in the Window

“Words have the power to both destroy and heal. When words are both true and kind, they can change our world.”—Buddha

Front: Buddha I spotted when I was 13.

Right: Wooden Buddha that came with house.

I really can’t explain why, but I have always been attracted to Buddha figurines and Buddhist doctrine. They possess some inexplicable lure. Even when I was only 13 and had no idea what Buddhism was, I was drawn to buy a small incense burner of Buddha, which I still have to this day. The doctrine appeals to me because it is nonjudgmental (we’re all on the path to enlightenment, some people are ahead of us, some behind), teaches personal responsibility (aka karma) and suggests that it is incumbent upon us all to relieve the suffering of others if we can (the doctrine of compassion). I can’t say I’m a devout Buddhist. I’m actually quite a miserable one. But luckily, there is no requirement to be anything in Buddhism. The goal, in fact, is not to be. So that works for me.

Buddha with the laughing eyes.

It seems wherever I go, Buddha shows up and stares at me with puppy eyes. “Please take me home,” he seems to say. Always, when I least expect it. When we moved into our current house, we discovered a wooden Buddha half buried in mud in a shed in the back yard. I washed it off, rubbed it with teak oil and it looked like new. I have no idea how long it had been out there, but the elements did not appear to have damaged it.

“Buddha Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism…, was born as a prince in 624 BC in a place called Lumbini, which was originally in northern India but is now part of Nepal.” —http://www.meditateinlondon.org.uk 

This past Saturday, my husband, Steve, and I were wandering around lower Manhattan. Steve spied a store selling used CDs at very reasonable prices. Next door was an Asian antique and furniture store going “out of business.” Yes, I know. Going out of business is a regular business practice in New York, usually for the benefit of tourists, so one can rarely take it seriously. But everything in the store was “half-off,” so I decided to browse in the shop while my husband stalked CD bargains next door.

The antiques—or perhaps nicely crafted reproductions—were like works of art. There was a large round wooden curio shelf as tall as I am—which admittedly isn’t all that tall. I admired a carved wooden bed that had its own ceiling. I’m sure there is a special name for this type of bed, but I don’t know what it is. 

After about 15 minutes of wishing I could afford one of the exquisite pieces of furniture in the store, I walked out and turned to view their display window for the first time. There, sitting in the window, was a silver metal incense burner about the size of a basketball. The sides were surrounded in reliefs of Buddha figures and one happy Buddha sat on top. It had dog faces for handles and three clawed feet.

“In his early years (Buddha)… lived as a prince in the royal palace but when he was 29 years old he retired to the forest where he followed a life of meditation. After six years he attained enlightenment under the Bodhi Tree in Bodh Gaya, India.” —http://www.meditateinlondon.org.uk 

Just as I stood there ogling the piece, my husband emerged from the CD store, thrilled that he had found the sound track for the 1933 King Kong for only $6.99. I congratulated him and pointed to the Buddha incense burner.

“It’s probably too expensive,” I apologized, “But I’d like to go inside and ask about it anyway.”

Antique or reproduction? I may never know.

“Go ahead,” he replied. So we entered the store and I asked the man working there if we could see the incense burner and if he could tell me how much it was. He cheerfully retrieved it and showed us the price. The piece was remarkably heavy; even Steve was taken by surprise when I handed it to him to examine. It was priced at a bit more than I would normally pay for something, but at half-price was within a range that, if I felt like being self-indulgent, I could afford.

It has always been difficult for me to buy anything expensive for myself. I would gladly spend good money to buy something for a family member. But for some reason, spending big bucks on my own behalf has always made me feel a tad guilty.

My husband does not share that philosophy. He took one look at it and said, “Do you really want it? Would it make you happy to have that Buddha sitting on the shelf at home?”

I gazed at it longingly. “It is lovely,” I said. The man in the store told me it was an antique that had been used in Buddhist temples in China and was about 80 to 90 years old. Of course, there is a 50-50 chance that it is merely a well-crafted reproduction, but my reason for buying it wasn’t because of its possible monetary worth. I thought it was really beautiful—just as having a nice piece of artwork on the wall might give someone pleasure.

“In the Hinayana teachings Buddha explains how to attain liberation from suffering for oneself alone, and in the Mahayana teachings he explains how to attain full enlightenment, or Buddhahood, for the sake of others. Both traditions flourished in Asia, at first in India and then gradually in other surrounding countries, including Tibet. Now they are also beginning to flourish in the West.” —http://www.meditateinlondon.org.uk 

Buddha with laptop (right of center) was a gift from a co-worker.

