Hanford cleanup?

People around here are angry about the delays at the Hanford nuclear reservation. They don't seem to understand the problem. This isn't about digging up a bunch of contaminated soil and moving it somewhere else. This is about merely containing a very large amount of contaminated water, some 80 square miles to be exact. The photo above shows how they used to get rid of radioactive wastes back in the 40s although the photo looks more like the 50s or 60s. They never thought a thing about digging a hole and burying anything contaminated whether it be tools or even an entire truck. Out of sight out of mind was the order of the day. The biggest fear right now is whether the contaminated water will make it's way to the Columbia river if it hasn't already. Clean up? Not going to happen. Containment? Maybe.

Hanford

Friday beaver on hiatus

As we all know beavers go into hibernation about this time of year so while they're busy getting their dens ready I thought I'd post some pussies instead for your viewing pleasure. Fear not the beavers will be back in the spring.

It's Friday the 13th

But it has nothing to do with this guy. I never saw why this guy was so scary anyway. Now if you're looking for scary you might try this guy

This would be one Tony Alamo who was sentenced to 175 years for sex crimes with minors. He took on underage girls for his 'wives'.
But enough of the scary stuff. I don't go for all the superstious stuff anyway. As the story goes my one brother was born on Friday the 13th in room 1313 and mom just happened to have 13 cents in her purse or so she said. My brother made it through Vietnam and continued to fly as a pilot for many years and he considers 13 as his lucky number.

Jim over at Major Conflict has a very good article about our current political situation. It is rather long but pretty much sums things up nicely.
Dog Eat Dog

Only Darkblack could do this type of work

Captioned: I'm ready for my close up Mr. Demint

Veterans Day

What a disservice we've done for our veterans. They do a tour or two or three in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have a day to honor their service and what do we do? Go to the cemetary for some quiet ceremoney for fifteen or twenty minutes then it's business as usual. The banks and post offices close. Government offices are closed and buses are on holiday schedule. Furniture stores and car dealers have their Veterans day maddness sales. The focus shifts from it's intended purpose to an odd holiday that most people don't get off anyway. Here they've fought and risked their lives only to come home to be kicked to the side. I hear that 25% of homeless people are veterans. I've heard the figure of 1.4 million. Nothing like coming home from a war to be jobless, homeless and have no healthcare.
They get lured in by promises of education benefits but I'd venture to say that they can't use them unless they have a job and with the job market being what it is those chances are slim to none.
Now for the real kicker, it looks like the health care bill won't do much to help them either. It doesn't cover many in their situation.

Sometimes the news just gets too depressing

In the past few weeks there seems to have been more arsons more shootings and more fires and floods then any time I can remember. Then there was the earthquakes and tsunamis on the other side of the world. There's been so much that after a while it all seems to run together in a jumble of bad news. And the stresses of all of it are starting to take its' toll.

Typhoon in Samoa
Fires in California
Floods in El Slavador
Police officer assasinated in Seattle
Mass murder at Fort Hood
Business owner shoots his partner
Gunman kills two at drug testing facility in Portland
Restaurant fires
School fires
Business fires
Arson

And now the health care bill moves to the senate

Where if you thought the first act of the circus was something then you ain't seen nothin yet. With billions (make that trillions) of dollars in profits at stake the insurance industry which has been shoveling greenbacks at our senators will now resort to using dump trucks fulll of loot. They did after all make some 146 billion in profits. A few million doled out here or there won't make much difference at this point. And like Let's Make a Deal the comittee making up this hodge podge of legislation will have the choice of what's in the large bulging envelope or what's behind the curtain which just might be... Why yes... it's the senators' entire voting district ready to tar and feather them for taking the envelope and leaving them with no health care! But don't worry too much senators because you also get what's behind the door, a book deal while you wait to get into your very own lobbying business set up by your insurance buds.