Happy New Year!

Yes... I also have a life beyond this ridiculous situation the environmental extremists put us in, but just had to share this with you. Be sure to read...'No Fish Story Here'... in The Saginaw News. I've also run across a couple of other items of interest but want to spend time with my family now. See ya next year... have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

More Lies and Untruths

Groups offer suggestions for cleanup plan Oh yes!!! These groups sure want to get things done, don't they? Read about them here. These are the unelected politicians who affect our daily lives. These are the unelected politicians who made our residential property a 'facility.' These are the politicians who are destroying the Michigan economy!!!

Just for fun... another article about the 'benefit' of dioxin: Novel Way to Rid Body of Toxins Found

Environmental Extremists Running Scared!

Apparently the local environutz are afraid good science and common sense will prevail in the dioxin saga along the Tittabawassee River floodplain. They've 'called on the dogs' from around the U.S. - more environutz! The Saginaw News article yesterday says... Watchdogs seek seven standards for Dow cleanup

Midland Daily News also reported on this but since they both say essentially the same thing, we share Jeremiah's version with you. Please keep in mind that this 'gang' of extremists is more interested in glorifying and expanding their own power around the world than they are in representing residents. Has any of them ever come around and asked you how you feel about this overblown dioxin situation? They sure don't like my opinion!!!

saginaw news

Wildlife study takes time
The Saginaw News, December 26, 2004... Matthew 'Zwiernik, an assistant professor for the Aquatic Toxicology Laboratory at Michigan State University, is leading a $5 million study to determine dioxin's impact on floodplain wildlife.' Gee, how did this one slip by? More studies on effects of dioxin on critters other than the human variety!!! Extrapolate the data and scare the masses... Sorry folks, I don't care who is paying for this study. It's just another diversion. My residence still carries the label 'facility' and as usual, the property taxes have gone up. I think it's time for Governor Granholm to reevaluate either the terminology or my tax base!!

Dredging din grows
The Saginaw News, December 22, 2004... and the Saginaw River commercial shipping problem continues. It's time the environutz got out of the business of putting Michigan out of business!!! It's time for Governor Granholm to listen to the majority. That would be us (the residents). That would be William Webber and his peers - other business people along the Saginaw River. That would be everybody interested in keeping jobs in our area. That would be everybody who cares about the people in our tri-city area! This would, of course, mean listening to the scientists instead of environmental extremist fearmongers.

Hey! I have an idea!!! Dump all that Saginaw River silt along the Tittabawassee River floodplain. My backyard is available. It is, after all, still a 'facility.' It's time for a tax hiatus along the Tittabawassee River, Guv!

...In the News Again

River residents roll up their sleeves to find dioxin answers... Bay City Times

Thank you Ms. Granholm!

Imported trash piles up in Michigan - 12/20/04... We cannot help but wonder what motivation the governor of Michigan has and where her loyalties lie... California... Hollywood... or Canada! ...certainly not Michigan.

Think History of Saginaw...

I planned a holiday break but am mentally unable to take a break from reading and viewing the news. The latest dioxin-related incident once again involves not 'our' river but the Saginaw River. Dioxin levels puzzling from The Saginaw News, December 21. WNEM also ran a bit about this dilemma. Alix Hayes sent me an email requesting input. Unfortunately I didn't check my email that day until it was too late to respond to her. Next time, Alix! For now, here is my read on the subject.

• There was a big ol' stinky city dump upstream. The garbage was always smoldering... creating furans and probably dioxins too, since they burned everything.
• The Malleable Iron Factory was upstream. They melted iron... scrap and otherwise, blending it to cast into molds... creating waste product from the furnaces and the product.
• All kinds of runoff in the Shiawassee flats - upstream - from farm runoff and more.
• What is on the property at Saginaw Rock Products?
• How isolated is the river area around the 'hot spot' in the river's bend?

From mutterings I've heard, the acreage the Corps of Engineers wants to use is not in immediate proximity to homes. The land is isolated and would be perfect for such a project. The people complaining have been agitated by local fear-mongering environmental extremists who must constantly 'stir the pot' to keep the public fearful of progress. Happy Holidays!

SN Editorial... Saginaw River Dredging

Dredging plans can't run aground... not related to the Tittabawassee River controversy, but definitely the message in this editorial from The Saginaw News speaks volumes. Note the following excerpt from that piece published in today's paper:

'The Saginaw River is much cleaner than it was three decades ago when it was dredged by the Corps of Engineers. Those contaminated spoils were dumped and capped on the north end of Ojibway Island in Saginaw.'

Kudos to the editor! Oh yes, I remember many picnics at Objibway Island too... and the raft races on the river. Rafters often spent as much time in the water as they did rafting!

Saginaw News Update...

Poison cases not similar headlines the Thursday, December 16, 2004 article in the Saginaw News. Although the kid reporter obviously has an affinity for the fearmongers, he also asked opinions from Dr. Varner and Bill Egerer. He has not yet, however, learned the fine art of separating truth from fiction.

From a guy named Michael Fumento

MICHAEL FUMENTO: Dioxin myth revealed... This article showed up this morning in a news service I subscribe to. It is a common sense commentary on the the dangers of dioxin. >Michael Fumento, is a nationally known author, noted for debunking 'scientific' myths. Note to the local kids who think this little dioxin debacle will make them famous, if you want a model, read this guy!

God bless us, one and all!

Nit Picking: Bay City Times

Dredgings dump opponents are down to picking at details... is a common sense opinion I just read from the Bay City Times. I agree wholeheartedly!

Dioxin and Olestra

AP: Yushchenko has historic dioxin level was just published today. Experts are getting closer to identifying the source of dioxin used to poison Yushchenko. They have actually narrowed the type down to one of 29 types out of a possible 400+. Since dioxins were produced in Russia for use in chemical warfare, it is possible to discover the source as well.

Yesterday I read this article in globeandmail.com - Dioxin easy to hide, easy to swallow In case you don't read the article I want to share these two statements from it: 1. 'Dr. Okey said that most people take in a couple of parts per trillion daily from food and environmental exposure -- but that amount varies depending on diet and where you live.' 2. 'A thousandfold increase in exposure . . . is not that high. It wouldn't necessarily cause symptoms in everyone, he (Dr. Uetrecht, Canada research chair in immunotoxicology) said.'

I hope Mr. Yuschchenko tries the olestra treatment. Even mothernature.com suggests olestra as a way to rid the body of dioxins quickly! Following is direct quote from that website:

'Elimination of toxic pollutants

Research in animals and preliminary evidence in humans suggests that elimination of some toxic pollutants (e.g., polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs], one type of dioxin called TCDD, DDE, and hexachlorobenzine [HCB]) might be hastened by the addition of olestra to the diet. Although experts have expressed concern over side effects and possible long-term dangers of olestra consumption, people with a history of certain environmental exposures may wish to consult with their doctor regarding the potential use of olestra in promoting elimination of these dangerous compounds.'

...and if you don't believe Mother Nature, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) reported the cases of two women with high levels of dioxin: Severe 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) Intoxication: Clinical and Laboratory Effects They treated them with olestra to assist ridding them of the dioxin. (Environmental Health Perspectives; Volume 109, Number 8; August 2001)

What is olestra? It is a fat substitute that acts like a fat but does not stay in your body. A full explanation by the American Council on Science and Health (ACSH) is here. Procter & Gamble company has exclusive rights for this product which they call Olean. The only shortcoming of using Olean is "...it may prevent the absorption of essential fat-soluble vitamins and "carotenoids," a group of nutrients that includes beta-carotene, a dietary component that some people claim offers protection from cancer." Since my favorite potato chips are Wow! chips... fried in Olean, I make sure I have my carrots, sweet potatoes and such in meals separate from the potato chip treat.

...and one more olestra reference:Fast food: Olestra helps your body make short work of PCBs and dioxins

Meanwhile, I need to get out and do some Christmas shopping. Obviously I'm spending too much time on the internet! By the way, I heard on yesterday's news that somebody in the Freeland school system is trying to get kids to avoid the real meaning of Christmas!!! The good Sisters of Mercy warned us 'way back in the 1950's that this would happen in our country. For those who do not know, especially the litigious types, the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union) was founded by a Communist. Under the guise of 'equal rights for all' these very powerful extremists are taking away the rights of the majority in our country!

A rose is a rose.... Is a dioxin a dioxin?

