glued to the set...

Ok, I admit, I was not one of those who woke up at some ungodly hour to catch a glimpse of William and Catherine tie the knot.

Nor do I know of anyone else who did... although I'm very sure they exist.

I did catch the performance of the "kiss"... a repeat of the kiss Charles bestowed on his bride in 1981, Princess Diana.

But, on to another, more disheartening story...

This is the story about the willingness of the Republican/Tea Party to continue its policy of discrimination against a group of individuals based solely on the concept that they should not be awarded the same rights as every other American.

The real tragedy... gays and lesbians pay the same taxes, raise the same families, face the same difficulties as everyone else, and then some.

Today, Ken Cuccinelli (Attorney General in Virginia) decided to terminate the state's contract with the law firm, King & Spalding because said law firm decided against continuation of a lawsuit by the U.S. House of Representatives in connection with DOMA (the infamous Defense of Marriage Act).

It's bad enough that discriminatory policies continue in this country... we never really seem to get it right... but the continuation of this particular policy (in the face of growing awareness by most Americans regarding gays) is truly disgusting.

Speaking of discrimination... I know racism is quietly (or perhaps not so quietly) moving back into our consciousness, thanks to the likes of Donald Trump questioning the validity of President Obama's educational record at Harvard. (Trump couldn't get any traction on the birther bs, so this is a not-so-subtle attempt to denigrate the successes of a "black" man...)

What I don't really understand is how anyone can take Donald Trump seriously... this is the same guy who rankled a great many when after the rape of a white female jogger in the late 80s, called for the death penalty for those individuals arrested and brought to trial. In case you didn't realize, those accused were young black men... later exonerated.

Trump has a true history of discriminatory practice. In the 70s, his real estate firm was charged with quoting different prices to blacks and whites attempting to rent apartments in New York.

He countersued, accusing the government of harassment, but ultimately settled and promised to end his firm's policy of discrimination against blacks and minority groups.

Sadly, the policy continued for some time and the human rights commission regularly dispatched investigators to check into discriminatory rental practices by the Trump firm.

Is Donald Trump really presidential material (as viewed by some Republicans) or is he, in fact, a true buffoon as others would believe?

Only time will tell...

phoebe snow died today

Sixty years young... beautiful phrasing... damn.

mining for uranium...

Virginia is my home state... just as California is the state I've adopted.

Several days ago, as I was driving home and listening to the news, there was a story about a new mining operation that wanted to overturn the moratorium on uranium mining in Virginia.

Uranium in Virginia?

I must admit, I'd never heard about it... I did know (having grown up and spent a great many hours running around the woods...)
Virginia is named for the Virgin Queen... Elizabeth I.
Virginia was one of the original thirteen colonies.
The state motto, “Sic Semper Tyrannis,” Latin for “Thus Always to Tyrants” was the phrase John Wilkes Booth shouted as he assassinated Abraham Lincoln.
During the Civil War, some of the bloodiest military battles took place in areas around Northern Virginia.
The state flower and tree are the same... the American dogwood (Cornus florida).
Virginia’s state bird is the Cardinal.
George Washington (the first president of the fledgling United States) was born here, as was Thomas Jefferson. Other presidents also called the “Old Dominion” home, including James Madison, James Monroe, William Henry Harrison, John Tyler, Zachary Taylor and Woodrow Wilson.
Virginia is the 12th most populous state in the Union, inhabiting over 42,000 square miles.

I did not know that Virginia also contains (possibly) the largest untapped deposit of uranium in the world.

In the 1970s, a proposal was put forth to develop a mine in an area down in Pittsylvania, close to the border of North Carolina, which resulted in a statewide moratorium on uranium mining.

As more information has surfaced regarding the negative impact of uranium, more and more individuals are speaking out quite loudly against the onslaught by mining lobbyists at the legislative level.

Why is it so important to maintain this moritorium?

If uranium is released into the moist climate of Virginia, the result will be catastrophic on human/animal health as well as the environment. Radiation resulting from the mining operation will spread into surrounding areas, contaminating groundwater, and cancer rates in the affected area will skyrocket.

We’ve just experienced the greatest nuclear catastrophe to date... in Japan. (You notice, I said “to date” because radiation fallout is still occurring in Japan, although judging from news reports you would think it’s all behind us instead of just beginning...)

We know that uranium serves only one purpose. It's the mineral used for the production of plutonium and plutonium is used to fuel nuclear energy plants (oh... and nuclear bombs).

So the question is... do we really need to open another Pandora’s box? Does allowing mine development in this area serve the greater good? Or does it continue to line the pockets at the expense of the population?

You be the judge...

let's all go boom!

Looking toward the compounded disaster in Japan, I can't help but think back to the first time I heard about nuclear energy and the very real possibilities of long term destruction.

At the time I was living in Santa Cruz and there were many protests occurring in the California community around this issue. It was the early 1970s and at the time the Three Mile Island meltdown had not yet occurred (1979), nor had the Chernobyl disaster (1986). But early on, there were many who felt the possibility for man-made or natural accidents was very real, and frankly, this fear has been borne out in Japan.

The unraveling situation in Fukushima should give us all pause... is nuclear power really the best possible solution for supplying our energy needs? Especially when the potential for catastrophic nuclear meltdown is always part of the equation.

As of today, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) is reporting the current situation at the disabled plant as “very serious.” While precautions are underway to prevent contamination of water and food sources, radiation leaking from the damaged storage tanks has escaped into the sea and soil surrounding the plant. But I want to know exactly what “very serious” means in the scheme of life... I guess I want some reassurance that the residents living in the area affected by this situation will ultimately go home without having to worry about cancer down the road. Rather presumptuous of me...