Talisman had a Dinosaur. Chesapeake has...

 

...a beagle?!?!?!?!

Believe it or not...

  

Another Broken Promise: Circa 1779

    
A little food for thought on a dreary ( so far ) Sunday morning.

Less than two years after the winter at Valley Forge, Washington issued the following orders:

The expedition you are appointed to command is directed against the hostile tribes of the Six Nations of Indians, with their associates and adherents. The immediate objects are the total destruction and devastation of their settlements and the capture of as many prisoners of every age and sex as possible. It will be essential to ruin their crops now in the ground and preventing their planting more...Should Niagara fall into yourhands in the manner I have mentioned you will do everything in your power for preserving and maintaining it by establishing a chain of posts in such a manner as shall appear to you most safe and effectual and tending as little to reduce our general forces as possible....

  

- Washington’s orders to Gen. John Sullivan, 31 May 1779

In case you're wondering, the Oneida were one of the Six Nations.

  

 

180 years ago today...

        
...somewhere, west of the Mississippi, a native born son of the Wyoming Valley in northeastern PA was travelling among the Dakota, the Mandan, the Cheyenne and the Ojibway.  Born in Wilkes-Barre in July 1796, his mother was captured during the Battle of Wyoming in 1778. He spent most of his boyhood growing up along the banks of the Susquehanna River; fishing, hunting, exploring.

If you've never heard of George Catlin, take a few minutes to read about him here and here.

If you remember the movie A Man Called Horse, then you can thank George Catlin for bringing the Mandan religious ceremony - the Okipa -  to the big screen by witnessing the event and recording it in his journals while living with the Mandans, who were almost wiped out - some believe intentionally - by smallpox only a few years after Catlin left their villages.

In addition to his paintings, Catlin was a prolific writer. His extensive journals offer a fascinating glimpse into the daily life of the many different cultures he visited before they were tainted in any way by the traders and missionaries yet to come. You also might find this bit of historical conjecture quite interesting.

Anyway...I'll finish off today's post with some random pics from recent travels, walks, and everything before, after and in between.

Above: Flowers in West Wyoming Backyard

Below: One very interesting dragonfly (?)

Hey...it's cleaner than frackwater!

 

Have a good weekend.

  

  

Freedom of Speech DOA in Susquehanna County

     

The billboard below was posted earlier this week in Bridgewater Township, Susquehanna County PA. It was paid for by some folks from Dimock who have had their water wells contaminated. It's a very powerful and effective visual message.

A few days later, it was taken down. Read more about it here.

I hope everyone sees this for what it is.

BTW - anyone noticing how the natural gas industry is avoiding any mention of the drilling mud spill covered in yesterday's post?

BTW x 2 - Remember the mind-numbing mantra "There's never been a documented case of a well being contaminated by fracking" or something like that?

Take a minute or two to read this.

Their true colors are showing.

Happy Friday.

  

Drilling Mud Defiles Pristine Stream - 8/1/2011

  
The two videos at the top of this blog - posted today - are among the most powerful that I have seen to date. This is what the natural gas industry does not want you to see. This is what is happening - NOW - to our waterways all throughout the Marcellus Shale Zone.

Does this look like responsible drilling to you?

If the fine for this mess is not well into the 7 figures - and the activity at this site shut down immediately - the DEP's leadership should be physically removed from office...as a warm-up. 

Spread the word.   
  
  

Marcellus Misinformation: Another Fracking Expert Unearthed

        
I know they'll never stop trying, but I wonder how much money the gas industry is shelling out to all of these "experts" coming out of the woodwork to perpetuate the myth of an impermeable/unfractured  "cap" layer above the Marcellus Shale that will prevent contaminated frackwater, thermogenic gas and other nasty stuff from migrating into our groundwater.

For your reading pleasure, here's the latest attempt by yet another heretofore mute expert.

Here's my favorite quote:

"When they intersect a natural fracture, it exhumes huge amounts of gas. The way hydrofracture is designed is that the fracture height is controlled by limestone cap rocks above and below. Fractures cannot grow out of the zone of the Marcellus shale. It’s the perfect circumstances to extract gas.”
 

S -o-o-o, are we to believe that the naturally occuring fractures already there abruptly stop when they hit the limestone "cap" layer as well? This "expert" directly contradicts yet another expert named Dr. Terry Engelder who claims the following in this widely-touted report:
  

"In some places, jointing was localized to form gas chimneys that are remarkable for their height, which extends vertically off the top of black shale units at least 50 meters."

IMHO, I think the industry should hire someone. or maybe even a team of folks, who know which end is up so they can compare notes before yet another "expert" opens his/her mouth and confirms what we obstructionist, tree-hugging, funeral-protesting radicals already know: The NG folks will say and do anything necessary to get their way, including spreading outright lies.      

  
One more time...here's a link to my Revelations 4:44 post.  I hope this issue of an impermeable, unfractured layer of bedrock goes away, but if it doesn't, I'll be here every time to call them on it.

  

Anyway...did a road trip yesterday and finally had a chance to meet and spend a few moments with some of the River Twice crew. Please take a few minutes to read Cecily's observations about their travels along the Susquehanna, especially the piece entitled "Deep Disturbance".

  

The little grove along the Susquehanna that I visited on Sunday has been owned by the same family since 1876. I hope to be back soon.

   

There's something special about this place, and I sense there's a story waiting to be told...