Don't be fooled by the biodiesel hype

Don't be fooled by the simple graphic above. Other than a way to recycle frying grease, biodiesel is one of the worst ways to produce energy, according to George Monbiot in a recent Znet article.

Juneau's Best Breakfast

Collette Costa serves the best breakfast in town in her little diner, plus she's funny as hell, plus she can sing some awesome blues and jazz as she fixes your eggs (and will sell you her cd if you want). And unlike most Juneau restaurants, she actually charges a fair price for her food.

Another Eagle

Ok, Eagle shots are pretty easy around here, but usually we take shots with shadows over the face, so this is one of the better ones. 

First Snow

The first sticking snow, as seen from my back door.

Halloween

My daughter's pumpkin seems to know what's in store after the trick and treating is over. Teenage hooligans slaughter him and his brethren throughout the neighborhood.

Whole Wheat Radio

I go on and off with Whole Wheat Radio, lately on. If you like folky, independent music (mostly white, alas) then you'll probably like this station. It's certainly worth checking out just for the creative programing Jim does to make the amazing listener console. He could probably sell it, if he cared to. They also host house concerts, with several of those available for download at high quality (look around the site for links to these).

Juneau Mine a Big Risk

The following article was written by a local fisherman from Kupreanof, Joe Sebastion.


My Turn: Colorado gold mining disaster points to risks

In 1986, the Vancouver-based mining company, Galactic Resources, opened the Summitville gold mine in the Rocky Mountains near Del Norte in southern Colorado. Things seemed to be looking up for the economically struggling town, as the mine promised to bring in many new jobs. The high price of gold compared with the 1970s elicited optimistic expectations that the Summitville mine would be an economic success. Galactic's subsidiary, Summitville Consolidated Mining Corp., received all necessary permits and contributed $7.2 million for reclamation bonds to clean up the mine site after its operations were completed. It even dammed the valley where the mine's tailings were to be dumped to prevent overflow into a nearby creek. Everyone trusted that the mine operation would go smoothly.

Within six days of production, toxic water from the mine's tailings heap began leaking into the creek. An alternate tailings dump area, created to allay the risk of the dammed valley overflowing with toxic chemicals, also began leaking as much as 2,000 pounds of chemicals per day into other tributaries, killing all fish over a 17-mile stretch of the Alamosa River. Less than ten years later, after SCMCI lost $80 million, Galactic Resources went bankrupt. The Summitville mine is now on the EPA's National Priorities List of Superfund sites. The company's $28 million settlement pays for only a small portion of the cleanup costs, which may be as high as $235 million.

As Coeur Alaska begins development of Kensington gold mine, environmental disasters like the Summitville mine are history lessons that all Juneau residents should keep in mind. Coeur does not appear to be as irresponsible SCMCI, which was lax in its efforts to safeguard the environment. However, Coeur needs to do as much as possible to ensure that Kensington does not pose a threat to clean water like the Summitville mine did and still does. Large industrial operations like Kensington naturally pose substantial risks in ecological areas as fragile as Berners Bay. No matter how much is done to minimize the danger of mining chemicals entering Slate Creek or Berners Bay, there will always be peril.

For this reason, the Clean Water Act was passed in 1972. Dumping mine tailings into bodies of fresh water became illegal. If Coeur wants to come here and profit off of taxpayers' land, it must comply with that standard. This is not too much to ask. It is within Coeur's ability to operate a legal mine that will create jobs.

Twenty years ago, the people of Rio Grande County welcomed the economic opportunity the Summitville mine seemed to offer. But they did not go far enough by also demanding that the mining corporation adhere to strict environmental standards. Rather, the company dumped more of its mine waste at unauthorized dump sites and was allowed to continue filling the dammed valley with tailings despite the high risk of overflow. Now the community and U.S. taxpayers are paying heavily for their omission.