The last thing I expected to do in New York that day was to purchase an expensive “antique” Buddha incense burner, but sometimes the unexpected is what makes life so much fun. After some encouragement from Steve, I purchased it. The man in the store told me if I rubbed the Buddha’s tummy and made a wish, it might come true.

He now presides over a small cadre of Buddhas that sit on a shelf in my bedroom, where they cheerfully greet me every morning and evening. Not a bad way to begin and end each day.

“Look within, thou art the Buddha.”—Buddha

The Good, the Bad and the Oily

Olive Oil—Godsend or Demon Seed?

What oils are truly healthy? I began to wonder that when someone on Facebook felt that they had debunked rumors that canola oil is unhealthy. Some sources say it is; some say it isn’t. How do you know who to believe?

So I explored a number of different sources to see what makes a healthy oil or fat and what doesn’t. Those sources included the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Oz of television fame, Mike Adams of NaturalNews.com, internationally known nutritionist Dr. Joel Fuhrman, raw-food guru Gabriel Cousens and a miscellaneous author from the U.K. because I'm an anglophile. Below, I present my confusing results.

First, some vocabulary words to know:
Monounsaturated fats=usually associated with good cardio health, but a small number of nutritionists dispute this
Polyunsaturated fats=also called essential fatty acids, these include the omega 3 and omega 6 fatty acids which are good for you only if eaten in the right ratio
Saturated fats=generally seen as a bad fat
Trans fats=processed fats that are bad for you
Hydrogenated oils=a source of trans fats, these processed oils are bad for you

Okay, now you’re ready to explore The Good, the Bad and the Oily:

Our Government—Bastion of All Official Knowledge
Let’s begin with the USDA Dietary Guidelines. You may recall that these guidelines have been revised several times in recent years due to gross inaccuracies attributed to lobbyists in the beef and dairy industries.

According to the USDA, “Oils are fats that are liquid at room temperature, like the vegetable oils used in cooking. Oils come from many different plants and from fish. Oils are NOT a food group, but they provide essential nutrients.”

Interestingly, the USDA points out that coconut oil, palm oil and palm kernel oil—which have been widely lauded for their positive health effects—are high in saturated fats and for nutritional purposes should be considered to be solid fats. The agency defines solid fats as “fats that are solid at room temperature, like butter and shortening.” Solid fats come from animal foods and can be made from vegetable oils through a process called hydrogenation. A USDA list of solid fats includes:

• Butter, milk fat, cream
• Pork (lard), beef (tallow, suet) and chicken fat
• Stick margarine, shortening
• Hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils
• Coconut oil, palm and palm kernal oils

The USDA advises consumers that saturated fats and trans fats tend to raise "bad" (LDL) cholesterol levels in the blood, which increases the risk for heart disease. To lower risk, the agency advises cutting back on foods containing saturated fats and trans fats. The foods to cut down on (with apologies to Paula Deen) include:

• Many desserts and baked goods, such as cakes, cookies, donuts, pastries and croissants
• Many cheeses and foods containing cheese, such as pizza
• Sausages, hot dogs, bacon and ribs
• Ice cream and other dairy desserts
• Fried potatoes (French fries) - if fried in a solid fat or hydrogenated oil
• Regular ground beef and cuts of meat with marbling or visible fat
• Fried chicken and other chicken dishes with the skin

Good-bye, comfort food.

Having started with the USDA, let’s see what other well-regarded health sources have to say. We’ll begin with a pop culture health authority, Dr. Mehment Oz.

Into the Land of Oz
Dr. Oz is a fairly popular television health guru. He says that in order to protect your heart and lose weight, cook with canola oil. He says canola oil is the best oil to use for cooking, bar none.

He also touts rice bran oil as a “miracle” oil for cooking. (Sorry, I missed the episode on why.) He says that things labeled “vegetable oil” are no good to eat. He recommends macadamia nut oil for baking, toasted sesame oil for stir fries and walnut oil (which cannot be heated because it is fragile) for salad dressings or as a substitute for butter.

Going Ivy League
Now let’s go to The Harvard School of Public Health. It posted an article about healthy versus unhealthy oils on its site. Here’s what they had to say. “Olive, canola and other plant-based oils are rich in heart-healthy unsaturated fats.” Eat them. Trans fats and hydrogenated oils are bad; don't eat them.