What are dioxins? Why the concern? ...published 12.12.04 in Medical News Today, a UK website. I was so quick to point out the news media are all reporting Mr. Yushchenko's dioxin poisoning, perhaps we should read a bit about dioxins. Nobody has yet defined exactly what kind of dioxin was found in his system, even though I read one article today that mentioned Russia once had considered using dioxin as a chemical warfare weapon. That article does not mention what kind of dioxin either, although we are perhaps all assuming the dioxin was the same as the chemicals used in Agent Orange during the war in Vietnam.

Dioxin in (and moving quickly out of) Yushchenko

Doctor: Yushchenko Poisoned With Dioxin... this article from myway.com news, basically the same story being run across the U.S. in all media forms. During the past 24 hours testing was done in Amsterdam which confirmed he had been poisoned with very high levels of dioxin. Doctors declared the dioxin is rapidly leaving his system and no functional damage will remain. The chloracne takes two to three years to heal according to their dermatologist, Hubert Pehmberger.

I hope all of our local environmental extremists who have been spreading the old scare tactics about dioxin chew on this information for a little while.

*****
Meanwhile, I need to tell you what I saw at the CAP meeting with Dr. Garabrant's team on Thursday, December 9.

First... lots of media coverage.

Second... lots of brain power, loaded with knowledge about dioxin. Not only is our own Dr. Varner well versed in all aspects of dioxin and it's possible effects, or lack thereof, but he introduced me to Dr. Warren Crummet, known around the world as one of the foremost experts on dioxin. Dr. Crummet was accompanied by two other gentlemen, Drs. Skelly and Belfit. Freeland was truly privileged to have these highly qualified men attending this meeting in our town.

Many other interested parties attended the meeting, but those who stood out were, unfortunately, those with negative attitudes based on the misinformation passed out to them by our local environmentalists. Somebody asked why Lonetree and MDEQ were not there and the Chair, Veronica Horn, told them all parties knew the about the meeting in advance.

They sure did! They maybe weren't there but their ideas were. The poor gentleman who read his notes to us about his concerns... something to do with people who have died recently in our area, even had a bit of difficulty reading what they had written for him. (This is only my presumption because I'm sure he would have had no problem if he had written it himself.

What did I learn from Dr. Garabrant's update? The dioxin study is going exceedingly well. Unfortunately this means I am not one of the people chosen for the study, as I have heard nothing from his group. The study is going according to plan and if everything continues going so well, the results will be made known to all of us by 2007.

Am I worried? Is Mr. Yushchenko worried about his case? Of course not! I have no doubts... if there is found to be some sort of horribly bad correlation between dioxin in the soil and in the bodies of those living along the Tittabawassee River floodplain, we will be right in line to have our blood tested by a government agency or Dow Chemical.

CAP... U of M Study

Midland Daily News: 12.10.04... provided us with the best overall report of last night's Community Advisory Panel meeting for Dr. Garabrant's U of M study. Of course I'm not going to complain about WNEM or WJRT because both of them showed pics of yours truly at the meeting and Chris from WJRT interviewed me after the meeting. Both news programs pointed out that not everybody at the meeting is against Dr. Garabrant's study. Midland Daily News, however, only mentioned people who are disgruntled with the study.

I will be back and report my impression of the meeting later.

Kathie M's Report on Saginaw River Dredging

High dioxin levels found in Saginaw River This is a good piece of reporting done by Kathie Marchlewski of The Midland Daily News!

I would like to balance her article however by giving a bit of history to it. Fishermen and boaters in the area are very familiar with Gull Island out in Saginaw Bay. How did it get there? I'll tell you.

'Way back in the olden days... before Dow Chemical figured out how to measure dioxin, the Army Corps of Engineers regularly dredged the Saginaw River... to keep the navigational channel open for shipping commerce. This same commerce was good for our local economies. They dumped the dredged materials out there in the bay where it grew into Gull Island!

It was a great fishing area... boaters dropped anchor out there on a hot summer day so the kids could go swimming. We did it! We ate perch from the bay. It was very fresh, very tasty!

Do you know anybody who used to fish and swim out there? I'm sure people still do. Has it harmed them in any way? A note to LoanTree and Ms. Rhetoric, fear mongering is NOT a good thing!

Don't Forget December 9 Dioxin Meeting...

Well! Seems to be a Blogger glitch this morning! I guess it's the price we must pay for such a popular concept, eh? I hope this 'cures' it!

Reminder from the University of Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study website.

COMMUNITY ADVISORY PANEL TO MEET FOR
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN DIOXIN EXPOSURE STUDY

SAGINAW - The Community Advisory Panel for the University of Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study will hold its next meeting on Thursday evening, December 9, beginning at 6:00pm at the Freeland Elementary School Cafeteria, 710 Powley Drive, Freeland, MI 48623. The public is invited to attend.
A team of University of Michigan scientists is conducting a two-year study to see whether residents of Midland and Saginaw counties have been exposed to dioxins that are in the soil. The Community Advisory Panel is made up of local community leaders. The purpose of the panel is to provide a forum for community residents to express their concerns about the dioxin problem, to discuss the study, and to help the investigators communicate more effectively with the involved communities. The current status of the study will be presented at the CAP meeting and there will be opportunity for questions and discussion.
"The University of Michigan is working to get the facts about whether dioxin that is in the soil is also in people's bodies" said CAP Chair, Veronica Horn. "Dr. David Garabrant, head of the U-M dioxin study and his team are working to make this study a success."
In order to be successful, Dr. Garabrant stresses that it is important that people in the involved communities understand what this study is about, and be willing to participate in the study. The U-M began collecting field data earlier this fall. The CAP meeting in December will be the first opportunity for UM researchers to provide the CAP and the community with an update on the status and progress of the study.
Information about the Community Advisory Panel has been posted on the study's web site: www.UMDioxin.org. More information, such as future meeting dates, times and locations, will be posted as it becomes available.

WNEM-TV5 High Dioxin Levels Found In Saginaw River

WNEM-TV5 High Dioxin Levels Found In Saginaw River... In case you missed this piece of fiction today on the 5:30 news, you must see it! Click the link and when you get there there is a link to get a streaming video repeat of the entire report.

It would appear the only one Alix Hayes, the reporter, talked to was somebody from Lonetree Council... she spells it 'Loantree' - and somehow she got at least two stories mixed up and reported them as one! No wonder people go around fearful. Too many in the news media report and know nothing about what they are reporting!!!

If she had only read the Saginaw News... or for that matter, this website... she would know that the Saginaw River dredging has nothing to do with the Tittabawassee River floodplain problem. Ms. Hayes, I invite you to meet with my cohorts and I, members of two real citizen groups, the TRVoice and Midland Matters, and give a report based on facts instead of ??? whatever Loantree told you.

Home Sales Remain Good

Yesterday's Midland Daily News featured another fine article by Kathie Marchlewski... Real estate agents say home sales not affected by dioxin dilemma. Real estate agents compared 'oranges to oranges' and found that homes are selling well within the asking prices.

Of course somebody insisted on leaving a comment complaining that she can't sell her home and it's because of the dioxin controversy. Midland homes are not even labeled facilities like ours are in Tittabawassee Township along the river floodplain. Homes are selling just fine anyway. Hey lady, did it occur to you that perhaps you are comparing 'oranges to lemons'?

Our churches come in all sizes and shapes. We are proud of our churches, our beliefs and our diversity.

Last month (11.11.2004) there was a letter to the editor of The Saginaw News pointing out two recent deaths along the Tittabawassee River floodplain. Both of these people died of cancer so the writer concludes dioxin was the cause. One of these people fished, hunted and ate what he killed along the river plain. The other 'cooked with and drank only purified, filtered bottled water.' I guess the implication is he did not kill and cook his own meat. So what's the connection? I'm not sure! I guess the author thinks dioxin exists in the air around the river???

Once again Dr. Varner, Medical Director of the Saginaw County Health Department explains the fallacy of such belief. Read these two letters here. Among other things Dr. Varner says:

'It has been shown that many of the effects of dioxin exposure occur in a non-monotonic fashion. In other words, the dose response curve behaves oddly, with some health effects occurring at very low-level exposures, while those same effects disappear at higher doses.'

Can't help but interpret this to mean health effects of dioxin exposure are erratic and do not appear to have a predictable direct relationship between exposure and a particular health defect.

