Ask your candidate about America’s water safety.  Ask your candidate about the groundwater pollution caused by Fracking for oil and gas.  You will hear a script that Fracking creates jobs and will provide clean energy for Americans for a hundred years.  Ask your candidate if Americans can live for a hundred years with toxic water.  What’s in Your Water The 35-year-old federal law regulating tap water is so out of date that the water Americans drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks

— and still be legal. Examine whether contaminants in your water supply met two standards: the legal limits established by the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the typically stricter health guidelines.

The NY Times series “Toxic Waters” tries to inform the public about how drinking water resources are being squandered.  It appears the facts are being ignored to the peril of everyone.  I am re-posting “Water water, dirty water, fuel for war” from March 15, 2009.  I am adding new facts to emphasize the critical situation we are currently facing.  We, the people of this country and the world, have a genuine WATER CRISIS. World Water Council, Blue Planet, Water.CC, California Water Crisis, World Health Organization, and  WIKI. 

Principal manifestations of the water crisis.

• Inadequate access to safe drinking water for about 884 million people^[11]
• Inadequate access to water for sanitation and waste disposal for 2.5 billion people^[12]
• Groundwater overdrafting (excessive use) leading to diminished agricultural yields^[13]
• Overuse and pollution of water resources harming biodiversity
• Regional conflicts over scarce water resources sometimes resulting in warfare

First of all there is The 6^th edition, Marseille 2012 in March of this year.  This forum is critical. Is America attending?  Addressing the deteriorating water quality crisis  is not heard on the lips of America’s politicians during this vicious Presidential campaign. What strikes me most is that water solutions are being addressed at more local and regional levels around the world.  It appears that the politics of individual countries are not designed to cooperate with one another. 

Data was collected by an advocacy organization, the Environmental Working Group, who shared it with The Times.

For example, America has enough environmentally conscious groups and agencies to populate their own country.  But their voices do not reach the Presidential candidates.  2012 US GOP Presidential Candidates prefer to divide their country using religion and the idea of exclusion.  Class has nothing to do with all this … however, those who cannot afford sophisticated water purification systems will be the victims.  Oil and religion, again, is the focus for candidates.  Americans and other occupants of this planet are being snubbed for money! 

You cannot drink money.  The human body is over 60% water.  Water in our bodies is different from ordinary water. “Water in our bodies has different physical properties from ordinary bulk water, because of the presence of proteins and other biomolecules. Proteins change the properties of water to perform particular tasks in different parts of our cells,” said Martin Gruebele, a William H. and Janet Lycan Professor of Chemistry at the University of Illinois.”  When that water becomes toxic, we die!

Observations from my 2009 article have not improved, they have actually gotten worse:

Global forum seeks to avert water crisis Nearly half of the world’s people will be living in areas of acute water shortage by 2030, the United Nations warned, and an estimated 1 billion people remain without access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

The world’s population of 6.6 billion is forecast to rise by 2.5 billion by 2050. Most of the growth will be in developing countries, much of it in regions where water is already scarce.

As populations and living standards rise, a global water crisis looms unless countries take urgent action, the international body said.

“Water is not enough of a political issue,” said Daniel Zimmer, associate general of the World Water Council, one of the organizations behind the World Water Forum.

“One of the targets is to make politicians understand that water should be higher up on their domestic agenda and care that it is a necessity for the welfare, stability and health of their populations.”

Because of the lack of political attention, hundreds of millions of people remain trapped in poverty and ill health and exposed to the risk of water-related disasters, the U.N. warns.  U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said water scarcity is a “potent fuel for wars and conflict.”

Call for local councillors to take part in the 6th World Water Forum 31 January 2012

The goal of the 6^th World Water Forum is to tackle the challenges our world is facing and to bring water high on all political agendas. There will be no sustainable development while the water issues remain unsolved. Everywhere on the planet, for all and everyone, the Right to Water (recognised by 189 states at the UN one year ago) must be guaranteed and implemented

The Fifth World Water Forum in the Turkish city of Istanbul, encountered a charged agenda.  Access to clean water and sanitation, river pollution, madcap extraction of aquifers, jockeying for water rights and the impact of climate change have turned the stuff of life into a fiercely contentious issue.

In 348 pages, their document, warned of a triple whammy in which supplies of freshwater were being viciously squeezed by demographic pressure, waste and drought.  It spoke of a “global water crisis” with plenty of potential for instability and conflict.  Loic Fauchon, head of the World Water Council,, said the facts amounted to a glaring message that times have changed.

Less visible, but also massively destructive, is over-irrigation, in which water is used to grow thirsty crops in scorching climates and soils that are naturally parched.

Then there is the damming of rivers for hydro-electric projects, which affects flows downstream, and the frenzied extraction of “fossil water” — underground aquifers that took hundreds of thousands of years to build up.

Amplifying the problem is climate change, affecting patterns of rainfall and snowfall.  Water scarcity has the potential to stoke unrest, frictions within countries and conflicts between states, according to the UN document, the Third World Water Development Report.  “Conflicts about water can occur at all scales,” the report warned.  “Hydrologic shocks that may occur through climate change increase the risk of major national and international security threats, especially in unstable areas.”

