WATER, WATER, EVERYWHERE?

Water, water, everywhere,
Nor any drop to drink.

Ian McKellen reads "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

(YouTube.com)

I normally avoid horror books, but I’m halfway through Troubled Water: What's Wrong with What We Drink by Seth M. Siegel, and I’m trying not to shit my pants.

It’s estimated that 0.00775% of all the water on Earth is available for drinking. Of the available water, how much is healthy or even safe to drink?

Consider that throughout human history natural pathogens have thrived in our water due to the unprecedented quantities of sewage, both human and animal, we dump into it. This has been mitigated by water treatment plants that add chemicals to our water to kill micro-organisms, chemicals that can also be dangerous to all animals, and may interact with other compounds found in our water in ways we may never know. In addition we’ve been adding industrial and household wastes in staggering amounts. Farming, especially factory farming, has been polluting surface water and vast portions of our water tables with pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, etc. etc. etc.

Landfills are a concentrated source of contamination. Homes and medical facilities flush massive quantities of drugs, cleaning chemicals, and other hazardous wastes down the drain every second of every day.

Every time you take a shower, wash your clothes, do the dishes, or eliminate the drugs your body hasn't absorbed, you add to the growing chemical soup we all drink, whether your water comes from a well, a municipal service, or a bottle. And don't forget everything you eat was raised, grown, or washed in questionable water, or contains colors, preservatives, binders, or bullshit made of God knows what.

Everyone cringes when they consider spacemen subsisting on their recycled effluent during prolonged service in space. The Earth is just a huge spaceship, and we've been drinking our own urine for a long time.

The human race might be able to find a cure for its fossil fuel addiction, but giving up potable water seems beyond our skill set. I’m old enough to remember when the notion of buying a drink of water was ridiculous. Now I wonder when the water wars will sweep across the globe.
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What Percentage of the Earth's Water Is Drinkable?

In its current state, less than 1% of the Earth's water is usable.

 (John Misachi at WorldAtlas.com)

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Here’s Where the Post-Apocalyptic Water Wars Will Be Fought
(George Dvorsky at Gizmodo.com)

"Published today in Global Environmental Change, the paper identifies several hotspots around the globe where “hydro-political issues,” in the parlance of the researchers, are likely to give rise to geopolitical tensions, and possibly even conflict. The authors of the new report, a team from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC), say the escalating effects of climate change, in conjunction with ongoing trends in population growth, could trigger regional instability and social unrest in regions where freshwater is scarce, and where bordering nations have to manage and share this increasingly scarce commodity."

An innovative approach to the assessment of hydro-political risk: A spatially explicit, data driven indicator of hydro-political issues 
(Science Direct.com)

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Trump administration rolls back landmark water protections

(Annie Snider at Politico.com)

“The action creates instant doubts about the legal status of myriad seasonal or isolated wetlands and thousands of miles of waterways, including vast swaths of the arid West. And it clears the way for the Environmental Protection Agency to finish a follow-up regulation in the coming months that could leave most of the nation's wetlands without any federal safeguards.”

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PFAS Contamination of Drinking Water Far More Prevalent Than Previously Reported

New Detections of ‘Forever Chemicals’ in New York, D.C., Other Major Cities

Sydney Evans, David Andrews, Ph.D., Tasha Stoiber, Ph.D., and Olga Naidenko, Ph.D.
(The Environmental Working Group)

  * * * * *

Meet the Lawyer Whose 20-Year Fight Against DuPont Inspired “Dark Waters”

(DemocracyNow.org and Truthout.org)

“The new film “Dark Waters” tells the story of attorney Rob Bilott’s 20-year battle with DuPont over contaminated drinking water in West Virginia from toxic chemicals used to make Teflon.”

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Troubled Water: What's Wrong with What We Drink

(GoodReads.com)

* * * * *
 
 What’s Wrong With What We Drink?

(Ralph Nader Radio Hour)

“Contaminated water in America is not confined to Flint, Michigan. Ralph welcomes Seth M. Siegel, author of “Troubled Water: What’s Wrong With What We Drink,” who not only outlines the problem with our most precious resource but tells us what we can do to fix it.”

BONUS VIDEO

Trump Administration Nixes Protection For 63% Of US Waterways
(Ron Placone on YouTube.com)
 

Terry Jones RIP

THERE'S A HOLE IN THE WORLD'S

HEART THE SHAPE AND SIZE

OF THE MAGNIFICENT TERRY JONES

Terry never knew how much I loved him, except perhaps in his knowledge that he was beloved the World over. When I was a young lad I recall watching Monty Python in America, on a little black and white TV, when PBS in its former wisdom shared it with a grateful nation.