Another scare tactic about dioxin is in an email currently circulating about the hazards of using all sorts of common household products. It supposedly came from a Johns-Hopkins Hospital newsletter, but no amount of googling would get me to a connection between Johns-Hopkins and this latest urban myth. If you haven't seen it yet, here it is. Please keep in mind this is not true.

I did a bit more googling and came up with this information from www.phthalates.org explaining that, among other things, FDA approved plastics for handling foods do not contain dioxin!
Posted by Hello

ABC12.com: Disputes over wetlands continue

ABC12.com: Disputes over wetlands continue and in case you missed it, you can read the transcript and even view the video report. Excellent job, Terry! Just like the Kozaks say, DEQ is out of control! They don't just have control of the 16% wetlands in Michigan... and of course any natural bodies of water... rivers, streams, inland lakes, the Great Lakes, but yes they also have control over sand dunes... and I'm sure there are other areas in Michigan I just haven't read about yet!!!

Oh! I know!!! They also are responsible for anyplace in Michigan where there is a possibility that an endangered species could live, whether it lives there or not!!!

Just as Tom Kozak said, the MDEQ is out of control. They apparently answer to nobody... and their 'science' is whatever they want it to be to prove what they want to prove! There is no oversight committee or scientific group making sure they do things correctly. We citizens pay their big fat salaries... and when we ask them why they named our land a 'facility'... or why they won't let us develop our property, the answer is 'It's the LAW!!!' Then they say 'We don't make the laws, we just make sure the law is carried out.'

Now that's all a bunch of crap! The MDEQ and their special friends, the environmental extremist wackos hassle our legislators into making those laws! Our legislators go ahead and make the laws because they don't realize what their constituency really wants! The extremists go bopping around Lansing, lobbying as representatives of residents. The majority... that would be us..... stay at home, mind our own business, improve our homes, improve our property, until somebody who works for the DEQ notices you did it without getting a permit from them. Then all Hell breaks loose!

Thanks to MDEQ and their royal monarch, Steve Chester, the Michigan Taxpayer is rapidly becoming totally under the control of DEQ bureaucrats!

MDEQ CAP Meeting Featuring Linda Birnbaum Cancelled

Okay, what's going on?!!!?? Last week the email went out announcing a Community Advisory Panel meeting presented by MDEQ... supposed to be concerning the dioxin controversy in the Tittabawassee River floodplain and extended to include the Midland area near Dow Chemical. Didn't read about it in the newspaper until... today!

For some reason our Saginaw News was not delivered today but just as I was leaving for physical therapy our friend Howard stopped by and showed me the article in his freshly delivered Saginaw News... announcing the meeting will be held Wednesday - WOW!!! two days notice!

Got home, logged into the internet and right there on my Yahoo Homepage what did I see?... The meeting featuring Linda Birnbaum is cancelled! Ms. Birnbaum is ill; the meeting will be rescheduled. Here is the article as I copied it from The Midland Daily News:

Dioxin meeting scheduled for Freeland canceled
Kathie Marchlewski, Midland Daily News 11/15/2004
A community meeting for residents wanting to learn more about dioxin and health has been canceled.
The speaker, Dr. Linda S. Birnbaum, is ill and won't be able to attend the meeting scheduled for Wednesday at Freeland High School.
The meeting will be rescheduled as soon as possible, said Michigan Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Bob McCann. The MDEQ had requested that Birnbaum come to the area to offer "basic background" information on dioxin. The agenda did not include discussion about the local contamination issue or ongoing negotiations between the state and The Dow Chemical Co., though Birnbaum was planning a question and answer session on dioxin and potential health effects.

Well, go figure! This is the second cancellation. Hmmm! What's it all about? Stay tuned.

MDEQ CAP meeting Wednesday, November 17, 2004

email re Community Advisory Panel meeting arrived in my email sometime last week. Ms Birnbaum, guest speaker, is the darling of Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality and especially of their environmental extremist entourage. Ms. Birnbaum's viewpoint is typically tainted with an academic governmental angle.

The meeting will be held at the Freeland High School Auditorium, at 8250 Webster Road, Freeland, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

To our knowledge, MDEQ has not yet presented us with information from active working scientists. Please do not miss this important meeting presented by MDEQ. It should be interesting. I feel it is vital that we are totally aware of the narrowly focused attitudes that lead to our homes being designated 'facilities'. Let's all show up and let these people see who the real majority are!

A week's worth of Updates...

What I love most about Freeland... It is still a farming community.

In case you missed the Bay City Times... Bangor Township family takes on DEQ over dirt piles Click the title to read two articles concerning treatment of ordinary citizens by the MDEQ. Fortunately some folks have come to their aid. Yes, we the people are finally getting our points across.

Please read Dr. David Garabrant's editorial in the Midland Daily News concerning the U of M dioxin study... privacy is key.

This IS about the Environment... and more

Pundits thought the 'Losers' had this election all wrapped up. They finally decided too many of the wrong people voted in the 'Jesus
states.' 'Jesus States' are all the red ones! I was disappointed Michigan was NOT included until I looked at Michigan... lower right... and found out that, thank God, Michigan still has more 'Jesus counties' than not.


The mass news media, tort lawyers, extremists, and every other group based on the belief that the average human individual is incapable of taking care of her/himself, joined the Democratic party in wondering what went wrong.

This went wrong!

• The minority (hedonists, atheists and their do-gooder supporters began to slowly and methodically take the Christian God out of all public areas of the United States.
• Advocates to protect our environment went nuts...each group with their own special little projects. It matters not whether the creature, plant or piece of geography is 'of value' to the environment. Evolution be damned! Extremist wackos don't want Jesus and they don't want evolution!
• Sue the bastards became a mantra! Under the theory that most people are too dumb to protect themselves, the legal system is increasingly bogged down with creating fear in the hearts of honest doctors, lawyers and manufacturers in the U.S. The average tort lawyer's objective is to make mountains out of molehills... and to fill their own pockets based on the natural greed of humanity.
• The silent majority woke up... and discovered that all those extremist advocate this & that's were claiming to represent us and our governmental systems were buying it! I truly believe Lieutenant Governor Cherry thought the environmental extremists represented residents. When he met with us he realized that is not the case. I'm not so sure about Ms. Granholm. I don't think she 'gets it' yet. She has not yet based her 'ideals' on reality... Government officials are still meeting with the likes of Tracey Easthope (Ann Arbor) Lena Polock (from ?) and Michelle Hurd-Rittic (Bay City).

FYI...Environmental Extremists are already regrouping, evidenced by the following email from one Environmental Extremists to her followers...

'Subject: E-M:/ Michigan Environmental Action Calendar
From: "Stephanie Anderson"
Date: Fri, 5 Nov 2004 11:32:25 -0500
Delivered-to: enviro-mich-archive@glc.org
Delivered-to: enviro-mich@great-lakes.net
In-reply-to: <1c3.205ab9fb.2ebcf97c@aol.com>
List-name: Enviro-Mich
Reply-to: "Stephanie Anderson"

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Working collectively and individually to build a politically powerful, statewide infrastructure of pro-environment groups will be one of the keys to our long-term success. In that vein, the Michigan Environmental Council is in the process of creating a web-based calendar to post, track and coordinate the wide array of actions that environmentalists are taking around the state.Â

It will be up soon, but for now you can post to our temporary calendar at http://my.calendars.net/mec_field. You’ll need the following info in order to post your own events: Login is “enviro” and password is “power.” You can also simply email a list of those events to me and I’ll get them posted for you.

I’d love to hear your feedback on this as well as other ideas that you have for helping your efforts to build power.

Steph

Stephanie Anderson | Field Director
Michigan Environmental Council
517-487-9539 office | 734-657-9588 mobile'

Received a note from MDEQ...

Cheryl Howe sent this brief press release to everybody on her dioxin CAP mailing list in case we hadn't seen it elsewhere. Since I've been busy the past few days... I hadn't yet read it. Wednesday morning news where I was consisted of, 'I need a little blood sample; here are your meds; more pain pills? ... again?...MORE pain pills?'..then daughter number 4 phoned at 6:00 a.m. " Did you see the news? Your man won!'...and I thought, YES!!! Sometimes the good guys still win!

Had a little 'knee work' done. If I was a guy I'd probably call it an 'old sports injury' but all I will say is... total knee replacement surgery. Great doctors... great nursing care! Alas, no internet availability. The good news is I was too busy to care. Thanks to a great Mid-Michigan Regional Hospital team everything is looking great! Now I'm ready to catch up on the rest of my email... lots of reading to do! It's tough using a laptop when you cannot really put it on your lap... and hard to use the desktop computer because I can't sit for hours with my leg in a downward position.