Eat fatty fish (such as salmon and tuna), walnuts and canola oil because they all provide omega-3 fatty acids, essential fats that our bodies cannot make. Cut back on red meat (beef, pork, lamb), cheese, milk and ice cream. They are high in saturated fat. Instead, choose fish, chicken, nuts or beans.

Saddling Up with the Health Ranger
Then there’s Mike Adams, aka, the Health Ranger, an Internet health columnist with a substantial following who puts out a newsletter on naturalnews.com. Adams says that healthy “good fats” include omega-3 fatty acids, fish oils and monounsaturated fats. He says these fats are found in oily fish, nuts, seeds and avocados. He advises his readers to “give up cheap fats such as the low-cost vegetable oils found in the grocery store, and move to the more expensive fats, such as cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil.” The most important oils to avoid, he cautions, are hydrogenated oils because “hydrogenated oils are the number-one cause of heart disease and a major contributor to neurological disorders in the United States and around the world.”

What is his opinion on canola oil? Adams says “In addition to the plant having an unpredictable genetically modified (GMO) element, the oil is heated to over 300 degrees as part of a process to remove its extremely unpleasant odor. Processing vegetable oils may include degumming, batch acidulation, bleaching, deodorization, chemical extraction methods using solvents and high-temperature expeller pressing.” He adds that canola oil is monounsaturated, making it easy to promote as a similar but cheaper alternative to olive oil. “But real olive oil is not processed and doesn't contain toxic trans-fatty acids or GMOs. Canola is among the lowest of all oils with essential fatty acids, which happens to be the main health aspect of oils.”

Independent tests, he says, found some problems with canola oil. In one, piglets were fed a formula using canola oil. Their vitamin E was reduced to dangerous levels, resulting in sticky blood platelets that impeded blood flow. “Other tests have determined various imbalances with micronutrients,” Adams says. He believes that a healthier choice in oils would be cold pressed hemp, flax or olive oil.

Urban Legends
Someone pointed out to me that the trash talk about canola oil was debunked on http://urbanlegends.about.com/library/blcanola3.htm. So I visited there to see what the site had to say. There were no statements from doctors, dietitians or food scientists. The source they used to back their debunking was a financial and agribusiness writer. But let’s hear what he had to say.

According to the author: “It is true that canola oil is made from the seeds of rapeseed plants… but not all rapeseed plants grown for this purpose have been genetically engineered. In fact, according to D'Arce McMillan's Market Watch (business and financial website) article on the Western Producer Website (a website dedicated to reporting on Canadian agribusiness), currently only about half of them have been genetically altered….” The rest, apparently, were naturally hybridized through traditional methods. Aha! Only 50 percent of canola oil products on the market have been altered genetically! Wait, is that reassuring?

As for the rat study (wait, our study was with piglets, not rats…) the site says “the natural diet of a rat is made up of grains, raw fruits and vegetables and is very low in fatty acids. Introduce a load of heavier fats into a critter's diet and sure all sorts of health problems might develop.” Apparently, follow-up studies found that cooking oils other than canola (specifically, sunflower seed oil) produced the same results in laboratory rats. Okay, but what about the piglet study?

The Nutritarian Approach
What does medical doctor and nutritional guru Dr. Joel Fuhrman have to say? He believes that all diets are made of macronutrients (fat, carbohydrates and proteins) and micronutrients (vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals). He says that popular diets try to balance fat, carbohydrates and proteins, when in fact, we need less of all of those and more micronutrients.

That said, he points out that a diet has to have some fat and the amount of fat varies per person depending on their genetic makeup and current state of health. He believes that the most important source of healthy oils is nuts and seeds, not animals or vegetables. He considers all animal fats, trans fats and refined oils (including canola oil) “dangerous fats.”

Even the sacred cow of olive oil is not good for your heart, according to Dr. Fuhrman, and is just as bad as most other fats that people eat. He says that 15 studies have shown that olive oil is not cardioprotective. “We have to eat less fat, but the fat we eat has to be high-nutrient fat,” he says. Sesame seeds, sunflower seeds, walnuts and flax seeds have a high level of nutrients.

