Thursday, August 20, 2015

Random Observations 2015.08.20

Interesting, isn't it, how some news stories have what the media calls "legs" - that is, staying power - while others quietly fade away.

For instance, have you heard anything lately regarding the EPA's toxic waste spill into that Colorado River?

Me neither.
On August 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mistakenly discharged more than 3 million gallons of polluted water from an abandoned mine into the Animas River, a tributary of the San Juan River in southwest Colorado.

In the interest of “public safety,” local authorities in La Plata County, Colo., closed the Animas River to all watercrafts.

The restrictions have deeply affected a region that relies heavily on the river for agriculture and tourism.


*crickets* 


On the other hand, we are inundated with press coverage of the NFL's Deflatgate.
Dear NFL, now it's time for you to end Deflategate

According to some reports, it may be too late for the marriage of Patriot quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bundchen.
Tom Brady is reportedly headed for divorce, and the New England Patriots’ recent DeflateGate scandal could be to blame...
... it could be quite a costly one. Despite reportedly signing a carefully drawn prenup, the couple could be looking at a divorce splitting up a total of $460 million.
Maybe it's just me, but I have trouble dredging up much sympathy for a couple fighting over how to split $460 million.

In other news, I stopped at a WalMart in Marble Falls, Texas yesterday. Two items of note:

There is a website dedicated to WalMart patrons. It highlights some of the tasteless and disgusting people that shop there (warning - you will need brain bleach if you visit the website). I found a candidate for that website in Marble Falls. The picture doesn't capture the full effect of a grown man wearing camo shorts, a Hawaiian shirt, and black socks and shoes, but you'll get the idea.


Disturbing as that was, inside I found something even more upsetting. It's mid-August, we're dealing with scorching temperatures and a lack of rain, and WalMart already has Thanksgiving merchandise on its shelves.


That's just not right...

4 comments:

Old NFO said...

MSM is pushing the... Oh wait, covering UP the mess, distract, deny, point fingers at Brady... Yeah, that's it!!!

Well Seasoned Fool said...

The Animas spill may be a local matter but the story has a lot of traction in Colorado and seems a perfect example of government in action and conspiracy fodder. Don't want to take over your blog so here are some links.

Published a week before the spill.

http://www.silvertonstandard.com/news.php?id=847

http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/2015/08/14/thank-you-sir-may-i-have-another-lawmakers-lining-up-to-spank-epa-for-spill/

http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/2015/08/17/meet-the-sludgemeister-epas-regional-chief-was-boulder-mayor-before-he-was-polluter-in-charge/

http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/2015/08/19/exclusive-epa-omitted-their-responsibility-water-pollution-in-national-spill-report/



http://coloradopeakpolitics.com/2015/08/20/environmental-pollution-agency-feds-deliver-oil-laden-potable-water-to-navajos/

Bag Blog said...

Most of my news on the EPA spill into the Animas River came from FB. Since I have lots of friends from Northern NM and Southern CO, there was lots of outrage on FB.

CenTexTim said...

NFo - to put it in dogs terms, "Oh, look ... squirrel!!!"

WSF/BB - no doubt it's a big story locally. Too bad that same outrage doesn't carry over nationally.