TV News LIES

Residents living near gas fracking sites suffer an increasingly high rate of health problems now linked to pollutants used in the gas extraction process, according to a new report released Thursday.

The study, conducted by Earthworks’ Oil & Gas Accountability Project, pulled from a survey of 108 Pennsylvania residents in 14 counties, and a series of air and water tests. The results showed close to 70 percent of participants reported an increase in throat irritation and roughly 80 percent suffered from sinus problems after natural gas extraction companies moved to their areas. The symptoms intensify the closer the residents are to the fracking sites.

Chalk up another win to tee-shirt philosophy, with an added twist.

Many have long said, "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should."  The current version of such qualitative evaluations in life might be, "Just because you can, why on Earth would you want to?"

Upholding that basic concept, especially with that newest wrinkle, may be a sign of intelligent life down here after all, but I'm not blistering the flooring in a panicked hurry to get out and place bets.

If I sprayed your salad with some "RAID" roach killer right now, just a little bit right on the lettuce and maybe a little more on the tomatoes, would you still eat it all, and just assume your body will simply filter out those "small amounts" of toxins?

Better yet, what if I paid for it, a nice big, tasty, "bug killer" salad that you could even take outside and no bugs would bother you at all, would you eat it? How about this: If I sprayed a quick shot of some Raid ant killer into your orange juice or your apple juice right in front of you, would you drink it, especially if you'd save 25 cents on every drink you drank from now on?

What comes to mind when you think of fracking? Perhaps it’s images of tap water being lit on fire or stories of families suffering health problems after nearby wells are fracked.

Indeed, the health and environmental impacts of fracking are being documented, but it’s important to know that fracking is a catalyst for widespread negative consequences. This list includes five effects of fracking you may not have heard about.

Yewazi, an Afghan national, began working as an interpreter with the U.S. military in 2006, when he was 20 years old, accompanying units on patrol in the Nuristan and Kunar provinces, among the most dangerous in the country.

In May 2009, during a mission to repair a collapsed bridge in a remote northeastern valley, the soldiers he was with were ambushed; shrapnel from a rocket-propelled grenade peppered the right side of his body, maiming him so badly that doctors initially told him he’d lose his right hand. As he recovered at Bagram Air Base, his unit returned to the States.

Former Democratic presidential candidate George McGovern – whose unsuccessful 1972 campaign against Richard Nixon is remembered for having helped spark the Watergate office break-in of the Democratic National Committee headquarters that was eventually traced back to the Nixon White House – died early Sunday morning, said a family spokesman. He was 90.

McGovern was hospitalized last Dec. 2 in Sioux City, S.D., after he fell and injured his head on the sidewalk outside the Dakota Wesleyan University's McGovern Library. Though he was later released, he had been in failing health throughout 2012, and on Oct. 8 he entered hospice care in Sioux Falls "with a combination of medical conditions, due to age, that have worsened over recent months," said a statement from his family.

The longer our country's history, the faster and more extreme we become, tearing off into all directions at once.  Even as we progress and go forward, it seems, we can grow in opposite directions -- while trying to juggle and reconcile our parallel lines, already skewing to the extreme, pointed and going everywhichway at once.

Some extremes may be related to the increased population effect you've noted from time to time, in which it seems there are thousands of people in every conceivable hobby or belief group, from The Intercontinental Plaid-Toaster-Cozy Aficionados to The Society of Tap-Dancing Proust Performance Artists.

Putting a television in your house is like putting an Invasion of the Body Snatchers seed pod in your bedroom closet. If you watch the damned thing long enough sooner than later you’ll end up in a Stevie Wonder song:

… you believe in things that you don't understand. Then you suffer

I watched the presidential and vice presidential debates on CBC up here in Beautiful British Columbia. During the debates viewers could vote on who was winning. The first debate’s results were: 76% Obama, and 18% Romney. The next morning I went online to read the American Polls. WTF!!?? Romney was declared the winner.