Going Raw
Another viewpoint comes from Gabriel Cousens, a raw-food guru who runs the Tree of Life Rejuvenation Center in Arizona. He believes that a healthy diet is devoid of processed foods, which presumedly would include processed oils—canola, olive, you name it. Instead, he promotes an organic vegan diet consisting of vegetables, fruits, mature seeds, nuts, grains, beans, legumes, sea vegetables and algaes.

Foods should never be heated above 105 degrees so that all of their enzymes, vitamins and minerals are left intact, for use by the body. He does have an article on his website that touts coconut and palm kernel oils as healthy oils according to ancient Ayurvedic medicine. I assume these oils would need to be unprocessed versions to fit in with his dietary visions.

Advice from Across the Pond
When all else fails, consult the British. If for no other reason than: they seem so dignified. The Daily Mail in the U.K. carried an article about oils. Here is what author Mandy Francis had to say:

“Yet another piece of research has confirmed the benefits of omega 3 oils. As well as lowering the risk of heart disease and stroke, increasing concentration and helping those suffering from inflammatory conditions, such as rheumatoid arthritis, they may also help prevent Alzheimer's, according to a new American study.” Wait, why isn't she citing a British study? Ah well.

She adds that not all omegas appear to be quite as healthy to eat when it comes to dementia. Researchers found that “overdosing” on oils rich in omega 6, such as sunflower oil, could have the reverse effect, possibly doubling the risk of developing dementia.

Apparently, most people tend to eat too high a proportion of omega 6 polyunsaturates (found in many vegetable oils, chicken and processed foods) and not enough omega 3 polyunsaturates (found in oily fish, some nuts, seeds and a select few vegetable oils). The general advice is that fats and oils should make up no more than about 33 per cent of our daily calorie intake. That comes to roughly seven tablespoons for a man, five for a woman.

Here’s how the author reviewed the pros and cons of commonly used oils.

So what have we learned here today? Here’s what most sources agree upon:

Negative stuff

• Don’t eat anything labeled “vegetable oil”
• Don’t eat hydrogenated oils or trans fats
• Processed foods contain too much fat, so avoid them
• Avoid overloading on Omega 6 oils; we don’t eat enough Omega 3 oils and we should
• Avoid too much fat or oil, in general—even the good stuff

Positive stuff

• Seeds, nuts and avocados are good for you
• Raw or lightly cooked fruits and vegetables are good for you

Confusing stuff

• Olive oil is good for you according to the USDA, the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Oz, the Health Ranger and the writer from the U.K.; it’s bad for you according to Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Gabriel Cousens
• Canola oil is safe according to the USDA, the Harvard School of Public Health, Dr. Oz and the writer from the U.K.; it’s dangerous according to the Health Ranger, Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Gabriel Cousens
• Urban Legends says it disproved negative rat studies about canola oil, but what about the negative piglet studies? Pigs are closer in metabolism to humans than rats, aren’t they?
• Why does Dr. Oz call rice bran oil a “miracle oil”?
• Why can’t everyone agree on what’s good to eat?

Final Distracted Thoughts
Well, there you have it. Eat seeds, nuts and avocados, but not too many. Use olive and canola oils at your own risk. Avoid any fat that becomes solid at room temperature. Other than that, I got nothin'. Bon appétit.

Tenacious G Goes Six String

 “And the night shall be filled with music,

  And the cares that infest the day

  Shall fold their tents like the Arabs

  And as silently steal away.”

—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done

One early memory I have of my mother is of sitting on the living room floor, listening to her tune her acoustic guitar. It seems that everyone of her generation learned a musical instrument, if for no other reason than to be social. During her high school years, she played in a band. Nothing Heavy Metal, mind you. (Rock and roll was still to be born.) It was the early 1940s. They belted out hits like, “You Are My Sunshine” and “Sweet Adeline.”

Several years ago, Mom’s lovely old guitar broke and couldn’t be fixed—and the music stopped. So I was surprised recently when I showed up to spend our usual Sunday afternoon together and she had a guitar case sitting on her bed. Apparently, one of her fellow residents at the assisted living facility can no longer play it, so it is on permanent loan to Mom.

Mom asked if I could take her to the local music store to get some picks and a shoulder strap. We  hopped in the car and I parked near the door. My 85-year-old mother determinedly tread into the music store past all the aspiring young musicians, guitar case in hand, offering a study in contrasts. She was intently focused on what she wanted, waiting patiently while a mother chatted with the clerk about music lessons for her squirmy son. Mom’s foot was slowly tapping in anticipation. This was serious business.

