Budology Productions

Ethical Oil

December 6, 2011 – 12:55 pm

Check this out. A web site devoted to destroying the planet and the human race. Ethical Oil wants you to believe that because the Tar Sands is being built by rich white men it makes it somehow more ethical than oil from the Arab world.

Of course they do not mention that the oil from the Tar Sands requires massive amounts of fresh water (around 4 barrels for every 1 barrel of oil), massive amounts of energy just to extract (now they are talking about building nuclear plants), and massive amounts of chemicals to make this stuff viscus enough to send through a pipe line (by some accounts the most corrosive of any oil) which ends up in huge waste lakes that can be seen from space. People who live down stream from these lakes are now plagued with cancers never seen before in the area. Not to mention the massive amounts of forest lands that have to be removed in order to harvest the oil.

No oil is ethical. Canada’s Tar Sands sinks to a new low.

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Why has nobody thought of this? The case for taxing sugar-sweetened, carbonated soft drinks.

December 5, 2011 – 12:01 pm

Americans’ daily caloric intake from sugared soft drinks has increased by 170 percent over the past 20 years. Pop accounts for 11 percent of the total daily calories consumed by the average American woman and 8 percent of the calories consumed by the average man.

Among children, per capita soft drink consumption has increased by 500 percent over the past 50 years, making soda the most commonly consumed beverage. (Star Tribune; The case for taxing soft drinks)

We tax alcoholic beverages and cigarettes, both known to be detrimental to our health, why should “pop” as it is known in these parts get a pass when these drinks have been shown to be just as damaging? The societal toll is massive when the costs of health care are taken into account. Nearly half our population is over weight and a large percentage of this group is considered obese. Obesity has been linked to a myriad of diseases and has the same association with chronic health conditions as does adding 20 years to one’s age.

Fat people are literally making health care more expensive for everyone. By singling out carbonated beverages we would be able to shift that cost burden towards those folks who choose to drink them. It would also be a big deterrent for lower income people and the poor from purchasing these drinks in the first place because they would no longer be affordable.

It is time we stand up to corporations like Coke and Pepsi and demand that profits made from selling misery be put towards repairing the damage they do. A tax on these unhealthy drinks would be a step in the right direction.

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More Propaganda from MPR and the AP

April 16, 2011 – 11:50 am

“In Minn., copper mining runs afoul of wild rice”
by Steve Karnowski, Associated Press

Why is it that these stories always get covered as a battle between environmental concerns of a few, in this case the Ojibwe, verses the “promise of jobs” ostensibly for many? These are bold faced lies that are intentionally misleading and it is shameful the media biases them as such.

The preservation or destruction of the environment affects us all, not just the Ojibwe, not to mention the water fowl that depend on rice for food. While at the same time the prospect of jobs for many is a smoke screen because at most we are talking about 360 permanent jobs
(mind you these are jobs that are permanent only in the sense of a single generation and likely much less time than even that) with a huge down side in that the industry necessarily poisons the land for future generations so that even subsistence living upon the land becomes impossible. And we must keep in mind that these are highly specialized jobs requiring advanced training and skills i.e. expensive degrees and education rendering them largely inaccessible to locals.

The reality is that these corporations (which are not even American owned) will make obscene profits for a few through the rape of our precious resources and destruction of our sacred lands. How short sighted of us to sacrifice our health for short term gains of which the people benefit the least.

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Winter dreams and reminisces of snow and light

March 27, 2011 – 4:39 pm

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Spring Up North Is A Slow Affair With No Water

April 28, 2010 – 9:59 am

Today the 28th of April we awoke to another spectacular day in the North Country. The sun shining, as it has for most of the month, temperatures that seem to have been transplanted from San Diego, and the beginnings of new leaves have us just a little confused. Though the weather has been favorable for outdoor enthusiasts the worsening drought has everyone on high alert for fire and the green up continues to move slowly. We have already had more warm days this spring than the entire previous summer. With no snow run off the lakes feel warm and seasonal workers are eager to get on the water.

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“Send PolyMet to Summer School”

March 25, 2010 – 3:23 pm

Friends of the Boundary Waters is proud to announce a new petition campaign insisting that PolyMet Mining Corp. and the responsible government agencies do remedial work to address serious concerns raised by the Environmental Protection Agency in February.

Sign the petition here:

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