Katy-How Are You Doing?

[Flower Child]

Katy--How are you doing? I'm concerned about everything and anything going on in the southeast and I know you live in Alabama. It is a true tragedy with the devastation of the Gulf along with the environment of the states bordering it. I had heard that there is acid rain falling and I was wondering if that was true. My thoughts, hopes and prayers are with all of the citizens, animals and the environment in that area. My brother-in-law, who is a fisherman in the Florida Keys, will lose his business from this disaster, and it's bad enough he already has cancer. Quite frankly, with all the chaos going on simultaneously on this wretched planet, I do not see humans surviving into the next century. We will be the catastrophic victims of our own doing. I am very worried for everyone as I never thought we'd be witnesses to the greatest environmental disaster ever in our lifetime.

[Katy]

I'm fine, Flower Child. While things are really, really tense and wrung with anxiety in my state about this BP oil gusher, I'm fine. I'm not nearly on the direct line of effect as are the full-time Gulf residents. I, too, am extremely upset and worried and just completely overwhelmed about what is happening. My family actually does keep a house in the Gulf area, and we have since the 1950's. So, while we are not full-time Gulf residents, we are part of what is happening down there.

We went down in early May, just as the first tarballs began washing ashore on Alabama beaches. Besides the crews and military personnel, it felt deserted and just plain eerie. There is no doubt this event, this disaster, has a long arm and is reaching out to un-told numbers.

Beyond my purely emotional response to this, I personally have not experienced any of the side effects, like the nausea from the fumes, nor has my livelihood been affected, unless you consider the tax revenue my state will not receive now (from all those small businesses, the seafood export industry and tourism) which will affect my state's budget which will in turn affect the my institution's state budget. Education has already felt deep cuts in my state.

And, no, I have not heard of acid rain, but that is not to say that I know all about this event. I've actually stopped watching the coverage because I cannot take it. It goes from bad to worse to worse to worse still. Thinking about it too much makes me want to do myself in. It's overwhelming destruction.

As for the next century, I cannot see around the corner right now. But I do sense some urgency about environmental concerns, even before this BP OIL GUSHER. This attitude of environmental privilege expressed by so many people definitely is a reason (for me) to have a general dislike of people.

I hope you are well, and thank you for your concern. I'm sorry to hear about your brother-in-law.

Katy

[Flower Child]

Katy--thank you for your quick response. I am glad you're not breathing in any toxic fumes. I also don't blame you for blocking out any further upsetting news. It's like a kick in the gut. I know what you mean by budget cuts as my state is bankrupt already. There have been so many cuts to education that college is only affordable to the wealthy and the rest will just have to remain dumb and dumber for the rest of their lives. How pathetic. I'm glad you and I were able to get our degrees when college was affordable and accessible. Anyway, thank you for your sympathy for my brother-in-law. The projected loss of his business is only making his health worse and I am afraid that he won't make it by this time next year. He has skin cancer from working out in the hot Florida sun 7 days a week for the past 40 years of his life. Back then no one knew about UV rays and sunscreen. So much for that. I'm sorry about your family's summer home on the coast. I hope your family files a huge claim against BP. You sound like a strong minded person and you'll grit it out. Please do not do anything negative to yourself as that is not a solution. As respects the environment and people I know how you feel. I get angry when people drop cigarette butts on the street or don't clean up after their dogs. If you say anything to them they might just punch you out or even shoot you as we have become such a violent society. There is no such thing as civility anymore. Take care and I promise you my opinion of AWA after I watch it. It arrived on Monday.

[Flower Child]

Katy-my brother-in-law sent me this article and I thought you might want to read it. It's outrageous!

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/07/bp_buys ... s_for.html

[Katy]

I am not surprised. There is a lot at stake here. But as one of those lawyers mention, I see a lot of tricky ethical questions in this situation. A very public vs. private section dichotomy is in place for sure. I just hope, for once, the benefit falls on the side of the public. It often does not. But it does sound as if both sides are readying for battle.

My step father just got a job helping with the clean up. I don't think I can be anymore specific than that. You know, you just read it. Tricky balance here. Anyway, he's down there full time now, working with the salvaged oil.

It reminds me of the on-going open access journal debate. The NIH is one of the largest science and medicine research grant providers. That means most of this science is funded by the US taxpayers, which mean we own it. But publishers charge an arm and a leg for the public to read the results of this research, which is putting a barrier up between us and our investment. Not only that, but these scientists and researchers are not paid for writing this content either because in academia, it's publish or perish. So, they work within a system that requires them to publish. So, to do this, they sign away their copyright to the publishers, who turn around and charge a lot for others to read this stuff. So, the only side getting anything from these relationships is the publisher, which I hope you can see is wrong. The open access movement is trying to change that, even putting in place legal measures to ensure it. And, obviously, science and academic publishers are not happy.

The article you linked does remind me of this debate, but drawing more conclusive parallels is beyond me just now.

Katy

[Flower Child]

Katy--the taxpayers are ALWAYS getting screwed without a kiss. A recent opinion poll cites that 62% of people surveyed believe that the government does NOT work in the interests of the governed. No surprise to me. Where is the "transparency" in government that was promised? It disappeared into oblivion. It makes me the cynic that I have become to be to permanently set in stone. It's not just our government but governments worldwide.

Your stepfather is working to combat the oil leak. WOW! That is heavy duty and backbreaking work. I commend him for what he is doing. He is an unsung hero in my eyes. However we now know that BP stands for "Bulls**t Purveyors." May the gods and goddesses that be bless him and the hundreds of others who are working 24/7 to fight this corporate destruction of our planet!