"I can't listen to Wagner that much. I start getting the urge to conquer Poland."

—Woody Allen

The clerk finally turned to Mom and asked what she wanted. “Picks and a guitar strap,” she replied tersely. He tried to sell her on a nice cushioned shoulder strap for $20, but she would have none of it.

“It’s not my guitar,” she interjected into his sales spiel, “So I’m not spending anything on it.” She settled for the $5 nylon strap. Nothing fancy, but it would get the job done. He told her the guitar strings were worn and should be replaced. She replied that they worked just fine. He suggested that she might want to consider a digital tuner. She responded with a thoroughly disgusted expression on her face, leaving a moment of awkward silence as he rang up her purchase. Not much of a sale that day. Just four 25-cent guitar picks and the strap.

Tenacious G, poised to play.

Mom looked satisfied as we left the store. She hadn’t played in years and was looking forward to having a guitar in her hands again.

"Music is an outburst of the soul."

—Frederick Delius

A week later, I stopped by for our regular Sunday outing and asked if she would play something for me. She was a bit sad. She told me she could play all the chords, but was no longer able to put the individual chords together into a song as she used to do without thinking. Apparently, the brain hemorrhage she had back in 2004 had damaged the part of the brain that knits chords into songs. I suggested that if she could play the chords, perhaps we could get a song book that lists the chords for each song, then she could play them that way. That idea perked her up a bit.

The music store was closed that day, but the song books are on my list of things to do. It should be interesting to see if Mom can coax some music out of her new guitar!

The Arc of Justice

My grandmother, Irene Reiner.

I am going to say something that may sound a bit outlandish: My interest in social justice began more than a century ago.

It was 1906. Teddy Roosevelt was president, an earthquake leveled San Francisco and a young girl of 14 named Irene Reiner left a dirt-floor shack in Kolozsvar, Hungary to live in the tenements of Manhattan.

Irene was my grandmother. At some point in her childhood, the inequity of the world must have touched off a spark inside, because she spent most of her life involved in social activism. She marched for the right of women to vote, and as a blue-collar factory worker, she staunchly backed unions. As a child, my father, Alfred, sat on her lap at public lectures on social issues, presented by some of the most preeminent intellectuals of the day.

Reared on social justice, Alfred followed in her footsteps. In the 1930s, following the passage of the Wagner Act, which protected the rights of workers to form unions, my father was among the first crop of activists to start a union at his workplace.

My dad, Alfred Friedman, enjoying the view at a park in Virginia.

So not surprisingly, my earliest memories are of sitting on the floor of our living room, surrounded by groups of adults passionately discussing social and political issues. My father supported the Civil Rights movement, equal treatment of women and—despite being a World War II veteran—was opposed to the Vietnam Conflict.

“I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people who are convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference after another.”—Ellen Goodman, columnist, 1941-

You might say that the ancestral chi of my grandmother and father inculcated in me a strong sense of social justice. They taught me about life by being who they were. This is particularly important in a world that seems increasingly motivated by profit over people. Washington DC runs by a system that sells legislation to the highest bidder. The highest bidder can be a corporation because the Supreme Court recently determined that corporations are people and can donate an unlimited amount of money anonymously to the candidates of their choice.

No matter. My mother told me when I was young that social and political movements tend to swing like pendulums between conservative and liberal, rich and poor. There is always a back and forth between the welfare of the masses versus the welfare of the privileged few. This is nothing new. Look at the Magna Carta from the 13th Century. (The Magna Carta was the first document forced onto an English king by a group of his subjects, the feudal barons, in an attempt to limit his powers by law and protect their privileges.)

More recently, our grandparents and great-grandparents fought for unions to ensure fair wages, for social safety nets (such as unemployment insurance and social security for the elderly and sick) and for the environment (Scotsman John Muir, in the late 1800s and early 1900s, fought to ensure that Yosemite National Park and its environs were protected from sheep farming and other forms of development).

“Here is the test to find whether your mission on earth is finished. If you're alive, it isn't.”—Richard Bach

Occupy Wall Street in NYC: reclaiming our country.

I recently read that the Koch brothers—two maniacal billionaires a la the tradition of James Bond villains—have sent funding to more than 150 colleges across the country with the stipulation that they can hire and fire professors and determine curriculum content. So the power elite are now not only controlling the majority of our news media, but also are beginning to indoctrinate college students to their value systems.  

