What will They have us believe next??
Bridget
Putting Away Childish Things
By Hsing Lee
lee8798@s…
12-24-4
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I
thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish
things." – First letter from Paul of Tarsus to the School of
Corinth, Chapter 13, verse 11
A short meditation for the males in the audience: imagine that one
day you wake up with a belly ache. A BAD one. So bad you have to go
to the doctor. You get X-Rayed. They find a fetus growing inside
your testicle sack, with no way to get out. And the fetus is pushing
on your nads really, really hard.
Would you consider this to be a positive development in your life?
Would you consider this event to be "good for you"?
http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/12/21/potomac.fish.ap/index.html
"SHARPSBURG, Maryland (AP) — Male fish that are growing eggs have
been found in the Potomac River near Sharpsburg, a sign that a
little-understood type of pollution is spreading downstream from
West Virginia, a federal scientist says.
The so-called intersex abnormality may be caused by pollutants from
sewage plants, feedlots and factories that can interfere with
animals’ hormone systems, The Washington Post reported Sunday.
Nine male smallmouth bass taken from the Potomac near Sharpsburg,
about 60 miles upstream from Washington, were found to have
developed eggs inside their sex organs, said Vicki S. Blazer, a
scientist overseeing the research for the U.S. Geological Survey"
Granted, the above doesn’t make the claim that this development is
good for the fish in the Potomac. But a Bush administration EPA
report released in Summer 2002 DOES insist that toxic sludge dumped
into the Potomac by the Army Corps of Engineers was "good for fish".
http://www.safe2use.com/ca-ipm/02-06-19e.htm
"EPA SAYS TOXIC SLUDGE IS GOOD FOR FISH
by Audrey Hudson of THE WASHINGTON TIMES.
The Army Corps of Engineers’ dumping of toxic sludge into the
Potomac River protects fish by forcing them to flee the polluted
area and escape fishermen, according to an internal Environmental
Protection Agency document"
"The document instructs officials to focus less on the concerns of
fishermen who say the sludge dumping is killing fish and more on the
ability of the fish to complete their spawn without interference
from the discharges.
The Corps dumps 200,000 tons of "toxic sludge" into the river every
year in violation of the Clean Water Act and Endangered Species Act,
according to the House committee.
William Colley, a retired environmental engineer who worked for the
EPA for 29 years, said he was removed from leading the new permit
process in 1999 after advocating eliminating the discharges"
One major point to take note of here: Colley was replaced in 1999.
That means BOTH Dems and GOP are guilty here. Once again, THE PEOPLE
(and the smallmouth bass) get FOCCED by the Finance, Oil, Chemical,
Credit, Energy and Defense lobbies.
Another point to note: CNN manages to go through their whole report
without once mentioning that the Potomac River is the same Potomac
River where the ACoE has been dumping their toxic sludge, and
without mentioning that ACoE and the EPA have declared this dumping
of toxic sludge to be ‘good for fish’.
Some will argue that there’s no evidence the toxic sludge is
responsible for these hermaphrodite fish. Some will argue that the
sludge was being dumped somewhere else, perhaps downriver from the
fish (this MAY be the case, I really don’t know). Some will argue
that even if the fish ARE mutating, this mutation is good for them
because it will make their survival more certain.
My response to those arguments is that none of them are the
slightest bit relevant.
The adult looks at such claims by the EPA and ACoE and knows that
their statements are rationalizations and not statements of fact. We
KNOW that such an argument is childish – this sludge is
labeled "toxic" for a reason. But still the people go to the polls,
over and over, and vote for the same two party dictatorship.
A good definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over
again, and expecting a different result. And this is precisely the
insanity that the American people have been engaged in for a
century. It’s time to put away childish things.
Putting away childish things starts with recognizing the difference
between childish behavior and rational, moral behavior. It starts
with stripping away our fairy tales, and replacing them with a
realistic, factual point of view. We begin this process by educating
ourselves and forming our own opinions instead of parroting
something we heard on TV News or on the 700 Club.
The process of putting away childish things requires that we judge
our leaders not by what they say, but by what they do. They will
ALWAYS say the right things, the things their constituency wants to
hear. That’s why they’re politicians. Which is why we must measure
results, not promises. By their fruits, we shall know them.