The companies who use fracking are not even obligated to report the chemicals they are using to any government agency, Sutley said. Fracking is a process exempt by the Safe Drinking Water Act of 2005, allowing companies to conceal the use of dangerous chemicals.

Diesel in your water means you might be able to save on filling up at the station, but also means you will die if you drink any natural water in a 100-mile radius. Suddenly entire ecosystems are in play, as fish float on the surfaces of toxic rivers and plants dry up because of chemicals unregulated by any government entity.

Another chemical used in the process of fracking is methane, one of the more popular greenhouse gases to hiss and groan about at the annual Sierra Club Christmas party. The release of methane is a huge part of natural gas’s carbon footprint — nearly 20 percent greater than coal. Clean doesn’t seem clean when it is washed in acid rain.

‘More must be done’ to protect water during wartime “Water, sewage and electrical power systems, along with medical facilities, are usually the first things to be disrupted when a war breaks out,” Robert Mardini, head of the ICRC’s water and habitat unit, said in a written statement.

What’s in Your Water The 35-year-old federal law regulating tap water is so out of date that the water Americans drink can pose what scientists say are serious health risks — and still be legal. Examine whether contaminants in your water supply met two standards: the legal limits established by the Safe Drinking Water Act, and the typically stricter health guidelines. The data was collected by an advocacy organization, the Environmental Working Group, who shared it with The Times.

Documentary examines how toxic water at the nation’s largest Marine base damaged lives

Opportunity for salvaging the future for humanity is passing at a faster rate every day.  Drinking water loss is not related to anything but wasteful human behavior.  Education, politics and corporate attention has failed the human race.  Ideologies of religion have failed their gods creation.  Creatures of self importance have doomed themselves and everyone else to suffer through a crisis of water.  Oceans are saturated with poisons and litter that corrupt the food chain.  Arable land has been dumped on with toxic trash that ultimately seeps into the water tables around the world.  Poor countries, without resources, allow human waste to stream down streets and become the sidewalks for children.  Military organizations around the world freely, and under government protection, dump their toxic materials into classified sites … out of sight, out of mind. Biological materials, poisons, fissionable and toxic sludge have been trusted to military crews who have not even been told  what they are handling.  That is classified.  If it stinks … bury it!  Don’t let civilians find out!  Transport it across the country in secret.  What they (civilians) don’t know, won’t hurt them.

That philosophy, “out of sight, out of mind”  has come back to threaten the entire world.  Oooops, we don’t have drinkable water any more, Hmmmm, lets fight a war, just like we did over OIL!  .

The Texas Progressive Alliance is stocking up on unhealthy snacks and adult beverages as it brings you this week’s roundup.

BossKitty at TruthHugger is concerned that frivolous issues, wielded by the GOP-Tea Party-Republican Party, is a terrible distraction from serious problems facing America. Character slaughter, in the battle for a Republican Presidential candidate, does not show who the best candidate may be, so Divided and Apathetic We Fall …

In addition to all of the redistricting litigation, the state of Texas has also filed a lawsuit to get the odious voter ID law pre-cleared .  Off the Kuff has a look.

Texas always ranks high on the list of “business friendly” states. WCNews at Eye On Williamson says It’s time for Texas to become a top 10 state for the rest of us.

A Houston Not-So-Much ‘Stros rant, starring Roger Metzger as Ron Paul (or maybe the other way around), is posted at PDiddie’s Brains and Eggs.

At TexasKaos, lightseeker explains that Rick Santorum’s wife DIDNOT have an abortion, but therein lies a tale and an advocacy for a sane truce in the choice wars. Give it a read: Abortion, Choice and Absolutist Morality.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme, like everyone else, knows that the Texas Supreme Court is crony capitalism central.

Neil at Texas Liberal made a post about the great resources at the C-SPAN program archive, and at the new American wing of the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. These are first rate, free and accessible websites that respect the fact that everybody has the ability to understand complex things, and that everybody has the abilty to engage in political action.

Such a sad legacy Obama inherited after eight years of disaster.  Picking up the pieces is an ongoing phenomenal task. Add to America’s woes, all the natural and man-made disasters that have plagued the past few years.  Droughts in the Southwest, floods across the Midwest, blizzards in the Northeast, Hurricane Irene, earthquakes in Oklahoma, Virginia and Arkansas -

Oil spills, leaks happen daily across U.S. most of which go unreported. The most media coverage was given to BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster.  That is only because of the trauma the Gulf Coast has experienced in the past decade. More coverage should have been given to the Exxon’s pipeline problem in the Yellowstone River and the BP pipeline leak in Alaska .

Almost daily, protestors are trying to prevent the Keystone Pipeline from bringing tar sands oil through the most precious parts of the United States. Mega-Oil Corporations are fighting the interference with all their legal and media resources.  They say the exact same thing we have heard since the Exxon Valdez alerted the world to the hazards of oil transportation.  Whether it is by truck, train, ocean tanker or pipeline, the “ooops, that was not supposed to happen” excuse is scripted and repeated over and over until some people give up and take the hush money.