Summitville is a worst-case scenario that became reality. While the mining method may be different, Summitville and Kensington share some worrying similarities. The Kensington Mine also calls for damming an area to prevent spillage from entering a creek. Summitville was located near streams that drained into the Rio Grande River. Similarly, Slate Lake drains into Berners Bay. SCMCI offered what turned out to be a grossly inadequate amount of reclamation bonds. The Center for Science in Public Participation recently published a report indicating that there is a funding gap for Kensington reclamation bonds as well. More than 10 years after the Summitville mine was placed on the EPA's Superfund cleanup list the area still leaks toxic waste into the Alamosa River watershed, and now the EPA does not even have enough money to keep up with preventing the leakage. I wonder what Juneau residents will have to deal with 10 years after Kensington is tapped out, when Coeur has left and we are left with the cleanup.

The onus is on Coeur to reduce the risk of Kensington ending up in a similar situation as Summitville mine. They must come through on their promise of a legal mine that won't foul our clean water.

• Kupreanof resident Joe Sebastian is a commercial fisherman.
Click here to return to story:
http://juneauempire.com/stories/110205/opi_20051102014.shtml

The World Can't Wait

Ok, we couldn't wait a long time ago, but better late than never. Time to start a drive to bring down the Bush regime. Tomorrow, November 2. Here's more, from a Znet article:

On November 2, people in 67 cities, 43 colleges and universities, and 90 high schools (at last count) are walking out of school and work and demonstrating to drive out the Bush regime.

This will be the first major proclamation of an unprecedented and urgently needed social movement in this country: a movement aimed - not at this or that policy - but directly at driving out a regime.

The past week underscored just why a whole new level of opposition – this movement to Drive Out the Bush Regime - is needed, now! In the face of setbacks like the Miers withdrawal, Libby's indictment, global condemnation of US torture policy, the ongoing bloodbath in Iraq, and plummeting poll numbers, Bush nominates a far right winger to the Supreme Court.

Grizzly Man

Ted Rall with his take on the new Werzog film...

Last Day of Summer

I needed to take another look at our last day of summer. Fall is our grim season here, with dark rainy days. Winter can bring snow and a few high pressure systems (clear sky!) and everyone usually cheers up a bit. 

The Original Farmhouse

We've just returned from a visit to our friends outside Minneapolis at Seven Story Farm (after seeing brothers in Boston, and later Bob and Sue in Minneapolis). Pictured above is the original log cabin farmhouse, recently restored and housing a family of five. County regulations allowed them to restore existing buildings, but not to build new. 

Finger Lickin' Good?

Ted Rall gets it right again in his latest cartoon.

Juneau's biennial Celebration is next week, and our daughter is in one of the many Tlingit dance groups. Looks like it'll be pretty cool, and I'll try to post a photo or two.

Dave Dellinger

Democracy Now (again) has a very moving piece on the life-long non-violent protester Dave Dellinger, who just died. Remarkably, it appears that Dave's books are out of print and difficult to find. One seller apparently still has a few copies of his autobiography, From Yale to Jail.

Jimmy Massey

Democracy Now came through with a great interview of Marine staff sergeant Jimmy Massey today. Massey discusses how his platoon quite routinely killed innocent civilians at checkpoints, and the effect this had on him. If you can't listen to the link, you can also read the transcript.

The rain has finally arrived here in Juneau, just in time for my new gardens. Check out the clouds at the new weather link at the bottom right of the page.

What would Jesus do?

From the latest torture news in the Washington Post (expletives reinserted):

"Do you pray to Allah?" one asked. "I said yes. They said, 'Fuck you. And Fuck him.' One of them said, 'You are not getting out of here health[y], you are getting out of here handicapped. And he said to me, 'Are you married?' I said, 'Yes.' They said, 'If your wife saw you like this, she will be disappointed.' One of them said, 'But if I saw her now she would not be disappointed now because I would rape her.' "

He said the soldiers told him that if he cooperated with interrogators they would release him in time for Ramadan. He said he did, but still was not released. He said one soldier continued to abuse him by striking his broken leg and ordered him to curse Islam. "Because they started to hit my broken leg, I cursed my religion," he said. "They ordered me to thank Jesus that I'm alive."