Here is a link to that survey:
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_ ... e_governed

[Katy]

Flower Child, that poll seems extremely biased to me. Just look at the wording. But I will admit, I don't know a lot about polls. I can't even tell if that poll consisted of just one question, or if there were more. More than the one you point out, all those links to the other polls, and the wording used to interpret the results lead me to think there is a bias in this polling firm. I, personally, take these results with a grain of salt.

Katy

[Flower Child]

Katy--I understand where you are coming from as I have friends who think exactly the way you do. I don't know very much about this guy Rasmussen, what criteria he used, questions asked and the sampling of those people who were asked. It wasn't broken down by race, ethnicity, age, religion, sex, marital status, income and locations. You may very well be 100% correct but in my conversations with many people it makes me believe that this man is on to something. Take care.

[Katy]

Exactly the way I do? I would like to think that I am not as transparent as you suggest. But just in case I am not so transparent, I will say that I am not partisan because I am weary of anyone trying to manipulate a reaction out of me. And, I do value reflection, not merely as a manipulative way to support argument, but as a way to broaden and deepen personal understanding.

But more specifically to this poll, my reaction was purely professional. As a librarian (though not currently working as a librarian), I have a professional interest in investigating reliability and authority of data. I didn't have a lot of time to really get into that poll or its organization, so my initial assessment is based solely on the language used to interpret the data from the poll(s). I can't say I had an emotional reaction to it.

As far as having a sense of disenchantment with the current administration, I have no clue. I live in Alabama. I don't talk to people in Alabama about politics. Not only do I not find people who think "exactly the way I do", I don't find much thought at all (in regards to politics). Politics here seem to me to be an un-questioned tradition, and there is nothing more boring to me than to try to elicit opinion from people who don't really question their own tendencies.

In terms of my own positions, just as an aside, I often wonder where they come from. It seems odd to me that I was born and raised in Alabama but am definitely not typical of this place, in politics, in lifestyle, in experience, in education, etc. My positions do not even reflect my family's positions. I don't know where my view of the world came from. And, I would not say I have ever been much interested in politics, so having a sense of my politics is really all I work with. I have not spent endless time forming and informing my sense of things. It just is. And, no, I don't really see my positions reflected in the political arena. Well, perhaps, bits and pieces of it here and there.

So, if you have discerned something political about me, I'm a bit amazed. It seems you know more about me than I do about myself. I really am a politically disengaged person. The only thing I feel up in arms about these days is Roman Polanski becoming a free man, again. That whole thing disgusts me. And, yes, I do have an emotional reaction to that situation. I see it as another assault on the value of women. Obviously, being a white male still has its privileges. And in my mind, there is no amount of creative output that can make up for how he treated this one girl, nor for his attitude of entitlement to do such things. --Anyway, I won't say anymore about this. My position has not won me any friends, for sure. But the whole thing really makes me ill. sick. Makes me want to throw up. How completely un-just it is.

So, that's my soap box today.

Katy

[Flower Child]

Katy-when I wrote that I know people who "think exactly like you" I meant it regarding polls. No, I do NOT know you at all and do not assume anything about you. In fact, I agree with many of the things you wrote, inclusive of Roman Polanski. You are 101% correct in your opinion that white men have it all. I'm not really very political at all. I try my best to avoid political situations and conversations as it's all too mind boggling and depressing. I do talk to my neighbors and they just express dismay with the government. However, I am basically a listener. The only weapon I have is my vote. You might call me an escapist as I spend most of my time reading, watching videos and tending to my garden as I grow my own fruits and veggies to save money. I do have a sister who is very political and some of the things she tells me do rattle my cages. Sometimes I cut her off mid-sentence and don't want to deal with it as she goes on and on. I will repeat myself and say again that I do not know you. I just want to have a good rapport with you and stick to commonalities like JM and other areas of entertainment. I think you are a very smart and insightful woman in which I admire and not afraid to express your opinions. As respects the BP situation I only brought it up because you live in AL. I had lived for a brief period of time in New Orleans back in the 80's and just remember how beautiful the area was when I was there. Take care and I hope that we will continue to communicate.

[Katy]

Let's chalk this misunderstanding up to written word vs. body language, intonation and speaking, ok? I really was not being defensive in my post, but re-reading it, I can certainly see why you think I was. Admittedly, I have a dry sense of humor, and it probably does not come across in writing, especially since you and I have nothing else to go on in this situation. I certainly hope you will continue to post, and I will try to include clues when I get all dried up with the things I find amusing. I did actually find that phrase, "exactly like you do", to be funny in the context of my own life.

No hard feelings?

Well wishes.
Katy

[Flower Child]

Katy--no problems here as misunderstandings are a part of being human. We now must move on and try to figure out what JM has on her drawing board for her next project I can't remember where I read it but they might do a second series on Strike Back. I have not yet seen series one. If they do a second series I'm sure JM will be back to revive her character, unless of course she gets written out.

[Katy]

I'm glad we could work through that.

And, I have not read anything about a series 2 for Strike Back. I've only read that the ending leaves it open for another series, and I would also concur with that. It could be brought back. I never read the source material -- did you? I don't know if there is more story there or not. it does seem that series writers could continue its storylines without them being in the source material and just basing it on the source. Same characters but different situations kind of stories.

Whatever you find out there about next projects, please let us know! I haven't seen anything new popping up since Polar Bears.

Katy