About the dioxin situation... I sure was glad to read Cheryl's update!!! It came under Lt. Governor Cherry's letterhead. With him driving I'm confident we will get there!

How Does it Get to the Saginaw Bay?

River study focuses on St. Louis... a little headline on page 8 of The Saginaw News caught my attention today. It mentions familiar words, including floodplain, but nowhere did I see the word dioxin even though the generic term pesticides is mentioned. Hmmm! Is there a horse up there in front of the ugly dioxin debacle?

Have a Safe and Happy Halloween

granni 39's Halloween greeting card

my livingroom...where you will find a few special links for kids!

I will be away from the internet for a few days. Yes I will suffer withdrawal but, hey! It's not a perfect world! When I'm back I will be revived, refreshed and raring to go! Don't forget to vote! If you are in Florida, Georgia, or North Carolina, vote often and vote Republican!


oooooops! I thought it said I CHOCOLATE!

A Tip for Bird Lovers...

While we wait for MDEQ and Dow to tie up loose ends (hopefully by their deadline of October 31)... and come to an agreement, here's a little bird feeder tip. We've tried 'squirrel-proof' feeders and so far none proved effective against the bushy-tailed little raiders. This year I suggested we try something new. We strung an old-fashioned clothesline across the deck and tied feeders off across the middle. So far squirrels and chipmunks have been unable to walk the tightrope! We laid a board under the feeders and fill a wooden feeder on it to serve juncos, mourning doves, and our little rodent beggars too! Who'da thunk it, eh? In the background... a field of soybeans. Without soybeans I couldn't have my MorningStar Farms sausage with a farm-fresh egg on an English muffin for breakfast!

Don't forget to vote Tuesday! I already voted because I won't be able to run over to the voting booth on November 2... first time ever with an absentee ballot, but I've never missed an election in 47 years and wasn't about to this time!

If you haven't yet read Dr. Carson's letter to the public in either the Midland Daily News or The Saginaw News, here is a link to Dow's online copy of Understanding Dioxin Concentrations in Blood.

Understanding Dioxin Concentrations in Blood

More about the MDCH study of 25 people in the Tittabawassee River floodplain... As you know a few people told the press results they received from MDCH... thus creating a potential panic situation. I'm convinced some of these people, members of the lawsuit against Dow, knowingly tried to create fear in the hearts of all of us living on the floodplain. Dr. Carson, from Dow Chemical, wrote an article to help dispel these fears and it was published in the Midland Daily News last Sunday. Not everybody along the river reads MDN however, but everybody should read Dr. Carson's article.

After a bit of searching... duh!! I should have done this sooner..... I found that same article on Dow's website. I recommend everybody read it. Understanding Dioxin Concentrations in Blood

My house circa 1912...

Click on this one to see a bigger view.

Howard Vasold gave me a copy of this photo taken of 'my house' around June 1912. The original house was actually built around 1858. When we moved here in summer 1960, there was an outhouse about where the fellow is sitting on what looks like the top of a building... the same outhouse? I don't know! Howard says the water was within 15 feet of the kitchen... toward the barn. They had to bring their milk over in a boat for two days!

Today Howard showed me a list he is keeping on his computer... of residents along the river and their ages at time of death. Well, many of them are actually still alive... at the age of 90 and older. One lady who lived along this river during the time of this photo is now 105 years old, still living in a nursing home!

The house? When the girls were small we remodeled the south end and added rooms to the north end. After they moved out we redid the south end again because the foundation was crumbling. Matter of fact, we were remodeling (and using the downstairs for our bedroom) when we woke up with the Tittabawassee River literally at our feet.

...now about all that big bad boogey man chemical... dioxin... Gee maybe I'll still be around at the age of 105... if I don't get hit by a beer truck!

Let's give dioxin a dose of science

Let's give dioxin a dose of science... need I say more? What a team! Thank you, Midland Daily News, for publishing, once again, the voice of reason! We refuse to have our homes defiled by a bunch of environutz on a mission!

Howard Vasold tells me there is also an article by Dr. Carson in today's edition of The Midland Daily News... page A-7..... in which Dr. Carson explains the effects of dioxin in the dioxin study, by the Michigan Department of Community Health, of 25 people living in our area. Please read it! It should dispel much of the hysteria produced by local environmental wackos and other individuals giving out little pieces of information on the subject. I cannot find this article on the internet version of Midland Daily News, but as soon as I have a copy, I will share it with our readers on TRVoice.

Junk Science Judo Short Course

Know how I'm always saying, "...define the problem"? Here it is, plain & simple:

'The Scientific Method is the result of centuries of human learning, from Copernicus to Einstein. The scientific method isn't "rocket science". It's just the simple and common process of trial and error. A hypothesis is tested until it is credible enough to be labeled a "theory"--an elevated status in science indicating the best known explanation of some phenomenon. A theory that is confirmed may be further elevated to the status of fact or scientific "law".'

Quoted from: Junk Science Judo Short Course ...a good how-to on sorting truth and fiction. You know, the dioxin controversy has been going on for years... and the only actual problem to date... choracne!

Even credible scientists aren't 100% sure about effects on individuals, but one thing is sure; living in a bubble is not the cure-all answer! Perhaps some of us are more vulnerable to dioxin just as some of us are more vulnerable to other substances we encounter every day, everywhere. Someday, some way, sound science might come up with more answers about dioxin... meanwhile I don't want to live in a bubble!

Update on the MDCH Study... Interpretation

There is danger in not knowing the whole story... nor some of the finer details. Today I received emails from Dr. Neill D. Varner, Medical Director of the Saginaw County Health Department. He gave me permission to publish his emails if I do not take anything out of context. Read Dr. Varner's emails and see why. FYI, Dr. Varner told me I also offer misinformation on occasion. Although I didn't respond then, my response follows... The difference is I am willing to correct my errors. I don't pretend to know everything. I know who I am representing (the silent majority) and I have no personal agenda. I only want to defeat the hysteria and fear-mongering that brought this dioxin situation to a level where I felt I must get involved. Ask anybody who really knows me... I've never been much of a joiner but when I join I obligate myself to get involved!

More later... I need to respond to people who responded to yesterday's Midland Daily News, but first I need to go grocery shopping! Bill, FYI... if MDN does not publish your response to Ms. Rhetoric's nasty comments, I will! As Frank just said to me, 'Good will triumph over evil!' ... and that's really a remarkable statement coming from my eternal cynic!

blinkie by OttO... brilliant talented daughter number five!

Update to Today's Blog...

The Midland Daily News published an article about our Lansing meeting today...Residents, state officials talk dioxin. Thank you Kathie for doing a great job and we appreciate inclusion of the URL to this website!

Age Specific Relationships for Dioxin Levels

Yesterday we discussed the 25 people who received results of testing by the MDCH. I realize a little bit of knowledge can be dangerous... so here is a little bit more! Studies were done in the late 1990's on levels of dioxin in the body. People in four states were involved:

• North Carolina - no known source of exposure
• Missouri - incineration sources
• New York - eating fish & wildlife
• Louisiana - near industrial sources

Here is the table showing average levels of dioxin for different age groups.

Individual results should be referenced to Age Specific Dioxin TEQ Reference Range table and note the increasing number values with increasing age.
Table 3: Dioxin TCDD reference range based on 4 studies from LA, MO, NC and NY
Age Group N Mean Std Median P75 P90 P95 Min Max
15-29 116 1.0 1.1 0.8 1.0 1.9 2.4 0.3 9.7
30-44 199 1.4 1.3 1.0 1.7 2.9 4.0 0.2 10.9
45-59 160 1.9 1.6 1.4 2.6 4.1 5.0 0.3 9.3
60+ 113 3.9 3.7 3.2 5.8 7.5 10.9 0.3 22.6
All 588 1.9 2.3 1.1 2.5 4.6 6.0 0.2 22.6

This table is formatted correctly in the document which EACH participant should have from MDCH: Age Specific Dioxin TEQ Reference Range

You must realize... dioxin exists in all of our bodies. Depending on how often we participate in the carnivorous pleasure of a good Porterhouse steak or a sinfully delightful bowl of Ben & Jerry's ice cream... how often we enjoy an after dinner cigarette or cigar... or campfires with the family, we all carry around varying amounts of dioxin and always have.

