A Few New Weekenders

FRACKING: REDUX

Last week: (Director of the N.D. Department of Mineral Resources) Lynn Helms said he doesn’t believe it’s necessary to know what’s in fracturing fluid. “We’d just bury ourselves in information doing the full disclosure thing. I don’t think people read ingredients on food they buy at the grocery store. This would just alarm people.”

This week: Helms said the threat of federal regulation of hydraulic fracturing has picked up again with letters from Congress to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator Lisa Jackson and new information about the EPA’s study plans being published. The EPA is undertaking a congressionally mandated study of hydraulic fracturing nationwide and any potential impacts of the process on drinking water and groundwater. Currently, the process is regulated by state and local governments (Source: Minot Daily News 2-19-2011).

Well, gee, Lynn, maybe if Congress and the EPA weren’t reading that states like North Dakota really AREN’T regulating fracking . . .

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

This week’s Quote of the Week is from Brett Narloch of the North Dakota Policy Council :

“They (North Dakotans) are starting to realize that having gigantic surpluses for six years means that the government simply has too much money.” Um, let’s see now. Surplus = Too Much. Wow. Now there’s a real light bulb moment.

WHAT’S HIS NAME IS IN TROUBLE

The United Nations Human Rights Council on today (Friday) condemned the actions of Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi (Kaddafi?) (Kadhafi?) (Gadhafi?) (Qadhafi?) (Asshole?) and established a U.N. commission of inquiry to probe possible war crimes by Libyan authorities. Wow. That ought to scare the shit out of him! This stuff just gets scarier and scarier.

WHAT’S HIS NAME IS IGNORED

Wouldn’t it be something if Grover Norquist came to town and nobody noticed? He did. This week. Aren’t you sorry you missed it? The news media did too. Actually, I think they knew about it and decided it wasn’t newsworthy. They were right.

YOU CHOOSE

Things you wouldn’t know if you didn’t look at You Tube once in a while: Scott Hennen’s interview with Governor Jack Dalrymple last week is on You Tube. When I clicked on it, it said I was the 11^th person to watch it. Just by way of comparison, I clicked on Justin Bieber’s video of “Somebody To Love.” I was number 134,173,501. Really. You choose which you want to watch. If you go to the Dalrymple interview, you can be number 12, increasing viewership by a full 9 per cent. He might appreciate a visit more than Justin.