The detainee said the soldiers handcuffed him to a bed.

"Do you believe in anything?" he said the soldier asked. "I said to him, 'I believe in Allah.' So he said, "But I believe in torture and I will torture you.' "

Rumsfeld and gang have said that the Geneva Conventions are outdated and "quaint." My guess is they don't like this part:

Article 3

In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:

1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.

To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:

(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;

(b) Taking of hostages;

(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;

(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.

Bequeathing Democracy

Editorial cartoonist and commentator Ted Rall has been penning some pretty strong cartoons since the torture scandal broke out. I can appreciate the guy's moral outrage, especially when newspapers want to go ho-hum on page three about every atrocity we commit, like our latest wedding slaughter, a mere 45 human beings killed by your tax dollars.

On the home front, much more peaceful. Bought three yards of topsoil for the garden, and will wheelbarrow it around back later. My neighbor remarked that my raised bed frames look like large coffins right now, and she's right.

Hersh exposes Rumsfeld

I just have to join every blog in the universe and point to today's new Seymour Hersh article in the New Yorker:

The roots of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal lie not in the criminal inclinations of a few Army reservists but in a decision, approved last year by Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, to expand a highly secret operation, which had been focussed on the hunt for Al Qaeda, to the interrogation of prisoners in Iraq. Rumsfeld’s decision embittered the American intelligence community, damaged the effectiveness of élite combat units, and hurt America’s prospects in the war on terror.

Not that I care that Rumsfeld's decision hurts our "effectiveness," but it'll be good if all this news can reaffirm the international illegality of torture.

Kurt

I've always enjoyed reading Vonnegut, though I haven't read a novel of his in years. At 81 the guy still makes me laugh. His latest article is worth a look.

I know now that there is not a chance in hell of America’s becoming humane and reasonable. Because power corrupts us, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Human beings are chimpanzees who get crazy drunk on power. By saying that our leaders are power-drunk chimpanzees, am I in danger of wrecking the morale of our soldiers fighting and dying in the Middle East? Their morale, like so many bodies, is already shot to pieces. They are being treated, as I never was, like toys a rich kid got for Christmas

Here in the Mendenhall Valley, another gorgeous clear day. Still not too many bugs, temperatures in the mid sixties. Perfect for my daughter's seventh birthday party, and perfect for picking dandelions. I helped a friend the other day pick some of the ten quarts of dandelions he wanted to make five gallons of dandelion mead.

As India, so the U.S. ?

One of my favorite political writers, Arundahti Roy, has an article this morning about the recent defeat of India's right-wing, neo-fascist government. If we are lucky she'll be writing about the defeat of our own right-wing, neo-fascist government in a few months.

Not much happening in the valley today, except for smoke. Backyard burn piles are an unfortunate tradition in town, kept alive by high landfill prices, lax regulations, and our psuedo-pioneer libertarian mountainman spirit.

Day three, la tee dee

If you read the comment section to the first post you can see that my dear mother (Montana) is my first reader to comment. She referred to blogs as globs, or blurgs, which I thought was pretty funny. Makes me wonder if anyone has a glob blog. Alas, it appears so.

As so sagely predicted by me, Bush is using the decapitation of the American contractor to switch "from defense to offense." No similar outcry has been heard about U.S. soldiers beheading Iraqis, like one of our under-reported concientious objectors talks about:

"Going home on leave in October 2003 provided me with the opportunity to put my thoughts in order and to listen to what my conscience had to say. People would ask me about my war experiences and answering them took me back to all the horrors-the firefights, the ambushes, the time I saw a young Iraqi dragged by his shoulders through a pool of his own blood, the time a man was decapitated by our machine gun fire and the time my friend shot a child through the chest."