Why do I care? Because unlike the unfortunate people who are looking for a reason for their illnesses, I am not sick and I thank God for that every day of my life! I want to believe that living on the Tittabawassee River floodplain does not cause adverse health problems in humans. I know it hasn't caused any problems in my life or the lives of my beloved children and grandchildren!

Residents get notice of dioxin exposure

Residents get notice of dioxin exposure... this version from The Saginaw News. Tittabawassee River Voice and Midland Matters recommend you read the protocols for this study of 25 individuals at the website provided by Michigan Department of Community Health... and I personally suggest you go back and read Kathie Marchlewski's article on results of dioxin exposure as well. At least Kathie interviewed a couple not involved in the lawsuit. Unfortunately however, it would appear the number one complainant, Kathy Henry passed on rumors about the people who did NOT volunteer information to the press. This is an obvious attempt on the part of environmental extremists to take advantage of the press to instill hysteria in the public arena.

Imerman use down 43 percent...

Imerman use down 43 percent, by ERIN ALBERTY, THE SAGINAW NEWS, Friday, October 15, 2004. Well duh!!! What would you do if you went to a park and everywhere you walked you saw these signs? If I didn't know better they'd scare the heck out of me! Here's a brief excerpt from the October 15 article:

'Officials from the state Department of Environmental Quality and Department of Community Health in April advised school districts to avoid Imerman Park and other spots on the river, previously used for sporting events and field trips, to avoid exposing students to the contaminant.'

Do you realize this is tantamount to terrorism. People are being scared away... not only from our beautiful parks, but from some of the small family businesses, like our local apple farms, that kids have looked forward to visiting ever since I can remember! They're being scared away from places that aren't even situated on the Tittabawassee River floodplain... they just happen to be near it!

The MDEQ forces Dow to put up those ugly warning signs to scare people away. Then they make it sound like it was Dow's idea! You might as well put up the ugly skull & crossbones signs created by these fear-mongers! Read DEQ approves Dow's dioxin info campaign in the Midland Daily News, October 14, 2004. The environuts have been pushing this stuff at the MDEQ.

...and now we read in Sunday's Midland Daily News... Results back from pilot study of dioxin exposure. My God Kathy!!! I'm ashamed for you! I thought you were growing into a responsible journalist and here we read a combination of misinformation and untruths! The Michigan Department of Community Health has not yet published this information so you've taken 5 out of the 25 people who volunteered to be tested... definitely not a scientific sampling... and published that information as a fair example of 'truth.' It's bad enough that we're getting scare propoganda thrown at us in the TV news from the Kerry campaign... now we're getting scare propoganda thrown at us from our little hometown newspapers!

By the way, one of the five went around putting stuff about her test in people's mailboxes. Hey lady! Don't you know tampering with mailboxes is a federal crime?

The River Voice and Midland Matters met with Lieutenant Governor Cherry and Director of MDEQ Steve Chester

The River Voice and Midland Matters met with Lieutenant Governor Cherry and Director of MDEQ Steve Chester yesterday at 2:30 p.m. in Lansing. Here are the fellows - prior to the meeting; I'm behind the camera. Didn't think about using my camera again until after the meeting and it was too late. Maybe next time.

I think it went pretty well. After Mr. Cherry and Mr. Chester brought us up-to-date on the dioxin situation in our area, Bill Egerer gave them an overview of how we, the residents of Midland and the Tittabawassee River floodplain, feel about being in the middle of the MDEQ/Dow dioxin debate.

Dr. Richard Rietz, our toxicologist and expert on dioxin, explained his knowledge of dioxin, pointing out some of the inaccuracies in DEQ's science that were pointed out but never corrected. Dr. Rietz also suggested formation of an unbiased expert panel to oversee the scientific results of studies done by MDEQ. Perhaps this would take care of the uncorrected mistakes in their decision making process.

As Mr. Cherry further discussed the methods and procedures of the whole mess, I suggested they get down to earth and decide if there really is a problem. Giving them my 45 year background experience living in the Tittabawassee River floodplain, I suggested there are plenty of people living here to prove dioxin is not problematic... or we would be seeing a big area of sick people. After all, the dioxin problem caused by Dow's production of chlorine-based chemistry has been since approximately 1906.

Len Heinzman explained the formation of Tittabawassee River Voice, beginning with the meeting with legislators at his home, showing Chester and Cherry the list of signatures obtained by his canvassing of residents along the river plain. Len emphasized that residents want the term 'facility' removed from our properties and even suggested the possibility that we should be exempt from property taxes until this situation is resolved.

Our government now knows the environmental extremists do NOT represent the majority of our residents. Mr. Cherry said he really was unaware that was the case and appreciates our bringing him up to speed.

I also gave Messrs. Cherry and Chester each a CD with a photo album depicting My Town and my prepared notes for the meeting. More will follow.

We care for our parks...

...this one is Festival Park for which Dow Chemical just donated $496,000 to build a floating dock, two levels of decks and a walking path. We were just walking in that park yesterday... sort of a photographing mid-day holiday. It will be even more lovely with the new additions.

We are proud of our farms...

...and the people who farm them. Leaman's Green Apple Barn was farmed by Harry Leaman, who died at the age of 92. The farm is now owned and managed by Harry's granddaughter. Although the apple farm is above the floodplain, Jaye tells how she played down by the river, and even swam in it. I do believe the dioxin situation was worse then than it is now. We just didn't know about it. Four generations and still going strong!

Ah the POWER!!!

No-show 'weed' may alter drain
Okay, so there is no weed there to protect, but the DEQ will protect it anyway!!!

State asks city to relocate water main near dam site Hey the DEQ can do anything they want!!! Move your water main, darn it! The DEQ wants to 'do their thing.'

Michigan gives York trash green light for now
Oh yes... the great 'protectors' of Michigan's wetlands, dunes, county drains, ditches and air... is there anything I didn't cover? Just what we need in our beautiful state... more garbage!!!

Oh yes... then there was this article last week: Michigan okay with our trash... this from Toronto!

Meanwhile out in the backwoods of Howell, Michigan a lone man prowls the wetlands... looking for trouble. Big cities are welcome to bring their garbage and dump it in Michigan but watch out for this guy! Read Man polices county wetlands.

Then there's that group of articles in the Detroit Free Press last week... Battle rages over cleanup of Dow's toxic legacy. A friend gave me the hard copy even though I told him I could read it all online. Thanks, Larry! Glad you gave it to me. I would have been deprived from seeing the infamous photo of Mrs. Henry riding her lawnmower around her yard wearing a mask to protect herself from breathing in dioxin!!! She has no qualms about breathing in the poisons in her cigarettes! I guess she has to take off her mask to take a drag on her cigarette, eh?

MDEQ on the JOB!!!

Just for kicks... here's a photo of the DEQ boat that visited little Hackert Lake aka Crystal Lake Tuesday morning, July 27, 2004. They were here taking core samples of the lake bottom in search of mercury... or so they say. Can you imagine my surprise when I woke up that morning to the smell of coffee and a greeting, 'Wake up honey, the DEQ is here.' Then I realized I was not home but at the lake and they were in the middle of my 'front yard' not at the door!
As usual, click the photo for a full page view.

Wonder Why the No-Smoking Campaign?

...because I still wonder why the chief litigant in the wannabe class action suit against Dow Chemical to monitor non-existent health problems decided dioxin is a chemical to be feared! The last time I saw her she was putting toxic chemicals directly into her lungs... puffing away on a cigarette! Doesn't she realize that, among hundreds of other toxins cigarettes contain at least three of the most toxic substances identified by the ATSDR?

Yesterday's Detroit Free Press featured a photo of Ms. Henry's pristine white kitchen being vacuumed by members of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. Do you suppose their findings of dioxin included cigarette ash? Why could MDEQ search for dioxin in Ms. Henry's home and yard but not in mine? I've lived here much longer than she has! ...and she stood right up and complained at the Tittabawassee Township CAP meeting on dioxin that she feared the University of Michigan study would not include HER! My biggest fear is they will not choose me because I don't think dioxin is a problem.

But I digress... I naturally had to google a cigarette smokers lungs and ended up not blogging here. I hope mine don't look like that. I was finally able to quit in April 1993, and I'm healthier and happier for that tough struggle. It was a Dow product that gave me the help I needed, by the way... Nicoderm which was a prescription drug then. Below is a bit of information for you and your Dow-hating buddies, Ms. Henry. This chart was part of the presentation at the May 26 community meeting on dioxin in Midland. Find more recent updates here.