See more comprehensive information: Oil Spills ‘Round the World: The 2011 Edition By Kirsten Korosec August 16, 2011 7:54 AM

Exxon’s pipeline problem in the Yellowstone River

BP pipeline leak in Alaska
A pipeline that was closed for maintenance leaked July 2011 during testing and spilled about 100 barrels of oil. The company has had a string of problems with its Alaska pipeline over the past decade. BP agreed to pay $25 million in civil penalties for spilling more than 5,000 barrels of crude oil in 2006 from its pipelines on the North Slope of Alaska.

The US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is running out of money!

10) Hurricane Irene, August 27-28: A large and powerful Atlantic hurricane that left extensive flood and wind damage along its path through the Caribbean, the east coast of the US and as far north as Atlantic Canada. Early estimates say Irene caused $7 billion in damages in the US.

9) Upper Midwest flooding, summer: An above-average snowpack across the northern Rocky Mountains, combined with rainstorms, caused the Missouri and Souris rivers to swell beyond their banks across the Upper Midwest. An estimated 11,000 people were forced to evacuate Minot, N.D. Numerous levees were breached along the Missouri River, flooding thousands of acres of farmland. Over $2 billion in damages.

8) Mississippi River flooding, spring-summer: Persistent rainfall (nearly triple the normal amount in the Ohio Valley), combined with melting snowpack, caused historical flooding along the Mississippi River and its tributaries. At least two people died. $2 to $4 billion in damages.

7) Southern Plains/Southwest drought, heat wave and wildfires, spring and summer: Drought, heat waves, and wildfires hit Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, southern Kansas, western Arkansas and Louisiana this year. Wildfire fighting costs for the region are about $1 million per day, with over 2,000 homes and structures lost by mid-August. Over $5 billion in damages so far.

6) Midwest/Southeast tornadoes, May 22-27: Central and southern states saw approximately 180 twisters and 177 deaths within a week. A tornado in Joplin, Mo., caused at least 141 deaths—the deadliest single tornado to strike the United States since modern record keeping began in 1950. Over $7 billion in damages.

5) Southeast/Ohio Valley/Midwest tornadoes, April 25-30: This outbreak of tornadoes over central and southern states led to 327 deaths. Of those fatalities, 240 occurred in Alabama. The deadliest of the estimated 305 tornadoes in the outbreak was an EF-5 that hit northern Alabama, killing 78 people. Several big cities were directly affected by strong tornadoes, including Tuscaloosa, Birmingham and Huntsville in Alabama, and Chattanooga in Tennessee. Over $9 billion in damages.

4) Midwest/Southeast tornadoes, April 14-16: An outbreak over central and southern states produced an estimated 160 tornadoes. Thirty-eight people died, 22 of them in North Carolina. Over $2 billion in damages.

3) Southeast/Midwest tornadoes, April 8-11: An outbreak of tornadoes over central and southern states saw an estimated 59 tornadoes. Over $2.2 billion in damages.

2) Midwest/Southeast tornadoes, April 4-5: An outbreak of tornadoes over central and southern states saw an estimated 46 tornadoes. Nine people died. Over $2.3 billion in damages.

1) Blizzard, Jan 29-Feb 3: A large winter storm hit many central, eastern and northeastern states. 36 people died. Over $2 billion in damages.

Check out Brett Israel, 2011 ties for most billion-dollar weather disasters, Our Amazing Planet, 18 August 2011.

The National Academy of Sciences says:  We can expect more weather disasters as global warming proceeds.

Again, the impatient American Public must roll up their sleeves and join in disaster recovery.  It will take each and every one of us to help each and every one of us.  The good, bad and the ugly will have to work side by side. 

Christian, Jewish, Muslim, must behave like the siblings they are.  The Buddhist, Sikh, Shinto, Tao and the multitudes of faiths that make the American character, will have no problems coming to the rescue of their battered nation. 

Wasting our energy and efforts on finger pointing and laying blame is for Fake-Americans.  We all have a pretty good idea how we got into this critical condition.  Getting out of crisis will take the motto of our nation at it’s words “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”.  This must be the mantra for all Americans if we want to resurrect pride and confidence in this nation.  Who cares if America is number TWO or THREE as a world power right now?  This is not a game show. 

The best prepared nation will become number ONE.  The number ONE nation will demonstrate a realistic understanding that there are elements much larger than ourselves at work, and shape themselves to adapt to global changes. They will actually work with the living planet, our home.  As long as the occupants of this planet put their personalities above the reality of Mother Nature and her needs, we will suffer terrible consequences.  Perhaps these years of divisive partisan hoodlum behavior was necessary to wake us all up. Lets encourage our brother and sister Americans to follow our motto “United We Stand, Divided We Fall”.  No!  It won’t be easy, especially after all the hateful behavior we have witnessed or endured.  You survival and my survival depends on how successful we are at uniting ourselves.There is America and there is a planet crisis.  As long as America is separated by apathy and denial, we will fail, we will fall. 

