This story is so sad. I see the kids playing in this water all the time. I never imagined that this would happen in this pond because the water seems so calm.

Buffalo teen drowns on Squaw Island
May 31, 2010, 6:57 pm / 2 comments


A 16-year-old Buffalo boy drowned this afternoon while swimming in a pond on Squaw Island, Buffalo police reported.

The teen, whose identity wasn't released, was swimming in a freshwater pond on the island with a few friends between 3 and 3:30 p.m. when he began to struggle and went under, said Michael J. DeGeorge, a Buffalo Police spokesman.

The friends went to call for help, and the Buffalo Police Underwater Recovery Team soon arrived on the island, located at the foot of West Ferry Street in the Niagara River.

Police divers were able to find the boy and he was taken to Women and Children's Hospital, where he died, DeGeorge said.

The drowning remains under investigation, and police divers reported that the pond does have a current, DeGeorge added.

Here are some pics of kids playing in the pond last year.

(e:libertad) and (e:brit) are turning 30 together and we want you all to celebrate it with us at the 24. Next Friday at 9pm. I hear (e:southernyankee) will be in town which will be super awesome. It is also the big gay weekend.

Much thanks for the generous hosts. Thanks guys!!!!!!

I don't want to hear from Obama that they are doing all they can when they haven't deployed supertankers to come and suck the massive oil plumes up. I don't care how much money it costs. This is way more important than any of our stupid wars. I want this mess cleaned up, we can bill BP for it later, just fucking do it!

Former Shell Oil Chief, Engineer: Supertankers Could Save the Gulf, So Why Won't BP Listen?
BY Ariel SchwartzThu May 13, 2010
John Hofmeister and Nick Pozzi tell Fast Company how a possible solution to the Gulf Oil spill is sitting under BP's nose.

supertanker

Underwater robots, containment domes, top hats, hot taps, junk shots ... the potential fixes to the Gulf Oil Spill sound like they come straight from a cringeworthy disaster flick (or a PR think tank). But what if the solution is right under our noses? What if it's already sitting in the Gulf? John Hofmeister, the former president of Shell Oil, and Nick Pozzi, a former pipeline engineering and operations project manager for Saudi Aramco, think it might be.

According to Hofmeister, oil supertankers could be used to suck up massive amounts of oil--possibly millions of barrels at a time.

In an interview with FastCompany.com, Hofmeister explained that a little-known Saudi oil spill from an offshore platform in the early 1990s dumped more crude into the sea than any spill in U.S. history (think hundreds of millions of gallons). But the government and local press kept it quiet. And that's why one of the big fixes in the Saudi oil spill--the oil-skimming supertanker--hasn't been publicized.

"[They] figured out how to deploy supertankers that had the ability to both intake and discharge liquids in vast quantities with huge pumps," Hofmeister explained. "The supertankers could simply suck in seawater and oil simultaneously--they can hold millions of barrels--and when full, they could discharge oil at a port into tanks where they could separate oil from water. The idea is novel in that you can get massive of oil amounts quickly." Once the supertankers make it to to the port, water can be treated and discharged, and oil can either be used or destroyed.

Pozzi saw the technique used in the Middle East, where it recovered 85% of the oil from the Saudi spill. And he thinks it could work in the Gulf of Mexico. "The only downside is that you tie up oil tankers. That's why we think that BP won't listen to us. They don't want to spend that extra money."

After learning about the supertanker technique a few weeks ago, Hofmeister decided to bring it to the government's attention. "I've been trying to connect engineers with decision-makers at the Coast Guard and in the interior department," he said.

Pozzi and his business partner Jon King have also tried to contact officials, with no luck. "I called the President of BP, got his secretary and then got a call from a lady inside the building we were standing outside of. We never really heard back from her. Nick also knew some people and got one of the men in charge of the spill. He threatened to sue Nick for not going through channels," King said.

But even if BP and the government both approve the technique, it will take a while before it can be implemented. "A lot of these supertankers are sitting on the ocean full of oil. How do you get them empty? It may take some time to organize," Hofmeister explained. And, of course, organizers will have to make sure that the supertankers don't crash into each other. All the more reason to get started now.

BP would be wise to listen to Pozzi, who has 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. "It's what you can't see that's going to hurt you for years to come. What you see now is just the tip of the iceberg," he said.

Hofmeister, however, has confidence in the oil spill cleanup effort. "There are 13,000 people organized and engaged at cleaning up this spill. It's kind of remarkable to put that kind of task force together in this kind of time frame," he said. "I think there are very smart people managing this process."

Speaking of that process, BP's latest video as been released, and it shows the failed attempt to lower the cofferdam over the gushing well. Remember, this thing is 98 tons and 40 feet tall. Puts that spewing pipe in perspective.

This is not a spill. A spill is when you knock over a glass of milk. I wish this was just a spill but it is not. A spill has limits and as we can clearly see this oil well DISASTER does not.