The down side of getting old is watching your heroes go on before you. The alternative's not so great either. My best wishes to all who miss him.

Monty Python.com

TIN LIZZIE

TIN LIZZIE

I've never voted for a Republican,
nor would I vote for Elizabeth Warroom.

OR

Is Hillary Clinton Running for President Again? Sure Seems Like It. 
(William Rivers Pitt at Truthout.org)

"On Tuesday Morning, Hollywood Reporter published its latest cover story about Hillary, a four-hour Sundance documentary series on Clinton’s political career that is set to debut in March. The hood ornament for the article is a Clinton quote from the film about Bernie Sanders. It is the primary-season equivalent of throwing a live hand grenade into a vat of kerosene:

'He was in Congress for years. He had one senator support him. Nobody likes him, nobody wants to work with him, he got nothing done. He was a career politician. It’s all just baloney and I feel so bad that people got sucked into it.'

CAN'T SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE

CAN'T SAY IT AIN'T SO JOE

Even if Joe wasn't senile, he'd be an awful president.

Fact Check: Joe Biden Has Advocated Cutting Social Security for 40 Years

(Ryan Grim at The Intercept.com)

"As early as 1984 and as recently as 2018, former Vice President Joe Biden called for cuts to Social Security in the name of saving the program and balancing the federal budget. Last week, Sen. Bernie Sanders highlighted Biden’s record on Social Security in prosecuting the case that Biden isn’t the most electable candidate. The issue could be raised again in Tuesday night’s debate.

After a Sanders campaign newsletter continued the attack on Biden’s Social Security record, the Biden campaign complained to fact-checkers at Politifact that his comments were being taken out of context. Placed in context, however, Biden’s record on Social Security is far worse than one offhand remark. Indeed, Biden has been advocating for cuts to Social Security for roughly 40 years."

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 BONUS VIDEOS

Dear Joe Biden’s Older Supporters, He Wants to Cut YOUR Social Security!

 &

Biden Makes His Most Deceitful, Trumpian Accusation About Sanders' Campaign Yet

(The Humanist Report on YouTube.com)

* * * * * *

 BONUS ARTICLE

President George "The Worst" Bush, under whose watch the atrocities of 9-11 occurred, having illegally and under ludicrously false pretenses destroyed a country, killing and displacing millions of innocent people, after starting an endless war against a scary noun, that continues to waste trillions of dollars and countless lives to this day, regrets most of all that he didn't hand over the Social Security Program to greedy corporations.

The World doesn't fear any so called Axis of Evil, they fear Assholes of Evil, that play around with the most powerful military in human history.
_________

George W. Bush Reveals His Biggest Failure Was Not Privatizing Social Security
(Elyse Siegel posted at Common Dreams.org)

"Former President George W. Bush signaled on Thursday that he sees not
privatizing Social Security as his greatest failure from the eight
years he served in the White House, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The unpopular Republican leader made the suggestion while speaking at
a trade conference in the Windy City, where he discussed his legacy and
also offered a glimpse into what readers can expect from his
forthcoming memoir, Decision Points.

"I would like to be remembered as a guy who had a set of priorities,
and was willing to live by those priorities," explained Bush. "In terms
of accomplishments, my biggest accomplishment is that I kept the country
safe amidst a real danger."

CELEBRATE MLK NOT HIS HOLIDAY

 CELEBRATE MLK, NOT HIS HOLIDAY

No, Martin Luther King Jr. was not a Republican — but here’s what he had to say about them

(Think Progress.org)

“…‘Most people don’t talk about the fact that Martin Luther King was a Republican.’

That’s a quote from Ada Fisher, a Republican National Committeewoman from North Carolina, that was published without qualification or correction this week by ABC News…

Here is what King had to say about Ronald Reagan, the hero of modern Republicans:

..When a Hollywood performer, lacking distinction even as an actor can become a leading war hawk candidate for the Presidency, only the irrationalities induced by a war psychosis can explain such a melancholy turn of events.”

* * * * * *

DEMOCRACY NOW!

 (Democracy Now.org)

SPECIAL: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in His Own Words

“Today is the federal holiday that honors Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He was born January 15, 1929. He was assassinated April 4, 1968, at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. He was just 39 years old. While Dr. King is primarily remembered as a civil rights leader, he also championed the cause of the poor and organized the Poor People’s Campaign to address issues of economic justice. Dr. King was also a fierce critic of U.S. foreign policy and the Vietnam War. We play his “Beyond Vietnam” speech, which he delivered at New York City’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, as well as his last speech, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop,” that he gave on April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated.”

