Yesterday's News
When I got the Hutchinson News out of the box yesterday, it was too soggy to unwrap safely and read, so I didn't get to it till today. The editorial page was worth the wait.
Paul Geist had an excellent little article in the Western Front section. It was entitled "Coal Plant Questions." His two questions were: 1) "What is the impact on the Ogallala aquifer; which is already in desperate decline due to all the irrigation wells?" 2) [not a question, actually] The Holcomb plant is supposed to provide 15 percent of the power to Kansas, but Kansas would inherit 100 percent of the pollution control cost [and the pollution that could not be controlled] and 78 percent of the production would go to Texas and Colorado."
"New jobs created would only be construction time jobs, not a lasting economic factor." Good words from a former Pleasantview businessman.
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The political cartoon also addressed the coal-fired power plant matter. In the first panel someone says "We won't even be around when coal-fired emissions hurt the climate!"
The next panel shows a hospital ward with three patients. The call-out says "That's for sure!" The three beds each have a different label: Lung Disease, Heart Disease, and Asthma. The subtitle on each label says "from current emissions." Death by emissions prevents inconvenience by climate change would summarize this message less graphically.
The state administration has pulled off a neat trick by ramming through approval of the construction of a new coal-fired power plant, in an apparent attempt to do an end run around national emissions standards just now coming on line. I'm not impressed.
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Kathleen Parker's column "A Farewell to Friends" talks about two friends who died recently. I liked some of the descriptions she used to tell us what these people were like.
Of "John" she said "He was 'wacky' in the way we all should be wacky, wearing his tender heart on sleeves that were always rolled up." That sounds to me like a take-your-breath-away awesome way to be--tender-hearted, and always willing to work hard, and even fight hard to advocate for others. He was the pioneer who, by his meticulous research-based efforts to answer questions about the developmental significance of childhood self-esteem, introduced information that has now become common knowledge.
The other friend was "Richard." The description of him included snippets like these: "An old soul and a young pilgrim . . . " (I'd love to have that said of me.) ". . . the quiet, contemplative one, always watching and smiling as one who knows the secret. . . ." ". . . one of . . . seven or eight perpetual students and a handful of unrequited lawyers--who wanted to be writers." (I don't aspire to be either a perpetual student or an unrequited lawyer, but I recognize the writer impulse that often has to reside on the back burner while life happens otherwise.) Richard served with the Peace Corps in Nepal and then returned to America to found a group that trained "young people to become leaders, using media and the power of communication to transform the world. 'Make media not war' is their motto." I think I would have liked to know Richard.
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In political news, an independent candidate, Greg Orman, is getting set to challenge Kansas' Pat Roberts' US Senate seat. He has served in Congress for 34 years.
A "hard-right" candidate is challenging Roberts in his own party, and two Democratic candidates have already begun campaigning on that front. While Independents often have trouble building enough momentum to be elected, the fact that 30 percent of Kansas voters are registered as "unaffiliated" should give pause to the candidates from the two major parties--if Orman proves to be an attractive candidate as his resume suggests might be possible.
********************
In a 24-hour period from 7:00 AM yesterday until 7:00 AM today, I dumped 2.4 inches of rain out of the rain gauge. The rain was a wonderful birthday present.
Paul Geist had an excellent little article in the Western Front section. It was entitled "Coal Plant Questions." His two questions were: 1) "What is the impact on the Ogallala aquifer; which is already in desperate decline due to all the irrigation wells?" 2) [not a question, actually] The Holcomb plant is supposed to provide 15 percent of the power to Kansas, but Kansas would inherit 100 percent of the pollution control cost [and the pollution that could not be controlled] and 78 percent of the production would go to Texas and Colorado."
"New jobs created would only be construction time jobs, not a lasting economic factor." Good words from a former Pleasantview businessman.
*****************
The political cartoon also addressed the coal-fired power plant matter. In the first panel someone says "We won't even be around when coal-fired emissions hurt the climate!"
The next panel shows a hospital ward with three patients. The call-out says "That's for sure!" The three beds each have a different label: Lung Disease, Heart Disease, and Asthma. The subtitle on each label says "from current emissions." Death by emissions prevents inconvenience by climate change would summarize this message less graphically.
The state administration has pulled off a neat trick by ramming through approval of the construction of a new coal-fired power plant, in an apparent attempt to do an end run around national emissions standards just now coming on line. I'm not impressed.
******************
Kathleen Parker's column "A Farewell to Friends" talks about two friends who died recently. I liked some of the descriptions she used to tell us what these people were like.
Of "John" she said "He was 'wacky' in the way we all should be wacky, wearing his tender heart on sleeves that were always rolled up." That sounds to me like a take-your-breath-away awesome way to be--tender-hearted, and always willing to work hard, and even fight hard to advocate for others. He was the pioneer who, by his meticulous research-based efforts to answer questions about the developmental significance of childhood self-esteem, introduced information that has now become common knowledge.
The other friend was "Richard." The description of him included snippets like these: "An old soul and a young pilgrim . . . " (I'd love to have that said of me.) ". . . the quiet, contemplative one, always watching and smiling as one who knows the secret. . . ." ". . . one of . . . seven or eight perpetual students and a handful of unrequited lawyers--who wanted to be writers." (I don't aspire to be either a perpetual student or an unrequited lawyer, but I recognize the writer impulse that often has to reside on the back burner while life happens otherwise.) Richard served with the Peace Corps in Nepal and then returned to America to found a group that trained "young people to become leaders, using media and the power of communication to transform the world. 'Make media not war' is their motto." I think I would have liked to know Richard.
********************
In political news, an independent candidate, Greg Orman, is getting set to challenge Kansas' Pat Roberts' US Senate seat. He has served in Congress for 34 years.
A "hard-right" candidate is challenging Roberts in his own party, and two Democratic candidates have already begun campaigning on that front. While Independents often have trouble building enough momentum to be elected, the fact that 30 percent of Kansas voters are registered as "unaffiliated" should give pause to the candidates from the two major parties--if Orman proves to be an attractive candidate as his resume suggests might be possible.
********************
In a 24-hour period from 7:00 AM yesterday until 7:00 AM today, I dumped 2.4 inches of rain out of the rain gauge. The rain was a wonderful birthday present.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
7:58 AM
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