Click the chart to read it better.
I wonder how many environmental extremist activists smoke something... Anyway, onward. I also want to share a related article from the Midland Daily News. This was sent to my by my friend Bill Egerer who also responded to the article on line. Pollutants are closer than you might think is a 'must read.'

Recently I've been finding myself conflicted since my neighbors and I became the 'filling' for a Dow Chemical/MDEQ dioxin sandwich.

I am a member of the Hackert Lake Association, whose existence and goals require interaction and cooperation with the MDEQ. I will remain a member of the association but I quit as webmaster of the Hackert Lake website I developed. Somebody else can easily take over maintenance. I also turned over responsibility for the Hackert Lake Reflections newsletter to somebody else. I cannot in all good conscience support efforts of MDEQ at the lake when I feel personally threatened by that same agency. I don't need the paranoia I felt when I saw the MDEQ's 40 foot boat on our little lake, drawing core samples... searching for a reason to find fault with my retreat away from my situation as a 'facility' here at home.

Now I'm 'loaded for bear' and ready to go!

Cleanup on the river floodplain

Yard cleanup of this magnitude is still a family affair! #5 daughter and her husband volunteered this year. Where did all those trees come from? Mostly from upstream during the four springtime floods. Just an FYI for our 'advocates,' the litigators, and their buddies the DEQ bureaucrats: This is how most residents clean up after a flood on the Tittabawassee River floodplain. We've been doing this for 45 years! Golly, where are all the sick people?

"To our knowledge there is no biological acceptable cause-effect model where the disease precedes the exposure"

Taken from article titled: DIOXIN: COMPARING APPLES AND ORANGES
by Ralph R. Cook and Janice B. Cartmill
Chemtech 1984, 14, pages 534-537

addendum to my day...

Besides correcting a typo in the earlier post my best friend just told me he heard a bit on the news; according to some accountants Michigan property tax payers will be paying twelve months in advance in summer 2007... not just six! Not sure how this came about but I believe it!

On a lighter note, there's a surgery in my near future. If you think I'm a bit of a bitch now, wait until they try to keep me down!

...and how did YOUR day go?

Okay I give up! I don't want to play anymore. The world around me has become a sewer infested with greed, apathy and ambition, sometimes verging toward legalized thievery! Socialism has invaded my space and I feel helpless in it's shadow.

The City of Saginaw - dubbed a Cool City by the Queen of Michigan... Ms. Granholm - subsequently showed her how cool they really are. Beyond the normal everyday summertime gangland activity, city officials caused a scandal by firing an employee for no apparent reason... appearances suggest it was racially motivated.

Now some history...Years ago Saginaw was actually able to vote to make it illegal for their property taxes to be increased. Rationale was that people outside of the city working in the city should pay taxes so the trade-off was a city income tax.

Mismanagement... whatever... current state of affairs brought about solutions! People moved out of the city into surrounding townships... make them pay the city's expenses. Last year they added the former Civic Center to the townships' list of expenses. Then Dow Chemical had too much money, what with cutting the payscale for longtime employees and all, so they donate an equal amount of money per year to the center... and all the center had to do was change the name! Where's our rebate?

But golly! The city STILL doesn't have enough money so they decided to rob the rest of Saginaw County one more time by charging double for the water supply in surrounding townships. A compromise solution exists... now the city decides maybe they can collect taxes from some of the surrounding communities... but aw shucks... probably only for a few years. Quote from The Saginaw News article:

"Kischnick, Nelson and Bayne have argued that the city should work with outlying areas on water supply to help promote development for the entire region. Council members, especially Andy Coulouris and Daniel G. Soza Jr., have answered that cheap water for locations such as Freeland and Birch Run would compound the so-called "urban sprawl" that already harms inner areas."

Urban sprawl!

...and then enter our State government. Our elected representatives have decided to keep charging more and more of our property taxes in the summertime so that in effect by 2007 we will be paying the state our total tax payment a whole six months earlier than previously!!! In our area only John Moolenaar did not turn on us. Thank you sir!

Top all this off with a small band of weirdos running around with a skull & crossbones across their chests - defaming the integrity of surrounding townships... trying to put one of the biggest employers in our area out of business on some superficial false charges... all in the name of environment.

I love this beautiful state... don't want to move but what do we have to do to get away from the idiocy... become hermits?

What's Up in the Extremist Activist World?

When they are not trying to intimidate and create fear in the public, they tend to lie... or at least it sounds like lies. For instance, to quote in their "meetings" list...

"Cancelled 07/27/04 The Dr. Linda Birnbaum meeting has been cancelled, reasons "unknown". Evidently, "someone" does not want her to visit the area. Dr. Birnbaum is a world renowned expert on dioxin and it's effects on humans and the environment. The MDEQ says they wil try again for this fall."

Exact quote... I know how to spell! Why if they respect Ms. Birnbaum, did LoneTree so quickly jump to a newly invigorated campaign after they learned she is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for the University of Michigan study of the correlation between dioxin in the enivronment versus dioxin in the human body, using real people that really live where the dioxin exists? (Nobody has every checked my backyard!)

Are they afraid the results will confirm what I've been repeating here almost daily... that we are not sick!!!??? Are they afraid they can't maintain control over the Michigan Dept. of Environmental Quality if their (sounds like) science is proven as bad as real scientists say it is?

I would bet real money that the cigarettes will get you before the dioxin does! The best thing you can do for yourself is quit trying to get something for nothing... quit LoneTree and quit smoking! You will be happier, healthier and richer for your efforts.

A flipflop is a flipflop is a flipflop...

Hmmmm! Sound familiar?
Click for a bigger pic!

Immerman Park Clutter

Immerman Park... first time I've ever really walked in this lovely park so close to my home.
To view bigger images, click the photo.

The last time I came here to take pictures we were not allowed in... it was partially flooded and the environutz didn't want us there because we might contaminate ourselves... so we went home where the Tittabawassee River had invaded our own backyard!

This time the first thing we saw was a small group of individuals dressed in black & white with skull & crossbones across their chests... they had just completed a press conference. After they left we remained and hiked through the park. It was a perfect photo op day, cluttered only by paraphanalia demanded by environutz who had just left.

No, they didn't throw their papers and cigarette butts around; their clutter is more permanent. See the photo here? That big washing machine-looking thing is a 'cleanup station' - accompanied by a garbage can and an ugly yellow sign reminding people to wash their hands! There were yellow signs everywhere... different messages depending on where you stood! I have heard the nutz want more of those 'stations' - more of those ugly yellow signs - at all of our parks along the Tittabawassee! (Their lovely Skull & Crossbones sign added by yours truly. They would love for you to put one of those signs in your front yard!) God forgive them for they know not what they do.

ABC12.com: Talks ongoing with Dow Chemical, state

ABC12.com: Talks ongoing with Dow Chemical, state - If you missed it, here's Terry Camp's report of today's dioxin-related meeting down by the riverside! The film will self-destruct in 7 days, so view it now!

Down by the riverside

There was a meeting down by the river this morning...
...not highly publicized but when I heard about it I had to be there. Got there as soon as I could after a 10:00 a.m. medical appointment in Midland. Despite the fact that one person confronted me and asked me what sort of nasty thing I was going to write about her today, I met several very pleasant people. No time for more on this right now; I'd rather find out what the news media says about the meeting first anyway. Be sure to read The Saginaw News and Midland Daily News to find out all about it. Terry Camp from Channel 12 TV was there, so you should hear about it from him as well. Will be back to ramble later.
click the photo for a bigger view

Musing:

Musing: Answers to a few questions I've been asked on occasion.

1. When/If the dioxin issue is resolved, what will become of the divided community? Are we divided? I think not. My neighbor is a Democrat; I am a Republican. Same with some family members... we get along just fine! We accept our differences just like other areas of our lives!
2. Don't you know dioxin is a seriously toxic chemical? Of course dioxin is toxic... but in what quantities? Now that we finally have a study begun by the University of Michigan to find a correlation between dioxin in the soil and that in our bodies, let's get it done. Then, if there is a problem it will be defined and the culprit (Dow Chemical) should do whatever has to be done to fix the problem, if any.
3. Aren't you worried about how your backyard dioxin will affect your health in the future? What!???!! I've been around for 68 years, 43 of them in this house situated on the Tittabawassee River floodplain. We've experienced anywhere from one to four floods every single year, including the 100 year flood in 1986 that invaded the lower level of our home reaching a height of five feet! Before it got that high we waded in knee-deep river water to retrieve as many items as we could even as the river was rising! Our water pump was under water so we flushed our toilet with river water, scooping it up in pails from our back deck - which is located on the upper level of the house. We were without electricity throughout the event but didn't have to shut off power from the pole because the river finally quit rising just below the meter.
   
