Friday, January 12, 2018

We Should All Drink the Water We Pollute

Mike is out of town on business so I watched too much news last night, a whole cycle of news devoted to Trump's 'shithole countries.' comment. I am amazed that so many people still want him to apologize, as if he had never maligned people of color before. We established that he was a racist when he called Mexicans rapists, when he was rude to the parents of a Muslim soldier who had given his life to his country, when he said there were some very fine people among the Nazi thugs invading Charlottesville, when he limited aid to Puerto Rico, when he called Colin Kaepernick a son of a bitch for peacefully protesting for Black Lives Matter. Do I need to go on?

Trump is not going to change now. I don't know why people keep expecting him to. He won't apologize to keep peaceable relationships with the countries he insulted either.

The interesting comment I kept hearing was that 'Trump's handlers' tried to manage the aftermath. Trump's handlers, as if he's a trained bear. Let that sink in. Trump has to be handled.

Too bad he can't handle himself.

So, where am I on my resolution?

I missed a few days. The nice thing about a good New Year's resolution is that you can lose it and get back on track again. Right? The worst resolutions are all or nothing. Right?

I received one last note from NordicTrack: I will go ahead and pass on that information over to the correct department. I appreciate the feedback, thank you.

Yes, I am back to believing that NordicTrack might embrace my idea of making the energy of athletes at gyms actually accomplish something.

Should I try another exercise equipment company? It's hard to keep reaching out, hard to feel like an idiot over and over again. It's easier to stay quiet, to let the status quo, not to make waves. There it is, that feeling of inertia I keep talking about.

I'm certain that technology will either save or kill us, depending on how we use it. Inertia will most certainly kill us when it comes to the environment.

I heard something about climate change in the news yesterday. It was a blip. What was it? I was in the car listening to NPR on the way home from the library. I think it was an ad for Living On Earth, PRI's Environmental News Magazine.

But I know I didn't hear the latest podcast of  Living on Earth.  I would have remembered that one.The Boundary Waters is in jeopardy.

After Trump reversed an Obama ruling restricting mining in Minnesota, the Boundary Waters is at risk of being polluted by acid, arsenic, mercury, and lead.

What is it with Trump reversing every single thing Obama ever accomplished? What the hell is that? It's ridiculous and petty. Just what is the long-term benefit to allowing mining in the Boundary Waters?

It would ruin canoe trekking there. Can you imagine having to carry water into the boundary waters to paddle there for a week? Can you picture people having to stay out of the water to keep from being poisoned?

That would totally suck.

I've paddled in the Boundary Waters twice, once in the early nineties, and once in 2004. It's a place where you can get lost on the border between the U.S. and Canada, where you can see the Milky Way at night, where loons still call their haunting song, where you can still smell algae above the clean water as you paddle.

Just think of it: acid, arsenic, mercury, and lead.

It's too bad Trump's handlers don't serve him water from the  places that he pollutes. If we all looked at water that way, that we drink what we pollute, Flint Michigan would never have happened. This mining operation near the Boundary Waters would be required to clean up after themselves. People would stop putting chemicals on their lawns for fear of drinking it.

It may not be climate change, but it's a thought. Act as though you're going to drink or eat anything that you're tempted to pollute. We do, after all.

Thank you for listening, jules

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