I lifted these off of flickr. Sorry not to give credit to appropriate people.

I liked this article about making biking a part of your life. Hopefully I can keep biking until the very end. I hope that I can continue to live and work in the same area. It sucks to have to drive to go to work.

Published on Saturday, May 22, 2010 by CommonDreams.org
Biking for Life

by Susan Van Haitsma

It's National Bike Month, and I'm thinking about my dad. He's 82 and still riding. In fact, he's still riding the same 3-speed Schwinn bicycle that he purchased, used, from a student soon after he began his teaching career at a small college in Wisconsin about 50 years ago. We lived just 6 blocks from his office on campus, so he walked to work if there was snow or rain, but otherwise, he preferred to bike because it was faster and easier to carry his satchel of books and files in his big wire baskets. In the years since he retired, he's continued to bike all around town to do his local business, becoming a loved and familiar figure on that classic Schwinn.

I realized with some surprise that my dad has never locked his bike. Parked almost daily along a busy road near his office for 35 years, his faithful steed remained untethered and unstolen. The frame is rusty, perhaps acting as a theft deterrent, but he's kept the gears oiled and the tires filled. Over the years, he's replaced the tires a few times, the brake pads and the pedals, but most other parts are original. When it comes to carbon footprint, I figure that the resources used to manufacture, maintain and operate his bike have been amortized over 50 years to zero. Meanwhile, the benefits to the planet have accumulated to produce a rather elegant history of one man taking seriously the promise of a sturdy, green machine to last a lifetime.

My dad hasn't thought of himself as a bicycle activist. He owns and drives a car and is not keen on the idea of giving that up someday. He has considered his bike use mainly a practical measure to save money, move relatively quickly around a compact downtown and work out the kinks from grading papers. But, as the years have gone by and the earth has suffered its oil wounds, I've come to see my dad's example as a green beacon of possibility.

When we are urged by local and national governments to take whatever steps we can in our daily lives to reduce our use of fossil fuels, I picture my dad cruising down the driveway on his 3-speed, headed to a Kiwanis meeting. If he can do this at age 82, the possibilities for most people to make at least some of their local trips by bicycle are endless. Bike to Work Day could be, as it was for my father, an ordinary day.

While my dad has ridden a single bike through five decades of bicycle design transformation, the evolution from cruiser to racer to mountain to hybrid to cruiser turned a perfect revolution as his 1950s-style model came back into fashion. Without meaning to, my dad became cool.

Actually, he was cool all along. Teaching is best done by example, and his quiet daily practice was an environmental lesson on the leading edge of green living. Chugging up and down hills helped preserve his health and the health of those hills. I'm proud of my cool dad. Happy Bike Half-Century to everyone who has rolled along with him!
Susan Van Haitsma lives, bikes and blogs in Austin, Texas at www.makingpeace-in-austin.blogspot.com

Yesterday I was riding my bike down by the river and I saw the rescue trucks who responded to the woman who was hit by the Amtrak train. I didn't know what it was at the time but I saw the police combing through the area she was hit. I called Mike and told him to check the news because I thought it was a murder. The news articles aren't saying much but there seems to be some suspicion that she was already dead when the train hit her.


This appeared in the Buffalo News-

Police identify victim of train-pedestrian accident
Updated: May 22, 2010, 4:31 pm / 1 comment
Published: May 22, 2010, 4:31 pm


The woman killed Friday afternoon in train-pedestrian accident in Buffalo has been identified as Sandra M. Abrams, 37, who had addresses in both Buffalo and Salamanca, Buffalo police said today.

Homicide detectives continue to investigate the accident, which occurred just before 4 p.m. Friday, on tracks near Niagara and Albany streets, where an outbound Amtrak train struck Abrams. She was declared dead at the scene.

I'm surprised the Buffalo News didn't find this themselves. Don't they do any investigating at all? This woman had a warrant out for her arrest for stealing purses in a church.

Warrant issued for woman who stole purses in church
Updated: March 27, 2010, 6:36 am /
Published: March 27, 2010, 12:30 am


An arrest warrant was issued Friday for Sandra M. Abrams, who became notorious for stealing purses during Buffalo church services last fall, after she walked away from an inpatient drug treatment program Monday, authorities said.

Abrams, 36, of North Street, had pleaded guilty Feb. 1 to grand larceny and was sent to the state's Madonna House treatment facility in Lockport. Abrams' lawyer, Andrew C. LoTempio, told State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns that he has "no knowledge of her whereabouts."

Abrams is scheduled to be sentenced Monday on her guilty plea to felony grand larceny for stealing purses, containing a total of about $22 in cash and credit cards from four Buffalo churches in November. She had been in custody until entering the drug program March 1.

I wonder what happened between her leaving the drug treatment facility and yesterday afternoon. Poor thing is now literally a train wreck. I feel bad for her family.


