Open Thread – Wishbone Hill
Attention South Central Alaskans!
Not a big fan of the idea of the Matanuska Valley being covered in coal dust? Then listen up.
This Tuesday, November 15, from 6:00pm – 9:00pm is the last chance to voice your concerns about the proposed Wishbone Hill Strip Mine! Please join us to send a strong message to the Alaska Department of Natural Resources. Testimony will be heard at the Sutton Elementary School at 11672 North Wright Way in Sutton.
Don’t feel like driving from Anchorage to Sutton? No problem! Join the Alaska Center for the Environment carpool. They will be meeting at 3:30pm at the Sierra Club (750 W. 2nd ave) and leaving from there.
For more great information on the Wishbone Hill coal mine, check out Castle Mountain Coalition HERE.
From their Facebook Event comments:
Apparently 130 families live a mere ONE MILE from the proposed Wishbone Hill mine in the Moose Creek area in Sutton. Most moved there for the PEACE AND BEAUTY of the moose range, something which could soon be completely taken away. It seems the proposed mine would also be directly upwind of 80,000 people.
The Chickaloon tribe reclamation efforts would probably be reversed if this proposed mine goes through since the coal mine company “plans to strip mine in the hillsides directly upstream of the newly restored salmon stream, and blast coal out of Wishbone Hill. Wishbone Hill may only be the start of turning the Matanuska Valley into the Appalachia of the North. We need your support to tell DNR to deny Usibelli’s permit renewal!” (ACAT, Fall 2011 newsletter)
[h/t Rita Campbell]
Just cuz life has been tough lately
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmSv5vk9LXE&NR=1
A disturbing turn of events we aren’t seeing much of. Click a lot and bring it up the page at HP. The videos of police beating teachers and students looks like something from Arab Spring, only the chants are in English.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jesse-kornbluth/the-police-riot-at-berkel_b_1091208.html
i found this little video of Gabby Gifford. i hope you like it. i am so glad she survived.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/during-interview-gabrielle-giffords-cant-help-but-fix-diane-sawyers-wayward-hair/
Next wishbone wish I make is for renewable energy.
Yesterday, I switched my electricity provider from a combo wind/hydro company to 100% local wind power. I’ll get confirmation with my next electricity bill, and I’m delighted. It’s a tiny bit more expensive, but the price I pay will go into purchasing more turbines for New York state.
Want to ruin your morning? It seems House Republicans would rather attack women’s rights than do anything to create jobs or improve the economy:
http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/11/mississippi-personhood-zygote-federal-law
“It’s not even abortion, it’s not even pregnancy—that’s how far back this reaches,” says Donna Crane, the policy director for NARAL Pro-Choice America. “It’s possibly the most extreme position you can take on this issue and far to the right of where most right-to-life individuals are.”
Like the Mississippi amendment, none of the personhood bills being considered in Congress contain any exemptions for victims of rape or incest.
How about ectopic pregnancies? Does the woman have to die to protect the personhood of the embryo, even though the embryo cannot survive on its own? Is the embryo charged with murder for willfully implanting itself in a fallopian tube, or is it voluntary manslaughter? It certainly wasn’t involuntary, because the woman had no control over the zygote, so the zygote/embryo must have made that decision itself. Good grief, in order to exact punishment, will they have a special law to allow these embryos to be immediately executed so they don’t die before we have a chance to punish them? If I were an embryo, I’d insist on hanging and let the authorities figure out where my neck is.
I don’t think they’re serious. They’re just trying to keep their base on their side and not thinking about the fact that they’re not dealing with jobs because they know if the economy improves, they’re toast in the 2012 elections.
What awful people we have in congress. Unfortunately, it isn’t always limited to Republicans.
Unfortunately, I think they are serious. But thank goodness the people in Mississippi aren’t as easily fooled by these nuts and voted it down. But I think the scary part is that they will keep trying until it does get passed somewhere. I’m just glad that I’m past that age and there is less they can control about what I do with my body.
Let’s hope many loud and clear voices can drown out greed…
Go team, go!
Good Luck!