How do we counter that? By taking our power back, and that begins with our government. The most formidable problem facing us today is the unlimited, money-based system in Washington, DC that is undermining our middle class. But that can be changed. Remember, there are more of us—the US populace—than there are of them—rich corporate and private concerns bent on controlling this country. We can get our country back by insisting on election-funding reform. This isn’t about the democrats or republicans. They are both servants to the money-hungry election-funding system that exists today. The polarized debates we see on television between parties is nothing more than a distraction from the real issue of election-funding reform.

The rich and powerful would like to dilute our efforts to change the current system by throwing out red herrings to distract us. If they can splinter the US populace into smaller groups and pit us against each other, they can quietly take all our jobs and liberties away. These bogus national issues of hatred include:

• Immigration issues
• Gay marriage issues
• Collective bargaining issues
• Religious issues
• Political party issues

We have always been a diverse country and that has been our strength. Those in power would like to turn that strength against us. Write to your Congressperson to demand a change in our election-funding rules. Until that happens, nothing will change. Remember, any injustice can be overcome given enough time and effort.

Perhaps the most profound statement regarding this came from the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. when he said, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends towards justice. It bends towards justice, but here is the thing: it does not bend on its own. It bends because each of us in our own way puts our hand on that arc and we bend it in the direction of justice...."

Song to My Father

Hi:

My father's birthday is coming up in March. He would have been 94 years old. I wrote a song (lyrics below) and uploaded it on YouTube. Geoff Martyn of Scotland wrote the music and sings the vocal.

Corporal Al Friedman, 11th Airborne Division

Happy Birthday, Dad!

My father was a veteran, a World War paratrooper
In the Pacific Theater, he fought like Gary Cooper.

When he returned he married, my mother looked like Grable.
They settled in the suburbs and lived the post-war fable.

First Tom was born in fifty, then me, the baby, Sally.
Our house was always crowded with activists and rallies

My Dad, he always taught us, to care for people weaker.
The disenfranchised, homeless, would always need a speaker.

He marched for rights of others, protested war and violence.
He told us he respected opposition more than silence.

My father worked a day job; he also worked a night shift,
Yet he was always present, his presence was his best gift.

He sent me off to college in search of something finer,
I learned to be a writer; I am a data miner.

I married just like Dad did, he cradled my two daughters.
We taught them social justice, baptized them in those waters.

No man can live forever; smoke takes its final fee;
His ghost is stale tobacco curling up inside of me.

For decades Dad’s been gone now, and life has lost its daring.
It seems when he departed the world became less caring.

We carry on his causes, the poor still need defending.
Their ranks are growing daily. No use in us pretending.

My father was a veteran, a World War paratrooper
From New Guinea to New Jersey, he fought like Gary Cooper.

Alfred William Friedman, March 30, 1918-May, 29, 1995

What the Frack?

"No one has the right to use America's rivers and America's Waterways that belong to all the people as a sewer. The banks of a river may belong to one man or one industry or one State, but the waters which flow between the banks should belong to all the people."—President Lyndon B. Johnson, signing the 1965 Clean Water Act

There's been a lot in the news lately about something called “fracking.” The natural gas industry and their customers benefit from it. But environmentalists and people who drink well water are fighting it. To understand why people love or hate it, let’s take a moment to explain just what it is.

Fracking is a slang term for hydro-fracturing, a process where water, sand and chemicals are injected into the earth at high pressure to fracture rock formations deep underground. This allows access to natural gas deposits that are playing hard to get.

Traditional drilling methods, used for over a century, brought gas to the surface simply by drilling vertically, with minimal environmental impact. (See "A," below.) However, most gas no longer resides in easily accessible reservoirs. Instead, it lies trapped within small fissures of rock. (See "B.") To extract the gas, vast amounts of water (with various chemicals added) are injected deep underground at extremely high pressure, thereby fracturing the rock (hence the term "fracking") and allowing the gas to escape. Sand injected along with the water helps to prop open the newly-created fissures (see "C.") and the gas can then rise to the surface through the fracking fluid.

Illustrations are from from "Hancock and the Marcellus Shale: Gas Extraction Along the Upper Delaware" by The Earth Institute Columbia University Urban Design Lab.

