All I want for Christmas is to stop FRACKING in New York State

Sadness

Guns in the US: a dialogue

12/12/12 - nine days until alignment!

The Rise of the Hipster Hunter

By Emma Marris

Hunting is undeniably in vogue among the bearded, bicycle-riding, locavore set. The new trend might even be partly behind a recent 9 percent increase from 2006 to 2011 in the number of hunters in the United States after years of decline. Many of these new hunters are taking up the activity for ethical and environmental reasons.

“It feels more responsible and ecologically sound to eat an animal that was raised wild and natural in my local habitat than to eat a cow that was fattened up on grain or even hay, which is inevitably harvested with fuel-hungry machines,” writes Christie Aschwanden, a self-described “tree-hugging former vegetarian.”

A recent spate of books with titles like The Mindful Carnivore and Call of the Mild chronicles the exploits of these first-time hunters as they wrestle with their consciences and learn to sight in their rifles.

The expansion of hunting into liberal, urban circles is the latest development in an evolving and increasingly snug coexistence between humans and beasts in North America. Jim Sterba’s new book, Nature Wars, examines the paradox of the rebound of many wild species, particularly in the densely populated East Coast of the United States. Whitetail deer, turkeys, Canada geese, black bears, and trees are all doing wonderfully in 2012, thanks to conservation measures in the past and vagaries of history and cultural change. The problem, Sterba says, is that most modern North Americans have no idea what to do with these species. We gawk and gape; we feed them doughnuts; we run into them with our cars; we are surprised and alarmed by their messy habits and occasional aggressiveness; we manage them all wrong; we want them gone from our neighborhoods, but we abhor the idea of killing them.

Read the entire article in Slate.

Good Yule you peanuts!

From the heavenly fingers of my friend Maxwell Hughes!

City of Longmont stands up to Colorado Governor

On November 6th, 2012 the people of the City of Longmont, Colorado passed an amendment to the city charter banning hydraulic fracturing (Fracking) within city limits. The ballot initiative was known as measure 300. Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has helped sue the city for restricting oil and gas activity before and has vowed to repeat himself.  Hickenlooper's ardent support for the oil and gas industry has given him the nickname Governor Frackenlooper. His position also makes me suspicious of his motives and for the murky circumstances of his Democratic predecessor Governor Bill Ritter stepping down.

Watch in the video below as the people of Longmont chant "Dirty water, dirty air. we get sick and you don't care" at Governor Hickenlooper as he leaves the city in September 2012. During this visit the Governor said the passage of fracking ban 300 would bring a second lawsuit from the State.



I am curious to see the Governor's next move. As a native Western New Yorker I hope Hickenlooper looks to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo for guidance on this precarious environmental and economic issue. As I understand the current legal situation in New York there is a state-wide moratorium in place against fracking and Cuomo has left the decision up to municipalities whether to allow fracking to occur if the moratorium should happen to be lifted. I plead with state representatives Randy Fischer and John Kefalas to urge Governor Hickenlooper to take a similar stance on Fracking in Colorado.

Stevie Wonder receives Gershwin Prize, performs for Obama

Bjӧrk Geology

Sandor Katz quells hesitant Krauter fear

hesitant