   The river stayed for two weeks before we could even go downstairs and walk in it. We encountered snakes and frogs, but strangely enough saw no fish as the river receded and slowly began to leave our home. When it was over, family members joined us in removing all the destroyed furniture, photographs and documents that were all in a jumble in various corners of the first floor where they had floated during the invasion. We scrubbed and cleaned and tore down paneling and floors and replaced it with new... all at our own expense of course, although the government and our former place of employment gave us loans with no interest.
   
   Even IRS documents were destroyed, which brought on another type of invasion... by federal government bureaucrats that charged us taxes we had already paid... just because they could... and further tortured us for the next two years! Did I mention this was our first year of retirement?
   
   Oooops! Forgot the question... no I'm not worried about my health in the future. If dioxin was gonna kill me it would have done it by now! Even with all the stress of a major flood we washed our hands before cooking or eating. I doubt we ingested any dioxin. However, if it could enter our bodies through the skin we must have been full of it!
4. Don't you think Dow should clean up their mess? Of course I do. I'm just not sure how bad that mess really is! It seems there are people who have taken a situation and bent it all out of proportion. I do not understand their rationale because such behavior is not within my scope of understanding. I cannot understand why... no matter what that company proposes to do, it is not enough for a certain segment of our society.
5. Why don't you want to be included in a class action lawsuit against Dow? Hmmm! Beyond reasons already discussed I would have to say... because I have no desire to fatten the pocketbooks of tort lawyers.
   
   I believe because of those lawyers our society has become overly litigious. I think it's a pretty sorry state of affairs where, for instance, a person can clumsily spill hot coffee in their lap and say it was the restaurant's fault for serving hot coffee! Wouldn't they be equally complaining if the coffee was NOT hot enough?

Now for the commercial...

When you are asked to participate in the University of Michigan study on the correlation between dioxin in your body and your surrounding environment, please do so. This is a very important study... well planned and set up with all sorts of oversight (see who is on the Scientific Advisory Board) to make sure it's done correctly.

I wrote a totally different set of 'Musing' yesterday but decided to mail it in as a letter to the editor. I sent it to all three local newspapers... The Saginaw News, Midland Daily News, and The Bay City Times. Let us see if they print it. If/after it is printed, I will publish a copy of it here... actually on our Links page.
P.S. I have a few more news articles to post as well. Soon, I promise!

Community Advisory Panel Meeting #1

I've been writing off and on between laundry loads all day today, but waited until I could read the professional writers' articles about yesterday's meeting at the Freeland Elementary School cafeteria. No need to reinvent the wheel, eh? The Saginaw News version headlines, "We are not Dow, U-M says," by JOE SNAPPER. The Midland Daily News leads off with "Scientists explain how dioxin health study will work," by Kelly Jerome.

I became aware of this meeting Thursday on WNEM Channel 5's evening news... only three days notice. We changed our weekend plans to accomodate the 6:30 meeting on Sunday evening. There were somewhere between 46 and 75 residents attending, depending on which newspaper you read. I'm convinced more people would have attended if they had known about it sooner.

I've deleted the stuff I was writing today... thank me for that!... and here is how I felt about the actual presentation... gut feel!

• The meeting was very informative, worth changing our plans.
The study will be fair (more about this later).
• Participants will be random.
• Litigants and non-litigants all have more in common than we might want to admit. I'm concerned that, since participants are chosen randomly, our household might not be chosen for the sampling. I also want to know if living with dioxin in my backyard has affected my health, or for that matter the health of my family.
• I'm overall convinced the Community Advisory Panel was well-chosen, but believe at least one member should be somebody who actually lives on the floodplain.

The next meeting is planned for Thursday, December 9 at 6:00 pm in the Freeland Elementary School Auditorium. Mark your calendars now. These advisory meetings are important. Unfortunately, the Saginaw Valley Computer Association meets that same evening. As President I really should attend that meeting. We shall see how things go.

Guess I'd better start reading the Midland Daily News religiously!!! It's the one place where I can get info about dioxin-related meetings in a timely fashion. Thanks for your journalistic expertise, Kathie!!!

Read Kathie Marchlewski's complete article here: U-M dioxin study focus of Sunday meeting.

What: A meeting of community leaders to discuss the plans
for a University of Michigan study on dioxin exposure in the Midland and Saginaw
areas.
· When: Sunday August 29, 6:30 p.m.
· Where: Freeland Elementary School, in
the cafeteria
· For more information: www.UMDioxin.org

This meeting is all about the dioxin exposure studies to be performed on actual living people who have lived in the Tittabawassee River floodplain! This is an important topic. All of us should be aware of what is going on... and more important, all of us should willingly open our doors and our personal availabilities for this all important study!

Read the Saginaw News editorial dated July 18, 2004 for the Saginaw News editor's viewpoint.

Illinois Conservative Politics...
...has an article by Joyce Morrison about people all over the country whose properties are being stolen from them by government bureaucracies because they have been deemed to be wetlands. Not only that, they are being labeled as criminals and being fined for violation of 'wetlands laws.' These 'wetlands' include farms and former farms that are now untended, a wildlife refuge, and our neighbor Rapanos, a land developer.

What is this all about? People... just ordinary people across the country are being fined for violating laws we didn't know existed. Not only that, in many cases the laws didn't exist when we bought the land. Something needs to be done soon! We need to rescind some of these ridiculous laws that harm the very people that pay the taxes that pay the bureaucrats that fine us as criminals for breaking the laws the bureaucrats created to keep themselves employed.

Joyce Morrison lives in southern Illinois. She is a chapter leader for Concerned Women for America and she and her husband, Gary, represent the local Citizens for Private Property Rights. Joyce is Secretary to the Board of Directors of Rural Restoration/ADOPT Mission, a national farm ministry located in Sikeston.
She has become a nationally-recognized advocate for property rights.

BACK TO NATURE... By Terry Judd, The Grand Rapids Press, Wednesday, August 25, 2004.

In brief: The Grand Haven channel is in need of dredging. Because there is no place to dump the dredged material, the Corps of Engineers has come up with a method combining yard compost with dredging to provide a superior topsoil.

Wow Dow & MDEQ!!! Sounds like business to me! Whether you are dredging a river or handling soil already on land... why not let that dioxin disintegrate in the sunlight for 24 hours, mix with compost, bag it and sell it!!!

Kidz

Kidz Korner... is a fantastic website for kids... all about Michigan, by the Michigan Department of Agriculture. I just needed to do this after all that depressing stuff I blogged about earlier today.

Watch out for these extremists... they are out to scare your kids into a vegan lifestyle! A Rat's Life is one of three comic books PETA offers to kids in their new effort to educate them. Well, let's change that word 'educate' to brainwash, okay? The Clarion Ledger published this article about PETA's recruiting efforts in one small agricultural town in Mississippi. They don't want you eating chicken or eggs either! Hmmm... they haven't gotten around to fish yet but I'm sure they will!

You really need to visit PETA Kids to get the full effect of how extremists work to frighten people into accepting their beliefs! Here's an example to make them dislike dairy products...

"Today is “Ice Cream Sandwich” Day, but in behalf of cows, we’re renaming it “Tofutti Cutie” Day. These fab summer treats are just like ice cream sandwiches except that they don’t have tons of fat, pesticides, and pus … and best of all, no cows are involved!"

Why do I mention this here? I suggest some of the people who put us in the middle of the dioxin squabble between Dow Chemical and MDEQ really believe the propaganda dished out to them by environmental extremists! All extremists work with the same tools - fear and intimidation. They even take classes so they can get better at it! If you don't believe me you can check out the Ruckus website where they are currently offering 'training camp' sessions for rabble rousers!

Look folks, we know dioxin is a bad thing... we neither eat it nor bathe in it! We are saying what has been said forever... all things in moderation... the poison is in the dose... etc.