"One effect of benefit-cost analysis is to give any respectable engineer or economist a means for justifying almost any kind of project the national government wants to justify… Exclusive reliance on benefit-cost analysis has been one of the greatest threats to wise decisions in water development."—Gilbert F. White, unpublished paper, Columbia University, March 21, 1971

What are the advantages of fracking?

• An AARP Public Policy Institute analysis of heating costs for seniors found natural gas customers will average $542 to heat their homes this winter, fuel oil customers will average $2,675 and electric heat customers will average around $468, according to an article in the December 18, 2011 Star Ledger. (While oil prices rose in recent years, electric prices are tied to gas because of gas-fired power plants.) The increased supply—and therefore lower cost—of natural gas has come from fracking shale deposits in nearby states such as Pennsylvania
• The federal government projects that by 2035, 47 percent of gas produced in the U.S. will come from shale sources. That increased production is especially beneficial to New Jersey residents: 76 percent of New Jersey homes heat with gas, compared with 12 percent using fuel oil and kerosene and 11 percent that use electricity, according to Census Bureau data. (I, unfortunately, belong to the oil-poor group)

"Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans."—Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997) 

What are the disadvantages of fracking?

As opposed to traditional drilling, fracking requires:

• Vast amounts of water
• Various chemical lubricants, many of which are toxic. (Chemicals used in fracking are considered proprietary, and are therefore secret, ie, you're being poisoned on a need-to-know basis)

So why is the above important?

• The water used in fracking poses a major disposal problem. It ends up in reservoirs that can leak into groundwater
• There have been over a thousand instances of groundwater contamination in areas near fracking sites. Read all about it!
• Fracking has never been subject to an independent assessment of its environmental impact. (Although a study by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] is currently being conducted in Washington, amid the objections from the oil and gas industries)
• Fracking isn't subject to federal regulation. (This was accomplished via an EPA exemption pushed through Congress by then Vice-President Dick Cheney in 2005)
• The full long-term environmental impact of fracking is unknown. (What better reason to go full-speed ahead!)

“We believe the natural gas industry should be subject to the same regulations as any other industry in the US. The natural gas in the ground isn't going anywhere. It's been there for millions of years and will remain there until disturbed. Groundwater, on the other hand, can take generations to recover once it's been contaminated. Once the damage is done, it cannot be undone. The safety of our groundwater supply is at risk.”—Frackaction.com

What is the stance of our altruistic Congress?

• In a hearing on Capitol Hill last May, Republican members of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee struggled to make the case against an investigation by the EPA into fracking. The agency is already midway into its multi-year study
• Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) recently protested that the agency should not even be conducting the study. During the hearing, he seemed to suggest that the EPA study wasn’t needed because not enough people have died to warrant an investigation, according to earthjustice.org. So does that mean the Congressman from California is admitting that some people have died as a result of fracking’s impact on the environment—but not enough of them?
• Rep. Brad Miller (D-NC) forced the Republicans’ star witness Michael J. Economides to admit that the oil and gas industry pays him about $1 million a year to testify on their behalf. So do you think he’d show up if the job were pro bono?
• A week before the May hearing, Duke University researchers unveiled a peer-reviewed study for publication in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that finds high methane levels in groundwater near where fracking has occurred. France’s conservative-controlled lower house of parliament took the first legislative step toward approving a nationwide ban on fracking. (So those pesky academics—and the French—are spoiling the fracking party due to some bothersome things called facts)

"You don't miss your drinking water until your well runs dry."—old country proverb

Is fracking being done in New Jersey?

Fracking has not yet been approved in New Jersey. It is currently being considered in Trenton, pending additional hearings. Environmentalists fighting the introduction of fracking into our small state have pointed to findings earlier this month by the EPA that fracking could cause groundwater pollution. The Delaware River Basin Commission is also looking into setting rules for fracking to safeguard the Delaware watershed.

State ratepayer advocate Stefanie Brand, describes cheap natural gas as a wonderful thing for ratepayers—but she wants savings to come with safety. "We have to see better (environmental) practices," Brand said in the Star Ledger, "Because we’re not solving any problem if the end result is contaminating our water supply."

Everything in life comes at a price. Are you willing to decrease the cost of your heating bills at the risk of contaminating your drinking water? If you go onto YouTube, you can see videos of people in other states lighting the water coming out of their faucets with a match. Not a pretty sight. This is a small state with a limited aquifer for drinking water. The question is: Are you feeling lucky?