COREY O'BRIEN
COREY'S BLOG
This Swine Flu Madness Has Got to Stop…
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Thursday, April 30th, 2009 @ 4:30PM
Some perspective.
This picture was probably taken during the 30’s, the 50’s perhaps.
This one was taken this year.
One would then have to conclude that people are just as stupid as they were 50 to 70 years ago. Progress: we aren’t making any. I don’t want to get sick and my guess is you don’t want to either unless you hate your job more than being ill but in this country when the media says, “jump” the stupid listen and not only jump - they blast off. So as schools are closing and your co-workers are wearing masks thinking it will keep them from getting sick and these masks are the top seller on Amazon.com you know the media, which used to terrorize its local stomping ground has gone global. That being said, I am not a doctor and know very little about disease spread patterns or how viruses mutate but I do know how people behave when Brian Williams uses words like “pandemic” and informs you something is spreading from Mexico and this time he isn’t talking about fruit-pickers and child care workers for high-raking members of the US government, people are going to lose their minds. If something is getting this much media coverage there is probably something afoot and at your expense. The LA Time reported today that scientists say this flu strain is no worse than the one that kills 10,000 people every winter (read the full story here). So why all the attention? Maybe it takes you away from more important stories of death and lack of humanity in the world. Maybe it takes you away from what your government is doing with your tax dollar or who we are bombing this week and how many civilians were killed. Maybe it is because there are few real journalists left in the world who have the know-how to sniff out facts (though I suspect there are many of these, outlets for their facts are null though save the internet). It’s a ratings game and the more you are scared and await instructions the more you are going to see ads for things you don’t need and probably buy them. We have surrendered our money to the failed rich and insist they keep shoveling distractions down our throats while they go about kicking you out of your house. Today’s Guardian UK had a great story about all the real news you missed because the media is “worried” about you getting a runny nose (that story is here).
So in a rush to keep up the Utah media, as it always does, has us convinced we need to make this a local story so we don’t get left out in the worldwide panic. Local media not only lives by, “if it bleeds it leads” but “make the big small.” We are closing schools and expect to see masked people walking among us because the parents panic and the schools don’t want to get sued. Personally, I will avoid these people. If I owned a company and my employees showed up in masks I would know who to lay off first - these people are the expedables. Think for yourself. If something sounds like it is being sold to you get the facts and don’t go with the crowd. Here is a reading suggestion to start:
Neil Postman “How to Watch TV News”
Cheers.
Comments (5) •Thanks Energy Solutions!
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Wednesday, April 29th, 2009 @ 2:06PM
Love that nuclear waste! Thanks Italy!
From the Los Angeles Times:
Nuclear agency can’t stop import of foreign radioactive waste
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission tells lawmakers it has no power to stop a Salt Lake City firm from taking tons of waste from Italy, processing it in Tennessee, then disposing of it in Utah.
April 14, 2009 in print edition A-15
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it doesn’t have the authority to prevent foreign radioactive waste from being imported into the United States.
The NRC wrote in an April 9 letter to Reps. Jim Matheson (D-Utah) and Bart Gordon (D-Tenn.) that the Atomic Energy Act doesn’t distinguish between domestic and foreign waste. The NRC says that as long as the material can be imported safely and someone is willing to accept it, the commission can’t keep it waste out.
Salt Lake City-based EnergySolutions is seeking a license to import up to 20,000 tons of low-level radioactive waste from Italy. After processing in Tennessee, about 1,600 tons would be disposed of in the western Utah desert.
Matheson and Gordon are sponsoring a bill that would ban the import of low-level radioactive waste unless it originated here or was imported for a strategic national purpose.
They contend that the country should restrict space at its dumps to domestic waste. The site in Clive is the only low-level radioactive waste facility available to 36 states, although EnergySolutions says capacity there isn’t an issue.
The company has agreed to limit the amount of foreign waste accepted in Clive to 5% of its remaining capacity.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman has said he doesn’t want the waste in Utah, but EnergySolutions is challenging in federal court Utah’s efforts to ban it.
Matheson, Gordon and Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) sent the NRC a list of questions asking what would happen if the court rules in EnergySolutions’ favor. All three serve on the committee that oversees the NRC.
The NRC declined to give an opinion on the case and said Utah is responsible for regulating the company’s facility.
“The NRC will issue a license to import low-level waste if it determines that issuance of the license would not be inimical to the common defense and security or constitute an unreasonable risk to the public health and safety and that an appropriate facility has agreed to accept the waste,” the NRC wrote.
You can read it online here.
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PICS: Your First Sunburn of the Year
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Monday, April 20th, 2009 @ 2:29PM
With the sun out this last weekend I expect some of you got fried like I did. I want your sunburn pics for my blog on this first sunny week of 2009.
This should serve as a great warning to the rest of you not forget your sunblock and t-shirts.
Subject 001: Anonymous
OUCH!
Subject 002: Portia
“I wore the top to color coordinate.”
Subject 003: Asked not to be identified
“Sunblock-fail :( “
Subject 004: Anonymous
Noggin Fry - hat would have helped.
Subject 005: Anonymous
No pat on the back for this young lady..hahahha, ugh.
Subject 006: Corey O’Brien
Should’ve wore my sunscreen on the last day at Brighton.
Subject 007: Bryce
“60 mile bike ride….”
Subject 008: Kat
“This s**t burns like hell man..”
Send your sunburn pics to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and I will post them.
Subject 001 has won a copy of Depeche Mode’s “Sounds of the Universe” due to the horrible burn sustained. And subject 008 also picked up a copy for her red skin. Cheers and thanks for the pics. 
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