14 thoughts on “Thursday Open Thread”

1. Don’t be a tough guy.  Don’t be a fool!

   Great and unmatched wisdom, circa 2019.

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   1. Holding out for a hero!

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2. RIP Congressman Elijah Cummings. America's descent into fascism is inexorable at this point, but Cummings wasn't going to give up without a fight. We've lost one of the good guys. 

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   1. "descent into fascism inexorable"? I'm not ready to concede that….ever. I doubt Elijah Cummings would be either.

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3. Anyone who lives in or visits rural Colorado ought to read this Colorado Sun article about bears becoming habituated to using human supplied foods. This is not something that individuals can solve, but we need to be aware of the situation that average behavior of people in rural areas (both visitors and residents) has created.

   https://coloradosun.com/2019/10/17/colorado-bear-attacks-reasons/

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4. It looks like Ambassador Sondland is NOT planning on going down with the ship. And it IS going down.

   To honor Congressman Cummings, it can end no other way.

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5. I saw the news about Rep. Cummings this morning when the paper hitting the storm door woke me. I came downstairs, fired up my laptop and immediately got a pop-up from the Washington Post. It knocked the wind out of me.

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6. In other news, sun rises in east…

   Despite Their Promises, Giant Energy Companies Burn Away Vast Amounts of Natural Gas

   The analysis provides one of the clearest pictures to date of the companies behind the vast emissions of natural gas that have resulted from America’s shale oil boom, fueled by the use of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, to unlock fossil fuels from shale rock.

   Last year, operators across the three basins together flared or vented a record 320 million cubic feet of gas, more than 40 percent above levels seen just five years ago. The pace for the first two quarters of 2019 has been even higher.

    

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   1. I think we ought to see if Hickenlooper will stand by a flaring natural gas stack, inhaling deeply for his health, just to show that pollution is actually good for you. As he did when he bragged about drinking track fluid with Halliburton execs. 

      Hick would be better than Gardner on reproductive and other health issues, maybe gun control, (though not police shooting people of color ),but there isn’t much daylight between Hick and Gardner on support for the fossil fuels industries.

       

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      1. They differ only in their loyalties within the industry. 

         To my knowledge, Hick has never crossed the Oily Boyz. The EPA rules he likes to brag about were pushed by the front range Big 3.(.Anadarko, Encana..I can’t remember just which ones) He just went along because of the many attaboys from the Dems. As I recall, COGA and IPAMS were set against CPA..

         I could be corrected on some of those details, but anyone thinking the EPA rules were a result of Hicks tireless efforts as a champion of the environment is mistaken.

          

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      2. perfect.
         Reelect gardner because why not?!

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   2. It's much more likely that these are symptoms related to peoples' proximity to dynamic economic activity, I'm sure.

      Colorado oil and gas study finds elevated risk of nosebleeds, headaches, dizziness for residents near fracking sites

      The study found people living between 500 feet and 2,000 feet of oil and gas fracking sites can have elevated risk of nose bleeds, headaches, dizziness and other short-term health effects.

      State regulators of the oil and gas industry responded by announcing they immediately will start reviewing more strictly all industry applications to drill new wells within 2,000 feet of homes and begin measuring air emissions around industry sites.

      State health officials under former Gov. John Hickenlooper repeatedly assured residents at the time that Colorado’s approach to oil and gas operations near people was adequately protective.

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      1. Governor Frackenloopers' predecessor was genuinely moved by the story of Chris Mobaldi, a woman who should never be forgotten by Coloradans. 

         Simply google her name.

          

          

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7. It's official — TrumpRats are starting to abandon ship!

   European Union Ambassador Gordon Sondland, says he was uncomfortable with how Trump appeared to politicize foreign policy with that country.

   Sondland was uncomfortable with a few specific things, according to his prepared remarks for Thursday’s testimony. And they’re all things Trump is being investigated for in the House

   If there’s one character in all this we should follow closely, it’s Sondland. He comes across in text messages as one of Trump’s top defenders throughout the summer, as he, Giuliani and diplomats negotiated with Ukraine’s newly elected president. He was a major Trump donor who maneuvered himself to be an ambassador and work on Ukraine policy, reports The Washington Post, even though he had no experience with diplomacy and Ukraine isn’t even part of the European Union.

   If this guy isn’t defending Trump’s actions under oath to Congress, will anyone?

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