Day: January 30, 2022

Visit to Dairy contaminated by chemicals from Air Force Base

4 Comments


UGA College of Ag & Environmental Sciences

Looking at the cows at Highland Dairy, U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez said there’s no visible sign that anything is wrong with them…

Leger Fernandez visited the eastern New Mexico dairy this week for the first time, although she has been advocating to get the dairy owner compensation for the cattle following contamination from a nearby U.S. Air Force base…

While the cattle at the dairy look like any other cows, Leger Fernandez said tests done at the dairy have yielded results far exceeding the federal (PFAS) standard of 70 parts per trillion. That means the cows can’t be used for food production…

The contamination came from fire suppression foam used in training exercises at Cannon Air Force Base. The forever chemicals then entered the groundwater that the dairy relies on. This groundwater is part of the Ogallala Aquifer, which is quickly being depleted. Leger Fernandez said, like all water in New Mexico, the Ogallala Aquifer is a precious resource.

“It is heartbreaking to know that we have contamination in this very important aquifer,” she said.

We also have cities like Clovis that have taken their municipal water supply from the same aquifer – for decades. Negotiations with the Federal Government – ultimately responsible for paying to fix this disaster – are “ongoing”. One of my least favorite bullshit words in the lexicon of journalism.

The poisoning of people in Eastern New Mexico and West Texas – just like the cows – is “ongoing”.

This judge is eminently qualified to be a member of the Supreme Court

Leave a comment

The Republican Party doesn’t give a shit about qualifications!


Judge Emanuella Groves

SHE’s BLACK. That’s all that matters to the racist crooks who own the Republican Party.

Emanuella Groves may not be Joe Biden’s candidate for SCOTUS. But, she’s an example of the talented, leading, qualified candidates he may choose – who also happen to be a Black woman. Qualities the bigot brigade in American politics fear and hate.

10 minutes a day, folks…

2 Comments


Nigel Msipa/Unsplash

In the rush of our busy lives, it can be hard to find time to exercise. Luckily, you don’t have to invest too much time to reap nationwide rewards. A new study shows that if every US adult over 40 walked just an additional 10 minutes each day, we would collectively prevent 110,000 deaths in the country each year.

The researchers used data from a study that ran from 2003 to 2006, where scientists tracked participants’ physical activity for a week. Researchers then tracked death rates through 2015 in a mortality follow-up and analyzed the data against trends, in minutes, for how long participants were physically active. They found that 10 extra minutes of exercise per day, in addition to normal daily activity, was associated with an 8 percent decrease of total deaths among men, and a 6 percent decrease of total deaths among women. The paper was published on Monday in JAMA Internal Medicine…

Though the message is not novel—we all know that exercise is good for you—inactivity still contributes to a significant portion of deaths in the US. A 2019 study from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states that more than 8 percent of deaths are “attributed to inadequate levels of physical activity,” a statistically significant culprit for adults aged 40 and older.

This is something I learned when a lot younger. It certainly feels good finding out this part of my lifestyle continues to be recommended by study and science. Not that I’m surprised. All told, it feels good and statistically, I’m ahead of the curve for old geezers. Geek or otherwise. A retiree, I put in at least 45 minutes a day. Most of that exercise walking.