Definition of Apathy:

OK, why am I sick of hearing the same words over and over … from both sides of today’s political debates.  All candidates can talk about is how each side is wasting taxpayer money, government resources and how religious they are.  As the players hurl vicious attacks at each other, hoping to endear gullible and extremist voters, Republicans and Democrats and even Libertarians are totally ignoring the biggest picture of all.  What is really happening on our planet, Earth.  No one appears to have a serious approach to climate disasters, beyond FEMA funding.  There is no clear plan offered by any side to take earth’s cycles or the solar system cycles, seriously.  Whatever financial shape we find ourselves in right now will not change what the earth will be experiencing in the next few years or decades.  The human population of this planet has no clear, practical guidance to help themselves.

This CME event happened on Tuesday, January 24, 2012. We are currently in Solar Cycle 24.  Scientists predict this cycle will be the “quietest” in 50 years.  You can find predictions all over the scale.  Some say “this is earth’s final chapter”, some say “not”.  Whatever happens, earth will be here.  Whether it will support life is anyone’s guess.  Since earth began, it has experimented with many forms of life.  We cannot ignore that earth’s ability to support certain life forms changes on a cyclic basis.  This planet periodically changes it’s biosphere, and that changes the life forms capable of surviving. Whether humankind is capable of surviving the next life cycle or biosphere reset is questionable.   

World leaders are not publicly addressing the earth/planet issue seriously.  Maybe that is because nothing they can do will change what will happen.  They refuse to show their own helplessness by ignoring it altogether.  But, Religions are having a heyday with the coming changes.  They can rake in the money while believers and faithful blindly give it all up for whichever deity or prophet they follow.  They prepare people’s minds to accept destruction in the name of whoever they follow.

Main Stream Media is complicit pulling the blanket of disinformation over everyone’s eyes.  What does MSM focus on?  You see tasty tidbits of political rancor, heart stopping social events like celebrity breakups, celebrity trouble with the law, and corporate fixation on erectile dysfunction.

We see wealthy individuals, with adequate resources of their own, are not concerned, because they have already made provisions for protecting themselves.  They buy missile silos, dig bunkers and compounds, decked out with arsenals and food to last for months or years.  It is written across their attitude that they could give two shits about the rest of us, when a global event happens. Our politicians follow the MSM attitude, throw more rancor and forget common sense.  They cannot even answer the simplest scientific questions about the earth, our planet, or our solar system.  We live on the earth and the earth resides in a solar system.  Our solar System resides in a Galaxy that throws interesting things at us … some of which could change everything.  Delusion and Denial are not protection.  Awareness is important.

When you Google CME what do you get?  Corporate initials.  You have to specifically type Coronal Mass Ejection.

CME Group is the world’s leading and most diverse derivatives marketplace offering the widest range of benchmark futures and options …

CME Group offers the widest range of agricultural commodity futures and options

CME Colorado Airport ground transportation shuttle service

Continuing medical education (CME) refers to a specific form of continuing education

… and way down the list is:  Cosmicopia at NASA/GSFC – Sun – Solar Activity - Coronal Mass Ejections.

At approximately 11:00 am Eastern time (15 minutes from now as I type this), the Earth will come into contact with the largest Coronal Mass Ejection since 2005—a huge burst of charged particles and magnetic fields that exploded off the surface of the sun Sunday night.

Scientists have been tracking it as it headed our way. In fact, intrepid astronomy reporter Lee Billings contacted me this morning to tell me that ejection had just passed our Advanced Composition Explorer satellite, which is why we have such a precise estimate of when it would hit Earth. Despite the size of this CME, Billings says it probably won’t cause any major damage. However, a larger CME that hit us with less warning very well could be a huge problem. That’s because CME’s can interfere, to varying degrees, with radio communications, GPS signals, and lots of other electronic stuff that we’ve come to rely on. What’s more, Billings says, our warning system is aging fast. That ACE satellite, for instance, has enough fuel to survive to 2024, but it’s equipment is old enough that it’s likely to fail at any time.

Lee Billings has written a great piece on Coronal Mass Ejections and the very real risks they pose to modern technology over at Popular Mechanics. It’s a great breakdown of what CME’s can do and what we do to prepare for them that manages to get the risks right, without becoming too hyperbolic and apocalyptic-y. It’s 10:59 AM now. Happy CME!

A geomagnetic storm produces dangerous electrical currents in a manner analogous to a moving bar magnet raising currents in a coil of wire. When a CME hits the Earth’s magnetic field and sends it oscillating, those undulating magnetic fields raise currents in conductive material within and on the Earth itself. The currents that ripple through our planet can easily enter transformers that serve as nodes in regional, national, and global power grids. They can also seep into and corrode the steel in lengthy stretches of oil and gas pipeline.