* * * * * *
UPDATE:

KYLE KULINSKI
SECULAR TALK
 MLK Day: Remembering His Radical Economic Legacy
 (YouTube.com)

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BONUS VIDEO:

PROFESSOR RICHARD D. WOLFF

DEMOCRACY AT WORK

Economic Update: Independent Media
(YouTube.com)

THIS WEEK'S TOPICS (w/timestamps):
00:44 - Updates on on the sale of a co-op craft brewery to a large corporation;
03:35 - U.S. medical costs are by far the highest in world,
05:54 - capitalism’s defense of inequality and instability with the "overcoming poverty” concept.
13:52 - announcements;
14:59 - SPECIAL GUEST: Prof. Wolff interviews Laura Flanders, a long-time independent journalist, about the idea of an independent media.

MORE BERNIE ENDORSEMENTS!

MORE BERNIE ENDORSEMENTS

Pramila Jayapal Backs Sanders Over Warren + More Big Endorsements Of The Week
(The Rational National)

&

Breakdown: Biden Falsely Claims Bernie ‘Doctored’ Video Of Him 
 (The Rational National)

* * * * * *

 BONUS VIDEOS

Tucker takes on Cornel West over Democratic socialism 

(Brainless Fucker Carlson schooled by a wise man)

The Stark Difference Between Bernie & Biden
(Secular Talk on YouTube.com)

If after listening to these closing statements you think Biden should be president, you should be forced to grab a shovel and start digging humanity's mass grave.

RUSHIN' TO MEDDLE

RUSHIN' TO MEDDLE

GREG PALAST COVERS U.S. RIGGING OF U.S. ELECTIONS

(Greg Palast.com)

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The United States of America has practiced throwing elections around the world for virtually its entire existence. Practice doesn't always make perfect, so when an election is not successfully thrown, we go to Plan B, using our intelligence and military assets to commit a coup. The U.S. regularly overthrows governments or assassinates leaders that do not align with the interests of international corporations. This fact is not in question, it's simply a well-documented historical fact. Our violent foreign conflicts are never about "America's" interests, it's always about the interests of big money. Perhaps the most accessible and shortest take on this topic is Major General Smedley D. Butler's classic, War is a Racket.

Our history with Iran is a decades-long story of our illegal interventions. And it continues right up to this moment.

South America is replete with countries illegally overthrown by the U.S., it's being attempted right now in Venezuela, and has just happened in Bolivia.

Everyone should read Eduardo Galeano's great book, which chronicles how the U.S. picked up where the Europeans left off in the raping of Latin America.

OPEN VEINS OF LATIN AMERICA

* * * * * *

With all that vast experience manipulating governments around the globe to steal natural resources and prevent weaker nations from controlling their own economy, is it conceivable that our oligarchs would allow free and honest elections in the most powerful country that has ever existed?

I'll answer that for you... NO!

I keep hearing about how socialism doesn't work, because there isn't any successful examples. Can you name one country that has attempted to curtail the excesses of Capitalism that the United States of America hasn't destroyed, or attempted to destroy, with sanctions or military action? It's like telling folks that Jasper doesn't know how to grow flowers, without mentioning you regularly run over his flower bed with a lawn mower.

Anyone who approaches an election in the U.S. without cynicism occupies a make believe land filled with larger than life fantasy heroes who were inspired by a big magic pixie to create the happiest place on Earth....after the pesky natives were removed and replaced by cheap labor.

The links below are just the tip of the iceberg. U.S. election rigging has been going on for a very long time, and it isn't the Russians that have displayed any effectiveness.

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 Stealing California from Bernie — again? Palast with KPFA's Sabrina Jacobs

"My dear Californians, I know you filled out that registration form at the DMV. Well, you know what? I’ll bet you that your name is not going to be there because there’s a 45% chance in California when you sign up to register to vote on a piece of paper, your name is never entered on the voter rolls. Guess what? California has one of the worst voting systems in the entire nation."

* * * * * *

How Trump’s going to steal the 2020 election Palast with KPFA's Sabrina Jacobs

"Palast discusses the theft of the 2020 election, which is happening right now, right under our noses, with Sabrina Jacobs on KPFA’s A Rude Awakening."

* * * * * *

Hunting Season on Voters Opens with Georgia & Wisconsin Purges Mass Registration Cancellations ordered by Courts

"Two new court decisions have blessed mass purges of voters in two swing states, Georgia and Wisconsin. This could be the launch of a new system for purging masses of voters of color and young voters that is expected to spread to 20 or more states before the Presidential election."