Friday OYSTERS

                      Musings and History

Quote of the day:

“Tact is the ability to describe someone as they see themselves.”

                                   Abraham Lincoln

In the summer of 2015 the US House of Representatives passed H.R. 1599 or the “Safe and Accurate Labeling Act”. It sounds noble but what is does is allow giant corporations especially Monsanto to generate genetically modified (GMO) food for human consumption and not have to label them as such. Not only that the act forbids and entity like state governments from requiring such labeling on foods sold in their state. It is known as the “Monsanto Dream Act”. Remember this act has already been passed by the House and has been labeled the “DARK” (Deny Americans the Right to Know) act by activists.

The Senate version with similar stipulations did not pass the Senate vote on March 16, 2016. 60 Senate votes of approval are required and there was only 49 “Yea” votes. The votes were split down party lines. The bill was tabled by that imbecile Mitch McConnell. He said he needed time to hammer out the differences between the House and Senate versions and get a consensus between the parties.

This abomination of a proposed legislation is not dead it is merely resting on the sidelines. Ask yourself this question. Do you as a consumer have the right to know what is in the food you are eating? Nearly every European country has laws making the disclosure mandatory...but not the good ole USA. Monsanto has that much clout. Do something about it.

I have been doing research to see how my Senators and Representatives voted on the monumental legislation. I started with Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) from Central, SC. (near Clemson). I have yet to find how he voted but in my research I discovered that 3 months ago when he was running for President he said that “He would rather be poisoned or shot than endorse Ted Cruz”. This week he is out running fund-raisers in the behalf of Ted Cruz. I am not optimistic because it appears that Lindsey has sold out and lies.

However, it is not too late for all of you to contact your Senators and Congressmen and promise them that the gravy train will end if they endorse H.R. 1599. To paraphrase the immortal words of Johnny Paycheck...”Take Your Job and Shove It.”

The following was sent to me by my friend Dan that lives in Pensacola Beach, Florida. Thanks Dan.

The Arctic Ocean is warming up, icebergs are growing scarcer and in some places the seals are finding the water too hot, according to a report to the Commerce Department yesterday from Consulate, at Bergen, Norway Reports from fishermen, seal hunters and explorers all point to a radical change in climate conditions and hitherto unheard-of temperatures in the Arctic zone. Exploration expeditions report that scarcely any ice has been met as far north as 81 degrees 29 minutes. Soundings to a depth of 3,100 meters showed the gulf stream still very warm. Great masses of ice have been replaced by moraines of earth and stones, the report continued, while at many points well known glaciers have entirely disappeared.

Very few seals and no white fish are found in the eastern Arctic, while vast shoals of herring and smelts which have never before ventured so far north, are being encountered in the old seal fishing grounds.

Within a few years it is predicted that due to the ice melt the sea will rise and make most coastal cities uninhabitable.

I must apologize.

I neglected to mention that this report was from November 2, 1922, as reported by the Associated Press and published in The Washington Post - 94 years ago.

This must have been caused by the Model T Ford's emissions.

         This Date in History   March 18

In 1864 Abraham Lincoln was fed up with his wounded soldiers being disabled permanently or for extended periods simply because of the septic conditions at the treatment and convalescent areas. So on this date he decided to do something about it. He did the best possible thing in organizing a “Sanitary Commission” to oversee the treatment of the wounded soldiers. He gave the responsibility for forming this Commission to a few dependable men and in a moment of clarity, they hired a bunch of really dedicated women nurses, gave them some authority and sent them into the field. Much to the chagrin of the field combat doctors, these nurses would show up almost immediately after a battle to oversee the treatment of the wounded and the sanitation of the operating and convalescent areas. On one occasion after the battle of Chattanooga, the nurses ordered the disassembling of the wooden embrasures that the Union soldiers were hiding behind to be used as fuel for fires to keep the wounded warm. But the “commission” did do one thing; they vastly decreased the time of recovery of the wounded and got them back into lethal combat a lot sooner.

1937   In the East Texas oil and Gas field near the town of New London there were about 10,000 oil and gas derricks, in fact there were 11 derricks on the grounds of the Consolidated Elementary School. It was not uncommon for the homes around New London to use the waste gas from the oil wells that is called “wet-gas”. Wet gas is a lot more unstable than regular natural gas from a strictly natural gas well. If y'all have ever seen oil derricks in operation you probably have seen a long pipe with fire coming out the end. That is “wet-gas” being burned off because it is so unstable. But in 1937 the instability of wet gas was not known. The Consolidated Elementary School had been using regular natural gas for cooking and heating and bought their gas from Union Natural Gas at the cost of $300 a month. The school decided to use “wet-gas” for free and save that $300. So Parade Gas Company began piping their waste gas to the school. On this date at 3:05P with the 694 students and 40 teachers eagerly awaiting the final bell at 3:15P, a horrendous explosion literally blew the roof off the school and killed 300 kids instantly. There were so many wounded that they had to be taken to four hospitals in the surrounding communities. The spark that set off the explosion was never determined but it could have been just static electricity, we will never know. But because of this disaster, wet gas is not allowed to leave a well site and thus the pipe with the flame.

1834 On this date six farm laborers from England are sentenced to 7 years of exile in the province of New South Wales, Australia. Their crime was after losing money for three years in a row, they organized a farm workers union called the Friendly Agricultural Laborers. The Union grew by leaps and bounds and the laborers agreed to not take less than 10 Shillings a week for their services. Parliament wanted a stop put to this but was hard pressed to find a law that these six founders had broken. So they chose to accuse them of taking an illegal oath. This law was meant for sailors in the Royal Navy to help head off mutinies. I am telling you; those in Parliament were desperate to stop the independence of farm workers. Anyway, two years after these six arrived at New South Wales, the English ministers of justice stepped in and put a stop to this outrage and set aside the sentences and they were released. Only one of them returned to England, the rest immigrated to Canada, and I don’t blame them.

Died today:

1871 English mathematician Augustus de Morgan. When asked his age he said “I was x years old in the year x^2.” Gus, you are such a smart ass.

          Thanks for listening I can hardly wait until tomorrow