WIKI definition:

A coronal mass ejection (CME) is a massive burst of solar wind, other light isotope plasma, and magnetic fields rising above the solar corona or being released into space.^[1]

Coronal mass ejections are often associated with other forms of solar activity, most notably solar flares, but a causal relationship has not been established. Most ejections originate from active regions on Sun’s surface, such as groupings of sunspots associated with frequent flares. Near solar maxima the Sun produces about three CMEs every day, whereas near solar minima there is about one CME every five days.^[2]

Largest Solar Storm Since 2005 to Hit Earth Tuesday

The solar storm front from the ionized blast, called a coronal mass ejection (CME), should arrive tomorrow morning, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The forecasters called the event the strongest solar storm since 2005.

The SWPC is forecasting that the inbound storm will reach G2 (“moderate”) and possibly G3 (“strong”) levels on the geomagnetic storm scale, which tops out at G5. A G3 storm should not cause severe problems for satellite operators or power companies but could interrupt satellite-based navigation systems and some radio communications. Such storms can also produce auroras visible as far south as Illinois and Oregon, according to the SWPC.

CME IMPACT: As expected, a CME hit Earth’s magnetic field on Jan. 24th at approximately 1500 UT (10 am EST). Geomagnetic storms are likely in the hours ahead. If it’s dark where you live, go outside and look for auroras.

Sun hurls strong geomagnetic storm toward Earth (Reuters) - The strongest geomagnetic storm in more than six years was forecast to hit Earth’s magnetic field on Tuesday, and it could affect airline routes, power grids and satellites, the U.S. Space Weather Prediction Center said.  A coronal mass ejection – a big chunk of the Sun’s atmosphere – was hurled toward Earth on Sunday, driving energized solar particles at about 5 million miles an hour (2,000 km per second), about five times faster than solar particles normally travel, the center’s Terry Onsager said.

“When it hits us, it’s like a big battering ram that pushes into Earth’s magnetic field,” Onsager said from Boulder, Colorado. “That energy causes Earth’s magnetic field to fluctuate.”

Comet Corpses in the Solar Wind

Jan. 20, 2012: A paper published in today’s issue of Science raises an intriguing new possibility for astronomers: unearthing comet corpses in the solar wind.  The new research is based on dramatic images of a comet disintegrating in the sun’s atmosphere last July.

Comet Lovejoy grabbed headlines in Dec. 2011 when it plunged into the sun’s atmosphere and emerged again relatively intact.  But it was not the first comet to graze the sun. Last summer a smaller comet took the same trip with sharply different results. Comet C/2011 N3 (SOHO) was completely destroyed on July 6, 2011, when it swooped 100,000 km above the stellar surface.  NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the disintegration.

A key finding was the amount of material deposited into the sun’s atmosphere.  “The comet dissolved into more than a million tons of electrically charged gas,” says Pesnell.  “We believe these vapors eventually mixed with the solar wind and blew back into the solar system.”

The Looming Threat of a Solar Superstorm – Popular Mechanics

“The physics of the Sun and of Earth’s magnetic field have not fundamentally changed, but we have,” Kappenman says. “We decided to build the power grids, and we’ve progressively made them more vulnerable as we’ve connected them to every aspect of our lives. Another Carrington Event is going to occur someday.” But unlike in 1859, when the telegraph network was the sole technology endangered by space weather, or in 1921, when electrification was in its infancy, today’s vulnerable systems are legion.

M8.7 Solar Flare and Earth Directed CME  The sun erupted late on January 22, 2012 with an M8.7 class flare, an earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME), and a burst of fast moving, highly energetic protons known as a “solar energetic particle” event. The latter has caused the strongest solar radiation storm since September 2005 according to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center.

NASA’s Goddard Space Weather Center’s models predict that the CME is moving at almost 1,400 miles per second, and could reach Earth’s magnetosphere – the magnetic envelope that surrounds Earth — as early as tomorrow, Jan 24 at 9 AM ET (plus or minus 7 hours). This has the potential to provide good auroral displays, possibly at lower latitudes than normal.

An article was published on NASA’s website in 2006 (during the last solar minimum) titled Solar Storm Warning . This article by Science@NASA’s Dr. Tony Philips explains that the 2012 solar max will be the greatest since 1958 (when the Northern Lights were visible in Mexico).

What does this blog post have to do with the 2012 US Presidential Election?  I want to emphasize that this election season is all about who wants to control your ability to survive.  You would have to be totally removed from current affairs and current events to have missed the “Breaking News” about weather, earthquake, fire, drought and flood disasters around this country and around the world.

The totally disconnected among us can enjoy “LaLa land” and go about their merry way. The Doom and Gloom survivalists can dig their rabbit holes and nest with their families. But, please do not interfere with those of us who want a chance at survival, too.  I will not tell anyone how to vote, I will tell everyone to ask pertinent questions and make an informed decision that does not hurt anyone else’s chance at survival.