UPDATE 5/23--Here is the follow up to the story. I'm surprised that they are now thinking it was an accident. It really makes you wonder if rehab places should force people to quit smoking cigarettes at the same time as other drugs. They kicked her out for smoking a freaking cigarette?!

Train accident ends life of troubled woman
By Robert J. McCarthy
NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: May 22, 2010, 10:42 pm / 18 comments
Published: May 22, 2010, 4:31 pm

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Sandra M. Abrams' life of drug abuse and petty crime ended just as sadly Friday afternoon on railroad tracks along Niagara Street after she was struck by an Amtrak train bound for Toronto.

Police today identified Abrams as the same woman they arrested last November for stealing purses and credit cards from worshippers at several Buffalo churches.

Abrams was 37 and had addresses on North Street and the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation.

Buffalo Police spokesman Michael J. DeGeorge said that police still do not know how she was hit by the passenger train but added that they consider her death accidental.

And in a bizarre twist, the same train that killed Abrams near Niagara and Albany streets about 4 p.m. was later involved in another fatal accident in Toronto. CTV in Toronto reported that a 30-year-old man was struck about 12:40 a.m. Saturday, as the train was backing into a cleaning facility shortly after dropping off passengers at Union Station in downtown Toronto.

Toronto Police Sgt. Tim Burrows told CTV the unidentified man may have been wearing headphones at the time.

Abrams' attorney, Andrew C. LoTempio, said her problems stemmed from a lifetime of drug addiction.

"She started in her mid-teens," he said Saturday. "Her mother struggled for years trying to help her. But she just started getting into petty crimes to support her drug habit."

After she was arrested Nov. 24 for a series of purse thefts Nov. 15 in the Buffalo churches, she was charged with three counts of grand larceny and one count of petit larceny and jailed. On Feb. 1, she pleaded guilty to felony grand larceny for stealing the purses with credit cards and cash.

State Supreme Court Justice Christopher J. Burns had granted LoTempio's request for treatment instead of jail during a March court appearance.

But LoTempio said Saturday that Abrams lasted only about two weeks at Madonna House in Lockport before she was kicked out for smoking ... a violation of the rules. Her whereabouts were unknown until she was hit by the train Friday, though her attorney suspects she had spent time on the Cattaraugus Reservation.

citydesk@buffnews.com

I made the mistake of buying fish oil that doesn't have the protective coating to prevent fishy burps. Nothing is nastier than having a fishy burp. I got the ones at the Co-Op because they were molecularly distilled to remove heavy metals. It seems I can either have fishy burps or no fishy burps ,but if I want the no fishy burps I have to take the mercury that comes with the fish oil?

I can't take it anymore. Why do I have to be forced to take a plastic bag when I go to a store? Time after time, regardless of the store, I have these bags shoved down my throat. I try as hard as I can to yell out that I have a bag before they grab my items and toss it in the fresh plastic but often I am too slow and they are too fast. Very nicely I apologize and tell them I have a bag and I ask them to please use it for the next customer but most times I see them crumple it up and throw it out. I see this almost everywhere with the exception of most people who work at the Co-Op. I have been told that by law I must take a single beer out of the store in a plastic bag despite just putting it in the cloth bag that I have with me. Sometimes I have resorted to begging them to not give me a bag and even that doesn't work. I think if I ever snap it is going to be because of this issue.

How did this culture get started? It just makes no sense at all. It costs the company money to make these bags. I'm not saying that I don't think bags should be offered. I really am not an extremist, I actually am quite reasonable. Sometimes I like to have bags available because we all find ourselves needing them for unexpected purchases one time or another. I just don't get what is wrong with these cashiers that just toss a bag in the trash after I ask them to use it for another customer. Do they hate the earth and want to see it destroyed? is their bagging speed so greatly increased by throwing away the bag I rejected instead of taking the extra second it might take to use that same bag for someone else? I don't think that there really is any reasonable answer for why we do things the way we do.

Since logic and reason does not motivate us, then I believe the answer is to tax the bags. I'm not sure exactly how the logistics of it would work out but I'm thinking .10 to .25 a bag (paper included). The tax would put the burden on the customer not the business. The funds from the tax should be used for cleaning trash from our waterways. Maybe some of the money could be returned to the customer if they bring the bags back for recycling (again logistics)?

This tax I think is different from other taxes including the cigarette tax because the customer really has a choice and can very easily change their ways to avoid the tax. My proposed tax would also benefit us all without being a huge financial burden for our government or even the people who choose to pay the bag tax by opting not to use re-usable bags. If there was a bag tax everyone would win except the plastic bag workers. I know some people want to live in anarchy and don't want the government taxing things but I really think that this would be a good move on the federal level. I think, as evidenced by the oil spill in the gulf, that what we are doing is not working and we are all going to suffer for it. One person's right to throw away a plastic bag is infringing on another person's right to live in a clean and healthy environment.

Mike and I think we will be going. Anyone else want to join us?