How 'wetlands' bureaucrats crush private property rights, a WorldNet Daily Exclusive Commentary by David Stirling. I don't know Mr. Rapanos and I don't know if I would like him or not if I ever met him but I do know he has been treated unfairly for no apparent good reason. Here are a few words from a Federal District Court Judge concerning Rapanos' dilemma...

"So here we have a person who comes to the United States and commits crimes of selling dope and the government asks me to put him in prison for 10 months. And
then we have an American citizen who buys land, pays for it with his own money,
and he moves some sand from one end to the other and the government wants me to give him 63 months in prison. Now if that isn't our system gone crazy, I don't
know what is. And I am not going to do it."

You need to read the commentary to see the whole picture! I never fail to be amazed by MDEQ. So much power, so little expertise! God bless America. God save the State of Michigan!

The Holland Sentinel tells us...

"State deciding next step after dune ruling. Court earlier awarded $1.16 million to couple who own land along Lake Michigan shoreline. By RICHARD HARROLD, Staff writer"

Which immense bureaucracy has too much power? Could it be....? What? Right! ...that would be the all-powerful Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.

What is your response, MDEQ? Oh! That's right! You are just 'carrying out the law.' ...and who writes the law? Oh that's right... our legislators! So they thought up all those laws giving you all that power? Hmmmm?

Oh! It's the 'will of the people'... that would be us, the residents of Michigan? Oh! I get it. We told you to brand our homes with a 'facility' designation! We told you to decide we can't build homes in certain designated places! We told you to make all of our decisions for us!!!

Oh! You mean there are groups who represent us who go talk to the legislators and tell them what we, the residents, want? Is that correct? ...and those people are called lobbyists? Hmmm! ...and some of these lobbyists are environmental extremists, each and every group having some very 'special' interests?

Well!!! I've been voting for more than forty years. I've voted for Presidents, Vice-Presidents, Representatives & Senators, Judges and all kinds of peripheral political positions but I don't recall EVER voting for a lobbyist!

Extremists, environmental and otherwise, are supported by larger organizations like The Tides Foundation. The Tides Foundation is supported by rich billionnaire people like the ketchup heiress who feel like they have to tell the rest of us how to live... and how to spend our money.

Huh? Did you say we live in a democracy?

You're right on, kiddo! This is the natural born color of these most delightfully delicious eggs! 

Time sure flies when a body decides to take a few days break! Just finished updating myself on the local newspapers... added the URLs in case you missed them. I also read an interestingly twisted article by Michelle Heard Rhetoric at the TRW/Lone Tree website... from now on referred to as ... anyway, click the pic to read what she said this time. Once you get there you also have to click on 'News' and look around until you find 8/10/2004. One of the many misconceptions Ms. Heard Rhetoric passes on to us is as follows:

'We've had two episodes of flooding this year which deposited additional contaminated sediments onto the floodplain.'

Well, where I live (I think it's the floodplain) we had four... count them FOUR separate floods this spring, but then after all, she represents the 'residents' doesn't she? She talks about 'our' parks and 'our' yards but she probably never saw any of 'our' floods!

I've provided a link to the over on this page to the lower right and on our links page. I think it's important to check out their rationale periodically to keep in mind how ludicrously some people can sound like science! The whole website is sort of convoluted but once you click around on a few of their links you'll get the idea.

For sure I hope you'll read Dr. Varner's article in the Midland Daily News. Dr. Varner is a real scientist and a compassionate man with real interest in our health and welfare.

Nobody says dioxin is safe. That is foolishness... but remember this... the poison is in the dosage! Where are all those sick people anyway?

In case you missed the August 2 article in The Saginaw News, Dredging technique improved, we saved it for you. The U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers knows, many others know... sunlight destroys dioxin. You read it here on June 1 this year.

What's the big deal with MDEQ anyway... spending way too many taxpayer dollars telling Dow Chemical what's 'wrong' with their SOW (Scope of Work)?

...the sludge settles and dries out, baking under the hot sun, until the next day's work. The dredging in Saginaw County likely would occur over two or three weeks annually for about 20 years.

Gee, maybe we should hire the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Tittabawassee River floodplain cleanup!

Speaking of the Army, God bless President Bush for doing his level best to keep the religious extremist terrorists fighting in their country and not in ours! He drew a fantastic crowd in Saginaw yesterday. I chose not to attend President Bush's appearance at the Wendler Arena. Large noisy crowds are just not my cup o' tea, but I watched Airforce One land from the back deck in the comfort of my own home. Frank & I then watched his entire presentation. Thanks to WNEM TV5 we had the best seats in the house! If you missed it, WNEM TV5 has a website for you to view, complete with film clips.

The White Lake Beacon reports: "Developers last Tuesday stressed to the Whitehall City Council they want a development that is both safe and beautiful at the former Whitehall Leather property they intend to acquire." Have you ever been to Whitehall? One beautiful summer day in the early 1980's we sailed into White Lake, which is surrounded by the quaintly lovely towns of Whitehall and Montague. It's quite beautiful!

Who wouldn't want to own property there? Somebody's gonna make mucho bucks on this deal!!! ... 20 acres of PRIME real estate!!! The article says:

"He (Mick McGraw, Eastbrook Homes chief executive officer) said the redevelopment plan currently would put condominium units, possibly some small retail shops and a bar/restaurant into the former facility, itself.

Officials of South Shore Development shared its intentions to construct a variety of residential structures, a private marina, a possible health club in the tannery's former gymnasium and a public walkway to Svensson Park."

...and how do they come about obtaining it? They buy it from a Tennessee company called Genesco and the MDEQ - current owners who are currently completing the clean up of the 'formerly contaminated property' with... get this..... if I'm not mistaken, school tax money!!!

Read all about the Brownfield Redevelopment Financing Act, Public Act 381 of 1996, as amended and help me. Tell me if I'm wrong. Isn't that a sweet deal, or what?

Well now you're going to see the MDEQ refer to various Acts, and they would have us believe they are '.....just doing what is prescribed by the law....' and we all know laws can only be put into being by our legislators, right? Well honey, somebody asked our legislators to create these laws, didn't they? Who did it? Well golly gee, I would guess that would be the environmental extremists that tag along with the DEQ... they have a mighty lobby, don't you suppose?

What a fun game!!! First we get our bureaucratic brethren to create the laws, then we carry out the laws, then our friends get to make lots of money on the whole deal!!! Wouldn't you like some of that action?

I mentioned 'brownfields' some time ago in this blog... since then learning a bit more about it. What do you think? Apparently the 'brownfields' are cleaned up with public funds collected for school taxes!!! That's because the companies that created the problem are now defunct. Dow Chemical, however, is a chemical giant... so of course, MDEQ will make them clean it up. Oh goody! At least they're saving our school tax money. Meanwhile, our backyards are 'facilities.' How does that differ from 'brownfields?' ... semantics my friend, semantics and source of money.

My Heavens!!! This is more than I bargained for! What a bureaucratic monster we are looking at!

Did you thank our Board of Trustees for their support by voting in favor of our resolution? You can do it at the Tuesday August 3rd primary election. The vote was unanimous 6-0 for the resolution. Ken Kasper, Township Supervisor was not present. Names of those who voted are: Mary Kay Knoerr, Bob DuCharme, Paul Vasold, Rick Hayes, Carl Neuenfeldt, and Ruth Averill. Ruth voiced her doubts but voted for the majority of residents along the Tittabawassee River floodplain.

I have not seen Trustee wannabees Metiva or Brownrigg at any of the township meetings I've attended! Ann Doyle was present at the last meeting.

Other points of interest: Read the Midland Daily News article, Dow files papers in high court. As always, Kathie Marchlewski did an outstanding job of presenting the facts. The Saginaw News article was not as complete so I decided to waste neither my space nor your time by publishing it.

University of Michigan has a website... Michigan Dioxin Exposure Study. I suggest we all read it from the beginning and it will be simple to understand as the study progresses.

Have a marvelous summer weekend!

The MDEQ is here!!! No... not to take samples in my backyard on the Tittabawassee River floodplain... they didn't have to! They took samples in somebody else's backyard and said my backyard is a 'facility.'

I'm at our cottage on Hackert Lake... formerly called Crystal Lake... in Scottville. Six people in a 40 foot boat are on our little inland lake taking core samples. I think they're looking for mercury. I hope it's not there and I want to know if it is. If it is will they declare all the homes and cottages on this little lake a 'facility?'

Will they be in YOUR backyard next?