Some of our candidates want to show off  their ability to destroy this planet faster than Mother Nature.  Pipelines transporting, or spilling, toxic fluids to satisfy America’s addiction to fossil fuel.  Offshore deep drilling rigs that can destroy our oceans.  Some of our candidates want to destroy more lives by inflating the Military Industrial Complex to kill even more humans, or selling more guns so they can kill each other.  The GOP wants to die rich.  Progressives want to die with dignity.  I guess I want to die with dignity.

I choose NOT to run to any church to confirm that we all may perish anyway.  I will face whatever comes my way with my own perception of human dignity.

The Texas Progressive Alliance thanks the state of South Carolina for all the laughs as it brings you this week’s blog roundup.

The big story last week was the SCOTUS ruling on interim redistricting maps. Off the Kuff has an initial look.

It turns out that PDiddie and Paula Deen have more in common than just their initials; there’s also a morality tale involved. Read “Paula Deen, diabetes, and Novo Nordisk” at Brains and Eggs.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is tired of the media ignoring grossly untrue, inflammatory, and just plain disgusting things Republicans like Rick Perry make.

Perry’s run for the Presidency is over! WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on it here, Good riddance, for now, Perry drops out.

This was a big week of action culminating in the defeat (for now) of SOPA, including Wednesday when many of our sites went dark. Darth Politico refused to go dark, and instead went dork– with a snark/irony blog supporting SOPA (or “Why Death Stars are a good thing”).

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw mourns for Texas in “Poor Texas Forrest Homer Simpson is Coming Back“. An eloquent requiem for a candidate who brought untold levels of derision to our state when he revealed how truly shallow and narcissistic he is. Give it a read!

Neil at Texas Liberal wrote this week abour how Houston School Board Member Manuel Rodriguez got away with using anti-gay campaign materials in his recent reelection victory. Everyday citizens, Civil rights groups and the Houston GLBT Political Caucus all gave Mr. Rodriguez a free pass despite his hateful words.

The  Texas Progressive Alliance honors the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff takes a look at Democratic primary races as they now stand in Harris County and elsewhere in Texas.

Refinish69 thinks sometimes you just have to say “Martin Luther King Reading & Reference List. There are 3 new additions for 2012. This list is the best starting point to learn about M.L.K. to be found on the web.

Many active progressives were busy being active this weekend.  Next week’s Roundup should be back to normal.

The Texas Progressive Alliance thinks watching football was a much better use of your time than watching the 389th Republican Presidential debate as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff discusses the state’s appeal of the injunction granted against the horrible sonogram law.

This week WCNews at Eye On Williamson posts on the fact that our politics can’t be fixed until the money is taken out of our political process, It’s the money.

The case against the Texas Republicans’ redistricting argument (beginning before the SCOTUS on January 9) rests almost entirely on two generations of legal precedent. And with a Court that has indicated an interest in eviscerating the Voting Rights Act, precedent doesn’t mean diddly, either. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs elaborates.

BossKitty at TruthHugger has had enough of the religious bullying by the 2012 Republican Presidential Candidates, specifically Rick Santorum. Why do we need a Jesus candidate?

At TexasKaos, Libby Shaw explains why Romney’s “job creator” lies are well, lies. Check it out: Mitt Romney: A Job Killer, Not Creator.

From Bay Area Houston The Texas Ethics Commission, Jerry Eversole, and the GOP. Texas sized embarrassments.

BlueBloggin sees the Consequences of Not Paying Attention when corporate funded American politicians make it easy to break environmental rules, ruin natural resources and not be held accountable to the human victims.

Neil at Texas Liberal noted a certificate he received in the mail from the Department of Veteran’s Affairs that noted his recently deceased father’s military service. Neil’s dad, a Korean War combat veteran, would have been glad that the certificate was signed by Barack Obama, and not by a draft-dodging liar like George W. Bush.

  Santorum’s followers want to impose a theological twist to everything from social laws to public education. What makes evangelicals so special is that they want to quote a mythical American version of Jesus, as described by political factions that need to control how and what people think.  They are usually successful because their followers either do not want to fact check for themselves or are unable to do their own research.  Some of them actually say that it is sacrilegious to question the words of Jesus, or the words of GOD!  These same people actually believe politicians who claim that GOD has spoken to them, given them advice or told them things.

Santorum has made it very clear what he wants to do with America … with or without Congress.  Santorum represents the will of an American Minority.  However, he has expressed his belief that another crusade against Islamic countries is perfectly OK.  Santorum makes it clear he can happily exclude a great portion of the American Public by imposing the narrow rules dictated by his interpretation of what Jesus may or may not have wanted, regardless of the millennium we currently occupy.  

The earth is a very different place than it was when Jesus walked the earth.  Christians cannot even agree among themselves about interpreting the contents of the written accounts of the way things were in Jesus time.  The bible American Christians (not Catholics) use has been edited so many times, that it takes serious religious scholars to find out what  actually happened back then.  The whole debacle of Apocalypse is a contrivance between the 1200s to the 1500s and added to intimidate followers..  

The 2012 US Presidential campaign is turning out to be a platform for religions.  What difference does it make what religion our President is?  Where does the US Constitution mention that a religion is a requirement for a Presidential Candidate?

