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Health & Fitness

News of the Year 2014 in Review

In my effort to make sense of the world around me, I thought I would reflect on a few  news highlights that caught my eye this year. Yes, it has only been two weeks. There is, however, no lack of happenings and lessons to be learned.

 

Chris Cristie. When I saw his press conference last week, I initially thought he handled himself better than most politicians. Maybe a breadth of fresh air compared to some of the lame and dismissive shows put on by other politicians. I was, however, struck by his comment that he is not a ‘bully’. Kind of like Nixon’s “I’m not a crook” comment before he resigned during the impeachment hearings.

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And, then the dust settled and voices heretofore more silent in the past have managed to bring the bright lights on New Jersey. At first I suspect other Republican hopefuls were happy that Christie’s shine was tarnished. Now I think things may be more challenging than Christie ever thought. Not only has he run a tight ship; he had obviously intimidated members of both parties, until now.

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But, here is the real bottom line. Those lane closures impacted the lives of  thousands of people in the Fort Lee area. People lost money and time. Maybe some lost crucial time obtaining medical treatment. There is almost no likelihood that they will be compensated as victims properly should be. Politicians may think talking their way out of something and moving on is enough. Well, it is not. People, remember us taxpayers, are entitled to more than just being victimized bystanders to these political machinations. Taking responsibility means making it right for those who suffered from another’s behavior. That would be justice. It is unlikely justice will be done for those who sat in the Ft. Lee traffic jams over the five day period.

 

Charleston West Virginia is a competing stage to Ft. Lee for another bad performance. The gang of bad actors in this sad travesty is bound to expand, much like the web in the Christie soap opera. At the moment the main actor is the rather lame Gary Southern, President of Freedom Industries. According to the news reports Freedom is a recent purchaser of this decrepit chemical tank farm, with its tanks situated as close as thirty yards from the Elk River, a water source for over 300,000 area residents in the Charleston area. Residents in this area of West Virginia call it Chemical Valley.

 

One of the chemicals that spilled from the leaking tanks is MCHM, which is short for 4-methylcyclohexane methanol. Like most chemicals with names that normal people have trouble pronouncing or spelling, MCHM is toxic and causes harm to those who breath, touch or ingest it. Hundreds of residents have been treated at hospitals. Bottled water has to be trucked in because the drinking supply is unsafe. Residents cannot even shower or wash their hands with the toxic water. This is an environmental mess.

 

So, what will come of all this. The Governor of the State, not surprisingly, owes his job, as do many other West Virginia politicians, to the chemical and coal industry. There is not much sympathy for health and safety regulation in West Virginia. Even though several days prior to this massive spill, inspectors, called out by resident complaints, saw a four foot wide stream of chemicals migrating toward the Elk River, nothing was done. I would expect that the responsible governmental agencies will stonewall a bit. Then we will learn that the laws are lax and enforcement is negligible because the agencies aren’t well funded. Some may ask, since Freedom Industries was recently purchased, what information was known through what is called the due diligence pre purchase phase. We may only get a partial glimpse of the facts because plaintiff lawyers, sniffing a half billion dollar potential prize, have already started to file lawsuits and will likely do extensive discovery.

 

Who is going to pay those evacuated or forced to leave their homes? The State? Freedom? Will Freedom Industries be shut down or its corporate officials subjected to serious criminal prosecution. You can bet some bucks that if some of those residents went to a store and committed a petty theft, some serious jail time would be meted out. But when a chemical company pollutes the hell out of a river and the soil, and harms neighbors living around in the area, the chemical company will probably skate without meaningful repercussions. It pays to be a big player in the corporate world that we now live in.

 

For something that still may turn into a worse nightmare than one can imagine, some news about Fukushima is worthy of note. You will be hard pressed to find a lot of information in the abysmal reporting of our media giants. At the behest and strong urging of the Obama administration, the Japanese premier succeeded in getting the Japanese legislative body to adopt a new state secrets law. No matter that Japan was already not the most forthcoming country when it comes to openness. This state secrets law now allows the government to make it a crime to discuss or to reveal matters pertaining to its nuclear industry. The Japanese government has already stifled information and misled its citizens and other countries about the extent and seriousness of the nuclear meltdown that has occurred. Now reporters and scientists may be gagged, or face jail. So much for future reporting.

 

Recent reports have revealed an alarming rate of illness to those exposed to the radioactive spill, including sailors on US ships that came to assist the Japanese government. The Obama administration’s obsession with secrecy fully supports Japan’s new law and is encouraging it to clamp down on whistle blowers and others who may probe into this nuclear debacle. It was disheartening to hear that our ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy, has been a cheerleader for Japan’s new secrecy push.

 

What can we expect? I suspect any talking up of nuclear power is on a temporary hold. Remember how enthusiastic Obama was about the role of nuclear power in our energy policy. No more such open talk. In the meantime hold your breadth and hope. We have not heard the last of Fukushima. It is by far the worst nuclear event in history, save maybe the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It is not under control. Nuclear waste continues to contaminate the Pacific Ocean. The radioactive waste is reaching the US. Fish are at risk and so is your health. Better be more selective about what you eat out of the Pacific, just like you should be about the shrimp and other marine life off of the Louisiana Coast due to the Deep Horizon spill.

 

I take away several lessons from events like Fukushima, the Deep Well Horizon, and the Freedom Industries chemical spill. Governments are not forthcoming. Corporate behavior largely goes unaddressed and unpunished. Normal people suffer major consequences with pint size relief and little justice. The bottom line is our federal and state governments are not adequately protecting the health, safety, and welfare of its citizens (except maybe its corporate ones).

 

What can we do? Becoming better informed is a start. Vocalizing, while you still have some freedom of speech rights, is becoming an absolute requirement. Starting to demonstrate and joining in efforts to change the way our government functions is necessary now more than ever. But, don’t count on Democrats to save the day.

 

California is considered to be one of the better and more enlightened states in the country. But, look around. Our public school system has been neglected and is now way too expensive. Our taxing policy is regressive and protects big business interests much more than normal citizens. Except for some exceptional elected officials, the best we can say about most Democrats in California is that they are socially appropriate but economic water boys/girls for big corporate interests. And, some, like Diane Feinstein have unacceptably become surveillance state advocates who blindly support what former President Eisenhower felt was the greatest threat to our democracy-the military industrial complex.

 

At the national level we don’t need blue dog Democrats or corporatist Democrats. We need a new breed of Democrat who is willing fight for economic fairness and equality. Our elected officials have failed to address even a weak short term solution to the unemployment insurance extension. My lord, you would think someone cares about the dismal job situation in our country. And don’t hold your breadth awaiting the passage of legislation to raise the minimum wage, provide nutritional benefits for our 1 out of 4 kids who live in poverty, or provide relief to our college age students who are becoming the newest debtor class thanks to a failure in our obnoxiously expensive public education system.

 

I wish I could report on some progress in our once exceptional democracy. But such is not in the cards. Stay tuned for the next yearly update.

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