American Founding Fathers were raised in a culture that depended on the Bible translation endorsed by the Church of England.   And they rebelled. They made sure the United States Constitution would not impose any specific religious requirement on Americans or their representatives.  The responsibilities of Citizenship was more critical than religion.  This is what set America apart from it’s European roots.  The Founding Fathers did not ever want to have it’s future dictated by anyone’s dogma, even though several would have endorsed the idea, they realized it could doom the American Experiment into a dictatorship instead of a Democracy.

Modern day Evangelicals and other Christian sects have morphed their words from the highly edited King James English Translation of previous Christian Bible publications.  Western Culture has so removed itself from the origins of Christianity, that the hypocrasy they spout would be laughable.   The  words and history of Bible writers, hundreds of years after Jesus died, have been used to control whole populations by imposing restrictions on their behavior. The Bible these special people use was translated by committee to remove undesirable parts, to make King James happy.  King James, himself, was illiterate and had to rely on consultants.

WIKI: The Authorized Version, commonly known as the King James Version, King James Bible or KJV,  is an English translation of the Christian Bible by the Church of England begun in 1604 and completed in 1611.^[3] First printed by the King’s PrinterRobert Barker,^[4][5] this was the third official translation into English; the first having been the Great Bible commissioned by the Church of England in the reign of King Henry VIII, and the second was the Bishop’s Bible of 1568.^[6] In January 1604, King James I of England convened the Hampton Court Conference where a new English version was conceived in response to the perceived problems of the earlier translations as detected by the Puritans,^[7] a faction within the Church of England.^[8]

The King james Version of the Christian Bible is the least accurate of all “Mainstream” Christian writings.

Social Conservative Leader Gary Bauer Endorses Rick Santorum

By Napp Nazworth:  Social conservative leader Gary Bauer endorsed Rick Santorum at a campaign event in South Carolina on Saturday.

• Evangelical Leaders Plan Texas Meeting to Discuss Possible Endorsement
• Analysis: Can Santorum Unite the Evangelical Vote?

Quote: ”Would the potential attraction to Mormonism by simply having a Mormon in the White House threaten traditional Christianity by leading more Americans to a church that some Christians believe misleadingly calls itself Christian, is an active missionary church, and a dangerous cult?” (Santorum’s Philadelphia Inquirer column, Dec. 20, 2007)

The Christian Post:   Rick Santorum Hopes Christian Voters Will Look Beyond Mormon Faith of Romney, Huntsman

Santorum, a champion for social conservative issues, is the latest to weigh in on the contentious question, should Christians support a Mormon candidate for president.

Evangelical journalist Warren Cole Smith unequivocally says no. Last month, he wrote on Patheos.com “a vote for [Mitt] Romney is a vote for the LDS Church.”

The 53-year-old Catholic appeared before evangelical voters at the Faith and Freedom Conference this past weekend, alongside other GOP contenders. Like the other candidates, he emphasized his conservative stances on social issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage.

9 controversial Rick Santorum quotes

As soon as the conservative ex-senator stepped into the national spotlight, critics began attacking Santorum’s long history of odd claims and far-right beliefs

31 Rick Santorum Quotes That Prove He Would Be A Destructive President

Jewish groups slammed Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum on Friday, January 7, 2012, for telling listeners of a Boston radio show that “we always need a Jesus guy” in the campaign.

Santorum: “We always need a Jesus candidate”

Santorum: ”The idea that the Crusades and the fight of Christendom against Islam is somehow an aggression on our part is absolutely anti-historical. And that is what the perception is by the American Left who hates Christendom. … What I’m talking about is onward American soldiers. What we’re talking about are core American values.” (South Carolina campaign stop, Feb. 22, 2011)

Santorum: “One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country.” And also, “Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.”

Santorum:  “there are no classes in America.” Using the term “middle class” means they “buy into the class warfare arguments of Barack Obama…something that should not be part of the Republican lexicon.”  (Twitter sage JSmooth995 clarified that in fact “everybody knows the term ‘middle class’ was invented by Bill Ayers and Obama just takes credit.” 

Santorum: ”All the people who live in the West Bank are Israelis, they’re not Palestinians. There is no ‘Palestinian.’ This is Israeli land.” (Campaign stop in Iowa, Nov. 18, 2011)

Santorum: ”One of the things I will talk about, that no president has talked about before, is I think the dangers of contraception in this country…. Many of the Christian faith have said, well, that’s okay, contraception is okay. It’s not okay. It’s a license to do things in a sexual realm that is counter to how things are supposed to be.” (Speaking with CaffeinatedThoughts.com, Oct. 18, 2011)

Santorum: ”I don’t want to make black people’s lives better by giving them somebody else’s money; I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money.” (Campaign stop in Iowa, Jan. 2, 2012)

The list of defining quotes is endless.  Just Google or Bing “Rick Santorum Christian Quotes” and imagine your own life under the social rules described by this Presidential wannabe.  If you are a real Christian, you should be appalled by the things being said and done using the name of Jesus as a excuse or justification.  If you have any idea who the real Jesus was and what he was really trying to say, please compare the rhetoric with today’s politicians.  

The most important Jesus quotes I can give you is:

“Do to others whatever you would like them to do to you. This is the essence of all that is taught in the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

“You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:42-45)

If you read the words of Jesus closely, he addresses each one of our personal souls and not speak about imposing your beliefs on anyone else, but making the word available for those who ask.  Jesus never asserted “Group Think”.  Jesus never spoke about a world of hypocritical robots.  His most important message is about the deeds each of us does, not the words spat from our mouths.

The Texas Progressive Alliance wishes everyone a happy and prosperous New Year as it brings you the first roundup of 2012.

There were two big redistricting stories last week, and both favored the plaintiffs against Texas and its retrogressive maps. The DC Court issued its decision defining preclearance standards, and the Justice Department filed an amicus brief with SCOTUS arguing it should use the interim maps drawn by the San Antonio court. Off the Kuff has the details on each.

BossKitty at TruthHugger – can only laugh at what the GOP has put in the store window this election season, 2012 GOP Lineup and Songs From The 1960s.

WCNews at Eye On Williamson weighs in on redistricting and the Voting Rights Act, Texas Redistricting Round Up.

More Dallas wastewater is headed for Houston, as a project to route more of the Trinity River toward the Bayou City moves forward. PDiddie at Brains and Eggs says that he can’t wait to pour a tall glass of Metroplex toilet water.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme screams to the high heavens that Ron Paul is not a principled man.

Neil at Texas Liberal posted about a longtime musician friend looking to form a new protest band in Cincinnati. It’s unlikely that anybody in Texas will be able to join this band. But that is not the point. The point is that we all have talents, and we should work hard to make the best use of our talents in the big political year ahead. Don’t just sit around and let somebody else generate content for you to consume.

The Lewisville Texan Journal (formerly WhosPlayin) examined TxDOT right-of-way purchases along the I-35E corridor in Denton County, finding that the state was paying much, much more for properties than the tax roll values. Denton County’s Republican County Judge Mary Horn, who is spearheading the effort to expand the road with toll lanes received $993,000 for an investment property she had, which was 19.7 times more than what it was on the tax rolls for.

Astronaut Shepard was too damned accurate with that statement. The lowest bidder concept holds true for just about everything.  Just ask an engineer.  Seldom do engineers or contractors hear “Money is no object”.   Sure, Nuclear energy is a wonderful, clean, sustainable source of energy, that happens to be processed and engineered by humans with two agendas. 1. Corner the resources for oil, gas or nuclear energy, and 2. Make sure the world remains dependent on their product, even as it runs out.

Sure, corporations promote natural gas as the fossil fuel of tomorrow.  Except fossil fuel is a diminishing energy asset, regardless if it is mud, oil or gas.

There is no such thing as CHEAP ENERGY! But, we expect:

1. Cheap energy at cheap cost and cheap maintenance as the agenda, but, we are missing ‘cheap consequences’.  Cause and effect are lost in the shuffle. Cheap energy is all very nice … until Mother Nature throws one of her many monkey wrenches into the picture. The entire United States Budget System is designed to “save taxpayer money” where it can be bragged about, and classify as secret, the money spent that it does not want you to know about.  Reluctantly, the government will assign funds to clean up the mess it makes by saving your visible money. (But, that will be a different post.)

2. No accountability for anyone, the manufacturer or the consumer.  Taxpayers have no idea what they are buying, whether it is a loaf of bread or a nuclear submarine. All taxpayers want is to stay oblivious to the details.  Taxpayers want the perks but complain about paying for them.  That’s where the corporations can and have taken over the advertising of those perks, even when they are destructive.  Accountability is a double edged sword.  Everyone must be accountable, not just voters and those they elect, but the corporations who control the message.

It is OK for voters to be oblivious, because they expect the people they elect to represent their best interest.  If voters paid attention long enough, they would recognize their best interests are replaced by corporate money.

When the people voters elect tend to vote certain ways that may puzzle their home district, that is always OK because, “they represent my conservative Christian values”.  Just ask what exactly those “Christian values” are.  Trust me, you will hear the script they have been taught (by corporations using religion) to convince them that they are the exclusive voice of America,  and must protect their own kind.  That’s what Jeezus would want them to do!

Ask these very special ‘Christian’ voters what they know about nuclear energy.  Ask them about the consequences of ruining water sources to extract the last drop of fossil fuel in the form of ‘natural gas’.  Just remove the word ‘Natural’ and you have the most Un-natural’ source of energy mankind can steal from the diminishing energy cupboard. …

Mother Jones has an eye opening article: The Radioactive Ocean  Radioactivity is increasing in the waters near Japan’s Fukushima plant. But nuclear pollution in the oceans is nothing new. Just like plastic and trash islands, waste water pollution and oil spills.

Don’t forget the sales job we have been served about how wonderful the natural gas energy boom is.  It is a sales job that does not want to hear that your water will be made unusable and your faucet might explode.